Reply #37: We have just had ten years of complete economic

[SheilaT]

devastation, and still people voted for Republicans and tea-partiers, the very ones who brought us to this point and who will make it worse. i see almost no hope for the stringent legislation that is required to produce growth and to prevent the utter ruin of social security, medicare, and every other social support system out there.

Far too many Americans have been voting against their self interest, for reasons I don't fully understand, and it's too glib just to see they are stupid or they watch too much Fox news, although both of those statements have truth in them. This goes back to Ronald Reagan, who was ludicrously hailed as The Great Communicator by the mainstream press when in reality he was not a hell of a lot more articulate than W. But he could read his lines well, knew how to hit his marks and look at the camera and seem sincere. People fell for it. I was appalled when he won election in 1980, stunned that he was re-elected four years later, discouraged mightily when Bush I came into office after eight years of Reagan.

What we do honestly need is the kind of passion and commitment on our side that will send genuine progressives out there telling the truth and running for office, countering the constant lies that are told by Republicans, tea-partiers, the likes of Beck and Limbaugh. Unfortunately, we collectively seem to lack that passion and will, and we don't have the big money behind us. I've begun thinking about running either for Congress or the Senate in 2012, but I do have half-way decent Democrats in those offices where I am, so I don't think there would be any point. If any of those three were Republicans I would actually be looking into a campaign, knowing it would be a nearly impossible battle.

I just wish others out there would commit to standing up against the abomination that is now the U.S. Congress, and stand up for genuine Democratic and more importantly, genuine progressive principles.