Cornel West and James Zogby do not represent the Mainstream Democratic Party

[ericson00]

Last edited Tue May 24, 2016, 01:14 AM - Edit history (3)

they have no place on the platform committee of anything. Not every Democrat is a socialist or BDSer, like these guys are (yes, both are BDSers, Zogby and West). Not to mention, West is the caricature of the academic far-left with their safe spaces, trigger warnings, and microaggressions that has led to Trump.

The DNC should get these two clowns off, or they're gonna simply hand the GOP an easy way to paint the Dem party as out of touch. Quite frankly, I wish Camp Hillary would've traded on the $15 min wage instead of letting these clowns on the committee.

Cornel West's Greatest hits:

"Obama is the first N***erized President"
"Obama is a War Criminal"
"Obama is a Global George Zimmerman"
Appearing on Putin's AgitProp network, I could go on....

[markpkessinger]

1. Who are you to say who is or is not the "mainstream" of the Democratic Party? n/t

[JackRiddler]

91. Plus, who says only the "mainstream" should be represented?

There is no absolute unity of opinion, after all.

Isn't this a big tent?

[leftynyc]

111. You mean as opposed

to all the Bernie supporters here who DAILY tell posters they aren't liberals? That they're right wingers? Bigots? I'm sure you can link me to some of your posts that call them out, right?

[AgingAmerican]

2. No, the Third Way® do

That's why we need guys like Cornel West and James Zogby to save us from the righties in our own party.

[Warren Stupidity]

3. Well something like 40-50% of Democrats are just fine with socialism.

So I guess we will be demanding a seat at the table after all.

[Cheese Sandwich]

4. They represent a lot people. Either give us representation inside the party,

or we have to fight you from the outside. It's that simple.

[YouDig]

5. Cornel West is a stretch, but I think it's good that some pro-Palestinian voices are heard.

Not to the detriment of Israel, of course, but Palestinians deserve a state, I think that's all that this is really about.

[oberliner]

9. The Democratic Party Platform already calls for a Palestinian state

It's been in the platform for a while now.

[ericson00]

12. actually, both party platforms are pro-2SS

n/t

[YouDig]

16. Oh, I didn't know that. Never read the platform. Does anyone?

I don't know who James Zogby is, but it seems to me we're a little one-sided in our whole dealings there. How much money do we send to Israel for weapons? I wouldn't mind compromise with the Bernie wing of the party on that.

[oberliner]

22. It will be interesting to see how it plays out

I would imagine that things could get contentious on a number of issues.

[YouDig]

35. I'm not sure what the significance of the platform is.

I'm a liberal Dem, and also a Hillary supporter, which apparently here on DU is a contradiction. Yeah, I want the platform to reflect my values, so I'm happy Bernie picked Bill McKibbon for example, because I think environment is maybe the most important issue, but at the end of the day, it's a document without much power.

I guess it's symbolically important, but it's not binding in any way, and I guess some columnists write about it but do voters care? I care most of all of electing a Dem in November.

[oberliner]

46. It could provide a foundation for Hillary's campaign

Assuming she is the nominee, it could help to codify the key issues that define her as a candidate and the Democrats as a party.

[YouDig]

50. My opinion, she's gonna run the campaign she's gonna run, no matter what

the platform says. I don't think most voters even know that there are party platforms, much less know what they say.

[oberliner]

53. Bernie and his supporters will make noise about the platform

And will not let Hillary get away with deviating from the elements of said platform that they are fighting to include without drawing attention to that deviation.

[YouDig]

57. Maybe you're right. I wish they would just let Hillary beat Trump.

It's not like whatever she says between now and November is any more binding than the party platform or anything else. Once she gets elected, sure, pull her to the left, but beating Trump is so important at this point, nothing else really matters.

[Recursion]

99. We send zero direct military aid to Israel

OTOH our masive civilian subsidies free up more of their budget for military uses.

[YouDig]

100. Is that some technicality? Google says we send them military aid.

For example:

Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since World War II. To date,
the United States has provided Israel $124.3 billion (current, or non-inflation-adjusted, dollars) in
bilateral assistance. Almost all U.S. bilateral aid to Israel is in the form of military assistance,
although in the past Israel also received significant economic assistance.

