Elizabeth Warren starts the pendulum swing back to the left.

[kpete]

“A lot of these are long games,” Warren said in an interview. “So turning up the heat under the big financial institutions, stirring the conversation on ‘too big to fail,’ doesn’t change the law today. But it helps push toward change.”

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2013/05/25/massachusetts-senator-elizabeth-warren-despite-her-celebrity-paints-herself-incrementalist/7F4373yW1qdAprgxtzyzXL/story.html

[rhett o rick]

1. It's about time. However, we still have Democrats right here in DU city that

are not followers of Sen Warren. She represents the hated left.

[cali]

6. Bernie was there long before her and he's still leading the charge

I like Warren but I think she's getting undue credit here.

[rhett o rick]

8. I agree that Sen Sanders is the best. What's important is that

Sen Warren is a Democrat. She may be getting undue credit but we need progressive voices.

[vt_native]

40. Sanders is a fraud

From a (former) lifelong Bernie supporter.

He is supporting putting the F-35 in South Burlington, destroying over 3,000 low income homes, but putting them in a noise zone that the Air force deems "incompatible with residential use".

Puts the lie to the truth (or whatever that expression is)

stopthef35.com

[cali]

42. oh bullshit. I don't agree with Bernie on everything but he's sure not a fraud

and btw, most of the homes in question are NOT low income. Affordable doesn't mean low income and I haven't read that they're destroying 3,000 houses but 300.

I don't support the F-35s coming to Burlington and I think the process has been corrupt, but saying that this nullifies Bernie's history is absurd.

[bvar22]

23. Is Bernie Sanders a Democrat????

I thought he was an Independent,
and you think that a Democrat is getting undue credit on a site named "Democratic Underground"?

Oh, dear.

[Samantha]

24. He is a Democratic Socialist

who caucuses with the Democratic party. That is how he describes himself (Democratic Socialist) but since there are no others in the Senate from this party, he is referred to as an Independent.

Sam

[bvar22]

29. So the answer is "NO".

Bernie Sanders is NOT a member of the Democratic Party.
Thanks!

[cali]

43. Bernie is supported by both the national dem party and the VT dem party and caucuses

with dems in the Senate, dear.

[bvar22]

45. So the answer is NO, Bernie is NOT a Democrat.

Thanks, dear.

Have you ever heard him explain WHY he maintains his distance from the Democratic Party?

[ReRe]

12. I think it's about time those kind of....

..."Democrats" go get their own website. What say everyone? This is Democratic Underground, not Dino Underground, not Grand Bargain Underground, not DLC Underground, not Third Way Underground. If one does not support Sen Elizabeth Warren, then one needs to stop deluding themselves and realize who they really are. They are traitors. Yes. Traitors to the REAL Democratic Party. Thieves. Trying to steal the good name of the Democratic Party. Shame on them. Shame. Shame. Shame!

[rhett o rick]

26. All we have to do is put them on ignore and we have our Democratic Underground

without the Conservatives to bother us. Seriously, put the DINO's on ignore.

[ReRe]

38. Gee... I have never put anyone on ignore...

We shouldn't have to do that. In my mind, I just say "Asshole" and go on down the line. There are allot of young Democrats who aren't as experienced as you and me at recognizing who is who. I think I will just leave the ignore button alone and be around to explain what the hay is going on to those youngsters when it appears they are confused. I'd rather go on bitching about them.

[bvar22]

2. I remember saying the same thing about Paul Wellstone 15 years ago.

Senator Warren, PLEASE be careful,
and stay out of small planes.


[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]

[forestpath]

3. It's horrible to have to think that. But I thought of the same thing.

[Nye Bevan]

9. Aren't there easier ways of killing someone than sabotaging a small plane?

If you truly believe that she is targeted for assassination, there are lots of other precautions she should be taking.

Do you truly believe that Wellstone was assassinated?

[nikto]

22. Damn good chance

About 75% chance, I'd say.
Cui bono?

[bvar22]

28. The NTSB found "no evidence of sabotage".

My question to YOU, Nye Bevan, is this:
Do our "Security Agencies" have the ability to crash a light plane without leaving "evidence"?
ABSOLUTELY!
There may be no easier was to assassinate someone and leave no evidence than by causing the crash of a light plane.

I'm not very smart,
and I'm certainly not a part of a secret government "security" agency,
but I can think of at least two ways that wouldn't involve more than two people,
AND leave no evidence.
(I have been a licensed Commercial Pilot since 1969.
I KNOW light aircraft.)

There is also the direct threat made by Dick Cheney to "Make you and your family pay if you vote against the IWR" less than 2 weeks before the crash.

"At a meeting full of war veterans in Willmar, Minn., days before his death, Wellstone told attendees that Cheney told him, "If you vote against the war in Iraq, the Bush administration will do whatever is necessary to get you. There will be severe ramifications for you and the state of Minnesota."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4429592&mesg_id=4430399

Other versions of this meeting with the War Veterans in Minnesota in 2002 claim that Cheney also directly threatened Wellstone's Family.
I was in Minnesota, working on Wellstone's re-election at that time,
and [personally spoke with Vets whop attended that meeting.
I believe them.


The answer to YOUR question is this:
I don't really know if Paul Wellstone was assassinated or not.
I have no proof either way,
and neither do YOU,
but I wouldn't put is past Cheney and his gang.
Apparently, you choose to trust them.
Good Luck to YOU,
but I'm, watching my ass,
and hope Warren does too.

[WillyT]

4. K & R !!!

[JNelson6563]

5. How realistic of her!

I wonder if any of our more rabid posters will be done with her. After all, isn't a willingness to make progress incrementally a clear sign that someone has become a corporatist sell-out??

