Nader

This comment to Eric Alterman's "Altercation" blog expresses pretty well my main problem with Ralph Nader's presidential candidacies--since he puts no effort into getting other third party candidates elected to lower offices, since he puts no effort into building a viable third party, since he does nothing but show up every four years and ask for media attention--since, in other words, he hasn't done anything resembling the kind of genuine, grass roots party building that Howard Dean did after his presidential run--I find it hard to take Ralph Nader's candidacies as much more than ego trips.

http://mediamatters.org/altercation/200811250014#8

Now what?

So, um...now what?

Seriously, even long before the end of this election, I've wondered this--in various forms:

Now that the Bush era is done, do we stop mistrusting government--or just stop mistrusting it so much? I would vote for the latter. It's important for liberals and progressives (whatever you want to call them) to stay vigilant against a President Obama--perhaps even more so, because the temptation is to let him get away with anything. Does the lefty blogosphere that's popped up during, and arguably due to, the Bush administration disappear now? I think it's very possible it will become less vibrant, less urgent, less angry. I hope it will not go away, however, because it's become a force for progress. What happens to the center-left coalition that swept Obama into office? Does it crack up after his first compromise? Do all the lefties throw up their hands when Obama signs something suspiciously conservative into law or uses military force against Al Quaeda? I hope, as I said, that we will criticize him--but I hope, at the same time, something of this unity remains. We'll see...

Finally, what becomes of what John Stewart has called the "satirical-industrial complex" of Daily Show, Colbert Report, Onion, Bill Maher, etc.? They got us through these last eight, surreal years. Will we still laugh at our own guys? There have been troubling signs all along that we are unable to do so. I would hate to lose that critical, comedic perspective. Hopefully we lefties can actually learn to laugh at ourselves, instead of just the other guy.

An overfull moment

There are so many things I want to/could say about Barack Obama's election as President. But, this is what I want to say first: That moment, at about 11:10 p.m. Eastern Time, when Keith Olberman announced that Barack Obama would be the next president, was one of the most, if not the most, powerful moments in my life. In one moment, 8 of the darkest years in American politics, especially for liberals, and 200 years of guilty history in a country whose Constitution permitted slavery, turned. Flipped. Changed utterly. Amazing.

excited, nervous, hopeful

The title sums it up. I'm amped for this thing. Been phonebanking the last few days. As obsessed with the polls and news stories as always.

Nothing more to be said--Let's do this!



GOTMFV!