AOC fires a warning shot: Progressives will not accept former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in President-elect Biden’s cabinet

No loss for us there.

I thought he was busy in Palestine doing commando missions or something.

Biden doesn't need their votes anymore. Fuck AOC and her band of online trolls.

Who the fuck is she to dictate anything.

lil missy is getting ahead of herself. they are still attempting the coup as we speak. Biden may never make it to the White House.

His brother Zeke Emanuel is a member of the COVID Task Force. I have heard no mention of Rahm. AOC needs to dil it back. Her timing is way off.

And you were all kissing her ass in the other thread saying how wonderful she was.

You're all such sheep.

She's just been re-elected and she's saying she wants to get out of politics. She doesn't like being attacked but it's all right for her to attack even before there's something to attack. I'm a moderate liberal, and I think she's just as dangerous as the evil knitting women who sat watching people being guillotined in the French revolution.

The self-claimed "Progressives" claim they're on "The Right Side of History".

They claim a God-given right to know the future and they refuse to accept any compromise at all!

AOC is NO ONE.

She won her district, but hardly any voters bothered to turn out and vote for her! She sounds like she's mentally spinning out. I'd like to see her quit Congress, fade away, and become the next Nina Turner.

She needs to shut the fuck up. She is the picture of stupidity.

Wasn't she a bartender a few years back. Maybe she should practice her rusty nail and margaritas. The woman is a massive turd.

I am a 25 year NYC liberal Democrat, but after AOC and DeBlasio I am seriously ready to call it a day and stop voting for these types of clowns. I don't think I am alone.

Rahm is the Fucking Worst. His main selling point for inclusion in Obama's inner circle was that he'd make a bigger mess if left outside of it. And that was before his awful fucking stewardship of Chicago. If we can't make noise about excluding proven destructive assholes, then what's the point? He's bad. At least bring us a fresh-faced DLC-style cynic.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Oh for god's sake, she's FINE. If she wants to stay in politics, fine, if not - also fine. As a recent congressperson, she doesn't have the seniority or the record to dictate anything to anyone.

If President-elect wants Rahmbo in the administration, he'll have him.

I agree with her. Rahm is a rat--looks like one, talks like one, and governed like one. So unpopular.

If there is going to be a return to Obama era Do Nothingism, I'm not going to vote in 2024. And before you start shrieking at me, just realize that everything you enjoy is a product of Radical Progressivism from the 1910s, from the 1930s and from the 1960s.

AOC is the future, so get used to it.

You can take the bartender out of the pub, but you can't take the pub out of the bartender.

I would appreciate the media not amplifying every opinion that leaked out of Donald Trump's prolapsed mouth-hole AND every little thing this lady prefers. Maybe one day, she will be Speaker of the House or President but today is not that day. She doesn't have the experience to demand jack from anyone. This isn't Burger King.

That she can look at Trump, McConnell, Barr and the state the US is in and decide that THIS is where her energy and ire needs to be, what the flying fuck is wrong with her? What planet does she live on?

Remember when that crazy congressman accused him of berating him in the congress locker room while naked?

I like that image.

Two years ago, she was pouring drinks in Brooklyn.

Now, she's Queen Bee of the House.

Yeah, I heard that she was actually BORN in the bar! Weaned on beer, totally illiterate, waterhead baby.

Link op?

AOC's political career will end in tears. I foresee her reaching to high to quickly and being defeated in a senate run or maybe even a Presidential one. (or maybe Dancing with the Stars.)

I can't believe that just six days after the election, this stupid infighting is breaking out. How can we as a party be so fucking short-sighted and stupid? For the Love of Christ.

I like her, but she is so fucking tiresome. She has never won a competitive race against anyone but a tired, corrupt Democrat. Abigail Spanberger is just as articulate, but a hell of a lot tougher and savvier.

AOC has crazy eyes. She bugs them out like Sissy Spacek after the blood dump in Carrie.

AOC is Satan's girlfriend. She has a stinky coochie and can't cook!

AOC poopoo peepee bad lady!

AOC sold me a used car and it was a lemon!

AOC ate my cat!

I don't mind this. He's a garbage person in general and he was a shit mayor. Enough with these fucking neocons.

AOC likes the wrong A Star is Born AND the wrong Mame!

AOC squeezed the fucking Charmin!

The people bringing up her former role as bartender to invalidate her are the same people who attempt to shame and lecture democrats for being coastal elites that don't understand the working class / average person.

Yeah, the bartender story was a bad idea.

I thinks she's just mad Joe and Kamala won in such a big way, because it ridiculous everything she and Bernie have been preaching for 6 years. That the centrists are ineffective about voter outreach, that centrists need to listen to leftists, that they will not win this selection, that a moderate approach isn't reaching enough voters ... bla, bla, bla.

Everything these leftists said turned out to be false. That's why she's ranting like a spoiled toddler.

Rahm has accomplished way more than you ever will, peanut

Agree, R37.

Can someone tell me where the non-fascist gays hang out pls?

The far left is jumping on Joe quickly. It will be our downfall, AGAIN! we never learn. I don't mind AOC but the Dems need to tell a few including AOC to back the fuck up for now.

Why do all Bernie supporters have severe, malignant narcissism?

She's jealous of my beauty and winning laugh. (throws head back and giggles)

R38, so have a lot of people, that doesn't mean I want him back in power. He had his time. We need new blood, not that neocunt back in power. And that doesn't mean I want AOC either. It means I'm tired of people like Rahm Emanuel. And BTW, I recall what a shit he was when Obama was president and people couldn't wait for him to go.

Maybe check your brain to see why your memory revises history. He was awful during the Obama years. Awful.

Sorry, bitches, she is representing the people who elected her. They like her. We don't ask Manchin to be a human being, so why does AOC have to adapt?

[Quote] Why do all Bernie supporters have severe, malignant narcissism?

Their cunt parents never told them NO and told them everyday they are a perfect person.

Good his time has passed.

The last person Biden should bring in. He's like a snake, like Jared Kushner. I'm surprised they're even considering him.

[quote] I have no doubt he will be removed mid-term.

You don't have to be a geriatrician to know he's going downhill.

Manchin is one senator in 100 who has been there for ten years and was a governor before he ran for the senate. AOC is one representative of 435 and she has just been re-elected after her first two year term.

I like her but she needs to take a breath and slow the fuck down.

I don't care that she was a bartender. People have all kinds of odd jobs as they get through school. It's not a crime.

The bartender story is bullshit. Hadn't she already worked on Capitol Hill before that? She was always going to be a politician, and has plenty of education.

We may not like her but she's right.

Can this media creation go the fuck away already? She got less votes in her relection bid than she got two years ago.

Enough.

No R53, she is a wrong bad evil ugly stupid immature bartender who smells bad and dresses funny.

A bartender? Can you imagine? I mean if it at least was a juice bar ok but otherwise, no.

I also heard that she has a dirty cooter.

Whatever. We'll see who gets named and decide what we think of him/her.

Is AOC still pushing for mandatory medicare?

When she's not busy clubbing baby seals. ^

It's like some of you have no memory. You really are forgetting who Rahm E. was in the Obama admin. He was one of the first assholes who had no backbone against the GOP. They might as well keep Kushner - they have the same fucking mentality on certain issues. If he serves in this admin, I'm sitting out the next election. If that's the kind of admin we're getting, Biden loses millions of votes next time. We're tired of these neocon shitheads.

Black people are of the opinion that Rahm help cover up or chose to do nothing when a young black man was murdered by the police (shot many, many, many times) and he was the Mayor

I know he accomplished a lot while he worked for Obama, but he comes with a lot of baggage

WRONG PEANUT

She needs to shut her mouth and wait until Biden is inaugurated. Why is she stirring up drama? There's enough going on without her adding to this

There are some very import senate races coming up, and she's fucking jeopardizing them

No, he is shit and I hate Axelrod as well. They need to stay away.

They race to win at any cost, but they don’t administer or govern worth shit.

I met Rahm before he was anything. He struck me as a closet case. Nasty amoral guy, regardless of party or politics.

As Shakespeare would say of AOC if he were around today

"....a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Datalounge before November 3: "I know progressives don't like Biden, but they should still vote for him to get Trump out of office, and then work in the next four years to keep Biden in line with their agenda."

Datalounge after November 3: "Who the hell do these darkies think they are to ask anything from Biden??"

R68, Most "progressives" are white douchebros.

r69 This thread is about AOC, who's neither white nor a bro, idiot.

Axelrod's motive to constantly badmouthing Hillary Clinton in 2016 to this day completely baffles me. He was still Obama's attack dog. Why didn't Obama tell Axelrod to stop?

Also why did Obama appoint Comey, the guy who would deliver the last blow 10 days before the election?

Why did Obama make Linda Sarsour a person of change. He must have known she would be a BernCat and smear Hillary every opportunity she gets.

Some things I will never understand!

There was never that much love between the Clintons and the Obamas, not even before Obama became president, but now I think there's open animosity. Which I find quite sad actually. I hope at least Michelle and Hillary are friends and still talk.

[quote] I don't care that she was a bartender. People have all kinds of odd jobs as they get through school. It's not a crime.

It wasn’t to get through school. She was a bartender at age 28. She has no work experience except working at bars and restaurants. It’s weird that a college graduate would spend the next 6 years working in the service industry. Thank god this DC position came along or she would have been stuck at the bar. It would have been tough to get an office job with only bar experience on your resume.

R70, " Darkies" is plural. Socialists are overwhelmingly not people of color.

[quote]Datalounge after November 3: "Who the hell do these darkies think they are to ask anything from Biden??"

It's AlwaysOnCamera who does the attacking.

R72's lips move when he reads.

Where was AOC that night?

She’s awesome. Love her and hope the House gets a ton more like her!

She says she's now going down to Georgia for a couple of months to help out with the Senate run offs.

You can write off those seats if she follows through with her threat.

Not the biggest fan of AOC but Rahm is fucking terrible. I don't think Obama even likes him anymore.

Even citizens of Chicago don't want Mayor Rahm Emanuel involved because he is a horrible person.

She is 100 percent correct again.

[quote]If there is going to be a return to Obama era Do Nothingism, I'm not going to vote in 2024.

And this is what she's trying to prevent.

If we are lucky enough to get a 50/50 split in the Senate then we're going to need Bernie's votes every single time and if you don't think he knows the power he will have (as an Independent Dem) then you're wrong.

I also don't think she's randomly thinking up things off the top of her head. I think she knows more than she's letting on.

This country has enough issues with race to appoint anyone that's been involved in that kind of controversy. The Dems won by the skin of our teeth and we will have a tough midterm if black people and/or progressives turn on him.

Anyone who brings that dirtbag leftist Twitter "poopoo peepee" meme to Datalounge needs to fucking die. Literally die. Keep it in your preschool social media circles and don't bring it to a discussion where adults are talking.

