If youâve ever wondered why people are disillusioned with the Democratic Party, look no further than this slow-motion knife fight at the DNC. David Hoggâyes, that David Hogg, the one who survived a mass shooting and then made it his mission to wake up a sleepwalking partyâis now being cornered by the very institution he tried to revitalize.
Why? Because he had the audacity to suggest that maybe, just maybe, the Democratic machine should stop rubber-stamping incumbents and start earning votes again.
Letâs not sugarcoat it: Hoggâs real offense was breaking the unspoken rule of modern party politicsâdonât rock the boat unless itâs for a photo op. His proposal to spend $20 million challenging complacent Dems in safe districts was seen as heresy.
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And now, unless this internal coup is stopped, itâll send a chilling message to every grassroots leader watching: sit down, shut up, and wait your turn. Even if the house is on fire.
If the Democratic Party wants to hold the moral high ground, it has to stop burying its own insurgents. The real problem isnât that Hogg wants reformâitâs that too many in power donât. And voters are watching.
If youâve ever wondered why people are disillusioned with the Democratic Party, look no further than this slow-motion knife fight at the DNC. David Hoggâyes, that David Hogg, the one who survived a mass shooting and then made it his mission to wake up a sleepwalking partyâis now being cornered by the very institution he tried to revitalize.
Why? Because he had the audacity to suggest that maybe, just maybe, the Democratic machine should stop rubber-stamping incumbents and start earning votes again.
Letâs not sugarcoat it: Hoggâs real offense was breaking the unspoken rule of modern party politicsâdonât rock the boat unless itâs for a photo op. His proposal to spend $20 million challenging complacent Dems in safe districts was seen as heresy.
The kind of heresy that terrifies party leadership far more than any MAGA rally ever could. Because heaven forbid someone hold blue powerbrokers accountable for drifting into corporate comfort zones and backroom deals.
So now the DNC is dusting off the procedural rulebook and doing its best impression of the GOP playbook: when someone threatens your control, change the rules. Hide behind credentials committees. Say itâs about bylaws, not backlash. Frame it as âcleaning houseâ while pretending not to notice the smell of hypocrisy in the air.
And letâs not forget the irony here: the party that champions youth engagement and gun reform is going after the most prominent youth gun reformer on its own team.
The same DNC that sends fundraising emails about saving democracy is now dogpiling a Gen Z activist for trying to use his democratic voice. You canât make this up. Actually, you donât need toâPolitico already did.
The establishment isnât just afraid of losing elections. Theyâre afraid of losing control. Hogg isnât being ousted because he failed; heâs being targeted because he dared to succeed on his own terms.
And now, unless this internal coup is stopped, itâll send a chilling message to every grassroots leader watching: sit down, shut up, and wait your turn. Even if the house is on fire.
If the Democratic Party wants to hold the moral high ground, it has to stop burying its own insurgents. The real problem isnât that Hogg wants reformâitâs that too many in power donât. And voters are watching.
Democrats haven't been this angry since republicans freed their slaves.
Let's go back over 140 years ago and re-weave history: Republicans in the 1860's had an articulate, hard working back woodsman, who taught himself to read and write and passed the bar to become a lawyer in direct contradiction to a potty-mouthed spoiled boy-brat who enjoyed toying with the help by threatening consequences to actions his lil diaper didn't like.
Selective Outrage also comes with your choice of sides: Peas, Green Beans or Cucumber Salad.
Democrats haven't been this angry since republicans freed their slaves.
And if you believe today's Democratic & Republican parties are the same parties they were in the middle of the 19th century, you have zero grasp of history.
What I now find incredibly baffling is this new train of thought that... because the Democrat platform/messaging in this past election did not "speak" to enough voters to win... that we all got what we bargained for and that Democrats are as much to blame for the destruction going on now as MAGA Republicans.
That's complete bullsh*t and I have no idea how this convoluted thought process has gained any traction. Democrats did not run the race that they needed to but the act of "losing" doesn't make them responsible for the sh*t-show currently taking place.
I'm all for a bit of rocking the boat, but I don't think we should set it on fire because we don't like the paint color.
We should fix the border. Government is too big and inefficient. We should make our allies contribute a fair amount to defense...and commerce. I used to align to Republican values, but the party changed. I was Republican all the way down to abortion was wrong, but after raising kids, and seeing how so many parents and kids struggle, I came to the realization that I just can't decide what's best for other people. There are obviously limits, but when someone decides they want to terminate a pregnancy, I accept they are doing so with good reason.
But the Republican party went from conservatism to hatred, and Donald Trump was the accelerant.
I believe in rules and fairness. Donald Trump believes that anything is OK so long as he gets more. He doesn't care about America or Americans, he cares that so many of them will bow down to him, and that makes him feel important and powerful. You gave him that power. You let him tell you exactly what you wanted to hear, and instead of standing for something and calling out is illicit activities and lies, you decided that pissing off others was more fun. It felt better. Everyone else hates him? Then he's my guy because I hate them. Trans kids, DEI warriors, BLM... screw 'em. They've been getting away with waaaayyyyy too much for decades, so let's pull in the reins.