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33222.pdf

Wikipedia too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93United_States_military_relations#Military_aid_and_procurement

[Cheese Sandwich]

26. The party platform could/should call for no new Israeli settlements in the West Bank

Bernie's people will probably propose that.

[oberliner]

32. "We favor the opening of Palestine to unrestricted Jewish immigration and colonization"

That's from the Democratic Party Platform of 1944.

[ericson00]

33. Why is that Bernie supporters only foreign policy view?

Do they have any others?

I assure you that doesn't get in the platform; Hillary already has pledged to make up with Israeli leadership, and butting into their policy in a critical way won't do it. Let Bernie and his supporters leave over that, I don't care.

[karynnj]

40. Well there is the oft repeated - stop regime change view

Not to mention, on most foreign policy goals, Sanders was pretty close to what Obama/Kerry are trying to do. Seeing that Clinton spent the last few debates essentially wrapping herself in Obama's foreign policy -- that means that is where the party is.

[Scootaloo]

41. Ironic, since it's the only one you ever bring up.

[ericson00]

66. I'm not the one demonizing democracies

that Freedom House Freedom In The World ranks free, or countries that actually have LGBT rights and defending the attempt to destroy one on behalf of terrorists who blow themselves up to evade responsibility.

[Scootaloo]

69. You're the one who only speaks if foreign policy when it pertaisn ti I/P

And now you try to sneer at people who respond to this little obsession of yours.

How about you take a break, friend? Go have a breather. Fix yourself a caipirinha, pop in a few good movies, and let it all go for a while.

[Kentonio]

88. It's not a matter of 'their policy', it's a UN mandate that they continue to completely disregard.

While simultanteously making any eventual 2SS considerably more difficult. I say that incidentally as someone who has always wanted the Israeli state to be safe, prosperous and secure.

[Recursion]

95. Obama said that in Cairo in 2009

It's been US policy since then.

[Cheese Sandwich]

124. It's been US policy forever but not the policy of the Democratic Party

[apnu]

117. Technically, the Party Platform isn't written yet.

It is re-written every election cycle.

[oberliner]

119. Right

My reference was to the 2012 Democratic Party platform, which included calling for a Palestinian state.

Thus, it would not be a new concept if such a call was included in the 2016 platform, as it has been in the past several platforms.

[Recursion]

67. Plus Zogby is about as mainstream-friendly as you can get for that (nt)

[dinkytron]

87. Brother West, come on down!

[anotherproletariat]

6. I agree, but it's a good way to throw a cookie to Sanders. He thinks he 'won' something, when

in reality the platform really means nothing and is certainly not legally binding. It has the added advantage of keeping some of these overly vocal people busy and hopefully quiet for a few months.

If Hillary is called out on anything in the platform during the general election, she always has the option to say that it is just a suggestion, and certainly as president she would be open to compromise.

[Scootaloo]

15. If the Party's platform doesn't matter, why so much hay about Sanders being "not a Democrat"?

Seriously, if our nominee looks at the platform of the party - the core values and statement of goals - and says "Nah, I'mma do what I want" then... what's really the point of there being a Democratic nominee? I mean yeah, the Platform isn't legally binding.. .but shouldn't our nominee follow it anyway? Especially a nominee who's made such a big huff about party loyalty?

[oberliner]

25. Do you think the nominee should get veto power over what goes in the platform?

I am not sure how this has worked in the past, but what happens when there is a situation where the committee and the nominee disagree on a component of the platform?

[Scootaloo]

31. I have no idea

But as this looks like a compromise deal agreed to by both candidates, I imagine what the committee comes up with will be "generally acceptable" - i.e., Clinton doesn't get everything she wants, Sanders gets even less he wants, but everyone does get something.

I'm just raising the point that if someone is going to bet on the nominee just side-stepping the platform... What's the point of even talking about "party loyalty?" What's there to be loyal to if the platform "doesn't count"?

Is this the Democratic Party, or is it the "Whatever My Candidate Says" party?

