likely because of the odd belief that the perfect solution is somehow the enemy of good (or some such similar nonsense that I hear every time the best solutions are proposed).

There seems to be a strong fashion of ageism, sexism and racism considered proper and even encouraged here especially when combined and directed at "old white men". I try to take it with a grain of salt, but even at that modest dose, it is causing me difficulty with my high blood pressure.

No matter their age and race?

That would start a war with those that support free trade, drones, entitlement reform - pretty much all the policies that thirdway.org, Obama, Clinton and those that support them here on this board adhere to.

Unless this is to become a progressive only site such would not be advised, at least a third of the posters here are into Rubin and Summers for Goddess sake and support Democrats that freely admit their policies are not much different than 80's Republicans.

I think therefore we need the Republican qualifier rather than throwing out all the DLC folks or constantly insulting them.

Let's not quibble and parse words. Let all see what DU has become.

Sure! Why not? Go right ahead with that!

Thank you...

My old man was a young man and has always been white and has always been very progressive...
Nobody pulls anything over on him and he will not stand for bigotry or the stupid in his presence.
He is vocal...I like that about him.



Tikki

of my status as a member of a despised minority?

Get off my lawn!

The Republicans have an agenda which is very ego-race related. It's an agenda that also resonates with those Southern Democrats who are racist. It's naive to believe they don't exist. In fact, that's the danger of sticking it to the Republican party. They are just the ones who are open about it.

I can tell you from living in a community that has bi-lateral corruption, that your classification won't be enough. We are dealing with a very autocratic, conservative white male problem. In fact, maybe that's what you should call it. It's an autocratic, conservative white male. ACWM or CAWM.

In small towns, social networking IS government process. People from both sides of the aisle associate with each other through business organizations, such as the Chamber of Commerce. They find a lot of common ground in these private organizations, and many of these organizations have welcoming mats for elected officials. In small cozy, local areas, such as mine, corruption crosses party lines. There really is no oversight or regulatory service to stop them.

Its amazing truly....

Everyone who bought into the neolib neocon Thatcher/Reagan bullshit starting in the late 70's and continuing to this day is part of the problem. The ideological "mainstream" has failed, it has failed on many levels, and the generation in charge of that failure is the boomer generation, now officially "old", and the leaders of that generation are almost entirely old white men.

We have met the enemy and he is us.

Liberals. Not the same thing by a long shot. They have it in their heads that a Liberal is someone who uses the "public benefit" for the good of the community to promote large public works programs. That's the packaging. What they really want to do is ignore government process to make it easier for their buddies to get the road contracts and government money. Hell, it can get so crooked that elected officials own or represent property in the very special districts that they're discussing in city meetings. And when people start getting their rights denied, they'll blame it on Liberals, when true Liberals had nothing to do with it.

For instance, the "Progressive Policy Institute" (a neoliberal think tank) has a very misleading name, of course, that's Will Marshal for ya.

had the audacity to whine because he said he had been criticized for being an activist! They are very clever with the titles and tags, but in the end, it's just crooked.

That one has a set of something made of brass, the sad thing is that there will be many that buy the act.

How have so many become so gullible so quickly in this country? The marketing has been far too successful.

Short-term comfort will give way to long-term disaster.

The term hasn't been in widespread use since the 70's but it really does sum up that demographic accurrately in in fewest words IMO.

This place is seriously fucked, and I blame certain people for bringing it down to this level.

The baiting, divisionary tactics are intentional. Don't be fooled.

Yep.

nt

And the people trying to make it all about them as individuals, certainly don't help.

they respond with a but "i, me, my" thing.

"Old" is now considered middle aged, but "white and male" despite advances, still rules

And profound apologies to people who are offended by "old" It's not you.

Just because I remember Willie when he was young...

opposition by liberals to fracking, TPP, race to the bottom, for-profit health care, and school privatization are due to racism

My grandfather was a decent old white California gentleman, liberal and progressive in many ways. He had black, Asian, and gay friends and coworkers. He rarely classified anyone by race, religion, sex, or sexuality. He'd share meals with anyone. He probably would have voted Obama over Romney or McCain.

But he was not happy when I married, in his words, "a Mexican girl." Dating 'em okay, marriage no.

To his credit, he got over that.

His parent's generation were ashamed of their mixed Irish Catholic Heritage and retreated to America's Wild West claiming to be Presbyterians because the Irish got the crappy jobs, just one step above the Chinese. East coast imaginary WASP was the only "real" white, but Scots Irish Protestant white had higher status than Irish or European Catholic, or Scandinavian heretic.

I grew up in an Ivory soap white "Prosperity Christian" community. I escaped that hell. Most of my life I've lived in communities where white guys like me are a minority, but I still feel the white privilege sometimes, a surprising reflexive "No problem, sir" from older people, or a mildly amused and slightly sardonic "sir" from younger people trying to scope out if I'm old white California asshole. There are some old white California assholes left. They write amusing letters to the local newspapers, not realizing that most of the audience sees them as funny old fossils.

I have high school classmates who would consider themselves liberal or progressive but they've never lived outside the comfort zone of their white segregated world.

that the people who seem to want to discard them or lump them in with the people who "don't get it".

Even when I've been an asshole.

My earliest usenet posts, long long ago, were somewhat libertarian. I thought government should get out of the marriage business altogether in favor of civil unions for all. Get married later in a church if you like.

Now I say marriage, straight or not, is a civil right that ought to be recognized and celebrated by the entire community and fully defended by the legal system.

I escaped white Republican suburbia to become a public school science teacher in urban Los Angeles. Later my wife and I have lived in black Midwestern neighborhoods, Southwest Indian Reservations, and now I'm a white guy in a mostly very cosmopolitan "Mexican American" neighborhood.

My wife and kids are at home here, and I'm home too.

Nowadays when I visit anyplace where most everyone is white then it feels very strange. My childhood home is an alien world and I would never go back. My parents, me, and my siblings have all abandoned that place.

I have. Many times. Mostly lumped.

I drive a thirty year old salvage title car and I don't shave my face or wear a necktie.

Not your typical white guy.

marrying a black man and a black woman.

so while most of the republican party is fucked up nothing is 100 percent on both sides .

The New Testament has a few things to say about that.

I'm a heretic, I build upon my religious upbringing, I don't look for the loopholes.

Same as when I figure out my taxes.

I've seen more than a few examples of this, living in Contra Costa County. Most of the old conservative fogies seem to be from Danville or Antioch, or somewhere out that way.