Why I left the Democratic Party

Why do you constantly question my personal life? How many other posters do you grill this way?

Too many who frequent this thread attack the messenger repeatedly. If I were not posting this stuff, it would exist independently of me. I keep it going here, because this site is unfriendly to my viewpoint, be they Republican or Democrat. Others who think as I do have quit a2k in disgust. I won't give anyone that satisfaction.

I still have the hardest time figuring out what your viewpoint is. Outside of hating Clinton, thinking that the last 50 years have shown ZERO progress, and generally being an old curmudgeon...well, what else? You fancy yourself as an heir-apparent of MLK (on this weekend no less), but you can't even convey your message.

I actively try to engage you in discussion (to learn), and you flat out refuse, every time.

I'm not interested in your personal life.

You present yourself as a political warrior. I want to know what that means to you in real life.

I have posted about my political activity. Others have posted about theirs. People have talked about the phone canvassing they do/have done etc.

You have previously said there is no point in you doing anything. Well, I'll tell you this - there is less than no point in complaining online. There is a point to actually trying to change things in the real world.

I give you great credit for this.

Oh, well, this is where diverge so to speak from like Walter and others. I personally believe in NSA and spying. I even think data collecting is ok if it saves lives. I think this route of spying is more effective than wars in fighting terrorism or just in the criminal capacity with those who go on gun rampages and I really don't have a problem with as long as it is lawful and with warrants.

and you know

you're the one claiming to be fighting against the oligarchy as MLK would be

MLK marched, spoke, preached ...

I never meant to say there is no point in my doing anything. I have personal things going on that keep me from getting into these things that I don't owe an explanation to you over. When I was able to I always did what I could. Now I am on a computer and will not be shouted down for expressing my view.

I will try to answer you. I will have to write it using word and then when it is ready paste it here.

As for MLK, I was on board with his messages before he ever became a public figure. I was just a kid, but I remember being relieved to learn someone was putting it into action. Not him alone, but the suddenly visible Civil Rights Movement. I think I picked up on it from my mother, who had told me stories of how she had been embarrassed by acts of racism she encountered.

These days the use of a computer is as equally valid and useful as taking part in door-to-door speaking, protest marches, phonecalls and other methods. Many folks gain their information through the internet. You can reach millions this way.

They all know it. They just want to minimize what I do. Some of my threads never get much over a hundred views. This one averages 200 per day and spikes when others than me post.

All depends how you use that computer, no? For random example, when a dangerous bill is about to be passed (see last year's health care law), campaigners always stress that calling the office of your Congressman/woman is more effective than emailing them, and tweeting at them has basically no effect at all.

You can reach millions online if you build a successful YouTube channel or the like. Many impromptu protests, especially in authoritarian countries, are successfully organized online. It's possible to use Twitter to rouse a journalist's interest in a campaign, publication or story you care about. Or to join in a social media campaign for a specific cause or event that might, especially if it's short-term and specific, attract political or media attention if enough people take part.

But arguing day-to-day politics or the same debates over and over on a web forum with people whose minds are equally made up ... I mean, I do it too. Sometimes you just want to, or need to. But an effective tool for political advocacy it's not, really...

http://www.wakingtimes.com/2017/12/26/5-cartels-rule-america-world/

Here is a good example of what I believe is going on. I am critical of the Democrats so much because I believe their party is the only one capable of helping us and they are too much playing along, rather than fighting for us.

"Equate the Dems and the Repukes" maybe not, but he was no stranger to some fatigue and exasperation about mainstream Dems/moderates/liberals...

not so much

phone calls still make more show-up-to-vote difference at a number of levels

showing up to vote at elections and showing up to vote in government

____


call your reps - it makes a difference

call people who are thinking of voting/not voting - it makes a difference

emailing /tweeting doesn't have the same impact

Fatigue for sure - but he didn't give up.

As the leader of the SCLC, King maintained a policy of not publicly endorsing a U.S. political party or candidate: "I feel someone must remain in the position of non-alignment, so that he can look objectively at both parties and be the conscience of both—not the servant or master of either."[259] In a 1958 interview, he expressed his view that neither party was perfect, saying, "I don't think the Republican party is a party full of the almighty God nor is the Democratic party. They both have weaknesses ... And I'm not inextricably bound to either party."[260] King did praise Democratic Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois as being the "greatest of all senators" because of his fierce advocacy for civil rights causes over the years.[261]
King critiqued both parties' performance on promoting racial equality:
Actually, the Negro has been betrayed by both the Republican and the Democratic party. The Democrats have betrayed him by capitulating to the whims and caprices of the Southern Dixiecrats. The Republicans have betrayed him by capitulating to the blatant hypocrisy of reactionary right wing northern Republicans. And this coalition of southern Dixiecrats and right wing reactionary northern Republicans defeats every bill and every move towards liberal legislation in the area of civil rights.[262]
Although King never publicly supported a political party or candidate for president, in a letter to a civil rights supporter in October 1956 he said that he was undecided as to whether he would vote for Adlai Stevenson or Dwight Eisenhower, but that "In the past I always voted the Democratic ticket."[263] In his autobiography, King says that in 1960 he privately voted for Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy: "I felt that Kennedy would make the best president. I never came out with an endorsement. My father did, but I never made one." King adds that he likely would have made an exception to his non-endorsement policy for a second Kennedy term, saying "Had President Kennedy lived, I would probably have endorsed him in 1964."[264] In 1964, King urged his supporters "and all people of goodwill" to vote against Republican Senator Barry Goldwater for president, saying that his election "would be a tragedy, and certainly suicidal almost, for the nation and the world."[265] King supported the ideals of democratic socialism, although he was reluctant to speak directly of this support due to the anti-communist sentiment being projected throughout the United States at the time, and the association of socialism with communism. King believed that capitalism could not adequately provide the basic necessities of many American people, particularly the African-American community.[266]

Anybody accusing me of giving up is mistaken or a liar.

He called bullshit on the fake incrementalists, and declared war on the status quo.

Exactly what Edgar has been doing.

I can't do those phone calls, if it is any of your business. My Asperger's gets me tongue tied or renders me unable to respond to a question. I end looking like a total fool.