Welcome once again to a $27-group / Political Revolution open thread — a weekly place where you can sit back, relax, and enjoy some inspiring quotes, good music, and (most importantly) a picture or two of Noble Fur.
As usual I’m short on time and running late, so once again no crypto-quotes among tonight’s quotes. They’ll return some day, though — possibly even before the next presidential election. But for now, let’s get to some of tonight’s quotes.
Great leaders don’t set out to be a leader. They set out to make a difference.
~ author unknown
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Dreamers aren’t bargaining chips. They aren’t pawns in @realDonaldTrump’s game. We made a promise. We said come out of the shadows & be fully woven into the fabric of America because that’s who you are. In America, we work hard & dream big & we must keep our promise to Dreamers.
~ Elizabeth Warren
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I'm not sure why President Trump wants to shut down the government over an $18 billion wall that no one wants, isn't needed and Mexico won't pay for. What the American people want, overwhelmingly, is to provide legal protection and a path toward citizenship for 800,000 Dreamers.
~ Bernie Sanders
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When history looks back on this period, I do not want people to see a U.S. Congress which worked overtime to protect billionaires and large corporations but turned its back on providing health care to vulnerable children.
~ Bernie Sanders
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Here’s a tweet with a really good video:
Mr. Trump, listen to these Patriotic Millionaires who want their taxes raised, not cut. pic.twitter.com/heoPX7VWkV
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 4, 2018
NOTE: AAARGH!!! That was supposed to post as a tweet with a video included, but I apparently don’t know how to do that because the video isn’t posting as part of it. So please click the link in the tweet and the video should come up that way. It’s 4 ½ minutes long, the title is “These Millionaires Want to be Taxed More”, and it’s a good spirit-lifter as we start the new year.
(And if anyone can tell me how to post videos which are embedded in tweets, I’d be grateful for the information. Thanks!)
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There are some very good candidates running this year, in special elections and in the November general election. I especially recommend people read the diaries posted here by Gayle Jordan, who is running for a seat in the Tennessee state senate. That election will be held March 13th. I quoted her last week, but this short excerpt from that quote bears repeating:
Education of our future generations should be one of those things that transcends politics. Investing in our community’s children is perhaps the best investment we can make.
~ Gayle Jordan
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Here’s a quote about another very good candidate who’s running this year:
Ben Jealous' priority in 2018 is to flip the Maryland governor's mansion from Republican control back to the people, and he is going to do it by running a campaign committed to these fundamental values:
- Medicare for All
- Negotiated drug prices
- $15 minimum wage
- Ending student debt and implementing universal pre-K
- Setting a deadline to attain 100% clean, renewable energy
- Ending the school-to-prison pipeline and addressing the opioid crisis
This race is one of our best opportunities to elect a progressive champion to a governor's seat in 2018. Ben is a coalition builder who served as the youngest NAACP President in history. He has led campaigns for marriage equality, immigrant rights, voting rights, the environment, abolishing the death penalty, and getting big money out of politics in Maryland. Just this week he stood up for Maryland children when many were forced to go to schools without heat.
Ben understands that when one person suffers, we all suffer. From working as a student organizer for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to reporting for the Jackson Advocate, Mississippi's oldest historically black newspaper, to exposing corruption at a state prison and fighting to keep the doors open at black colleges, Ben's commitment to justice and opportunity for all has a long track record. It is the synthesis of the values Our Revolution looks for in candidates for office.
~ Nina Turner
You can learn more about Ben Jealous and his stands on the issues at his campaign website (plus there’s a link for contributing to his campaign if you’re moved to do so).
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Another very good candidate this year is Stacey Abrams, who’s running for governor of Georgia.
Today, I am proud to launch my third policy proposal, the Georgia Economic Mobility Plan to help low & middle income families prosper, lift families from poverty, reduce income inequality, and ensure a fair & inclusive economy for all Georgians.
~ Stacey Abrams
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Lastly for tonight’s quotes, here’s a really long one:
During my campaign for president in 2016 I stated over and over again that the future of our country was dependent upon our willingness to make a political revolution. I stressed that real change never occurs from the top on down. It always happens from the bottom on up. No real change in American history, not the labor movement, the civil rights movement, the women's movement, the gay rights movement, the environmental movement or any other movement has ever had success without grassroots activism, without millions of people engaged in the struggle for justice.
