If you think going to a liberal church is funky, try an evangelical church where people roll around in the aisles and speak in "tongues." As a teen I had a boyfriend whose idea of a fun date was to take me to his church meetings, then he'd slip off and smoke out in the graveyard with his friends while I was bumped into and slapped by people undergoing a religious frenzy. I had come to expect that anything goes in church, however, because when I was a kid I was dragged by my grandparents to a small Southern Baptist Church in Mount Shasta where the preacher wouldn't let us go at the end of the service until someone went up the aisle to be saved. He'd drone on and on about the importance of saving our souls and urged people to come forward with his eyes closed and hands swaying in the air. He'd also make us croak through the chorus of "The Blood of the Lamb" over and over again. Us kids were starving and wanted to get on with the potluck after church, so we started taking turns going forward to get saved. If you were already saved you could claim you needed to do it again because you had a sinful thought. It worked. Soon as at least one of us went up to get saved he ended the meeting in triumph and we all went over to the church hall for mystery casseroles with potato chips crumbled on top and jiggly Jello desserts. No one questioned why us kids needed to be saved so often. By the time I was 13 I figured I had a guaranteed place in Heaven because I'd been saved so many times. Of course, that allowed me to lead a hedonistic life thereafter.
The direction of your recent posts--both yours and the current guest--reflects despair that politics should be decent. The characterization of progressives as police officers for political correctness is a self-indulgent travesty. I don't see leading progressives, such as Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Jeff Merkley talking about such things. They focus on justice at home and abroad. That's what makes a progressive a progressive. It was "centrist" Democrats--Carter, the Clintons and Obama--who got in bed with Wall Street and abandoned the working class. This is what paved the way for a right-wing populist. While they managed to stay in office, during their terms the Republicans made huge gains at the state level, which ultimately impacted representation in the House of Representatives. Quit picking easy targets and confront the big picture, in which the concentration of wealth that started in the late 1970s under Jimmy Carter and accelerated through subsequent administrations--Republican and Democratic alike--is the key element as far as politics goes.
Fully progressive candidates win in bright blue districts-- usually. Brad Avakian lost the secretary of state office here in Oregon. It shows that even in blue Oregon, people will choose a anti-gay anti-abortion Republican over a full-throated progressive. And in places that Democrat could realistically win--like Sherrod Brown's Ohio--they lose, too. As did Tim Ryan. And Pennsylvania's Bob Casey.
I learned a lesson when McGovern lost 49 states. My wish in politics is for good peoplel to win elections. That means reading the room. Bernie Sanders is an exciting politician with real skill. But he wanted to advance a cause, not win an election. He ran behind Harris in Vermont. He hasn't sold his product, his message, not to enough voters.
There is a reason restaurants don't attempt to stay in business selling nothing but kale and spinach salads.
I am consistent and likely repetitive;politics is about meeting the wishes of the public. Politicians who try to sell something unpopular, lose. My proof of concept is this: Please name the purple or red polities where a progressive has won election? Where do they exist except in bright blue places? I donated to Merkley's presidential bid as an act of courtesy and friendship. I knew he did not have a chance of winning a presidential popularity contest in Iowa; and his campaign went nowhere. Progressives have the same problem and opportunity as does any religion or product. They need to persuade people to like what they sell. Don't blame the customer and don't blame the competition. Progressives have not sold the public that they want "Democratic Socialism." When they successfully persuade the public, they will get the votes they seek and the offices they want.
I am not going to chide voters for not being good enough to eat the kale.
Seems to me, it's best for each of us to "do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly" in our individual lives and in our political lives; and--especially when we are walking in the political realm, to be very humble indeed, and not do the performative stuff that shouts the "with God" part of Micah. Exceptions occur, as with political resignations* or declarations of war.
We don't need to deliberately promote "scamps". We'll do it frequently enough by accident (cough cough John cough Edwards cough cough).
We all might be engaging in a bit of projection. We all seem to "know" what someone else is thinking and feeling based on how we might think or feel. It might be best that we give each other the benefit of the doubt and focus on what I think is important - honesty, reliability, and competence.
It is hard to argue that progressive moralism makes us look like elites. But ever since Spiro Agnew (now there's a great memory) called us effete when he had no idea what the word meant, I've taken pride in being at least one person I know with morals. Or, as I like to think, one person with common sense. Isn't that what morals are, but a common sense way to treat others? Christ's moral code wasn't much different from your average Roman or Assyrian. He wanted us to go along so we could get along.
The capability and willingness of voters to add "kale" to their intellectual diet are nil. To hide that which you aspire to works when McBrains are listening to their gut. American's GUT to BRAIN ratio is obvious.
