Obama was a phony from day one. I voted for him the first time, but within a week, knew that was a mistake. (Remember his cabinet?) He could have had Healthcare for All immediately, but he instead told the oligarchs, "Don't worry, nothing is going to change." His finally creating Obama Care was a cop-out. He's a corporatist and always was, a con-artist. Now, he goes about pretending he's a statesman spewing words of wisdom. As I said, what a phony. BTW, all our presidents and Congress, and now SCOTUS, back that s..thole, Israel. And ANYONE WHO SUPPORTS ISRAEL IS A MONSTER.
No offense M. Cohen, but isn't it possible Democrats lost votes because of their horrendous POLICIES, not just their sales pitch? Afghanistan? Welfare reform? NAFTA/GATT? Ouster of Aristede? Supporting the '09 Honduran coup? And, of course, support for Zionism. How about capitulation to profit-making with Obama Care? Sorry. I don't buy it.
I thought I was the only one who figured Obama as a grifter. Think Wall Street banksters and Holder’s failure to prosecute. They dealt with those miscreants in Iceland.
And my favorite… Flint, Michigan at time of lead contaminated water. Mr O pretended to drink a bit to reassure the population that the problem had resolved. It should still be on YouTube.
TRUMP tells the story about the cunning snake crossing water by convincing his prey of B E S T intent. Have you ever actually examined it's scinerio ? In our case I think that a very misunderstood plot is hidden under living in the • Constitutional landscape while dwelling on the • Bible. Democrats drip .. drip memory get's diluted believing that we have to continue doing only G O O D irregardless to what others do to us. Snakes are Snakes .. even outside of Florida! ONLY Y O U CAN WAKE Y O U ^ UP ^
This is way too soft on Democrats. Did it a lot more wrong than just poor messaging. How about bailing out Wall Street? Or not Prosecuting Trump? Drowning in AIPAC money? Abandoning the citizens in favor of the donors? Funding and arming a genocide? I could go on.
you are writing about all politicians and right now maga is having a field day with big money donors, pardons, no bid contracts, gilding everything in the oval..you can bet those columns he's hiding are being gilded, "war" to gamble they it will get them a win in the mid terms... come on they are all dirty ...this regime just pulled the curtain back and thumbed their noses at us all and are emptying the coffers faster than any other controlling party in office... we have nero as president right now..nothing compares to this regime in the last 250 years..
Sure, Democrats are too compliant with norms, repeatedly bringing a knife to a gun fight. But, this conveniently papers over the bigger problem with the Democratic Party.
Democrats need better policies as well. You need a majority to get things done. If you care more about donors than about voters, you will remain in the minority.
Just as Reagan would not be welcome in today’s GOP, FDR wouldn’t be welcomed by current Democratic Party leadership.
Democrats keep hoping that they can lure Liz Cheney Republicans (and lots of donor money) by writing policy that works for Wall Street, health insurers, Big Tech, and the Israel lobby. But they won’t get those Liz Cheney voters to change teams. It’s like trying to get a Red Sox fan to cheer for the Yankees.
And, there are many voters who don’t vote because they feel left out. If the Democrats could offer a message that resonated with them, they could pull more Zohran Mamdani wins.
David Hogg recently stated that the Democratic leadership is addicted to losing. They would rather be in the leadership of a minority party than be part of a majority party with more progressives. This is why they care more about donors than the citizens they represent.
So, no. It’s not just the fact that Dems don’t know how to fight. It is ALSO that they don’t create policies that resonate with voters.
You are gaslighting Kamala’s message. This is anti women anti color country. She did stay too loyal to Biden’s agenda but she has solid support. But she didn’t have a penis. Neither did Hillary. Men use their last names when running. Women need to use their first names. Consider that and put this in context of the wide preference for tall penis’s in the Oval Office.
I wish this was true, the Democrats being righteous, protecting democracy, protecting the weak, protecting the poor, protecting the working people. In reality, almost all of the leading Democrats support big corporations, social injustice, support genocidal wars from Vietnam to Iraq to the destruction of Gaza. Bill Clinton literally destroyed the urban social network among the poor, especially black, with his War on crime. It is true that Democrats do not crave for chaos as Republicans do, but still, they are a far cry from a party fighting for social justice and the rule of national and international law. Notice how most of them go viciously after those who do try to inject some sane and healthy socialist norms and values into the socio-politics, look how majority literally gets corrupted bu taking big money, even money from AIPAC, a fascist lobby. This is the main problem of the US, the lack of dialectical opposition to Republican modern day fascism. True, some hope is emerging from the like of Sanders, AOC, Mamndani and the rest of the socially progressives, but it is still a long shot on the national scale.
