All Posts Tagged With: "progressive"

Like the ideologues on the far right complaining about Obama’s choices for his new administration, there are ideologues on the far left who are equally displeased (but for opposite reasons, obviously). Matthew Rothschild at The Progressive is among the chorus of left-wingers mumbling and grumbling:

When is Obama going to appoint someone who reflects the progressive base that brought him to the White House?

He won the crucial Iowa caucuses on the strength of his anti-Iraq War stance, and many progressive peace and justice activists worked hard for him against John McCain.

So why in the world is he choosing Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State when she was one of the loudest hawks on Iraq and threatened to obliterate 75 million Iranians?

And it’s not just Hillary.

Obama’s OMB pick, Peter Orzag, is a Clintonite disciple of Robert Rubin.

Obama’s AG pick, Eric Holder, is a Clintonite who represented Chiquita Bananas.

So, who would Rothschild choose? Among the selections was one particularly jaw-dropping choice:

And if Obama really wanted change, if he really wanted to honor progressives who backed him early on and then did the grunt work against McCain, he’d nominate Dennis Kucinich as Secretary of State.

This is the perfect example why I don’t ally myself with many in the progressive/liberal/left-wing community. Not only do they fail to see the wisdom in building a “team of rivals” filled with highly qualified and highly effective people, they willfully ignore the wisdom of centrist, pragmatic governance. They would much rather choose style over substance. They prefer and insist upon blind adherence to ideological orthodoxy that leads to bitter partisanship and gridlock rather than a transformative, bipartisan, cooperative working relationship with all parties to try to move this nation beyond the paralysis of “us vs. them” toward real solutions and effective action.

Dennis Kucinich as Secretary of State is beyond ridiculous. He’s barely taken seriously within his own caucus, let alone by the country as a whole or the world community with such serious matters. It’s not time to play ideological games. Obama was not only elected because of “progressives.” In fact, it was the centrists and the Independents who put him over the top. Who would the progressives have supported otherwise?

It’s time to put the country first, above partisan politics and ideological agendas. It’s time to bridge the divide. The future of our nation depends upon it.

Last week, I wrote about one of my most faithful readers, Jim Martin of Fried Green Onions, who frequently attacked some of my posts both in comments on this blog and in commentary on his own blog. While I welcome passionate debate about any given issue, I took issue with the manner in which he disagreed, especially the prevalence of vitriolic ad hominem attacks and extremely personal aspersions.

Yesterday, Mr. Martin seemed to offer an olive branch of sorts with this post:

Yes I am a daily reader of the Brad Neese…living large in Oklahoma site

I find Brad to be the most articulate spokesperson in Oklahoma blogging for his current view of things politic.
I think he will go far in liberal progressive circles.
The vast divide that separates us can be measured in years (perhaps 40 years between us). The vast difference between those reared in Tiny Town or Urban Utopia could figure in to the equation.
Brad really believes almost opposite to the views I hold. Unlike the other liberal bloggers I run across he appears to have no personal axe to grind other than his belief system.
I count him along with Oklahoma Lefty as a Worthy Adversary.
God bless and keep our country free!

I am grateful for his kind remarks. I certainly welcome respectful, reasoned discourse and disagreement about the issues we face here in Oklahoma, in our nation and in the world. It is indeed possible to have a great divide in political positions and yet respect and even admire our political opponents. And it is possible to have honest disagreement without making it a bitter war filled with animus, insults and slanderous insults. I would hope that we can have this type of dialogue here in the Oklahoma blogosphere as well as the American and worldwide blogospheres. Continued