With Barack Obama's right turn over the past few weeks, since Hillary Clinton dropped out and left him as the only game in town, it further reinforces what I have believed from the start.
I will vote for Obama, but did not support him. That is no secret. I believe he is aligned, just like Clinton (who many alleged I supported), to the corporate, Establishment Democratic Party, and it takes no real effort to see this. I also believe that he takes much of his support for granted, particularly now that there is no alternative. But that does not mean I will be a lemming.
In speaking my mind on the subject, in offering dissent to the established view at this site, I and others have been insulted personally on a regular basis, called trolls, GOPers, and the like. Ironically, Obama praises dissent, but many of his ardent supporters at this site are incapable of tolerating it. So it goes.
But this diary is about something else. So please read on.
On May 7, 2008, this exchange occurred between Bill Moyers and Amy Goodman:
AMY GOODMAN: This is a moment, on a night like this, that everyone is watching. They want to see, you know, who’s won. But for those many, many hours, it’s only about the horse race. I don’t think I heard the word "war" once. I don’t think I heard, as I flipped from channel to channel, the word "healthcare." I didn’t hear the issues discussed. It was all about the percentage points. And it went on, not just for a thirty-second summary of, you know, who was ahead and who was behind, but for hour after hour.
BILL MOYERS: Well, no. The main reason I put this book out, Moyers on Democracy, is because we are facing—you know, democracy is always a story of narrow escapes, and we may be running out of luck, because we’ve always thought the present was better than the—generally thought the present was better than the past and the future will be better than the present. All bets are off now, because we are not—our politics can create problems our policies can then not solve. Start a war, can’t finish it. Spend $2 trillion on healthcare, but can’t fix it. Infrastructure crumbling, highways full of potholes, can’t do anything about it.
These fundamental structural issues of American democracy are not being addressed by this campaign, even in the best of times, when it’s not just a horse race, when they’re on the Sunday morning talk shows, when they’re making speeches. They are so appealing to the particular interest of people, of groups, that they cannot take on—they’re not taking on the large issue. Obama talks about change. Hillary Clinton talks about, you know, a populist message. But neither one of them seem to me—and nor does John McCain—none of these three seem to me to be grasping what’s fundamentally at stake in this country, which is a system that is now dysfunctional. And so many powerful interests have a stake in maintaining the dysfunction that it’s almost impossible to change it.
That is the moment—this is the moment in which if we don’t solve that structural issue of our politics, we are in real trouble. And I don’t like to say that, because I have five grandchildren, and the future is theirs, not mine. But this is what we’re not hearing. This is what the system is not going to deal with in November. And it’s a very troubling reality.
Can anyone disagree with what Moyers says? If so, I would like to hear it, rather than be called a purist.
Let me repeat what he said:
Obama talks about change. Hillary Clinton talks about, you know, a populist message. But neither one of them seem to me—and nor does John McCain—none of these three seem to me to be grasping what’s fundamentally at stake in this country, which is a system that is now dysfunctional. And so many powerful interests have a stake in maintaining the dysfunction that it’s almost impossible to change it.
Back on October 19, 2007, John Edwards spoke to the Californuia SEIU to receive its endorsement. Months before the admonition of Moyers, Edwards set forth a vision of how he would run as the nominee.
This diary is NOT about John Edwards, but the tenor of his message. Below is what he said:
"The next three months are going to do much more than determine who our party's nominee is. They are going to determine how big our victory is in November, how big our majority is in January, and how big our accomplishments are in the first 100 days of the next president. And each one is directly connected to the next.
"The press and the pundits love to chatter on about electability – what it is, what it means, who has it, who doesn't. They all think the most electable candidate is the one with the most money and the most ties to Washington. I think the most electable candidate is the one with the best ideas who can go to every corner of America and tell the truth about how badly Washington is broken.
"The problem is, the press and the pundits have confused the candidate who would win an election inside the Beltway with the candidate who can win an election in the rest of America.
"Everybody knows that the American people are hungry for change – change is such a buzzword this election even Republicans like Mitt Romney say they're for it, which would be funny except it isn't a joke.
"So yeah, anybody can say change – but the real question is what are you going to do about it? Are you going to pay lip service to our problems and just offer poll-tested solutions that don't rock the Washington boat? Or are you going to tell the truth about the real challenges we face, be honest about what it's going to take to meet them, and have the courage to put it all on the line and fight with everything you've got to take on the special interests and make it happen? That's what I've been doing my entire life, and that's what I'm going to do as the Democratic nominee. That's what I'm going to do as president.
"If our nominee is just a little better than the Republicans, who knows what will happen? If the people want change and both parties offer slightly different versions of the status quo – a status quo that protects corporate profits and the wealthiest at the expense of everyone else – then all bets are off.
"But if our nominee offers a clear choice between a Republican party committed to corporate power and a Democratic party committed to reclaiming democracy for our people, then we're going to win this election going away.
"And if we have a nominee offering a bold vision of real change who can make the case for that vision in every corner of America, we will Congressional races across America, in red states and blue states, on the coasts, in the South, the Southwest, the Northwest and the Midwest.
"And then imagine what we can do in the first 100 days – end the war, begin the hard work to restore America's moral leadership around the world, launch an all out-effort to enact true universal health care before the summer's over, put America on the road to energy independence ... and we'd just be getting started.
"I'm not running for president just to be president – I'm running for president because our democracy has lost touch with the people who are supposed to own it, and our government has broken faith with the values that are supposed to rule it. I'm running for president to change America and put our government back on the side of the working men and women who make this country great.
"And that's why the next three months are so critical. We are not just choosing a nominee. We are taking a stand as a party. We are saying to America – this is who we are as Democrats, this is what we believe, this is what we will do if you place your trust in us.
"I believe that if we offer real change, if we reject the broken system, say no the corporate interests and stand once and for all with the people, nothing can stop us. We will win the White House, but that's not all. We will elect super majorities in the House and the Senate – 280 Democrats in the House and 61 in the Senate.
"And then we can stop talking about how to get elected, and start rolling up our sleeves to get our ideas enacted. Because make no mistake, a mandate for change is out there. The American people are waiting. Now, it's up to us."
Again, this diary is NOT about John Edwards, but the tenor of his message. You need not remind me that Edwards is not the nominee. I know he voted "for" the war. I know his record as a red state senator was not always on par with his blue state contemporaries. To argue these things misses the point completely. This is about moving FORWARD! How should our nominee move forward?
So, I ask, should Obama follow the Edwards/Moyers prescription? I say, without reservation, YES! I believe Edwards's framing last October is exactly right and should be the Obama approach today. I believe this prescription is the path to a sweeping victory and mandate for real change, not change that is a slogan or an illusion. It goes straight to the heart of what is wrong with the system, the dysfucntion that Bill Moyers mentioned, the dysfunction that most Americans of all sides know in their hearts exists, and must be taken down if we are to make this place better.
If you believe to the contrary, why not just state why, substantively. Is it not time to engage in real discourse and spare the insults or put downs so customary found here when people offer dissenting views? Believe it or not, dissenters care, a lot, or they would not take the trouble. And contrary to what some may conjecture, to dissent does not mean one is for John McCain.
For the final time, this diary is not intended to discuss Edwards's candidacy or his record. Who cares at this point? It is, however, to discuss the gist of Edwards's words to the California SEIU back in October in the context of what Bill Moyers said. Thanks in advance for staying on topic.