Naomi Klein On the Progressives Love Affair with Obama

Well, it is less about Obama than about the Left's relationship with its candidates.

Nothing new is told here but one crucial point, that is not explicit but is clearly understated: the Progressive Movement have nobody to blame but themselves for the weakness of the political pressure they apply on the different presidents that have succeeded Reagan since the 80's - it is a clear pattern of letting the Right setting the political pace and agenda without any real fight nor oversight from us.

Why is that? If I had to continue the relationship metaphor with which Klein closes this interview, I would say that like any partner of psycho-rigid control freak abusers, Lefties are hoping to bring their sweet lovers to understand, embrace and validate their point of view. Its a conversion fantasy of another breed, but it reeks still of low self-esteem and overcompensation.

Converting Republicans to work for the common good is, of course, a lost cause. Nothing is more important to them than the smell of their own belly button or their own right wing, hate filled fart.

So, yes, we should, like I was saying since the beginning of my blogging days, regularly "poke the Dems in the eyes" to make them remember who worked so hard to bring them to power. We should put the collective nuts of our President Elect and his entourage in a particularly tight vise and protest loudly when we are discontent.

Nobody else will do it for us. And what other form of protest is there but writing. I won't bomb anything. And I'm too far away to go down in the streets and yell.

Naomi Klein is right about the necessity of a post-election strategy but I do not think that the Progressive Movement was wrong to put all effort in first avoiding another 4 years of hellish conservatism. Voting for Obama was the right thing to do. And concentrating our votes on one candidate instead of scattering them in the wind and see McCain win was the good call to make under the circumstances.

I do like Obama a lot. But now we owe to him to oppose the right wing neocons with all our might to help him create the political climate favorable to a Progressive agenda. As I said many times before, the Repugs won't just roll-over and die. They will try to manipulate this into their advantage. Nothing will be given to us: we just need to do the same and create momentum our way for our own good.

Found on Bad Attitudes.