Image via WikipediaThe presidency of the US is the most powerful political office that was ever designed in the history of humanity, but it also comes with severe constraints. But if you believe in rule of law and the basics of democracy, if you believe in the need of a US president to primarily answer to the American electorate, then those constraints are welcome constraints. I did not volunteer for Obama 08 envisioning a Genghis Khan in the White House. The netroots/grassroots that put Obama in the White House has to realize its enormous power when it comes to the green revolution in Iran. If that netroots/grassroots can put "a skinny kid with a funny name" into the White House, that netroots/grassroots can get rid of clowns like Khameini and Ahmadinejad. That netroots/grassroots is sufficient upon itself to bring down autocracy after autocracy.
I am for harnessing the power of the global netroots/grassroots for the cause of democracy. All the political work that needs to be done, all the money that needs to be raised, all the exposure that the green movement needs, all that can be provided by the global netroots/grassroots. We are not at the mercy of politicians in power, or at the mercy of old media. We have what it takes.
If the global netroots/grassroots will do all it can do for the cause of democracy in Iran, somebody like the President Of The United States could make just the right moves at just the right times to tilt victory our way. I can't imagine the guy being for the other side. But we the netroots/grassroots do have to exhibit governance literacy, power literacy to be able to tap into the powers of our guy who is the top guy on the planet when it comes to political power.
Image via WikipediaHe is on our side, he is with us, but he has the constraints of a political office. There are options he has. There are options he does not have. We the netroots/grassroots do not have those constraints. There are things we can do that he can't. There are things he can do that we can't. We have to do the things that we can do to make it possible for him to do the things that he can for the cause of democracy in Iran.
We need to work it for the top guy. But the power was and remains at the grassroots and the netroots.
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