Dec. 28 Open Thread: Revenge of the Moderate
Did you think the progressive takeover of the Democratic Party was going to be easy? No chance, pal. Just take a look at the vitriol being spread by defeated Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill on her way out of Washington. She took her strongest shot at, of all people, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “She’s now talked about a lot,” McCaskill told CNN. “I’m not sure what she’s done yet to generate that kind of enthusiasm.” She boiled down Ocasio-Cortez’s appeal to her “cheap rhetoric,” then remarked that “getting results is a lot harder.” This from a woman who, when asked for an example of the results she so prizes, pointed to her bill to reduce the price of hearing aids.
This has gotten lost over the past two years, but until Trump’s election the biggest obstacle to progressive policies was not Republicans, it was so-called “moderate” Democrats, who are plying the same waters, fishing for the same corporate dollars, as moderate Republicans. That’s why once the carcass of the GOP stops twitching, Democrats are in for their own party-rending battle.
But all hope is not lost, because the Democrats’ foes have been reduced to the same fantasy-mongering that so preoccupies Fearless Leader. They’ve now managed to convince themselves that the government shutdown is a big win for Trump because it means Nancy Pelosi will have to spend days or weeks dealing with immigration, which — midterm drubbing aside — they consider a winning issue. Now you know how he could bankrupt four casinos.
Nothing like a sore loser. It’s a good look.
Yet I’m always surprised when a politician goes for that look, because they exist for praise and spewing venom has the opposite effect on the public. I lost a lot of respect for Mike Castle over his ongoing truculent response to having his career ended by a not-witch.
33 1/3% sour grapes
33 1/3% jealousy
33 1/3% confusion*
*Boomers assume youth and new ideas are always crazy and struggle to understand why thing aren’t “the way they used to be.”
If you care what the people who cover her say, they see it as a sign she intends to run for office in Missouri again. The governorship there is in shambles, so it’s not far-fetched.
Boomers (note the name) are the hearing-aid generation, and yours didn’t turn the volume down until the lo-fi ’90s. You’ll thank McCaskill if your ears live long enough. 😉
Castle (who is not a boomer) never struck me as conceited — or rather, he didn’t have much to be conceited about, and he seemed to know it. Since his career ended he seems put out that he doesn’t get more respect. Contrast that with Carper, who’s always been conceited.
PS: Young people always think there are “new ideas.” There are no new ideas. Rediscovered, maybe, mashed up in a new way perhaps, but new? No such thing. You’ll see.
Yep. Belgium had universal health care in 1945. Ancient Athens more than 2,000 years ago for education. Or Baghdad in 1066 or even the Catholic Church in the 1100s.
The packaging, methods, and tools may be different, but fundamentally nothing new under the sun when it comes to the human condition.
When I was a young whippersnapper, the greatest thing I learned is that I should look to the past and learn those lessons in order to more effectively shape the future. Learning what not to do is just as important as learning what one can do.
I think you missed the fundemental point to pontificate broadly about antiquity.
Don’t forget to get enough fibre today.
I think you missed that it was a comment on Alby’s P.S. and your asterisk. But I’ll skip the snark, except to add you think you know what boomers think, but since you ain’t one, you don’t. And then there’s the monolithic thing you trot out when it’s convenient. Boomers aren’t all alike.
Fiber is good for all ages. Don’t forget yours, although I’m not sure what that has to do with the topic. I know you weren’t just throwing shade about boomers.
No, I got it.
We shall overcome! It really makes me nervous when the retirees start talking about their doctors, meds and stools. I’ve seen 2 generations of retirees die off in my hood and I’m on deck dammit. Lots of yoga and mostly vegan helps. Not to mention the appeal of being the youngest or only guy in class full of type A DC women who are all smarter, older and stronger than I lol. Spring’s coming!
Yes
I am a boomer.
*Boomers assume youth and new ideas are always crazy and struggle to understand why thing aren’t “the way they used to be.” Not at all. Boomers are a diverse group of assholes and geniuses, and all in between. As I used to say, before you were born, “dig yourself”…
https://www-m.cnn.com/2018/12/28/politics/donnelly-medicare-for-all-cnntv/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
Outgoing Dem senator warns his party: When you talk ‘Medicare-for-all,’ you ‘start losing the people in my state’
……
Outgoing….
…….
J Donnelly, b. 1955
His state is Indiana. Democrats have won Indiana twice since the end of WWII — LBJ and Obama in ’08. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing that would win Indiana for Democrats no matter what Donnelly thinks. And when he says people in the Midwest don’t understand Medicare for All, it’s an indictment of the education system in Indiana, which must suck pretty hard for it to keep being the Alabama of the North. If he wants to insist his constituents are morons, who am I to disagree?
Red states are lost causes!
Good slogan.
What I do know is whatever Donnelly did didn’t work. That’s a known known.
Know what red states have in common? Really, really shitty public education.
Hey, DE has shitty public schools too. We and many many other D’s send our kids to private.
Not just the education system, which should not be teaching to the specifics of every bill, but pols like Donnelly himself, who actually is responsible for a large measure of communication, as well as top to bottom party apparatus who should be committed to “political education”. Voters should not be left stranded not knowing the facts of issues and interpretations of those facts.
T, I taught in DE for 30 years. They are better than you think. As a teacher, I did get to spend some time watching my colleagues at Laurel Middle School and was struck by the level of professionalism. Very high, and pushed by the teaching staff, who aspired to exceptionally good teaching every day. My credentials? 2X Nationally Board Certified, and a Masters in my content area.
“Send our kids to private “ That’s simply racist.
Yes! Check out Kansas and the Brownback economic experiment.
Yes! Check out Kansas and the Brownback economic experiment.
Classic!
You mean socialist takeover.
TK is back. I got what I wanted for Christmas. Nothing sweeter than a Kline self own. He makes our argument for us.