We are the Ordinary People of our Time

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from Ramona at Alternet: http://blogs.alternet.org/ramonasvoices/2010/02/02/we-are-the-ordinary-people-of-our-time/


. . . Frank Rich gave me a real eye-opener on Sunday when he wrote: “The historian Alan Brinkley has observed that we will soon enter the fourth decade in which Congress — and therefore government as a whole — has failed to deal with any major national problem, from infrastructure to education. The gridlock isn’t only a function of polarized politics and special interests. There’s also been a gaping leadership deficit.”

. . . The Democrats, my party for better or. . .dammit. . .bounce between lethargy and stupidity. Harry “public option is too HARD” Reid was so riled up over what’s happening around here, he merely yawned during the SOTU speech but didn’t actually fall asleep. Nancy Pelosi seems to think that grinning is the solution to everything. And the Blue Dog Democrats take pride in being the infiltrators from the enemy camp. The few who actually see some urgency in saving the country–damn the torpedoes–say all the right things but in voices so weak everybody gets away with pretending they can’t hear them.

If you count the 535 house and senate members in Congress, plus the president, the vice president and the entire West Wing, plus the deputies and the assistants to the deputies, plus a whole slew of pundits who claim to know everything, that’s a lot of people wandering around in a fog looking for answers to what ails us . . .

. . . Obama gave his State of the Union speech early last week and then, a few days later, went to see the Republicans at what was laughingly called their “retreat” (they don’t “retreat”, we do). I’m always looking for signs, it’s true, but last week I might have seen the first signs of a leader ready to fight . . .

. . . It’s the ordinary people (that’s us) who need to keep Obama where he is. Underneath the “uniter” facade is a street fighter. “Community organizer” is on his resume. He knows what it’s like to be ordinary. So he might not have the answers, and I might not have the answers, and I might not know exactly where we’re going (and he might not, either), but I’m picking sides. That’s something.


read: http://blogs.alternet.org/ramonasvoices/2010/02/02/we-are-the-ordinary-people-of-our-time/

[eleny]

1. I always bristle at the term "ordinary Americans" or "ordinary people"

And I don't relate to the term "middle class". Seems like "working class" feels like a better fit. And the working class is truly extraordinary.

Just my short rant. Nothing to do with the article - really. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to get it off my chest. :D

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3. I like 'working class'

. . . but I think this author made a good representation of what she considered and termed 'ordinary'.

[MichiganVote]

2. The country is lost...can't find itself...needs a cause greater than itself.

Entertainment tries for sex and celebrity.

Media tries for shock and awe.

Government tries for fear or favor.

Political parties try for a mental market edge.

What we need is quiet, unrelenting grim determination.

Move people. Make choices.

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4. I can't remember when it wasn't so

. . . but I also can't recall a similar time (in my time) of such great opportunity for progressive change and progress on our Democratic initiatives. We do need more determination, and commitment.

[Warpy]

5. 40 years ago, liberals went out of power

and liberals were the only ones who ever gave a damn about this country and certainly the only ones who managed to run the economy in such a way that it worked for most of us.

If everything is falling apart at the seams, that's why.