[oberliner]

38. I wonder how much power Elijah Cummings will have

In his role as the chair of the committee.

I think the party and the candidate need to be on the same page in terms of the platform.

[anotherproletariat]

29. The point is that the super delegates are loyal party members who have been financially supported

by the party to get where they are. They have friends in the party, and know that they will be supported in any upcoming elections. Not to mention that many of them are angry at Sanders for his supporters threatening calls to them, and for Sanders constant bashing of the DNC. They have absolutely no incentive to vote for a guy who is not really a member of the party (I bet when asked after he gets out of the race, he will agree). The super delegates are not going to vote for Sanders. It just isn't going to happen.

As for following the platform...it all has to do with the way democracy works. Our system of government was designed to allow for inclusion of ideas from various sides of the ideological spectrum. In order for this to happen, each side much compromise with the other. No one party's platform will ever be achieved. It is something that can be a goal, but a president is able pick and choose which parts of the platform are important to them, and worth spending political capital. So as president, Hillary can ignore whole parts of the platform while focusing on those that mean the most to her.

[Scootaloo]

39. We're talking about the platform committee, not superdelegates.

Did you mix up your talking points sheet there?

Now about that platform. It's sort of a "Core values" of the party thing. If you are advocating the nominee just ignore it - and you certainly are - then what's the damn point of there being a party? Why all the calls for "Party loyalty," if what you're loyal to doesn't actually matter against whatever the nominee wants to do instead? Why is the candidate running as a Democrat at all, if the Democratic Party Platform is disposable to them?

It's one thing to strive for the goal and fail. That's always expected to some degree. But to not even try? To just throw it aside because "Well it's not binding"?

What the fuck are you even voting for thin this election?

[pmorlan1]

55. Thank you for your post

It boggles my mind reading some of the ignorant comments here.

[pinebox]

103. No kidding

Yesterday I had a Hillary supporter on here tell me the judicial watch and FBI investigations of Hillary are the same thing. It's amazing really.

[rickford66]

20. The GOP will compromise with anyone else?

You don't start by giving up yardage. Obama did and they moved the goal posts. Bernie staked out real liberal progressive positions.

[grossproffit]

7. THIS! I can't even fathom what he's going to do next.

[riversedge]

107. oh, I think Sanders will next demand the spare bedroom in the WH!

[Scootaloo]

8. And you are an expert on mainstream Democratic thought?

What with your declarations that one of our presidential candidates is a "self-hating Jew"?

Also clearly you know fucking nothing about Cornel Werst, except your own bizarrely ignorant anti-left ramblings and assumptions.

[dflprincess]

51. Apparently not

or the poster would have noticed that Zogby is already on the DNC.

Oops.

[Chan790]

60. If ericson00 is in any way representative of mainstream Democratic thought...

the Democratic party is beyond saving and not worth saving anymore anyways.

[QC]

10. Neither do you. n/t

[jfern]

11. How dare they not be neoliberal hawks who support the candidate tied in the polls with Trump!

[IdaBriggs]

13. This James Zogby? And this Cornel West?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Zogby

James Joseph Zogby (born 1945) is the author of Arab Voices and the founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a Washington, D.C.–based organization which serves as a political and policy research arm of the Arab-American community. He is Managing Director of Zogby Research Services, LLC, specializing in research and communications and undertaking polling across the Arab world. In September 2013, Zogby was appointed to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom by President Obama. Zogby is a lecturer and scholar on Middle East issues and a Visiting Professor of Social Research and Public Policy at New York University Abu Dhabi. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornel_West

Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, academic, social activist, author, public intellectual, and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America. The son of a Baptist minister, West received his undergraduate education from Harvard University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1973, and received a Ph.D from Princeton University in 1980, becoming the first African American to graduate from Princeton with a Ph.D in philosophy. He taught at Harvard in 2001 before leaving the school after a highly publicized dispute with then-president Lawrence Summers. He was Professor of African American Studies at Princeton before leaving the school in 2011 to become Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He has also spent time teaching at the University of Paris.

