Another place it can lead you is the place where Kevin and I are. You complain about this stuff. And complain and complain and complain. And fight and fight and fight. And at the end of the day when what emerges from the piranhas’ den is better than nothing, you say yes and live to fight another day. I think if you read Andy Stern’s letter you’ll see that’s what he’s saying too.
But the place where I think it can’t lead you is the place where I think a lot of the people on the left want to go. That’s a place where you’re so shocked and horrified by the corruption of the system that you think that if you can persuade two or three left-wing senators to say “no” that suddenly a better legislative product emerges. If you think that’s going to happen, you should spend some time reading Glenn Greenwald posts about how screwed up Washington is.
Yet still, the comments to Matt's post show that the so-called Progressives still don't get it. Here's a representative selection; sadly, I am not cherry-picking:
Funny Matt, but despite being asked multiple times, you’ve never given any prescriptions for fighting.... What have you done to “fight”? I haven’t seen bupkas from you.
If you're not with us, you're against us!
The problem is, the bill now looks as though it will be worse than nothing.
This is just hopelessly naive and petty. How is it worse? I keep hearing that, but explain why? The mandate is a giveaway to the insurance industry? Fine, but reform can't work without it. If they didn't ask for it, you'd have to do it anyway.
Progressives have a plan: Kill this bill and force reconciliation. You and the moderates have no plan, you only want to pass THIS bill, and you want people to keep voting for Democrats even though you have no viable plan as to how that is supposed to work.
Let me say this slowly so you understand: the plan is to pass health care reform. we've been working on it for most of the year. If this is the bill that is obtainable, we pass it, and move forward to make it better over time. A plan to kill the bill is simply that, a plan to kill the bill. Who has no plan? Who's reality-based, now?
At this point, the only way to get decent government is to replace the DC system. That will require concerted action on the part of thousands against an entrenched plutocracy. Something on the order of the French or Russian revolutions.
You know, last night I thought my irritation may have been excessive. I shouldn't have been concerned.
[T]here is a more realistic solution: a primary challenger to force the incumbent to move left. I know that is a solution Matt often suggests.
So, which Democratic politician will have the courage to primary Obama in 2012?
That worked out really well for the left when Ted Kennedy challenged Jimmy Carter in 1980, didn't it?
I’m ready for liberals to use old fashioned politics which in our system means kill the bill.
If you guys want any bill to pass then you better start treating liberals seriously and incorporating their wishes into the bills.
I really hope 3 liberal Senators are brave enough to stand up to these capitulating cowards. They would be my heroes.
Do you even understand what this bill does? Geez, how it is not liberal? The GOP calls it socialism, for G-d's sake. This comment deserves the the same reaction as Ta-Nehisi had about Joe Lieberman's pettiness, so I will quote Ta-Nehisi in response: "This a deeply immoral statement. Joe Lieberman is a divorced Dad refusing to pay for private school, in part, because it might please his ex-wife." Since it's so hard to talk to these so-called progressives like adults, I'll put it into words they can understand: stop being cry-babies.
It’s not better than nothing. My fight for another day – Nader in 2012. Fuck the democrats. They sold us out to the health care fatcats just like they sold us out to Wall Street. If progressives let them get away with this they deserve the goat fucking the democrats seem happy to give them.
And that says it all.
And "progressives" shouldn't mean radicals. Why did you have to corrupt another word? Anyway, let's end this with a voice of sanity from Matt's commenters:
Did the left get crazier recently? Or did I just not notice the crazy because I was focused on the tea bagger brand of crazy?
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