Rahm will cause way too many problems. Keep him away. I agree. AOC won and neocons are losing their races. Progressives are wining their seats.

I don't think anybody ever brought up the name Rahm. Why is she creating so much unnecessary drama?

Oh I see, how else did she get the name AlwaysOnCamera?

[quote]Not the biggest fan of AOC but Rahm is fucking terrible. I don't think Obama even likes him anymore.

Sure, but NOW IS NOT THE TIME. In case you haven't noticed, the GOP got together over the weekend and decided to go all in on trying to steal the presidency. AOC can shut the fuck up for a little bit and let us deal with more pressing issues first.

Threatening her own Democratic Party right now over something that's way down the line and may not even happen is childish and stupid.

Has AlwaysOnCamera even ever met Rahm, except maybe for watching him on TV in the pub she worked.

I like AOC. She is smart and brave. Preach AOC!

R82 False. Progressives are winning in safely blue districts and barely-swing districts. AOC ran $14 mil worth of ads FOR HERSELF in swing states outside of NY. She ruined our chances of winning the senate.

[quote]Abigail Spanberger is just as articulate, but a hell of a lot tougher and savvier.

She was literally on the phone to Pelosi last week complaining in a heated phone call that she was dumb enough to think was off the record.

She's no tougher or savvier than anyone else.

[quote]Threatening her own Democratic Party right now over something that's way down the line and may not even happen is childish and stupid.

Do I think it's the right time? No.

Do I know that it is probably is the only time she'll be able to since he's going to pick his cabinet in the next few weeks and is probably interviewing people right now? Yes.

There's never going to be a good time but it is important to state it: you can't pick people with race based controversies in their pasts when you're trying to heal a country that has been torn apart by race. Don't even think it. It won't help you in the long run.

Climate Change is real. A new energy revolution will substantially help the US economy. The American people deserve modern medicine. There are clear examples of health care systems that are better than the US, the US for profit health care system.

She is CORRECT on all these policies.

Kara Eastman in NE-02 was a progressive M4A candidate who lost by 5 points in a district Biden WON by 7.

AOC complained that only 5 candidates in various races accepted her help. Those five were TJ Cox, who lost, and three Reps who won by lower margins than they did in 2018: DeFazio, Levin, Hayes.

I don't think she did as well with "her" candidates as she claims she did.

Haters gonna hate. She’s just jealous she’ll never be as beautiful as Rahm

There's one dedicated Russian troll on this thread.

We're not talking about her policies R89, we're talking about her already gearing up to fight her own party at a time that we're trying to not let the GOP steal the country and turn us into a banana republic. We can worry about "Biden's ideological core" in a few weeks, not right now.

AOC isn't the only one at fault here, the article is the NYT doing another "Dems in disarray" hit piece that they're so fond of.

[quote]Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said she expected a long-term fight, particularly given the setbacks for Democrats in the congressional contests. She also cited cabinet appointments as a way to measure Mr. Biden’s ideological core.

[quote]She said some people, including Mr. Emanuel, should not play a role in the party’s future. The former mayor has been floated by some in Mr. Biden’s inner circle to lead a department like housing or transportation.

[quote]“Someone like Rahm Emanuel would be a pretty divisive pick,” she said, citing his record as mayor on racial justice and his opposition to teachers’ unions. “And it would signal, I think, a hostile approach to the grass-roots and the progressive wing of the party.”

Ok, then. How about she calls Biden on the phone like a goddamn ADULT instead of tweeting and demanding shit, like an asshole?

WTF is wrong with people who think that that's the appropriate or classy way to bring a grave concern to the attention of the president elect? Newsflash, it's not. It's immature and attention seeking.

You all laugh at Dump for broadcasting every plan, every internal snafu, every petty inter-campaign grievance but this woman is acting in the same embarrassing way.

If she's as savvy as you guys claim, she sure as shit isn't showing it.

[quote]There's never going to be a good time but it is important to state it: you can't pick people with race based controversies in their pasts when you're trying to heal a country that has been torn apart by race. Don't even think it. It won't help you in the long run.

I kind of think that a newbie Representative who is more interested in her brand knows LESS about politics than Joe Biden, but go head, tell us again how Biden needs to be schooled on how to do things by AOC? We're ALL fuckin' ears, man.

Bigoted, egotistical cunt. The "progressive" of the future applauded by the simple-minded. Madness!

She can fire all the warning shots she likes, but if she thinks about quitting the moment anyone claps back at her, that's not very brave in my view. Going to have to take more heat than this if you want to be President one day.

[quote]Datalounge after November 3: "Who the hell do these darkies think they are to ask anything from Biden??"

One of the worst traits of the online cosplay left is their obvious glee in spewing racist slurs. They don't even care if it makes sense; no one was talking about black voters or black politicians, aka "darkies" according to this "progressive" poster, yet he couldn't WAIT to say it.

LOL. As if they can do anything.

R98, it reminds me of that DLer who can't wait to screech with glee "SJW is right-wing code for ****** lover!!!" at any opportunity.

Yeah, AOC is the perfect choice to show the 70 million who voted for Trump the error of their ways.

They will lap up every word.

AOC needs better exposure on a TV show so we can get to like her.

How very millennial of her. She’s in her 20s, has been in Congress less than *two years*, yet feels she’s entitled to dictate the cabinet of a president elect.

R101, don't blame AOC for 70M repulsive low-life scumbags who thought it was perfectly normal to have as president a genuinely ignorant, corrupt, morally and financially bankrupt creature who thinks this is a dictatorship and he gets to jail his enemies. This is why as annoying as I find her, she will never be anywhere the asshole that some of you are because all you've done is prove the existence of white privilege. You cannot fucking deny it at this point. Trump is a dangerous psycho who 70M thought should be given four more destructive years. And you think she's the problem? No, she will never be the bigger problem. The enablers of Fascism are the bigger problem.

She's just going into her second term. I think she's just at the point where she can go to the can without a hall pass, so...

Either way, a Rahm Emanuel-free government is actually a fine idea.

anywhere near*

He didn't blame AOC for Trump voters, R104, nor does he need to be told Trump is a dangerous psycho. I don't know who you were trying to respond to but it's not R101.

R32, He's also not good around sharp objects . . .

In an interview with Katie Couric for 60 Minutes last night, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel talked about his days a teenage Arby's employee, and the time he sliced off his middle finger while cleaning a roast beef slicer. Always the resourceful one, Emanuel decided to dress his wound himself. Notes Emanuel: "I ended up with two blood infections, two bone infections, gangrene, two week in the hospital, a 105 fever, and was about one day away from looking at the other side of the ledger."

Rarm was the worst of the worst Chief of Staff and Obama was a truly weak-willed and wrong-headed president. And the Democrats lost the House in 2010 was no surprise at all.

[quote]I kind of think that a newbie Representative who is more interested in her brand knows LESS about politics than Joe Biden, but go head, tell us again how Biden needs to be schooled on how to do things by AOC? We're ALL fuckin' ears, man.

I'm pretty sure a 31 year old Latina woman knows quite a bit how the public might see the hiring of a person who has had race based issues in the past than our future 77 year old white President.

I don't think she's right all the time. I do think she needs to learn how to respond in a more gracious way but acting as if she is completely unqualified to say anything about this is rather idiotic.

R107, he's trying to insinuate that AOC is the reason that 70M won't vote Dem.

[quote] because all you've done is prove the existence of white privilege.

Whenever anyone says anything I dislike, I invoke their race end put them down for it. But I’m not a racist — YOU are!

At least this bug eyed crazy cunt isn't attacking Pete for now.

At least this bug eyed crazy cunt isn't attacking Pete for now.

R5 Lmao 🤣 which will result in nothing boring, Biden is the new president. Get the fuck over it.

I didn't say she was completely unqualified, r110, I said she doesn't know as much about politics as Biden does. And she doesn't.

Biden's biggest successes have been while VP to a black president and running for president with a black VP. He's not a person of color and he doesn't understand racism the way a PoC does, but it's ridiculous to pretend like his experience doesn't give him insight into political race issues.

He really does NOT need a newbie politician telling him that it might not be a great idea to bring someone into the cabinet who has been racist in the past. He already knows. How YOU don't realize he already knows that is beyond me.

I'm sorry you can't understand simple concepts R111 but it's clear R101 was saying that Republicans, especially Trumpsters, won't be convinced by anything AOC says. And they won't. She won't convert any Republicans into Democratic voters in any meaningful way.

Who ever told these freaks that you get exactly what you want in life? Just don't vote at all, pussyhats.

AOC type leftists hate the pussyhat-wearing liberals, R118. You've conflated two different groups.

[quote]Whenever anyone says anything I dislike, I invoke their race end put them down for it. But I’m not a racist — YOU are!

Wrong, shithead. Way to miss my point. We have complete imbeciles on here who think Trump being the most unqualified POS is to be excused because AOC is apparently far worse. We have idiots on here who continue to rationalize the votes of 70 million assholes for an actual white supremacist who is also a genuinely stupid, indecent and corrupt clown because the right has gotten away with vilifying AOC to such an extent that you *justify* the vote for n odious blob who tweets out conspiracies and thinks we live in a dictatorship and he can just kill off his enemies.

In other words, Trump is apparently *allowed* to be as repulsive as he pleases and you'll still pretend it's AOC's fault that 70M voted for HIM because she's just so darn scary! "White privilege" is being allowed to be Donald fucking Trump and become president and there will still be assholes on the "left" who will excuse him and make AOC a far bigger threat.

The person you're screaming at is not r101, and R101 didn't say anything that deserves the kind of freak-out you're having.

R117? BIDEN couldn't convince them either. We live with 70M vile beings. They have no excuse for what they did. None. Even if they sat it out or voted third party, it would be excused, but to actually cast a vote for Trump shows you are just a despicable individual.

R120, Nobody here is saying AOC has the power to impact the votes of 70 million people. She doesn't. But like Hillary Clinton, she is poison in conservative circles because she is so willing to play the villan to the fox news set.

She will negatively effect the Georgia races.

I didn't say he could, R122. You're trying too hard to start a fight by pretending people have said things they didn't. Enough.

Anti-Democrat Divisive Trolls are having a laugh at you naive fat whores in this thread.

Anti-Democrat Divisive Trolls are having a laugh at you naive fat whores in this thread.

Anti-Democrat Divisive Trolls are having a laugh at you naive fat whores in this thread.

Anti-Democrat Divisive Trolls are having a laugh at you naive fat whores in this thread.

Anti-Democrat Divisive Trolls are having a laugh at you naive fat whores in this thread.

Anti-Democrat Divisive Trolls are having a laugh at you naive fat whores in this thread.

Anti-Democrat Divisive Trolls are having a laugh at you naive fat whores in this thread.

Anti-Democrat Divisive Trolls are having a laugh at you naive fat whores in this thread.

