Progressive Insurgency vs. Corporate Democrats: Round Two

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 1:42pm

“The question that comes up all the time is, is there anybody internally assisting and abetting, encouraging people to run against incumbents?”
- Rep. Bill Pascrell

You know you've gotten their attention when your opponents get paranoid.

Politicians should be spooked by the voters. Unfortunately they aren't. Yet.
That may be about to change.

The 2016 Sanders campaign took the establishment by surprise.
They had to use all sorts of dirty tricks, that they hadn't had to publicly use in decades, to keep Bernie from winning.
I believe that they honestly weren't aware of and didn't understand the unrest in the progressive base. They thought the problem was Sanders. By defeating him they could go back to the status quo.
They were/are that out-of-touch.

Instead they triggered a Progressive Insurgency.
The results so far have been less than earthshaking.

Challengers to incumbents have historically struggled. Besides Ocasio-Cortez, the only other progressive Democrat to defeat an incumbent last year was Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), who beat Rep. Michael Capuano in a heavily blue Boston district.

This is true, but only from a certain point of view.
First of all, all primary challengers face long odds.
Secondly, progressive challengers face longer odds than most because the establishment and media will always oppose them.
Third, progressives actually had more success than this would indicate. For example, the annihilation of the NY Independent Democratic Conference by progressives.

“Hey, shut the f... up or go outside!”
- California state party Chairman John Burton to impudent peasants

I'm certain that the Democratic establishment's plan was to wait out the unexpected unrest from the base. That strategy has worked for decades, so why change now?
Things will go back to Wall Street-friendly normal after the 2018 election.

Except that hasn't happened.

A specter is haunting the House of Representatives: the specter of primaries. All the powers of the status quo have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this specter. Blacklists have been drawn up; arms have been locked. The ferocity with which House Democratic incumbents have rallied around each other reached absurd new dimensions this week. With Crisanta Duran, the first Latina state House speaker in Colorado history, challenging Rep. Diana Degette, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus weighed into the primary — on behalf of Degette.
Democratic Reps. Dan Lipinski, Ill.; Eliot Engel, N.Y.; Henry Cuellar, Texas; Steny Hoyer, Md.; and Jerry Nadler, N.Y., are all facing primary challenges, and paranoia is being stoked inside the Democratic caucus.

Some members of the Democratic establishment have resorted to threats.

“I don’t know what that agenda is, but if they want to come after members of the Black Caucus, it’s two ways,” warned Meeks, the Queens Democratic Party boss who clashed with Justice Democrats in a local district attorney race last month.
Some Democrats are hoping that Ocasio-Cortez, the rabble-rousing freshman with 4.7 million Twitter followers, gets a primary challenge herself in 2020.
...
He and his father, Bill Clay, have represented the district for the past 50 years, and Lacy Clay called the group’s actions “insulting” to the intelligence of Missouri voters.

“They are going after the wrong target. Instead of fighting Republicans and defeating Trump and holding on to our majority, they find it convenient to go after their own, which is to me a bunch of B.S.,” Clay told The Hill.

He likened Justice Democrats to “Russian trolls of 2016” trying to sow divisions in the Democratic Party.

I like how one one hand he says "their own", and in the next breath says "Russian trolls".

What is going on now is far different from 2016, when it was all about just one candidate. It's even different from 2018, because now, thanks in part to the DCCC to blacklist primary challengers, there is a growing progressive infrasructure to challenge establishment incumbants.

"The DCCC blacklist backfired spectacularly because not only did it unite candidates behind a common cause, but because it connected us with candidates who never would have found us otherwise," Katz said, adding that business has been so good she has had to turn away prospective clients. "We're already in the black, and I feel like I'm on the right side of history."
...Justice Democrats, the insurgent-left group that recruited Ocasio-Cortez, started a website called the DCCCBlacklist.com, to act as a one-stop shop for candidates looking for strategists, field organizers, advertisement makers, tech vendors and more.

There is even something called the Movement School, a 10-week professional development program developed by people affiliated with AOC and the Justice Democrats.

Despite all of this, the Democratic establishment isn't giving even an inch.
They refuse to endorse any true progressives of any kind on any level.

If I was to make a prediction, I would say that the elites in the Democratic Party will still win most of the primary battles. After all, they have all of the media and most of the money on their side.
But I expect the Progressive Insurgency to score twice as many upset victories as they did in 2018. Soon the "Gang of Four" that Pelosi complains about will be the "Gang of Twelve".
At that point the Democratic establishment will be under immense pressure to actually listen to their base.

