January 10: The Storm and Why the Left Should be Proud of Obama.

Steps: 6,449

Activity: None.

Book: Jim Harrison's The Raw and the Cooked

Normally I spend Monday night in Corning, California in the Super 8 there. The reason is that I have an early morning meeting in Corning every Tuesday and I hate driving an hour and fifteen minutes to get there. Especially in the winter when it is dark when I leave and the roads are often wet and slippery. I am older now, and staying in Corning is one of those things I do in order not to get totally exhausted. It is 62 miles from the Mud Hut to the Home Health office in Corning.

Last night I decided the weather was too yucky to drive to Corning so I got up this morning and made the trip. In the rain. After the meeting I drove the 32 miles to the Chico office in order to be able to concentrate and get some work done. Then an attempted client visit, a trip to Costco, a trip to Tractor Supply to buy some real rain gear (I am sick of being cooped up in the rain, and in the tradition of "There is no bad weather, only bad clothes"---I went and bought real rain gear.).

Then I drove home in one of the fiercest storms I have encountered in California. My poor valiant little Yaris was tossed about on the highway by the 50 mph gusts. So I drove around 150 miles today without much to show for it but decent rain gear.

The local coyotes are yipping as I type these words.

Watched Obama's farewell speech. I think we all are going to miss the guy. Yes, I know that many on the Left are critical of him for his 26,000 bombs he dropped last year. They hate his coziness to Wall Street and his abandonment of Single Payer. Sure.

What these Leftists don't understand is that Obama stretched the playing field whereby we can even use the term: "Liberal" and "Progressive" without hanging our heads in shame. Remember the bad old days when Bill Clinton said the days of big government were over? For years since Reagan, it simply was unacceptable to be a Liberal, let alone a Leftist, in the United States.

No more.

So yes, the Democrats have lost 1,000 seats in State Government, Governors, Congress and the U.S. Senate over the last 8 years. Yes, we are in trouble and there is a fight for the soul of the Democratic Party. But think back to the 90's when even Liberals were marginalized, non-existent, let alone somebody to the Left of them.

Obama made it acceptable for a Leftist critique to even be made of him. By bringing up "The Public Option", by taking over GM---remember when my right wing friends called it "Governmental Motors"; by using government to get us out of a nasty recession--Obama expanded the acceptable parameters of political ideology in America. It's still not great, but it is a whole lot better than before Obama took the stage.

For this, we who call ourselves "Leftists" should admire the man. He made us relevant again. Bernie Sanders never would have happened without Obama paving the way, taking back ideological ground.