The Intercept - The Democratic Party Must Harness the Legitimate Rage of Americans

[Beringia]

https://theintercept.com/2020/04/05/coronavirus-american-politics-democratic-party-biden-sanders/


The political possibilities of this moment are different than anything we have ever experienced. We possess a once in a lifetime opportunity to make the United States a more humane country. But if we fail to seize it, we will face mortal danger from the right.

That’s not hyperbole. The anger of Americans, once they figure out what’s being done to them right now, is going to be volcanic. The fallout from 9/11 and the great recession of 2007-2010 will be imperceptible in comparison.

Not long from now, almost everyone will have a family member or friend who died of Covid-19, many of them suffocating in isolation wards with insufficient treatment, perhaps deprived of a ventilator that would have saved their lives. Huge swaths of the country are plummeting into desperate penury, even as they witness large corporations unlock the U.S. Treasury and help themselves to everything inside.

Blue 2021

The Democratic candidate — likely Joe Biden, but we know anything can happen in U.S. politics — beat Donald Trump going away.

The winning Democrat’s slogan was “Fighting Mad.” And that was the core of his or her campaign — both the unabashedly mad part and the demonstrated willingness to fight based on that anger.



Red 2021

Donald Trump was reelected. What stunned the Democrats, CNN, and the New York Times even more than Trump’s victory is that he ran on the slogan “Healing America” — even as voluminous, exquisitely researched media output demonstrated that his catastrophic mismanagement helped the coronavirus kill a million surplus Americans.

Yet it somehow didn’t matter. Trump and the GOP’s mighty Wurlitzer settled on a suite of hazy stories, all of which the party’s base fervently believed even though they were mutually contradictory.

[The Magistrate]

1. This Has Been Another Episode Of Lame Comments From No One In Particular, Sir

"Overthrow of a hated enemy is something to be for!"





"From Bernie’s perspective, dropping out of a race once you have no chance of winning is peculiar behavior that can only be explained by the work of a hidden hand. For most politicians, though, it is actually standard operating procedure. Only Sanders seems to think the normal thing to do once voters have made clear they don’t want to nominate you is to continue campaigning anyway."





"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."

[Beringia]

4. Seems like you are missing the point of the article

Democrats need to harness energy and imagination of people better.

Seems like you are throwing out the baby with the bathwater, just connecting this with Sanders.

[TwilightZone]

6. It says literally nothing about energy and imagination.

It's all about rage and anger, which is how we ended up here.

[Beringia]

11. Rage and anger by whom

By people who voted for Trump and not Hillary.

[Thekaspervote]

33. Rage & anger was bernie's campaign strategy. Neg ads, false accusations look what it did for him

No thank you!! Give me a positive message any day

[The Magistrate]

7. Better By Whose Judgement, Sir?

This is simply the usual sniping slipping into a fresh gear. After all, with 'Bernie' pretty much a spent force, there must be something fresh with which to continue disparagement of the 'Democratic Establishment'. No radical ever has, or ever will, concede that a mainstream politician, or center-left political body, is being radical enough.

[Demsrule86]

21. Democrats need to beat Trump...pure and simple...Joe can do that. Sanders is done...please consider

accepting this fact...more than 300 delegates behind...more losing tomorrow for Sanders. If he wants to help our effort to oust Trump, he needs to go. No debates in April either...what is the point of staying in...only helps Trump.

[pazzyanne]

36. Just finished reading a Politico article about the Intercept from April, 2019.

It was extremely interesting. Here's a link for anyone interested in reading this article.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/04/24/the-intercept-greenwald-grim-profile-media-politics-left-liberal-226710

[rogue emissary]

41. Thank you for posting this article. The Intercept shouldn't even be considered legitimate.

"The Intercept is almost totally funded by a single billionaire backer, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar"

That fact and Greenwald's founding is enough for me to consider this illegitimate.

[BidenBacker]

45. Good article

Can't believe these Intercept imbeciles went after Commander Kelly out here in Arizona. He's got a terrific chance of beating that loathsome Trump ass-kissing McSally and hand the Dems a much-needed Senate seat and these moronic assholes are trying to torpedo him.

Beyond stupid.

[The Magistrate]

47. To Be Fair, Sir

Democrats need to learn how to make the following statement in response to charges of this sort, from whatever quarter:

"Fuck you! Nobody fucking cares! God knows I don't! Stuff it up your fucking pie-hole and shut the fuck up! I do not fucking care! I don't fucking care what you say! I don't give a rancid shit what you think! Go ahead, motherfucker! Do it! Or back your ass back down in your seat and change your damn diaper! Asshole..."

