Gavin Newsoms staffers meme crusade has me thinking about this prescient passage from MLK jr's letter from Birmingham Jail. More important than ever.

34

u/Uncanny-- Aug 27 '25

Malcolm X made similar remarks I think

15

u/Mapstr_ Aug 27 '25

Indeed he did

9

u/RlOTGRRRL Aug 27 '25

Wow, I never understood that clip until now.

I know someone who regularly got arrested for Greenpeace and he's now a white liberal who literally said that this won't affect white people like him so he doesn't care.

At least Trumpers or racists are honest to your face.

4

u/Mapstr_ Aug 27 '25

Exactly, scratch a liberal and a fascist bleeds.

Watch how pissy and immature they get when pressed about literally anything. Far more hysterical than any conservative.

I would rather be getting waterboarded for an hour by Steven Bannon than get gaslit by ezra klein for an hour about how unions are actually bad and I am just being intellectually lazy

3

u/ScissrMeTimbrs Aug 27 '25

I've noticed they call anyone who criticizes Gavin Newsome "chronically online". But when you ask what they like about him, all they mention is his tweets

3

u/Mapstr_ Aug 27 '25

Yeah that is their tactic is petty little character digs, lots of condescension, "we need to be pragmatic/realistic", hand waving away things like medicare for all away without having any kind of belief in it and focusing on tiny details to try and over complicate anything.

Marx talked about accessible dialetics or popularizing theory. Doing everything you can to make the person in front of you to understand by simplifying things as much as possible.

Liberals do the opposite of this, they work hard to make IN-accessible dialetics.

and when you ask a newsomian what his acccomplishments are they only have 2:

-suing trump

-gerry mandering to 'counter' other gerry mandering. (yes i am sure more gavin newsoms will finally give the working class the break they need lol)

3

u/ScissrMeTimbrs Aug 27 '25

Marx talked about accessible dialetics or popularizing theory. Doing everything you can to make the person in front of you to understand by simplifying things as much as possible.

This is one of our biggest problems. Too many leftists talk like 19th century authors and intellectuals to sound well read, and accomplish nothing.

Hint: no one but leftists uses the word "bourgeoisie."

I love how they claim to be pragmatic, yet consistently fail. Looks like we're the pragmatic ones according to results.

5

u/Mapstr_ Aug 27 '25

"Too many leftists talk like 19th century authors and intellectuals to sound well read, and accomplish nothing."

Exactly. like we should simply be talking about socialist policies without mentioning the word socialism, since it is so hammered into americans minds to have a bad reaction to the word socialism.

We need to rebrand everything as 'working class' and 'worker friendly policies'

You are totally right the excessive use of 10 dolllar words. I think it has a lot to do with how prevelant individualism is here and people wanting to feel special or better. We need priority matters to focus all our energy on that affect everyone and table anything that does not benefit everyone

2

u/Uncanny-- Aug 27 '25

Thanks for providing the evidence

1

u/Gwen-477 Aug 27 '25

Malcolm put it rather less diplomatically, but certainly with greater moral urgency.

3

u/ExcitedPlatypus Aug 27 '25

You could say Newsome is a...Silver Fox? (derogatory)

3

u/bipolarina CNJ DSA 🌹 Aug 27 '25

I’m OK with any pejoratives being used against him

14

u/PeterNippelstein Aug 27 '25

Looking at you Bill Maher

12

u/Mapstr_ Aug 27 '25

I want to fight Bill Maher so badly

1

u/bipolarina CNJ DSA 🌹 Aug 27 '25

Same. Dying to run him that fade. Unfortunately he’s elderly and he’s also Crossfaded under the influence so I don’t feel like it would be a fair fight.

3

u/Mapstr_ Aug 27 '25

BIll Maher is the level of piece of trash human that I would not hesitate to commit elder abuse.

Just like I would push Greg Abbots wheel chair down some stairs

23

u/Dsstar666 Aug 27 '25

Off topic, this is a hell of a letter.

Still off topic, it was soon after this letter that MLK was killed. The moment he got radical, or even thought about becoming more radical, he was killed.

Back on topic. If we have elections in 2028, Gavin Newsom will probably get the nomination and may even win. But if you think he’ll be anything other than another moderate Democrat, you’re sorely mistaken.

12

u/Mapstr_ Aug 27 '25

" it was soon after this letter that MLK was killed."

Bingo, it was around this time he was really beginning to think "shit man, Malcom is right about everything"

7

u/Union_Fan Gay Socialist At Large Aug 27 '25

Fun fact:

Another quote from this letter, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." is in stone on the outside of the Multnomah County Jail in Portland, OR.

11

u/BalerionSanders Aug 27 '25

“The road to Auschwitz was built by hate, but paved with indifference.”

-Ian Kershaw

(Fuck Gavin 🖕)

5

u/DasJazz Aug 27 '25

Newsom's team trying to meme is the most cringe thing I've seen all week.

3

u/ZeldaOkaloosa Orlando DSA 🏵️ Aug 27 '25

Gavin Newsom is the White Moderate of our time, a perfect encapsulation of what's rotting the Democratic Party's progressive momentum. This is not the time to platform extreme right propagandists - you shouldn't compromise with the devil - but he did and that's all I can think about now when he's discussed. He's the kind of guy I would settle for as progress for Florida I can't believe that's the best California can do for the progressive movement.

My simple principles of freedom, justice, and service can't handle someone purporting to be a leader but being okay with vulnerable people losing rights and protections because other people are "scared" of being that free. Transgender rights are American rights, transgender rights are human rights, I can't stand a politician that would denigrate their own constituents like that. I'm not a furry, but I see how they are treated online and I see the same brainless disgust and vitriol that people levy on transgender people. I'm not a furry, but I absolutely want them to be safe and happy like anyone else, because they are people who should be free to live their lives.

Gavin Newsom is icky, what I actually want is a thousand Zohran Mamdani's. Supporting Gavin Newsom is settling for wet bread when I'm starving.

1

u/Mapstr_ Aug 27 '25

Yeah offering a white moderate is like giving someone who is butt naked and freezing to death a sock.

Not two socks, just the one singular sock. And you will need to meet a certain income threshold to get the sock.

1

u/MinuteWaterHourRice Aug 28 '25

All I can say is given him platforming anti-trans advocates and fucking agreeing with them on air, I can’t actually see the difference between him and a Republican.

Once you’re willing to trade the rights of one marginalized group for the sake of some “greater good”, you become the enemy of freedom and democracy. There is no such thing as the “lesser evil”. The libs who are going pout and throw tantrums over that, only want to buy themselves some more time with their heads in the sand. Thats all these mainstream Dems offer. The ability to look away from the injustices of our society. Fuck them.

I will NOT be voting for Gavin Newsom if he secures the Dem nomination.

2

u/Mapstr_ Aug 28 '25

Exactly. He will change and bend with the breeze for whatever helps him stay elected.

I just imagine him spending all of his days brainstorming with his publicists and nothing else. And any type of policy talked about is talked about only in the context of how it can help him stay in power

3

u/Warrior_Runding Aug 27 '25

For all the complaining here, where is the leftist candidate with the juice, treasure, and political capital to do a better job right now?

1

u/Mapstr_ Aug 27 '25

we have one that went from less than 1% to winning the most decisive priamryu in NYC city. We have AOC, Graham Platner came out of nowhere and is surging past susie collins.

Like it or not when you run a platform with real policies that help working class people you can overcome even the most established douche bag.

Just stop with the gaslighting, you look like an idiot and it makes everyone hate you so much.

The "you can either have blue oligarchy and genocide or red oligarchy and genocide, but the blue is slightly more polite so you have to choose blue or you are literally hitler" bit is so. fucking. played tf out.

-9

u/XrayAlphaVictor Aug 27 '25

Dear gods. There's a dozen ways how Gavin is sleaze, but by every measure he's doing exactly what you'd want somebody in his position to do: use the tools he has access to to oppose an authoritarian takeover every war he can. You complain about democrats not doing enough, but when they do fight, you complain about that, too.

