I noticed a diary on the rec list yesterday called “ Where Are the Democrats? Seriously, Where The Hell Are You?” where the author can’t seem to find any Democrats anywhere willing to stand up for what we believe in. Apparently the author only means elected Democrats, as they never mention those of us out here organizing and getting ready for the 2018 elections.
Part of the issue, of course, is that Trump and his sycophants manage to suck the air out of the room with each passing day. What has the major story been the last few days on the cable channels? Whether Trump said “shithouse” or “shithole” when referring to majority black countries like Haiti or nations in Africa when talking about immigration.
Apparently the author wants to see the Democrats out in the “media”, but tweets don’t count (“a tweet is, lets face it, bullshit if it’s not a news item and not sustainable”), nor do TV appearances (“when I say I don’t see Democrats in the media, I’m not talking about one person here or there, like Durbin or Feinstein, actually doing what the rest should all be doing”). So after narrowing down media appearances to only what the author deems good enough, an addendum at the end of the diary finally clarifies what the author thinks Democrats should be doing:
If all (or, for God’s sake, most) the elected Democrats would stand together, call more press conferences, create more initiatives with clever, catchy, strong names (i.e. “Contract with America”, instead of “A Better Deal”) be more combative on the talk shows, and demand to be heard, rather than being so polite, we’d get more coverage.
So here’s the video of the Senate Democrats having a press conference on 1-9-18 on DACA:
Did you hear about that in the media?
Here’s a video about a report on Russian interference in the elections Senate Democrats put out the day after Feinstein released the transcript on the Fusion dossier.
“Without the president agreeing that this needs to be addressed, this won’t go anywhere.”
Of course Feinstein got great coverage after the release but that was a whole week ago, and we all know what the news cycle has been like since Trump was elected. In the last week, we have had a false missile attack alert in Hawaii, the conference of Democrats and Republicans with Trump on DACA, the shithouse comment, Trump’s physical, Steve Bannon’s testimony in front of the Intelligence Committee, some porn star who was paid $130,000 to not tell the world about her tryst with Trump, the DHS secretary interviewed by the Judiciary Committee, and the Senate scrambling to come up with a funding bill for the government.
Meanwhile, here are the stories that went unnoticed:
Report: Democrats are one vote shy of overturning FCC's decision on net neutrality
Pennsylvania Supreme Court hears arguments challenging congressional district map
Democrats grab key Wisconsin Senate seat in Tuesday's special elections
Republicans appear likely to take the blame for a government shutdown
Democrats to Trump on infrastructure: Show us the money
GOP tax plan fails to crack a majority in new poll
90% of Network Coverage of President Trump Negative in 2017
So I would submit that the Democrats are doing plenty, not only nationally, but locally, and what they’re doing is working for us. Maybe they’re not the media whores that Republicans are or the author wants them to be, maybe the media would rather have Republicans defending Trump’s comments, but in the end, it’s about winning hearts and minds and elections.
So don’t get discouraged by negative attitudes. Don’t expect others to do the work for you. Get the message out any way you can- through phone calls to your legislators, through Facebook, through Twitter, through Daily Kos and other sites. People’s lives are at stake, and while meta diaries are a great outlet for frustration and anger, they don’t do much for advancing our agenda.
Support your candidates. Fight for change. Never give up.
