Why Happy Days Are NOT Here Again

Progressives are always looking for the Promised Land. They yearn to cross a virtual finish line that signals the end of all of their problems.

If only we can raise the minimum wage. If only we can get a healthcare bill passed! If only we can protect LGBT rights! 

Conservatives realize that the job is never finished, the line is never crossed. They commit to keep fighting even when they get what they want.

Progressives like to celebrate. Happy Days Are Here Again is their Democratic Party's theme song. We celebrated the Voting Rights Act. We celebrated the assault weapons ban. Neither of them lasted.

We celebrated the creation of the EPA; conservatives did everything possible to reduce its effectiveness. We celebrated Roe v. Wade and took it for granted while the opposition worked hard to make abortion difficult to attain.

We celebrated when Obama was elected. Wow! A Black President! Anything is possible! And then we took a vacation from voting which doomed him to struggle at the mercy of a hostile Congress.

Meanwhile, hate group activity skyrocketed. Gun sales went through the roof. The Tea Party gained political power by appealing to fear and bigotry. And the "Party of No" derailed the Progressive agenda.

I see the same casual optimism in the Sanders supporters. "We want free tuition! We want universal healthcare!" Those are admirable goals, but you won't reach them by electing a favorite candidate or making noise at a political convention. It's going to take years of hard work and active campaigning and demonstration  to get ANYTHING through Congress. If Progressives cast a vote and them disappear, their goals will disappear right along with them.

Copyright © 2016 Daniel R. South 

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