The disintegration of the Democratic Party in real time:

[Prometheus]

www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/S-F-high-school-students-get-a-lesson-in-subtle-15909700.php

Bernie's mittens: A lesson for S.F. high school students in subtle white privilege

Ingrid Seyer-Ochi

Jan. 30, 2021
Updated: Feb. 1, 2021 9:29 a.m.

Three weeks ago I processed the Capitol insurrection with my high school students. Rallying our inquiry skills, we analyzed the images of that historic day, images of white men storming through the Capitol, fearless and with no forces to stop them. “This,” I said, “is white supremacy, this is white privilege. It can be hard to pinpoint, but when we see, it, we know it.”

Across our Zoom screen, they affirmed, with nods, thumbs-ups, and emojis of anger and frustration. Fast-forward two weeks as we analyzed images from the inauguration, asking again, “What do we see?” We saw diversity, creativity and humanity, and a nation embracing all of this and more. On the day of the inauguration, Bernie Sanders was barely on our radar. The next day, he was everywhere.

“What do we see?” I asked again. We’ve been studying diversity and discrimination in the United States; my students were ready. What did they see? They saw a white man in a puffy jacket and huge mittens, distant not only in his social distancing, but in his demeanor and attire.

We took in the meaning of the day, the vulnerability of democracy, the power of ritual, traditions and the peaceful transition of power.

We talked about gender and the possible meanings of the attire chosen by Vice President Kamala Harris, Dr. Jill Biden, the Biden grandchildren, Michelle Obama, Amanda Gorman and others. We referenced the female warriors inspiring these women, the colors of their educational degrees and their monochromatic ensembles of pure power.

And there, across all of our news and social media feeds, was Bernie: Bernie memes, Bernie sweatshirts, endless love for Bernie. I puzzled and fumed as an individual as I strove to be my best possible teacher. What did I see? What did I think my students should see? A wealthy, incredibly well-educated and -privileged white man, showing up for perhaps the most important ritual of the decade, in a puffy jacket and huge mittens.

I mean in no way to overstate the parallels. Sen. Sanders is no white supremacist insurrectionist. But he manifests privilege, white privilege, male privilege and class privilege, in ways that my students could see and feel.

“When you see privilege, you know it,” I’d told them weeks before. Yet, when they saw Sen. Bernie Sanders manifesting privilege, when seemingly no one else did, I struggled to explain that disparity. I am beyond puzzled as to why so many are loving the images of Bernie and his gloves. Sweet, yes, the gloves, knit by an educator. So “Bernie.”

Not so sweet? The blindness I see, of so many (Bernie included), to the privileges Bernie represents. I don’t know many poor, or working class, or female, or struggling-to-be-taken-seriously folk who would show up at the inauguration of our 46th president dressed like Bernie. Unless those same folk had privilege. Which they don’t.

Ingrid Seyer-Ochi is a former UC Berkeley and Mills College professor, ex-Oakland Unified School District principal and current San Francisco Unified School District high school teacher.

What did I see? I saw a bitter, old man trying to not die from Covid or pneumonia while he sits in the audience when he thinks he should be the one at the podium.

Bernie Sanders, once the poster boy for the far left is now not left enough because he wore mittens and had the sheer audacity to be born white and male.

I'm sure the folks on "the right" are having a field day talking about "the left eating their own" and they'd be correct in this instance, especially since the person who wrote the article is a "wealthy, incredibly well-educated and -privileged white" woman.

SMFH

[Nightman]

One strange woman is not exactly the entire Dem party disintegrating.

[Prometheus]

Feb 3, 2021 20:52:49 GMT Nightman said:

One strange woman is not exactly the entire Dem party disintegrating.

If it were only one strange woman, I'd agree, but you also have people like AOC who started taking shots at the new administration even before election day... when she wasn't feuding with Hawley and Cruz. Seriously, did she get elected to legislate or Tweet?

Still don't believe me?

