A Very Short but Necessary Post-"short post but it's in response to some Democratic bashing posts""

[Demsrule86]

This is going to be a very short post but it’s in response to some of the usual Democrat bashing that’s starting to get cranked up around here again, just in time for the midterms. I’m a little bit of a hothead as most people can attest but after reading and commenting on a couple of posts earlier in the day that were replete with the usual “Dems suck, just microscopically less than Republicans” coupled with the inevitable, “People around here who disagree with you are going to irrationally attack you for speaking this profound truth”, comments, I wanted to respond. It’s a weeknight and 4:00am comes early so I couldn’t respond in a manner that I would wish or that some of my many detractors would read but then I ran across Beau’s video for today.

"Guys, this isn’t the time to go all “I demand purity” and “Dems need to work on their ideology” or even “Democrats aren’t above criticism”. No, they are absolutely NOT ABOVE CRITICISM AND NOBODY IS SAYING THAT THEY ARE! I’m arguing that flawed or perfect, we need more Democrats. A few more votes for Hillary Clinton, 5 digits worth in a few states and our SCOTUS would be very liberal for the foreseeable future.
This. Is. Not. The. Time! We have to win and if that means biting our tongues until after the election about all of the warts and imperfections Democrats sport, I think our very literal FREEDOM is worth it!"

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/5/10/2097261/-A-very-Short-but-Necessary-Post

[betsuni]

1. THANK YOU!

I watched a Beau video for the first time yesterday and really like him.

[Demsrule86]

9. Sorry I feel asleep! When I saw this on DK...it is what I believe about the midterm and

I got to say further down is a quote where someone (could be a lying troll) announces breathlessly he/she won't vote for Democrats...I say that is either third-party wretched Green or one of the useless other ones or a GOP/Russian troll. We got this if we work together and vote. The stakes are incredibly important...as the article points out our Republic is at stake.

[chowder66]

2. Here's a supporting video from Politics Girl

Link to tweet

[betsuni]

3. Thank you, this is not difficult to understand!

When Democrats have large legislative majorities and a normal opposition party like FDR had and STILL don't pass anything progressive, then fine, "go ahead and vote them out." This is not that time.

[speak easy]

4. But wait, there's more ....

waging war against fellow Democrats is a bad, bad idea. In 1937, FDR probably had the votes to add medical care to Social Security. Instead, he went out and campaigned against Democrats opposed to to his effort to expand the Supreme Court. In the end he lost the working majority to push through controversial legislation.

I believe VP Harris' trip down to WV to pressure Manchin was counter productive. Having said that, now that Roe will be gone soon enough, the party can no longer compromise on a woman's right to chose. Anti-abortion Democrats should reconsider their position and I believe Manchin will walk sooner or later. if Dems have 50 reliable votes in the Senate, at least his showboating will be over.

[Demsrule86]

30. Wow, in the years 1937, one would think some would have learned but we are a

a heartbeat away from losing this fight.

[speak easy]

33. 'Pressure' fellow Democrats by going to their districts/state

and telling everyone how wrong they are. What a way to win the midterm !

[Demsrule86]

14. I would primary a Democrat in this circumstance, but I would never vote Republican or for

a third party in a General. I just couldn't do it. I know you wouldn't do that either. I simply can't fathom anyone doing this. I hear the word 'message' voting and it makes me sick. Roosevelt was successful because he had almost everyone's support. Like someone once said, you want a liberal Congress than elect more Democrats.

[Demsrule86]

10. Thank you Great video!

Love her.

[peggysue2]

18. Brava!

Shame you need to explain how government works but if this is what's needed (on speed dial) to reduce the negative chittering? Then, so be it.

We are a nudge away from losing our democracy and the temper tantrums we hear every damn election are old and incredibly damaging. We can write-off those Dems (fortunately a small minority) who actually believe diving into the abyss is a good thing, some kind of reverse negativity where the electorate becomes so impassioned that a glorious 'rebirth' revolution is at hand. Think Susan Sarandon and her ilk. This sort of bashing Dems fits their distorted mindset. But ultimately it serves the Republican agenda--win at all cost and then implement a clearly anti-democratic form of governance for the foreseeable future.

Stop the complaining, the incessant whinging until after the elections bc sustaining and growing our majorities at all levels is critical.

If Republicans take over? All bets are off. McConnell and various Republican Govs have already expressed their plans for the country if they win the midterms. Think Handmaid's Tale. 2024 will be ever more aggressive with Rick Scott's Plan for America when the middle-class will be permanently crushed and the poor ground into oblivion.

Vote straight ticket Dem in every election. Or be prepared to wave good-bye to our Republic.

[Demsrule86]

29. As I write this 10 people are dead in buffalo...a direct result to the swill from the right.

We need to pull together and win the midterm. Consider Ted Nugents call murder after Buffalo.

"After talking about his vintage guitar, he added [Ted Nugent]: “So I love you people madly but I’d love you more if you went forward and just went berserk on the skulls of the Democrats and the Marxists and the communists.”

