Fortunately for Glinda, "Wicked" has an Act Two where she learns this exact lesson. Let's organize a screening of "Wicked: For Good" for Congressional Democrats ASAP.
What really bothers me is that the entire selling point for centrists was that we had to support them or trump would win. We couldn't support progressives, because that would be a win for the gop. I was getting so many emails after the election saying they needed my money to help them stop trump. And this is how they are fighting trump. With few exceptions, it's only the progressives showing any leadership or opposition to trump. The DNC has become less of a political party and more of a fund-raising operation.
It is not the first time resistance by Black people in office has left them twisting in the wind.
Jeffries has an office that can be picketed, and has numbers. I would rather him get knocked out of office then shoved off a glass cliff. Since people are angry, use the info and let him have it. You can also use the methods successfully used to destroy Joe Biden and then Kamala Harris.
I will say this, I am (pleasantly) surprised Al Green is being celebrated by any Democrats given that he is 77 and apparently walks with a cane. I remember viral posts by people listing the ages of Democrats and basically saying “that's why we lose.”
“Preserving freedom and upholding democracy is now a revolutionary act”
That seems to be the core of the Democratic party’s failure to meet the moment: They refuse to acknowledge that this is the new reality. And it makes them extremely uncomfortable when they see others, like Al Green, who not only understands the moment, but also steps up to meet it.
Well said! Meantime most of us are here wanting to see some fire. Kudos to those who walked out and those who didn’t attend and those who are now venturing into red districts to hold town halls. That’s what democrats need to do— get out. Listen. Act Connect to the “people”. This performance of marching outfits and paddles is very lame.
Really, really disappointed in Jeffries and Moskowitz. Every fucking one of them should have gotten up and left with Rep. Green. Grow a goddamned spine Democrats!
Laying down in protest is for when you have already occupied a space, to make it harder to remove you. It is only protest once you already did a thing.
I lived in Fairbanks AK for a couple of years, and again, playing dead is what you do once you are in the clutches of the bear. Prior to that you make yourself big and loud to try to get the bear to cease its charging at you.
Playing dead is a last resort, not an opening gambit.
"Look, when the Jews were rounded up and shipped off on train cars, we wrote a very strongly worded letter to Mr. Hitler about it... well, we considered writing the letter... we formed a committee to think about writing the letter... in the end, the committee decided we were better off letting Mr. Hitler make his mistakes and then we'd be in a much better position to retake power after the public tired of him..."
"Jasmine Crockett, Maxwell Frost, Melanie Stansbury, and Maxine Dexter are all extremely talented and could easily ascend to positions of leadership in the party."
Honestly? I'm ready for a coup to that effect...What are Jeffries et al gonna do? FIGHT BACK?
It IS to laugh
Jasmine to Hakeem: "OK bub, I'm taking over, I'm in charge now"
If Elon can simply walk in and take over agencies, why shouldn't Crockett, AOC, Murphy, Frost and company just go to the Democratic "leadership" and take over? I'm been only party facetious here.
Dems have started sending me money beg texts and emails. Some even ask, "what can I say or do?" I haven't answered any of them, just delete them, but soon, I'll mark them as spam. If I did answer, it would be something like, "Not what you are doing - just letting trump destroy the nation. Fight! That's what you need to do. Stop being collaborators with this maladministration. Forget about bipartisanship, because bipartisanship simply for the sake of bipartisanship is stupid, especially when the other side doesn't believe in it. You end up giving them all they want, but get nothing in return. Do the right thing, even if it's hard, no, especially if it's hard. Fire your political consultants - they are worse than worthless, and giving you such bad advice, I wonder if they are republicans. I need to see some fight in y'all, instead I see weakness, disguised as civility and norms. It's a good thing for the nation and for FDR, that y'all weren't in Congress on 12/7/1941."
I sent an email to my Milquetoast Senator that started by my asking if he had hit his head before voting to confirm one of Trump's appointees. I also included "You wanted the job, you got the job, now do it."
This fucking guy whines "you have to understand we're the minority" ALL THE TIME.
No shit asshole, that's the problem now act like it.
I know the Democrats are our only pitiful vehicle for reform in this political duopoly. Still, they will only become effective if threatened with losing elections the rest of the decade unless they start treating their voters seriously and connecting with their pain. Trump has been elected again, and that is the worst case scenario, the Democrats had one job. They failed at that job by trying to court ungettable voters and alienating their base. It was humiliating.
"Still, they will only become effective if threatened with losing elections "
I'm not even sure they care about THAT even...If they REALLY cared about being reelected then they would care about what their VOTER base says and thinks about them...This isn't the way that people who care about being reelected ACT...The simplest explanation is that they are more scared of MAGA than they are concerned with keeping their seats...Fear trumps their political aspirations...I mean these 10 milquetoast's political careers are over...They aren't getting reelected when that time comes...I think they will be happier out of the spotlight...We don't need a party full of leaders who can be manipulated by fear and threats
Politics is full of perverse incentives, and this is one. You have to personally destroy the Democrats you don't like to send the message. And the model is out there to do this. We've already shown them that they suck by not voting for them, so if they don't listen to that (or at least interpret the 'right' lesson from this), more losses will continue.
