I can't argue with that, but suspect some may try to.

Yes, it is too much to ask, at least of the current leadership.

We must force it on the inhumane class by electing Bernie and becoming part of the revolution.

My morning's affirmation.

Unless you can show that Leftists "repeat any right wing smear" as their criticism...which you can't do, because we're criticizing the Party from the Left.

Please, try harder.

entirely surprising. Posts from some here show clearly that decades of conservative attempts to develop a passive, disengaged electorate have degraded attitudes and warped perspectives across the spectrum. Now, people who need to be committed to building and repairing are instead turning on government institutions and would-be leaders in anger and frustration, rejecting all leaders they see as insiders regardless of their records and ideologies.

Thank goodness for Bernie - a special beacon able to inspire hope at just the right moment. A good dose of traditional progressive liberal ideology is just what we need to rebuild belief that a great future is possible, so if he's imagined by some to be an outsider battling an evil party, well...at least they're pulling our direction. Maybe he'll be able to continue to grow belief and enthusiasm over the next year.

n/t.

to copy from and inspire. Our grandparents who rebuilt and built America after the Gilded Age and the Great Depression didn't have that, but they did it anyway.

it's too much to ask

This turd way approach does nothing but hold back (barely)turining into a third world country

I protest and such when our party are wrong...and the comment is that we must "win" by doing things Republicans support...to protect us from Republican "wins" and policies...

Can anyone explain to me how that's supposed to work?

And would rather see it dragged along, even while people are dying because it's needed so badly.

I've got one thing to say to them. Change can only happen when we fight for it. It can happen slowly (if you are afraid to risk anything for it)...or it can happen more swiftly, if you are willing to risk anything for it.

I'm willing to risk everything. I'm sick of the way things are now.

They are just wider now and as such more noticeable which results in people being more vocal about them. There are endless ways in which people see it. For example I abhor the nanny state, I see it as anathema to liberal ideals yet when I express that opinion I am called a libertarian and at the same time, some that identify as liberal and or progressive think the government should control more of our individual and private lives. Some of us are beginning to feel like we are in a Twilight Zone, wondering what happened. I know my reply is not exactly what you are talking about but I just wanted to share my feelings.

We would lose nothing if we became the party they are calling for. The majority of the people WANT real change.

The party never gains from being against that. It should just listen and change.

If the party fights for the people, stands with us as we fight for ourselves from below, it will flourish.

We gain nothing as a party from getting corporate donations or supporting what Wall Street wants on economic and trade policy. And the cause of social justice(a cause all of us equally support)doesn't gain from that either. You can't change the world in a boardroom.

in al the arrogance of " justice and equality for the people."

he is a MERE man. for christ sake. !!!

That's what makes it distinct from every other campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination...the rest of which are just about electing somebody.

The Sanders campaign is trying to revive the idea of what the Obama campaign promised to create, then destroyed...a permanent movement to reshape this country.

Bernie is a mere man. HRC is a mere woman(and Bernie is her equal as a candidate). This isn't just about one person.

And what is so arrogant about "justice and equality for the people"?. it's just a statement of an ideal...like "social justice". And it represents what most people want, in their hearts of hearts.

Some of us don't place party loyalty above everything else.

Criticism from the left is NOT bashing.

We've had enough.

We don't have to settle for just that, though.

And our party doesn't have to be militarist on foreign policy(there will never be another war progressives can support with a clear conscience other than the defense of U.S. soil against external attack) and globalist on trade policy to be able to do that.

We don't have to limit our goals to "four more years of things not getting worse&quot as the Steve Earle song put it).

Let yourself have some hope for something more than that.

Stop acting like you're the only one with something to lose, seabeyond.

Everyone has a lot at stake in this election, that's why I'm voting for the candidate with the best civil rights record.

I'm sick of being thrown under the bus by dems who only care about my vote and not my issues.

Enough.

Time to stand up for ourselves instead of whining about it after the fact.

I get confused sometimes.

We should be a party accepting constructive criticism as a way to make us
better
stronger
more electable

USA should be a country that accepts some hints
you MAY be a little overly violent internationally -- simmer back..use soft diplomacy
you MAY be a little overly against taxes -- chill .. make sure the taxes help people and they'll accept them


it's not something that'll happen largely
it's not in the cultural gestalt ..anymore...or yet (it was....it may be again)

We aren't supposed to trust them or give them a pass because of their label.

Freedom for supporters of the government only, for members of one party only, no matter how big its membership may be is, no freedom at all. Freedom is always freedom for the man who thinks differently.

Rosa Luxemburg

Thanks for the thread, Ken Burch.

I think a good number of registered Democrats are, quite frankly, ignorant regarding what it means to be a leftist and what the leftist critique of modern Dems is all about. Ignorant of neoliberalism and how both major parties have shifted rather drastically to the right over the years. All they know is so-and-so is a "Democrat," therefore he/she is one of us (and against them). So, it doesn't matter that Bill Clinton's administration brought us a long list of atrocities (NAFTA, DOMA, a horrific crime bill, welfare reduction and so on). Because, by golly, he's a Democrat.

It works on the Republican side, as well. My dad was a big Eisenhower supporter and remains a staunch supporter of Republicans, never mind the fact that even today's mainstream Democrats (much less today's Republicans) are to the *right* of Eisenhower in many ways. So, logic would suggest my dad wouldn't support today's Republicans who are so different from Republicans of years past. But labels are supremely powerful. People will follow the label no matter where it goes.

once you get into "We SHOULD be a party" it sounds like you're dictating a bunch of litmus tests.

As long as we accept and elevate corporatist shills, that is what we will get.

It is high time we wake up to what they are doing to us, and put a stop to it. Fortunately, we have some better Dems in the party now, who are willing to run. Here's hopisng we turn the corner on the bad old days of Reaganism this time.