That is how the game is played now, and we had better learn it, quick and well.





"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."

[BidenBacker]

48. That's funny, Mag

But we're gonna need a lot of those in the GE so we better put you in charge of inventory to make sure we don't run low.

Seriously, these Intercept idiots are really starting to piss me off. Kelly is a goddamn patriotic Space Shuttle commander who's wife was a Democrat in Congress when she got shot in the freaking head but oh no, a true-blue Democrat ain't good enough for them...his campaign took in a few bucks by giving a few speeches in front of some lobbyists and they go all apeshit on him even as the big Gopper bucks come pouring into AZ to elect Trump's shrill shill McSally and keep Moscow Mitch as Seniority Leader.

Maybe they better clean up their OWN house first??? See where all of that Bernie money has been coming and going? Hate these Puritan elitist types giving Sunday sermons to the masses about how to live "moral" lives while they were boinking each other's wives on Saturday night.

[The Magistrate]

50. There's Many A Truth Spoke In Jest, Sir

To gain popular support, one must fight, and be seen to fight. People want their Representatives and Senators and Presidents and all the rest to fight for their interests, and that is what they are elected to do. Knuckling under, striving to placate, to acknowledge there might be something to an accusation (unless done to set up some lethal riposte) gives the impression of weakness, not of strength, and reveals a person as, at best, not very good at fighting. This poor impression may be made up for, by tribal loyalty, by allegiance to points of policy, even by great distaste for the opposition, but the result will always be less than the best that could be obtained, by a candidate people could see straight off was a good fighter.


"Americans love a winner! And hate a loser!"





"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."

[BidenBacker]

49. Engineering to Intercept Bridge

I have a new target for you...

Watchdog group accuses Sanders-aligned group of campaign finance violations

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/479421-watchdog-group-accuses-sanders-aligned-group-of-campaign-finance-violations

Maybe you guys can check out your own Jeff Weaver & Nina Turner...or are they both down in the torpedo room loading another fish to fire at Biden or Kelly???

"Our Revolution", my ass...more like "Our Gravy Train".

[The Magistrate]

51. That, Sir, Deserves To Stand On Its Own

And be presented to the forum as an original post. I thought it was an echo of an earlier topic, detailing some 'honest graft' of Sanders, hiring family and associates to salary on campaign staffs and to handle media buys. This is something different, and Common Cause is impeccable. If it is making these charges, there is something to them.

Sanders has already in his 2020 campaign shredded his reputation as the man who by his charismatic leadership rallied the 'white working class' in a movement demanding left policies in 2016. Should he persist much longer in his efforts this year, it seems likely his reputation as a man of principles, the one un-corruptible man on the national scene, will be shredded for him. This is one line of attack in which claims the 'hidden hand' of the DNC is moving to strike 'Bernie' down might actually have some weight....

And about time, too.





"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."

[BidenBacker]

55. You're right, Mag

I often check out sources whenever I see an article or a charge just to see where the salvo may be coming from. I've heard of Common Cause before but dug a little deeper just to be sure. There were founded by a Republican...but he worked under LBJ as head of HEW so was a bit of a progressive back when we had some liberal Northeast Republicans before they became extinct.

Common Cause has been known to go after both Dems and Pubs when they perceive campaign finance wrongdoing. While sometimes classified as "non-partisan", others describe them as "liberal-leaning" and sometimes even as "progressive".

https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/common-cause/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Cause

IOW, hardly a right-wing attack dog by any stretch. They seem to have done some good work over the years. Common Cause's complaint here...

https://www.commoncause.org/resource/common-cause-v-our-revolution-soft-money-violation/

Intercept's "defense" here (which as far as I can tell is "yeah, we broke the law but maybe only half a dozen times so you'll just have to trust us on that"...

https://theintercept.com/2020/02/26/our-revolution-bernie-sanders-donor-contributions/

Hard to know to what extent it goes since Our Revolution has failed to report despite being required to by law. Not that it matters much as the FEC is a toothless tiger.

[The Magistrate]

56. It Will Not Put Anyone In Jail, Sir

But as you observed, the organization is taken seriously, and that matters.





"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."

[nolawarlock]

44. No,

… he's throwing the baby out with Tara Reade. Going there diminished their credibility entirely, and I'd only just heard of them.

[sweetloukillbot]

2. He honestly thinks a speech should start...

" Anger comes from an Old Norse word that means sorrow."

Where do these idiots get their ideas of how to appeal to the public?

