The Democratic Sit-In
I’m so happy to see that Democrats have finally managed to grow a spine and actually protest for some gun control to get passed. It might’ve taken several mass shootings for them to grow a pair, but, hey, better late than never, amirite, gaiz?
This essay is about deflating the cynicism around the Democratic sit-in. We must have more faith in Democrats when they actually get off their ass to make something happen, especially when they’ve been seemingly content with just saying, “Aw, schucks,” and going back to their respective districts to pander appeal to their wealthy political patrons voters for their money support.
I’m sure we can count on Dems to actually protest other things that they purport to stand for, such as climate change, campaign finance reform, immigration reform, voting rights, access to abortion and women’s health, improving healthcare, etc. Democrats won’t ever be able to return home to their districts to sip brandy with donors. I mean, any Democrat that’s not willing to stand up (and then sit down in this case?) and fight for the change that their constituents want, then they deserve to be primaried.
Sorry, but being a Senator or Congresscritter is no longer a cushy job where you only work for half the days in a year. Sit-ins are a good way to show that they mean business, and I sure hope that people will come to expect the same level of commitment Democrats demonstrated for gun control that they would for other important issues, too. Even if they have to be poked and prodded by their supporters.
In any case, I think sit-ins are a wonderful idea and I'm sure Democrats will do more.
Comments
I won't
hold my breath!
I thought this was snark, n/t
I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance. - e.e.cummings
Me too - I vote snark. N.t
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
When they
start doing sit ins for election reform, single payer, no more wars, ever growing wealth gap, jobs, equal rights for all, oh and how about a BIG sit in against the FUCKING TPP!! When they start doing more sit ins for things like this I'll start believing. Oh, and I read that hillary lovin' John Lewis is already fundraising off his participation in this sit in. Yeah, let's have a sit in to fund-raise. That'll bring a lot of credibility to the cause. OK. I get it. It's a start and for a good cause. But lets' see them do it over issues that will hurt their big donors, like the banks, insurance groups, MIC, and on and on, then I'll buy into it...
Start a movement to get Dems to do more sit-ins.
The genie is out of the bottle. If Democrats are willing to do sit-ins for gun control, surely they would be willing to do sit-ins for the issues you mentioned, otherwise doing a sit-in during an election cycle for one issue will be perceived as cynical.
The Democratic circle jerk?
It was an exercise in cynicism.
" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "
But wouldn't getting off their asses
mean they're no longer doing a sit-in? Sorry, couldn't resist that one.
And sorry to bring back a bit of cynicism, but why exactly did they get on their asses this time around? You would think that a bunch of dead children would be more than enough, but that certainly didn't motivate them. This time around, it was a bunch of gay latino adults. Are their lives more valuable to democrats (well, thinking about it even more cynically, the children couldn't vote, so I guess they wouldn't be as valuable as all those voters that presumably vote democrat)? I would hope not, since all human life should be equally valuable. So what's different then?
Well, another difference is that there's a certain person this time around who has dramatically high unfavorables whom they'd love to see in the white house... the shooter was actually on the watch list and a muslim... and there was a higher body count... can't really think of anything else. How about anyone else? Anybody got a reason why this time, the shooting warranted a sit in?
Could be.
You would need to demand answers as to why they didn't stage a protest after the last umpteen mass shootings. Expect a lot of polsplaining if you do manage to get an answer.
In any case, now that we've seen that Democrats can actually stage a protest rather than sit idly by as nothing gets done, I'm sure it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect this level of commitment to important liberal issues that Democrats claim to be champions of, no? Even if Democrats in congress don't know it, everyone else should know that the Democrats have raised the bar in how far they're willing to go to get liberal issues passed. They can do something to prove that they serve the people, or they'll look like the same tired-ass politicians who just perpetuate the status quo. If not, then it just shows the need for a revolution to remove all these feckless politicians from the government.
This was a dog and pony show
that meant absolutely nothing. It was political infotainment to raise money.
Timing it to run into 4th of July vaca
seems like "school's out for summer" at one level. A few days (= 1) of butt work. Getting a butt-bounce on summer vaca #2 fund-raising is another. Color me cynical.
The Republicans are calling it a tantrum, different when they did such. At best, a small effort to publicize they now pretend to care. Do it a few more times, and they might get a wee bit of cred. My starry-eyed cousin called it a move for Democracy and freedom. Right.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Anything short of
being on the streets with us in protest is not worth my full trust. Sanders has been on the streets protesting before. Jill Stein got her start protesting coal plants in massachusetts in 1998. They have my trust. Democrats sitting on the floor after repeatedly failing to do anything meaningful for progressive and liberal values for years, during a time where the candidate they endorsed is the most unpopular democrat in the entire country, doesn't earn my trust.
