Doing Trump's Work

I very nearly scraped my Joe Cunningham bumper sticker off my car today.  But I figure if the republicans can hold their nose and vote I can keep my damn bumper sticker on my car.

The headline in today's Post and Courier says that "Joe Cunningham slam's Bernie Sanders' socialism...."  Boy, Joe, with friends like you, we might just as well declare Trump the winner in November right now.

But we voters are going to be bigger than you, because the election is much more critical than whether you win again.  We are fighting for our democracy.  The sad thing is, when Cunningham lets his "conservative" supporters know he is running their party line by slamming Pelosi as a -- god-forbid -- liberal, or voting against raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, he loses those Democrats he needs to show up for him.  He may think the Dems in Charleston are outnumbered, or that those women trying to make ends meet on minimum wage will take time out from their exhausting lives to get out and vote just because he is a "D" but he is dead wrong.

The sad thing is that, unlike myself, most of us have chosen not to beat ourselves up by studying the obscene workings of the law and our government these days.  Most of us don't know anything about the ACLU other than what those right-wingnuts have been yelling for all these decades (ten decades this year).  And too many of us don't have a clue what the difference is between a socialist, a democratic socialist, or a damn commie.

So when Joe engages in Trumpian name-calling, he is doing Trump's work for him.  And we should know by now that Donald Trump likes himself nothing more than causing others to fight.

The fact is that whatever you call Bernie Sanders, he has been a respected member of Congress since 1991 (when Joe was not yet ten years old).  For that matter, Nancy Pelosi has been a US representative since 1987, when Joe was five.  The voters in their states and districts see that as experience, not old age, and happily re-elect them.  Which Joe Cunningham can only dream of.

How about this:  how about we think in larger terms than who is going to win the Democratic nomination?  Let's instead prove that our brains are greater than the republicans who as we speak are working together to figure out how to cheat and steal their way back into power in November.  Let's do what we said we were going to do way back in 2018, and work together.  We can have a primary where we fight over issues rather than man-caves or "socialism."  The very best way to win this thing is for all of y'all, and all of us, to continue to combat Donald Trump and his gang of deplorables (and wasn't Hillary right?).  We need to ALL do what Mike Bloomberg and Tom Steyer are doing, and that is to stay focussed on Trump and every single obscenity that he has committed since he and Vladimir Putin stole the election.

This time around, he is going to cheat much, much bigger than he did before, because in the past 3 1/2 years he has been collecting power, just like Roy Cohn taught him when he was a boy-thug.  Each time justice has been sacrificed, whether it be the Muslim travel ban, the border wall, cutting food stamps, or firing the heroes in our government, each time he gets away with it, democracy shrinks.  When he calls us names, and the media focusses on the tweets and rallies, he can't be any happier.

Except, of course, when we take up his attacks and turn on each other.

So let's not do that anymore.  Joe.

Dear Joe Cunningham...

Dear Joe,

You know how tickled we all were when you were elected to serve in Congress.  We Dems fought hard for you, even those like me who do not live in your district (I was gerrymandered out).  You ran a great campaign, and your stand on the issues was stellar.  You did not back off on any of those issues Dems in the past have tiptoed around, like women's reproductive rights and gun control.

The only time you blinked was when you caved to the republican's "Operation Nancy Pelosi."  I'm thinking that in the heat of the campaign, you may not have realized that people like Donald Trump are playing with you.  They want you to think opposing Pelosi is your idea, when it is truly what they want you to do more than anything in the world.

You're young and you may not know the history behind the demonizing of Nancy Pelosi, so let me give you a little background.  Back in 2010, Michael Steele, then chairman of the Republican Party (before they threw him under the bus), was the genius behind the "Fire Pelosi" campaign.  It happened after she got Obamacare passed by one vote; given the narcissism and back-biting that was going on it was amazing that she could herd that bunch of cats.  It scared the bejeezus out of republicans.

So Steele decided to create a campaign that turned Nancy Pelosi into the spawn of Satan, i.e., a liberal.  They were the RNC, the Republican National Committee, and they did a bus tour and everything.  Most important, all the republicans got on board, if not the bus, the strategy.  It was the same unified voice that you hear when they talk about Pelosi today.  Because they didn't get rid of her, but they got lots of press, and they taught their base to equate Pelosi with a dirty word.  Of course, it had no basis in fact; they didn't need any.  It worked brilliantly.

It worked so well that Mark Sanford decided it would be more advantageous to run against Pelosi in a 2013 special election than against his real-life opponent, Elizabeth Colbert Busch.  He still reeked from the Appalachian Trail bullshit that he wore when he left the governor's office.  Colbert Busch was smart and sound on the issues.  He could not have beat her.  But Sanford always has a gimmick up his sleeve, and those good ole boys enjoyed the gag.  So he beat Pelosi, or, the republicans' caricature of her.

