2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumDespite what you’ve heard, Democrats aren’t in disarray. Their party is under attack from the outsid
Perhaps it was inevitable that one way or another wed get a spate of Dems in Disarray! headlines as the Democratic National Convention begins, since for a long time that has been the default story many reporters write about the Democratic Party. And there is a story to be told about conflict in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, its not the one that everyone seems to be telling. The Democratic Party isnt being torn apart from the inside; its being attacked from the outside.
As you may have heard, there already seem to be many more protests from the left around the Democratic convention than there were around the Republican convention. If it seems strange to you that leftists would be protesting not the candidate who wants to deport 11 million people, ban Muslims from entering the country and roll back civil rights gains for gay Americans, but the candidate who wants to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, expand Social Security and enact universal child care, well, that would only mean that youre unfamiliar with leftist politics. For a certain kind of activist on the left, the real enemy is never the right; its always the liberals who are insufficiently committed to their brand of revolution.
And this is whats important to understand about the protests now going on: They arent Democrats fighting with Democrats. I wasnt able to go to Philadelphia this week, so Id encourage the reporters who are there and are covering the anti-Clinton protests to ask those participating a simple question: Do you consider yourself a Democrat? Because Im fairly certain that theyll find almost no one who says yes. This is even true of some of the people who are Bernie Sanders delegates; they got involved in the Sanders campaign, but they werent Democrats before this election began and they wont be after its over. Weve seen this at the highest levels: Consider that Sanders appointed Cornel West to the Democrats platform committee, and after helping decide what the party stands for, West promptly turned around and endorsed Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
Just to be clear, none of that invalidates the substance of the critiques the protesters are making; those can be evaluated on their own terms. Nor does it mean that the fact of the protest itself isnt newsworthy. What it does mean, however, is that its a fundamentally different story from Dems in Disarray!
Continues: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/07/25/despite-what-youve-heard-democrats-arent-in-disarray-their-party-is-under-attack-from-the-outside/
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)GreenPartyVoter
(72,388 posts)DinahMoeHum
(21,844 posts)These people have this disease in spades:
For a certain kind of activist on the left, the real enemy is never the right; its always the liberals who are insufficiently committed to their brand of revolution.
Thanks.
NorthCarolina
(11,197 posts)That tells me a lot about you.
DinahMoeHum
(21,844 posts)Demsrule86
(68,872 posts)Last edited Tue Jul 26, 2016, 09:53 AM - Edit history (1)
I have seen posters state they will drop out of the Dem party assuming they were actually Dems to begin with on JPR. Many have said at the same website they will vote for Jill Stein others want Trump yes Trump to win. I know you could not be progressive,liberal or sane and want Trump.
Cary
(11,746 posts)Demsrule86
(68,872 posts)hollowdweller
(4,229 posts)By the rich and business interests.
The people are trying to take it back though.