Anti-Democrat Divisive Trolls are having a laugh at you naive fat whores in this thread.

This bug eyed cunt is just as bad as Trump. She is toxic and abrasive. She does not hesitate to run her mouth and criticize anybody who doesn’t agree with her bullshit politics, but the minute somebody talks shit back to her she plays the victim. Just a like the orange genital wart. They are flip the side of the same fucking coin. Incapable of compromise or seeing any areas of gray.

R124, I'm just tired of threads like this. I actually find AOC annoying and she really hasn't earned the right to demand things, but these threads remind me of the same nonsense you see with the Markle threads. Like an unnecessary level of vitriol targeting these women.

AOC is no where near the threat of the right, yet the level of hate she gets from the left is just ridiculous.

You get back what you get out. She makes her name by throwing vitrol at other democrats and sucking Bernie Sanders' balls.

It's really weird that we had a troll saying Dataloungers en masse were accusing AOL of being worse than Trump, and as soon as someone points out that no one had said anything of the sort, someone comes along to say "AOC is a cunt who's worse than Trump!"

A little too on-the-nose there, I think, and it happens in a lot of threads on different topics.

R127, I agree with you about Meghan. Who cares what she does? She has no actual power. I don’t discount that she is fake and clueless, but so are most actors. She doesn’t really deserve most of the shit she gets. AOC is a different story. She shits all over her own party every chance she gets. She isn’t even a Democrat, that’s why she shits on them. She just hijacked the party for her own selfish agenda.

Rush Limbaugh mentions her on his show every day, over-enunciating her full name in a Mexican accent, to keep the Angry Old White People riled-up.

[quote]but it's ridiculous to pretend like his experience doesn't give him insight into political race issues.

I never said that. I said she'd know quite a bit about this issue (which deals with Emanuel in relation to race) because of who she is. It has nothing to do with her job as a politician. She may not have as much experience as Biden as a politician but this is something she can speak about with quite a bit of acuity that he wouldn't have because ...

[quote]He's not a person of color and he doesn't understand racism the way a PoC does,

... which you just said so I didn't have to! It doesn't matter how many black people he works with, he doesn't understand it the same way she, they or anyone would that hasn't dealt with it.

It is experience that has zero do with how long she has been a politician. It is lived experience. It is the same lived experience that every politician speaks of when they're running for office. They KNOW what you have been through because they have EXPERIENCED it.

When it comes to that, you can't give it, can't even buy it and you just don't get it.

It is ridiculous to criticize AOC for saying the same thing that many people in this thread have said: Rahm Emanuel is bad idea. This isn't something she came up with out of thin air.

That seems to be what happens with her.

Thirty people could say the same thing but when she opens her mouth she gets attacked. You could say that she should be more reserved as a member of the House but her job [bold]is[/bold] speaking up for her constituents.

That's what she's doing and [italic]you[/italic] don't seem to understand that.

Take a good hard look at yourself if you think AOC is wrong about Rahm.

[quote] acting as if she is completely unqualified to say anything about this is rather idiotic.

What is idiotic is Ocasio-Cortez’s juvenile presumption to speak for a political collective extant solely in her fevered, self-serving mind.

Wtf is Rahm Emmanuel doing sniffing around. Ever since he made $20 million in the two years he took off from working for the government, I’ve hated this guy’s guts.

No skills to offer, just his Rolodex.

It’s called ‘access capitalism’ and I loathe people who cash in like that. Pig.

That she can look at Trump, McConnell, Barr and the state the US is in and decide that THIS is where her energy and ire needs to be, what the flying fuck is wrong with her? What planet does she live on?

Totally agree; I don't have strong feelings about Rahm, but Dump & Co. are looking to burn the house down on the way out the door - while actively aided by Repig leadership, and you want to pick a fight over some insider baseball thing that most people don't know or care about?

That she's pulling this shit when the Dems desperately trying to win the senate, shows how insidious and vile she is. Of course she's doing this deliberately, she hasn't been anything but trouble from day one. It's her way or she's making a stink. Now that Joe Biden won and won big, she's even more mad because the far leftist assholes been proven wrong all along.

I don't always agree with AOC, but some of you are idiots. Those complaining that "2 years ago she was pouring beer" etc. You'd rather another Bush who has never worked? or some dumbass Trump kid? or a career politician? She's immature, certainly, but I'd still rather that, than the opposite - some 90 yr old turtle like McConnell.

P.S. Rahm Emmanuel is worthless.

Rahm has done NOTHING worthwhile. She is correct in this one particular instance - he is very divisive.

You should read up on him if you don't already know - and forget what AOC says about it - read on your own - we don't need him in the mix.

AOC's unwilling to work line on her website was no mistake or accident. She believes people in the middle class should bust their hump to provide for those who elect not to work and want to live off the govt. If she is the NEW Democrat and gets more influence, the party will die quickly. Look how well DeBlasio is doing with his similar views and policies in NYC. He is the most despised mayor in recent history, by almost everyone.

Your hatred for AOC is blinding you. Rahm cannot and should not be in this cabinet.

AOC isn’t genuine, though. She is fake. When I hear her talk I feel like I’m listening to some WWE asshole. She is extra on purpose. Like when she made sure everybody knew that Ted Yoho called her a “fucking bitch”. SO WHAT?! It’s politics. Deal with it. Do you think Hilary and Pelosi cry every time somebody calls them names?? I don’t believe she was offended by it at all. She just wanted something to rant about. If it even really happened. Who knows with AOC? She is drama. There are bigger issues in this country than whether or not somebody you work with calls you a name.

Name calling and whining will not make me or anyone else love AOC and her beliefs. I hope the Dems can hold it together but I fear she is so toxic that most moderate Dems will feel unwelcome and not show up for future elections. The next midterms may be a bigger loss for House Dems then this cycle. Luckily the Dems still control the House, but by less members.

She is correct on this.

Rahm and AOC are both self-serving assholes.

AOC is still an angry Bernie bro. Our nation is in perilous times and this is what she focuses on? She's always complaining. If she was truly interested in implementing progressive policies she would be directing her efforts in down-ballot, state candidates. True change doesn't typically come from the top. It comes from building a coalition and winning support at the grassroots level. She is only interested in her progressive identity and the "respect' she feels that deserves.

Rahm and AOC are both self-serving assholes.

AOC is still an angry Bernie bro. Our nation is in perilous times and this is what she focuses on? She's always complaining. If she was truly interested in implementing progressive policies she would be directing her efforts in down-ballot, state candidates. True change doesn't typically come from the top. It comes from building a coalition and winning support at the grassroots level. She is only interested in her progressive identity and the "respect' she feels that deserves.

[quote]Like when she made sure everybody knew that Ted Yoho called her a “fucking bitch”. SO WHAT?! It’s politics. Deal with it.

A Congressman should not be calling her or any woman a "fucking bitch" on the steps of the Capital or anywhere else.

If they were two normal people working at a company together he would have had his ass dragged into HR and been fired.

You're faulting her for being upset about that? What is wrong with you? Not even Nancy would have put up with that from a sitting Congressman.

She’s a Russian plant and she needs to be audited. She is as reprehensible as Gym Jordan.

Conor Lamb, House Moderate, on Biden’s Win, ‘the Squad’ and the Future of the Democratic Party

Conor Lamb, who survived a Republican challenge in Pennsylvania, says Democrats were given a message on Election Day: Backlash to progressive policies risks killing their House majority.

By Astead W. Herndon

Nov. 8, 2020

The carefully calibrated unity of the Democratic Party lasted about six months. After a summer when moderates and progressives joined together to elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. president, his victory has now given permission for the party to expend time and energy on the difficult task of sorting out its ideological core.

House Democrats, reeling from unexpected losses in competitive races, wasted no time. Moderates have blamed progressives for pushing policies such as “Medicare for all” and defunding the police, which are unpopular in swing districts.

But progressives, rallying to influence Mr. Biden on cabinet appointments and initial policy, have pushed back. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has pinned those House losses on poor digital campaigning, saying members made themselves “sitting ducks” for Republicans.

Conor Lamb, the 36-year-old Pennsylvania Democrat who beat back a Republican challenge in a district that President Trump won in 2016, is one of those moderates who believes the left is costing Democrats in key areas. In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Lamb said he expected the incoming administration to govern as it had campaigned: with progressives at arm’s length.

This interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

Q. What’s your expectation of Joe Biden’s Democratic Party? How do you expect him to fall on the moderate vs. progressive divisions we see in the House?

A. I think that he means what he says when he says, “I ran a Democrat, but I’m going to serve as an American president.” And what that means, I believe, is that every single day, and on every issue, he’s going to be working to get as many people around the table and singing from the same sheet music as you can. And sometimes that will be everyone in the Democratic caucus. Sometimes it will be some people in the Democratic caucus and some Republicans. I think that’s going to change by the issue, but he’s a person that really believes our actual job in Washington, D.C., is to work with each other, compromise to get the best deal we can and then get the thing done. And I believe that too.

What went wrong for House Democrats when they were supposed to pick up seats?

I’m giving you an honest account of what I’m hearing from my own constituents, which is that they are extremely frustrated by the message of defunding the police and banning fracking. And I, as a Democrat, am just as frustrated. Because those things aren’t just unpopular, they’re completely unrealistic, and they aren’t going to happen. And they amount to false promises by the people that call for them.

If someone in your family makes their living in some way connected to natural gas, whether on the pipeline itself, or you know, even in a restaurant that serves natural gas workers, this isn’t something to joke around about or be casual about in your language.

That’s what we’re trying to say: that the rhetoric and the policies and all that stuff — it has gone way too far. It needs to be dialed back. It needs to be rooted in common sense, in reality, and yes, politics. Because we need districts like mine to stay in the majority and get something done for the people that we care about the most.

...

Everyone criticising AOC on this must get their news from Drudge.

*Let’s take that issue. Joe Biden did not support defunding the police. Almost all the members of the Democratic Congress, even folks like Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, came out against it. What is the party supposed to do that it didn’t?

I think we can do it much more clearly and repetitively and show it with our actions. We need to have a unified Democratic message about good law enforcement and how to keep people safe, while addressing the systemic racism that I do believe exists and the racial inequities that absolutely do exist. And when we passed the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act, that’s exactly what we did.

But the people that I was on the phone with, when we were passing that at the time, were not the freshmen members who are criticizing us today. It was Karen Bass and Cedric Richmond and Colin Allred — and I was listening to them. And, you know, pretty much most of our moderate conservative Democrats all voted for that bill. We listened, we compromised and we got something done. And that’s what this job is really about.

*Is it the view of moderate Democrats that the progressives or the so-called Squad has taken up too much space in the national conversation?

