Isn't Donald Trump/GOP The Easy Response to Bernie's Neoprogressive Attacks on Democrats?

[TomCADem]

We have often heard Bernie Sanders attack Democrats and their policies as an "absolute failure." We have continued to hear neoprogressives like Jill Stein and Susan Sarandon attack Democrats from the left, and suggest that there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans.

Of course, if Democratic losses were really just attributable to them being overly friendly to corporations, then we have nothing to worry about, because Republicans are going out of their way to cut taxes, weaken worker protections, and cut access to healthcare. Under the Neoprogressive/Alt-Left attacks on the Democratic party, Republicans should be wiped out from power in 2018. Put another way, if parties lose power because they are too friendly to corporate interests, then we have nothing to worry about, because Republicans have been unrelenting in selling out for corporations and the 1 percent.

However, what Neoprogressives often overlook is both the impact of foreign propaganda that amplifies distrust on both the left and the right regarding American institutions, and how racism and sexism is used by the right to not only oppress minorities and women, but also white men.

I have posted examples of how the Neoprogressive/Alt-Left often push the same anti-Democratic talking points and conspiracy theories as the right whether it is the "Deepstate" is attacking Donald Trump:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=9180242

Or, the Seth Rich conspiracy:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029156057

This congruence in talking points is not a coincidence. It suggests a degree coordination by an opportunistic foreign actor who is trying to undermine Republicans and Democrats who are suspicious of such foreign influence.

Also, President Lyndon Johnson, who grew up in the South and understood the politics of racism from the inside, saw it in part as a ploy to divide and conquer. He once said, "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."

However, rather than acknowledge how Trump and Republicans use racism and sexism to scapegoat women and minorities to build up resentment among white men in the ultimate form of identity politics, Neoprogressives themselves attack efforts by the left to address such issues as "identity politics" and argue that Democratic losses are because they are not "populist" enough to explain the loss of white working class voters.

In the same vein, Neoprogressives justify Trump's dominance among white working class males as being due to his "populist" appeals despite the fact that his policies are extremely anti-worker. He pushes a virulent anti-immigrant agenda and even his trade policy is tied more to xenophobia then to actual efforts to address unfair trade. In short, Neoprogressives ignore that Trump's populism is based on racial and gender resentment, rather than actual pro-worker policies.

In conclusion, if it were simply a matter of whose policies helped or hurt the working class, then Republicans are going to easily lose power in 2018. There is nothing to worry about. But, if Republicans were able to consolidate control by stoking racial and gender resentment, plus amplifying foreign propaganda designed to create distrust in American institutions, then it is going to be tough. Perhaps even more so, if Neoprogressives echo they same attacks the Right and Russians make on the Democratic party.

[Chevy]

1. Thank you a good read Tom

But instead of Neoprogressives I'll just stick to the term cultists and sycophants or my new favorite Twitter rose petals.

[BlueMTexpat]

5. Love it!

[still_one]

2. You present an excellent analysis Tom. It is so simple to classify things in binary terms, but such

things are never that simple, especially when so much information, distortions, misinformation, and falsehoods are distributed along the airwaves 24/7

The fact that every Democrat running for Senate in those critical swing states, lost to the establishment, incumbent, republican, serves to affirm the OP's point.

[Eko]

3. While I agree with you for the most

I hate to hear neoprogressive as much as I hate to hear neoliberal. Its like we all watched the Matrix and decided that neo something would work great for a derogatory term. Get off my lawn!!!!!

[Hortensis]

7. Especially since neoliberal equates to economically ultraconservative

and is extremely dishonestly used to suggest a fake liberal promotion of anti-regulatory laissez-faire economic policies.

And "neo" progressive means what? "New" progressive? How does new equate to the reality that they are a radical branch of progressivism that rejects dominant mainstream progressivism?

Not just weaponized fake news, weaponized fake terminology.

[Jim Lane]

8. The real meaning of the neologism "neoprogressive"

Neoprogressive, n. A person or entity (1) who has a clear claim to identify as a progressive, (2) whom the user of the term dislikes (often because the person or entity so described actually is more progressive than the one using the term), but (3) against whom the user of the term is too lazy or intellectually limited to construct any kind of serious argument, and so chooses to resort to empty invective instead.

