Take Back Congress: Support Obama's Jobs Bill

Over at TPM, I was in multiple discussions with people over the Wall Street protests and what it is they're supposed to achieve.  It's obvious that the movement has no concrete goal beyond "Fix things," yet if you say that, you'll get deluged with individuals giving their personal idea of what the movement will achieve.

And that's great but...there's no agreement between them at all.  Seriously, I get responses ranging from a return to Glass-Steagall (which I approve of), all the way to Constitutional Amendments banning opinionated news; which is more than a bit problematic.  And then you'll find weird rants against police states, based upon the horrors of not being able to use a bullhorn in downtown Manhattan.  I'm sure the folks in North Korea feel much solidarity with us over that lost freedom.

These people are so elated to finally have a group of people to yell at Wall Street with that they haven't yet grasped that there's no common goal.  They all know what to do, even if they can't agree as to what it is.  And that bugs me, as there's great potential to this movement, if only because it gets people's attention.  Yet I get meaningless slogans that even Tea Partiers could agree with, like "Take back our government" and "99%er: With Us or Against Us."  And they act upset that I don't instantly know what these things mean.  Hell, 99%er looks like some weird web sign that my kids might use.

And my biggest fear here is that we'll have a bunch of nutballs saying nutty things while pretending to represent the views of all liberals, just as we saw in the Bush years, when everyone who disagreed with Bush was symbolized in the media by hairy people holding silly puppets and simplistic signs about blood and oil.  These people are convinced that they're the antidote for Republican tactics, entirely unaware that they're a key feature of the plan.

My Solution

So I came up with my own quickie goal, which not only is a good use for the movement, but it's attainable: Let's support Obama.  Specifically, his plan with the jobs bill, which isn't just good policy, but good politics too..  He already set us up for this one, and we can help mow down the opposition for him.  Here's what I wrote:

The solution is simple: We need to let Congress know that liberals are pissed and will rain hellfire on anyone too conservative for Obama's job bill.  That's a concrete thing that we can rally behind and use as a good litmus test heading into the next election year.

Is it *enough* progress?  No, but it's a start and it's attainable.  Nothing gets success like success, and if conservative Dems and Republicans in swing districts realize they face unemployment next year if they go against the bill, that'll get their attention.  And that means we vote with our wallets this year and promise to vote in person next year.

We don't need to take back our government.  We need to take back Congress.