No matter what I say or do, whiny Democrats come out of the woodwork to say, “We have to appeal to moderate Republicans.”

“Okay fine!” I reply. Then I get on my soap box. “The current crop of Democrats is a complete disgrace! We gave them all the power they needed in 2020 to stop the rise of fascism and they failed! Democratic leadership is a complete and total failure! They’re absolutely corrupt!”

Withing seconds, I’m surrounded by a crowd of moderate Republicans who are laughing and cheering and saying things like, “Hooray! Finally a liberal gets it! Thank you! Let’s work together!”

But about then the Democratic leadership hears of this and they go, “No! No! No! That’s not what we want at all! We want you to scream and yell about the evils of socialism! We want you to bash the progressive members of our caucus as unreasonable and unserious! How dare you even suggest that we should change!”

But I’ve learned a thing or two in the last 10 years of gaslighting, every accusation is a confession. So, I turn around at the Democratic leaders and say, “You guys are being too divisive. Remember, we’re trying to build a big tent here! That means you’re going to have to compromise and work with people you disagree with! I’m going to have to see that out of you!”

They’re not new to this game either, so they say, “Stop! Stop! Stop! When we say that, we mean that you have to compromise, not us! We’re perfectly willing to reach across the aisle to racists and white supremacists, but we draw the line at progressives. Progressive promises can’t win in red areas.”

Now the gathering of moderate Republicans is looking around all confused. In fact, they’re starting to get irritated because the Democratic leadership is lecturing them about what they want, but they never bother to ask.

So, I take advantage and I turn to the moderate Republicans and say, “How about it? Do you think the cost of living is too high? Do you think the price of healthcare is too high? Are you sick of paying so much for gas?”

“Yes, yes, and yes!” the moderate Republicans reply.

Then the establishment Democrats start to get angry. They sigh and shake their head just like Scott Jennings and his resting white supremacy face.

They turn and start to lecture both the progressives and the moderate Republicans. They stare at us over the glasses that are perched obnoxiously on their noses.

“Look! Listen up because I’m only going to say this once!”

Then they point to me and the other progressives and say. “You guys are a bunch of absolute infants. What you’re proposing is just impossible. Got it? It’s impossible! The government will never work for you, so just quit talking about that. Your job is to compromise with us and do what we tell you or else we’ll get fascism. But the second you start asking for something in return, you’ve crossed a line!”

Then they turn to the moderate Republicans and say. “And you… you need to start showing some gratitude. Literally everything you have in the world is because of us. We give you just enough to survive and not an ounce more. But if you don’t vote for us you’ll get Republicans and they’ll bleed you dry.”

Then the democratic leadership looks at both progressives and moderate Republicans and says, “So sit down and shut up and do what you’re told. We know more than you. We control the media. We control everything. We select the candidates because we know who is electable. But if those candidates don’t get elected it’s because the voters are ignorant. Yet we’re not going to do anything to educate the voters, and we’re sure not going to fight vote suppression. Instead, we’ll just passively nod and deny the Republican accusations of election fraud, even as just enough of our members vote for their proposals to make vote suppression inevitable. Also, even if we do get enough power, we’ll just delay and do nothing until the next election based on some sort of absurd excuse that we’ll completely flip out if you dare to question. Now, is that clear?”

Then there’s a long moment of silence in which everybody can’t help but recognize what’s really happening.

We’re in that long moment of silence right now.

I choose to occupy myself with interviewing progressives. I choose to work with them. I choose to compromise. I choose to listen to their messages and engage in polite debate. I choose to work to elect leaders who actually want to fight for the people.

I choose to do something other than the failed strategy of our current crop of useless Democrats.

And you know what?

The people are listening. This is the message that unites us. This is the message that transforms the certainty of repeated defeat into a chance for victory!

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