Julie

[freshwest]

34. In the insanely hostile environment that Democrats are working in, it's a necessary form of stealth.

Zinn also said this:

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something.

If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand Utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

~ Howard Zinn

[Myrina]

7. It isn't a "long game" to families on the edge

Those of us faced with underemployment, no savings, no retirement plans, no way to send our kids to college or get mom her meds can't wait for the slow - and uncertain - swing of the pendulum. We need a fierce advocate. Now.

[democrat2thecore]

10. And if ANYBODY is fighting - it's Elizabeth Warren! SOMEBODY has to, Obama sure won't. -nt

[Pragdem]

13. Obama endorsed Warren. nt

[democrat2thecore]

16. And?

He takes no responsibility for the way the aftermath is (not) being handled. Would it be so hard for him to say the same words as Senator Warren? Of course, considering he actually promoted some of these thieves to jobs in his administration, it's not exactly surprising. In fact, it's more of the same old same old --- it's certainly not "change."

As for endorsing Warren, so what? More importantly, he also ran himself for the presidency with a promise of change. The banks are bigger than ever. Nobody's gone to jail. Profits of the big banks are through the roof. He's promoted a golden parachuter to Treasury Secretary and has let the same Wall Street Gang run monetary policy.

Senator Warren has more spine in her big toe than Obama has in his body. He's better than a Republican in a whole host of areas, but he's a go along to get along when it comes to Wall Street.

[JoePhilly]

17. Obama hates America

[JDPriestly]

33. No. He doesn't hate America. He just loves the banks.

Judging from his staff and cabinet appointments, which he loves most is hard to say. Perhaps he thinks that they are one and the same thing.

[rhett o rick]

27. I hate to say it but those on the edge must lead. nm

[johnnyreb]

11. Senator Warren autorec

.

[Initech]

14. Good. The right have had their greedy grip on it to long.

And while they're winning elections thanks to the brain dead viewers of the Fox Opinion Channel, they're losing their moral high horse on just about every issue in the book. That's what happens when you tip the scales so far to one side for far too long. People start to see what these assholes *REALLY* stand for.

[calimary]

19. Not enough people start to see what these assholes *REALLY* stand for.

Not nearly enough! I hope the Great Awakening continues, and accellerates. 'Cause there are still FAR too many gullible and ill-informed people (some of them proudly and willfully ill-informed!) who still vote for these assholes.

[Initech]

20. It's happening very slowly, but people are starting to wake up.

Paul Ryan's comments last year about the "makers and takers" I think really shook things up. *WE* are the makers. The upper 1% - *THEY* are the takers. They take everything - our pensions, our salaries, our insurance - all for their bloated corporate profits which they themselves don't do anything with - other than spending to get people to vote against their best interests. I think it's starting to backfire on them big time.

[G_j]

15. Our next president

[Initech]

21. Clinton - Warren or Warren - Clinton would be unbeatable.

Let's see the teabaggers run Ayn Rand Paul against that.

[another_liberal]

18. Such a breath of fresh air!

With her example (and a whole lot of work) we may yet be able to take our country back from the greed-driven madness that is our current out-of-control financial system.

[upi402]

25. She could be my President

I would follow her through fire.

Hillary is a D.I.N.O.
Had enough of that.

[bluestate10]

30. You should read the entire article on Warren, I did. Senator Warren is a pragmatic liberal,

something many on the DU Left hates. Warren understands that change doesn't happen overnight. In her own words, she will move the needle a little bit at a time.

[JDPriestly]

32. At least she will move the needle.

At least she knows where the needle needs to go. President Obama seems to be unable to figure that out.

[G_j]

35. better stated, push the needle

because she also knows that is the only way to get it to move!

as an aside, don't you think the word "hate" is a bit overused? I wouldn't mind if people just gave that word a bit of a break.
It appears a great many people really like Elizabeth Warren. That's a win-win as far as I can see.

[MannyGoldstein]

36. I think the DU Left simply wants people who actually fight for change

Losing happens, but as Warren says, there should be blood and teeth left on the floor.

[Angelonthesidelines]

46. I would follow her through fire

Now that is the definition of leadership.

When I hear Warren speak(fight) I'm all in.

Hilary was great, but an Imperial POTUS Hilary?

I'm afraid she would make W and Barry look like pikers and set new standards on illegal foreign tasks for the banksters and warmongers of the future.

Unfortunately, incrementalism would mandate her Heir Apparancy to full POTUS and we shall see where the chips fall.

Then maybe she has a heart, and declines to run supporting Elizabeth Warren. I can always dream anyway.

I guarantee I will never follow Hilary through anything.

[JDPriestly]

31. Read my signature line. I need not say more.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

37. yes, she is...

And of course, I think Pres. Obama began the first manifestation of the turn around at the extreme end of the fascist phase that whistleass presided over.

I mean that regardless of whether one thinks he's great, horrible, or somewhere in-between.
There are the actual policies he's enacted that are a huge departure from the reich-wing rule-book as well as from the corporate one. Then there are the social issues, regarding which he diverges clearly from CONservative paranoia and repression.

I don't have the list of Obama failures nor of successes, but even just the symbolism of the rhetoric and of his very identity and personal history shows something in the American Psyche changed. The awakening was beginning.

Now I think the pendulum is coming closer to the equilibrium point, where more people are seeing that the repuke policies and leaders are corrupt at their very core, so that we are reaching critical mass. Where we should be able to see real results happening in various places more and more often.

inmo

[BrotherIvan]

39. Keep speaking Senator Warren!

Thank you to the good people of Massachusetts for electing her. (I'm sorry my state's senators mostly suck.)

[tardybar]

41. Warren

I love liz

[LWolf]

44. I sincerely hope that is so.

A whole bunch more are going to have to jump on with her to get any momentum going.