Joe Biden Is Not A Radical - But He Is A Progressive

There are those on the left that seem to believe that nothing progressive can be accomplished unless a radical leftist (like Bernie Sanders) is elected. That is simply not true.

Many progressive things have been accomplished by presidents who were not radical leftists, or even considered to be progressives. I remember that Lyndon Johnson was called a centrist, and some even said he was a conservative. But his administration passed 3 Civil Rights bills, created and passed Medicare, and waged a fairly effective War on Poverty -- all very progressive!

Now the same is being said of Joe Biden. He is being called a centrist (with the inference that nothing progressive could come out of a Biden administration). That is nonsense.

In truth, Biden would be the most progressive president this country has had in decades -- and if he is given a Democratic Congress, he would accomplish many progressive goals.

I'm not the only leftist who believes this. Here is what fellow leftist blogger Ruy Teixeira wrote on his excellent blog, The Optimistic Leftist.

Nancy LeTourneau makes a point in the Washington Monthly that I've made quite a few times before and which I feel is still widely ignored. Whatever else people feel obliged to call Joe Biden, he is running on a very progressive platform. His positions only seem less so because they are constantly compared to those of Sanders and Warren which are admittedly more "left". 

The fact of the matter is that the country has moved to the left, the Democratic party as a whole has moved to the left and Biden, as a pretty faithful representative of the party, has moved to the left as well. If he does get elected, he will be committed to a whole set of priorities that are plenty progressive; he and the Democrats in Congress will have to work very hard just to get some of them enacted.

LeTourneau lays out the case well:

"[P]rogressives are wrong to suggest that a Biden presidency would be nothing more than a return to the status quo of the Obama years. His platform currently includes the following:

1. Increase taxes on the wealthy. The Tax Policy Center calculated that Biden’s plan would raise $4 trillion over a decade—one of the largest wealth transfers in American history.
2. Subsidies and Medicaid funding, along with a public option, in order to achieve universal health care.
3. A combination of $17 trillion in clean energy investment and tighter regulations to bring emissions to zero by 2050.
4. A combined $2 trillion in new spending on early education, post-secondary education, and housing.
5. A $1.3 trillion infrastructure plan.
6. A $15 minimum wage.
7. Closure of the gun show loophole and a ban on the sale of assault weapons.
8. Comprehensive immigration reform, including a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
9. A comprehensive program for criminal justice reform.
10. A constitutional amendment to eliminate private dollars from our federal elections.

Just a few days ago, Biden signed on to support Senator Elizabeth Warren’s bankruptcy plan.

When it comes to foreign policy, Biden would, first of all, restore the Iran Nuclear Agreement and re-engage the United States in the Paris Climate Accord. But I would also remind you that, during his time in the Obama administration, Biden consistently counseled against foreign military intervention. Restoring the relationships with our allies that have been decimated by the current administration is something Biden would tackle on day one.

While none of that reaches the level of change proposed by Senators Sanders and Warren, it hardly qualifies as “centrist” or maintenance of the status quo. It is one of the most progressive platforms we’ve ever seen from a presidential candidate."

Just so. With that in mind--and assuming we get through the next few months--let's make sure we get this guy elected in November. His supposedly centrist ideas would add up to big change in America.

It's Not About Trump - It's About All Of Us

If you are not a regular reader of John Pavlovitz (pictured), then you are missing out on some great writing. He has a way with words (and rational and moral thinking) that I admire.

Here is his latest blog post:

Trump-supporting friend,

What we’ve got here is, failure to communicate…

I know you think I’m preoccupied with this President; that he is the reason I’m so angry and bitter and frustrated these days—but you’re wrong.

This isn’t about Donald Trump.

It’s never been about him.

It wasn’t about him during the campaign or on Election Day.It wasn’t about him when recordings of him boasting about sexual assaults surfaced.It wasn’t about him when he said protestors at campaign rallies should be roughed up.It wasn’t about him when he left refugee families stranded at the airport.It wasn’t about him when he attacked the Press.It wasn’t about him when he sabotaged the Affordable Care Act.It wasn’t about him when he blamed racial violence on “both sides.”

