Progressive Blogs (4.00 / 3)

and all that they have taught me. They have removed the blinders of mass media and have finally delivered me unto a community of like minded adults and given me respite from the bigoted, homophobic wingnuts I call family. Thank You.

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by: rtfmplease @ Thu Nov 27, 2008 at 17:22:17 PM UTC

And Thankful For Bloggers Like Paul... (4.00 / 2)

...who invest the time and energy to express their point-of-view.  And take, and give heat to "discussers" like moi'.

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by: steve katz @ Thu Nov 27, 2008 at 18:02:26 PM UTC

I'm also thankful for the Prop 8 response (4.00 / 2)

I chose not to participate in the protests in the aftermath of Prop 8's success, and now I regret that. I thought the protests would do nothing or worse, and I am so glad to see I was wrong. And although the clear defeat of Prop 8 would have furthered California's movement towards a more progressive and equitable state, the success of Prop 8 may indeed move the entire nation towards those goals.


"Don't hate the media, become the media" -Jello Biafra

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by: LandStander @ Thu Nov 27, 2008 at 18:12:41 PM UTC

as for prop 8 (0.00 / 0)

i wish some voters had the intelligence and courage to see bigotry when it is on a ballot and not take the usual knee jerk reaction to progress, then blame their prejudiced vote on ignorance, stupidity and bigotry yes, but ignorance is no excuse for voting hate in america when almost everyone claims respect for others, i exempt the wasp wingnuts of course.  

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by: pc @ Thu Nov 27, 2008 at 21:50:44 PM UTC

Thankful for People (like Paul) Who Can Celebrate Victories... (4.00 / 2)

...yes limited victories, yes compromised victories, yes incomplete victories, but still victories, progress.  With few exceptions, this is how progressive change happens.  And each small step is important and it serves us well to celebrate.  

I am thankful that in the course of the Obama campaign, the role of grassroots organizing was spotlighted, expectations were raised, and there now seems to be a stronger sense of collective agency in this country than I've ever felt in my 14 years of organizing and 30 years of life.  The paralyzing thought that "shit sucks but we can't do anything about it" seems to have lost its hold on millions of people.  Regardless of what the Obama Administration does or doesn't do, this raised sense of political agency - let alone all the young progressive-leaning people who have gained important organizing skills in the course of the campaign - is a good unto itself.  It builds the potential of progressive social movements.  This is the hope that social movement trainers like Miles Horton and Paulo Freire saw as a prerequisite for participation in struggles for change.  

I am thankful that I feel hopeful about our potential in this shifting political climate.

"What can we do today, so that tomorrow we can do what we are unable to do today?" -Paulo Freire

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by: Matthew Smucker @ Fri Nov 28, 2008 at 01:08:43 AM UTC

Thankful... not exactly... but (0.00 / 0)

I'm glad that Bush's reign is finally at an end.

I will only be thankful about the election of Obama if he does something do end the war in Iraq. I can't be content with our country while it goes about meting out endless slaughter. And his stated plan to move our troops to Afghanistan doesn't make me particularly thankful either. I'm tired of sending young Americans to their deaths. Hey, but that's just me.

I will also only know if the election of our first president with an African father signals any change in the nature of racial equality in this country. The violent and decrepit state of the black ghettos around the country received little or no attention from the Obama campaign. So far, the election of Obama only means to me that the economic crisis coming to a head when it did, made American voters rush to vote for an alternative to the republicans.

Nor am I convinced that Obama's election signaled any change in America's capacity for stereotyping minorities. Every time I see name of the football team, "Redskins", or "'Skins", I feel that our capacity to numb ourselves to the degradation of peoples other than ourselves is in full bloom.

The defeat of the opposition to Prop 8 is also telling. Look at the demographics of the people voting for Prop 8. Look at the lack of leadership on the part of the democratic party, the leaders of which were falling over themselves to assure Americans that they supported the "traditional" view of marriage. To gently spin this defeat for civil liberties and equal rights into a hopeful sign of more activism is kind of sweet, but I don't feel any sense of thankfulness.

And speaking of civil liberties, we will be finding out whether or not Obama is the most progressive president in forty years. He will either try to undo the damage wrought by the Patriot Act (the renewal of which he voted for), or he will let this assault on our privacy and liberty will be allowed to stand.

So, I am thankful that many of us are still here.
Thanks about it.
That's not nothing, but I have no warm and fuzzy feeling this Thanksgiving.

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by: lentinel @ Fri Nov 28, 2008 at 11:24:51 AM UTC

One more Senate class (4.00 / 1)

Most of all, I'm thankful that less than two months of George W. Bush and Henry Paulsen and Dick Cheney in power are left.

I'm thankful there's one more Republican-dominated Senate class to tear through in 2010.

I'm thankful that the House looks to be oin Democratic hands for a long time to come.

I'm thankful that 88 year old "Republican liberal" John Paul Stevens has the option of retiring without lurching the SCOTUS rightward.

I'm thankful that blogs exist and even more thankful that liberal Democratic ones exist.

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by: David Kowalski @ Sat Nov 29, 2008 at 00:14:17 AM UTC