A good friend and Democrat called me to account for myself yesterday. She wanted to know, given the complaints I've made about the Democratic Party, why I didn't become more involved. A fair question, but one that I have mulled over quite a bit, so I was happy to try to give her a good answer.
First of all, I am not a gregarious, or even terribly sociable, person. I am content at home, working in the yard or curled up with a good book. A few years ago, I began to attend Democratic functions. In my fairly long life, I have done that from time to time, but never among such a group of committed, smart and strong women friends as I have here in Charleston.
For awhile it felt good. I got to meet people that were running the Democratic Party, some candidates, and some who were in government. But after a time, it became just something I had to do. That's not on anybody but me. It is who I am.
But I am also a retired psychologist and an avid reader. I am committed to learning and observing, trying to make sense of the insanity that is politics, and writing to try to convey what I see in an effort to help turn the tide of corruption and deceit. I stand somewhere between the typical voter and someone a bit more knowledgeable, so if I don't know that something is happening, chances are the typical voter doesn't know. And as a life long Democrat, I would like to see a strong Party help us all move forward.
The "election" of Donald Trump was the last straw for women who have been used and abused by male politics. From wages to reproductive rights to child health care, women have been the dog whistle of the right that nobody talks about. And too often because of that, it is women that are thrown under the bus by Democrats. There is no better proof of this than the fact that Bernie Sanders stumped for a candidate that, otherwise progressive, said he could not support a woman's right to an abortion. Imagine a progressive supporting a candidate who admitted that he believed African-Americans should send their children to different schools, or that gay men and lesbians should not have the right to marry.
On January 20, the County Party held its organizational meeting. You may recall that it was also the one-year anniversary of Trump's reign, and that on that Saturday a year ago, women marched in protest. Maybe County Dems scheduled their meeting unaware of the conflict. But wouldn't it have been something if they announced very publicly that they were changing the date so that we could all get to Brittlebank Park and support the women's movement?
It was the movement that began with the Women's March one year ago that has given voice to #MeToo. I am neither surprised at those voices, nor am I surprised at the backlash. The hashtag allowed women to speak up without fear of reprisal, but the next step is debate. And the one after that is action -- consequences that protect the woman and send a message that a behavior is unacceptable. Yes indeed, Roy Moore is a whole different can of worms (literally) than Al Franken, but our political stage acts out what is happening at fast food restaurants, high schools and homes throughout the country. If the Congressional Ethics Committee really did its job, a hearing would have been the way to go, but for Franken to have gone through the charade and been given a slap on the wrist so that members of the Senate could continue to protect their own, it would have been wrong.
Women need to keep speaking up and speaking loudly, or this movement will never get past Hollywood and Washington, to the women without power who need it most.
There are an awful lot of more subtle ways that women are getting pushed aside, and if we are unwilling to look at our own state politics, we are not going to move forward. Thanks to groups like Emerge America in South Carolina, women are being not just encouraged but assisted in their decision to run for office. Women are leading, but if men ignore or minimize the candidates in South Carolina, our voters will select the man in the primary, and general election voters will choose "R." That's on the state Democratic Party. The one that, to my knowledge, has never been led by a woman.
Republicans know how to message their sick policies, and they know how to unite behind that message. The other thing they really know how to do is choose their tokens. Nikki Haley, both a minority and a woman, killed two birds with one stone. She is smart and attractive, and knows how to toe the Party line, with style. The republican party knew that putting up a woman would defuse criticism of sexism in the party, just as parading Tim Scott neutralizes accusations of racism and eases any feelings of guilt by white republican voters.
Lately, in fact just over a week ago, Nancy Mace won the race for state house representative for District 99 against Cindy Boatwright. Nancy is Nikki in the making. A woman who made a name for herself at the Citadel and has been polishing her conservative image ever since. When she was unable to defeat Lindsey Graham as a challenge from the right, she settled for moving down to state politics. Before she moves up again. And the republican party is going to groom and support her any way they can, because she is going to do their bidding, happily, when she wins.
Could the State Democratic Party have done more (anything) to help Boatwright? They think not. And yet we Dems know we are on the right side of the issues. And we know that far too many voters stay home, too many don't even know there is an election, and surely don't believe it matters. Where there was a solid get-out-the-vote grassroots movement, here in Charleston, Boatwright won the votes. Did the County Democratic Party help make the difference in Charleston?
Republicans don't back off when the evidence shows they can't win. They double down. And sometimes they win. If they don't win, they make sure we all know it was some sort of victory anyway.
Brian Hicks wrote a brilliant and hysterical opinion piece yesterday about the republican race for governor here in South Carolina. You may not be surprised to hear that the primary contestants promise to provide a clown show. The issues for us should be clear, the republican positions ridiculous. On the other hand, every-damn-one in South Carolina will know who they are. As we should have learned from Donald Trump, the only bad publicity is no publicity.
For Democrats in South Carolina, unless the Party steps up with TV ads, billboards, and well publicized events, our candidates will be the best kept secret of 2018. And that will be a shame. Great candidates -- and we are fortunate to have lots of them this year -- still need help making headlines. It would be a shame if, when states like Alabama are able to send a Democrat to the Senate, we are unable to change the color of our local, state and federal government.
We need leaders who are unafraid to shout out the issues and point out the hypocrisies of their republican opponents. We need the ugly antics in the State House and in Congress made public, daily. Fund raising emails might work better if they are linked to a candidate; otherwise we are going to donate directly -- if at all. Issues and republican Newspeak need to be explained -- for example, republicans should not be allowed to do the damage to small businesses they get away with while claiming they are the party of small business.
Boeing and Mark Sanford understand that voters still watch TV. Even as I fast-forward through commercials on the DVR'd local news I can't miss the polished anti-union or pro-candidate messaging from the right. Debates -- primary and general -- get the name and the message out. It was shameful that in 2014, PBS refused to air a debate between Brad Hutto and Lindsey Graham; the forum that was aired instead of a debate allowed Graham the upper hand and was so polite as to be ineffectual. I truly hope that does not happen this year. We need our party to push for debates anywhere and everywhere they can put our candidates' faces and ideas in front of the public.
Mark Sanford and Tim Scott know when to show up. And how to get publicity. And when to stay quiet. And they have republican staff that knows how to get their names in headlines in the Post & Courier, and in the local Beaufort and Myrtle Beach newspapers. They have buffed their down-home images so that every white haired lady except me and my friends believes there isn't a day that they don't do a good work for the people of South Carolina.
I may be wrong. If candidates believe they are getting what they need from our Democratic Party, I would like to know. I would also like to know what candidates believe the Party could do for them in 2018. This, like #MeToo, is a talk we need to have. Because, more than anything, dysfunctional families need to talk.
Showing posts with label Democratic Party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Democratic Party. Show all posts
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Success: Democrats' Best-Kept Secret
Once, not too long ago, CNN and MSNBC carried news about Russia, all day every day. Then hurricane season hit, and now we have Russia and Harvey, Russia and Irma, Russia and Maria. And every now and then we hear about confederate general wannabe Jefferson Sessions and the human rights he is working to rid us of, and the republican Congress' umpteenth bill proposing to take health care away from Americans, and Kim Jong Un's latest missile test with subsequent threats and insults by our bully-in-chief.
Discouraging as that may be, there has been good news. It may be the best kept secret in America but for Donald Trump's taxes, but there have been special elections across the country, and it looks like our protests and demonstrations are paying off. If only someone would tell the Democratic Party.
Back in the spring, we actually had a special election that made national news. In a solidly republican district in Georgia, apparently where IQ's are higher than most, Hillary had lost to Trump by only one percent. Encouraged by that fact, a young man named Jon Ossoff garnered so much excitement that people who had once been afraid to put out lawn signs for Democrats were now campaigning door-to-door. When republicans got wind of this excitement -- and while they suck at governing, republicans are really, really good at sniffing out the political winds -- they went all in against Ossoff. Oppo research went into high gear, ads that were so nasty Mitch McConnell could only look on in envy. Trump did a robocall telling republican voters to protect their right to not have Democrats be part of the electoral process in Georgia's 6th.
And despite Karen Handel's relative unpopularity, she won. But despite all the dirty attacks against Ossoff in a staunchly republican district, he only lost by four percent.
And even more significant, in a race in South Carolina that went pretty much under the radar, Archie Parnell lost to his republican opponent by just about the same margin. Here! In South Carolina! With little acknowledgement or help from the national party.
