(originally published at OpEdNews)
Oh, those terrible Republicans. Indeed, indeed. Who can deny it? The Republicans are bad news.
But when I hear President Obama and the Democratic leadership blame the
Republicans for the Democrats' inability to pass progressive
legislation, I get angry. Nancy Pelosi could have instituted
impeachment hearings against Bush and Cheney once it became clear that
they had misled the nation into war. At the start of his Administration,
Obama could have pushed for prosecution of Bush-era crimes related to
the war, torture, the politicization of the Justice Department,
corruption of federal agencies, election fraud, and other matters.
In short, President Obama and the Democratic leadership's effort to
shirk responsibility for effecting progressive change is belied by one
salient fact: had Obama and the Democratic leadership prosecuted the
Republicans for their numerous serious criminal acts, then the GOP would
be in a much weaker position to mount an effective resurgence.
The American people would now know the truth about what had happened,
and many Republicans would be in prison or would be cowering in shame
with their tails between their legs.
Pelosi and
Obama DIDN'T EVEN TRY. Given the magnitude of the crimes perpetuated
by the Bush gang, it's hard to see how there couldn't have been
convictions and a fallout. Or at very least the American public would have gotten a good political education.
The Repugs sure wouldn't have held their punches in a similar situation.
Instead, we all know what happened. Obama chose to look forward, not
backwards. Obama chose to be bipartisan, not confrontational. Obama chose to hide the truth from the American people. Obama
surrounded himself with advisers from the Bush Administration and from
the conservative wing of the Democratic Party. Obama cut back room deals
with Big Pharma and Big Insurance to eliminate a public option, the
re-importation of drugs, and the ability of the government to negotiate
drug prices. Obama continued Bush's bailouts of Wall Street, nixed
windfall profit tax on bonuses, escalated the war in Afghanistan, and
fired progressive advisers at the slightest provocation. Etc, etc, etc.
See this petition.
No wonder Obama and the Dems are "struggling" to accomplish anything!
No wonder millions of progressives are contemplating giving up on the Democratic Party!
What did Obama expect? That the Republicans would play nice? That progressives would ignore his repeated betrayals? As Paul Krugman asked, is the Obama team a bunch of idiots?
I too share that healthy and natural urge to hold Obama accountable. In short, Obama actively tried to help the GOP.
But despite my extreme disappointment and anger at President Obama's
poor leadership, I still think the best way for progressives to achieve
their aims is for them to work within the Democratic Party to reform
it. The work is unpleasant and difficult. But given the realities of
the America's non-parliamentary political system, third parties have
little (constructive) power. And given the damage that could be wrought were the GOP to
regain power, progressive can't afford to cut off their noses to spite
their faces.
I've argued this position at length here and here.
There really are many good and middling Democrats. For example, on July
27 of this year, 102 out of 250 House Democrats (40% of the Democrats)
voted against funding the war in Afghanistan. President Obama had to
rely on Republicans to continue funding his war. More Republicans (160)
voted for the funding than Democrats (148).
So, I say: punish Obama, but don't punish the Dems in general.
How? Condemn Obama widely, pass resolutions critical of Obama in
Democratic organizations, write letters-to-the-editor saying why Obama
is doing poorly. But don't abandon the many progressives working within
the Democratic Party to push it leftward. Such progressive Dems are
particularly numerous at the local level.
The alternative is years in third-party oblivion, with likely GOP control of Congress and the White House.
If the many angry, motivated progressives would infiltrate Democratic
Party organizations at the grassroots level, they could kick out and
shame corporatist Dems. Think how the Religious Right and the Hard Right took over the Republican Party starting during the Reagan years.
If only the progressives would be so effective.