And it isn’t about him today: it’s about us.

This is about me and it’s about you.

It’s about my grief at the ugliness you feel emboldened to post on social media now, the nastiness you seem newly capable of, the disgusting words you now so easily toss out around the dinner table.

It’s about my disbelief at your sudden tolerance for his infidelity, his cruelty, his intellectual ignorance, his disrespect for the rule of law—things you once claimed you could never abide.

It’s about my incredulity at your surprising resentment for marginalized people; for your inability to muster any compassion for those who are hurting or frightened or threatened.

It’s about my disappointment at your easily manipulated nationalistic fervor; how the God and Guns, America First, Love it or Leave it rhetoric, so easily took root in your heart—how hostile to outsiders and foreigners you’ve become.

It’s about my amazement at your capacity to make your faith so pliable, that you could amen a compulsive liar, a serial adulterer, a fear-mongering bully; a man in nearly every way antithetical to the Jesus you’ve always said was so dear to you.

It’s about my sickness seeing you excuse away his coddling of racists, his public attacks on the FBI, his impulsive firings of Cabinet members, his Tweet rants against individual citizens and American companies.

It’s about my grief seeing you respond to his near-hourly display of recklessness and overreach, with a shrug of your shoulders or a turning away from it all.

It’s about me watching you ignore in him and even celebrate in him, the very things you claimed made Hillary Clinton the ‘greater of two evils’ when you voted: blatant corruption, financial impropriety, pathological lies, lack of morality.

It’s about my sadness at seeing you make a million tiny concessions—and how easy it now is for you to sanction actions, that only two years ago you’d have told me fully disgusted you.

Most of all, it’s about me realizing that when all this is over—we are still going to have to deal with all of this. Our fractures are going to outlive this Presidency.

You see, I really don’t give a damn about Donald Trump.

He doesn’t matter to me. He never has.

He’s a three-time married, C-level reality TV celebrity, with a long and well-documented resume of sexual misconduct, financial disasters, and moral filth. He’s a professional predator who’s spent his life exploiting people for personal gain. That’s who he was before and who he will be when he leaves office.

Donald Trump, the President will be gone one day, and his disastrous Presidency will be well preserved. History will have documented his every lie, every misdeed, every abuse of power, every treasonous betrayal—and he will be fully revealed as the monster that many of us are fully aware that he is.

That’s not why I am so disgusted and so filled with sadness these days.

I don’t care about Donald Trump because I don’t know or live alongside or love or respect Donald Trump.

I know and live alongside and love and respect you—or at least I once did, and I’m going to have to try and do that again.

Our relationship and our family and our church and our neighborhood and our nation are going to be trying to clean up the messes long after this President is gone.

When this is all over, the divides and the fractures and the wounds between us are going to remain.

This is why I’m angry and bitter and frustrated; not because of Donald Trump—but because of me—and because of you.

Party Like A Blogger

For you conventioneers looking for a party, this is the one to attend. I wasn't at the original one in Houston, but I made the ones in Fort Worth, Austin, and Corpus Christi -- and they were without a doubt the best parties of the convention. This one should be no different. Many of the best progressive bloggers in the state will be there, as well as a lot of Democratic politicians and other good Democrats. (and believe me, these people know how to party). See you there!

Left And Right Working Together

This is something you don't see every day. In fact, I would say it's a very rare occurence. Usually bloggers from the left and right are natural enemies, and most of the time couldn't even agree on the time of day. But yesterday, they took a stand together for the benefit of all.

Yesterday Senator Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) introduced SB1950, which would have subjected political bloggers to some severe disclosure requirements under the Texas Election Code. The new bill could have seriously hurt a lot of political bloggers, especially those who sell ads on their blogs.

The Texas Progressive Alliance, an association of about 50 Texas left-wing political blogs, decided the bill must not pass, and geared up to oppose it in a unified effort. A couple of phone calls were made, and by 11:00am they were joined by at least 30 right-wing Texas blogs and a promise that more could be activated if necessary.