This is how we got rid of the Blue Dogs, and got the Democrats into the wilderness for a bit until they got a better majority later.
I really don't think people care about catastrophe when Democrats lose though because else all the warnings from Kamala Harris down to AOC would've been heeded.
Green’s outburst and ejection was a test moment for the caucus and as a group, they failed. They could have thought, at that moment, “Trump is lying in this speech, he’s an aspiring dictator, and if we all walk out now as a group with Green, it will not only show solidarity but this will dominate news coverage of the speech and set the stage for how we oppose this presidency.” Instead they sat there like gelded animals and some even blamed Green. This bodes poorly for the next four years. That there’s even a possibility of a single Democrats voting for a CR to keep the government open when we know Trump will illegally defy whatever appropriations Congress passes should be an outrage.
The only hope is a Dem Tea Party movement to replace or strike fear into these useless people. Without that, this is all just grease for the wheel of fascism.
Without the billionaires and millionaires that were the ones that bankrolled the actual Republican Tea Party (as it is an astroturf movement), you're not going to get that. You can leverage though what they do if you can get the billionaires and millionaires to spend money defeating those Democrats. they can be removed. There are the tools for it but it involves wet work and you have to, well, "strip the bark" off them.
Fortunately for Glinda, "Wicked" has an Act Two where she learns this exact lesson. Let's organize a screening of "Wicked: For Good" for Congressional Democrats ASAP.
What really bothers me is that the entire selling point for centrists was that we had to support them or trump would win. We couldn't support progressives, because that would be a win for the gop. I was getting so many emails after the election saying they needed my money to help them stop trump. And this is how they are fighting trump. With few exceptions, it's only the progressives showing any leadership or opposition to trump. The DNC has become less of a political party and more of a fund-raising operation.
It is not the first time resistance by Black people in office has left them twisting in the wind.
Jeffries has an office that can be picketed, and has numbers. I would rather him get knocked out of office then shoved off a glass cliff. Since people are angry, use the info and let him have it. You can also use the methods successfully used to destroy Joe Biden and then Kamala Harris.
I will say this, I am (pleasantly) surprised Al Green is being celebrated by any Democrats given that he is 77 and apparently walks with a cane. I remember viral posts by people listing the ages of Democrats and basically saying “that's why we lose.”
Anyway...
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Washington DC 20515
(202) 225-5936
Central Brooklyn
55 Hanson Pl Suite 603
Brooklyn NY 11217
(718) 237-2211
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445 Neptune Ave, 1st Floor
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Brooklyn NY 11224
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They're all 9-5 hours, EST.
"Outfit coordination is not a protest tactic unless you believe bridesmaids at a wedding are making a bold stand against fascism."
The best assessment of this that I've seen, bravo.
It is my opinion that the Democrat party has been infiltrated by the GOP.
https://torrancestephensphd.substack.com/p/has-the-dnc-been-infiltrated-by-the
“Preserving freedom and upholding democracy is now a revolutionary act”
That seems to be the core of the Democratic party’s failure to meet the moment: They refuse to acknowledge that this is the new reality. And it makes them extremely uncomfortable when they see others, like Al Green, who not only understands the moment, but also steps up to meet it.
Great analysis Stephen, thank you.
Well said! Meantime most of us are here wanting to see some fire. Kudos to those who walked out and those who didn’t attend and those who are now venturing into red districts to hold town halls. That’s what democrats need to do— get out. Listen. Act Connect to the “people”. This performance of marching outfits and paddles is very lame.
Really, really disappointed in Jeffries and Moskowitz. Every fucking one of them should have gotten up and left with Rep. Green. Grow a goddamned spine Democrats!
Laying down in protest is for when you have already occupied a space, to make it harder to remove you. It is only protest once you already did a thing.
I lived in Fairbanks AK for a couple of years, and again, playing dead is what you do once you are in the clutches of the bear. Prior to that you make yourself big and loud to try to get the bear to cease its charging at you.
Playing dead is a last resort, not an opening gambit.
Very well said.
; )
Excellent point
"Look, when the Jews were rounded up and shipped off on train cars, we wrote a very strongly worded letter to Mr. Hitler about it... well, we considered writing the letter... we formed a committee to think about writing the letter... in the end, the committee decided we were better off letting Mr. Hitler make his mistakes and then we'd be in a much better position to retake power after the public tired of him..."
Yes sir, you are correct!
Fucking nailed it!
Yeah, he did.
