Feel the Bern Trifecta!

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Sunday February 23, 2020 · 12:05 AM PST

2020/02/23 · 00:05

bernie-sanders-for-president-presidential-candidates.jpg — The Sanders campaign is making American history as you read this! Progressive, people powered, positive politics at a scale unimaginable just a few years ago is a massive, growing reality today!

Like many Berners, I have been nose to the grindstone, finding time to help the campaign when and how I can. This year, I am donating $27 / month, and $2.70 when asked.

And I have been asked a lot. Good.

History just got made today. No candidate, in a competitive primary from either party has won the popular vote in all three early States, until Bernie did. And he did by almost 40 points!

But this diary is not about that. Nor me.

The politics have changed.

People aging into politics have experienced a very different world than those who have been at this a while. In the most basic sense, they do not see the product of the last four decades as something to believe in, to be excited about, a cause to get behind.

Many are jaded, checked out of politics too. Some 40 percent of us do not vote, or will vote very infrequently.

Major party mindshare is down, with indie voters nearing 50 percent of us today.

Fact is far too many Americans to ignore are seeking dramatic change!

They are downtrodden economically.

They are ignored by the major media.

They get nothing but blame and shame from others too.

"Why didn't you vote?"

, or

"You have to vote, because Trump."

Expecting downtrodden people to vote for more of the same politics that lead to Trump, because Trump is madness!

This election is an establishment referendum election. In the most basic sense, it is corporations and big money in politics vs ordinary people looking to improve their lot.

One could also say it is progressives vs everyone else too.

You have a basic choice to make.

Are you willing to fight for someone else as much as you would yourself?

Are you really willing to do whatever it takes to defeat President Trump?

Should you say yes to those things, realize this election is probably not about you as much as it is that massive number of Americans who have had enough.

This election is not about who people voted for in past elections. This election is not about judging other people either.

It is all about the votes we all will cast this time!

It is about those downtrodden people!

It is about those of us who need help the most!

It is about real change too.

Most importantly, it is about change coming whether we like it or not!

There is no going back to the familiar politics of our lives. Electing Donald Trump put an end to all that.

In a very real sense, that dramatic change is upon us!

This election is all about the kind of change that will endure, not any sort of return to politics of the past.

Will you join us?

Yes, I mean get behind Bernie Sanders and millions of hard working Americans donating all they have in some cases, and in all cases, working their asses off to not only defeat Trump, but do so with strong policy ideas aimed right at a brighter, more equitable future for everyone.

We can win.

Sanders is running on, "Not me, US!" and means it.

There is a basic difference between the Sanders style of politicking and that of everyone else in the Democratic Primary race today:

Sanders is organizing for change while the others are in sales, essentially.

The basis for our campaign, and I say "our" in the sense intended here: Sanders knows damn well a single person cannot do what needs to be done. But millions of people can!

And we are too. One donation, one phone call, text message, conversation, shared story, downtrodden person heard, spoken with, not at a time.

Will you join us?

I hope you will. Again, the past does not matter. Who you supported, why, battles fought, barbs thrown…

All that really matters is that we get this right. And to do that, we need to fight for others, hear their stories, share our own and come together for common cause.

Medicare For All

You want UNITY? Even the enemy needs to see the doctor. Polling in Nevada today showed 60 percent or better support for Medicare for all.

Know what the culinary union members said?

"We want our relatives to have the same care we get."

Powerful!

Will you join us?

Should you join us, know you will be a part of history! This campaign has been in the works since the very day Trump took office. From day one it has, and will continue to be about that 40 some percent of us jaded, non voters, chewed up, worn down Americans who need help the most.

From day one it has been about the least of us.

From day one it has been about a brighter, more equitable, more livable future for everyone.

Even the enemy.

Will you join us?

We can win big! Epic. No other campaign has what we do, and that is a movement, that sense of being part of something bigger than we are, that crackle of excitement that can get doors to open, people motivated, eager to participate!

Please join us!

We will defeat Trump and bring the kind of dramatic change so many struggling, downtrodden Americans need, and we have another thing the others do not have to make it endure!

We do not go away.

And that is why the politics have changed. The hard truth is the politics of the last several decades simply did not work for enough Americans. And now that the number of us left out to struggle, die early, work too much for too little have grown high enough to justify change, we simply are organizing to garner power and advance necessary change!

Sanders will continue the movement elected POTUS or not. Naturally, being elected is the better scenario, but if somehow that does not happen, nothing really changes.

We will continue after Bernie is done too. The next wave of progressives are learning all they can right now, and building for the future right now.

Millions of us will still be organizing for change, taking seats in Congress, talking to people about the ideas, creating new media voices, getting in the streets if need be.

2016 showed all of us one does not need to be POTUS to lead!

We know when we continue to do the work for a better, public good, that public good can and will happen.

So we will just keep doing the work. We have to! Nobody else can or will do that work, or it would have already begun.

Please join us.

Make this historic effort be the start of a brighter, more equitable, heal the planet era of prosperity and continued social progress for everyone!

We all really do mean it.

One last thing:

I want you to think really hard about what: "Not me, US" really MEANS!

It does not mean a thing to be traded, or sold, or dictated.

Votes do not work like that, nor do movements.

Just stating hard facts for your consideration.

Please join us. Will you join us?

Hope to see you out there making history! It feels amazing! It will be worth it.

ROUND TWO, FIGHT!

potatohead

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Tuesday February 19, 2019 · 12:20 PM PST

2019/02/19 · 12:20

Yes, we are doing this all over again.

Isn’t it GREAT! I think so.

Nothing gets me going like a Bernie run does. You all notice he took it straight to the people? No big, expensive, shallow, wasteful buzz. Do you want to know why nothing gets me going like that?

Policy. Flat out.

It’s all about the issues, and all of us together getting after making it better for all Americans, not just some of them, at the expense of “those other people”, somehow.

Now, you may be wondering why I’m bothering to author a diary at the site that basically purged us last time around.

Image says it all.

Not how we win. But, let’s keep that in the family. There are better ways to have the conversations we need to have. Let’s have those conversations, not the one linked above. Frankly, doing otherwise is selfish. Not how we win.

The fact is, a majority of the people in this nation are struggling economically and that is completely unacceptable. They are in need, powerless, and all the talk of ponies, “selfish”, “entitled” are a load of bullshit, horse shit and cow shit. Our economic policy is grinding people down while generating more billionaires than ever! Inequality has it’s costs, and the growing carnage is now impossible to ignore. I am part of that carnage, and have had enough.

Fixing these is a priority problem, and progressives behind Bernie are all about millions of us working together to get our national priorities in order.

That’s how we win.

You need us. We need us, all of us. Yes, voters overlap. So many that would vote for Bernie would also vote Blue no matter Who.

And all the lectures, the fear, the blame, the shame do not matter. Priorities matter, and our kids, our loved ones, and the very least of us in this nation matter more than the club you are in, or whether you feel “those other people” may or may not be somehow qualified to participate in the political process.

Frankly, none of us are asking. r/WeAreNotAsking for more on that score (yes, another community building in progress, and I will do more too, just watch!) We get to do this, all of us, and the only effective thing is to present compelling policy people want to vote for, and they will too. Watch them come right out of the woodwork, donating their last dollar on the way!

There are way too many people unwilling to vote for for the same failed economic politics that got us here today. They are not interested in voting against Trump either. What’s the point, when it’s getting worse no matter which way that all goes?

And that begs a question:

Just what is worth what?

See, this isn’t about the minority of us who continue to live well. That does nothing for the majority suffering. Expecting that majority suffering to sign up for more of the same politics is a losing proposition, exactly why Bernie is running. Nobody else appears willing to do the hard work to drive real change. Long overdue change.

