Summary

Progressives criticized House Democrats for choosing Rep. Gerry Connolly over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for the top Democratic seat on the House Oversight Committee.

The 131-84 vote, reportedly influenced by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, sparked backlash against the party’s “gerontocracy,” with critics like MSNBC’s Joy Reid and others arguing it prioritizes seniority over fresh ideas.

Connolly defended the decision, citing his experience, but progressives argued it reflects the Democratic Party’s resistance to change, hindering its ability to address future challenges and energize younger voters.

  • Allonzee@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    The DNC is a right wing corpo puppet masquerading as opposition.

    They’re far more comfortable with a fascist as President than they would a leftist like AOC.

    Stare at what their priorities are a month before Trump takes office, sabotaging their most leftwing members.

    Reminder: the only leftist congresspeople are spoiler candidates. The DNC promotes solely on the basis of how well you prove you can be bought by large money donors, which tells you all you need to know about who’s side they’re on. The same side as the Fascists on economic policy, as they get the same checks from the same oligarchs.

    I’ve voted blue for 20 years, with my nose held hoping for harm reduction. I phonebanked for Sanders in 2 campaigns. I already know it’s all a sham. You can vote whoever you want as long as they’re pro corpo capitalism. But in the 2024 primary, when I see the DNC yet again doing everything they can to kneecap a progressive to install a neoliberal, I’m walking away, as it’s just another system of control. The illusion of choice.

    If the people won’t overcome their propaganda and vote against the shape and priorities of this sociopath owned economy, we can’t be saved, and there’s nothing worth saving left.

    • Optional@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      The DNC is a right wing corpo puppet masquerading as opposition.

      This kind of bullshit is so easy to believe, especially with stories like these.

      For any of you under-30s just tuning in to the exciting world of corporate politics and wanting to just go along with that idea for funsies I encourage you to actually look at the jobs to be done. Democrats in office in DC are in the bare hundreds while nationally there are many thousands of actual good people doing the best they can to make this entirely fucked up clusterturd run for just one more goddamn day. Because traffic lights have to work. People have to clean the crap out of the sewers. Trees have to be planted by the city and maintained. Boring, entirely decent work being done by Democrats who have no interest in bombing Palestine and say so every chance they get.

      Pitching edgy insults at them helps no one including yourself because the alternative to a national party that isn’t owned by trump is absolute worthless chaos. Unless there’s a secret unnamed party that we’re not hearing about. Ten educated punks in a dispensary does not a political party make. It turns out to be much, much harder than that to do.

      If you want to burn it down and don’t have any idea what the fuck it does or is, you’re doing trumps work for him. If you have a better idea why are you the only one with it?

      Hey, if AOC and Bernie say - everybody go that way, then maybe we’ll have a new party. Works for me. But until something happens at a national scale like that we’ve got one already that’s open for change. It does involve speaking to others without a keyboard though, so that is a downside, but since it’s always been that way I’m not sure we can blame it on corporations, capitalism, (((cabals))) or whatever.

      • emeralddawn45@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        8 days ago

        What point are you trying to make here? You’re basically saying “not all Democrats” while admitting that the party leadership is rotten to the core, and no amount of head down, hard working, stay in line, lower level Dems is going to change that. Like obviously nobody thinks every Democrat is a terrible person. But the ones in charge, who make the decisions and influence the party priorities and values, are entirely bought and sold.

        • Optional@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          You’re basically saying “not all Democrats” while admitting that the party leadership is rotten to the core, and no amount of head down, hard working, stay in line, lower level Dems is going to change that.

          That’s absolutely not what I’m saying, and if that’s a remotely plausible interpretation then I obviously didn’t say it right.

          It’s more like this: Party leadership is party leadership to a large extent. There are things they need to do and care about that no one else does. That goes for any party including all the magical non-party parties that some of our lefty friends think are the only way forward. They will ultimately have the same challenge.

          To change that, there has to be one of two kinds of effort: intense focused, or overwhelming general. I suppose a combination of those might work too, but party leadership becomes entrenched for the same reasons we pick a brand and stick with it. It worked, it’s fine, we have other things to do. So to break that spell we either need Superperson to charge in there and rock the house down, or an enormous Gathering of the Tribes to chant for change. Again, that’s the same for any national party. Once in a great while we get great leaders who understand the need and pace of change and just step aside to let it happen. Obviously it’s not that great while I guess.

