David Sirota: "Glenn Beck Counts For More At the Obama White House" Than the Progressive Movement

[OhioChick]

Tue Sep 08, 2009 at 09:00

Needless to say that when you wake up one morning and find yourself the subject of the lead editorial in the largest conservative publication on the planet, it is a bit jarring. However, I flag today's Wall Street Journal topline editorial today not because it is about Van Jones and me, but because it makes a genuinely important point for the progressive movement.
After citing my earlier post about how the firing of Jones "will inevitably create a chilling effect on the aspirations of other movement progressives," the Journal says this:

Mr. Sirota is speaking for many on the movement left who believe they helped to elect Mr. Obama and therefore deserve seats at the inner table of power. They are increasingly frustrated because they are discovering that Mr. Obama will happily employ "movement progressives," but only so long as their real views and motivations aren't widely known or understood. How bitter it must be to discover that the Fox News Channel's Glenn Beck, who drove the debate about Mr. Jones, counts for more at this White House than Mr. Sirota.
Bitter? Not quite. Unsurprised is a better word, really. As I had been incessantly writing before and after the presidential election (and indeed, for years before Obama ever announced as a candidate for president), Barack Obama has ties to the progressive movement, but he is an inherently cautious - and, at times, frightened - politician. He is first and foremost desperate to appease his opposition, even if his opposition is political terrorists who can never be appeased. And that's especially true as the progressive movement refuses to "make him do it" - that is, refuses to put real, organized and even unfriendly pressure on him to deliver.

The Journal is absolutely, and unfortunately, correct - right now, today's White House officials answer more to Glenn Beck, Blue Dogs and Republicans than it does to progressive members of Congress and the progressive base of the Democratic Party that got them into the White House in the first place. You can see that in the negotiations over health care and climate change. You can see that in the plans to escalate the war in Afghanistan at the urging of people like Karl Rove, and the refusal to stop Wall Street bailouts and push real Wall Street reform. You can see that even in who the president opts to give exclusive interviews to. You can, in short, see it everywhere.

Progressives don't just "believe" they deserve a seat at the table - we actually do deserve that seat, not just because we worked to elect this president, but because our stance on major issues like the public option, climate change, Wall Street reform and the war are the majoritarian positions in America. That's not speculation - polls show that's an empirical fact.

But we won't get that seat at the table unless we demand it. That means the Washington-based progressive groups have to stop kissing the White House's ass and selling out their grassroots membership. It means rank-and-file Obama supporters have to stop framing legitimate progressive pressure on Obama as some sort of disloyal desire to see Mitt Romney elected President in 2012.

It means, as I said in my last newspaper column, that we have to start thinking and acting like a real movement, and not just like sycophantic political partisans. If we do that, we'll get that seat at the table - and more importantly, we'll get the legislative results Obama originally promised, but now hesitates to champion.

This is going to take real work - and it's not going to be psychologically easy. As a personal example, my email box has been flooded with the worst kind of threatening hate mail today and over the last few days, as the conservative hate machine is keyed up by the Wall Street Journal's editorial and the CNN appearances I made this week. And I'm sure that's emblematic of the larger blowback all progressives are feeling right now as we work in communities across the country.

But that's to be expected. We are fighting for real change, and if there is one lesson from history, it is that exactly the people we are confronting today - the right-wingers, corporatists, Establishmentarians, and status quo devotees - will do everything they can to intimidate us. We can stand down or stand up - and it's long past time for the latter.

http://www.openleft.com/diary/14976/the-wall-street-journal-editorial-board-makes-a-critically-important-point

[ihavenobias]

1. Apparently Sirota didn't get the memo.

You have to wait until *at least* 3 years in before you can criticize the administration. Otherwise you're rightfully called a 'sky is falling' chicken little, hyperbolic, circular firing squad enabling doomsayer who is actually standing in the way of progress by eroding support for the president.

Oh, and Sirota is just another hack who wants to create attention for himself and he'll smear the administration if that's what it takes.

Did I leave anything out? ;)

[OhioChick]

4. I think that about sums it up...

;)

[ihavenobias]

6. Ok good.

Perfect timing as I see the recs went down from 6 to 4. The truth sure does sting, some people harder than others apparently.

[Seldona]

9. Back to 5 now, for how long? Who knows?

If others choose not to see it, we are really fucked. Pukes must be laughing their asses off at us right now. I had to keep my kids home from school to see the President speak!

I am sure there are the exception, but I am really beginning to believe those that label themselves as modern day conservatives are nothing but a bunch of racist whack jobs.

[ihavenobias]

16. They aren't playing it at their school? n/t

[Seldona]

18. Nope. Called, and the principle called the President 'controversial.'

Her word, not mine. I am steamed as hell. Mad enough to consider home schooling. THEY are the ones that want to indoctrinate children. Then again I suppose projection is one of their stock moves.

[ihavenobias]

19. In light of this and the Van Jones "resignation", how does anyone seriously argue

that we have a liberal media?

Not to mention so much other evidence to the contrary.

[Seldona]

21. Evidence isn't a priority when it comes to right-wing thought processes.

In fact, it it is often detrimental to their ideology. At least in my experience.

[roguevalley]

17. yeah. he's intensely cute. but then, I have a jones for intelligent

and thoughtful men.

[burning rain]

26. Devil-worshippers & puppy-kickers, too.

.

[Mojorabbit]

28. You forgot to mention chess. nt

[OHdem10]

2. Beck is Mainstream and his followers are setting the example for

our country.

Just watch the Media. They hop all over the country to find
the angry redfaced conservative and get their opinion.

Think about all the "on the street" interviews.

Do you think the world might come to an end if they happened
upon a real liberal, and asked them a question?? sarcasm.

