(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . We Need More Ruthless Fighters On the Left. I Am Not For Playing Nice With Right-Wing Radicals! [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-07-11 I just read a diary that pissed me the hell off! Every now and then you’ll see some moralizing diary on the trend list lecturing progressives about words and imploring us to sanitize our speech very carefully so as not to offend the feelings of some of the most hateful and bigoted people in America — such as right-wing sadists who take special pleasure in inflicting pain and misery on the weakest and most vulnerable groups in our population. According to these “concerned” diarists, having decorum and being tolerant and nice to radical Republicans are of utmost importance, even if it means letting right-wingers spit in your face and walk all over you as a doormat. We’ve all seen how disastrous this strategy has played out for Democrats over the decades — from Jimmy Carter, to Michael Dukakis, to Al Gore, to John Kerry, to Hillary Clinton’s losing bid in 2016. Taking the high ground against ruthless Republicans only leaves you on the losing end of power. Even Obama was hamstrung by this strategy as he repeatedly bent over backward and went out of his way to appease an increasingly radical GOP that was hellbent on sabotaging him at every turn. Cunning right-wingers are well aware of this penchant for nicety and unilateral disarmament on the left. They automatically assume we are doormats who are unwilling to fight and punch back hard. Our outrage machine is tame and quiet compared to theirs. We don’t have a liberal version of Fox News or Right Wing Talk Radio — there is simply nothing equivalent to that on our side. This is the reason why the right continues to push the envelope and do things that people on the left wouldn't dare attempt — they believe they can get away with just about anything as we saw with Trump’s brazen criminal behavior and the shameless way Mitch McConnell hijacked the U.S. Supreme Court under Obama and then stacked it with a hard-right conservative majority under Trump. Given all the advantages that right-wingers have in the political arena, given how ruthlessly they attack certain groups of people, and given how bigotted and hateful they can be (peruse the comment section of Fox News on any day and the vile and blatant racism is so routine in their comments, it makes you want to puke) — it really pisses me off when I see people on our side aiming fire at the left telling us how we need to be nicer to right-wingers and stop using certain words that offend them. I, for one, see nothing wrong and have no problem with the use of a certain ‘m’ word to describe members of the Trump cult. My liberal tolerance doesn’t extend to bigots and hateful people on the right. Right-wingers interpret the world through a Darwinian perspective. Being super nice to them and taking the high road will only result in them spitting in your face and abusing you as a doormat. You can mark my words on that. That’s how they end up amassing so much power to themselves over the years. I am one LBJ Democrat who will NOT be a doormat for them. I punch back ALWAYS! If this view makes me less of a progressive in your eyes and you feel I need to be censored or banned from Dkos go right ahead. In my humble opinion, this obsession with sanitizing every single speech is a fool’s errand, especially as we live in a democratized media environment where folks have several platform options to voice their opinions freely. Daily Kos is supposed to be a place where partisan Democrats can freely express themselves. Why are we undercutting passionate folks on our side while the right wing is out there training their entire fire at us? What’s next for the “concerned lecturers,” will it be too insulting to call Ron Desantis a fascist because it dehumanizes him? One can only hope it doesn’t ever get to that level of censorship, because what would be the point of Daily Kos? Final Thoughts We live in a bold new era for Democrats and Progressives. Gone are the days of unilateral surrender and Democrats cowering in the face of right-wing Republican Radicals. This is a new era ushered in by Biden, who is through and through, an LBJ Democrat. This includes calling out the radical right “MAGA Republicans” and “White Supremacists” and pushing through a boldly progressive agenda in Congress without apologizing. This is a rejuvenation of the Democratic party that was long in coming. I am glad that people on the left are standing up to right-wing bullies and taking the heat to them. I am more than willing to cut my fellow progressives some slack. For too long, the polite left has allowed the radical right to completely railroad them and set the agenda. No one will give a shit about having decorum and being nice to your opponents if you don’t win at the end of the day. History is written by winners. There is no consolation prize for losers in politics. I love this new muscular Democratic Party and Progressive Movement. It’s about damn time we fought back! 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