Gate-crashing, gate-keeping, etc.

In response to an essay entitled Who are the real gate-crashers?, I commented:

Eureka!

I've finally figured out the problem...

It's those damn gates!

I never consented to gates.

And it's become really clear to me over the past few years that we're not going to make anything better simply by installing a different group of people inside the castle. Trusting that they will "remember who got them there"--when the truth is, everything changes once they get inside those gates.

It seems like work--or at least the time I need to unwind, relax, and shift gears *after* work--keeps getting in the way of my blogging. I keep starting to post about this topic, and never quite end up with the essay that I know is in my brain somewhere. I think the closest I got was in Prophets and Kingmakers, especially in the comment I appended to it

I remember when Jim Wallis came to Columbus last spring, he said something about Martin Luther King. I don't have the exact quote, but it was something like, "he never endorsed a candidate, but he was able to get politicians to endore *his* agenda.

When I attended that B.R.E.A.D. assembly, I was impressed that so many people were willing to come out on a Monday night to demand fair treatment for a segment of the population that politicians may feel that they can safely ignore. These people showed up not for a political party or candidate, but in support of a shared value. WE were taking the lead, and telling the politicians and elected officials that *they* need to get on board.

Still working on putting all of this into words, but the crux is that I've had a realization in the past few weeks...

When your main goal is to "elect Democrats"--and I'm not just talking about the orange place, but any political group with that goal--it becomes difficult to do the job of "holding elected officials accountable". Because heaven forbid we openly criticize the Democrats who *are* in office (Lieberman is a noteworthy exception). I mean, what of "they" hear us criticize? We don't want the Republicans to win, do we? If we criticize Democratic leaders, we're emboldening the Republicans!

As far as I can tell, if I commit to playing the game of party politics, and agree with the premise that getting more Democrats elected, I'm not allowed to hold elected Democrats accountable. I must instead, shut my piehole, for now. But one day--ONE DAY--once we have that solid majority, and a Democratic president, and...and a unicorn, while we're at it.

But the important thing is that we keep trying. Because if we keep doing the same thing over and over again, it's BOUND to pay off eventually!

Isn't that right, Chuck?

Haloscan comment thread