Well, if the situation had been reversed and these were republican losses in Democratic districts, the republican party would be celebrating a huge win. We would have heard for days, maybe weeks, about what an upset had just occurred. But what happened? Democrats wondered if Ossoff was too young. They worried that they hadn't done enough in SC's 5th. In a masterly irony-free comment, the ever invisible state hero, Jim Clyburn, said,
"I don’t think we had the campaign that was designed to win," said Clyburn. "If we had gotten the resources, I think we would have won."
Ya think?
A week or so ago, I got an email from Ryan Grim who writes at The Intercept. It had some amazing news...
Apparently, the Democratic Party has decided to keep the good news under their hats. Now, some of you who do more serious news watching than I do may have heard of these victories somewhere, but please keep in mind that most voters just don't go beyond the headlines. And these victories were not headlines.
Be aware that these are state and local elections, not national. What is important about this is what we have been learning since November: that we need to fight on the state and local level; that when we change the fight on the local level, it moves up to the national level. Keep in mind that the abhorrent attack on redistricting could only have happened in states where republicans controlled the drawing of the maps. And 2020 will be the election that determines who will draw the next census districts.
If the Democratic Party celebrated the narrow losses in once-republican districts as well as all those local victories, eventually the voters who don't have time to read the fine print will start to recognize that something important is going on, and the republican party is on the wrong side of it.
And believe me, it will convey to national elections, which is something republicans have known all along, or at least since the Kochs, Art Pope and ALEC recognized it and started throwing their money at local elections.
Our SC state party has begun to send out informative emails about upcoming candidates as well as those who are already in the Statehouse fighting for us. If you aren't on their email list, go to their website and sign up. I've been very excited to see them move away from their "Give $3" fund-raising emails to actually informing us about issues and individuals.
On the other hand, the national party continues to hide out, which I suppose is preferable to all that public hand-wringing. My philosophy has become throw all my support and enthusiasm behind all those great candidates, and don't expect much from the party. They may figure it out someday, but the excitement comes before the money.
There are a couple of national campaigns I've recently heard about.
In Texas, besides having a really great name, Beto O'Rourke has decided to take on the evil Ted Cruz. A friend alerted me to him via a link describing what is becoming a famous road trip. O'Rourke took a congressional seat away from a long-time republican incumbent, and looks like he could actually do it again against Cruz. He has a strong personality and a strong progressive message. What he doesn't have is Ted Cruz' wealthy donors.
Two things about that. Social media has been proving to be more powerful than big bucks. And Jon Ossoff proved that when the message is right, we will find the money.
And maybe it is better these days to not be controlled by a twitchy party. I read an article a few weeks ago talking about all the great people who are stepping up to run for office in 2018. The article talked about how they made the pilgrimage to the national party office to ask for support, which the party made clear was contingent upon their fund-raising ability.
Pardon my French, but fuck that.
While they obsess about why Democratic voters have stopped responding to the deluge of fund-raising emails, they seem to have no clue as to why Democratic voters have stopped going out to vote. So, candidates first. First, last and in the middle. Candidates with a message that puts the 99 percent ahead of the one percent should not have to make raising funds for the big dogs part of all the hard work they are having to do to be heard.
Candidates need to be fearless. They need to know that the closer they come to being heard, the dirtier their opponents will stoop. They need to incorporate that into their campaign, as in, "The reason my opponent's party is attacking me is because he knows I can win. They know I am going to fight for you, and that you know I am going to fight for you. Their special interests have lots more money than me, and they will do anything to keep us from talking about the issues. I am not going to let that happen."
And our candidates need to resist the party message of cautiousness. That is how republicans divide us. They have used abortion and gay rights to throw shade on the real issues of individual rights and income disparity. In January, Indivisible led the way to a movement in which our unity gave us power. We have let that unity work for us in our fight for health care and against the Muslim ban, for transgender and reproductive rights, for DACA and voting rights and environmental rights. We can get the candidates who reflect that unity elected. We just have to show up and be heard.
We can help by letting everyone via email, on Facebook, Twitter and all those other social media outlets that I haven't yet gotten to, know right now about those great people who are considering running. We need to show up at their debates and rallies, and we need to get them in the news on local TV and the newspaper.
I would like to end by talking about the other potential candidate, one who has me pretty excited.
Annabelle Robertson is an employment discrimination attorney. She is also founder of Indivisible South Carolina. Today she is contemplating a 2018 run against US House Representative Joe Wilson. You may recall that he made it to national fame by yelling "You lie!" during Barack Obama's speech to Congress in 2009. What was less well-known is that it was Wilson who was lying, and that he later apologized to Obama for his crude outburst. He may have been wrong, and he may have apologized, but he has done lots of fund-raising on that undignified act. Not only did those two words reflect a new low in respect for the office of the president, but once again made South Carolina a laughingstock on the national stage.
Robertson represents everything the Democratic Party should stand for, as reflected in Indivisible. And the icing on the cake is that she is a really smart woman. So we need to a) encourage her to run, b) support her any and every way we can, c) get the word out.
The naysayers may be out there, but you know what I say to them.
Discouraging as that may be, there has been good news. It may be the best kept secret in America but for Donald Trump's taxes, but there have been special elections across the country, and it looks like our protests and demonstrations are paying off. If only someone would tell the Democratic Party.
Back in the spring, we actually had a special election that made national news. In a solidly republican district in Georgia, apparently where IQ's are higher than most, Hillary had lost to Trump by only one percent. Encouraged by that fact, a young man named Jon Ossoff garnered so much excitement that people who had once been afraid to put out lawn signs for Democrats were now campaigning door-to-door. When republicans got wind of this excitement -- and while they suck at governing, republicans are really, really good at sniffing out the political winds -- they went all in against Ossoff. Oppo research went into high gear, ads that were so nasty Mitch McConnell could only look on in envy. Trump did a robocall telling republican voters to protect their right to not have Democrats be part of the electoral process in Georgia's 6th.
And despite Karen Handel's relative unpopularity, she won. But despite all the dirty attacks against Ossoff in a staunchly republican district, he only lost by four percent.
And even more significant, in a race in South Carolina that went pretty much under the radar, Archie Parnell lost to his republican opponent by just about the same margin. Here! In South Carolina! With little acknowledgement or help from the national party.
Well, if the situation had been reversed and these were republican losses in Democratic districts, the republican party would be celebrating a huge win. We would have heard for days, maybe weeks, about what an upset had just occurred. But what happened? Democrats wondered if Ossoff was too young. They worried that they hadn't done enough in SC's 5th. In a masterly irony-free comment, the ever invisible state hero, Jim Clyburn, said,
"I don’t think we had the campaign that was designed to win," said Clyburn. "If we had gotten the resources, I think we would have won."
Ya think?
A week or so ago, I got an email from Ryan Grim who writes at The Intercept. It had some amazing news...
A Democrat stunned in a special election in Oklahoma last night. In November, Trump won this state legislative district by 11 points, and Jacob Rosecrants, the Democratic candidate, lost his election by 20 points. Last night, Rosecrants -- the very same guy -- ran again in the special, and upset his opponnent by 20. I'll do the math for you: that's a 40-point swing.
It's the third special election Democrats have flipped in Oklahoma (!) since November -- and in a fourth, in May, they lost a race by two points in a district that Trump had carried by 50. (That’s not a typo; it was a 48-point swing.)
And in New Hampshire, in a 29-point swing, Democrats flipped another district. (There are like five gazillion members of the New Hampshire legislature, so I wasn’t paying close attention to that one.)
In the race I was watching closest, in Mississippi, there were reports of people -- many students -- showing up to the polls and being told they were no longer registered. The Democrat, Kathryn Rehner, finished second, but forced a runoff election in October. If you know anybody who lives in Hattiesburg, Miss., forward them this email and tell them to get in touch with me if they were turned away at the polls. (And tell them to sign up while they're at it.)
El-Yateem, the democratic socialist running for city council in New York, lost by 7 points.
Apparently, the Democratic Party has decided to keep the good news under their hats. Now, some of you who do more serious news watching than I do may have heard of these victories somewhere, but please keep in mind that most voters just don't go beyond the headlines. And these victories were not headlines.
Be aware that these are state and local elections, not national. What is important about this is what we have been learning since November: that we need to fight on the state and local level; that when we change the fight on the local level, it moves up to the national level. Keep in mind that the abhorrent attack on redistricting could only have happened in states where republicans controlled the drawing of the maps. And 2020 will be the election that determines who will draw the next census districts.
