Patrick Proctor was here Change is still coming
I keep hearing a lot of bitching about how Obama and the Democratic congress have failed miserably to change things for the better. I feel that this is a fair judgement and an unfair judgement, simulatneously.
What I see is the continued presence of a vocal minority, a group of ideologues perched on the fringes of the political spectrum, left and right. The extreme right wing is rallying people who are mostly right-wing extremists themselves into action, creating a furor that will inevitably garner attention from the mainstream media because, let’s face it, extremism sells. So, these people who carried out the teaparties and other right-flavored protests against nonexistent political actions. On the far left, there are people calling those people “teabaggers” and “facists” while they themselves are called “communists” and “socialists.”
(At this point, I want you to inhale deeply through your nose and exhale out of your mouth. Do it three times. Relaxed? Good.)
I think that despite whatever this minority says or does, change will come because we all know the status quo is unsustainable. We HAVE to change. It is a fact. It is an inevitability. I believe that the majority of the American people are sane, calm, rational people who simply do not have the time, money, or emotional capital to invest in fervent political polarization of America. They have to go to work. When they get home, they don’t have the energy to get too invested in what’s going on beyond their walls. However, I feel that that same group of people is not satisfied with the status of the economy, energy prices, or other things that directly affect their lives. That is what matters to them. If there are enough people who want something and they see that many others want the same thing, then they will start to speak out. They will start to demand the action that they think is necessary to put things in the world right.
I do not care how loud the ideologues on Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, or any other outlet get, they cannot match the power and scale of the broader American public. They can yell and scream and shout all they want, but eventually we will all get wise to what they are doing and walk away. It is within our power to get dramatic, meaningful health reform. We can get ourselves off dirty, nonrenewable fuels and create jobs in the process. I do not care what those noisy naysayers claim. The general American public will come around and demand these things.
(At least, I really hope I’m right about this.)
