I don't know if I'm a devil or an angel around here right now.

[Hortensis]

109. KPN, the Democratic Party has amazingly few real failings.

Last edited Sat Nov 11, 2017, 04:58 PM - Edit history (1)

There are lots of things we should do better if we could.

But if you must be so focused on failings, why on earth is the Democratic Party that has you in despair? Our extremely broad coalition may be imperfect but it is by far the purest, most vital expression of democracy our nation has. It's more than a little wonderful.

Sanders righteous little rule-or-ruin band claims to represent everyone, but actions show only those who fall in behind their chosen leader are their "everyone." The Republicans have been completely corrupted and taken over by special interests, all ability to serve our nation destroyed, collapsed under the weight of that intense corruption and betrayal.

We're it, and America is so incredibly fortunate that we still believe in the principles people like us have since the establishment of this nation.

I suggest the biggest failing troubling you may be your own. You seem a bit lost.

You're unable to recognize and take pride that we still carry forward, right now, today, our great heritage of liberalism and all that means. And it has been a huge factor, many times the factor, in everything that has been good about being an American living under our form of government. It's not over.

You seem unable to see that, just as the Sanders clique is unable, but though you do have a lot of their negativism toward liberals and the Democratic Party, you lack the passionate conviction of righteousness that gives them their energy. You can't take pleasure in our losses.

I'm fortunate that from the beginning I recognized for what they were the lies that I and many millions have abandoned the principles of liberalism, that they no longer guide the Democratic Party. I was never corrupted by these systematic efforts to demoralize and neutralize me. Our temporary failures to live up to our own principles have never meant they're gone, especially those that are reactions to huge forces, and sensible people don't lose sight of the big picture to start kicking angry holes in the party walls.

I don't know why you've been so affected, but I do know it's not because the Democratic Party failed you. It's something in you. Not to worry about that. All these words aren't worth spit, or at least don't do much damage. Half the people here seem to agree with you. But it's our enormously powerful little vote, and to a lesser degree volunteering, are what count.

Here, consider this from something I was just reading from Verrit:

One of the most intractable myths about 2016 is that it was about white working class “economic anxiety.” A Washington Post headline puts that to rest: “Two new studies find racial anxiety is the biggest driver of support for Trump.” In the words of the New Republic, “To say that Trump won because of economic outrage is to misunderstand today’s working class and to erase a huge portion of it entirely.” The Atlantic elaborates: “Evidence suggests financially troubled voters in the white working class were more likely to prefer Clinton over Trump.”

Part of the “economic anxiety” myth is fueled by the oft-repeated talking point that Hillary Clinton ignored Wisconsin and other swing states. Fact: In Wisconsin and other key swing states, Hillary Clinton won the majority of voters who said the economy was their top concern. If anything, voter suppression was the deciding factor in Wisconsin.

Huh. Big surprise. Our entire white population only recently woke up to the facts that not only was this never really an Ozzie and Harriet nation, but that the period of guaranteed white dominance is rapidly coming to an end. Even most people who aren't particularly bigoted don't actually want to lose the reassuring, institutionalized safety net that comes with being white.

So, we're reacting to that and a dozen other real, world-shaking changes that are enormously larger than the party at the same time.

That's a little window into what's really happening.