Democratic (Party) Direction

Can you believe that our country was once very polarized? (Um yeah I live in Virginia.)

the Ojeda response vid to Beto is not bad, the guy still weirds me out but it should be fun to see him share a stage w/ the other candidates

But Ojeda ignored that the point about Beto’s video was interviewing the Mexican American dental hygienist, part of his series of talking to more people who live on the border. Just like you’re doing. Hmmm. That’s fucked up and bad dude.

The reactions to a still from the Beto vid and the “Gillibrabd called a couple bankers” CNBC story reaffirms that we’re going to going to gleefully embrace “Dean scream” shit in an amplified way. We. Are. Fucked.

Not saying this to be a dick bc it’s something I have to keep in mind too, but Twitter is a pretty poor proxy for America.

No I get that. That’s not being a dick. I think it’s interesting I hesistate to dismiss what it represent yet think its effect is likely overstated but no way to really gauge. I think it was Osita Nwanevu or somebody like that had a post recently about how when the regular non-extremely online Dem voters pay attention to the primary when it’s in full swing they are going to just really like all the new faces and the more progressive policies on display across the board. There might be truth to that.

New party, who dis? https://t.co/2cznisv8tB

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 11, 2019

mad she didn't get the Connecticut for Lieberman Party nomination obv

from Joe-mentum to Joe-demsplain

Agreed that reading the first 2/3 of the Perlstein trilogy during this particular historical shitstorm had a weirdly depressurizing effect (because, yes, the manifestation of the country's insanity hasn't varied significantly for at least the past half century) but I feel like I still need to properly brace myself before tackling Reagan.

that piece making the rounds where AOC's Dem colleagues whinge about her is hilarious

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/11/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-democrats-establisment-1093728

lol that is some pathetic tut-tutting

That article reads like middle managers who are mad new employees start work and make fun of them for printing out all their emails in hardcopy to file.

Imagine thinking "yeah, this is a great idea for an article and it'd be even greater for me to participate in this"

but her tweets

I mean it does suck when new people start work and show you up right away.

“I’m sure Ms. Cortez means well, but there’s almost an outstanding rule: Don’t attack your own people,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.). “Like what I'm doing right now? This thing where I'm publicly criticizing Ms. Cortez? We're totally not supposed to do that, ever.”

This Vox piece on everything wrong with Joe Biden is worth reading, just as a reminder of all the ways he's sucked over the last four decades. He really, really, really should not run - if he does, it will be a public pants-shitting like few we've seen before.

I say he should run so the Dem who gets the nomination has "Beat Frontrunner Biden" on their resume

To quote Alan Moore: “None of you understand. I'm not locked up in here with YOU. You're locked up in here with ME.” 🤣 https://t.co/8TCmKNJlkD

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 11, 2019

ugh Rorscach quotes

Seriously, congresspeople always citing the lamest Alan Moore passages

That quote is such a bad idea.

She should tweet “Pokémon Go to the polls” and see if anyone notices

I thought "New Party, Who Diss" was a lame clapback too

ITT we judge both the political acumen and the coolness of each and every AOC tweet.

well, yeah

well if tweets are aiming for coolness

Not sure what else there is to comment on. I guess I could just be reminding everyone how great Jayapal is every day.

I generally think it’s fine for politicians to be corny how some people are reacting is funny.

the politico piece is funny but also god what a window into how awful this broken machine is

I think they took an old article about Ted Cruz and swapped out some names

I guess I could just be reminding everyone how great Jayapal is every day.

― I have measured out my life in coffee shop loyalty cards (silby), Friday, January 11, 2019 10:42 AM (twenty-seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

She was interviewed on Pod Save America the other day. It was fairly short, but I'd never heard her speak before and came away pretty impressed.

How Twitter works: Beto didn’t “live stream his teeth-cleaning.” He’s been interviewing people in El Paso about life on the border. Including his dental assistant. It wasn’t live. There was a split second selfie shot of him with his mouth open that was screengrabbed by a reporter

— Peter Hamby (@PeterHamby) January 11, 2019

But who cares? Serious people re-tweeted it as a bizarre Black Mirror moment anyway. Was it a little weird? Yeah. Just another reminder for all candidates that reality in politics is created on Twitter with little regard for context.

