The burning bush of progressivism

"The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."

- attributed to 19th c. minister, Rev. Theodore Parker, popularized by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., in a commencement address to Wesleyan University, 1964

Take your sandals from your feet, America. We've climbed the mountain, and stand on the holy ground of progressivism. Feel the heat of rigorous, enforceable gun laws. See the burning triumph of love over intolerance in the fight for marriage equality. Hear your own meek voices rising to a crescendo on immigration reform, fair wages and feeding the hungry. The call has gone out. Though rainmaker lobbyists and extreme ideologues have unleashed a hell storm of fire on sanity and common sense, our republic will not be consumed. Tell the stiff necked in Congress, more beholden to what is good for their careers than what is good for the country, to let our government go, that it may worship the reality of a functional America. After more than thirty years in the wilderness of anti-union, anti-government and anti-social welfare policy, welcome back to the mountain top. Before us lies the promised land. This is not the time for humility or discretion because who we continue to be as a country is what is at stake, not just for the Joseph Campbell sized myth with which we regard ourselves, but also the story we write for our place in the world.

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Power, Political Will and the New Movement for Democracy

"The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted."
- James Madison

Power motivates and constipates, elevates and eviscerates. Where do you stand?

"You can't stop a movement."
- Johnny 5 of The Flobots

Now is the time to recognize that not all Americans on the left are being ripped apart, excused or held back by a so-called "enthusiasm gap." For over 300 people meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, this past weekend, the worst of the gap is nothing more than a couple of centimeters between the ledge we stand on and the rest of the short climb to the mountain top - and that's only if we choose to line up behind this media driven division.

Some may allow themselves to linger, to indulge in the lazy luxury of voter vertigo that can make even the tiniest of spaces look like an intraversable gorge - but that's not how futures are built, how ships are guided or how countries thrive.

When the six-month-old Coffee Party Movement held its first ever national convention on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, two blocks from the museum dedicated to favorite son Muhammad Ali, it was not to bemoan the gap but to celebrate the fight for our country's return to its founding democratic principles. It was, in deference to the famous pugilist, a gathering of the greatest... and some famous people too.

Indeed, the fight-card was set by young Rebecca Baird, a recent college graduate and one of the event organizers, who exhorted those gathered for Friday's opening session to "roll up our sleeves and make it happen," and literally pulled the sleeves of her sweater up her small arms and curled her fists over her shoulders, making a pair of strong-man muscles. "Doing what's hard is what's good and right," she said. "Whether it's a mental or a physical challenge, you're going to come out stronger from it."

Then switch to the sixty-six year old Francis Moore Lappé, author of the seminal Seventies classic, "Diet for a Small Planet," and founder, with her daughter Anna, of The Small Planet Institute, who similarly curled her arms, saying, "This feels really good," and reminded all of us just how powerful we are. "We see power as what we create, moment to moment," she said.

Lt. Dan Choi brought the crowd to its feet with his version of Jesse Jackson's famous "I am somebody" mantra. Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig got us to believe that the Fair Elections Now Act (which just came out of committee in the House) is what everyone wants, regardless of what your beverage of choice happens to be.

Seattle activist Bill Moyer (not the similarly named journalist), founder of Backbone Campaign - as in "get one, fellow progressives" - talked about the inherent contagiousness of "celebrating progressive values," and quoted the late, great Sixties activist Abbie Hoffman, who told him to "be the 800 pound gorilla."

[caption id="attachment_323" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Bill Moyer, of the Backbone Campaign, leads a course on Creative Actions, at the first Coffee Party Convention in Louisville, KY, Friday, September 24, 2010 (Rebecca Baird)"][/caption]

Even centrist Republican strategist, Mark McKinnon, told the group that "something is happening in America..we've got a real opportunity to change the system."

"The time is ripe," he said, and quoted James Madison, who said, in 1897, "The people are the fountain of all power."

"The revolt is widespread," McKinnon added, "From the left and the right, citizens recognize that democracy does not work when the power of the people is perverted."

The power of political will, when it comes to moving the country forward cannot be taken for granted. "You can't stop," as singer Johnny 5 of the Flobots called out to the audience who had come to hear his conscious rap, "a movement."

The next thing I will post, is how and why the policy experts at the Coffee Party Convention say Fair Elections is the best way we can change the tenor of the conversation in Washington, DC.
Video from the Coffee Party Convention are available through U-stream.

Driving America Into the Ground

"Let's see how long it takes for the Democrats to drive America into the ground," she said, and she said it viscerally, with an angry passion usually reserved for Hitler, the KKK or an ex-spouse.

Her biting comment was sparked by friend and frequent PnT contributor Bruce Kay, who had purposely worn a vintage Humphrey-Muskie button as a friendly jab to a Republican tennis teammate on his birthday. It was during a casual dinner with friends who have very little in common socially other than we all play on the same tennis team. Because of that, it was not surprising that no one engaged her or that she did not continue with her vitriol.

Our tennis team, you see, is a microcosm of our divided country (although being in Georgia, there are more Republicans than Democrats), and we are all hyper-aware of that. A response of any measure, therefore, might have "ruined" the evening, according to Americans' standard rules of socially acceptable engagement.

Regardless of the awkward circumstances, her remark was an eye opening moment for me. I mean, I know I'm not alone in thinking that the Republicans have spent at least the last six years "running the country into the ground". Aren't the missed 9/11 warnings, the fiasco in Iraq and the abandoning of New Orleans evidence of the Republicans' tragic mismanagement of our citizens' welfare?

One may conclude that this two party finger pointing could mean that both are right, that the agendas of both parties are ruining the country. But as pathetically attractive as that notion is, there are a lot of reasons to believe that is not true.

With forums like this weblog and other socially appropriate places to broadcast our opinions, all one has to do is watch the talking heads on C-Span and the Sunday news shows to know that we are being heard. We form the opinions that are echoed by our policy makers in Washington. Despite the attempts of the corporate-run media to classify issues as Democratic or Republican, Liberal or Conservative, there is consensus in the Congress of the United States. It is the mortar of practicality upon which our divided house stands.

Issues like minimum wage and the "Surge" have crossed the proverbial aisle and have strong proponents in both parties. The only difference is that the last Congress would not have dared to bring these debates to the floor for fear of offending their contributors or confronting their president. In an effort to appear united, Republicans in the last Congress, with a few notable exceptions, avoided anything that resembled independent thinking.

So the next time someone tells you that your favorite political party is driving the country into the ground, remind them that more than any other time in recent history, they have the ear of Congress. Because of that, our representatives have the potential to reach consensus now more than they ever have before, and we can be truly represented, and that is great for America.

-PBG