We must face the reality of the meaning of the 2016 Election
We must reevaluate the Democratic party since it has finalized its right wing realignment, a realignment myself and others have warned of for some time now.
The entire goal of the neoliberal, “new” Democrat movement, under Al From and the Clintons (and all the other “new Democrats” AKA “Third Way” Democrats) has been since at least the 80’s, to court and bring into the fold moderate Republicans, replacing the working class voters with them, the party is now fully transformed as per their vision and no longer a viable outlet to achieve the goals of the people, by this I mean most of the population, but specifically the huge majority that are the working class, the poor, the elderly, and our children.
They refer to the RW takeover of the party as an “intellectual leveraged buyout” And history shows they DID take over the party.
My suggested most current reading on the subject would be Thomas Frank’s new book, Listen, Liberal – or – What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?
Since Sanders did not bring the party back, one must realize they have completed the realignment, worse than that we now have enough observable truth to realize that Sanders, and a political revolution which we were trying to accomplish via the Democratic party was destined to fail, not for lack of his viability, polls have proven that, not for lack of agreement with a majority of the party as well as those that have given up on parties and a youth that had given up on politics yet had enthusiastically supported him, but rather because we no longer appear to live in a Republic.
The election revealed that the process is nothing more than a tissue thin veneer of the pretense of democracy that is nothing more than a show put on by our Oligarchs, it became obvious in the primary when the party in question used it’s “impartial” machine to keep the popular candidate chosen by the people shut out by their own internal process, by a purchased media that worked toward the same end, and perhaps the most revealing of all, ample evidence used around the world to prove election tampering on a national scale against the one candidate that could have won with both the votes and confidence of the people themselves, widespread election fraud in a nutshell. A man that could have or would have tried to reverse the full on purchase of what was once known as the party of the people.
We now live not in a Republic with representation chosen by democratic process, but we now have a new form of Government run by Oligarchs, this form of government has a name Inverted Totalitarianism, our faux republic is but a a play of two parties working for the same aristocrats that give two seperate pitches to a mesmerized, cheated, and propagandized public, a game to help to keep us divided and to hide the reality that not only do we not choose our leadership and representation, but the numbers are changed to reflect the will of our new ruling class. We no longer live in a Republic, represented by those we elect to champion our wishes and legislate accordingly, but rather a faux two party system, that represent not the voters, but rather those who employ them among the few that pay for the legislation they want, even if the largest majority of voters oppose such legislation.
We must consider all viable options (save violence as that plays into their hands) in order to form a new party of the people using the tissue of Democracy that remains and voting overwhelmingly to give it power from the bottom on up, if such is not too late already, not an easy task, which is why Bernie Sanders calls such a task a political revolution. That is not hyperbole but honesty.
If true liberal ideals, a moral economy, and an equal society that grows beyond bigotry in all it’s forms is to ever be achievable again, let alone in time to stop the demise of many species including our own. It will be nearly impossible by the method we had hoped for, that is, by saving the party from it’s complete makeover and thus reclaiming it because it has finally completed it’s transformation. Let me explain if I might.
Those that vote for hawkish Neo-Liberals such as Clinton are not in denial, they are simply not at all like the Democrats of the pre “intellectual leveraged buyout of the Party” by the Koch funded DLC, beginning before, but put actively into legislative practice by William J. Clinton and his DLC allies with the assist of Newt Gingrich beginning in 1992 (Welfare destruction, deregulation and tough on mostly minority crime bills) were passed with a purpose, one that continues unto our present day.
They are indeed not in denial or uneducated politically as some may assume, but rather they are like the candidates they support, neo-liberals. Some are also even neocons as well, much like Hillary Clinton.
Many of us call these sort of voters limousine liberals, or latte’ liberals but they are something else (more accurate and less derogatory).
I have understood this a long time, most are comfortable financially (not necessarily rich yet many are) but able to always pay their bills, save for retirement, usually live in the ‘burbs and own at least two cars (plus a starter car for their teenage child old enough to drive).
