2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumBernie's repeated finger wagging last night reminded me of this I recently read in The Nation
by Suzanna Danuta Walters
At first glance, youd probably guess that I would proudly don a Feel the Bern T-shirt and make a generous donation to the democratic socialist firing up the Democratic Party. Born to leftists themselves born to leftists, I am what is known in some circles as a red-diaper baby.
My immigrant Jewish grandparents met in New York City, at a meeting of the Young Peoples Socialist League on the Lower East Side, and I grew up more familiar with the words to labor anthems than to those of The Star-Spangled Banner. My mother was an activist in the civil-rights movement who later engaged with feminism, antiwar activism, and the vast panoply of progressive issues that ebbed and flowed through our national politics over the past half-century.
In other words, I come by my democratic socialism organically and deeply. And truth be told, I am not immune to the gruff charms of Bernie, which are as familiar to me as the radical Passover seders that punctuated my childhood. His sharp critiques of wealth inequality and unfettered corporate control of the political process were articles of faith at my own familys dinner-table debates. And his Brooklyn cadence and pedantic self-righteousness remind me of everyone I knew growing up.
For those of us on the left, the pressure to join the Bernie Express is intense. Friends and colleagues, casual Facebook acquaintances and lifelong political allies alike, all throw up their hands in despair or sneer in disgust if you dont pledge allegiance to the candidate whose strength and broad appeal in the primary has been both surprising and energizing to progressives used to holding our noses and voting for the lesser of two evils. Never mind that I will gladly vote and work for Bernie if he is the nominee, and I applaud the way he has pushed Hillary to the left. For refusing to back Bernie in the primary, Im a dupe and a traitor; Im a tool of (take your pick) imperialist, war-mongering, militaristic, in-the-pocket-of-Wall-Street corporate hacks.
more...
http://www.thenation.com/article/why-this-socialist-feminist-is-for-hillary/
LexVegas
(6,094 posts)NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Funny!
LexVegas
(6,094 posts)workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)scscholar
(2,902 posts)Always thinking about food.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)WhaTHellsgoingonhere
(5,252 posts)It was one of those, "He's definitely not someone I want to have a beer with, I'm voting for Hillary" things. No poker face, there lol
I was put off by it, but that was team Hillary.
senz
(11,945 posts)For some of us, that matters 1000 times more.
stonecutter357
(12,697 posts)handmade34
(22,757 posts)Vinca
(50,303 posts)It all evens out.
flpoljunkie
(26,184 posts)Just saying.
pinebox
(5,761 posts)There.
flpoljunkie
(26,184 posts)I think not.
pinebox
(5,761 posts)nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)there I fixed it for you.
Listening to Dubya is like listening to chalk on the board.
And if HRC becomes president I will do with her speeches the same thing I did with Dubya at the end... READ THEM!
Anyhoo, it is getting to the point I prefer to read them, no matter how pleasant or unpleasant of a voice they have.
Vinca
(50,303 posts)Why does everything translate as sexist? Can't people just generically annoy?
liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)bother people? Geez. I am a woman and I am so damn tired of all the sexism accusations.
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)there is NO WAY I could enjoy my meal.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)Trump's and Cruz', for me, especially.
Clinton's too, though I hope that isn't influencing me.
FlatBaroque
(3,160 posts)flpoljunkie
(26,184 posts)sammythecat
(3,568 posts)I don't like Carly Fiorina but never gave her voice a second's thought. Some people have pleasing voices, some not. The first word out of Sarah Palin's mouth makes me cringe. Hillary's voice is fine when she's calm, when angry or excited, I all of a sudden start thinking of the sound of her voice. It can get irritating. I thought the very same thing twenty years ago when I was a big fan of hers.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)There are male voices that drive me nuts too. I can't listen to Trump (not just his stupid, offensive content, but his voice itself).
Sorry, but there are certain people who have accents, inflections, and cadences that are highly annoying to me, and Hillary is one of them. Specifically, the highly exaggerated upper Midwest "a" sounds as in "aaaapple." Ugh. It's just grating. There are certain Texas accents I despise, too, like Phil Gramm's. Gawd, that is a bad one.
Vinca
(50,303 posts)To make it worse she interjects "ah" between every third or fourth word. I've had to stop watching the debates and if she comes on I change the channel.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)Bernie's accent is certainly "different," too, for anyone not from Brooklyn, but it doesn't annoy me. If anything I find it sort of amusing. It reminds me of some cartoon character from my childhood, but I can't quite put a finger on which one.
