Democratic candidates: You be the judge.

Postvieww said:

If you are not then why insert yourself in discussions?

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Because I am not favorable to the narrative your media influences are propagating about reality. The hyperbole and fearmongering is rather extreme and completely unwarranted. The same goes with other DSA freak-out and Communism freak-out threads.

Postvieww said:

So when one of their leaders says the ultimate goal is communism you believe that as well?

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I guess that would depend on who said it, and what that person's role in the organization is. It could simply be that person's opinion, not that of the organization at large. Not knowing any of that, I can't really comment beyond that.

Postvieww said:

DSA throws around the word Democracy as bait for the uninformed or those that believe the utopian lies. When that ultimate goal is eventually achieved democracy will be a distant memory.

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Ah, now you're offering your own interpretation of their words instead of taking them at their word. A clearly biased interpretation, it would seem.

Postvieww said:

Post #89

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Fox News really made a meal out of one word, didn't they? But, that aside, the comment by David Jenkins seems to be his own opinion, not that of the DSA organization. Ashik Siddique, speaking for the DSA, didn't seem to agree with Jenkins' comment.

Postvieww said:

Post # 124.

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At no point did Megan Romer say the ultimate goal of the DSA was communism, or the abolishment of democracy. Her views seem entirely consistent with democracy, in fact, as she emphasized the will of the voters several times.

Postvieww said:

When leaders in the party are actually honest and clearly state the ultimate goal “ which is not always clearly stated on the web site” you should believe them.

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One guy said that. It was not echoed by others in the organization, so assuming this one person represents the view of everyone in the organization seems a little fallacious.

Postvieww said:

The web site cannot be so bold as a few overzealous impatient party leaders who occasionally let the cat out of the bag.

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According to the evidence you're provided, one individual has said the goal is communism. One person. And that person, it should be noted, isn't one of the two co-chairs. How much influence Jenkins personally may have on the overall policies or goals of the organization isn't clear.

Meanwhile, everyone else who has been quoted or shown in those Fox News videos seems to be working within democratic means, and endorses democratic principles to achieve their goals. Those goals, in fact, may seem radical to some, but it does seem that those representing the DSA are willing to have conversations about these goals, and the means to achieve them, and seem more willing to compromise than some have characterized them as.

For my part, I don't agree with all of their policy positions, but I do agree with many of them. I also agree with Hakeem Jeffries when he said "For decades, Democrats have failed to meaningfully deliver for working families." I'd like to see them do more, and if the DSA or their supported candidates can help them do that, well, more power to them.

-- A2SG, but because of your post, I am learning more about the DSA, and for that I thank you.....

JSRG said:

Oh, obviously they aren't consolidating power into those things, because they're not in power.

But when they were? Yes, they were absolutely consolidating power into the presidency and the person occupying it. The United States has been on a presidential power ramp for quite a while now, but it really accelerated with Obama, well exemplified by his famous "pen and phone" comment. Trump built off of that and went further, Biden went further than that, and then Trump came back and went further than his prior term and Biden. There's a good chance this trend will continue, and soon enough we'll find ourselves thinking "can we dial back presidential power to the more restrained behavior of Trump's second term?"

It's why I think, despite them having suggested a number of crazy things, the Democratic Socialists of America are correct in that the President should be chosen by the legislature (again, this was the idea James Madison proposed). Not that it's likely to happen, the constitution is notoriously hard to amend, but it would immediately solve a lot of problems of presidential power.

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I think we're talking about two different things - there has been a cross-partisan move towards making presidential power supreme over the other two branches for as long as I can remember, but that's not what I was talking about. Trump has been consolidating power into an increasingly smaller group. For instance, Obama cabinet members held one post at a time. Biden cabinet members would occasionally be both deputy and acting secretary or directory position. Trump however has commonly appointed people to dual/multiple high level roles such as Rubio serving simultaneously as Secretary of State, Director of National Security, acting National Archivist, and interim head of USAID. Trump has also fired independent boards established by Congress and replaced them with loyalists - something not done by previous administrations for a long time. The nepotism is also extraordinary - putting his son-in-law in charge of sensitive negotiations in which he has a financial stake, appointing his father-in-law to a cushy ambassadorship, etc.