You left out Moskowitz in that list...sorry to bring that up...THAT was an especially painful one to process
:(
Really disappointed!
"Jasmine Crockett, Maxwell Frost, Melanie Stansbury, and Maxine Dexter are all extremely talented and could easily ascend to positions of leadership in the party."
Honestly? I'm ready for a coup to that effect...What are Jeffries et al gonna do? FIGHT BACK?
It IS to laugh
Jasmine to Hakeem: "OK bub, I'm taking over, I'm in charge now"
Hakeem: "Yes Ma'am"
I love this idea. And you know Ms. Crockett could and would totally do it.
If Elon can simply walk in and take over agencies, why shouldn't Crockett, AOC, Murphy, Frost and company just go to the Democratic "leadership" and take over? I'm been only party facetious here.
"I'm been only party facetious here."
Me too...But I wouldn't object to it if it actually HAPPENED
Jeffries is not the man for the moment
"Preserving freedom and upholding democracy is now a revolutionary act."
perfection...chef's kiss + NAILED it
Dems have started sending me money beg texts and emails. Some even ask, "what can I say or do?" I haven't answered any of them, just delete them, but soon, I'll mark them as spam. If I did answer, it would be something like, "Not what you are doing - just letting trump destroy the nation. Fight! That's what you need to do. Stop being collaborators with this maladministration. Forget about bipartisanship, because bipartisanship simply for the sake of bipartisanship is stupid, especially when the other side doesn't believe in it. You end up giving them all they want, but get nothing in return. Do the right thing, even if it's hard, no, especially if it's hard. Fire your political consultants - they are worse than worthless, and giving you such bad advice, I wonder if they are republicans. I need to see some fight in y'all, instead I see weakness, disguised as civility and norms. It's a good thing for the nation and for FDR, that y'all weren't in Congress on 12/7/1941."
I have been marking them as spam, especially the ones from superpacs. Now I’m going to start answering them, with rage.
I sent an email to my Milquetoast Senator that started by my asking if he had hit his head before voting to confirm one of Trump's appointees. I also included "You wanted the job, you got the job, now do it."
This fucking guy whines "you have to understand we're the minority" ALL THE TIME.
No shit asshole, that's the problem now act like it.
FFS
"No shit asshole, that's the problem now act like it."
WIN!!!!!!
If you're IN the minority, DON'T FUCKING VOTE with the MAJORITY
I type the word STOP at least three times a day.
I know the Democrats are our only pitiful vehicle for reform in this political duopoly. Still, they will only become effective if threatened with losing elections the rest of the decade unless they start treating their voters seriously and connecting with their pain. Trump has been elected again, and that is the worst case scenario, the Democrats had one job. They failed at that job by trying to court ungettable voters and alienating their base. It was humiliating.
"Still, they will only become effective if threatened with losing elections "
I'm not even sure they care about THAT even...If they REALLY cared about being reelected then they would care about what their VOTER base says and thinks about them...This isn't the way that people who care about being reelected ACT...The simplest explanation is that they are more scared of MAGA than they are concerned with keeping their seats...Fear trumps their political aspirations...I mean these 10 milquetoast's political careers are over...They aren't getting reelected when that time comes...I think they will be happier out of the spotlight...We don't need a party full of leaders who can be manipulated by fear and threats
The liberal paradox is that the Democrats deserve to lose our votes, but our not voting for them would mean catastrophe when they lose.
Politics is full of perverse incentives, and this is one. You have to personally destroy the Democrats you don't like to send the message. And the model is out there to do this. We've already shown them that they suck by not voting for them, so if they don't listen to that (or at least interpret the 'right' lesson from this), more losses will continue.
This is how we got rid of the Blue Dogs, and got the Democrats into the wilderness for a bit until they got a better majority later.
I really don't think people care about catastrophe when Democrats lose though because else all the warnings from Kamala Harris down to AOC would've been heeded.
Green’s outburst and ejection was a test moment for the caucus and as a group, they failed. They could have thought, at that moment, “Trump is lying in this speech, he’s an aspiring dictator, and if we all walk out now as a group with Green, it will not only show solidarity but this will dominate news coverage of the speech and set the stage for how we oppose this presidency.” Instead they sat there like gelded animals and some even blamed Green. This bodes poorly for the next four years. That there’s even a possibility of a single Democrats voting for a CR to keep the government open when we know Trump will illegally defy whatever appropriations Congress passes should be an outrage.
The only hope is a Dem Tea Party movement to replace or strike fear into these useless people. Without that, this is all just grease for the wheel of fascism.
Without the billionaires and millionaires that were the ones that bankrolled the actual Republican Tea Party (as it is an astroturf movement), you're not going to get that. You can leverage though what they do if you can get the billionaires and millionaires to spend money defeating those Democrats. they can be removed. There are the tools for it but it involves wet work and you have to, well, "strip the bark" off them.
Right on