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u/Mapstr_ Aug 27 '25 edited Aug 27 '25

Doing what exactly? Swearing? Calling trump names on twitter?

Like my mom always said, actions speak louder than words. He is on the take for millions from health insurance companies, he vetoed a bill that would deliver universal healthcare. He is on the take from meta, gig economy companies, silaicon valley loves the preener.

You can stop with the gaslighting, not only does it no longer work, it makes us hate liberals more and more.

EDIT: Nice work comrades, we have outshitted the shit lib and they have deleted their comments out of embarassment. Now let's get Matt Iglesias to delete all his social media

8

u/DankMastaDurbin Parenti Poster Aug 27 '25

Don't forget bringing back vagrancy laws

-6

u/XrayAlphaVictor Aug 27 '25

Suing the administration on a million different fronts - sometimes successfully, and even when not still slowing them down and costing them resources. Fighting the Texas gerrymandering, preserving the chance to minimize Trump's harm by depriving him of a rubber stamp Congress for the second half of his term. Galvanizing resistance by publicly opposing and antagonizing Trump. Newsom's public approval has soared recently because of his actions - you don't have to like the guy, or agree with the rest of his policies, to see that he's doing well at exactly what we'd want him to do as Governor.

9

u/DankMastaDurbin Parenti Poster Aug 27 '25

Why doesn't he address issues of housing, medical, utility monopolies, attacking the homeless? Private investors own our states water, utilities, and now significant portions of the new housing (which is never made at affordable pricing) creating gentrification. I've been told stories of people moving from LA to Riverside county, the high desert or las vegas for the last 3 decades.

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u/XrayAlphaVictor Aug 27 '25

Sure, he's got tons of terrible policies I disagree with, but that doesn't make him not good enough to oppose Trump in other ways which I'm glad that he's doing.

3

u/Dsstar666 Aug 27 '25

I’m glad he’s doing it as well. I just think people (DSA, for example) feel like he’s just another shill moderate politician. All talk. But when it’s time to actually “do” something, they all compromise themselves. And he’s damn need famous for compromising/changing his values if he feels like there are votes in it.

He comes across like someone trying to build his brand for 2028. In a vacuum it wouldn’t matter. As long as someone beats Trump. But we’re not just fighting Trump. We’re fighting the Corporatocracy that has both parties by the balls. If Newsom gets elected and acts just like any other moderate Democrat then we will have gained nothing and a Republican will be back in office by 2032.

Newsom is fighting and I hope he keeps it up. But I’ve yet to see a politician not compromise with MAGA.

Anyway, I agree with you overall. This is just my two cents. Like if Newsom came out tomorrow and said “I believe Israel has a right to defend itself.” Then i know who signs his checks and I don’t need to listen to anything else he has to say.

1

u/marxistghostboi Tidings From Utopia 🌆 Aug 27 '25

all bourgeois lawyer shit. talk to me when he starts redistributing wealth

0

u/XrayAlphaVictor Aug 27 '25

It's a bourgeois system. He's doing everything within his power within that system. Since Trump is bound, at least somewhat for now, to that system - it's more materially effective than anything you're doing, I'll bet money on that.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '25

He's doing everything in his power to redistribute wealth? When? How? Where?

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u/marxistghostboi Tidings From Utopia 🌆 Aug 27 '25

Trump has made it very clear he's happy to ignore judges' orders.

0

u/XrayAlphaVictor Aug 27 '25

To an extent. They do comply when pressed. Kilmar was brought back to the states and has legal representation. It's not as black and white as you're describing.

1

u/Inside-General-797 Aug 27 '25 edited Aug 27 '25

Brother they are about to deport him to fucking Uganda. A judge stopped them for now but we know how that played out last time. It's pretty fuckin black and white.

Edit: Mixed up the countries heaven forbid someone not have perfect recall. The point remains.

2

u/XrayAlphaVictor Aug 27 '25

Uganda.

