It's easy to scorn these folks, but mocking them does no good. In fact, a lifetime of feeling mocked by supercilious elites is what makes them prey to right wing demagoguery.
The majority can probably only cure (or modify) their ills by creating a more vibrant economy of which they get a piece, delivering health care security, and avoiding put downs. Ameliorating the real problems and letting his opponents live with the consequences seems to be the Obama tack -- trouble is, they may not let him do it.
Will he fight for his devastatingly effective program for social peace? We still don't know.
There's always a quarrel about numbers at these things. I've been to plenty of peace, women's and gay demonstrations. Some were genuinely large -- a million or more. Many were in the 100s of thousands. All thought they had more than some lowball police estimate. Just being with a lot of people who agree with you can feel like a lot.
These folks, claiming millions, seem to be right in step with the norm for demonstrators. The DC police say there were some 50-70 thousand. Not a lot for a DC rally of progressives; lots for rightwingers who aren't used to doing this.
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It's pretty hard for us activists to let go of the one slender thread of what we have in common with other activists -- even ones mobilized solely by whipped-up fear and hatred.
This, though:
Ameliorating the real problems and letting his opponents live with the consequences seems to be the Obama tack -- trouble is, they may not let him do it. Will he fight for his devastatingly effective program for social peace?
is way too generous in its assumptions. Such as that there is such a program.
Also, and more relevant to the post, the ones who won't "let" Obama ameliorate the real problems aren't the people on that mall, or even their cynical big-media sponsors (who are the ones responsible for the invented report of millions, by the way, not the people in the crowd).
It's the financial overlords who own the president's own party who are standing in the way. A deal was made at least two years ago to settle in advance for something that would cut the insurers in. The hoped-for deflection of blame for the crippling compromises onto the Republicans (because of the supposed need for bipartisan support) isn't possible, because no Republicans are playing along.
Conservative and sellout Democrats, the president among them, are completely responsible for the extent to which their reform will fail to solve the real and mounting problems.
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