Like Choking on Cotton Balls

I used to work for a senior editor whose appearance reminded me of a rabbit: whitish hair, pale skin, lashless eyes, thin lips, blank stare. Her managing style was equally bland, but very precise, and in her sweet, muted way, she admitted no deviation from her editorial mandates--no flash, no passion, no fancy flights of style in the magazine pages we produced. I did learn many useful writing and editing techniques from her, but keeping in lockstep with such creative absolutism exacted a spiritual price.

It was, a coworker once grumbled, like "choking on cotton balls". That is sort of how I would describe what's happening today, as far as the propaganda being cranked out by the Old Guard press and politicians in the mainstream Democratic apparatus and aimed at what they hope is an otherwise uninformed public. They want the rest of us to choke on

cotton balls. The faked sweetness of their message conceals barbs of treason. They're saying: Let's all, Republicans and Democrats, unite for the good of our country. Let's turn our backs on the Left Wing "extremism" and "identity politics" that only exacerbate divisions. Let's, maybe, shift politically more to the center and accommodate conservatives a little more. And above all, let's donate to the Democratic Party. Give us your money and we'll achieve great things for you, we promise. And we will all be happier.

. These are all deliberate lies. What they're really hoping is to consolidate their own grip, trying to head off any shifts to the Left

caused by discontent in their constituencies. It's not only that they don't want to get off their asses and work honestly for the liberal values they are supposed to represent. It's worse. It's more like, they don't want us to push for our rights because our rights are in direct opposition to the objectives of mainstream Democrats and their Big Donors-- staying rich and in charge. So these Democrats will not admit they're putting up a veritable wall of cloying bullshit misinformation, like a dense barrier of cotton balls, to blind and seduce the public. That's why Old Guard Democrats won't admit there can be no partnering with Republicans intent on cannibalizing the whole system, that edging out Left Wing "extremism" equals trying to eliminate free expression and alternative viewpoints within the Democratic Party, that there's no sense in donating to a Party who ignores the electorate and won't give it a voice in return for its funds, that any references to "identity politics" as the Party's possible downfall are really a dog whistle against Democrats who are not white or straight, and that "shifting politically to the center" really means shifting politically to the RIGHT (which they've been doing in increments, starting with Bill Clinton, followed by Obama, now with Biden as the latest installment. Kamala Harris? Sorry, from here she smells like more of the same: a corporate Democrat masquerading as a progressive to gain votes.) Yes, times have changed since presidents like FDR and LBJ championed a more liberal social climate in the United States. But times haven't changed that much as far as our ongoing need for justice in civil rights, in the economy and in preservation of the environment. My suggestion? If you want an honest appraisal of the current situation, don't listen to Old Guard Democrats and their media cronies; start tuning in to any of the kickass leftie podcasters on YouTube. Oh, and join the Working Families Party.