I. United By Anger
Yea, it REALLY SUCKS to be this angry at the political party that we support. The netroots played a large role in influencing the media, recruiting candidates, raising money and motivating activists/voters in 2006. Most of us genuinely believed that we would be rewarded for all of this effort. We gave Reid, and especially Pelosi, the benefit of the doubt and held our tongues when they took impeachment (which is making more and more sense) off the table, and when they refused to advocate cutting off war funding.

And then they basically fucked us over. Which makes us mad.  

But WHY are we mad? Sure, it's because we feel betrayed, powerless, used, ignored, etc. But the roots of that anger lie in the fact that we all KNOW that Iraq is a lost cause. We know it's a waste of lives and money, and that wasting lives/money on a lost war/occupation is stupid, destructive, and terrible for America.

We ALL AGREE ON THIS ISSUE. ALL OF US. We're incredibly unified and we're confident in the foundations of out beliefs. Many of us know the specifics of WHY we've lost this war. We've read books like Fiasco, Cobra II and Imperial Life in the Emerald City. We KNOW that there was utterly inadequate planning. We KNOW how and why the public was decieved. We KNOW that there weren't enough troops to secure the peace. We KNOW that our military let the Iraqi's loot crucial government buildings after the fall of Baghdad (because there weren't enough troops). We KNOW that Bremer was appointed as a 'viceroy' in Iraq -- that he alienated the Iraqis by disbanding the Iraqi army and crippled the government with a draconian (idiotic) policy of de-baathification. We KNOW that the CPA was run by incompetent Republican party hacks/loyalists. We KNOW that the military/Bush administration ignored the growing insurgency until it had metastisized. We KNOW all of the voices of reason within the military were ignored. We KNOW that abu-Ghraib was the result of a leadership structure that condoned torture, and that it has PERMANENTLY STAINED America' image. We KNOW that there has been a breathtaking amount of waste, war-profiteering and civilian brutality by both private contractors and American troops. We also know that Iraq is a failed state. It's beyond repair. All of the professional/middle class has fled. There is no one left to actually run a government. We KNOW that this is a civil war, and that it is CLEARLY WORSE THAN VIETNAM, because we're still dependent on the oil in the region.

We KNOW that the ONLY rational solution is to begin a withdrawal, and to acknowledge/learn from our serious mistakes, our dysfunctional leadership structure and our crimes against humanity.

I'm sure there are plenty of progressives who have relatively minor differences when it comes to Iraq, but we're seriously united for the most part. That's a hell of a lot to agree about, and it allows us to collaborate, persuade each other and learn from each other on a nearly unprecedented level. When was the last time you can remember so many people agreeing with what's WRONG with this country? MAYBE the civil rights movement -- an unlike the civil rights movement, we don't have as many cultural/racial divisions. There are plenty of ex-republicans (you know, the budget hawks who are actually in touch with reality) who wouldn't dispute that Iraq is an epic blunder.

My point is, we are united in our anger. We are brought together by our shared beliefs, and this strengthens us as a movement. We've really only just started to organize and agitate, and we're going to become much larger and more powerful because we're way more in touch with REALITY and the concerns of WORKING PEOPLE (as opposed to . That's good for us as a movement and it WILL BE GOOD FOR ALL AMERICANS once we seize power and reintroduce rationality and justice into our government.

We're mad because it clearly hasn't happened yet, but that anger makes our success even more likely.

II. The Progressive Movement, Reaffirmed As Independent From The Democratic Party

I'm assuming that like me, most netroots activists are still true blue partisan Democrats. We know that America will almost always be better off with a Democratic majority. We know that we need a Democratic Trifecta in 2008 and a 60+ vote senate supermajority in 2010. We hate it when Democrats use right wing frames to criticize other Democrats, and although we don't tolerate corruption, we're willing to accept a certain amount of pork/compromise in order to accomplish serious legislative goals.

That being said, the Democratic party has proved that they're not representing us (yet), they aren't afraid of us (yet), and that they don't actually share our principles (yet).  

It's clear that we need to PURGE, yes, PURGE the Democratic party of the Liebermans, Tauschers, Clintons, Harmans and Baucuses. They're amoral corporate leeches and we know it. They're great at manipulating the emotions of low-info tv-news-fed voters, and they're great at secretly sticking up for corporate interests whether we're talking about free trade or the Military-Industrial-Congressional complex

In other words, the Progressive movement isn't just a piece of the Democratic party, it's an entity that's independent of the Democratic party. It's not just that we want any Democrat to win. We want to TAKE OVER THE PARTY for good reason. This Iraq vote reminds us that we aren't just Democratic Cheerleaders.

III. Putting The Horserace In Perspective
We've been bickering amongst ourselves about which candidate is best. This vote reminds us that there are things that are WAY MORE IMPORTANT that horserace politics. Hillary Clinton isn't going to do shit about our military spending. Obama probly won't either. Edwards seems like he might want to, but does he even have a remote chance at overcoming the political obstacles? Doubtful. Please, DON'T defend your candidate in the comments, I'm not on anyones side, except for the progressive movement, in this post.

IV. Facing Reality

Fact is, we're just don't have enough power yet. We can't influence policy. That means we have to nut up and work harder.

I've also noticed that this Iraq capitulation has finally forced a lot of progressives to think about America as a MILITARY EMPIRE. I've seen several front page diaries that quote Chalmers Johnson (author of books such as Blowback, and Nemesis: The Last Days of The American Republic). Yesterday, I read a frontpage diary that links to a piece by Johnson detailing what really needs to be done to dismantle the American Empire and the Military-Industrial-Congressional complex.

These are undeniably true and seriously depressing problems that progressives are finally ready to start thinking about/coming to terms with. Sure, we need national health care and more checks on corporate malfeasance. But there ARE bigger issues, and I think that we're finally starting to focus on them.

In short, the Democratic capitulation has shown us THE WAY THINGS REALLY ARE, and getting in touch with this reality is only going to make us stronger and smarter.

So be mad. Stay mad. But start to think about WHAT you're mad about. It's not just the personal betrayal. It's the BASIC WAY THIS COUNTRY OPERATES. The only way that we can begin to fix these serious moral outrages is to start thinking about and understanding the basis of these problems.

We're united in our anger. We need to FIX the Democratic party, not just support it. There are issues that are far more important than 2008. Being exposed to an unjust reality can make you incredibly angry, but it can also make you smarter, stronger and more united.

If you agree or disagree on any of these specific or general points, please speak up in the comments. I'm trying to clarify my thinking on this issue and feedback/support/criticism always helps.