2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumSorry, Joe. We need to END republicanism, not partner with them
Democratic principles need to dominate the political arena, not sidle up beside republicans looking for some reciprocal grope. Republicanism is not just an opposition party, it is a dangerous and destructive philosophy. Put into practice, it is naked corporatism, unquenchable militarism, unashamed discrimination, and anti-democratic tyranny. This republican class who is in power right now is the worst in my lifetime; nothing but a front for their corporate masters.
They are putting our nation at risk and threatening the health of the earth itself. They intend to roll back and eliminate much of the progress that's been made by government on behalf of the least fortunate among us. This shouldn't be just a battle to just sit a couple of rungs above them. They need to be disenfranchised from successfully promoting and furthering their agenda.
"Reaching out" to them will be regarded by these thugs as acceptance and acquiescence. They need to be taken down, and their supporters need to understand we're not willing to subject the nation, any more, to the consequences of the republican party's elaborate con job masquerading as policy.
I can see the republicans standing with the Democrats we elect to carry out our progressive agenda...Smiling, shaking hands...SOMEONE in that arrangement has to lose. The issues and concerns we face break down into longstanding efforts to bring about changes which have been obstructed by a republican agenda which is designed to derail those efforts, not replace them with something more accommodating to the needs of the nation. All of their proposals are phony, disguised as legitimate legislation, designed to derail the 'change' Democratic voters say they want. That's the real world.
There is no republican class in power to work with. Their agenda is a sham designed to obstruct the changes we want and need. It may sound wonderful to imagine that comity and respect will transcend all of that, but, if don't have a Democratic majority large enough to overcome their filibusters, we'll be just as stymied as we are today.
We shouldn't pretend that there aren't specific issues which form a dividing line. Most of these, on the Democratic side, are long standing efforts to provide basic needs and to uphold or establish basic rights which the republicans obstruct with whatever position or strategy suits the moment, often completely running over their previous philosophy, like their former objections to 'nation-building', or conservatives' former support of privacy rights.
What the Vice President left unsaid today is that many of the compromises he's seeking may well make sense in the political arena - like clearing some untidy backlog of unfinished business - yet, most of those compromises threaten divide many in the country from the Democratic party which has pledged and fought to support and defend these opportunistically-discarded initiatives in the past. That 'partisanship' was a NECESSARY response to republican obstructionism.
These days, our party doesn't have a progressive agenda; it has a timid and defensive one in the face of an extreme republican opposition, and I reject any implication that our Democratic politics has EVER been unnecessarily confrontational. These 'lifelong republicans' need to be CHALLENGED and discredited when they try and push their obstructionist, industry enabling agenda, not mollycoddled.
mmonk
(52,589 posts)Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)they have to be dealt with. The only way to "end" it is to convince voters not to vote them in. You can't just "end" those voters.
bigtree
(85,986 posts)...discredit, disenfranchise, and dismantle it wherever possible.
onenote
(42,696 posts)bigtree
(85,986 posts)...that's what I'm focusing on.
Citizen's United comes to mind. Also, we need to be more effective in countering their media propaganda which enables, not only republican pols, but perpetuates their political appeals. More...
jeff47
(26,549 posts)where that candidate will work with Republicans.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)On the other hand though Biden's comment is completely serious and must be paid attention to because reasons.
Did I get that about right?
jeff47
(26,549 posts)"Must be able to work with Republicans" and "Republicans must be destroyed".
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Made Machiavelli look like a Boy Scout
Sorry about that let it all hang out
bigtree
(85,986 posts)...
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Warm Purple Space where we can get things done versus Republicans who are my enemies.
What is there to rebut?
jeff47
(26,549 posts)Thus at odds with "warm purple space".
bigtree
(85,986 posts)...is that not clear?
jeff47
(26,549 posts)bigtree
(85,986 posts)...what more needs to be said? It's a rejection of warm fuzzies for republicanism from whatever camp it comes from (including my own candidate, O'Malley).
My comment was sarcasm. The op IS my rebuttal. Take it or leave it.
noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)time to stop being cowards and/or enablers and/or co-conspirators. long past time to set the agenda vs. being drug along by it.
phleshdef
(11,936 posts)That clearly isn't the case... and I'm counting Republican leaning people who aren't registered with a party as well.
StrongBad
(2,100 posts)Though it might not always be the majority, it will always be there. Recent research has even been pointing to the potential fact that a lot of political affiliations are genetic in nature and people think a certain way as a result.
Any statement saying that one day conservative thought will no longer exists is pure wishful thinking.
bigtree
(85,986 posts)...when we know those political ideals and affinities have been transformed by activism and advocacy countless times over the decades.
StrongBad
(2,100 posts)There has never been (nor will there ever will be) a time where there hasn't been some liberal/conservative divide.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/19/genetics-politics-beliefs-encoded-genes-video_n_4455391.html
So you're proposing undertaking a fruitless task.
octoberlib
(14,971 posts)They'd rather see the government come crashing down than compromise. Where has Biden been during all this and why does he think working with these radical reactionaries is even possible? The GOP treats us as enemies and Biden is letting them off the hook for their behavior. I have a big problem with this. Thanks for your OP.
Baitball Blogger
(46,700 posts)a free-for all, conspiring with members of the other party at the expense of defenseless homeowners. It's disgusting.
At the ground level, all you see is money being passed on up to the national levels, and investigations being squelched. Is there a correlation? How would we know, since we don't have any advocates looking after our interests.
When I hear a Democrat saying that they want to cooperate with Republicans, what I hear is: Why can't we be as corrupt as they are?
We need to find a better way.