General Discussion

FredStembottom

(2,928 posts)

19. This was the basis of my political decline.

Wed Sep 18, 2013, 01:09 PM

Sep 2013

As a blue collar white man that stayed Dem right through it all, I became a kind of vestigal appendage at local caucuses as men like me became a disparaged, old, irrelevant, probably racist , probably animal killing, probably sexist, certainly suspect type of participant.

In reality, all I was was a Democrat who does manual labor for a living. And my calls to avoid hating on the laborers, hunters, motorcycle riders, sports fans etc. fell on deaf ears. There was no need to heed my calls because the theory that manual laborers were scheduled to disappear entirely from the economy was becoming the new Democratic fantasy.

But the Voodoo economics were so clearly aimed at taking us all down- all of us, that I stayed a Dem. Then the Dems fully took up Voodoo economics!

So, Why am I a Dem? Well, I could never tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia. And the political party where so many like me retreated to is a full-on circus of those things.

And. Franklin Roosevelt. A friend to laborers everywhere. My personal hero. My wish for the future.

But I digress......

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We Live In The Emotional And Economic Wreckage Of This Broken Home.... [View all] The Magistrate Sep 2013 OP

You, Sir, can sure turn a phrase. Schema Thing Sep 2013 #1

Be My Guest, Friend The Magistrate Sep 2013 #3

For me, as a woman, some of those LiberalLoner Sep 2013 #2

+ One JustAnotherGen Sep 2013 #4

I Agree, Ma'am The Magistrate Sep 2013 #5

Yes, your main point is very true and I applaud your LiberalLoner Sep 2013 #6

It May Yet Prove, Ma'am, To Have Been A Good 'Long Game', As The Current Phrase Goes The Magistrate Sep 2013 #8

+1 LiberalLoner Sep 2013 #15

There aren't many people who want to 'go back' leftstreet Sep 2013 #12

Oh, that would be wonderful! Because I've been surrounded by LiberalLoner Sep 2013 #14

I may be reading your post wrong? mimi85 Sep 2013 #27

The OP stated we lost the working class white vote LiberalLoner Sep 2013 #28

PS LiberalLoner Sep 2013 #30

I Regret If That Is What You Took From The Comment, Ma'am The Magistrate Sep 2013 #34

Thank you for this. Because I have been thinking, LiberalLoner Sep 2013 #39

I Do Tend To employ Some Antique Usages, Ma'am The Magistrate Sep 2013 #29

why yes you are seeing things wrong hfojvt Sep 2013 #77

Okay, thanks for this info! LiberalLoner Sep 2013 #78

Let Us Delve Into This A Bit More, Sir.... The Magistrate Sep 2013 #79

you are combining males and females hfojvt Sep 2013 #86

No, Sir, I Am Not The Magistrate Sep 2013 #93

"no one denies" hfojvt Sep 2013 #95

I Seldom Do This, Sir, But Here I Must Remind You D'Nile Ain't Just A River In Egypt.... The Magistrate Sep 2013 #96

I think it was the Union Management that broke up the marriage Demeter Sep 2013 #44

They Did Not Help Matters, Ma'am, That Is Certainly True The Magistrate Sep 2013 #47

THANK YOU Skittles Sep 2013 #54

Well said - K&R - nt Ohio Joe Sep 2013 #7

sadly true. n/t cali Sep 2013 #9

What about the Unions? They aren't hippies with lifestyle issue. Walk away Sep 2013 #10

Regarding Unions, Sir, There Has Been Some Rapprochement Recently The Magistrate Sep 2013 #13

Unlike the right who depend on billionaires, American Unions have been some of the largest donors to Walk away Sep 2013 #35

True, Sir The Magistrate Sep 2013 #37

don't forget teachers and nurses Precisely Sep 2013 #83

Teachers I Consider Government Employees, Sir The Magistrate Sep 2013 #84

Right Precisely Sep 2013 #90

There Are Some Subjects Of Great Interest To Me, Sir The Magistrate Sep 2013 #94

basically true marions ghost Sep 2013 #11

"Anyone who thinks the boomers have had it easy since Reagan is nuts." SammyWinstonJack Sep 2013 #16

And To Be Fair, Sir The Magistrate Sep 2013 #18

True but marions ghost Sep 2013 #64

Well put Precisely Sep 2013 #87

Baby Boomers Approach 65 � Glumly FarCenter Sep 2013 #21

The effects of the Bush Era marions ghost Sep 2013 #66

In their parents day Precisely Sep 2013 #88

The Boomers didn't "have it easy" Precisely Sep 2013 #85

DURec leftstreet Sep 2013 #17

This was the basis of my political decline. FredStembottom Sep 2013 #19

Indeed, Sir The Magistrate Sep 2013 #22

What you said. FredStembottom Sep 2013 #32

I remember my political seventies and what we were actively 'protesting' bigtree Sep 2013 #20

yes it seems Precisely Sep 2013 #26

And Conspicuously Absent From That List, Sir The Magistrate Sep 2013 #36

there was plenty of union and workers in the mix Precisely Sep 2013 #38

If, Sir, You Want To Live In A World Where Working Class Whites Are A Core Left Constituency, Enjoy The Magistrate Sep 2013 #40

