"Vote Common Good"

    Interesting movement. Twitter feed here

    Couple of recent tweets:

    Every human being has inherent dignity and inherent worth. https://t.co/h3MnkAhUnG

    — Vote Common Good (@VoteCommon) September 15, 2018


    “It’s important for people to know that being religious doesn’t always equal being conservative,” says @GinaOrtizJones, a Democrat running to flip a red Texas district. https://t.co/VdyxMUect4

    — Elizabeth Dias (@elizabethjdias) September 14, 2018

    Comments

    this is an interesting one, too:


    Religious progressives joining the godless commies of the Left is a marriage made somewhere other than heaven. Some people believe Jesus was a commie so this union is rational and it will bring blessings to the Party. The Party is multicultural and inclusive so the worshipers of the Horned One, Voodoo zombies and Occultists can join the get out the progressive vote campaign.

    Peter, how do you define "commie".
    Jesus certainly said to take care of the poor & crippled and diseased & weak, to love one another, to turn the other cheek, "as you do to the least of my brethren you do to me", and noted that wealth & worldly things is an impediment to what heaven gives.
    Jesus' passing out the loaves and fishes was an inspiration for this selfless sharing among brothers & sisters.
    His fasting was seen as breaking the want of even food, to focus on more important ideals.
    One of the Temptations was to be worshiped as the greatest of all time, the vanity of fame, and he resisted that.
    He turned over the tables at the market that signified using holy property for crass merchandising.
    He was approachable by all, did not pull rank over the sinners and lepers and whores.
    He was into forgiveness and openness.

    I don't know what you got out of the Bible, but think twice before you go on one of your larks on this topic.


    Postmodern Marxist totalitarians of the left and extreme center are streatching their identity politics to the extreme to include this progressive God squad. Trying to claim that God is on their side too is a hoot to lure people to vote for the Commie Good. We have already seen here and elsewhere what liberal elites think about common people especially the deplorables who reject their collectivist Stalinist agenda. The other common people are useful idiots herded into the veal pens along with the poor and uneducated immigrants they need to save the Party. I'll leave the Bible thumping to you, I was commenting on the insane notion that some people on the left believe that Jesus would be a Stalinist, collectivists NWO liberal activist today.

    Don't be an idiot. Extreme center? Woot! If there's a god, he/she/it's prolly is on everyone's side, and there are no Stalinists in America so STFU. Youre just throwing out a bunch of shit disturbing words with no meaning because youre a provocative asshole.


    The idiotic agitprop, it's such a mystery why. It's like a comic or rapper who is super lousy and keeps trying despite audiences full of boos.


    Trump’s Evangelicals are comfortable with working for a racist and excusing kidnapping babies. It is hard to tell the difference between Trump Evangelicals and heathens.


    The Trump disciples who comprise the Republican Base:

       ..Racists, who hate Gummint because dirty, Godless Commie Libtards want take away their munnies and give them to brown people with Obamaphones!

        ...Homophobes, who hate Gummint because dirty ,Godless Commie Libtards want to make their kids gay and give them Gummint wedding cakes!

        ...Xenophobes, who hate Gummint because dirty, Godless Commie Libtards want give their munnies to brown people and Commies Over There!

        ...Randites, who hate Gummint because dirty, Godless Commie Libtard taxes and Obamacare are worse than Slavery, which really wasn't so bad when you think about it!

        ...Misogynists, who hate Gummint because dirty, Godless Commie Libtards let mouthy bitches run things instead of shutting them the fuck up like Jebus intended!

        ...Gun nuts, who hate Gummint and need to stockpile enough firepower to overthrow a country because one of these days those  dirty, Godless Commie Libtard might gonna tell them they can't stockpile enough firepower to overthrow a country!

        ...Fundies, who hate Gummint when it's run by dirty, Godless Commie Libtards who harvest baby parts to pay for gay wedding cakes and Obamaphonees because Jebus!

