Its Too Soon to be That Pragmatic [View All]

[Tinoire]

Its Too Soon to be That Pragmatic
by Linda O'Brien

We're not at the point of nominating a Democratic candidate yet. Until that time, we do no one, least of all ourselves, any favors by refusing to say what we feel. If that's "pragmatism," I want none of it. It's what we've received from nearly every member of Congress and nearly all of the media for the past three years. It's part of what got us into this mess.

So I'll say that John Kerry is supported by those who want someone "electable" because of what he didn't do, not because of what he did. He didn't say any unpopular things. The people have decided that form of cowardice is more likely to defeat evil than courage. That's pragmatic, all right.

But it won't be enough after the primaries. And it won't fix what Bush has destroyed. Reversing what Bush has done is going to take much more than just not doing what Bush is doing. Thanks to the Bushites' propaganda, America is becoming something repugnant, a nation of flag-wavers too smug to even mention that our bombs caused the deaths and maimings of thousands of Iraqi civilians. The way Kerry is wrapping himself in past war heroics isn't doing anything to help change that. Or has he even noticed, from the depths of his bipartisanship?

We need to hear a lot of unpopular words in the next four years to begin to reverse what Bush has done. Howard Dean started a wave of powerful reactions by saying a few bold, true and unpopular things. Sorry to mix metaphors, but can that tree continue to grow if it's chopped off at the roots?

The American people are ready now to oust Bush. They got to that point because of three things: the relentless truth-telling of internet writers, the willingness of Howard Dean to speak out when no one else would, and hundreds of thousands of passionate progressives who brought Dean's candidacy to the limelight. We could continue to use the same techniques to go for more than ousting Bush, to go for the deep change we desperately need.

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http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0209-12.htm