Under pressure

The best and brightest of the progressive left, like Avedon and Digby and Glenn Greenwald have been scolding us since before Obama was sworn in for failing to put enough pressure on our new president to move to the left in governance. Glenn posts today on the co-opting of liberal activists, decrying the dearth of organized resistance to the administration's shifting to the center right. Their points are well taken but these are not ordinary times.

For one thing, I don't believe anyone, not even the smart people who make a living on economics, really understand the full scope of the economic peril we're in. I'm relatively certain that no one knows how to solve it. Everyone's guessing at the right answer. To the extent that I'm willing trust anyone's opinion, it's guys like Roubini and Stiglitz and Krugman who got it right. So I've put my energy into pushing their solutions instead of explicitly pushing Obama in a direction I prefer.

For another, it's not so easy to take a principled stand when homelessness is breathing down your neck. I've been out of work for six months now. For complicated reasons that are nobody's fault I'm unable to collect unemployment benefits. I'm deeply in debt. I'm reaching the end of my savings that have only allowed me scratch by for all this time because they've been supplemented by the generous help of friends and strangers. But generousity has its limits and the economic fallout is reaching deep into everyone's pocket. This is no way to live, so it's been in my enlightened self-interest to try to help Obama succeed.

I was willing to cut him slack even as I was horrified by his appointments and what I considered to be the wrong approach to dealing with the opposition because he's the one that has to solve the problems. I thought it wise to give him some space to try his own way first because I sure as hell don't have any foolproof answers and my future literally depends on his doing so. Public confidence is funny thing. I believe it hinges more on perception than reality. And as I said earlier today, I think the most important thing was for Obama to emerge from this first fight looking like a leader, no matter what cause is served.

If all goes according to plan and the stimulus bill passes today, that goal will be achieved and it only took a month. We still have the better part of four years to move Overton's window. And much as I believe progressive ideals are best, I also believe the common good was better served by allowing them to fail in the short term in order to better position ourselves for victory in the end game.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I suspect I'm not the only one that's been holding back out of anxiety over an uncertain future. I'm guessing that once the economy improves and people feel more secure, there will be plenty of activists who will be ready to start pushing back again. I'll certainly be one of them. [graphic]

[More posts daily at The Detroit News.]