Not the Offensive Post, but it IS Ugly
I am holding back my planned offensive post for two reasons. First, because I discussed several of my points with people who would be impacted by what I think is right, and these were close friends and family members, and they said I was completely wrong. Further, in addition to the comments to my post on my conversation with Chrissy Houlahan, I received emails, texts and phone calls raising points that related to some aspects of the offensive post.
“The Offensive Post” related to messaging and the words we use, as a party, and how we engage people who have abandoned the party. One overarching question was if by changing some terminology, we could attract the vast swatches of voters we lost BECAUSE of the words we chose to use, and if we changed how and where we approached people, and we could therefore win elections and legislate the values and actions that matter, would that be a good tradeoff? And not only was the answer “NO” but I was accused of:
White privilege
Racism
Being anti-LGBTQIA+
Telling people what to do, not understanding or listening
If the criticisms are correct, I have real doubts that we can win large elections going forward.
It was a rough weekend.
First I need to circle back to the people who won’t forgive Chrissy Houlahan. What I heard NOT in the Substack comments, was that this desire to maintain “regular order” was a slap in the face to everyone who was not white, and that my forgiveness of her made me a racist. This is a different criticism from people who felt she should have stood with the Party, or that her anger at the Republicans should have been enough to vote “no”.
The thrust of the condemnation was that People of Color have no other option than to work outside of the lines. That breaks in decorum are the only way to be heard. I mull this over, and I fear I must be missing something.
More and more non-whites are elected to Congress each term, as shown below: Source.
These are people who have chosen to work within the system, and go to Washington to advocate for their constituencies by serving on committees, promulagating legislation, and working toward enacting values on issues that matter. Are there enough non-whites to equal the racial demographics of the country? No. But we’re on a solid trajectory.
Of note: to make further progress, we need to elect state reps and governors who are often the ones who gerrymander maps. Far too often, when I speak with people about working on those campaigns, they aren’t interested.
As an aside, this is also true of female representation. Currently, women make up 29% of House members, and 25% of Senators. This is half of what it should be if representation was equivalent to the percentage of women in the general population. You can see the change over time, here, and it’s been a huge lift, but the numbers are definitely better than in the past.
There are rules for people who are elected to the House and Senate, the same way that there are rules for anyone that has any job. A minor one is identification. I work for corporate America - I have a badge with my name and photograph and I have to click it against the door plate to be able to enter the office building. House members have a lapel pin, and those pins are uniquely designed for each Congress, with only 435 manufactured initially. If a member loses a pin, or a member is replaced, a new lapel pin is made. It’s a little thing, but it’s a rule.
We’ve all seen Schoolhouse Rock, so we know the regular order of how a bill becomes a law. In case you forgot, here’s the video.
The argument is that since the Rethuglicans are basically circumventing regular order cheating in how they approach constructing and moving bills though the process, there should be revolt in the Chamber. That’s different than using the levers of opposition power in the House (and to a larger extent, in the Senate) to slow down legislation, to add amendments, and to work to defeating Rethuglican’s ability to pass incredibly harmful bills.
If the criticizers are correct - that’s the end of the structure of government we’ve worked under since the start of the republic.
Are street protests worthwhile? Yes. Is attending Congressional Town Halls (if the Rethuglicans ever do any again) worthwhile? Absolutely. That is WE THE PEOPLE power. But discarding the processes of Congress? Disaster. I really hope that people will comment on this. PLEASE!
The last point about “telling people what to do, and not understanding or listening” relates to me, as a white person, being told that I am unable/unwilling/incapable of hearing other voices and assuming that my way of doing things is correct, especially where People of Color and young people are concerned.
I’ve been involved with resisting the fascist regime since early in 2017. I go to meetings and rallies and see so many people like me: old white people who remember protesting Vietnam. Would we like more People of Color? Absolutely. Would we like more young people? For sure. Have we TRIED to get people to work with us since 2017? YES. We have, in the aggregate, been unsuccessful. There have been some small successes, but it has been a challenge to get people involved.
And so, when I say “this is how to do this” - it’s based on what I know. If I cannot get anyone to give me more information other than “you’re wrong”, I have no way to come close to understanding how to change. And this weekend, I was told I was wrong A LOT.
I was told that when I speak of changing the terminology we use as a party, it’s just wrong. That all terminology must be completely inclusive, even if it means that there are a lot of people who will write off our candidates because they are opposed to inclusive language. And that I’m an elitist snob for even considering it.
I was told that looking for common ground OVER identity politics is a slap in the face to too many people. For example, in my mind, with the exception of really rich people, we all suffer from inflation, stagnant wages, and related economic insults. And I certainly recognize those problems are worse the less money one makes. But they told me that because I am a white person of privilege, I cannot understand the unique challenges of other people, and therefore any solutions I have are unacceptable because I am trying to “imprint my values on others.”
