dagblog - Comments for "Now is the Time"

No version of left populism

Ramona — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:52:21 +0000

In reply to Voters are populists. There

No version of left populism for the voters in November? I can think of two right off the bat and I have no doubt there were plenty more.

Russ Feingold for Senate (Incumbent)

Virg Bernero for Governor (Michigan)

Both of them fit the liberal/progressive bill perfectly. Both of them lost.

I can't remember if it was

Elusive Trope — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 22:50:31 +0000

In reply to See you never swore once and

I can't remember if it was King Richard or Senator Nelson that said:

I shall despair. There is no creature loves me;
And if I die, no soul shall pity me.
Nay, wherefore should they? since that I myself
Find in myself no pity to myself.

See you never swore once and

Richard Day — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:44:09 +0000

In reply to Now is the Time

See you never swore once and you won the day. hahahah

Nelson is and was such a schmuck. hahaha I hate that guy but you throw his successor into the repub caucus and we are screwed.

I mentioned this many times over the last three years. Oh but we have principals or principles or whatever. Well so have the teabaggers.

Coalitions are fragile to say the least!

The enemy of your enemy becomes the enemy of your enemy of your enemy and Richard III shows up. hahaha

Oh well....

Maybe they'll get tired of

Peter Schwartz — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:27:19 +0000

In reply to There is buyer's remorse here

Maybe they'll get tired of West's threatening tirades, too. Guy has anger management problems, I fear.

I share what I think are your

Peter Schwartz — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:26:25 +0000

In reply to I always get a little

I share what I think are your concerns.

To me, populism often seems to bleed over into angry mob-ism...a storm of popular emotion that spreads quickly, but has no reason and fails to see the big picture.

This may be because populist movements arise when "the people" feel they haven't been listened to and their concerns and needs haven't been addressed. And when their elected leaders act in ways that don't make sense and at least appear to be inimicable to "the people's" best interests. They feel pressed to the limit and are mad as hell and aren't going to take it anymore.

Once they get mad enough to march, it's hard to bring them back within the bounds of reason. So it's important for us to act before the pot starts boiling.

But what struck me about this caller was that he should be smack dab in the middle of the Republican, Tea Party demographic. And yet, apparently, he had busted through all that to see what his real interests were. Who knows where he'll end up, but it was a fascinating call to listen to.

There is buyer's remorse here

trkingmomoe — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 04:35:02 +0000

In reply to I was listening to Diane Rehm

There is buyer's remorse here in Florida, with the behavior of Rick Scott and his congress voters are growing weary. The talk of cuts in programs that the retirees depend on is not helping.

I always get a little

Elusive Trope — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:51:29 +0000

In reply to I was listening to Diane Rehm

I always get a little concerned when I hear the term "populism" bantered about as a strategy. The problem with populism is can't help but become a like a sports agent, always pushing for the best deal for his or her client. While working families do need to get some serious support from the government, sometimes one has to say this group has to give a little in order for another less well off group to get a little. In other words, once one goes down the path of populism I doubt one can avoid slipping into the rigid extremism we see with tea baggers (it is interesting to note that most tea baggers are all for their particular pet budget items not to be touched)

I was listening to Diane Rehm

Peter Schwartz — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:02:29 +0000

In reply to Voters are populists. There

I was listening to Diane Rehm the other day where she and guests were talking about the budget, I believe.

One caller knocked my socks off. He was an evangelical from FL who had become a Republican because of the party's stance on religious issues.

But he is now abandoning the party because he and his wife (a teacher) see that the Republican party stands only for the monied class (my words, but his thought).

Here was a guy who is waking up to his own economic interests. I was stunned.

An economic, left populism could work as long as it fought fervently for the middle and working class without becoming rigidly extreme as the baggers have done.

If voters are strictly

Elusive Trope — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 06:46:35 +0000

In reply to Voters are populists. There

If voters are strictly populists, then we're doomed. We can only move forward when voters vote for the seventh generation.

Voters are populists. There

Dan Kervick — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 06:27:35 +0000

In reply to Based on the recent voter

Voters are populists. There is no version of left populism available in the marketplace and so voters went with right populists. But we can see already that there has been a backlash against the extremism of the right in the state budget battles that have taken place since 2010. Still people are confused and disoriented by the absence of anything coming from the Obama camp that is a response to their frustrations.