We are either going to win together, or lose together, and that is all about whether enough of us can make getting better for all Americans a priority.

That’s my priority. All of us, or nothing. That’s the deal.

An easy example is Medicare For ALL. Not some. Not more. ALL.

In my life, I’ve lost home, savings, almost lost people I love due to the ever increasing cost of health care and ever weaker insurance. I’ve had enough. The same old same old isn’t working for me, and I am rapidly reaching a point where I just don’t have all that much to lose. Over the years, I have not wanted to write that, but now I am. Worn down, just had enough.

I am all in on policy visions, that change in direction to make it better for everyone. Should that not be on the table? Willing to lose. No joke. Do not care anymore.

Go ahead and think about that. Hope you do, and I hope you understand where the priorities are forced. The lesser of greater evils does not work for me. Has not for a long time now.

And I am not alone.

You don’t have to like it. Understandable. Call it hostage taking. That is precisely what it is too.

I urge you to think about what matters most to people, and why that is. I’ve just told you why, frank, honest, real as it gets.

ONWARD

Because it’s time we put the people first. Long past time.

Let’s get this right.

The Future Of The Democratic Party Looks Like This:

potatohead

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Sunday December 03, 2017 · 1:18 PM PST

2017/12/03 · 13:18

Watch the rally!

While we watch the GOP assemble the absolute worst tax reform possible, where are our people?

Tweeting scribbles? Doing the TV circuit?

Some people are out there building what will be needed to take power, do right by ordinary Americans and put an end to unnecessary, majority economic suffering in the USA today.

Look at it. That is who is coming for seats. That is the future. People out there doing the hard work.

potatohead

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Sunday October 08, 2017 · 3:30 PM PDT

2017/10/08 · 15:30

Hey everyone! It’s been a while. Thought I would swing by to say hello to some friends and pass along a bit of insight to come out of many difficult political discussions I’ve had recently.

I just had an exchange with someone here, struggling. Like we all are struggling. It's right here.

The outcome of that conversation is yet to be seen. There are many like it going on all over the place too. Those are the right conversations to have. People need to have them. And when we deny that what happens? This dilemma is what happens:

Are you more interested in being right, or judging others than you are making it better, beating back corruption, improving things for the majority of Americans struggling economically?

I have all the time in the world for the latter. I’m a progressive, and it means the least of us need more out of this whole thing period.

It also means I have got no time at all for judging people over their decisions in a bat shit nuts election mess.

We can only go forward, and what is done is done. The hardest part in all of that is understanding people have their reasons for how they voted, and they will have more reasons for how they plan to vote, if they vote at all, and those reasons are often rooted in their personal experiences and struggles too.

Do you all realize those things are just true? They happen, and they impact people. And when our experiences are very different, is there any surprise our politics, what we value, why we value it, who we value is different?

None at all. Or, again, there should be none at all.

And for me personally, there was a simple realization I have harbored for some time now:

Somehow, the idea of progress has been made to be predicated on resolving all the blame and shame. UNITY!

Honestly, that is unproductive, manipulative bullshit aimed right at the status quo. No can do. Not gonna happen. (and I generally mean that, when I say it. Ask around. :D )

The realization is this:

Understanding others is more important than sorting out blame and shame, because understanding brings trust, an ability to have a meaningful conversation, and all of that is what revolution is predicated on, not blame, fear and shame.

Once again, a lesson finally learned from Bernie, and I've internalized it. Can speak to it plainly, simply, honestly, no regrets, no inhibitions. Real. We can’t reach people. We can’t build that consensus, common cause to act without having a basis to even talk to one another, and all of that starts by understanding others, our brothers and sisters, the majority of whom are struggling hard.

What did Bernie do after the election?

He went to understand the Trump voters. I now fully understand why, and I got that understanding through a genuine effort to reach out to another one here struggling same as me.

He’s also interested in the non-voters. Why don’t they vote? For many, they simply do not believe it will do them any real good. And here is the hard part in all of that:

The typical response here is along the lines of, “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain” blah, blah, blah.

Really? How much sense does that shit really make?

Seems to me, from where I stand, not only can they complain, but they do! And others hear that and respond to it too. Not something we control at all, is it?

Also seems to me this dynamic centers on a control, manipulation issue more than it does actually advancing good politics.

Aren’t we supposed to be about advancing better politics?

How exactly can we do that when we judge, blame, shame and cultivate fear in people?

Fair, sincere question. Think before you comment on it, but do comment on it.

I believe understanding others has real value, but only when we really do internalize all of this crap. And that's hard. We want it to have gone differently. We want others to do what we would have done, but that just didn’t happen. Why?

Another typical response seen here, and many other places online mind you, is “those stupid people...” Again, given their experiences, what is true for them, how can we actually qualify stupid when we also haven’t done the work to understand other people?

Doing that means talking with and to them, not AT them.

Fact is, our leaders are supposed to get this stuff right. That is why we elected them.

The hard truth of this election is the deal wasn't good enough. What they did was present us with a shit sandwich with cheese, pointing to the other shit sandwich without cheese, as if!

No.

Self-respecting Americans don't eat shit sandwiches. And that's why we are here. That's why the election made no real sense. That's why we really shouldn't be judging people for their votes.

Regardless of what you personally feel is right, just, appropriate, the fact is the deal wasn’t good enough for enough of us to make a real mess of things, and that just isn’t on ordinary people. Never was. Never will be.

We don’t control other people and how they vote, what really matters to them. What we can do is put compelling ideas out there and ask them to join us in making it all reality.

And understanding all of that, what it means, how people feel, what they think, and what they need is how we move forward together.

And we can only move forward.

Some of us are not past what happened. That sucks. Honestly, Clinton isn’t past what happened, nor is a lot of the party leadership still struggling with the idea they have been losing their asses for over 1000 seats now. So long as those things are true, it’s not about the people, state of the nation, and most importantly, it’s not about completely unacceptable majority of the nation experiencing real economic human pain and suffering.

I want to post up a winning fight. I do not understand how that can happen when more is invested in telling people, talking AT them, presenting them with VOTE AGAINST politics, when what they really need is VOTE FOR politics, people powered, not big money powered politics. The struggle is real. The pain is real. People dying for lack of sane health care policy is real.

The winning fight is not about who did what, why, or even the current mess with that carnival barking bully Trump.

It is about that unnecessary human pain and suffering. Post up those politics and they will come out, do the work, vote, and we win.

At what point do we make ordinary Americans a priority? When we do, the winning will begin.

ONWARD!

Because fuck this shit.

Dispatch from the Alt-Left, A.K.A The Left: You Bet Your Ass It's The Economy!

potatohead

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday August 13, 2017 · 3:38 PM PDT

2017/08/13 · 15:38

I’m going be brutal here, because there just isn’t any nice way to say it:

Democrats are trading on social progress to advance neoliberal economics, while Republicans trade on social regression to advance more extreme and toxic to the poor and middle class economics.

I am unabashedly progressive. That means real left, “New Deal” type left, and as far as most people like me are concerned, party performance for the middle class has been terrible.

A majority of Americans struggle economically today. Their cost and risk exposure continues to climb, while wages stay flat, and or decline as more new jobs pay less than the ones we are losing.

Frankly, the idea of this being a race issue is laughable! I do not intend to marginalize social matters. We’ve got a lot of trouble in this nation, and electing Trump didn’t help any of that at all. There is no real debate on any of that, and “the left” as a whole knows it.

That all said, yes! There is a very significant divide, and it’s rooted in economics, not racism, or social issues.

