I think that this is probably the biggest piece of wishful thinking that I’ve read today:
“The Democratic Party’s message is not being heard from us. It’s being heard from others,” Kamala Harris, the attorney general of California who’s widely viewed as a rising star in the party, told me. She and many other Democrats point to the success of minimum-wage ballot initiatives in several states as proof that the same voters who chose Republican representatives actually wanted Democratic policies.
I don’t think that’s true at all. Quite to the contrary I think that actions speak louder than words. I look forward to Ms. Harris’s explanations for how bailng out the big banks, that none of the heads of the big banks have been brought up on criminal charges (despite a law tailor-made for the purpose), sweetheart deals to Democratic fundraisers and bundlers paid out under the auspices of the ARRA, raising payroll taxes, and just about everything else done under the present administration demonstrate that they’re populists who are champions of the little guy. I’ve always enjoyed fantasy.
So, not this Kamala Harris, but this one.
Oh, she’s almost perfect. Her mom is a cancer specialist from Chennai, India, and her father is an economics professor at Stanford of black Jamaican descent. So she’s listed as African-Asian-American. And she’s married to the partner-in-charge of some muckity-muck law firm’s LA office. She’s a real person of the people, not some “feckless corporate stooge”. Or at least that’s the way it’ll be pitched during the campaigns, that she’s for the little people that she maybe had to rub elbows with briefly at college. And no one will notice anything because of her melanin content. Beautiful stuff!
If only she were a lesbian she’d be acclaimed President without having to work as hard as Barry O did.
Also, it’s a real hoot to hear from billionaires who made their fortunes not through innovations but through financial gambling tell the rest of us of the horrors of inequality.
Do these folks realize how fucking condescending they sound?
-and-
They, them, easily confused, trouble discerning, etc. Pure condescension.
There are true believers, especially among the staffers. But I find the current leaders to be meddling, egomaniacal jerks of the landed gentry variety (Kennedy types) or (pseudo) intellectual variety (Gruberites). The rest are just garden variety rent seekers.
Be thankful you mere tradesmen and peasants for the freedoms and the fruits of your labor we allow you to keep as we fund and conduct any and all affairs of government we deem appropriate…………..for your benefit, mind you.
This is a “normal” partisan op-ed, one of many I’ve read over the years. The primary cognitive failing of partisans is the inherent belief that one’s policy preferences are never the problem – the problem is according to partisan true believers, one of four things: A bad candidate, bad messaging, the evil deceptions of the other side (or more money spent by the other side), and the ignorant public.
The GoP suffers from the same self-delusions when they lose. I remember reading Republicans who claimed that McCain and Romney lost because they just weren’t Republican/Conservative enough. Partisans can’t seem to acknowledge, much less comprehend, that the two party platforms are often incoherent and work at cross-purposes. Just see the OTB comment section.