How the Left must handle President Obama

I was recently asked to comment on an article by Linda Burnham about how the Left, specifically the anti-Capitalist Left, should feel about and work with the Obama Administration. It’s called “Notes on an Orientation to the Obama Presidency”.

There is real debate about how ardent Leftists, Progressive activists, think-tanks, etc. should approach the government under President Obama. Groups that have felt alienated by American politics and the pervasiveness of Conservative ideology have been frustrated & cynical for the past 60 years. They are not content with incremental solutions to big problems. They are almost offended when with presented with nuanced distinctions in policy or rhetoric that at the end of the day is not demonstrably different from the status quo.

While I find myself in this group much more often than not, there are some real opportunities to make progress on a fundamentally Progressive agenda. We must take proper advantage of these times, lest this once-in-a-generation opportunity pass us by.

Here is my full response:

Palin…The Conservative Trojan Horse

Governor Sarah Palin. I am speechless really. I have been following the coverage since she she was announced as McSame’s VP candidate. Later on I will outline the outright lies she spewed in her speech last night. But first, let me say that I am scared with this Palin nomination because I fear that Democrats will underestimate her ability to sway people toward McCain. Someone once told me that people never remember what you say, they only remember how you make them feel. And if that logic holds true, Palin’s life story is very compelling and will go a long way towards her becoming the Trojan Horse that gets McSame in the White House. Now mind you I have said nothing about issues (of which I disagree with her on so many levels) but in the end issues really don’t matter. And if you don’t believe me, check out this excerpt from George Lakoff,

But the Palin nomination changes the game. The initial response has been to try to keep the focus on external realities, the “issues,” and differences on the issues. But the Palin nomination is not basically about external realities and what Democrats call “issues,” but about the symbolic mechanisms of the political mind — the worldviews, frames, metaphors, cultural narratives, and stereotypes. The Republicans can’t win on realities. Her job is to speak the language of conservatism, activate the conservative view of the world, and use the advantages that conservatives have in dominating political discourse.

Democrats, if you want to win, realize that for as much as issues matter, you can’t do anything about the issues until you win so I beg that anyone supporting Obama imagine that you are the perpetual underdog until the polls close November 4th. Below is a clip from the Daily Show that debunks this whole gender card foolishness followed by an abbreviated breakdown of how Palin lied to America last night.

If that wasn’t enough, here is a more detailed fact-based analysis of how she lied in her unusually cynical speech, (Thanks Laurin!)

Fact Check of Governor Palin’s Speech