Obama needs to offer SCALPS to mend fences with progressives

[yurbud]

from one of two sources:

• CORPORATE OWNED DEMS: Rahm Emanuel's, Joe Lieberman's or one of the other blue dogs or DLCers that jammed this up and diluted it to almost nothing. Obama's cabinet was called a team of rivals but in reality with the possible exception of his secretary of labor, they are all from the corporate-owned DLC branch of the party and their only rivalry will be which of them profits the most of from their time in office. Progressives in some of the top slots, like treasury, state, HHS, or even education with the freedom to act on progressive priorities rather than enriching the already wealthy.
  
  
• INSURANCE CO. EXECUTIVES: Direct the Justice Department prosecute insurance company execs who denied reasonable care and caused people's deaths. Treat them with the same care and deference we do serial killers and terrorists--no deals, no bail, and no club fed. And not just the guys who answer the phone, but the people at the very top who set the policy.
  

Hell, I would be happy if he did that with Goldman Sachs, AIG, Blackwater, or any of the other corporate malefactors. Show us that these guys are subject to the rule of law and that they can't kill people and destroy our economy then turn around and demand favors from the government.

Or better yet, one of each of those, so we know that our government represents us and doesn't sell our very lives and financial well-being to the highest bidder.

The broader point here is not just that Obama needs to mend fences with the base of his own party, but the way to win the votes of the middle and the grudging respect if not the votes of even some on the right, is to take a stand on a few key issues and fight to the death for them. That was one reason the GOP got so far with really, really bad ideas. At least people knew what they stood for and would fight for. The Democrats in Congress and Obama in particular seem to stand for not offending the most corrupt members of their party, crafting policies to please everyone but that always seem to take care of the already wealthy. That will not earn him a very high ranking in history, and possibly, not even reelection.

[AllentownJake]

1. Not fucking likely

He'll take progressive scalps and say this is what I do to the left if they don't shut their cry baby mouths.

[HughMoran]

33. :o)

I laughed :)

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[janx]

6. we

really aren't

[Beetwasher]

3. Yes! We Demand A Human Sacrifice!!! Sate Us W/ The Blood Of A Virgin Upon The Altar Of Our Ideals!!!

Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!!

[yurbud]

10. do you think insurance execs who kill their customers and wall street execs who killed our

economy deserve to be rewarded instead of punished for the harm they've caused?

[Beetwasher]

15. I Demand Blood!

[yurbud]

11. do you think those who kill and defraud for profit should not be subject to the rule of law?

[Beetwasher]

16. I Want Their Fingers And Ears Hanging From My Belt Loops!

[yurbud]

13. do you think the only policy advice the president should follow should be from the business-owned

wing of his party?

[Beetwasher]

17. I Demand A Virgin Sacrifice! It's The Only Way To Ensure Purity!

[grytpype]

4. This is typical.

For Naderites it's all about resentment and beating up the mean corporations.

Getting things done and improving American lives without beating up the meanies is treason to the Naderites.

[T Wolf]

7. Doing something to improve American lives is also treason to the new Dems and their

DLC parents.

That is why they have done what they did.

[yurbud]

8. hmm...so should the same conciliatory approach be used on rapists and murderers?

that the DLC uses on corporate America?

If so, when we catch date rapists, we would provide them with more GHB, and when we catch serial killers, we would sharpen their knives for them.

[AllentownJake]

9. You are asking a paid security team to turn on the person that hired them

Good fucking luck with that.

[MisterP]

21. thing is, Yurbud, they'll adore anyone who's "not as bad" as the GOP--

no matter what they do--as the "only realistic chance" for any good reforms. remember that "settle for less" is their reason for getting up in the morning!

they can forgive anything--and I mean ANYTHING--if they're with the "progressive" party, because they can't see that the rhetoric is empty and the bones that they throw us are window dressing; this system actually keeps real progress and government assistance off the table

to break the system, we don't need hackneyed "silver bullets" like Gingrichite term limits and nuclear options, but a party that educates and makes voters aware of the fact that laying back for "the only bill we have, no matter how crappy," unconditional voting for "the only candidate we have, no matter how crappy," and insisting that "crap is really good for us" only leads to, well, crap. America does have the activist tradition that gave us Civil Rights: problem is, we also need a reformist atmosphere with a responsive government, and "working within the party" hasn't worked, as it's only veered ever-rightwards from the Tip O'Neill days (once, it even wanted nun-butchers and torturers prosecuted!)