Tags:

Progressive Insurgency

corporate democrats

Vote

Comments

Submitted by seabos84 on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 3:23pm

Sundry Seattle / WA FukBook "Progressive"

things are blowing up with all the fucking scolds sniveling about the circular firing squad and the divisiveness and boo hoo the anger and sniffle sniffle lack of unity -

It is absolutely fascinating.

I'm 59 & have spent the last 40 years in the serf classes of Boston and Seattle & actually voted for the Neo Lib sell out scum for a few decades - I grew up on welfare & I benefited from social programs AND WANTED PROGRAMS TO WORK! I wanted to kick lying fascist ass - and we got 40 years of condescending Ivy'd scum losing to fascists, telling everyone to STFU, and Be Positive!, and all the rest of their horseshit outta the upper cla$$ playbook of singing "My Favorite Things".

When you have 360 months of your monthly expenses in a treasury bond trust fund, and you want to act all above it the filthy lucre, and all Noble!, go for it! When you want to be 1 of their suck ups, go for it! When you want to claim that your ineffective loser horseshit is effective - go for it.

When you are NOT making 1/4 million a year to protect the intere$t$ of the sell out scum, what the hell are doing? Fulfilling your destiny as a lapdog chump to rich pigs?

When you want to tell ME that I'm a problem. or that AOC is a problem for calling out sell out scum like Pelosi - fuck you.

rmm.

—

But then I sigh; and, with a piece of scripture,
Tell them that God bids us do good for evil:
And thus I clothe my naked villany
With old odd ends stolen out of holy writ;

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 4:10pm

FOX: AOC working for terrorists and cartels

@seabos84 yuh uh

Rachel Campos-Duffy, a regular contributor at Fox News, suggested Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. could be "working" for criminal cartels, terrorists and sex traffickers because of her opposition to the Department of Homeland Security.
..."No offense, but I think you're being disingenuous about her concerns about DHS," Campos-Duffy told her fellow panelist. "She's hardly concerned about — Many conservatives were worried that we're creating this big federal agency when Bush created it. That is not the concern that AOC has. AOC likes big federal agencies — the bigger, the better. Her concern is with the mission of DHS. She doesn't just want to eliminate DHS. She wants to abolish ICE. She wants to get rid of Border Patrol. She agrees with Julián Castro in decriminalizing illegal border entry."
"So we're looking at someone who basically wants to give you the wish-list for terrorists, the wish-list for criminal cartels and sex traffickers," Campos-Duffy continued. "And you have to wonder: Is she working for them? Or is she working for the American people?"

AOC "wants bigger government", BUT wants to get rid of a government agency. Does not compute.

She doesn't just want to eliminate DHS. She wants to abolish ICE. She wants to get rid of Border Patrol.

First of all, DHS > ICE, not the other way around. And she never said get rid of Border Patrol.
I enjoy seeing Fox say stupid, alarmist shit.

Submitted by seabos84 on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 5:33pm

somewhere in the last 20?? years

@gjohnsit

I completely stopped giving a shit about what the righties say, in terms of criticizing / persuading.

IF they're not drooling morons, they're incredibly clever evil fuckers. They ain't gonna change.

I do 'care' to the extant that I want to know what their purported opponents are doing to counter the lies. AOC & Bernie are out there reframing and rebranding and not backing down -

Pelosi and Co. are shutting down fascist opponents, except when they're appeasing the fascists.

rmm.

—

But then I sigh; and, with a piece of scripture,
Tell them that God bids us do good for evil:
And thus I clothe my naked villany
With old odd ends stolen out of holy writ;

Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 4:31pm

CBC is nervous too.

The new party line: Justice Democrats are racist for primarying Black Democrats.

Congressional Black Caucus members are furious at Justice Democrats, accusing the outside progressive group aligned with firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) of trying to oust lawmakers of color, specifically African American lawmakers.

Justice Democrats is backing primary challengers to eight-term Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), a Hispanic Caucus member, and 10-term Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). The insurgent group also made noise this year about challenging Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), a CBC member seen as the heir apparent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

And CBC leaders are fretting that Justice Democrats may target other black lawmakers in the coming weeks and months, including Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and Anthony Brown (D-Md.). Brown said the group has been making calls in his district, actively trying to recruit a challenger to run against him — something that Justice Democrats denies.