And finally, one person told me, my whole Substack is insulting because I spend a lot of time trying to explain things in detail, provide too many links, and “talk down” to “most people” because I “use big words”. When I asked why he doesn’t cancel his subscription, he told me that I’m just one more Democrat for him to be mad at for not being left wing enough, and he likes the snark.
I will not apologize for what I am. I accept that there are things I don’t know, but I cannot suddenly be something I’ve never been. I believe we MUST find common ground as a party — inclusive? Yes. Improved language and terminology? Yup, that too. But abandon our system of governance because the Rethuglicans are trying to erase it? NO - we need to fight to keep our systems, work through the courts to get fired government workers reinstated, along with restoration of the cut funding (meaning a government shutdown). And WE THE PEOPLE must stay in the streets, and more of us must go there. As I keep telling you, these are dark times, and they are winning battles, but in the end, WE THE PEOPLE will win the war.
I AM sorry if you are someone who has been insulted by my writings.
Right off the bat, I am a Liberal. I am not a progressive. I'm also a 72 year old gay, white male who was first teargassed at 16 years of age during the student strike at San Francisco State College - which led to the formation of the countries' first Black Studies Department. (I was not a student there, I was there for support.)
I am also a Navy Viet Nam Veteran who was able to visit countries throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific at 20 years of age and learned right away the military lingo for the local inhabitants. Every one was dehumanizing for a reason - it's easier to kill a slur than it is to kill a person. Just as it's easier to beat up a 'faggot' than it is a human.
Words and terminology matter a lot. They contain code, they contain dog whistles, they contain concepts and ideas - or horrors. "Weapons of Mass Destruction" had to be one of the most brilliant slogans ever. It conveyed absolute terror without actually saying anything. It was used repeatedly to justify our invasion of Iraq.
"Defund The Police" may have been the stupidest slogan - ever - in the annals of stupid slogans. Like WOMD, it allowed the listener to conjure their own concept of what it meant, instead of conveying an actual message. Black Lives Matter conveys a clear point. Yes, it is used as racist because "All Lives Matter", but, if all lives did matter, so would Black - which, quite obviously in this country. do not.
And on a totally personal note, when our transgender nephew came out to us, my first question to him was "name and pronouns." It was vitally important to recognize that he was not a she and he deserved that respect. People clamoring about pronouns don't even know what they are.
As a white male who happens to be gay, I still have more privilege than a person of color who is straight. My skin color trumps theirs, regardless of my homosexuality. But a gay man of color? It's difficult to get more marginalized. Stonewall is a perfect example of marginalized people finally fighting back. Sometimes, you just have to break decorum. And, yes, sometimes that means working outside of the lines - especially when the lines have been drawn to make it more difficult for you in the first place.
29 members of the Hose have been censured since 1832. Twenty-nine. Al Green speaking out may have been one of the most ludicrous, minor infractions against "decorum" in the history of the word. He did not deserve it. It should never have happened. It was wrong to bring censure, it was wrong to vote for it. Two white women did a helleva lot worse - shouting, heckling and being disruptive... nothing was said. A Black man is censured for speaking the truth? Personally, I see more than a double standard.
We have lost decorum in Congress since its inception. There have been brawls, there have been canings, there have been threats, there has been utter chaos... Yet, somehow, the institution has survived - although this latest assault by the Executive Branch and capitulation by the majority party could spell its demise.
The United States Government is not Corporate America. Yes, there are rules, but just as you can't run the government on the same type of budget you use for a business or your own home, the same sort of rules won't always apply, either.
We need to stand up to power. We need to hold our ground on our principles and what is right. While I do agree with compromise, I'm not willing to go back to a 3/5ths compromise. And, as a gay man, I am not willing to compromise my being to make someone feel more comfortable about who I am.
Thank you for your post. I am one who agrees with you on the use of terminology. I got a lot of flak back when I said the term Defund the Police was going to hurt the party and turns out I was correct. I understand that police reform is important, equality and equity are important, inclusion is important, but these terms have been non stop throw into the face of the public. And I believe people had heard enough and wanted to hear more about how politicians were going to help them personally. I listened to Harris and she said things that would help. I listened to Trump and he said things that would help. But I knew trump was a liar and he his goal was to stay out of jail. He has no interest in helping regular people. Why people listened to him, I don’t know. What I do know is the Democratic Party needs to figure out how to address all people in the party and independents any republicans, who might be swayed. If people, who voted for trump, thinks they got a man for the people they were sorely mistaken for. I don’t know the answers to how to come back from this disaster of an election. The blame game is not the answer. Politicians getting out there to listen, not talk at, to all groups might be a good start