Okay, in a nutshell, here is the crux of it, in my opinion of course.

I and many others have said this in many ways. But it bears repeating in light of the events of the last week or so. And in light of all the conventional wisdom crap that's been peddled about what Obama "needed to do" in his SOTU speech.

The Beltway pundits and strategists (and many among us amateur pundits and strategists) keep repeating a stupid meme. It usually boils down to this: "Obama has to figure out a way to placate the "left wing" of the Democratic base, while also appealing to the "center" and the "mainstream independents." ....or a slight variation: "He has to move to the center, and hope that the left wing will continue to support him."

To that I say Bulls**t....In my opinion, of course.

It is based on a false choice and CONservative premise. See, there is this idiotic notion that has been around for years that "the left" or "the liberal wing" or "progressives" are some kind of weird cult who do not share the values or goals of "real" ordinary Americans. There is an accompanying idiotic belief that if a politician like Obama "caters to the left" he is automatically doing something that "swing voters" will disapprove of.

The GOP and the CONservative machine has been great at embedding this fallacy into the national consciousness. Their job is to protect and advance the interests of the Corporate Elite and other oligarchs. And they're doing a fine job. I tip my hat to them, and I admire their effectiveness. Honestly. They have done a great job at selling snake oil.

Basically, for the last 30 years They have been winning. They have CONvinced average Americans that ultra-conservativsm, a political ideology and economic philosophy that is directly opposed to their own self interest is actually good for them.

They have also successfully demonized liberalism. They have made it seem that a political philosophy based on the good old American values of fair play, common self-interest and shared economic well being, plus tolerance and individual freedom, is some weird belief held only by a bunch of fruity leftists and militant representatives of the undeserving poor.

And they are still winning, even after losing two national elections, being booted into the minority in Congress and being evicted from the White House. All of this is a "mere flesh wound." They'll put a few band-aids on, and get right back out there and KICK OUR ASS yet again.

But the GOP isn't the real problem. The real reason CONservatism has become so embedded is the sellout of the Democratic Party, and the surrender of the Democratic Party to the GOP/CONservative drumbeat. This is NOT something new. It started sometime in the 70's. At first it was understandable. Back then, the Democratic party and liberalism had come to seem to represent all of the social divisions and econlomic problems that were besetting the country back then. It had come to be perceived as the Party of Minority Special Interests and Unfair Restraints on Free Enterprise....So the Democratic leadership tried to clean up its image and realign with the middle class.

But in the process the Democratic party threw the baby out with the bathwater. They joined the GOP in rejecting and marginalizing economic liberalism. This was partially intellectual among those who have bought into the CONservative philosophy themselves. Or actual corruption, by some. Or both. It was also due to cowardice by other Democrats who worried that seeming "too liberal" was too politically dangerous.

Of course it wasn't simple. Life is complicated. Some Democratic leaders did not cave in, and remained staunch liberals and progressives. But in the overall context they were pushed to the margins, while the corrupt and/or cowardly "centrists" took the controls.

So, institutionally the Democratic Party became enablers of same economic ideology as the Republicans. They sat silently as industry after industry was consolidated under monopolistic monsters. They went along with scams like unfettered corporate "free trade" and deregulation and privatization and the gutting of the safety net. They empowered Alan Greenspan and the right-wing Chicago School of ultra-right wing economics. They joined the Club of crony capitalism.

And -- unfortunately, they joined the GOP in stifling and marginalizing any alternative to this narrow spectrum of thought. The Centrist Conservative Democratic Party was only slightly less aggressive than the GOP at making sure that quaint notions like Anti-Trust Enforcemet or meaningful Financial Regulation or a Public Health Coverage were made to seem like naive stupidity or anti-business socialist encroachments.

Then came last year. The House of Cards that had been erected by Free Market Religion finally came tumbling down. Everyone (except the protected elites) got screwed by the excesses and the concentrations of power that had evolved.

It was a prime opportunity for a resurgence of Liberal and Progressive reform. The public had experienced the blowback from Right-Wing Corporate Conservatism. They were angry and wanted change. They wanted the political system and government opened up and cleaned up.

It was also a prime time to make it clear that Liberalism and Progressive Populism are solidly mainstream philosophies.It wasd a time to sell the ideas that we had run away from for too long. It was time to make it clear that it was not a choice between "liberals" and "real Americans."

But what has happened since then? Unfortunately, rather than leading the charge for meaningful liberal/progtressive reform, the Democratic Party wet its collective pants in public. They retreated into the phony "centrist" position of intimidated enablers of right-wing GOP nonsense.

Rather than actively advocating for Liberal and Progressive Principles, and explaining them, too many Democrats are spending their time bashing progressives and liberals and keeping them on the margins. It's been happening at the top and down here in the trenches in places like DU.

Some of it, frankly, is blind partisanship. If Obama came out tomorrow and said "I will not sign any healthcare bill that does not allow anyone to buy into Medicare at any age" many who have been attacking "bill kiillers" would change stripes and praise him.

Some of it is also continuing to buy into the notion of this false choice between "liberal and progressive" and "the center."

At this point in history, our job (in my opinion) should not be to run away from what most of us actually believe. We should not be assuming that "Americans" will recoil at truly liberal and progressive reform. We should stop helping perpetuating the fallacies pushed by the the GOP and the corporate oligarchs that America is an inherently right wing country.

Our job -- whether moderate or more strident -- should be to make it clear by message and actions to "the middle" that they will be better off individually and as a society with a healthy dose of liberalism and progressive populism.

In other words, open the center further to the left.