Call bullshit on the "leftist" label.

[pat_k]

What Democratic Socialists and Democrats are advocating is firmly grounded in the center of American politics.

It is the radical right who are the extremists.

In a nutshell (less than 3 minutes)

[Ponietz]

1. Puke propaganda

Their type of Democrat is a fettered man.

[Flatrat]

2. The overton window has moved far right

One of the few things the Reich wing is good at is manipulating our language.

MSM is too lazy to understand that.

[robbob]

13. Not lazy, complicit

Look at the sentencing of those protesters in Texas. 50 years for printing out “anarchist” literature. And almost all the major news networks are labelling them as part of an “Antifa” terrorist cell, when no such thing even exists. What I see going on in your country makes me fear it may already be too late. November midterms will be telling. Vote, vote, vote!

[progressoid]

34. Well, when you're getting paid a few million a year to toe the line...

[Blue Full Moon]

3. 100%

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Anything that returns us to FDR and the New Deal is all I want.

[Celerity]

9. Minus the racism systemically included in some of the New Deal, racist policies designed to ensure the support of

the Southern racist Democrats (who have since migrated to the Rethugs). Same for some of the systemic sexism included in it as well.

Equal Rights and the New Deal

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-ushistory2ay/chapter/equal-rights-and-the-new-deal-2/

[pat_k]

11. Another evil compromise and continuation of the original sin.

[pat_k]

10. Or even the Eisenhower years

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2009900669366628/posts/2771622483194439/

[paleotn]

20. Bet me to it!

Really, up until Reagan. Even Tricky would be run out of his party as a left winger. Today, anyone left of Adolph Eichmann would be considered a RINO.

[pat_k]

27. And the more of us who challenge the labels as a matter of course,...

... even in causal social conversation, the more we can inoculate against the big lies

[Callie1979]

37. Todays definition of "RINO" is simply disagree with trump.

Even if you vote with him 99% of the time, that ONE% makes you a RINO Communist.
Look at John Cornyn.

[Callie1979]

36. The corporate tax rate wasnt even CLOSE to 90% under Ike.

Your meme may be thinking about the personal rate; but even then no one paid that rate. The effective "highest rate" was less than half that. Because at that time very few people earned the level of income required to hit 90%. And even those people didnt pay it' we had TONS more deductions back then

[H2O Man]

5. Recommended.

[peggysue2]

6. The tyranny of the minority

That's what we're living through right now and has been building for the last 50 years. Republican ideas have always been unpopular but sold through lies, propaganda and court decisions ('corporations are people' is a fine example). Now we're experiencing a crescendo of Republican so-called 'governance', an anti-democratic, authoritarian movement run by the minority.

Wildly unpopular and well outside the norm.

It is time, beyond time for the majority of Americans to (in the common vernacular) throw the bums out, and then enact safe guards to ensure this never happens again.

And vigilance, of course, because MAGA will not give it up easily.

Eyes on November, the first critical step.

[Warpy]

7. You aint done nothin' if you aint been called a red

&list=RD63Tk9QxvZHo&start_radio=1

[KS Toronado]

8. 92% are worried about corruption in Government

We should be hammering home all the corruption Rs allow with their voting in congress.

[pat_k]

12. Absolutely!!!!

If I hear "we need to keep the focus on kitchen table issues" one more time I will start screaming. And the way I feel, I may never stop.

[yellow dahlia]

32. The corruption is at the core.

The lack of affordability and the other stuff ("kitchen table issues" - I too hate the term) is collateral damage.

Fire the consultant cabal trying to direct the Dems.

[TheProle]

14. A lot of younger voters are embracing the term "leftist"

Drawing distinctions between "liberalism" and "leftism" is valid discussion, but I'd be wary of ostracizing those who consider themselves leftists at this crucial point in history.

[pat_k]

17. I wouldn't want to ostracize. But a lesson in history wouldn't go amiss.

I don't see how understanding that they are firmly at the center of our politics, and continuing a pragmatic American tradition that has been a throughline across our history, would make the positions any less attractive.

Heather Cox Richardson does a good job of debunking Prof G as she responds to his question (paraphrase: Do Americans tend to swing hard left in this type of situation?) at 28:46

To paraphrase: when you look at where the Democrats are, from the so-called moderate to progressive, they are still extraordinarily centrist... to the right of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was a Republican, of course -- his upper tax bracket of 91 or 92 percent, his call for universal health care. All things which, coming out of WWII were absolutely centrist positions. Normally, what we do in reaction to this kind of concentration of wealth.... (listen for more good stuff and seeds of hope)

[TheProle]

21. Well in fairness, there's some air between a history lesson and "calling bullshit"

I'd settle for building bridges to get us through mid-terms.

[pat_k]

26. To me, factual context that demonstrates the label is not valid...

... is "calling bullshit."

[Bluetus]

15. Exactly. When people win elections, especially by substantial margins

Last edited Fri Jun 26, 2026, 02:53 PM - Edit history (1)

They ARE in the center. The losers are the ones who are disconnected from the people. And that is doubly true when the losers enjoy big funding and media advantages from the big corporations.

