Our Revolution Head Defends Against “Pragmatic Progressives” Re-Branding

You have to be pretty much obsessive about this shit to even decipher that headline. Allow me to sketch.

“Our Revolution” is a group founded by Bernie Sanders in the wake of his first failed presidential campaign, to further his stated goals both electorally and at the grassroots. I think their main function initially was to funnel small-donor contributions to the Sanders campaign.

As everyone knows, that campaign died, or was murdered, twice. In spite of the massive small-dollar totals (just like happened to Nina this week), the revolutionary zeal was killed off by a combination of big corporate and PAC money, and insider Democratic Party chicanery.

After both losses, Sanders succumbed to the Blue No Matter Who thing, and refused to even pressure Clinton or Biden for anything, in return for his endorsement. Which led even a moderate like Kyle Kulinski to call Sanders a cuck, and led vast numbers of Our Revolutionaries to lose all hope in this bullshit one-party-with-two-heads mockery of democracy that we live under today. And to swear off Democrats, as well as Republicans.

The ‘Our Revolution’ organization was left holding this bag of shit, and recently decided to try again, but Different. The Revolution being killed dead, they made the dubious decision to rebrand as the “Pragmatic Progressives”.

I don’t know of anyone who thought that was a good idea. Granted, I don’t listen anymore to pragmatic self-styled progressives like TYT or David Doel anymore, so my sample might be highly skewed. But literally, I heard not one voice raised in an approving cry for the idea that Pragmatism is the answer to anything, going forward.

Obama embraced pragmatic progressivism, and so did Hillary. They were center-right politicians at best, and they always will be, and there’s no hope at all to be found there.

Anyway, Jordan Chariton of Status Coup interviews the shiny new head of the PP in the video. He listens politely, but he doesn’t seem very convinced, and certainly his comments section is about 99% armed with pitchforks against the new would-be leader’s shiny new positioning.

My own opinion is this: Sure, guy. I’m willing to be convinced. Again. Maybe I’m a sap, but just as I said with Nina Turner’s race–these people haven’t proven themselves to be liars and shills yet. So go ahead. Convince me, not with your words, but your actions. Yes I’m skeptical. No my mind is not closed. Shoulder the burden of proof, and SHOW me that there’s some sliver of salvage to be had from any kind of Democrat–I really mean it. Please, please do.

In the meantime, expect no donations, expect no votes–prove yourselves first, demonstrate with practical evidence that you’re not a gang of cucks, a chummy club of fake working-class persons like one Alexandria the Bartender from the Outer Boroughs, a counterproductive bag of dicks willing to throw the proles under the bus for a mess of pottage and poorly mixed metaphors.

I want to be wrong about you. Swear.

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Mike Figueredo Goes After Jackson Hinkle For Criticizing Nina Turner

Same war, different theater.

Figuredo of the ‘Humanist Report’, like his fellow Canadian David Doel, has lost a lot of cred with me over the course of 2021 especially.

His main snipe at Jackson was that, well, Hinkle supported Tulsi Gabbard, and Tulsi is a known transphobe.

I don’t like transphobes, or any kinda phobes, either. But seriously, Mike, fuck you and the identity politics you rode in on.

You’re sitting up there in the great white north on a big comfortable cushion of free health care, and taking potshots at a 21-year-old from SoCal who wants a better Murican life and has a very mild disagreement with you about how best to get there.

What of serious questions? What of the climate, and the endless wars of Empire, and most especially what of the root cause of most of what ails us, the widespread and pandemic embrace of the capitalist model that sends the Bezus into space while ripping down the tents of the homeless?

If Tulsi Gabbard wants to actually address even a few of these issues in a sane way, I’m voting for her over anyone holding federal office today.

Hell, if Rand Fucking Paul was promising me to just bring ALL the troops home, I’d take him up on that, over a cloned neo-liberal careerist like Kamala any day of the week and twice on Tuesday, even if he believes that Denny’s has a right to deny service to black people.

If Marco Pindick Rubio was credibly going after the health fraud industry, or talking real economic populism and a living wage, I’d have to think twice about it, even if he wants to pose and growl like a rabid bunny at the island of Cuba.

If Mike Pence would only …

Okay, that’s going too far.

But you see what I’m saying, I pray.

The D and the R only differ on the transitory cultural issues, and on those issues, my heart is of course with the anti-transphobes, and the pro-choicers. But it’s simply not enough anymore.

Where do you stand on the capitalist menace that will kill us all?

Even dear Liz Warren couldn’t get that one right.

Slowly and slowly, step by step, the Squaddies are proving themselves on the wrong side of it too–if not outright against what the people want, yet, at the very least too inept or venal to do anything about it.

Co-opted by the Machine.

And god love Sister Nina, but even in a little old congressional primary, she toned it way the fuck down, to try and edge herself inside the system for a toehold. It’s not proof of corruption, but it didn’t look good, from the standpoint of what the Machine might end up doing to her sooner or later either.

Nina, run against the corporate Dem as an Independent, for the very same seat in the general, and impress me with your true colors.

Or don’t, and let there be no doubt what they are. Leave no doubt about whether two-party electoralism has any chance ever, of keeping this train from plunging off God’s own cliff in the next generation.

I so want to believe in you. Help me, just a little, to do that.