If the Democratic Party celebrated the narrow losses in once-republican districts as well as all those local victories, eventually the voters who don't have time to read the fine print will start to recognize that something important is going on, and the republican party is on the wrong side of it.
And believe me, it will convey to national elections, which is something republicans have known all along, or at least since the Kochs, Art Pope and ALEC recognized it and started throwing their money at local elections.
Our SC state party has begun to send out informative emails about upcoming candidates as well as those who are already in the Statehouse fighting for us. If you aren't on their email list, go to their website and sign up. I've been very excited to see them move away from their "Give $3" fund-raising emails to actually informing us about issues and individuals.
On the other hand, the national party continues to hide out, which I suppose is preferable to all that public hand-wringing. My philosophy has become throw all my support and enthusiasm behind all those great candidates, and don't expect much from the party. They may figure it out someday, but the excitement comes before the money.
There are a couple of national campaigns I've recently heard about.
In Texas, besides having a really great name, Beto O'Rourke has decided to take on the evil Ted Cruz. A friend alerted me to him via a link describing what is becoming a famous road trip. O'Rourke took a congressional seat away from a long-time republican incumbent, and looks like he could actually do it again against Cruz. He has a strong personality and a strong progressive message. What he doesn't have is Ted Cruz' wealthy donors.
Two things about that. Social media has been proving to be more powerful than big bucks. And Jon Ossoff proved that when the message is right, we will find the money.
And maybe it is better these days to not be controlled by a twitchy party. I read an article a few weeks ago talking about all the great people who are stepping up to run for office in 2018. The article talked about how they made the pilgrimage to the national party office to ask for support, which the party made clear was contingent upon their fund-raising ability.
Pardon my French, but fuck that.
While they obsess about why Democratic voters have stopped responding to the deluge of fund-raising emails, they seem to have no clue as to why Democratic voters have stopped going out to vote. So, candidates first. First, last and in the middle. Candidates with a message that puts the 99 percent ahead of the one percent should not have to make raising funds for the big dogs part of all the hard work they are having to do to be heard.
Candidates need to be fearless. They need to know that the closer they come to being heard, the dirtier their opponents will stoop. They need to incorporate that into their campaign, as in, "The reason my opponent's party is attacking me is because he knows I can win. They know I am going to fight for you, and that you know I am going to fight for you. Their special interests have lots more money than me, and they will do anything to keep us from talking about the issues. I am not going to let that happen."
And our candidates need to resist the party message of cautiousness. That is how republicans divide us. They have used abortion and gay rights to throw shade on the real issues of individual rights and income disparity. In January, Indivisible led the way to a movement in which our unity gave us power. We have let that unity work for us in our fight for health care and against the Muslim ban, for transgender and reproductive rights, for DACA and voting rights and environmental rights. We can get the candidates who reflect that unity elected. We just have to show up and be heard.
We can help by letting everyone via email, on Facebook, Twitter and all those other social media outlets that I haven't yet gotten to, know right now about those great people who are considering running. We need to show up at their debates and rallies, and we need to get them in the news on local TV and the newspaper.
I would like to end by talking about the other potential candidate, one who has me pretty excited.
Annabelle Robertson is an employment discrimination attorney. She is also founder of Indivisible South Carolina. Today she is contemplating a 2018 run against US House Representative Joe Wilson. You may recall that he made it to national fame by yelling "You lie!" during Barack Obama's speech to Congress in 2009. What was less well-known is that it was Wilson who was lying, and that he later apologized to Obama for his crude outburst. He may have been wrong, and he may have apologized, but he has done lots of fund-raising on that undignified act. Not only did those two words reflect a new low in respect for the office of the president, but once again made South Carolina a laughingstock on the national stage.
Robertson represents everything the Democratic Party should stand for, as reflected in Indivisible. And the icing on the cake is that she is a really smart woman. So we need to a) encourage her to run, b) support her any and every way we can, c) get the word out.
The naysayers may be out there, but you know what I say to them.
Thursday, August 3, 2017
With Friends Like These...
It has been tough enough fighting the forces of evil lately. But just in the past couple of days we have been hit upside the head by our own Democratic Party. Multiple times. Let me just regale you with three items in the news. Hang on to your hats, friends.
My hero, John Lewis, just last year led a sit-in in the House of Representatives, to protest the refusal of republican leadership to allow a vote on gun control legislation.
You may recall that, during the Memorial after the horrific shooting in Charleston, a call for gun control received a standing ovation -- except for Tim Scott and Nikki Haley, notably sitting front and center. Scott receives the complete support of the NRA, with an "A" rating.
I haven't lived in South Carolina long (in southern time: only 18 years). But Tim Scott and I go back to when I was working at my beloved Charleston County Public Library and he was on County Council. In the economic destruction of the Bush years, here in Charleston, Tim Scott voted to drastically cut funding for our award-winning library. The library that teachers in a perennially exhausted school system used to provide the best books to their students, the library that provided an amazing collection to those of us who would never have had that kind of access to literature and science -- Tim Scott voted to slash the budget.
And last week, Tim Scott sat smiling broadly next to Donald Trump as he bloviated about how he was going to get the Senate to pass the health care bill. And then Scott voted to do Trump's bidding and take health care away from millions of Americans.
That Tim Scott, that is the person who John Lewis has just awarded the John Lewis--Amo Houghton Leadership Award for Faith and Leadership. Okay, I understand that this is an award given by a group that is committed to non-partisanship. And I know it is hard these days to find a republican that hasn't compromised himself to hell to follow the leaders of his party. But Tim Scott??? Yes, he will go on about his faith at the drop of a hat. But there isn't a damn way you can call him a leader.
And then yesterday I learned that the DCCC had formalized its desperate need to seek the support of the Trump voter by stating that they would support candidates who were anti-abortion.
I imagine that wimpy Tom Perez is hiding behind Bernie Sanders on that one. Bernie, you may recall, failed us big time when he threw his support behind anti-abortion mayoral candidate Heath Mello in April. Let me clarify my take on this. Bernie Sanders had the clout to offer to support Mello if he changed his position on reproductive rights. Mello didn't have to say he "believed" in abortion; it would have been enough to say that he supported a woman's right to make her own choice. But he did not. Despite appeals from women and women's groups, Bernie stood firm in throwing women under the bus to support an otherwise progressive candidate.
So, with Bernie's transgression as inspiration, the Democrats went on a highly suspect Democratic "listening tour." Suspect because it doesn't appear the Democrats are listening to anybody but their own fearful conservative leaders. Hillary may have won the popular vote by three million, obscenely gerrymandered voting districts and horrendous voter suppression laws may have resulted in Dems winning the vote and losing Congress, but to our Democratic leaders, what we need to do is compromise our values in order to win. The Democratic Party is like an abused spouse, promising ever more vehemently to behave each time they are struck.
Compare and contrast this to the republican party, which has maintained their leadership by promising to derail the programs that best serve their constituents. The difference? They really, really believe in what they stand for. Tom Perez and the DCCC, not so much. It has been nice to see the recent squabbles among republicans when faced with the psychotic behavior of the head of their party, but don't forget, only three republicans voted against the despicable Senate health care bill.
And with Democrats supporting anti-choice candidates, who will they compromise next? Look around folks, because all of us have our vulnerabilities. LGBTQ, affirmative action, gun control, unions.... basically, all the groups that the Democratic Party is supposed to protect and represent. The sad thing about this, other than leaving us all hanging out to dry, is that it won't work. Bigotry-lite will never have the appeal of outright right-wing bigotry. And the thing about the Democratic Party is that they are just aware enough of what they are doing to be embarrassed by it. They will never stand strong no matter what they say they stand for, and then they will still be attacked for being Harvard/Goldman Sachs elites. And when that happens, they will blush and deny it.
With the "listening tour" party sorely in need of a hearing aid, I have taken to firing back at fund-raising emails, saying that there is no way on this still-green earth that I will throw money down that toilet. I do try to say it in a more civilized manner. The other thing I do, and I encourage y'all to do both, is tweet @WhicheverDemIsBeingAWuss to let them know you won't support them unless they shape up. And then send your money and your support to all those great candidates who stand up for all of us. The DCCC may have forgotten what the Women's March and Indivisible are all about, but we remember, and we will continue to stand together.
And speaking of standing together, I glanced at Twitter today and saw one from Bakari Sellers that wasn't really shocking as much as saddening. So I replied.
Here in Bakari's state of South Carolina, the Democratic Party just passed over a highly qualified, politically active and successful woman (white) to go out of state to choose a white man to lead the party, which was at the time being led by a black man.
