Another Anti-Democratic Party Rant

Note: Honestly, I am still frustrated by the same thing I was frustrated with yesterday, so this is another rant. I apologize if it is a bit incoherent at times. My thoughts tend to race when I get upset about politics, and my writing can reflect these racing thoughts.

"Many feel alienated by the Democratic Party. They may want unity, but not if it means a stamp of approval for a political status quo they believe is fundamentally flawed and needs to be fixed." http://www.theatlantic.com/…/hillary-clinton-bernie…/481389/

I think that this statement sums up my feelings pretty well. As I have told many people, I think that Democrats, like Hillary (and Bill) Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Mark Warner are more destructive to a progressive agenda/policies than a Republicans. It took Bill Clinton to make the Democratic Party the "other" corporate party by pushing for, and/or signing bills, like:

NAFTA
GATT
The Telecommunications Act of 1996
Gramm-Leach-Bliley
CFMA

At the same time, Bill Clinton co-opted much of the socio-political and economic framing, and policies, used by the Republican Party of the 1990s. "The era of big government is over." He "reformed" welfare. His entire economic team came from Wall Street banks (and went back after their time in the administration). He talked about balanced budgets. He resided over the largest increase of incarcerations in American history. One should take anything the CATO Institute with a grain of salt, but here is an argument made suggesting that Bill Clinton was more conservative than Bush. It was written in 2002: http://www.cato.org/…/co…/was-clinton-more-conservative-bush
Another article from the American Conservative talks about how respected he is among Republicans: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/…/how-bill-clinton-…/

President Obama hasn't been a whole lot better. His signature piece of legislation was a policy developed by the Heritage Foundation. It forces us to buy a product from an industry that has a financial interest in denying claims, and they do everything they can to do that. His administration pushed the idea that a President can make life and death decisions, without a warrant, without a trial, for an American citizen. It is bad enough that President's have usurped war powers from the Congress (Thanks President Bush!!), but now they can unilaterally decide to kill an American citizen too. He has increased the usage of drones. This has created a paradigm shift in how we fight. It has become impersonal. We do not see the true aftermath of hellfire missiles hitting innocent brown and black people. Under his watch, the banks have gotten bigger. They were already big enough that their failure sent huge waves through the world economy, but he did NOTHING to truly rein them in. The failure of these banks could, and would, still crash the world economy. He, like his Democratic predecessor, has also taken his economic team from the financial sector. His previous AG came from a law firm that defended these parasites, so it was pretty obvious he wouldn't prosecute them. He has since gone back to that firm.

Hillary Clinton will frame issues in the same way. As I have said many, many times, she is a political opportunist. Aside from a handful of issues (on women and children, though her tenure as SoS has tarnished this record, as did her advocacy of the "Crime Bill" and Welfare Reform), I don't know much of what she truly believes. She has flipped and flopped on so many major issues, one cannot be blamed for not knowing where she stands at a given time and on a given issue.

It is this, and much more, that gives me pause. I know that Hillary Clinton is not Bill Clinton, but given that she associates with the same group of policy advisors, it is hard to believe that she deviates too far from him on policy.

Bill Clinton is the worst thing to have happened to the Democratic Party in modern history. President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are cut from the same cloth, and influenced by the same people. Hillary will be just as destructive to a leftist agenda in this country as her husband. Those who believe that Hillary will be anything other than this need to open their eyes to what the Democratic Party is. It does not represent you unless you are at the top of your profession. If you are young, "unskilled," and/or live in poverty the party couldn't care less about you as you don't fill their coffers.

It is this realization that I cannot support status quo Democrats. That includes both of my senators. I am happy though that there is a truly progressive voice running in my district (https://ballotpedia.org/Pramila_Jayapal), and I will be voting for her in the primary and hopefully in the general election.

*Edited formatting.

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"How can Clinton win over skeptical voters who have been loyal to Sanders? One way might be to pick a vice-presidential candidate with progressive credentials."

Sad when even The Atlantic spews out such hopeless BS - like a VP candidate is going to make that big a difference in her Administration. Please. They still just don't get it and I guess never will, its so much easier to just make it a horse race instead of an existential battle to save a functioning Democracy from these neo-liberal sell-outs.

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Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

Raggedy Ann's picture

voting for establishment candidates. They will not get it until we get them out.

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

ZimInSeattle's picture

this:

One way might be to pick a vice-presidential candidate with progressive credentials.

Especially if she tapped the likes of Elizabeth Warren. Good way to get the progressive vote of those not thinking and then marginalize said progressive in the useless VP slot.

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"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020

She has to know that her power lies in remaining in the Senate, where she has some influence over the regulation of Wall St. I'm sure she's heard of John Nance Garner's assessment of the vice-presidency as not being worth a bucket of warm piss.