They like to consider themselves politically correct, believe in equality just enough to support it verbally and feel “evolved” (while thinking they deserve a badge for doing so) but would never put themselves in harm's way for the rights and equality that sound as good to them coming out of their mouths as their own flatulence smells to them coming out of their own asses (they detect a whiff of roses when they breath it in). It becomes hard to ignore that such declarations, formed of methane as they are, are meaningless slogans, with little action to support such claims of “equal rights”. Unfortunately they can no longer see the reality that is our new government, and even those things they believe in will be betrayed as the true masters gain only what it is that they wish, luckily (not for those it has happened to but) they are growing fewer by the day as wage disparity lessens the numbers of the comfortable and deluded and the majority are growing poorer by the day.
They ARE moderate Republicans (like the ones that no longer exist outside the Democratic party), I remember back when most Republicans were sane and many (certainly not the Goldwater or John Birch types though) believed in civil rights, choice and other equality issues, they were a minority of that party, yet they did exist, they were different largely only in that they believed in Republican fiscal values, the old bootstrap philosophy made popular by Ayn Rand (even if the Democratic version would never admit to it).
The party has gone through a realignment, as parties do over the course of decades, (just as the Republican Party once was the anti-slavery party but have been quite the opposite for a long time now) – The Democratic party has changed into the moderate Republican party of my childhood (except they are far more hawkish than the old Rs used to be). There is no more room in the Clinton wing, the dominant wing for the new Deal, The Great Society, or the working class in this newly realigned party, only room for corruption, corporatism and the cold embrace of wars.
The Republicans have also been going through a realignment during the same 35 year period as ours has. One of the reasons one no longer finds Moderate Republicans in the Republican Party, but only in ours, under their new (D) banner. The Republican realignment has already turned them into the modern equivalent of the John Birch Society wackos of old, but they are not finished yet, just as the Democrats are not finished yet.
Once the Realignments of the parties are complete, ours will be fully Republican without moderation, with no vestige of economic morality left, even the current “fringe” that was once the heart of the party, the New Deal, Great Society, and Civil Liberties, IOW the Sanders types, will be an “extreme fringe” within such a changed party where "the fringe" will be little more than Eisenhower Republicans as compared to the bulk, which like Hillary will be more like Bush Republicans.
The Republicans in their completion will be a fully Fascist US party they have already gone full on john Birch Society (they of course like the brand name they already have) Republican sounds so much like a “Republic” (a form of representative democracy this country was first created to be, and if one believes the bullshit group psychosis still is), so they will never call themselves Fascists, yet what is in a name? The same could be said of “New” Democrats, the name is false advertizing
I suppose the question to the average Citizen then would be, do you want to be –
- A Republican (under a new brand name)?
- A Fascist (under a new brand name)?
- Or hope the worst of the newly realigned parties self destructs, leaving room in our two party system for some form of labor party like the Democratic party once was and more, with a deep belief as well in full equality for all of us and a livable, for our type of mammal, biosphere. (personalty I hope the one turning fascist is the one that self destructs, but that is just me).
If one or both Oligarchical parties implodes or fades away, it will leave an open space for those that are not global corporatists and war seeking profiteers to reclaim a newly formed labor party, Those of us so much like the pre 80’s Democratic party of Social Democracy made popular for and by the working class and which would again welcome a New Deal, Great Society, Civil Liberty, War on Poverty, and green initiative style of governance that used to hold the spot now held by these “New” Democrats, these “Moderate” Republicans that have taken to wearing those itchy Democratic suits ever since they took over the party of the people and turned it into the party of Corporations, Banks, And war that relies on poverty as the fuel for it’s new gilded age dripping with the blood of innocents.
Ours has to be and will be more than a labor party, as it must be that and more, it must also include equality and unity for moral reasons of course, but also for a very pragmatic reason. The need to repair a biosphere so terribly damaged that it will take (all hands on deck in unity) if it is to matter enough, and in time, so that it may continue supporting our form of life rather than succumbing to yet another series of ELEs* That will leave our earth very, different and without our species – to have yet another go at continuing it’s varying evolution experiments among the remaining species to suit the new environment.