“It just seems strange that the social Democrats seem to be targeting members of the Congressional Black Caucus, individuals who have stood and fought to make sure that African Americans are included and part of this process,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), a senior CBC member, told The Hill.

“I don’t know what that agenda is, but if they want to come after members of the Black Caucus, it’s two ways,” warned Meeks, the Queens Democratic Party boss who clashed with Justice Democrats in a local district attorney race last month.

Apparently Pelosi didn't appreciate it when AOC's CoS called establishment Dems Dixiecrats, and so Nancy has decided to fight fire with fire.

Justice Democrats’ spat with the Black Caucus comes amid high racial tensions in the 235-member House Democratic Caucus. Ocasio-Cortez accused Pelosi of singling out “newly elected women of color” when the Speaker scolded lawmakers in a private meeting Wednesday for tweeting at each other.

Pelosi clarified Thursday that her comments were aimed at Chakrabarti, Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, who had earlier tweeted that the moderate New Democrats and Blue Dog Coalition should be renamed “The New Southern Democrats.”

“They certainly seem hell bent to do to black and brown people today what the old Southern Democrats did [during] the 40s,” Chakrabarti wrote, later deleting the tweet.

And therein lies the problem with AOC's IP tactics, because once you start down that road, you open up yourself and your movement to counterattacks.

A senior House Democratic aide called it “ironic and funny” that Ocasio-Cortez is accusing Pelosi of attacking women of color, when Justice Democrats is targeting minority lawmakers.

“She’s only a woman of color when it’s convenient. None of the things she’s fought for aligned with communities of color and her group is funded only by elitist white liberals; she’s a puppet,” the top Democratic aide told The Hill in a phone call.

The aide then texted an image of a Goomba puppet from the Super Mario Bros. video game.

“I can’t tell you how pissed off people are” about the Justice Democrats, the aide added. “All these CBC members feel like they are under siege. But it’s offensive that these elitist white liberals feel like they can undermine the foundation of our party,” African American voters.

Of COURSE the Dem establishment wants to make JD's 'agenda' all about race, instead of acknowledging what these primary challenges are really about:

In an interview in the Capitol, Clay said it was absolutely clear that Justice Democrats are targeting lawmakers of color like himself. He and his father, Bill Clay, have represented the district for the past 50 years, and Lacy Clay called the group’s actions “insulting” to the intelligence of Missouri voters.

Clay's family has literally owned the same Congressional seat for fifty fucking years, and yet he thinks it's insulting to the intelligence of the voters to suggest it might be time for a change.

THAT's the mentality we're dealing with folks, and the Progressive message needs to stay squarely on just how removed Dem incumbents are from their constituents if they want to upset them.

AOC's playing in the IP swamp gives the CorpoDems a way to obscure that message.

She needs to rein that crap in.

—

The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 4:33pm

How does one do that?

@Not Henry Kissinger

“She’s only a woman of color when it’s convenient.

I didn't know that was possible.
If that's the case, why don't black people stop being black while driving?
And can I start being black when I want to dance? It would save me a lot of embarrassment.

it’s offensive that these elitist white liberals feel like they can undermine the foundation of our party,” African American voters.

Is that the foundation? Gosh, I thought was the working class.
Maybe I'm paying attention to the wrong party then.

The new party line: Justice Democrats are racist for primarying Black Democrats.

Congressional Black Caucus members are furious at Justice Democrats, accusing the outside progressive group aligned with firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) of trying to oust lawmakers of color, specifically African American lawmakers.

Justice Democrats is backing primary challengers to eight-term Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), a Hispanic Caucus member, and 10-term Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). The insurgent group also made noise this year about challenging Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), a CBC member seen as the heir apparent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

And CBC leaders are fretting that Justice Democrats may target other black lawmakers in the coming weeks and months, including Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and Anthony Brown (D-Md.). Brown said the group has been making calls in his district, actively trying to recruit a challenger to run against him — something that Justice Democrats denies.

“It just seems strange that the social Democrats seem to be targeting members of the Congressional Black Caucus, individuals who have stood and fought to make sure that African Americans are included and part of this process,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), a senior CBC member, told The Hill.

“I don’t know what that agenda is, but if they want to come after members of the Black Caucus, it’s two ways,” warned Meeks, the Queens Democratic Party boss who clashed with Justice Democrats in a local district attorney race last month.

Apparently Pelosi didn't appreciate it when AOC's CoS called establishment Dems Dixiecrats, and so Nancy has decided to fight fire with fire.

