Progressive PA

      The world appears to be a scary, uncertain place and we have entered a political period defined by fear, nervousness, and irrational behavior.  Nobody in our public arena really stands for anything and the answer to the problem is not on cable news or in a tea bag.  The answer lies in something as old as mankind and as obvious as the nose on our collective face.  Drum roll please.  COMMON SENSE!!!  That’s right folks, the complex and fancy way for us to deal with our problems is a healthy and much-needed dose of good old common sense.  It’s cheap, it’s easy to use, and you probably have some lying around somewhere that you aren’t using anyway.

                My boss and I decided the other day that if he and I, Republican and Democrat, can sit down and have a rational conversation that ends in more agreement than disagreement then anyone can do it.  We decided, in a moment of shear light bulb eureka, that we need a Common Sense Party.  A party made up of people who actually want to solve problems and discuss issues.  Imagine a group of people who have civil conversation about their disagreements and try to resolve them in a sensible and respectful manner and then imagine that group of people passing laws and making policies based on those very same resolutions.  Civil debate and respectful disagreement without the need to call people Nazi, socialist, crazies…ah, to dream the impossible dream!

                Even if you decide a third party is not the answer you can at least accept my basic premise that the noise and the nasty need to stop.  I have always held a deep belief that the majority of Americans are calm, sensible folks who lead decent lives, go quietly about their daily lives, and try to be kind to their neighbors.  Most of us aren’t extremists, racists, homophobes, sexists, Marxists, radicals, or even all that angry.  We simply want a fair place to live and work each day and we want to hear that politicians and presidents are trying to live up to the expectation of life, liberty, and a chance at happiness.  We want common sense back.  We want a country that functions on the premise that civility, justice, and fairness should be the guiding factors in our dealings with each other.  We want the yelling to stop and the conversation to begin.  We want everyone to get a grip, take a breath, and just calm down.        

                Common sense is supposed to be common and, believe it or not, it is.  Listen to yourselves for a change, think for yourselves and stop letting the 24-hour political news cycle tell you what you think, believe, and need.  Elections are not about parties, power, or even political waves.  They are about people and the chance each of us has to have our voice heard and our needs understood.  Democracy isn’t easy, freedom isn’t easy, and heaven knows that the responsibility that comes with each isn’t easy; but, we should take on that responsibility with pride and respect and not with disdain and juvenile shouting matches.

                Common sense is nothing more than the realization of responsibility, fairness, and basic justice…use it!

Again we find ourselves in the throws of a campaign season filled to the brim with punditry, misinformation, and hyped up polls.  Many are asking themselves which political party, which ideology, and which candidate they should cast their vote for; and, as usual many are grumbling the familiar phrase, “There is no difference anyway.”  Alas my pessimistic politicos, there is a difference and we are faced with real and meaningful choices about the direction of our Divided States of America. 

I am a progressive, a liberal, a leftie and I am concerned about the perception that troubles in our nation should routinely be blamed on the party that holds the majority in congress.  To that end, we face an election that may result in the elevation of ideologically driven fundamentalists to positions of power simply because they aren’t the other guy.  That, my friends, is a terrifying tea bag!  So, in order to clarify the real choices we face in this great country of ours, I offer these truths to be self evident:

1.  Obstructionism is the great flaw driving dissatisfaction with congress.

Recent polling indicates record low approval ratings for congress.  I am completely NOT surprised by this as it is clear that congress can’t even vote to tie their own shoes without a Republican filibuster.  Let’s be clear about this.  Republicans in congress, primarily the senate, have been deliberately and knowingly obstructing progress at every turn.  Your congress is ineffective because the Republican “party of no” has opted to sell nothingness as good policy.  They have not offered any viable alternatives, taken part in any meaningful negotiation, or worked a single second to actually legislate. 

How can anyone look at this behavior and determine that electing conservatives is the solution to the problem?  THEY ARE THE PROBLEM!!!

