Martin Eden
Martin Eden's JournalI'm a Democrat because their policies align much better with my values.
Government Of, By, and For The People -- and which policies best serve our interests and future generations -- should be based on a thorough discussion in the realm of ideas, facts and practical solutions to achieve common goals.
Not personality and media notoriety. By all means we need great leaders who can articulate, persuade, demonstrate their qualifications, and make wise decisions. None that I know of have been perfect. Sometimes they deserve our everlasting respect, and I think Joe Biden is a good man who has earned that, even though he has made some big mistakes.
I joined DU in 2022 during the run-up to the neocon invasion of Iraq. We knew about PNAC and the systematic campaign of LIES to convince the public that Saddam was in cahoots with the 9/11 terrorists, and posed a grave threat of WMD with "mushroom clouds" over American cities.
At least GW Bush, as much as he's earned my everlasting hate, went to Congress for authorization with the Iraq War Resoltion. That's when we really needed Democratic leaders to step up and keep us out of that senseless war of choice. I looked to leaders like John Kerry, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton to speak truth to power.
When it came to the vote in October 2022, slightly less than half the Democrats in the House & Senate voted for it. But Kerry, Biden, and Clinton voted for it. I was devastated, and vowed that no Democrat who voted for war in Iraq would EVER get my support in a Democratic primary.
I held to that vow until 2020, when I deemed that Joe Biden had the best chance to beat Trump. He became a very good, though not great, president. Then he made the worst and most consequential mistake of his political career. He decided to run for a 2nd term, at the end of which he would be 86 years old.
I still respect the man, but I'm not the least upset if he's not invited to have a role in future elections. If that would help us win, fine, though I doubt it. We need younger, strong, smart leaders to carry the torch going forward in these most perilous of times.
Here's how I would reach out, and what I would say to Republicans:
I'm sure that most of you know this election was a referendum on Donald Trump, and deep in your hearts you understand he is terribly unfit for the office he holds. It is time for you to remember your duty to serve all the citizens of this great country, and your sworn oath to preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States of America.
You no longer need be bound to that deeply flawed person, or to his policies which have damaged our economy and institutions at home and our standing abroad as leader of the free world.
There is much work ahead, as servants of the people, to repair the damage and build a better future for all Americans. We may not agree on everything, but with civil discourse based on facts, sound science, and common goals, we can work together in achieving those goals today and for generations to come.
The choice is yours. You can continue on the ruinous course which has led to this point, or you can unburden yourselves from this president and embrace the highest ideals upon which our nation was founded.
********************
I am under no illusion that Republicans who gave this POtuS standing ovations for his lies and vile rhetoric will do the right thing. But it is good politics, which places the burden on them.
Extending an olive branch does not mean we abandon our goals for the people we serve, or forget about holding accountable the criminals in this administration. Impeachment at the top is necessary to "unburden" America from this president. We'll deal with Vance when the time comes.
Our country needs justice under the rule of law, not grievance and retribution. Emotions run high, but we have to engage our rational minds and critical thinking skills if we are to succeed in dumping American fascism onto the ash heap of history, and build that "more perfect union" for a better and more sustainable future.
I question whether our Democratic Party knows what that means
How many of our elected Democrats attended the SOTU and just sat there in silence as the criminal would-be dictator insulted them and spewed lies, while Republicans gave him standing ovations?
Were they worried about breaking decorum and tradition, and how the corporate media would characterize such shocking behavior?
They should be more worried about this fascist regime breaking the republic that Benjamin Franklin said we have -- if we can keep it.
This is not partisan politics as usual, and not just about kitchen table issues and affordability. Our Constitutional rule of law is being shredded before our eyes as an army of brutal thugs is terrorizing our communities and killing citizens in the streets.
The American people are not nearly shocked enough. If we lose our democracy, the America we love and thought we knew is lost.
Sure, people are struggling to feed their families, send their kids to college, afford health care and rent or home ownership. And the Democratic Party clearly serves the interests of ordinary Americans much better as the Republican Party and their Dear Leader give huge tax breaks to the rich while cutting programs and policies that help everyone else. Abigail Spanberger gave a fine speech. She would get my vote.