In fact, here is another brutal reality:

Tepid economic performance has done more to put the social agenda at risk than anything else! Democrats, and I am a Democrat who is super pissed over all of this, have lost over 1000 seats since Obama was elected!

Social progress isn’t good enough people!

Today, Americans can be roughly characterized into three economic classes: Elite, professional, and that majority of struggling Americans.

There are two parties, and neither party actually represents the majority of struggling Americans, which includes everyone below the upper middle class Americans! Put another way, neither party appears willing or able to represent the majority of Americans economically, and that is a much bigger problem for Democrats than it is Republicans! Everyone expects the right to do what it’s doing. That is who they are. But what excuse do Democrats have for saying they are the left party, the opposition, but not actually being that left economic party, that meaningful opposition?

None.

That is the root cause behind so many seats lost too. People have checked out, they don’t believe in the party, they don’t see reasons to get out there and vote, and many of them have had to resort to working more jobs, or more time, or living with a lot less, just struggling to get by. All of which leaves a lot less time and motivation for politics, right when the left really needs all of that to happen, and needs it in a big way!

The biggest way actually.

Notice nobody is talking about the possibility for the GOP to call for an Amendment Congress? Why is that when we are just one State legislature away from that happening?

Does anyone actually believe we, the left, progressives, Democrats will come out ahead on all that given how little power we currently hold in government today?

Does anyone hold any illusions on how toxic that process will be to basic ideas like health care, wages, the environment?

How will social issues play out, given the left is marginalized through brutal amendments?

You think the risks are high? Yeah, so do I, so we all need to get together and win, right?

So tell me then, how come my fucking party, Democrats, continue to insist the wins will come from “Romney Voters?” How come progressives continue to get told they are not needed? Why is it we can’t seem to get behind the number one issue, Health Care?

Nothing on the progressive agenda is unreasonable. Not a damn thing. The rest of the world can put together sane health care policy that does not put their citizens at insane cost and risk exposure. We can do that, we need to do that, and for some reason, probably big money donations, Democrats consistently tell us it’s impossible, or it’s not the right time, or get this: It costs too much, to save billions every year! ...or some other damn thing, while people die, lose homes, go bankrupt, die early, suffer in pain and god knows what else!

I lost my home by the way. My financial future is a mess, and I’m not even sure what I’m going to be able to do when I retire, if I can even retire, despite living modestly, following all the rules, even doing well financially in life.

All it took was someone getting sick at the wrong time, a time when a one percenter decided that a trip around the world was more important than health care for the people who helped them make the money to do that. Boom, gone, no longer really part of the middle class.

And when people like me look for representation? You know, the kind of politics we can get behind, that matter? There are an awful lot of people like me out there too. Enough to win, but we’ve got to put something out there for them to really get behind.

We get told it’s not possible, we aren’t needed, there are other priorities, and every other thing except for, “yes, we can do that, let’s go win together!”

Know what all that really means?

It means Dems are going to lose big again these mid-term elections, that’s what it means. And they are going to lose because the people they need to win aren’t seeing the representation needed to get them out to vote, get them excited, get them to believe in politics.

Now, it’s said it’s on them to vote. Ok, well I have been given some NGP VAN numbers, and Democrats are looking pretty sad in a lot of important states. Even the strongholds are down, fund raising is down, activity is down, registration is down. Way down. Ugly.

Our leaders need to lead, or we will fail, and have been failing, because the leadership, the representation, that public promise to do right by the people simply has not been a priority!

That has all got to change. Now. Before it’s really too late.

The threat of Trump and the GOP isn’t enough. These up coming elections aren’t about moving right to capture those “Romney Voters” in some attempt to just blunt the harm. Doing that is acceptance we’ve lost, and it’s all over but for potentially rendering the very worst decisions into less worse ones.

More people will die, more will go hungry, health care won’t happen, nor will the wins we need, and with those wins goes the social agenda we all value and believe in.

Moving right economically won’t improve on social regression in progress right now!

In fact, doing that will put it at even more grave risk than it already is. Women’s rights are under full assault! Civil liberties are under attack. Trans, gay, minorities, of all kinds, under threat.

But that message isn’t enough! When there isn’t enough money, the priority isn’t getting along. It’s about survival.

Politics today, as seen by that growing majority of struggling Americans, is survival politics! Read it again:

Survival politics.

Economics.

This election is all about people who could be voting, who are registered, who could register, and who need a reason to vote. They need to see representation aimed right at them, or they are going to remain checked out. And with them goes any chance the left has to salvage this mess and make progress.

Blame them, shame them, guilt them, harass them, whatever floats your boat. All of those are post fact things. We have already lost the seats, the regression is already in progress and for most of us ordinary people, the price is going to be paid, and paid hard as we see just how ugly a Trump administration can be.

Some may say, “get him out!”

Hello President Pence! Do you honestly believe that’s going to be so much more appealing? Appealing enough to get those people we need out of the woodwork?

Not a chance. Really.

Now do you know who won’t really be so affected by all of this? Wealthy people, most career politicians, and others who are reasonably secure. The rest of us are going to pay really hard.

One issue; namely, sane health care policy, people actually getting health care, not health care insurance they pay too much for, not the promise of health care, not health care in return for their homes, just reasonable health care for every American citizen will win the elections we need to win.

Economics!

And with those wins, we return to being in a position to improve on social policy, we can stop regression, maybe even return to making progress.

And that, make no mistake, is what these up coming mid-term elections, and frankly, every future election will be about.

People aren’t able to live reasonably, they can’t see the doctor, they are losing homes, they are dying, suffering, taking halfsies on their meds, skipping, and it’s time we put an end to it.

Either we put something on the table people can VOTE FOR, or we are going to lose our asses, and with those losses, so goes more social regression.

Quit telling me I’m not needed. I’ve fought hard for this party since Bill Clinton. Quit lying to me about what is possible and what is not. Quit telling me I’ve got to move right, when I know damn well that’s not going to do me, mine, nor that struggling majority any real good.

Quit telling ordinary Americans they have to vote for people who aren’t willing to represent them, because the other people who also aren’t willing to represent them are worse!

That’s madness, and frankly, a grave insult. Is there any wonder we’ve lost 1000 seats?

None, and that’s the hard, ugly truth.

Tell me we are gonna win. Tell me I’ve got something to vote for, tell me it’s gonna get better, and make direct, clear statements about how that is all gonna happen.

I don’t want to hear about the big money donors. I don’t want to see consideration given to these massive corporations who clearly could give two shits about how many of us have to die for their quarterly growth numbers to look as good as they want them to be.

I do want to hear all about how we are going to do health care. Not support it. Not talk about it later. Not plan for it. Not the taste of it. Not just for some people, or other people.

That will win elections. Democrats stand for health care for all Americans and won’t accept anything less.

Do that? We win.

Don’t do that? Watch as that social agenda continues to erode as economic pressure drives everyone into getting what they can long before they even think about getting along better.

TL;DR: Be the economic left, or forget about being the social left, because economics. No fucking joke.

Read more, join the fight at http://www.wayofthebern.com

ONWARD!

Because someone has to.

potatohead

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday June 22, 2017 · 8:42 AM PDT

2017/06/22 · 08:42

Hey Kossacks!

Ever think about how many Bernicrats could have won office with the money spent on Ossoff? I do, but that’s just a sidebar.

The real story here is very simple:

Money and branding aren’t the solution.

Ossoff didn’t run as a real economic leftie. Courting moderate to right voters didn’t change the numbers much.

This election was about the people who didn’t get out there to vote, not the ones who could have voted differently.

