For those who don't get the poker reference: If everyone else folds, you don't have to show your hand and it is in fact rude to do so.

hat tip to WhitesCreek:

The biggest difference between Obama and FDR/LBJ is that people like me weren't really around back then. Together with the AAPC, the MRA, the AMA, ESOMAR, and a whole host of other organizations you've never heard of, we have more power and control than you know.  We're extremely good at what we do, and we do it all behind the scenes, appealing to and manipulating your subconscious brain in ways that your conscious brain has little to no control over.

the American political Right never quits and never gives up.  They know that organization is the key to their success, and they don't trust politicians to do their work for them.  Democrats, on the other hand, get disappointed and quit when our politicians don't pan out the way we wanted.  That's why we lose.

As the healthcare debacle went on month after month, I didn't ask myself why the Democratic politicians weren't pushing single-payer or Medicare for all.  I wanted to know where the Left-leaning organizations were.  Where were the think tanks, the message machine, the newspapers, the whole infrastructure?  Where were the national, well-tested ad campaigns pushing Medicare for All?  Where were the free screenings of Sicko at major movie theaters across the nation, complete with sponsored food & drink for those who attended and signed up to take action?  Where were the mid-cycle ads done by Madison Avenue professionals targeting specific Senators and making them deeply uncomfortable?  Where, in effect, was the message campaign?

It didn't exist.  What we had were labor unions and the AARP delivering generic hopeful messages without an ounce of the power or creativity that one might find in a random Budweiser ad.

If you want to win, ORGANIZE.  Develop parallel organizations willing to persuade with the power and intensity of a corporation.  As long as people like me are out there, and most of them are willing to work for the highest bidder, you'll need to stop looking for saviors, and instead learn to fight fire with fire.

The upcoming battles won't wait for us, and there won't be anyone coming to save us but ourselves.