Joe, I was taken aback when I saw the campaign ad in which you had a white male stereotype say that he was a republican but because you were against Pelosi he was voting for you.  I imagine you -- and a number of Dems that I know -- believe you could not have won if you hadn't thrown Nancy under the bus.  But I believe you were the butt of Michael Steele's scam, the one that has been working on Dems all these years.

A few weeks ago, around the time you and a bunch of young  Dems, mostly men, signed that ridiculous letter urging Pelosi not to run for leadership, Michael Steele was interviewed on AM Joy.  When Reid asked him why his Pelosi strategy worked so well on Democrats he laughed and said, "I don't know; I'm trying to figure that out myself."  Please take two minutes and listen to the video.  It is indeed an eye-opener.

This strategy has worked before.  Mitch McConnell would not be spreading his evil today if Alison Lundergan Grimes had not decided to run from Barack Obama and the Affordable Care Act.  Lord knows, Trump could never have beaten Hillary if she hadn't had thirty years of republicans building her into the kind of evil genius that could do anything; anything, that is except win the presidency.

And they can't -- THEY CAN'T -- do it without the help of Democrats.

Right now, Nancy Pelosi is the nightmare that keeps the republican party -- and Donald Trump -- up at night.  She is smart and masterful.  She believes in the same causes and issues that you believe in.  She will fight, and win, when she is Speaker.  It's not a fantasy.  It is Pelosi's resume.

Stephen Lynch was one of the Dems who signed that silly letter.  He met with Pelosi, and changed his mind.  If that doesn't give you pause, you are not the reasonable man I think you are.

Trump will go down with his wall because he believes that is what gave him his victory.  He doesn't have the capacity to look around and see that he isn't the president of a rally.  He can't put together all the factors that got him to the White House.

Opposing Nancy Pelosi did not win your election, Joe.  Being on the right side of the issues against a woman who was both mean and dumb was what did it.  Oh, and as much as I hate to say it, if she were a mean, dumb white man instead of a woman he would have won.

But the time is right for progressive ideas, and you transported enough people to put you in Congress.  Fight for those progressive ideas, and be sure to make headlines letting us know what you are doing for us.  Keep an eye on Pelosi, because she will teach you how to win, again and again, against all odds.

And Joe, you will need those skills.  Mark Sanford isn't going anywhere.  All he knows how to do is be on the public dole.  We couldn't believe it when he went from disgrace in the governor's office to win back a House seat.  But that is what he does.  He has not stopped running.  He will be there in 2020.  If you don't proudly own being a progressive Democrat, you will just be seen as a watered down republican.  If you throw Nancy Pelosi under the bus, if you fight her on key issues instead of standing by her and helping her win, I can guarantee you will have a short life in Congress.  And that would be a shame.

We had the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014.  We lost Congress because we wouldn't stand together.  Republicans have the bluster, but we have the causes.  The economy, our standing in the world, our treatment of children, democracy itself for gods' sake, there is no issue we should not stand for proudly.  I can't say enough how important it is -- to the electorate -- to see you all stand together, in strength.  Going up against the most powerful Democratic leader ever is not a good way to start.  So I urge you to do the right thing.  Admit that now that you have seen Pelosi in action, up close, you will be supporting her.

You may have won because just enough republicans voted for you, but if you lose the enthusiasm we Dems felt for you in 2018, you don't have a chance.

Best of luck in your new job.

Sincerely,
The Ironic Cherry

Electability

I was appalled when, on Wednesday morning, I read this headline in the Post & Courier:

Democrat Archie Parnell, who once beat his ex-wife, easily wins SC primary

No, it wasn't glaring red, but it might as well have been.

Sadly, it doesn't take much to get to this point when our own Democrats are so willing to jump in and push good candidates -- and elected officials -- off the ship.  Bakari Sellers, who has turned from a decent and caring public servant to a famous celebrity, was among the first to try to shame Parnell into stepping down.  Either no skeletons in his closet, or no plans to run for office.

Apparently, republicans have realized that all they need to do is to dig up (or invent) some dirt on a candidate who threatens their feifdom, and then step back and let us Dems pummel that candidate into the ground.  Lordy, the best they could come up with was college party videos of Jon Ossoff, who scared the crap out of republicans in Georgia last year.  They couldn't have done it without us.  While most Dems continued to stand by Ossoff, enough backed away to give his republican opponent the win.  That's all it takes.  Remember Hillary?  Thirty years of republicans flinging mud, with James Comey putting the icing on the cake and leaving him, and us, with feelings of nausea -- and with Donald Trump.

Focus, Democrats!  Focus on the issues here, because we stand to lose good candidates who MIGHT JUST WIN unless we get distracted by rumor, innuendo and the occasional irrelevant fact.