The bulk of West's work focuses on the role of race, gender, and class in American society and the means by which people act and react to their "radical conditionedness." West draws intellectual contributions from multiple traditions, including Christianity, the black church, Marxism, neopragmatism, and transcendentalism. Among his most influential books are Race Matters (1994) and Democracy Matters (2004).

They seem like educated prestigious thinkers and prominent members of minority communities.

[oberliner]

27. Two paragraphs from Wikipedia?

Maybe consider digging a little deeper than that.

[IdaBriggs]

37. I'm comfortable with both of them, as well as the other three.

I trust Bernie's judgment.

[oberliner]

42. Cornel West: “Sharpton Is The Bonafide House Negro Of The Obama Plantation"

Cornel West: Obama Is The First ‘N****r-ized’ President

Garbage like that.

[IdaBriggs]

47. Hillary: "super predators" So watch me grab a fainting couch for you.

He wrote a book about race. Why don't we ask the members of the AA group what they think of him?

ON EDIT: Posted in the group asking for opinions. Link here - http://www.democraticunderground.com/118752311

[oberliner]

52. Hillary's remark was also insensitive

Cornel has being saying these things over the past four years and has repeated these sentiments about Obama frequently. I would hope that any Sanders supporters who was put off by Hillary's twenty year old quote about super predators would be similarly put off by Cornel's more recent and extensive remarks about Obama.

[pinebox]

106. Cornel West also isn't running for President of the United States

Hillary has said things quite recently as well, CP Time, off the res, etc.

[oberliner]

112. That is true

But if he is being selected by Bernie Sanders to sit on the platform committee, clearly that indicates he is someone with significant influence within the Sanders camp - and, by extension, with the power to impact the Democratic party platform.

With that in mind, it seems reasonable to hold him accountable for his statements.

Certainly if Hillary had selected people for the platform committee who had said offensive things, I am confident that those comments would be similarly brought to light and criticized.

[Jester Messiah]

127. TOLD!

[lostnfound]

104. Diversity is deeper than you're comfortable with

A little deeper than *i* might be comfortable with, but that's part of the point – – but that's part of the point – – to expand the variety of perspectives engaged in the shaping of a consensus.

[oberliner]

113. That's not true

The only point I am making is that there is more to Cornel West than what is in his Wikipedia entry.

[lostnfound]

121. Fair enough

I don't like his disparaging comments about Obama, personally.
OTOH after watching the goalposts get moved far far to the right of what I'm comfortable with for the last 30 years, it would be nice to have some dialog from the space that's further left.

[oberliner]

123. Agreed

I think that there is clearly an attempt by Bernie to move the entire Democratic platform to the left, and I agree with you that such a move would be a welcome one.

I just don't particularly care for Brother West.

[Sky Masterson]

14. Good

Fuck the mainstream.
Cornel West represents me.
Very Right-wingy post.

[vt_native]

30. I also

appreciate Dr. West.

[Ken Burch]

17. What is your problem with "safe spaces" and "trigger warnings"?

It's not as if anybody is oppressed just because there are a few small areas on a college campus where you can't be a bigoted loudmouth. "Free speech" doesn't include the absolute right to be an abusive jerk anytime and anywhere you want to be.

And it's not as though the only possible way you can enjoy literature is to make sure that people recovering from emotional trauma have no heads-up when there is something in the book or movie or song that might put them into PTSD.

Does the idea of working towards a gentler world really bother you that much?

Also, what makes you the arbiter of who is and who isn't "mainstream"? And why should the Democratic Party set itseld up as an enforcer of the acceptable limits of discourse? How is McCarthyism LESS oppressive to free speech than "safe spaces" or "trigger warnings"? You seem to be arguing for an arrogant, dismissive form of politics and discussion...and that is something only conservatives should be doing.

[GulfCoast66]

62. It's called your dorm room.

Other than that, if it is a public not private university or college, then you can say whatever you want.

The 1st Admendment does not respect hurt feelings.

And why are we coddling adults? The real world will not give a damn.

[Ken Burch]

79. It's not about coddling anybody. It's just about making life a little less nasty and ugly.

About eventually creating a respect-based world.

