Silence Is Suicide

socialismartnature:

The whole problem with the Obama administration is its “If you can’t beat them, join them,” approach to politics. “We can’t win the election against the Republicans while they are raising so much coporate cash,” Obama argues. “Therefore, we need to start increasing our acceptance of corporate cash.”

But at a certain point, the more you ‘play the by rules’ of a corrupt game, you cease to have any ability to change the game whatsoever. You win an election, but you lose any ability to pursue a political course independent of the wealthy elite who act as a veritable oligarchy in this country.

This is, of course, assuming Obama even actually desires to pursue a pro-working class political course. In any event, the end result is the same: Obama compromises, hems, kowtows to the bankers & economic elite in order to ‘stay in the game’ and sacrifices the interests of workers, poor people, and the oppressed along the way.    

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Reversing an earlier stand, President Barack Obama is now encouraging donors to give generously to the kind of political fundraising groups he once assailed as a “threat to democracy.” He had little choice, his campaign says, if he was to compete with big-money conservative groups that are sure to attack him this fall.

Obama’s campaign is urging its top donors to support Priorities USA, a “super PAC” led by two former Obama aides that has struggled to compete with the tens of millions of dollars collected by Republican-backed outside groups. Campaign officials said Tuesday the president had signed off on the decision.

The president is already facing criticism that he is compromising on principle and succumbing to Washington political rules he pledged to change.

 … Former Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., a longtime advocate for campaign finance limits, said the decision to support the super PAC would “gut a winning, progressive strategy. When Democrats play by Republican rules, people see our party as weak, and a false alternative to the power of rich individual and corporate interests that are increasingly dominating our government.”

This is what sucks. You can’t get into a position to change anything without becoming pretty much wholly corrupted, and by that point you’re fodder for anyone and everyone who has the slightest disagreement with you to call out your hypocrisy.

Everyone loves to praise the founding fathers, but their political system is obviously obsolete and completely broken… I wish people would acknowledge that and try to change it.