June 22, 2011

Netroots Nation: Kevin Gozstola on Dan Choi's pending federal charges

1 comment:

  1. What was the plea deal they offered?

    If a member of the religious right were to chain himself to the fence to protest AGAINST the Obama's refusal to defend DOMA and the protester refused a plea deal that brought it down to a misdemeanor, would we complain or recognize the nuance?

    I am a little concerned about Dan Choi poisoning people against Obama when they should be in alliance with Obama. I know many on the left are upset with him. I am. But I suspect that Choi is a right-winger. I agree with him on his "one issue" but as this issue becomes increasingly mainstream, it might become clear that his ONLY alliance with the left was this ONE issue. Obama, on the other hand, is allied with us on this and dozens of others, and though limited in scope and often slower than we would like, he has in fact delivered on several of them!

    If progress is not as fast or as bold as we would like, push harder. But don't _blame_ Obama or OFA by name unless you want to go back in the other direction. I worked for Organizing for America pushing for _legislation_ I believed in -- some of it passed [the repeal of DADT] and some did not. When we FAILED to get something passed at all, it made it sting that much worse to hear complaints about the pace and scope of progress from people who weren't there or were actively campaigning against it as a pointless
    half-measure.

    I prefer half-measures over nothing when it has real tangible benefits to real people!

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