But you don't have to be a white woman to be passed over by Democrats. In 2014, Joyce Dickerson ran in a primary for US Senator against newly appointed Tim Scott. She was told by our own Jim Clyburn that she should step aside and let the two men fight out the primary. Well, with her powerful voice and message, she won the primary, but you wouldn't know it by the help and support she got from her party.
And just this year our state party put their thumb on the scale of the special election for US House seat for District 5. They unabashedly backed a rich white guy over a young black woman. And they had help from a bunch of big-name out-of-state Democrats. Wasn't a day I could check my email or visit Facebook without seeing that white guy's face or a fund-raising email from Robby Mook or Daniel Barash -- again, before the primary. And yet, that woman who ran without national or state support had a strong message and strong community support; in a three-way race, she got some 22 percent of the vote.
So let's not inject a white woman bias into this debate, okay?
Here is the thing. The republicans have been able to pit us against each other for decades. We have all been victimized by an unfettered capitalist system run by rich white men. Republicans in the positions of greatest power don't really give a damn about abortion or even the threat of terrorism -- you only have to look at how blase they have been at Trump regime's national security transgressions to know saving the nation is not what they are all about. What they care about is power, maintaining and growing that power. And they do that by making people scared and angry -- at each other.
And boy-o, Dems are an easy target. We are still fighting over Bernie versus Hillary. And when we argue over who has been the most victimized, they score an easy win.
So, let me say again, let's not do that. And let's tell the Democratic Party that they had better stick by ALL of us. And let's keep supporting our great progressive candidates. We have proven that we don't need the Democratic Party if we have the community. And with our social network, our community is the entire country. And these days, much of the world is behind us.
Women marched together, not for one cause or another, but for all of us who are suffering from the callousness and greed of the wealthy and powerful. And men marched too. You could march with us even if you were anti-abortion -- you just couldn't march for that with us, because that would have gone against the whole reason for the march. This is about all the individual rights and freedoms that are being systematically taken away. Jefferson Sessions might don his white hood and come after Muslims today, but tomorrow he will find time to go after sick people who use marijuana to ease the pain, and the day after that he will get to interment camps for Mexicans, and then young women using birth control, and yes, Bakari, affirmative action.
The Democratic Party needs to be reminded what they say they stand for: individual rights and freedom for all. We don't need a party to get behind a great candidate, but we can get their attention and refocus them on who they claim to be.
Shock #1
My hero, John Lewis, just last year led a sit-in in the House of Representatives, to protest the refusal of republican leadership to allow a vote on gun control legislation.
You may recall that, during the Memorial after the horrific shooting in Charleston, a call for gun control received a standing ovation -- except for Tim Scott and Nikki Haley, notably sitting front and center. Scott receives the complete support of the NRA, with an "A" rating.
I haven't lived in South Carolina long (in southern time: only 18 years). But Tim Scott and I go back to when I was working at my beloved Charleston County Public Library and he was on County Council. In the economic destruction of the Bush years, here in Charleston, Tim Scott voted to drastically cut funding for our award-winning library. The library that teachers in a perennially exhausted school system used to provide the best books to their students, the library that provided an amazing collection to those of us who would never have had that kind of access to literature and science -- Tim Scott voted to slash the budget.
And last week, Tim Scott sat smiling broadly next to Donald Trump as he bloviated about how he was going to get the Senate to pass the health care bill. And then Scott voted to do Trump's bidding and take health care away from millions of Americans.
That Tim Scott, that is the person who John Lewis has just awarded the John Lewis--Amo Houghton Leadership Award for Faith and Leadership. Okay, I understand that this is an award given by a group that is committed to non-partisanship. And I know it is hard these days to find a republican that hasn't compromised himself to hell to follow the leaders of his party. But Tim Scott??? Yes, he will go on about his faith at the drop of a hat. But there isn't a damn way you can call him a leader.
Shock #2
And then yesterday I learned that the DCCC had formalized its desperate need to seek the support of the Trump voter by stating that they would support candidates who were anti-abortion.
I imagine that wimpy Tom Perez is hiding behind Bernie Sanders on that one. Bernie, you may recall, failed us big time when he threw his support behind anti-abortion mayoral candidate Heath Mello in April. Let me clarify my take on this. Bernie Sanders had the clout to offer to support Mello if he changed his position on reproductive rights. Mello didn't have to say he "believed" in abortion; it would have been enough to say that he supported a woman's right to make her own choice. But he did not. Despite appeals from women and women's groups, Bernie stood firm in throwing women under the bus to support an otherwise progressive candidate.
So, with Bernie's transgression as inspiration, the Democrats went on a highly suspect Democratic "listening tour." Suspect because it doesn't appear the Democrats are listening to anybody but their own fearful conservative leaders. Hillary may have won the popular vote by three million, obscenely gerrymandered voting districts and horrendous voter suppression laws may have resulted in Dems winning the vote and losing Congress, but to our Democratic leaders, what we need to do is compromise our values in order to win. The Democratic Party is like an abused spouse, promising ever more vehemently to behave each time they are struck.
Compare and contrast this to the republican party, which has maintained their leadership by promising to derail the programs that best serve their constituents. The difference? They really, really believe in what they stand for. Tom Perez and the DCCC, not so much. It has been nice to see the recent squabbles among republicans when faced with the psychotic behavior of the head of their party, but don't forget, only three republicans voted against the despicable Senate health care bill.
And with Democrats supporting anti-choice candidates, who will they compromise next? Look around folks, because all of us have our vulnerabilities. LGBTQ, affirmative action, gun control, unions.... basically, all the groups that the Democratic Party is supposed to protect and represent. The sad thing about this, other than leaving us all hanging out to dry, is that it won't work. Bigotry-lite will never have the appeal of outright right-wing bigotry. And the thing about the Democratic Party is that they are just aware enough of what they are doing to be embarrassed by it. They will never stand strong no matter what they say they stand for, and then they will still be attacked for being Harvard/Goldman Sachs elites. And when that happens, they will blush and deny it.
With the "listening tour" party sorely in need of a hearing aid, I have taken to firing back at fund-raising emails, saying that there is no way on this still-green earth that I will throw money down that toilet. I do try to say it in a more civilized manner. The other thing I do, and I encourage y'all to do both, is tweet @WhicheverDemIsBeingAWuss to let them know you won't support them unless they shape up. And then send your money and your support to all those great candidates who stand up for all of us. The DCCC may have forgotten what the Women's March and Indivisible are all about, but we remember, and we will continue to stand together.
Shock #3
But you don't have to be a white woman to be passed over by Democrats. In 2014, Joyce Dickerson ran in a primary for US Senator against newly appointed Tim Scott. She was told by our own Jim Clyburn that she should step aside and let the two men fight out the primary. Well, with her powerful voice and message, she won the primary, but you wouldn't know it by the help and support she got from her party.
And just this year our state party put their thumb on the scale of the special election for US House seat for District 5. They unabashedly backed a rich white guy over a young black woman. And they had help from a bunch of big-name out-of-state Democrats. Wasn't a day I could check my email or visit Facebook without seeing that white guy's face or a fund-raising email from Robby Mook or Daniel Barash -- again, before the primary. And yet, that woman who ran without national or state support had a strong message and strong community support; in a three-way race, she got some 22 percent of the vote.
So let's not inject a white woman bias into this debate, okay?
Here is the thing. The republicans have been able to pit us against each other for decades. We have all been victimized by an unfettered capitalist system run by rich white men. Republicans in the positions of greatest power don't really give a damn about abortion or even the threat of terrorism -- you only have to look at how blase they have been at Trump regime's national security transgressions to know saving the nation is not what they are all about. What they care about is power, maintaining and growing that power. And they do that by making people scared and angry -- at each other.
And boy-o, Dems are an easy target. We are still fighting over Bernie versus Hillary. And when we argue over who has been the most victimized, they score an easy win.
So, let me say again, let's not do that. And let's tell the Democratic Party that they had better stick by ALL of us. And let's keep supporting our great progressive candidates. We have proven that we don't need the Democratic Party if we have the community. And with our social network, our community is the entire country. And these days, much of the world is behind us.
Women marched together, not for one cause or another, but for all of us who are suffering from the callousness and greed of the wealthy and powerful. And men marched too. You could march with us even if you were anti-abortion -- you just couldn't march for that with us, because that would have gone against the whole reason for the march. This is about all the individual rights and freedoms that are being systematically taken away. Jefferson Sessions might don his white hood and come after Muslims today, but tomorrow he will find time to go after sick people who use marijuana to ease the pain, and the day after that he will get to interment camps for Mexicans, and then young women using birth control, and yes, Bakari, affirmative action.