Harry Truman was bumped upstairs after he threatened to end the procurement of the B-26 bomber over the cost. He was known for going over the books of the defense contractors, and raking them over the coals of his committee. In order to protect their obscene profits, they got him moved to the VP slot and out of the Senate in 1944, and then used his naiveté to create monsters like the CIA. He no longer had any real power because he was out of his element.

It would be thus with Warren, especially with Hillary in the front seat.

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Vowing To Oppose Everything Trump Attempts.

cardboardurinal's picture

is dependent on the President. I think that the modern VP is much more powerful than they had been previously. Al Gore, from accounts I read years ago, had a lot of power as VP. We all know that Cheney was in control as VP. And I believe that Biden has a lot of influence as the VP. Warren, if picked by Clinton, would be treated in the way you recounted Truman was.

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DADT, and didn't he sign DOMA? Still your point is spot on, Bubba was/ is a real piece of work, with $hillary a carbon copy of him. FUCK the DNC,DCCC,DSCC,DLC,THIRD WAY assholes and their grand visier DWS.

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cardboardurinal's picture

but I found it didn't really fit the narrative that I created. My argument is about how Clinton, Clinton, Obama, and their allies have pulled the Democratic Party right on economic issues, foreign policy, etc. In the 90s they went along with limiting the rights of the LGB community (I left out "T" purposely as Democrats still haven't come around on trans people), but I feel that probably didn't have strong opinions on these issues. Now that it is safe to support gay rights, they do it, but at the same time still push for conservative (aka neo-liberal) economic policies.

*Edited "or" to "aka" as it more accurately reflects my opinion (and that of many others) that neo-liberal economic theory is conservative economic theory no matter who is pushing it.

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Hillary has come out against TPP.
And everyone totally believes her.

I wonder what their response will be after she flip-flops (again) on the issue?

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kharma's picture

Problem solved.

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There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties.. This...is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.--John Adams

Ken in MN's picture

"Well who could have foreseen that???" In second place will be, "Nobody could have foreseen that coming" followed by, "It's all Bernie Sanders' fault!"

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I want my two dollars!

tourniquet's picture

but it's totally his supporters' fault..

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GIANT ALL-CAPS SIG

cardboardurinal's picture

it will be ok, and ignored, because of that "D" next to her name. It will be just like it is now ok that Obama took President Bush's spying program, prosecution of whistleblowers under the Espionage Act, the drone program, and continued justification for the AUMF as a means of bombing in the ME/NA to new, horrifying levels.

Ultimately, I think President Obama will sign the TPP before January providing cover of Hillary's constantly "evolving" political identity. But they will ignore that even though Hillary "opposes" the TPP, she will do nothing to help defeat it...

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IOOKWDI

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Solidarity forever

Alphalop's picture

What with her asking for Republican Donors to give to her because she is closer to their beliefs than Trump the other day.

Didn't she already Flip Flop on coal as well?

Yep, she has moved to general election mode alright...

Tacking hard to the right, a classic Clinton move.

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"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me

gulfgal98's picture

Hillary can turn on a dime. That is today's interpretation of her position. It is probably a safe one since the TPP will be approved in the lame duck session before she takes office. God, I despise the Clintons to no end and their buddy Barack.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

gulfgal98's picture

This was a very well constructed essay (not at all incoherent, so relax) that reflects my own thoughts extremely well. There is so much to be angry about concerning the establishment Democrats. I owe no allegiance to the Democratic party any more and I refuse to be shamed into voting for the lesser of two evils when often the lesser evil is far worse than portrayed.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

cardboardurinal's picture

compliment. I am actually a better orator than writer, as my mouth moves as fast (and sometimes faster) than my brain/thoughts. I can't type quickly enough to keep up with my thoughts, so my writing can sometimes end up all over the place. I am happy to hear that is coherent to others.

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cardboardurinal's picture

that the "lesser evil" is generally more effective evil. As I said in a comment at TOP yesterday:

“Democrats” like Mark Warner are more dangerous to SS than a Republican is.

I received this response:

Republicans want to privatize social security, if you don’t think that is more dangerous that what Mark Warner tried to do, perhaps you should join the Republican Party.

And how this gets back to my point, I responded as such:

Please take off your partisan blinders for a moment and think about why I would say something like this. When cuts to SS are made, it WILL be made by a Democratic President, NOT a Republican one. Of course Republicans want to privatize SS. They want to privatize everything. Fortunately for everyone, their ideas are opposed by reasonable people. Democrats on the other hand want to “fix” SS. Fixing SS, to Democrats like Mark Warner, is doing “reasonable" things like raising the retirement age and means testing (among other options). These ideas won't have the same kind of opposition as the Republican plans would. It is incremental fucking of the poor and elderly, and it is more likely than a wholesale fucking privatization of SS to pass and be signed. That is why Mark fucking Warner is more dangerous to SS. He, and his cohorts, open it up for cuts. Republicans can't touch SS.

