I don't have anything against Hillary. I just don't think she's the right person for the job right now. She's a wonk. If the country was prosperous and peaceful and moving down the right path, a wonk like the Clintons is just who we need to lead the country, because wonks take what's working and make it work even better. But wonks aren't dreamers, and I think this country is hungry for a dreamer who can help us find a better way and lead this country down a better path. Why do you think the Kossites squee like teenage girls whenever Obama burps out something that even vaguely sounds like he’s looking forward to a better America?
What we need is a serious national discussion about what kind of nation we want to be and how we are going to get there. Wonks don’t do that. Wonks are totally focused on the here and now. But focusing on the here and now is no good if we don’t also look at the future. What kind of country do we want to be? What do we want our country to be like in ten years, twenty years, thirty years? And what kind of people running for office are going to get us there? A detail-oriented wonk is not the kind of person who can embrace a vision of American-that-could-be and sell it. Because that's what we need right now. I don't think any of us in this room think this nation is moving in the right direction. Yet people in the left and center, and traditional conservatives, seem afraid to dream, afraid to express a belief in what this nation should and could be, afraid that in these times where we are fighting such vile darkness such dreaming will merely get them laughed at. But without dreams that are not nightmares, where are we? Without dreams of a better America, the only dreamers are the theocrats, who in their konklaves dream of an America that is Saudi Arabia except with the Bible rather than the Koran used as the excuse to keep women servile, the darkies in their place, and the ruling class on top of all. And without a dreamer willing to give us a better dream, that is where we will be.
In the next election, we will have an opportunity that we haven't had since Nixon screwed up the Republican Party in the early 70's. Nixon discredited the Republican Party and Republican principles in much the same way that George W. Bush has done for this generation, and for a short time it appeared that the Republican Party would not hold power again within the lifetime of those who'd experienced his regime. But a wonk rather than a dreamer won in 1976, and we know what happened. Let's not squander it *again* by electing Jimmy Carter Lite to office. Because we all know how that worked the first time. Jimmy was -- and is -- a nice man. But he did not know what to do with the historic opportunity that had been granted to him -- and neither does Hillary, if she's elected.
- Badtux the Political Penguin
Well, said Badtux.
ReplyDeleteIt is time to renew.
Let's develop the opportunities in global warming: energy change, work change, people change.
There is so much we don't know and so much we do know that we don't use. Let's go after that. And, please, could we include everybody instead of deciding whose on the 'A' list before we have a plan to build the raft by?
Thank you.
--ml
Well, we need God, pissed off and with an attitude about how things should be.
ReplyDeleteHillery has just become part of the bible packing club of capitalists. She is owned.
Please spare us.
I agree, Badtux. Hillary should step take her hat out of the ring and give her party a running chance of wining. With that said, I still don't think it's gonna matter much who runs if we cannot be sure our votes will actually be counted, and by that I don't mean being counted by the Supreme Court.
ReplyDelete