No need to write a book here. As much as I think they are nicer people, I'm not a liberal. I'm more aligned to your side than theirs, but Trump is not the answer. He's created nothing. He hasn't even finished the damn wall. Burning shit down is overused with Trump, but it's just so damn appropriate. Any idiot can destroy a building. A lot could create a structure, but there are only a few who you trust to build the house you sleep in. I think we need to demand more of both parties, but the only way that happens is when rational people come to the middle to solve problems for the majority of Americans. Donald Trump sold you on those ideas, but is now working very hard to fuck everyone without a private plane. I can't support that.
One last thing...
I find the trans athlete discussion fascinating for countless reasons. Most of those reasons come back to fairness and rules (like I said above). It's fascinating because it's such a tiny spec of an issue, but has galvanized an entire party with anger. I sparred with my wife about the Lea Thomas issue. Is it fair for her to compete the way she did? Probably not... but she followed the rules. She did what they told her to do so that she could compete, and when she returned to competition she was just a bit too good. That's not her fault. If it's because it was a poorly created rule with bad assumptions...fix the rules. Don't make her, and the tiny population of trans athletes the villain.
John Oliver did a piece on this over the weekend, and it really does address the insanity.
It's long...but does a good job at highlighting the Right's unreasonable hatred toward trans people. I think we've got bigger issues to address.
...the Republicans have been more about scapegoating and presenting the world as a zero sum game where if anyone else is benefiting, it is taking something from "you".
...
Exactly!
Reducing everything to tariff rates and import/export surplus ignores the vast power of influence and the benefits that benevolence bestows. We were great because our grandparents fought on the side of justice and when the fighting was over, they invested in making the world a safer place.
The painful irony is that the MAGA enthusiasts embrace someone who so directly and unapologetically shits on the policies and alliances created by those who made it great to begin with.
Too bad Reagan didn't live long enough to see his legacy destroyed. Some of his progeny are decent humans. Unfortunately, the ones who would probably feel some angst at the current goings on are deep in the koolaid and probably blindly cheering their own 'enemies'.
Thank you for articulating the same exact way I feel right now. I've been a lifelong Republican and technically still am, but I can't condone or support the destructive, dangerous, incompetent lunacy of Trump and his administration. There is currently a man that has been improperly deported that apparently has to use the courts to try and fight his way back into America because the heartless, soulless administration could give two f*cks. The stripping away of individual rights has now become the "new normal". America becoming Russia is not what anyone wants to see.
Efficient government, a rational immigration policy and a sane defense budget that makes our country safe are not exclusive wishes of the Republicans. They have been successful in painting this vision, but it's simply not true. If you actually look at policies and results from the majority of our lifetimes, you would see that the Democrat presidents have been better on finances than the Republicans, and overall the leadership of the Democrats has done more to help more people overall. This in turn helps our overall society and makes everything better. Since Reagan (probably earlier... ), the Republicans have been more about scapegoating and presenting the world as a zero sum game where if anyone else is benefiting, it is taking something from "you". The truth is that Clinton was better for all of these policy goals than any other president in modern history. Obama might have been better, but he had a mess to clean up from Bush v2, and he had a strong and organized opposition that was good at being a group of assholes. Clinton is the only modern president to pay down the National debt, and he rationally reduced the size of government. He had his issues, but he did more for most Americans than any Republican in recent history.
I'm not really a Democrat either, and probably tend more toward the libertarians (although that party regularly goes way too far on any policy). I really want a mix of approaches and proper checks and balances (not obstruction). The game show our politics have become is what will be the end of our union. The result will be smaller and weaker for it.
I'm all for a bit of rocking the boat, but I don't think we should set it on fire because we don't like the paint color.
We should fix the border. Government is too big and inefficient. We should make our allies contribute a fair amount to defense...and commerce. I used to align to Republican values, but the party changed. I was Republican all the way down to abortion was wrong, but after raising kids, and seeing how so many parents and kids struggle, I came to the realization that I just can't decide what's best for other people. There are obviously limits, but when someone decides they want to terminate a pregnancy, I accept they are doing so with good reason.
But the Republican party went from conservatism to hatred, and Donald Trump was the accelerant.
I believe in rules and fairness. Donald Trump believes that anything is OK so long as he gets more. He doesn't care about America or Americans, he cares that so many of them will bow down to him, and that makes him feel important and powerful. You gave him that power. You let him tell you exactly what you wanted to hear, and instead of standing for something and calling out is illicit activities and lies, you decided that pissing off others was more fun. It felt better. Everyone else hates him? Then he's my guy because I hate them. Trans kids, DEI warriors, BLM... screw 'em. They've been getting away with waaaayyyyy too much for decades, so let's pull in the reins.
No need to write a book here. As much as I think they are nicer people, I'm not a liberal. I'm more aligned to your side than theirs, but Trump is not the answer. He's created nothing. He hasn't even finished the damn wall. Burning shit down is overused with Trump, but it's just so damn appropriate. Any idiot can destroy a building. A lot could create a structure, but there are only a few who you trust to build the house you sleep in. I think we need to demand more of both parties, but the only way that happens is when rational people come to the middle to solve problems for the majority of Americans. Donald Trump sold you on those ideas, but is now working very hard to fuck everyone without a private plane. I can't support that.
Thank you for articulating the same exact way I feel right now. I've been a lifelong Republican and technically still am, but I can't condone or support the destructive, dangerous, incompetent lunacy of Trump and his administration. There is currently a man that has been improperly deported that apparently has to use the courts to try and fight his way back into America because the heartless, soulless administration could give two f*cks. The stripping away of individual rights has now become the "new normal". America becoming Russia is not what anyone wants to see.