Syn. See "poopyhead".

[TomCADem]

9. So, Does That Apply To Cornel West's Use of Neoliberal and Neofacist...

...it seems that Neoprogressives like Cornel West like to throw around such labels, but they get offended when such terms are used to describe them regardless of how fitting such a term is. Quite frankly, I think Cornel West overuses "Neoliberal" as you describe to refer to people with whom he disagrees.

However, Neoprogressive refers to those on the "left" who focus their criticisms on others on the left, rather than on members of the right. Indeed, they often echo the same talking points used by members of the right as the examples in the original OP illustrate.

Now, I am not referring to sock puppets who are really right wingers who act like members of the left to attack liberals and progressives, nor am I referring to foreign trolls who are engaging in disruptive operations. Rather, I do believe that there actual folks who honestly believe that repeal of the ACA, the attacks on immigrant rights, worker rights and tax cuts for the 1 percent under Trump are the fault of the Democrats regardless of the fact that Republicans control three branches of government.

Neoprogressives are not unlike some of the most extreme Tea Partiers who believed that Republicans should be target of their right wing anger, though unlike even the most extreme Tea Parties, Neoprogressives often adopt the same talking points as members ofd the right wing to attack Democrats and progressives.

[Jim Lane]

10. I'm not very familiar with West. As to Sanders, your charges are ludicrous.

We've always had people on the left who are so disgusted with the excessive conservatism of the Democratic Party that they denounce it as indistinguishable from the Republican Party. Nader was pitching that line, IIRC.

What's important to note is that Bernie Sanders does NOT make that mistake. He endorsed Hillary Clinton and campaigned for her. Most of his supporters voted for her.

If you complain about people who "often echo the same talking points used by members of the right . . . ," don't include the progressives who support single-payer health care, a $15 minimum wage, etc., unless you can provide a link to right-wing support for those goals.

If "neoprogressive" means a former right-winger who now supports single payer, then I happily welcome the neoprogressives.

As for the other terms you mention, I personally tend to avoid them because they share some of the same characteristics as the more recent "neoprogressive" -- namely, a lack of precise definition and a susceptibility to use as personal invective rather than tools of analysis. You can't really blame Cornel West for that, though. The Wikipedia article on "Neoliberalism" reports that the term was in widespread use before Cornel West was born. I found this paragraph instructive:

The term has been used in English since the start of the 20th century with different meanings,[13] but became more prevalent in its current meaning in the 1970s and 1980s by scholars in a wide variety of social sciences,[14][15] as well as being used by critics.[16][17] Modern advocates of free market policies avoid the term "neoliberal"[18] and some scholars have described the term as meaning different things to different people,[19][20] as neoliberalism "mutated" into geopolitically distinct hybrids as it travelled around the world.[3] As such, neoliberalism shares many attributes with other contested concepts, including democracy.[4]

{end excerpt}

Per the article on "Neo-fascism", that term seems somewhat more narrowly defined, although the article notes, "Allegations that a group is neo-fascist may be hotly contested, especially if the term is used as a political epithet."

[pnwmom]

4. I think your analysis is spot-on, TomCADem. Thanks! n/t

[Progressive dog]

6. I am proud to be a member of a political party

that created social security, medicare, and medicaid--a party that passed the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts under Democratic President Lyndon Johnson.
I am sick of neopopulism as promoted by either the alt-right or alt-left.

[Tom Rinaldo]

11. It's a huge mistake to conflate Sanders with Stein under one lable - ."neoprogressive"

Bernie consciously rejected the Green Party offer of a Presidential nomination. Stein campaigned against Hillary, Bernie campaigned for Hillary. While Sanders can be critical of the Democratic Party he does not now (and never has) "suggest that there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans."

It is extremely misleading to hold forth the views of a small minority of those who supported Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primaries as the views of the Senator himself, or of the vast majority of those who voted for him. Some say that Joe Biden's recent comments have not been "helpful", and that can be argued, but no one pretends that he suggests that "there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans" Sanders has a long track record in Congress fully consistent of functionally being a loyal member of the Democratic Caucus.