We can walk and chew gum at the same time. I believe Democrats should have boycotted the SOTU, or walked out en masse after he came in.
Many complain that Democrats do a poor job at messaging, and need more fire in their bellies. Walking out en masse would have sent a POWERFUL MESSAGE, especially followed by a fiery speech that not only showed that WE are clearly on the side of working Americans -- and also the TRUE CHAMPIONS of America's great experiment in Democracy in this struggle against a rising fascism that will destroy the legacy of our nation's Founders, for which generations of real patriots fought and sacrificed.
There is a simple explanation for this.
Brown skinned immigrants are not human beings to this regime. They are a pestilence to be gotten rid of -- invaders destroying America. Trump said "they are poisoning the blood of our country," which is exactly what Hitler said about Jews.
Let that sink in.
Ever since Trump came down that escalator in 2015, he has been demonizing brown skinned immigrants. Before treating these people as vermin, they must first be dehumanized -- seen as an invading threat, not persons deserving of basic human decency.
This isn't about keeping our country safe from drugs or criminals. This is racism, and the fear of changing demographics in an America where whites will no longer be a majority. It is the Great Replacement Theory.
The white patriarchy can't bear the thought of losing their privileged status and their grip on the reins of power. That explains why the struggle for civil rights and women's rights has been so long and hard, and why $billions are being spent on an army of brutal thugs to terrorize immigrants and communities that support their neighbors, friends, human beings.
Now this evil racist regime says it will send their ICE thugs to polling places to ensure "election integrity" because their political opponents can win only by cheating. This, of course, is another LIE in a long string of LIES, and PROJECTION of their own clear intent to steal this election.
What is the highest priority of every authoritarian regime?
To sieze, and hold onto power. They will do ANYTHING to ensure that.
In his diplomatic, inoffensive way, I think President Obama pointed the way
In his recent interview with Brian Cohen. Democrats need to take the pulse of young people who can be energized to participate, especially around leaders who speak their language.
But don't leave anyone out, or push anyone away. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Elections are won by building coalitions.
Are we ourselves, in our online activity and interpersonal interactions, pushing people away? Not everyone who voted for Trump is irredeemable racist. Some voted for Obama. Many are misinformed, or persuadable swing voters.
We may feel temporary satisfaction from insulting them and expressing hope they suffer miserably for the catastrophe they have brought down on all of us. While there is truth that everyone who voted for Trump shares the blame, if we openly hate them they will hate us back -- and will vote against Democrats out of spite. Emotions often trump rational thought. This includes us, when we push people away who are capable of a change of heart or mind.
Biden did NOT "put us in a deep hole"!!!
Post pandemic inflation was world-wide, and the USA under President Joe Biden fared better than other industrial nations. The Economist magazine (not a liberal publication) in 2024 called the American economy "the envy of the world."
Republican strategy has long ben to repeat a lie over and over and over again, until it becomes commonly accepted. When Democrats try to debunk the lie, we are playing defense -- which is where they want us. It's the same thing with accusations, like blowing smoke with all the Benghazi hearings. The public concludes where there's smoke, there must be fire.
I thought one of the biggest mistakes of the 2024 Biden then Harris campaign was not touting vigorously enough all the achievements of the Biden administration -- especially the economy, which Trump over and over and over again asserted was a complete disaster.
Of course, tens of millions of voters who still struggle from paycheck to paycheck don't react well to being told everything is hunky dory with the economy.
Democratic politicians make a lot of promises they fail to keep -- primarily because Republicans obstruct legislation that would actually help Americans struggling to make ends meet.
Logically, does it make sense for low income folks, kept poor primarily by Republican policies, to vote Republican?
And yet they do -- and not just because of bigotry and culture wars. Republicans are more successful than Democrats at hammering home narratives that become widely accepted, despite the Republican narratives being false.
The M$M, ostensibly in their effort to be "fair and balanced," promotes a false "both sides" framework which essentially gives equal weight to truth and lies. Trump's mendacity and grift have become normalized, while Democrats have to play by a different set of rules.
And the rightwing noise machine is getting louder as billionaires who curry favor with Trump are acquiring more and more of the conglomerated media landscape.