Justice Democrats’ spat with the Black Caucus comes amid high racial tensions in the 235-member House Democratic Caucus. Ocasio-Cortez accused Pelosi of singling out “newly elected women of color” when the Speaker scolded lawmakers in a private meeting Wednesday for tweeting at each other.

Pelosi clarified Thursday that her comments were aimed at Chakrabarti, Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, who had earlier tweeted that the moderate New Democrats and Blue Dog Coalition should be renamed “The New Southern Democrats.”

“They certainly seem hell bent to do to black and brown people today what the old Southern Democrats did [during] the 40s,” Chakrabarti wrote, later deleting the tweet.

And therein lies the problem with AOC's IP tactics, because once you start down that road, you open up yourself and your movement to counterattacks.

A senior House Democratic aide called it “ironic and funny” that Ocasio-Cortez is accusing Pelosi of attacking women of color, when Justice Democrats is targeting minority lawmakers.

“She’s only a woman of color when it’s convenient. None of the things she’s fought for aligned with communities of color and her group is funded only by elitist white liberals; she’s a puppet,” the top Democratic aide told The Hill in a phone call.

The aide then texted an image of a Goomba puppet from the Super Mario Bros. video game.

“I can’t tell you how pissed off people are” about the Justice Democrats, the aide added. “All these CBC members feel like they are under siege. But it’s offensive that these elitist white liberals feel like they can undermine the foundation of our party,” African American voters.

Of COURSE the Dem establishment wants to make JD's 'agenda' all about race, instead of acknowledging what these primary challenges are really about:

In an interview in the Capitol, Clay said it was absolutely clear that Justice Democrats are targeting lawmakers of color like himself. He and his father, Bill Clay, have represented the district for the past 50 years, and Lacy Clay called the group’s actions “insulting” to the intelligence of Missouri voters.

Clay's family has literally owned the same Congressional seat for fifty fucking years, and yet he thinks it's insulting to the intelligence of the voters to suggest it might be time for a change.

THAT's the mentality we're dealing with folks, and the Progressive message needs to stay squarely on just how removed Dem incumbents are from their constituents if they want to upset them.

AOC's playing in the IP swamp gives the CorpoDems a way to obscure that message.

She needs to rein that crap in.

Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 4:43pm

Yeah, it's all nonsense.

@gjohnsit @gjohnsit

But the incumbents would rather have an excuse to talk about IP nonsense than be forced into a discussion about why they are all corrupt, nepotistic, opportunists.

AOC is handing them that excuse on a silver platter.

That's my point.

—

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 4:48pm

Justice Dems respond

@Not Henry Kissinger oh snap

"In 2018, Justice Democrats took on the political establishment in New York and Boston by supporting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley—both of whom were taking on more conservative, white male incumbents," the group said. "Notably, the CBC endorsed Pressley's opponent even as she was running in a majority-people of color district. Today every single Justice Democrat in Congress is a person of color."

2. New @JusticeDems candidates like @JamaalBowmanNY are Black and challenging establishment white Democrats. @CoriBush is a brilliant Black woman challenging an establishment Democrat member of the CBC. If she wins, the CBC doesn’t lose numbers. And they know that.

— Shaun King (@shaunking) July 12, 2019

Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 5:04pm

TBH

@gjohnsit @gjohnsit

I'm kinda uncomfortable with Progressive groups touting electoral 'race scores' - as if race has anything at all to do with a candidate's competence or character.

Still, for those who do find significance in such sophistry, it's a nice retort.

—

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 5:14pm

I feel the same

@Not Henry Kissinger
What the person stands for and believes is always more important than the color of his/her skin.

But we mostly don't live in that world.

BTW, it's nice to see Shaun King has gone from Bernie skeptic to Bernie supporter.
Like Glenn Greenwald, King has gone from FP on TOP to persona non grata.

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 5:46pm

Shaun King

@gjohnsit

BTW, it's nice to see Shaun King has gone from Bernie skeptic to Bernie supporter.
Like Glenn Greenwald, King has gone from FP on TOP to persona non grata.

Shaun King is persona non grata over on Kos? Told too much truth, did he?

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by dfarrah on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 6:41pm

It just goes to show

@Not Henry Kissinger @Not Henry Kissinger you how racist and bigoted these groups can be, though they like to pretend otherwise.

—

dfarrah

Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 6:55pm

The worst part:

@dfarrah

It gives Fox conservatives a chance to gloat.

—

Submitted by dfarrah on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 6:57pm

Sorry, I think it is

@Not Henry Kissinger rather funny myself.