I only ask that you give this perspective some thought, and come to your own conclusions.
*Extinction Level Events
Comments
Lots of people believe the Dems and two party system is beyond
hope. There are two movements that speak directly to this issue that I am aware of : Bernie's Revolution and Cenk Ygur keeps talking about a sort of unveil.
If there is no cure, then the only escape is death. Too bad we all have to go down with it.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Let us work on a cure then! More than one if needs be.
We can work on restoring local offices to representatives of the actual constituency rather than large scale donors, using Bernicrats within the (D) party as our allies, or Greens, or even actual card carrying Democratic socialists , the party itself doesn't matter, only the cure.
We can do this while simultaneously helping to form a new national party that will take hopefully quite a bit of time before it to becomes corrupted, valuable time needed to treat the many illness our country suffers from domestically and internationally (war). If accomplished, those allies of many stripes will likely gravitate to, and lend power and/or membership to, such a party.
We can't cure the curse of lesser evilism that pushes our binary party system ever rightward, but we can create a brand new option free from such evil, at least until such time as the cancer or money influenced evil infects it as well. The illness may even be avoided altogether if such a party and such multiple allies refuse PAC and large donor money completely.
You may find my answer to a request from the Large Hillary donors that were said to desire a real post mortem to explain the lack of return on their investment by her not being crowned (other than the finger pointing like, "the Ruskies did it!" or "It was those meddling voters fault or we woulda' got away with it."
They weren't asking me, but I jokingly gave them their autopsy anyway as a personal thought experiment.
You may find it amusing at least, if not an answer to how a candidate, if not cheated (yeah, I'm among the weirdos that believe the primary was stolen for/by Clinton from Bernie) might win without cheating in a climate where the population is sick of establishment corruption.
True, Third Way captured
the flag. But, 2016 was a Big F.U. to Third Way and the RW of the party. Oh, yeah? You're offering $Hillary as the Dem candidate? F.U. Thank the gods all those midwestern ignorant misogynists thumbed their nose at $Hillary and the DNC. Spanking $Hillary and the DNC stopped what would have been the complete Third Way takeover of the Dem party. Sure, they will attempt to run a RW "Centrist" bastid in 2020. But there are enough BernieBros to stop that from happening. If they somehow end up winning the 2020 Primary shame on us.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
I believe your essay is a good look backward but is outdated
I see lots of signs of the rank and file of the party working vigorously to wrest the party at the local (and various levels) back from the power hogs, focusing on getting money out of politics. We're having a mutiny where I am, wresting the party back from the leadership which has not actually been leading but just mouthing what has been the party line. Fans of BOTH candidates are cooperating...
I see tweets every day with Bernie people making significant inroads in the party all around the country. Bernie did not crap out - he's playing the long game. It takes more than one election season to bring on a revolution.
'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member
Not outdated just acknowledging a leadership entrenched
The DNC has decided to create a new “War Room” whose purpose is to dig up and publicize horrible things about Donald Trump. Not a bad idea, but the only problem is that they are packing this War Room with former Clinton campaign staffers and their goal is actually to research the DNC hack that they believe cost Hillary the election. More corporate Democrats, less honesty – that’s what the DNC has to offer these days. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.
[video:https://youtu.be/LdPHEhcJFbM?t=12]
As far as the DNC goes…
fool me once shame on you…fool me twice, I can’t get fooled again (forgive the Bushism, I couldn't resist).
No thank you to another giant helping of DNC theft and war. Those people are not connected to reality in any way!
There is more that leads me to believe that the party leadership has no intention of changing from representing corporate entities to bend toward the changes Bernie Sanders knows (and those that believe in him and his message should as well) need to take place in order not only for the party to get back to winning, but more importantly to get back to representing the interests of the majority of the people, most of whom are being preyed upon and driven ever closer to poverty and away from upward mobility.
