STOP. LETTING. THEM. DISTRACT. US.

[Initech]

The presidential election was stolen from us - fact. We got steamrolled in the Congressional and gubernatorial races - fact. But rather than spend the next two years drowning in our beers and tears trying to figure out where it went wrong - which is what is happening now, we should start going after these rat bastards hard. We are letting them frame the narrative as to why we lost, and that keeps us distracted, which keeps us fighting with each other, which ensures they will keep winning elections. It's the shit cycle that we've gone through since Reagan.

Want to stop that from happening again? What we need to do is get fucking organized with a clear narrative, a clear direction, and a clear mission statement. And that mission statement should be - we don't want another Trump. We don't want to have to waste time figuring out that our election was hacked by a foreign entity, and they're about to do it again. What we have to do is stop this shit from happening.

So the answer is simple: DON'T. LET. THEM. FRAME. THE. NARRATIVE. We need to get our people out there and running at literally every level of government. And I mean every - even if it's something like a city comptroller's office or a school board election. We need to start flipping every office we can't get now, then we can start flipping districts, then we can start flipping states. Did you see that movie "Moneyball"? In that movie, Billy Beane wants to win, and he wants to win at every level. It doesn't matter if their shortstop isn't a household name - what matters is that he plays where it counts. That's how they did it in that movie - little gains first, then big ones. But we can't let them get to us by making us fight over Bernie or Hillary, pro choice or anti choice, and so on and so forth. That's how they win.

These little fights like this are nothing more than gigantic distractions. That's what the GOP does best - they keep us distracted by making us fight over bullshit (which is called "framing the narrative&quot , and then they go and win elections everywhere. Regardless of whether we win or lose these elections. Any pick ups are pick ups. Any fights put up are fights put up. They need to be held accountable for what they've done to this country, and they need to be held accountable now. We can't afford another distraction for another two years and let Putin steal the 2018 elections. Do we want to stop Fox News or not? Do we want to stop the GOP bullies from steamrolling us or not? Do we want mouthpieces like SE Cupp and Ann Coulter trashing us on even our own talk shows and radio programs? Hell no! I want to kick Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan to the curb. I want to see the Koch Brothers and Trump hauled off in handcuffs. I want to see the dismantling of the Heritage Foundation and the NRA. I want to see Sam Brownback and Scott Walker do the jail time they so richly deserve. We need to stop the infighting and go after the big boss. That should be our mission from here on out.

[triron]

1. Yes. So many are so easily distracted, especially MSM

[bronxiteforever]

2. Preach it and amen! And 2018 ain't going to be a picnic.

They will throw Koch dark money, gerrymander, evangelicals and attack our right to vote. This is an existential crisis for our party and as much as I respect our last party candidates, we need to win now and create a bench. The GOP can only be beaten by a strong party ready for the present existential war we are in.
I remembered and lived thru john Kerry in 2004. I don't want 2020 to be that way. I frankly don't think the country will survive.

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. Utterly illegitimate outcome. They are all criminals.

[MuseRider]

4. I agree mostly

but we cannot accept letting our party throw women under the bus.

My right to control my own body is my right. You take that away and what does that make me?

Nope, I do not care if someone is against abortion as long as they actually accept that it is our right to control our own health. Kucinich said much of that, he was opposed personally but stopped voting against it when his daughter and a woman who worked for him sat him down and had a little chit chat about that.

[Initech]

6. I totally agree. That should be one of our biggest issues in 2018.

[ProfessorPlum]

7. What a unique sentiment.

I know that you wouldn't want the issue of women's rights to form a point of dissent between people here - especially since we all support a woman's right to control her body.

[MuseRider]

9. I do not know

where you live but I can tell you here in Kansas and other states like it it is a constant call for women to "bite the bullet" because we can't win if we support women's issues. I was not actually speaking about DU but the party in general. I can tell you for certain that this one issue will tear it apart.

[bronxiteforever]

17. Agree as well.

[ProfessorPlum]

5. Ignore is a wonderful tool

Just started using it in earnest for the first time at DU.

Surprisingly, the number of distractions and lies is WAY down, and my enjoyment of DU is WAY up.

Hint - when someone asserts something is true that you've both just proven and acknowledged is false - time for ignore.

[MFM008]

8. the great senate exodus

yesterday was one example.

[Squinch]

10. WOMEN'S.RIGHTS.TO.OWN.THEIR.OWN.BODIES.IS.NOT.A.SIDE.ISSUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Democrats advocate for people to own their own bodies. Period. If we stop doing that we are no longer Democrats.

Otherwise I agree with you. But it's a BIG otherwise.

[Initech]

11. I AGREE 100 PERCENT!!!!

My point is we can't let them get to us, we have to stick to our principals in order to go after the big boss.

[Squinch]

12. I know. I get what you are saying. And I agree. This whole controversy has me horrified though.

[Initech]

13. We're in the mourning phase of the election.

And I think this is just part of trying to figure out what went wrong. At least I hope it is. This is what I'm saying that the "powers that be" are trying to frame the narrative for us, and that's what is causing all the in fighting. We can't let them do that. We have to figure out what makes us democrats and stick with it. That's the point I was trying to make.

[Squinch]

16. Interestingly, I'm reading Missoula by Krakauer. It's a book about

rape in a college town. Of course I'm not in any way equating rape to anything about this situation.

But there was a passage where he talks about psychology, and how it is shockingly common for the victims of attacks to blame themselves and to really search their memories to try and find out what they did wrong that caused the attack. We can look in from the outside and know that they did nothing wrong, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and they were attacked. It is very hard for the victims to emotionally know that they did nothing wrong.

Democrats got attacked. I know there are always things we can do to improve how the party serves its people, but I do think much of the problem was a confluence of conditions. Russia and Trump happened. Wikileaks and Comey happened. Sexism and bigotry happen all the time, but they were augmented by all of the above. Republicans are stupider than they have ever been.

I agree with you that we have to be single minded and we can't let ourselves be distracted. And we have to hold on to our basic values with both hands or we will be lost.

[malaise]

14. Which is why I asked this question

shortly after the theft - what exactly are the philosophical underpinnings of the party. When we know that there will b counter-hegemonic institutions where Dems regroup.