I think it needs to be emphasized that Pelosi's "drift from the liberal goals she had" has culminated in the Democratic Party producing no truly progressive reform -- none. Her goals seem to have distilled to 1) maintain power for the sake of power alone (congruent with Pelosi-as-Baltimore-boss described above), and here she is no different than McConnell in the Senate, 2) annihilate *any* incursion from a (real) left, and 3) ensure that the GOP survives as a party with which to share power. The parties are two sides of the same coin, and her performative lefty virtue signalling has been instrumental in maintaining the falsehood of a real alternative in American politics. The Democratic Party needs the GOP as a foil (after all, she is on record as saying "America needs a strong Republican Party"); were the GOP to be relegated to permanent true minority status in Congress, the Democrats would no longer be able to blame Republicans for the fact that the actual political wishes of the vast majority of people in this country have zero support. The continued rightward shift of the GOP is in turn mirrored by a similar shift in the Democratic Party. In Europe, she would represent the center right, at best.
The policies she supports are in no way progressive, and more accurately resemble those of far-right neocons: incitement of war with Russia, publicity stunts in Taiwan to provoke China. In my mind, no real reform will happen in this country until you get rid of the Democratic Party as it currently exists.
I think it needs to be emphasized that Pelosi's "drift from the liberal goals she had" has culminated in the Democratic Party producing no truly progressive reform -- none. Her goals seem to have distilled to 1) maintain power for the sake of power alone (congruent with Pelosi-as-Baltimore-boss described above), and here she is no different than McConnell in the Senate, 2) annihilate *any* incursion from a (real) left, and 3) ensure that the GOP survives as a party with which to share power. The parties are two sides of the same coin, and her performative lefty virtue signalling has been instrumental in maintaining the falsehood of a real alternative in American politics. The Democratic Party needs the GOP as a foil (after all, she is on record as saying "America needs a strong Republican Party"); were the GOP to be relegated to permanent true minority status in Congress, the Democrats would no longer be able to blame Republicans for the fact that the actual political wishes of the vast majority of people in this country have zero support. The continued rightward shift of the GOP is in turn mirrored by a similar shift in the Democratic Party. In Europe, she would represent the center right, at best.
The policies she supports are in no way progressive, and more accurately resemble those of far-right neocons: incitement of war with Russia, publicity stunts in Taiwan to provoke China. In my mind, no real reform will happen in this country until you get rid of the Democratic Party as it currently exists.
Liked this one just for the headline, reading the rest now : )