I would love for the party leadership to adopt the ideals Sanders set forth that I personally believe should take precedence over the needs and wants of the multinationals and billionaires that currently drive the party using unlimited capital and revolving door parachutes to positions that provide cushy high salary positions within the very same corrupt organizations that purchase their policies now. Positions routinely provided when elections are lost due to such "servicing"
of the .1% over the serfdom currently known as the 99%.
Don't take my word for it, Nancy pelosi herself has already clearly stated there is no belief at the top that the party needs to change, all they see is a need to "package the message differently."
[video:https://youtu.be/OkDcUO6gBhM?t=44]
I do agree with you that much can be done at the local, County, and even State levels and much change is happening because of The Sanders revolution, he was extremely successful IMO, more so than I ever dreamed was possible in the beginning, and I am overjoyed by It. Our only disagreement is I make a personal distinction between what I prefer to call "Bernicrats" and The giant corrupt machine known as the Democratic party. Bernicrats have my full support and I believe them to be valuable allies
I also no longer follow parties (I used to as a Registered Democrat for over 35 years), but prefer now to follow individual people and races on a case by case basis. I don't much care what letter or label they adorn while representing the actual people rather than the aristocracy or corporate artificial life forms, only that they do so. (I doubt I will see any adorning(R) while being part of the solution but hope to be proven wrong some day, Bernie himself isn't a Democrat but wears the letter(I), some will wear(G) and still others(S), hell the only reason I think we need a new party of any kind at all is because the system is set up that way, I'd prefer something more akin to a parliamentary system, but we are stuck with a binary one instead that uses a lesser evil mentality to play us all for fools, dividing and conquering us while hoovering up all the money and resources and sending it all to the very top.
I only think we need a replacement party in one of the slots because it may take some time before it also becomes completely corrupted, that interval before corruption infects the new host may allow much damage to be repaired and much wealth equality to be restored, at least for a time.
I don't follow twitter because I am older (get off my lawn! just kidding) and find it annoying and a destroyer of attention spans due to only short messages, but I do understand the power it gives people to share the voice of reason and call forth people to positive action(s).
I also believe that Sanders' work is bearing great fruit at least in some places so you are not wrong about that, our only true difference of opinion being I do not agree that that fruit can spread to the leadership of a very entrenched corruption that is the rotted head of a fish beyond repair. Some good news from a friend of mine proving the value of your point that you are likely already aware of, but wish to share anyway to leave this on a positive note.
I don't disagree about current DNC entrenchment
I just think that there's a shot they may not be allowed to keep clutching what they've grabbed. I think they will be kicked out.
We shall see.
'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member
We shall see, I really do hope your optimism is rewarded
I may be more cynical than you are regarding the eventual outcome, however I don't much care about whether or not I'm proven right, or wrong, on any of my expectations or predictions.
I do care however about my fellow citizens as well as those we share this globe with and so I will be celebrating the fact I was wrong if that becomes the case, happily cheering on a party that emulates once again the values and ideologies of admirable people like Bernie Sanders with people friendly policies (rather than corporate friendly ones) that will be fought for once again after having been abandoned decades ago, to service the wealthy rather than protect and help prosper the common citizenry.
If that day comes to pass I will wash down the crow with a celebratory glass of champagne with you while wearing a smile of joy on my face.
(it will have to be virtual Champagne as I do not drink alcohol due to health considerations.)
Dems good jobs failure
http://www.gallup.com/poll/125639/gallup-good-jobs.aspx
Wtf 30 hours per week now? Huh. All others eat cake. Including the Democratic Outreach Chair, Bernie. "Nobody who works 40 hours a week should be living in poverty." How 'bout 30 hours? 39?
How about this? "Nobody should be living in poverty!" That's what Democrats used to say. Now those sound like weasel words he should be real, more specific or whatever. Don't just say shit to GOTV for some different billionaires, again. Thanks.
