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Bring Down The Walls




I was recently schooled for my optimism and wide-eyed belief that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris would implement changes to the shitshow that Agolf Twitler has created in the United States. And I kind of understand that point of view. A sample:


This was me, puffing my chest and trying to sound coherent when commenting on some predictions that had been made about the election:

You were mostly right, then. It’s been a horrible four years and there’ll be gnashing of teeth until Agolf Twitler is out. He’s wrecking the house before he goes and making things as difficult as possible.
He will make everything possible to make the transition difficult and then blame Uncle Joe for his fuckery, as per custom. And the Repugs will suddenly grow a spine and Bitch McConnell will stonewall everything he can.
I feel you and your idea of Uncle Joe being ‘establishment’, but you don’t give the establishment any credit for having turned several states blue and having a female of color as vice president. And for being one of the few LGBTQ inclusive candidates? Or for finding that middle ground between Hillary and Bernie? Oh, you forgot about that?
See? I can show my teeth too.

I got this:

"Apparently I have forgotten how to reply in-thread, but to add to my other reply: no, I don’t give the establishment much credit at all. They worked harder at defeating Sanders than they did Trump, they ignored the flyover states that could have won them actual seats in congress, and they are doing their best to crush the wing of the party represented by AOC. When given the chance they gerrymander states as thoroughly as any Republican. They are in the pockets of lobbyists and Wall Street as thoroughly as any Republican. They are not the only problem, but they are a big problem.

Choosing Harris as VP was one of the most cynical acts of tokenism I have seen in a while. I am sure she will do an adequate job but she was chosen because she is a brown woman who obediently rolled over when the establishment Dems decided Biden was going to be the nominee. Celebrate if you want, but understand how you are being manipulated here."

I, of course, could not keep my mouth shut:

I think Bernie defeated himself. I like his ideas (and I think AOC is the future of the party) but it’s America and it’s difficult to change the Nationalist mindset that considers any thought about other fellow Americans as Socialism (not that most Americans know what Socialism is, mind you). And I wish the Dems would gerrymander SOMETHING. I’m tired of the Repugs doing shit and not paying for it.
Oh, and tokenism? Joe -or the establishment- was all but dead in the water when you were making your projections. Then he came from behind and beat them all. Cheeto and the Repugs saw that. Hence the campaign to dig dirt on Hunter. Kamala will be a great Vice President. And will probably use those training wheels to run for the presidency.
And yes, I am an issue voter: I think Biden’s all-inclusive platform and cabinet will be great. Perfect? Come on, it’s politics. You’ve seen quite the number of elections and I don’t have to lecture you on ‘the establishment’. There’s no perfect candidate. But the perfect populist who will bring Nationalism in a young, pretty package is being groomed. Bernie will not be here to witness it.

And I got this:

"I am not a Bernie Bro, but there was definitely a concerted effort from the moneyed establishment to keep him and Warren as far away from the presidency as possible.

Now you have me curious. I would like to compare the results of Super Tuesday against the election. I am deeply suspicious of how the Democratic nominee race went down. If Klobuchar and Buttiegieg had not dropped out just before the big day the story might have been quite different. How convenient for Biden."

I have seen this kind of slightly veiled disdain for the president-elect of the United States running rampant amongst the 'liberal' Gaytterati and among some people who call themselves Democrats. You see, as a mental exercise (and to keep our Poli-Sci courses fresh in our mind), I think we should not lose sight of the goal: an egalitarian society, where privileges are kept in check and the evils of capitalism and cronyism are kept at bay. But this is a country funded on those principles. This is a country that is a first world country because it used the lives of people as currency and counted on their free labor for hundreds of years in order to become a world potency. America is what it is because it was (and it still is) an intrinsically racist country. 

I understand the idea of wanting to solve all of America's problems by electing the one person who is going to make everything ok, but that's not really feasible. One, seventy million racist, xenophobic, sexist, stupid people will get on the way. Two, the racism and inequality underlying most aspects of American life are not only systemic but systematic. They require a bottom-up approach as well as a top-down revision. And one person cannot do all that in four years. 

