Arrogant Centrist Dems Are Incapable Of Learning Self-Reflection, Humility

If there's one thing we know for certain, the Democratic party establishment only knows how to punch left and punch down.
This is what they learned from their ass kicking in 2010.

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And this is what they learned from their ass kicking in 2016.

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And this is what they learned from their ass kicking this week.

"No one should say 'defund the police' ever again," Spanberger yelled on the leaked call. "Nobody should be talking about socialism."

Spanberger, who won re-election by a narrow margin of 0.2 percentage points, called the election results "a failure" and told other Democrats, "We lost races we shouldn't have lost."

She added that if progressives continue to use this rhetoric, "We will get f-----g torn apart in 2022."

Rep. Stephanie Murphy was even more direct and to the point.

“I think that the Democratic party needs to clearly push that we are not supportive of ideas like socialism or defunding the police or anti-Semitism,” said Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., a co-chair of the House’s centrist Blue Dog Coalition.
...“This playing footsies with socialism is not going to win over most of America,” she said. “There’s no amount of lipstick that can cover up the fact that these far left ideas are costing us races.”

It's all the fault of the left! That's all you need to know.
Of course if you think about this for just one second the logic breaks down.

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For starters, only conservative Democrats lost. No incumbent progressive Democrat lost. So something's wrong with this logic.

And then, there's the much more important implication of what they're saying.

So are we supposed to believe that if Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who represents Seattle, never let the word “socialism” pass her lips again, then that would mean that some centrist Democrat from a district 3,000 miles away would have an easy path to victory in every future election?

And what exactly are centrists asking progressives to do? It sounds like they’re saying, “Republicans falsely accused me of believing what you believe, so that means you have to change your positions and believe only what I believe.” Do they want the progressives to change their beliefs on health care or economics or some other issue? Should the progressives just stop advocating for their preferred agenda at all?

That is what they are saying: the Democrats can't win as long as any progressives exist in the party. They are advocating for a purge of the left. They are advocating for a second Republican Party.
Not exactly a big tent party is it? Race and gender? Big tent.
Political ideology? Very small tent.
Florida voted overwhelmingly to raise the minimum wage. Even Red counties supported it.
The Florida Democratic Party rejected raising the minimum wage as too far left. Several of Florida's conservative candidates lost.

And then AOC actually looked at the data and found something interesting.

The Democratic Party establishments war on progressives actually bit them in the ass? That's hilarious!
At least it would be hilarious if reality had any impact on the Dems.
Biden hasn't even officially won and already excuses are being made why why no progressive policies can even be considered.

They campaigned enthusiastically for the more moderate Biden in the general election hoping he’d move to the left once elected. But there’s now no reason for Biden to move left, because he’d be pushing programs that alienate some of the centrists who voted for him yet have no chance of becoming law.

Why oh why does a political party that offers voters nothing, and that publicly and enthusiastically rejects its own base, have difficulty winning elections?
It's truly a mystery.
But one thing's for certain: it's the fault of the left.

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Comments

RantingRooster's picture

I'll run for local office, as a "Socialist", on the Republican Ticket. Yeah, that ought to make some heads explode down here in Texas! Crazy

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23 users have voted.

C99, my refuge from an insane world. #ForceTheVote

Bisbonian's picture

They ARE a second Republican Party. I hope they go ahead, and kick out ALL the Socialists...maybe then we could put together a real party.

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33 users have voted.

"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

snoopydawg's picture

The Democratic Party establishments war on progressives actually bit them in the ass?

Good! Their war on progressives has caught up with them and rightly so. They have done nothing but shit on the working class for decades and it’s past time for people to stop voting for no change. This is what Biden/Harris are going continue because democrats want the country to continue moving right. F’ck em. Biden should have been wiped out in Michigan because he and Obama went back there after Obama crapped all over them. "I used to eat lead paint chips when I was a kid. I’m fine. Hey! Someone get me some water."

Fuck this poser to the end of time. Hopefully history will expose the truth of this asshole. He was nothing but Hoover and he deserves the label. Pelosi, Schumer and every democrat that tells people they are something they are not close to. We could have been re-electing Bernie now if democrats didn’t derail progressives. But no. The almost corpse could hardly beat Trump after all he’s done the last 4 years. If COVID hadn’t hit Trump would be on his 2nd term. Truth.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

snoopydawg's picture

And you must watch it to the end.

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5 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg
Did I hurt you somehow, and this is you getting even?

/s

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snoopydawg's picture

@gjohnsit

But once I saw Obama appear in it I groaned and wanted to share my misery. But if you ever did or will do something to me, we are even.

Smile

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10 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

mimi's picture

@snoopydawg
Really, get some rest, sleep and don't watch anything til Monday. I mean it well. Get Rest.
No offense. Just plain common snese advice.

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3 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@mimi

and lame. Did you watch it? You might appreciate its lameness.

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8 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg Hunter was the best!

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9 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

mimi's picture

@snoopydawg
I am sorry for my words. Whatever it was, lame or not, I didn't get it. And fell asleep. Just woke up again. I guess I have to catch up on other stuff now.

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2 users have voted.

do no one good

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Shahryar's picture

But I'm ready to vote him out.

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14 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

Will the media cover anything besides Kamala’s shoes, dancing and everything related to identity politics?

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17 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Fionnsboy's picture

@snoopydawg I have to go wash my eyes out now. What, no boots? No Chuck Taylors? That matches no M4A, no Green New Deal, no opposition to fracking, no tuition mitigation.....

