Even at first sight it is exhilarating. The overthrow of one of the most mainstream and senior Democrats in Congress by a 28-year-old Democratic socialist with a radical programme and one tenth of his funding is, you might think, interesting enough.
OK youth, it is time for you to vote early (as soon as you turn eighteen) and vote often (as in every election in which are allowed). Find your voice. You know and will come to know who has your best interests in mind. As for older progressive folks like me, we need to spend time educating you in how the process has been skewed against your interests and how you can take control back of your mind and help return planetary values to the forefront of the discussion.
It would be nice if they do unseat some Republicans. Even if they fail to transform the Democratic Party that would make a big difference.
Yes it would. And when that happens, if the Democratic party hasn’t transformed some already, you can bet that showing we can win in what was thought to be a red district is going to help with the transformation. So I don’t see these two things as separate.
Of course, I don’t know the true number of potential voters in various red districts who are willing to vote for a DSA oriented Justice Democrat but not for what they view as a corrupted one, but there must be a few places that were just out of reach before and getting those people to vote who didn’t or even getting people to switch votes from Republican would put them over the top. I look forward to the day.
“They were mocked, ignored and dismissed as well-intentioned but hopeless idealists. One of them told me how he was literally patted on the head by an older Democrat.”
Math doesn’t lie. 99% is the majority and the groups with smaller percentages that can ally to reach the magical thinking exclusion(READ: externalization of the “costs” of the electorate actually being recognized!!!)) 15% threshold, if actually exercised would BE the rainbow. Keep it mind folks: 15%
Oh yes, and could we please see some action to shut down one of the most blatant lying scumbags around? the Commission (my ass!!) on Presidential Debates which violates FEC rules. Folks here know this, but its worth reiterating anyway.
From Wikipedia
¨ (…) In 1988, the League of Women Voters withdrew its sponsorship of the presidential debates after the George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis campaigns secretly agreed to a “memorandum of understanding” that would decide which candidates could participate in the debates, which individuals would be panelists (and therefore able to ask questions), and the height of the lecterns. The League rejected the demands and released a statement saying that it was withdrawing support for the debates because “the demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter.”[4]
The CPD has hosted the 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 debates. (…)
In addition to fraud, it seems to me that excluding all candidates but Ds and Rs violates our Constitutional rights of speech and association, as well as the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
My decision to boycott the “debates” has had no discernable effect as yet, but if more people joined, it might help. Certainly there’s little to be learned from them.
When the League of Women Voters withdrew because the ‘fix’ was allowed I stopped attending. I find position papers and record reviews much more informative. There are a number of sites for backgrounders.
Open Secrets is good for starters.
Politics1.com all 50 congressional
Vote USA.org sample ballots
Take a walk on the other side: Federal Elections Commission site sign up for email alerts on dates and deadlines for candidates
who knows take a walk on the other side … maybe some of us should be running
The DNC will tolerate some token “Lefties” as part of the “fake left, move right” strategy they’ve conned us with for decades. DINO, LOTE, repeat…
Thanks for the facts! I was just telling a friend about this last night but couldn’t remember their exact name.
… well, you’ve certainly got plenty of hate and a generous portion of ‘holier than thou.’ Since these are the key ingredients that got us in this mess in the first place -I’ld have to ask; “what else ya’ got pal?”
Fortifying for the struggle and bearing witness moving forward with a philosophical survey in classical bard style… some cultural food - soul food - served best by Dr. Cornell West .
Save for a couple of hours to kick back and be ready to smile, laugh, cry and be challenged to live the examined life. Damn, he’s good!!
… You’re just a hateful little person. That’s the bottom line. I don’t debate with hate…
… Like I said, hate got us where we are today. I don’t think more hatred is a winning strategy. It’s understandable to be angry -but hate will only produce more of the same…
Well you go ahead and stick with those Democrats, Larry. It’s working out really well.
1,000 seats lost in less than a decade. We don’t hate the Ds, we just can’t help but notice how useless thy are.
… What are you, some sort of code-breaker, who interprets; “don’t be so hateful,” to actually mean; “status quo is the way to go!?”
… This is why I rarely even bother to post on this -and these sites. Everybody just wants to argue. Or as the old song goes; “Everybody wants to rule the world…”
There will never be “a genuinely populist Democratic party”, as Sanders’ calculations here clearly attest to, and I hope that reality will be realized right damn quick by anyone truly committed to an end to the toxic circus that defines politics in these here United States.
Regarding “how the process has been skewed against your interests”, centrally important in the fight against Big Money is standing up to the 8,000 pound financial gorilla at the root of America’s financial dictatorship. The history of this financial dictatorship is described succinctly in “War Profiteers and Israel’s Bank” at
American voters must learn this history, suppressed by its Israel-controlled media. Ocasio-Cortez was willing to call Israel’s massacre in Gaza a “massacre”. That shows her depth of understanding, honesty, and courage.
“Dems have four congressional candidates willing to criticize Israel — and ‘reap political rewards’”
BIG take-away for me: The line about Kirsten Gillebrand’s about-face. In her first run six years ago she was touted as genuine progressive, but like Heidi Heitkamp has legislated more like a corporate Democrat. Heitkamp is likely too indebted to her ND fracking base to budge on policies. I have been inundated recently with emails from Gillebrand, but reluctant to respond for just that reason. I will do so, but only if I can send a very strong “Fool me twice” message, probably through her Senate web site, as campaign web sites seldom have a “contact” link, for obvious reasons.
And when you contact via the Senate web site, the staff replies with “This is campaign-related and we cannot address this here…”
But hopefully the message reaches someone.
Justice Democrats have appeal. The facts support them: our elections are bought by the wealthy. We used to have a top marginal income tax rate of 91%, for 50 years, 1930 to 1980 the rate averaged at 78% on income over today’s $1 million, so the next dollar above $1 million the earner received 22 cents, the government 78 cents. We have to return to those high rates as the top one percent take in over 20% of all pre-tax income. Income and wealth distribution ratios are very unhealthy, today. We need some radical changes. The lower-earning 50% of workers, earning less than $30,553 a year, but on average less than $13,000 a year for all 50%, earn a collective total of 6% of the national income. The Social Security Administration report on wages shows this fact. Workers are vastly underpaid, and this corrosive effect on society is unacceptable. I write Economics Without Greed, http://benL8.blogspot.com, and we need a massive educational movement and political truth movement. The majority are being ignored, and low-income people are suffering – low incomes, no chance for upward mobility, and a education-to-prison penal system punishing the people of color.
