Dear Young Dems, re Nancy Pelosi (Wonkette)

[orangecrush]

L. Ron Pony
an hour ago
Dear young Dems:
Sit down, shut up, and listen. I know you're eager. I know you're hungry. Some of you probably have some vague idea how gummint works. But if you go into Congress thinking you can handle it on your own they are gonna EAT you. You're up against people who will lie, cheat and steal even when they are being watched, and they will rip you to bits and dance on your ashes. Unless you throw your support behind someone who knows what they're doing, and listen to what they say.
Yes, Ms Pelosi is aged. You know what that means? She is EXPERIENCED. She was making the GOP piss their Depends before half of you were BORN. They are scared SPITLESS that she'll be Speaker in January. Ask yourselves why.
You're the new kids in the neighbourhood. Before you start doing everything the neighbourhood bullies tell you to do, have a little chat with the old lady on the corner with the shotgun in her lap, the one whose house the bullies detour around. I'll bet she has a few stories to tell, and some useful advice.
And get off my lawn.



https://www.wonkette.com/hot-take-seth-moulton-and-his-white-friends-should-go-f-ck-themselves

[Cha]

1. Seth Moulton is the really

not smart one.. it seems like his District is For Nancy but he's still trying to make a Lying case against her.

[orangecrush]

5. I had a woman like Nancy as a mentor once.

Highly educated, tough as nails Democrat, old school.

And yes, the "bullies did a detour around her house." (For good reason - she had more connections than an old Bell Telephone switchboard - like the one she once operated at City Hall.)

She passed at 92, I was a pallbearer.

[NastyRiffraff]

2. Bravo!

I love Wonkette even more now.

[orangecrush]

3. I ADORE Wonkette (and D.U., of course!)

[Tarheel_Dem]

4. K&R!

[orangecrush]

6. ...

[GWC58]

7. Exactly my sentiments!

Why wouldn’t we want the current Minority leader as the incoming Speaker? Newbies need to think “long & hard” about their antics. And don’t listen to the 14 Blue Dog men and two Blue Dog women. Hey, just my opinion for what it’s worth. 🤔

[orangecrush]

10. Your opinion

is shared by this Democrat.

[GWC58]

18. Thank You

orangecrush. Now let’s “crushorange45!” ☠️👿

[orangecrush]

20. ...

[TheBlackAdder]

11. My Avatar & Tag Line are free to be borrowed, if folks want to use them.

[orangecrush]

16. Thanks!

[NastyRiffraff]

8. Here's a heads-up for AOC people:

Speaking of unnecessary fights, for all the media idiots and Republican operatives who want to put Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a ring together and say "Let's you and her fight," it's not working. Ocasio-Cortez -- not an idiot -- said last night on the MSNBC Chris Hayes TV program that as far as she can see, Nancy Pelosi is the most progressive candidate in the running. And she's right! Nancy Pelosi is progressive as fuck. Ocasio-Cortez added that if anything, the group trying to push Pelosi out is advocating for leadership that is "more conservative." (Since AOC is the one saying it, and not your Editrix, it's possible people will even listen!)

(bold is mine)

[orangecrush]

12. Thanks for the great post!

[Bfd]

9. K n R & Thanks!

[orangecrush]

14. Most welcome!

Wish I had written this, it was too damn good not to share.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. AbSoFuckingLootely PERFECT. The old lady on the corner. DAMNED FUCKING STRAIGHT!!

[orangecrush]

15. The bullies

Steer clear of Nancy!

[33taw]

17. While I agree with your statements, I think there are less condescending ways of making your point.

[orangecrush]

53. It's hyperbole.

[33taw]

58. That was obvious. I still thought it was condescending.

[Achilleaze]

19. Have a seat, kids. Granny's got a story she'd like to tell you

It's about a morally bankrupt republican party, and the draft-dodging, casino hustler they chose as their spiritual leader, and who they inflicted upon our troops as their "commander"

[orangecrush]

21. Awesome!

[brush]

22. Now that's what I'm talking about. Woohoo!

[Just a Weirdo]

23. I've considered Wonkette fringe

[orangecrush]

64. But...

Your username!

[erlewyne]

24. A few years back Nancy pissed me off (I have always liked her).

We had a shot at impeaching Bush but Nancy said no.
we did not have enough votes. I knew she was right.
But I was still whining ... smart women are condescending.

[mahannah]

25. Do not smack down the "new kids". They are our future.

[dhol82]

31. Indeed they are. Why do you begrudge their learning something?

[mahannah]

38. "Learning something"?

[dhol82]

39. Yeah, like how government works

Or do you think it’s all rainbows and unicorns?

[TCJ70]

26. Nothing like a little condescending bullshit to win people over...

...

[Bernardo de La Paz]

33. Actually, not trying to win young Dems over so much as get them to see the light

Personally, I would just cut out the "Sit down, shut up, and listen" part. That is condescending, yes. (Wonkette lost some there.)

But the rest of it is telling it straight, like it is. Sometimes you just need intelligent people to see the big picture. They can figure it out themselves from that point.