[yurbud]

25. yep--if you split the difference with the right, you make a new center further right

then the right will call Democrats extremists for standing for that new center, so the Dems will apologize and compromise again, shrinking the distance and moving acceptable debate further and further to the right.

[apocalypsehow]

22. I will never take a single thing you post seriously again after that moronic & offensive analogy.

That analogy is typed stupidity distilled to its essence.

[T Wolf]

5. Never will happen - the corps ARE the administration. You may as well wish for a

dare I say, pony.

There will be no DoJ actions against the owners of this administration - they know who pays their salaries.

There will also be no scalps unless the WH decides to continue going after the few libs in DC.

This administration does not care about the "left" and does not feel any urge to do anything to mend the fence with us.

We are expendable.

And while the left is certainly not be the majority of the party, we are a non-insignificant group that can have an impact on the '10 and '12 elections. We are not strong enough to put progressives into office, but our absence can remove some un-Dems. How much remains to be seen.

[villager]

12. the unreccing Panglossians are very upset at your notions of accountability!

How dare you interpret a "new" kind of politics to have meant... a new kind of politics!

[yurbud]

18. the corporate owned world is the best of all possible world's

[Armstead]

14. Only scalps they are interested in offering up are Progressive ones

[yurbud]

19. and the only ideas they are interested in are the ones they are paid to have...

[salguine]

20. Offering up one or two sacrificial lambs isn't going to fix the rotten system.

[jefferson_dem]

23. creepy.

but not surprising.

[yurbud]

26. Do you think Jefferson would want a corporate owned government?

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

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[branders seine]

27. he's not a fighter.

he's a schmoozer.

No insult intended, but he's never shown himself to be particularly passionate about anything or to be a fighter.

[gravity]

28. You are never going to be satisfied

Successful politicians have to build a consensus and make compromises. Progressives are a minority in the country and have to reach out to the moderates push legislation through. If you attack them and demand their scalps, you get no where. This is why all successful politicians sell out, while all the ones who stick by their principles stay on the side lines.

It is never going to change unless the progressives are able to control the senate, house and presidency. Until then, you have to suck it up and deal with it.

[optimator]

29. he is offering OUR scalps to CEOS

.

[yurbud]

30. He's confirming there's two sets of rules: one for the rich, and one for the rest of us

and the rich get to make both sets.

[Donnachaidh]

38. he's chaining our kids to a life of slavery

Corporations that have the backing of the federal government don't worry about pension plans, living wages and healthcare. They just care about year end bonuses and bailout money to play the derivative market.

CHANGE we can wake up screaming from!

[last1standing]

31. I don't want scalps, I want progressive policy enacted.

I don't give a Damn how many symbolic moves he makes or pretty speeches he reads, those won't make life better for a single human being. The only way Obama gets my vote is if I see honest and effective movement on ALL of these issues:

1. GLBT rights, including DADT, ENDA and DOMA.
2. Repeal of the Military Commissions Act of 2005.
3. REAL Health care reform. Not this Insurance Protection Act.
4. Prosecution of US torturers. Unless they are prosecuted future administrations will torture at will.
5. Either get out of Afghanistan or actually explain what benefit to US citizens (or Afghani citizens for that matter) there is in being there. Propping up drug runners isn't helping anyone.

If he can't bother with those things then scalps will be meaningless.

[suzie]

34. Are you a prosecutor?

Because I read the ravings of a lot of folks on DU who say, "Prosecute the torturers!!!!!!!!!", but don't seem to have much understanding of whether that's even possible.

So, I'm asking those who rant about "The torturers" if they've ever prosecuted anyone.

[last1standing]

35. Yes, it is possible.

And no, I'm not a prosecutor, just a law student who understands that it is, indeed possible. So please excuse my "ravings" and "rants" since I have some small knowledge on the subject, unlike yourself.

Now that you know, will you continue to spew vapid insults at those who know better? Of course you will. :freak:

[suzie]

36. Really?

I didn't ask if you were a law student, I asked if you were a prosecutor.

And I'm not a lawyer, but I do hang out with people who were law students long before they were career prosecutors.

For some reason, I'll take their opinions over yours, thank you.

[yurbud]

39. those would qualify as ''scalps'' too--punish those with unelected power who abuse it

[HughMoran]

32. He's not yurbud

...so don't expect him to do anything for you.

[freddie mertz]

37. It's too late so far as I am concerned.

After THIS:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7300576

Someone wake me up, it is like some sort of nightmare.