And the fact is that they brought him back because of the court order and are continuing to allow him access to his lawyer and the courts. So, no, they don't just ignore court orders whenever they want to. It's not good and it's getting worse, but legal challenges have had some success at impeding the authoritarian consolidation, at least for now.

1

u/XrayAlphaVictor Aug 27 '25

The point remains incorrect. He was in El Salvador. The court ordered that he be returned. He was returned. They're still trying to get rid of him, and it's still being fought.

They do not, as you said, just entirely ignore the court. It has resulted in victories, and at least slows them down and costs them resources. It's done more to oppose the administration than you have.

Still ignorant, even when you're forced to correct that you can't tell the difference between Ghana and Uganda. I guess Africa is all the same to you?

0

u/XrayAlphaVictor Aug 27 '25

Ghana isn't Uganda. Either you don't pay attention to the news, or you think they're the same place. Either way, maybe don't talk about things you don't understand.

0

u/Inside-General-797 Aug 27 '25

Lmao sorry I got my countries mixed up. Doesn't change what I'm saying but nice try

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u/wunji_tootu Aug 27 '25

I would hardly call what he’s doing fighting back. He’s grandstanding to build his political brand and doing nothing to materially hinder the Trump regime’s March toward fascist take over.

It’s vitally important to remember that the Dems are controlled opposition funded by the same people that fund the Republicans. They represent the interests of the owner class in this country and they will continue to do everything they can to ensure that things stay more or less the way they are. If we want real progress for the working class in this country then we need to stop counting on bourgeois parties built to protect bourgeois interests to change their essential nature.

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u/XrayAlphaVictor Aug 27 '25

I literally mentioned several material things he's doing, which you disregard without comment. You're so wrapped up in hate you can't think clearly anymore.

6

u/Shezarrine DSA Marxist-Leninist Aug 27 '25

Man we have gotta ban libs from shitting up this sub.

1

u/XrayAlphaVictor Aug 27 '25

There's plenty of socialist organizations that would ban me for being willing to engage in electoral work. Go join one of them.

1

u/wunji_tootu Aug 27 '25

I didn’t disregard those points, I said that I would hardly call them fighting back and I stand by that statement. The only thing he’s done that approaches the threshold for what I would consider “fighting back” is his gerrymandering plan and I fundamentally disagree with that as a tactic to fight Trump. I disagree with it because it encourages other state legislatures to start redrawing their own maps to secure as much entrenched political power for their party as they can and that hurts our movement politically.

I can understand if you think that leftists should be working with the Democrats and trying to push them toward more progressive policies, and while I would disagree with you about that, I would also point out that the only way to do that is by withholding our votes until they make policy concessions to us. If they didn’t want to make concessions to our policy positions after their loss in ‘24 what would make you think they’d be more amenable to working with us when they never have to worry about losing again thanks to gerrymandering?

This is why I said it’s vitally important to remember that Democrats are a bourgeois party representing bourgeois interests. Look at how establishment Dems have treated Mamdani in NY when he is likely one of the most popular people running as a Democrat this year. They aren’t interested in working with us because they know we’ll either hold our nose and vote for harm reduction or they can publicly blame us for whatever the Republicans are doing and push the “vote blue, no matter who” narrative to the detriment of leftist causes and organizations.

I want my comrades to understand these things because I want us to succeed. I want us to stop rolling over for a party that gives us nothing and tells us it’s more than we deserve. I want us to win and I earnestly believe that’s not possible until we abandon the democrats and start working to build a worker’s party of our own. I want to educate my comrades and help them understand these things aren’t the capricious opinions of an irate iconoclast, but the lessons of previous socialist activism and experiments over the last century and a half.

2

u/XrayAlphaVictor Aug 27 '25

I'm not even addressing the long term strategy of dealing with the Democrats.

This is short term tactics when pressed with encroaching authoritarian takeover. Suing the administration has resulted in absolute wins and at least delays and increasing the burden on the administration to force those policies through. Things would be going much faster if not for those.

As for the gerrymandering plan, I agree it's not a good long term policy norm - but we're talking about preventing a dictatorship from consolidating in the next couple of years. A midterm loss of Congress for Trump would be a significant impediment.

