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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
There is nothing equal about their footing, Cortez is a newly elected freshman who won’t even have an office yet, Pelosi is the party leader and likely speaker of the house, they are far from in equal positions.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranWrong move is still the wrong move. She's not a student firebrand of 22 with few ties, anymore.
She's in congress, she's got a constituency, she's nearly 30... In short, she has a whole box of different tools to use. Sure, she can reach into her old "rebel student" one occasionally, still. Heck, that can be highly effective in the right situation (like, say, protesting kids being housed in detention centres when right outside one).
But, a protest against a senior party colleague in your first week, and before you've even got all the ID cards and everything sorted out? Um... No. That's not a good look, and likely to make water-cooler shop-talk go poorly for months, holding up her own productivity in the process. Few are going to want to try a little give-and-take if that's her go-to.
Edited by Euodiachloris on Nov 14th 2018 at 2:08:07 PM
Wrong move sure, but the absolute rush to condem her and shoot down any legitimacy to the complaints is a tad much to me.
Do I think the protest was a good idea? No. At most a passing stop and a statement along the lines of “people wish to see democratic leadership take the global threat of climate change seriously, I hope that this protest awakes the leadership to the pressing need for climate change to be our top priority come the seating on the new Congress”.
Follow that up with building allies amongst existing members who have been fighting the climate change fight for some time and roping in other new members to the fight, then have one of the senior members set up a group meeting where they collectively pressure Pelosi over needing to give fighting climate change more priority.
She’s barely older than me, I can forgive a few missteps along the way.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran@Pushover: Obviously, because Cortez and many others, me included, want to make sure there will be more action on climate change than the token Paris agreement. At least the Kyoto protocol forced countries to do something.
Whether a protest or talks are more effective, I'd lean toward the latter, but I can't honestly say I'm too bothered by it. It's not like Pelosi doesn't know how to deal with a situation or it's going to cause a big rift in the Democratic Party.
Life is unfair...I fully admit to being biased when it comes to progressives trying to oppose Pelosi. Especially since the candidate they tried to back to primary her was Stephen Jaffe, a guy who seriously claimed that old white men are the real oppressed people in SF politics.
Seriously, WTF were they thinking?
Edited by M84 on Nov 14th 2018 at 10:26:51 PM
Disgusted, but not surprisedDoes the “they” in that case even include Cortez? She wasn’t even on the scene when Pelosi was primaries was she?
Also I refuse to call anyone who backed the Pelosi challenger a progressive, they aren’t if they back him.
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In another life I was probably a congressional staffer.
Edited by Silasw on Nov 14th 2018 at 2:29:12 PM
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranHer agreeeing with them that climate change is being improperly addressed by democratic leadership is not the same thing as her agreeing with them that a misogynistic idiot is better than Pelosi, sometimes we have to work with people we don’t like.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranFrankly, I think that a Democrat having a complain about Pelosi most likely has a point somewhere. But that doesn't change the fact that a protest is the last move, not the first. Yes, she is now on equal footing, newly elected or not, I doubt that Pelosi would refuse to speak to someone whose vote she might need down the line. So, talking first. Then protesting.
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She didn't have to go to that protest.
And hey, it's not like I'm baying for blood or anything. I'm just...frustrated. Especially in light of other progressives making bad moves recently right after the midterms. Sanders trying to claim racists aren't really being racist. A former Trump voter who supports gun rights (read: the NRA) and believes in the "economic anxiety" narrative mucking up the future 2020 primaries...
Edited by M84 on Nov 14th 2018 at 10:33:33 PM
Disgusted, but not surprised![]()
Pelosi has a lot to do and Cortez doesn't even have an office yet, I could understand Pelosi blowing Cortez off until she’s at least sworn in, I wouldn’t even blame her for doing so.
Sanders is an idiot and the West Virginia guy is going to drop out but hopefully build enough cred to take a shot at the West Virginia seat in the senate that’s up in 2020.
Cortez shouldn’t be blamed for the sins of some old white men she occasionally agrees with on economic issues.
Edited by Silasw on Nov 14th 2018 at 2:37:40 PM
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranIf this is how she's going to start her political career...seriously, who decides that it's a good idea to immediately take part in a protest against their senior colleague right after getting the job?
Most of us here have zero political experience and we can realize this wasn't the best idea. And some us are younger than her. Her age and relative inexperience are not excuses.
Personally, I just hope this is the worst mistake she ever makes and that she doesn't do anything worse.
I hope that WV idiot drops out. But I've learned not to underestimate human arrogance.
Edited by M84 on Nov 14th 2018 at 10:47:02 PM
Disgusted, but not surprisedThe Democratic Party is a large tent party, comprised of many different groups and interests, so internal disagreements are a natural part of that.
Sustained political activism, and holding policitians accountable, even when they are members of your own party, is something that should be encouraged.
Edited by megaeliz on Nov 14th 2018 at 9:55:59 AM
I don't think this is necessarily a massive deal but all the same, this has caused me to lose a decent amount of respect for Cortez. I didn't like that the Dems weren't giving climate change enough attention but this is the completely wrong way to go about it, instead of looking like a potential savvy political operator she just looks like a fool with more ideals then brains and worst of all I see no evidence it's going to actually accomplish anything.
This is a terrible start to her political career.
Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Nov 14th 2018 at 9:52:49 AM
"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji YangMeanwhile, in Deplorable Land, there's a LEGO knock-off where the idea is to build a wall to keep Mexicans out.
Indoctrinate 'em on that bigotry early, right guys? I hope LEGO sues the crap out of them.
Edited by speedyboris on Nov 14th 2018 at 9:08:29 AM

Edited by PhysicalStamina on Nov 14th 2018 at 9:00:42 AM
i'm tired, my friend