I wouldn’t put it that way. Because that really focuses on them as individuals and their personalities. And that is not what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to have a discussion about policy, not personality. And I want to be really clear on that, because I respect every one of those members and how hard they worked to get elected and how hard they have worked to stay elected and represent their constituencies. But the fact is that they and others are advocating policies that are unworkable and extremely unpopular.

So I would just say that our view is more that we want to have a clearer, sharper, more unified message on policy itself, regardless of who gets the credit or who is in the limelight for that.

*In the Democratic primary, even as progressive candidates lost, polling showed that their issues remained popular among Democrats. Even things like single-payer health insurance or things like the Green New Deal. What’s your response to that?

At the end of the day, it’s individual candidates that have to win races, and then work with their fellow officeholders to pass bills into law and change people’s lives. So you can tell me all the polling you want, but you have to win elections.

And I’ve now been through three very difficult elections in a Republican-leaning district, with the president personally campaigning against me. And I can tell you that people are not clamoring for the two policies that you just asked about. So, that’s just what probably separates a winner from a loser in a district like mine.

On Saturday, I interviewed Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and she mentioned you and how some House moderates ran their campaigns. I wanted to get a fact check quickly: Did you all spend just $2,000 on Facebook the week before the election?

She doesn’t have any idea how we ran our campaign, or what we spent, to be honest with you. So yeah, her statement was wrong. But there’s a deeper truth there, which is this — that our districts and our campaigns are extremely different. You know, I just leave it at that.

She said the way moderates ran their campaigns left them as “sitting ducks.” What was your reaction?

I have to be honest and say that I was surprised about the whole interview on the day when Vice President and now President-Elect Biden was having the election called for him. I just don’t think it was a day for people to be sniping at other members, especially in districts that are so different from their own.

...

I respect her and how hard she works. And what she did in an extremely low-turnout Democratic primary. But the fact is that in general elections in these districts — particularly in the ones where President Trump himself campaigns over and over and over again, and attacks members within their own Republican-leaning districts, like me and Representative Slotkin and Representative Spanberger — it’s the message that matters. It’s not a question of door knocking, or Facebook. It matters what policies you stand for, and which ones you don’t. And that is all that we are trying to say.

The American people just showed us in massive numbers, generally, which side of these issues that they are on. They sent us a Republican Senate and a Democratic president; we’re going have to do things that we can compromise over.

*You mentioned sniping. Are progressives leading that or are moderates also doing so? I’m thinking of all the anonymous quotes attacking members of the left, something that she mentioned.

That’s just honestly a hard question to answer, because I don’t know who the anonymous people are. I believe we should put your name behind those types of comments and that’s generally what I do.

But I got to say, as you’ve talked a lot about Representative Ocasio-Cortez, she can put her name behind stuff and that’s I guess courageous, but when it’s a damaging idea or bad policy, like her tweeting out that fracking is bad in the middle of a presidential debate when we’re trying to win western Pennsylvania — that’s not being anything like a team player. And it’s honestly giving a false and ineffective promise to people that makes it very difficult to win the areas where President Trump is most popular in campaigns.

*You and Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez are on different sides of the ideological spectrum, but the same side of a generational divide among Democrats. House party leadership has said they plan to run again. Does there need to be more youth among Democratic leadership?

The most important thing is that the leadership we have has to listen to the newer, younger members and actually give us some input and help us get accomplishments at the policy level.

But what seems to happen sometimes is when push comes to shove, the younger members who have come from these really tough districts and tough races don’t always feel that the leadership takes our input as seriously as we would like. And I think that’s something they need to improve, and I would bet that Representative Ocasio-Cortez would feel similarly — even if it was on different issues.

I can't wait for the analyses to come out, to find out, in-depth, why voters voted the way they did.

I fully expect AOC and the Squad to dismiss any data showing progressive positions and rhetoric alienated voters who subsequently voted for GOP candidates. Ideologues do that.

One thing: I bet Latino voters in Texas don't care much about undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers at the border. I bet they overwhelmingly voted based on pocketbook issues.

R153, republicans didn’t present a platform this year so every one of their voters brought their own.

My Belief: Republican voters are pray/preying/ depending on Grandma and Grandpa dropping dead sooner while there’s still an estate. Changes in tax laws and more equitable medical care mean they have to juggle more expensive medicare recipients.

We need to all settle down and let the moderates fix the mess in our government. The 2 extremes are getting us no where.

AOC needs to be turfed to Moscow.

R155 has it right. The two extremes - the QAnon Republicans and the McConnell Republicans - are destroying this country.

"One thing: I bet Latino voters in Texas don't care much about undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers at the border. I bet they overwhelmingly voted based on pocketbook issues."

Well, since most of them were in the same boat just a few years ago, kind of unfair of the "ins" to look down their noses at the "outs."

Nothing says Republican like "I got mine, now you get yours."

What's destroying the country are unchecked capitalism, hence disappearing middle class and widening wealth gap. Main Street would still be healthy if it weren't for the money grab by the rich and their enablers. Those 70 million wouldn't have voted for Trump (the non-stone-racists, I mean) if they didn't see elites using this an ATM while their own children can't afford college or get a decent job. We need progressives to fight climate change with policies that create new jobs, as well, curb the fucking banks and Wall Street criminals who sell out their own country, and get rid of qualified immunity so the good cops can get rid of the sociopaths in their ranks.

Do you seriously think Rahm and his minions are going to do any of that. No, they'll make that situation worse and set us up for a fascist populist like Trump, only worse, to take over.

AOC may have a cunt, but that doesn't make her one, anymore than you having a prick makes you one.

Idiots like R138 still don't understand that AlwaysOnCamera is mainly doing these stunts to get herself in the news and to weaken Democrats.

The far leftists are the Trojan horse planted inside the democratic party by the far right.

Hey asshole at R160: Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia announced today he will refuse to go along with any Democratic party attempts to enlarge the Supreme Court, in the event the Democrats win both Georgia seats up for grabs.

Still think AOC is solely responsible for dividing the Party?

[quote]If we are lucky enough to get a 50/50 split in the Senate then we're going to need Bernie's votes every single time and if you don't think he knows the power he will have (as an Independent Dem) then you're wrong.

As it looks now Bernie and his unicorn socialists have done mostly damage to democrats.

R160, yeah, Jan, it's a conspiracy.

No Mayo Pete either.

Welcome to messy politics. It’s like buttsex; not for everybody

I don't like anal and I don't like the Washington bubble of hatred.

R147 AOC is not the most honest person, either. So even knows if it happened? That interview she gave Anderson Cooper where he called her out for exaggerating (lying) about how much the Pentagon spent she tried to justify it. Acting like her manipulative tactics are for the greater good. Self righteous assholes like her are as scary as Trump. They don’t see any problems with the lies they tell or the damage they cause because they feel entitled to do so.

From Wikipedia: Emanuel is generally liberal on social issues. He has maintained a 100-percent pro-choice voting record, supports LGBT rights including same-sex marriage, and is a strong supporter of gun control, rated "F" by the NRA in December 2003.[62] He has also strongly supported the banning of numerous rifles based upon "sporting purposes" criteria.[63]

During his original 2002 campaign, Emanuel spoke in support of the goal of "to help make health care affordable and available for all Americans".[30]

Hahahahahahahahahaha, R168. He's in bed with, take your pick, the mob, the banks, Wall Street, random oligarchs, and probably his sister-in-law.

What a great liberal! He wanted to get rid of the teachers' unions, those greedy bitches who have wrecked America.

She's right of course. No more Democrats who think appeasing corporate donors is the entire goal of every Democratic administration and there is no room for anything else. There are plenty of people to choose from. Rahm doesn't need some post for old time's sake.

AOC is stupid and I hate her!

DeBlasio, AOC, and Chirlaine are all nazi liberals who want the middle class to work their butts off to pay for the poor people who should live better than they do. Central A/C in public housing, enough public assistance for luxury vacations...the list goes on an on. First class hotel rooms for the homeless. Who pays for all of this, the dumb ass working stiff. People are getting tired of it all.

Interesting bit of news in local NYC media today has newly elected congressman Ritchie Torres distancing himself from AOC; calls himself a "pragmatic problem solver..."

Link probably won't work for everyone. Don't bitch at me, just search for story using keywords.

AOC is going to hand the R’s victory after victory by refusing to vote with the D’s on anything she considers “impure” legislation and she’s going to strong arm new members into doing the same. She is poison.

Ritchie looks like a trans man.

Damn the wingnut freakout about AOC is really kind of sad to see. She's fine, the party's fine. You're not.

R172, you obviously have never looked at a pie chart of where your hardearned money goes in terms of taxes. You are spitting down when you should be pitchforking up. Welfare recipients are not your enemies; your enemies are Raytheon, whatever Blackwater is called now, and chimps like Trump.

My friend's husband was with Raytheon. They used your tax dollars to rent the British Museum for a cocktail party. Cheers!

The rich steal so much more than the poor ever dream of. It's an entire economy built around giving rich kleptomaniacs more money.

My friend’s daughter works for them. She and her wife are spies.

Don't like RT politics nor much else, but you have to hand it to him. For someone without a college degree (IIRC), is a POC and gay he certainly has risen fast and far in politics. But then again his district is largely poor and Latino/Hispanic/POC, so don't think some of that matters.

She’s the Sarah Palin of the Left.

Hahahahahhaa. You know it’s true.

Another useless cunt who needs to jump on a broomstick and fly away... ANYWHERE else.

I too am a very liberal democrat and a black woman of colorfulness who also believes that AOC is literally a witch who should fly away with Hillary, who I also hated despite never being a paid bot.

Is Rahm her target because Obama off limits?

One has to wonder how long the unfortunate inhabitants are going to put up with AOC doing not much more than making her political career all about herself, and focus more on delivering tangible benefits for community.

I mean has the woman actually brought home any bacon or anything else tangible for that district? She cost them Amazon (who by the way is expanding its presence all over NYC regardless), and doesn't seem to do much more than run her mouth on matters that are or should not be of her concern.

One also has to wonder how wingnuts are going to deal with the reality of an administration that is not built entirely around the idea that the rich aren't rich enough and grifters gotta grift.

She’s constantly on Twitter getting love bombed by Russian bots. How would she have time to do anything serious?

I am willing to admit that we don't know who AOC "really is," and we won't know for some time. We need to see how she conducts herself under a Biden presidency. I defended Obama online from 2008 to 2010. Then I began to see what he was doing and not doing. All our politicians need to be watched, pushed and censured if they need it.

Democracy is active, not passive. It's not what we believe but what we get out and do.

It is to laugh.....

Does Babs and the other Caifornian billionaires adore AOC?

Yes Kevin Sorbo at r190, they all adore AOC and they all hate you. But don't worry. Your persecution complex will just make you better in all those Christian movies.

Good article, R189.

Agreed r188, all for criticizing politicians and watching them. But in this wingnut griftopia, 90 percent of that criticism should come from the left.

