After winning, then Obama will lead as a progressive--so goes the narrative. But that narrative ignores reality: if elected, Obama will be campaigning on Day One for his re-election run in '12. Thus, what we see now is what we'll get: a pragmatic centrist, much like Hillary, but without Hillary's experience on the national political stage. This is why we'll get a heavily scripted, advisor-controlled presidency. Moments when he deviates from the script, we'll see the sorts of first-term errors that the Clintons made.

But he is not going to govern as a progressive. It's going to be interesting to see how some in the netroots deal with that reality. I suppose some will remain apologists.

Someone really ought to ask these people to define "progressive." What are non-negotiable, progressive principles? Does "progressive" mean anything, really, other than too-cool-to-be-Republican? Or, as we saw in the primaries, simply "cool" as in Obama was cool and Hillary was not. Is it just a word to assert tribal affiliation, like Steeler or "Crip"? Is it just an "us" to hurl against a "them"?

Those of us who never deluded ourselves about Obama aren't terribly disappointed.

And I think you're far too generous when describing what the netroots was about before they hitched their wagon to Obama.  Some people who know have told me that politicians had really come to respect the netroots as a fundraising phenomenon.  But as an influence on policy?  I sure as heck wouldn't base my decisions on what someone said in the blogosphere.

Individual web commentators sometimes impress me with their opinions, depth of knowledge, and their rhetorical skills.  The law-related material here at Talk Left, for instance, notwithstanding that it comes with an explicitly stated bias.  BTD sometimes impresses me that way.  Steve M almost always impresses me that way.

But the blogosphere as a whole, considering both name bloggers and the comments sections of the blogs have never impressed me, and I doubt they impress anyone with any actual say.  The blogosphere has never been anything other than an echo chamber.

It didn't start with Obama - It has been happening for a long time. 4 years ago I had interesting discussions with people on Daily Kos, about abortion, gay marriage, politics, and more. You could have the kind of intense discussions that I used to have in college with friends, and leave friends, or at least allies. Now... if you try to take any position that is not supported by the general group you risk being, at best, called out as a troll and, at worst, physically excluded by being banned.

There are numerous studies into how power effects people and how peer pressure effects thinking. It seems clear that any system that puts a group of like-minded individuals together, puts some kind of stressor on them, and gives them power to censor others will end up becoming more and more intolerant of outside views and rejecting anybody who does not toe the party line. This happens even if the parties involved purportedly value diversity of values and views.

I've heard some have even met a black person ... once.

I have been critiquing Obama for many years now because the political rhetoric and style he has practiced is, in my view, not a force for real substantive change.

Netroots is dead and it was a suicide.

  Nearly everyone here has contributed well reasoned posts on the subject, so much so that I find myself wanting to high rate most of them, even though they all have different and sometimes contradictory viewpoints. Thanks to BTD and everyone.

The Netroots has been coopted. It is now an effective cheering section for the Democratic Party. But little else. Sure there will be small victories - a Donna Edwards here, A Ned Lamont there, but the idea of what the Netroots once was no longer exists. Obama has swept it away.

Straight up.

"Crashing the Gate"
"People Powered Politics"

Yata-yata-yata, that the "netroots" was just a marketing bubble, designed to burst when someone decided to cash in their chips.

Panelist Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army (yes his book was plugged at the panel) encouraged attendees to spend less time behind the computer and more time in the streets protesting.

Bingo! I completely agree with that!

Scahill saved his most scathing remarks for Congressional Democrats, including Barack Obama, commenting that instead of defining themselves as a real opposition party, the Dems had undermined efforts to hold Bush's administration accountable. "Bush is operating in an enforcement-free zone inside the United States and outside the United States," he said.

Scahill warned that the U.S. was in the midst of the most radical privatization agenda in history with a record number of private contractors carrying out government duties around the world. To illustrate this, he reminded the audience that Blackwater and Dyncorp were at the moment guarding Sen. Obama as he toured Afghanistan and Iraq.

The take-home message was that American citizens need to keep a close eye on their government -- now more than ever -- and hold political leaders accountable. This includes Barack Obama, no matter how badly Democrats want to see him in the White House.

Scahill exhorted the crowd -- many of them Obama supporters -- to "cheat" on their candidate with a little bit of conscience.

"John McCain and a head of lettuce could get the same number of votes," he said, drawing laughs from the crowd. "Now is when you really need to hold Obama's feet to the fire, because he needs your votes and he needs your money -- he won't need them after November."

cheeto CHEE-to , verb:

1. To co-opt an online news center as a stage for your own personal opinions, biased to garner attention with the elite.
   
2. To uncritically support (in an online location) a cause / person in direct opposition to facts posted in the same online location.

noun:

1. Someone who has cheetoed
   
2. The husked out shell of a previously popular online community, devoured by a vocal but powerful minority.

The governing dynamic is not an Overton Window, but more of an Overton Slinky. There's a limit how far right you can take it by pulling on the right end (as Reagan/Bush/Gingrich/DeLay/Bush have done until it's ready to snarl or snap).

He chickened out and took the politically expedient path on FISA. I would have thought the risks of doing the right thing there were worth it, but evidently he calculated otherwise.

"Two years ago, frustrated by bloggers' reaction to two Democratic senators who voted to confirm John Roberts as chief justice, Obama wrote a posting on Daily Kos"

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Obama Takes the Pillow, Not the Bait
Share February 27, 2008 11:03 PM

You are the most prolific commentator, most comments, by far above anyone else.....

My first objection to Obama was how he touted unity with the repugs. You said it much much better than I, that we used to advocate for negative branding of the republican party and was clearly NOT what Obama stood for.