This'll ruffle some feathers

Written by: Franco Caliz-Aguilar on Dec 26, 2007 2:55 PM EST

So, Happy Boxing Day to one and all!

The progressive movement may be outnumbered and outmanned in the media. But it seems as though slowly and surely, much like the American people, they are realizing that those terrible crazy progressives who are to the left might actually be correct! Well this horrendous notion has caught on at Slate apparently. Why Progressives should forget the middle is fantastic and makes a case too many Americans don't want to hear, but that is vital to have OUR goals met. And it's something we should make clear during our conversations about primaries, unless someone who is willing to fight for the goals becomes elected, we're going to get more of the same old results.

 What progressives should be focused on now is taking on the political movement that brought Bush to power. In short, what we need right now isn't Bush bashing—what we need is partisanship.

More under the fold:

From further on in the piece:

The question, however, is whether Democrats will take advantage of America's new liberalism. To do that, they have to be ready to forcefully make the case that progressive goals are right and conservatives are wrong. They also need to be ready to fight some very nasty political battles.

But any attempt to change America's direction, to implement a real progressive agenda, will necessarily be highly polarizing. Proposals for universal health care, in particular, are sure to face a firestorm of partisan opposition. And fundamental change can't be accomplished by a politician who shuns partisanship.

I like to remind people who long for bipartisanship that FDR's drive to create Social Security was as divisive as Bush's attempt to dismantle it. And we got Social Security because FDR wasn't afraid of division. In his great Madison Square Garden speech, he declared of the forces of "organized money": "Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred."

 The piece makes a case for something that us DFA members recognize, but others don't. When you get past asinine labels, Americans are much more liberal than they believe they are. And they agree with us on a host of things, from universal health care to funding our schools and improving our stance abroad through diplomacy.

It's time to rise up and fight. It'll be a long nasty one, but the fight is worth it, isn't it? As the Talmud says: "To save one life is as if you have saved the world."

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