I’ve been railing mightily against the weak-kneed progressives & liberals around here. They, of course, have every excuse in the world as to why they must be ineffective:

Jed Sanborn might yell at me!

I’m in a minority!

The excuses are legion. But my disagreement with the weak-kneed on the council boils down to this: I disagree that being in a minority fatalistically mandates ineffectiveness. (As for their fear of the Dad Figure on the council, that’s something that could only be resolved in years of therapy sessions; i.e., beyond the scope of this blog.)

Perhaps they need a role model. I’d suggest they look no further than Elizabeth Warren. She’s standing up to the banks while getting virtually no political support from any quarter. While Obama again seems to be cowering in a corner on the issue of financial reform, Warren takes the fight to those cantankerous old banksters. Congress is full of bought-off weasels (both parties). Oh, and yes, St. Tammy continues to cave to the banks as well (She voted to allow them to loot the treasury in the last days of the Bush Administration, no restrictions, no conditions, no strings attached; and more recently, she has been in cahoots with the Office of the Comptroller of Currency in letting banks defraud their customers. I’ve got a letter dated December 29, 2009, in response to a complaint in which she approves of a bank’s fraudulent actions, in a case very similar to the cases reported in the NYT article above.)

Contrast that limp response with Warren’s approach: She just keeps hammering away. She’s taking the case public in every venue that will accept her (for starters, here, here). And she is relentless. Exudes the most righteous moral indignation (and rightfully so!). Promotes hard hitting, tight regulation. Is merciless toward the banksters.

To hear her talk on TV, or to read her quotes or her own op-ed pieces is an intense experience.

And to hear this straight talking Oklahoman — raised a Methodist to boot!** — and a Harvard professor, pulling no punches & taking it straight to the banksters, sounds a whole heck of a lot like the prairie populists railing against the banks of the 1890s! It just doesn’t get any better than this….

I think we’ve found the Fighting Bob LaFollette of our time! For this is a woman with fight. Fire. And I support her and her views on our financial system. Strongly.

Madison’s electeds at all levels should start taking notes. And following suit.

Tammy, are you listening? Time to screw up some courage and get tough on the banks!

Once in a while a new public figure emerges and astounds. Elizabeth Warren is Exhibit A.

*Forgive the bad alliteration — it just worked too well!

**Full disclosure: My mom is from OK and a Methodist, to boot!