Take a look around v2 or Rive Gauche prior to the election and just look at all the Berniebots who raged against Biden then admitted that they would hold their noses and vote for him just to be rid of Trump. Look now. They give him scant praise and yammer on about "when is he going to get <insert cause her> done?"

I think both parties will fracture before the midterms.

[Nightman]

Feb 3, 2021 23:56:30 GMT Prometheus said:

Feb 3, 2021 20:52:49 GMT Nightman said:

One strange woman is not exactly the entire Dem party disintegrating.

If it were only one strange woman, I'd agree, but you also have people like AOC who started taking shots at the new administration even before election day... when she wasn't feuding with Hawley and Cruz. Seriously, did she get elected to legislate or Tweet?

Still don't believe me?

Take a look around v2 or Rive Gauche prior to the election and just look at all the Berniebots who raged against Biden then admitted that they would hold their noses and vote for him just to be rid of Trump. Look now. They give him scant praise and yammer on about "when is he going to get <insert cause her> done?"

I think both parties will fracture before the midterms.

Everybody should feud with Hawley and Cruz. Anybody who doesn't want to feud with those nitwits has something seriously wrong with them.

The problem is that the majority of the right are extremists, and the majority of Dems are moderates who are afraid of their extremists.

[Prometheus]

Feb 4, 2021 0:52:59 GMT Nightman said:

Feb 3, 2021 23:56:30 GMT Prometheus said:

If it were only one strange woman, I'd agree, but you also have people like AOC who started taking shots at the new administration even before election day... when she wasn't feuding with Hawley and Cruz. Seriously, did she get elected to legislate or Tweet?

Still don't believe me?

Take a look around v2 or Rive Gauche prior to the election and just look at all the Berniebots who raged against Biden then admitted that they would hold their noses and vote for him just to be rid of Trump. Look now. They give him scant praise and yammer on about "when is he going to get <insert cause her> done?"

I think both parties will fracture before the midterms.

Everybody should feud with Hawley and Cruz. Anybody who doesn't want to feud with those nitwits has something seriously wrong with them.

The problem is that the majority of the right are extremists, and the majority of Dems are moderates who are afraid of their extremists.

But it's the extremists that are driving the "conversation" and causing the inaction (as odd a phrase as that sounds).

When the parties fracture, the majority of "the right" will probably move towards extreme Trumpism, as you say, but I'm not so sure that "majority" of moderate Democrats would be large enough to defeat them in an election should the extreme left break off, which I think is going to happen sooner rather than later.

In the grand scheme of numbers, The "left" would have to retain 77 to 80% of their membership just to stay equal with 90% of the Republicans. Those numbers are off the top of my head. If you want to grab a calculator to argue, go right ahead. The point being that you had better be sure of what you think of as a "majority" in both parties because I'm not so sure that 77% of Democrats are as moderate as you think they are.

[Nightman]

Feb 4, 2021 2:01:30 GMT Prometheus said:

Feb 4, 2021 0:52:59 GMT Nightman said:

Everybody should feud with Hawley and Cruz. Anybody who doesn't want to feud with those nitwits has something seriously wrong with them.

The problem is that the majority of the right are extremists, and the majority of Dems are moderates who are afraid of their extremists.

But it's the extremists that are driving the "conversation" and causing the inaction (as odd a phrase as that sounds).

When the parties fracture, the majority of "the right" will probably move towards extreme Trumpism, as you say, but I'm not so sure that "majority" of moderate Democrats would be large enough to defeat them in an election should the extreme left break off, which I think is going to happen sooner rather than later.

In the grand scheme of numbers, The "left" would have to retain 77 to 80% of their membership just to stay equal with 90% of the Republicans. Those numbers are off the top of my head. If you want to grab a calculator to argue, go right ahead. The point being that you had better be sure of what you think of as a "majority" in both parties because I'm not so sure that 77% of Democrats are as moderate as you think they are.

Unfortunately, this is true.

What I mean is that there are a number of factions of Dems; the largest of the factions are the moderates, but I don't think they are more than half. There are the sjw's (the most powerful of the lot), the anti-war zealots, the Bernie Bros, the environmentalists, etc.

