I ain't scared of being called a communist.

[mr715]

Because I'm not.

My policies are not.

I cannot even think of a pure communist country anymore.

I'm not scared of being called a communist.

[Stacey Grove]

1. I'm old

just like the over-represented senior citizen membership on this site, but goodness fuck I refuse to live in fear.

Sure as fuck not afraid of weak people like MAGAts.

[mr715]

2. I'm in my early 40s.

And I wear my politics with pride and power.

Let'em call me whatever, I know how I vote.

[Melon]

3. We aren't communist. Communism is a failed ideology

That has never worked. It’s doomed to failure.
We should absolutely fight that label as just more republicans slander.

[mr715]

4. But there are those here that are so, so scared.

[DemocracyForever]

49. Time for people to grow a spine

and call Trump/GOP what they are, anti-democracy Nazis.

[Stacey Grove]

6. MAGAts spout absurdities like explosive diahrrea out of their mouth instead of their ass.

What concrete steps would you propose the average rational person take to fight the litany of absurd nonsense they traffic in?

[The Wizard]

12. It worked for Nixon in his first campaign for Congress.

He was red baiting before McCarthy.

[mr715]

20. That was a little while ago, and there was a legit communist adversary then.

[Karasu]

43. Republicans consider anyone to the left of Genghis Khan a communist and have for decades. This isn't anything new.

Quite the contrary. It's the oldest, most tired line they have.

[mr715]

47. The Great Khan was a little ethnic for their tastes.

[-misanthroptimist]

5. Call me a communist and I'll reply

"Oh, so you don't know what communism is? You poor thing."

[Srkdqltr]

7. Most name callers don't know the difference.

[rampartd]

31. that has never stopped a 'murkin from lynching anyone.

when they show up at your house at midnight it is not to have a dormitory debate on economic systems.

[Srkdqltr]

35. Heavy eye roll.

[SocialDemocrat61]

8. Neither am I

However, there are many on the left proudly calling themselves socialist and communist. They seem to hate democrats as much as MAGAts. However, I still don't get how someone who says that Lenin or Stalin is their personal hero has the moral standing to accuse Kamala Harris of genocide.

[31j20b3]

9. No one cares if Dems are scared. The problem is low education R's and independents

Those groups know little but Fox news and "street attitude" and nothing more

And the streets they live and work on a occupied by MAGA

Dems REALLY MUST work to shift the words that are associated with Democrats to something much more friendly to the desires of low education voters.

Saying for the 10th time in 3 days, Dems need the popular discriptors of Dems to be something like FAIR-DEALERS

[mr715]

10. Respectfully, it smacks of desperation.

They are calling us poopyheads because they got nothing else.

And the People will see through it.

[31j20b3]

18. To you maybe, I can accept that, but I think it's basic marketing and branding

And I think the following...

You want your brand to acceptable to the broadest market. Letting opponents and competitors brand you isn't likely to do that. Even if Dems do the 75 year old shoulder shrug to imply it doesn't matter.

In Marketing the marketers (herein Democrats) you need to control the rhetoric that brands you. So you can push on the thing you want to market.

Letting more generations of R's control the rhetoric around Dems brand flunks Marketing 101. It isn't wise, and it won't be as effective and friendly to Dems as it would if Dems were doing for themselves.

And you need to make it EASY for non-Dems (aka MAGA, Trad Rs, and Independents) to see what it is you are selling. Why not proudly say DEMS ARE THE FAIR DEALERS

[mr715]

19. Marketing 101

-- no wars of whimsy
-- the cost of living is too damn high
-- billionaires should pay more because they have more

I don't appreciate the business model of political discourse. We don't need to have a consultant craft our message.

We have to have a message and deliver on it.

This "fair deal", "new deal", "progressive", whatever -- doesn't matter if you come out without demonstrating you are willing to take a bruising for what you believe.

What is valuable is only what it worth fighting for.

Call it whatever you want. I want a cage fighter Democratic party.

A tent that includes people critical of the free market, and billionaires like the Gov. of Illinois.

I don't want Marketing 101, I want Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

[31j20b3]

32. What Dem president hasn't invoked military power?

I can go back 75 years and I remember every one of the Dem presidents doing it. WWII, Korea, Suez Canal, Bay of PIgs, Vietnam, Raid to recover Hostages, Clinton Kosova and the Serbs, Obama Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen, Biden Syria Iraq and Yemen.

I don't think there is a point to be made on that.

You conditions Fair-deal, new deal, progressive Whater as WEAK. That isn't reality based. None of those things requires a Dem to move the US into taking a bruising.

Fight and fighting are popular words.

Those words seem like they should radiate strength, but they don't. They radiate belligerence. They mostly show an attitude toward people who are deemed opponents, and you can't get a vote from an opponent especia;lly if you are smacking them in the face.

When you are fighting the point is to subdue an opponent by force. It's not about being peacable, diplomatic or cooperative things Dems consider themselve to be

You might be able to try to subdue opponents from a position of power, but then Dems aren't in the position of power of the presidency and control of congress or the courts

We've got to WIN those things through WORK, that convinces US voters to give power to Dems. That work really isn't about cage-fights

[Mossfern]

21. No they won't!

Don't be naive.

We need to smack back and smack back hard with "memes' and slogans. Many of the US electorate are too lazy or distracted to look into the veracity of the claims coming from the right.

I feel that is a weakness of our party - we give people too much credit.
I'm not vilifying those who are just working too hard merely to survive to get involved in politics, who don't have the time or energy to look into specifics of each party and rely on the media to get their information - trusting only one or two media sources.

It's time to learn from the strategies of our opponents.

[mr715]

23. The weakness of our party is we are scared of being labeled

We tie ourselves into gordian knots of ideological nonsense to avoid being labeled.

My understanding is Bernie Sanders is the least disliked politician in the country. He is devoid of labels. A socialist Democrat? A Democratic socialist? An independent?

Labels don't matter when you deliver on policy people want. Then... people will start adopting those labels!

[Mossfern]

25. I'm not scared of being labeled

I'm being realistic.
"But her emails" - do you not think that that had an effect on voter turnout?

Slogans work.
That's why people use them.

You can't deliver policy if you're not in office.

[mr715]

27. Fair

[31j20b3]

41. I;m not scared of labels, I'm concerned about MAGA and Trumpisms Authoritarianism

Choosing and then selling their definitions of democrats to the public.

Not being scared and shoulder shrugging isn't a winner.

Ask any company A that spends heavily on advertising whether they think their competitors should be the ones controlling the marketing of Company A. It doesn't happen.

Create a GOOD product, try to make a product without bad side effects, Market its goodness. The Dems don't need to chase republican's disparaging rhetoric down rat holes.
.

[Torchlight]

53. You make many assertions

and support none of them. Your narrative may be more convincing if you tried supporting them rather than repeating them with minor variances.

[mr715]

54. Politics doesn't need to be abstract.

https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/04/mayor-mamdani-fills-100-000th-pothole-in-first-100-days

[orangecrush]

48. I like "Progressive"

It has a nice chicken shit corporate ring to it

[meadowlander]

11. ""When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist".

- Archbishop Hélder Câmara

If they're calling you a communist, it's because you're asking the right questions.

[Prairie Gates]

13. Me either. The hyperventilation about this ("We have to adddress it NOOOOWW!!!") is goofy

[mr715]

14. If we don't address it soon, they'll end up calling us Marxists before November!!!!

[Prairie Gates]

15. Aaaaahhhh!

[Karasu]

44. As if there's a single fucking Republican who knows the difference between a Marxist, socialist, and communist.

They use those words interchangeably both because they think they sound scary and because they're all idiots who think they mean the same thing,

[eShirl]

16. Tell them, "Not everyone who disagrees with you is a communist."

[Submariner]

17. He's been calling us "the enemy within" for over a year

so communist Antifa pool vandals is just the next step to the Pedo's hoped for replay of Kent State-like shootings nationwide, because he wants Blue state blood on the streets.

[Vinca]

22. I think, for the most part, all the talk of "isms" is just another Epstein distraction. Speaking of which,

I think given the Maggie Haberman/Jonathan Swan book, we should discuss the Epstein matter a little bit more. Were you aware - I wasn't - there was an email in a civil suit that described Trump's nipple fetish? According to the book, a young lady was presented to Trump for his pleasure, and he proceeded to work over her nipples to the point they became red and swollen. Apparently, this tidbit slipped through in the first collection of documents to be released but was removed when it was found it was from a civil case.

[mr715]

24. Lovely. Thank you.

Now I don't need to eat today

[Vinca]

28. LOL - Trump is very good for dieting.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

26. We need to listen to Harry Truman

Link to tweet

[muriel_volestrangler]

29. Good for you. I hope as many as possible of DU, and the Democratic party, follow you

I am so disappointed that the moment the biggest known liar and bullshitter in the US, the rapist occupying the Oval Office, starts throwing around the word "communist" as if he has the faintest understanding of its meaning, then Democrats start panicking as if this is a man whose arguments need responding to.

He is historically unpopular. He wanted people to inject bleach into themselves. He just started a war for no good reason, and lost it. He even talks, on Independence Day, to a former communist for 90 minutes, since Putin is apparently his best friend in the world. Everyone should just point out what a disaster he is, and what a disaster every single remaining Republican is for having supported him.

[rampartd]

30. they are not going to kill us for being communists

they are going to kill us because trump called us communists.

posobiac's book "unhumans" describes who they think we are = lazy thieves who want to steal the productivity of our overlords.

Unhumans: The Secret History of Communist Revolutions (and How to Crush Them) is a 2024 American political and polemical book by Jack Posobiec and co-author Joshua Lisec which was a New York Times bestseller.[1] It features a foreword by Steve Bannon and a blurb from JD Vance. The book claims that the American left desires a communist dictatorship and thus should be labeled "unhumans" who should lack human rights.

[highplainsdem]

36. Good point about that Posobiec book. Link to a 2024 thread about it that links to two other threads

about it:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219301040

[rampartd]

39. welcome to the end

"Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely. We didn't get all the way there on Jan. 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it." He then held up a cross necklace, saying "we will replace it with this, right here." posobiac

[highplainsdem]

42. Yep. Video:

[Bookreadingliberal53]

33. I got called a commie in 2000 while doing door knocking for Al Gore nt

[mr715]

34. Famous communist Al Gore

[DinahMoeHum]

37. As the song goes, you ain't done nothin'. . .

. . .if you ain't been called a red. . .

[ananda]

38. By your logic, if you were a communist..

you'd be scared.

This whole thing is so ridiculous.

[mr715]

50. If pigs could fly I'd carry an umbrella.

[ananda]

51. Mary Piggins

[mr715]

52. Horrible nanny.

Her departure was very disappointing for the children.

[kentuck]

40. I'm operating from the assumption that Trump is going to get the cult vote....

Very few are going to desert him

We just have to get more people to the polls.

They are not going to change.

[BeneteauBum]

45. The communist moniker is just another political machination

Six months ago, few people were ascribed the label communist. However, with the elections of several left of center politicians, suddenly this administration has decided to characterize them and anyone who supports them as communists. Knowing that the mid term elections are looking bleak, the Republican Party has jumped on this attempt of political gamesmanship.

I certainly don’t fit the definition as I own my home, albeit a floating one, and enjoy living as I please on my pension. If the ‘collective’ receives any of my money, it’s because I choose to donate/pay. The part of society that I feel I’m forced to ‘share’ with is the insurance companies.

I’ve had the right call me a communist many times because I AM a left wing lunatic. I laugh because they don’t understand what communism means and they just throw the ‘slur’ out there because they’re afraid of what I represent. Yes, I am different from them and happier for it! Fuckem!

Peace ☮️

[LeftInTX]

46. Isn't Trump a communist?

He supports a totalitarian state.

[Kaleva]

55. It's a tag that has no sting

[EnergizedLib]

56. Instead, educate people on what communism actually is

And social reforms are not the same thing.