Sirota's Tough Talk

Disclaimer: This post in no way infers any endorsement

The Friday Meet the Bloggers show on FSTV was esspecially provoking to this blogger. Due in part to the topic about the broken election system and the first ten things the Obama Administration should do if elected.
But more so because Sirota was one of the special guest along with Michael Moore and others. Though, I may not always agree with his [Sirota] positions or line of thinking on a particular issue, I respect his opinion. No denying it is at times, thought provoking. And this time was no different.
In his pre-show blog post, Which Side Are WE On?, he lays out,what some of us in the progressive world, have been saying for years. And asked some really tough questions to and for the progressive communities across our nation. This is tough medicine for some progressives to swallow. But as with all medicine, it is nessasary to cure what ails us. Here's an excerpt:

"......What this all means is that the messy, disorganized and all-too-deferential circus of progressive institutions—from labor unions, to D.C. think tanks, to grassroots groups, to the Netroots—has to move beyond Partisan War Syndrome, and into a movement posture. We must get out of thinking that the cure-all is the election, and realize that while elections are important, constant—and often confrontational—pressure against both parties has always been the only force that makes real progress. Whoever is president—whether it is Obama, the economic progressive; Obama the Wall Street sycophant, or McCain, the Bush clone—that transpartisan movement pressure will be the deciding factor between "change" and "more of the same."...
.....Can progressives mature? It is a tough to know—and it brings up uncomfortable queries that ask progressives a version of the same question we must ask Obama: Which side are WE on?......can truly progressive groups in Washington match the powerful corporate front groups and faux "centrist" think tanks that get so much attention? Will labor leaders pining for recognition in elite D.C. revert to their quadriennial "thank you, sir, may I have another" attitude when it comes to presidential candidates' footsie with Wall Street? Or will they start making real demands on these candidates, White House Christmas lists be damned, knowing that these candidates are, after all, benefiting from the blood, sweat, tears (and dues) of unionized janitors, truck drivers and teachers? And will much-vaunted Internet-based "grassroots" organizations continue serving only as partisan mouthpieces, or will they actually start organizing pressure against both parties?
How we answer these questions about ourselves—not the whims of Barack Obama or of the same Democratic "strategists" who have destroyed the Democratic Party—will decide whether this is, indeed, an "Obama Moment" that sees real change forced into legislative reality, or whether this election is merely a televised fiddler recital as America burns. "


Ouch! I needed that, thanks Mr. D.