2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumI swear, I got it. I got the answer this week.
Got it, like a diamond in the forehead. No, that's Apocalypse Now, and that's a different story.
But here it is.
Basically, Democrats have been running scared since Ronnie Reagan. For all the horrible ideas and policies he had, he made such headway with that avuncular charm that he just almost was crowned a saint. And so to win things, folks like Bill Clinton came up with triangulation and "compromise" and trade deals and Telecommunications Act, and all that noxious sort of shit. Didn't really matter so much while the dot.com bubble kept the economy humming, but in retrospect we lost a lot in this particular bargain.
Then there was Monica Lewinsky, the horrible 2000 election, 9-11, George W. Bush. We've had our ups and downs, but mostly it's been a downward spiral, where we get closer to the Republicans and they get closer to, well, crazy.
Then in 2008 a marvelous thing happened, with the election of President Obama. Let's face it - contrary to these triangulating tactics, he ran a campaign that was highly Progressive in spirit - either absolutely overtly or at the very least implied. He seemed he could be counted on to be Progressive, and he won by A LOT.
Despite the fact that many Progressives, myself included, have been disappointed that he disbanded us as a loyal army afterwards and did a whole bunch of things that seemed less Progressive (including smaller but important things like appointing Debbie Wasserman Schultz!), his overwhelming election proved that the Progressive Spirit is strong in America today.
During the ups and downs of his presidency, we saw the appearance of Occupy Wall Street, which did pretty damn well, despite its radical demeanor.
And finally, witness the surprise of Bernie Sanders's campaign. Oh I know, some of you will jump up and says he's losing or has lost, and possibly or even probably the numbers will not play out, even though people like me work hard for him. But to not say he's been a success would be ridiculous. How do i know? His campaign has shown that we don't even need to be beholden to big business or big money, but can raise amazing sums all by ourselves! He has kept up with Hillary for this long and probably right up to the end, at the very least within a reasonable distance, and all this without her name recognition or establishment power and connections! And all this while promoting an unabashedly Progressive agenda and even calling himself a Democratic Socialist.
What does this prove? If you recall, even Ronald Reagan's movement was called "the Reagan Revolution". Ironic, isn't it? And my deep revelation this week is that the Reagan Revolution is officially dead! Declared dead by the people of the United States!!!! Even Trump's nomination is proof of this, ironically enough.
Therefore, it is now time for Progressive interests of all types to come out from hiding and band together. Get out of your deep freeze! Quit the Conservative kowtowing and get on your Progressive Revolution horse and ride!
What does this mean for the future? Well, what it means is that the Democratic Party has to seriously wake up and realize that these several things - Obama's 2008 success, Occupy Wall Street, Bernie's campaign, even Trump's nomination - all these signal that the Reagan Revolution is over! We need to run this year, not as we have in the recent past, but severely counter to what he stood for, back to a NEW NEW DEAL!!!!!
I say this no matter who ends up in charge or running this show.
So, get up on your integrity horse and your Progressive horse and ride. We can all do this together. And we need to let the party elders know that this time has come, and it's not like the old times, and they better get with the program and lead away.
Or, if they don't get the message, it will probably look more like 1968.
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w4rma
(31,700 posts)Or alien entities sent to destroy everything implemented from the New Deal.
highprincipleswork
(3,111 posts)Democratic Party.
We have cynics on both sides of this Democratic political divide, and we better find some faith if we want to keep our mojo humming.
I have prescribed a way to do that, able to be implemented by Democratic Party powers that be, no matter who is leading the way.
We can always self-destruct ourselves, anytime we want of course.
Chan790
(20,176 posts)There is no accord to be made, no bread broken, with the Clintons or their supporters. You're half right...the Reagan revolution is dead, but the Clinton wing of the Democratic party is still fighting to be its inheritor.
It's simple. Crush out Clintonism or follow them down the path where we become the slightly-less economically-conservative party when the public wants progressive economics. Not destroying Hillary's candidacy was the start of a long road that ends with us totally out of power for a long time as a result of not heeding the political winds.
highprincipleswork
(3,111 posts)This new revolution.
The NEW NEW DEAL and all that means.