The Message from the Media is: there is one party in these
United States--the Conservatives are the only people who
count.

Friends we on the left--whether we are a little bit left
of center to Center Left--we are not mainstream. Therefore,
it is just fine to ignore us.

I hope you have a good picture of what is mainstream. Their
rules apply to us all.

Punctuation corrections

[Enthusiast]

29. +1, OHdem10

And every day the M$M is characterized as "left" by one of these "conservatives" with a TV news camera in their face. In light of the fact that the Democrats won the election on every front this continued extreme media bias is ridiculous. Sad, worse than sad.

[daa]

3. Just like Bush who coulnd't give a shit what we think either

"today's White House officials answer more to Glenn Beck, Blue Dogs and Republicans than it does to progressive members of Congress and the progressive base of the Democratic Party that got them into the White House in the first place."

[Warpy]

5. He's right, but not the way he thinks he is.

Progressives are the people who'd show Obama the way if he didn't have so many DLC conservatives in his administration excluding them and blocking their ideas.

Glen Beck, on the other hand, is trying to get him killed.

[ihavenobias]

8. Who put the DLC conservatives in the administration? (Rhetorical Question) n/t

[Demeter]

12. There Is No Difference

Political death is perhaps even more a limitation than physical death. Ask Howard Dean.

[Buzz Clik]

7. Anyone believing that Beck's tantrums about Jones had anything to do with his resignation is a fool.

[pleah]

10. K&R

[Martin Eden]

11. "escalate the war in Afghanistan at the urging of people like Karl Rove"

BS on that quote.

[ihavenobias]

13. It's a fair point to disagree on although maybe it's unclear.

I think it's easy to get stuck on "Karl Rove" and ignore the "like" in front of it. His point, I think, is that the administration feels political pressure to escalate in Afghanistan (which is undeniable...pulling out of Iraq AND Afghanistan would lead to a full scale right wing offensive about Dems being weak and keeping us less safe, etc.).

Does that mean that none of them believe it's also good policy? No, not necessarily. I'm sure some of them do believe that, or at least I'd like to think they do.

So we can have a reasonable disagreement on the issue but I think it's logical to believe there were and continue to be political considerations with regard to foreign policy, like with any administration. The question is how large of a role they play which is up for debate.

[Martin Eden]

24. Political considerations ...

... it's almost impossible to remove political considerations from policy decisions. If Obama had decided on a rapid withdrawal from Afghanistan instead of increasing efforts to salvage the country, you can bet your sweet bippy there would be a HUGE political price to pay if the Taliban regained control of the country and provided a safe haven for terrorist organizations (consequences that are not unlikely). It would be a political bonanza for Rethugs and their mantra that Dems are weak on national security, and Democratic nominees for president would have to demonstrate their pro-military credentials. Withdrawal from Afghanistan could ultimately result in more, not less American militarism.

To the extent that Obama's Afghanistan policy is avoidance of that scenario and the political fallout exploited by spinmeisters like Rove, the quote I objected to has a sliver of validity. But it's a cheap shot and an unproven accusation that undermines this president and disregards the very difficult decisions he has to make in a conflict that has no easy or good options.

[fasttense]

14. It is very disappointing that after working my butt off to get President Obama elected.

I now have to work my butt off to get him to listen to us liberals.

I just thought it would be easier to get him to do the progressive thing then to do the neocon thing.

[yurbud]

15. I disagree with one thing: it's not rank & file telling progressives to sit down & shut up

It's DLCers and their astroturf supporters, which are the only kind they have besides the big money people they are wooing.

[emulatorloo]

20. more hyperbole , , , , n/t

[ihavenobias]

22. You forgot doomsayer, attention whore, circular firing squad, Obama Hater, chicken little, etc.

Come on, don't hold back! We should set a record for throwing as many progressives under the bus as possible!

;)

[depakid]

23. "Unsurprised is a better word, really."

Yep- been down that road before with Bill Clinton- and every sign was there that this administration would be no different.

What a bunch of saps. The more they pander to the right- the worse the right will get, and the less support the party and the administration will have as time goes on.

It's as if they actually want to fail- or get ineffective half measures than gain solutions to the nation's problems. Talk about a lose/lose.

[scarletwoman]

25. My 83-year-old dad -- lifelong Democrat, old union activist -- is pissed as hell.

He's going to change his voting registration to the Green Party, says he'll never vote for a Democrat again.

My dad and I have talked politics together ever since I was a kid. He's a hardcore liberal, grew up during the Depression, idolized FDR. My first lesson in politics was that the Republicans were the party of Big Business, and the Democrats were the party of the working man.

He's had it with the modern Democrats. He says from now on, he's going to vote for Green Party candidates only. He sees this as his only way to protest the betrayal of the working class by the Dems.

Shame on Obama and the Democratic party to drive a good man like my father to despair with their DLC, Third Way, triangulating bullshit.

I'll support my dad.

sw

[emsimon33]

27. Obama & his cronies have seriously under-estimated the anger

I think that they will finally get it in 2010 when we simply don't show up at the polls, or maybe a bit earlier, when we don't volunteer or open our wallets and our homes!

As much as I would hate another Republican power grab, perhaps that is what it will take to get those in the seats of power in the Democratic Party to start serving us and other rational Americans and not the Fox mob and corporate interests that harm the public good.

[Peacetrain]

30. Did you show up at the last election?

[emsimon33]

31. I took 9 months from work

and volunteered for the Obama campaign in five states and then worked in a red state -- all at my own expense-- for the last four months of the campaign. The last three days before the election, I didn't sleep at all--not a wink and didn't even take time for a shower! I also walked several hundred miles canvassing for Obama!