How propaganda works to change our expectations of the Democratic Party

[woo me with science]

We used to take for granted that the Democratic Party had a responsibility to put forth policies to HELP the 99 percent. To actively help all of us, stand with us against predatory corporatism, and push changes in policy to *improve* our lives.

Over time, Third Way propaganda lowered those expectations, so that now we are exhorted to be grateful if the party merely refrains from joining with corporatists to ATTACK us in some way or another. Hence the bids for joy and satisfaction when Obama merely refrains from this or that assault on Social Security or Medicare.

Now, judging from posts on this board, it seems we are moving toward a view that it's okay for Democrats to assault SOME of us, as long as it's not "the most vulnerable." Some here are busily feeding us the idea that it would be perfectly fine to implement the right-wing, tax-regressive scam of a chained CPI across this nation, as long as certain protections are provided for "the most vulnerable among us."

What utter bullshit. The Democratic Party should not be assaulting ANY of us. The Democratic Party should not be in the business of entertaining right-wing scams *at all.*

It's time to step back and remind ourselves what this party is supposed to stand for.

[xchrom]

1. Du rec. Nt

[msongs]

2. the self described "liberal republican(s)" are taking have taken over nt

[kentuck]

3. What does the Democratic Party stand for?

I truly do not know.

[leftstreet]

17. They've been the Not-Republicans-Party for ages

Who knows what they stand for

[Mass]

4. I disagree. If this was the case, threads about poverty would thrive.

Unfortunately, we have lost sight of the fact that the person earning $100,000 a year is better off than the one earning $20,000.

In our new lingo, this is all the middle class. And the idea is that nothing can be given to the poorest if it is not given to those about $70,000. We are no more a progressive site. F*ck the poor could be the motto here.

What you are describing is just the reflex to agree to whatever president Obama says.

[cui bono]

8. This site hasn't been a progressive site for a loooooong time.

Especially after Obama won. The apologists refuse to see what is really happening to the party and refuse to accept any criticism at all. They like to post pretty pictures to fawn over and ignore all the crap that is being done that were it being done by GWB they would have been OUTRAGED over.

[djean111]

5. Yes. Thank you.

I am starting to think the Democratic Party has left me.
Oh, and "utter bullshit" is the correct technical term for all the spin.

[TeamPooka]

6. and how come the Democratic Party can't just come out for the legalization of cannabis?

and be against the prison for profit system?
Let's make them.

[Blanks]

25. If they let all of the folks out who were caught smoking weed...

There would be room in the prisons for all these fucking bankers.

[byeya]

7. Everyone knows where the money is; Let's go after it to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid; provide

access to health care for all; close half of the 800(?!) overseas military bases and downsize the military, especially the officer corps; do a little to protect the environment(Obama is terrible on this issue); and rebuild the infrastructure; make is easy to form a union and make it jail time for interfering with workers efforts to organize for a contract.

Chrahst, at least put forward a progressive agenda.

Social Security? It's OK the way it is and shouldn't be part of this conversation.

[sulphurdunn]

9. If you really want to know

what's really going on in politics, just follow the money and forget the rest.

[woo me with science]

37. Amen. nt

[FiveGoodMen]

10. You've got it right

(sadly)

[Jim Warren]

11. I see a wedge being driven

and further separation between the middle class and the working class on many issues.

[MotherPetrie]

12. K&R. They go berserk when Repugs suggest screwing us. When "Mypresident" does. it's excuses excuses!

[blackspade]

14. Thumbs up!

[bvar22]

15. "It's time to step back and remind ourselves what this party is supposed to stand for".

That time came and went in 1992 with the "Centrist" Clinton Administration.

THIS is what "DEMOCRATS" stand for.....or used to.
ANYONE who does NOT STAND 100% for these Traditional Democratic Party Values
is something LESS than a Democrat
and unworthy of the lable.

"In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established [font size=3]for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.[/font]

Among these are:

*The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

*The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

*The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

*The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

*The right of every family to a decent home;

*The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

*The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

*The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being." ---FDR. 1944

Please note that FDR specified the above as Basic Human Rights
to be OWNED by The American People and administered by our government OF the American People,
and NOT as Privatized Commodities to be sold to Americans by For Profit Corporations.

There WAS a time, not so long ago, when voting FOR The Democrat
was voting FOR the above values.
Sadly, that is no longer true.

At the time, I hated LBJ with a Purple Passion for the WAR,
but he WAS a Democrat,
and his Great Society programs built upon the Working Class Democratic Values of the New Deal that made our Party GREAT,
and built the largest, wealthiest, and most Upwardly Mobile Working Class the World had ever seen.
THAT was a time of HOPE and PRIDE because we were moving in the right direction.

NOW....pfft.
I never though I would ever say that LBJ was our last Democratic President,
but THERE IT IS.

Obama says he'd be seen as moderate Republican in 1980s
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/272957-obama-says-his-economic-policies-so-mainstream-hed-be-seen-as-moderate-republican-in-1980s

[font size=4]Move Over, Old Dog.
You are no longer the Best Republican President EVER.[/font]



[font color=firebrick][center]"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone [/font][/center]
[center][/font]
[font size=1]photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed[/center][/font]


You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their rhetoric, promises, or excuses.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]

[Jim Warren]

19. And thanks for that

A good reminder and really pretty simple; HEW in it's most relevant form: heath, education and welfare of the people.