But then I always enjoyed comedians who poked fun at both sides.

—

dfarrah

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 11:20am

And the id pol

@Not Henry Kissinger wars continue.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-democrats-take-aim-at-aocs-chief-...

AO big mouth's cos criticized a native American congresswoman. Ooopsie.

—

dfarrah

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 9:49pm

And Pramila Jayapal

@Not Henry Kissinger steps up to make the peace!!!

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/progressive-caucus-co-chair-pelosis-com...

—

dfarrah

Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 6:52pm

Actually, now that you mention it...

@gjohnsit “She’s only a woman of color when it’s convenient.

Sounds eerily reminiscent of what Hillbots used to say about Obama in 2008.

—

Submitted by dkmich on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 7:46am

And true.

@Not Henry Kissinger

Those are the barbs that cut the deepest.

—

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Submitted by lotlizard on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 12:05am

Oh, the wrong party for Hawaii then

@gjohnsit
In the Islands, Black or African-American = around 1%

Submitted by mimi on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 10:17am

but, but, but Oprah is there, - redacted the rest

because of the recent news from Maui, its fires and the desaster surrounding her compound etc.

Serious fires:
Wildfires 70 percent contained
That is nothing to joke about.

—

https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by lotlizard on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 10:35pm

Oh, my. And police suspect arson in the Puʻunēnē fire?

@mimi
How horrible — who would do such a thing?

Submitted by mimi on Sun, 07/14/2019 - 12:34am

I don't know, people, who don't know what they are doing

@lotlizard
obviously. It is a bad world out there.

—

https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by lotlizard on Sun, 07/14/2019 - 2:56am

A world of figures acting out the worst stereotype of themselves

@mimi
https://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/aargau/lenzburg/der-14-jaehrige-syrer-sch...

Submitted by dkmich on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 10:03am

AOC did play the race card

@gjohnsit @gjohnsit

By insinuating the attack was racially motivated she undermined their power as a progressive.

AOC: Pelosi ‘Singling Out’ Progressive Women of Color ‘Disrespectful’

I said as much on twitter and got attacked by every SJW and AOC fanboy on Twitter.

I hate it when a woman wants to be equal and then falls back on some bull shit diversion equal to "just not this time".

If they are going to take on Pelosi, they 1) shouldn't have praised and voted for her as speaker, and 2) need to be prepared to fight back instead of making up reasons why she is "unfair". Of course she is unfair. The whole place is unfair. Quit whining and fight.

—

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Submitted by FuturePassed on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 9:40am

Shouldn't have voted for Pelosi for Speaker?

@dkmich
I get so tired of hearing this argument. There was no more progressive candidate for Speaker.

Submitted by dkmich on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 10:28am

So?

@FuturePassed

Are you arguing for "lesser of evil" voting? Vote to attack Cuba because it is better than voting to attack California? Principle is important. Without it, she might as well be Pelosi or Joe Crowley.

AOC not only voted for Pelosi, she praised her as a "great progressive". It was a tweet. She tweets so much I can't find it. But praise her AOC did. The least she could have done is keep her mouth shut. It was touted as more dkos 11th-dimensional chess. Suck up and get a seat as chair.

—

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 2:01pm

And here is AO big mouth,

@dkmich complaining about 'respect.'

One day, she might learn that you cannot force people to respect you; respect is earned. The best one can hope for is civility.

I really dislike her now, with all of her grandstanding...

—

dfarrah

Submitted by dfarrah on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 1:57pm

There was.

@FuturePassed I believe two people were going to challenge, if I recall correctly.

—

dfarrah

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 7:58pm

candidate for Speaker

@FuturePassed

Shouldn't have voted for Pelosi for Speaker? I get so tired of hearing this argument. There was no more progressive candidate for Speaker.

I think a tiny micro-tweak on that last sentence should settle your point in favor of the same:

"There was no progressive candidate for Speaker."

And Pelosi herself is hardly to blame for her disgustingly centrist position, as her Congressional District has no working-class inhabitants to speak of and any real progressivism on her part guarantees she'll lose her seat.

All of which, of course, is disgusting!

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by FuturePassed on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 5:56pm

A significant number . . .

@Not Henry Kissinger
of CBC members consistently support measures directed at supporting black citizens, but sell out on a lot of issues that help all poor and working class people and that would help minorities disproportionately. It's quite lucrative.

It's about time some CBC members started looking over their shoulders.

The new party line: Justice Democrats are racist for primarying Black Democrats.