This platform:

Income and Wealth Inequality

It's Time to Make College Tuition Free and Debt Free

Getting Big Money Out of Politics and Restoring Democracy

Creating Decent Paying Jobs

A Living Wage

Combating Climate Change to Save the Planet

A Fair and Humane Immigration Policy

Racial Justice

Fighting for Affordable Housing

Fighting for Women's Rights

Working to Create an AIDS and HIV-Free Generation

Fighting for LGBT Equality

Empowering Tribal Nations

Caring for Our Veterans

Medicare For All

Strengthen and Expand Social Security

Fighting to Lower Prescription Drug Prices

Fighting for Disability Rights

Senator Bernie Sanders' Plan for Puerto Rico

Standing With Guam

Preventing a Global Race to the Bottom in the Airline Industry

General Electric Must Pay to Restore the Hudson River

Constitution Pipeline Must Be Defeated

Supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Ending the Race to the Bottom

Fighting for the Rights of Native Hawaiians

Improving the Rural Economy

Fighting for Nurses

Reforming Wall Street

Real Family Values

War and Peace

War Should Be the Last Option: Why I Support the Iran Deal

Making the Wealthy, Wall Street, and Large Corporations Pay their Fair Share

How Bernie pays for his proposals

...has an important property we Democrats really need to embrace. It is a vote FOR platform. It makes explicit, just, common good statements. We know that a majority of the nation is struggling economically, and we know neither party is really speaking directly to those struggles.

This platform will bring people out of the woodwork. This platform talks about the poors, the downtrodden, the people in real need. It talks to those people who could be voting, but aren’t. This platform will generate excitement, activism, the work needed to win. This platform has majority support, speaks right to the pain in this nation, and it’s extremely hard to say no to. Anyone who does is arguing against helping those of us out who need it the most.

Why aren’t they voting?

They don’t believe it will matter, that’s why. They don’t see a real choice, a difference in play.

Fear, blame and shame won’t win elections!

There is a lot of “those stupid people” type explanations for why we didn’t win elections. “If only they had voted...” Or, “low information voters”, you get the idea. What our party doesn’t get is the relationship between itself and the voters.

People are where they are. We can’t expect them to be motivated to vote, seek better information, or even believe there are better choices out there.

That is the Party job!

Politics is advocacy. It’s a sell job. It is on us to give people a clear reason to fight. Without it, many of them just won’t. Why bother? Life is short, and it won’t matter anyway. We all know it does, but none of that actually matters, does it? It doesn’t matter because that vote not cast, for any reason, is still an election lost, for any reason.

Now is the time to speak with people, not AT them. Now is the time to put things out there people really need, explicit good, things they can get behind.

Somehow, all of this has been inverted. Somehow, the burden of leadership has been placed onto the people and that’s wrong! Leaders need to actually lead, and to do that, they must be explicit about it, not just somehow a little better than the other guy in someway.

When the party pretends to be about the greater and common good, it can expect the people to pretend to really care. Hard fact, but one we must all recognize.

You just watch. In this diary, out it will come: But those other people. They need to, they should have, we need them, and so forth.

And to get that stuff to happen requires we actually ask them to do it, and provide meaningful, clear, explicit reasons why doing it makes better sense.

It all starts with an agenda of:

ECONOMIC JUSTICE

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

SOCIAL JUSTICE

We need the people who aren’t showing up to get involved. Fortunately, there is one guy out there working hard to make that happen.

He could really use some help you know. It’s a real tough gig trying to sell people on the greater good when the party of the people is speaking at the people, not to them, and for them.

We will start winning elections when we present real choice to the people, an alternative they can’t miss! Moving right on various issues is a tacit statement of failure, a tacit statement that the economic left vision possible in this great nation isn’t on the table, a tacit endorsement of the very people we oppose!

Why do that?

Honestly, why? If we are about the left, the people, labor, middle class, how come it’s so damn hard to just say that?

You know who wonders about it all?

Those people who could have won the election! The ones staying home, the ones saying things like:

Nothing ever changes.

They are all the same.

When do we matter?

Do those seem familiar? Well, they should. The message, when we move to the right, no matter how much we spend, no matter how sexy the campaign mechanics are, speaks right to the negatives and worse, speaks against the clear, indicated, necessary and just positives so many need to hear.

Telling people they aren’t needed isn’t helping. And that happened! Progressives, Bernicrats and many independent voters eager to get after a better future were told they were not needed, that they needed to change who they are and what they are about, ignore what they need. In many ways, that is still happening. This must end, or we are gonna keep losing.

Without a solid economic left platform, our party cannot count on getting the support it needs to win elections!

And that’s why this election, and all the other special elections are losses.

It’s on us, it’s on the party leadership to actually sell it to the voters. It is NOT on the voters to somehow make the better of the two choices. Whether those choices are better or not isn’t even a discussion!

The more important thing here is that too many don’t see that as true, they don’t believe, they aren’t motivated to get out there and fight for it, because they just don’t know what IT is, or don’t care about IT, whatever they heard IT was. We must face this as a party and as a movement. It’s on those of us who believe better can happen. It’s on us to put the things people need to see out there, to garner those votes, or we won’t get them no matter how bad it is otherwise.

It is time to be all about an explicit, common, public good. That’s what people need. And when they believe they see people willing and able to make it happen, they will fight for it, and we win.

Want to win again? I do. Way too many seats lost. Time to take it back.

Pick a winning fight, and we might just win! Why is this so hard?

Perez and friends afraid of "real Progressives?"

potatohead

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday May 16, 2017 · 11:57 PM PDT

2017/05/16 · 23:57

They should be. No joke. Why? Last year we learned:

Democrats are trading on social progress to advance moderate GOP policy while Republicans trade on social regression to advance more extreme economic policy.

There are two parties and three rough economic classes: elite, professional and labor.

Both parties are taking big money, dividing the largest and most in need class; namely, labor and leaving it without meaningful representation.

The product of this has been 30 plus years of tepid to poor economic performance resulting in a majority of Americans suffering economically while a minority live well. 1000 plus seats lost since the people gave Democrats a majority. A majority squandered on tepid change, while the need is significant change.

Today, party membership is low, flirting with 20 percent, while independents have grown to over 40 percent.

Over 40 percent of workers make minimum wage and or are on gig type work.

Gains in income and wealth have not been shared with the majority of Americans for over 30 years. The result of this is higher cost and risk exposure amidst record income inequality.

Completely unacceptable!

When the DNC and Clinton told the majority of independents and near half the Democratic party they were not needed, and that moderate Republicans would bring them the win, they picked a fight that endures to this day.

I'm going to put it very simply:

People pretend to support the party that pretends to represent them.

Yeah. It's a raw, ugly fight. No going back, only forward. The party establishment appears unwilling and potentially unable to understand the impact of that decision, insisting a majority fall into UNITY with a minority, who told them they have no where else to go.

Oops.

Now look at the mess!

We are just getting started people, and we aren't asking. No reason to. It's not like anyone asked us before deciding we were not needed and that the interests of those who have the most are what matter, fuck the poors.

At the peak of this ordeal, support for the Sanders policy vision was easily 2x party base support. It included almost half the party and a majority of independents.

Today, Sanders is the most popular politician for a singular reason:

He represents that struggling economic majority unabashedly.

UNITY?

Sure. Join us, or do be afraid because this isn't over. We are just getting started with delegates, volunteers, members of the core Sanders team, supporters all organizing as you read this.

ALL those people are organizing to figure out how best to replace failed party leadership with progressives who will represent labor and the middle class properly.

They are not about returning to failed policy responsible for this epic loss of power and relevance seen today.

ONWARD!

(Many of us were saying that long before she tried to mooch it)

P.S.

