A return to normalcy is a trap

[crazytown]

Last edited Fri May 3, 2019, 05:08 AM - Edit history (7)

when that normal made a candidate like Trump viable.

In his 2016 Convention address, President Obama said

America is already great. America is already strong. And I promise you, our strength, our greatness, does not depend on Donald Trump.

(snip) Ronald Reagan called America “a shining city on a hill.” Donald Trump calls it “a divided crime scene” that only he can fix. (snip) He’s just offering slogans, and he’s offering fear. He’s betting that if he scares enough people, he might score just enough votes to win this election.

The reference to the shining city is a giveaway. To see the problem with that messaging we need go no further than another Convention, 32 years earlier, addressed by Mario Cuomo

A shining city is perhaps all the President sees from the portico of the White House and the veranda of his ranch, where everyone seems to be doing well. But there's another city; there's another part to the shining the city; the part where some people can't pay their mortgages, and most young people can't afford one; where students can't afford the education they need, and middle-class parents watch the dreams they hold for their children evaporate.

To say we have ‘have more to do’ or ‘further to go' is not good enough. Real wages have not risen since the early seventies for 90% of the population, while the cost of college has spiralled out of control. Upward mobility has stalled; Downward mobility is widespread and feared. There are precious few greenshoots on the graves of American industry while the CEOs who closed the factories flaunt their wealth.

This our normal. This is how it has been been for almost 40 years. Generations have grown up knowing nothing else. Presidents Clinton and Obama were not able to break it. Both confronted economic disasters left by the Republicans and both faced hostile, obstructionist House of Representatives after the first Midterms.

Here is what Pete Buttigieg said at the April CNN town hall.

I think this is really important to understand, because we need to make sure we ... as a party that we don't come to be viewed as the defenders of a system that is letting people down. And we wouldn't be here if the economic and political system hadn't failed people.

(snip) The system needs to be changed profoundly. I guess that's my point. We can't just nibble around the edges and expect people to be happy with us. Now, I've got a slightly different account than my competitors do about how best to do it, but the fundamental lesson is that our economic and political system has been letting people down I would say for my entire lifetime.

If the Democratic Party settles for a return to normalcy it will invite the sort dissatisfaction that risks 2022, and worse extremism in the GOP.

EDIT: I thought it went without saying that the Republican Party are the authors and defenders the policies that hung workers and the vunerable out to dry, but apparently not.

It’s easy enough to date when the economy and government turned sharply against ordinary Americans: January 20, 1980, the Inauguration of Ronald Reagan.

It is the Republicans who gave huge tax cuts and tax breaks to the wealthiest and most powerful Americans. It is the Republicans whose mindless over the top deregulation set loose the wolves to prey upon the vulnerable. It is the Republicans who have blocked the big infrastructure spend that everyone knows is necessary to repair and rebuild America. It is the Republican who stymied adjustments to the minimum wage. It is the Republicans who have opposed every attempt to reform finance for students. It is the Republicans who have been tearing at the fabric of the safety net. It is the Republicans who want to ‘Starve the Beast’ in order to deny the Federal Government a role in assisting those who bear the burden of change. And it is the Republicans who left economic disasters for Presidents Clinton and Obama then blamed them for widespread suffering.

I quoted Mario Cuomo. That speech at the 1984 Convention to was direct against Ronald Reagan It’s a measure of the mountains of propaganda that people can’t pin the tail on the Elephant..

Mario Cuomo - Excerpt - A Tale of Two Cities

(snip) The truth is, ladies and gentlemen, that this is how we were warned it would be. President Reagan told us from the very beginning that he believed in a kind of social Darwinism. Survival of the fittest. "Government can't do everything," we were told, so it should settle for taking care of the strong and hope that economic ambition and charity will do the rest. Make the rich richer, and what falls from the table will be enough for the middle class and those who are trying desperately to work their way into the middle class.

