Not Gonna Happen

There's been an uptick in the "people that matter" wondering what the Dirty Fucking Hippies are going to do this fall. It's odd the way every establishment, from the Democratic party, to the "traditional", "Liberal", media heaps scorn on the DFH's and then all of a sudden start to wonder if the lefties might skip an election.

Why, yes, yes we are. Thank you.

Andrew Sullivan;

If you backed Obama and want to see real change continue, now is not the time to give up because it's not as easy as you thought it would be. Now is the time to oppose the passionate intensity of his opponents with the reasoned conviction that elected him.

Remember: we are the ones we've been waiting for. Are we really going to substitute pique for purpose and ennui for hope now? By all means criticize when necessary, as I have. But he's the best we've got, and we are lucky to have him.

Paul Krugman;

Just to be clear, progressives would be foolish to sit out this election: Mr. Obama may not be the politician of their dreams, but his enemies are definitely the stuff of their nightmares. But Mr. Obama has a responsibility, too. He can’t expect strong support from people his administration keeps ignoring and insulting.

Atrios;

Everything Liberal Activists Do Is Wrong And Destructive

That's the message I've been hearing from the Very Serious People ever since I started paying attention. I don't know the best way to get more liberal policies and more liberal people in office, but I also don't think the fortunes of Obama and Democrats depend much on how loudly I clap. More than that, if the volume of my clapping is that important then people should be spending a bit more time and money ensuring that I've got an adequate supply of hand lotion to keep my hands in peak clapping form.

Obama even sent a video recording to the Kos DFH convention a couple weeks ago, asking everyone to be "enthused" or some shit.

Here's the thing...

Virtually every single policy position that the DFH's consider important are also popular with the American public. I'm not going to bother, but I could track down the entire list of issues, and then link each to polling data that showed most Americans favored that view. Most Americans really are Dirty Fucking Hippies. Americans supported the public option in the HCR for example..

Trying to woo the DFH's with threats that the Republicans are far worse, is not that much of a threat. What are they going to do? Cut our taxes some more? Jebus, we better not vote Republican!

Atrios is right that what we think really doesn't matter. The minutia of American politics doesn't affect the larger public because they're not paying attention, so I don't get why Sullivan or anybody else cares what the Hippies think. They obviously don't care when it comes to implementing policy, so why should they care when it comes to elections?

Personally, I think what Obama has done has set back Liberal politics for a generation. Right after 2 terms of a Republican President that rammed through every policy proposal (except killing social security) and bullshit war they wanted, we got a weak Democratic President that reinforced the meme that Liberals can't get anything done - even when given the executive and super majorities in both houses of Congress. It's okay to be dismissive of the Hippies. Big daddy Republican will be back in office soon, and they'll "get things done".

I really did buy the whole hopey changey thing. I sent them money. They blew it. I'm not going to reward that by being "enthused" and voting for them again. I don't care how bad the Republicans will fuck shit up - because the more shit gets fucked up, the better our (me and John) position relative to everyone else improves. They got one chance for me to be concerned about the "average" American.

Now I just want to see it all burn, because when you don't care about the policy anymore, you can view American politics as a spectator sport. I'm pretty sure that's what all the high-profile Hippies like Atrios consider politics now. For many, it's a means to make money, and for some of us, it's hoping like mad that Sarah Palin becomes President because that would be the funniest.. shit.. ever.

I think Chimpy said it best;

Fool me once.. shame on you.. Fool me twice.. we dont' get fooled again.

....

Chaquita is in a better mood today because John paid her, and now they can move into their new rental house. They are being evicted out of their old house and have to be out by the end of the month (tomorrow).

Their margin for homelessness is $300.

I really do have genuine empathy for that. The Loon Brigade insists that if there was no real threat that their family would end up living under a bridge, then they would have no incentive to "work".. and America would crumble to dust under the weight of all the slackers living off the gov'mint tit that the hard working real Americans provide.

Not only do I have empathy for that, but I was willing to spend money and effort and vote.. to help elect politicians that held similar views and would be able to implement policies that would provide a better environment where families like Chaquita's could succeed. An improved economy and job situation would help, you know.

But.. since the politicians we've got suck, I don't see any reason to lift a finger for them. I really really want to see Sarah Palin as President. As long as they don't accidentally nuke Dallas - anything else she does will be golden.