The Ghost of Violet Socks and Cold-blooded Pragmatism

The Ghost of Violet Socks at the Reclusive Leftist lays out a very persuasive argument for not supporting Obama in Archimedes Lever. I encourage you all to scoot over there to read it and here are some tempting morsels:

This has been the problem facing American feminists for years. Long before Hillary ran for President, long before Barack Obama smugly assured the world that Hillary’s supporters would vote for him in a flash, we had a problem. The Democrats weren’t earning our loyalty. They were taking us for granted, knowing that no matter how little they did to earn our support, every year women would still go to the polls and vote Democrat anyway because, remember, the Republicans are even worse….

What we needed, feminists said to each other, was leverage. How could we get leverage? How could we get the Democrats — old and new — to represent women’s interests? How could we create a situation where women’s votes weren’t assumed to be in the bag, but were a prize that Democrats would have to work for?

Voilà. Leverage is here.

It’s here because of Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the shameful way she was treated — by the media, by the Obama camp, and, most damning of all, by the Democratic National Party. Even women who didn’t personally support the Clinton candidacy were nonetheless appalled by the Trashing of Hillary. It’s not that she lost; after all, losing is part of the game. It’s that she wasn’t beaten in a fair fight. She was treated like garbage, and she’s still being treated like garbage. (As of this writing, Howard Dean is refusing to let Hillary’s name be on the ballot for the first vote at the convention, a startling departure from the norm. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in this campaign and she earned more primary votes for President than any Democratic candidate in the history of this country. And the DNC won’t even let her name be on the ballot.) The huge swell of anger in the land is the righteous rage of millions of women — women who are armed and more than ready to punish the DNC. Over and over the message is being beamed straight to the powers-that-be on a laser light of pure anger: You don’t get to take our votes for granted anymore. No more.

It’s a glorious situation. It’s what we’ve needed for years. Finally, the Democrats have to work for our votes! Finally, we have leverage!

She’s absolutely right but there I’m going to expand on this a bit. Here is our lever and we may never get another crack at it. Now, the Axelrove’s are busily crafting some nifty psychological warfare to use against us. After all, we *are* women and they know that we have been conditioned to look out for others. We are taught to be altruists. We are told that we fulfill ourselves if we sacrifice for others.

F%^& that $*I).

Are they telling me that if any of the blogger boyz were presented with this opportinity that they wouldn’t pull that lever with all their might? Of course they would. There’s nothing self-sacrificing about Markos Moultsas or Joshua Michah Marshall or Matt Yglesias. They’re all about climbing over us and slitting our throats if we get in their way. They don’t waste their time with guilt and shame and duty. They see what it best for them and they pursue it with a single minded intensity. They are cold-blooded pragmatists.

I happen to be a cold-blooded pragmatist as well when it comes to politics. I’m going to harden my heart. I am not going to let anyone play any mindf^*)ing games with me. If the Obamaphiles didn’t want the Democrats to lose this year, they had a choice. It’s now time they exercise it.

As Lady Macbeth said:
“Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here
And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full
Of direst cruelty!

Let’s not pass this opportunity up. Let’s flex our muscles and pull the lever.