Why I left the Democratic Party

@Olivier5,

I would do less crying if they set the pitcher right to prevent continued spillage.

That’s like saying Democrats should stop crying over Trump. Just relax.

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@edgarblythe,

Give them a bit of slack and time. Watch the primaries. Remember that it's not about making it perfect, but about making progress.

1 Reply

@Olivier5,

They occasionally get slack and time, like right after Obama got elected the first time. He told the Democrats, paraphrasing, "Don't do anything consequential while the Republicans are in a weakened state, or I will veto it. The Republicans should be strong enough to fight us before we do that." In short, they always give up before the fight even starts.

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@edgarblythe,

Okay then, keep crying over the dems betrayal of the poor, if that soothes your anger, but I for one can relate such politicians-are-all-assholes, democracy-is-doomed-to-fail discourse with the rize of Nazism. It's when people loose faith in democracy that they look for a Furher.

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@Olivier5,

It's the abetted breakdown of the Republic I am protesting. Characterizing it as crying is your right. I characterize it as fighting an increasingly desperate battle to restore the nation to sanity.

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@edgarblythe,

You're desperate because you fight alone. Try and build rapport with like-minded people, and your despair might well change into hope.

It's not like the world was ever perfect, or life was ever just... You long for the 50's but those were the days when black people had to use separate restaurants and bars, seat at the back of buses, and get lynched whenever one dared to **** a white woman... Happy times indeed.

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@Olivier5,

I have rapport with like minded people. The ones that used to belong to a2k have abandoned the site, but not the cause. They feel the site has lost its integrity. I am in close contact with quite a few who feel the same as me.

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@edgarblythe,

edgarblythe wrote:

I have rapport with like minded people. The ones that used to belong to a2k have abandoned the site, but not the cause. They feel the site has lost its integrity. I am in close contact with quite a few who feel the same as me.

I should amend that some of these people still post here, but are not willing to endure the insanity they encounter on political threads, as I have been informed by private messages.

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@edgarblythe,

Cheer up! Isn't the American spirit one of optimism and resourcefulness in the face of adversity?

But don't let a frog tell you this. Hear those words from a truly great American:

....With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

MLK

1 Reply

@Olivier5,

My viewpoint is the same as MLK's. His essay on Vietnam molded my view on that war. His actions and speeches re racism coincide with my own. The media went negative on him when he began a crusade for poor people's rights and economic development. It is essentially what I am crusading for right now.

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@edgarblythe,

edgarblythe wrote:

It is essentially what I am crusading for right now.

And doing a most excellent job, if what I see on A2K is any indication of your effectiveness.

Keep it up. Noble work.

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@edgarblythe,

Have you forgotten the hope that burned in his words? Without hope, man is nothing and can do nothing. And without forgiveness (for friends and foes) too, one can do nothing. Grumping in one's corner is not the MLK way. Learn lessons from the past alright, but don't hold grunges.

1 Reply

The case for Julian Castro
as the 2020 Democratic nominee

Quote:

Julian Castro has all the makings of a classic politician.

He is Stanford and Harvard educated. He is a political prodigy, having been elected to San Antonio City Council at the tender age of 26. He knows the inner-workings of Washington having been a high ranking member of the previous presidential cabinet. He’s been relatively quiet and been scandal free aside from a minor violation of the Hatch Act. However, in our current political climate these would seem to be his undoing.

America wants flamboyant outsiders who can keep our attention. With the Trump presidency on the ropes for what some allege is an improper relationship with the Russia, the next candidate for president is of the utmost importance. Many on the left are calling for Elizabeth Warren. While all eyes are on Warren and she has become the energetic moral compass of the Democratic Party, Castro gives the Democrats the best chance to win in 2020.

Trump won because he was the anti-Obama in every way. While Obama carefully navigated the press, Trump antagonized them. While Obama tried to be inclusive,Trump marketed himself as a builder of walls.

Castro is the perfect person to market himself as the Anti-Trump. While President Trump and his administration target immigrants, Castro can say he is an American born descendant of immigrants and a friend to those communities. His Mexican-American heritage and activist parents help him in Arizona and in Florida. Meanwhile, Warren’s ethnicity and heritage has become point of ridicule, as she claimed to be Native American but but has difficulty proving it.

While the a large portion of the Cuban American community turned against Clinton, the increasing number of Puerto Ricans in Florida favors Castro in 2020.

Texas could eventually swing toward Democrats, and could do so with a compelling candidate. Warren being a leftist from Massachusetts is not going to change the vote in the Lone Star state. Castro, a wildly popular mayor and native San Antonian could very well change the shade of Texas by convincing moderate Republican Latinos to vote for him.

Castro is a youthful and seemingly healthy 42 year old, something that dogged Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail. Trump will be 74 in 2020, and questions about his energy level could soon arise after being worn down by 4 year of a presidential schedule. Ditto for Bernie Sanders, who some see as the heir apparent within the Democratic Party.

Sanders and Warren also have a paper trail behind them in the form of a voting record in the Senate.

Castro however, has no voting record to be manipulated and seemingly less political baggage. Our last four presidents have had no or in the case of President Obama, very limited voting records. Challengers with voting records tend to lose, like in the case of senators Bob Dole, John Kerry, John McCain, and Sec. Hillary Clinton. In addition, the Democrats cannot to afford to risk losing Warren's senate seat.

Julian Castro’s silence, particularly now, is a virtue. Twitter wars with the president don’t bode well for politicians. Warren has over-exposed herself as an attack dog for Clinton and thus, put herself in the crosshairs of the GOP.

They are strategizing against her at this very moment, just as they did for Secretary Clinton. Mr. Castro’s best bet is to leave the lampooning to Saturday Night Live, Bill Maher, Jimmy Fallon and the rest of the professionals.

Right now, Castro should be spending time in African American churches and barbershops in Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and in the state of North Carolina. He needs to galvanize the loyal Democratic base that was unmotivated to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016. He should be headed to Wisconsin to meet with teachers unions and coal miners in West Virginia. His being based in Texas is another major asset.

Mostly, he needs to meet with Warren and convince her that it is not in the party’s best interest that she run. Warren running versus Castro sets up another tiring Sanders/Clinton scenario and the former is too closely associated with Hillary Clinton's historic campaign failure.

In the meantime, Democrats need to continue to develop female candidates so one will be in position to crack the glass ceiling covering the presidency

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/national-party-news/319735-the-case-of-julian-castro-as-the-2020-democratic

1 Reply

@Olivier5,

King was tough and he fought hard for his causes. I will do the same thing, thanks.

1 Reply

@Real Music,

Another tiring Sanders/Clinton scenario? That's a revealing line. The solution to such primary fatigue is very simple: last time you lost because your centrist party animal of a candidate had not much credibility beyond the party. So next time pick someone with a real backbone, and erase the tepid centrist from the equation.

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@edgarblythe,

He fought hard because he had not given up hope.

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@Olivier5,

He was a realist behind the great words and peaceful marches. We can't speak for how he would handle today's political scene. I know he would be doing protests against the wanton murder and imprisonment of black people. He was acting against the suppression of the poor economically at the time he was assassinated. It has gotten worse since he died and no one knows what he would now be doing.

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@edgarblythe,

I seriously doubt he would just quit, or equate the Dems and the Repukes, or behave as Trump's useful idiot in any other way...

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@Olivier5,

The man died in 1968. You have no way of knowing what he would do now. He saw the military industrial complex for what it was and I believe he would be fighting as much against oligarchy as anything else, same as me. Speculation. Why do you people advise me to concentrate on the immediate until it suits your purpose to delve into the past?

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Why I left the Democratic Party

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