I have actively tried to keep this blog away from political posts for the last several months, but today I want to talk about something political. Something that I think does need to be discussed.
While it is in the news everyday that there are major party problems on the right with Republicans, it seems to me the left is facing a similar (smaller-scale) crisis. The problem that we’re facing is the what the party is in the eyes of everyday people supporting it, and those of power within it. It’s two different perceptions that are causing a rift.
Milo Yiannopolous last week in an interview, talked about how Kevin Spacey’s “coming out” amidst allegations of being a sexual predator, and he said that Spacey used his homosexuality to become “untouchable” and part of a “victim class,” which liberals will not attack. I think Milo is right (I should note that I’m aware he’s made some really controversial statements in the past and carries with him a whole bunch of specific connotation, but still I think on this he’s right). I don’t think that liberals seem to have fallen for the bait, but clearly that’s what Spacey was hoping to do.
Last month, when all of the Harvey Weinstein news was breaking, there were reports that Weinstein explained that he was going to use his money to go after the NRA, in a sort of ploy to not face the consequences with the liberals holding much of his ‘fate’ in their hands. Again, fortunately, it seems as if they didn’t take his bait.
After those two incidents, comes the Donna Brazile story, about how the Hilary Clinton campaign overstepped what she considers the ethical bounds when it comes to the DNC, and how they were basically allowed to take over the party early in exchange for financial solvency. I think some of Brazile’s story seems logical and honest, although I am suspicious of her own complacency at the time, and whether or not coming out with this now is a way of distancing herself.
So the DNC didn’t operate as they were supposed to based on their own guidelines and rules (technically if they so chose they could have changed the rules to nominate anyone they wanted, but in doing so risk alienating the base). The DNC went along in order to ensure financial stability, and many of the American people went along because they wanted to defeat “the boogie man.” Hilary, and the party thought they knew what was best for us, and decided that she was the anointed one sent down from on high to defeat Donald Trump, and well, we know how that ended.
The problem was, they assumed they’d know how we thought, and even worse, they tried to make us think that way when many of us told them we didn’t. The Democratic party in many ways this past election cycle neglected democracy, and unfortunately lost itself in the process.
You may think that this is justified that “well Trump is the boogie man,” but perhaps you should consider that when thinking about people who didn’t Trump but voted to keep Clinton out of office. This was a tale of two “boogie people” and while each side thinks the other is obviously worse, we need to stop judging each other on these ideas, and start realizing that ultimately we’re the ones who suffer.
I know that to some extent, Spacey and Weinstein seem far removed from Clinton and the DNC, but the cause is the same. These people did what they wanted, gave some feeble attempt at manipulating us into accepting those actions, and ended up losing what they saw as preordained. Will this slap in the face teach anyone in power any real lesson so they become better? I’m personally not sure it will.
By the time Hillary was the obvious Democratic nominee for President, Trump wasn’t a serious contender for the Republican nomination. Two years ago, I don’t think she was “sent down on high”, I think it was more like “Well, Hillary I guess… I mean who else is there?” I’m frustrated by some of the news that’s been coming out over the last few weeks about Hillary’s campaign because all it does is muddy the waters in the investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia and campaign fraud. She didn’t win the election. You are absolutely right that (if I’m understanding you corrrectly) the Democrats don’t have a real candidate to lead the party and they don’t seem to have a platform beyond attacking Trump. They need to figure out who and what they are if they ever hope to regain control of D.C. in the near future. But make no mistake, Trump is a monumentally dangerous narcissist who is completely unfit for the Presidency. I don’t understand how someone who gets their info from legitimate news outlets can be talking about Hillary Clinton right now (I’m not talking about you, Mike. Just people in general.) . Trump ignores climate change, racial issues, and the realistic economic needs of most of the country, unless its an excuse to talk about how great he is and how its unfair he doesn’t get enough credit for his dysfunctional, destructive policies. Not to mention he’s brought us closer to nuclear war than we have been since the Cuban Missle Crisis. There can be no comparison between the mistakes of Hillary and the time bomb that is Trump. When talking about abuse of power Trump and his people are the masters of it. The only way we will be able to move in any kind of positive direction as a country is if he’s impeached from office. I just think it’s important to focus on the real problem.
I agree with you on a lot of these points, but the reason why I wanted to write about Hilary, and why I think we need to talk about this stuff under tough scrutiny is that I think there is a lot of partisan scrutiny (on both sides) and no one wants to own up to their side screwing up.
Honestly, I think our side’s inability to be tough on the real problems on our side is largely what gave rise to Donald Trump. People in the middle think we overlook the things on our side and ultimately went to Trump who love him or hate him attacks anyone regardless of side. In that way, Trump doesn’t seem beholden to a system or a party, because he’s at much at odds with his own party as he is with the left. So when Trump does something right, (or any Republican does) it’s really important that we give credit, and when the left screws up whether through corruption or incompetence it’s equally important that we own up to it.