It came yesterday in my email: “Rich Becker — Progressive Candidate for Congress.”
I feel like that’s something that wouldn’t have happened even a couple of months ago, before the Occupy movement was born. For the longest time, it seemed that liberal were afraid to call themselves — well, they are still afraid of calling themselves liberals — at least progressives.
I blame it on our stupid two-party system. It’s the system that forced an environmentalist like Al Gore to advocate for the release of strategic oil reserves when petrol got a little expensive. It’s what makes reasonably intelligent Republican candidates pretend that “the facts are not all in” on evolution and climate change.
At least in a parliamentary system, you don’t have to pretend you are something that you’re not. Sure, the Lib Dems don’t actually have the same ideas as the Torries even though they formed a coalition with them. In Israel, Bibi doesn’t actually have to claim to be a religeous fanatic … He just is in bed with those forces.
It’s not much of distiction, you might say, but it is one nonetheless. At least it doesnt turn every politician into even more of a charlatan than they are already.