A house divided against itself cannot stand — Mark 3:25
I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat. — Will Rogers
Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people. —
Oscar Wilde
The modern iteration of Democrats tearing the party asunder has its roots in the 2016 election. That’s when it became apparent to me, on a micro level that we were becoming more of a party of individualists then standing as a group for the common good.
Within family, and friends, and here at Daily Kos, my pensive calls for party unity in supporting Hillary were met with vituperation, contempt, and disdain. I was called naive, uninformed, and OMG, a conservative.
Then it happened, my worst fears came to fruition, 9,435,735 Obama supporters, didn’t vote!
The rest, is how they say, history. The environment is declining at an accelerated rate, the income gap has grown, and the Supreme Court is one conservative seat from overturning Roe v Wade.
Today’s news stories are an indication that the chasm within the Democratic Part is widening:
Angry Nancy Pelosi Slams Young House Progressives As Tiny Squad With No Support.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has issued a surprisingly scathing attack on the gutsy crew of progressive freshmen women in the House of Representatives, dismissing them as a tiny squad who have a “public whatever,” but no backing in Congress.
I like AOC and the others mentioned in the story. But do they realize that the media, who love confrontation, are using them to sell papers and bytes and bits, to their own end, and gain.
Meanwhile, these stories of consternation within our party are sucking up the media oxygen, and are red meat to voracious Republicans. Everyone needs a “bete noire” to attack and with these stories Fox News is having a field day.
In the mean time, while the Pelosi, progressive freshmen squabble is playing out in public, Trumps approval just hit a new high of 44%. While that approval rating shouldn’t be enough to assure Trump’s reelection, the contention and distractions within the Democratic ranks could very well give him a win in 2020.
The stakes for 2020 couldn’t be higher when the American people have to decide are we going to live in a Democracy or will we cede control of our government to proto-fascist, authoritarian, crooks, and thieves.
Please contemplate that the first thing that totalitarian governments do is take away your rights as an individual.
And, here’s hoping that here, at Daily Kos, we can be civil to each other, respect differing options and in the end, get behind the candidate of our party whomever she or he may be.
There was a top 20 hit of the seventies by the Brotherhood of Man, that encapsulates my point of view:
For united we stand
Divided we fall
And if our backs should ever be against the wall
We'll be together, together, you and I
For united we stand....
Let’s all work together to recover what we have lost and truly make America the shining star, and beacon of hope, it was, and can be again...