Thursday, November 4, 2010

Reddit forms new political party

Doris Kearnes Goodwin made a great point in the video from the last post. Republicans winning elections nationwide does not mean there's some sort of new conservative movement, because two years ago with Obama's inauguration we thought there was some new progressive movement as well. All it means is that people are pissed off, both parties suck, and they just want somebody to do something.

Here's Cenk Uygur's response to election night. It starts off brilliant, and then slowly dissolves almost into incoherent rant, which is certainly forgivable considering the circumstances.



Liberals are pissed off because Democrats are not a liberal party. They are a moderate party. I will always love Barack Obama and I will follow him to the grave, but the man needs to grow a pair and learn how to play politics. Dems had all the ammunition they could've asked for this election cycle, and they didn't use any of it. It seems like the only people in Washington who actually seem to care about accomplishing things are Obama and about five or six specific congressmen, at most. Every other person is exactly how Cenk described - corrupt as shit. If they're not corrupt, then they know enough to keep their heads down because the people who are corrupt will destroy them.

A thread popped up in Reddit earlier today calling for a new political party - the Progressive Party.

I'm sick of modern-day, impotent liberalism.

We need unapologetic progressives - liberals with teeth, not smirking hipsters carrying ironic signs with clever slogans.

A "Progressive Party"!

We don't need to win. But we need to fight, and without fear or apology. And let us never echo the nonsensical rhetoric we're currently hearing on all sides. Let us never try to recreate a utopian America that never existed in the first place. Let's take an honest inventory of the actual (not imagined) problems our country is currently facing and then take real action.

Let's start a genuine grass-roots movement, and refuse to allow it to be hijacked by corporate interests.

Feingold/Kucinich 2012!

Let's do this.


I have mixed feelings about it. Splitting the vote of a party is always going to bring victory to that party's opponents. And Republicans have miraculously avoided that so far with the Tea Party, by simply having Tea Party candidates run as Republicans. I really doubt this will actually happen. But I still hope it does. At this point, I'm about ready to throw my hands up and write in "Psyduck" at the polls just for shits and giggles. How can things get any worse? The American people are too fucking dumb to realize when they're being lied to, and they're just going to keep voting Republican as long as Democrats continue to play the moderate card.

Plus, the internet has proven in the last few years that it can really be a powerful tool for starting amazing things. 4chan was responsible for the backlash against Scientology. And if there was ever such a thing we could call 'the crossroads of the internet,' it is reddit. The idea for the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear originated on Reddit. That's how Colbert got the idea. If liberalism is going to have an actual voice in America, it's not going to come from sell outs and corrupt shitheads in the media, such as with the Tea Party. If it's going to happen, it's going to come from the internet.

But let's be realistic. This isn't happening. In fact, I'm pretty sure everyone's going to forget about this in a week. I'm convinced that America is too far gone. Any chance of a third party arising is going to be immediately squashed by the people with money. The reason why more than two parties were able to exist in the first half of the 19th century was because the system wasn't corrupt. Any no name could run - Andrew Jackson, Davy Crockett, Abraham Lincoln - and every one of them could have a fair shot if they were smart enough. Money doesn't let that happen anymore. Let's face it. We're fucked. We will forever be fucked. The only thing that's going to loosen corporate power's stranglehold on our government is another Theodore Roosevelt. I almost wish I believed in a god so I could pray and convince myself I'm not entirely powerless. I'm just going to swallow my pride and continue voting Democrat. If I'm going to get fucked in the ass, at least Democrats will be gentle about it.

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