        ...Plutocrats, who hate Gummint because dirty, Godless Commie Libtards keep telling them they can't own slaves, or burn all the coal in the world, or dump mercury into people's drinking water.                                                         from Driftglass


    The “Common Good” means ignoring the concerns of black voters

    The captured group theory was put forward by Princeton political scientist Paul Frymer in a book first published in 1999, “Uneasy Alliances: Race and Party Competition in America.”1 He argued that politicians focus their attention on white swing voters, and that the two-party system is structured to push aside the concerns of black voters2 because they consistently and overwhelmingly favor one party.

     

    More generally, a 2015 report called “Political Powerlessness” by Nicholas Stephanopoulos at the University of Chicago Law School found that black support for Congressional legislation actually decreased its chances of passage. As he writes, “As white support increases from 0% to 100%, the likelihood of adoption increases from about 10% to about 60%. As black support rises from 0% to 100%, though, the odds of enactment fall3 from roughly 40% to roughly 30%.

    The common good is a practice that ignores black voters.

    https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/black-voters-are-so-loyal-that-their-issues-get-ignored/


    If you believe that The “Common Good” means ignoring the concerns of black voters, you might as well start work on your own country right now that doesn't allow anyone but blacks, because "the common good" is the basic principle of democracy.

    Must mean that the blacks that are advertised to be speakers and musicians at the tour events and have put their faces on the Twitter page, according to rmrd, they are traitors to what he calls "the black community"?

    For everyone else, from the NYTimes article, their current goal:

    In the weeks leading up to Election Day, a group of progressive Christians — largely Democrats who are also evangelicals — are organizing small rallies in some 20 battleground House districts across the country. Their goal is to urge Christians to vote for Democrats and counter Trump administration policies that oppose their religious beliefs — especially on immigration, health care and poverty.

    The group, Vote Common Good, hopes that shifting even a small percentage of evangelical voters will make a difference at the polls.

     


    p.s. repeating a comment I put on rmrd's "Identity Politics" post, no need to get into theory and principles, really, there's the urgency of reality:

    you need to identify this, let it sink in real good:

    If you're a voter in North Dakota, your vote is 26x more important in determining the fate of the Senate than the average American voter's. https://t.co/LUBG6Osgmapic.twitter.com/3xOhgi5LvI

    — Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) September 12, 2018

    and do look at all the states on Nate's graph. These Common Good people are doing a really smart thing, really smart. All they have to do is turn just a few. 


    The reason Abrams and Gillum won Gubernatorial races was that they rejected.outreach to Republicans 

    Abrams opponent lost because she was trying to attract Republican voters. Abrams focused on the base and Independents.

    The Democratic base is agreeing with the need for identity politics 

    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/democrats-are-changing-thei...



    Made me think of Doonesbury yesterday: http://doonesbury.washingtonpost.com/strip/archive/2018/9/16

     


    hah, yeah, makes me think the human race may not survive everyone creating their own vocabulary after they get done creating their own narrative...



    Over 3,100 people showed up in Plano, Texas, yesterday to listen to Beto O’Rourke in 90 degree temps. As someone who lived in Plano, I can assure you it isn’t a progressive city. Trump carried Collin County in 2016. This is big, y’all.

    Vote @BetoORourke https://t.co/l7wcx7ZJO8

    — Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) September 16, 2018

    In Plano tonight. I grew up here and I can’t ever remember seeing so many Senate yard signs. They’re all for Beto!! https://t.co/Jw8xKjNS9o

    — TraderBrendan (@traderpolice) September 16, 2018

    Here's hoping they flush the scoundrel Ted Cruz.  Go Beto.


    Yeah, cross fingers. People forget Texas has not always been the right-wing conservative Republican state it is branded as by many now. For example, there was Ann Richards as governor followed by George W. Bush, who only pandered to the right wing while complaining about them behind their backs.


    Yes, it's possible for things to change very quickly. I'm not making a prediction. I don't know how it will turn out. But not just Texas, remember just 10 years ago democrats had 60 votes in the senate. Anything is possible.


    I see from recent polls Cruz is ahead something like 9 points, but that is a quite doable margin when you've got momentum like O'Rourke has at this point in time, and given that they are going to have debates--if I recall reading that correctly. Which brings me back to the post topic, mho,  all he has to do in debates to avoid reversing momentum is "common good, common good, common good". And let Cruz pander, as he has been doing, to old timey rural tribe, with anti-elite anti-urban tropes like coastals eating soy barbecue. Even Trump MAGA is not that troglodyte, this is after all the birthplace of Tex Mex cuisine, most people, even in Texas don't eat just meat and potatoes any more.