[Demsrule86]

22. The intercept doesn't want Democrats to win...so I ignore most of their shit.

[Thekaspervote]

34. This!

[Demsrule86]

39. Thank you...Thekaspervote...they are always against the Democratic nominee.

[relayerbob]

3. Anger is what got us here in the first place

What needs to be harnessed is compassion and decency

[The Magistrate]

14. Anger, Sir, And Even Hatred, Can Be Harnessed To Power Decency And Compassion

One suspects they will be this year in Mr. Biden's campaign.

The chief energy in this election comes from middle of the road types grown disgusted with this cheap thug Trump, and the passion of rank and file Democrats who hate the cheap thug like poison. Both these elements are going to grow stronger with time, under the press of unfolding events.


"Overthrow of a hated enemy is something to be for!!!"

[relayerbob]

17. Fighting and anger didn't serve us well in 2016

And the anger inherent in the Sanders campaign has cut his support in half.

I get your point, but what wins is the decency and compassion aspect. Anger and hatred need to be understood for what they are - the engine that drives divisiveness and racism and cruelty ... and Trump. That engine must be shut down.

[The Magistrate]

23. It Is Where Sanders Directed His Anger Which Harmed Him, Sir

Had he attacked the cheap thug Trump with the energy he directed towards the 'Democratic Establishment', his political position would be far better today. He might even have managed to be genuinely in the running for our Party's nomination. Instead, he attacked Democrats. Claiming you attack only the leadership does not work, certainly not in a democratic institution. One might say, for instance, I oppose Castro, but have nothing against the people of Cuba, and wish them only the best, and find Cubans who don't much like Castro themselves respond well to what you say. This was a common enough technique on all sides during the Cold War times in which Sanders formed hs political views.

But in a democratic institution, people identify with the leadership they select, and if they identify with the Party without personally participating in its internal processes, the same feeling exists. You cannot attack the 'Democratic Establishment' without a great many Democrats feeling you have attacked them.

This is something 'Bernie' seems incapable of seeing and understanding. In 2016 he got some mileage out of bigotry against 'uppity women', and a campaign of hate for Mrs. Clinton conducted by the christo-fascist right for a quarter century. But 'Bernie' took the harvest from this for popular support of his views on political economy and his critique of the Democratic Party. So he thought more of the same would turn the trick this year. That is what failed.

Any campaign against this cheap thug Trump cannot help being fueled by hatred and disgust for the wretched creature, for these are the predominant feelings of the land, and burn with especial heat in the breast of people of decent and compassionate nature.


"Overthrow of a hated enemy is something to be for!!!"

[awesomerwb1]

5. The Intercept?

LOL The Intercept advising Dems is like..........

Can't wait for the next pro Bernie installment from jacobin....

[Beringia]

8. Can't discuss the article

just say Intercept bad, Sanders bad. Gotcha

[awesomerwb1]

25. Yep

Be grateful I even took the time to post to the thread.

Be right back. Gonna go read Breitbart.

[ehrnst]

31. The article is bad

Read this response in particular to understand why.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287697457#post24

You're welcome.

[pazzyanne]

37. I repeat...

A read from this Politico article from April, 2019 sheds a lot of light on the Intercept.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/04/24/the-intercept-greenwald-grim-profile-media-politics-left-liberal-226710

[Scurrilous]

54. The Intercept is beyond bad.

They're the main propagator of every craven lying anti-Biden slur emanating from the turgid bowels of 'attack Democrats from the left Inc..'

Plus Glenn Greenwald.

No clicks for Putincept.

[still_one]

16. Exactly. The Glenn Greenwald rag that did their damndest to undermine and encourage its readers not

to support the Democratic nominee in 2016 giving advice to Democrats. What impudence

[George II]

9. We don't need The Intercept to lecture us on what our Democratic Party "must" do.

[Kahuna]

15. Amen! nt

[W_HAMILTON]

10. Fuck The Intercept and the bunch of Russian-backed stooges it employs.

[ehrnst]

12. Ahem, "Intercept," the Democratic Party has been on this already...

It’s now clear that this stark contrast could define the 2020 campaign. Democrats are unveiling new ads highlighting Trump’s serial failures to take the coronavirus seriously. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is urging surrogates to claim, laughably, that Trump is “leading the nation” in the “war against coronavirus,” and to cast the former vice president as “the opposition in that war.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/06/trump-versus-biden-coronavirus-timeline-is-utterly-damning/

FYI - The Intercept is as anti-Democratic Party as they are anti-Republican Party, because they see no difference in the two.

Is that something that you subscribe to?

[Beringia]

26. I agree with their assessment

I have not been indoctrinated that Intercept is bad, but thanks for asking.

[ehrnst]

27. "Indoctrinated?"

