What Got Obama The Nomination

What Got Obama The Nomination

If you want to know who supported Barack Hussein Obama, and why, read this open letter in the July 30, 2008 The Nation, in which the hard left of the Democratic Party expresses concern that he might not be far enough left now:

Here are key positions you have embraced that we believe are essential to sustaining this movement:
§ Withdrawal from Iraq on a fixed timetable.
§ A response to the current economic crisis that reduces the gap between the rich and the rest of us through a more progressive financial and welfare system; public investment to create jobs and repair the country's collapsing infrastructure; fair trade policies; restoration of the freedom to organize unions; and meaningful government enforcement of labor laws and regulation of industry.
§ Universal healthcare.
§ An environmental policy that transforms the economy by shifting billions of dollars from the consumption of fossil fuels to alternative energy sources, creating millions of green jobs.
§ An end to the regime of torture, abuse of civil liberties and unchecked executive power that has flourished in the Bush era.
§ A commitment to the rights of women, including the right to choose abortion and improved access to abortion and reproductive health services.
§ A commitment to improving conditions in urban communities and ending racial inequality, including disparities in education through reform of the No Child Left Behind Act and other measures.
§ An immigration system that treats humanely those attempting to enter the country and provides a path to citizenship for those already here.
§ Reform of the drug laws that incarcerate hundreds of thousands who need help, not jail.
§ Reform of the political process that reduces the influence of money and corporate lobbyists and amplifies the voices of ordinary people.

One of the reasons why the Weather Underground and other leftist groups went crazy in the late 1960s and early 1970s--and started bombing buildings, and killing working class people--is that they spent all their time talking to other leftists. As a result, they became convinced that America was on the edge of a communist revolution that just needed a spark to light the fire.

Look at this list of "key positions" above. Many of them are not just minority points of view, but extreme minority points of view.

Even worse, some of them show that the left is completely out of touch with reality. For example, "restoration of the freedom to organize unions." Did Congress pass a law prohibiting labor union organization? Did Bush lock up union organizers in Gitmo?

"An end to the regime of torture, abuse of civil liberties and unchecked executive power that has flourished in the Bush era." Unchecked executive power? So the courts didn't do anything about Gitmo and the military tribunals?

"A commitment to the rights of women, including the right to choose abortion and improved access to abortion and reproductive health services." Wow! The Bush Administration banned abortion? No one told me!