Young Democrats are intelligent people.

[BlueJac]

27. New kids on the block...

see how the whole thing works, and learn from experience. This is uncharted territory. I like the eagerness.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

35. Yes, the eagerness of young Democrats is a wonderful thing. See this book:

Let's embrace our younger Democrats and teach them and let them teach us!

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few."

That is the first sentence of the book. Beginners are great people. Suzuki had enormous respect for the eagerness of Americans.

"Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki. Still in print almost 50 years after first publication.

On May 23, 1959 Shunryu Suzuki arrived in San Francisco to attend to Soko-ji, at that time the sole Soto Zen temple in San Francisco. He was 55.[4] Suzuki took over for the interim priest, Wako Kazumitsu Kato. Suzuki was taken aback by the Americanized and watered-down Buddhism practiced at the temple, mostly by older immigrant Japanese. He found American culture interesting and not too difficult to adjust to, even commenting once that "if I knew it would be like this, I would have come here sooner!"

[...] Although Suzuki thought there was much to learn from the study of Zen in Japan, he said that it had grown moss on its branches, and he saw his American students as a means to reform Zen and return it to its pure zazen (meditation) and practice-centered roots.

[libdem4life]

42. Read it in the 70s. Two or three times. One of my tutorials out of Christianity.

Had the pleasure of being at a weekend seminar at the Mt. Baldy (LA County) Zen Center in the 80s. Suzuki Roshi was there and we lined up for just one blessing. I was so in or out of the zone, that when it was my turn, all I remember was that he said "flowers". That the meaning would come to me. I still don't exactly know what that meant, but I thank the poster for the memory. Must meditate on it, I guess.

Also, the illustrated Tao de Ching was a favorite, as well as Alan Watts series of books.

[JudyM]

60. Great book.

[jalan48]

28. "Dear young Dems: Sit down, shut up, and listen...."

So who would like to be addressed this way? Young women? Young men? POC? Others?

[dhol82]

32. So they say, "Old Dems, sit down and shut up. You know nothing and we are the world!'

How much do they really know about the sausage grinder that is democracy?

[Amimnoch]

36. Me.

When I’m being addressed by someone(‘s) that have a tremendous amount of experience, and I have little or none - I don’t mind one damn bit being addressed this way. Have in the past by some of my GREATEST mentors that I’ve had the great pleasure to learn from. I listened to everything, learned, and grew very well as a result.

[DRoseDARs]

40. I stopped reading there. Nothing the author says after that is of any interest to this Millennial.

OG millennial here 37yrold (b1981). This midterm would have been an utter disaster if the young Dems had sat down, shut up, and listened to the likes of this author. Congresswoman Fudge's statement was enough for me. I was over the "controversy" before it was a controversy, but with Ms. Fudge's moving forward it's time to move on. Evan Hurst can fuck right off with his condescension. What would you even call that? Mansplaining, but from older liberals to younger liberals? Shit like that is exactly why it's so hard to get young voters to actually vote: Telling them they don't matter, their voices don't matter, but they must vote for us because of some Father Knows Best claptrap. As character Rosanne Connor (years before comedian Rosanne Barr drank the KoolAid) once said, "Father knows best? Father knows squat..." A bit ham-fisted a sentiment, but speaks to the air of haughty superiority.

That Hurst is a gay man (a GAY SOUTHERN FORMERLY-CHRISTIAN-NOW-ATHEIST man from TENNESSEE, now living in ALABAMA... soak all that irony in) on top of his condescension really sticks in my craw. You blinkered, white-privileged fuck. HOW many times were gays told to go to the back of the bus because they were inconvenient in the current political climate? To sit down, shut up, and listen to their betters in the party about how Now Is Not The Time for their issues? That they were whining and wanted a pony? I remember that shit *C*L*E*A*R*L*Y* happening on the regular right here on DU. Drove me up the fucking wall. ON TOP of being talked down to as a 20-something Millennial at the time.

As liberals, why do we do this? Talk down to and dismiss groups that want a seat at the table and have their voices heard? I get the conservative viewpoint, those people are womenfolk/broodmares or servants or slaves who have no business being in the same room while the White Men Are Talking, but what's the liberal excuse for this dismissive behavior? I have my issues with Pelosi (re: I will *never* forgive her or Reid for "Impeachment is off the table..." during the Chimperor years when Democrats controlled both chambers and could have done *something* meaningful to rein in that administration, but no we must make sacrifices at the Altar of Bipartisanship because that works so well when the other party is a bunch of bloodthirsty ghouls...) but her record since that time has been fine. I have never given it a second thought about her being House Speaker, nor have I given it a second thought about her AGAIN being House Speaker.

But people telling others in the party to sit down, shut up and listen? Oh. Hell. No. Her faults aside, Pelosi does actually respect other groups in the party. That's why SHE, and not the author, won over Fudge and others. Hurst, on the other hand, needs to check his privilege.