How is teaching people that in certain places they should be decent to people a bad thing?

It's not as though there are any points in any discussion that can only be made be being a bullying, abusive asshole.

Nobody is oppressed by not being allowed to act like Andrew "Dice" Clay 24/7.

People who have been victims of long-term bigotry and hate speech, and people who have been victims of emotional trauma, shouldn't have to hide in their rooms to avoid hearing verbal napalm from others.

And nobody has any valid reason to be THAT angry at women, POC, the LGBTQ community, religious minorities, or the differenly-abled.

[GulfCoast66]

80. I am sorry

But I totally disagree. Being offended sucks, but not enough to limit the First Amendment. College students are adults and adults must be able to hear things that offend them.

If claiming emotional trauma is enough to shut down freedom of speech we are in trouble.

Good God, had you told the civil rights leaders 50 years ago, who were at risk of being lynched, that we should limit hurtful words because someone's feelings would be hurt they would have laughed you out of the room.

Your last comment about the validity of speech is particularly scary. In a world where liberals have to validate the value of their speech, free-speech is dead.

[shira]

93. Great reply. Thanks! n/t

[Ken Burch]

130. It's not just about "being offended". It's about what shira would call, in another context,

"deligitimizing".

(btw, with her campaign against the BDS movement, shira is trying to create a universal "safe space" for the viewpoint that Netanyahu should be given unquestioning public acquiescence in every act of oppression and immiseration inflicted by his government against the Palestinians, and she is pretty much against Palestinians in the West Bank even having the right to protest the Occupation nonviolently, so if I were you I would be wary about getting her support on the question of "free speech".)

"Free speech" does not include the right to call other people inferior because of their race or ethnicity(or to use dog-whistle phrases to incite violence against those people), or to whip up hatred against people over their religion, or to dehumanize women and gays by verbally raping them.

The sole purpose of the type of words you are defending is to delegitimize people, to say to the people they are used against "you are less than me, you are an outsider, you have no right to be here, and I have every right to try to intimidate you into either submitting to my dominance or leaving".

BTW, it wasn't the civil rights leaders using hurtful words 50 years ago(btw, Dr. King did say that freedom activists should be careful about using words like "cracker", or about sweeping demonizations of all white people-never mind that white people in that era were far more deserving of condemnation than anybody who is protected by "safe spaces&quot , it was the OPPONENTS of civil rights using them...the people whose grandchildren are still using false claims of job losses or false claims of denial of admission to a university as a pretext to fight to make the worlds of work and higher education as white(and male)as possible. You aren't defending free speech, you are defending speech as a method of annihilation, of destruction, of pure negativity and ugliness.

What I'm talking about here is verbal bullying, not expressions of opinion. Nobody has to use racial slurs to express their opinion about racial issues. Nobody has to make viciously judgmental comments about the appearance or sexual activity of women to make their points about gender. Nobody has to use the six letter "f" word or the four letter "d" word to make a coherent argument regarding how this country should deal with sexual orientation.

Do you oppose any restrictions in any and all situations on the use of obscenity? If you do, you're on shaky ground saying that bigots should be able to let fly whenever and wherever they want, because bigotry is no different than obscenity. It simply isn't a necessary part of discourse.

Free speech, yes...but freedom coupled with respect for everyone's dignity and the legitimacy of everyone's presence. That isn't asking too much. That's just being a grown-up.

[GulfCoast66]

133. I am sorry

But I disagree. And so does the Supreme Court. All the situations where you claim we do not have freedom of speech, you are incorrect. Racist and homophobes are free to use whatever language they choose short of using language to generate an immediate threat. They are free to make others feel inferior based on any trait. The government does not and should not have any ability to punish such speech.

Now others such as employers are free to take whatever action they deem appropriate.

[ericson00]

81. honestly, if a person gets PTSD from having to read

a piece of literature that might reflect that one is not of the majority culture, that person needs help, FAST.

How is teaching people that in certain places they should be decent to people a bad thing?

That's what strong families are for, to instill values into children.

It's not as if anybody is oppressed just because there are a few small areas on a college campus where you can't be a bigoted loudmouth.