The sjw's hitched themselves to the moderates, so the moderates are terrified of angering them. The anti-war folks and Bernie Bros seem to be aligned, but for some reason, the moderates aren't that worried about them, when they should be. It's all very annoying.

[Prometheus]

Feb 4, 2021 15:09:33 GMT Nightman said:

Feb 4, 2021 2:01:30 GMT Prometheus said:

But it's the extremists that are driving the "conversation" and causing the inaction (as odd a phrase as that sounds).

When the parties fracture, the majority of "the right" will probably move towards extreme Trumpism, as you say, but I'm not so sure that "majority" of moderate Democrats would be large enough to defeat them in an election should the extreme left break off, which I think is going to happen sooner rather than later.

In the grand scheme of numbers, The "left" would have to retain 77 to 80% of their membership just to stay equal with 90% of the Republicans. Those numbers are off the top of my head. If you want to grab a calculator to argue, go right ahead. The point being that you had better be sure of what you think of as a "majority" in both parties because I'm not so sure that 77% of Democrats are as moderate as you think they are.

Unfortunately, this is true.

What I mean is that there are a number of factions of Dems; the largest of the factions are the moderates, but I don't think they are more than half. There are the sjw's (the most powerful of the lot), the anti-war zealots, the Bernie Bros, the environmentalists, etc.

The sjw's hitched themselves to the moderates, so the moderates are terrified of angering them. The anti-war folks and Bernie Bros seem to be aligned, but for some reason, the moderates aren't that worried about them, when they should be. It's all very annoying.

I think the SJWs are going to swing harder left towards the "socialist" Berniebots and Ocasio-Cortezoids and the moderates are going to be left with their pants down and gender-neutral connectors swingin' in the breeze.

[ant-mac]

The disintegration of the Democratic Party in real time:

To be honest, I can't say that I've noticed... although I'm not necessarily disputing your claim.

As far as I can tell, nearly every political party that I've ever been aware of has suffered from some sort of internal disunity among it's members or leadership group.

However, just at present, I've been distracted by the ongoing clusterfuck otherwise known as the Republican Party.

[ant-mac]

Feb 4, 2021 16:16:10 GMT Prometheus said:

Feb 4, 2021 15:09:33 GMT Nightman said:

Unfortunately, this is true.

What I mean is that there are a number of factions of Dems; the largest of the factions are the moderates, but I don't think they are more than half. There are the sjw's (the most powerful of the lot), the anti-war zealots, the Bernie Bros, the environmentalists, etc.

The sjw's hitched themselves to the moderates, so the moderates are terrified of angering them. The anti-war folks and Bernie Bros seem to be aligned, but for some reason, the moderates aren't that worried about them, when they should be. It's all very annoying.

I think the SJWs are going to swing harder left towards the "socialist" Berniebots and Ocasio-Cortezoids and the moderates are going to be left with their pants down and gender-neutral connectors swingin' in the breeze.

Never underestimate the bots and droids...

[Nightman]

Feb 4, 2021 16:16:10 GMT Prometheus said:

Feb 4, 2021 15:09:33 GMT Nightman said:

Unfortunately, this is true.

What I mean is that there are a number of factions of Dems; the largest of the factions are the moderates, but I don't think they are more than half. There are the sjw's (the most powerful of the lot), the anti-war zealots, the Bernie Bros, the environmentalists, etc.

The sjw's hitched themselves to the moderates, so the moderates are terrified of angering them. The anti-war folks and Bernie Bros seem to be aligned, but for some reason, the moderates aren't that worried about them, when they should be. It's all very annoying.

I think the SJWs are going to swing harder left towards the "socialist" Berniebots and Ocasio-Cortezoids and the moderates are going to be left with their pants down and gender-neutral connectors swingin' in the breeze.

I dunno, sjw's and Bernie Bros generally dislike each other for reasons I don't understand. Sjw's prefer to ally with the moderates because the moderates easily bend to their will, yet still fail to make them happy because they have yet to realize that there are multiple factions within the sjw's, some of whom dislike each other also. This is why the US has no need for Repubs; Dems can splinter into four or five parties on their own, without Repubs adding nutjob terrorists to the mix.

