Hey, Democrats, stop gloating — your party is imploding right before your eyes, too

[n2doc]

snip:
Right wing pundits—a sad and desperate lot at the moment — eagerly compare Sanders to Trump. The idea here is that the widespread disgust with Washington’s dysfunction has opened the door to outsider demagogues who spout lurid promises.

In fact, Sanders and Trump have about as much in common as George Wallace and Eugene Debs. Sanders isn’t trying to sell steaks or live out some Reality TV fantasy. He entered politics from the tradition of social justice .

The reason he keeps beating Hillary Clinton is because a huge portion of the electorate—particularly young voters—is yearning for the kind of explicit social justice he’s prescribing. To put it bluntly: he’s articulating a moral vision, not an electoral path to the White House.

And that, frankly, is what the Democratic Party used to do, back in the era of the New Deal and the Great Society. It offered as its essential pitch to voters a compassionate and responsive government that sought to combat — or at least mitigate — the corrosive values of a capitalist theocracy.

more

http://www.salon.com/2016/04/14/hey_democrats_stop_gloating_your_party_is_imploding_right_before_your_eyes_too/

Aside from the negativity about Bernie's chances, this is spot on.

[merrily]

1. Seems as though they would rather see a Republican in the WH than Bernie and

dwindle the Party down, rather than see him become the leader of it.

The lengths to which they have gone have turned off Millennials, which, thanks to the Grim Reaper, is now the largest population demographic.

Imagine a sane political party having turned off the Boomers so cavalierly?

And they talk about Bernie's supporters cutting off their noses to spite their faces! smh

Anyone remember when the Democratic Party was the party of working people, of the young, of the idealistic of all ages? Throw that image under the limo, too, I guess.

[n2doc]

2. Certainly the turd wayers would

They like their cushy campaign contribution-fueled lifestyle, the ability to use the media to spew 'we are the adults' mental masturbation, and free jobs and payola for their kin.

We now have a far-right theocracy/party and a mid-right kleptocracy party, with the remainder of the field left to Sanders and other like-minded folks who represent the old Democratic Party Dream. 40 years of propaganda will do that to a country.

[merrily]

3. They make up a strong majority of federal officeholders and probably all of the DNC.

[SoapBox]

10. +1 doc!

I fully agree...the Turd Way Entrenched Cushy Elite Establishment don't really care...it's about protecting themselves under the image of being a "Democrat".

What may be good is that this campaign has the DINO's so upset, that they are rushing from the shadows to try and defend their shill...what an eye opener it's been.

We do need to keep the momentum going.

[Downwinder]

4. Remember when the Democratic Party

was the party of inclusion?

[merrily]

7. Divisive identity politics, inclusion. Potato, pohtahtoe.

[jeff47]

8. No.

Anyone remember when the Democratic Party was the party of working people, of the young, of the idealistic of all ages?

No.

The party had excised that inconvenient part by the time I reached adulthood.

[merrily]

9. I'm curious to see how old one has to be to remember that.

Some DUers are in their mid-seventies and a few in their eighties. Perhaps they recall.

The New Deal wing of the Party was closed off as soon as possible. Johnson may have been the last real liberal in office. He won by a jaw-dropping landslide in 1968.....but the war. Then yet another gunman, also acting all on his own, got RFK, who I believe would have been more liberal than JFK.

[LiberalElite]

11. Im 65 and I remember. nt

[merrily]

12. Who was President when you were 18?

[LiberalElite]

15. Johnson eom

[merrily]

16. I think he may have been the last liberal

Thank you for saving me doing the math. I am holding a slice of pizza in one hand and typing with the other.

[Duval]

13. I'm 76 and remember "when".

[merrily]

14. Of course, you would. Would say that Johnson was the last liberal President?

[Martin Eden]

5. What we're witnessing in this primary isn't the "implosion" of the Democratic Party

We're seeing the Democratic Party getting dragged back to where it belongs by a grassroots effort of people who are passionate about economic and social justice and an outsider candidate who's devoted his entire public life to the values this Party is supposed to represent.

If the "Democratic Party" is defined in terms of the establishment status quo and politicians sponsored by big money interests, then hopefully we are witnessing signs that it is indeed being dragged kicking and screaming back to where it belongs.

This is the kind of "implosion" that merits celebration, if successful.

But it will never succeed without sustained effort beyond an election every 2 or 4 years. Government Of, By, and For The People requires an informed and engaged electorate. Self Government is just that -- if we don't do it ourselves, the Powers That Be will do it for their own narrow interests -- as they have been doing.

The oligarchy will not give up without a fight and every dirty trick in the book.

They're counting on The People getting discouraged, disgusted, disengaged, and distracted by the usual bread and circus.

[abelenkpe]

6. K&R