The Cult Behavior of Moderate Apologists Is Really Quite Distressing

Your sponsorship helps me fight for your rights!I recently made the mistake of thinking I could get a centrist Democrat to see reason. I am committed to seeing Democrats win office. For the last few election cycles, I've held my tongue and watched as the party continues to abandon the working class even as it moves to the right.“We can't go too far left!” they chirp. Meanwhile the Overton window has shifted so far to the right that this country has lost all liberal representation.Even Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are right of center. Their policies align with Eisenhower if you can believe that. The DNC is so focused on winning the battle that they're losing the war.In 2024, the Democratic establishment suffered a humiliating loss. They lost the presidency, they lost the senate, they lost the house. To make matters worse, their insistence on running elderly candidates who are in bad health resulted in the loss of 3 seats that voters and volunteers worked hard to win.Pelosi put a guy on the oversight committee who died of cancer rather than allow Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to be seated. Because of Pelosi's involvement, a crucial seat remained empty which eroded the ability of the Democrats to impede the overreach of the authoritarian Republican regime.Not that the establishment Democrats seem all that interested in impeding them anyway.Instead, the majority seems to be listening to skull-faced James Carville who is sitting around with a perpetual smirk as if he thinks it's funny that innocent people are getting rounded up and sent to death camps.“They're going to pay for that in the next election,” he snidely remarks.As for me, I'm not even thinking about elections right now. I'm thinking about stopping the crimes against humanity! These are people and they're being beaten, abused, and they're having their rights violated. People on social media are bragging about feeding children to alligators and you're licking your lips about your prospects for reelection?That's disgusting!All of this is why the Democratic approval rating keeps tumbling!So, let's reassess. They lost their elections, everyone despises them, things are getting worse instead of better, yet there are people out there who are still saying, “Steady as she goes?”Are they delusional? Are they in a cult? Are they bots?I wrote a post condemning the Democrats for passing over both Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett for the oversight committee. Somebody, whose bio said she was an attorney, told me, “You have to stop bashing democrats. We have to work together!”I replied by saying that I wasn't bashing anyone. I asked her to use polite language. I asserted my right to offer constructive criticism in the face of this tidal wave of concerning losses. Finally, I mentioned that the Democratic establishment is failing to rally behind popular politicians like Mamdani, and that maybe she should practice what she preached.Naturally, that wasn't the end of it.I found myself subjected to a tirade of all the nonsensical talking points the DNC has been imposing on people for decades.“Progressives can't win seats!”“We have to stick together until we win the presidency, the house and the senate.”“The only way to do this is to go to the center.”All of this is absolute nonsense, but people believe it with such hostile insistence that they become enraged when you try to speak rationally. They remind me of MAGA. The moment you contest their position with facts, they start to swear at you.The biggest problem is that we tried all this. For as much as the Democratic establishment likes to blame voters, the FACT is that the voters gave Democrats the presidency, the house, and the senate in 2020.They had it. They had the power they keep insisting they need before they do anything.What happened?Well, the centrists killed the Democratic agenda.Can we at least acknowledge that? Manchin went on television and bragged about voting against Build Back Better.So, you tell me, where's all the pressure to get a guy like that to “get in line?” Why is he allowed to perform such a malicious sabotage with an actual vote, but anyone who says, “gee, maybe this isn't a good strategy” is vilified?Look at the fundamental absurdity of what the Democratic establishment is doing. First of all, they've been losing their elections. That's pretty clear evidence that these centrist candidates they claim are popular simply can't win.Second of all, if one of these centrists actually does get elected, he's likely to side with the fascists.This is a lose/lose strategy.What is the point of wasting time, money, and resources on a candidate that can't get elected and won't support us when he does? The argument of “progressives can't win in red districts” is their perpetual justification for self-sabotage.It's also a lie. They know it's a lie because they were so quick to falsely blame Bernie Sanders for Clinton's loss. The DNC is so eager to pile on progressives that they disregard the fact that they're making an argument that progressive policies are popular even in red districts!This is simply a fact. Anyone who refuses to see this is in a cult.The reality is that fascism has knocked down our door and is currently sitting in the living room because the DNC refuses to embrace popular progressive policies.People want higher wages, they want healthcare, they want child care, they want education, they want to be able to buy a house. All of these things are only possible with a commitment to progressive ideals.The Democrats insist they can't do any of that, and they lose every election, become increasingly unpopular, and STILL continue to blame progressives. When Republican fascists take office Democrats insist they must “do nothing,” but when progressives like Mamdani win primaries, establishment Democrats have no objection to running third party candidates to prevent a progressive from winning.We expect evil people to perform acts of evil.The betrayal comes when people we thought were our allies stand around with their hands in their pockets. That's what the Democrats are doing.But the part that makes me pull out my hair is how otherwise intelligent people are incapable of seeing this. The establishment Democrat propaganda machine isn't quite as obvious as MAGA, but it's just as well-oiled. I personally know people who became so fed up with the way entitled establishment Democrats rig primaries that they defected to the Republicans out of spite.I wouldn't do that, but I've seen it happen. Establishment Democrats need to wake up and smell the Constitution burning.The simple fact is that if we run centrist candidates we can't win. They either lose the election, or they switch to Republican once they are seated. We need to adopt a strategy that at least gives us a chance at winning.Remember, we gave the Democrats everything they asked for in 2020. It didn't work. The people they insisted we must run did not fulfill their oaths to protect the Constitution. We can't continue to do the same strategy again and again and again and expect a different result.It's time for a change. It's time for the Democrats to embrace progressives. For as long as I can remember, they've been playing not to lose. It's time that they found a spine and started playing to win.You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI'm so happy you're here, and I'm looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe