Rather than play Biblical Exegisis on the word "divisive," let me just point out what the political context is here.
The overwhelming majority of progressive doers in the United States are "Democrats," either in the sense that they self-identify as "Democrats," or that electorally, they function as Democrats: they vote in elections, and when they vote, they overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates. For example, consider Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, the town where I live, where I know a lot of the folks who are activists in various progressive causes, and where I have worked in many elections, including the one that just took place, knocking on doors and calling voters. Here's what I know from direct personal experience: if you drew up a list of progressive activists in Champaign-Urbana, trade unionists, womens rights advocates, environmentalists, civil rights activists, peace activists, and looked them up on the voter registration walk list of a precinct captain, here's what more than 95% of the entries would look like: DVDVDVDVDV The Vs mean they voted in every general election. The Ds mean they voted in every Democratic primary. So, that's the universe I was focused on in this piece: the progressive doers of America, more than 95% of whom are "Democrats." Among that group of people, it's a serious fault to be "divisive" if a likely consequence of that "divisiveness" is to significantly increase the probability of a Republican victory in 2012. That's why I wrote the piece the way that I did, so as not to turn those people off from the get-go. When I was in high school, I read Saul Alinksy's book "Rules for Radicals." He wrote: I am not religious, but I do not go into an Orthodox Jewish community as an organizer eating a ham sandwich. I'm trying to follow that Rule. On Wed, Nov 3, 2010 at 10:09 PM, Jim Devine <[email protected]> wrote: > in any event, what's wrong with "progressives" being divisive? the Tea > Party people have been very divisive within the GOP and have gone far. > > On Wed, Nov 3, 2010 at 4:08 PM, Robert Naiman > <[email protected]> wrote: >> But you're invoking examples, at least in the latter case, that don't >> really speak to the issue at hand. The question isn't how "divisive" >> the "center" will be in general, but specifically relative to the >> prospect of a Democratic primary. A likely guess, extrapolating from >> past experience, is that at first there would be a sharp pushback >> trying to deter, but if it could not be deterred, there would be >> accommodation, on the grounds that continued efforts to deter would be >> self-destructive. >> >> On Wed, Nov 3, 2010 at 5:11 PM, Jim Devine <[email protected]> wrote: >>> Robert Naiman wrote: >>>> It's true that it takes two sides not to be divisive, but just 1) like >>>> Obama with the Republicans, you could make clear that your side is not >>>> the source of the divisiveness and 2) while there would very be likely >>>> be some significant pushback, especially at the beginning, the center >>>> camp would have different incentives than the Republicans, since the >>>> latter actually benefit from the divisiveness. It's possible that they >>>> could end up taking the high road - that's largely what they did in >>>> 2008. >>> >>> back in the late 1940s, the "center" (Truman) was quite divisive (at >>> the same time it _called for_ unity), setting the stage for >>> McCarthyism. In the 1960s, the "center" (LBJ) was also divisive (at >>> the same time it called for unity), by escalating the war. I could go >>> on, but I have other things to do. >>> -- >>> Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own >>> way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. >>> _______________________________________________ >>> pen-l mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> Robert Naiman >> Policy Director >> Just Foreign Policy >> www.justforeignpolicy.org >> [email protected] >> >> Urge Congress to Support a Timetable for Military Withdrawal from Afghanistan >> http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/feingold-mcgovern >> _______________________________________________ >> pen-l mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l >> > > > > -- > Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own > way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org [email protected] Urge Congress to Support a Timetable for Military Withdrawal from Afghanistan http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/feingold-mcgovern _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
