Our battle isn't left against right. It's everyone with common sense against far-right extremists.

[highplainsdem]

We know that.

We know it isn't a case of the political goalposts being moved farther on both sides, with no one in the middle and the left as guilty of moving those goalposts as the right.

We need to reclaim the middle, as well as any potential allies who will help us in this battle (even if they'd once viewed themselves as being on the right) because those RW extremists have gone too far to seem acceptable to anyone with any common sense.

I was reminded of this watching a documentary made a few years ago about a politically active German band headlining a free anti-racism, anti-xenophobia concert in Chemnitz in 2018.

I've posted about that already here -- https://democraticunderground.com/10181664814#post52 -- so I'm not going to go into any detail about it in this message.

But the point being made by the lead singer of that band -- the need to make it clear just how many people agree with us, to make it clear this isn't simply left versus right -- seemed like something that should be emphasized in General Discussion as well.

Biden has often tried to make this point. So, too, the January 6 Committee, with Republican members with the common sense and the civic courage (words that German singer used) to stand up for what's right.

We have to make the appeal to people's common sense. And we have to stop letting the media, as well as the far right, say it's left against right.

[Walleye]

1. The media loves to repeat slogans and catchphrases of the right

They say culture war all the time. They never say what the hell it is. If there really was a culture war, we won it a long time ago. I think our culture is democracy and equality and that’s what we should be fighting for. Not keeping transgender kids are bathrooms

[highplainsdem]

3. +1,000,000

[CentralMass]

2. Joe Biden impresses me as being a good and kind man. For example he has recently

said some kind words in defense of Mitch Mcconnell . Basically calling him a decent and reasonable man doing the best he can with an extreme party. I do not share the President demeanor and kind thoughts. Mcconnell is possible the most evil son of a bitch of a senate leader in the history of the institution. He has blocked many of Democratic Presudents Supreme Court nominees, fought all legislation for social programs, voters right and election fairness and security while championing tax Cut to the wealthy, cuts to the social safety net while bragging that his goal is to block all legislation from the Democrats.
You can't appeal to these peoples common sense or decency. They have proven that they have none by their actions likewise with Bill Clinton and Tony Blairs recent warning to embrace the right .

The country is badly broken. Millions of people including children living in poverty. Homeless people living on the streets n growing number in every city. A generation buried by college debt with low wages and growing cost of living with very bleak prospects of ever getting out from under it.

The republican party is rotten to the core. Collaboration with them is impossible.

[highplainsdem]

4. We live in a democracy (still) and we do not have a majority party. There are too many

independents for either major party to easily become the majority party.

And we don't have a parliamentary system where we can try to put together a coalition with smaller parties we find the least antithetical.

So our best hope of keeping this a democracy -- while the far right of the Republican Party seems hell-bent on a one-party fascist state -- is using what issues we can utilize to separate that rightwing lunatic fringe from those on the right who do still have some common sense.

It won't be as doable as it should be, given the propaganda from RW media and social media.

But saying that all Republicans are rotten to the core is a good way to get all of them to stop listening. Just as we wouldn't listen to anyone declaring that all Democrats are rotten to the core (whether we hear that from a Republican, an independent, or someone to the left of the Democratic Party).

Saying all Republicans are rotten to the core also makes it harder for Republican lawmakers considering turning against the extremists in their party.

We need that majority. We need the middle as well as the left. We need as many as possible on the right who aren't far-right to join us, at least in opposition to that dangerous rightwing fringe.

And an appeal to common sense is the best way to get there.

[CentralMass]

5. The future is bleak. We are in a downward spiral.