    Sure wouldn't want to have a beer with Cruz?


    on the local level:

     


    This is not a “both sides do it issue” This is Republicans launching racist attacks. A column in the WaPo asks why white racists feel so comfortable in the GOP

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/09/20/why-do-all-...

    There is nothing that Gillum can do about the racism in the GOP. The Republicans allow these people into their ranks. They are now reaping the whirlwind. 


    that's because he's smart enough to not take the bait coming from trolls, unlike you and your tribal buddies who would prefer to eat it all up and fight them damn racists, ramp it up, have another civil war, splinter the country to death, have racial sectors, all because of Trump trolling. Hate begets hate, even phony troll hate, eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.


    Reality check:

    I, along with my tribe, am making comments online in a blog post. The tribe plans to combat the white supremacists (aka GOP) by voting in November. We call racists exactly what they are. Regarding a possible Civil War, it will be the white supremacists who start shooting. Georgia Gubernatorial candidate held a campaign event where white supremacists showed up and yelled at female veterans. One of the men is a former felon who called for killing black women and children on sight. These are thugs. So far, no one has been hurt, but these thugs are ready to do physical harm. There is nothing that either Gillum or Abrams can do in these situations. The violence is completely in the hands of the white suprmacists.

    https://www.theroot.com/shoot-them-on-sight-stacey-abrams-campaign-haras...

    Lives are in jeopardy and you are telling those under attack to be calm. You have no plan to offer true aid.I view your position as akin to a person at a BBQ who sees a house on fire and begins arguing about the potato salad. This is where the nonsense spouted by Fukuyama, Appiah, and Williams leads you. You see the racist attacks and your advice is to ignore them. The best approach is to shine the light at the roaches and let them scatter. We need to name the supremacists and publicly shame them. We need to tie these evil people to the party that let them into their ranks, the Republicans. White supremacists don’t need identity politics to hate and do harm. What will you say when someone is hurt because we ignored the thugs?


    Don't know that I agree 100% with this, but it is worth a read and a thought or two about new possible "common good" coalitions:


    Somehow growing up Sunday School was more important than the big preacher lecture in the main chapel, the little circle where we actually talked about stuff.

    Meanwhile my school is planning its reunion next month and no one has bothered to talk to me in the 5 months since they figured out where I was - high school trends continue. (Let me guess that I won't get 65 girls to defend me againste rhose axe murder charges, but it is mildly amusing to see the ole gang yuck it up like back in the cafeteria)

    Long way of saying yeah, maybe church balances school. Waiting for the Mean Girls/Heathers rebuttal.


    Joshua Johnson of NPR, his 1A site based @ Washington DC's WAMU:

    “America is divided, but millions of us are still eager to come together. 1A proves that every day. We take on tough subjects in a thoughtful, civil and meaningful way. It’s exactly the kind of conversation this nation desperately needs. And it can only happen when you show your support.”

    — Joshua Johnson


    looking hopeful, some indicators that some "common good" voting rather than partisanship might happen:

     


    empty dupe due to code problem


    The tribalism vs. globalism generation gap in the UK, a picture worth a thousand words:

     


    Identity Politics Does Not Continue the Work of the Civil Rights Movements

    By Helen Pluckrose & James A. Lindsay @ Aero Magazine, Sept. 25

    It is nearly beyond dispute that the Civil Rights Movement, second-wave liberal feminism, and Gay Pride were liberal projects, both in the broad philosophical sense and in the narrower meaning that arises within contemporary politics. Nevertheless, it is common for those of us who consider ourselves liberal in either sense, or both, to be told we must disapprove of these great liberal successes. This occurs when we criticize identity politics.

    This peculiar criticism follows an insistence that these civil rights movements must be a form of identity politics because they advocated very explicitly for a certain identity group. No. This is never what liberal critics of “identity politics” mean by the term. It is fully consistent with—indeed, integral to—universal liberalism to advocate for universal human rights, freedoms, and opportunities by focusing on the identity groups who lack them. This advocacy, however, is not identity politics.

