We don’t get a chance to celebrate much on this side of things so, even though I’ll be waiting for the other shoe to drop in three weeks or so, there’s no harm in taking a little joy in yesterday’s developments. Not so much in the Roger Stone thing, because I don’t think we’ll see any action on that front for quite a while. I mostly expect to hear a lot of meaningless blather and speculation (which I’ll of course listen to, because meaningless or not, it’s still fun). But Trump being forced to back down was not only enjoyable, but good for the country. I have to admit I was afraid that Democrats would give in, and then we’d see shutdown after shutdown for any stupid shit the fat man’s handlers (Putin, Coulter, and Limbaugh, et al.) down the road.

So it was nice to see the Democrats stand up and stay unified for once. Nancy Pelosi did a great job of being the adult in the room and herding the cats. But if you think that happened in a vacuum, and wasn’t in large part a result of progressive candidates bucking “the party,” and getting elected to office (or losing close races in what were once considered Republican strongholds), then you’re delusional.
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Pelosi didn’t have the upper hand in spite of progressives, but because of them and because they’re nudging the Democratic party back toward the left.

Progressive candidates are beginning to show the Democratic establishment and concern trolls that it’s in their best interests to stop acting like Republicans and to stop being afraid of “being mean” to people who will never support them anyway.

It’s not “crazy talk” to support things like universal healthcare, free education, green technology, and marginal tax rates. Those are the kinda of things that the vast majority of people favor, and they’ll vote for candidates that support those ideas if you’ll just give them the chance.

So good for them, and for people like AOC, Beto O’Rourke, Elizabeth Warren, and, yes, even that nasty old man Bernie Sanders who was so mean to Hillary Clinton.

I don’t know who the Democrats will nominate in 2020, but I hope whoever it is, I hope it’s somebody with the courage (and the brains) to stand up and support the things I and most other “regular” people believe in.