Attn Progressive Movers and Shakers: We Need a Plan

We face a battle that goes well beyond the health care reform issue. The extreme right has succeeded in taking over the Republican party and is convincing rank and file republicans that their thinking about the role of government is good for America. Most rank and file citizens are not overwhelmingly analytic, and thus many republicans are now buying into the extreme right wing's values and beliefs.

The extreme right is essentially the descendants of the John Birch Society along with Libertarians. They not only oppose health care reform and all things from FDR's New Deal, they advocate for a return to Gilded Era policies that pre-date Theodore Roosevelt. I believe progressive citizens and the organizations we rely on for progressive leadership are seriously underestimating the threat we face from this energized extreme faction of the right wing (as if "center" right wing were not bad enough!) The engine being used to prevail in this battle is of course the Tea Party Movement, which is well funded by private interests that include, but are not limited to, global corporatists. These interests have funded the think tanks, the operatives, the right wing propaganda machine, for many years.

Needless to say, global corporatists do not share the protectionist views of Libertarians like Ron Paul. They understand however that the libertarian approach to government is the Ace they need to make corporate rule the law of the land. I will refer to the extreme right wing as Ext-Right (until I can think of a word or phrase more potent and effective at summarizing their fanatical views).

This evening, on my way home from a collective bargaining session, I was listening to Fresh Air on NPR. Terry Gross was interviewing Journalist David Weigel of the Washington Independent. He covered the CPAC conference. The "headline" for this show is aptly titled CPAC, The Tea Party And The Remaking Of The Right. If you did not hear it, I urge you to listen. It really is an important that we understand fully the nature of the battle. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123970180.


I do not know the movers and the shakers in the Progressive world or the extent to which they have formed a coalition that goes beyond specific issues such as health care reform, the wars in Iraq/Afghanistan, etc. I suspect the collection of them battle over their respective turfs. This sort of thing plays into the hands of our enemy, the Ext-right. Likewise, I have no idea whether there are any super rich progressives who are willing to invest their fortunes into the type of apparatus needed to fund meaningful opposition to the Ext-right and its minions, inclusive of the Tea Party and the Oath Takers. See http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/03/oath-keepers.

Without a well funded coalition that understands long-term strategy, the Ext-right will win the war.

So, if there are any progressive movers and shakers reading this, please do what it takes to mount the defense this war for the soul and future of America and its democracy demands.