In which your author loses her temper

Several of you probably received a message like this one today:

Yesterday's disappointing election results show deep discontent with the pace of change. I know the OFA community and the President share that frustration.

We also saw what we knew to be true all along: Any change worth making is hard and will be fought at every turn. While it doesn't take away the sting of this loss, there is no road to real change without setbacks along the way.

We could have simply sought to do things that were easy, that wouldn't stir up controversy. But changes that aren't controversial rarely solve the problem.

Our country continues to face the same fundamental challenges it faced yesterday. Our health care system still needs reform. Wall Street still needs to be held accountable. We still need to create good jobs. And we still need to continue building a clean energy economy.

The President isn't walking away from these challenges. In fact, his determination and resolve are only stronger. We must match that commitment with our own.

But it won't be easy. Real change never is. For that reason, I am grateful you're part of this fight with us.

Thank you,

Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America

Unfortunately, Mitch is not who I want to hear from today, and this is not the message I want to hear. He should really have given it a couple of days weeks. So unfortunately, I am sending this response:

Mitch, honey, this is bullshit. Our country *does* continue to face the same fundamental challenges it faced yesterday, and I only wish the administration really *had* fought to reform our health care system and really *had* fought to hold Wall Street accountable. It's not *me*, or your other supporters in Massachusetts, who were unready to make difficult changes. It was the administration. You shmucks had a 60-vote Senate supermajority, and you dicked around with pro-corporate, pseudo-centrist bullshit until you lost it. Don't blame me; I voted for Capuano in the primary. We wouldn't be squabbling about whether the health insurance reform bill that can be passed is worth passing if it were a stronger bill, with a real public option. That whole world-weary pragmatism thing seems particularly stale coming from Mr. Change-You-Can-Believe-In. Your team includes the most vicious enforcer in Democratic politics today, Rahm Emanuel, and you're wasting him on shutting up your base. Why don't you have him stop by Congress and explain to everybody *there* what's at stake? Trust me, we in Massachusetts already know.

And by the way, I am not donating because I myself could still use one of those "good jobs" you speak of.

This is on you guys, on Obama and his organization and on the DNC.

So do not presume that you get to tell me what I should think today. If you get around to remembering how your guy got elected and want to know what *I* think, you'll find it here: http://laurenmerlin.blogspot.com/2010/01/coakleybrown-women-politics-etc.html

UPDATE: Of course, info@barackobama.com's server bounced my message, and the Organizing for America Web site told me to send my comments to whitehouse.gov. So I did.