Howard Dean just laid it all out. Look, he basically said, our political system is broken. We have good people in Washington DC voting for stupid things and dangerous things and foolish wars based on fear.
The fear is that in the next election, every next election, the GOP will use Nay votes against Dems and say that the Democrats are weak. The fear is mongered by the GOP but it is reinforced by Dem Senatorial and Congressional staffers. This, he said, is where we can help. “We” being blogger types.
He said that Democratic staffers avoid fights because fights are work. They advise their principals to avoid fights so as to breeze to reelection and therefore keep their own jobs. They use their coveted positions at the table – within the clique of ‘trusted advisors’ – to advocate for keeping a low profile. Instead of advocating for a principle like fairness, opportunity or peace they advocate for silence.
How can we help? “Get to the table,” Dean said. But, harden yourselves, because he assured us that the people at the table don’t want us. We are too liberal, we didn’t go to their schools, we don’t know their parents, we didn’t pull the same strings they did. But mostly we’re not welcome because they want to keep their jobs and their precious seat at the table by staying silent and we disagree. They hate us because we will suggest to the principal that she raise her profile and pick a fight with the bad guys. This will result in work for everyone. They hate work. And therefore, us.
But here’s the thing, Dean said, there is soon going to be a new chair added to every table in DC, and Albany and City Hall, that chair will be the internet guy. Be the internet guy and you can short circuit the spoils system / the cocktail party cliques / the pedigree networking and schmoozing of rich parents.
The GOP should not be in control. They’re speeding us back to the gilded age, to the middle ages – they have always been, and they are now, on the wrong side of history. They win because they just do modern politics better. They tell very simple stories and they weave new events into heavily established narratives. The culture war is a battle of narratives. I can help tell stories. I can learn how to do more stuff on the internet.
I have new friends in politics who wonder why the url of this blog is dereau.blogspot
Ok, so, when I was doing Film and TV my stage name was my mom's maiden name, DeReau. I used to blog about politics as a night time hobby.
The BS leading up to the invasion of Iraq made me nuts, Howard Dean gave me hope, and I got really involved in a lot of local democratic political organizations.
I tried to keep my two lives separate for a while, but as more political causes, elections, and campaigns left less time for auditions or shows, DeReau sort of faded away.