[In Truth We Trust]

22. Thank you!

[Doctor_J]

30. From Great Society to Grand Bargain

Not only is it bad governance and bad morals, it's bad politics. Giving in on this will destroy what's left of the party - basically hand the country to the teabaggers.

Thanks for the reminder, bvar22. You are from the Dem wing of the party, and that is a high compliment

[woo me with science]

47. Yes, it is destructive to the country.

Every single time they validate this garbage, it is destructive to the country.

[hootinholler]

32. As presidents go, I would say Carter was the last Democrat

However, he too had an uncooperative congress and large problems to overcome.

[woo me with science]

36. That should be the topic of an OP.

"Basic human rights" transformed into "Privatized Commodities to be sold to Americans by For Profit Corporations."

We can make a long, sickening list at this point.

And it drives home how deadly dangerous tolerating any of it is.

Thank you, Bvar22.

[reeds2012]

16. Occupy? Yes, Occupy.

[Fumesucker]

18. So who are the "most vulnerable"?

Who has the most to lose in America?

The billionaires, right?

So of course they are the most vulnerable to loss.

[woo me with science]

44. I think you cracked the code.

[forestpath]

20. It's like some posters are getting off on the thought of seniors suffering.

[Wind Dancer]

23. Agree completely!

I hardly recognize the place.

[Doctor_J]

31. I wouldn't take it that far

We're not freeperville....yet. But they are willing to go along with anything the president proposes, using absurd excuses when necessary.

[noiretextatique]

21. there are no more cheeks to turn, no one left to throw under the bus

and no one left to "take one for the team." serve the people, elected officials, not the powerful and the wealthy.

[Wind Dancer]

24. You nailed it!

Wish I could disagree but everything you have written is true.

[jsr]

26. Great post.

[Blanks]

27. If you look at the post great depression United States...

Democrats controlled congress from 1932 until 1980 almost completely. There were times when the republicans controlled for a short period of time and didn't do anything so they got thrown out.

We had the 'American Dream' which I understand to mean to that your children will have a better life than you. Once we lost control of congress; democrats no longer control the legislative body and the president is forced into making deals to move his agenda. For a very short time at the beginning; Obama had a democratically controlled congress. I don't feel that he took advantage of the opportunity as well as he could have, but it isn't really fair to compare Clinton and Obama to the earlier presidents who had more control over congress.

We need to work toward getting rid of the tea party in congress and diminishing the influence of Fox News if we're ever gonna get to a point where the democrats can forward a liberal or progressive agenda.

Do sign the white house petition though. Otherwise, I don't expect that they will know how pissed off everyone is.

[No Compromise]

28. Democratic Party should not be in the business of entertaining right-wing scams *at all.*

[donheld]

29. I have small hope that Democratic Underground will stop

allowing all this from happening without question. We Democratic Underground must call it out every time.

[woo me with science]

48. Well, IMO a large part of the problem

is that DU itself is now a corporate entity. In the past, spewing right-wing talking points on a consistent basis was grounds for tombstoning here. Of course the fact that the Democratic administration itself now backs many right-wing, corporate policies has made it difficult to continue to tombstone many right-wingers who can now protest that they are merely supporting the same policies as the President. However, it's pretty clear that even longterm disruptors who come here ONLY to defend right-wing garbage and attack progressives are tolerated now on the new, corporate DU, probably because controversy = clicks = profit.

[a2liberal]

33. K&R (n/t)

[MannyGoldstein]

34. Damn, you're good.

K&R, of course.

[Overseas]

35. K&R. Well said.

[Zorra]

38. My dear woo,

Thank you, you speak from the true heart and soul of the Democratic party.

"In the century in which we live, the Democratic Party has received the support of the electorate only when the party, with absolute clarity, has been the champion of progressive and liberal policies and principles of government.

The party has failed consistently when through political trading and chicanery it has fallen into the control of those interests, personal and financial, which think in terms of dollars instead of in terms of human values.

Under these circumstances, I cannot, in all honor, and will not, merely for political expediency, go along with the cheap bargaining and political maneuvering which have brought about party dissension in this convention.
--------
It is best not to straddle ideals." ~ FDR, 1940

[woo me with science]

40. Beautiful quote.

Thanks.

[Zorra]

41. Yeh, but, *sigh*, same stuff, different day. Will we ever get the money out of it, so we can

have a real democracy, and really start to evolve?

[woo me with science]

42. I hope

we will reach a tipping point.

I hope Americans are waking up and realizing that change is not going to come from inside this corrupted system.

[jillan]

39. Especially after winning TWO Presidential elections in a row by landslides. WE should be

in the driver's seat...

and be able to tell the kids in the back seat to settle down!!

[woo me with science]

46. Unfortunately,

it's the corporations who write the checks.

[limpyhobbler]

43. Kicks.

[Uncle Joe]

45. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, woo me with science.

[TheProgressive]

49. Excellent post Woo....

Civilizations thrive when we care for all humans.