
JDB
24.5K posts

JDB
@JDB_219
#NWI native,reader, sports fanatic, lawyer, lifter. Context enthusiast with a low B.S. tolerance. Opinions solely my own.





We have yet to tap the root of the problem that engulfs this country.


When people ask me about the Democrats' losses with working-class voters, I think of a friend living near our farm whose car broke down. He couldn't afford a $2 bolt to fix it until his next pay day. Democrats' policies have in fact helped people like him, but he doesn't see that; from his perspective the Democrats are remote, educated elites more likely to lecture him about inclusion than to include him, more eager to give him pronouns than help with housing--and the condescension of the educated is sometimes compounded by disdain for religion, which is a pillar of many working-class households. Folks want a redistribution of incomes, yes, but also a redistribution of dignity. In this column, I suggest that to win again, Democrats do something that will be very painful: listen respectfully to the working-class folks who have just rejected them and voted for their nemesis: nyti.ms/40ILxyr









We must not delude ourselves in this moment. Multiracial democracy in the United States is less than 60 years old. It has always been contested, often violently so. It has always been fragile. Since this nation's inception large swaths of white Americans -- including white women -- have claimed a belief in democracy while actually enforcing a white ethnocracy. In the face of shifting demographics where white Americans will lose their numeric majority, we see a growing embrace of autocracy to keep the "legitimate" rulers of this country in power. History teaches us that we are in a perilous moment.




Roberto Clemente, the Pride of Puerto Rico, was one of the greatest baseball players in history, and also a tremendous humanitarian. He gave his life helping others, dying in a plane crash while delivering relief supplies to earthquake victims on New Year’s Eve 1972. He remains a legend in Puerto Rico and in Pittsburgh. It was my pleasure to talk about his legacy with his oldest son, Roberto Jr., at our rally in Pittsburgh. It’s wonderful to have his support.







