Recently, several brushfires have flared in the Kos community around various flashpoints. The progressive/centrist dialectic seems to lie at or near the center of them all. I'd like to entreat everyone for amity and shared action, disregarding purity and absolute unity of purpose (for reason that they are, and should be, unattainable).
Democrats are supposed to be the big-tent party. They're also supposed to - at least theoretically - represent progressive and populist causes (don't start ranting on this, hear me out - please). This is an openly, avowedly Democrat-supporting website, yet - rightly - its community is far from a unified whole.
What worries me is the recent trend of conflict between the community's left - whom I would name progressives, though that may be too broad a brush - and its relative center, who might be called "everyone else," though that too is overly broad and seems to paint progressives into a corner. It serves nothing to call out specific comments and members (also, I believe, it's counter to site rules), plus it would make people defensive. I'm talking far less about any single specific instance or set of such; more about a prevailing wind. The feel is clearly beyond disunity and into the realm of exclusion, even fruit-throwing.
Folks, that is a Bad Thing.
Let's be realistic. We will never all agree. Never. Not on major issues; not on minor points. An informed electorate - hell, an informed population - is a wilderland of unique viewpoints, regardless of trends. Opinions are intrinsically idiopathic. If you get granular enough, people disagree - even twins, about some things.
Some among the community's progressives are dedicated enough in their views to consider withholding their votes if the progressive candidate they fought for doesn't get the nomination.
Some among the rest of the community are sufficiently hostile (sorry for the sharp-edged word, but it's accurate) to the aforestated position that they're willing to tell progressives: "If you're not going to help, get out."
Anybody remember Mutually Assured Destruction?
We can't afford to do this.
I know I repeat myself. Forgive me. It needs underlining.
Let me be as clear as I can. I do not object to criticism of the Democratic party from its left; nor should anyone here. At least, not so long as that criticism is constructive rather than destructive. Complaints about income inequality, triangulation, the "security" state and so forth are meritorious and very worthy of discussion. But there's the key word - discussion. Discussion isn't tossing epithets at each other, nor saying, "Fine, if you won't help, leave."
Because if we do that, then some people - excuse me, potential allies, whom we desperately need - will leave.
And that's not just shooting one's self in the foot. It's sticking a sword into one's own gut. All in the name of pride.
Know what that leads to?
Electoral losses in 2014.
Know what that leads to?
More SCOTUS decisions in the vein of Citizens United, Hobby Lobby, and so forth. More state/local level christian revision of our Constitution in favor of religious privilege ("freedom" is absolutely not the appropriate word) for so-called Christians.
More of the absolute worst budget cuts inflicted on the wrong people. More of the least-needed tax breaks given to the wrong people. More comforting the (obscenely) comfortable. More afflicting the (outrageously) afflicted - and vilifying them, can't forget that.
Anyone really want to go there?
Anyone? Really?
I don't.
I am going to call myself out in this diary - a couple of comments I've recently made summate this position reasonably well, and I think quoting them will work out better than trying to simply rehash and repackage.
I don't want to kick you out. I don't want you to leave.
I'm asking for your help. You personally, {username redacted}, but also others who share your bent. I respect progressive objections to the current Democratic party; I agree with some of them. I'm saying things won't get better if Republicans keep getting elected. We can't move to the left without everyone kicking in.
Both parties ARE beholden to the Bigs. Oil, Pharma, Ag, the works. It sucks. But I don't think anyone can change it by bowing out of the voting race and allowing the worst of the worst to further their excesses. I don't want to live in the United States of Kochmerica.
Yes, let's fight for and promote progressives like Elizabeth Warren. Yes, let's do our best to keep a 50-state ground game going, and fuck the DNC if they don't support a candidate in a bad-numbers state. Yes, let's put our views on the table, good and bad, and discuss them. Even if we get passionate and occasionally piss each other off, let's talk. But when it counts, let's vote.
It stinks beyond words that our current election system is absolutely rigged in favor of the two main parties. If we let the Big Money interests keep winning, that will never change. It might not seem like there's a lot of daylight between Dems and Big Money, but some is more than none. And, sad as it is, "none" is the precise amount of traction a non-prime party can gain in national races right now. That also makes the point that we have to keep the fight local, but bear in mind that D/R is a very ingrained dialectic in American culture. Changing it will take time.
We can make small good things happen, or we can let NO good things happen. I'll take small over none.
Please help.
Fight for strength, then change. Crying about how awesome a progressively-run America would be is shit-useless when you have little to no effective presence in any of the three branches of government.
The American middle is not ideologically aligned with either party. DiesIrae wrote a great diary about this, which I do not currently have time to find and link. Search his diaries if you'd like to read it (you should). Note - it's linked below, along with another important one.
The current crop of Dems to choose from, at most levels, has a lot of stinkers and a few gems. That sucks. There's a way to change it.
First, fight like hell for progressive candidates in primaries. Ideally the progressive candidate gets elected and the narrative may become happier at this point. But if not: Second, when a candidate is elected, if you don't like that candidate, deal with it and vote for them anyway. Third, if the candidate you didn't like is in office, work to move them to the left. Use every avenue of communication you can. And fourth, when primaries come around again, keep fighting for progressives. Fifth, corollary, support sitting progressives (Warren, Sanders, &c) every way you can.
It would be awesome to have a progressive Democratic party. Truly, wonderfully awesome. We do not have that.
The question is, are we going to cry in our beer and hold some drum circles or do something useful. Taking political action is useful. Choosing to take no action to make a statement is destructive.
Republicans and conservatives have spent the last few decades demonstrating the monstrous effectiveness of a unified front. Until Democrats start learning the same lessons, we won't get the results we need to start germinating real change.
Please note that the second quote is more a call for action than for discussion. That's the other half of my plea and argument. I'd like to try and frame the issue in a compelling way, but honestly, DiesIrae said it better than I think I could. So, with deep respect to DiesIrae, please read these two diaries of his, especially the second. They're both much shorter than this one, and their message is utterly vital.
The Real Silent Majority
Reality Check: Voting Matters
I know this is too long, but I hope some of it is sinking in. This is what I'm trying to say, folks:
We cannot eat our own.
We need every voice at the table.
We need every hand at the voting lever.
Progressives: You're not going to get all the candidates you want. It sucks, but it's reality. We - and by "we" I mean this entire country - still need your voices and your votes. We absolutely do need more progressive officials in office. We absolutely do have a way to get there. That way, at least in the short term, is working with the imperfect tools we have.
Centrists/Dem supporters: You're not going to get unity at the table. It's impossible. There's too much diversity of thought and opinion here, and in the nation as a whole. Accept it. By diminishing the number of people willing to vote Democratic, we gain nothing and lose far too much.
All: I know the tone of this diary sounds both didactic and rambling. I'm genuinely sorry for that, and that I can't find better language to communicate this (for the rambling I plead that this was written in bursts, and without an outline). Please believe that my tone here is born of passion and heartfelt belief that comity is necessary and vital. Not from any perception that I'm better than anyone else. Certainly not from any desire to widen a dangerous rift.
We can work together. We should work together. We need each other. And a whole lot of people who don't come to this website, who've probably never heard of it, need our unified action, too.
We can do this. Please help.