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gulfgal98's picture

about all of this and I totally agree. Only a so-called Democrat can dismantle the social programs. In another way, I believe Clinton may be the greater evil and this is in her hawkishness. I believe she is the biggest hawk of all the candidates who ran for President. She scares the crap out of me and the thought of her making determinations on drones strikes, wars, invasions, etc and cackling about it afterwards sends chills down my spine. I think she really wants to attack Iran.

OT--I think you have the best user name of all. Good

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

and is dumb enough to think she'd get away with it.

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mimi's picture

but may be you could send me the link in a private message? I really want to read those diaries about Warner to read in context. Thank You.

I don't remember ever having trusted Warner as being what I consider a social democrat should be.

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cardboardurinal's picture

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ZimInSeattle's picture

Since Bernie is most likely going to get screwed out of the Dem nomination, I suggest we all vote for Jill Stein.

“According to Stein, America has depended on the two-party system for far too long and things are getting worse under it. Since the financial market collapse, it is now being reported that America is in a recovery, but this recovery is only represented under the wealthy one percent. For the other 99 percent things are pretty much the same: salaries are stagnant, corporations are pushing to drive workers’ wages and living standards down, the climate is on a meltdown, a topic that’s still under debate at the federal level, and there is the war on terror that is only creating more terror around the world. There are no agreements outlined on the table to halt any of these issues. The only option Americans are given to combat the problems they face and fear is to support the lesser evil, but this has not helped the country progress. Stein said, in supporting the lesser evil we got the massive bailout of Wall Street, the off-shoring of jobs, the attack on civil liberties and the expansion of the prison industrial complex. “All those reasons we were told we had to vote for the lesser evil, well what did we get, all of those things even under a Democratic White House with two Democratic Houses of Congress.” Stein added, “the lesser evil paves the way and really makes inevitable the greater evil because people stop coming out to vote when they have been betrayed by the lesser evil, which is what lesser evilism is about. It’s about making that deal with the devil whereby the corporate money and powers are basically pulling the political strings.”

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/05/04/the-story-of-jill-stein-putting-people-peace-and-the-planet-before-profits/

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"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020

cardboardurinal's picture

and will again this year, unless by some crazy situation, Bernie Sanders ends up with the nomination. I have encouraged by friends to do the same.

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gulfgal98's picture

is on the ballot in Florida, I will vote for Green if Bernie does not get the Dem nomination. I want my vote to be counted and I think voting for someone who is on the ballot makes it more likely my vote is counted. Actually, I hope he takes Stein up on her offer to work together.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

WaterLily's picture

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ZimInSeattle's picture

she is currently only on 20 states ballots. I hope she can get on all of them soon. The whole Bernie movement needs to get behind her if our only choices are HRC and Trump.

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"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020

Hawkfish's picture

I was unable to find anything useful. The Green web site seems to be updated once every few years. It it takes registrations, then I'm a Dem now (for Bernie) so once again we are all screwed...

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We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

Their poorly maintained web-site doesn't do much for their credibility, especially in this day and age. If you're going to try and win elections outside of the big money arena, you have to use the Internet effectively; otherwise you're just going through the motions.

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truehawk's picture

http://www.gp.org/ballotaccess

It looks like Green could be on the ballot in all states except Montana, North Dakota, Indiana, North Carolina, and Georgia.

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ZimInSeattle's picture

and will be supporting and voting for Mike Lapointe over the pro TPP Clinton super delegate Rick Larsen. There is a guy named Phil Cornell that is running against Patty Murray that I need to look into supporting as well. All our Dem incumbents are pro TPP and have given their super delegate support to Clinton. They must all go. I previously supported Inslee. Too bad there isn't a good progressive primarying him.

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"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020

cardboardurinal's picture

so I am very much aware of Rick Larsen. To say he disappointed is an understatement, not that he has ever been that progressive.

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1. Her VP could actually be a serious consideration because if the Dems actually nominate her she will probably win, but the R… fascists have already announced that their first action after she takes the oath of office will be to impeach her, and also
2. Her statement on opposing the TPP is easy - since fast track had already been approved the TPP will be passed before she takes office, and she will "have to" accept it as a fait accompli.

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On to Biden since 1973

WaterLily's picture

I personally do not give a shit who Hillary might pick for VP, should she win the nomination.
I'm never voting for her. Ever.

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ZimInSeattle's picture

fund the impeachment hearings.

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"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020

WaterLily's picture

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