How much more "time" does AOC need to show her "true self"? The woman has been in office now over two years and done pretty much nothing from day one but run her mouth, and or make everything about herself/what she wants.

AOC is a poor reproduction of Eva Peron; at least that woman had access to a military junta and other levers of power to pull in aide of getting what she wanted. AOC has none of that, just a big mouth sprouting all sorts of nonsense designed to appease her followers.

AOC's "Don't Cry For Me Queens" act is getting a bit tired. She keeps singing the same tune; mouthing insincere words to justify her behavior.

That AOC, why she wears bloomers, right out in public. And I hear she was once a common tavern wench. It's an outrage I tell you! Doesn't she understand that only those of proper breeding can truly understand what the people want? Like that lovely debutante, Ivanka.

AOC and the far left liberals do not get it that wasting tax payer money for the poor and not using tax dollars wisely make it SO easy to vilify them. They deserve it because they waste it. Do better and tie it to responsibility just like Bloomberg did.

Exactly, tax dollars should go exclusively to defense contractors, real estate developers, multinationals that pretend they want to create jobs, pharmaceutical executives and, really, anyone who doesn't actually need them.

[Quote] Thank god this DC position came along or she would have been stuck at the bar.

Where can I find job openings like this? I'd like to apply too. Do I need a headhunter or a resume will do?

[quote]She’s constantly on Twitter getting love bombed by Russian bots. How would she have time to do anything serious?

And this from a Trumpista? Amazing.

Oh for the love of christ on a crutch. She's right. Rahm Emmanuel is a disaster and a real piece of shit. No way should Biden use him. David Axelrod or Van Jones. But esp. Axelrod. He's a douche bag and I could go into detail but will spare you. AOC is feisty and lets face it-Nancy and Chuck take lots of $$$ from big corporations and personally they and Feinstein need to ride off into the sunset. But not until this election mess is over and the Republicans are torched.

Cabinet not looking good for Warren or Sanders, according to Politico. Not just because of numbers but because if Mitch retains the majority he won’t confirm some, like Warren for Treasury.

And also, ya know, we shouldn't be throwing Senate seats away r202.

In fairness most of the outraged posters here don't give a damn about Rahm, r201. They really hate AOC for not being Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump rolled into one.

Only the progressives can prevent the DP from being steamrolled by the GOP. The rest just lie down and present hole.

[quote]Cabinet not looking good for Warren or Sanders, according to Politico.

Politico with the hard-hitting news about Bernie's cabinet chances. Whoever thought they were higher than zero?

[quote]And I’ve now been through three very difficult elections in a Republican-leaning district, with the president personally campaigning against me. And I can tell you that people are not clamoring for the two policies that you just asked about. So, that’s just what probably separates a winner from a loser in a district like mine.

Lamb should run for Pat Toomey's seat in 2022.

R205 “progressives” are ruining the Democratic party. They have their own agenda, which consists of hijacking the party and running it into the ground with the Marxist nonsense. If they take over, people like me will have absolutely no party which represents them. Only two abysmal parties that are equally despised and equally corrupt.

See, that is overall reasonable, r207. Moderates have to run as moderates in moderate districts. And that's all fine. But it gets married to this idea that therefore even the most progressive districts must also be represented by moderates (which often means rightwing at least economically) because otherwise that taints the whole Party, and before long we are back to the only options being Right Centrist and Far Right. I get that moderates may not agree with AOC and shouldn't run on an AOC platform in moderate districts. But I completely reject that therefore progressives are never allowed to be represented and never allowed to present a progressive agenda for the country.

Am tired of personality politics. AOC is a starlet, at best.

And r208, of course you have a party, the Republican Party, the party of caring about the rich only and exclusively. You are fine there and you should stay there.

Guess what? She's not in the Senate and wouldn't get to vote on him. Any Senators that would publicly oppose him being in the cabinet?

She showed her true colors doing that story/shoot for the very bourgeois Vanity Fair.

She's a voice for a segment of the party. It's not some tragedy that that voice occasionally gets to be heard.

Worked fine for me R208.

- Boris Johnson

As a US citizen currently in the country who has lived in other countries who have a GENUINE LEFT government, AOC comes across as “lefty”; not some “extreme” progressive as she does to much of America......and most on DL.

I don’t agree with with some of her style (loud, aggressive, Vogue photo shoots, etc.), but I appreciate that she represents an example of AUTHENTIC LEFT policies, which the USA has sadly determined to be extremist as they continually drift to the right....and now, even more grievously towards fascism.

Geez, we need some correction back to the left. We’re developing 3rd-world like positions and policies in some instances. (Among quite a few examples, our infrastructure and climate change perception is woefully inadequate.)

She is very correct about Rahm.

This exactly r215. She has perfectly normal leftwing views, but to an America raised on the worship of the wealthy and on the idea that Bill Clinton is as left as anyone must ever be allowed to go, it is shocking. This is a ridiculously top heavy economy, and yet we are still expected to believe that tax cuts for the rich are a sensible policy and that anything that actually helps poor and working class people (as opposed to giving money to rich people in hopes that some of that will reach the poor) is crazy socialism. We're nuts, but hopefully getting back to not being nuts.

R215, other countries don't have an Electoral College.

The electoral system has quite a bit to do with what/how many parties and what ideologies predominate.

[Quote] [R205] “progressives” are ruining the Democratic party. They have their own agenda

The DP has no agenda except being Republican Lite and the Lesser Evil. Of course the progressives have their agenda and so they should. I'm glad someone has an agenda.

But I agree the next four years is of repair and restitution, a time to heal. All together now. But the DNC should listen to their members who are young and progressive for the future of the party.

Respectfully disagree, R217.

It’s not the EC that determines the policies and zeitgeist of a country: in this instance, the USA.

It is the country’s people.

Various countries have managed humane - and successful - governments with leftist policies.

I believe it possible in many countries.

In the current milieu, much of the population appears to be zombified and charged up by promotional messaging which Trump et al. have perfected. The Republican Party has allied with Trump and fed the populace all matter of lies and inaccuracies which are fear-based and which have swept over the country.

Dems have not been as consistent or successful in their messaging the last 20-30 years. Neocons are the old Republicans; and the ossified DNC as well as the less capable oldsters have not been listening or attentive to the populace.

Look at Doug Jones and his recent comments that echo, yes, AOC’s beliefs: the DNC should be more attune to their local electorates that being attune to their candidates. Hilliary Clinton was a stunning example (and failure) of their lack of awareness.

As a result, we have been in turmoil for the last 4 years.

The US is a diverse country, but a genuine leftist government with authentic leftist policies would be possible with clear, moral, brilliant, aware leadership to guide the country. We’ve not seen that in some time. I had hope for Obama (but believe he was too green and guided by, shall we say, stronger and less ethical forces: Rahm and Hilliary among them.)

I can't stand this bitch.

[quote]Various countries have managed humane - and successful - governments with leftist policies.

There is not one socialist country that has a stable democracy or economy, none.

Bernie and #AlwaysOnCamera are both socialists.

^^^^ You are putting words in my statements that are incorrect, R221.

The countries that I have lived in have many DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST policies. And they were were stable and in most ways, far more humane and advanced than the USA. (Nordic countries)

I do not follow Bernie Sanders closely, but believe he supports Democratic socialism.

Have you ever lived outside the confines of the USA?

I even found New Zealand and Australia to have a better quality of life than in the US. (And their Covid experience has been handled far better than here in the USA.)

[quote]Look at Doug Jones and his recent comments that echo, yes, AOC’s beliefs: the DNC should be more attune to their local electorates that being attune to their candidates. Hilliary Clinton was a stunning example (and failure) of their lack of awareness.

And candidates should be attune to their districts if they want to win.

[quote]It’s not the EC that determines the policies and zeitgeist of a country: in this instance, the USA. It is the country’s people.

If the US elected its presidents by popular vote majority instead of EC, Hillary would've been president. The consequences of that are obvious given the last 4 years.

If the House elections aren't based on first past the post but on some type of proportional vote system, we'd have a multiparty Congress and the big-tent parties would probably split. The implications of that for what policies get voted into laws are obvious.

So much vitriol directed at AOC. People must really fear her as she speaks to truth.

R211 - you are exactly what’s wrong with progressives. Anytime somebody disagrees with you they must be Republican. You’re simple.

[quote] And candidates should be attune to their districts if they want to win.

Thank you for making my point.

Indeed. This applies on the larger scale also. Rising above Trump should have been possible. Not only possible, but relatively straightforward.

He was - and is - a shockingly poor candidate and president.

[quote] If the US elected its presidents by popular vote majority instead of EC, Hillary would've been president. The consequences of that are obvious given the last 4 years.

For all of DL’s love of Hilliary Clinton, she was divisive and had a history. Her actions did not engender her to some of the populace. A painful lesson for the DNC and Democrats.

Many now recognize that another candidate who was in tune with the populace could have won the EC against a reality tv host.

R225 Stop acting like one, then.

Right, Bernie would've won blah blah, R226. Sure.

I made the point that if AOC ran in Lamb's district, she'd lose.

I can’t stand Rahm or AOC. Why not both?

[quote] Right, Bernie would've won blah blah, [R226]. Sure.

No, R228, you’re attributing words to me that are incorrect.

I said NOTHING about Bernie winning.

In fact, in this recent election, I don’t think he would have won if given the nomination.

The States have swung so far right that a centrist (that is centrist by USA standards and right by global standards) candidate like Biden is now placed in his moment in time.

That’s not to say that there might have been an opportunity for a more progressive candidate in 2016...., but following Hillary’s loss, the country has regressed in many respects.

Believe history will reveal 2016 to have been a critical juncture in many respects. Things could have gone much differently and the country on a completely different timeline than we find ourselves now.

Bernie Sanders isn't even a democrat, so why in God's name should he get a cabinet post when he's done nothing but rag on dems for years now.

Ah, fuck it. The bottom line for many posters here is just poisonous jealousy.

Thank god for ignore!

AOC talked Lucy into Mame.

[quote] People must really fear her as she speaks to truth.

Only to the naive and gullible.

R222, ALL Scandinavian countries are based on a capitalist economy, no Scandinavian has ever been socialist, nor are they now.

Social government policies like health care, education, unemployment benefits, child and aged care etc. have nothing to do with socialism.

I was born in Europe btw.

Honey, nobody here is *jealous* of the Queens Bartender. She is a dangerous clown, just like Trump.

AOC is the Mammy Yokum of politics.

AOC is the grim reaper of the Dem party. 2022 will hopefully prove me wrong, but whenever she opens her mouth and the moderates stay quiet, voters run far far away.

Stop calling her a Marxist. She is not a Marxist. Marxism is based upon the observation of class based oppression. She does not believe that women are a sex class nor that gays as an orientation class are oppressed on the basis of their differences from straight white moneyed men. She rabidly promotes policies that further disenfranchise women and LGB. She is no Marxist. And she’s a science-denier, to boot.

what the hell is a sex class? What is an orientation class?

