Kamala tried to run as a moderate. Paralyzed by polls, abortion was the only issue her campaign geniuses would allow her to take a definitive stance on. "The Center" has become complacent and content in this post Citizens United environment. Shut Up Take The Money And Do Nothing. No comparison between progressives on the left and Insane Clown cult followers on the right. Bernie is correct. We need a political revolution.
I agree with you on one important point: our political system is badly in need of fundamental change. Where we differ is on what that change should look like.
I don’t believe the answer is replacing one ideological revolution with another. My concern is that both parties have become increasingly dependent on their most intense factions, while millions of Americans who want practical, effective government are left without a political home.
And I certainly wouldn’t describe the center as complacent. The center I’m arguing for is not “do nothing.” Quite the opposite. It means breaking a system in which Congress routinely fails to solve major problems, demanding accountability from elected officials, and building a governing coalition capable of actually getting things done. That may be a different kind of political revolution, but I would argue it is every bit as necessary.
We have to talk specifics. Progressives want universal healthcare whereas Hakeem Jeffries says he is against it. The thing getting all the attention now is Israel and AIPAC money Israel is a very complicated situation because there are no good actors there anymore since Bibi hooked up with Shmotrich and Ben Gvir in order to stay out of jail. But I'm convinced the likes of Schumer and Jeffries are taking AIPAC money and letting AIPAC dictate their positions. No doubt Defund The Police was a stupid overreaction that will now always be an albatross unless they start saying more sensible things like we support the police but we have to remove the criminal element that is inevitably drawn to the perception of being above the law because they are the law. But there is no comparison between our intense faction and the Far Right which there is no Near Right they are all owned by Trump and Project 25.
The desire for competent government does not belong exclusively to the center. We have been, in the last decade, in a period in which breaking government has been a unifying message of what we used to call the right. The quest for a government that does its job at a reasonable cost and by representing the people should be a theme that permeates all politics.
Agreed. Competent, representative government shouldn’t be a centrist idea; it should be the baseline expectation across the political spectrum. The problem is that too much of our politics now rewards either breaking institutions or defending them without demanding they work better. We need a politics that puts results for the people ahead of loyalty to either side.
I agree, Scott. Competent government should not be an ideological position at all. It should be the baseline expectation of anyone we elect, regardless of where they sit politically. My concern is that both parties have become so consumed by winning the fight against the other side that governing itself has become secondary. The center does not have a monopoly on competence, but I do believe it can help make competence, accountability, and results the standard by which we judge our leaders again.
Kamala tried to run as a moderate. Paralyzed by polls, abortion was the only issue her campaign geniuses would allow her to take a definitive stance on. "The Center" has become complacent and content in this post Citizens United environment. Shut Up Take The Money And Do Nothing. No comparison between progressives on the left and Insane Clown cult followers on the right. Bernie is correct. We need a political revolution.
I agree with you on one important point: our political system is badly in need of fundamental change. Where we differ is on what that change should look like.
I don’t believe the answer is replacing one ideological revolution with another. My concern is that both parties have become increasingly dependent on their most intense factions, while millions of Americans who want practical, effective government are left without a political home.
And I certainly wouldn’t describe the center as complacent. The center I’m arguing for is not “do nothing.” Quite the opposite. It means breaking a system in which Congress routinely fails to solve major problems, demanding accountability from elected officials, and building a governing coalition capable of actually getting things done. That may be a different kind of political revolution, but I would argue it is every bit as necessary.
We have to talk specifics. Progressives want universal healthcare whereas Hakeem Jeffries says he is against it. The thing getting all the attention now is Israel and AIPAC money Israel is a very complicated situation because there are no good actors there anymore since Bibi hooked up with Shmotrich and Ben Gvir in order to stay out of jail. But I'm convinced the likes of Schumer and Jeffries are taking AIPAC money and letting AIPAC dictate their positions. No doubt Defund The Police was a stupid overreaction that will now always be an albatross unless they start saying more sensible things like we support the police but we have to remove the criminal element that is inevitably drawn to the perception of being above the law because they are the law. But there is no comparison between our intense faction and the Far Right which there is no Near Right they are all owned by Trump and Project 25.
The desire for competent government does not belong exclusively to the center. We have been, in the last decade, in a period in which breaking government has been a unifying message of what we used to call the right. The quest for a government that does its job at a reasonable cost and by representing the people should be a theme that permeates all politics.
Agreed. Competent, representative government shouldn’t be a centrist idea; it should be the baseline expectation across the political spectrum. The problem is that too much of our politics now rewards either breaking institutions or defending them without demanding they work better. We need a politics that puts results for the people ahead of loyalty to either side.
I agree, Scott. Competent government should not be an ideological position at all. It should be the baseline expectation of anyone we elect, regardless of where they sit politically. My concern is that both parties have become so consumed by winning the fight against the other side that governing itself has become secondary. The center does not have a monopoly on competence, but I do believe it can help make competence, accountability, and results the standard by which we judge our leaders again.