Grumpy Blue Dogs

I’ve gotten into arguments with plenty of right-wingers on Facebook, etc., but sometimes I piss off the other side too, especially when it comes to Hillary Clinton. In the last couple of months I had someone on Twitter and someone on Facebook block me because I wasn’t really with her.

The first time was when some lady on Twitter complained about Bernie Sanders’s ideas. And my response was: At least he has ideas. What great ideas did HRC have—except those she pilfered from Bernie? And this lady was like: she has ideas! Tons of ideas! Like what? Go to her website and find out, I don’t have to tell you! Which to me seems pretty funny. I mean, if you can’t name one idea she had then that’s kind of a problem. And then she blocks me, still without providing one idea HRC originated.

And then a month or so someone on Facebook posted a link to an article about HRC coming out of the New York woods to make a big speech and I made a snide remark about her Wall Street speeches. And then it was on! You’re the reason HRC lost! (I voted for her in the general election.) So on and so forth. Then finally: We’re not friends! Go away! And then finally blocking me.

The disturbing part of this second encounter was the attitude of if you’re a progressive who wasn’t on Team HRC, you should just shut up and vote for whoever The Party tells you to vote for. Which it’s like, that’s Republican thinking. Democrats aren’t supposed to be authoritarian; we’re supposed to be inclusive.

As long as you have this core of “moderate” corporate Democrats with an attitude of shut up and do whatever we tell you, it’s going to be hard to bring the farther left Bernie faithful into the mix. Those people don’t want to be told “This is fine” or “let’s just try to inch forward a little;” they want real change. And so do disgruntled “independent” voters in states like Michigan; they wanted real change so badly they voted for a lying, pussy-grabbing “billionaire” who made a bunch of crazy promises he had no intention of going through with. While it would be nice if these people woke up and realized that the Republican Party cares only about making rich people richer (see their “health care” bill that was just an excuse for a big tax to the rich), you can’t realistically expect people to stop believing what they want to hear. Had the corporate Democrats actually listened to Bernie supporters instead of just trying to suppress them or make half-assed attempts to placate them, HRC might be in the White House right now.

It wasn’t a good sign when they pushed through another corporate Democrat as DNC chair and then demanded everyone working for the DNC tender a resignation. It’s just more authoritarian bullshit. Cleaning house like that is something dictators do.

I’m still not sure if the corporate Democrats have really learned their lesson. They seem to think the problem was not campaigning hard enough. The real problem is you tried to water down Bernie’s platform and make the face of it someone few people trusted to actually try to enact that platform. So in 2020 if you try to run another corporate Democrat (like, say Cory Booker who has ties to Big Pharma) and think you can just demand the allegiance of Bernie supporters, it’s going to be hard to unseat…whoever will be president by then.

Last month there was a third one, though it wasn't exactly because of Hillary.  After US ships bombed a Syrian airbase, this one corporate Democrat was whining about progressives who weren't rolling over to heap praise on Trump.  "You guys are like the Tea Party after the bin Laden raid!"  It's like, hold on man, the Tea Party were just a bunch of racists; progressives complaining the Syria attack was a smokescreen could point to that the FBI was investigating Trump's Russia ties.  So it's not just some tinfoil hat conspiracy.  He tried to big stuff me by saying he works in Washington, so he knows way more than peons like me.  If people like him are in charge, it's no wonder Democrats lost.  His response was, Well Hillary said we should bomb Syria too, so checkmate!  Which really didn't make a lot of sense.  Just because Hillary thought the same thing doesn't have any affect on the Trump administration's thinking.  Also, Hillary thought Iraq was a good idea, so not exactly the best judgment.  Then of course he blocked me. 
 
The moral is that corporate Democrats can't stand being challenged by those who don't share their wishy-washy views.  So when they can't shout you down or roll over you, they just ignore you, which is ultimately self-defeating.  HRC’s slogan was “Stronger Together” and that’s true; we just need all progressives to actually put that into practice.

This Rolling Stone article on the book Shattered, an analysis of HRC's failed campaign, backs up some of what I've been thinking.  Because she had no ideas or vision, her campaign was completely stymied on coming up with a reason why she was running. In addition, she and Bill had gone through to pick out "disloyal" Democrats and in some cases even try to make sure they were voted out. That's not exactly "Stronger Together" is it?  More like "My Way or the Highway."  And that's unfortunately the attitude of too many corporate Democrats yet.  Instead of listening to progressives, they hope to just ram their watered-down Republican agenda down people's throats.  As long as they stay out of touch, it's going to be a long road back to the top.