Did the Democratic establishment finally get the memo?
Considering the arrogance and open contempt that the Democratic Party has treated the grassroots with for the past two years, I was surprised to see this today.
Democratic National Committee (DNC) members are weighing a new proposal to eliminate all superdelegates from the party’s nominating process, BuzzFeed News reported Thursday.
..The unity commission had called to reduce superdelegates by about 60 percent, but the Rules and Bylaws Committee is now considering taking the proposal even further.
The DNC members are debating language that would call for the committee to either "reduce," "substantially reduce" or "eliminate" superdelegates, according to BuzzFeed.
For the last two years every demand from progressives was met with (in order):
1) derision
2) rejection
3) throwing progressives a bone to go away
And that's the way it's been, until now.
Very, very late the Democratic establishment is waking up to the fact that the progressive insurgency simply isn't going away, like they thought it would.
What's more, they are realizing that their own voters don't trust them.
That's why you are seeing headlines like these:
WashPost: Democratic Party establishment, it’s time to respect insurgent progressives
TheHill: A Sanders-Warren ticket could win big in 2020
Of course, not everyone in the establishment got the memo.
And even those that did get the memo don't like or agree with progressives, but there is beginning to be a grudging respect for the insurgency.
It's not much, but it's a start.
Comments
Nope.
They're still gaslighting us. Anything they say should be taken with a grain of salt. Cowards.
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
No message getting necessary.
The Democratic Party has long known what its left-ish constituents want to hear. And it's been happy to oblige, as long as it costs nothing. Claiming to be "considering" doing away with super delegates costs nothing. I imagine they will soon educate us as to why the world will end if super delegates are done away with. Or maybe they won't even do that.
"No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up." Lily Tomlin
Re:
And yet they didn't even bother to do that until recently.
You know the old phrase ‘talk is cheap’?
That’s as far as it ever goes.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
Didn't Obama promise to whip out his comfortable shoes
when unions struck and didn't he say strong public option and no individual mandate and tax increases on income over 250K? Didn't he even promise to run with public financing, if nominated? Didn't he talk about how we're all in this together...until he talked about the Cat Food Commission?
As a Senator, didn't he feint toward peace with a bill to reduce nuclear weapons and didn't he also also promise to fix his vote on mass collection of phone info after he got elected? Didn't his White House claim falsely that the sequester was the idea of the Republicans?
Didn't Reid appoint Warren as a liaison to the left (whatever that means)? Wasn't that a signal that they cared about us--they really cared? Warren doesn't say things the left wants to hear? Hillary didn't claim to be a progressive (and also claim a moderate who was proud of her conservative roots)? Didn't she go on about women (but put a constitutional amendment to overrule Roe on the table)? And that's but a small sample.
They talk a good game and they keep things like getting rid of "entitlements" and "I'm a New Democrat" to themselves--until after they get elected. I'll give them that much. Of course, that means that I'm giving them fecklessness and/or dishonesty, but I'm generous that way.
@HenryAWallace Amen.
Amen.
The hatred runs deep.
Just look at some of the comments to both articles. Progressives are nearly as hated as the repubs. The democratic organizations have done a great job at maligning their base against anything progressive.
It will never change from the inside.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
@Pricknick It's this odd duality:
It's this odd duality:
Democrats hate Progressives but simultaneously claim they are progressive.
Furthermore, they say that Progressives can't claim the title of being progressive.
In the end, Democrats love playing this Humpty-Dumpty word game of making words mean whatever they want them to mean.
That then gets transferred over to Russian bots, or alt-left, or whatever garbage they come up. Because the mask is off. They aren't as left as they love to think. They are just horrendously monstrous, vile, sadistic, malicious, greedy people. Not only that, but they are arrogant about their own ignorance. They create their own realities but feeding at the trough of lies from MSM. The government and corporations pile heaping mounds of disgusting shit into those troughs, but my God do those pigs love eating it.
They're Republicans
and the rest of the nation is starting to realize it.
I suspect if you were to distill that hatred into one grain
It would incorrectly point to us as being the decisive lever that elected Trump and snatched the crown off Queen Hillary's head.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
bing! n/t
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.
"Progressives are nearly as hated as the repubs. "
Here in Illinois it seems even more than repubs. The Bernie hate is chilling. Anyone who ever considered voting for Bernie is persona non grata to the Illinois Dem Party.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Hated is better than ignored, mocked, and lied to.