[jalan48]

45. I'm a senior citizen and I think telling someone on our side to shut up is absolute bullshit.

If someone here on DU told another poster to sit down and shut up their post would be hidden. That kind of language needs to be reserved for the asshat Republicans we come into contact with IMHO.

[orangecrush]

54. ...

"The true teacher implants no knowledge, but shows the pupil his own superabundance. Keeping his vision clear, he directs or leads his pupil to the essential. Having shown him the source of wisdom, he retires before gratitude or sentiment toward himself set in, leaving the pupil to use wisdom as he wishes. Is not this the Way of Heaven?" - Austin Osmond Spare

[DRoseDARs]

57. *whoosh* Is the sound you hear atop your ivory tower...

Quoting airy philosophical prose at me that has only the vaguest relevance to the topic (something about Pelosi being a teacher-but-not-really-the-truth-was-in-you-all-along, maybe?) is just so je ne sais quoi.

[orangecrush]

63. You have an interesting writing style

I enjoyed your posts, even though I still disagree.

Have I read you somewhere else as a pro?

[DRoseDARs]

67. Thank you

Certainly free to disagree. You definitely have not read me elsewhere as a pro but possibly elsewhere on DU. Nice diffusion there. I like the cut of your jib.

[orangecrush]

68. And yours as well!

[Mr. Quackers]

59. There's enough cruelty

in the world, there are better ways to make a point and build consensus than through using hackneyed "tough love" responses. I really liked what you wrote in your post.

I was in my mid 40s before I learned how to stick up for myself. Part of that involves not letting anyone speak to you any way they damn well please. Another part of it is not abiding cruelty, bullying, and attempts to undermine the powerless even more than they are undermined already.

Respect is a two way street and it must always be earned.

The corporate state does not give a single fuck about us - we're on our own out there and way too many people are suffering.

The young people who take an interest need to be encouraged - not shot down, after all, they are the ones who will be here long after the crop of 70 year old plus people are long gone. It was their generation who voted for Reagan and put Thatcher in power. It was their generation who made a desert of Main Street. We're in the shithouse we're in because of the actions of people who were fucking things up way before any millennial was even born.

"Get up, stand up: don't give up the fight!"

[orangecrush]

46. It seems the concept

of hyperbole eludes you.

[jalan48]

55. It seems you confuse the term hyperbole with insult. A dictionary can help you with this problem.

[orangecrush]

56. ...

[treestar]

69. We were addressed like that

By those older than we. Things change. That is what our generation may not always get.

[Scurrilous]

29. K&R

[orangecrush]

47. Thanks!

[Ferrets are Cool]

30. K and R x 1000

[MontanaMama]

34. Oh hell yes.

All Dems young and old need to watch and learn. Nancy Pelosi is a Freaking Jedi Master. Repukes fear her.

Stand back people. 🥋

[orangecrush]

48. She is a political Grandmaster.

[marieo1]

37. re: Nancy Pelosi

Right on, this is the best piece of advice I've read for a long time. Thank you for posting the reality. Nancy Pelosi is a brain, a fighter, and a well respected leader. Nancy will pull everyone together. All you have to do is look at what DJT has done and what a stupid chaos he has made of everything. Too many changes and everything falls apart. No cohesiveness anymore.

[orangecrush]

49. This is a critical time

There is no learning curve with what we are facing.

[Hekate]

41. Those wise words warm the cockles of this old lady's heart

"Have a little chat with the old lady on the corner with the shotgun in her lap, the one whose house the bullies detour around."

[orangecrush]

50. ...

[betsuni]

43. K&R

[orangecrush]

51. Thanks!

[Midwestern Democrat]

44. Here's a fun fact: every single Democrat who joined the House leadership between 1982 and 2002 was

born AFTER the current trio of Pelosi (born 1940), Hoyer (born 1939), and Clyburn (born 1940):

1986 - Tony Coelho (born 1942) was elected Majority Whip
1989 - Dick Gephardt (born 1941) was elected Majority Leader; Bill Gray (born 1941) was elected Majority Whip
1991 - David Bonior (born 1945) was elected Majority Whip

Think of that for a moment - ALL FOUR of the men who joined the Democratic House leadership in the mid 1980s/early 1990s were all born AFTER the entire current Democratic House leadership in 2018.

I think Pelosi deserves to be Speaker for the time being (but not beyond 2022), but don't act like the entire Democratic House leadership being almost 80 years old is something that's been normal for this party in the past - believe it or not, we used to elect men to leadership who were - gasp! - only in their mere forties.

[orangecrush]

52. Thanks for a thoughtful post

and interesting information!

[MFGsunny]

61. WONKETTE rocks ..... STILL n/t

[orangecrush]

62. Yup!

Wonker/D.U.er here!

[GoCubsGo]

65. Yep. I think it was John Fugelsang who said,

"If you are in a plane that needs to land on the Hudson River, you want Captain Sullenberger piloting it, and not some flight school student." I like L. Ron Pony's version of that better, though.

[orangecrush]

66. Agree 100%

And thanks!