Fire and Ice

[H2O Man]

30. Well, thank you!

What a nice message!

Though I've said it 101 times on DU, I suppose 102 can't hurt. Obama's 2008 election came in on a great wave of energy. Part of it was the national democratic political machine, but even that became a surf-board riding a huge grass roots wave.

However, once he was elected, far too many people believed the hard work was done. Victory was at hand. Now President Obama would change things. In one of the better books from his first term in office, a top aide admitted that the White House had not been focused on keeping that grass roots movement energized and active (some of my books are upstairs, and so I'm not providing the exact quote).

That wave of energy ceased. We could point fingers at the President, his staff, the grass roots, the media's post election focus on the Tea Party, or that our shoes were tied too tightly. Or we could learn from that error -- which created a vacuum that was soon filled by the fear and hatred of the rabid right. In my humble opinion, we should not waste time blaming anyone or everyone, and dedicate our energies toward recreating that energy.

Now, no matter if a person likes or dislikes President Obama .....if they believe he is potentially a transformational figure, or view him as a cog in the 1%'s machine .....the answer remains the same: what are each one of us doing?

And yes! While I would advise you to be far more careful in your future choices in these areas, you are stuck with me! Ha!