NUtroots Nation 2012: The progs are dense in Providence

Where have all the progressives gone? You say you haven't seen hide nor hair of them over the past four or five days? You're wondering where they all are? Did they commit mass hara-kiri after the Wipeout in Wisconsin? Have they all moved to France (where they don't wear underpants)? Have they retreated into OMB (Occupy Mom's Basement)?

No, the reason you haven't seen the progressives around much lately is this: The progs were dense in Providence. A dense concentration of them, I mean. In Providence, Rhode Island. They were all there for "Netroots Nation 2012," the seventh annual conference of looney lefties that we affectionally like to call "NUtroots Nation." Originally organized by Head KOmmie Markos "Kos" Moulitsas of the Daily Kos, NUtroots now has other "premier sponsors" also, such as MopeOn.org, Planned Barrenhood, SEIU--the usual suspects.

NUtroots Nation in Providence was the place to be the last few days. Kind of a giant pep rally-cum-party for gray-ponytailed hippies and teachers' union types. And if you're a politician or an organizer who wants to scam these suckers for support, then you want to show up at NUtroots Nation and roll out your KOmmie Kredentials. And so they came, and so they spoke: Elizabeth Warren, Howard Dean, Van Jones, and a host of other hucksters with their hands out.

Today then we'll go to the NN12 Highlights Archive, so you can see what you missed. We'll start with some of the panel titles on the program, and then we'll trot out some tweets from the twits KOmmenting on the keynotes. So let us now proceed to Providence for the ProgProp, in Rhode Island Red, while the commentary of your humble guest correspondent, Charles Henrickson, wondering if the Prog Spring of 2012 will lead to a Revolution Recovery Summer, is in the [brackets]:

Taking the Offense in State Elections

[I think a lot of Wisconsinites took offense at your wasting millions of tax dollars on a stupid recall election. Way to go!]

Agitation and Inspiration: The Power of Art and Cultural Organizing

[That worked so well with the Occupy Movement, didn't it? Prog Spring of 2012? Wha' hoppen? All we got was OccuPoet Misty Rowan huffing and puffing. And if Trust Fund Ted Hall is still crying "Help us now!" no one is listening. Meanwhile, William Rivers Pitt, the 40-Year-Old Insurgent, is still occupying his Barcalounger. "Agitation and Inspiration"? More like "Stagnation and Evaporation."]

The Battle for Congress: Q&A on the 2012 Elections

[Q: How do we win these 2012 elections? A: The key for you Democratics is to get out there and VOTE on November 7!]

Liberate Your Ass: Why Sexual Freedom is Key to Fighting the Right

[benburch shared how he liberated his.]

Take a Walk, Scott: Post-Mortem of the Wisconsin Recalls

[Mourning in America.]

What Progressives Can Do to Stop the War on Public Education

[Homeschool.]

Bold Progressive 99% Candidates in 2012

[99% of whom will be bowled over in November.]

Your Phone Is Political

[My phone is hanguppable.]

That Will Never Work: What Progressives Can Learn from OWS

[Learn that it didn't.]

Punditry 101: Getting Your Message On Air

[Featuring panelists Will Pitt, Keith Olbermann, and Cenk Uygur.]

[And now for some tweets from the twits KOmmenting on the keynotes . . .]

Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America spoke about women's health and showed this powerful video . . . "I Have Sex" - students speak out. . . .

[Wonderful. A speech in favor of killing babies and a video promoting sexual immorality among teens. Well, I guess that's what keeps Planned Barrenhood in business.]

Bill McKibben spoke about blocking the Keystone XL pipeline. . . .

[Keep those gas prices and unemployment numbers rising!]

Lily Eskelsen, VP of the National Education Association: “We are the progressive cmty. We org ppl who care about #edu #healthcare, disabled, poor, discriminated, enviro."

["We r the tchrs who tch ur #chldrn 2 #spll."]

Elizabeth Warren spoke next.

[The Faux Squaw started to squawk.]

She started by talking about Republicans.
["Rethugs. Ugh!"]

She compared financial markets to football.
[She compared her cheekbones to mountain ridges, where noble ancestral spirits dwell.]

Krugman: Solving this Depression is not an economic problem, it's a political problem. We need to get the Very Serious People out of the way.

[Let's elect more Very Silly People!]

Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance Ai-jen Poo. . . .

[The Poo hits the fans.]

Trumka: Building a movement. . . .

[I thought that was Poo's topic.]

Krugman: "the way people get silenced in my profession is by accused of being shrill."

[The shrill is gone.]

#nn12 @Erica Payne "I am so sick of the old white dudes being in charge of everything."

[I feel your Payne.]

"We don't need facts, we need to work on some goddamn propaganda." @elonjames #nn12

[ProgProp, yes! Facts, no!]

"there's a sense that those in Washington either don't care or don't understand what Americans are going through." @davidcicilline #nn12

[Don't worry, @david. The Obama Gang will be gone in a few months.]

Tweets cannot do justice to "Mexican Redneck" @ChuckRocha's accent as he tells #nn12 to take our country back!

[Chuck, speak up! Let the people hear your "Bolshevik Redneck" accent! . . . Oh, God love ya, what am I talking about?]

Next, President Obama addressed Netroots Nation via video.
[The President is pro-video for Providence. He doesn't want to be seen there in person with all you KOmmies. He'll take your money, though.]

@BarackObama - "And as long as you're willing to keep up that fight, I'll be right there with you."

["Even though I'm not there now."]

Then Governor Howard Dean spoke.
[YEEEEEEAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!]

Howard Dean says Tea Party and the "Hate Wing" of the Republican Party are dying out.

[Uh, Howie, did you see what happened in Wisconsin the other day?]

@benjealous gets the #nn12 crowd fired up with the chant "fired up - ready to go."

[I'll be happy when Obama is "fired - ready to go."]

Finally, activist and co-founder of Rebuild the Dream Van Jones took the stage.
[Van Jones, who was "Mr. Green Jobs" to Obama's "Captain Kenyaroo."]

"We like this president but we are not in love with him like we used to be! We went from having a crush to being crushed" @vanjones68 #nn12

[Translation: The Van got thrown under the bus.]

"You have to have a President willing to be moved. And you have to have a movement willing to do the moving."

[Said the moving Van. Which is what this President will need come January.]

"Somebody has got to stand up! What better place than here? What better time than now?"

[San Jose. June of 2013. The place and time for the NEXT NUtroots Nation!]