Subject: Has the tyranny ended?
Just about 10 months ago, I published an essay in The Nation. The
original title of that piece was "The Tyranny of Tiny Minds." (Some
thought the title, however valid, was too inflammatory. The actual
title as published is "How to get our Democracy Back":
[article here]
)
My argument, Twitter length, was that Obama had betrayed a fundamental
promise of his administration: That he would, in his words (from the
campaign) "take up the fight" to "fundamentally change the way
Washington works."
As Obama had explained to us,
"unless we're willing to challenge the broken system in Washington,
and stop letting lobbyists use their clout to get their way, nothing
else is going to change."
His campaign, he promised us, was not:
"just about ending the failed policies of the Bush years; it's about
ending the failed system in Washington that produces those policies.
For far too long, through both Democratic and Republican
administrations, Washington has allowed Wall Street to use lobbyists
and campaign contributions to rig the system and get its way, no
matter what it costs ordinary Americans."
And as he wisely - perhaps, presciently - warned, "if we're not
willing to take up that fight, then real change - change that will
make a lasting difference in the lives of ordinary Americans - will
keep getting blocked by the defenders of the status quo."
It seemed to me obvious in February, 2010, that Obama hadn't "take[n]
up that fight." It seemed obvious as well that the consequence of his
betrayal would be the trouncing that he and his party received
yesterday. It makes me enormously sad to see this trouncing, because
I, like many, believe in the changes that "keep getting blocked by the
defenders of the status quo" - Obama, it seemed, included.
But "hope" may well have returned. As I was climbing on a plane this
afternoon, I listened to the President's press conference. One line
caught my attention. In answering a skeptical reporter's question,
Obama said:
"We were in such a hurry to get things done, we didn't change how
things get done."
Finally. Recognition. If you read this with bits of his interview on
The Daily Show, there is reason to hope that "Obama the Reformer" is
finally back (
[dailyshow link]
). Those "tiny minds" - who thought that the only way to make
Washington work was to work with Washington the way it always has
worked - have left. And perhaps, just maybe, the President has again
remembered what he told us two and a half years ago: That the "reason
I'm running for President is to challenge that system."
So let him begin today, with the help of all of us, Democrats and
Republicans alike. "How things get done" is the problem. We need to
find a way to focus America on that problem, and build the political
will to change it.
FixCongressFirst.org.
You can help in this by helping us map the plan that will spread this
lesson to enough Americans, both supporters of Obama and not. The plan
is here:
[page link].
The campaign begins today. Join us.