I recognize that some of you are deeply focused on your intent to vote for Barack Obama. But, I wish to compel you to realize that you should not vote for Barack Obama if you claim to harbor progressive or liberal values.
What would progressive values be?
Well, this is a conversation that must be had. Not enough so-called progressives or liberals know what those are. If they do, they are not translating there progressive values or liberal values into votes for real progressives or real liberals.
Edwin Rutsch has a video that asks, “What are Progressive Values?” The responses were revealing of how progressives are saying one thing and doing another when it comes to politics.
“Progressives” said progressive values were: change, moving forward together, hope, transformation, finding truth, asking questions, believing people are inherently good, tolerance, tolerance for ambiguity, democracy, egalitarian and not so top-down societies, social and economic justice, common good, nurturing and caring for others, empathy, caring about life and humanity, taking care of the environment, and responsibility.
One responder said it was good to not live in fear about things that are different and said, “When you don’t live in fear, I think your mind is open.”
Another explained that progressives should take and integrate and move forward in a creative and imaginative way. He suggested that progressives should found creative innovations in democracy.
As I listened I could not help but think of the Green Party’s Ten Key Values, which are grassroots democracy, social justice and equal opportunity, ecological wisdom, non-violence, decentralization, community-based economics and economic justice, feminism and gender equity, respect for diversity, personal and global responsibility, and future focus and sustainability.
These are all values that Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party presidential candidate would uphold. And, these are all values Ralph Nader, the Independent Party presidential candidate would uphold.
If these were informing the policy decisions of the next president, there would definitely be hope and change.
Without these values, which progressives overwhelmingly support, would there be hope and change? Would America move forward?
What happens if Americans continue to be satisfied by Barack Obama’s past so-called legislative prowess to vote for so much that progressives should find to be diametrically opposite of their values? What happens if they fail to realize he says one thing and then tactically does another so what he said can at least remain half true (for example, think about how he's handled the Iraq War)?
Actually, that’s not what I really mean to pose. No, really, I want to know this---why all the reverence?
Just look at what we’ve got up here on OpEdNews for so-called progressives and liberals to read.
As I read it, I cannot stop myself from drawing a parallel with one of the most influential film trilogy in American history, Star Wars.
This universal urge to unite is also the principle property of my Unified Field ~ The basic underlying and uniting force of the universe is a psychic energy field of love and soul consciousness ( the Unified Field ) which lies not only beyond time and space but ALSO beneath our deepest fears.
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