[Prometheus]

Feb 4, 2021 18:40:09 GMT Nightman said:

Feb 4, 2021 16:16:10 GMT Prometheus said:

I think the SJWs are going to swing harder left towards the "socialist" Berniebots and Ocasio-Cortezoids and the moderates are going to be left with their pants down and gender-neutral connectors swingin' in the breeze.

I dunno, sjw's and Bernie Bros generally dislike each other for reasons I don't understand. Sjw's prefer to ally with the moderates because the moderates easily bend to their will, yet still fail to make them happy because they have yet to realize that there are multiple factions within the sjw's, some of whom dislike each other also. This is why the US has no need for Repubs; Dems can splinter into four or five parties on their own, without Repubs adding nutjob terrorists to the mix.

I think that's exactly why the SJWs will swing extreme left: they're tired of empty promises and Pyrrhic victories from the moderates. They only stuck with them because there was no other faction large enough or vocal enough to force the changes that they want. The rise of these social democrats (who call themselves democratic socialists because they're stupid) is very attractive to the "downtrodden." The far left is saying they'll actually get shit done.

But they won't.

Why?

Because the GOP will push even further to the right and do everything they can to block any legislation the SDs throw at them and the moderate Dems are going to going to be conciliatory - because that's what they do - and any victories will be small but the failures will loom large and the gaps will widen (rhymes with Biden).

[Nightman]

Feb 5, 2021 2:02:24 GMT Prometheus said:

Feb 4, 2021 18:40:09 GMT Nightman said:

I dunno, sjw's and Bernie Bros generally dislike each other for reasons I don't understand. Sjw's prefer to ally with the moderates because the moderates easily bend to their will, yet still fail to make them happy because they have yet to realize that there are multiple factions within the sjw's, some of whom dislike each other also. This is why the US has no need for Repubs; Dems can splinter into four or five parties on their own, without Repubs adding nutjob terrorists to the mix.

I think that's exactly why the SJWs will swing extreme left: they're tired of empty promises and Pyrrhic victories from the moderates. They only stuck with them because there was no other faction large enough or vocal enough to force the changes that they want. The rise of these social democrats (who call themselves democratic socialists because they're stupid) is very attractive to the "downtrodden." The far left is saying they'll actually get shit done.

But they won't.

Why?

Because the GOP will push even further to the right and do everything they can to block any legislation the SDs throw at them and the moderate Dems are going to going to be conciliatory - because that's what they do - and any victories will be small but the failures will loom large and the gaps will widen (rhymes with Biden).

Mayhaps the moderate Dems can continue to convince the far left that they should stick together because the right has gone nuttier than usual. As long as the right continues to serve the Qunatics, it could work.

[Prometheus]

Feb 5, 2021 21:35:33 GMT Nightman said:

Feb 5, 2021 2:02:24 GMT Prometheus said:

I think that's exactly why the SJWs will swing extreme left: they're tired of empty promises and Pyrrhic victories from the moderates. They only stuck with them because there was no other faction large enough or vocal enough to force the changes that they want. The rise of these social democrats (who call themselves democratic socialists because they're stupid) is very attractive to the "downtrodden." The far left is saying they'll actually get shit done.

But they won't.

Why?

Because the GOP will push even further to the right and do everything they can to block any legislation the SDs throw at them and the moderate Dems are going to going to be conciliatory - because that's what they do - and any victories will be small but the failures will loom large and the gaps will widen (rhymes with Biden).

Mayhaps the moderate Dems can continue to convince the far left that they should stick together because the right has gone nuttier than usual. As long as the right continues to serve the Qunatics, it could work.

That was enough to win the election but it won't be enough to last the next 4 years no matter how much "diversity" Biden pumps into his cabinet.

The SJWs have been screaming for what they want for decades. They want it NOW.

And it's not "rights" they want.

It's retribution and vengeance.

They'll swing further left to get it.