Then Harold Cook, a political consultant for Senate Democrats, approached Senator Zaffirini with the concerns of the bloggers. The senator withdrew the bill, saying she didn't realize the impact it would have on Texas bloggers and citizen journalists. The bill was dead because bloggers from both ends of the political spectrum had stood stood together.

Today, the two sides are once more at each other's throats, but now we know they are capable of uniting to support blogger rights. I thank the conservative bloggers for their help in this matter and assure them we progressives will always be ready to defend the rights of political bloggers.

There will be one more time in this legislative session when it will behoove both sides to stand together. State Rep. Aaron Pena (D-Edinburg) has introduced HB4237. This is a good bill that would grant bloggers protection from being sued for libel when reporting on actions in a court of law, the proceedings of a government body or meetings dealing with public issues.

This bill would effectively put bloggers on the same level as the mainstream press. This has been long needed, and if support can be garnered on both sides of the aisle it could finally come to pass in this legislative session.

Where Is The Line ?

During the time that I was off sick, a bit of a brouhaha was created among Texas progressive bloggers. While I don't think anyone did anything wrong or meant to do anything wrong, it does bring up a serious issue that all bloggers everywhere should think about -- especially political bloggers.

A small group of progressive bloggers had arranged to do a teleconference interview with ex-comptroller John Sharp, who has announced his intention to run for Kay Bailey Hutchison's senate seat when she resigns to run for governor in 2010. Obviously, Mr. Sharp was hoping to convince these bloggers to support him in the 2010 primary (where his opponent would be Mayor Bill White of Houston).

But there were technical problems and the teleconference call was unable to be completed. To make up for it, Sharp invited those bloggers to meet with him in an Austin steakhouse. They had a lively political discussion, where Sharp's political past and future was discussed, along with his stand on issues important to Texas. Sharp paid for the steaks and drinks.

That's where the problem starts. Another Texas progressive blogger took those at the meeting to task for accepting the dinner from Sharp. At this point, I must confess to you that I personally know and respect all of the bloggers involved on both sides of this issue. I don't, even for a minute, believe that any of them could be "bought" for a steak dinner and a few drinks.

But it just doesn't look good, and in politics sometimes perceptions are as important as truth. Many bloggers have long complained that they aren't taken seriously, and bloggers have fought long and hard for the respect they are beginning to be given. As an example, bloggers are now sent press releases by many politicians and even given interviews. The Texas and National Democratic parties even gave many bloggers press credentials last year.

I asked myself, would I respect a mainstream journalist who accepted dinners or small gifts from politicians he/she covered? Frankly, it would make me question their coverage -- especially if that coverage was positive. Now this is not unheard of. Both Lyndon Johnson and John McCain were known for the barbeques they threw for the press that covered them, and they were sometimes very lavish affairs. Now I don't know that these affairs ever produced any good press for these men, but isn't it obvious that both men were trying to purchase a little good will at least from the journalists?

Now I think we can all agree that if a journalist (or a blogger) was given a gift costing over a $1000, then their credibility would be damaged. But where is the line to be drawn? Just where between a dinner or a t-shirt and a much more expensive gift, do we decide the person has been bought?

The only thing most readers know about journalists or bloggers is what they read from them. They must be able to trust the writer, or they will stop reading what they write. After all, who wants to read something a person has been paid to say? That's why I was surprised that these bloggers would take any chance with the reputation they've worked for years to establish. As I said, I know these bloggers and know they are too proud and honest to be bought, but many readers don't know them. What false perception have these readers been given?

Now I don't claim to be a journalist. If you come to this blog for news, you'll be disappointed. The only thing I have to offer is my honest opinion honed by years of experience. My reputation is everything. To protect that reputation, I take nothing from anyone I might write about. In fact, I don't even accept paid advertising (although I don't condemn those who do). You may not like or respect my opinion, but it is my honest opinion and that's important to me.

What do you readers think? Is it OK for a blogger to accept a dinner or gift? Where is the line to be drawn? How much could a blogger accept before you stopped reading their blog? I would appreciate your honest opinion on this matter (even you lurkers who've never commented before).