Nobody needs to be jealous of AOC or even to agree with her. What's not okay is saying that only wingnuts and corporate Dems are allowed to speak. It is not a trauma if a progressive Democratic Representative from a progressive Democratic district would like to be part of the conversation.

Everyone's allowed to speak, r242. AOC attacks.

[quote] Nobody needs to be jealous of AOC or even to agree with her. What's not okay is saying that only wingnuts and corporate Dems are allowed to speak. It is not a trauma if a progressive Democratic Representative from a progressive Democratic district would like to be part of the conversation.

Believe that Americans have become so brainwashed with corporate late-stage capitalism that anything to the contrary is radical and extremist.

[quote] Social government policies like health care, education, unemployment benefits, child and aged care etc. have nothing to do with socialism.

Ah, yes, then these all are a result of corporate capitalism, no?

Think not.

[quote] [R222], ALL Scandinavian countries are based on a capitalist economy, no Scandinavian has ever been socialist, nor are they now. Social government policies like health care, education, unemployment benefits, child and aged care etc. have nothing to do with socialism.

Once again for those in the back, Nordic Country polices DO NOT EQUATE with “socialism”.

They also DO NOT EQUATE with what the USA defines as centrism (which by worldwide standards are right-leaning policies).

true, r245, but once upon a time we recognized that pure capitalism, letting wealth constantly congeal at the top, wasn't in fact the ideal. Under FDR and LBJ we began good ole skim-off-the-top capitalism. Capitalists would still do their thing, lie, cheat, and steal and form the monopolies and oligopolies they love to form, but a certain amount would be redistributed in social security, health care, low income housing, minimum wage, and of course through strong unions and union contracts. You could still have rich and poor, you could still have stupid overpriced houses and yachts and private airplanes and all the nonsense that the rich love so much, but there would also be a floor below which nobody would fall. That is the very modest goal of all this terrifying "socialism" that everyone has been shrieking about since Reagan.

R246, and if the pandemic has taught us anything, it has demonstrated who keeps the country running: workers on the front line.

The ever-distorted financial corruption and top-heavy economy for the USA will be the death knell for the country.

Its people are desperate for reasonable polices: decreasing violence, affordable healthcare, work with decent benefits, environmental acknowledgment, etc.

Trump was propelled to power for “change” from the same-old-status-quo.

By not listening to its populace, a madman leader ascended to wreck havoc.

It remains to be seen what follows. If Biden returns to the old ways (of “status quo”) this country may continue to devolve and separate from its Western counterparts.

There is a form of Socialism, dear Americans, that is flourishing in the USA right in front of us.

Very few discuss it; outside of the odd economist.

It’s called Corporate Socialism.

The Democratic Party could acknowledge this and use it as a huge platform.

However, the problem is, they benefit from it tremendously themselves.

There are some that do not. But they appear to be in the minority.

The USA’s population is easily suggestible. As Donald J Trump has clearly demonstrated.

[quote]AOC is the future, so get used to it.

AOC is not even the present, let alone the future!

She's shown us all she has the raw materials to go nowhere in politics.

Front-line workers would be among the first to suffer from the kind of politics AOC advocates, r247.

[quote]I respect her and how hard she works. And what she did in an extremely low-turnout Democratic primary.

How hard she works? At what? Twitter? Backstabbing Democrats?

AOC also had "an extremely low-turnout" general election. She won her district in this high-turnout election with just over 105,000 votes. As a comparison, evil corporatist Democrat Nancy Pelosi got 265,000+ votes in her district.

Why won't the voters of NY-14 vote for AOC? I mean she's said to have blown through 17 million bucks...for a hundred thousand votes? She is not popular and can't even get her own constituents to the polls!

[quote]No Scandinavian has ever been socialist, nor are they now. Social government policies like health care, education, unemployment benefits, child and aged care etc. have nothing to do with socialism.

Not true. Welfare policies in Europe are the result of social reform / labour movements which organized in socialist and left of center parties. Capitalism didn't reform voluntarily by itself.

It's just that these parties have different (historical) names as well as histories (some split from communist parties). Some don't use 'socialism' but some still do like the Socialist Party in France which was in power throughout the 1980s but didn't try to abolish capitalism contrary to what the name would suggest to the American public.

The Democrats should've turned 'socialism' attacks on their head by pointing to Western Europe. The truth is Bernie is more of a social democrat. But instead, the rightwing managed to make people think only of the totalitarian regimes when they hear 'socialism'.

[quote]The Democrats should've turned 'socialism' attacks on their head by pointing to Western Europe.

Yeah, because that'll work (rolling eyes).

Trump voters have never fucking been to Europe! They don't even have a passport!

Do we want to show them how well everything works in Greece and Italy? Are you really that deep on the Berner Bubble?

Western Europe isn't "socialist". Those Nordic countries and Germany, France, etc., practice what is called "benign capitalism". Any real socialist will tell you that. It's a one from Column A, one from Column B sort of system that combines, e.g., universal health care, access to free child care, better education systems . . . with capitalist financial systems.

Cuba is a socialist country. Denmark is not.

Americans just can't tell the difference.

AOC can bleat all she likes if she wants to give the Republicans a nice leg up in 2022 and 2024.

The correct term for Bernie's platform is social democracy. Universal healthcare, free or low-fee college, higher taxes for the 1% are mainstream ideas and actual reality in Western Europe. The problem is that he calls himself a 'socialist'. This is shooting yourself in the foot with your messaging.

It's always funny when Americans like r252 etc. try to pretend they know about European politics. The equivalent of Bernie Sanders and AOC in Europe is Jeremy Corbyn.

That Tlaib women tried to get in non the action now too, but got smashed for it on Twitter. LOL, these fauxgressives are so annoying, primary all of them. They are nothing but GOP sponsored Trojan Horses inside the democratic party.

Bernie and AOC are socialists, they have nothing in common with social democrats in Europe. And yes R256 is correct

[quote]The equivalent of Bernie Sanders and AOC in Europe is Jeremy Corbyn.

Far leftists that try to infiltrate and weaken traditional center left parties with the goal to help hardliner right wing parties win.

It's all about divide and conquer

Or just leftists that don't buy into the whole corporate, wealth worshiping agenda that everyone is supposed to buy into. There is that possibility.

And yet, r258! Leftists’ bold stance enables the corporate, wealth worshiping agenda everyone is supposed to buy into. Their purity is clearly more important to them than anything else.

[quote] Bernie and AOC are socialists, they have nothing in common with social democrats in Europe.

Completely wrong.

They are not gasp! SOCIALISTS!

Sanders has repeatedly referred to DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM and referred to policies and parties in Denmark as a reference.

I have heard so with my own ears.

Rahm Emanuel covered up the murder of a black man by the Chicago pigs as Mayor. This city hates him like poison and it's why his cowardly bitch ass ran away and did not seek a third term, because he was gonna get DESTROYED. He has NO BUSINESS being in the White House. PERIOD.

The fact that some of you are defending him in this thread is DISGUSTING! But I forget, this is DL, and when a brown woman, especially THAT brown woman says anything, she must be destroyed.

[quote] Rahm Emanuel covered up the murder of a black man by the Chicago pigs as Mayor.

Did not know this, but knew of his shady reputation. Will investigate this further. Thanks R261.

Of note, my sister who attended law school in D.C. then worked with Hilliary Clinton. She was a huge fan of Hills and the biggest Democrat that ever Democratted.

Until her stint with Hilliary, that is. She became so disillusioned that she quit, talked of how shady and unethical The Clintons were (Clinton Foundation/Clinton Ca$h) and shortly thereafter left law practice altogether.

I always think of this when folks start saying how wonderful the Clintons and many of the Dem$ are.

Corporate Sociali$m Indeed.

[quote] Far leftists that try to infiltrate and weaken traditional center left parties with the goal to help hardliner right wing parties win

Only to you, R257, who is an ingrown American (like an ingrown hair) whose definition of “far left” is actual center left or just left to the rest of the world.

And your “center left” is actually right wing.

Hello. Wake up.

Differences can come together to support each other, as various factions did to elevate Biden to the presidency.

The only one speaking of infiltration, weakening, division and conquering is yourself.

[quote]Bernie and AOC are socialists, they have nothing in common with social democrats in Europe.

So the Socialists in France are not social democrats?

[quote]It's always funny when Americans like [R252] etc. try to pretend they know about European politics. The equivalent of Bernie Sanders and AOC in Europe is Jeremy Corbyn.

It's always funny when people assume other posters on a global site have nothing to do with [insert part of the world].

I don't care about Bernie himself, and wasn't talking about tactics and power trips. It's a fact that what he advocates is entirely within the mainstream in Europe, no more 'radical' than most of the social democratic parties in Europe.

[quote] It's always funny when people assume other posters on a global site have nothing to do with [insert part of the world].

[quote] I don't care about Bernie himself, and wasn't talking about tactics and power trips. It's a fact that what he advocates is entirely within the mainstream in Europe, no more 'radical' than most of the social democratic parties in Europe.

Thank you, R264.

Many of our fellow American brethren have no clue what goes on outside the borders of the USA and this results in ignorance in attitudes and unfortunately, prejudices.

Education is important. As are insights and experiences from both within and OUTSIDE the USA.

Dear R260, democratic socialist are socialists, they don't want an economy based on capitalism, which is what Denmark has.

No EU country's economy is socialist.

Again, since you still don't get it. Social government services have NOTHING to do with socialism. The best social service programs happen in capitalist style economies because only those countries have a stable and flourishing economy that can pay for those social services.

[quote] The best social service programs happen in capitalist style economies because only those countries have a stable and flourishing economy that can pay for those social services.

And because you don’t get it, R266: the USA is supposedly reported to have HAD a “flourishing economy”.

Why is it that it never had “the best social services”?

Sheer Capitalism sure as hell never brought them about.

Instead the US is mired in gun violence, racial intolerance, gender inequality, healthcare lapses, poor employment insurance or benefits, aging infrastructure, weak environmental policies, and now a diminishing economy, save for many of its wealthiest inhabitants. It is unfortunate to see the USA devolve.

Disagree that socialism has nothing to do with do with social services in a country. There IS SOCIALISM in the US. Your (and the country’s) denial of CORPORATE SOCIALISM does not appear to serve the majority of the USA’s inhabitants.

[quote]Social government services have NOTHING to do with socialism. The best social service programs happen in capitalist style economies because only those countries have a stable and flourishing economy that can pay for those social services.

They happened because people fought for them - these people were on the left. Socialists, social democrats, Labour started winning elections and forming governments. And the parties on the right decided to get rational after WWII ended and the Cold War started.