We are fighting for our very existence. Now is not the time for complaining and threatening Democrats. Our Republic is at stake and our very lives. VOTE, DONATE, and if some have something negative to say well DON'T!

Thanks for the response.

[peggysue2]

43. Exactly!

A kid with psychiatric problems who apparently had Tucker Carlson's memes embedded deep in the brain, was able to buy three guns, body armor and then kill indiscriminately because . . . Freedumb and the overarching belief in replacement theory.

The GOP/MAGA propaganda machine is already in gear talking not about these grotesque, senseless murders but how 'curious' it is that the killing spree happened just before the midterms as if the responsibility is somehow linked to their opposition (think Dems).

Anything to deflect, distract, distort.

If Repugs and/or the ultra-MAGAs take over, this is what we can expect at every level--lies, propaganda and the dissolution of anything resembling democratic governance.

We have a clear view of this insanity in the Pennsylvania primaries, specifically the Republican candidates for Governor and Senate.

My tagline is more relevant now than when I first included it:

Vote as if your lives depended on it. Because they do.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

5. Thank you

The complainers are making so much noise it's ridiculous.

[CrackityJones75]

6. They are being pushed by operatives.

[Demsrule86]

11. Same old same old. What motivates them to do this...it always ends very badly for us and

the refusal to support the party and our candidates is one of the reasons, we find ourselves in this predicament.

[Demsrule86]

31. And it is so bad for us too. I kind of believe that some who do this want us to fail...maybe

they think then comes the revolution...but more than likely than comes misery that many IMHO spoiled entitled people have never even fathomed. It is not like it used to be where you have normal Republicans to deal with these are some who support mass murder...a few were out today either calling buffalo a false flag or being happy about it.

[Wednesdays]

7. K&R.

[Demsrule86]

12. Thank you!

[mcar]

8. Happens every midterm

Thank you for this great OP!

[Demsrule86]

13. And not just midterms...if we had held the Senate 1n 14, Roe would not be gone. I well remember

merciless attacks on President Obama from the GOP and left. It was awful...a DUer called him a used car salesman. We got to do better this time...our Republic is at stake.

[mcar]

15. I well remember President Obama being called a

"piece of shit used car salesman" on this democratic board - and the OP got hundreds of likes and stayed up for weeks.

We do have to do better this time.

[betsuni]

25. +1

[Demsrule86]

32. Yeah it was awful. And what happened as the result of this...President Obama lost

in 10 and 14...he was never able to do much of anything after this and we fought to stop the debt ceiling from being breached and the government from being shut down. We lost a SCOTUS justice...the fifth vote to stop Roe from being overturned.

If we lose now, it will be worse. The Republican party and their minions are even more vicious and depraved. As Benjamin Franklin facing a revolution in 1776 once said.."We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." ...

[MineralMan]

16. Pretty much any post that advocates voting for Democrats gets a "Yeah, but..." response.

Posts that recommend historic GOTV efforts also get attacked or ignored on DU, as well.

If we want change, we are simply going to have to elect more Democrats to legislative offices. If we do not do that, we will not see the results we demand. It's a very simple equation and opposition to the idea is bizarre, at best, or well-planned, at worst.

I'm not sure what else to do, frankly. There are people who seem bent on throwing the baby out with the bath water. Their motives? I have no freaking idea what motivates such responses.

[Demsrule86]

34. Thanks MM! I don't understand it either. And the truth is maybe many or not Democrats and

do not care if we win or lose which puts us in the position of building a new coalition that can win... I am a progressive and have longed for certain policies my entire life, but I will move to the middle if that is what it takes to keep the Republicans out of power. and for us to win elections. It is pretty clear after Buffalo and what Nugent said at the Texas rally (busting our heads basically) that our very lives and our family's lives are at risk.

[Caliman73]

17. Here is a follow up to the OP's video.

I started watching Beau a couple of years ago. He has a good way of putting things.

Voting is necessary and we should do what we can to put the politicians who will most likely legislate what we need and want, but that is NOT the end of our participation, as Beau says. We need to push the people we elect to do what we need them to do. That means commuincating and making it known to them that we expect them to do things.

We should not be afraid to call people out. That does not mean undermine and BASH, it means telling people, even AOC, Peliosi, Schumer, and President Biden, "Hey, I voted you in to do ... get to it!" It means putting people into office who will support the plans and push for them.

We can't put 50 people into office for a 100 person job, then be pissed off because there aren't enough people to do the job.

[Demsrule86]

35. Thank you for this!!!!

[Sogo]

19. 2016 was rigged and stolen.

"A few more votes for Hillary Clinton, 5 digits worth in a few states and our SCOTUS would be very liberal for the foreseeable future."

