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Pretending there is no division amongst Democrats doesn't make it go away. [1]

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Date: 2025-02-01

In this time of resistance, I frequently see calls of “this is not the time to be divisive, this is time to come together...”. What is left out of the statement is “...under the leadership I prefer, not yours.” So in response to autocracy, we are to bring back freedom by shutting up and doing what we are told.

We are to trust in leadership that has been frequently beholden to the same corporations behind the gutting of our government. We are to trust in the leadership which long ago abandoned the 50 state strategy for short term gains on long ago elections that were then supposedly too important to lose and we lost anyway. This is the same leadership which supported the illegal invasion of Iraq. It’s the same crew that always seems to get mediocre results from the same hand that Republicans are able to punch through awful results with.

But I understand. My call here today to get some of you to recognize that not everyone is peachy keen on returning to the leadership that has taken far too long to recognize the threat we are facing means that I must be some deep mole working for the “bad guys”. I get it. Supporting leaders who actually talk about combating climate change in meaningful ways is too much for you. Now is not the time to put people in charge who might actually get something done. It’s more important that we rally behind leadership with a history of not nearly strong enough measures.

And this is all because those “progressives” are not electable which we know because that is what corporate media blares at us every election cycle. Unfortunately, being a loyal corporatist moderate democrat is no longer good enough for the corporate media. The corporate media has chosen autocracy over moderates. But sure, let's keep trundling along the same path which got us here. I’m sure our oligarch masters will let the moderate democrats back into the fold if they grovel really nicely.

Power, properly understood, is the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political, or economic changes. In this sense power is not only desirable but necessary in order to implement the demands of love and justice. One of the greatest problems of history is that the concepts of love and power are usually contrasted as polar opposites. Love is identified with a resignation of power and power with a denial of love. What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive and that love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.” - Rev. Dr. MLK Jr.

I’m not here to say my way is the right way. Anyone who has read enough my articles knows I have been wrong before. But I do know that chasing power for the sake of power gets us nowhere that I want to be. Sure, returning to a world where Democrats are allowed to run the government so long as they don’t overstep their corporate master’s dictates is better than where we are now. But that world is neither stable, nor just, nor able to deal with our long term challenges.

I’d prefer to work towards a world where people collectively determine our futures and we build a system that works for all of us. I prefer to work for a world that will deal with climate change in a responsible manner instead of perpetually kicking the can down the road. And I would like your help in doing so.

Yes I am pissed off at many of you. I have been snarky. I have been unkind. I have been condescending. But you’all didn’t listen to me when I spoke up quietly and politely pointing out we should really do something about making this world a better place. I was ignored or ridiculed for being too naive. But when I rock the boat, I am being too divisive. Oddly enough, this is the same dynamic many of you complain about with Republicans regarding gun control.

People in power never give up power freely (paraphrasing MLK here). You want to remove power from the Republicans. I want to remove power from the rich and greedy. You were okay with Dems being controlled by corporations. I never was but I supported the Dems anyway when required because they were better than Republicans. But yes, I am trying to take power away from the corporations. If you support and benefit from corporations being in power, then I am trying to take power from you. I do not pretend it will happen overnight. I know you won’t give up that power willingly. But can you at least spare me the faux outrage that I am being divisive? No, you probably can’t because that would give me a crack to speak of a better world for everyone. Better to shout me down like the sheep in Orwell’s Animal Farm . Pretend that I am the one out of line for wishing for better leadership, or at least leadership without a long history of retreating from ideals.

Feel free to drag out all the examples of progressive failures. In doing so you miss the point. Progressives aren’t perfect. I certainly disagree with many positions some progressives take. But they fight. And they are persistent. And they (and I) will continue to annoy the hell out of you with talk of “justice”, “equity”, “Climate justice” and more. If you wish to join us, that would be great. But don’t for a second take our votes for granted. We’re not interested in corporate-world lite. That just leads us back to autocracy. Some of us vote Democrat anyway, but not all of us. If you want their vote you need to talk about worker justice. And THEN you need to legislate for it.

If YOU truly don’t want autocracy, then you have to realize that pro-greed policies lead to oligarchy. World Peace doesn’t require that everyone becomes nonviolent, but it does require non-violent people to amass enough collective power to remove power from those who would abuse it (or contain those counties).

Our government has been captured by corporate oligarchs. Forgive me if I think that following leadership that has long taken corporate bribes is not the best path forward.

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[1] Url: https://dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/1/2300496/-Pretending-there-is-no-division-amongst-Democrats-doesn-t-make-it-go-away?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web

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