Are liberals and labor stupid?

[Onlooker]

I can't stand the fact that liberals and labor constantly cow to conservative pressure. Why doesn't Kerry say, "I support social security, Medicaid, Medicare, health care for kids, equal voting rights, fair taxation, respect for other cultures, teaching tolerance, therefore I am a liberal"? Why doesn't Labor say, "Thanks to us, most workers have 40 hour work weeks, guaranteed vacations, minimum wage laws, and health care. Thanks to us, employers can't exploit children, must create a safe work environment, and must not discriminate based on age, race, sex, and so on. Thanks to us, millions of unon workers have better retirement plans than nonunion workers."

Instead, liberals and labor constantly take up the refrain, "We're for smaller government and lower taxes; we don't care too much about gay rights; we're willing to attack evil dictators like Saddam Hussein; and we promise not to put progressives on the Supreme Court. We're pretty conservative, but not as conservative as the Republicans."

The Republicans get away with their bullying, shouting, and hypocrisy day in and day out. They elect a lying, coddled, former drug addict, AWOL idiot to be President, and ignore the fact that his wife killed her exboyfriend in a somewhat odd car accident years ago. During the Clinton years, the Republicans elected and applauded a man to be Speaker of the House whose perversions were so bad that not even Larry Flynt would print them! The moment liberals speak up and are caught doing anything, the Republicans blast them and the press picks it up. Liberals and labor have to tout their record and blast the hypocrisy of the Republicans. Most of the people in the Republican leadership are not veterans. Why don't we call them cowards or elitist, spoiled brats? Why don't we turn the tables on them? We're not even making progress on issues like the budget deficit or the fact that investors pay a lower tax rate than most wage earners. It's so pathetic.

I just don't get it. If the liberals, including Kerry, and labor would start touting there record and blasting the selfish, irresponsible, lazy policies of the Republicans, people might come around. Sorry for this rant, but I've felt this way a long time, and I bet others feel the same. But, what the hell can we do?

[drhilarius]

1. what can we do?

what you just did, only louder and more frequently.

[HFishbine]

2. I agree

It's a dangerous game. Democrats see a large segment of middle America responding to Republicans and instead of doing the heavy lifting you describe, instead of making the sound and winning case that liberal policies are better for the average family, they try to co opt as much of the republican line as they can. It's a lazy way to campaign and it's dangerous in that it saps energy and enthusiasm from liberals and blurs the distinction for the moderate middle.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

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[TreasonousBastard]

4. I agree, mostly, but...

the population has changed markedly over the years, and it just doesn't like to be identified with "liberal."

Some survey came out a while ago and something like 40% of the people identified themselves as in the top 10% of income.

Stupid? Perhaps, but it shows that people aren't thinking the way they did years ago. Labor unions are for losers. So are social security, unemployment insurance, and anything else that smacks of a giveaway to people who can't get by by themselves.

We are identifying ourselves more with the bosses than with our fellow workers. Even union labor in some places is thinking that way.

I know a few dockworkers, construction workers, electricians, etc. around here who are making around 6 figures when the overtime is counted. Every single one of them is convinced they "made it on their own." Not a one of them considers that without the union they would be toast. And they are voting Republican because of taxes and not wanting "their" money to be wasted by the government.

Cops in some areas are making 80 grand now. Kind of tough for them to identify with the slob making minimum wage. The construction trades are getting plowed with non-union firms, and a lot of office workers are seeing their salaries and perks, if not their jobs, sliding away, but we still have enough people doing well enough to buy into the rightwing mantra.

Quite frankly, there are fewer and fewer people who give a shit about the old "liberal" causes, and a lot of our message that still rings true has to be =rewritten and resold.

[Arugula Latte]

5. I think this is just the start of a long battle

Enough liberals have had a wake-up call. We might be in the first stages of a long-term movement -- comparable to the rightwing in the 70s: plotting strategy, forming alliances, and so on. There are a few positive signs: Internet activism (MoveOn), rise of liberal books, Air America, and the formation of new progressive think tanks come to mind. Hopefully our learning curve will be less steep than the conservatives' was. The major problem I see is overcoming the alliance of the rightwing goals with corporate hegemony. That is a tough nut to crack. For one, it compromises media coverage (as we've painfully seen, especially since the mid-90s).

All we can do is fight like hell, and try to convince others to do so.

I have had several conversations with people that give me hope. There seems to be something in the air, that people of intelligence are talking about their disgust and dismay with the state of this country under this foul mis-leadership. (Example, yesterday a friend was returning Al Franken's book to me, a woman I didn't know expressed interest, I let her borrow it, we all agreed that we had to become more active -- it was a given that we all are angry.) I think it could be analogous to the rightwingers talking in church; there has to be a widespread buzz first before anything happens, and I think that buzz is happening.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. I've been saying that only for about

oh, twenty-two years now.

:eyes:

[corporatewhore]

7. Because they are either stupid and spineless or

they are part of the corporate agenda or all of the above

[ArkDem]

8. >I can't stand the fact that liberals and labor constantly cow to

conservative pressure.<

I agree. It's udderly ridiculous.

[info being]

9. Because its all about perception...and the media controls that. eom