I don't know how much weight the words of a TeeVee writer in California will have for folks in far-flung Iowa, but with the caucuses taking place Monday, I wanted to send a thought in your general direction.
It's no secret that the GOP traditionally runs hard to their base...
It's no secret that the GOP traditionally runs hard to their base...
...both the right-wing and far right wing...and nobody in the mainstream media ever seems to ask "is this candidate too far right?" They reserve that question only for those on the other side.
If and when the GOP candidate wins, they make it a point to reward the base with...
If and when the GOP candidate wins, they make it a point to reward the base with...
...programs (or the cessation or programs) that their voters wanted to see accomplished. (Except when they do things contrary to the interests of those who put them in office, which is another topic for another time.) They pick someone the base wants, run toward the base, and...
...reward the base. Contrast that with how the DNC emphasizes "centrist" candidates who they think will pull in voters from the other side (totally ignoring the fact that for many in the GOP this is simply impossible; for them the difference is emotional and near-religious...
...they've been conditioned to believe that Democrats are simply un-American regardless of who the candidate is. So they don't come over. Just doesn't happen. And if and when the Democrat gets into office, they assume a requirement to move even further to the middle to try and...
...somehow validate their position by "building consensus," rather than advancing the hopes of the folks who put them into office. When Obama was elected, the GOP was terrified that he'd come in riding that mandate to get things done in a big way. So when he indicated that...
...he wanted to reach across the aisle and build consensus, it was the best gift the GOP ever received, and they spent the next eight years making sure as little as possible of anything Obama wanted got passed, and watering down the rest. This is how the country keeps sliding...
...further and further to the right: when the GOP is in charge, they pull as hard as they can to the right; when the Democrats are in charge, they make sure that things continue to go to the right or at least the leftward impulse is constrained. So the steering wheel keeps...
...turning right or going straight, and that's it. The Democratic base doesn't get what it wants, the independents are unimpressed by the piecemeal or ineffective results, and the right runs the board. Wouldn't it be nice if just once, the Democratic base had a candidate...
...that actually cared enough about the base to fight for it? A candidate that will do for them what the far-right (or those controlled by the far-right) do for their base: advance their causes aggressively and unapologetically? Just for a little balance? For a change?...
...Biden's a good man, but he's another flavorless centrist in a parade of centrists who have done nothing to stop the rightward tilt of this country, or reward their base by truly fighting for the things they want. The DNC want to arrange a coronation for Biden because he's...
...the establishment candidate, another "consensus builder" who will get rope-a-doped for the next 4-8 years. The DNC is out to do all they can to prevent candidates that actually excite voters, who might actually DO some of the things they want done because that's not...
...how they operate. They view a candidate who can actually excite people as somehow inappropriate. Stone cold fact is, there are more Democratic voters in this country than GOP voters; if they get excited, they'll come out; if not, they won't. The Bible says...
..."Be hot or cold; if you are lukewarm, I will spew you out of my mouth." I'm tired of lukewarm candidates who get spewed out by the electorate. The country is like a big boat; you can turn the wheel as fast as you like, it will only show the change in direction slowly...
...and it won't change at all if the guy at the top either stays the current course or keeps slamming it right. Proportionate response means having someone who will be as aggressive going in a progressive direction as the other guy was in the repressive direction. That's now...
...the great American experiment has always worked. The pendulum shifts one way, then the other, and in the process finds balance. That balance isn't there and hasn't been there for a long time because those at the tippy top of the DNC totem pole are inclined toward timidity...
...fearful of being bold. For this reason, if there's anyone in Iowa who is still sitting on the fence, and is any kind of fan of my work, I would urge you to consider giving your vote to Sanders or Warren. They would be amazing on the campaign trail and, I think, even more...
...amazing in the White House. We don't need a conciliator. The other side won't be consoled. We need someone who will fight for progressive ideas. They'll do that. Biden, I think, will be another "reach across the aisle" guy and we just can't afford that after the...
...huge rightward spin of the wheel that we've seen over the last 4 years. For the American experiment to find balance the wheel *has* to be vigorously turned the other way to get even an inch of traction. Biden, though well intentioned, can't/won't do it. Warren or Sanders will.
And for those who say we cannot afford programs that will help the average person, but who never seem to object to spending vast sums on wars or weapons programs...what are those wars and weapons programs there to defend if we are not a just an honorable nation that looks...
...after the well being of its citizens? Yes, they are there to save us...but as what? For what, if we are not that shining beacon on a hill that a Republican once described? Lincoln wrote that the proper role of the government is to do for the people what the people cannot...
...do for themselves. Well, right now the people, the average person, is behind the eight-ball and needs the same compassion and support we have traditionally given to the one-percent. Warren and Sanders understand this. So please consider giving them your support.