If you think going to a liberal church is funky, try an evangelical church where people roll around in the aisles and speak in "tongues." As a teen I had a boyfriend whose idea of a fun date was to take me to his church meetings, then he'd slip off and smoke out in the graveyard with his friends while I was bumped into and slapped by people undergoing a religious frenzy. I had come to expect that anything goes in church, however, because when I was a kid I was dragged by my grandparents to a small Southern Baptist Church in Mount Shasta where the preacher wouldn't let us go at the end of the service until someone went up the aisle to be saved. He'd drone on and on about the importance of saving our souls and urged people to come forward with his eyes closed and hands swaying in the air. He'd also make us croak through the chorus of "The Blood of the Lamb" over and over again. Us kids were starving and wanted to get on with the potluck after church, so we started taking turns going forward to get saved. If you were already saved you could claim you needed to do it again because you had a sinful thought. It worked. Soon as at least one of us went up to get saved he ended the meeting in triumph and we all went over to the church hall for mystery casseroles with potato chips crumbled on top and jiggly Jello desserts. No one questioned why us kids needed to be saved so often. By the time I was 13 I figured I had a guaranteed place in Heaven because I'd been saved so many times. Of course, that allowed me to lead a hedonistic life thereafter.
The direction of your recent posts--both yours and the current guest--reflects despair that politics should be decent. The characterization of progressives as police officers for political correctness is a self-indulgent travesty. I don't see leading progressives, such as Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Jeff Merkley talking about such things. They focus on justice at home and abroad. That's what makes a progressive a progressive. It was "centrist" Democrats--Carter, the Clintons and Obama--who got in bed with Wall Street and abandoned the working class. This is what paved the way for a right-wing populist. While they managed to stay in office, during their terms the Republicans made huge gains at the state level, which ultimately impacted representation in the House of Representatives. Quit picking easy targets and confront the big picture, in which the concentration of wealth that started in the late 1970s under Jimmy Carter and accelerated through subsequent administrations--Republican and Democratic alike--is the key element as far as politics goes.
Fully progressive candidates win in bright blue districts-- usually. Brad Avakian lost the secretary of state office here in Oregon. It shows that even in blue Oregon, people will choose a anti-gay anti-abortion Republican over a full-throated progressive. And in places that Democrat could realistically win--like Sherrod Brown's Ohio--they lose, too. As did Tim Ryan. And Pennsylvania's Bob Casey.
I learned a lesson when McGovern lost 49 states. My wish in politics is for good peoplel to win elections. That means reading the room. Bernie Sanders is an exciting politician with real skill. But he wanted to advance a cause, not win an election. He ran behind Harris in Vermont. He hasn't sold his product, his message, not to enough voters.
There is a reason restaurants don't attempt to stay in business selling nothing but kale and spinach salads.
I am consistent and likely repetitive;politics is about meeting the wishes of the public. Politicians who try to sell something unpopular, lose. My proof of concept is this: Please name the purple or red polities where a progressive has won election? Where do they exist except in bright blue places? I donated to Merkley's presidential bid as an act of courtesy and friendship. I knew he did not have a chance of winning a presidential popularity contest in Iowa; and his campaign went nowhere. Progressives have the same problem and opportunity as does any religion or product. They need to persuade people to like what they sell. Don't blame the customer and don't blame the competition. Progressives have not sold the public that they want "Democratic Socialism." When they successfully persuade the public, they will get the votes they seek and the offices they want.
I am not going to chide voters for not being good enough to eat the kale.
Seems to me, it's best for each of us to "do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly" in our individual lives and in our political lives; and--especially when we are walking in the political realm, to be very humble indeed, and not do the performative stuff that shouts the "with God" part of Micah. Exceptions occur, as with political resignations* or declarations of war.
We don't need to deliberately promote "scamps". We'll do it frequently enough by accident (cough cough John cough Edwards cough cough).
*e.g. Telnaes:
https://anntelnaes.substack.com/p/why-im-quitting-the-washington-post?triedRedirect=true
for this cartoon:
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F185b68c6-9dba-4d15-9282-28cc9dc6aba8_1725x2100.jpeg
We all might be engaging in a bit of projection. We all seem to "know" what someone else is thinking and feeling based on how we might think or feel. It might be best that we give each other the benefit of the doubt and focus on what I think is important - honesty, reliability, and competence.
It is hard to argue that progressive moralism makes us look like elites. But ever since Spiro Agnew (now there's a great memory) called us effete when he had no idea what the word meant, I've taken pride in being at least one person I know with morals. Or, as I like to think, one person with common sense. Isn't that what morals are, but a common sense way to treat others? Christ's moral code wasn't much different from your average Roman or Assyrian. He wanted us to go along so we could get along.
It is a sad state of affairs that we have found ourselves in.
The capability and willingness of voters to add "kale" to their intellectual diet are nil. To hide that which you aspire to works when McBrains are listening to their gut. American's GUT to BRAIN ratio is obvious.