***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[plansb]

**** roy moore, time to go back to whatever ****ing whole you crawled out of

 

[hand2handking]

I’m A Brown Woman Who’s Breaking Up With The Democratic Party
I realize now that the love has been one-sided.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/brown-women-democratic-party_us_5a31a32de4b07ff75b001456

Dear Democratic Party:

You were the love of my life. I fell in love early and hard. I have been the kind of party loyalist ― the kind of sappy, soapbox-y, clichéd devotee ― that makes Fox News moonwalk with glee.

The first vote I ever cast, at 18, was for Bill Clinton. The last vote I cast was for his wife, Hillary. My adoration for Hillary bordered on mania. In college, I named my ficus plant after her. Twenty years later, I canvassed, held fundraisers, dragged my 8-year-old daughter door to door, proudly wore HRC’s face on T-shirts and housed campaign volunteers in my home.

I loved you so much that I cried each time I voted. Thinking about the women who died fighting for my right to vote did it every time. I cried when I voted for Bill. For Barack Obama. I wept when I voted for Hillary. You’ve been that kind of mad love to me.

And now I want to break up.

I realize now that the love has been one-sided, unrequited. You’ve never recognized me, as a brown woman. You’ve taken my love, my money, my tokenism, with nary anything in return. You married the white woman and hooked up with me on the side.

Black Lives Matter is a second ― or third ― thought. Where is your outrage over the national epidemic of police brutality against black people? You continue to call angry white men who commit mass murder “lone wolves.” But if someone who looks like me screams “Allah” and fires a gun, it’s “terrorism.” And you wonder why angry white men are gunning down innocent brown men at bars, in their yards, on the street.

For all your talk about Dreamers, there’s been little action. You don’t seem to give a crap about kids of color who will be kicked out of this country, the only country they know. What if all those Dreamers were white? I suspect there’d be a very different outcome.

You spend a lot of time and energy wooing white voters, while giving short shrift to voters of colors and assuming we’ll always show up for you.

To be fair, there’s no reason for you to assume otherwise. We always show up for you. Take, for example, the special election in Alabama on Tuesday. Had black people not shown up, an accused child molester would be our newest senator.

What will Doug Jones do for the black folks who put him in the Senate? If history is any indication, very little.

The Women’s March on Washington in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration.

This past year, I held and attended numerous fundraisers for your candidates. I donated money every time I was asked. I marched: for women, for children, for reproductive rights, for science. I traveled across the country for the March for Women in Washington, D.C. It was there that I got the first hint that you weren’t that into me. The giveaway? The sea of white women in pink hats with brown and black women dotting the waves like debris. I let it slide but I kept my eyes and ears open.

My fellow brown and black sisters started to notice, too — and the chatter began, in whispered hushes at first, then loud and clear. You are a party of white feminists. Of white feminism, the kind of feminism that focuses on the struggles of white women. It was the first time I’d heard the term, most likely because self-awareness is hard and I was a brown woman trapped in a white feminist’s world.

But then I woke up. I saw you with clear eyes for the first time.

Your advocacy for reproductive rights zeros in on wealthy white women. Women of color and other marginalized women get sidelined. The gender pay gap is worse for black and Latina women than it is for white women. Women of color make up 64 percent of women in U.S. jails. Why isn’t the Democratic Party talking about this and trying to fix it?

My own “liberal” white congresswoman in Colorado has given me a hint as to why.

At the congresswoman’s town hall in February, Neeti Pawar, the brown female founder of the South Asian Bar Association of Colorado, was one of the only people of color in a room of nearly a thousand. She asked about immigration and DACA protections. The congresswoman scoffed. When Pawar pressed on, she was told to remain silent or she’d be asked to leave. During a follow-up, staffers told Pawar that civil rights weren’t the representative’s “issue.” Brown and black people don’t have the luxury of sidelining civil rights. It’s life and death for us.

And it didn’t stop there.

I was organizing a fundraiser for a U.S. senator earlier this month, and had planned to use the opportunity to highlight women of color by having black women introduce him. The congresswoman’s staff caught wind of the event and asked if she could introduce the senator. I explained my position but invited her to come as a guest. No response. When pressed on her stance on racial inclusion, her staff didn’t respond to me directly but tattled on me to the white women co-hosting the event.

I know there are some good ones among you. But for every Kamala Harris, Maxine Waters and Pramila Jayapal sticking their brown and black necks out for me, there are dozens of white female Democrats who want me to shut my trap, and say please and thank you. I should be grateful for scraps while white women enjoy a proper marriage with you.

I’m done with all that. And if you don’t want to lose more women like me, there are a few basic things you can do.

Pay attention to the reproductive health of women of color and other marginalized women. Do something, anything, to protect Dreamers. Or, if you’re really feeling bold, move forward on some form of reparations for black people.

Finally, mentor young people of color to run for office. Campaign for brown and black folks. Raise money for them. Show up for them. I’d come running back to you with open arms if you did even a few of these things.

In the meantime, I’ll be on the sidelines waiting, watching, hoping, praying. You broke my heart.

 

[aepps20]

I’m A Brown Woman Who’s Breaking Up With The Democratic Party
I realize now that the love has been one-sided.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/brown-women-democratic-party_us_5a31a32de4b07ff75b001456

This is the type of clown behavior that got us here. @deuce king take it from here. I get her feelings but the system is what it is. This encourages folks to vote for Jill Stein or stay at home. The stakes are just too high right now.

 

[RustyShackleford]

This is like the 8th article I have read like this during the election, and by far one of the worst.

I get the frustration, but the short sighted view on some stuff I can't rock with.

Imma sit on the sidelines while the part rebuilds, they better make sure they do exactly what I want though

Hmmm, ok

 

[rolaholic]

Tiny hands seems hell bent on guaranteeing impeachment proceedings if ever Dems take back the house if he really goes through with this...

 

[boris]

Our Congress will do nothing, so it's up to the citizens to get out there and protest if/when this happens.

 

[aepps20]

Tiny hands seems hell bent on guaranteeing impeachment proceedings if ever Dems take back the house if he really goes through with this...

ABOUT TIME

 

[rexanglorum]

This is like the 8th article I have read like this during the election, and by far one of the worst.

I get the frustration, but the short sighted view on some stuff I can't rock with.

Imma sit on the sidelines while the part rebuilds, they better make sure they do exactly what I want though

Hmmm, ok

If we were functioning democracy, the Democratic Party (and the Republican Party for that matter) would be much more responsive to the will of the people. Sadly, we are not and while it may come to pass that this moral and economic and intellectual rot will cause the existing power structures to quickly collapse and then be quickly and completely seized by the left, that scenario is not at all guaranteed.

If you want American politics and society to move to the left and be more just, you cannot just simply trust the Democratic Party to do it for you, even a reformed and genuinely leftist Democratic Party. You must build alternative power structures like labor unions. You must push the neoliberal elements out of our schools and universities and municipal governments. You must establish a sense of morality and first principles and solidarity among all marginalized people and make them feel like they are not alone.

With Alternative power structures in place and local victories rolling in at the schools, in the courts, at the work place and in city halls and county seats, people can feel confident that political action gets results. From there, it will be easy to seize the Federal Government and then use that new power to diminish the power of conservative political poles of power such as billionaire donors, the defense industry, the prison industry and various business advocacy groups that push for low wages and precarity for workers.

 

[Based Jesus]

He should ask God for a loan.

 

[iDon’tRead]

Y’all should listen to the npr series on albertville Alabama

 

[gry60]

I heard horses were more expensive than some cars. Maybe he could sell some of his and get something cheaper that can travel faster and join the rest of those stuck in the 20th century.

 

[getback]

 

[aepps20]

If we were functioning democracy, the Democratic Party (and the Republican Party for that matter) would be much more responsive to the will of the people. Sadly, we are not and while it may come to pass that this moral and economic and intellectual rot will cause the existing power structures to quickly collapse and then be quickly and completely seized by the left, that scenario is not at all guaranteed.

If you want American politics and society to move to the left and be more just, you cannot just simply trust the Democratic Party to do it for you, even a reformed and genuinely leftist Democratic Party. You must build alternative power structures like labor unions. You must push the neoliberal elements out of our schools and universities and municipal governments. You must establish a sense of morality and first principles and solidarity among all marginalized people and make them feel like they are not alone.

With Alternative power structures in place and local victories rolling in at the schools, in the courts, at the work place and in city halls and county seats, people can feel confident that political action gets results. From there, it will be easy to seize the Federal Government and then use that new power to diminish the power of conservative political poles of power such as billionaire donors, the defense industry, the prison industry and various business advocacy groups that push for low wages and precarity for workers.

I agree 1000%. COAL is the answer. WHEN OBUMMER USED an executive order to shut down the Honker Burger I left the Democratic party behind. Burn SOME COAL AND LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL.

 

[jape]

i would've laughed in her face

 

[aepps20]

i would've laughed in her face

Honked too while driving past.

 

[RustyShackleford]

.

 

[sfc415]

Should've told her "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" and dipped

 

[everysingletime]

So I was just reading that net neutrality is only 2 years old. So the internet spent most of its life span without it?

Maybe the sky won't fall if it's gone.

 

[noskey]

So I was just reading that net neutrality is only 2 years old. So the internet spent most of its life span without it?

Maybe the sky won't fall if it's gone.

Not the point. Repealing net neutrality will have devastating consequences to struggling families and individuals. Couple lack of access to the internet with drastic reduction in public education resources, and draw your own conclusions as to where we're headed.

 

[elpablo21]

 

[RustyShackleford]

So I was just reading that net neutrality is only 2 years old. So the internet spent most of its life span without it?

Maybe the sky won't fall if it's gone.

Was the internet exactly the same from its inception to 2015?

ISP had just really begun the buffoonery of fast lanes the last time the FCC halted them, they were doing one thing in the real world and saying other thing in court. Also you had liberal, or less bought FCC and FTC slowing things down before that but things were still getting ****ed..

And this is the tip of the iceberg.Most ISPs have monopoly power, sometimes by law, for much of the customers they service. One of the best ways to combat the potential buffoonery is through competition, ISP have bought enough local politicians to make sure most market never get competitive.

The sky will not fall tomorrow, but it is like trickle down economics in 1980. Yeah, start letting **** slide now, then fast forward 30 years later and wonder why the economy is so structurally weak. And you internet bill is so high, and the bundles are so bad, and why getting a site online is now so expensive.

 

[frink85]

So I was just reading that net neutrality is only 2 years old. So the internet spent most of its life span without it?

Maybe the sky won't fall if it's gone.

A lot happened in those two years. Streaming services, Trump, the exposure of the idiocy of America, and even more growth of corporations controlling policy. Profits over people.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Trump is gonna fire Mueller.

The GOP and conservative establishment are already signaling they will have his back and push the "He could not be trusted" card.

 

[gry60]

So I was just reading that net neutrality is only 2 years old. So the internet spent most of its life span without it?

Maybe the sky won't fall if it's gone.

Net neutrality was born as broadband internet became a necessity in our lives. Wanna go back to dial up? How are you gonna skype with potential employers or during meetings? What about online classes for example? Things will slow down, and productivity will be affected across the board if ISPs are allowed to operate the internet like cable and not like a utility.

 

[gry60]

Trump is gonna fire Mueller.

The GOP and conservative establishment are already signaling they will have his back and push the "He could not be trusted" card.

It better be the beginning of the end if he does.