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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#247176: Jun 26th 2018 at 8:07:16 PM

Unicorn Brigade........that seems like a rather childish insult.

Because "$illary" was so clever. In any case, it's less an insult than a description of who they are: a group of wannabe Purity Leftists who fall in love with a new Progressive Messiah (TM) every election cycle. Then either pitch a fit when he (and it is nearly always a "he") a) doesn't win or b) wins but doesn't deliver them the horned pony they thought they were getting.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#247177: Jun 26th 2018 at 8:09:45 PM

Racism doesn't depend on facts.

Trump voters anger is just undirected hate.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
LordYAM Since: Jan, 2015
#247178: Jun 26th 2018 at 8:09:57 PM

By the rest of the world's standards the Dems are center right. We don't even really have a left since Wilson gutted them. Anyone who even does express ideas is branded a commie. Having something other than center rightism isn't a bad thing.

Eschaton Since: Jul, 2010
#247179: Jun 26th 2018 at 8:09:59 PM

I honestly have a hard time believing that Trump genuinely thinks Crowley lost because he was too mean to him, rather than just shoehorning his ego into the current "big news" story. You know, considering the candidate who won wants to abolish ICE.

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#247180: Jun 26th 2018 at 8:10:10 PM

Unicorn Brigade........that seems like a rather childish insult.

It’s not, it’s a very specific one aimed at not their political positions (which seems to shift fairly often and can be both left wing and right wing), but their attitude. Specifically that they want a perfect candidate that they agree with in everything, a unicorn, they want something that isn’t real, they want someone who will get elected and fix everything instantly, again, a unicorn.

They turned on Obama because he couldn’t fix everything for them with a wave of his hands, many of them turned on Bernie when he endorsed Hillary, if a candidate they do favour gets real power they will turn on said person.

Their stated political goals aren’t the unicorn, it’s the candidates that they want that are unicorns.

[up][up] That’s a load of bollocks, by the rest of the world standards the Dems are a huge tent party, including the center right all the way to card carrying socialists (practical ones who actully care about getting things done). US states under Democrat control have lead is some progressives areas (gay rights actully being one of them).

Also “rest of the world” is another lie, you’re talking about Western European liberal democracies, the Dems are not to the right of Putin’s Russia, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Japan or many other parts of the world.

Edited by Silasw on Jun 26th 2018 at 3:16:37 PM

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#247181: Jun 26th 2018 at 8:11:22 PM

What universe does Trump live in that losing to an even more left wing candidate is some sort of karma for opposing him?

LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#247182: Jun 26th 2018 at 8:11:34 PM

[up][up][up][up]That's not a proper response to anything that's been said to you.

Edited by LSBK on Jun 26th 2018 at 8:11:21 AM

Blueeyedrat Since: Oct, 2010
#247183: Jun 26th 2018 at 8:12:45 PM

What universe does Trump live in that losing to an even more left wing candidate is some sort of karma for opposing him?

A universe where he reads the headline "Democrat incumbent defeated by challenger" and stops reading.

Edited by Blueeyedrat on Jun 26th 2018 at 8:18:06 AM

LordYAM Since: Jan, 2015
#247184: Jun 26th 2018 at 8:13:55 PM

It's explaining why what's deemed "purity politics" aren't wholly bad. If you compromise too much you loose your soul; if you don't compromise at all you get nothing done.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#247185: Jun 26th 2018 at 8:15:13 PM

David Lynch wrote Trump a letter today (because he was optimistic at the start of the Presidency but worried about the racism).

https://imgur.com/a/rUhNPGB

I don't want to say it but....David was clearly high as a kite writing this.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Jun 26th 2018 at 8:15:13 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#247186: Jun 26th 2018 at 8:16:36 PM

Okay, and that still doesn't matter because when people here talk about the "Unicorn Brigade" they're not talking in favor of compromising on everything, all the time. They're talking about a very specific group of people, who do more harm than good for reasons that have been outlined.

Edited by LSBK on Jun 26th 2018 at 8:18:30 AM

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#247187: Jun 26th 2018 at 8:16:36 PM

By the rest of the world's standards the Dems are center right.

That’s a load of bollocks, by the rest of the world standards the Dems are a huge tent party, including the center right all the way to card carrying socialists (practical ones who actully care about getting things done). US states under Democrat control have lead is some progressives areas (gay rights actully being one of them).

Also “rest of the world” is another lie, you’re talking about Western European liberal democracies, the Dems are not to the right of Putin’s Russia, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Japan or many other parts of the world.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#247188: Jun 26th 2018 at 8:25:09 PM

Similarly, Dana Balter beat out the DCCC's preferred candidate, Juanita Perez-Williams, by 5,601 votes with 99% of precincts reporting - 62.6% to 37.4%

A couple things to keep in mind with both this and Crowley, courtesy of Vox's write-up of the New York races (and second-hand info from a member of NY's 24th).

Crowley/Ocasio-Cortez - the New York Times criticized him for not showing up to a Primary Debate - pulling shit like that does not endear you to voters, even if you've got the incumbent advantage.

Perez-Williams/Balter - Perez-Williams only entered the race on April 6, 2018 - 2 weeks prior to when she had to have her paperwork in, and just over 2 months prior to the Primary. Balter, on the other hand, had been laying the groundwork for nearly a year and has been very good about getting out of Syracuse to meet people - my county was actually the first one she visited, and she'd gotten the support of all four Counties prior to the DCCC endorsing Perez-Williams. And at a debate they held in Lyons, NY, my mom (who attended) said Balter seemed a hell of a lot more sincere than Perez-Williams was.

The big takeaway, though, should be this - if voters perceive you as not actually caring about their issues, they will make you pay for it.

