I am channeling my inner Andy Rooney for this VERY short diary, and am delighted that the Image Library is here to help yet again.
Did ya ever notice how, right after the Democrats pull off something absolutely remarkable, this strange thing happens here at Daily Kos?
Did ya ever notice that all of a sudden there will suddenly appear a bunch of pugilistic diaries and antagonistic comments, attacking Biden [this round], attacking Dems [all the time], attacking people here on DK for various characteristics, such as for being a bunch of old fogies who Do Not Care About [whatever we DO care about that is most likely to start a fight]?
I lurked here for fourteen years before signing on, and I saw this happen over and over and over.
And it rarely failed. Which was really frustrating to see.
Just at the moment where we had victory — or victories, as in the present case — to savor and move forward from with renewed hope and energy, all this STUFF lands here.
And true to form, it will get people bickering among themselves. And look what happens to all that energy and time and hope.
Do you ever wonder about the timing on that?
Now, dealing with liberals and progressives in a two party system is like herding cats. In parliamentary multiparty systems, there can be a place for everyone, with a full organizational structure and leadership and so forth. In a two party system, the more diversified party is going to feel a pinch.
Can’t be helped. It’s demographics. The most prevalent philosophy will dominate, the less prevalent philosophies will be vying for attention and power relative to the majority. And whereas parliamentary systems have to figure out coalition building in order to get things done, we don’t seem to think that way. And we are famously bad at it. What we are good at is behaving like the Gingham Dog and Calico Cat.
We are easy to derail. We are easy to disrupt. We are easy to distract. Some of it comes from frustration, especially for those of us in minorities within our own party — disabled, LGBTQIA+, ethnic minority [not so much minority these days, which is a good thing]. Squabbles provide some relief from tension, but at a price — nothing moves forward and it’s not really very good strategy to alienate one’s allies for a moment of catharsis.
This is when we are most vulnerable, folks. Just after we’ve won and won big. This is when we have momentum and feel strong and invincible. And isn’t it interesting that this is when all the disruption and hostility seem to start up?*
Don’t take the bait. It doesn’t matter who is dropping it or why. We could speculate about that for months and accomplish nothing except massive timewasting… just realize that it’s a pattern, that whenever we succeed someone, or several someones, shows up to try and start a fight.
It doesn’t matter who.
It doesn’t matter why.
We can figure that out later.
The important thing is NOT TO LET IT WORK.
Try something different: don’t take the bait, don’t get sucked in.
Eyes on the prize.
*People who are genuinely concerned that important things are being neglected don’t generally seek to enlist support by attacking their potential supporters. Understanding that makes it a lot easier to decide when and with whom to engage, and how to tell an honest disagreement from a bait drop. If it’s bellicose, it’s probably bait. Yes, it can be that simple.
Some words of wisdom from Wes, and no, I didn’t try to make that alliterative on purpose. This is a good addition and helps to keep perspective.
A few observations:
1) There are always those folks who aren’t happy unless they aren’t happy.
2) There are always those folks who make the perfect the enemy of the good. If they don’t get everything they want in a given situation, that situation is a failure.
3) We all have our “#1 issues”, and some of us refuse to acknowledge that no President can tackle all of those issues concurrently, especially when their party doesn’t have complete control of the Congress. (These folks are often found in group #2 above.)
4) We have folks who, to be honest, don’t really understand how the US government actually works. They seem to think that Biden can basically wave a magic wand (or, at least, a rolled-up Executive Order) and just do things, and/or that a quick-fix easily overturned by the next Republican President or Congress is somehow better than working toward a permanent legislative fix.
Brother, you said it! Thank you.
[I am astonished to see this diary on Trending. And will be running away for provender shortly. Then back, God willing and the creek don’t rise.]
From BluMomInRedSt, a reference to a video from Beau, in which he discusses how he takes care to minimize risk of arguments by choosing his words carefully. His meaning comes through, but the emotional loading of certain words is avoided.
.
Thank you!
April 26, 2024, 9:33 AM EDT:
Holy crap… a second day on the Trending list and all these recs and comments?
I am seriously mindblown, and even more seriously grateful. This was just intended as a casual book-length comment, so to speak, and I never expected this reception.
Thank you all.