[hibbing]

16. Biden

They of course called Joe a radical left wing lunatic. He represented one of the most corporate states in the country.

[BidenRocks]

18. I wonder,

Will the Democratic Socialists be the third party and divide the Dems vote, or can we get past the 'Socialist' boogey word and unify? Are we already unified?
The status quo sucks so I can see this gaining in popularity.
It will require a propaganda war against RWN equating Socialism with Communism.
Kill their talking points!

[pat_k]

19. There's a great discussion of what history tells us about how this could play out at 28:46 in the following

BTW, the entire thing is worthwhile, but if pressed for time skip to 28:46

?t=1726

[Callie1979]

38. Well, when we see some of those candidates positions, they are fodder for the RW

No borders?
No prisons?

There were 3 things that cost us the election in '24, the border being the big one. And we cant discuss 2 of them on DU

[31j20b3]

22. When you are situated on the far-right, MOST policy looks like it's to the Left of you

When you're situated where Progressives are, Centralist Dems seem to always be on the Right.

Perspective is very much situational.

[pat_k]

31. Putting the radical right fascist corporatism of the current Republican

Party, the centrist foundational principles of liberal democracy, and the authoritarian communism of the "leftists" on a spectrum that is grounded in reality is very, very important.

It is not just a matter of perspective.

The clip in the OP is from the video below. She lays out a more precise way of viewing where we are, and how we must be clear about how foundational the principles of liberal democracy are to this nation -- the principles that are under attack by the fascist corporatism of the radical right Republican project.

It is they, not we, who are hellbent on destroying this country.

[yellow dahlia]

33. Thanks for the HCR clip.

I don't always get a chance to watch them.

[BaronChocula]

23. Q. And who controls the narrative?

A. White men devoted to the preservation of white male supremacy.

They have been the default center of power and/or comfort zones in America for centuries, thanks to a complacent and/or fearful consensus. We continue to elect them in spite of the fact the majority of Americans oppose their agenda. Their extremist media outlets frame coverage with intentionally derogatory language that seeps into the mainstream with ease. As a result, what we know as mainstream media mimics their loaded language which they would never use for kooky extremists on the right.

I've been seeing the word "leftist" in coverage of New York's Democratic Socialist aligned candidates over the past couple days and it pisses me off.

[pat_k]

24. Letters to editors. Lots of letters to editors.

Letters to the editor may be old school, but enough on the same subject and they get noticed.

And comments on WaPo, NYTimes, or MS Now social accounts.

It might not make a difference, but I prefer turning my anger into some action, however small it may be.

Something I would love to see would be a guest editorial from Heather Cox Richardson in the NY Times or other of the outlets implementing the bullshit labeling. Haven't thought about what I/we might be able to do to make that wish a reality tho.

[Gum Logger]

25. Concise and precise

Done in by payed shills
As always, beware of the sufistacated contrivance

[delisen]

28. We need parity in human services with the advanced democratic nations

We do not have it.

Our people are getting restless, just as the people of the USSR got increasingly restless by the 1990s despite all the propaganda, all the excuses.

[BH liberal]

29. There is no "far left" in America...

The Communist Party and the classic Socialist Party lack members and political influence here. They would constitute a "far left" if there were enough of them. The Democratic Party is mainstream....and the only hope for keeping our democracy viable going forward.

[pat_k]

30. The entire explainer from Heather Cox Richardson makes this crystal clear.

The OP is just a clip from the following. Nothing particularly earth shattering, but she is absolutely right in pointing out that we have to get terms straight and reject the insanity of the radical right labels. She lays out a more precise way of viewing where we are, and how we must be clear about how foundational the principles of liberal democracy are to this nation -- the principles that are under attack by the fascist corporatism of the Republican project.

It is they, not we, who are hellbent on destroying this country.

[applegrove]

35. I saw the long version of that video by HCR last night.

It is my North Star.

[kentuck]

39. That's why we have so many billionaires and trillionaires, I suppose...

Because of the leftist policies taxing them so highly?

[Farmer-Rick]

40. Well the GOP caters to the filthy-rich

Dems do too sometimes. Many times the Dems join in with the GOP to support the filthy-rich like bail outs for banks but no relief for homeowners, promoting free trade agreements (That are totally ignored now.), and supporting the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act.

But in general, a Dem will more likely support a democracy than a MAGA or Republican will. As one guy once said, Republicans are paid (by the filthy-rich) to win and Democrats are paid to lose.

But there are many honest and devoted Dems that despite their flaws, truly support democracy. I don't know of any MAGA, GOP or even libertarians that support and understand real democracy (some are totally stupid and think capitalism is democracy).

So Dems are the real middle road because the filthy-rich has less influence over them. The filthy-rich would have even less influence over a real far left, like communism or socialism. So, it doesn't exist.

Capitalism would likely die if we had the real versions of those types of economies/governments. And then how would the filthy-rich continue to take our national wealth for themselves? So they pay the GOP and MAGA to stop the left.

[ihaveaquestion]

41. Obviously, if Centrist Democrats would espouse these "Centrist" positions, they would attract more votes.

Nuff said.