Look, letters, petitions and virtual marches are lovely. Really, they are, so good on MoveOn et al for the effort today.
That said, let's not pretend this is what Obama needs to "make him do it." I often cite the same apocryphal FDR story he has, and I see it's making the rounds again. Yet people seem to forget just how this actually worked with Roosevelt:
As the nation prepared for war, African American leaders hoped that the rapidly growing defense industry would provide new opportunities for blacks. In September 1940, A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, met with President Roosevelt and urged the President to promote equal employment opportunities and to desegregate the armed forces. Although Randolph left the meeting with assurances that President Roosevelt was looking into the matter, no agreement was made.
Having failed to secure the support of the Roosevelt administration, Randolph hoped to bring his cause to the American people. For months he planned a march on Washington and gathered the support of tens of thousands of African Americans. Worried about the impact of the march, Franklin Roosevelt met with Randolph two weeks before the march was scheduled to begin and urged him to call off the march. The only way he would stop the march, A. Philip Randolph told FDR, was if President Roosevelt issued an Executive Order. [emph mine]
On June 25, 1941 President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 prohibiting discrimination in the defense industry and created the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) to monitor hiring practices. Although the military remained segregated, World War II brought about new jobs and opportunities for African Americans.
I agree with the assessment that Obama's tepid health insurance reform proposal full of GOP "ideas" represents a loser mentality. What of our collective refusal to step up and apply real pressure on him to deliver meaningful HCR in the form of single-payer?
I submit our reliance on passive, electronic means of expression is part of our own loser mentality. We fundamentally gave up in March when we didn't begin an aggressive, escalating strategy to support HR676.
Fortunately, we've once again got an opportunity and some good starting points. But what's our next act and what will it take to make us do it?
ntodd
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