Not even a living wage?
Just a regular 30 hours?
So you're saying we need to hope that one of the
major parties self destructs so a new party can form? Is that the meaning? Because this "republic" has always been an oligarchy with a two party political system. Nothing has changed in that regard, the political system was set up that way. If one of the major parties is replaced by another party, we'll still have a two party system of electing representatives who won't represent us.
Well, don't overlook
the fact that 1/3 of the electorate does not identify with d or r.
The time is ripe for a third party.
dfarrah
I like yr attitude, but the
Statistic doesn't reflect reality. In spring of 2016, a full 42% of all Americans were willing to tell pollsters they felt independent of both major parties. Both the folks at Gallup and the Pew Survey folks released this polling.
Believing in the improbable can make your life a miracle.
That is only a portion of what I am trying to express
I agree with you actually that the political system was set up as a binary one that has nearly always been used by Oligarchs against the greater good of the people for the enrichment of the ones corrupting the parties and the representatives within.
Such parties and politicians have seldom in our history represented the people. I would prefer a better system, but I have to work with what we have, A fact, which although unfortunate, is nevertheless true.
One of the things I attempted (it would appear unsuccessfully) to convey is that both existing parties are so thoroughly corrupted as to be useless as a vehicle for positive change. My thoughts expressing the view that a new party would be welcome rests on a belief that there would hopefully be an interval of time between its original formation by those seeking change and it's likely inevitable corruption when it will lose it's value to us. During that time some positive change may actually occur.
Having read Zinn I am fully aware of our rather unsavory history and can't argue that you are incorrect in your assessment, but there have been times (however brief) when there was a temporary reprieve from corruption as usual and during those times positive changes were made (things like The New Deal, The Great Society and other positive developments that helped the serfdom.) In the end I do not, and likely never will, place my hopes in any "party" but rather only in individuals that appear to have earned my trust, even then only until such time as they stop being helpful and begin to become harmful, here is an excerpt from a reply to MsGrin that may help you to understand the way I think about such things
On a side note, I appear to have missed the opportunity to reply to most people and only later realized that one must do so quickly lest the reply be ignored.
I am used to posting what are called "OPs" (Original Posts) in my former forum culture, separate from our "blogs" that were more like journals where one kept thoughts and essays in one place so as not to lose then and to keep them handy to draw from for informational purposes.
Being new to the ways of this board, I did not know I was starting an active discussion, but thought instead I was making the equivalent of a journal entry, I made the mistake of thinking that "create new essay" was the equivalent of starting an OP, or active discussion. I now know that there appears to be no difference between a blog entry and an essay entry and that both are active conversation equivalents to the "OPs" I referred to which serve the same purpose at my former posting environment of 14 years,
I was confused by the different nomenclature and will remember in the future that a blog entry is the same as an OP within that other posting culture I referenced.
My apologies,
Denny
I agree with Big Al.
I think the two party system has a built-in trap that means power has to be part of the electoral process. In a country of 320 million people, two parties represent too much power and a tiny set of choices. If instead we had many small groups with many different focuses, i.e. environmental groups, anti-corruption groups, peace groups, small business groups, education groups, and so forth, each of which could be called a "party," and each of which might include many of us donating and volunteering, we might elect lots of different representatives with real, specific work cut out for them and expected of them.
What we have with two overly powerful parties, it seems to me, are compromises on all the issues we care about because of fear of the other. And the two party system focuses on the presidency, the big vote for one person, an extravaganza of power, as if the legislature or the Congress were pointless.
I think the small donation successes of Howard Dean and Bernie Sanders really shows how powerful low-income and middle-income people can be. And nothing can be as illustrative of the wrongness of believing in the power of one big liberal party as the DNC emails. Wrong legally, wrong ethically, wrong-headed in every way. I think we're done with big power. I think we have to believe in the success of the American people's many efforts for peace, for the planet, for organic food, for small business, for local manufacturing, and for justice.