That's what forming friendships/relationships are for.

[Kentonio]

89. You mean the same people who we're trying to help by keeping them safe while they heal?

As for your 'strong family values' stuff, are you sure you're in the right place?

[gollygee]

120. That's not how PTSD and triggers work

Someone gets PTSD from some traumatic event, such as a war, sexual assault, physical abuse, etc.

Reading a book with descriptions of similar traumatic events might trigger their PTSD. That's why it's called a trigger warning.

Reading a book doesn't give someone PTSD.

And the point of a trigger warning is usually just to give a heads up. "Just to warn you, if you've been a victim of X, this might trigger you." It wouldn't even necessarily mean someone wouldn't still have to read the book for their college class, just that they can brace themselves and not be surprised by the potential trigger. That way, it is less likely to trigger their PTSD.

It's just a courtesy for people with PTSD.

[shira]

94. So long as you're for safe spaces on campus for Jews fearful of BDS bigots....

Or would you consider that stifling the free speech of Jew hating BDS'ers?

[bemildred]

18. "The only thing in the middle of the road is white lines and dead armadillos." nt

[Bluenorthwest]

19. You represent mainstream somthing or another...an 11 hide Amnesty All Star!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=324694&sub=trans

[Chan790]

61. Yes.

The only good part of the probably inevitable change to GE campaign footing is that I don't see how high-hide belligerent posters like this one survive getting a banhammer with their posting records.

[Recursion]

21. IDK... Zogby is pretty mainstream (nt)

[DemocratSinceBirth]

23. I don't have a problem with Bernie giving his buddies committee assignments.

[cali]

49. Buddies? Yeah, Bill McKibben is just some buddy of Bernie's. Never mind

that he's the most prominent and respected voice in the country on climate change.

You snidely make it sound like it's cronyism.

[LibDemAlways]

24. Bernie has 5 appointees to Clinton-DWS 10.

You don't like 2 of the 5? Tough. Bernie's 5 will be outnumbered 2 to 1, and most likely their opinions will be dismissed anyway. I'm sure you'll be fine with that.

This is the establishment's feeble way of throwing Bernie and his supporters a bone. It's transparent as hell, and will make virtually no difference in terms of Hillary's center-right stands on the issues.

[wendylaroux]

28. says you?

[Jitter65]

34. West is just there to complain about it being rigged after it's all over.

Platform committee assignments are virtually meaningless. Does anyone remember any planks in any party's platform 3 months after an election is over?

[HooptieWagon]

36. Yes, I'm sure you and Hillary think Kissinger and Kagan represent Democratic values.

[cali]

43. Then why does Zogby sit on the Executive Committee of the DNC?

[Juicy_Bellows]

44. So, not a fan of Zogby or West AND not a fan of $15 minimum wage.

However, more of a fan of the $15 minimum wage than you are of Zogby and West.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

45. Far left?

They really are not far left. I guess the Democratic Party swung to the right?

[chascarrillo]

48. And not every Democrat wants to bar Syrian refugees from the US. In fact, I think none do except you

Assuming, of course...

[bjo59]

54. Clearly the only people who represent the "mainstream" Democratic Party are corporatists.

You could not have been more clear. Congratulations on your honesty.

[hughee99]

56. There's 15 people on the committee.

Bernie got to pick 5 of them. You took issue so far with TWO of them. 2 of 15. Would you say these two might represent 15% of the democratic party? Judging by the support Sanders is getting, I don't think 15% is unreasonable.

[CobaltBlue]

58. ericson00—The Democratic Party would be better off to not pay attention to you.

Last edited Tue May 24, 2016, 12:54 AM - Edit history (1)

You are wanting the Democratic Party to be the Diet Republican Party.

No.

[Chan790]

64. Correction: the party would be simply better off without hir entirely. n/t

[cali]

65. So would DU

[Chan790]

68. Agreed. n/t

[leftynyc]

118. You two DO realize

that anyone on here could be saying the same exact thing about posters they don't agree with, right? Most of us have the grace to agree to disagree without trying to kick members away.

[arcane1]

59. Good. The "mainstream" party is part of the problem, not the solution.

Let's hope we get more like them!