NewImproved Deal
(534 posts)...in favor of some well-fed, vindictive Yuppies and their Identity Blocs. This Primary marks a pivotal struggle between the True Democrats and the New Democrats...
[link:
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highprincipleswork
(3,111 posts)brutal contest, where Progressive ideas have been the ones that have been winning, might show her and all party leaders the truth of what I'm saying above.
The Reagan Revolution really is over, and it's time to let our freak flag fly.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/clinton-offers-fresh-support-key-progressive-priorities
NewImproved Deal
(534 posts)Co-opting the rhetoric of Bernie's economic program for the Primary while planning on a hard snap right for the General Election.
Frankly, I've seen her record of glib betrayal and do not trust her...
highprincipleswork
(3,111 posts)and win too. I seriously think they've been convinced that the best way to win is Republican-lite, and I think they were brainwashed this way by the success of Ronald Reagan, which has carried on for years.
Even Trump's nomination breaks that spell!!! I'm not saying Trump isn't a disaster, but he's way far away from Ronald Reagan.
This is good news for us, if we only capitalize on it. And I don't think this is a historical fact that has sunk in just yet. Let's try to see that it doesn't sink in after the election!!!!
NewImproved Deal
(534 posts)
emsimon33
(3,128 posts)
Rhiannon12866
(206,676 posts)
pansypoo53219
(21,005 posts)highprincipleswork
(3,111 posts)Last edited Sun May 15, 2016, 05:56 AM - Edit history (1)
Get hip, and fight the forces of reactionary politics!
Waiting For Everyman
(9,385 posts)He has shown that to be what it is -- a cover story for payoffs. Those taking the big money WANT the payoffs, and want no change to the current system, hence touting "incrementalism" which is just a phony word for it. Now since Bernie's success, they are completely exposed, and many of them had been passing for on our side before. That's what those against him resent about him -- they're dirty as hell.
Completely agree with your post.
highprincipleswork
(3,111 posts)Waiting For Everyman
(9,385 posts)and it is plenty dark and ugly (especially after what we just saw in NV, following the same script in too many other places), this election has given me a lot of new hope. 1) I'm surprised at how many people support what Bernie stands for, and 2) the fact that the Millennials will be the future, and they seem to learn quickly and have good bullshit radar. And 3) we now know that we can fight big money and win.
I feel very good about Bernie's chances of winning this election, oddly enough, but I feel even more positive about the return of the New Deal 2.0 in the not to distant future as you noted. I guess it's like seeing light at the end of the tunnel, or seeing a away out. I see it now. That's really all I need to get in gear for it.
If it comes to another 1968-syle showdown, which I was part of then too, I'm ready for it. I'm 66, and I have very little left to lose after 4 decades of rip-offs, so I don't give a fuck. My people came here 400 years ago, not 5 minutes ago like too many of our so-called "leaders", and I'll be damned if I'll watch what they built and sacrificed so much for go down the toilet for the benefit of this handful of self-entitled globe-raping grifter-grafters.
There are lots of us of a like mind and demographic, which I'm glad to see here too.
The thing to know and keep in mind is, the PTB have the money which buys power, but we have the NUMBERS. A few cannot hold down the many unless the many allow it. All we have to do is stand up in a big way, and it's game over.
highprincipleswork
(3,111 posts)
stillwaiting
(3,795 posts)In order to win.
That FALSE meme has been bought by too many for too long.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)We had better move fast, because if we don't break their hold on power soon - as in months, not years - we may never be able to do so.
highprincipleswork
(3,111 posts)Revolution is now officially dead, and it is time for Democrats to create a new revolution in its stead. OK, you don't have to call it a revolution, like Bernie does. But the principle is the same.
Americans are hungry for a Progressive/Populist/Liberal NEW NEW DEAL right now! And we all ought to be the ones to give it to them!
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)highprincipleswork
(3,111 posts)and also think he would run much better against Donald Trump, I am more concerned that the Democratic Party realizes philosophically and strategically that this kowtowing to Ronald Reagan and those who worship him has to stop.
I would like Hillary to realize this and even Debbie Wasserman Schultz to realize this. We would all agree that the whole lot of them are ambitious, and I don't fully hold them at fault for that. I think they take it too far, for sure, but I would like to see that ambition and desire to succeed harnessed to the strategy and philosophy of a NEW NEW DEAL.
if they can just be helped to see that the time is ripe for that and that it is in their own best interest, perhaps all the powers that be will coalesce in that direction.
That would largely solve our problems here at D.U., that would largely solve our problems as a Party, and that would, IMHO, be a surefire winner in the Fall, all up and down the board.
History predicts it, and to this kind of end i completely love History.
(By the way, think the book is very good, from hearing Thomas Frank talk)
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)and that's understandable. However, she is so thoroughly in bed with neocons and neoliberals, is so beholden to the 1%, which she is a part of, that I see no hope whatsoever that she'd have anything to do with a New New Deal. Which we sorely need.
Clinton, Wasserman Schultz, Obama, and everyone else at the top of the Democratic Party leadership are completely out of touch with the average person in this country.
Trump does touch a cord with a lot of people. While his economic and foreign policy plans are horrifying, it's his bigotry, sexism, and racism that appeal to so many people. If Elizabeth Warren were running, I'd have all the confidence in the world she could and would stand up to him. She's already done so.
But Hillary probably thinks all she'll need to do is tell him to knock it off when he attacks her on her looks, or her less than bikini-ready body. After all, that's what she told Wall Street back before the 2008 crash, and it was totally effective, right? Well, we all know it wasn't, and somehow she thinks that what she said back then was sufficient, doesn't seem to have a clue how much that crash hurt so many people.
Democrats, from Obama on down did not push hard enough for the kind of deficit spending that is needed in a fiscal crisis like that one, and we're still reeling from it. Meanwhile, the big banks are bigger. Hedge fund operators (Chelsea Clinton's husband anyone?) still take home multi-millions of dollars while their clients lose everything. We didn't jail a single banker. It goes on and on.
I wish everyone in this country, not just those here on DU, would read Frank's book.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)The Clintons lead and represent a morally bankrupt systemic corruption that may be too ingrained to change.
Ferd Berfel
(3,687 posts)If the Clinton's and the DLC, Third Way Corporatist M$M Cabal pull this off, There will be no need or reason for them to change this kind of behavior. They are looking to win, regardless of the aftermath - they think that can FIX anything.
Next time the Bogyman will be even worse, to make sure you think they are handing you an alternative that is not as evil, but will still push the nation to a corporatocracy.... but just not as fast as the Fascist Party would. They will be pragmatic and do it in increments, so you don't notice as Bill did and Obama has been doing (Yes Obama - Putting Social Security on the Chopping block, TPP- the end of government control of Corporations and the latest, attempting to minimize and sweep under the rug the horror in FLint by taking a sip of water - then probably quietly taking Chelation therapy on the plane back to DC.)
Democracy is in trouble, We are in trouble
PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)I would suggest making plans to leave the country and donate to causes that you support from outside US borders.
This place is going to hell.
djean111
(14,255 posts)gift with her idea of "freedom". A look at natural resources, perhaps.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)He ran pretty much as he governed: a left-leaning centrist.
GreatGazoo
(3,937 posts)(especially for 4am )
BadGimp
(4,023 posts)I admire your spirit and focus.
My gravest concern going forward is that Big Money which has long since captured the GOP, now is within striking distance of completing its total take over the Democratic Party.
There may not be a Democratic Party left that will do much more than feign outrage at the final take down of our Democracy.
My fear is that something more radical will be required to affect real change within our Government, to the extent that it can even be changed for the betterment of the people.
EndElectoral
(4,213 posts)The fact that HRC is still the presumptive nominee for the Democratic primary shows me Reagan's revolution is far from over...unfortunately. We've a long long way to go.
highprincipleswork
(3,111 posts)and we should try to help them learn/see, and if they don't, there are going to be major repercussions. I think they will lose many elections that way, because I believe the tides of history have definitely turned. if in doubt, check the signs and symptoms again in the original post. They are convincing, IMO, and worth repeating as often as it takes for the Dem leadership to get the proper idea. They are barking up an old, dead, decaying tree.
Lodestar
(2,388 posts)although that is certainly a factor,
WE THE PEOPLE need to think about, study, share and organize independently
to deal with the current corporate model that puts profits over people, the planet, etc.
How are WE going to take them on?