Those purists need to get their assess off their chairs and start pounding the streets so the change they want to implement comes from the community. It's the people running from the humblest position in a community to the person running for president that need to be taken into account. Those 'small' elections have consequences. Cheeto could inflict damage on the country with the complicit malignancy of Bitch McConnell and all the spineless cunts that are the Repugs in Congress and the Senate but most of those idiots started small. Those same Repugs will block and stonewall most of the changes that Uncle Joe will try to implement. They did it with Obama. They'll do it again. And again. And again. That's why more people who know the problems of the communities need to bring those problems to light. Those are the people who will implement change.

Demanding purity tests from political candidates is not bad. I think Uncle Joe and Kamala should be held accountable and have their election promises fulfilled, but I also think that it's not all up to them. More people ready to implement change should be elected to positions where that change can be implemented. Look at The Squad. Look at what so many LGBTQ+ people have achieved. That's the goal. Not moan and groan because 'the establishment' is in power. They have this idea that the Democrats should move to the Left of Center and that's a reality check right there. There is no such thing as a "Left Wing" in America, but there are many, many Right Wing politicians and think tanks ready to take over again. 

And I understand where the criticism of Uncle Joe is coming from. He's not perfect. There is no such thing as a 'perfect' politician. But what these people forget is that the enemy was not Agolf Twitler. He was a symptom. The enemy is the GOP, that cannot win an election without Gerrymandering and the Electoral College. The enemy is the inherent racism that permeates every layer of life in America. The enemy is not Uncle Joe. The enemy is the blind conviction that America can be changed overnight by one person and one person only. Well, that and the comfort that the privilege of not being an 'issues' voter brings.

XOXO


P.S. I strongly recommend you listen to that Defected Records podcast, maybe while you cook, write your blog posts or clean the house. It'll make you wanna shake your booty AND think, natch. 
 



Comments

  1. "The enemy is the GOP, that cannot win an election without Gerrymandering and the Electoral College. The enemy is the inherent racism that permeates every layer of life in America. The enemy is not Uncle Joe. The enemy is the blind conviction that America can be changed overnight by one person and one person only. " - THIS! and did you see uncle joe has selected a latinx for HHS secretary? WOO HOO!

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    1. I did see that! Xavier Becerra? Shocking! Somebody with experience and not in his family!

      XOXO

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  2. AM is so right. Change is evolution and that takes time. There will always be cynics, but hopefully there will not always be a GOP.

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    1. I've seen big shifts in both parties. The Repugs, for the worse, of course. I'm hoping Cheeto takes them down with him. They're the party of populism now
      XOXO

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  3. Simply put, while Bernie had many good ideas, he and his bros were far too naive in believing they could implement every single one of them. As we've seen, notably with marriage equality, change comes slowly.

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    1. Oh, Bernie's ideas are good. Some are not great for a country like the US, where people scream bloody murder when others are helped. And even with things like marriage equality, we see that some hard-won rights can be taken away. Look at SCOTUS.

      XOXO

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  4. Bernie, AOC and The Squad are rightly viewed as the Democrat's Tea Party. Now, the actual Tea Party has become the Trump Party. They will do anything - -- anything - - - to regain the WH. Moscow Mitch and the rest of the Repugs are already planning and scheming for how to stop Joe and Kamala in their tracks. Now, Uncle Joe needs to do what Agolf Twittler did: Govern by swiftly making bold choices and Executive Orders as fast and furiously as he can. Ruffle feathers, control the news cycle. By the time anyone has caught up - do something else to stir things up. The difference: Joe can do it for good things.
    That said: You hit the bullseye: It is the local and state where things must begin to change. It will trickle UP. XOXO

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    1. I think the ideas of Bernie, AOC and the Squad are good. AOC worked from the ground up in an anti-populism move that gave her the position she's got now. I think she's on to something.
      The GOP is the nationalist party now. And they got a taste of radical fuckery with Cheeto and they want more. It'll be worse in four years. I know that Bitch McConnell will try his stonewalling again. Uncle Joe may come prepared for that. Let's hope Georgia goes well, so it's not four years of hoping Moscow Mitch finishes rotting from the inside out.
      And that's why I think people should vote all the time! Even if it's for dog catcher.

      XOXO

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  5. the problem is not so much your current POTUS, but that there have been people (and not a few, I must admit) who have voted him. If only a few had voted for him, if his inadequacy had been evident to most of all, there would be no problem T.

