Proxyism

     Proxyism, aka "bad mouthin' by proxy", is an assumed/projected prejudice.  It is often used as an excuse to withhold support for a candidate or position.

     For example, J. Doe might oppose the candidacy of Hillary Clinton not because J. Doe is misogynistic--perish the thought!--but because "so many other people are."

     Would Bernie, without Hillary's negatives and with the party behind him rather than against him, have beaten Trump?  Of course he would...unless there were a lot of antisemites or red-baiters within left-leaning ranks.  Judging from the polls, there aren't.  Absent such proxyism, then, we can understand why, on November 8th, Bernie outpolled Hillary against Trump by 12% to 4%.

     Congressman Keith Ellison is being endorsed for DNC Chair by, among others, Bernie Sanders, Chuch Schumer, Harry Reid, Elizabeth Warren, Martin Heinrich, John Lewis, Luis Gutierrez, Tulsi Gabbard and the AFL-CIO.

     There may be reasons to oppose his nomination but proxyist objections to his being Muslim are not among them.

On November 14, 2006, Glenn Beck of CNN Headline News said to Ellison, "I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.' And I know you're not. I'm not accusing you of being an enemy, but that's the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way."

     Defenders of Obamacare have abandoned the pretense of incrementalism.  Instead, they warn that America will never permit "socialized medicine".  Actually, 58% of the population (73% of Democrats and 41% of Republicans) would prefer single payer to the ACA (supported by 44% of Americans including 75% of Democrats, 27% of Independents and only 14% of Republicans, opposed by 51%).  This has resulted in 29 million victims of proxyism.  At best, proxyism often comes as an insult to liberal voters, treating them as Fox-watching bigots.  Coupled with the koan of silence, it explains why the two halves of the Democratic Party, Centrists and Progressives, understand each other so little.

Mary Tyler Moore Show, Season 2, Episode 19 (or 23?), 21:30:

     "It's not that I don't want her to play.  It's just that some of the people at the club aren't as, well, liberal as you and I are."

     "'Liberal'?  You mean because she's Jewish?"

     "Oh, listen, Mary, it's not me.  It's just a rule.  I mean, if it were up to me, I'd let Jewish people in."