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Progressive Independent Board Statement

First & foremost, this site is opposed to the criminal war in Iraq, the US support of the brutal oppression of the Palestinians and to US militarism in general. The Democratic Party supports that war, in their typical disgusting and dishonest way -- pretending to be critical of how Bush is running it, but voting overwhelmingly to continue funding it. There is only a tiny handful of Democrats in Congress who are seriously against the war. None of the pushed names -- Biden, Kerry, Clark, Hillary, Obama, etc -- is among them. Politicians with progressive views on this madness are wholly absent from the major media while the status quo Dems are splattered like "shock and awe" across every media outlet available.

Secondly, this site is, in a generalized sense, pro-impeachment. Not just pro-impeachment, but pro-jail for Cheney & his sock puppet & Rummy & Condi for high crimes & treason. And not just pro-incarceration of these criminals, but pro-throwing all those Democrats out on their ass, who say that "impeachment is off the table."

We recognize that our country would not have sunk to its present level of crisis & degradation, without the full complicity of the Democrats. We recognize the need for a genuine opposition party -- and that this can't possibly be a party of corporatism, militarism, & nationalism, because those things are the disease, and the disease can't be the cure.

Please take this seriously -- this site is not going to be a forum for chatting about "which Dem do you support?"

If you consider yourself a Democrat, that's a-okay. If you plan to vote for Democrats, any Democrats, that's a-okay too. We aren't telling people 'you must conform' to post here. However, we strongly suggest you read the "About Progressive Independent" page and study the continuum below.

We believe that we need to focus on the wars/occupations now, first -that this is the most acute crisis as hundreds of innocent people are being murdered or having their lives destroyed every day. The occupation of Iraq and Palestine are a main focus here and we encourage people to actively demonstrate against the wars whenever they can.

But there is a simple and glaring truth. The wars are raging on. The way we are doing this hasn't been working. We aren't even making a dent as far as influencing the politicians' support and blank-check-funding for the wars. That is a fact.

Have people like us influenced public opinion? We've probably helped some, and maybe hurt a little too. Does it matter that a large majority of people want the war to end? No. It doesn't matter how many people are against this war. At this rate, this war will end sometime, and when it does, it will be when the neo-cons are ready for it to end. It won't end because it was wrong, or because people died needlessly, it will be because it is no longer profitable financially or geopolitically. But they'll move on to somewhere else. Even when this war ends another will begin shortly. The anti-war movement as it is will not truly end the war, let alone the system that creates needless war after war after war..

The anti-war movement, as it exists today, is trying to treat a symptom, not a disease. The same is true of the the labor movement, the environmental movement, the anti-globalization movement...

They're all experiencing similar difficulties. The environmental movement, for example. Global warming is terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. We truly believe that the next wars will be about water - once the Middle East is fried to hell and there is no oil left to grab, the imperialists will move on and water is the next battle. The environmental movement gets some results - saving a river here or a few species there, and these are wonderful steps. But they aren't going to slow this march to destruction down enough to make a real difference on the bigger scale. This is not to say that the victories don't matter - they ABSOLUTELY do, and it is vital that people keep working on it. But the reality is that it doesn't matter what rules we can get passed in the legislature about pollution or deforestation when they won't get enforced anyway because the influence and incest between corporations and the gov't is too strong.

The worker's rights movement. We don't want to use the term "labor movement" because that brings to mind unions and so many of them are corrupt too, doing very little to help protect worker's rights on a bigger scale. There will always be a Walmart wielding so much power and influence over the government that the people are no match for them.

Poverty. Which is inevitably tied into race. The growing ever-growing gap between rich and poor, the criminalization of poverty, the invisibility of suffering, our elderly neighbors going to church emergency pantries for groceries. We could go on and on about this one, because it'sis bad and it is getting exponentially worse even in the US, one of the 'wealthiest' nations in the world. And it is so much worse all over the damn world. Suffice it to say that here we are talking about the biggest group of people, yet they have the least power of anyone.

So what is the solution? In simple terms, if all these movements come together, that would be a hell of a lot more people trying to make the world a fairer, more just place, if we may say so, to make it a better place. People power. But it isn't that simple. It isn't just a matter of trying to broaden the movement or get more numbers or anything like that.

The need for unity is much, much deeper than that. We are propose that we recognize that the source, the real source, of all these injustices is the same- corporate imperialism.  Some may choose to call it fascism on a global scale, but it goes by many names. We are proposing to change the focus from treating the symptoms of this monster to the monster itself.

One of the failings (yes, failings - it isn't working so let's not pretend it is, and let's not take it personally no matter how much we have invested into it) of ALL of these movements is that we are each treating our chosen cause (for lack of a better word, because 'cause' does not even begin to cover the enormity of anyone of these issues) as though fixing it will end the problem.

This is most clear with the movement to end the war in Iraq - most current anti-war groups arose after we invaded Iraq, and if we ever get that war stopped, how many of those groups will be around 5 years later when they start the next war? We bet a lot of them won't. They'll be burnt out and they will have reached their goal. Their funding will dry up because the war is over, right? But is it really over, is it EVER really over? Unless and until the starting point of a movement is to attack the source, the real source of the problem, it can never be effective.