Like I said Precisely Sep 2013 #55

maybe that was the case with the white 'left'. I remember most of that time from civil rights bigtree Sep 2013 #73

That, Sir, Is Definitely So The Magistrate Sep 2013 #76

making more sense to me now bigtree Sep 2013 #92

I Appreciate Your Comments, Sir The Magistrate Sep 2013 #106

can't help replying, Mr. Magistrate bigtree Sep 2013 #108

K & R !!! - Posted This Yesterday... WillyT Sep 2013 #23

That Is A Good One, Sir The Magistrate Sep 2013 #24

I love the way that point came around the corner Frustratedlady Sep 2013 #33

It Is An Excellent Bit, Ma'am The Magistrate Sep 2013 #57

And it is still broken DonCoquixote Sep 2013 #25

As a recovering Reagan Democrat . . . SleeplessinSoCal Sep 2013 #31

Some Truth but a keyhole view brindis_desala Sep 2013 #41

I Agree, Ma'am The Magistrate Sep 2013 #45

I have a hope that this sense of inborn superiority will die off slowly LiberalLoner Sep 2013 #48

I Do Think It Is Aging Out, Ma'am The Magistrate Sep 2013 #49

:) LiberalLoner Sep 2013 #52

Thanks for the reply brindis_desala Sep 2013 #63

It Is An Interesting Question, Sir The Magistrate Sep 2013 #68

Actually, sir brindis_desala Sep 2013 #99

None Of These Things Are New To Me, Sir The Magistrate Sep 2013 #100

That was not my point. brindis_desala Sep 2013 #101

We May Be talking At Cross Purposes Then, Sir The Magistrate Sep 2013 #102

I'm suggesting that brindis_desala Sep 2013 #103

Then I Think We Are In Agreement, Sir The Magistrate Sep 2013 #104

Since I cannot dissaude you of brindis_desala Sep 2013 #110

It was long overdue. The '50s was a stifling period of conformity, racism, and materialism. Tierra_y_Libertad Sep 2013 #42

Lifestyle? Look, being a pompous windbag is a style, being gay or a woman is a Bluenorthwest Sep 2013 #43

Amen! Demeter Sep 2013 #46

".....the white working class threw itself at an old actor...." RebelOne Sep 2013 #50

Very astute, but I have one quibble . . . markpkessinger Sep 2013 #51

In Attempting To Evoke A Period, Sir, One Employs The Language Of That Period The Magistrate Sep 2013 #53

and in the language of that period, they were called Precisely Sep 2013 #56

If that is how you evoke a period, I suggest you avoid Civil War era writing. Bluenorthwest Sep 2013 #67

If I Were To Do That, Ma'am, I Would Use The Period's Vernacular, And Cry Damned To Any Objecting The Magistrate Sep 2013 #70

For perhaps the 100th time, it is Sir. Not Ma'am. Bluenorthwest Sep 2013 #72

I Can Be Forgetful, Sir The Magistrate Sep 2013 #74

Here is a link to a page of quotes from Harvey Milk so folks can see how movment Bluenorthwest Sep 2013 #71

Frank Church, Birch Bayh and George McGovern - liberal titians from what we would now call solid Douglas Carpenter Sep 2013 #58

The West Used To Be A Seat Of Serious Radicalism, Sir The Magistrate Sep 2013 #59

there must have been some shift of thought that focused people away from economic concerns and Douglas Carpenter Sep 2013 #112

We're the keepers, while we sleep in America RandiFan1290 Sep 2013 #60

Interesting Piece, Sir The Magistrate Sep 2013 #61

Indeed. nt rrneck Sep 2013 #62

Yes. :( K&R n/t OneGrassRoot Sep 2013 #65

Very well stated Sir malaise Sep 2013 #69

Thank You, Ma'am The Magistrate Sep 2013 #80

Very well put,I wish more people could understand that. nt sufrommich Sep 2013 #75

Amen, Brother ... don't look too close, I think Tuesday Afternoon Sep 2013 #81

I Keep A Pair Of Skates For Just Such Occasions, Sir.... The Magistrate Sep 2013 #98

Sir Hekate Sep 2013 #82

Thank You, Ma'am The Magistrate Sep 2013 #97

You, Sir, are a poet. That is one of the most cogent and lyrical posts I've read at DU. 11 Bravo Sep 2013 #89

I Appreciate The Kind Words, Sir The Magistrate Sep 2013 #105

There were a number of splits during that period, which the right was quick to exploit. LongTomH Sep 2013 #91

That is just about the perfect metaphor for what has happened. Volaris Sep 2013 #107

K & R Scurrilous Sep 2013 #109

Please don't forget the right wing's deliberate role in that wreckage since the 1970s. highplainsdem Sep 2013 #111