The Beltway media has no idea how to explain the rift inside the Democratic congressional caucus because the largely uneducated "reporters" don't understand even the most basic dynamics and classifications. For example, Heather Caygle, Sarah Ferris and John Bresnahan gave it a try-- and utterly failed-- yesterday at Politico: Pelosi and Ocasio-Cortez clash drags on, threatening Democratic unity.They don't seem to be able to connect the dots and see what the intra-party struggle is all about. Among the members cited in the report are Lacy Clay (D-MO) who is in Congress for the corruption opportunities, Terri Sewell (New Dem-AL), also corrupt, Derek Kilmer (New Dem-WA), also corrupt, Anthony Brown (New Dem-MD), also corrupt. Only Kilmer is described as a New Dem-- in fact as "chairman of the New Democrats"-- but without a description of what a New Dem is.The New Dems are basically a new version of the Blue Dogs but without the overt racism and homophobia. It is a corporately-funded, pro-Wall Street group of right-of-center Democrats who have figured out how to take tainted corporate cash without taking it directly from the lobbyists and corporate PACs. The New Dems are the heart and soul of legalistic corruption inside the Democratic congressional conference.Now, recall way back when AOC first got into Congress. She immediately identified this type of corruption as the reason for Congress being unable to pass legislation protecting working families from corporate predators. But instead of signing onto the gravy train, she declared war on it. If you know anything about the New Dems (and Blue Dogs), you know that THIS was seen by them as a declaration of war-- and a declaration of war against the war business is conducted in American politics-- on BOTH sides of the aisle:
"I don't think people who are taking money from pharmaceutical companies should be drafting health care legislation. I don't think people who are taking money from Oil and Gas companies should be drafting climate legislation."
Just days after AOC was sworn in, the dynamic-- progressive reformer vs corruption-- was already notable, albeit not by the Beltway media. For politics junkies, I noted in January, yesterday started with a pre-dawn Rachael Bade/Heather Caygle click magnetic piece at Politico, Exasperated Democrats try to rein in Ocasio-Cortez. I noted that their piece really amounted to petrified servants of the status quo within the conference continuing their desperate efforts to force Congress' most popular member-- AOC-- to OBEY! I even wrote that Beltway status quo publications like Politico will continue to back the effort. "The effort," wrote Caygle in January, "described by nearly 20 lawmakers and aides, is part carrot, part stick: Some lawmakers with ties to Ocasio-Cortez are hoping to coax her into using her star power to unite Democrats and turn her fire on Republicans. Others simultaneously warn Ocasio-Cortez is destined for a lonely, ineffectual career in Congress if she continues to treat her own party as the enemy."They identified AOC as a disruptor and insisted she use her secret powers to disrupt only Republicans not themselves. The concept of disrupting a corrupt system is too abstract for most of them. Corrupt, conservative incumbent Democrats were immediately annoyed by her implicit threat to back primary opponents against members in their ranks she deems too corrupt and too conservative. But their frustration went beyond that: Democratic leaders were upset that she railed against Pelosi's entirely anti-progressive PAY-GO scam on Twitter the first week of the new Congress. Corrupt, conservative incumbent Democrat and jealous seat-warmers were peeved that there’s a grassroots movement to try to win her a top committee post they felt she didn’t deserve because she wouldn't bother using to extort legalistic bribes for the party-- the New York seat on the House Ways and Means Committee (which was open because AOC defeat Joe "the next Speaker of the House" Crowley," a corrupt sack of shit, Pelosi ally and New Dem-emeritis.Caygle wrote that AOC had "barely been in Congress a week and is better known than almost any other House member other than Nancy Pelosi and John Lewis. A media throng follows her every move, and she can command a national audience practically at will. None of that came playing by the usual rules: Indeed, Ocasio-Cortez’s willingness to take on her party establishment with unconventional guerrilla tactics is what got her here. It’s earned her icon status on the progressive left, it’s where the 29-year-old freshman derives her power-- and, by every indication, it’s how she thinks she can pull the Democratic Party in her direction. The Freedom Caucus didn’t win many popularity contests in Congress the past four years, but it’s hard to dispute the hard-liners’ success dragging the GOP to the right." She's been dragging the Democrats to the left... and the New Dems and Blue Dogs don't like it, not one bit.One of the most rot-gut, corrupt pigs in Congress, Blue Dog/New Dem Kurt Schrader of Oregon mansplained that "She’s new here, feeling her way around... She doesn’t understand how the place works yet." Today, he's desperately fighting off a strong primary challenge from the progressive mayor of Milwaukie, Mark Gamba, an admirer of AOC.Caygle noticed that even back then some of the (corrupt) House Democrats were scared shitless. They’ve noticed that Ocasio-Cortez had hired two former organizers from the anti-establishment group Justice Democrats to run her office. One of them, her new chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti, told supporters during a November conference call that "we gotta primary folks." Fast forward to... yesterday:And who think it's a coincidence that Trump took Pelosi's side-- the only person in Congress who is keeping him from being impeached-- against AOC? Scott Wong got into how the New Dems and other corrupt conservative Pelosi allies went into full-fledged attack-mode against AOC and the Justice Democrats yesterday:
Justice Democrats is backing primary challengers to eight-term Rep. Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX), a Hispanic Caucus member, and 10-term Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). The insurgent group also made noise this year about challenging Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), a CBC member seen as the heir apparent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). [Worth noting here that the candidate opposing Cuellar is a Latina and the candidate opposing Clay is African-American. The differences aren't about race. Cuellar and Clay are corrupt; they opponents are reformers.]And CBC leaders are fretting that Justice Democrats may target other black lawmakers in the coming weeks and months, including Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) and Anthony Brown (New Dem-MD). Brown said the group has been making calls in his district, actively trying to recruit a challenger to run against him-- something that Justice Democrats denies.“It just seems strange that the social Democrats seem to be targeting members of the Congressional Black Caucus, individuals who have stood and fought to make sure that African Americans are included and part of this process,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (New Dem-NY), a senior CBC member, told The Hill.“I don’t know what that agenda is, but if they want to come after members of the Black Caucus, it’s two ways,” warned Meeks, the Queens Democratic Party boss who clashed with Justice Democrats in a local district attorney race last month.[Meeks' primary opponent, Shaniyat Chowdhury is also a person of color and hasn't been shy about talking to southeast Queens voters about Meeks' jaw-dropping corruption.]...Some Democrats are hoping that Ocasio-Cortez, the rabble-rousing freshman with 4.7 million Twitter followers, gets a primary challenge herself in 2020.Justice Democrats stormed onto the scene last year when one of their little-known handpicked candidates, Ocasio-Cortez, who is Hispanic, unseated then-Rep. Joseph Crowley, the powerful Democratic caucus chairman, in a New York primary.In a statement, Justice Democrats’ executive director, Alexandra Rojas, defended the group’s strategy, noting that it has endorsed several candidates of color.One of them is Cori Bush, a registered nurse and Black Lives Matter activist who is taking on Clay for the second time.“We are supporting a black woman who is a community organizer who has taken on police brutality in the St. Louis area,” Rojas said. “Seventy percent of congressional districts in America have no competitive general election; primaries are often the only places where voters can have a real say.“Barack Obama first ran for Congress in a primary challenge to Rep. Bobby Rush, a CBC member,” Rojas added. “This is a democracy and voters deserve choices.”Justice Democrats also pointed out that they endorsed Ayanna Pressley, an African American woman, in her successful primary challenge last year against Democratic Rep. Mike Capuano in a Massachusetts district where minorities make up the majority.This cycle, Justice Democrats is also supporting Bronx educator Jamaal Bowman, who is black, as he takes on House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (New Dem-NY), who is Jewish, and Jessica Cisneros, a 26-year-old Hispanic woman who is running against her former boss, Cuellar.The CBC’s allegations are “absurd and more about protecting incumbency over democracy,” a Justice Democrats source said.Pelosi hasn't-- while the progressive movement has continued to evolveIn the last cycle, Justice Democrats backed American Civil Liberties Union activist Chardo Richardson over Rep. Stephanie Murphy (Blue Dog-FL), who made history as the first Vietnamese American woman elected to Congress. The group in 2018 also endorsed Bush, who eventually lost to Clay by nearly 20 points in the primary. This week, the group said they will back Bush once again as she gives it another shot in Missouri.In an interview in the Capitol, Clay said it was absolutely clear that Justice Democrats are targeting lawmakers of color like himself. He and his father, Bill Clay, have represented the district for the past 50 years, and Lacy Clay called the group’s actions “insulting” to the intelligence of Missouri voters.“They are going after the wrong target. Instead of fighting Republicans and defeating Trump and holding on to our majority, they find it convenient to go after their own, which is to me a bunch of B.S.,” Clay told The Hill....A senior House Democratic aide called it “ironic and funny” that Ocasio-Cortez is accusing Pelosi of attacking women of color, when Justice Democrats is targeting minority lawmakers.“She’s only a woman of color when it’s convenient. None of the things she’s fought for aligned with communities of color and her group is funded only by elitist white liberals; she’s a puppet,” the top Democratic aide told The Hill in a phone call.The aide then texted an image of a Goomba puppet from the Super Mario Bros. video game.“I can’t tell you how pissed off people are” about the Justice Democrats, the aide added. “All these CBC members feel like they are under siege. But it’s offensive that these elitist white liberals feel like they can undermine the foundation of our party,” African American voters....Rep. Donald McEachin (New Dem-VA), a CBC member, said it was upsetting that Justice Democrats appeared to be taking aim at so many black lawmakers, especially since they have some of the most progressive voting records in the caucus.“I think challenging other Democrats in the primary when we’re trying to hold on to the majority is wrong unless the person is so far out of bounds, so far away from Democratic orthodoxy, but that’s not what’s going on here,” McEachin told The Hill.“It’s disturbing to see challenges to that many CBC members.”
So which trolls are circulating this lovely meme online this week? Is it Trump and/or Russian trolls? Or do the New Dems, Cheri Bustos/DCCC and/or the Pelosi office have their own troll army now too?