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    1. Absolutely.
      I was amazed at the number of racist motherfuckers in this country. You know we'll have a prettier, shinier version of Cheetolini in four years...

      XOXO

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  6. Much food for thought and some goods points Six. I won't lie, my first choice was for a Buttiegieg/ Klobuchar or a Buttiegieg/Harris ticket...but I'm wayyyyyy head of my time. I gave all three way more contributions then I had means, lol!!!!! The latter would never have had a chance with all the evil 70 some million you mentioned. But Joe is a good choice...I mostly worried about his age...but he no doubt knows, and has knowledge of how the system works and how to hopefully get the other side to work together. Republican's won't admit now, but he was actually very well respected, and many of them did work with him whether they admit it or not...but they are so far ruined now. This country will never be all one party or the other...that's not a democracy then. But apparently the republicans forgot, and god forbid, won't work across the aisle for the good of the people in their states. It's scary there is only a hand full that can do this. My ex who was chief of staff for year for a state rep, said if we have a government to far right and far left nothing will get done. He always said the best candidates were the ones that could have views in the middle, and would work across the aisle. He said many from both sides would blantly not work across the aisle even if it would be good for the people, just because they were a D or a R. That's sad. I can't lie. I am 90% Democrat but I do tend to have one or two qualities of Republican. Fiscally I can get conservative, but it ends there. My one big issue with the last election was the Lincoln Project. I believe Dems gave them something like 67 million to them- which could have been better spent on flipping state legislatures who control voting districts. Instead we lost seats...and didn't take the senate...yet, lol... Or in the senate races. Not one state legislature was flipped. Had they been, they could've redistricted so that Dems could've won more easily for decades. Instead....Lincoln Project spent to much money on vanity projects like a billboard in Times Square in a solidly blue district- not a battleground. A very dumb use of a fortune, which failed.

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    1. I agree with you!
      I don't think this country can go too much to the left. It went to the right with Cheeto and the Devil's Butler because they aggressively courted the wingnut vote and paid by installing draconian measures meant to appease the xtianists. The idea of working across the aisle fails with the Repugs because they're radicalized. They only think about power.
      I think the Lincoln Project did its job: go dirty and go low. They attacked Cheeto where it hurt him. In a war, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I don't trust them (they're sneaky) but they served their purpose.
      BTW, my dream ticket was Warren/Buttigieg, too!

      XOXO

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  7. I just hope they stop pandering to the postmodern craziness that is radical feminism, SJW's, PC culture, and all of that crap. Enough is enough, those people are poisoning our whole world.

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    1. You... are spam. You... are a troll.

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    2. Ohhhhh
      You done made Upton mad....


      XOXO

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  8. I am with Anne Marie on this one. I get what the other person is saying, too... and I disagree with some of it. Elizabeth? Kept away? No. She failed to connect beyond her base. Amy and Pete? They dropped out because they, too knew they were not what was needed and hadn't gained ground. Bernie... same thing can be said. He simply failed to go beyond his base... he didn't talk meat and potatoes... people didn't fear him... they didn't KNOW him. He entered the race one-dimensional and left the same way. Sorry. Not buying that argument. Biden? Not my choice. Elizabeth was. Kamala was. But I am not saying Biden stole anything or how convenient... blah, blah. Monday morning quarterbacks are the worst. Bernie fails because Bernie can only talk to a few issues. He is not someone that was going to work in light of the orange ogre. I will listen to any argument, if you cite facts and use logic. Feelings? Don't matte much. I am empathetic. But I am also realistic.

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  9. Next time just at me.

    I stand by what I said. The Democratic Party is a real problem. We have all fallen into step and are obedient to its whims ("Vote Blue No Matter Who!"), but it does not deserve our trust. Call me the Gaytterati if you want. Accuse me of whatever you want. I am not marching in lockstep and am therefore the traitor to be strawmanned and ostracised. But if you think the Democratic Party has your interests at heart you are deeply mistaken.

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    1. And, at this point in time, if you think we can have a revolution without first restoring common sense via Biden... then you are sadly mistaken. We have a lot to repair before your version of the world can bloom. It will. But first... we have a lot of healing to do.

