The young'uns cannot relate, and not a damn thing can make this relic cool again.

And you saw what happened to the Liberace Museum in 2010 . . .

I'm not sure the death of the Republican party by stampeding off the edge of the world is such a great thing in the long run.

There is something to be said for a clearly recognizable enemy. Let's face it, the powers that support the conservative economic agenda currently aren't going anywhere and they are utterly amoral, if they feel it is to their advantage to move on the Democratic party they will do so with no more compunction than they would droning a wedding party in Afghanistan.

we often disagree, but what you say there is hard to argue with.

"Radical" seems to be opposite of what is holding back the Republican Party.

rad·i·cal
ˈradikəl/
adjective
adjective: radical

1.
(esp. of change or action) relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough.
"a radical overhaul of the existing regulatory framework"
synonyms: thoroughgoing, thorough, complete, total, comprehensive, exhaustive, sweeping, far-reaching, wide-ranging, extensive, across the board, profound, major, stringent, rigorous More
"radical reform"
antonyms: superficial
forming an inherent or fundamental part of the nature of someone or something.
"the assumption of radical differences between the mental attributes of literate and nonliterate peoples"
synonyms: fundamental, basic, essential, quintessential; More
structural, deep-seated, intrinsic, organic, constitutive
"radical differences between the two theories"
antonyms: minor
(of surgery or medical treatment) thorough and intended to be completely curative.
characterized by departure from tradition; innovative or progressive.
"a radical approach to electoral reform"
2.
advocating or based on thorough or complete political or social reform; representing or supporting an extreme section of a political party.
"a radical American activist"
synonyms: revolutionary, progressive, reformist, revisionist, progressivist; More
extreme, extremist, fanatical, militant, diehard, hard-core
"a radical political movement"
antonyms: reactionary, moderate, conservative
3.
of or relating to the root of something, in particular.
Mathematics
of the root of a number or quantity.
denoting or relating to the roots of a word.
Music
belonging to the root of a chord.
Botany
of, or springing direct from, the root or stem base of a plant.
4.
informal
very good; excellent.
"Okay, then. Seven o'clock. Radical!"

noun
noun: radical; plural noun: radicals

1.
a person who advocates thorough or complete political or social reform; a member of a political party or part of a party pursuing such aims.
synonyms: revolutionary, progressive, reformer, revisionist; More
militant, zealot, extremist, fanatic, diehard;
informalultra
"the arrested man was a radical"
antonyms: reactionary, moderate, conservative
2.
Chemistry
a group of atoms behaving as a unit in a number of compounds.

re·ac·tion·ar·y
rēˈakSHəˌnerē/
adjective
adjective: reactionary

1.
(of a person or a set of views) opposing political or social liberalization or reform.
synonyms: right-wing, conservative, rightist, ultraconservative; More
traditionalist, conventional, old-fashioned, unprogressive;
informal redneck
"a reactionary policy"
antonyms: progressive

(esp. of change or action) relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough.
"a radical overhaul of the existing regulatory framework"

That fits them perfectly. These people want to undo everything remaining of the social safety net and the public school system that this country has benefited from for generations.

I am not understanding your comment.

For years, the "left" has been described by even fellow leftists in much the same way as the OP has described the Right. Perhaps this stems from leftist minority frustrations, some resentment by feminists, lack of cultural I.D. by younger activists; whatever the reason, I've heard the same thing for years about leftists.

BTW, I capitalize Right because it constitutes a powerful, effective, fairly cohesive force. I use "left" because its existence in terms of power, effectiveness and cohesion, is legitimately in question.

I don't think the GOPer Right even bothers with the political suasions of anyone outside of their family of rightists; beyond loud talk about them, they certainly aren't bothering with the "left."

I hope that's clear enough.

I appreciate your reply, but I am still not understanding.

You said:

For years, the "left" has been described by even fellow leftists in much the same way as the OP has described the Right.

As has been said to me and others over the last 20 years. Meaning, I suppose, the "left" has become stagnant, impotent (the horror!), irrelevent, not reflective of the world around us, exclusive, insensitive, whatever.

In Austin, the expression was expanded: "Liberal, straight, racist, white, males" was de rigeur before the age factor was thrown in to save on pithy wordiness. The users of these expressions were often other "leftists" who could lay claim to some sort of identity group status, no matter how tenuous; minority activists, some feminists, some young activists, a fair number of 3rd Way folks, and of course conservatives.

I think their beef was with race, age, programmatic change, and some syereotypes about what that all meant.

I don't know if the left is keeping the Democratic Party from changing or not. I doubt it. Of course the term "left" has been so dilluted as to mean little: LBJ would and is considered leftist by many (btw, in 1964 SDS endorsed him for prez). The Party has changed already to a centrist entity which continues to drift to the right since the Right continues to set policy, terms of debate, and can cow down most opposition; it is the most powerful political force out there.

The Democratic Party IS Fearful of some kind of really liberal resurgence which is why anyone left of center will face opposition first and foremost from Party operatives. Put another way, the left is on the outside of everything.

... starting with the white aging conservative radicals on the Supreme Court.

The word "radical" comes from the Latin radix -- "root". You gave a dictionary definition in post #5 above, and I suggest that you might find the one in the Merriam-Webster dictionary more helpful -- see numbers 2 and 3 there -- as it gives "fundamental" as a synonym.

Conservative means lying, myth-obsessed scumbag, in my book.





I no longer see "Conservatism" as a legitimate philosophy. It is bait for weak, or greedy, minds.

You think the conservatives today aren't "radical?" What's your definition of "radical?"

The Right didn't get to where they are with top-down strategies. It took decades of real work at the local level-up. That's how movements are made.

... one wants to start at the top, one wants to start at the bottom. I'll meet you in the middle. Let's work on both ends until we meet in the middle. We can get the job done twice as fast!

The democratic party is more than willing to shift to the right to fill any gaps.

for more proof, see Hilliary Clinton, the next president of the rich.