The Democratic Party needs to be reminded what they say they stand for: individual rights and freedom for all. We don't need a party to get behind a great candidate, but we can get their attention and refocus them on who they claim to be.
Monday, June 5, 2017
When Democrats Listen
I live in a bubble. When I get together with my friends, we share the latest Trump horror stories. We talk about our addiction to television news, from Morning Joe to Lawrence O'Donnell. We complain about the commentators, as though they are family we love but are so close to that all their annoying tics have gotten under our skin.
When I went to Chicago over Memorial Day weekend for a family get-together, I was surprised to find that the dozen or so family members, mostly liberals, spent little time talking about the orange-haired idiot. We talked about food, restaurants and cooking. We talked about our gardens. We talked about music and movies. We talked about vacations.
We also talked about the weather, jobs, health care, traffic, educational plans, and communities. Which is as close to politics as we got. Health insurance and global warming were the two actual political conversations I recall, and both were about our personal experiences, and were animated. And by the way, Chicago was not burning; it was lovely and had experienced a warm winter and early spring. Which fact led to the talk about concerns for climate change.
When I got home and began to get re-acclimated to my political environment, I learned that I had missed a couple of items, like the Trump shove, but the situation hadn't changed much. The Trump family is still getting richer from his presidency, he continues to insult and alarm world leaders, Paul Ryan still spends his nights dreaming of a day when only the rich get tax breaks and government entitlements, and MSNBC still spends the entire day talking about Russia and Jim Comey, and nobody really knows what is happening politically in our fifty states. Meanwhile, most Americans are trying to decide whether to pay for that home repair or their blood pressure meds this month.
The bucket of cold water on my return home was the interview I saw on one of the talk shows (entertainment as opposed to political) with our new DNC chair, Tom Perez. As usual, neither he nor I could barely stay awake for his interview. I tried reciting his canned lines along with him, but honestly couldn't care less. Those actual people he talked about -- a popular go-to with Democratic politicians these days that is supposed to prove their relevance -- seemed to have less substance than Colbert's "cartoon Trump."
Which is a damned shame, because real people are hurting in America. They may be watching Colbert, but I guarantee it is more for the host's comedic barbs than anything new and exciting Perez might say. And if I sit there getting angry at Perez, what do you think those non-activist voters feel?
And that in a nutshell is what is wrong with the Democratic Party.
We are the party that is afraid of passion. We tiptoe around anger. We equivocate when asked if the Trump administration has committed crimes, or if the family has broken laws in its business dealings. We are the party of "let's wait and see where the investigation leads."
Elizabeth Warren and Al Franken scare party leaders. There aren't even words to express how badly the party handled Bernie Sanders' run for the presidency. Keith Ellison, not a socialist but a progressive, and a Muslim for-gods-sake, could not win the DNC chair because he was too way out there for our party.
I think the labels are all wrong. The Democratic Party is the party of conservatives, those who are stuck in the way things are and are afraid to suggest change. We all love Bill Clinton, but he compromised our values all over the place. Barack Obama had the country eating out of his hands when he took office, but from Timothy Geithner to the Affordable Care Act he refused to entertain radical ideas. He neither held criminals on Wall Street to account for their ruin of so many lives, nor did he even bring up the idea of single-payer health insurance.
Typical Americans don't get into the weeds on what is going on in government. They mostly work, run errands, try to spend time with family, and when they can, escape with TV or social media. They only have time left for the headlines. Which is why there was the vague but persistent attitude that Hillary could not be trusted -- republicans had made her a villain for thirty years, and nobody had time to wonder why all this time under the magnifying glass had produced no crime. All the republicans had to do is repeat "Benghazi" and "emails" daily, hold investigations and hearings that came up with nothing, and never ever have to prove a thing.
The thing about Trump is that, stupid as he is, he is unafraid. The other thing about Trump is that, stupid as he is, he has a paranoid, narcissistic ability to target fears and weaknesses in others. The sixth-grade bully that called me fat grew up to be Donald Trump. He knew how to attack and then flatter those who might otherwise have threatened him. And the third thing about Trump is that, under it all, he is a common man.
Donald Trump looks at his adoring audience and really (honestly) sees himself. That's how he connects. He feels picked on and mistreated. He believes that he is the victim. He doesn't have big ideas, he just thinks he does. But it turns out that that is enough for most people. The ones who only have time for the headlines.
Where does that leave Democrats? How do we win the contest against the lying bully?
We listen.
When candidates spend all that time and energy knocking on doors, don't tell people what you plan on doing for them. Ask them what is important to them. Learn how to talk in simple statements. It comes naturally to Donald Trump, not so much to you and me. Smart people don't necessarily know big words, and mostly they don't talk in big words. They don't talk theory. They honestly don't care about who made deals with Russia, and they would be happy to let the Trump family own America, if only they can have job security and health care. Maybe enough money to take a vacation.
The challenge is in bringing the horrors that are going on in Washington home to people. The successful Democrats, Elizabeth Warren and Keith Ellison, are able to do that. They do it because they really understand. If Perez understands, it is in a theoretical way, and that shows. Elizabeth Warren seems to really know what it is like to have to wrestle with the bills that come in non-stop. And she is passionate about fighting for us. For her, it is not theoretical. She has seen and heard the way we live.
I know people get exhausted with their daily email barrage. Every now and then, when I send out my blog, I will tell people to let me know if they want to be removed from my list. The last time I did this, one of the two people who made the request was a leader in the Democratic Party. Yes, I have been a pain in the ass about the party. And I imagine some of my criticisms may be unwarranted. But it seems to me that a party leader could be not just more tolerant of criticism, but could actually be curious about a critique by a fellow Dem. Y'all know I attack you because I love you. I really believe that we are the party that could represent the people and make the country better.
My point being that the easiest part of engaging voters (and that IS what we all say we are trying to do) is by responding to them when they speak.
Jim Clyburn made a half-hearted attempt before the last election to make it sound like he wanted to hear from us, through email and social media. Turns out he didn't. He wants donations and he wants us to vote for him, the latter which he is pretty sure is going to happen anyway. He was once a hero, now he is a politician, and a lackluster one at that.
Anybody running for office, or working for the Democratic Party, or holding office, needs to respond to every contact by a constituent, with the possible exception of the obvious crackpot. Find a literate and caring volunteer who can send a simple but intelligent reply to an email or Facebook message. Return calls. Return calls. Return calls.
We voters don't want a ten-year-plan. We don't need a complicated theoretical rationale for your stand on the issues. We need to primarily know that you hear and understand what our concerns are. Then we need to know what is going on right now that is working or not working (and jeez, don't forget to tell us who is responsible). And finally, what you will do to ease our concerns.
Dems are currently throwing numbers around about how many people will lose their health insurance in ten years. Republicans know that all they have to do is make their damage happen gradually enough that they will still get elected next time around. With the aid of the insurance industry, premiums might even go down a few dollars for a couple of years before they start their inevitable climb. And before you know it, by 2026, 23 million will have lost their coverage. And to prove my earlier point, how many of you actually clicked on that link to read about the numbers?
Politicians talk. They send out fund-raising emails telling us that terrible things will happen if we don't vote for them. Those emails mostly go into the trash folder.
Candidates knock on doors and make phone calls. Most of us are polite and even say they plan on voting for them, and then we do what we were going to do anyway.
What can change a vote is if you take the time to listen. What is extraordinary from my point of view is when a candidate sends a personal email. And what has happened to me a couple of times in the early days of an election cycle, and I can tell you is a game-changer, is when a candidate calls in response to my email, and listens to me, and seems to share my concerns.
Being a life-long Democrat, believing we share common goals, witnessing the destructive acts of the other party, I have to assume that those conversations should be a piece of cake. If you really, passionately, actively listen to us.
When I went to Chicago over Memorial Day weekend for a family get-together, I was surprised to find that the dozen or so family members, mostly liberals, spent little time talking about the orange-haired idiot. We talked about food, restaurants and cooking. We talked about our gardens. We talked about music and movies. We talked about vacations.
We also talked about the weather, jobs, health care, traffic, educational plans, and communities. Which is as close to politics as we got. Health insurance and global warming were the two actual political conversations I recall, and both were about our personal experiences, and were animated. And by the way, Chicago was not burning; it was lovely and had experienced a warm winter and early spring. Which fact led to the talk about concerns for climate change.