[Vote2016]

63. Do Cornel West and James Zogby break your stereotype of Democratic African Americans and Arabs?

[Chan790]

70. I don't think this one has much use for Arabs anyways.

They're a repeat and vocal proponent of Israeli oppression in the disputed territory...and I suspect a supporter of the "imposed one-state" solution (aka. annexation and total removal of Arabs from the entirety of Palestine and Israel.) favored by Bibi, Avigdor Lieberman and Naftali Bennett.

Supporting Israeli far-RWers should be anathema around here.

[kaleckim]

71. Would you like to compare

what MLK stood for and said to West? Which candidate is closer, Sanders or Clinton? King spoke out and focused on poverty, was a democratic socialist, gave radical speeches against US imperialism, and criticized Johnson so much that he was dis-invited to the White House. West is very much like King was, this and King was far closer to Sanders and West than Clinton. Whatever he said about Johnson, a president a hundred times more progressive than Clinton, what do you think he would say about Obama and Clinton, especially given how badly the poor have done under Obama and did under Clinton? What would King have said about Clinton's crime bill, NAFTA, welfare reform, the prioritization of Wall Street, and Clinton's hawkishness?

Beyond that, not every Democrat is a socialist, but many are. What you want is for there to be very little ideological diversity. It seems that many Democrats are working very hard to convince the left that they have no home in the party. Jill Stein certainly appreciates the work people like you are doing.

[ThePhilosopher04]

72. They absolutely have a place and should be on it. All views should be represented.

The only clown is in your mirror.

[Gothmog]

73. Both Zogby and Cornel West are horrible choices for the platform committee

Sanders is showing some poor judgement

[bravenak]

75. I agree

[TheKentuckian]

74. If you are the "mainstream" then the best thing to do would be to nuke the party from space.

Fortunately, you seem to be a random conservative the flirts with being regressive.

[RandySF]

76. West has never even been a Democrat.

[ericson00]

77. where does Bernie find these people?

and doesn't the DNC realize what could happen to the party if a radical like him becomes a major player? Goodbye hard won suburbs, which Dems lost from 1968-1988, and have been winning since 1992....goodbye electoral college...

[Kentonio]

90. Who do know who held congress almost without interruption for the 40 years until Bill came along?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_divisions_of_United_States_Congresses

[oldandhappy]

78. Pretty sure the mainstream democratic party does not represent me.

So I am not to be represented?

[DemocraticWing]

82. Zogby is a DNC Executive Committee Member.

Frankly, I think you're the one out of place in our party. I can't find a single thing in your post that fits with what Democrats believe. Hillary Clinton would tell you to take a hike.

[ericson00]

83. MOST of my stances on the issues I don't need to argue with anyone here

since I already support LGBT rights, the environment, stem cell research, and abortion rights.

Zogby is into BDS, which Hillary opposes rather strongly and got her church to ditch. And as mentioned before, the vast majority of Americans, and a sizable majority of Democrats, per Gallup, support Israel.

Here is a collection of Cornel West hits:

"Obama is the first N***erized President"
"Obama is a War Criminal"
"Obama is a Global George Zimmerman"

I'm the mainstream one.

[whistler162]

97. Your stances on issues are that far outside

the mainstream!

[grossproffit]

105. Actually, they're not.

[leftynyc]

116. Uh - no they're not

The poster's stance on bds is very much in line with the Democratic party. Just not in line with DU which are no way near the same thing.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

84. OH NO, NOT AN ARAB!

Racist Hillary supporters showing their true colors again....

[haikugal]

85. I think they are brilliant choices and represent me and those like me. We are far more numerous than

some give us credit for.

I'm glad Bernie appointed them and look forward to their input.

[Number23]

86. West is a joke and a half but Zogby sounds like a very interesting choice

I'm happy to read a bit more about him and see what's up but what I've read so far is very encouraging.

