Several developments this week have moderate Democrats reeling and progressives saying “I told you so.”
Both the most unsurprising and most substantive was the House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer’s conversation with Levi Tilleman that was secretly recorded. Tilleman, a candidate for the Democratic nomination in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, recorded his phone call with Hoyer, in which Hoyer affirmed that the DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) was supporting Jason Crow, Tilleman’s opponent.
Hoyer also pressured Tilleman to drop out of the race. This is not the first time that Establishment Democrats have interfered in primaries, and even the Democrats’ congressional leaders see nothing wrong with this. After hearing about this, Nancy Pelosi simply stated: “I don't see anything inappropriate in what Mr. Hoyer was engaged in a conversation about, the realities of life in a race, as to who can win in the general election.”
Joy Ann Reid from MSNBC, known by many on the left for her unhinged Twitter rants against the “alt-left” also received spotlight for her homophobic blog posts. Progressives know Reid best from her Twitter rants, where she even goes to the lengths of criticizing Bernie Sanders’ wife. But recently, it was discovered that her now-defunct blog, “the Reid Report” contained posts that were offensive to many.
These mainly focused on gay men, where Reid stated that: “adult gay men tend to be attracted to very young, post-pubescent types” and that “most straight people cringe at the sight of two men kissing.” While those are some of the more egregious examples, there were many more, mainly speculations on which celebrities or politicians are closeted gay men. To make matters worse, Reid alleged that her blog was hacked, yet it’s been shown that that is not the case.
Another group that was in the spotlight this week: the Center for American Progress (CAP). A think tank headed Neera Tanden, another figure known for her bombastic Twitter rants, CAP possibly the most well-known think tank of the “Clinton-Wing” of the Democratic Party. This week it was revealed that several women in the organization not only faced sexual harassment by their boss, but that they faced retaliation when they reported the sexual harassment.
These revelations show the true colors of the establishment, “moderate” Democrats. They are not moderate, they are center-right, their concern for LGBT+ rights, women’s rights, etc., it is a sham. While they may be better than run-of-the-mill Republicans, that is a very low bar at this point in time. When it comes to actually handling sexual harassment within their own organization, CAP suppresses and ignores the issue.
When Joy Reid’s old blog posts appear, rather than apologizing outright on the substance, she lies and tries to shift blame. Both of these are coming from Reid and Tanden, two individuals, who, time and time again, have championed the idea of the “alt left” and who have implied that those on the “far-left” are racist, sexist, etc.
