Anarchists Versus Me

[AtomicKitten]

Some old feelings were dredged up when my "ilk" was referred to as a "screeching cheerleader" because of my support for Al Gore.

I wrote as a staunch Democrat for a Green Paper from 2002 through 2004. On most issues we agree. However, just know that I've had all the knock down drag-outs I require for my lifetime and I will not be bullied nor silenced into acquiescing to the moral finger-wagging that seems to be emerging on these boards.

Because I'm pulling for Gore does not mean I am oblivious to his moderate past. What it means is that I'm prepared to support a less than perfect candidate in 2008. Just know they are all imperfect.

I'm too old for this shit and will fight tooth and nail to get out from under a GOP regime. Although I adamantly oppose the Iraq War and feel anybody that enabled it is unfit to run for president, I also can acknowledge the reality of the situation and that is one of those just may become our nominee (Gore ain't looking so bad about now, right?) In that light, I can find some really good qualities in our candidates - all of them.

So, please, spare me the brow-beating about being a "screeching cheerleader" and supporting corporatist, DLC lovin' - whatever. That inaccurate and tired assault not only rings false, it is counterproductive to changing the status quo. Because, let's face it, any one of our candidates is much, much better than any one of theirs.

Like it or not, we are in this together and although we don't agree on every issue, let the glue that binds us together be that which we have in common.

[wildhorses]

1. i am an anarchist and, i support gore

:patriot:

my last ditch effort...

[AtomicKitten]

3. glad to hear they are not mutually exclusive

:toast:

[patrice]

2. . . . and besides . . .

Whichever Democrat becomes President, what happens next is at least 50% the result of who and what we are. That's what we have most in common.

[MGKrebs]

4. I have come to believe that when and where we- the acivists,

and/or circumstances- create a constituency that supports progressive candidates, then progressive candidates will run. Expecting presidential candidates to succeed by essentially leading a revolution is unrealistic in my view. Presidential politics is pretty much the essence of "centrism". If we want different candidates, we will need to convince the electorate to accept them.

[AtomicKitten]

15. I am fully supportive of building

third, fourth, etc. parties from the ground up. It's the only kind of structure that can survive and actually continue to grow.

It is the throwing of a someone repeatedly at the top job with unrealistic to the point of absurd expectations and bellicose certainty of a different outcome, in the process mucking up a real nail-biter that has been demonstrated to be literally between good evil that makes me a little cranky.

[wyldwolf]

5. here's some words from bartcop on perfect and imperfect candidates

Let's talk about two eighth grader Democrats, Bill and Bob, who each have $5 in their hand.
It's their school lunch break, and they're trying to decide where to eat lunch.

Bill the leftist can't decide between lunch in Maui or lunch in Paris.
Bob the centrist can't decide between Arbys and Subway.

Many Democrats on the left think their choices are Maui or Paris.
That's crazy talk - those options are NOT on the table.
Why can't people tell the difference netween what's there and what's not?

Sure, we can debate whether a roast beef from Arbys is better than fine roasted snails with
fine goo sauce and fine frog legs (For the record, give me Arbys) but in the end, all the sane people
know Maui and Paris aren't viable lunch options - but people still complain that Arbys isn't their
dream restaurant and they're mad at Arbys for not being more French. Stop it!

Like all the other ruts, we have to find a way out of this rhetorical rut. I don't want to sound like
Mr Eat-your-spinich, but this isn't "The Way Things Ought to Be," this is "How Things Are."
We have to deal with what's real, not fantasy.

Today's BIG Question:
What words can I use to make people see the difference between real and fake options?
Tell me why people who want a president who's not on the ballot don't get it..
Tell me how to get a message to the dreamers who are waiting for a White Knight to
scoop them up and deliver then to Nirvana or Valhallah or the Invisible Cloud Kingdom.

If you put any candidate up against a mythical "perfect" candidate, reality always looks bad.
Thinking like that is likely to get us four more years

[MGKrebs]

6. That is fine in terms of a campaign.

But people can (and I think should) have ideals or principles or a philosophy by which they determine how close their candidates match up. I wouldn't want to advocate that we always just take the candidate who has the best chance of winning no matter what they stand for. There has to be some limits. As a friend says, we have a big tent but it's not an infinite tent.

Also, to me "centrism" is a campaign tactic, not a philosophy. Centrism only exists in relation to the fixed principles established by the ideologues. Ideologues should always aim for the goal, but we often do have to "take what we can get".

[BootinUp]

9. One of the criteria I use

is whether I think the candidate can sway the majority to follow. That takes more than just having the right ideas or even the most centrist ideas.

[AtomicKitten]

16. that's called democracy, baby, the way it works

I am a mutant at DU in that regard because I've always thought diversity in all forms including opinion is kinda groovy.

[bvar22]

8. That's a tortured analogy! (Invalid too)

There ARE thousands of alternatives between Arby's and Paris!!
I prefer Subway.
Or better yet, a brownbaged sandwich made from fresh organically grown tomato, onion, lettuce, egg and jalapeno from my own garden. YUM!

*I KNOW what I'm eating.

*It IS healthy.

*It costs less than Arby's

*I'm not supporting mega-corporations and factory farms that are getting RICH feeding Americans poison.

SEE America!
YOU don't have to settle for LESS (Arbys)(DLC)!
Mediocrity SUCKS!
You DESERVE better!
There ARE alternatives!
Think for Yourself!
GO for the Gold!



The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

[MGKrebs]

10. That is a fine goal for all progressives to strive for, but

not everyone- not even all progressives- will be in a position to achieve that goal at all times. A progressive Party can advocate that as an ideal, but we must recognize that some candidates in some locales will not be able to advocate jalapenos. Have issues with the pro-Arby's candidate, but if the anti-jalapeno candidate is the best we got in that race, let's not choose Pizza Hut.

[Uncle Joe]

7. Even though I'm a raging moderate, I like your post.

Maybe I'm the screeching cheerleader?:cry:


Kicked and recommended

[Mabus]

11. You're a raging moderate?

I just think of you as Uncle Joe. :loveya:

Signed,
Another Screeching Cheerleader for Gore

[Uncle Joe]

13. Thanks Mabus

You made my day.:loveya:

[Mabus]

12. I'm another Screeching Cheerleader for Gore

Me, I'm a raging environmentalist. I've been called a Socialist, a Communist, a Liberal, a Democrat, a Progressive, a Moderate, a Pinko, an Idiot, a Pacifier, Unamerican and a Wacko among a whole of host of other things.

I captialized them because I bear each name proudly. It just means I cared enough to be a screeching cheerleader too.

And I'm more than proud to be another Screeching Cheerleader for Gore.

[rosesaylavee]

14. Yet another screeching cheerleader checking in

:patriot:

I think I saw that thread where that term was first used. Cracked me. Visualized me and/or others screeching 'GORE' outloud. Very funny image.

[AtomicKitten]

17. thanks for those fine with being mocked for being for More Gore

[Adelante]

18. 81% in your poll would support him

What do you give a shit about being mocked? :shrug:

[AtomicKitten]

19. pssst

That's the gist of my OP.

:toast:

[AtomicKitten]

20. thank you

You do break it down to the bottom line.

I'm just not a big fan of name-calling.

Again, thanks. Do you take American Express?

[Adelante]

21. .

[Totally Committed]

22. Just want you to know, the first time I saw this thread, I mis-read the title.

I thought it was the ANTICHRISTS who were after you. :rofl:

That would have given you a whole different set of problems, and maybe even a new screenname, eh?

WWAKS? (Who would Atomic Kitten Support?)

TC