Democrats are too kind and that is a problem

[randr]

Republicans rose to power over the last 4 decades by attacking and marginalizing key elements of their liberal opposition.
The right to life movement took on the woman's rights movement by branding them as "baby killers".
Environmentalists were called "tree huggers", somehow implying that they cared more about trees than humans.
The war hawks continued to accuse those opposed to continued expansion of military might as "peaceniks" and challenged them to either be for the troops or against them.
This rhetoric expanded the numbers of people who would vote against their own interests rather than be branded as "one of the others".
With every issue the right has attacked not the ideas of the opposition but the very people who express any opposition.
In our current political climate where so many people on both sides are disgusted with "politics as usual" it is time to call them out.
The mess in Washington is the fault of all those who voted for the wacko fright wingers who have held our congress as hostage.
The increasingly international threat posed by radical terrorists is the result of people voting for Bush and his ilk.
Those people standing with Trump who want to see change in Washington are the very people responsible for the mess we are in.
We need to call them out as the un-American obstructionists that they are.
Attacking the Republicans as a party only unifies them. Attacking the people who vote Republican can change minds.

[awake]

1. "One catches more flys with honey than vinaigre"

Do not underestimate the power of kindness

[randr]

4. I am not interested in catching flys

I would swat every single one. Just like I would have prosecuted every war criminal and Wall Street thief.
Our "kindness" has emboldened the enemy, and make no doubt of it, climate deniers and war mongers are your enemy.

[awake]

6. If one does not "catch" flys then they just fly around

As you wildly swat at them. If you truly think you can out hate a hater like Trump then the only thing you will accomplish is lowering voter turn out which is just what he Republicans want so wake up and see there trap of anger and hate for what it is. True leadership can not build on hate and aggression.

[randr]

7. It is not hateful to hold those who voted for Bush accountable

[awake]

11. My brother voted for Bush twice I have no interest in holding him accountable

I do have an interest in attracting him to voting for a better leader. If you feel that taking out retubution on others is the way to win then count me out.

[randr]

12. You need to make him aware of the fact that his vote

makes a difference in the world at large.

[awake]

14. Yes and if I rely on kindness then there is a chance the he may hear the truth

With out kindness he will not ever change his mind because he will have no desire to hear the truth. Kindness is not the problem it is the answer.

[randr]

15. Yes, and therein lies a clue to how well the attack on liberals worked so well.

Tree Hugger and Bleeding Heart liberal, as labeling examples, both have implications of kindness and at the same time clearly persuaded a population to find the ideals of liberal people offensive.
I, as a dyed in the wool liberal, took offense to these terms and at the same time felt an affinity to them.

[Scuba]

2. Recommended reading: Drew Weston's "The Political Brain."

[cali]

3. That just strikes me as a silly generalization and not really a primary reason for

Republican electoral successes. Attacking voters is not a good strategy.

[randr]

5. I am suggesting that it has worked very well for the opposition

I know a good number of young Republicans who adopted their political bias by not wanting to be associated with bleeding heart liberals or those tree hugger types; a projection aided by our corporate media. Their attraction to the right was not based on what was good for them but based on what they did not want to be associated with. By attacking their choices you make them accountable for the consequences.

[awake]

8. "bleeding heart liberals" & "tree hugger types"

Sounds like right wing talk form the 60s or maybe Fox News where are you really coming from. This reminds me of when the FBI infiltrated the student anti war movement in the 60s and show people how to make bombs in an attempt to stop the power of a activist nonviolent movement.

My experience is the noting good comes from aggression

[randr]

9. The current world crisis

is the result of aggressive behavior. Democrats will always stand for a reasonable and non-aggressive approach to resolving problems.
I am not suggesting we attack in any mean manner our opposition; I am suggesting we hold them accountable for the situation we are all in.
And btw: "bleeding heart liberals" and "tree huggers" were epithets throw about long before faux news came on the air.

[GoneFishin]

10. Not too kind, too limited by their desire to suck up to big money to fight for real progressive

values. It's a fool's errand to try to stake out progressive territory while pandering to big money because many of the most anti-democratic, most regressive policies are promoted on behalf of big money. Bill Clinton screwed true Democrats when he put the party up for sale.

[randr]

13. I tend to believe that it is not the money

but what we do with it that matters. There are far too many people of wealth that do make a positive impact on our world to put them all in one basket.
Every great democratic idea and progressive policy I can think of has required enormous amount of money to put forward.

[GoneFishin]

16. No doubt about it, that's why we pool our tax money so that in theory we can do those things

together. That doesn't necessitate pandering to the NRA, Goldman Sachs, or Exxon Mobil.

[LWolf]

17. An interesting post in light

of the other I just read on the front page of GDP:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251947576

Too kind...more kindness...DU at least, if not the party nor the nation, seems all over the map when it comes to kindness.

Frankly, from my perspective, there's no such thing as too much kindness. Not when it is authentic, anyway.

Being kind or respectful to others is not the same thing as laying down and baring our throats and bellies, and that's what seems to confuse way too many. Too many who can't see kindness going hand in hand with standing firm.

Perhaps those people should pay more attention to Sanders. He does a damned fine job of treating opposition with respect without backing down. Of course, respect is not quite the same as kindness, although they could be considered to be related. It's hard to be kind without respect.

Republicans? They engage in name-calling and put-downs? No kidding. So the solution to that is that Democrats ought to join them in the name-calling and put-downs? Here's a clue: Democrats already do so. You can't be unaware of all the names that Democrats call Republicans and call each other.

Neither side is clean when it comes to name-calling. It's just that the MSM latches on to name-calling as legitimate and repeats those names often enough to put them in the expected cultural lexicon, with negative connotations attached. That's not because Democrats are too kind. It's because too many Democrats are too cowed to stand their ground, too convinced that standing their ground means "losing."

Kindness...the Democratic Party, DU, the nation, and the world could use a whole hell of a lot more kindness, imo.

[awake]

18. Well said