We are the party where we stand by people who have had tough times in their lives, made horrible mistakes, and come out better for it.  We don't need to support people who live bigotry and misogyny; we can leave that to the republicans.  We have enough good Democrats who will fight for us.  But we have to accept that they may be flawed.

We need to stop looking for the perfect candidate, because that is our Achilles heel:  the strength that becomes our vulnerability.

In fact, we don't even have the ability to look a gift horse in the mouth and say, "Aw, thanks."  As when our own Dimitri Cherny made the outrageous decision to run against Mark Sanford in the republican primary.  It was hilarious to watch the republicans (who have used the open primary system against us a number of times) squeal about how unfair it was.  What wasn't as much fun was watching our own party have conniptions over what they saw as Dimitri jumping ship.

Because in the cold light of day, there was absolutely nothing for us to lose in Dimitri's candidacy.  At best he might topple the horrible Mark Sanford, who has been like a piece of chewing gum stuck to the feet of South Carolina for decades.  At worse, he would... what?  lose?  In fact, he did lose, but the three percent of votes that he got just might have been what lost Sanford his cushy job.  To that I say, "Thanks, Dimitri."  Of course, now we need to garner some enthusiasm for Joe Cunningham instead of cowering over the fact that he will be running against a right-wing wacko Trump supporter.

Meanwhile, the DCCC, in an effort to prove their irrelevance once again, is currently sniffing around, looking to put the money they suck from us whenever they can into candidates that are "electable."  It saddens me to say that Nancy Pelosi, once my hero, is now so desperate to win in November that she is leading the charge against candidates that may be too progressive to be electable.  Pelosi: once a progressive firebrand herself, the woman who held the damn bag of cats that was the Democratic House together to pass Obamacare.  I have until this recent news defended Nancy with every breath I had, and continue to believe that it is ageism and misogyny that has been behind the push to push her from her position of party leader in the House.  And yet this picture of Pelosi seeking to support Democrats who appear safe -- electable -- and pass on those who aren't afraid to talk about significant change, that is the real threat to the Democratic Party and our success in taking back Congress.

We had Bernie "the socialist" shake things up in 2016.  In 2017, among other headline wins, Danica Roem became the first transgender elected official.  People are electing Muslims and gays without fear these days.  And yet we continue to have a party afraid to support "progressive" candidates.

On the other side, we had a child molester in Alabama who nearly beat an amazing Democratic candidate.  Thankfully, Doug Jones didn't have any scandals that could have been dug up.  And don't forget the current "president" of the United States, who ran happily on being capable of every possible crime that could be committed (including shooting someone on Fifth Avenue). While good Democrats stayed away from Hillary, muttering about "emails," "Benghazi," and never proven financial crimes.

I don't know how much more proof we need that voters want radical change.  They want to hear about their own lives and needs.  Donald Trump didn't win (he really didn't) on grabbing pussy.  He won because he lied about giving everyone health insurance and good jobs.  And now we have solid proof that the republican party has not only failed in those goals, they have actively legislated killing health care and job creation.  They convinced some of us that a $14.00 a week increase in our paychecks was a win, but psychotic economic policies have caused the price of gas to go up over $1 a gallon since the maniac-in-chief took office.  Social services are being cut to fatten the pockets of Trump, Ryan and McConnell, and all their rich buddies.  Trade wars with our once-friends will eat up more of our miserable incomes while Jeff Sessions and the cabinet of deplorables works to make sure that, from education to employment, we won't have a chance at a level playing field.

Archie Parnell is serious about winning this thing.  And he is damn close.  All it takes for him to lose is friends like Bakari Sellers, and us.

I did not support Parnell in his special election primary last year.  Rather I supported a young, smart, African American woman.  Big name Democrats came out in droves for Parnell, because he was "electable."  It is a shame that we do that to ourselves, keep women and minorities from representing us because we are afraid they won't win.  Talk about your vicious circle.  But when he was chosen, he became by far the best candidate, and I continue to wholeheartedly support him.  I'm glad he has the guts to stay with it, rather than hand this victory to the republicans.

On June 13, BuzzFeed published this friggin' headline:

National And State Democrats Won’t Support Archie Parnell In South Carolina

“What Archie Parnell did is inexcusable and deeply disturbing, and he should drop out of this race immediately.”

Well, there's a surprise.

Farther down in the article was a video posted on Facebook by Parnell.  The same video was published by the Post & Courier before the primary, and before their egregious post-primary headline.  I would like to post the video here, but can't do it from Facebook.  I urge you to listen to Archie talk about his decision to continue to run, in its entirety.  This is the kind of candidate we should throw our support behind, enthusiastically.

You know what, we might get hoodwinked.  But at some point we need to trust what we see with our own eyes.  And if we don't, for sure we will be the ones to lose.