You two are arguing over semantics while agreeing on the meat of the issue.

what is it everybody is so terrified about when a progressive says they don't agree. Why is that such a trauma for so many people? What are you terrified will happen if a progressive dissents from the usual nonsense? What exactly?

[quote] what is it everybody is so terrified about when a progressive says they don't agree. Why is that such a trauma for so many people? What are you terrified will happen if a progressive dissents from the usual nonsense? What exactly?

Very Good Question!

The problem is that Republicans have weaponized Progressives to help turn Congress red. Over and over and over again.

Republicans can and do say whatever batshit crazy thoughts pass through their heads, but Americans don’t care the same. This has been asymmetrical warfare for almost 40 years, but the Squad thinks they have cracked the code. Look at the Supreme Court to see how successful progressives have been.

I'm not denying that there is something very wrong with the US, R267.

It was Hillary, not Bernie who fought for universal health care in the early 90s, remember, and it was Obama/Biden who got the ACA after all. Democrats implement good social programs if they have the power to do so. So it would be good for lefties to stop working against Dems, but instead help them.

Again, Scandinavian countries, Switzerland, Germany dont have an economy based on socialism. That's just how it is.

No one cares about people having differing opinions. The problem are the tactics used by “The Squad”/Bernie and their authoritarian dogma. They are anti-democratic in their ideals and executions.

Is she on a transition team vetting possible candidates? No, you say?

[quote]That Tlaib women tried to get in non the action now too, but got smashed for it on Twitter.

The people replying to her tweet are praising her. She is not getting "smashed."

The people who have avatars with blank faces and names with numbers (the trolls/bots) are trashing her. If you take anyone seriously that doesn't use their own face on twitter or has a flag in their photo then you're a fool.

I’m tired of this loud mouth. She ran in a +30 district, had the nerve to shade her coworkers who lost their seats for not embracing Bernie’s agenda, meanwhile she’s running 10 points behind Biden in her district. Okay.

People who think she could primary Schumer, and win, in New York State, are delusional.

If only these constantly whining "Social Democrats" like Ralph Nader and Bernie Sanders had learned to work with others and not DEMANDED to be the first name on the masthead, guess who NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN PRESIDENT??

George W. Bush and Donald Trump!!!

Nader and Sanders are anarchists, at best useful idiots!

[quote] Ralph Nader and Bernie Sanders had learned to work with others

Jesus refused to compromise. And look what happened to him

Again. She’s running 10 points behind Biden in her own race. So her arguments are ridiculous. Defund the police is NOT a winning take

Joe seems to know she scares people. Remember how little time she was given on the democratic convention?

One of the main problems with the "Sanders is just advocating what they're doing in Denmark, and they're not socialists but social democrats" argument is that the US isn't Denmark. The level of change that would require the US to become like Denmark is completely implausible and totally overlooks the specific needs of the US (and of Denmark). Trying to turn the US into Denmark would totally upturn the US.

Sanders is not looking at the US, seeing what the problems in that country are, and trying to propose practical solutions that could actually work. He's ideological - he has a certain idea of how society should be run and believes that should be imposed on all societies everywhere.

The same goes for AOC, and that's the problem with her, the "squad", Sanders and all of them. They have a certain idea of how society should be and anyone who doesn't agree with them is bad - even if it's their own party. In fact, they reserve special venom for their own party.

They're not interested in social debate, contributing to developing ideas and proposals, listening to other views. All they want is to impose what they believe.

Sanders bears no resemblance to the mainstream in Europe. Even in Europe - where there is a broad and deep consensus on the general economic, social and welfare model and the same principles and basic laws are followed in the EU - countries are very different from each other, according to their own history, traditions, economic makeup, even population, etc. Greece, for example, isn't suddenly going to become Denmark just by trying to copy Denmark.

Millennials have too much time on their hands. I wish they'd all have 4 kids and stop worrying about the White House.

[quote] Sanders bears no resemblance to the mainstream in Europe. Even in Europe - where there is a broad and deep consensus on the general economic, social and welfare model and the same principles and basic laws are followed in the EU - countries are very different from each other, according to their own history, traditions, economic makeup, even population, etc. Greece, for example, isn't suddenly going to become Denmark just by trying to copy Denmark.

Of course the countries are all different.

That’s not the point.

The point is this: if the USA continually flaunts itself as “we’re the best”, yet it DOES NOT provide decent services for its citizens, something is SERIOUSLY wrong.

Pointing this out and acknowledging that other countries have managed to do it is key.

Not EVERYONE in the US is stupefied into thinking that FreeDumb = Corporate Socialism.

Thank God.

[quote] If only these constantly whining "Social Democrats" like Ralph Nader and Bernie Sanders had learned to work with others and not DEMANDED to be the first name on the masthead, guess who NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN PRESIDENT?

This is misplaced.

I recall a certain candidate who believed it was “her turn” to win the presidency.

She did not campaign in certain states, yet gave business speeches for hundreds of thousands of $$$$$ and expected to have the position.

She obviously did not. And she, like many others (including yourself, R278), continues to blame everything and everyone else for her failure to secure the presidency:

e-mails

the director of the fbi

“other candidates”

misogyny

etc.....etc...

....rather than acknowledging she lost to one of the most pathological, ill-equipped, and stupid presidential candidates in the history of the country.

Speaking of which, the aforementioned candidate resembles the current occupant of the Oval Office in the inability to acknowledge their failures AND in a stunning lack of awareness.

We interrupt this latest Bernie Sanders mud slinging fest to bring this important message.....

Matt Karp posts a new picture on Twitter... Those arms though!

Ok we resume your normally scheduled program already in progress...

But that's not what Sanders is saying, r285. Sanders is in fact setting up one model as "the best" that should be applied to all - the Scandinavian (or, rather, his misrepresentation of it).

The point is that he and AOC are not looking around and seeing how other countries do things and suggesting that the US could maybe learn a thing or two. They're both saying "this is how I think things should be and if you don't agree you're bad". Nothing either Sanders or AOC say would improve things for American citizens - their narrow, ideological thinking would only make things worse.

AOC knows what's what.

It's curious how so many ignore nuances in political landscapes. Trump got more minority voters than he did last time. In recent surveys, including I believe one done by the NY TIMES, minorities across the board agreed in large numbers with whites on restricting immigration, which they believed brought in too much competition for jobs and forced down wages.

These groups are not monolithic. They believe the "progressives" are "soft" on borders and immigration, soft on defence, and soft on crime. The fastest growing bloc of new immigrants in America are Asians, not Latinos, and the former are becoming angrier and more vocal with time about what they perceive as a willingness to shaft them because they're "successful". And many of them are extremely conservative.

The fact is, from where it looks outside, identity politics have been destructive both here and in Britain.

And as far as the numbers go, by 2045 whites will still be the largest single bloc of voters even if under 50% (and no one actually knows that yet if immigration is restricted), whilst the remaining 50% will be split up amongst groups who aren't necessarily fond of each other. Asians aren't fighting whites in those affirmative action lawsuits, but blacks and Hispanics.

The black population of America is under 15%, and according to Pew Research Centre, will either remain static or decline thanks to the intermarriage that progressives are so fond of promoting.

So talking about "brown" America should take into account other factors. Whites aren't going anywhere, and even if those numbers hold up by mid-century, are likely still to be wielding enormous political power as a bloc.

It's never

^*It's never all that cut and dried (last bit should have read).

She's like Trump, all mouth-no action. Trump gets his supporters riled, and that's where the danger is. Fortunately, AOC has little power other than the camera man she demands take her photo. Only a teeny tiny percentage of the population outside her district support her in any fashion. Obviously a lot of the bashing she gets are conservatives, but there are many moderate conservatives who despise her as well. Unless she tones her extremist language down (and actually learns to speak English like an educated human being), she will be nothing more than a big bag of socialist wind which will leave some damage in its wake but not really impact anybody other than her and her supporters in a negative way.

Fortunately, she is so arrogant that it is only a matter of time before she exposes herself as a foreign asset.

Fortunately R293 The smart ones like you and I (R292) have already figured out her m.o. and others like us will continue to expose her for the fraud she is. She's like the high school cheerleader who never advanced from J.V. up to Varsity. and ends up with the Freshmen and Sophomores when she's really a Senior.

I seriously wish someone would hire a private investigator to dig into her past and talk to all the other bartenders she pissed off. And why don’t the TRAs attack her as a hypocrite and bigot since she’s not dating a trans “man”?

R287: Remember when NBC lied about her at the convention? And every bot, troll, and the actual racists on this site came here to call her a Russian whore for it? Based on the stupidity of people who do not understand on conventions work? I do. So does Pepperidge Farm.

Isn't also interesting how every thread about her sees WW votes in the double digits on all the anti posts, instantaneously, just like the anti-trans bigot posts on here. Almost like there is a total trolling operation dedicated to transphobia, racism, and misogyny, and too many of you miserable people on here fall for it.

I don't have no problem with the new left advocating for green energy, universal health care, low cost university fees and other social services that most EU countries indeed do have and I certainly do think the US should adopt those.

But I do have a problem with the unrealistic approach and with how they are trying to push their agenda and how they want to implement them. There's something incredibly disingenuous about the new left, as if their real agenda is not all those things they want but rather make those goals as extreme and unrealistic as possible so they can keep blaming Dems for not getting it done.

And there of course is their connection to dirty Russian oligarch money. What does a Greens leader do at the table of Putin and his oligarchs when Russia's economy is 85% fossil fuels?

Why does Bernie keep talking about social justice but keeps mum about the Russian money boosting both of his presidential campaigns when Russia is one of the most unequal countries in terms of haves and have nots?

[quote] I don't have no problem with the new left advocating for green energy, universal health care, low cost university fees and other social services that most EU countries indeed do have and I certainly do think the US should adopt those.

Seems there are many of us that agree on this.

[quote] I'm not denying that there is something very wrong with the US, [R267].

Bingo.

[quote] It was Hillary, not Bernie who fought for universal health care in the early 90s, remember, and it was Obama/Biden who got the ACA after all. Democrats implement good social programs if they have the power to do so. So it would be good for lefties to stop working against Dems, but instead help them.

Not good enough: the policies or the excuses. The USA remains woefully behind..... while the Clintons, Shumers, Feinsteins, Pelosis and Obamas of the world continue to make bank. Serious $$$$$$$.

That’s not to say they haven’t implemented some watered-down policies. But compared to most Western Democracies, few and far between.

Don’t you find it interesting that these individuals are for the most part multi-millionaires following their public service roles?

It has been said that the US populace was clamouring for change when Trump was voted in. If the Democrats had listened and been attentive to the country, they could have produced a VIABLE candidate who did NOT continually schmooze with businesses and foundation slush funds.

Authentic people who espouse left wing political beliefs should not be bashed for the ideals; especially when those beliefs have translated into applicable, beneficial results abroad. Not unreasonable.

