The Boots Wardinski campaign for lieutenant governor of Vermont under the Progressive Party banner has apparently caused more than a few Prog Party control freaks to blow a mental gasket. Nothing new there, not when it comes to the uncomfortable – for them – notion of the “the people” colliding with their party “directives.”
Cue Hogan’s Heroes voice: “You can’t do ‘dat!”
Um, yes he can. Because it’s a democracy, silly Progressives.
Let’s face it, the Progressive Party has been a fine idea that has been sullied by a group of insiders who hate, hate, hate, the notion of – um, well, — democracy. Yo, it’s not a club once you make it a public party. Deal with it.
I’m reminded of the first time I attended a Progressive Party state convention meeting in the Fall of 2001, shortly after the 9/11 attacks. A group of true progressives went to the meeting in the hopes of finding some sanity amidst the war-happy nation that was cheering wildly at Bush’s ill-conceived war on Afghanistan. As in: The same war we’re still waging.
Unfortunately, the Prog hierarchy wanted nothing to do with the red-hot issue since they had determined that it might interfere with whatever campaign Anthony Pollina was scheming at the time (hey, it’s hard to keep track). So, like clockwork, the Prog Party insiders maneuvered to cut off the debate on a resolution that would have opposed the war on Afghanistan, declaring that they “didn’t see it as a Vermont issue.” So much for leadership — or courage, for that matter.
Besides, I’d like to see them trot out that line today after, of course, the so-called “non-issue” has cost Vermonters hundreds of millions of dollars and dozens of lives.
But I digress. Kind of.
Because today, after the news of Wardinski’s candidacy rolled across Vermont’s tiny media landscape, the Progressive Party hierarchy reverted back to their controlling ways by dissing Wardinski’s announcement with nonsensical language that would have made their post-9/11 nonsense seem (almost) sane.
Specifically, in a fine piece by Seven Days’ Shay Totten (see, I can offer a carrot AND a stick – it’s all part of my horse training world, I guess) the Prog Party’s top banana, Martha Abbott, spilled forth with this wildly confusing statement that, upon further reflection, seems to only indicate a latent fondness for Bush, Jr.’s clumsy flare with reason. Here, taste the quote for yourself and see if you can make sense out of it:
“Our challenge is to maintain our identity as a party that represents the interests of working Vermonters of middle and low income (including farmers), as distinct from the big-tent Democratic Party (where those interests get compromised away in an attempt to be on all sides of an issue), but also to cooperate with the Democratic Party when the stakes are significant. At the same time, we must not marginalize ourselves — as many third parties have and as Mr. Wardinski and others would have us do — by running in every race regardless of the stakes or the other candidates.”
Wow. I’m dizzy. Not to mention confused, worried, bothered and simply pissed (as a progressive, of course).
Sorry, Martha, but with quotes like that it sounds like your party needs Boots. Because Boots knows where he’s walking.
You follow our directives and we’ll do whatever we want. When Dems compromise it’s wrong. When Progs compromise it’s smart.
Got that? Now leave me alone so I can get back to my Castro biography.
Funny, whenever I connect Abbott and the Progs, I think of Abbott and Costello routines (“Who’s on first?” comes to mind), but that comedy duo were really funny! What a lot of horseshit from Martha. Seriously. It’s obv to me she doesn’t understand how democracy is ‘sposed to work nor does she know that if you get the sigs to get on the primary ballot, it’s the people who decide, no? That’s the thing with these Progressive Establishment Hacks that riles me to no end. So many people in this state don’t run for local, county, or state office. Time and again, they just diss & put down sincere candidates who are real people-oriented and care about Vermonters. I’ve seen it happen. Boots has soul; the current Progressive Party doesn’t. When it comes down to it, they don’t stand for squat. So, let the people decide!
You are at least doing something to ‘include’ the people. Overall, the Liberal Left (there ain’t no Radical Left–just Radicals) has lost touch. It would rather be a CLUB. Talk to itself. It misses Bush.
More and more regular people are fed up with the ONE PARTY rule, but the Left provides no dynamic. The Right has a dynamic, but the Left dismisses it as Whacko, takes the stuck-up road, and we lose more and more battles over the years, and wind-up with a one-term President Nice. In 2013, we’re going to see some real Nazi shit hit the fan. It’ll make Reagan and Bush look like HUMANS. And we won’t be allowed to even talk to ourselves any more.
Go Boots. I think if Obama and the Dems continue to show there is no real difference, except for Politeness & Decorum, people will be looking for alternatives in 2010. As long as we lay off the Tea, and not let the ELITE run the show.