About the only thing we Democrats have in our favor are the extremities of Mad King Donald's unconstitutional, corrupt, cruel, regime -- such as the brutal ICE invasion of our cities and the unmistakable signs that his feckless tariffs and incompetent handling of our economy is hurting even his own voters in the pocketbook. Added to that are his insane impulses in world affairs which are alienating our allies & trade partners, and the continuing saga of the Epstein files which is only getting worse.
Who knows WHAT will happen next, between now and the November midterms?
Our Democratic leaders have a real opportunity here, so they (and WE) better not blow it. The fate of our Constitutional democracy hangs in the balance.
Alex Pretti's gun did not protect him from a tyrannical government
It gave agents of that government an excuse to murder him.
It was NOT a legitimate excuse. It WAS murder. Mr. Pretti had every legal right to carry his firearm, and at no time during the incident was that gun in his hand.
In my opinion, Charlie Kirk was wrong about the 2nd Amendment. Gun advocates conveniently ignore the first part of 2A, which provides the reason for it: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,"
Are individual gun owners today members of a well regulated militia? 2A was written during a time when the US didn't have much of a standing army; England was still a threat (the War of 1812 had not yet occurred); and America west of the Atlantic seaboard was still a dangerous frontier.
I believe the 2nd Amendment is an anachronism, and needs serious revision. I don't advocate abolishing all personal ownership of firearms, but the daily carnage of crime and the mass shootings of innocents make it perfectly clear that current regulations are tragically insufficient to protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Charlie Kirk was not defending our rights; he was an advocate for heavily armed "militia" hate groups that reject democracy which produces policies they don't like -- such as civil liberties for racial and gender minorities.
Although very dangerous and capable of slaughter, could these organized hate groups defeat the US military?
Could we?
Keep in mind that Donald Trump is itching to use the Insurrection Act and impose martial law, especially as the midterm elections draw near. Does anyone here doubt for one second he would sieze ballots under the guise of "election integrity," or cancel elections altogether?
The mission of the ICE thugs unleashed in our cities goes beyond deporting immigrants. They not only want to intimidate citizens who resist; they WANT TO PROVOKE VIOLENCE to give Trump an excuse to impose martial law and bring the might of the US military into our cities.
We cannot save our democracy by arming ourselves, girding for battle. That impulse is understandable, given the outrage we all feel and the genuine threat to the republic Benjamin Franklin said we have -- if we can keep it. Nor is a handgun on our person, intended solely for self defense, useful against multiple heavily armed ICE thugs.
We can only save our Constitutional democracy by organizing and participating in greater numbers in PEACEFUL protest, and perhaps getting in some GOOD TROUBLE of the kind John Louis and MLK did when they showed us the way with their sustained campaign of nonviolent resistance.
Many of them were beaten, and some killed. They were willing to sacrifice for a greater cause. How many more would have been killed if they brought weapons to do battle with police and armed forces?
More to the point, would a violent movement have moved the hearts and minds of the general public and their elected representatives sufficiently to pass historic civil rights and voting rights legislation?
I think not. Now we, like them, live in perilous times. The eyes of history are upon us, with much at stake. We grieve for those who sacrificed so much, as Renee Good and Alex Pretti did. Let us take that grief and turn it into courage, resolve, and the discipline to resist this fascist regime and to resist its attempts to provoke us into violence which can only hurt our cause and end in greater tragedy.
What were those mistakes, in terms of convincing Trump voters that Democrats better serve their interests?
IMO the biggest mistake was Biden deciding to run for a 2nd term, at the end of which he would be 86 years old. When he finally dropped out of the campaign after the disastrous June debate exposed his decline it was too late to hold a primary, so a candidate who was not nominated by the voters and had very little appeal to independents had a limited time to mount a successful campaign.
The Harris campaign was also hampered by the lose-lose situation in Gaza. Witholding US military support for Israel would have run afoul of the powerful AIPAC lobby, and given ammo to our political opponents who would have screamed antisemitism and siding with terrorists. Instead, large swaths of Muslim citizens voted for Trump and millions of young people refused to vote for Harris.
But I suspect those aren't the mistakes to which you refer, so I'd like to understand what you think were the biggest mistakes by the Democratic Party which led to Trump’s reelection.