    This is not a mere semantic quibble. It is vital to distinguish between universal liberalism and identity politics and recognize what they share in common alongside how they differ. Both see and oppose inequality and seek to remedy it, but they do so with very different conceptions of society and use different approaches. These differences matter. Universal liberalism focuses on individuality and shared humanity and seeks to achieve a society in which every individual is equally able to access every right, freedom, and opportunity that our shared societies provide. Identity politics focuses explicitly on group identity and seeks political empowerment by promoting that group as a monolithic, marginalized entity distinct from and polarized against another group depicted as a monolithic privileged entity.

    Universal Liberalism

    It is essential to understand that “liberal” does not indicate a place on the left of the political spectrum, as it is often used in the United States. Neither does it indicate a place on the right of the political spectrum, as it is often used in Australia. Rather, it is a philosophical and ethical position with a long history which focuses on individuality, liberty, and equal opportunity. In fact, it is found in decidedly left-wing political positions, decidedly right-wingones, libertarian ones, and among the unaffiliated but broadly centrist. Therefore, universal liberalism is a widely held principle, and it is one which grew out of Enlightenment thought and the founding of secular, liberal democracies. As such, it birthed the civil rights movements.

    The Civil Rights Movement, second-wave liberal feminism, and Gay Pride functioned explicitly on these values of universal human rights and did so to forward the worth of the individual regardless of status of race, gender, sex, sexuality, or other markers of identity. They proceeded by appealing directly to universal human rights applying universally. 

    They demanded that people of color, women, and sexual minorities no longer be discriminated against and treated as second class citizens. They insisted that within a liberal society that makes good on its promises to its citizens, everyone should be given the full range of rights, freedoms, and opportunities.

    Martin Luther King, Jr., articulated this ethos of individuality and shared humanity explicitly when he said, “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Liberal feminists did so when they sought to have access to the same careers as men, the same pay [....]



    I don't really see either BLM or MeToo as "identity politics" - they're movements by victims of murder/violence and rape/subsequent harassment & job discrimination.  Sure, the crime victims in each have a certain M.O., but to me it's not "oh, let's sympathize with blacks and women" so much as "hey, let's help this huge number of crime victims". If Parkland High were an all black or all female school, it wouldn't much change the anti-gun response.


    From special IDENTITY CRISIS issue of Spiked Review, September 27- 28, 2018.

    [Spiked is a publication centered in London, England. From their about us page: Launched in December 2015 and edited by Tim Black, the spiked review is dedicated to the long-form – the essay, the interview and the in-depth review. It aims to provide a vital space for some of the most interesting minds out there to give full vent to their ideas and insights.The spiked review is nothing without the intellectual verve of its contributors. They all share a common commitment: to shed light.]

    My problem with black identity; Remi Adekoya on the danger of racial politics.

    By Remi Adekoya​

    Remi Adekoya is Polish­-Nigerian. He is the former political editor of the Warsaw Business Journal. He has written for Foreign Affairs, Politico and several Polish newspapers such as Gazeta Wyborcza, Wprost, naTemat.pl, Central European Financial Observer and Poland Today. He has provided socio­political commentary and analysis for BBC, Foreign Policy, Stratfor and Radio France International among others. He is currently conducting PhD research on identity politics. He tweets @RemiAdekoya1 ~ TheGuardian.com

    Racism fatigue. Is it time to turn away from raciology?

    By Diran Adebayo​

    Image result for diran adebayo

    Diran Adebayo FRSL is a British novelist, cultural critic and academic best known for his stylish, inventive tales of London and the lives of African diasporans. His work has been characterised by its interest in multiple cultural identities, subcultures, and its distinctive, "musical" use of language..... ~ Wikipedia

    ‘We need to think of ourselves as Americans’ Sheri Berman on how identity politics harms democracy.