Those votes were inserted where needed by Manafort and the Russians. The early results were also leaked to the Trump campaign by an ABC producer in time for votes to be inserted. If they didn't get the votes in those places, they would have gotten them in others.


https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/06/abc-data-trump-campaign-reprimand-284327

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/363697-abc-reporter-reprimanded-for-sharing-data-with-trump-campaign-report/

[Demsrule86]

36. I don't believe that. Your post implies voting doesn't matter because of cheating...I don't

believe that either...and these links are perfect examples of what I am talking about...do you really mean to tell people that voting doesn't matter? That it is useless to vote as the election will be stolen? Well, it didn't work in 20, did it? We showed up that is the difference. My Dad the smartest man I knew( besides my husband) once said you can only steal close elections. Let's make sure they are not close; we need to be part of the solution...not the problem.

[Sogo]

47. No, I didn't say that or imply that voting doesn't matter.

I implied just as your Dad said that you can steal close elections. 2016 was a very close election; close in a few states that swung the electoral vote. And it was swung by analyzing where a few votes were needed in those few states that swung the electoral vote.

You mean to tell us that you don't believe 2016 was stolen?

[Tarheel_Dem]

20. It's one of the reasons I don't participate here much anymore. It's dispiriting, and I'm sure...

that's probably the objective, but it's so rampant. There are times I click on the Latest page, and leave almost immediately. The number of "Democrats NEED to do (fill in the blank)". It's not "purity" they're after. There's another agenda at work here. I'm not a huge fan of Manchin or Sinema, but I do know if either of them defects, that puts the gavel back in the hands of Mitch McConnell, and if you think things suck now, they can get much MUCH worse.

[betsuni]

24. [phone]

[Demsrule86]

37. And the veiled threats against Democrats...it is a nice midterm you got there....

I usually comment that once just once, I would like to see the Republicans called out instead of our elected.

[crickets]

21. K&R for the post and the discussion. 💙

[Demsrule86]

38. Thank you. I thougt the post was over...I was surprised to see it this morning thanks to all of you

guys more people will see it and unite in winning the midterm.

[Ohio Joe]

22. K&R - nt

[Demsrule86]

39. Thanks... I live in Ohio too...just outside of Cleveland.

[Easterncedar]

23. Yes. We must stay positive.

The trolls and the ones who use them know how well negativity works. Divide and conquer; it’s what they do. We have so much to celebrate and to fight together for. There’s so much at stake. We have to win.

[Demsrule86]

40. I think there are trolls.

[Emile]

26. I feel posts rehashing the 2016 primary is not helping too!

[Demsrule86]

41. I don't see posts refighting the primary... I do see an anger that persists. I feel it too about the

2016 General which we could and should have won. People still remember 2000 General too' and it has been 20 years. This is because of the horrors meted on us by both Bush and the Trump administration. In Bush's case endless war, justices that will help overturn Roe, and many other things. In Trump's administration, millions of Americans dead, an insurrection on January 6, and Roe is now about to be overturned.

The results of not voting for the Democratic nominee whether one stayed home, voted for Stein, or God forbid voted for Trump was catastrophic for our side and the country. I hope we can recover. The midterm is probably the most important election in my lifetime...but you know all elections are important. We need to fight like hell to win all of them.

[Silent3]

27. Who here says "Dems suck, just microscopically less than Republicans"?

I've noticed barely any people with that attitude around here. Most DUers clearly understand that the Democratic party and the Republican party are very different beasts, and that Democrats can make this country a far better place than Republicans.

Of course, not everyone is playing the "think positive!" game and trying to blow sunshine up their own ass and everyone else's, but that's a far different thing (yes, it really is a different thing) than giving up, than bashing, or than equating Democrats to Republicans.

[BumRushDaShow]

28. "Who here says 'Dems suck, just microscopically less than Republicans'?"

I think if you do a search on the name "Merrick Garland" in GD, you might be surprised at what you'll find.

[Silent3]

44. How is criticizing Garland the same thing as...

"Dems suck, just microscopically less than Republicans'?"

That's not even a matter of subtle nuance of difference. That's enormously different. Garland hardly is representative of the party as a whole, deliberately tries to stay apolitical (in my opinion, to the point of excessive overcompensation), and has very little at all to do with the vast policy differences between Democrats and Republicans.

[BumRushDaShow]

46. "Garland hardly is representative of the party as a whole, deliberately tries to stay apolitical"

I agree but that's not how many of the "critiques" have manifested.

Remember that each page of GD alone can hold 80 threads and there are literally hundreds of posts in each of the 30 pages of 80 threads, and I have seen many "snarky asides" about Garland, including his purported motives, and certainly making direct comparisons of him to Mueller, who was under the thumb of the Republican criminal Bill Barr.

[Demsrule86]

42. Yeah you got it...those 'not playing the think positive Game! hurt us.And making negative posts here

and probably elsewhere hurt Democrats and diminish the vote. It is clearly not a different thing...and some do equate Democrats with Republicans...or make veiled threats about not voting. We need to support our party and our candidates in all cases. And could I just say...attacking Republicans instead of our party would really help.

[Silent3]

45. Look up the book "Bright Sided" by Barbara Ehrenreich

Positive thinking can most definitely be done to excess. It is NOT a necessary strategy for winning. Too much confidence can be just as demotivating as too little. You do not have to blind yourself to challenges and risks and bad odds to move forward, as if the only alternative to sunshine and rainbows is giving up.