That's what I said when I ran for president. That's what I believe now and that's what millions of us have been working to accomplish over the last several years. At a time of massive and growing income and wealth inequality, when our nation moves closer and closer to an oligarchic form of society, we are working hard and effectively to create an unprecedented grassroots political movement to defeat the greed of the billionaire class and the politicians they own.
And the good news is that we're making progress. In state after state ordinary Americans are successfully taking on establishment politicians who are more concerned about protecting their wealthy campaign contributors than the needs of the middle class or working people they are supposed to represent.
In 2017 we made progress when millions of people, in every state in the country, took to the streets for the Women's March in opposition to Trump's reactionary agenda. We made progress when an unprecedented grassroots movement elected a young African-American as mayor of Birmingham, Alabama. We made progress when tens of thousands of Americans turned out in rallies and town meetings to successfully oppose the Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and we're making progress when more and more Americans are joining the fight for a Medicare-for-all, single-payer program.
We're making progress when governors and local officials in every part of the country announce, in response to student demands, tuition-free public colleges and universities. We're making progress when states and communities from coast to coast adopt legislation which provides a minimum wage of $15 an hour.
We're making progress when, on Election Day, Nov. 7, 2017, in local and state elections all across the country, Trumpism suffered a major defeat as hundreds of progressive first time candidates from every conceivable background ran for school board, city council, state legislature and other local offices - and many of them won.
We're making progress when, on Dec. 10, 2017, a strong Democrat was elected to the U.S. Senate from Alabama, one of the most conservative states in the country.
The truth is that the American people are far more united than the media allows us to believe. They get it. They know that over the last 40 years, despite a huge increase in worker productivity, the middle class has continued to shrink while the very rich have become much richer. They know that, for the first time in the modern history of the United States, our kids will likely have a lower standard of living than their parents.
Our job, in 2018 and beyond, for the sake of our kids and grandchildren, is to bring our people together around a progressive agenda.
Are the people of our country deeply concerned about the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality that we are experiencing? You bet they are. Do they believe that our campaign finance system is corrupt and enables the rich to buy elections? By overwhelming numbers.
Do they want to raise the minimum wage to a living wage and provide pay equity for women workers? Yes they do. Do they think the very rich and large corporations should pay more in taxes so that all of our kids can have free tuition at public colleges and universities? Yup. Do they believe that the United States should join every other major country and guarantee health care as a right? Yes, again. Do they believe climate change is real? You've got to be kidding. Are they tired of the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, having a crumbling infrastructure with roads, bridges, water systems, wastewater plants, airports, rail, levees and dams falling apart? Who isn't?
Further, a majority of the American people want comprehensive immigration reform and a criminal justice system that is based on justice, not racism or mass incarceration.
Today, what the American people want is not what they are getting. In fact, under Republican leadership in the House, Senate and White House, they are getting exactly the opposite of what they want.
The American people want a government which represents all of us. Instead, they are getting a government which represents the interests and extremist ideology of wealthy campaign contributors. They want environmental policies which combat climate change and pollution, and which will allow our kids to live in a healthy and habitable planet. Instead, they are getting executive orders and legislation which pushes more fossil fuel production, more greenhouse gas emissions and more pollution. They want a nation in which all people are treated with dignity and respect, and where we continue our decades long struggle to end discrimination based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or nation of origin. Instead, they have a president who seeks to win political support appealing to those very prejudices.
Maintaining a vibrant democracy based on principles of justice has never been easy. In these dangerous and unprecedented times, it may be more difficult than ever.
As a result of the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, billionaires are now able to spend hundreds of millions in ugly TV ads demonizing candidates who dare to stand up to them. Republican governors and legislatures are working to suppress the vote, making it harder for people of color, poor people and young people to vote. Republican state legislatures have created incredibly gerrymandered districts which unfairly protect Republican candidates.
Yes, I know. These are painful and frightening times. Many friends have told me that they have given up reading the papers or watching TV. But let us be clear. Despair is not an option. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not anytime. That is exactly what our enemies want. Also, please never forget that the struggle we are engaged in is not just for us. It is for our kids and grandchildren. It is for the future of the planet.
So here is a New Year's resolution I hope you will share with me. In 2018 we will not only intensify the struggle against Trumpism, we will increase our efforts to spread the progressive vision in every corner of the land. Yes. We will create a vibrant democracy where the voices of all people are heard. Yes. We will create a nation which leads the world in the struggle for peace, and for economic, social, racial and environmental justice.
~ Bernie Sanders
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