Once again, I beat the drum to rid the body politic of an infected appendage. “An important instance of system change could be the change in the US political system: to eliminate the US Senate which has been standing in the way of progress on every front. The Senate has not even ratified the Kyoto treaty – and never will. Yet this is a measure that would easily have passed in the US House of Representatives, which is the only legislative body the American people need.”

A little while ago I did a piece on tweeting the fear card, and the attempts of certain supporters of the Democrats in this year’s elections to persuade dissatisfied and angry progressives that severe damage will be done to the country if the Republicans take over the House, the implication being that severe damage will not also be done if the Democrats retain control of the House. As the election has approached the fear card is being supplemented by the guilt card.

Biden & Obama use Filibuster Scam to Block Elizabeth Warren from Full Appointment — by NormanB

Earlier this month, Thomas Geoghegan wrote a piece for The Nation telling the Democrats the ten things they could do to really get the base excited, and at the same time do good things for the country. Here’s his list.

Where progressive dollars can go furthest in Senate races – and reform, maybe end, the filibuster while we’re at it.

Article One, Section One of the United states Constitution can and should be changed by an amendment that would effectively abolish the US Senate. History reveals that the process of amending the constitution is quicker than waiting for the Senate to act on the will of the People. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin and Illinois’ Dick Durbin both support the abolition of the filibuster. This is the strategy for Senators who wish to keep their jobs. Our world is moving faster, but our Senate is slowed by frequent use of this ancient artifact.

These last couple of days, I happened to see a couple of pieces by Robert Borosage. The first of these called “Kick the Old and Disabled to Show We’re Serious About Deficits,” is about organizing and fighting back against the deficit terrorist movement to cut Social Security, and reported that Borosage’s organization, the Campaign for America’s Future, “has joined with 50 other organizations (and growing) representing 35 million Americans to form a coalition”, called “Strengthen Social Security.” He also refers to a panel on Social Security at Netroots Nation that will be “inviting the bloggers across the country to help fend off the assault on Social Security, and join the debate about priorities over the next years.” Then he ends with this:

These days the chattering classes often converse about how the Democrats can get their base charged up and working for the fall elections. For example, Greg Sargent at the Plum Line blog says:

”As you know, over the weekend Robert Gibbs dropped a political bomb, saying that Republicans just may take back the House. His comments are being widely interpreted as an urgent warning designed to get rank and file Dems to grasp the stakes of the midterms once and for all.

”But here’s the question: Will rank and file Democrats care? The thinking among Dem strategists appears to be that once Dems realize the midterms are a “choice” election, rather than merely a referendum on Dems, they’ll go out and vote. But what if Dems do see this as a referendum on their party’s rule, and base their enthusiasm solely on whether they are energized by the Dem performance?”

It is time to start hitting the Republicans in the Senate and one Democrat (I am looking at you Ben Nelson!) on this totally bogus look to the future but screw the present issue of extending unemployment benefits, and more importantly the issue of another major stimulus package to get people back to work. So, lets hit them where it hurts, let’s call them out on their total lack of patriotism.

There has been a flight to patriotism in the Republican Party since the 9/11 attacks. They have reaped the benefits of being (falsely as it turns out) the party that stands for the good ol’ U.S. of A. and it is time to make that flag they have wrapped themselves in a hell of a lot less flattering.

"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"

On July 4th, Americans are supposed to celebrate their independence. We may no longer have to worry about a greedy, distant monarch. But our country is still held in thrall to powerful interests that prize profit over individuals and their freedom—the energy industry comes to mind. As Jason Mark puts it at AlterNet: