Looks like I picked the wrong week….
Political adversaries cannot disappoint me. I expect nothing of them except more of what I oppose. Friends and allies, on the other hand, can disappoint me because I expect better of than I often get.
Perhaps the slagging of Democrats by the press is not so much conservative bias (or billionaire service) as disappointment among members of a profession known to lean left. The press and the public have come to expect outrage and an eyeball-catching circus from MAGA Republicans. When like Linus Van Pelt, Democrats fail to live up to their potential, complaints rain down like Charlton Heston’s burning hail. Except without the same uniformity.
Such as complaints raised at a post-election forum in Saginaw, Michigan. Vincent Oriedo, a biotechnology scientist, questioned what Democrats had learned from their loss to Donald Trump (The Guardian):
As the town hall with Michigan’s secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, and the local representative in the state legislature, Amos O’Neal, came to an end, Oriedo said he was disappointed with their answers, which amounted to bland statements about politicians “listening” to the voters.
“They did not answer the question,” he said.
“It tells me that they haven’t learned the lessons and they have their inner state of denial. I’ve been paying careful attention to the influencers within the Democratic party. Their discussions have centred around, ‘If only we messaged better, if only we had a better candidate, if only we did all these superficial things.’ There is really a lack of understanding that they are losing their base, losing constituencies they are taking for granted.”
Ph.D. biotech-scientist Black Latinos? Or anyone who feels taken for granted?
Other complaints: Too much focus on white, middle-class women. Too much focus on abortion rights in a state where voters passed an amendment protecting it. Too much reliance on polling over policy. Too little talk about the cost of groceries and kitchen-table issues. Too much “talk about the economy and kitchen-table issues” (without promising anything). This last critique allegedly shows Democrats “don’t have any principles.” This clearly explains why Michiganders handed their electoral votes to a 34-time felon.
Or this criticism:
“We have set ourselves up for generational loss because we keep promoting from within leaders that that do not criticise the moneyed interests. They refuse to take a hard look at what Americans actually believe and meet those needs.”
Today at noon, a twice-impeached, career con artist and adjudicated sex offender convicted of 34 felonies and investigated for 31 charges of espionage plus conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election retakes the Oval Office after winning it again last November. Just what is it Americans actually believe?
Just as with the flurry of pundits’ post-election analyses, complaints made against Democrats by people frustrated over Kamala Harris’s loss are, as I’ve noted, all over the place. Too little focus on this and too little on that. Paying too much attention to this group and not enough to another. That doesn’t mean the criticisms are wrong. People feel what they feel. But they don’t provide a roadmap either.
I’ve surely done my share of complaining. Senior Democrats talk a good game about fighting for the little guys, but the public rarely catches them doing it. Senior Democrats on Capitol Hill are too senior. Too much policy, not enough marketing.
Former U.S. Attorney and pundit, Joyce Vance, says the U.S. needs more civics education.
Mike Lux offers 5 things Democrats must do:
- Leading, always leading, with populist economics.
- We need to seize the day on the big fight coming up about the budget and economy.
- Doing year round community organizing on both issues and politics.
- Better messaging is great, but we need a major plan ASAP urgently to deal with a broken media landscape. (What I’ve called Democrats’ “when a tree falls in the forest” problem.)
- We need to build on the coalitions we have, but figure out different language to talk about some issues.
There are lots of suggestions, but no answers. I certainly don’t have any. Answers on offer by people MAGA Republicans cannot disappoint but Democrats can are over the place and point in different directions.
Woke up this morning from a very vivid dream. Dark, pre-dawn on a misty battlefield. Troops were completing their preparations and aligning just below a ridge waiting for the order to advance. Along the ridge above us were a line of cannon. Figured it was time to get the hell out. Walked up past the cannon in the mist to my car. Pulled onto the highway as the light was coming up and there were troops there, too, lining my side of the road. Cavalry. Only then did I realize they were all dressed in blue. Union troops.
I braced for the sound of the cannon.
Joe Biden is bracing as well:
Biden pardons Fauci and Milley in an effort to guard against potential ‘revenge’ by Trump
Among those receiving the pardons were Gen. Mark A. Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the longtime government scientist; and all the members of the bipartisan House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, including former Representative Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming.
“I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. “But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing. Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.
The pardons won’t stop flying monkeys.