We just need to continue to beat the hell out of the establishment party and its fossilized candidates. I saw where Bernie refused to endorse DiFi. Bet that pissed them all off.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
I'll wait to see if this happens
Even w/o superdelegates they still reserve the right to rig the primary, as their court documents and oral arguments in the DNC lawsuit indicate.
"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott
I trust Tom Perez implicitly
I'm sure he will eliminate Super Duper Delegates because it's the right thing to do.
Have I told you about my Bridge? Or my Unicorn? Or my litter of cute puppies?
Yes, yes, we can have it all.
Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!
Firesign Theater
Stop the War!
I'm interested in the puppies.
Please don't feed them to Hillary. Or let Rahm stomp them.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
If a really big chunk of those progressives
formed a new political party, yeah, that would motivate a big PR push.
This is a small PR push.
The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.
Bingo
A little silver polish on the massive sculpture of them fucking us in the ass.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
This 2 party duopoly is the
This 2 party duopoly is the downfall of America. It is 2 sides of the same coin, and neither has any desire to take on the oligarchs and MIC that rule our policies. I have voted 3rd party the last 2 elections and I encourage others to do so. Voting for the lesser of 2 evils is still voting evil. People must get it out of their heads that voting for a 3rd party is the waste of a vote. Until we can successfully bring up more parties, we will not have a voice in government.
If it was easy, everyone would do it.
A Second Welcome to C99
I gave you a thumbs up when you introduced yourself to C99. Now I would like to tell you personally that I think you are in the right place. Here is the link to an essay I wrote some time ago that agrees with you and even supplies some academic rationale for our voting habits.
https://caucus99percent.com/content/lesser-two-evils
I'm delighted you're here. We need more of us.
-Greed is not a virtue.
-Socialism: the radical idea of sharing.
-Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
John F. Kennedy, In a speech at the White House, 1962
I'd be surprised if super-delegates reformed out..
It is too central to the corruption of the party. Super-delegates is the roster of power brokers and insiders from elected officials to lobbyists. If there is any inkling that Bernie will run, there is no way establishment democrats will get rid of them.
@EdMass @MrWebster It's their only
It's their only defense against grassroots activists (those dreaded evil grassroots activists).
"progressive insurgency" sounds like dem party
propaganda, especially coming from the WA Post and Katrina vanden Heuvel. Red meat just in time for the elections, "hey look, the democrats are more progressive now". Like just saying the word progressive gives people chills or something. Doesn't matter who the person is as long as they use the word progressive.
The name has been co-opted.
The most corrupt machine politicians in Cook County call them selves "progressive". It's just a buzz word.
The Cook County Assessor self deals with his own law firm. He raises assessments then people pay his law firm to appeal the assessments to himself. To cover this up he runs ads about how he is fighting assault weapons. As assessor?
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
@Big Al We've heard that shit
We've heard that shit before, haven't we Big Al?
Too many times OPOL,
and we wonder why people tend to get grumpier with age.
Wasn't it Socrates who first mentioned the progressive insurgency? Or was that Aristotle?
It makes you wonder
what polling information the dems are getting that is scaring them.
After all, they have been saying for months that these midterms are going to be a blow-out in their favor. IMO, they are full.
dfarrah
Here's the carrot...
A) We'll consider it, but you have to vote D and, whaddaknow?, the election came and went and nah, not gonna do it.
B) We'll get rid of superdelegates, but now here's these UBERdeligates...uhh, totally not the same thing.
Also, Sanders-Warren...meh. Yadayada purity whatever, but that isn't bringing me back into the fold.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
Peter Douche's Liaison
https://twitter.com/SilERabbit/status/972211965954109440
Compensated Spokes Model for Big Poor.
Not only that, but Repigs will Crosscheck Sanders
in the general, like they did Gore, Kerry and Clinton.
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
Here's why our government never serves us.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x03j_Mr7QW4]
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
DEMEXIT
I'm at a crossroad in my political life,after being raised in a 2income union household,dad a meatpacker mom a AT&T operator we were a STRONG democratic party family.We loved FDR and all his programs hell granddad worked for the WPA.I WAS a DIEHARD DEMOCRAT for 50 years!That all changed after the 2016 Nevada Democratic convention.At that convention my eyes were FORCED open by the CORRUPTION of the CLINTON MACHINE I witnessed the theft of a election and there were no RUSSIANS doing the dirty work, Roberta Lang CLINTONS lapdog here in Nevada and CA senator Barb Boxer were the guilty partys.This corruption sickend me enough to make me leave the democratic party I am now registered as a Indy.Heres my problem,I hate Trump and the GOP and I want them gone BUT I dont trust these fucking democrats!I love senator Sanders I believe in the man and he would be a great president but thats NEVER going to happen as long as he remains running as a DEM.The DEM party establishment is still smarting that Bernie had the gall to run against QUEEN HILLARY and ruined the coronation,they blame Bernie for her loss and they will NEVER allow Bernie to win their partys nomination.So here I sit HATING BOTH PARTYS and no where to go.Who do you trust?
DW
It's not easy being Green, but I do trust them.
So far, anyway.
No party is perfect
That’s just life. But we all have to decide how much compromise we can tolerate at the end of the day. Personally I’ll go for an international party that claims the PM of the two countries I would most like to emulate: Iceland and New Zealand. Oh, and did I mention they are both women?
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
Trust no one.
OTOH, I could quote RR "Trust, but verify".
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
This is what Bernie did for so many of us
that convention my eyes were FORCED open by the CORRUPTION of the CLINTON MACHINE!
Bernie opened our eyes all the way open after they started opening during Obama's tenure. This is why so many people have demexited and will have nothing to do with the democrats anymore. The people who are still saying they are democrats and are thinking that if the democrats win back congress again, they will roll back the Trump abuses. We watched this story in 2006 when Pelosi told us that exact same thing.
But guess what? They are not going to do a damn thing because they are already voting for the things that Trump and the republicans want now. More spying, more military money and 12 of them are voting to defang Dodd Frank! How's the McResistence working for you? Me? Not so much, but I'm done with voting for change. It's not coming. Most of us know that.
The dems wanted
more spying and military as much as the repubs did. Their support did not start with the Trump administration.
dfarrah
We are all facing the same problem.
The only way I see to deal with it for the time being is to vote for someone who convinces you of their sincerity. The Greens have been ineffectual for years. I have grudgingly voted for them off and on since they were formed. Right now I read about the Justice Democrats who seem young, motivated, and possessed of good ideas; however, Obama looked like that once too. So my only choice is to read everything I can find by and about a candidate and the organization/party they represent. I vote for the best candidate and not for whatever label is attached to them. I just wish we had a Labour Party with a candidate like Jeremy Corbyn. Good luck to all of us.
-Greed is not a virtue.
-Socialism: the radical idea of sharing.
-Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
John F. Kennedy, In a speech at the White House, 1962
There are rumblings among the Greens
Check out the campaign of Kenneth Mejia in LA. Articulate, passionate - and young.
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
Dear LEFTYFRIZZLE
could you please tell us more?
What did happen in Nevada. I know about the State Democratic Convention and the mini-Hillary in charge. Was Roberta Lang elected party chairman?
How was Barbara Boxer involved in a Nevada primary?
I think one of the first things people can be doing is providing details about what did go on during the primary. Nico House has been doing just that, at some risk to himself. Please share whatever you know about the Nevada primary.
Do you know anything about people running for Congress in Nevada right now? No blame if you don't, that is not information TPTB want us to have, but anything you can tell us is of use at this point.
I think it is pretty clear we need a third party, not mention fourth and fifth, with the sort of voting which lets everyone be heard. The more we can do to document major party malfeasance, the quicker people can come around to understanding that the two majors need to be challenged.
Mary Bennett
If Roberta Lang was the women running the caucus
what I remember of her was that she started it 30 minutes before it was supposed to start and while many people were still signing in. Then she held a voice vote, Yes or No, and even though it was clear that the No votes were more, she went with the Yes votes. This was the start of people seeing how it was being rigged.
Then of course, Boxer got up and started taunting the people who were upset. Very adult of you, BarBaraaa
I also remember all that
except I had forgotten about the Boxer taunting. Sigh. I used to think well of her. More fool me.
Who appointed Roberta Lang is what I wonder.
One of my kids has joined the Democratic Socialists. I hear that the DSers are doing something they call mapping, which I gather involves things like figuring out who people are, where they come from and where their loyalties lie.
It seems to me that the Left has forgotten how to do research, which used to be one of its greatest strengths.
Mary Bennett
The establishment
is never going to get any memo.
I know you believe the dem party can be reformed. It can't. People on both sides hate their establishment. I just wish there were more primary challengers when the timing is so ripe.
dfarrah