2.  Hype is not fact and pundits don’t write history.

Each day, we are told by various talking heads that the Democrats are doomed to lose congressional seats and that is simply the way it is.  I am not suggesting that past election cycles don’t prove this theory; but, I am suggesting that we need not accept this scenario without trying to change it.  Voters tend to be bummed out when they hear that their party is doomed which ultimately leads to poor turn out.  Some media personalities are actively trying to encourage Dems to take matters into their own hands and change this pattern; yet, most analysts are content to accept the past as the future.  The 2008 election and all the primaries that led to it proved that the status quo need not be accepted.  President Obama would do well to stand up and take on this “common wisdom” in a way that motivates Democratic voters to defy it.

Don’t let the media make up your mind for you…GO AND VOTE!!!

3.  Past mistakes matter and who we blame matters more

I know the Republicans hate it when we do this; but, we cannot let them of the hook for a decade of mistakes that led to the economic and political disasters we are currently facing.  The economy fell under their watch and anyone who blames Democrats for it is simply not being genuine.  A return to Republican majority would result in the same archaic and flawed policies that led us to the brink of depression one too many times.

4.  Republicans aren’t interested in doing what they say

Every election results in a series of meaningless promises from Republicans to energize their base.  They feed their base and some disgruntled independents a line of impossible goals that are purely for show.  Republicans have no real intention of outlawing abortion, amending the constitution, or strengthening the middle class.  If you do the research and actually analyze their policies, they are intent upon making rich people richer and making middle class people poor.  They are all about big business, wall street, and special interest. 

Abortion and amending the Constitution are empty topics.  Not a single thing has been done in recent history to stop abortion and they know it!  They are lying to you!  If they meant it, they would be working to make adoption more accessible and to make unwanted pregnancy less prevalent.  Instead, they ignore reality and push abstinence programs that do nothing to reduce unwanted pregnancy and make the problem worse.  Amending the Constitution is an exercise in futility and they know there is no way they will actually be able to do it.  It is hard and it takes forever and Republicans are only suggesting it because they want to get you all worked up.  I am setting aside the idea that the people who worship the Constitution as infallible are constantly promising to change it…so much for their respect for the founding fathers.

Republicans like to talk about corruption and the evils of Washington; but, they have not done a single thing to curb corporate involvement in elections or to deal with corruption within their own ranks.  We have Republican senators who have solicited prostitutes and paid off mistresses and nobody within the Republican Party seems to think this is a problem.  Instead, they let these hypocrites comment on moral issues as though they had legitimate standing to do so.  Republicans take just as much, if not more, money from lobbyists and special interests as do their Democratic counterparts. 

The conservatives are totally aware of their inability to deliver on anything; but, they still sell it to you every election as though you should continue to give them more and more chances to blow smoke up your ass and not deliver a single meaningful piece of legislation or policy change. 

5.  Having no platform does not a platform make

Can someone please tell me what policy positions the Republicans actually have?  Perhaps they can run on repealing Health Care Reform; but, what do they propose to put in its place?  Perhaps they can run to stop the Obama agenda; but, what agenda do they offer as a contrast?  I don’t know the answers to these questions because there are no answers to these questions.

Republicans want smaller government right?  This is the party that oversaw the largest expansion of government since FDR under the Bush administration.  Smaller government, what does that mean? 

If these folks have such disdain for government, why exactly are they trying so hard to become a part of it?

6.  Purity and Tea Parties make for terrible governance

The Republican Party is now more conservative and extreme than it has ever been.  Their candidates are forced to take “pure” positions dictated to them by a group of misguided ideologs who like to yell and have tea parties.  Candidates who bow down to the Tea Party and its tiny percentage of votes are led down a dangerous path of extremism that can only be bad for our democracy and our country.  These people love to shout about freedom and less government but they have no problem bullying those who oppose them and shutting down debate.  They like freedom as long as it is theirs and they want smaller government as long as they get to keep their Medicare and Social Security Checks. 

