From the "Me too" file.

John Cole...

I’ve been as disgusted and let down as many people by some decisions, but I look at where we were and where we are now, and there is no chance in hell I am going to be demoralized come November 2010. I’ve been watching the wingnuts - we need to keep them as far away from power as is legally possible. They are dangerous, and this Obama fellow, despite some letdowns, ain’t half bad.

I'm about up to there with the gaggle of self-styled "progressives" who revel in detailing every Democratic polling downturn, denounce every legislative compromise as a cowardly betrayal of some imagined "netroots" that stands poised for revolution, constantly refer to my political party with dismissive third person terminology and openly advocate the defeat of my Party and it's leaders in the name of their "progress." <

Here's a scoop from the clue bin - progress is hard, change is incremental and for a starving man, half a loaf can save a life. My personal politics are probably considerably to the left of most of the gang I'm talking about. Very little is being done in accord with my personal specifications. Mine, though, is a minority view in America. I'd love to see a Congressional majority that could win on a platform of single payer health care, confiscatory taxation of high incomes and immediate withdrawal from every combat arena we're presently deploying troops to.

I'd love to hit the mega-millions lottery, too. The odds are much better - or would be if I bought a lottery ticket.

This isn't a call for blind acquiescence to Democratic shortcomings. There's a continuing need for critique and correction within the broad folds of the Democratic Party. I've done my part on that score for decades, at Party meetings, in platform battles and primary contests, and I've seen some actual progress over time as a result of those fights. Open racial bigotry, for instance, has largely been driven from our ranks, and great - if still insufficient - strides have been made on behalf of equal treatment for women and the LGBT community within our ranks. You don't have to have all that much historical perspective to remember a time when those challenges seemed insurmountable. We're about to see health care legislation that, while not enough, will save thousands of lives every year. People are getting fed who would be hungry, housed who woudl be homeless and protected who would be neglected without the efforts of Democrats at every level of government.

The Democratic Party is not a perfect institution made up of perfect individuals. It is, however, in every instance better than the party that would elevate John Boehner to Speaker of the House or Mitch McConnell to Senate Majority leader.

Many, if not most, of the leading voices in that "progressive" cabal won't even claim the title "Democrat," and at least one has openly admitted that not only is she not a member of the Party, she's not even on the side of the Democratic Party. In a country that has evolved a two-party system, if you're not on our side, well, which side are you on?

From the "Me too" file.

Chris Bowers...

The long and short of my view is this: it's all true. Everything you are writing and/or thinking about the progressive blogosphere is correct, almost no matter what you are writing or thinking. There is one exception: if you are arguing that the progressive blogosphere is any one thing, holds any one position, or represents any singular group, then and only then are you wrong.

Yep. Me too.

From the "Since you asked..." file.

Andrew's fuming over the Legislature's response to the ruling tossing out the I 747 property tax cap (for all y'all in the hinterlands, they've gathered in special session to reinstate the cap, first proposed by his (ok, by every thinking person's) arch-nemesis, Tim Eyman.), and House Speaker Frank Chopp's effort to balance the current heresy with his list of previous progressive deeds...

Instead of responding to Initiative 747 by presenting a progressive vision that incorporates innovative ideas for fixing our broken tax structure, Chopp enthusiastically and proudly embraced the right wing agenda.

And now he's telling the netroots and the grassroots that we should be pleased with all of Olympia's wonderful accomplishments?

Since you asked, sure. We should be pleased with any "wonderful accomplishments," but we shouldn't settle for Chopp's list of 50, or for the next 50 that come up.

We should never settle. We should always agitate, shake the system and demand what we really want.

More.

And better.

That doesn't mean "better than nothing" is nothing, though, so sure. Be pleased, be absolutely delighted with every real gain, every incremental advance toward social, civil and economic justice.

Go ahead and celebrate. But don't settle.

The circular firing squad assembles.

Mike Stark at Dkos...

I've spoken with the netroots leaders Matt Stoller and Chris Bowers. They support this idea.

We are forming a donors' union and going on strike.

...each donor will promise to give NotOneRedCent to elected Democrats or organizations that give money to elected democrats.

I guess I'm not sure who or what the 'netroots' are, exactly. Heck, I'm not really sure what a 'progressive' is, for that matter.

I do know, though, that if these are the by-laws, I'm not a member of the club. If Matt and Chris are it's "leaders" (though I don't know that either of them would make that claim about themselves), well, I'm not about to follow them on this path to defeat and irrelevancy.

Let's get a grip people.