When I got home and began to get re-acclimated to my political environment, I learned that I had missed a couple of items, like the Trump shove, but the situation hadn't changed much. The Trump family is still getting richer from his presidency, he continues to insult and alarm world leaders, Paul Ryan still spends his nights dreaming of a day when only the rich get tax breaks and government entitlements, and MSNBC still spends the entire day talking about Russia and Jim Comey, and nobody really knows what is happening politically in our fifty states. Meanwhile, most Americans are trying to decide whether to pay for that home repair or their blood pressure meds this month.
The bucket of cold water on my return home was the interview I saw on one of the talk shows (entertainment as opposed to political) with our new DNC chair, Tom Perez. As usual, neither he nor I could barely stay awake for his interview. I tried reciting his canned lines along with him, but honestly couldn't care less. Those actual people he talked about -- a popular go-to with Democratic politicians these days that is supposed to prove their relevance -- seemed to have less substance than Colbert's "cartoon Trump."
Which is a damned shame, because real people are hurting in America. They may be watching Colbert, but I guarantee it is more for the host's comedic barbs than anything new and exciting Perez might say. And if I sit there getting angry at Perez, what do you think those non-activist voters feel?
And that in a nutshell is what is wrong with the Democratic Party.
We are the party that is afraid of passion. We tiptoe around anger. We equivocate when asked if the Trump administration has committed crimes, or if the family has broken laws in its business dealings. We are the party of "let's wait and see where the investigation leads."
Elizabeth Warren and Al Franken scare party leaders. There aren't even words to express how badly the party handled Bernie Sanders' run for the presidency. Keith Ellison, not a socialist but a progressive, and a Muslim for-gods-sake, could not win the DNC chair because he was too way out there for our party.
I think the labels are all wrong. The Democratic Party is the party of conservatives, those who are stuck in the way things are and are afraid to suggest change. We all love Bill Clinton, but he compromised our values all over the place. Barack Obama had the country eating out of his hands when he took office, but from Timothy Geithner to the Affordable Care Act he refused to entertain radical ideas. He neither held criminals on Wall Street to account for their ruin of so many lives, nor did he even bring up the idea of single-payer health insurance.
Typical Americans don't get into the weeds on what is going on in government. They mostly work, run errands, try to spend time with family, and when they can, escape with TV or social media. They only have time left for the headlines. Which is why there was the vague but persistent attitude that Hillary could not be trusted -- republicans had made her a villain for thirty years, and nobody had time to wonder why all this time under the magnifying glass had produced no crime. All the republicans had to do is repeat "Benghazi" and "emails" daily, hold investigations and hearings that came up with nothing, and never ever have to prove a thing.
The thing about Trump is that, stupid as he is, he is unafraid. The other thing about Trump is that, stupid as he is, he has a paranoid, narcissistic ability to target fears and weaknesses in others. The sixth-grade bully that called me fat grew up to be Donald Trump. He knew how to attack and then flatter those who might otherwise have threatened him. And the third thing about Trump is that, under it all, he is a common man.
Donald Trump looks at his adoring audience and really (honestly) sees himself. That's how he connects. He feels picked on and mistreated. He believes that he is the victim. He doesn't have big ideas, he just thinks he does. But it turns out that that is enough for most people. The ones who only have time for the headlines.
Where does that leave Democrats? How do we win the contest against the lying bully?
We listen.
When candidates spend all that time and energy knocking on doors, don't tell people what you plan on doing for them. Ask them what is important to them. Learn how to talk in simple statements. It comes naturally to Donald Trump, not so much to you and me. Smart people don't necessarily know big words, and mostly they don't talk in big words. They don't talk theory. They honestly don't care about who made deals with Russia, and they would be happy to let the Trump family own America, if only they can have job security and health care. Maybe enough money to take a vacation.
The challenge is in bringing the horrors that are going on in Washington home to people. The successful Democrats, Elizabeth Warren and Keith Ellison, are able to do that. They do it because they really understand. If Perez understands, it is in a theoretical way, and that shows. Elizabeth Warren seems to really know what it is like to have to wrestle with the bills that come in non-stop. And she is passionate about fighting for us. For her, it is not theoretical. She has seen and heard the way we live.
I know people get exhausted with their daily email barrage. Every now and then, when I send out my blog, I will tell people to let me know if they want to be removed from my list. The last time I did this, one of the two people who made the request was a leader in the Democratic Party. Yes, I have been a pain in the ass about the party. And I imagine some of my criticisms may be unwarranted. But it seems to me that a party leader could be not just more tolerant of criticism, but could actually be curious about a critique by a fellow Dem. Y'all know I attack you because I love you. I really believe that we are the party that could represent the people and make the country better.
My point being that the easiest part of engaging voters (and that IS what we all say we are trying to do) is by responding to them when they speak.
Jim Clyburn made a half-hearted attempt before the last election to make it sound like he wanted to hear from us, through email and social media. Turns out he didn't. He wants donations and he wants us to vote for him, the latter which he is pretty sure is going to happen anyway. He was once a hero, now he is a politician, and a lackluster one at that.
Anybody running for office, or working for the Democratic Party, or holding office, needs to respond to every contact by a constituent, with the possible exception of the obvious crackpot. Find a literate and caring volunteer who can send a simple but intelligent reply to an email or Facebook message. Return calls. Return calls. Return calls.
We voters don't want a ten-year-plan. We don't need a complicated theoretical rationale for your stand on the issues. We need to primarily know that you hear and understand what our concerns are. Then we need to know what is going on right now that is working or not working (and jeez, don't forget to tell us who is responsible). And finally, what you will do to ease our concerns.
Dems are currently throwing numbers around about how many people will lose their health insurance in ten years. Republicans know that all they have to do is make their damage happen gradually enough that they will still get elected next time around. With the aid of the insurance industry, premiums might even go down a few dollars for a couple of years before they start their inevitable climb. And before you know it, by 2026, 23 million will have lost their coverage. And to prove my earlier point, how many of you actually clicked on that link to read about the numbers?
Politicians talk. They send out fund-raising emails telling us that terrible things will happen if we don't vote for them. Those emails mostly go into the trash folder.
Candidates knock on doors and make phone calls. Most of us are polite and even say they plan on voting for them, and then we do what we were going to do anyway.
What can change a vote is if you take the time to listen. What is extraordinary from my point of view is when a candidate sends a personal email. And what has happened to me a couple of times in the early days of an election cycle, and I can tell you is a game-changer, is when a candidate calls in response to my email, and listens to me, and seems to share my concerns.
Being a life-long Democrat, believing we share common goals, witnessing the destructive acts of the other party, I have to assume that those conversations should be a piece of cake. If you really, passionately, actively listen to us.
Monday, January 30, 2017
Searching for the Democratic Party
If you haven't thrown your hat in the ring for the position of Chair of the Democratic Party, apparently it is not too late. Yesterday I saw yet another candidate being interviewed on MSNBC and I yelled at the television, "And who the hell are YOU?"
While puppet Donald Trump is turning our government over to Vladimir Putin and Steve Bannon, while Americans are protesting the horrors of the promised anti-immigration decrees, our Democratic Party is still debating who will run it.
You may not recall that in Florida, the National Democratic Party last year chose not to waste its time throwing support behind Patrick Murphy, even though Marco Rubio had been scalded during his run for president, and Murphy was a solid candidate. Had they put some energy into that campaign, it might have given us another senator; it might also have helped Hillary win Florida. Just sayin'.
Then, after the election, when the country was shocked at the "victory" of Donald Trump and looking for a way out, the Democrats were nowhere to be found in Louisiana's December runoff for Senate between republican John Kennedy and Democrat Foster Campbell. Unlike a game of Where's Waldo? the Democratic Party wasn't even hiding in the crowd; meanwhile both Trump and Pence were out stumping for what was pretty much an assured win. Here's the thing: it may not have resulted in a win for Campbell, but it would have proven that the Democratic Party wasn't going down without a fight. BECAUSE IT WAS JUST THAT IMPORTANT.
And in Georgia, we now have Rep. Tom Price who is likely to be confirmed for Secretary of Health and Human Services on Tuesday. Two issues here: Price is an animal. He is a physician who wants physicians and pharmaceutical companies to be able to set prices for services under Medicare until, that is, he takes down Medicare. And by the way, he is determined to rid us of the Affordable Care Act once and for all. With Donald Trump's blessing he will fulfill the dream of Speaker Paul Ryan. Number two is that he is leaving an opening on the House of Representatives.