Congressional Black Caucus members are furious at Justice Democrats, accusing the outside progressive group aligned with firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) of trying to oust lawmakers of color, specifically African American lawmakers.

Justice Democrats is backing primary challengers to eight-term Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), a Hispanic Caucus member, and 10-term Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). The insurgent group also made noise this year about challenging Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), a CBC member seen as the heir apparent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

And CBC leaders are fretting that Justice Democrats may target other black lawmakers in the coming weeks and months, including Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and Anthony Brown (D-Md.). Brown said the group has been making calls in his district, actively trying to recruit a challenger to run against him — something that Justice Democrats denies.

“It just seems strange that the social Democrats seem to be targeting members of the Congressional Black Caucus, individuals who have stood and fought to make sure that African Americans are included and part of this process,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), a senior CBC member, told The Hill.

“I don’t know what that agenda is, but if they want to come after members of the Black Caucus, it’s two ways,” warned Meeks, the Queens Democratic Party boss who clashed with Justice Democrats in a local district attorney race last month.

Apparently Pelosi didn't appreciate it when AOC's CoS called establishment Dems Dixiecrats, and so Nancy has decided to fight fire with fire.

Justice Democrats’ spat with the Black Caucus comes amid high racial tensions in the 235-member House Democratic Caucus. Ocasio-Cortez accused Pelosi of singling out “newly elected women of color” when the Speaker scolded lawmakers in a private meeting Wednesday for tweeting at each other.

Pelosi clarified Thursday that her comments were aimed at Chakrabarti, Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, who had earlier tweeted that the moderate New Democrats and Blue Dog Coalition should be renamed “The New Southern Democrats.”

“They certainly seem hell bent to do to black and brown people today what the old Southern Democrats did [during] the 40s,” Chakrabarti wrote, later deleting the tweet.

And therein lies the problem with AOC's IP tactics, because once you start down that road, you open up yourself and your movement to counterattacks.

A senior House Democratic aide called it “ironic and funny” that Ocasio-Cortez is accusing Pelosi of attacking women of color, when Justice Democrats is targeting minority lawmakers.

“She’s only a woman of color when it’s convenient. None of the things she’s fought for aligned with communities of color and her group is funded only by elitist white liberals; she’s a puppet,” the top Democratic aide told The Hill in a phone call.

The aide then texted an image of a Goomba puppet from the Super Mario Bros. video game.

“I can’t tell you how pissed off people are” about the Justice Democrats, the aide added. “All these CBC members feel like they are under siege. But it’s offensive that these elitist white liberals feel like they can undermine the foundation of our party,” African American voters.

Of COURSE the Dem establishment wants to make JD's 'agenda' all about race, instead of acknowledging what these primary challenges are really about:

In an interview in the Capitol, Clay said it was absolutely clear that Justice Democrats are targeting lawmakers of color like himself. He and his father, Bill Clay, have represented the district for the past 50 years, and Lacy Clay called the group’s actions “insulting” to the intelligence of Missouri voters.

Clay's family has literally owned the same Congressional seat for fifty fucking years, and yet he thinks it's insulting to the intelligence of the voters to suggest it might be time for a change.

THAT's the mentality we're dealing with folks, and the Progressive message needs to stay squarely on just how removed Dem incumbents are from their constituents if they want to upset them.

AOC's playing in the IP swamp gives the CorpoDems a way to obscure that message.

She needs to rein that crap in.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 7:06pm

Absolutely

@FuturePassed

How many people in the black caucus voted with republicans on Trump's bank bill that targeted the banks that work with primarily blacks? What have they done in regards to the things Bernie is talking about? Bernie addresses black poverty much more than John Lewis or Maxine Waters as far as I know. Obama's presidency didn't do much to lift blacks from poverty, but then he didn't do much for anyone in the 99% now did he?

It's about time some CBC members started looking over their shoulders

Amen. And they aren't alone. If democrats didn't understand that so many people were fed up with the status quo then they weren't paying attention to the mood of the country. Guess they didn't pay attention either to the number of people who went to Bernie's campaign events as opposed to Hillary's. Or maybe they just looked at how many rich people were at her private fundraisers because they were there.

—

The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt

Submitted by dkmich on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 7:49am

Not a thing.

@snoopydawg

The black caucus is useless. Resting on their laurels and history. Lewis hasn't done anything harder than count his money in 20 years. Meanwhile, Bernie is out there working for everyone. They're all useless.

—

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 8:09pm

please forgive me, dkmich.....

