A scary thought, Obama, along with over half of Congress, are in the One Percent.

[Telly Savalas]

71. A democracy that rests on the foundation of gullible voters is on shaky ground

A million dollar campaign won't influence the voting behavior of an informed and engaged citizenry.

That's not blaming the victim. It's simply observing a precondition for any meaningful change. We're stuck in a negative feedback loop where there's political apathy because people are fed up with the bullshit, but the bullshit thrives because people are apathetic. That apathy isn't going to be broken by calling attention to the injustices wrought by the current power structure - the vast majority already already sense that things are wrong.

What's needed is a positive alternative. Folks would be more apt to pay attention if they knew that there were candidates and officials out there that knew what they were doing and represented the interests of the people. But this will never happen until members of movements for social change identify capable members among their ranks and support their candidacies. Nobody else is going to do this for us. Money won't leave politics until it stops winning.

Moreover, "pressuring" our elected officials is a bullshit strategy. What's the pressure? That they're threatened with the prospect of being defeated by another plutocrat? That's supposed to make the powers that be shake in their shoes? Fuck pressure. We need to replace our elected officials if they're doing a bad job, not pressure them. But given that we're rolling into primary season for House and Senate seats and there's pretty much no discussion at DU regarding progressive challengers for these seats across the country, I get the sense that there's not much activity on that front.