I was asked to repost this compelling & straightforward reminder

[solara]

So, here it is...

Found on Facebook

By Emily Holmes
January 2 at 9:26 AM

Liberal Friends, listen to this right now: Democratic Nominees are not clay pigeons.

I repeat.

DEMOCRATIC NOMINEES ARE NOT CLAY PIGEONS.

But, Emily, whatever do you mean? What is this metaphor?

It goes like this.

One by one, over the next couple of months, Democratic nominees are going to launch their official bids for President. They are going to launch themselves, one by one, into the sky, right into our line of vision.

Our job is not to shoot them.

Our job is NOT, the second we see them cross the sky, to reach out for the gun being handed to us by conservatives (because duh, conservatives and guns) and take aim, and blast them, one by one out of the air, for not being absolutely perfect.

Not likeable enough. BOOM.

Not an inspiring enough speaker. BOOM.

Said that awkward thing that one time. BOOM.

I wouldn't want to have a beer with them. BOOM.

Too old. BOOM. Too female. BOOM. Too white. BOOM.

Not a fucking flawless progressive superhero. BOOM.

Because what happens next? We shoot the candidates down. We degrade them. We belittle them. We smear them. Then we hand the gun to the media. They do the same. They hand the gun to the conservatives. They do the same. Then the bots start reloading. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

And then at the end of primary season, we have to pick up the shattered remains of whoever got the most votes and attempt to glue them back together into a candidate who can win the general election.

And we will lose. Because we learned fucking NOTHING from 2016, apparently.

Trump didn't win because every conservative loves him. Most of them hate his fucking guts. But they held their noses and voted for him because he was the only way to push their agenda forward. And holy shit, have they pushed it. Despite his complete ineptitude, his bumbling, his gross incompetence, his blatant corruption, they have shoved through some really damaging policies that are hurting real people every single day, and they will continue to do so for as long as we let them.

So, here we are. You're not jazzed about Liz Warren? Awesome. Beto not your boy? Swell. Sick of Biden memes? Good for you, friend. Keep it to yourself. Why? Because EVERY SINGLE DEMOCRAT WHO RUNS IS INFINITELY BETTER FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR COUNTRY THAN THE FLAMING RACIST POPULIST TRASH CURRENTLY STEERING THIS COUNTRY DIRECTLY INTO THE SUN.

I'm not sure if you noticed, but we already elected a guy based on a cult of personality rather than on whether he was qualified in any way to do the job, and we're going to be putting out the flames for DECADES.

But what do we do instead, you ask? Watch debates. Compare platforms. Be informed. Choose your favorite BASED ON REAL FACTUAL POLICIES AND EXPERIENCE, NOT ON YOUR DELICATE FEELINGS AND WHETHER YOU FEEL SUFFICIENTLY ENTERTAINED OR INEXPLICABLY HAPPY AT THE VERY SIGHT OF THEIR GLOWING FACE. Then get involved. Register people. Drive to the polls. Hold signs on street corners. Write postcards. Knock on doors. Don't tell us why the other candidates suck, tell us why yours is THE BEST. Fight FOR them. Remember how we used to fight FOR things, rather than against them? I know Trump makes it hard to remember, but I promise, that's a thing we used to know how to do.

Then we all, collectively, wholeheartedly, throw our weight and energy and voice behind whoever gets the nomination. If we do that, we win. Period.

It's not a question of who can beat Trump, don't you get it? A sentient fucking houseplant with a liberal platform could beat Trump, if we do this right. It's a question of whether WE can beat him, or would we rather tear ourselves apart?

Look around you, folks. The stock market is in free-fall. Our international reputation is in tatters. Our foreign policy is for sale to dictators. Our free press is under daily attack. Our Supreme Court is one conservative white dude away from full-on Gilead, and we can't keep asking an 84-year-old-woman recovering from broken ribs and a third bout of cancer to hang on for six more years because we can't get our heads out of our own asses. I mean, she'll do it, obviously, because RBG is a BOSS, but she shouldn't have to.

I repeat. This is not a test of our candidates. There are lots of good, solid options. It's a test of US. Of OUR ability to unite. Of OUR strength. Of OUR ability to put aside selfish arbitrary purity tests and scales of "likeability" and to just FUCKING GET IT DONE. We don't need the perfect candidate to rescue us. We need to realize that we can rescue ourselves.

So, how about it, Resistance? They want us to forget that we have the numbers, the motivation, and the power. They want us to implode. Let's explode instead, and leave nothing but a charred ruin of this nightmare administration in our wake.

BOOM.

[empedocles]

1. We also need conservative support in this battle against traitortrump

[northoftheborder]

2. Very well said, and needed advice.

[elleng]

3. Our job is not to shoot them!!!

[Ninga]

4. This is spot on! We must raise awareness for voting.

Some rich guy who can front hundreds of bill boards on highways all over America.....

"So, you didn't vote in 2016?
How did that turn out for you?

[elleng]

5. 'This is not a test of our candidates. There are lots of good, solid options. It's a test of US.

Of OUR ability to unite. Of OUR strength. Of OUR ability to put aside selfish arbitrary purity tests and scales of "likeability" and to just GET IT DONE. We don't need the perfect candidate to rescue us. We need to realize that we can rescue ourselves.'

[treestar]

6. Yes! Forget moral perfection and learn to compromise

and see the good in other people. Forget one issue voting. The Dotard MUST GO! I don't care how corporate the Dem is. Even if they are completely beholden to Wall Street and the oligarchs and the millionaires and the billionaires, they are NOT THE DOTARD! They won't appoint justices with the sole goal of overruling Roe v. Wade. They won't repeal the ACA. They won't start wars just to benefit the military industrial complex. Anyone who is breathing who is NOT THE DOTARD.

[MarvinGardens]

7. Great post!

[pnwmom]

8. They aren't nominees yet, they are (possible) candidates. And there is one that I am worried about.

The one that met with Trump in his tower shortly after the election, and has had a lot of support from various Republicans in the past.

[delisen]

9. Brilliant- It is a test of us.

[saidsimplesimon]

10. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, a role model par excellence

You are so right in saying that Justice Ginsberg has born the burden of championing equal rights under the law for women. I can not imagine anyone in my lifetime who provided me with a better role model.

She is the second female justice to serve on the court. Her father immigrated here from Ukraine. Her accomplishments, including serving the ACLU would require a biography to detail. Is it possible she is one those individuals who is truly dedicated to serving others?

Solara, excellent work by Emily Holmes.

[ancianita]

11. K & R

[denvine]

12. Great Post!

Every Democrat needs to read this. Thanks!

[ffr]

13. Anyone who would cast such stones isn't a critical thinker

And if there's anything we know, the corporate M$M will turn any race into a competition to level the playing field and keep the race tight. Viewers love a tight race.

[NastyRiffraff]

14. BOOM! Indeed

And BRAVO for this post. It needs to be said, again and again. If 2016 taught us anything, it's that THERE ARE NO PERFECT CANDIDATES. Someone you passionately supported in the primaries may lose; grieve for awhile, it's natural. Then GET OVER IT. Work like a Trojan for the nominee. Our country depends on it.

[samnsara]

15. i agree.. i am not going to support anyone who attacks fellow Dems...its Ok to...

..point of policy differences but if I hear the term 'corporate whore' ONE TIME I will withdraw my support. I do not subscribe nor do I support any kind of 'purity test'.

[FuzzyRabbit]

16. Important post. We need to remember this.

Especially more passionate Dems need to remember that you can't always get everything you want.

[dalton99a]

17. Kick

[mountain grammy]

18. Excellent! Thanks for posting.

[jmbar2]

19. AMEN!!!

This needs to be reposted frequently, turned into a meme, a slogan, an embedded practice.

Every candidate, whether serious or not, is seeking to get part of the message out. Whether they win or not, they are educating the public about another point of view. They are the marketplace for ideas. Support them with a respectful hearing. All of them

[ancianita]

20. What if DU has serious objective grounds for disqualifying a primary candidate?

[Iggo]

21. Exactly correct.

[bluestarone]

22. Very good read here

We need constant reminders of THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gonna be long 2 years!!!! BUT we have the HOUSE YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sellitman]

23. But what about our dear DU sport?

This place won't be the same without shredding each other to pieces during the Primary.

[Maru Kitteh]

24. Wish we could pin this for about a couple years.

[VOX]

25. "Protecting one's own" is why the Republican Party wins so often.

And the candidates they field are crackpots, pedophiles, rapture-ready extremists, slumlords, insider-trading dipshits, vote suppressors, Ayn-Rand-smitten adolescents, racists, sexists, xenophobes and assets of a hostile foreign power. AND YET THEY STICK TOGETHER.

Note how most Republicans, after some initial resistance, now openly back 45. Meaning they’re okay with the FALSE “reality” as manifested by his every tweet, memo and utterance.

Democrats need to learn to stop feuding against one another. Look what happened in 2014 when Democratic congress/senate candidates ran away from Barack Obama, completely ignoring all the good news that should have helped them make a strong case for themselves AND the Obama administration. Or they swiftly denied Al Franken his due process in order to appear “clean.”

If this self-defeating behavior is allowed to continue, then look forward to permanent Republican rule. Hell, the GOP just enjoyed two unfettered years of openly criminal and treasonous behavior, and so far, the problems of an extremist minority rule still exist.

Although taking the Congress back was a huge step, Republicans have now closed the government over one man’s vanity. And not one person truly knows how this unbelievable mess will actually turn out.

[WeekiWater]

26. I remember friends slamming Jim Webb when he entered last time around.

My reply was simple. Webb has the most passion and best positions out of any of the candidates when it comes to prison and justice system reform. I won’t be voting for him in the primary. I hope to be that good this time around. I’ve already found I need to pull back my critiquing of Biden and he hasn’t even entered.

Thanks for sharing this.

[JudyM]

27. It would be so much more enlightened around here if people argued positively about their favorite

candidates instead of savaging the one(s) they loathe.

[Pacifist Patriot]

28. Wish I could rec this 100 times.

[Ferryboat]

29. Remind everyone

Of this very point. Whenever anyone I know starts nitpicking canadidats, I promise to push this very well articulated point.