Vinca
(50,303 posts)Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)Not the character himself. Wally Cox sounds nothing like Bernie. But I remember someone calling to Underdog with that heavy accent.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)A big long essay that distills down to I'm voting for her because she's a woman, wrapped up in a lot of but I swear, I wouldn't vote for Palin or Bachmann arguments.
so no, you're not
you're simply one of the voters who is voting for her because she's a woman, which is a different part of the Hillary coalition.
flpoljunkie
(26,184 posts)This is a very pragmatic reason for the author to support Hillary and not Bernie--the practical matter of his electability--while noting Hillary shares the leftist agenda for women and would be in a position to carry it out in the Oval Office as the first woman President.
She concludes...
Hillary as president will not usher in a profound realignment of US priorities and politics. No electable mainstream candidate will do thatsee Obamas legacy if you have any doubts. But she just might help us remember that feminist isnt an epithet; its a badge of honor.
http://www.thenation.com/article/why-this-socialist-feminist-is-for-hillary/
nichomachus
(12,754 posts)Sounds like Camp Hillary has filled the swimming pool with weak sauce.
I would much rather someone wag their finger than topple a democratically elected government or two -- but that's just me.
fleur-de-lisa
(14,628 posts)flpoljunkie
(26,184 posts)You might try reading it, if you have not.
frylock
(34,825 posts)The author is voting for Hillary because woman president.
olddots
(10,237 posts)bigwillq
(72,790 posts)farleftlib
(2,125 posts)SoLeftIAmRight
(4,883 posts)some people...
flpoljunkie
(26,184 posts)The Republicans are salivating at the prospect of running the ads which say Bernie wants to 'give people free stuff and raise your taxes to pay for it.'
Yes, they will--run these ads.
SoLeftIAmRight
(4,883 posts)...
flpoljunkie
(26,184 posts)Truprogressive85
(900 posts)Faux pas
(14,690 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)flpoljunkie
(26,184 posts)Petty, it is not.
frylock
(34,825 posts)Seen it.
mikehiggins
(5,614 posts)Heres why: I want a woman presidentand, no, not any woman president. Hillary is not, as her detractors would have it, Margaret Thatcher or Carly Fiorinaor Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachmann, or some other female candidate whose platform rests on antipathy to any feminist concerns. Like most in the Democratic Party, she is a centrist. In her political orientation, deep intelligence, and policy wonkishness, she is similar to Obamaand not as dissimilar to Bernie as one might imagine. Still, I support her less for her specific political positions (some of which I agree with, many of which I do notall of which are far superior to the racist/sexist/xenophobic sideshow that is the Republican primary field) than for the iconic value of electing the first woman president of the United States.
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I guess that's a legitimate position, though one I don't share.
I oppose HRC because of who she is and what she supports, not what she is.
The voters will decide.
BlueMTexpat
(15,373 posts)that she does not "feel the Bern" is instantly discredited or belittled by whatever means possible.
How is this treatment any different from that of RW GOPers?
flpoljunkie
(26,184 posts)senz
(11,945 posts)And our younger Bernie sisters are just trying to find boys.
That's what Hillary women tell us.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)and I have yet to say who I intend to vote for.
So thanks for the laugh.
BlueMTexpat
(15,373 posts)or dissed you! I have been an admirer. So please don't class me with anyone who does.
But when you look at the swarms of reaction against PP, NARAL, and nearly any woman of standing who has declared for Hillary Clinton, a reaction or two from an occasional HRC supporter is not even in the same ballpark.
It is truly frightening and does represent a tyranny from the left that is every bit as bad as the tyranny of the right.
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)and the fact that this makes me laugh.
And my experience is one that either makes you laugh (I do often) or cry.
And a tad of self reflection is in order for this board. In fact the same people who have done that, are still at it.
BlueMTexpat
(15,373 posts)liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)BlueMTexpat
(15,373 posts)but this comment brought me back.
I personally have never accused any woman who does not support Hillary of sexism, so pul-eeze stop with that crap.
What I have said is that sexism is a factor in why some (including women among the some) are loathe to support her, no matter how they characterize their reasons for non-support. That is simply not incorrect, whether the non-supporters themselves are self-aware enough to realize that or not.
Now I AM gone.
liberal_at_heart
(12,081 posts)jillan
(39,451 posts)teenager.
Beacool
(30,251 posts)Sanders would be almost jumping out of his skin, mumbling something, as his finger would wag faster than a windshield wiper. He reminded me of the cranky elderly guy at my church who disagrees about every proposal at council meetings. At first I found it annoying, after a while it was almost funny.