Out-of-touch retiring Democrat Rep. Jim Cooper (TN) warns that the Democrat Party in his state is facing extinction because Democrats are self-righteous and tell other people what to do.

Jim Cooper

by Rod Williams, Feb. 11, 2022- Progressives do not need to listen to Jim Cooper.  He is a stodgy old man who doesn't get it.  In his heart, he probably doesn't even believe the Federal government should fund the distribution of crack pipes in order to promote racial equity.  He is out of touch.

Now, Cooper is no "conservative," and I don't think "the Blue Dog Coalition," amounts to much anymore. There are almost 20 of them, however, and while they vote with their party, for the most part, they occasionally take exception to the most progressive positions of the party. That kind of independent commonsensical thinking is a danger to the AOC group-think socialist agenda. There is no room in a revolutionary movement for "moderates."

Also, while he stopped it about twenty years ago, he can not be forgiving for once being an advocate of limits to the federal debt.  Why, if you can believe it, he even kept a "debt clock" in his office showing the dangerous growth in federal debt.  Now that the real debt is close to $123 trillion, if you include the unfunded mandates of Social Security and Medicare, people like Jim Cooper might still harbor doubts about the desirability of no limit to government debt.  He may still harbor some reactionary views that when spending constantly outpaces revenues that that is unsustainable. While he always supports more federal giveaways and government welfare, such as student loan forgiveness, at some point he might say, "this is not sustainable."  Probably not; but maybe. He is not a safe progressive. He is best ignored.

Also, face it.  He sounds like an accountant when he says things like, “Our party needs to improve its management capabilities. We do not anticipate and organize and plan.” That does not stir the passions.  That does not make people want to sit police cars and courthouses on fire. Rather than sounding like a bomb-throwing radical leader, he sounds like a staid tweed-jacket-wearing college professor when he is not sounding like an accountant.

Another reason to ignore Jim Cooper is that I don't think he gets the gender fluidity ideology thing.  While Tennesee Democratic Party leaders sign their communications with the "he/him," "she/her," tag, I never see Cooper do so.  He probably thinks that is kind of silly. I have never heard him say it, but I bet if you nailed him down and made him tell you what he really believes, I doubt he thinks people with a penis should compete as women swimmers.  Maybe I am wrong, but he has not been an outspoken leader for gender choice.  His ideological purity is questionable. 

Also, Cooper is just out of touch with the new way Democrats think about the relationship between citizens and their government.  In his parting shot, he said, "We’re addicted to telling other people what to think. You can’t really win many elections if you’re that self-righteous, ” He later added, “It’s important to be in communication with your constituents, not to be their boss."

See, he is so out of touch! New Democrats like being told what to do. They want a boss.  They want a benevolent boss, but life is too hard to have to think for yourself and make important decisions.  They want to be taken care of. They want all of the risk to be taken out of life.  And, they want to feel loved by their government.  Like the medieval peasant who wanted a king they felt was responsible for them and who they felt loved them, modern Democrats want to be loved subjects. They want a provider and a protector.  They want a daddy, preferably a sugar daddy, but they are looking for a daddy.  

They want equal outcomes for all people, too.  It is not fair that some succeed and some don't.  They want everyone to have an equal share of society's bounty.  Or at least most people.  They don't mind a government and a Hollywood and an entertainment elite.  Royalty makes mundane lives interesting. Subjects need bread and circuses, but beyond a few exceptions, they want an equal society.  A society based on merit is just too hard.  Equal outcomes are only possible when you have a strong boss of all the people and when people are told what to think.  When people are left to think for themselves then they start thinking dangerous selfish thoughts.   

Jim Cooper does not get it.  He changed with the times as much as he could, but he is a relic of an era of different values. Jim Cooper has nothing of value to tell the modern woke progressive Democrat.

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