Goran: 100%.!!!! Look at how Schumer et. al. can't stand the idea of Dr. Abdul El-Sayed winning a Senate seat in Michigan because that would upset AIPAC. So he is supporting a useless nothing burger who won't do a damn thing for Michiganders. I used to be a proud Democrat: no more. Adam Schiff made sure I wouldn't have the opportunity to vote for a truly progressive in CA by ratf*cking Kate Porter. This is what corporate Dems do to get and retain power: I can no longer support a national party that won't trust its voters to decide without putting their thumbs on the scale. PS. I'm phone banking for El-Sayed from CA because I can't just sit by and let Schumer et. al. screw over Michigan.
The absolute inability of the Democrat establishment to do a minimal amount of messaging is mind boggling. George Lakoff, a prominent cognitive linguist and professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, wrote Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think. Part of his discussion related to messaging.
We are now living in an insane alternative universe, where lies are truth because Republicans have been repeating lies for decades and Democrats have not informed the public as to what they have accomplished, or even tried to counter the lies. This is only ONE of the reasons I left the party.
This is the Democratic sickness in one sentence: they keep bringing a white paper to a knife fight and wondering why nobody claps for the footnotes. Good policy matters, yes. Adults should know things. Lovely. Gold star. But power does not yield because your spreadsheet has moral fiber. Republicans understand the performance of strength, even when they are catastrophically wrong. Democrats too often mistake caution for virtue, process for courage, and “we did the responsible thing” for an actual message voters can feel in their bones. Stop being saps. Tell the story. Pick the fight. Make the villains famous. Build the better mousetrap, then stop whispering about it in a committee room like a shy monk with a zoning permit.
This is such an important message that gets little attention and even less amplification. Another byproduct of this timidity is the prolonging of the Ukraine war because Biden was too cautious about putting our full support behind the country that was attacked.
We will care about Accountability for Trump and his admin and billionaires . We absolutely want to see large numbers of the leaders going to Jail, assets seized for tax payers, govt contracts pulled or govt takeover and breakup of fascists that attached is (Thiel, Musk, the cabinet, and more)
French Revolution 2.0, 21st Century American Style
WE the People have the chance to take back our country and demand the wealthy pay their fair share. As Thom points out in every revolution, the People rise up and protest the inequalities within the societal system in which they participate. Whether it's the inequality with $$ or it's about taxation without representation/vote, the script boils down to what WE the People expect of the governance they entrust to representatives they elect.
The current governance that was elected lied to stay out of jail and now the lies are obvious as well as the morally bankrupt, misogynistic, lawless, and racist characteristics that make WE the People nauseated and intolerant of such governance. Yes policy gambits are good on the campaign trail but there has to be in these days emotional anger and revulsion as to what's happening politically.
With the known past tax codes that properly taxed the wealthy, WE the People are fed up with the bloated arrogance of such scum, wishing to control their financial destinies and want them to help pay off our financial national debt, lest WE fall into a debt trap WE face. This November WE the People have a choice and it's not a difficult one....WE just have to be angry.
Cohen here still has on rose colored glasses when he looks at Dems and describes what he sees. Nostalgia for a better time? Nostalgia for a time when we all wore them is more like it. Now that the rose colored glasses are off the US worldwide we might as well take them off here too. Unless Dems do something tangible there will be no post trump world. Its US hubris to think that it wasn't a trump world well before he arrived like under obummer. To look at the US without the rose colored glasses is to see that it has been utterly bereft of humanity since day one. Lets see, "all men are created equal" written by slave holders. Hey but it was OK you see, the church and "science" agreed back then that blacks were the inferiors and they're bring those thoughts back today. "Originalists" even as real modern science has shown that those blacks were a purer Homo Sapiens than the Europeans (like me incidentally) who literally fucked Neanderthals 60 grand ago and have the genes to prove it. To quote Jerry Seinfeld, "Not that I have a problem with that" right? Irony is a bitch. This book is bullshit because there will be no day after, there was no day before and Cohen as much as any Dem just wants to go back to some fictitious "before" much like Repugnicans or Trumpies wanting to go back to the 50's or the dark ages, have crusades and shit. It's a trap. The worst thing that can happen is that dems will try to return to a status quo that never existed, the mirage of trickle down, the mirage of privatization, the mirage of healthcare and the absolute consolidation of money in the hands of fewer and fewer until there are not citizens and politicians anymore but only the rich and the rest become slaves. Dems want this, its why they're so ineffectual in office, they simply tread water till the next wave of disgust forces the illiterate masses to vote again against their own interests. I believe the idea of "the banality of evil" applies 100% to dems in the US. Rich Neoliberal Dems will gladly show us to the box cars.