No more donations to the big party. No more support for compromisers who betray us. Just investment in good works.
I take the long view.
When I say "long view" I am saying: We survived the K/T extinction event. Sure we didn't look at all like "us", but we were present
therethen, and just like dinosaurs, we survive to this day, and we will continue to survive. As awful as it gets, in a few centuries no one will care about the minutiae of our lives.We have been in the throes of extinction events for sometime now. Political extinction events play out over the course of a few years, while the biological / ecological extinction events play out over the course of a few centuries. This disparity of scale factors is the source of much friction, particularly in the USofA.
I have been aware of the morphing of the environment for a long time.
I have been dimly aware of the morphing of the Democratic Party from the late 1960s. Aware, primarily because of our involvement in Việt Nam, and the bullshit known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. After I became eligible (id est 21) I registered Democrat and remained so out of convenience until I had finally had enough in 1980.
The fact that this county is not ready to elect one such as Bernie tells me we need a few more data points for enough people to see the pattern. I see people (here) that long ago "connected the dots", and many isolated examples of people IRL doing the same, but there seems to be no single "bandwagon" relating that understanding to "the masses".
I don't remember moderate Republicans being bloody warmongers.
Or McCarthy-ites, except for old Joe. Our former party isn't anything I recognize as any version of moderate.
And for the record . . .
Barry Goldwater was pro choice.
Does that explain Clinton's logo?
Apparently it looks a lot like Goldwaters...
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
Goldwater was right (for the wrong reasons) on a lot more
subjects than most people realize.
It's important to remember, though, that a lot of it was for the wrong reasons.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
I am at a loss
how we would be able to change anything through an electoral process when the government has just taken it over through the Department of Homeland Security. Despite the fact nearly every state and local body opposed the federal move. Our government now controls all the polling places, election machines, voter databases, and all other information technology.
I mean how do you "vote" that system out?
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
And the reality that the
First Amendment is now dead meat means even having basic knowledge and discussion of problems we face will not be permitted.
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/01/01/the-war-against-alternative-inform...
The new law mandates the U.S. Secretary of State to collaborate with the Secretary of Defense,
Director of National Intelligence and other federal agencies to create a Global Engagement Center
“to lead, synchronize, and coordinate efforts of the Federal Government to recognize, understand,
expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at
undermining United States national security interests.” The law directs the Center to be formed
in 180 days and to share expertise among agencies and to “coordinate with allied nations.”
The legislation was initiated in March 2016, as the demonization of Russian President Vladimir
Putin and Russia was already underway and was enacted amid the allegations of “Russian hacking”
around the U.S. presidential election and the mainstream media’s furor over supposedly “fake news.”
Defeated Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton voiced strong support for the bill: “It’s
imperative that leaders in both the private sector and the public sector step up to protect our
democracy, and innocent lives.”
The new law is remarkable for a number of reasons, not the least because it merges a new McCarthyism
about purported dissemination of Russian “propaganda” on the Internet with a new Orwellianism by
creating a kind of Ministry of Truth – or Global Engagement Center – to protect the American people
from “foreign propaganda and disinformation.”
Believing in the improbable can make your life a miracle.
The newly minted "ministry of Truth" may be the final death
of any hope for the dissemination of truth, and with it any hope of restoring fairness and justice to what is fast becoming a Banana Republic.
Honestly I think the false Russian propaganda meme is to manufacture fear that the internet is fraught with external (foreign) propagandists rather than the internal ones both government and corporate, I also believe they intend to use this fear to make a play to fully control the flow of information on the internet just as they have done with the MSM. This legislation has been passed to help them accomplish such goals IMO.
They fear the truth can be found in the wire, they know people are losing faith in the corporate media and they are fighting to eventually control and shut down alt media via censorship (literally shutting down websites and deleting things on social media not in the corporate/government interests.)
It is no mistake that some good alt media sites were on an initial list to be slandered as foreign propaganda.