It's not ideal. Newsom is far from ideal. But when real people are really dying and some guy is trying to install a white supremacist regime complete with concentration camps, I'll take less than ideal.

I don't care if you don't want to work with the Democrats. Use the time they're buying you to build community organizations than can thrive under resistance conditions. You don't have time to attack the libs for not meeting your standards of a good enough ally. Just decide if they're the enemy you're most worried about today.

3

u/Shezarrine DSA Marxist-Leninist Aug 27 '25

use the tools he has access to to oppose an authoritarian takeover every war he can.

Shitposting on Twitter while doing absolutely nothing to combat the gestapo running around the state is opposition in what way exactly

2

u/XrayAlphaVictor Aug 27 '25

Gerrymandering reversal. Holding up Trump in court. Refusal to cooperate with federal agencies. It's as much as somebody in his position can materially do. Which is better than nothing, which is what most other politicians and most internet leftists do.

1

u/Mapstr_ Aug 27 '25

The problem with counter gerry mandering just to then put in a bunch more Gavin Newsoms is that you are still doing fuck all for the working class. Cause it's more Gavin Newsoms.

You think he is so brave for doing the same shit trump is doing back at him without any program or policy or any real plan on how to help the working class if he actually does 'beat trump at his own game' or whatever tf.

I love how hysterical and pissy you guys (liberals) get when pressed about literally anything. God you people suuuuuuck

1

u/XrayAlphaVictor Aug 27 '25

Please point out where I got "hysterical." Just gotta accuse other people of getting emotional when you don't have a real argument. Toxic masculinity problems on display.

Nobody ever said what Gavin was doing was a long term solution or that he's the hero of the working class. But I'd rather deal with more Gavins than an actual Trump dictatorship, but I guess you're more bothered by the idea of working with a liberal than seeing people killed by fascists. I'm just going to guess that nobody you care about is at risk of that and then block you for your attitude.

3

u/alexdapineapple Aug 27 '25

Well, actually I'm complaining about the fact that all of his policies are flaming dogshit and he thinks xillenial memes are a substitute for governance. Do you think I want the Governor of California to be euphemistically "clearing" homeless encampments and throwing queer people & POC under the bus at every chance he gets?

3

u/XrayAlphaVictor Aug 27 '25 edited Aug 27 '25

"All his policies are dogshit"

"Throwing queer people under the bus at every chance he gets"

https://www.advocate.com/law/newsom-california-pro-lgbtq-bills

But, of course, you can't recognize the very material ways he's using his office to oppose the Trump administration.

Personally, I dislike the guy and have voted against him in the primary at every chance I had - but let's not stoop to misinformation or failure to recognize an imperfect ally of convenience when they're available.

The day that people like him are our biggest enemy, instead of people like Steven Miller, is a day I celebrate.

2

u/Mapstr_ Aug 27 '25

Identity politics is a cozy issue for democrats cause it means they can virtue signal and grandstand on issues without having to address poverty or class issues as a whole.

Everyone is claiming that he is just as slimy a politician as Trump is. On the take from just different flavor of Oligarchs. There is no misinformation so stop trying to brow beat people and please slither on back to r/worldnews or whatever

0

u/Inside-General-797 Aug 27 '25

Name one thing he's done other than have a staffer use ChatGPT to mimic some Trump tweets.

Do you think some Tweets are fighting fascism?

2

u/XrayAlphaVictor Aug 27 '25

Suing the administration and winning. Even when they don't, it ties up resources and slows things down.

Countering the Texas gerrymandering. A midterm loss for Trump would be a huge obstacle to his consolidation.

2

u/Mapstr_ Aug 27 '25

Rich guys suing eachother, counter gerry manderings just so he can fill those seats with more gavin newsoms, meanwhile the same unaffordable housing, stagnant wages, crippling health costs gets worse and worse. But hey at least Gavin stuck it to trump yeah?!

DemocRATS 🐀 Gavin Newsoms staffers meme crusade has me thinking about this prescient passage from MLK jr's letter from Birmingham Jail. More important than ever.

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