I think one of them was Biden's perceived weakness (and by extension Kamala's) on our southern border. Building a wall would be stupid and ineffective, but they could have made a very public effort to beef up security in preventing illegal crossings. They also could have bolstered their law & order creds by providing more resources and fed cooperation with states and cities in taking down drug cartels & gangs.
But as for the anti-woke cultural war, what could or should the Democratic Party have done differently?
I will not support any candidate who advocates moving backwards on civil rights for People of Color and the LGBTQ community, or who would dismantle the wall between church and state. Or who backtracks on environmental protection and measures to avoid catastrophic climate change.
I think support for Trump and Republicans -- who do not serve the well being of their voters -- is to a large extent manufactured misperceptions by decades of false narratives in widespread rightwing media which is being further consolidated with billionaires purchasing multiple platforms.
I will not dispute that Democrats need more unified and better messaging, but we're up against a huge propaganda machine that keeps getting bigger.
We can certainly use a new charismatic national leader with even broader appeal than Barack Obama.
I'm interested in your thoughts on what the Democratic Party should do differently. I believe Trump is certainly handing us an opportunity, but we also need a positive message backed up with practical solutions in order to gain a lasting majority.
"militarized policing practices"
Are these militarized agents actually "policing" -- a term that carries the imprimatur of upholding and enforcing the law?
Their "practices" might accurately be called policing if they were apprehending and deporting undocumented immigrants with no legal status by utilizing judicial warrants and Constitutional due process.
In some cases they might have warrants, but they have been videotaped busting into people's cars and homes without first showing warrants, as required by law. They are also arresting and deporting without due process immigrants who have legal status, sometimes at scheduled court appearances in their lawful course to become citizens.
Beyond that, they are racially profiling people just going about their daily lives -- often brutalizing US citizens. From Trump to Noem and down the chain of command, part of their mission now is to intimidate and instill fear in American citizens engaged in their rights of free speech and protest in opposition to the cruel and illegal "practices" terrorizing their communities.
DHS and ICE have become a political arm and private army serving the interests of an utterly corrupt president using the powers of his office to enrich himself and his cronies while punishing political opponents and any organization which doesn't adequately bend its knee -- utilizing the Justice Dept and FBI headed by those he appointed to do his bidding.
In a larger sense, the "policing practices" most needed to safeguard the American people and the Constitutional rule of law upon which our freedom and prosperity depends would be to remove this lawless president by Constitutional means and bring indictments against those who have committed crimes in his behalf.
The "Shining City on a Hill" has never been fully achieved, but...
So many of us believed the United States of America would continue striving for that Shining City, building a "more perfect" Union.
Being a white male born in 1957, I grew up without realizing or acknowledging the opportunity and privilege I had that others did not -- especially those facing racial discrimination who were essentially being denied the American Dream.
Unlike many in my all-white neighborhood, my parents and elderly aunt who lived with us cared deeply about civil rights. I have a vivid memory of coming downstairs one April morning to find Aunt Kate weeping. She had turned on the news, and heard that Dr. King had been murdered. When I went to school that day, my "peers" were celebrating. Their parents had different views than mine.
America has always been subject to the ugly side of human nature -- ignorance, racism, tribalism, unfettered greed at the highest levels of capitalism, and an electoral system corrupted by monied interests.
I saw the promise of a young generation inspired to do what they can for their country squandered on the scorched earth of Vietnam. Then more assassinations, riots, nihilism, drugs, hedonism, selfishness.
But still, progress. Racial slurs and overt sexist remarks directed at women no longer tolerated in many spheres. LGBTQ rights, the first Black president.
The arc of the moral universe is long, but perhaps it steadily bends towards justice. Of course, dedication and persistence among women and men of good will are required to do the bending.
Abraham Lincoln, perhaps our greatest president, during a cataclysmic war tearing our nation apart, in dedicating a cemetery for the fallen, spoke of the last true measure of devotion which would bring new birth of freedom.
Americans once again are experiencing some very dark days, with no clear view of the light of a better future.
Nothing is guaranteed. Arc bending is required. That shining city still resides in many hearts. It is up to us and younger generations of Americans to build it.
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Chicagoland
Member since: 2002
Number of posts: 15,534