    By Shari Berman

    Sheri Berman is a professor of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University.  Her research interests include European history and politics; the development of democracy; populism and fascism; and the history of the left.  She has written about these topics for a wide variety of scholarly and non-scholarly publications, including the New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, and VOX.  She currently serves on the boards of the Journal of Democracy, Dissent and Political Science Quarterly.  Her most recent book, Democracy and Dictatorship: From the Ancien Regime to the Present Day, is forthcoming from Oxford University Press. ~ Barnard website.


    A reminder that Russian trolls goal is to stoke Identity Politics in order to get Americans to distrust and fear one another. We know that trolls on social media are trying to sow discord. Here is a visual guide to their strategy. Emma Cott/The New York Times


    The identity politics argument boils down to what ethnic minorities have to do in order to receive empathy from the white majority.This seems to be about respectable Negro 2.0. While a subset of people focus on identity politics, a majority of the country realizes that Donald Trump as encouraging white nationalists, a much bigger problem

    https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/401779-poll-majority-of-amer...

    The push for civil rights continues unabated.

    Black women are running for office in record numbers

    https://www.essence.com/festival/2018-essence-festival/luvvie-ajayi-blac...

    Work is being done to energize black voters

    http://time.com/5389711/black-women-voters-2018-midterms/

    Work is being done to combat voter suppression

    https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/how-to-fight-voter-suppr...

    https://www.lwv.org/voting-rights/fighting-voter-suppression

    I don’t see evidence that the push for civil rights is being hampered by individual discussions about identity politics.

     

     

     


    How is it you can't realize that you're part of the subset that focuses on identity politics.


    I never said that I did not see identity politics as a necessity. I see white supremacy as the big danger. I think Trump encourages racists. I see the ink wasted criticizing identity politics is a diversion. The reason that blacks, Latinos, Asians, women, and LGBT organize is that they are combating white supremacy.

    I separate white supremacy from being another form of identity politics because I see it as the reason marginalized people have to organize. I also see white supremacy as intransigent whereas subsets of Identity politics groups can work together.


    Chinese Supremacy has 1 million Uighurs in lockup and buying/building a global network of dual use naval ports. What's whitey got?

    Kinda like when people say it was a mistake to give guns and stingers to the Mujahadeen who brought the $600 billion a year Soviet army to its knees - cuz like right, who controls Kabul is more important than nukes and tanks and the Iron Curtain in Europe.

    Perspective, buddy - take a breath. Even those white supremacists are held in chec by a ton more white & other non-supremacists. If nothing else, enjoy global warming which will burn all of them up.


    Whitey has a white supremacist in the White House with support of 40% per 538. Whitey has a rigged judicial system.  

    The idea of identity politics began with the idea that groups who were marginalized by society and fought for their rights would also fight for the rights of others. The Combahee River Collective, where the phrase originated said the following:

    “If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.” The original intent of identity politics was articulating black women’s struggle at the nexus of race, gender, sexual, and class oppressions, and then forming strategies for dismantling each of these, both in black feminist spaces and in coalition with other groups.

    https://newrepublic.com/article/144739/liberals-get-wrong-identity-politics

    Identity politics from marginalized groups would led to freedom for others. White identity politics is selfish.

     

    Martin Luther King Jr. described how fighting for rights for lack people directly led for fighting for the rights of others.

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/martin-luther-kings-powerful-defense-of-identity-politics-from-birmingham-jail

    Try something as simple as removing symbols of white supremacy like Confederate statues and flags and watch the backlash. Take a knee to protest police violence and watch it turn into an assault on the military. Whitey is doing okay.

     


    Screaming that everyone of one majority race is responsible for the actions of a small subset with the same color of skin = brilliant tactic to get their votes, doh, why didn't anyone think of it?


    The Democrats are focusing on so-called identity politics. The Democrats won seats in the House.

    Ralph Northam is beginning his healing tour at Virginia Union this week. It is going to be all about white privilege. He will explain how he has black friends but didn’t know blackface was bad until he became governor.


    Right, they won over all those white suburban women with Republican husbands that gave them the House with identity politics: NOT.


    The important thing is that the democrats did it by expanding the numbers of suburban women who voted. None of them were Trump voters that flipped to democrats because anyone who voted for Trump is irredeemably racist and it's a waste of time to try to get them to flip.