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8 users have voted.

Semper ubi sub ubi

snoopydawg's picture

@Fionnsboy

nothing will change under a Biden admin. They are already talking austerity/debt control and of course Pelosi made sure that pay go was passed just in case dems took all branches of government meant to hamstring a robust agenda to turn people's live around with an infusion of cash, debt relief, ect. When nothing changes now that Biden won will the centrists actually accept some criticism of the duo or will it be back to brunch as everyone thinks? Pelosi being speaker again would be bad. Electing a centrist speaker won't change a damn thing. Dems sold us out to the koch, banks, corporations, ect. that won't change. And count on it. Dems will hide behind McConnell's skirt because he will block everything.

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9 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg it’s going to be four years of “yaaaaas queen” for Kamala. Just looking at my Instagram feed, you’d get the impression Harris was at the top of the ticket. I feel a bunch who were denied their Hillary Presidency are more than happy to accept this.

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9 users have voted.

Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

snoopydawg's picture

@Dr. John Carpenter

I'm following someone from DK who loves loves loves Kamala and most of the tweets are about her style, not her policies. Like if we even know what they ended up being. First woman VP. The glass ceiling...things like that. I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to do it...

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5 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Who wants rampant rape, arson, murder, strong arm robbery, armed robbery?

Dumb Dumb dumb. Professional police. Police accountability. those are reasonable things to demand. Abolishing police forces or cutting them down to a skeleton force that can only defend the one percent is NOT going to get you any white labor votes.
People are always shocked that white labor union workers supported Reagan and Trump. What do Idpol democrats offer them but shaming them for being white and law abiding? And then HRC openly sneers at them ...

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3 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

@The Voice In the Wilderness
I agree that we must have police. They need to protect us all from robbers, rapists and murderers. I do not feel any need to be protected from folks who smoke pot, but five more states have addressed that issue in this last election.

Cops should wear body cams while on duty. If the cop is behaving ethically the camera footage will prevent false accusations against them by our less ethical citizens. When there is no camera footage the burden of proof should be on the cop who could have filmed the incident.

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9 users have voted.

@ScienceTeacher
Sometimes I wonder if the morons holding signs "Abolish the Police" are really plants.
But then I remember how incredibly stupid humans can be. Like those QANON morons who crossed state lines from Virginia to Pennsylvania armed to try and install fake Trump ballots. Or were they CIA plants? Also wonder about a recent terrorist discussing his plot on Farcebook (SIC).

EDIT: Who is this Tes and why does she keep appearing when I type "Yes"? Smile

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3 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

@The Voice In the Wilderness was city police forces. That puts policing into the hands of elected sheriffs and state troopers. At least sheriffs are elected, and each county can vote to hire sufficient numbers of deputies.
As long as any constabulary makes money from forfeitures, seizures, and the drug trade, we are doomed.
Counties in Texas are in large part funded by fines, fees, and so forth from probationers. There is pressure by the cops and prosecutors to put offenders on probation, thus pressure to have broken body cams and broken dash cams.
Every facet of law enforcement is geared to protect and serve the cops first.

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5 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

OzoneTom's picture

@on the cusp
Including increased oversight, changes in funding, release of body and dash cam footage:
Voters around the U.S. approve local police reform measures

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4 users have voted.

@OzoneTom I can hope for better, but TPTB run things, and they like it just the way it is.

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4 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Bernindownthehouse's picture

Biden does appear to have won the election, and along the way probably did some things that seemed unthinkable not long ago -- winning in Georgia and most likely Arizona. Biden was nominated over Sanders largely with the help of African-Americans in the South, especially older female AA voters. They did so, not because they love Biden or hate Sanders, but because they thought Biden would be more palatable to white voters. And so it turned out. We'll never know if Sanders would have won, but we can be sure Trump would have played the socialist card over and over.

So it would appear just watching the results on a superficial level, that Americans have rejected the left and liberals along with Trump's authoritarian extremism and embraced Bill Clinton-style centrism. But on specific issues, Americans often vote for the progressive side even in deep red states. I really think the Blue Dogs are feeling threatened by the rise of the progressive movement. Sure, some of them won in 2018, a few more in 2020, by running against a monster like Trump. But some of those who won in 2018 are now about to be out of office, because the Trump supporters came out in force when their man was on the ballot (Mucarsal-Powell, for example). There's something to be said for running the best candidate who can win in a particular district or state. There's also something to be said for running candidates who can rally the base in any place.

I can't stand seeing the DCCC putting their thumbs on the scale against progressive candidates in the primaries. They tried to primary the highly popular Ocasio-Cortez, but that didn't work. Will they ever learn? I don't think they can.

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10 users have voted.

"Not me. Us."

edg's picture

@Bernindownthehouse

Perhaps you missed it, but Trump DID play the socialist card over and over. Against Biden/Harris. The vast majority of Trump and McSally commercials here in Arizona called Biden a socialist, Harris a socialist, Mark Kelly a socialist.

And this is questionable: "Americans have rejected the left and liberals along with Trump's authoritarian extremism and embraced Bill Clinton-style centrism." This election was all about Trump. He pulled 71 million votes from people that like his authoritarian extremism. Biden got 75 million votes, not from people that reject the left and liberals, but from people who reject Trump. Exit polls showed that 75% of Biden voters were voting against Trump while only 25% were voting for him. Trump's number were the reverse of that.

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