In a district where Donald Trump won by only one percent, there will be a special election for a House seat.
As a Democrat I can barely conceal my excitement. This is an opportunity we surely can't pass up. Can we?
At a time in our country when Americans are more dissatisfied and suspicious of their president then they have been since the end of the Nixon years, and for good reason, the Democratic Party should be front and center of this fight. Instead, I heard one Democrat saying that the people were taking care of things with their protests. WHAT???
Democrats RIGHT NOW have the opportunity to save the country. They should be educating and confronting the media constantly about the freedoms that are at stake in the abomination that is called the Trump administration. There should not be a day when there is not a pronouncement by members of the Democratic Party in our major newspapers and our nightly news.
This is not a time to try to appear reasonable. There are enough reasons for outrage over the actions of this illegitimate president. The author of that uncompromising assessment, John Lewis, is a true leader of the party and the country. But after his comments about Trump's legitimacy, he was invited to meet with Trump. As he answered questions about that upcoming meeting, I was horrified to hear caution instead of outrage, if not actual walking back, a measured, "we'll see." Which, by the way, is how the Trump power game works.
I don't believe I have ever had a criticism about Elizabeth Warren, until now. Apparently, being incompetent is not a reason for a no vote for a cabinet position. She defended her vote for idiot savant Ben Carson in something that sounded like, "at least he hasn't said he wants to get rid of the department he has been appointed to lead." She didn't actually say that, but I am hearing what I've never heard from Warren, compromise and a willingness to accept the low bar of the Trump administration.
Again, to all the Democrats that are trying to appear reasonable by voting for Trump appointees that are not total Nazis: it is not about whether they could be trusted to not destroy the department they will be heading. It is not even about competence. It is about the fact that they are being appointed by a president who is indeed illegitimate.
At this time, Democrats should be refusing to cooperate with republicans until there is "extreme vetting" of this clown president and his minions. Steve Bannon is now running the Oval Office. And in the latest move to privatize and take over the White House, Trump has given Bannon the power to reorganize the National Security Council. The first of these measures will be to remove the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, among others, from NSC meetings. The excuses given are the intention to reduce the bloated council and to free up principals' time. We can also look at it as the logical conclusion by a man who gets bored at Daily Briefings. But this actually represents the consolidating of control of Trump's White House under Steve Bannon, the brains behind the bully. And the exclusion of any members of the security team that might present arguments or opposing views. Or who might feel the need to inform members of Congress or the American people when something is going very wrong.
Democrats, it is absurd that you are still fighting over control of the party when our democratic process is being dismantled. Now is the time to get in the face of the republican Congress and challenge them to investigate -- immediately -- if not impeach -- Trump. This is the time to hound the media constantly about what is going on behind closed doors.
Members of Congress have taken to leaving their mailboxes full and sneaking away from angry constituents. Bernie Sanders, who is no longer a Democrat but an Independent, has sent out the following message:
If you're getting a full voice mailbox when calling your senator or congressman, Sen. Bernie Sanders wants to know about it. His office is tracking these, as it appears that some of these full mailboxes remain that way intentionally. Reach his D.C. office at 202-224-5141.
Why are the Democrats not all over this? Perhaps it is because they are still spinning over what is wrong with the Party? Let me suggest that this, in fact, is the answer.
While puppet Donald Trump is turning our government over to Vladimir Putin and Steve Bannon, while Americans are protesting the horrors of the promised anti-immigration decrees, our Democratic Party is still debating who will run it.
You may not recall that in Florida, the National Democratic Party last year chose not to waste its time throwing support behind Patrick Murphy, even though Marco Rubio had been scalded during his run for president, and Murphy was a solid candidate. Had they put some energy into that campaign, it might have given us another senator; it might also have helped Hillary win Florida. Just sayin'.
Then, after the election, when the country was shocked at the "victory" of Donald Trump and looking for a way out, the Democrats were nowhere to be found in Louisiana's December runoff for Senate between republican John Kennedy and Democrat Foster Campbell. Unlike a game of Where's Waldo? the Democratic Party wasn't even hiding in the crowd; meanwhile both Trump and Pence were out stumping for what was pretty much an assured win. Here's the thing: it may not have resulted in a win for Campbell, but it would have proven that the Democratic Party wasn't going down without a fight. BECAUSE IT WAS JUST THAT IMPORTANT.
And in Georgia, we now have Rep. Tom Price who is likely to be confirmed for Secretary of Health and Human Services on Tuesday. Two issues here: Price is an animal. He is a physician who wants physicians and pharmaceutical companies to be able to set prices for services under Medicare until, that is, he takes down Medicare. And by the way, he is determined to rid us of the Affordable Care Act once and for all. With Donald Trump's blessing he will fulfill the dream of Speaker Paul Ryan. Number two is that he is leaving an opening on the House of Representatives.
In a district where Donald Trump won by only one percent, there will be a special election for a House seat.
As a Democrat I can barely conceal my excitement. This is an opportunity we surely can't pass up. Can we?
At a time in our country when Americans are more dissatisfied and suspicious of their president then they have been since the end of the Nixon years, and for good reason, the Democratic Party should be front and center of this fight. Instead, I heard one Democrat saying that the people were taking care of things with their protests. WHAT???
Democrats RIGHT NOW have the opportunity to save the country. They should be educating and confronting the media constantly about the freedoms that are at stake in the abomination that is called the Trump administration. There should not be a day when there is not a pronouncement by members of the Democratic Party in our major newspapers and our nightly news.
This is not a time to try to appear reasonable. There are enough reasons for outrage over the actions of this illegitimate president. The author of that uncompromising assessment, John Lewis, is a true leader of the party and the country. But after his comments about Trump's legitimacy, he was invited to meet with Trump. As he answered questions about that upcoming meeting, I was horrified to hear caution instead of outrage, if not actual walking back, a measured, "we'll see." Which, by the way, is how the Trump power game works.
I don't believe I have ever had a criticism about Elizabeth Warren, until now. Apparently, being incompetent is not a reason for a no vote for a cabinet position. She defended her vote for idiot savant Ben Carson in something that sounded like, "at least he hasn't said he wants to get rid of the department he has been appointed to lead." She didn't actually say that, but I am hearing what I've never heard from Warren, compromise and a willingness to accept the low bar of the Trump administration.
Again, to all the Democrats that are trying to appear reasonable by voting for Trump appointees that are not total Nazis: it is not about whether they could be trusted to not destroy the department they will be heading. It is not even about competence. It is about the fact that they are being appointed by a president who is indeed illegitimate.
At this time, Democrats should be refusing to cooperate with republicans until there is "extreme vetting" of this clown president and his minions. Steve Bannon is now running the Oval Office. And in the latest move to privatize and take over the White House, Trump has given Bannon the power to reorganize the National Security Council. The first of these measures will be to remove the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, among others, from NSC meetings. The excuses given are the intention to reduce the bloated council and to free up principals' time. We can also look at it as the logical conclusion by a man who gets bored at Daily Briefings. But this actually represents the consolidating of control of Trump's White House under Steve Bannon, the brains behind the bully. And the exclusion of any members of the security team that might present arguments or opposing views. Or who might feel the need to inform members of Congress or the American people when something is going very wrong.
Democrats, it is absurd that you are still fighting over control of the party when our democratic process is being dismantled. Now is the time to get in the face of the republican Congress and challenge them to investigate -- immediately -- if not impeach -- Trump. This is the time to hound the media constantly about what is going on behind closed doors.
Members of Congress have taken to leaving their mailboxes full and sneaking away from angry constituents. Bernie Sanders, who is no longer a Democrat but an Independent, has sent out the following message:
If you're getting a full voice mailbox when calling your senator or congressman, Sen. Bernie Sanders wants to know about it. His office is tracking these, as it appears that some of these full mailboxes remain that way intentionally. Reach his D.C. office at 202-224-5141.
Why are the Democrats not all over this? Perhaps it is because they are still spinning over what is wrong with the Party? Let me suggest that this, in fact, is the answer.
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Dems Are Asking: Is It Safe to Come Out Now?
I don't know about you, but I just keep asking myself these days, "Where the hell did the Democrats go?" There was a Senate election in Louisiana last weekend, and just as with Patrick Murphy in Florida, nary a Democrat around to throw their support to him. It was that important that, even though the republicans had already won the Senate, both Trump and Pence were out there stumping for their guy. But no Dems.
