I've said it before about the Democratic Party, I'll say it again...

[retrowire]

The Democratic Party is fractured because we're too god damn intelligent.

Trumpers can easily follow their leader.

Bernie or Busters can easily be stubborn because they lack the foresight and didn't consider the details. (Nor did they listen to Bernie and probably didn't follow him as much as they say they did.)

Intelligent minds don't see black and white. There's much more to everything than that.

But all this talk about Pro-Life Democrats and whether or not Bernie should GTFO takes me back to the primary days.

And during those days I came to a conclusion. The reason Bernie Supporters and Hillary supporters were so divisive then and still to this damn day is because we're deep thinkers.

I've noticed in my time with the Democratic Party that, we are most definitely similar to herding cats. We UNDERSTAND the issues and do our research. The issues themselves are complex and that's what we are as well.

And god damn it if it doesn't make things difficult.

Everyone has an opinion, but we all have such vast variations of opinions.

This is why we can't agree on anything.

And when Bernie says the Democratic Party needs to make some changes, I have to say that this change is the most important.

We need to fucking agree. Otherwise we're going in all different directions when the next battle arrives. We need to discuss and SETTLE.

And we should do it democratically with a vote. Any idea on how to go about doing that? I'm serious. The infighting will get NOTHING done.

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. Let me modify that slightly...

I would like to think that we are curious. And Open. And accepting.

Intelligence can vary widely, and abrasive use - coming across as superior, condescending - can do more harm than good.

It is simple for me.

Kindness. That's what's often lacking in the world in general right now.

[RKP5637]

4. K&R - Definitely!!! "Kindness. That's what's often lacking in the world in general right now."

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. .

[retrowire]

7. Hey neighbor

I agree with everything but the acceptance part at this juncture. :/

It's getting too combative.

We need to decide on a straight and narrow path. Unnaturally, we need to fall into some sort of line. A line that's much bigger and accepting than the GOP's line.

But we need focus. So badly.

[NRaleighLiberal]

15. hey there!

you should pop in to one of my events - at Atlantic Gardens this coming Saturday - will be at the History museum downtown Raleigh in May.

I think when I say acceptance - it is within reason - we can't get consumed by it - that lets them win.

Where I am now - I am trying to just model the behavior that my feeling is that we need - tolerance, kindness, sharing - fighting won't change anything - anger won't change anything.

So...I am letting my gardening, my writing, do the trick - hopefully helping people understand and change, one challenge at a time.

[CrispyQ]

8. To many, kindness & empathy are weaknesses.

Our definition of masculinity needs serious re-work if we're ever going to achieve a more just society. There is a prevalent type of masculinity that promotes confrontation, aggression & violence as positive masculine traits & also tells men that they don't have to exercise self-control, that men should be allowed to act on any impulse without consequence.

on edit: I'm still disturbed by the republican man who thinks that if he sees a woman's nipple in public while she's breastfeeding then he has the right to grab her breast. WTF kind of asshole like this gets elected?

[rzemanfl]

27. That was a satire site. n/t

[CrispyQ]

28. Fuck.

I"m getting where I don't even read anything on the internet anymore. Also helps with my blood pressure & I get more done.

[rzemanfl]

29. Here's what they say-

DISCLAIMER: USPOLN may include information from sources that may or may not be reliable and facts that don’t necessarily exist. These Articles should be considered satirical and any and all quotes attributed to actual people complete and total baloney.

[longship]

2. Absolute rubbish!

The reason why Democrats are at each other's throats is because they are stupid fucking ideologues. At least to the extent that they are at each other's throats.

Many of us see a better good.

[Control-Z]

11. Who is "they"?

"..they are stupid fucking ideologues."

Who is "us"?

"Many of us see a better good."

[longship]

12. They are the ones who insist on infighting over an election which happened months ago. nt

[samnsara]

3. i agree. we arent sheep and that can sometimes backfire..

...but yes we ARE too intelligent to blindly follow.

[Bayard]

10. Religion

I think our predicament is similar to our views on religion. I haven't seen the statistics, but I tend to think there are more atheists and agnostics among Dems because we analyze, think about things, and call bullshit when we hear it.

As Ron Reagan says, "Proud atheist. Not afraid of burning in hell".

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Herding cats. Sometimes the cats get kind of hissy.

[Binkie The Clown]

9. Or hitching cats to a dog sled.

The "Democratic Party" is a loose coalition of some times overlapping interest groups, where each will occasionally share a position on a particular issues with one or two of the many other such interest groups.

[philly_bob]

13. "Bernie or Busters can easily be stubborn because they lack the foresight...."

"We need to fucking agree... We need to discuss and SETTLE...And we should do it democratically with a vote. Any idea on how to go about doing that?"

Look back at how DU admins handled majority support for Bernie in 2016 primaries.

[retrowire]

22. I was there but I don't recall

What are you referring to?

[philly_bob]

25. If memory serves, DU posters were 60% pro-Bernie and 40% pro-Clinton in the primaries.

But DU admins were pro-Clinton.

It was a painful time and led many DUers to leave.

If you really don't remember the turmoil, consider yourself lucky, Retrowire.

I hesitate to rehash it now. I'm sure DU Admins thought hard about it after the Trump win. What happened here was significant -- along with the mysterious election-night DU shutdown -- but historians will have to sort those events out, I'm just a casual DU reader.

