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Last night in Left Bank Books in Saint Louis, David Sirota gave a short talk about his latest book, The Uprising.  I had not read the book, but I wanted a chance to see the man in person. For those of you who have no idea who David Sirota is, he’s a center-left populist pundit. He’s worked as a spokesman for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and a strategist for Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer. He’s now a popular blogger, a best-selling author, a syndicated columnist, and an occasional guest on cable news shows.

David showed up a little late, although Jeff Smith, who was listed as his host, was even later (Jeff’s notorious for that.) David’s been on a book tour across the US these last few months, so he seemed a little tired but at the same time very comfortable with the format. Apologies for the blurry photos – David keeps his speaking rhythm by prowling and swaying back and forth in front of the crowd.

David’s talk is below the flip.

By “uprising”, David seemed to mean an upwelling of popular outrage into actual political clout. How that political clout was used would determine the legacy of the “uprising.” David began by drawing an explicit parallel between the present day and 1976, the last time that progressive forces had a real chance to wield power effectively. The post-Watergate elections of 1974 and 1976 ushered in a large Democratic majority in both chambers of Congress and a Democrat into the White House. Dissatisfaction with the government was at an all-time high. Yet the new Democratic government failed to achieve promised reforms, allowing the conservatives to seize the moment with Reagan and dominate American politics for twenty plus years.