And why can’t neocons and - by global standards right wing - (or so-called centrist) Dems work with progressives in this country?

Because history has shown after each recent election (saving that of the Trump admin); Meet The New Boss, Same as The Old Boss with SLIGHTLY less regressive policies.

The USA needs to do better. It failed miserably in 2016. And has regressed considerably since.

[quote] Dems who voted to confirm at least 1 Trump judge this week:

[quote] Brown: 1/2 [quote] Carper: 2/2 [quote] Coons: 2/2 [quote]Cortez Masto: 2/2 [quote] Feinstein: 2/2 [quote] Hassan: 2/2 [quote] Jones: 2/2 [quote] Kaine: 2/2 [quote] Leahy: 2/2 [quote] Manchin: 2/2 [quote] Murphy: 2/2 [quote] Peters: 1/2 [quote] Reed: 1/2 [quote] Rosen: 1/2 [quote] Shaheen: 1/2 [quote] Warner: 2/2 [quote] Whitehouse: 1/2

Once again, for those in the back, many Dems are right wing (in global terms).

^^^^

[quote] With Dems like these who needs Republicans?

The idiot @ R298 forgets to mention that it was Berners voting for Trump that swung PA, WI and MI in 2016. That it was not oñly Trump who received Russian help, but also Bernie and Stein; with the specific goal to damage Hillary.

That it is again the annoying, disrupting and notoriously uncooperative new left who are making it hard for democrats doing their jobs, getting reelected.

That it was Bernie who refused to concede, twice!

I've said it again and again. The new left is a GOP and dirty Russian oligarch money sponsored Trojan Horse planted inside the democratic party.

Just like what happened in the UK. Extremists hijacked and destroyed the Labor Party to help the far right win.

[quote] The idiot @ [R298] forgets to mention that it was Berners voting for Trump that swung PA, WI and MI in 2016. That it was not oñly Trump who received Russian help, but also Bernie and Stein; with the specific goal to damage Hillary

First of all, the ad hominems are beneath you, R301. If you fail to present a cogent argument for your suppositions, that is quite telling.

Secondly, no one “takes away” something unless it is assumed that the someone already should or does have something.

The presidential election was not Hilliary’s divine right regardless of your beliefs.

If she were a FANTASTIC candidate, Bernie would not have “taken away” ANYTHING.

As noted above the US seemed weary of reworn platitudes and BUSINESS as usual. As inflation increased and the middle class dwindled whilst long-standing politicians swanned around in circumstances befitting of royalty, well, the population was NOT all that enthused.

Obviously.....as Clinton failed to secure the EC despite popping champagne.

So disabuse yourself of the notion that Bernie or Nader or Santa or anyone else “took away” Hill’s position.

It was never hers to begin with. And she could have done things much differently. At the end of the day, the FAILURE to secure the presidency over a bumbling idiot is on HER and her alone. Full. Stop.

The populace spoke. Just as they did for Joe Biden. And no amount of blaming, shaming or denial by Trump will change this fact either.

R301, thank you. I co-sign all of that.

[quote] That it is again the annoying, disrupting and notoriously uncooperative new left who are making it hard for democrats doing their jobs, getting reelected.

Seems like the Dems are doing a pretty good job of shooting themselves in the foot without any assistance from actual progressives.

Did you not see the list of all the Dems who just now voted for Trump’s recent judges?

Are they Dems? Or are they Repubs?

Beginning to become difficult to tell them apart.

[quote]If she were a FANTASTIC candidate, Bernie would not have “taken away” ANYTHING.

Sure Hillary could have convinced Berners voting for Trump in MI, WI and PA that it would be a disaster for democracy, human rights, economy, if only they had listened!

Maybe Bernie should have told his Russian oligarch friends, they shouldn't have hacked into the voting systems in those 50 states. That would have helped too.

So funny, the followers on the left and right, of the candidates who received Russian backing, twice, stubbornly keep denying it happened.

Come back to me when progressives start flipping seats, R304!

[quote]Did you not see the list of all the Dems who just now voted for Trump’s recent judges?

Heresy vs Fact

Bernie voted in favor of 42% of Trump's judges!

[quote] Maybe Bernie should have told his Russian oligarch friends, they shouldn't have hacked into the voting systems in those 50 states

References? Evidence?

May have happened. May not.

Just as with the most recent election. There is a possibility that ttttthhhhheeee RRRRUUSSSSSIIAANNSS were involved.

The bottom line is this : Hillary Clinton LOST an election that was a huge embarrassment. And degradation for the trajectory of the US.

But Biden managed to win.

Life goes on and your continual blame and shame of others of what YOU BELIEVE (just as DJT), serves no one.

GET OVER it and stop blaming Bernie, Nader, Santa, everyone else and acknowledge that the responsibility for Clinton’s loss should be acknowledged as a failure: on the part of the Dems and the person who ran and LOST.

You’re beginning to sound like one of those conspiracy theory nuts, R305.

How about You stop blaming Hillary and democrats for mistakes the new left makes!

[quote] How about You stop blaming Hillary and democrats for mistakes the new left makes!

Am not.

Bernie lost. His deal.

Hilliary lost. Her deal.

Biden won. His success.

Also it’s not “the new left”, R309. It is simply the left.....while the Dems are now more right wing.

The USA has shifted to the right as a study of history, economics and global affairs will reveal.

[quote]Am not. Bernie lost. His deal.

Bernie refused to concede, twice! He's already planning to primary Biden in 2024.

Who's the sour loser here?

[quote]I recall a certain candidate who believed it was “her turn” to win the presidency.

EVERY candidate who runs for any elective office feels it is their "turn". What a dopey, misogynistic comment.

Just wish Democrats would remember their old left roots in FDR and LBJ.

[quote] EVERY candidate who runs for any elective office feels it is their "turn". What a dopey, misogynistic comment.

Disagree.

Completely.

It was widely reported that one of the reasons Clinton failed to do due diligence was that she was “assured” the presidency.

The position is not something that is bestowed upon someone because of their name or position.

It is earned.

And Clinton clearly did not earn it.

Also look to Biden’s chief of staff. Ron had a fallout with Biden over Clinton, as Biden toyed with the idea of running in 2012. Ron supported Hillary when he had been an advisor to Biden.

Biden and Ron have obviously since reconciled.

And the misogyny claim doesn’t work here. It’s weak and demeans fellow female professionals when they face GENUINE misogyny.

Get a clue.

Amazing twitter thread that shows AOC is the most unproductive freshman of the house democrats. Absolutely NONE of her bills got out of committee. Every other member of the NY House delegation had at least one bill that got out of committee. She's a loser.

Its funny how hard R314 is trying to hide his raging misogyny and how obviously he's failing!

Anyone who supports AOC is, at the very least, tacitly supporting misogyny, in the same way that all of Trump’s supporters are, if not racists, themselves, absolutely fine with racism.

AOC supports gender self-ID, which denies biological reality, endangers women and undermines all sex-based law that protects women and gay people. She support Mermaids, an organization that performs medicalized gay conversion therapy on children, leaving them sterile, incapable of sexual pleasure and with a host of diseases that lead to early death; in other words, she supports gay genocide.

She’s also an ideological totalitarian whose aspirations and tactics run consistently in conflict with the Constitution. And she is the protégée of a Putin-backed spoiler candidate whose own rhetoric and behavior resulted in Donald Trump being elected.

So, really, anyone who likes what she’s about can go fuck themselves.

What people like r298 forget is that the left like AOC and Sanders have not shown any signs of competence or ability to implement credible policies. They are like the ideological left the world over - lots of sloganeering about social justice, complete ineptness that drags everyone down rather than lifts anyone up whenever they get into power.

Poor Joe Biden, he will have Mitch on one side and AOC and her cohorts on the other side promising nothing moderate will get done for the people of America. Very sad indeed.

false both siderism, 319. Mitch will actually stop things, based purely on spite and a slavish devotion to the wealthy. AOC will not stop anything. I like her, I like the squad, I prefer progressives to moderates. But the reality is it's the moderates who control things in the House. The Squad can make noise, but the truth is the moderates under Nancy Pelosi will pass decent bills that don't meet every progressive ideal, but still are decent. Those bills will die in the Senate because it is a collection of whores and grifters for the wealthy, not because progressives stop them.

Or maybe Joe has the magic formula to deal with the Senate. He's got a lot of experience so I'm a tiny bit hopeful, but not confident.

ugh, that should have been r319

[quote]What people like [R298] forget is that the left like AOC and Sanders have not shown any signs of competence or ability to implement credible policies.

You forgot Elizabeth Warren who HAS been able to do that. Although she's not as left as either of them she is still very left.

[quote]The Squad can make noise, but the truth is the moderates under Nancy Pelosi will pass decent bills that don't meet every progressive ideal, but still are decent.

The Squad making noise alongside Sanders and Warren is the EXACT reason why Joe Biden shifted further left than he ever has been. The Democratic Senate, The Democratic House, Joe Biden, etc. don't completely ignore the concerns of their far left members. They know many of their proposed ideas are popular. They just always seem to take their time actually implementing those ideas or they do half measures.

AOC wants The Green New Deal. Biden knows that "something" like that needs to be done. He said he likes the framework so he came up with his own plan when he was running. That would have never happened if the left wasn't pushing it.

Decriminalizing Marijuana while expunging all previous convictions? That was the "far" left's idea and now that's what they're planning on doing because they made noise about it because the public was making noise about it.

[quote]The Squad making noise alongside Sanders and Warren is the EXACT reason why Joe Biden shifted further left than he ever has been.

Oh please, Joe Biden was a climate change pioneer before AlwayOnCamera was born.

[quote]The Squad making noise alongside Sanders and Warren is the EXACT reason why Joe Biden shifted further left than he ever has been.

Oh please, Joe Biden was a climate change pioneer before AlwayOnCamera was born.

[Quote] The Squad making noise alongside Sanders and Warren is the EXACT reason why Joe Biden shifted further left than he ever has been.

This is a good thing. How many will vote along the lines of AOC would you say?

Zero

AOC could turn to Accidentally Over Cliff if she doesn't start to think outside the box of her own constituents and her extremist views.

[Quote] Zero

It's 112.

AOC is pretty and smart, but she is very angry at her core. Too bad she may need therapy.

Anyone halfway intelligent will be angry. She's very eloquent and sharp. The way she handled Mark Zuckerberg, no other Dem could do that.

I read a comment where someone referred to AOC as ‘Always On Camera’ and now I can’t unsee it.

Apparently it worked.

GOOD.

I'm not sure why he has to work with him at all.

Wow, she is that powerful now?

No, she is not.

Rahm was despised by the liberal base before AOC hit the third grade.

Good news.

Rahm Emanuel ‘frozen out’ of Biden administration for being ‘too toxic for the Cabinet’.

Who's been proposing him in the first place? DNC cronies? Obama?