“New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wrote a piece for The Huffington Post this morning arguing that the reason Democratic candidates lost in the midterm elections was that they lacked any backbone and did not stand for progressive principles.
De Blasio argues that the American people very much agree with Democratic policies and the reason so many candidates lost is because they “lost sight of those core principles — opting instead to clip their progressive wings in deference to a conventional wisdom that says bold ideas aren’t politically practical.”
And in redder states, De Blasio says candidates never talked about issues like progressive taxation or expanding health benefits, so it’s not certain that they were rejected because voters disagree with those particular policies.”* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.
*Read more here:
http://www.mediaite.com/online/de-blasio-dems-lost-because-they-ran-away-from-progressive-principles/
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The Donkey in Rehab
(TRANSCRIPT OF THERAPY SESSION NUMBER 3)
First one’s always free. As universal a rule as you’re going to find.
That’s what they say.
When did you start? Was the first taste so attractive? So irresistible?
You don’t get it. It was always this way. Somebody makes a donation. You do them a favor. And if somebody owned you, well, that’s the way it is.
So, you think being bought is a good thing?
Listen, it’s like anything else. It’s like drinking. A couple of cocktails now and then. Nobody cares. Some people can drink like fish and not stumble. Others, a few belts and they’re butt naked in the middle of the street trying to hail a cab.
So which one are you?
That’s why we’re here. We all thought we could take donations from corporations and not be overly beholden to them. Things got out of control.
What do you mean by that?
Money is the obvious problem. But it’s the operatives too. Eventually the money came with consultants who said they were for the people, but they were for the corporations. It’s the revolving door. Soon enough their culture permeated the party. And their ideas started to take over. Instead of talking about guaranteed minimum income, we were talking about minimum wage. Crap like that. Instead of Medicare for all, we’re selling more private insurance policies. Biggest money maker since the printing press. And all these Democrats who say they’re for the people are doing the donor’s bidding.
How’s that?
They sold the big lie. What with media advisors and all the other idiots who come with the big bucks, they sold us on the idea we needed to fight money with money. Had to keep the conglomerate donations coming in so we could buy the ads broadcast on outlets owned by the major corporations themselves. It was a daily fix. An hourly fix. We were like hamsters on the wheel. Shooting up the cash all the time. Thought we could buy a win over the Republicans. Instead of beating them, we became them.
“We have met the enemy, and he is us.”
Exactly. What type of idiots were we? Thinking we could defeat big corporate money using their weapons? They tossed us scraps and idiots wearing two thousand dollar suits and suddenly, we’re all dressed up looking like children at take your kid to work day. Laughable. Supposedly a party of the people, but looking, sounding, and acting like an extremely pale reflection of corrupt Republicans. Such a shame.
What do you intend to do about it?
Coming here was the first step. We have to cut all ties with the corporations. Donations, consultants, private planes, everything. The way it is now, even if we win we lose. They have their hooks in us so deep. We say we represent the citizens but we take money and orders from corporations. Nobody in this party is supposed to think corporations are citizens.
Then what.
Then we take the Republicans’ biggest strength, their money, and use it against them. We say we’re the party of human beings and they’re the party of lethal conglomerates. We’re the party of American citizens and they’re the party of Swiss bankers and international cartels.
You think that will work?
What we’re doing now sure as hell isn’t. We’ll never has as much money as them. They want us to fight with them using their favorite weapon. Money. Screw that. Let all their cash burn a hole in their pockets. Set their whole house on fire. Make money an albatross we can hang around their neck. Give the people a choice for a change. Instead of liberal corporate party versus conservative corporate party, make it a choice of life over death. People versus killer corporate machines. It might work.
Good. You’re showing some progress. Tomorrow then?
Yeah, tomorrow. All these ideas sound good in rehab. It’s when we get out into the real world the fight begins.
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Peter Breschard
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http://www.amazon.com/Wonderful-Christmas-Gift-occasional-writings/dp/1503004619/ref=asap_B006OCCI4Y_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416420311&sr=1-1