“Progressives”: Stop Attacking Democrats

It’s hard to believe, really…

We have just over two months until the most important and consequential midterm election in our lives and the beginning of the most consequential period in the history of our democracy, and there are still (mostly white) “progressives” going after Democrats to “reform,” as if that was the most important thing we have to deal with right now.

Just in the last few days, I have witnessed an attack on Debbie Wasserman Schultz, endless attacks on Andrew Cuomo, endless attacks on Nancy Pelosi, and crowing on the part of a white liberal minority after they got “reforms” in the Democratic nominating process that will have absolutely no effect on the nominating process. And there is no good reason for any of it. Wasserman-Schultz is no longer in charge of the DNC. In fact, she will represent one district in Florida, and that is all, IF she wins. She won’t be Speaker and she won’t be Democratic Whip; she will be one vote in the Democratic caucus. Hopefully, as part of a majority, but if progressives once again successfully sabotage the Democratic Party, who knows?

White progressives really need to stop attacking Democrats. That particular trait is one of the key reasons we have a fat orange buffoon sitting in the Oval Office, attacking those who can’t fight back and it’s a key reason the Republican Party has been entrenched in most of the government for the last 20-25 years and why they have held a disproportionate influence over the government over the last 40 years.

If you consider yourself a “progressive,” but you think it’s necessary to go after Democrats and the Party for any reason, you’re really politically naive and really should take up another hobby. I know you people think you should “primary” everyone who isn’t as fanatic as you about their politics, but the reality is, that’s just insane. First of all, there is no point to “primarying” a Democrat unless you can win. And far left politics can’t win everywhere. Sending Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Iowa to stump for a far lefty running in a conservative district because you think it will help is based purely on fantasy.

And if you are a “progressive” running in a Democratic Party primary, or you’re one of their supporters, and you think the best way to help your candidate win is to attack the other Democrat(s) mercilessly, you’re politically very stupid. The Bernie Stans’ constant attacks on Hillary Clinton both during and after the primaries had as much to do with putting Trump in the White House as anyone, including Russia. In a race that was decided by less than 80,000 votes in three key states, that’s just a fact, whether we’re talking about Bernie supporters who voted for Trump, or those who just spent the entire election lying about her, there’s no way you get to escape responsibility in such a close election.

Let’s take on the crap I heard this past weekend…

Trashing Andrew Cuomo I service to Cynthia Nixon is purely stupid, from a progressive perspective. First of all, Cuomo has done a credible job as Governor of New York. The reason given by the Nixon folks is truly ridiculous; they oppose Cuomo because he occasionally reached out to Republicans. That SOB! How DARE he be a governor for all New Yorkers. That sounds suspiciously like something another, earlier, Nixon politician would say. Just as importantly, attacking Democrats who don’t support Nixon is about the dumbest strategy possible. She is running as a fucking Democrat! How is insulting most Democrats (she’s never had a majority) a really solid political strategy when running for the Democratic nomination? Keep in mind, Cynthia Nixon is an actress who has never worked in politics. Therefore, she has a built-in disadvantage running to be the chief executive of a state the size of New York.  She should run for the state legislature and get some seasoning first; many of us don’t like the idea of a novice running every agency in the state. Ask Minnesota (Jesse Ventura) and California (Arnold Schwarzenegger) how that works out…

Debbie Wassermann Schultz is a very effective member of Congress. She’s also from Florida and she’s from a district that is not as safe as, say, Maxine Waters’ district in California. She was actually an effective DSNC chair, until white far lefties took after her because she preferred Hillary over Bernie. The Bernie Cultists seem to think the DNC is the king when it comes to the Democratic nominating process, and they believed DWS’ preference for Hillary would practically guarantee her the nomination, a belief that is politically stupid, really naive and based on fantasy, yet again.

The DNC raises money and coordinates resources among campaigns. They have almost no say in the nominating process at all. That’s it. They work with states to determine primary dates, but ultimately, the states (NOT the state parties) decide the dates of the primaries and they take charge of every state primary involving a vote. The DNC has no power, really, which means the obsession over DWS when she chaired the DNC was misplaced and the continued obsession over her his also way off base.