    And what's more, I bet they are the type that is excited about pure candidates who don't have any nasty photos in their college yearbooks and can really talk the talk about white privilege. Bet they don't care about silly things like health care, local schools and the cost of college, but care about hashing out what's really important: who has been the most victimized in this country's history. Which Trump has laid bare by taking to Identity Politics wholeheartedly. Let the discourse begin, in every campaign: we come last because we have white privilege! Whoever says that gets their vote! (Also, they want some socialism if it can be fit in...)


    More seriously, after seeing this reminder, comes to mind if you are smitten with and absolutely have to do Identity Politics of some kind, the suburban swings tribe really seems to be where it's at for the foreseeable future in the national races:

    The gerrymandering conversation quieted down after 2018 because Democrats won the House but there’s a scenario where Dems win the two-party vote 51-49 and consequently lose the Electoral College, lose one Senate seat, and lose control of the House.

    — Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) February 18, 2019

    C-SPAN had separate segments featuring Fukuyama and Appiah. Both men had little to offer regarding solutions to what they see is a major problem.


    A pastor simpatico with "common good" movement just got a MacArthur genius grant:

    William J. Barber II, 55, pastor and social justice advocate
    "Building broad-based fusion coalitions as part of a moral movement to confront racial and economic inequality."



    I’ve always loved basketball because it’s about building a team that’s equal to more than the sum of its parts. Glad to see this expansion into Africa because for a rising continent, this can be about a lot more than what happens on the court. https://t.co/lghcLaUN9a

    — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 16, 2019

    Edit to add: not that I agree with him in any way that professional basketball well serves the metaphor he is using it for. laugh


    People keep talking about voting for the common good but that seems to be a rather low bar. We have corporations who are working not just for the common good but going above and beyond. Our government can do better!.

     

     

     


    All depends on what your definition of "uncommon" is. wink


    Tribalist Identity Politics vs. the common good in Britain:what Suzanne Moore says in this piece @ The Guardian "Are the Gang of Seven Right to Split from Labour?":

    Politics is broken, we all know that. We are completely stuck. The two-party system strangles any innovation at birth. It has calcified in the last few years into total crisis. Representative democracy is not working in any meaningful way. We sit agog as deals are done, bungs offered and amendments made. Both main parties are in hock to their extremists and to unelected advisors.

    Those who can watch a heavily pregnant Jewish woman saying that she has been bullied out of the Labour party, that this party is institutionally racist, and think nothing of it – all while she is being abused right now on social media – need to take a long, hard look themselves. Don’t bleat on about the moral integrity of some future socialism when this is what’s happening now.

    Antisemitism and the leadership’s position on Russia and Venezuela are not uppermost on the doorstep. Not even Brexit is. It’s housing, jobs and hospitals – all of which are good reason to want a Labour government. But at what price? Sometimes you have to ask who your fellow travellers are, and what they are asking you to go along with. We can all spout on about ending neoliberalism. It’s harder to understand how Labour might end the barrage of abuse its women and Jewish MPs face.

    The viciousness of attacks on anyone who doesn’t worship Corbyn, this continued cry of “centrist” as a meaningless insult [....]


    Bad media, bad questions, bad media. Might as well bring back O'Reilly to ask about Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays:

    Just say no to culture wars. Or perhaps this commenter says it best:

     


    The ultimate anti-tribal "common good" guy liberal:


    ancient words of wisdom:

    Schol. bT ad Il. 9.63

    “Athemistios: like wild beasts, lawless, the way the Kyklopes distribute laws to only their children and wives—they preserve what is just for those related to them."

    ἀθέμιστος: θηριώδης, ἄνομος, ὅπου καὶ Κύκλωπες θεμιστεύουσι „παίδων ἠδ’ ἀλόχων” (ι 115), οἱονεὶ τὸ περὶ τὴν συγγένειαν φυλάσσουσι δίκαιον.

    Zenobius, 3.77

    “In a time of civil strife, even a complete bastard gets ahead”

    ᾿Εν δὲ διχοστασίῃ καὶ ὁ πάγκακοςε τιμῆς ἔμμορ


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