@dkmich

..... but your comment needs the tiniest tweak. You said:

The black caucus is useless. Resting on their laurels and history. Lewis hasn't done anything harder than count his money in 20 years. Meanwhile, Bernie is out there working for everyone. They're all useless.

I'd adjust that to say:

"The black caucus is useless. Resting on their laurels and history. Lewis hasn't done anything harder than count his money in 20 years. They're all useless.

Meanwhile, Bernie is out there working for everyone. "

This way Bernie doesn't end up lumped in with Lewis and his altogether too useless ilk!

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by dfarrah on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 6:35pm

I was waiting for this to

@Not Henry Kissinger happen, and now it has. Id pol versus Id pol.

When it's all about id pol, all the id pols are going to turn against each other.

I now find AOC absolutely ridiculous, along with her chief of staff who compared current dems to the past Jim Crow dems of the south.

Frankly, I think the gang of four is as racist and bigoted as anyone else.

And her outburst about Pelosi attacking women of color??? Pelosi is Italian. Is AOC really that stupid? She is going to attack the 1st Italian American to be Speaker based on some whiny id pol?

I'm just waiting for the me-too group to start toppling MLK statues.

(I don't like Nancy anymore than anyone else does, but AOC is just a disgusting big mouth)

The new party line: Justice Democrats are racist for primarying Black Democrats.

Congressional Black Caucus members are furious at Justice Democrats, accusing the outside progressive group aligned with firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) of trying to oust lawmakers of color, specifically African American lawmakers.

Justice Democrats is backing primary challengers to eight-term Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), a Hispanic Caucus member, and 10-term Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). The insurgent group also made noise this year about challenging Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), a CBC member seen as the heir apparent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

And CBC leaders are fretting that Justice Democrats may target other black lawmakers in the coming weeks and months, including Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) and Anthony Brown (D-Md.). Brown said the group has been making calls in his district, actively trying to recruit a challenger to run against him — something that Justice Democrats denies.

“It just seems strange that the social Democrats seem to be targeting members of the Congressional Black Caucus, individuals who have stood and fought to make sure that African Americans are included and part of this process,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), a senior CBC member, told The Hill.

“I don’t know what that agenda is, but if they want to come after members of the Black Caucus, it’s two ways,” warned Meeks, the Queens Democratic Party boss who clashed with Justice Democrats in a local district attorney race last month.

Apparently Pelosi didn't appreciate it when AOC's CoS called establishment Dems Dixiecrats, and so Nancy has decided to fight fire with fire.

Justice Democrats’ spat with the Black Caucus comes amid high racial tensions in the 235-member House Democratic Caucus. Ocasio-Cortez accused Pelosi of singling out “newly elected women of color” when the Speaker scolded lawmakers in a private meeting Wednesday for tweeting at each other.

Pelosi clarified Thursday that her comments were aimed at Chakrabarti, Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, who had earlier tweeted that the moderate New Democrats and Blue Dog Coalition should be renamed “The New Southern Democrats.”

“They certainly seem hell bent to do to black and brown people today what the old Southern Democrats did [during] the 40s,” Chakrabarti wrote, later deleting the tweet.

And therein lies the problem with AOC's IP tactics, because once you start down that road, you open up yourself and your movement to counterattacks.

A senior House Democratic aide called it “ironic and funny” that Ocasio-Cortez is accusing Pelosi of attacking women of color, when Justice Democrats is targeting minority lawmakers.

“She’s only a woman of color when it’s convenient. None of the things she’s fought for aligned with communities of color and her group is funded only by elitist white liberals; she’s a puppet,” the top Democratic aide told The Hill in a phone call.

The aide then texted an image of a Goomba puppet from the Super Mario Bros. video game.

“I can’t tell you how pissed off people are” about the Justice Democrats, the aide added. “All these CBC members feel like they are under siege. But it’s offensive that these elitist white liberals feel like they can undermine the foundation of our party,” African American voters.

Of COURSE the Dem establishment wants to make JD's 'agenda' all about race, instead of acknowledging what these primary challenges are really about:

In an interview in the Capitol, Clay said it was absolutely clear that Justice Democrats are targeting lawmakers of color like himself. He and his father, Bill Clay, have represented the district for the past 50 years, and Lacy Clay called the group’s actions “insulting” to the intelligence of Missouri voters.

Clay's family has literally owned the same Congressional seat for fifty fucking years, and yet he thinks it's insulting to the intelligence of the voters to suggest it might be time for a change.

