I've come to a conclusion, its taken me a long time to admit, but I am a crazy person. I must be, that is the only explanation. What has led me to such self-discovery, it's two-fold really. On the one hand, I've been watching the media and the only way I can square my world view with their's is that I must have some sort of cognitive disorder. On the other, I've decided that me and a friend are going to host a Progressive Rally, the Facts not Fear Rally for Reform and also charter a bus to DC for the September 13th Reform Rally.
Watching Morning Joe this morning, indicator one of my insanity, I saw Joe Scarborough railing against Van Jones for answering this question
QUESTIONER: When [President George W. Bush] was in office, [Republicans] had a majority; it wasn't 60, it wasn't more than 60, but they pushed through all of these bills," the questioner began. "But when we have, you know, 58, we seem to not be able to move things as progressively as many of us here would want, as Obama wants. I know that he has a strong interest in bipartisanship, but when no Republicans are voting with him, ... how were they Republicans able to push things through when they had less than 60 senators, but somehow we cant?
With the best answer ever recorded by mankind to a political question
JONES: Well the answer to that is, they're assholes.
This was met with Joe Scarborough stating, and I'm paraphrasing but fairly accurately, "If a Republican had done this, he would have been out by the end of the day."
This is when I determined I was crazy, did I live in some sort of fantasy world for the last 8 years, are my memories of all Democrats being portrayed as terrorist-hugging freedom-haters false. Is my recollection of Dick Cheney telling Patrick Leahy to "Go Fuck Yourself" an implanted memory supported by hundreds of internet articles just to make the delusion seem more real. Were the 8 years of running roughshod over the constitution while giving the middle finger to anyone who wasn't driving their SUV straight to the flag store to buy a picture of George W. Bush wearing a flight suit draped in Old Glory, just the fevered dream of a madman. At this point I must assume so.
I went to a Pro-Reform rally two days ago and it was 99% pro-reform, 1% tea-party hitler-sign protesters (who we shut the fuck down). On my way to work listening to NPR, NP-fucking-R, not Fox News, not CNN, not the Glenn Beck show, not 1520 Catholic Radio (which replaced my beloved Air America in Central Ohio), they described the rally thusly, "A hand-picked democratic crowd met with vocal opposition...[at this point I blacked out from rage]" What is happening, am I losing my mind, it can't be the whole world it must be me.
I see a video of people in Texas rallying around secession, did I fall into a time machine, were these just tin-foil hat wearing madmen screaming on the corner, no these people are running for public office, and this insane position is supported by voters.
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If the embed doesn't work, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/... here is the full video
Democrats need 80 votes in the Senate to pass healthcare reform, WHAT CONSTITUTION ARE THEY USING!?
Democrats need to open up their townhall meetings to astroturf troublemakers, Republicans can hold invitation only meetings to discuss hitting the reset button on reform.
We start every negotiation with a capitulation and then accept less and less until Republicans can go on TV and claim that co-ops, that will NEVER FUCKING WORK, are a trojan horse and must be thrown out.
We have the best orator on the planet and super majorities in both house and some how we have been able to negotiate ourselves from Universal Coverage to Public Option to Co-ops to Everyone will be forced to hand over half their paycheck to the Insurance Companies and be promised 5 band-aids a year.
I must be losing my mind, it is really the only explanation.
Well I have 2 options then, I can quietly waste away going crazier and crazier, or I can embrace the madness. Being a Progressive I'm choosing the latter.
I have been working for the last 2 weeks with my good friend Josh Link, we have been making copies, emailing, working the netroots, contacting OFA, UHCAN, SEIU, AFL-CIO, and anyone else who will listen, to set up a Rally and March this Labor Day in Columbus.
On top of this we are looking for other Central Ohioans who would like to go to Washington DC on Sept 13th for a Reform Rally, we are hoping to get enough to Charter a Greyhound, I'm getting quotes and trying to coordinate and figure all this out.
I refuse to go quietly into that dark night, I have my concerns, but I refuse to sit idly by wringing my hands, I'm going to get out there and do something. If you feel like you are going insane, maybe you should get out there and do something too. If you are in Central Ohio, join us on Sept. 7th and Sept. 13th. If you don't have the pleasure of rooting for the Buckeyes (you still should no matter your geographic location) use the multitude of organizing tools the netroots provide you to get the job done. DailyKos, Democratic Underground, Organizing for America, etc.