"For the better part of a decade, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party didn’t just appear ascendant; it looked like the future. Economic populism, climate justice, and racial equity, long relegated to the margins, were suddenly central to national debate."
True. Biden was by far the most progressive president since FDR (maybe ever). He was progressive beyond my wildest hopes.
"Biden and Harris didn’t lose because they governed too cautiously, but because progressives made them look out of touch."
Absolutely true. Progressives said they wanted $10,000 in debt forgiveness. Biden agreed, and then they immediately changed the number to $50,000, then $100,000, then unlimited, with no income limit. When Biden set income limits of $125,000 per person or $250,000 per couple, they whined and screamed and insisted that doctors and lawyers making much more than that should have hundreds of thousands of dollars in law school and med school debt forgiven. This was so suicidally counterproductive that I had to wonder if they were helping Republicans on purpose.
I used to consider myself a progressive, but a lot of progressives have gone off the deep end into complete insanity. Now I am embarrassed by the label.
Under Biden, Congress passed the biggest climate change bill in the history of the world. This was an amazing achievement with such a closely divided Congress. Even after that, progressive groups claimed that he had done nothing about climate change. They literally called a $400 billion investment "nothing". (For a breakdown of that $400 billion in delightfully nerdy detail, check out this awesome video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw5zzrOpo2s )
"Around the world, junior partners get scapegoated when things fall apart."
Scapegoating means blaming the innocent - it's not scapegoating when it really is their fault. I have supported Bernie since 2015, but self-proclaimed progressives like the "Friends of Bernie" group and "Our Revolution" did everything they possibly could to sabotage Democrats and shoot themselves in the foot. If you didn't want (justified) blame, you shouldn't have stabbed your senior partner in the back hundreds of times.
"But because the victories lacked visibility—and because they were ultimately implemented by the Biden administration—many didn’t see them as wins for the left at all."
That's because progressives themselves, instead of celebrating the amazing wins, whined that those achievements were nothing. They could have celebrated and bragged about Biden's astonishingly progressive achievements (again, I highly recommend this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw5zzrOpo2s), but all they did was complain.
I'm on a lot of progressive mailing lists, and I was flabbergasted by the way so many of them ignored or even denied these achievements while putting 100% of the blame on Biden when some of his progressive executive orders were blocked by right-wing judges (e.g. ending Remain in Mexico).
"when junior partners enter government, voters don’t credit them for shifting the agenda—they assume the junior partner has simply aligned with the senior one."
That's because the junior partners kept attacking the senior partner and claiming that the progressive achievements of the senior partner were nothing and didn't even happen.
"becoming a junior partner was the original sin"
No, stabbing the senior partner in the back over and over again was the original sin. As soon as Biden offered $10,000 in debt forgiveness, progressives immediately claimed that $10,000 was nothing and demanded $50,000.
When the Biden administration lowered Medicare premiums by ending coverage for an Alzheimer's drug that was found to be ineffective, progressives could have celebrated this achievement that saves 65 million seniors money every month. Instead, six completely different progressive groups in the same week sent me emails whining that the premium reduction should be immediate instead of starting in the new calendar year. It seems like they are hell-bent on framing every victory as a loss.
"So no, this isn’t a call to cast aside the torchbearers."
All progressives had to do to keep the progressive momentum going was to celebrate Biden being the most progressive president in history instead of constantly attacking him. But the loudest ones decided they would rather whine than win. Instead of using torches to light the way, they burned our democracy to the ground.
"For the better part of a decade, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party didn’t just appear ascendant; it looked like the future. Economic populism, climate justice, and racial equity, long relegated to the margins, were suddenly central to national debate."
True. Biden was by far the most progressive president since FDR (maybe ever). He was progressive beyond my wildest hopes.
"Biden and Harris didn’t lose because they governed too cautiously, but because progressives made them look out of touch."
Absolutely true. Progressives said they wanted $10,000 in debt forgiveness. Biden agreed, and then they immediately changed the number to $50,000, then $100,000, then unlimited, with no income limit. When Biden set income limits of $125,000 per person or $250,000 per couple, they whined and screamed and insisted that doctors and lawyers making much more than that should have hundreds of thousands of dollars in law school and med school debt forgiven. This was so suicidally counterproductive that I had to wonder if they were helping Republicans on purpose.
I used to consider myself a progressive, but a lot of progressives have gone off the deep end into complete insanity. Now I am embarrassed by the label.
Under Biden, Congress passed the biggest climate change bill in the history of the world. This was an amazing achievement with such a closely divided Congress. Even after that, progressive groups claimed that he had done nothing about climate change. They literally called a $400 billion investment "nothing". (For a breakdown of that $400 billion in delightfully nerdy detail, check out this awesome video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw5zzrOpo2s )
"Around the world, junior partners get scapegoated when things fall apart."
Scapegoating means blaming the innocent - it's not scapegoating when it really is their fault. I have supported Bernie since 2015, but self-proclaimed progressives like the "Friends of Bernie" group and "Our Revolution" did everything they possibly could to sabotage Democrats and shoot themselves in the foot. If you didn't want (justified) blame, you shouldn't have stabbed your senior partner in the back hundreds of times.
"But because the victories lacked visibility—and because they were ultimately implemented by the Biden administration—many didn’t see them as wins for the left at all."
That's because progressives themselves, instead of celebrating the amazing wins, whined that those achievements were nothing. They could have celebrated and bragged about Biden's astonishingly progressive achievements (again, I highly recommend this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw5zzrOpo2s), but all they did was complain.
I'm on a lot of progressive mailing lists, and I was flabbergasted by the way so many of them ignored or even denied these achievements while putting 100% of the blame on Biden when some of his progressive executive orders were blocked by right-wing judges (e.g. ending Remain in Mexico).
"when junior partners enter government, voters don’t credit them for shifting the agenda—they assume the junior partner has simply aligned with the senior one."
That's because the junior partners kept attacking the senior partner and claiming that the progressive achievements of the senior partner were nothing and didn't even happen.
"becoming a junior partner was the original sin"
No, stabbing the senior partner in the back over and over again was the original sin. As soon as Biden offered $10,000 in debt forgiveness, progressives immediately claimed that $10,000 was nothing and demanded $50,000.
When the Biden administration lowered Medicare premiums by ending coverage for an Alzheimer's drug that was found to be ineffective, progressives could have celebrated this achievement that saves 65 million seniors money every month. Instead, six completely different progressive groups in the same week sent me emails whining that the premium reduction should be immediate instead of starting in the new calendar year. It seems like they are hell-bent on framing every victory as a loss.
"So no, this isn’t a call to cast aside the torchbearers."
All progressives had to do to keep the progressive momentum going was to celebrate Biden being the most progressive president in history instead of constantly attacking him. But the loudest ones decided they would rather whine than win. Instead of using torches to light the way, they burned our democracy to the ground.