A Response to Charles Pierce

[sheshe2]

Charles Pierce took issue with what I wrote comparing the records of Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker. So I'd like to respond.

First of all, I find it interesting that he couches his critique in the current debate about the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. I said nothing about that controversy in my piece. When I want to talk about that issue...I do. Seeing it simply as some kind of effort by President Obama to - as Pierce puts it - "bring people like Warren and Sharrod Brown to heel" is insulting and diminishes the importance of the issues at stake.

My point in making the comparison was to challenge progressives on how we go about assigning hero status to politicians. Where TPP comes into play in all that is that recently I've seen people make the argument against it based on the fact that Senator Warren is against it, and they trust her. Of course they are free to use that as their standard. But it made me wonder how we go about deciding who we trust and who we don't.

Secondly, when I point out that Senator Booker has been willing to reach across the aisle to work with Republicans on criminal justice reform, Pierce doesn't think they're serious.

snip

In many ways, the contrast between these two Senators encapsulates what can cause a divide between white progressives and people of color. While black people prioritize criminal justice reform because they are literally going missing and dying from the problems in that system, white people tend to prioritize reigning in Wall Street. There is nothing inherently wrong with a focus on either one. But we need to be able to hear the disconnect that happens when we don't recognize the importance of both.


Read More: http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2015/04/my-response-to-charles-pierce.html

[topwater]

1. We the people.

Let us try this.

[bravenak]

2. I try so hard to get people to understand this.