[DCBob]

92. I thought t

[cali]

96. It's do or to know that you do engage those little grey cells.

[DCBob]

114. LOL..my brain cells were interrupted.

[Yurovsky]

98. Is "Mainstream" Clintonspeak for "Corporate"?

Maybe all the committee members should wear their corporate logos too like NASCAR. Hell, why not have all of the Hillary delegates do the same thing, since the only things that these people seem to care about corporations...

People? Not so much...

[heaven05]

101. +1000

I agree. Yet to Sanders and his advisors, they do........

[pinebox]

102. Good. Less establishment, more REAL people!

[pinebox]

108. YOU don't represent the Dem party & here is why

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=2037484
"The Patriot Act keeps America safe".

[political marxist]

109. A shadow of democracy

The Democratic Party hasn't represented anything other than the ruling class for it's entire tenure as a political entity; Bernie has merely added some semblance of popular opinion to it's platform committee. We can be assured that anything Cornel West, et al have to offer will be ignored as soon as the final gavel falls in Philadelphia. But despite the best efforts of Clinton and her cohorts, the movement they believe can be safely ignored will continue to organize and, at long last, become the socialist party that supplants their house.

[socialist_n_TN]

122. Welcome to DU and..........

Check out the Socialist Progressives group. You might find it to your liking.

And of course you are correct, the Democratic Party has been a bourgeois party since its inception and has never been a socialist party or even a workers' party. They like to claim the "big tent" as a "party for all classes", like you can serve two masters. Class struggle is a zero-sum game. When the bosses win, the workers lose and vice versa.

I'm thinking that a more left third party is in the offing after this election. There's a LARGE percentage of the population that is to the LEFT of the current Democratic Party and the Dems have made it clear that they want those votes, but don't really want their input. That means probably around 25%+ of the population is unrepresented. That's a pretty big minority, bigger than the Republican identification.

[political marxist]

135. Thanks for the welcome

I certainly think there is a good chance for an independent socialist party to emerge in the near term, perhaps coming out of a movement during the general election that opposes both Trump and Clinton. The group that helped elect Kshama Sawant to office, Socialist Alternative, is calling for just such an effort to begin organizing on the basis of Bernie's platform and an anti austerity position. Naturally, they're hoping to introduce an actual socialist agenda of worker and community controlled workplaces, guaranteed incomes, single payer health care, etc., etc. In the long run, that would be precisely what a socialist party would want to do, but getting there will require meeting some short term goals that produce positive results in terms of social security, minimum wage protections, ending assaults on public education and so on.

To my mind, we've reached a critical juncture in the U.S. that threatens to very quickly present us with a fascist political nightmare. The governing neoliberal consensus has crumbled and both parties are now viewed as part and parcel of a rigged polity that is beyond reform...hence the rise of Trump on the right and Sanders on the social-democratic left. The level of anger throughout the working class is to a degree I've never seen before and it's imperative that it not be hijacked by the nativist and racist forces driving Trumpism. Thanks for the heads-up on the Socialist Progressives group; I'll have a look.

[LWolf]

110. Only the mainstream need apply. Nice.

Last edited Tue May 24, 2016, 09:37 AM - Edit history (1)

So it's okay to marginalize and disenfranchise the many who are not "mainstream."

Gotcha.

[Bonobo]

115. Good! Fuck the mainstream Democratic Party! nt

[Orsino]

125. Diversity isn't going to make everyone comfortable...

...but wishing for a smaller tent seems more emblematic of another party.

[Jester Messiah]

126. Neither does Hillary or DWS, but we are where we are. n/t

[corbettkroehler]

128. No Voice On Poverty Better Than Dr. West's

Yes, he can be a loose cannon but if you want the plight of the poor reflected in the platform, Dr. West is the right choice.

[ericson00]

129. except for that handsome for-life tenured professor salary

he gets...

[Rex]

131. You are funny pretending to be a party insider.

Keep it up, it is entertaining!

[MrMickeysMom]

132. The "mainstream" has had the plug pulled on it long ago, and if we're ever to see it flow again...

... we need the input of THESE PEOPLE.

[mythology]

134. The only thing Cornel West has represented in a long time, is his own ego

He long ago left behind being an effective academic or having a legitimate positive impact. Naming yourself a prophet is just egotistical nonsense.