Assuming That This Agreement Gets Through Congress,

I've made a decision. I don't like the agreement, but it was guaranteed that I would not like any agreement that could pass in Congress. And that's the bottom line with lawmaking in DC in 2011. So, recognizing that DU is going to be seriously polarized over this whole thing, with some ignoring the reality that Congress writes all laws and only passes what will pass in a particular Congress, I'm going to avoid discussions about President Obama and his role in this. I'm glad the debt ceiling issue is resolved, and in a way that will push off the need for any further increases until after the 2012 election. I'm glad that cuts to Social Security aren't part of the contingency cuts if no agreement is reached on the second half of this, and glad that cuts to Medicare appear to be cuts in provider payments. I'm also glad that major Defense Department cuts are part of the contingency.

This agreement, if it succeeds in getting through Congress is what it is - the reality of what will happen prior to the election, so I am not interested in spending a lot of time in a fruitless effort to defend it or to defend President Obama for working on it and signing it. I don't like it. I don't like anything that would have passed. The President can only work with the Congress he has to work with. His options are very limited with this Congress.

I have a book to write. It's been in the planning stages for some time, but I haven't started the actual writing. I've been spending a lot of my free time posting on DU, mostly in a Quixotic quest to change minds regarding the current political realities. It hasn't worked. So, when I'm not earning my living creating content for new business websites, I'm going to spend most of the time I've been writing on DU writing this book. I should be able to finish it before DFL caucus and convention season begins here in Minnesota, and long before campaign season. Once it's finished it'll be time to spend a great deal of time on the 2012 election in Minnesota, as I've done since I moved here.

I'm not leaving DU by any means. I'll still spend some time each day here, but I'm going to withdraw from the constant battle over President Obama. I'll be voting for him in 2012, and am not interested in any primary in that race. That's really all I can say about that. I'll do my DU writing on other topics I think are important, particularly on the need to regain control of Congress in 2012 for the Democrats and to elect as many progressive legislators as possible nationally and in the states. I'll just let others batter each other on the President Obama issue. I can't see the utility of it any longer.

Who cares, you ask? I don't know who cares. I don't really care who cares. That's what I'm going to do.