Edited by ironballs16 on Jun 26th 2018 at 8:35:31 AM

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#247189: Jun 26th 2018 at 8:32:21 PM

Unless they go out of their way to undermine the party for some reason, progressive nominees in deep blue districts are fine.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
AmbarSonofDeshar Since: Jan, 2010
#247190: Jun 26th 2018 at 10:02:08 PM

By the rest of the world's standards the Dems are center right. We don't even really have a left since Wilson gutted them. Anyone who even does express ideas is branded a commie. Having something other than center rightism isn't a bad thing.

It's standardized replies like this that make me want to start a drinking game. Seriously, is there a checklist somewhere that people go down? A checklist of shallow arguments, and talking points that remain unchecked? Because I've seen this several hundred times at this point, typically from people who want to justify their desire to vote Green or stay home or write-in Sanders or otherwise make bad decisions.

The Democrats are not a centre-right party, as even a brief examination of actual centre-right parties in Europe or Canada would tell you. The Democrats are well to the left of Canada's Conservatives. They are well to the left of England's Conservatives. They are, in fact, well to the left of most conservative parties worldwide.

It's explaining why what's deemed "purity politics" aren't wholly bad. If you compromise too much you loose your soul; if you don't compromise at all you get nothing done.

So in short you don't know what "purity politics" are. The Unicorn Brigade doesn't simply refuse to compromise with the other side. If that were the case they'd be frankly less obnoxious; they'd be Democratic hardliners and there's a place in the world for that.

But that isn't what they do. No, what they do is pick a couple of issues that they decide are the only issues that should matter to True Progressives (TM). Typically, said issues are ones that matter to the average Unicorn Brigader of course, and have limited appeal outside that demographic. Often, they are also things that cannot be done, or cannot be done easily. And then they persuade themselves that if only these big issues were solved, all other problems in the world would be solved, and anybody who is prepared to compromise on these issues, no matter how good the rest of their platform, is a filthy traitor. And if that weren't bad enough, they then demand that the rest of the Party compromise on everything else in order to get those few issues they care about enshrined.

See: "Free College" and "15 dollar minimum wage" and the perennial favourite, "legal weed", for issues the average Unicorn Brigader (who is typically a white college kid) obsesses over. See "women's rights" and "minority rights" for things they've been more than happy to compromise on to get them.

Unless they go out of their way to undermine the party for some reason, progressive nominees in deep blue districts are fine.

No one's objecting to "progressive" nominees. We're expressing concern over primarying successful Democrats. Primarying that is apparently being done by the so-called "Justice Democrats" a group with a less than stellar history of being actually progressive.

All too often these "progressive nominees" that aim to primary the Democratic old guard turn out to be less progressive than the people they'd seek to replace. Which is why a lot of us are pretty leery of them at this point.

Edited by AmbarSonofDeshar on Jun 26th 2018 at 10:05:29 AM

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#247191: Jun 26th 2018 at 10:14:59 PM

Case in point: so-called "progressives" who think single-payer is worth allying with the likes of Richard Spencer. Or a "progressive" who whines about white men being underrepresented in San Francisco (which is bullshit). Or a "progressive" whose strategy for primarying DWS consisted of misogynist garbage. Or a "progressive" with a history of allying with homophobes and ties to radical Hindu nationalists. Or...

I could go on and on here.

Disgusted, but not surprised
Deadbeatloser22 from Disappeared by Space Magic (Great Old One) Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#247193: Jun 27th 2018 at 1:20:08 AM

http://www.newsweek.com/clergy-members-arrested-jeff-sessions-protest-996415

Clergy arrested protesting Jeff Sessions perversion of Christianity.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#247194: Jun 27th 2018 at 1:27:58 AM

Arresting clergy is not a good look. At least, I hope it's not these days. *sigh*

As for the recent upsets, I don't see anything to suggest that these candidates are less progressive? In fact, they just seem to have run better campaigns, mostly by actually going out and meeting with people. So... I guess time will tell.

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#247195: Jun 27th 2018 at 1:50:17 AM

That argument was more due to Jeff Weaver deciding that now is the time to start selling a book titled Why Bernie Won. Jeff Weaver, the campaign manager behind Bernie Sanders' failed primary campaign.

Edited by M84 on Jun 27th 2018 at 4:51:05 PM

Disgusted, but not surprised
Hylarn (Don’t ask)
#247196: Jun 27th 2018 at 2:01:41 AM

What exactly are the arguments behind that counterfactual title, anyway?

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#247197: Jun 27th 2018 at 2:05:21 AM

Someone else will have to read that book since there's no way in hell I'm spending money on it if even a fraction of a cent ends up in Weaver's wallet.

Disgusted, but not surprised
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#247198: Jun 27th 2018 at 2:48:09 AM

I bought it because it was mentioned here and am a Bernie-Ophile.

Its basically self-congratulatory nonsense about how Bernie sparked a change in the Democratic party and policy as a whole.

Bringing the DNC further left.

I am not enjoying it.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Pachylad (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#247199: Jun 27th 2018 at 2:52:09 AM

Or a "progressive" who whines about white men being underrepresented in San Francisco (which is bullshit). Or a "progressive" whose strategy for primarying DWS consisted of misogynist garbage. Or a "progressive" with a history of allying with homophobes and ties to radical Hindu nationalists. Or...

I know about Tulsi Gabbard because even the leftists I hang out with think she's a piece of work for the reasons you've already stated but who are the first two you're talking about here?

M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#247200: Jun 27th 2018 at 3:10:46 AM

Stephen Jaffe, the piece of shit who is trying to primary Pelosi is the first asshole. Tim Canova, the piece of shit who failed to primary DWS, is the second one.

[up][up] Why am I not surprised by that book's drivel.

Edited by M84 on Jun 27th 2018 at 6:12:48 PM

Disgusted, but not surprised

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