Hey peeps! I know this won't be well received and that is OK Fine with me. If you are feeling lonely, left out, hated, you know what to do. There is a welcome mat out there for you.

Please tell me you didn't just say, "F**k the poors!"

potatohead

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday February 07, 2017 · 11:58 AM PST

2017/02/07 · 11:58

All of the drama surrounding Clinton and the DNC boils down to one and only one thing:

Labor and the middle class.

In the camp for Clinton? Fuck the poors!

Pining for Perez? Fuck the poors!

Thought Obama was the shit? Fuck the poors!

Republican? "Blame yourself!" and! Fuck the poors!

We have made corporations people. Now, they aren't, instead legal constructs that have no agency, but through us people. They are proxies for guess what?

People who don't give a FUCK about THE POORS!

Some corporations are run by people who do care, and that's nice. Purely optional though! It's completely legal to FUCK THE POORS!

Greed is good! FUCK THE POORS!

Economic Recovery? Disagree, FUCK YOU ARE POOR!

Meritocracy? FUCK THE POORS HARDER!

Fight for 15? FUCK THE POORS!

Notice a trend here? Yeah, me too.

Now, when you are faced with asses and clowns all stuck on "policy", "lesser evils", "justice", I suggest you rub their faces in this.

ie: But Clinton was clearly the better choice!

Really? For whom? Dems have lost their asses to the tune of just over 1000 seats in 6 years. Where have they lost them? Where the poors are! Overwhelmingly so.

Since Bill Clinton, Democrats have not performed for labor and the middle class. The number of people in real trouble, in danger of becoming GASP! The number of POOR are rising every day. People fucked on health care expenses? People hosed big after seeing their job lost or replaced only to find the next one pays half?

How is that union membership growth drive? Let's look at wages! Flat? Sure! FUCK THE POORS, they can work harder, or it's somehow their fault for not being so fucking awesome as to be worth a living wage for them and their families.

Obama pushed for FUCK THE POORS TPP, he and corporate Democrats actually put Social Security on the chopping block, FUCK THE OLD POORS TOO. And of course, they shit on the kids. Didn't think that all the way through did they? Now who is the future? Paybacks are a bitch!

Fight for 15 is just way too much, BECAUSE FUCK THE POORS, so let's just do 12 and call it a win, k?

Have your parents living with you now? You living with your parents to make ends meet? How about having three roomies in a two room place? FUCK THE POORS WHO DESERVE IT?

Are you young? How come you aren't working more and more? Why aren't you buying cars? How come you can't be more like those spiffy startup guys and just make shit up for millions? Why don't you just go away?

Somehow, we've gone from a nation who valued it's people to FUCK THE POORS!

We put them in prison, and that's not enough, so we do it for profit, because you know WHY NOT FUCK THE POORS HARDER? THEY ARE POOR! FUCK 'EM! We extort their families, and when or if they get out, we saddle them with fees and onerous requirements designed to screw them and everyone they ever knew to the max almost for sure to end up right back in the jail where they can work for pennies!

We get told how those with the most need more. Just a little more every year. It's not much. It's more than THOSE FUCKING POORS CAN DO, right?

We've gone from a caring, generous nation to one where it's perfectly OK to get yours, fuck everyone else hard. Why? Because if you don't somehow get yours, that means you were never worth jack shit and everyone knows it, so FUCK YOU DESERVE TO BE POOR! Why? BECAUSE PEOPLE WHO DON'T FUCK THE POORS ARE POOR! That's why.

We never put poor people on TV. We never really talk about poor people and all our metrics hide the poor people as much as we can. We call "poverty" being unable to eat basically. If you can eat, SHUT THE FUCK UP, it's a good day for you. POORS ARE WORTHLESS. POORS COST US MONEY.

Why can't we do single payer health care? You know, save ourselves billions, stimulate the economy, take care of our own, prosper?

Insurers need profit more than THOSE FUCKING POORS NEED TO LIVE!

Why can't we pay for schools? Those of us who are worth it can just buy good school. LET THE POORS FEND FOR THEMSELVES!

And on it goes.

Now, the gall?

These broken people, twisted, scared shitless THEY MIGHT BECOME A POOR or maybe be associated with, or actually get caught being kind to ONE OF THOSE SCUM, are all about everything that just doesn't matter.

HUMANS CAN GO TO MARS! (and you bet your ass that means LEAVE THOSE FUCKING POORS ON EARTH too) SOFTWARE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD, but it can't feed a family.

Climate change, the fucking of the planet? Now those of us with the most won't give a shit. They can stake out some nice places, pay the smarter people to learn where the best opportunities are, and then FUCK THE POORS! THEY CAN GET US MORE OIL, THEN DIE.

About 20 percent of us are doing pretty well and do not worry about money so much.

Another 20 percent are doing OK, but need to be super careful! COULD BECOME A POOR. WATCH OUT!

The rest? FUCK THEM, GET A JOB, PULL YOURSELF UP! THEY DESERVE IT, somehow.

Truth is, a majority of us are suffering so that a minority of us special snowflakes can live reasonably.

Some of the more callous ones will actually say, "we don't have enough resources", so FUCK THE POORS! Be thankful you are one of us!

Fail to hold that line and what happens? YOU END UP ONE OF THE POORS, AND FUCK YOU.

Nobody wants to talk about class issues. TOO MANY POORS. If you are a poor, and don't have some reason, it's your fault.

Welcome to white voter syndrome. They feel this shit. Hell, I do, and I'm white and think it's a hot load of bullshit, divisive as hell, unjust, and you name it.

I'm expected to say, FUCK THE POORS! And when I don't? It's as if I shit on my besties right then and there! HOW COULD YOU NOT HOLD THAT LINE? YOU WANT TO BE ONE OF THEM?

No joke. This shit happens, not in such blunt terms, but you bet your ass it happens. I don't have an official reason to be poor, so it's my fucking fault. Somehow. (speaking generally here, not specifically, k?)

Now the only way these upper class people can live with themselves at all is reasons!

Black poors, foreign poors, abused poors, female poors, gay poors, but don't be a tranny poor. They don't rate yet. (sick, isn't it?)

Identity politics is just another form of POOR FUCKING PRIDE!

Never mind all the abuse, being downtrodden every day, high costs, high risks, dying early. That shit isn't even worth the time of day.

No, POOR PRIDE is taking it up the ass hard, owning up to the fact that we are born to take it, will take it gladly and repeatedly so those with the most get what?

JUST A LITTLE MORE.

Now some of you may not like this post very much. It's ugly, and I intend it to be.

This is what we face.

Pelosi said just the other day, "Well we are capitalists and that's just how it is!"

Translated, that means: "LOOK, WE ARE GONNA GET OURS, AND GET MORE, BECAUSE FUCK THE POORS!"

We face people who really don't care. We can talk about why they don't care all day long too. Out of touch, stupid, greedy, evil, incompetent, whatever floats your boat.

The key thing is they really, truly don't care.

They are not paid to care. Who pays them? NOT THE POORS!

Any questions?

Know why we have money in politics? Why we have legal corruption, bribes?

THOSE FUCKING POORS TOOK FROM US!

New Deal politics. Progressive politics.

And they never, ever, ever want to see that shit happen again. IT WAS THEFT! WE MADE THAT MONEY, AND WE NEED MORE MONEY, NOT LESS MONEY!

Profits before people.

That is what we face. That is what the nation has become.

I suggest you start taking it there and keep it right there. It's a lot harder to say, "FUCK THE POORS", when we start making it obvious what is going on.

UNITY!

Know what that means?