          The DNC needs a rebuilt engine, but the seats and tires are fine, the radio shold be upgraded but is servicable, and there’s some cool maps in the glove compartment. People should fix it rather than just start walking and bitching there’s no good cars anymore. Or worse yet, claiming a magical zero emission carbon neutral train will arrive shortly to whisk us away so let’s just stand here.

      • Allonzee@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        https://apnews.com/article/business-nancy-pelosi-congress-8685e82eb6d6e5b42413417f3d5d6775

        I love how neoliberals are always more concerned with street lamps and trees for the dwindling middle class areas while never bringing up our greatest sin you have no interest in addressing, housing all homeless without condition. That should come before all else, from the worst off citizens upward. They’re dying right now, needlessly. While others live in their compact cars and try to reframe it as a lifestyle because a studio is out of reach.

        But they have no bribe checks, and serve capitalism as scarecrows. Dying of exposure, being legislated as not being allowed to exist at all even in supposed leftwing states.

        Fuck the pretty commons, the less poors are rooting for the deaths of more poors for the crime of lowering property values while being killed themselves by the rich they trusted, and some still sadly do, to do the right thing by them. But that’s your priority.

        Honestly beautifying the commons in the areas protected from our most struggling, while our tent cities burst at the seams is beyond perverse.

        • Drusas@fedia.io
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          8 days ago

          People where I live, Seattle, regularly vote to tax ourselves more to try to help the homeless. Somehow nothing seems to ever help very much. We vote for all sorts of different programs. Maybe it just hasn’t been long enough to see which might be working.

        • Optional@lemmy.world
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          9 days ago

          You didn’t mention the traffic lights or the sewers. I got the zeal for single-minded politics but in reality that doesn’t work because, well, there are many many other things that have to be done. And not just traffic lights and sewers! Other things too. Uh, schools, hospitals, and . . probably industrial waste or disaster recovery. Good on you for the single thing tho - are you running for something?

          • Allonzee@lemmy.world
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            9 days ago

            I don’t bullshit with a big fake smile, and that’s all Americans are willing to buy, so no, I don’t have what they want to buy to sell.

            You’re the one that started with trees and traffic lamps as paramount issues. I started with the capitalist rot, the blight that creates or informs all others. Clearly traffic lights and trees are your top ticket items. Good for you I guess. And we can barely do anything, so I always find it hilarious when you guys talk about us doing many things at once.

            If we can’t reshape our economy to start rewarding prosocial vocations like teachers and nurses and start actively punishing runaway avarice, very little, and none of the most destructive issues, can begin to be addressed. There is profit to me made in human cruelty and murder, so long as it rolls downhill exclusively.

            • Optional@lemmy.world
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              9 days ago

              I always find it hilarious when you guys talk about us doing many things at once. We can’t. We’ve proven we can’t.

              I don’t know how you mean - we got here somehow. By doing many things at once, was my take on it.

              I don’t bullshit with a big fake smile, and that’s all Americans are willing to buy, so no, I don’t have what they want to buy to sell.

              Yeah me either, so I hear you on that one. Still - with all this old “new media” maybe someone will figure out how to run for office with it and we’ll see some fast change for the better.

      • Deceptichum@quokk.au
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        9 days ago

        You think the guy going out to repair a traffic light or keeps the system working is part of the DNC?

        People keep the country running, not parasites politicians.

        • Optional@lemmy.world
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          9 days ago

          No I’m saying there are Democratic officials who do those kinds of tasks and they’re not part of “corporate backed opposition”. Politicians are people not always parasites. And usually when people say they are parasites they don’t know much about politics, or organizations, or national media - all the stuff that’s involved in political party operations.

      • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        This attitude right here, which is pervasive among the professional managerial class, is precisely WHY progressives failed to capture the Democratic party post 2016, where-as MAGA was able to successfully take over their corporate party, and bend it to their will.

      • frezik@midwest.social
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        9 days ago

        Progressives fixing the traffic lights and sewers are exactly where Pelosi wants progressives, and no higher.