(snip) It's an old story. It's as old as our history. The difference between Democrats and Republicans has always been measured in courage and confidence. The Republicans -- The Republicans believe that the wagon train will not make it to the frontier unless some of the old, some of the young, some of the weak are left behind by the side of the trail. "The strong" -- "The strong," they tell us, "will inherit the land."

We Democrats believe in something else. We democrats believe that we can make it all the way with the whole family intact, and we have more than once. Ever since Franklin Roosevelt lifted himself from his wheelchair to lift this nation from its knees -- wagon train after wagon train -- to new frontiers of education, housing, peace; the whole family aboard, constantly reaching out to extend and enlarge that family; lifting them up into the wagon on the way; blacks and Hispanics, and people of every ethnic group, and native Americans -- all those struggling to build their families and claim some small share of America. For nearly 50 years we carried them all to new levels of comfort, and security, and dignity, even affluence. And remember this, some of us in this room today are here only because this nation had that kind of confidence. And it would be wrong to forget that.

[shanny]

1. +a brazillion

[PatrickforO]

3. Great post.

That's why I'm supporting Pete.

[NYMinute]

4. Call 911

[crazytown]

7. Too late, the kids dead

"These kids died before the hospitals could provide medical care”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-insurance/lack-of-health-insurance-tied-to-child-deaths-idUSTRE5A14HA20091102

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

5. We need a forward looking revolution of ideas, not a return back to normalcy...

that's what ordinary folks who are hurtin demand. I know Bernie & Elizabeth can and WILL deliver.


Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. I couldn't agree more with Mayor Pete.

He has the vision and the intelligence to help the country make the profound change that begs to be made, for all our sakes.

[Cha]

8. NO. That was Not Normal.

Hillary had the M$M against her 24/7, trump's BULLSHIT LIES on M$M Constantly, that FB Shite, Jill stein's FUCKING ASSHOLE LIES.. All the HATEMONGERING And LIES that were Thrown at Hillary, and she still got 66 MILLION VOTES.

It was NOT "normal"

We're going to have a successful Midterm in 2022 like we did in 2018.. which happened to be Moderate Dems changing 45 Red Seats to BLUEWAVE SEATS.

[crazytown]

9. Oh for heaven's sake

I am not attacking Hillary. I’m talking about a long-standing failure by all parties to address flat real wages, over the tip costs of college, the cost to communities of closing industry and income inequality where CEO’s win big and others lose out.

[Cha]

10. It was Not "normal".

[crazytown]

11. Sorry. I've edited my post above.

What I am talking about is underlying economic conditions that must be addressed.

[crazytown]

13. This is what I am addressing.

“I actually think Uncle Joe's promise of a return to normalcy has a good chance of carrying the day.”
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=88997

And I am not criticism Joe’s Candidacy. If you read what I said it was ‘normal’ - the costs of college, low real wages, industrial graveyards and outrageous income inequality that watered the garden for a weed like Trump to grow.

And I am not criticising President Obama either. From the day Scott Brown was elected, January 19, 2019, McConnelk blocked everything: The president’s infrastructure and reconstruction plans, the Public Option in the ACA, minimum wages rises, new gun regulations, everything.

Obama’s Presidency was limited by a legislature that opposed him. In the one year he ended up having available, he saved the economy and passed the ACA.

The title of the OP was a return to normalcy. It is a trap. Whatever candidate we choose, we can’t settle for that. Americans don’t settle, we reach for the stars even if we know we wont live to see them in person.

[Cha]

15. Sorry, I had to go

to my health food store before it closed.

It was the ".. it shouldn't have been close enough to steal.." that I object to. I was explaining why it was that close. And yes, I do get emotional about that. Not too many have had to endure the brainwashed hate and LIES thrown at them as Hillary Clinton. President Obama comes to mind.. but not for as many years.

A big reason we did so badly in 2010.. was those who hated ACA because it wasn't pure enough.. sat home and pouted.

Joe Biden is saying that we can do anything we want, and all the candidates, I would imagine..

I'm guessing the Democratic Leaders, who I respect, are aware of the history and pitfalls that got us into the tragic, catastrophic, chaotic Mess we're in now.

ETA.. and like Hilary said..

It doesn't matter if we nominate the most charismatic, best prepared, most perfect candidate ever...as long as the Russian interference isn't dealt with, they will get away with stealing the election again.

She added that if anything, the Russians are now better prepared to interfere in 2020. This is the most important issue and the biggest obstacle we're facing. I believe all the candidate should join forces to deal with this problem, or else, 2020 will be a loss to us.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287102601#post5

[crazytown]

16. Do you remember this cartoon?

Right Wing Radio Duck

The biggest problem was the GOP left the Democrats with an economic disaster and people were really hurting, badly

[Cha]

17. No, I don't remember it.

I just added an ETA to my post you responded to.. but not in time for you to read it.

Yes, they were hurting.. and President Obama and VP Biden worked hard, and did a good job of getting our country out of the abyss.

[crazytown]

14. Here is what HRC said in her acceptance speech

In my first 100 days, we will work with both parties to pass the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II.

Jobs in manufacturing, clean energy, technology and innovation, small business, and infrastructure.

If we invest in infrastructure now, we’ll not only create jobs today, but lay the foundation for the jobs of the future.

And we will transform the way we prepare our young people for those jobs.

Bernie Sanders and I will work together to make college tuition-free for the middle class and debt-free for all!

We will also liberate millions of people who already have student debt.

It’s just not right that Donald Trump can ignore his debts, but students and families can’t refinance theirs.

And here’s something we don’t say often enough: College is crucial, but a four-year degree should not be the only path to a good job.

We’re going to help more people learn a skill or practice a trade and make a good living doing it.

We’re going to give small businesses a boost. Make it easier to get credit. Way too many dreams die in the parking lots of banks.

In America, if you can dream it, you should be able to build it.

We’re going to help you balance family and work. And you know what, if fighting for affordable child care and paid family leave is playing the “woman card,” then Deal Me In!

...

In other parts of her speech she address real wages and income inequality.

Who could she have done things diffently. Well that’s easy in hindsight but in my opinion she could have distanced herself a limitless from the Obama administration while sheeting home the blame on the Republicans who blocked everything after the first year.

There’s nothing in her speech that suggests she’s settling for normal. She was not. That’s today’s idea. That people are so traumatised by Trump they just want things back to normal, and that a trap. It may win an election, but it’s a road back to 1994 style ruin.

[democrank]

12. Recommended

[WhiskeyGrinder]

18. Very well said. This is America. K&R.

[Skidmore]

19. "Normalcy" to me is a return to

the rule of law and common decency as a foundation for discourse.

Apathy and allowing RW narratives and Russian interference to become as truth led to Trump.

[Cha]

20. Well Done, Skidmore!

Thank You!

[DCofVA]

21. Return to Normalcy, is a very creepy expression

Return meaning, going back, and normalcy meaning, status quo. People who vote in an effort to return to a previous time, are what I call, nostalgia voters. Like the Brits who voted for Brexit but, the most notorious nostalgia voters are the ones who voted for Trump.
Nostalgia voting is a nonstarter. We can’t go back, even if most of us wanted to. As far as we can tell, time moves in only one direction. I’m all for the candidates that fully embrace our forward momentum. I must confess, I’ve also grown more than just a little impatient. It’s time we stopped dragging our heels and move boldly into the future instead of being so afraid of it.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

22. The European Union was fifty years in the making. Brexit was the aberration and disruptive event.

[loyalsister]

24. Yup

It's a different version of MAGA. Getting money out of politics and adopting an agenda that is economically and socially beneficial in ways that imagine a future young voters can embrace.

[brer cat]

23. I agree.

Outstanding post.

[crazytown]

25. ...

[Kurt V.]

26. K&R buttigieg is right on the mark.

[Raine]

27. Yes, EXACTLY nt