That's as subtle as a cement brick dropped from a second story window...

Look in a mirror, Hon.

[TwilightZone]

28. Their assessment is flat-out wrong.

If anger and rage were all the rage, so to speak, Sanders wouldn't have gotten demolished in the primaries.

The Intercept sees everything through a very narrow lens. Your remark about indoctrination is rather ironic.

[The Magistrate]

32. Evaded 'Indoctrination' Have You, Fella?

That is so cute, it is positively precious.

Disagreement with your view results from indoctrination, whereas you are a clear thinker who makes up your own mind, eh?

You will find continually patting yourself on the back makes your triceps muscle ache, but does not achieve anything else besides amusing those you affirm are just an unthinking hoi polloi....

[ehrnst]

35. You "agree with their assessment" that there is no difference between Democrats and GOP?

FYI - The Intercept is as anti-Democratic Party as they are anti-Republican Party, because they see no difference in the two.

Is that something that you subscribe to?

Really?

[pazzyanne]

38. "indoctrinated"...

You lost me at that point! Let's just say that perhaps broadening the sources followed for news would be appropriate. Just saying.

[nolawarlock]

43. Indoctrinated?

Maybe you get your ideas from other peoples' talking points, but I'd never even heard of the Intercept until they pushed the Tara Reade story and that was all I needed to know. A few more glances told me that this it anything but a Democrat-supporting rag. I'm sure they'll be pushing Stein or Trump by the time this is all over. Either way, nobody had to tell me that Intercept was a bad news source so save the stereotypes.

[HarlanPepper]

13. Putinite rag says what?

[ehrnst]

18. +1000

[SidDithers]

19. The Intercept. LOL...nt

Sid

[Demsrule86]

20. And water is wet...by the way Joe Biden is the nominee...and not the likely nominee...it is over

for Bernie...suspend Bernie.

[beastie boy]

24. I don't think "legitimate" means what the Intercept thinks it means.

The article is ridiculous. It begins with assuring us that its premise "is not a hyperbole", and then it jumps into a rapid succession of fantastic hyperbole, grotesque caricatures (my favorite is all too predictable and assumptions (my favorite is the all too predictable "The corporate-managerial-legal class that operates the Democratic Party fears anger and sees it as illegitimate as the basis for action." ) and false equivalencies to advance the narrative into the realm of a revolutionary's delirious wet dreams of having the power to elicit rage from a presumably apathetic majority with nothing more than bomb-throwing rhetoric , as it fails miserably to come up with meaningful references or otherwise rationalize its thesis.

It's as if The Intercept can't find real political writers, or even aspiring English majors who are willing to peddle their nonsense.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

29. Rage leads to mindless populism.

That's how we got Trump - angry white guys who were afraid "those people" were taking privileges and resources that rightfully belonged to them. We need the energy of hope, which was what elected Obama, not the energy of rage.

[nolawarlock]

42. The moment the Intercept started pushing Tara Reade ...

… I lost all interest in the Intercept. But by all means, carry on.

[BidenBacker]

46. Wayward Torpedo

After reading that Politico article that another DUer posted about what the Intercept Imbeciles have been doing to our own they kinda remind me of this...

[Blasphemer]

52. This doesn't resonate for me...

And, though I could be wrong, it's now how I'm reading the 2020 U.S. electorate as a whole. There is definitely anger out there but I think there is much less of it than some assume. Those who are angry are louder, but I think there is a silent majority who is looking for something very different. I count myself in this group. I've been part of the angry contingent in the past (Bush II years) and I look back on that time as one of wasted psychic energy. I don't think it's a coincidence that I turned my life around and went through a major personal transformation during the Obama years. When I read Michelle Obama's book, I realized that I never fully appreciated just what she and President Obama did in terms of trying to lift us beyond righteous, blinding anger and toward a renaissance of civic participation that allows us to be spirited and passionate but not lose our souls in the process. I don't think people want anger. I think they want to get back what we've lost (and, at least some recognize that it was lost well before Trump). I think the COVID-19 crisis will amplify this urge as people witness what happens when anger (in the form of Trump) faces collective crisis and tragedy. In the face of tremendous uncertainty, I think the yearning is for something more hopeful.

[The Magistrate]

53. There Is A Good Deal To What You Say, Sir

A craving for decency is certainly abroad in the land. The destruction of decency, the elevation of chaos, the bloody-minded nihilism on display today, strikes a rage in me, but my objective is a restoration of what has been put aside and harmed. Expression of anger is certainly not my goal, nor is wallowing in anger my desire. To me it is the fuel necessary to fight, and by that fight, retrieve our country from monsters.





"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."