And we here in South Carolina have resorted to sending thanks to republican Senator Lindsey Graham for taking a stand on investigating Russia's manipulation of our presidential election. Meanwhile, google our own Jim Clyburn and all you come up with for news is that on November 30 he announced his support for Jaime Harrison for head of the DNC. Try googling "Jim Clyburn Russia" and the lack of news will make you want to cry.
Or spit. Which is what I have been doing a lot of lately. With twitter rants that threaten to destroy US / Fill In Country Here diplomacy and major US businesses, our president-elect is just beginning to enjoy the power he will wield on January 20. As we have come to expect, our Democrats in Congress, with a very few notable exceptions, are willing to crawl as one under a rock and wait till it all blows over, at which time we may well no longer have a democracy.
Let us take a moment to remember the Obama Inauguration in 2009. At the very time we were tearfully welcoming in our hope and change president, republican leaders were secretly congregating to figure out how to block him from seeing any of that hope and change materialize. And then they came out in public and said the same thing. It was just that important to them. So all we can conclude is that the threat of disemboweling all the positive change that Obama got through that obstructionist congress is just not worth sticking your neck out for.
And those brave Democrats who are speaking out against this clear threat? The republicans have them in their sights. Elizabeth Warren will be attacked at every turn. Al Franken will be in the crosshairs. Nancy Pelosi, well, they might leave her alone this time because her considerable power is already being eroded by those white men of the Blue Dog conservatives.
Way to stick together, Dems. Don't ever disappoint us.
While creeps like Tim Ryan advise that the reason the Dems lost was that they didn't fawn over the white middle class enough, the Russians and Giuliani's New York FBI got away with the most egregious fowl play ever to happen in US electoral politics. Trump was in charge of misdirecting the uninformed masses, Russia provided the props in terms of constant email leaks, republicans like Trey Gowdy gave the lies the guise of authenticity in Congress, and FBI Director James Comey was coerced into nailing the election with the last-minute sleight-of-hand that kept just enough Democrats away from the polls. Meanwhile, idiots like Andrea Mitchell and Chuck Todd did the dirty work we all thought was the purview of Fox News by prefacing every damn news segment by saying that Trump and Clinton were the most disliked candidates in history, equating the proven crimes of Donald Trump with the mistruths being spread about Clinton.
And when our Democratic Party adds that all up, what do they come up with? That Hillary didn't reach all those white voters; that she didn't show enough of herself; that people don't trust her; that she wasn't genuine; that blah blah blah....
Well, let me tell you, Party Dems. You may be afraid to come out and represent all of us. Or you may not think it is possible to reach out to all those white middle class working folk if you keep talking about what the rest of us need.
Or maybe you think that the country blames you for being in the "do-nothing" congress. If that is true, it is because you have failed to speak up EVERY TIME the republicans blocked progress. This should have been a piece of cake. The republicans gave the narrative to us on a silver platter: "Our economy has gotten stronger since the last failed republican administration in spite of the obstructionist republicans. Just imagine if Obama had had a majority in congress that was willing to work with him to move the country forward -- imagine what he could have done."
But instead, in 2010, Blue Dogs lost in Kentucky and Texas (yes I mean you Wendy Davis), by backing away from both liberal issues and from President Obama.
And here they are, once again, after the incredible popularity of Bernie Sanders, talking about how they are going to cooperate with the takeover of our government by a plutocracy which purpose is to further the wealth of the few, predominantly the Trumps. Admitted ties to Russia, and nobody on our side is yelling for the release of tax returns. Remember Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign manager? After he was found to have ties to the Ukraine, Trump let him go with a nod and a wink, and sure enough, now that he doesn't need your vote anymore, Manafort is back, bigger and dirty as ever. For gods' sake, Democrats have been heard singing the praises of racist Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, likely our next attorney general.
So while Paul Ryan is scheming over taking away our social security and medicare (food stamps is small potatoes these days), the Democratic Party is waiting for the republicans to take front and center against the incoming corrupt regime. That is, when they are not debating among themselves as to whether they should bring a gift or just wave a white flag on Inauguration Day.
Shame on you for not uniting to depose the biggest threat to the country we have had in our lifetimes. Stop fighting over what you think Hillary did wrong and get it together to fight the real bad guy. The voters will remember you if you do; if you don't they may never have the chance.
And we here in South Carolina have resorted to sending thanks to republican Senator Lindsey Graham for taking a stand on investigating Russia's manipulation of our presidential election. Meanwhile, google our own Jim Clyburn and all you come up with for news is that on November 30 he announced his support for Jaime Harrison for head of the DNC. Try googling "Jim Clyburn Russia" and the lack of news will make you want to cry.
Or spit. Which is what I have been doing a lot of lately. With twitter rants that threaten to destroy US / Fill In Country Here diplomacy and major US businesses, our president-elect is just beginning to enjoy the power he will wield on January 20. As we have come to expect, our Democrats in Congress, with a very few notable exceptions, are willing to crawl as one under a rock and wait till it all blows over, at which time we may well no longer have a democracy.
Let us take a moment to remember the Obama Inauguration in 2009. At the very time we were tearfully welcoming in our hope and change president, republican leaders were secretly congregating to figure out how to block him from seeing any of that hope and change materialize. And then they came out in public and said the same thing. It was just that important to them. So all we can conclude is that the threat of disemboweling all the positive change that Obama got through that obstructionist congress is just not worth sticking your neck out for.
And those brave Democrats who are speaking out against this clear threat? The republicans have them in their sights. Elizabeth Warren will be attacked at every turn. Al Franken will be in the crosshairs. Nancy Pelosi, well, they might leave her alone this time because her considerable power is already being eroded by those white men of the Blue Dog conservatives.
Way to stick together, Dems. Don't ever disappoint us.
While creeps like Tim Ryan advise that the reason the Dems lost was that they didn't fawn over the white middle class enough, the Russians and Giuliani's New York FBI got away with the most egregious fowl play ever to happen in US electoral politics. Trump was in charge of misdirecting the uninformed masses, Russia provided the props in terms of constant email leaks, republicans like Trey Gowdy gave the lies the guise of authenticity in Congress, and FBI Director James Comey was coerced into nailing the election with the last-minute sleight-of-hand that kept just enough Democrats away from the polls. Meanwhile, idiots like Andrea Mitchell and Chuck Todd did the dirty work we all thought was the purview of Fox News by prefacing every damn news segment by saying that Trump and Clinton were the most disliked candidates in history, equating the proven crimes of Donald Trump with the mistruths being spread about Clinton.
And when our Democratic Party adds that all up, what do they come up with? That Hillary didn't reach all those white voters; that she didn't show enough of herself; that people don't trust her; that she wasn't genuine; that blah blah blah....
Well, let me tell you, Party Dems. You may be afraid to come out and represent all of us. Or you may not think it is possible to reach out to all those white middle class working folk if you keep talking about what the rest of us need.
Or maybe you think that the country blames you for being in the "do-nothing" congress. If that is true, it is because you have failed to speak up EVERY TIME the republicans blocked progress. This should have been a piece of cake. The republicans gave the narrative to us on a silver platter: "Our economy has gotten stronger since the last failed republican administration in spite of the obstructionist republicans. Just imagine if Obama had had a majority in congress that was willing to work with him to move the country forward -- imagine what he could have done."
But instead, in 2010, Blue Dogs lost in Kentucky and Texas (yes I mean you Wendy Davis), by backing away from both liberal issues and from President Obama.
And here they are, once again, after the incredible popularity of Bernie Sanders, talking about how they are going to cooperate with the takeover of our government by a plutocracy which purpose is to further the wealth of the few, predominantly the Trumps. Admitted ties to Russia, and nobody on our side is yelling for the release of tax returns. Remember Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign manager? After he was found to have ties to the Ukraine, Trump let him go with a nod and a wink, and sure enough, now that he doesn't need your vote anymore, Manafort is back, bigger and dirty as ever. For gods' sake, Democrats have been heard singing the praises of racist Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, likely our next attorney general.
So while Paul Ryan is scheming over taking away our social security and medicare (food stamps is small potatoes these days), the Democratic Party is waiting for the republicans to take front and center against the incoming corrupt regime. That is, when they are not debating among themselves as to whether they should bring a gift or just wave a white flag on Inauguration Day.
Shame on you for not uniting to depose the biggest threat to the country we have had in our lifetimes. Stop fighting over what you think Hillary did wrong and get it together to fight the real bad guy. The voters will remember you if you do; if you don't they may never have the chance.
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