The same fantasies seem to run through the “reforms” the DNC agreed to over the weekend. Unicorn progressives were falling all over themselves to pat themselves on the back for all the “revolution” they were able to cause. They managed to get super delegates off the first ballot at the convention, and you’d think they’d done something amazing.

Here’s the reality, unicorns and Bernie Stans;

Superdelegates are a failsafe only. The Democratic Party has never yet needed a failsafe, to prevent a totally unqualified idiot from being nominated, so in the 30+ years since super delegates were added, they have never swung a nomination. That includes the very close nominating process won by Barack Obama in 2008. Therefore, pushing them to the second ballot changes nothing, really. In 2016, Bernie would have lost by the same landslide and Hillary would have still won the nomination.

The most galling thing I saw over the weekend is something I have been seeing for two solid years; a call for MORE CAUCUSES in the Democratic nominating process. Since the caucus is easily the least democratic process imaginable, the call by these unicorn progressive Bernie Stans for more caucuses is a naked attempt to create circumstances that would give a Bernie Sanders a better chance to “win.” If these people really gave a shit about democracy, they would actually call for most caucuses to be replaced with primary elections. Caucuses may have made sense back i the old days, but only in states with small, rural populations of Democrats. They make sense in places like Utah and Wyoming, where being a Democrat is akin to being an endangered species, but Nevada? Nevada has grown so much, there is no way they should still be holding caucuses. And even Nevada’s largest industry and what most Nevada Democrats do for a living, holding a caucus at noon on a Saturday is pretty much the definition of voter suppression. Do you think the housekeepers and hosts working in the hotels and casinos I Nevada would have thew time to attend a caucus at noon on a Saturday? The only real reform of caucuses favored by the Democratic base is the elimination of almost all of them. Anything less isn’t a revolution.

Now, let’s address the far left’s attacks on Nancy Pelosi. There is so much bullshit in them, there is no other explanation for them than misogyny and ageism. This woman was the most effective Speaker in the history of the House, for Chrissakes. In 2009-2010, the Congress was very prolific, passing more bills than have been passed since. That, despite the fact that she ushered through 375 Democratic-sponsored bills that were blocked by Republicans in the Senate. The constant bitching about Pelosi sure as hell has nothing to do with merit.

One last thing, unicorn progressives and Bernie Cultists; you are the epitome of white privilege, and you need to stop it. We white liberals are a distinct minority within the Democratic Party. The heart and soul of the Democratic Party are black women, but the base of the party includes most People of Color, most LGBTQ people, most first- and second-generation immigrants and the like. Hell; even most white WOMEN voted for Trump. Therefore, it is imperative that white liberals stop acting as if this was still 1964 and we still have a majority in the party. Treat People of Color with respect and stop dismissing them, we if we have some sort of knowledge advantage because we’re white.

You don’t think you do that? Think again. Over the weekend, a so-called “progressive” (very white, based on her Twitter avi) lamented the fact that “so many conservative states” come first in the primary order. They meant red southern states and it was clear they think that put Bernie at a disadvantage in 2016. I had to remind them that the Democrats in those states are actually quite progressive and most of them are People of Color. It reminded me of the reaction to “Super Tuesday,” March 1, 2016, when Hilary essentially sewed up the Democratic nomination and the Bernie Stans essentially wrote off the 60-point primary wins because the states were “in the old Confederacy.”

Black people are the heart and soul of our party. If you want to build a progressive country, we need them. We can’t afford to write them off.

Also published on Medium.


“Progressives”: Stop Attacking Democrats — 1 Comment

  1. You and I agree that the Republicans are so horrible that our first priority must be to block them from levers of power. The ugly reality is that they inflict so much damage in such a short time that subsequent Democrats must squander years in patching up the messes before we can even begin to implement our own agenda.

    The Emoprogs disagree with the entire premise of the preceding paragraph. They think that the Democrats Don’t Even Try, from some perverse sense of indifference and languor, so that all we need to do to get the goodies is to hand them the Magic Wand and step out of the way.

    Of course, I think they are bugfuck insane and the time is long since past for us to stop coddling them and their fantasies: either they pull together for the common good, or they get the fuck out.