Political purity is nonsense!  We live in a diverse country made up of people who fall into varying levels of political awareness and political ideology.  Americans as a whole will never be purely right or purely left.  But, the arch of social evolution tends to bend toward progress and away from purity.  The purity test that Republican candidates must pass is a dangerous and devastating assault on the basic founding principles of Democracy and representative government.  Electing those who pass this purity test is basically giving them a free pass to ignore any voter who doesn’t agree with their “pure” politics. 

The problem is simple.  Extremism in any form makes for bad government.  Democracy cannot exist when ideology replaces pragmatism.

7.  THINK FOR YOURSELF

DO THE RESEARCH PEOPLE!!!  Don’t let the media or the candidates feed you facts.  Take some time to look at the reality you live in.  I am a big fan of independent thinking and I would rather have an informed voter vote for someone I disagree with than have a bunch of lemmings vote for someone because they were told to.  There is a place for debate and for disagreement in this great democracy of ours; but, we have stopped talking to each other.  Voters have allowed media hype to replace common sense and we are dangerously close to allowing fantasy and falsehood to replace the stark realities that we see every single day.  So much of the information we receive is simply invented.  Take the time to have a rational and informed opinion and don’t allow yourself to become an echo chamber for talking points and lies.

It is hard to trust politicians.  It always has been.  But, it is much less difficult to trust your own instincts and your own reality.  I believe in this democracy and I love this country, even when it fails me.  But, I am sickened by the way that current political discourse cheapens and devalues all of us.  We have a responsibility to be actively engaged and fully informed citizens of this nation.  It is our duty to do right by all Americans.  We cannot do that if we refuse to engage in our own government.

Progressives should be energized by the simple fact that there is too much at stake in every single election to sit it out or stop trying.  Politicians will disappoint you and presidents will upset you; but, that doesn’t mean you stop fighting for your country and its future.  I am not willing to accept the common wisdom and I will not be the victim of political cycles.  I will go out and I will vote because I care about this country, our future, and the principles of Democracy.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Politics has a unique way of making us forget that there are real people with real lives in the world.  Cable news is consistently focused on the political details of tragedy in a way that makes the real tragedy seem obscure.  The fact is that oil is still spilling into the Gulf of Mexico as I type.  People’s lives are officially on the brink of destruction, wildlife and plants are dying, and the lives of those who live in this area will never be the same.  We are confronting the largest oil spill in United States history and there is no way to know when, how, or if we will ever recover from it. 

The political talk has turned toward blame.  Who is to blame, why they are to blame, and how much they should be blamed for…There is no clearer villain than the power of corporate money and its ability to make, bend, and dismiss rules and regulation.  The blame begins and ends with the most ancient hubris of all-greed.  The corporate powers that conspired to create this disaster are clearly the guilty parties here; but, a political tradition of monetary influence and votes that can be bought and sold are equally to blame.  No doubt there will be plenty of time to blame BP and even the president, as ludicrous as it may be, but the fact remains that there is still a big hole in the bottom of the sea and nobody know how to close it.  We need to plug this hole and until we do nothing else much matters.

After a long break, I have decided to revive Progressive PA.  I admit that I have been considering the complete abandonment of all political and social commentary due to the harsh, poisonous, and irrational atmosphere of our modern political commentary.  However, it seems clear that the most effective way to combat the poison is to offer an antidote.  We must be willing to offer an alternative.  As Americans, we are part of a rich history that was built on a foundation of hope and strength and not on the fear and filth that currently infects our political discourse.  Before we can change the nation for the better, we must change the conversation.  I hope that with a post here and there, I can be a part of a real and rational discussion.  I cannot promise to be without impassioned rants now and then; but, I can assure readers that my goal is to foster discussion and to encourage each of you to think for yourself, draw your own conclusions, and find a way to sort through the rampant misinformation that plagues our mass media.

This blog is a place to talk, to debate, and to share…let the discussion begin!