THAT's the mentality we're dealing with folks, and the Progressive message needs to stay squarely on just how removed Dem incumbents are from their constituents if they want to upset them.

AOC's playing in the IP swamp gives the CorpoDems a way to obscure that message.

She needs to rein that crap in.

—

dfarrah

Submitted by dkmich on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 7:52am

lol, a modicum of protection for the male statue

@dfarrah

after all, he is black. I actually saw some conversation on twitter on whether or not white people should be allowed to call white AND BLACK people "folk". The Jews enshrine their death camps so people will never forget. We erase history and pretend it never happened.

—

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Submitted by movie buff on Fri, 07/12/2019 - 4:44pm

I wish it were the case

that incumbents would usually win simply because they have "all of the media and most of the money" on their side. But I think the rot goes deeper than that.

Incumbents will win because Democratic voters are lazy, insular, catty, complacent, ill-informed, and terrified to rock the boat. Many are personally quite affluent and therefore not predisposed toward populist economic insurgents. War is just an abstraction to them--their own kids don't go, so I mean, whatevs. A lot of them only care about social issues anyway. Many are far more partisan than ideological--why waste time on arguments between D's, amirite? Voting is just checking a box. For whatever reason, a lot of them seem to see politics as being more about personalities than ideas. They're easily manipulated (Russiagate, hello?) And most have thoroughly internalized the logic of centrist triangulation: Don't go too far to the left. The left always loses. Ignore all evidence to the contrary. The left loses. The. Left. Loses. Left loses left loses leftloooooooooooooses. Always.

When polled, Democratic voters often cite very liberal policy preferences, but every time they go to the polls, they'll vote for the incumbent even if their own politics are closer to the insurgent. Their actions speak louder than their words.

—

"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum." --Noam Chomsky

Submitted by The Aspie Corner on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 6:49am

More controlled opposition. Goody.

Will the policies change? No.

Will they liberate us from the iron fist of capital? Nah. They just wanna put a velvet glove on it and call it a day.

Will they do anything to end imperialism? Nope. They'd rather make it easier for LGBTQ+ to participate in the looting and slaughter.

And it will just keep going on like this. It's 2006 all over again with Pelosi ready to say, "Impeachment is off the table" once a few more 'insurgents' get elected. Then in a couple years whatever Pyrrhic gains they do make will be trampled on by the capitalists and their goons without nary a whimper. But hey, this is a victory, right?

—

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.

Submitted by gjohnsit on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 2:39pm

You could say the same thing about any group

@The Aspie Corner

Then in a couple years whatever Pyrrhic gains they do make will be trampled on by the capitalists and their goons without nary a whimper. But hey, this is a victory, right?

Including anti-capitalists.
Our fundamental difference in opinion revolves around fighting the good fight justifies itself even if it is hopeless.

Submitted by UntimelyRippd on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 2:48pm

you don't stop bailing the boat just because the water

@gjohnsit
is going to come back in again.

and if that sounds like a ridiculously artificial metaphor, i was once one of three people who managed to refloat a swamped boat by pumping water out of it faster than water could flow back in over the gunnels. it was a beautiful moment of teamwork, determination and ingenuity -- humanism at its finest.

—

The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

Submitted by The Aspie Corner on Sat, 07/13/2019 - 3:39pm

Except in the case of anyone running as a Dem....

@gjohnsit It actually applies. AOC is a shining example of that. She's all broth and no beans. Ilhan Omar is probably the only one who's actually decent, but she's completely drowned out by the capitalists.

But please keep ignoring material conditions in favor of electoral fantasies.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgPeGRPvwZc]

—

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.

Submitted by ban nock on Sun, 07/14/2019 - 7:15am

Too much drama

I usually like what AOC has to say, for someone representing the wealthy young white SJW class I think she has done real well, prepares for hearings and actually attends them, does her homework. She'd do better if she stuck to the script and her district and spent a little less time on big national social justice causes, in this case she comes off not looking so great. There's a lot more room for the Democratic Party to move left, but I think the identitarian left has crested.

Can't see Duran here in CO coming close to beating Degette, who is responsive to her district and already our leftingest congressperson. Duran did get an endorsement from Ken Salazar who is still a big name here in D politics. Dem politics is less ethnic based here, the fact that Duran is Hispanic doesn't earn many votes.

Friday at a demonstration at the ICE facility in Aurora, demonstrators tore down the American flag and hoisted the Mexican flag, bad optics on video.