The legacy of "The Left"

[Tatiana]

18. The state of California has been taken over and is run by what used to be "The Left."

And they're doing quite fabulously. Things are so fantastic that they have two Democrats running for a Senate seat. Many of those running California were considered fringe at one time, but now they're quite mainstream in that state. Remember "Governor Moonbeam?"

Some of the people disrupting were certainly out of line and not representative of the Democratic party or Bernie Sanders. However, it saddens me to see the denial of many here -- more than a few of those people protesting ARE Democrats. They are actual members of this party who took an active role at the municipal, county, and state level of Democratic politics. And they've been begging for things like the public option, free tuition, fairer trade deals, etc. for years.

No one listened to them really. They kept voting for Democrats, yet their ideas never seemed to make it to The Platform.

Along comes Bernie Sanders. And he says not only should we be relieving your student debt, we should make sure no one who goes to college has debt arising from tuition. He says college should be free. Hmmm... sounds radical except they do it in many European nations quite successfully.

There was certainly a standard of professional courtesy that should have been extended to some of our speakers. But Panetta needed to hear that there is opposition to warmongering. Our DOD and State Department need to understand that if we make the decision to invade another nation, it damn well better be for a good reason (such as the defense of this country).

The President needed to hear that people strongly oppose TPP. It will certainly lead to the loss of US jobs and we probably will find it even harder to find any stitch of clothing made in America. TPP is a race to the bottom for the American labor force and the President needs to be confronted with that fact because he is accountable to the American public.

The protesters took the best opportunity they would likely ever have to deliver their message and have it heard by others who might also hold the same beliefs. Yes, it looked messy, but I can't be mad at the protesters because ultimately dissent is one of the highest forms of patriotism.

In his famous "Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death" speech, American Revolutionary Patrick Henry offered these words:

Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country and of an act of disloyalty towards the majesty of Heaven which I revere above all earthly kings.

Yes, some of the protesters were simply disruptors. But others have a legitimate beef with their governance and expressed it. Just like BLM, it doesn't look pretty because it's not supposed to. The goal is to generate discomfort that leads to actions that address the issue of concern.

We're big enough as Democrats to handle protest. In fact, it should be part of our political DNA.