Open Left

On the political front

I don't think that a progressive block is enough. See how we lost the FISA fight despite having such a block in both houses. And the progressive caucus has been unsuccessfully trying to end the war for years without success. What we need is a working political coalition between a progressive block on our side and a libertarian block on the other side, e.g. people like Paul, Flake, Jones, etc. Because I believe that Obama, Pelosi and Reid will not hesitate to find votes on the other side to make up for missing votes on their side.

Obama has long since set the stage for this rhetorically--by design, I believe--with his endless calls for bipartisanship. That wasn't just a wish, but a promise. He was, I think, telling the left to either play ball or GF themselves. I really do believe that. He's a "kiss up, kick down" sort of politician, not just weak in a Clintonian sense but unprincipled in a Hoyer sort of way--he likes to cut easy deals that please the rich and powerful. So politically, I think that we need a "Reform" coalition, consisting of both progressive Dems and libertarian Repubs.

In the media, though, I think that change will come from the private sector, in the form of media startups and ventures. Progressive can certainly help this along, by producing as much high-quality news and opinion content as possible, and by creating as many new think tanks and "idea co-ops" as possible, where subject matter experts can collaborate to put out first-rate policy and idea papers. But ultimately, improving the news industry will largely be a market-based undertaking, I believe. Which isn't necessarily inconsistent with progressive action, as a lot of affluent people in the media happen to be progressive.

The liberal soul shall be made fat. He who waters shall be watered also himself. (Proverbs 11:25)

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by: kovie @ Sun Jun 21, 2009 at 19:14:28 PM CDT