Obama was a phony from day one. I voted for him the first time, but within a week, knew that was a mistake. (Remember his cabinet?) He could have had Healthcare for All immediately, but he instead told the oligarchs, "Don't worry, nothing is going to change." His finally creating Obama Care was a cop-out. He's a corporatist and always was, a con-artist. Now, he goes about pretending he's a statesman spewing words of wisdom. As I said, what a phony. BTW, all our presidents and Congress, and now SCOTUS, back that s..thole, Israel. And ANYONE WHO SUPPORTS ISRAEL IS A MONSTER.
No offense M. Cohen, but isn't it possible Democrats lost votes because of their horrendous POLICIES, not just their sales pitch? Afghanistan? Welfare reform? NAFTA/GATT? Ouster of Aristede? Supporting the '09 Honduran coup? And, of course, support for Zionism. How about capitulation to profit-making with Obama Care? Sorry. I don't buy it.
I thought I was the only one who figured Obama as a grifter. Think Wall Street banksters and Holder’s failure to prosecute. They dealt with those miscreants in Iceland.
And my favorite… Flint, Michigan at time of lead contaminated water. Mr O pretended to drink a bit to reassure the population that the problem had resolved. It should still be on YouTube.
TRUMP tells the story about the cunning snake crossing water by convincing his prey of B E S T intent. Have you ever actually examined it's scinerio ? In our case I think that a very misunderstood plot is hidden under living in the • Constitutional landscape while dwelling on the • Bible. Democrats drip .. drip memory get's diluted believing that we have to continue doing only G O O D irregardless to what others do to us. Snakes are Snakes .. even outside of Florida! ONLY Y O U CAN WAKE Y O U ^ UP ^
This is way too soft on Democrats. Did it a lot more wrong than just poor messaging. How about bailing out Wall Street? Or not Prosecuting Trump? Drowning in AIPAC money? Abandoning the citizens in favor of the donors? Funding and arming a genocide? I could go on.
you are writing about all politicians and right now maga is having a field day with big money donors, pardons, no bid contracts, gilding everything in the oval..you can bet those columns he's hiding are being gilded, "war" to gamble they it will get them a win in the mid terms... come on they are all dirty ...this regime just pulled the curtain back and thumbed their noses at us all and are emptying the coffers faster than any other controlling party in office... we have nero as president right now..nothing compares to this regime in the last 250 years..
Sure, Democrats are too compliant with norms, repeatedly bringing a knife to a gun fight. But, this conveniently papers over the bigger problem with the Democratic Party.
Democrats need better policies as well. You need a majority to get things done. If you care more about donors than about voters, you will remain in the minority.
Just as Reagan would not be welcome in today’s GOP, FDR wouldn’t be welcomed by current Democratic Party leadership.
Democrats keep hoping that they can lure Liz Cheney Republicans (and lots of donor money) by writing policy that works for Wall Street, health insurers, Big Tech, and the Israel lobby. But they won’t get those Liz Cheney voters to change teams. It’s like trying to get a Red Sox fan to cheer for the Yankees.
And, there are many voters who don’t vote because they feel left out. If the Democrats could offer a message that resonated with them, they could pull more Zohran Mamdani wins.
David Hogg recently stated that the Democratic leadership is addicted to losing. They would rather be in the leadership of a minority party than be part of a majority party with more progressives. This is why they care more about donors than the citizens they represent.
So, no. It’s not just the fact that Dems don’t know how to fight. It is ALSO that they don’t create policies that resonate with voters.
You are gaslighting Kamala’s message. This is anti women anti color country. She did stay too loyal to Biden’s agenda but she has solid support. But she didn’t have a penis. Neither did Hillary. Men use their last names when running. Women need to use their first names. Consider that and put this in context of the wide preference for tall penis’s in the Oval Office.
How about a campaign ad like this- Make the Whitehouse Penis Free!
Yes to Brian. Looking forward to reading the book
I wish this was true, the Democrats being righteous, protecting democracy, protecting the weak, protecting the poor, protecting the working people. In reality, almost all of the leading Democrats support big corporations, social injustice, support genocidal wars from Vietnam to Iraq to the destruction of Gaza. Bill Clinton literally destroyed the urban social network among the poor, especially black, with his War on crime. It is true that Democrats do not crave for chaos as Republicans do, but still, they are a far cry from a party fighting for social justice and the rule of national and international law. Notice how most of them go viciously after those who do try to inject some sane and healthy socialist norms and values into the socio-politics, look how majority literally gets corrupted bu taking big money, even money from AIPAC, a fascist lobby. This is the main problem of the US, the lack of dialectical opposition to Republican modern day fascism. True, some hope is emerging from the like of Sanders, AOC, Mamndani and the rest of the socially progressives, but it is still a long shot on the national scale.
Goran: 100%.!!!! Look at how Schumer et. al. can't stand the idea of Dr. Abdul El-Sayed winning a Senate seat in Michigan because that would upset AIPAC. So he is supporting a useless nothing burger who won't do a damn thing for Michiganders. I used to be a proud Democrat: no more. Adam Schiff made sure I wouldn't have the opportunity to vote for a truly progressive in CA by ratf*cking Kate Porter. This is what corporate Dems do to get and retain power: I can no longer support a national party that won't trust its voters to decide without putting their thumbs on the scale. PS. I'm phone banking for El-Sayed from CA because I can't just sit by and let Schumer et. al. screw over Michigan.
The absolute inability of the Democrat establishment to do a minimal amount of messaging is mind boggling. George Lakoff, a prominent cognitive linguist and professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, wrote Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think. Part of his discussion related to messaging.
We are now living in an insane alternative universe, where lies are truth because Republicans have been repeating lies for decades and Democrats have not informed the public as to what they have accomplished, or even tried to counter the lies. This is only ONE of the reasons I left the party.
This is the Democratic sickness in one sentence: they keep bringing a white paper to a knife fight and wondering why nobody claps for the footnotes. Good policy matters, yes. Adults should know things. Lovely. Gold star. But power does not yield because your spreadsheet has moral fiber. Republicans understand the performance of strength, even when they are catastrophically wrong. Democrats too often mistake caution for virtue, process for courage, and “we did the responsible thing” for an actual message voters can feel in their bones. Stop being saps. Tell the story. Pick the fight. Make the villains famous. Build the better mousetrap, then stop whispering about it in a committee room like a shy monk with a zoning permit.
This is such an important message that gets little attention and even less amplification. Another byproduct of this timidity is the prolonging of the Ukraine war because Biden was too cautious about putting our full support behind the country that was attacked.
We will care about Accountability for Trump and his admin and billionaires . We absolutely want to see large numbers of the leaders going to Jail, assets seized for tax payers, govt contracts pulled or govt takeover and breakup of fascists that attached is (Thiel, Musk, the cabinet, and more)
How about good fight AND good policy? Medicare for all? Anyone? Bueller?
An important book - seems essential for these times. Grateful for the opportunity to read this excerpt.
Money in politics for Democrats means they are to more often than not throw the fight.
French Revolution 2.0, 21st Century American Style
WE the People have the chance to take back our country and demand the wealthy pay their fair share. As Thom points out in every revolution, the People rise up and protest the inequalities within the societal system in which they participate. Whether it's the inequality with $$ or it's about taxation without representation/vote, the script boils down to what WE the People expect of the governance they entrust to representatives they elect.
The current governance that was elected lied to stay out of jail and now the lies are obvious as well as the morally bankrupt, misogynistic, lawless, and racist characteristics that make WE the People nauseated and intolerant of such governance. Yes policy gambits are good on the campaign trail but there has to be in these days emotional anger and revulsion as to what's happening politically.
With the known past tax codes that properly taxed the wealthy, WE the People are fed up with the bloated arrogance of such scum, wishing to control their financial destinies and want them to help pay off our financial national debt, lest WE fall into a debt trap WE face. This November WE the People have a choice and it's not a difficult one....WE just have to be angry.
Apparently, when hell freezeth over!
Cohen here still has on rose colored glasses when he looks at Dems and describes what he sees. Nostalgia for a better time? Nostalgia for a time when we all wore them is more like it. Now that the rose colored glasses are off the US worldwide we might as well take them off here too. Unless Dems do something tangible there will be no post trump world. Its US hubris to think that it wasn't a trump world well before he arrived like under obummer. To look at the US without the rose colored glasses is to see that it has been utterly bereft of humanity since day one. Lets see, "all men are created equal" written by slave holders. Hey but it was OK you see, the church and "science" agreed back then that blacks were the inferiors and they're bring those thoughts back today. "Originalists" even as real modern science has shown that those blacks were a purer Homo Sapiens than the Europeans (like me incidentally) who literally fucked Neanderthals 60 grand ago and have the genes to prove it. To quote Jerry Seinfeld, "Not that I have a problem with that" right? Irony is a bitch. This book is bullshit because there will be no day after, there was no day before and Cohen as much as any Dem just wants to go back to some fictitious "before" much like Repugnicans or Trumpies wanting to go back to the 50's or the dark ages, have crusades and shit. It's a trap. The worst thing that can happen is that dems will try to return to a status quo that never existed, the mirage of trickle down, the mirage of privatization, the mirage of healthcare and the absolute consolidation of money in the hands of fewer and fewer until there are not citizens and politicians anymore but only the rich and the rest become slaves. Dems want this, its why they're so ineffectual in office, they simply tread water till the next wave of disgust forces the illiterate masses to vote again against their own interests. I believe the idea of "the banality of evil" applies 100% to dems in the US. Rich Neoliberal Dems will gladly show us to the box cars.