The late eve of various election results last night, 8/7/18, and into the morning, even before definitive results were in, a blood bath on twitter began to stew from prominent centrist leaning democrats. I apologize to those that feel they fall in this category, but do not agree with what has transpired. What's happening? Outrage at progressive voices of any kind, particularly Bernie Sanders...still, Jill Stein...is she still around, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But, let's recap their issues.
Well, I would say it's not really issues as much as it is a reconstruction of the past to fit a narrative that places their chosen one, Hillary Clinton, on a pedestal of flawless purity. I understand...they feel she's been robbed. It should have been a landslide, but it wasn't. You can't ask that question of a centrist.
It's hard to go here because I'm constantly berated by centrist democrats if I mention any issues that came up for me, such as the DNC controlling of who would be the democratic candidate, wall street connections, etc. Or, why Hillary chose a lame horse as a running mate, when she could have Bernie or Elizabeth Warren as a running mate, and unite the party, garner the youth vote across many spectrums. These were and are legitimate concerns that only receive anger from centrist I have seen. As a man, how dare I criticize a woman. Uh....I get it. There is a lot to be defensive about. Women have been shafted for years, so have black people, so have gay people, so have trans people. It's not a sole reason to elect someone, though. "Ahh, see...YOU gave us Trump!" Is the argument I hear ad nauseam. There is never a debate.
It's hard to go here because I'm constantly berated by centrist democrats if I mention any issues that came up for me, such as the DNC controlling of who would be the democratic candidate, wall street connections, etc. Or, why Hillary chose a lame horse as a running mate, when she could have Bernie or Elizabeth Warren as a running mate, and unite the party, garner the youth vote across many spectrums. These were and are legitimate concerns that only receive anger from centrist I have seen. As a man, how dare I criticize a woman. Uh....I get it. There is a lot to be defensive about. Women have been shafted for years, so have black people, so have gay people, so have trans people. It's not a sole reason to elect someone, though. "Ahh, see...YOU gave us Trump!" Is the argument I hear ad nauseam. There is never a debate.
They say Hillary was the chosen one and Bernie invaded the party. They wanted him relegated to a 3rd party run, which they continue to denounce should ever be a 3rd party option, making us all scratch our heads. Say what? They ignore that Bernie Sanders tapped into what was the pulse of a movement that has now taken even further shape, they don't seem to care about other than winning at all costs. Irregardless of what that movement has done to address issues, Hillary refused to give any credence to, matter of fact they deem silly to dare to hope for; such as a $15 minimum wage, dare to believe universal healthcare would ever happen (she said never, actually), dare to stand up for the Dakota pipeline protestors (this included Obama whom I loved for his progressive social issues, moderate thou they were, but not his fiscal/war issues). Hillary, plainly, under estimated how devoted to causes the youth were, and Bernie and his grassroots methods tapped right into it. There were many things in play, but the timing was everything. But, all I hear is, "see..that gave us Trump!". I don't ever think anything is that black and white. Do you?
I could go on, but what they don't see while they express their anger (these specific centrist) and distrust of progressive ideas is they can't stop it any more than Trump can. They don't see their alignment with the same close-mindedness of Trumpeters, and that is frightening. They use the same shaming, name calling tactics on progressives that Trump uses on democrats. They still see progressives as pollyanna's. They aren't even realist, they are defeatist.
Just vote blue, doesn't matter who. Let's not hope for much, just vote for the bunch.
Just vote blue, doesn't matter who. Let's not hope for much, just vote for the bunch.
They are drawing the pitchforks for anyone outside the lines. They have tried and persecuted Bernie Sanders for having Tad Devine on his team, and doing so by association alone. Tad Devine is not on trial, nor is Bernie Sanders. "Sanders must be in collusion with the Russians!" Where's Kevin Bacon? We need to define how many degrees of separation here.
Guilt by association by the pitchfork brigade. Condemn Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, Walter Mondale, John Kerry, and Mike Dukakis as well because Devine has been a long time democrat strategist his entire life, a well respected one who also worked on many campaigns in the US and other countries that include the Ukraine, that one probably a bad decision on his part. Evidence? Don't need it! Bernie is Frankenstein and he needs to burn! Ugh...
What about the same guilt brigade for Hillary Clinton? Bill and Hillary Clinton have been long time smoozers with the Trumps. No guilt by association there? How about Bill's "accidental" meeting with Loretta Lynch? Or, his "accidental" violation of stepping into a voting precinct to shake hands in Massachusetts where Bernie was showing strength, blocking voters which is against Presidential policy (you know he and Hillary are lawyers, right?). Maybe Trump has a "well Bill did what he wanted, so I can too" attitude. I know, all of that seems trivial compared to Russia. We can't be hypocrites here. Obama met with Putin and Russian delegates as well, but the circumstances where within Presidential protocol. Jill Stein ate dinner at a table with Putin and has consistently been forthright about it, but no one listens. She is an ant compared to the giant monster that demands our focus. Why focus on the 1% vote when a huge majority don't vote? Because you have an easy target and you're lazy.
