 So President Obama's back. He's back in the news and it is because he gave a speech where he basically pulled down his pants and took a hot steaming dump on Progressives the very people mind you that helped him get elected in the first place myself included because I was actually a part of the Obama coalition because when he said that We need to do politics different than we've been doing it and not allow lobbyists to control what we're doing I believed him but now This is what he's saying about us and one of the things I do worry about sometimes Among progressives in the United States, maybe it's true here as well is a certain kind of Rigidity where we say ah I'm sorry. This is how it's gonna be and then we start sometimes creating what's called a circular firing squad Where you start shooting at your allies? because one of them is straying from purity on the issues and When that happens Typically the overall effort and movement weakens so I think whether you are speaking as a citizen or as a you know political leader Or as an organizer whether you're in the Non-profit space or and civic space or you're in the political arena You have to recognize that The way we've structured democracy Requires you to take into account people who don't agree with you and that by definition means you're not gonna get a hundred percent of what you want Thanks, Obama appreciate it. So what he's getting wrong here is conceptually He's incorrect because we're not Forming this circular firing squad and firing at people who are our allies What he doesn't acknowledge is that members of the Democratic Party establishment are not our allies They are our enemies to be opposed Nancy Pelosi is a Barrier to progress Chuck Schumer, Steny Hoyer all of these Democratic Party leaders Sherry Bustos head of the DCCC They are barriers to progress. They're not our allies. They are our enemies Now you have to be nuanced and acknowledge that are they better than Republicans? Are they the only thing that stands in between Republicans and them taking power? Absolutely, but with that being said They are not allies and we have to be truthful about that the Democratic Party is not our allies now Is it possible to maybe take control of the Democratic Party and get them to change direction since they're headed in the bad Bad direction, you know a more corporatist centrist direction. Absolutely. That's possible, but we need to be clear Democratic Party Establishment leadership is not allies So if we're taking shots at them if we're criticizing them if we're trying to push them to the left It's not a circular firing squad because they're not on the left They're in the center and we are on the left and we're demanding that the party at large moves back to the left Now just objectively speaking when he says that Incrementalism is kind of what happens. That's true But what he's not acknowledging is that there is a theory in political science known as punctuated equilibrium theory Which posits that for the most part we have institutions America was essentially built To make incrementalism the norm However, once in a while, maybe once in a generation once per century that equilibrium is Challenge it's punctuated by a burst of rapid change That subverts the norm of incrementalism a couple of examples of this came in the form of the Reagan Revolution Um a gigantic example, I think probably the most crystal-clear example came in the form of the New Deal With FDR. So even if it's the case that our political system is designed specifically to encourage incrementalism and make change Just happen at a slower pace in general It's still the case that there are moments in time where that damn has basically Gotta burst and allow for rapid change. We're at one of those moments now is not the time for incrementalism Now is the time for rapid change because if we do not change rapidly It will be the end of us Literally, I'm not being hyperbolic I'm not being chicken little because now is not the time for incrementalism when it comes to an issue like climate change The IPCC gave us 12 years to act now is not the time for incrementalism when it comes to health care Because people are dying every single year Millions are losing their health insurance millions more are becoming underinsured Now is not the time for incrementalism when there are numerous crises that we have to address quickly to call for incrementalism is a backwards approach and it really demonstrates why Obama was a Colossal disappointment and why people like myself no longer support him after voting for him Twice the first time I can give myself a pass on but in 2012 You know, I should have known better, but there was no Democratic Party primary And I kind of I had this naive belief that maybe after he's reelected. He could just go full Chomsky You know because he doesn't have to worry about re-election. So You know, what's the fear? I was wrong. I was naive But now it's clear that the Democratic Party establishment is openly saying what they used to kind of keep to themselves Shut up progressives What we do is we move at a slow pace and we do incrementalism. That's what we do if you don't like it Shut up. You're being pure. No, it's not about being pure. It's about having standards. Every single person has standards So I'm really sick and tired of Obama because you know It's irritating that he still has a relatively high approval rating while he Continuously shits on the left and I think it's because there's this juxtaposition You know of Trump and Obama Obama was the last president and there was a lot of stability and no change and now with Donald Trump There's still really no change, but there's a lot of instability politically And it's easy to love Obama if you're dealing with someone like Donald Trump who is basically Losing his mind, you know On a daily basis and I'm not trying to psychoanalyze him. I'm just saying the dude is unhinged So it's easy to see why people love Obama and they view him Nostalgically with rose-colored glasses But if you try to remove those rose-colored glasses and you see him for what he is He was a moderate Republican and you don't have to take my word for it take his word for it because that's actually how he described himself the truth the matter is is that my policies are so mainstream that you know if If I had said the same policies that I have back in the 1980s I'd be considered a moderate Republican Girlie Mike Fettuccine needs your support on patreon. What a loser Visit patreon.com Slashed humanist report to support the low-radix humanist report sad My views are much higher