I could be, and hope however to be wrong, but other countries have successfully done similar things to their internet reception.
I see ominous warning pages about "national security" in our future that pop up like they do on some sites labelled as “infected with malware”, and other such warnings before making you click on a “proceed anyway” button every time one enters a site like this where uncomfortable to TPTB truths are discussed or one tries to enter an alt media outlet that reports more than the misinformation put out, or truthful information omitted by the commercial news channels they then toss into "the memory hole."
I also see that as only a beginning until "truth site" addresses are redirected permanently to ominous government warning pages with scary seals and frightening warnings about national security and nothing else. A good way to shut down web sites that include efforts to counter government sponsored propaganda with the actual truth, while creating a fear of truth and counter propaganda measures in general among the population. North Korea would be proud
We may not be able to stop it, but we should try and we must take this threat seriously or if it will put an end to this site as well as anything else they believe might interfere with their sheeple herding and red baiting activities.
The fight is ever on going
We have never been in a better place to fix the Democrat party, The Clintons are the very core of the third way, the beating black heart that pumps corruption through the system. Clinton's lose in 2016 isn't the stake through the heart that would seem to be, rather its stake position over that black heart with the mallet raised over it.
In the short term future the DNC is going to be stacked with Clinton supporters, I think Kieth Ellison will still likely take the helm, which would be a showing of how extreme the damage to the third way/Clintons is, but it is not assured either. While this is certainly a problem, the scope of their meddeling can easily be limited, State party's are mad as hell at the DNC right now, their little corrupt scheme to get illegal money into the Clinton campaign drained them of vital resources, very little assistance was provided, the data provided and voter information was so BAD that many campaigns bought data from private entities, rather then using DNC data.
The DNC is hobbled for the next 4 years regardless of whom is staffed their, Meaning Bernies movement, which is better funded atm, and has popular support, and has developed its own data and network of supporters completely separately of the DNC.
The third way also has to contend with the fact, that bringing in moderate republicans failed, as a strategy to replace more left leaning voters, it simply won't work. Their idealized centrist party where both the left and the far right have no viable party to run to will simply never happen. And the Demographics for such a configuration simply get more unfeasible from here, every day the older more conservative voters are dying off and being replaced by younger more socialist/progressive/liberal voters.
The politicians that are good at sniffing change have already started flipping, Many of the endorsements for Keith Ellision are not votes of agreement with that is their, but rather acknowledgments of reality. And don't misunderstand, these are the sideways characters, you can only trust them when they are stabbing someone else in the back on your behalf, out of opportunism. Chuck Schumer, need I say more....
Be watching, Be aware, Be ready, the time to fight again will soon be apon us.
Excellent OP.
Envious of your clarity and your willingness to take on such a comprehensive situation. And you succeeded, on many levels.
Believing in the improbable can make your life a miracle.
Thank you very much Carol
I only wish you were not the minority opinion regarding my "alleged clarity" yet sincere willingness to take on such a situation, I often write of things that others would rather not face, or fear will not be understood but rather dismissed out of hand instead.
I am thinking of adding another, even more provocative blog entry, unfortunately I fear it will meet with the same lack of understanding and approval as this rather mild, (by my history and standards) minor effort to explore territory others might consider out of bounds, completely mistaken, or in some cases even blasphemous.
If I do, I hope you happen upon it and take the time to read it, it appears you are receptive, that is all I would consider expecting from any reader, but surprisingly receptiveness is in short supply unless one writes of subjects covered often and already proven to have a receptive audience.
In any event, it was my sincere pleasure to meet you, if you have not already read my bio, I am open about my identity so I will add.
Thank you for your open mind and kind mention which feels most welcome to an outsider from another land of posting,
Denny
Nice piece and summation of the Democratic party's demise,
and theories why and where this could all be going. Also just wanted to say that your comments were excellent too. Mentions of Sheldon Wolin, Thomas Frank and Howard Zinn will always get my approval and support.
Good to have you here, and look forward to more from you.
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut