(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Exasperated with Democratic Silence [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-01-02
Yesterday, News Corpse published the story, “TRUMP LIES Despicably About the Tragedy in New Orleans, the Suspect, the Crime Rate, and Himself”
www.dailykos.com/...
The story prompted me to comment, and ask:
”Has any Democratic leader denounced Trump’s lies and called him out for spewing them?”
As far as I can tell, the answer is “no”.
Which begs the next question: “Why the hell not?”
Is there not a single Democratic leader who possesses the political killer-instinct and courage to call out Trump’s vile lies in real time and put him on the goddamn spot and on the defensive in front of the media? Perhaps something along the lines of:
“Donald Trump just lied to everyone about the tragedy in New Orleans and is not man enough to retract the lies. Instead, and as usual, he doubles down on his vile and divisive lying because that’s who he is. As Democrats who value facts and the truth, we will keep calling out Trump and his Republican sympathizers whenever they lie and peddle misinformation and disinformation to the American people. Sad to say, no doubt that you will be hearing from us...a lot.”
But so far, crickets.
My exasperation level with the Democratic Party is at an all-time high. I have been waiting for over 40 years for a Democratic Party voice of stature to fearlessly articulate what so many of us on Daily Kos have no problem articulating every single day without first running it past a focus group. Instead, we get Democrats like Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York providing a guest essay to the New York Times, published on New Years Day, titled: “Let’s Try Something Different in How We Deal With Trump”
www.nytimes.com/...
Here are the first two paragraphs (my emphasis is bolded):
“President-elect Donald Trump and the Republicans have managed to sell themselves as the party of change. It worked: They will soon control the presidency, Congress and, in essence, the Supreme Court. But to change and fix America requires both parties to work together. As a Democratic member of Congress, I know my party will be tempted to hold fast against Mr. Trump at every turn: uniting against his bills, blocking his nominees and grinding the machinery of the House and the Senate to a halt. That would be a mistake. Only by working together to find compromise on parts of Mr. Trump’s agenda can we make progress for Americans who are clearly demanding change in the economy, immigration, crime and other top issues.”
Then the clinchers:
“But if Mr. Trump wants to have a more effective presidency than he had in his first term, he needs to embrace his inner dealmaker and negotiate with the other party that holds just shy of half of the seats on Capitol Hill and key governorships around the country. And if he does that work, Democrats should meet him halfway rather than be the Party of No. I know many voters reject my party’s significant leftward shift. So do I.”
WTAF, is Tom Friedman his ghostwriter? And “significant leftward shift?” Yeah, if only. It hasn’t happened in my lifetime. But isn’t it just grand when a Democrat pushes a Republican talking point?
So, if Suozzi’s lame “essay” is what now passes for Democratic post-election “messaging” and political strategy, we are screwed. Because continuing to assume the fetal position of comity and expecting a different outcome while Republicans are going all-in on fascism is NOT a position of political strength.
It is the very definition of self-defeating political insanity.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/1/2/2294817/-Exasperated-with-Democratic-Silence?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