HOLD THE LINE ON FUCKING THE POORS, is what UNITY means. It means we all agree to the fact that a whole lot of us are gonna suffer, and that's all OK, because those of us who don't are somehow worth it, or better, or deserving, and don't ever question that, or you aren't worthy!

Small Democratic party? Bet your ass! If it's too much bigger, guess what?

IT WILL HAVE POORS IN IT! FUCK THEM.

We've got basically one guy in government willing and able to speak right to this, and it's Bernie fucking Sanders.

Know what he did this election?

HE BROKE THE LINE.

See, it's OK to have one token person out there pandering to the people, peddling hope, ideas, leaving the taste and smell of better times to come out there. And it's all fun and games, UNTIL SOMEONE ACTUALLY TALKS ABOUT THE POORS!

Bernie did that. Told us it's money in politics. Told us it's corruption made legal. Told us there is enough for this nation to do right by it's people and he showed us places all over the world where they do just that too!

FUCK BERNIE AND HIS POORS!

That too is what we face.

We have been vilified, shamed, slandered, marginalized, ignored, pushed aside, jerked off, blamed for doing one basic thing:

We didn't go along with FUCK THE POORS!

And folks, that shit is just not OK? What? Do you want to become a POOR? Are you one now? You know that is your fault right?

I won't go along with this at all. Neither should you. Rub their faces in it. Every last bit of bullshit they float out there can be tied directly back to a singular fact:

THOSE WITH THE MOST ARE TAKING TOO MUCH AND THEY WANT MORE

Everything.

When we say we are about the ideas, that means:

INCOME AND WEALTH INEQUALITY
IT'S TIME TO MAKE COLLEGE TUITION FREE AND DEBT FREE
GETTING BIG MONEY OUT OF POLITICS AND RESTORING DEMOCRACY
CREATING DECENT PAYING JOBS
A LIVING WAGE
COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE TO SAVE THE PLANET
A FAIR AND HUMANE IMMIGRATION POLICY
RACIAL JUSTICE
FIGHTING FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING
FIGHTING FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS
WORKING TO CREATE AN AIDS AND HIV-FREE GENERATION
FIGHTING FOR LGBT EQUALITY
EMPOWERING TRIBAL NATIONS
CARING FOR OUR VETERANS
MEDICARE FOR ALL
STRENGTHEN AND EXPAND SOCIAL SECURITY
FIGHTING TO LOWER PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES
FIGHTING FOR DISABILITY RIGHTS
SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS' PLAN FOR PUERTO RICO
STANDING WITH GUAM
PREVENTING A GLOBAL RACE TO THE BOTTOM IN THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY
GENERAL ELECTRIC MUST PAY TO RESTORE THE HUDSON RIVER
CONSTITUTION PIPELINE MUST BE DEFEATED
SUPPORTING HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
ENDING THE RACE TO THE BOTTOM
FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHTS OF NATIVE HAWAIIANS
IMPROVING THE RURAL ECONOMY
FIGHTING FOR NURSES
REFORMING WALL STREET
REAL FAMILY VALUES
WAR AND PEACE
WAR SHOULD BE THE LAST OPTION: WHY I SUPPORT THE IRAN DEAL
MAKING THE WEALTHY, WALL STREET, AND LARGE CORPORATIONS PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE

Look at that list, and it's super easy to see. Those with the most want more and they are gonna get it, FUCK THE POORS.

Another thing we face:

Isn't it enough that we are getting along? The gays can marry, you can smoke a little pot in most places now without doing 10 hard for having a seed in your pocket. We got programs and special participation ribbons too! You poors with reasons get a ribbon, and some extra help, because you are so important!

What isn't said is far more ugly. IF YOU DON'T FUCK THE POORS, MAYBE WE JUST WON'T GET ALONG ANYMORE.

Coming to an abortion clinic near you. FUCK WOMEN, because YOU DIDN'T HOLD THE LINE ON FUCKING THE POORS, now look at the mess?

YOUR FAULT!

YOUR FAULT YOU DIDN'T FUCK THE POORS LIKE THE REST OF US!

What? Are you stupid?

Rub their faces in it. You can take every last bullshit thing they say, link it to one of the issues and ask hard, "What is worth what?" type questions.

Making them admit to FUCK THE POORS is a whole lot worse than just doing it quietly along with everyone else, and that is the game Bernie quit playing.

Now it's overt! We are having to finally admit that our delicate coalition is more about FUCK THE POORS than it is anything else!

Remember, those special poors with reasons? We took care of them, wasn't that enough?

Honestly, I do not blame the right for calling the 'left', such as it is, on that shit. Not one bit.

It's CLASS STUPID!

But oh noes! If we admit to class, then we are in real trouble, because all of us who said, "FUCK THE POORS!" end up looking really bad, like "maybe we took too much" or "we didn't really care when we said we did" kind of bad.

Shitty.

We Berners are not wrong about this!

Not one lick. We are about the ideas, and that means being about making it better for all of us, including the least of us. We all know we have families, or others close to us who need us. We know everyone needs health care. We know everyone needs a clean place to live, school, and all that basic stuff.

We know our kids are fucked, and we know why and who too.

We are not about FUCK THE POORS, and basically everyone hates us for that, BECAUSE WE AREN'T HOLDING THE LINE, just as BERNIE DIDN'T HOLD THE LINE.

It's a shitty, completely unnecessary, greed driven, cold, heartless line.

Stand on that. Stand tall. Beat back fear, blame and shame and point right at the poors. They need us, THEY ARE US! Time to stand together as a class. Take no more shit.

I am. Make no mistake. I'm actually complicit. I bought all that bullshit, was a total believer. Incremental change.

FUCK THE POORS TODAY, BUT MAYBE NOT TOMORROW.

Yeah, I did that. Sucks. Bet a lot of you did too. Maybe didn't even realize it.

I didn't.

But I do now! BET YOUR ASS.

And no more. I really don't care how much we have to take out of the asses of big corporations and wealth to make it right. Really, I don't give two shits.

Why?

Because we have more than enough and they can still be super wealthy. They just don't need more. What they need is less, and for that to happen, we have to get past this FUCK THE POORS bullshit.

I only know one way to do that, and it's the same fucking way we've done about every other good thing.

Don't shut up. Call to not fuck the poors and call for others to join us. Organize, pool our money, win elections, protest, and do it all.

Some of the smarter ones might ask you, "Why?"

The answer is simple, "Could be me needing help, so why not?"

If they say anything at all other than, "Yeah", it's FUCK THE POORS!

Work that shit. They deserve every word of it, and I'm just not gonna coddle people on it. Not when there is a majority out there now.

Should never have, but hey! This isn't always easy to see.

It's easier when we tell our stories, or we share those of others we know. Personification will beat out vilification. It has on every other issue, and it can do the same thing on economic issues, but sadly, it will require getting personal.

They say we aren't nice! They say, "gosh, that's rude!" and all kind of other shit. Well, flip it. ISN'T FUCKING THE POORS JUST AS SHITTY AS IT GETS?

Of course it is, the whole point. Lock. Stock. Barrel.

So which is it?

FUCK THE POORS, or get to work fixing this shit so we can all enjoy a little bit of life before we tip over for lack of reasonable health care?

ONWARD!

Class war kids. Coming to a block near you.

Your author can be found at WayOfTheBern.com and other POORS friendly places on the Internez

I don’t expect a warm reception. It’s fine, just think really hard about who needs what and why.

I can’t sell this shit anymore. Neither should you. Time for real change, time to take the party back for the people where it is needed more than most of you probably are willing to admit.

potatohead

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday January 01, 2017 · 12:00 AM PST

2017/01/01 · 00:00

Yes, some clocks will display “11:59:60” as a valid time mark this year, due to a leap second correction. Cool. Don’t miss it!

www.elleuk.com/...

In these few minutes left to me in 2016, I must say, “What a fucking year!” So much happened, but I’m going to focus on just a couple very, very important things:

A ton of us woke up. The Democratic Party has not performed for the middle class and labor and that needs to change. I know this does not make some of you happy, and know what?

I don’t care.

Too many of my peers have fallen out of the middle class. I myself am hanging on by a mere thread, and that’s after three career jumps too. It’s not over yet, but I’m being tested on all fronts. Doesn’t need to be this way, and I resolve to do all I can to that end.

The wealthy and corporations are simply taking too much. There is no getting around this. I resolve to do everything I can about that too. Income inequality is at unacceptable and impractical levels. If we do not eventually resolve this, bad things are gonna happen. People will act out. It’s human nature.

We now understand money in politics, it’s impact, and what labor and the middle class needs to do. We don’t have expensive advocates dropping millions on our behalf. The poor party performance isn’t a statement of bad intent. It’s simply an artifact of all that money.

Good people run with the best of intentions and in the end, get chewed up, and here we are down something like 1000 seats and divided as a party as to which way to go.

I resolve to do all I can to help labor and the middle class take the party. It’s time. The old guard simply has not performed and we no longer have the luxury needed to entertain all of that.

No more blame, fear and shame politics. Those don’t work for me and we learned how the up and coming people respond to all this too. (not well) While it’s important to understand what happened and why, it’s more important to recognize we can just begin to make better choices in 2017. It’s simple: Join us. The future of the party runs left, it’s about the ideas, people, people money and all that we saw rising this year. Nobody has to know. Nobody has to blame, shame, or fear. We just make things better one day, one person, one election at a time. :D

We have learned what being about ideas means and how it compares to identity type politics. I’m about the ideas now. This does not mean I forget, or set identity aside, but it does mean the ideas come first. We learned how a majority of the nation is in serious economic need, and that majority is in need no matter their race, creed, religion, gender or any other damn thing.

This is about some of the humans taking way too much out of the system, which is fucking a lot of other humans and it’s gonna end.

Wrote this in March. That was the day I stepped away from the old game, old guard, never to return. I can’t. What has been seen cannot be unseen. Know that.

People asked that I be banned for it and some other work too. It was spot on then, is spot on today. Whatever future we have together, it absolutely must be one where labor and the middle class are a priority.

This won’t go well, nor be pretty, but it must happen. See you all on the other side. We will end up a lot stronger for the hassle. Promise.

Our fight begins tomorrow! New politics, new day. I’m ready, willing, able and energized. We can take this a new direction, we can win on our ideas and doing all of that will present meaningful opposition to President elect Trump.

It’s not enough to just oppose. No where close. We need to oppose and push hard on the great ideas we know can win all across this nation.

Stay strong Berners. No way this is over. Not at all!

ONWARD!

Result Oriented Democracy

potatohead

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday December 18, 2016 · 9:43 AM PST

2016/12/18 · 09:43

“Bernie lost 22 States and 45 percent of delegates”

No, he won those. While the nomination outcome of a primary is binary, win / lose, the overall election data, gauging support, and all sorts of other metrics are not binary.

What we Progressives and like minded friends all did on the Sanders campaign is a YUGE win!

Knocked it out of the park, to be frank. Not only did that campaign outraise Clinton regularly, but it was competitive, on PEOPLE MONEY, and on an unabashedly socialist, left platform too!

Yet we read, he lost…

We are going to come to realize that campaign will have changed politics. New game, new people coming in, lots of good stuff, all needed very badly by Progressives. Unlike most candidates, Sanders didn’t just run for POTUS, but ran to start an enduring movement for change. Truth is, we are just getting started!

Ellison is just one piece of that. All over the country, delegates are organizing, getting into party business, looking to get ready for more movement politics.

Flat out, Progressives aren’t asking anymore. So many of us can’t afford to do that anymore. We need a firm place at the policy table, and to get it, we are going to pool our money, win elections and fund people differently than we see going on right now.

Our people aren’t gonna be in that call center dialing for dollars. They will be out among the people who elected them, holding town halls, and doing what it takes to actually practice representative government. You guys all saw this right:

YouTube Video

That, right there, is why our party has failed a majority of Americans economically.

While the old guard is out there butt hurt over losing their asses huge, the new guard is moving, building, messaging, planning, organizing as you read this.

Sanders tapped into what we now understand is an establishment referendum time. New Democrat and Third Way ideas just didn’t work. Now, I know, there was obstruction, there was this, there was that, but know what there wasn’t much of?

Fight.

Hell, Obama put Social Security on the chopping block, among other things!

That shit is not OK!

Say what you want about the GOP, but you can’t say they don’t mean business. We don’t need to take it to the extreme of defaulting on the full faith and credit of the United States, but anything short of that would have been good.

Example: Are you bitching about the Supreme Court? Wouldn’t it have been nice to avoid Roberts as chief justice? Dems didn’t fight on that one. Could have. Could have done a whole lot more than they did. And that’s just one thing. Tons of other examples out there. Where is the fight?

Instead we read pages and pages on how compromise gets us this and that, but the truth is all it did do was devalue the party and validate economics that have crushed the middle class and labor. Some people got help, but others, all of whom really can’t afford it, tend to pay, while the top percent gets a little more every year.

That shit is not OK either.

When Sanders fired up his run, he started with basically zero, easy ups, balloons, some black tape and a “get the word out” boom box.

To go from that to regularly filling stadiums? On people money, and with a well distributed campaign involving tons of people all over the place?

Bet your ass that’s a win. It’s a huge win.

Before you go tossing “lose” around, remember Clinton was the most experienced at losing Presidential Bids. Remember that shit? She’s more qualified now too. Better experience.

That game ends up ugly all around.

And if we want to play that ugly “lost” game some more, look who is who today.

Clinton, and the establishment team backing her gets full credit for a mega loss over a considerable time. We are down what? Roughly 1K seats?

More than half the nation is living in poverty. 40 percent of workers are not even making $15 per hour, income inequality is at an all time high, as is the markets, enjoying record profits a lot more than a majority of Americans are enjoying lives, able to get what they need out of honest labor and their government.

On social fronts, we’ve got some big wins. On economics, it’s a FAIL. Not good enough.

And here’s another dose of reality for you:

People just don’t want to hear it. Call it a result oriented Democracy, and that’s the norm going forward too. Global trend, not just us. See all those nice policy papers filled with stats, charts and graphs all labeled “Recovery?”

Know that way too many Americans might just have to be burning them for home heat, metaphorically of course. Some real Perspective, isn’t it?

Finally, what did Clinton run? A campaign. Well, she lost now, and it’s over big time, her and a bunch of other people are gonna get tagged old news. Which they are now.

What did Sanders run?

A Presidential campaign that was also to build a movement. A movement that endures and is building right now, because Sanders was smart enough to link it right to the ideas needed to address economic issues that don’t end when an election does.

This isn’t over. Can’t be, until the economics really do improve. We aren’t going away, because we can’t afford to anymore.

Result oriented democracy in action!

So, we’ve got the old guard holding galas, while the new guard is hitting the streets, building, giving people hope, positioning themselves, the party, the ideas in ways that resonate, and all of that is important.

Important because we simply cannot check out for the mid-terms.

All that organizing going on while we trusted with this are spending huge amounts of time trying to figure out what blame and shame story and excuse will stick to cover their own asses.

I don’t think a lot of us really understand what just happened, nor where people are at.

A majority of Americans don’t want the past failures as a go forward plan. Establishment Referendum Time.

YouTube Video

And that is why we are in an establishment referendum time. People realize most of what they say and what they need simply doesn’t matter. That is also why we can’t win against income inequality when we are running on the same money driving income inequality!

And the people on that Sanders campaign aren’t losers. They were kicked aside and everybody knows it too. That one action right there differentiates everyone nicely.

If you are on the Clinton camp, you get to deal with this ugly record and poor performance. Sanders doesn’t own that. He tried to contribute and bring the necessary support, message and all that into play.

Clinton told us TWICE we were not needed. Lost her ass too. I’m mad about that, because we could have won. Now we have a mad carnival barker as President Elect.

Maybe we were needed. Just maybe trying to tell voters who they are and what to think doesn’t work very well. Maybe fear and shame just isn’t how we rally the people for change.

Just maybe...

Now the nation is gonna find out about all of this, because the Sanders and soon Ellison team isn’t fucking around trying to CYA. They are out there doing what Sanders started and continues to do, which is build an enduring movement for real economic change. That’s being a Democrat through and through. Hard to get better actually.

Losers my ass. Yeah, this is a rant. I’m not gonna apologize for it. From where I stand, I see a seriously potent, well aligned, winning team in the making, and it sure as hell isn’t gonna perform on the same money and politics that got us here.

That’s the old guard. We can thank them for good that got done, and awesome social issue progress! Kudos well deserved.

Now it is time for new blood.

Time to change things up economically, pool our money to fund better politics directly, compete and win elections to secure a real, meaningful place for the people who need it the most at the policy table.

On a very basic level, after this election mess, nobody is going to get excited about the same old same old. It won’t be enough, and mid terms are coming too. This year, of all years, we need excitement heading into the mid-terms or we are going to lose AGAIN, and set our ideas and all those people in need back at least a generation, if not more.

It’s time for Progressives to quit being nice. We simply can’t afford it anymore.

The Party Platform Is "just a piece of paper nobody cares about"

potatohead

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday December 15, 2016 · 1:43 PM PST

2016/12/15 · 13:43

So, I watched that Ellison / Sanders DNC Chair Rally. Was good. 100k people joined me.

And I got to thinking. Sanders made a big deal out of working the convention, putting our mark on the party platform, scoring the delegates, and getting the word out for reform among the people.

What was said?

It's a piece of paper nobody looks at, nobody cares about. The delegates don't matter, because we lost. The race is over, votes and all that didn't do squat.

All truth, until it’s not.

Bernie Sanders isn't modeling the same old politics we are used to. He's about motivating people to change, building consensus on what to change and why it matters. And he's thinking into the future at all times, leaving us, and him outs to proceed. (I disagree with the idea of the woman in the linked video turning liberal. What happened is she found common ground with us, something to vote FOR.)

Most importantly, Sanders doesn't put an end cap on reform for the people. It's just not over, until the people are living under a better government that serves everyone, not just the one percent.

I'm paying more attention now.

See, that platform is coming in very useful. If we get Ellison, he will point to that and say, "this is a Democrat" and he will bend the party away from the "way of Comedy Central Democrats" and toward us along with the ideas we want to see happen.

That changed platform is the record of us, making our mark. It's our fight, remembered in an enduring way. A bit of official history. All of what lead up to that piece of paper makes it as important as WE want it to be. Given what I saw this year? The platform matters.

We were there, we were large, we put a vision of a bright future out there, and we mattered then and we matter now.

Now, those delegates are all over the country organizing for change, getting into party business, keeping touch with their staff, volunteers, and everyone. Nobody had to change sides, and Sanders made damn sure the delegates remained our delegates. Why? Because the cause behind those delegates remains a valid cause!

And after the shit that went down in Philly? You bet the majority of them are looking for some payback! Well deserved too. I'm on board with that. We got shit on, and it's not OK. And had it gone a bit differently, had we been recognized, I’ll bet Trump wouldn’t be President elect today too.

More importantly, look at how it's all starting to line up:

Had Clinton won, all of this would be pointed at the Democrats, and a nice family fight to go left would happen. But she lost, as did the party itself.

Now, because Sanders didn’t put an end cap on it, capitulate essentially*, it's all about repopulating it with our kind of people, our politics, and that platform, primary, movement work is perfectly positioned to keep building on a very positive message that has broad support! The future of the party, it’s ability to win big, take this back, centers right on all those people, the movement and ideas.

The struggle continues.

Soon, say Ellison wins it, party reform work will begin, and Ellison along with Sanders can position the party, get people into place --our people, not the same team who brought us here, and begin recruiting for an awesome mid-term election!

I know, it's tiresome, but the truth is, we have got to stay in it enough to nail the mid-terms this time. No checking out. Stakes are way too high.

Sanders wrote his book, has a tour and reason to engage the nation again. Doing TV, events, outreach, advocacy, messaging, and all that is needed to build the party again. Most importantly, if we build it, New Democrats don't, and if we hold the chair, New Democrats don't.

It can transform. I don't know if that will be successful, but I see an architect at work here, and I'm game.

I’m just not on board with the same team. That’s over. Time for a new path.

"Our Revolution" is a messaging arm right now. I really do hope we see more, in terms of organizations and you all know how I feel about that too. But, that messaging arm is proving effective to get the word out and keep it all going.

100K people watched what should be a total snooze fest, mid week, after a crushing loss, winter time, creeping up on Christmas.

That shit doesn't happen. Our movement is real. This is all gonna matter!

Now, I'm glossing over some things. Big money, party organization issues, etc... Lots of hard work there for Ellison and Sanders.

Want my guess?

My guess is they will leave some establishment alone. Need the numbers. A transition makes sense to bring everyone along in the best way possible.

But the building, policy focus, etc... will be with us, the Sanders Ellison faction, and the more we win in the mid-terms, the more of the party we own. And if we do that winning on people money, the more power and leverage we have and the less they have.

It's ours to take people! Truth is, this crushing loss has left a big vacuum. We can transform the party by winning elections on people money.

Ellison said last night, "What if we start talking to everybody?"

The man gets it! Take this right to the people. All of the people! And you all saw Sanders talk with that woman. The headline was he transformed her into a liberal.

Critics of that headline are right. That didn't happen.

What did happen is she came to consensus with us on important stuff, priorities and could be voting FOR instead of against.

We do that, and we are gonna win elections. Lots of them.

Each thing builds on the last. Movement politics in action.

ONWARD!

*Yes he endorsed, but didn’t give up the delegates, got the platform improved, and kicked off the growing movement we see today. That’s a win all around, and great positioning for the people centric movement we see today.

potatohead

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday December 14, 2016 · 9:46 PM PST

2016/12/14 · 21:46

Are you kidding me?

YouTube Video

At this time of year? A supposed snooze fest like this?

Gotta tell you, I was riveted! Literally, watched the whole thing, eager for more! This is something I crave.

Normally, we get this stuff distilled down, filtered, watered down, focus tested. Nobody cares.

Well, given what happened to labor and the middle class, our party seat count?

You bet I watched this. It matters.

Say what you want kids. Since the election outcome, we’ve got two groups out there. One is lamenting the loss and spreading a whole lot of blame and shame around. Not to mention, pointing way too many fake news fingers.

Losers, by the way. Fact. And I’m not being mean with that. We’ve lost a lot. Recognizing that, making changes to combat our losses is entirely rational to do. It’s OK. We just need to go back and win now.

And we’ve got another group, out there building momentum, getting people excited, giving them hope, motivating them, and that group got 100k people on a live stream about inside party business? Looks like potential winners to me.

Think the same old same old is the answer?

Think again. This, right here, is the future of the party. I’m all in on this.

Ellison, or not a fucking dime for the DNC.

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