Late last night, we looked at the uncomfortable fact that progressives are not in control of the Democratic Party and that their values and ideals more often than not take a backseat to the career-driven needs of centrists and corrupted corporate shills.
The Republican civil war is pretty front and center and getting quite a lot of media attention. There is also something of a Democratic civil war brewing, a more ideological/less careerist based one. You may have seen sparks of it last week when the Wall Street owned ConservaDem group, Third Way, went on the attack against Elizabeth Warren and the progressive populism she espouses. Third Way, the Blue Dogs and the New Dems are the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.
You know the famous old audio clip of FDR welcoming the hatred of Wall Street plutocrats? It was a long speech but, by far, that line, about welcoming the hatred of America's villains, got the loudest and most sustained applause. I don't mean to equate Adam Green of the PCCC with FDR, but if I were giving him any advise I would tell him to welcome the hatred the consultant-driven world of hacks that Buzzfeed services.
I asked one of the sharpest minds I know on Capitol Hill if there's a single issue facing Congress right now-- just one-- that separates conservatives from progressives. He didn't miss a beat: the Social Security Enhancement and Protection Act and the Strengthening Social Security. Act. Yesterday we had a guest post from the progressive candidate for the Maine Senate seat, Shenna Bellows, on the topic.