Rather, move towards 2018 and 2020: 1) Choosing Good Candidates, 2) Getting Out the Vote, and 3) Resisting/Investigting Trump.

[MedusaX]

14. Identifying the common denominator....

Start by asking:

What are the points of conflict that are prohibiting agreement?

Group the related points of conflict... identify the topic of each group

Identify the range of variation within each group...

Now look for a common characteristic/ concept amongst the 'topics'
They all have to do with______________.

Now look for similarities & trends amongst the ranges of variation .....
• Quantity of variants in each range
• Degree of range variations
• gender / age / geographic trends


Infighting/conflict points are the surface cracks we can 'see'

Identifying the locations (topics) and degree (range of variation) of damage in each helps identify any unique independent variables specific to that topic

Tracing the areas of damage back to their source(s)
provides the opportunity to address the origin of the obstacles preventing agreement

Now comes the tricky part....
You have to prescribe 2 separate remedies
One for the surface cracks /damage
And one for the primary source of the obstacle/growth

They Will be different....
One will be FEDERAL --
The other STATE/LOCAL

And the specifics of the STATE/LOCAL remedies prescribed will differ due to unique variables....

Hypothetically,
If your topics can all basically be boiled down to protection of each individual's inalienable right to life liberty pursuit of happiness
Then that is the Federal Campaign platform

With the understanding that each State/Local Election has its own unique issues & potential for variation from current position on those issues...

Not every state has same issues
And even amongst those who do...each state's current point on the 'progress' spectrum can only be pushed forward by a reasonable increment ....


The idea is that Fed Gov policy represents ultimate goals/objectives

Local/state gov policies represent where they are individually and campaigns reflect the appropriate next step for that particular gov body as they move toward the ultimate goal/objectives.

[DownriverDem]

16. If they were so smart

They would realize that we are a 2 party system. You pick one and work like hell to get your side elected. It doesn't mean that your side (Dems) is perfect. It means that you work to make your side better. So those who claim to lean left & constantly attack the Dems are foolish.

[Orsino]

17. Too many facts plus too little money yield fractiousness.

The way democracy is supposed to be.

Don't be fooled by the artificial lock-step on the Republican side. It's held together by trillions in lies, bribes, kickbacks and blackouts, and could not survive in the real world.

[DownriverDem]

23. Not lock step

The Dems are truly a big tent. We have lots of ideas that need to be aired. Discussions are one thing, but attacking and threatening your own side is not how to win elections either. We don't have to destroy the Dem Party to make it better.

[ananda]

18. re Sanders and his supporters ...

In my observation, Sanders speaks to the exact problems
that need to be solved in order to, literally, save this country
and most of its people.

His campaign was wonderful and spoke to these issues. It's
no wonder that he reached so many people!

Nothing has changed except that his vast popularity might be
grating to certain political groups and insiders. I expect it
would be particularly grating to the Trumputin powerbloc
who would certainly turn to psyops and propaganda, along
with divide and conquer strategies to divide us and make us
forget that we are all in this together.

[vi5]

19. It's clear what we've been doing isn't working, whatever that is.....

....And people seem content to look only at the fact that Clinton got 3 million more votes in the GE rather than at the fact that we've been losing offices left and right at every level of government. I'm seeing far too much of people touting those 3 million votes in what seems like an excuse that we've done nothing wrong and don't need to change.

Shit, even people throwing around stuff like Comey and voter suppression and gerrymandering and all sorts of other excuses are correct that those things played a factor, but are missing the point: Anyone with a head, two eyes, and 2 ears (and even some people without all of those things) know that this is what the Republicans do and that they pull out every trick in the book, and we saw almost all those things coming a mile away and had every opportunity in the world to get out in front of and challenge and do everything else we needed. But we didn't. And that sucks, and we need to make sure that doesn't happen again.

I'm not saying I have the solution, but it seems to me making excuses for the status quo and the way we've been doing things is the last thing we need right now yet for some reason as we get further away from the election I see more people digging in their heels that nothing our side did was wrong and that we did everything right and nothing needs to change. And that scares me.

[DownriverDem]

24. Supreme Court

Folks not taking the election seriously seemed to be at play too. We were all warned about the Supreme Court and what that would mean for the next 30 years. That alone would have been enough for me.

[BainsBane]

20. I don't see it that way

I see far too much leader following and not enough independent thought. That cuts across the political spectrum.

[Fiendish Thingy]

21. The Dems need common ground, not agreement

Finding resonating issues, such as health care and income inequality that increase voter turn out and win elections is critical, and the disagreements over other important issues will follow , once Dems are back in power.

Change is hard and systems resist change.

[Eliot Rosewater]

26. Yes but dont forget not all non democratic party folks are sincere and here for the real deal.

Nobody agrees with me on most of what I believe, I am too radical.

This is however different from someone who is purposely trying to cause a riff so more republicans are elected.

I know you know this, but my problem is we make it hard to be real honest around here and in social media in calling people out.

For instance ANYONE who says "Russia is distraction" is probably working for Putin.

[Skittles]

30. Democrats are not goose-steppers

we think for ourselves

that's why we DO NOT appreciate being told we need to worship at the House of (insert your candidate here)