— Peter Hamby (@PeterHamby) January 11, 2019

rip Beto

Oh boy: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/01/beto-orourke-vs-bernie-bros-progressives

Conflating about 6 different things here with a deliberately trolling headline

Oprah was an early Obama enthusiast

Oprah is set to sit down with O’Rourke on Feb. 5 in Times Square as part of a series of conversations with people who have shaken up entertainment, politics and culture.

The series, titled “Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations from Times Square,” will air on the media mogul’s TV channel, the Oprah Winfrey Network, and later on a podcast.

https://www.texastribune.org/2019/01/11/oprah-winfrey-interview-beto-orourke-new-york/

Ok, this is not really politics but driving me crazy. That dark line/indention on Beto's nose bridge, is that from a break or wearing glasses or from the sun?

is it the center of his nose? cause it's probly that amirite

Many of the disputes between today’s establishment and its radicals are merely continuations of where we were about 25 years ago. When Bill Clinton intervened in the war over Kosovo, in 1999, the establishment center supported him, while the outer bands of right and left opposed it. Similarly, trade agreements such as NAFTA in 1993 and GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) in 1994, passed on the strength of a broad center, while Democrats and Republicans on the edges voted no. On immigration, the center took a high-influx view while the disruptors took a more restrictive one. On business policy, the establishment center supported things like the Export-Import Bank of the United States, while the left and right radicals deplored it as a special interest or, as a candidate named Barack Obama would one day put it, corporate welfare.

Several factors reduced the urgency of these divisions for about a decade. One was blistering economic growth in the late 1990s. Another was a reasonably harmonious world. Then came 9/11, which reshuffled everything but also caused the right (with plucky exceptions such as Ron Paul and the founders of The American Conservative) to put aside internal disputes and, for the most part, fall in line behind George W. Bush. After the failures of Iraq and other Bush policies, though, the divisions roared back to life. If there was a crystallizing moment, it was when Wall Street as we knew it was about to collapse. In the eyes of the establishment, left and right, an unforeseeable real-estate crash had threatened the survival of the country’s vibrant financial sector and, with it, the wallets and neighborhood A.T.M.s of every American. In the eyes of the radicals, our financial sector was an out-of-control predator built on a rotten edifice that was finally about to crumble. Its collapse wasn’t the threat; it was the cure. For the first time in years, an immense policy question was breaking out not between parties but within them. Among both Democrats and Republicans, an establishment wing was supporting the bailouts, while the radical wing was opposing them.

This was Obama’s moment of truth, and it happened months before he was elected. Would presidential candidate Barack Obama side with the radicals? Much of his campaign rhetoric suggested he would. Or would he side with the establishment? Again, much of his campaign rhetoric suggested he would. We all know how he chose, and people will long debate whether it was right or wrong. Siding with the establishment certainly earned him plenty of defenders, and it was the safer choice. But it also came at great cost. Only one Wall Street executive ever went to prison for his part in the financial crisis. For millions of Americans, any residual trust in the competence and integrity of the ruling class was lost, and Obama had become part of the problem.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/01/why-democrats-are-turning-on-obamas-legacy

I saw that article getting tweeted

I don't disagree with most of it, but it's like, I read this in 2016 and 2012 and 2010.

“Obama was bad” is probably not gonna succeed in the primary

I don't think "Obama was bad" is the point so much as sorting out whether "let's turn the clock back to before the Obviously Bad Man" is a winning strategy or not

Yeah fair enough. There was a hunger for a post Obama figure that Warren and Bernie have spoken to an extent and they seldom get seen as (and themselves don’t frame their messages in terms of) rebuking his presidency.

The alternative to "Let's Turn Back the Clock" would be "We Desperately Need to Move Forward in a New Direction". My money would be on the latter.

bump 4 killfiled fule

.@AOC is the difference between *leadership* and holding office.

Other politicians poll test and operate on consensus. She changes poll results. https://t.co/vHBQ4h4xfw

— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) January 15, 2019

Bit of news: Democrats want some of Twitter power ⁦@AOC⁩ has. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and ⁦@jahimes⁩ will give Democrats a Twitter briefing tomorrow. https://t.co/CNsZVlQ7Te

— Eliza Collins (@elizacollins1) January 16, 2019

AIDE: [angrily tossing flashcards aside] No -- that frog sips tea. This frog rides a unicycle. For fuck's sake
HILLARY: Sorry. Sorry. I know

— Brooks Otterlake (@i_zzzzzz) May 20, 2016