Natahsa, who needed sleep this morning, calls this series "Morning No" because reading the news often elicts a response of "oh, no!"
2,000 years of GDP
Looking back through history, check out this captivating chronology of worldwide Gross Domestic Product, by region, over the last 2,000 years.
India was in the lead until 1500, when China took over. Western Europe became the equal of those two powers by 1700, and by the mid-19th century, the British Empire had moved to #1. The United States did not take over until after WWI. Personally, I was particularly interested to find that India was ever in the lead (wouldn't have guessed), and that the Roman Empire was, apparently, almost as industrious as the Chinese Empire 2,000 years ago (always wondered about that).
As cool as these lists are, they also demonstrate that Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) measurements of total GDP are a useless measurement of power. In 1820, India is listed as having a GDP three times as great the United Kingdom, even though the UK ruled almost all of India in 1820.
Mittens!
Looking ahead to 2012, Mitt Romey's approval ratings have moved sharply upward, according to Pew. The only other recent poll on Romney, conducted by CNN, confirms his upward rise.
It is hard to accept that this is because of anything Romney actually did, given that he has been so invisible that the number of people who don't know who he is has actually increased. As such, the world must be shifting under Romney's feet in a way that is proving more beneficial to him than any of his campaigning ever was. Too bad for him that, in order to become President, he will have to start campaigning again.
Is change even possible?
Forgetting about elections for a moment. Ezra Klein has a surprisingly depressing post about how no strategy, and no combination of elected officials, might make it possible to "enact wise legislation solving pressing problems." Given how relatively little change there has been even though there is a wide Democratic trifecta, significantly alternated national demographics, a new media landscape, and vast hatred of corporate power, I am sometimes inclined to think the same way. Discussions of short-term strategy and tactics often imply that we are close to achieving sweeping change, and just need to tweak our messaging and organizational structure a bit. But, as Senator Dick Durbin said after the cramdown defeat, "banks frankly own the place." Throw in our antiquated, unrepresentative Senate framework, and a 50-state structure which, more often than not, props up corporate power through a regulatory race to the bottom, and it really does often feel like we are dealing with an utterly indomitable status quo.
Harry Reid's staff can't lower the bar fast enough
My occasional feelings of futility aren't helped much by the Senate Democratic leadership tripping over itself to say that, even though Al Franken gives Democrats 60 votes in the Senate, and even though the Democratic leadership spent years raising money off trying to reach 60 votes, that 60 votes doesn't really matter much at all:
"It's true," said Manley [Harry Reid's press secretary] when reached by phone. "It is obviously sometimes difficult to say this to your audience [Huffington Post readers]. While this is, of course, good news to the people of Minnesota, President Obama, and the Senate Democratic, Franken's mere presence alone will not mean that the Democrats will be able to jam through our agenda, or make it any less critical for Democrats and Republicans to work together. We have a diverse caucus who represent diverse constituencies. No one's vote is ever automatic. Also... we have two senators that currently aren't voting right now. But then I would go back and say that up until now we have gotten very little to no help from Republicans who say no against everything and are prepared to bet on this president to fail."
Fine. Whatever. Keep spitting up whatever excuses you want. I'm sick of pretending that electing a bunch of more Democrats, and pleading with them to do the right thing, is actually going to change much at all. And I'm equally sick of the common left-wing response of threatening to vote for a third-party. Yeah, that has proven sooooo effective. The leadership isn't leading, and the longstanding alternatives just don't work.
Fortunately, there is a new strategy emerging independent of the Obama administration, independent of the Democratic congressional leadership, independent even of electoral politics and the many lame, staid, milquetoast progressive advocacy organizations. As I will discuss later today, and in the first episode of 300 Seconds, The Progressive Block is the new path. McJoan gave a good rundown of the strategy on Sunday, and Firedoglake has been absolutely instrumental in pulling it together. |