Can we prescribe a chill pill for the immature behavior of the centrist lot please? I DON'T dislike Hillary Clinton! I actually think in another time and place she would have won by a landslide, but NO ONE seems to want to look at the climate of the time and see history, see the voters screaming for progression, not regression. I will vote blue as often as I can to get Trump out, but that is not what this is about.
History, at peak strife, seems to go through a metamorphosis in time, and this is no different. In the midst of the turmoil, which we are in, it's vital to see the past clearly. It is also the most difficult time to do that because of societal ego and trauma. The trauma is different and surprising for those that consider themselves educated, socially aware, and successful. It's different for those who are struggling to get by, and then for those who are losing the struggle. Historians are so vital now, and they must talk about what really happened, so we can go beyond the trauma and heal. We must have debate, not condemnation and childish name calling, please.
We all need to listen to each other to do this justice or we will finally get rid of Trump and have no leaders to move us forward after so much destruction. THAT, my friends, is a ripe environment for chaos and weakened over throw of governments. We can't just focus on getting Trump out, there are many cells in place that will continue the mission. We need leaders that are not from the old guard which doesn't mean the old guard needs to go, they just need to step back and support new energetic voices that have the drive, stamina, and passion to do the work without moneyed interest. People won't vote if they think lobbyist will decide the outcome. I know....centrist view: "that's pollyanna pie in the sky". Aren't we tired of Chicken Little, folks. Good people that I'm talking about. We need to see the shades of gray in us all. I clearly don't have all the answers, but I do have some damn good questions.
You can't go back to the past we constructed in our heads. It didn't exist the way we thought. Important! This is the same problem the conservative right wing has, let's not do the same. They want to go back to the 50's where white men could do anything, women would be there to serve them and they could say they weren't prejudice as long as black's knew their place, gays didn't exist (right?). "What? Homophobic? I don't care, I just don't want to see it...or acknowledge it exists. What's wrong with that?"
So, are centrist going to be "can't we just go back to the Clinton years?" where we weren't in debt to our eyeballs and people could make a living, unions were great, wasn't that the best of times? That sounds nice, but it wasn't quite like that, was it. Clinton gave us the huge conglomerates of today, NAFTA, failed to restructure Social Security and Medicare, incarceration doubled, sex scandals, yada, yada... We have to see the good and the bad to learn and improve or we repeat and stay delusional. THAT is pollyanna.
So, are centrist going to be "can't we just go back to the Clinton years?" where we weren't in debt to our eyeballs and people could make a living, unions were great, wasn't that the best of times? That sounds nice, but it wasn't quite like that, was it. Clinton gave us the huge conglomerates of today, NAFTA, failed to restructure Social Security and Medicare, incarceration doubled, sex scandals, yada, yada... We have to see the good and the bad to learn and improve or we repeat and stay delusional. THAT is pollyanna.
Squashing the progressive movement will only alienate the people who came out in the thousands to every event Bernie Sanders spoke. You never acknowledge this fact. This happened despite efforts to squash it by the media, etc. Don't discount that something new is desired. It doesn't have to be Bernie Sanders, nor at this point should it. He's old and so is Joe Biden. We should not be afraid of younger voices who will need the advice and support of someone more important than anyone, and that is Hillary Clinton, believe it or not (I know...you thought I hated her).
Hillary Clinton can help turn this movement into something really potent and vital, by backing and guiding young progressives. Is she willing? Have we asked? So can Bernie, so can Joe Biden, so can Nancy Pelosi, so can John Lewis, so can Al Franken, so can so many democrats who have the experience to share. It's time to pass the torch, and not only win the country back, but set our sights on improving the future with intelligent, thoughtful DEBATE. Not, name calling ridicule. It's gotten so dirty on the side I believed held our future.
If you demand there only be two parties, then there has to be room for progressives, democratic socialist, centrist, conservative democrats within the umbrella. If not, we need other parties accepted by the DNC and the RNC. I have a feeling the RNC would love to separate from the Tea Party, but I have no clue, at this point, what a Republican is.
So, centrist Democrats, if you can't play nice, I implore you to stop spending precious time insisting on a two party system for a country of such mammoth size. Stop thinking that you have all the answers, look at the past with all of our personal flaws of fear within the democratic party, and let's fix this honestly moving forward, not just to get rid of Trump at any cost without a rutter to steer. That will happen if we stop dividing, get candidates to declare intension to run as President and get this going. Debate and work hard for our future?
Historical evaluations and answers if we chose to heed from European/Holocaust historian Timothy Snyder. This is not a sporting event, it is our sovereignty. We need to learn to work together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJe4NlOjAJo
Historical evaluations and answers if we chose to heed from European/Holocaust historian Timothy Snyder. This is not a sporting event, it is our sovereignty. We need to learn to work together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJe4NlOjAJo
This message is brought to you by my own personal views and do not represent anyone but myself.
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