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    2. Upton: you are a dear and a great writer. It is not my intention to use Sixpence's comment section as a debating ground (not least because I have to jump through all kinds of hoops just to leave comments on his blog, which is one reason I am mostly quiet). But I want to say a few things: first, I am not (and did not in the entry Sixpence is quoting) advocate for a revolution. Rather, I was evaluating my own political predictions precisely so that I avoid the trap of retconning history. My criticism is not right vs left. My criticism is a deep mistrust of institutions, and I feel that have seen enough about how politics works to have earned that mistrust.

      Secondly, Biden is not going to repair or heal anything. He is going to restore the status quo. That is better than the alternative of re-electing Trump, but it is still bad.

      If you actually think the Democratic Party is not an enemy, riddle me this: New York and California are both solid-blue states with lots of electoral college seats. Most reasonable people can see that the electoral college is a problem. If things had been slightly different, Trump would have been re-elected thanks to the electoral college despite Biden winning the popular vote. Nebraska and Maine have somehow managed to allocate their electoral college votes proportionally. Why don't these other solid blue states?

      If your answer is "Republicans!" you should have a good hard think about who your enemies really are. The Democrats are a centre right party that deeply benefits from two things: the GOP is batshit insane, and there are no other options. It is not in the interests of the Democratic Party to change either of those things. There are many other examples of this. I agree with Huntley that the DSA is doing the hard work of trying to change the Democratic party from inside. But if they ever become a threat to the moneyed Democratic Party establishment they will be as crushed as thoroughly as Bernie and Warren were. (That is not to say that it was all a conspiracy -- those campaigns made legitimate mistakes too. But there was some conspiring going on.) You will be repeating the same talking points mainstream Democrats feed you about how AOC and the Squad is unelectable and out of touch with people, etc. (Meanwhile the Democrats lost seats in the house, and mainstream Democrats are blaming the loss on people of color for using the word "defund". But we're all woke, right?)

      Our fundamental disagreement may be that you and Sixpence seem to think that Biden won the nomination because a plurality of voters supported him, and I believe he won because a plurality of dollars supported him. Maybe you're right and I am wrong. Let's hope so, because if I am right then in twenty years you will still face medical bankruptcy for a broken leg.

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    3. Ohhh juicy!
      I agree with you both. Goddess, I think it would take me a whole post just to respond to both of you, but I think your interaction is more important than my answer. You both basically laid out my thoughts on the current situation. This is the the kind of conversation that we need to be having. Do I think Biden is ideal? Nope, and I don't trust completely the Democrats not to fuck it all up, hence the shortage of plurality in Biden voters. But that also has to do with the electorate. Example: the low-information Cubans and Latinx who voted for Cheeto. I could slap a bitch.
      Is there work to do? Yes, of course. But there's more decency in AOC's makeup tutorial explaining the Green New Deal than in Bitch McConnell fake-choking up in the Senate floor because one of his cronies is retiring.

      XOXO

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  10. You now have the Progressive People’s Party. These are mostly young idealists who would like to see Medicare for All, a guaranteed basic income, and a slew of government funded social programs. Are these good things? Yes, I believe they are. Are they doable in four years? No, all of these programs are seen as socialism, and the right is going to paint anyone who supports them as socialists or communists. And that’s a death knell for anyone advocating those positions. Well anyone looking to be president.

    All politics is local. If you want change, start in your town or your congressional district. That’s what AOC and The Squad did. It’s easier to win a congressional race because you have a smaller subset of the electorate. Once you move on to statewide and national office it gets tougher, until there are more AOCs in office. Build the lower foundation and it will come. But this is a years long project.

    We all want what we want right now, but you have to change minds and show people the benefit to them.

    XOXO 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨

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    1. I agree with you, bae.
      I think the Dems will have to shake it up if they want to win this battle in four years. The Repugs will come up with a smart, polished version of Cheeto and then we'll be in deep shit. And like you, I don't think all those lofty ideals are not doable in four years, much less with the Repugs kneecapping everything Uncle Joe and Kamala propose. But there's hope. There'll be more AOCs in office But there'll be more Madison Cawthorns, too.
      The fight rages on.

      XOXO

      Delete

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