Today I got a message from Sara El-Amine. She writes:
I’m the national training director at Obama for America. My job is to develop the programs and resources our staff and volunteers use to teach others how to grow this campaign in their communities.
I’m writing because you or someone you know might want to be among a group of people who will play the leading role in our grassroots strategy this fall. They’re called our fall fellows.
…
Apply to be a fall fellow right now — or pass this message along to someone else you think would be great:
Fall fellow? More like fall in 2012 fellow. Well, no. Actually: Hell No! One of my biggest frustration with the Obama presidency is not, that he kept Bush’s financial advisors, ensuring that Wall Street is continuing to call the shots, or that the folks responsible for the financial breakdown have not been prosecuted, or that we are still in Afganistan, or that he still hasn’t closed Guantanamo, or that he didn’t even had the backbone to stop or at least put up a good fight regarding the extension of Bush’s tax breaks for the rich. (For a great overview of the continuation of the failed politics from Bush to Obama check http://www.obamatheconservative.com/)
All the above are baffling me, but the most frustrating off all is, that he abandoned Obama Nation the minute we got him elected. With his charisma he was able to mobilize the masses around the hope for change and we were ready to fight for real change. It could have been the 5th branch of power. Obama could have written to the Obama Nation in an email: I hear you loud and clear: Ending the war on drugs is top priority for you. Please work with your Congress representatives to get such a bill introduced and passed and I will sign it. Here is the link for you to coordinate your efforts.
All we get is a twitter Obama town hall stunt now that he is starting to realize, that he needs to get his base mobilized for his reelection.
Sara I don’t envy you and your task to develop programs to grow this campaign in the communities. Where are the tangible results from the amazing groundswell from 4 years ago?
Quoting Bush the younger: There’s an old saying … fool me once, shame on – shame on you. Fool me – you can’t get fooled again. ;-)
My conclusion: If the guy on the white horse riding into Washington with the words “Change” plastered on his shield and a backing army of volunteers behind him doesn’t get the job done, or more accurately turns out to be a Bush in sheep/black skin, then that system is broken.
Time to look somewhere else to create a more just world with opportunities for all and Lawrence Lessig’s Fix Congress First is the best organization to do that. This is where we should spend our precious resources. Not convinced? Spend the 2.5 minutes for this amazing video: