@gulfgal98

...for reprinting your missive to Marcos here.

A little reaction: This one made my eyes burn:

I hope this will not get me banned here as result because my intent is not that at all.

When you began, you were so forthright about bringing people together. It's your very unique gift to view the world this way, prepared for that possibility. And every day it resets and impulse is fresh again. So basically, you hit him with that first:

The majority of both parties are working on the same side.... Most people in this country have much more in common with each other than we have in differences.... We need to concentrate on bringing people together to fight for our common interests because right now, all of us (99%) are losing. We have a great platform here at dkos to begin that fight.... And we can be more choosy about those whom we support....

Your hindsight on his reaction is spot on. I can see how your words threatened his cash flow. The entire point of that online social laboratory was to divide people along the defined faultline of the duopoly — to play both sides against each other. But when you observed some Democrats were "aliens" dragging the party down — the Blue Dogs, for example — you were dividing within the party. Gulp. Little did any of us realize that the aliens were actually the holy grail, the perfected ideology of neolibralism made flesh.

Hahaha! You snatched off the veil. That was beautiful. And in the very next sentence, you killed it again!

Nearly every one in Washington has been or will be captured by big money. With few exceptions, supporting candidates who say the right things until elected is not working like it should any more.

Right? The rest of it takes a melancholy turn for me, as you describe where things are going. I didn't have that kind of clarity at that time. Perhaps you saw the patterns so clearly because you saw it through the historical lens of the Party:

We are being divided by interests that are not aligned with any one political party.

Very abstract. But astute. Markos would have wondered about that observation. Or not. He's not much of a philosopher. Of course, we have now seen the real forces pulling at the country and our lives. They are not trying to hide from us anymore. Or maybe they don't know we can see them.

They are aligned with each other to continue the transfer of public wealth to their own pockets. And they are being aided by nearly everyone in Washington DC.

Never saw then that it was all about money and nothing else.

There is no other political reason for this except to remove the Democratic party from its historic foundation of defending the social safety net. Then it becomes easier to move to privatization of these programs which I believe to be the ultimate goal.

That was certainly everyone's the big fear! But the reality we face is so much worse. Enslavement from birth. An ugly dystopia.

All of us are being robbed while we fight with each other.

Good god. You could not have been any clearer. I won't get into your last paragraph and immediate solution, except to say he did not deserve to even read it. I now see these specific nests of useful political rats here and there. Organizing and herding the duped. I don't envy them their fates.

You left him with nothing to say.

#3.2.1 One correction, I thought I sent it in 2014, but it was actually in April 2013. I do not think I was or am ahead of the curve, by any measure. It simply reflects my own core beliefs which I have expressed here on many occasions. Still, thank you for your nice compliment.

I was stupid enough to think Markos actually cared about policy and people. But he is just another political operative who only cares about greasing his own palm. Otherwise, I believe he would have taken time to address the issues I raised, one way or another.

Markos, I originally thought about putting this into a comment, but decided that perhaps it would be better to kosmail you with it instead. I hope this will not get me banned here as result because my intent is not that at all.

In my opinion, more and "better" Dems is not working.

Until we totally change the public conversation and remove it from partisan politics, the public will always lose. The majority of both parties are working on the same side, thus rendering them fairly meaningless when it comes to real decisions that affect most people's daily lives. Most people in this country have much more in common with each other than we have in differences. The social safety net, particularly Social Security and Medicare, is one huge unifying factor. Jobs is another. And yet we get the deficit commission and shared sacrifice via cuts to the social safety net.

We need to concentrate on bringing people together to fight for our common interests because right now, all of us (99%) are losing. We have a great platform here at dkos to begin that fight and it does not mean we lose our ideals. We actually can better sell our ideals without having to constantly defend DINOs. And we can be more choosy about those whom we support like Elizabeth Warren.

Nearly every one in Washington has been or will be captured by big money. With few exceptions, supporting candidates who say the right things until elected is not working like it should any more. We are being divided by interests that are not aligned with any one political party. They are aligned with each other to continue the transfer of public wealth to their own pockets. And they are being aided by nearly everyone in Washington DC. Now the President is successfully dividing the Democratic party with his push to chain the CPI. There is no other political reason for this except to remove the Democratic party from its historic foundation of defending the social safety net. Then it becomes easier to move to privatization of these programs which I believe to be the ultimate goal. And by then Obama will be back in the private sector.

The people of this nation are becoming splintered into more and more small groups, each of which has been convinced that they must protect a small amount of territory that they have left from everyone else. Meanwhile, all of us are being robbed while we fight with each other.

In my very humble opinion, we desperately need to change our mission here and focus on policy issues that affect everyone, regardless of political affiliation. Then, perhaps, we can wake people up and really make a difference. IMHO, the Social Security/chained CPI blogathon has been on of the best things I have seen here at dkos. Let's build upon that kind of activism and make dkos a real force to be reckoned with by the plutocracy and their puppets in Washington.

Just my $.02 for what it is worth.