I'm not asking you to trust them, just to make them dance.
Regardless of the sincerity or lack thereof, it is nice to see Dems do something, and in the future, it would be nice if we could tell them to jump, they would be required to reply, "How high?"
They don't dance
After Sandy Hook, gun regulation had an overwhelming 90% of the nation supporting it. They didn't dance then. If they don't dance when support of something is over 90%, how do you expect them to be swayed by us when there's less support than that? No, they ignore us on every issue until it becomes politically expedient that they throw us a bone. That's the only reason they staged this sit in. They had to do something to make their party more favorable in the eyes of the voters to balance out the rippling effects of HRC's unfavorability. So they do something that won't piss off their donors.
They are never on our side when it matters. Only when it benefits them. That is the democratic party, and they are the ones who make their supporters dance. Not the other way around.
A Farce
Congressional Dems "Sit In" Is A Cynical, Hypocritical Election Year Stunt
Submitted by Bruce A. Dixon
Short Podcast of great interest: http://www.blackagendareport.com
From the Light House.
I wish it weren't so.
You're probably right.
I wonder what Black Agenda Radio would say about John Lewis. It's very disheartening to see a civil rights icon impugn the civil right creds of Bernie and then lie about Hillary's involvement with the civil rights movement.
The Sit In, starring John Lewis
What was the talking point about Bernie and his civil rights work? Oh yeah, what's he done lately which morphed into he wasn't there. The sit in backfired because it's a bitch when you have no credibility. John Lewis blew his when he lied about Bernie.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Guns are the official wedge issue
that the Clinton machine has chosen to distract from her corruption. It will rally both sides. One little sleep-over over a bill to make an illegal watch list more intrusive is hardly even a worthy stunt, let alone progress.
We all know just how unclear she is on guns.
After Obama had mentioned that gun owners in rural Pennsylvania cling to guns and religion (they do), she then sent out that infamous mailer where she comes off as an NRA politician.
I noticed that Everytown (at least I think it was Everytown) endorsed her. They'll be disappointed.
Love the snarky faith in democrats propaganda essay!
If it's not snark… then Bless your heart!
And I love your snarky comment.
But seriously, I don't have as much faith in Democrats as I used to, but when they do protests like these, it makes me wonder.
Could the Dems have pulled something like this before? Oh, fuck yeah. A lot sooner. However, in the unlikely even that this actually gets a gun control bill through congress, then maybe it's possible that Dems become a victim of their own success when constituents start demanding this sort of action from their politicians.
Then again, Republicans, like the Borg, will adapt to this tactic and it won't be as effective. Expect tons and tons of gridlock as both parties start doing sit-ins and shit. It'll be just like it was.
Problem being
These Democrats held their sit in in support of a measure which removed due process from the people it would have affected, thus they supported a measure which would have been yet another governmental infringement on the rights of people. And this is supposed to 'better than the Republicans'.
None of them are to be trusted since so few of them actually support their actual constituents in favor of supporting their masters and overlords in the wealth and business classes.
If these Dems were serious…I'm severely unimpressed because they missed an important aspect of what they were supporting and they showed they give a rats ass about people's rights.
If this was a faux sit in to garner some cred with voters down the road in upcoming elections, then the dog and pony show didn't impress and they were still throwing their faux support behind a measure that was an infringement on the rights of people.
No law is worth the sacrifice of due process rights for the people affected no matter how much some people feel 'something must be done' about the topic at hand.
I expect these people to do as little as possible and to only act when it serves their best interests or those of their true masters. The rest of us are not even worth their time even if they pretend we have any relevance because the voting system still requires them to beg the common people to place them in their superior positions.
My take on it, for what it's worth
I am not ready to just forgive the Democratic party for 30 years of spinelessness and neo-liberalism. But, if we want them to start standing up for progressive causes (we do what that, right?), then I think we should support them when they start showing signs of doing that.
And no, I'm not saying that these specific bills are progressive causes, although I think gun control in general is.
Maybe I'm just being a chump, but every time I think I've had all the hope beaten out of me, I find a little more.
Great clip regarding how we treat rights in the USA
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNDcd1Fe5lg width:500 height:400]