The bizarre thing is that the antiwar movement often draws lines, they don't want their events 'watered down' or they don't want to confuse the handful of people who actually watch the rallies on C-Span by bringing up immigration or labor or Palestine or Katrina. You here that criticism of ANSWER all the time, and it played a major part in the breakdown of their relationship with UFPJ.

One of our Admins, MeganMonkey, deals with issues of poverty and hunger in her community. She talks to a lot of people. A lot of unemployed people who are struggling to keep their shit together. The economy is terrible, absolutely terrible, especially in Michigan but this is true all over. You'd think that people here would be ready for fucking riots. It isn't like we haven't had them here before. You'd think, given the connection between the wars and our faltering economy, people would be ready to get involved. But it's not happening. And when we talk to people, there are a few things we hear over and over again. They want to know why their neighborhood looks like a war zone. They want to know if, once we get the war stopped, we are going to be in their neighborhood protesting the injustice, the poverty, the horrible schools, etc. They want to know why we are all so concerned about people halfway across the world when there are people so close by who need help. Maybe their heads aren't being blown off by the dozen, but they are getting picked off one by one. So why don't we care about them?

While we can say that isn't true, this is the impression many people have and that is why a lot of these folks won't stand up in general with the anti-war folks, who tell them "oh, we'll work on your problems later, after we stop the war" because the activists don't understand that it has been war on these folks all their lives, right down the street. And while this impression of the activists isn't true in many cases, it IS true in others, because people don't want to see how bad it is down the street. It is so much easier to be sympathetic from a distance.

The anti-war movement is primarily a middle-class movement. This is not meant as a criticism, this is what we consider a fair observation.

I hope that all doesn't come out too harshly but that's the truth as we see it.

So why is it that we haven't come together with these other groups on a huge scale when THE ROOT OF OUR PROBLEMS IS THE SAME DAMN THING? Why can't we get it together and see that?

That root, that huge monster at the root of it all, is really fucking intimidating. When you really examine it, stopping the war seems like a ridiculous notion. I mean, how the fuck are we supposed to compete with that? All that money, nations of armies (some privately owned), the strength of governments, indoctrination through propaganda, how in the holy hell are we supposed to stand up to that? Any of us? The poor people, the antiwar people, the environmental folks, people in India trying to stop Coca Cola from poisoning all their water, people in Bolivia trying to stop Nestle or whomever from owning their fucking rain? NONE OF US CAN POSSIBLY DEFEAT IT. We may irritate it enough that it goes away for a bit but it will come back, stronger and better prepared to mow down the forests and build bigger bombs.

And this monster's greatest weapon is divide and conquer. No matter the context, that is what is happening. Dems vs. Repubs, working-class Americans vs. immigrants, Americans vs. Iraqis (well, Americans vs. most of the world, shit). It is everywhere.

And we think - one step at a time right? End the war and then we can move on because that'll help with the economy and the debt and then we can.....But we can't, not like that. IT ISN'T WORKING. That's the whole point of what we're doing here. THE ONLY WAY WE CAN DO THIS IS IF WE ALL DO IT TOGETHER, AT THE SAME TIME, AROUND THE WORLD.

That is our mission statement coming straight from our hearts.  So take the following words seriously. If we feel your purpose here is to disrupt and/or propagandize to keep people beholden to the plutocratic monster, we will be frank enough to help you find a new home.

Since PI’s inception we’ve banned 9 posters, not counting obvious trolls. ALL were banned for infracting the spirit of our rules.

PI is an adult board.  The Admin/Moderator Team has no interest in baby-sitting or wasting time on "hurt" feelings. Rudeness, pettiness and/or vindictiveness towards other posters WILL get you banned from this board.

Every single decision made here is motivated by the best interest of the site and our stated goals. One of our unstated goals is to build the desperately needed bridge to help people transition from enabling a very complicit Democratic Party and take the final courageous steps towards a forceful “NO” by supporting only progressive candidates with their vote... PI is that bridge. And it’s going to have to be an intelligent, reasonably forgiving, tolerant and patient bridge.

Every single poster here is helping build that bridge so please pay attention to nuances, excercise patience in discussions and everytime, anytime you get weirded out that so and so said such and such an incredibly naive thing, then please go to refocus by watching those videos as you ask yourself if it's more important to knock another poster down or to work with them when their heart is in the right place. The pain in those two videos and in the mp3 of an interview with Mohammed Omer define this site.

We're human and know we're flawed, we take your reactions and constructive recommendations seriously because you guys make this site what it is.  Please don't hesitate to contact the Admin team if you have any concerns and please hit the alert button if you see something wrong.

Thanks,

Tinoire | MeganMonkey | RichM | Leftchick

- You can be a progressive independent and still be either a member of a political party or unaffiliated but you’re a Leftist who has the courage to think independently, own your vote and act to change things.

- A progressive independent can support selected politicians from any party to the Left of the Republican (or none) based on issues rather than party loyalty - progressive being the guiding philosophy.

- A progressive independent can not support these wars or the brutal oppression of the Palestinians under any pretext.

- A progressive independent OWNS his/her vote and abstains from supporting anyone who doesn’t represent them.