2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: I like Sanders, really I do......BUT... [View all]MADem
(135,425 posts)Is it a "progressive value," for example, to cozy up to the military-industrial-congressional complex, to include those entities who are responsible for the manufacture of our nuclear arsenal, for constituent benefit? Or is it simply realpoitik? Is it a "progressive value" to disfavor reasonable gun control in a nation that is overrun with weaponry and has an asinine record of gun violence? Or again, is it simply bowing to constituent preferences--realpolitik, again?
What does "The Party must be loyal to The People" even mean? It sounds like something Chairman Mao might say. "The People" are not a borg--they have different priorities, different outlooks. What's good for the urban dweller might suck for the person living in the countryside. What the youth want, the elderly might not.
I think a fairer 'slogan' might be "The Party must be sensitive to The People's competing priorities, and attempt to find points of agreement, as well as compromises, when needs must."
See, what you might regard as "loyalty" another Democrat might regard as a betrayal. We're a big tent. We don't all think with a single mind. Democrats can disagree and still be Democrats. And, as we're learning, Republicans (who invented that thing called "The Progressive Party" can be "progressives" again -- they're hens' teeth, but they are out there and growing. I'll still stick with the Democrats, other lower case labels notwithstanding... thanks anyway...!