I don't think Bernie was electable but let's play the game that he wins and appoints a bunch of fresh new progressives with 'ideas'. Who is confirmable? What policies are getting through under what is likely to be a GOP controlled Senate? You want to talk about failed promises.
And how is Biden not going to be left on climate? They are going to take it seriously... stop pushing this idea that climate is now 'dead' that's 100% false
$15 minimum wage is a Bernie thing. Student loan forgiveness is a Bernie thing. These aren't left ideas?
I'm speaking in the simplest of terms that even a diehard Bernie Bro should be able to comprehend.
Biden hasn't done anything yet. He hasn't even been sworn in yet. People are reacting to his nominees and their history of actions.
If Biden comes in and immediately whips up $15 minimum wage and student debt cancellation, I have said many times that would go a very, very long way towards establishing credibility with the left. I would be ready to ride with Biden and give him a lot of rope. But he's already rhetorically hedging on student debt (for no reason). Climate Czar is a nice nod, but we'll see if it's followed up with any teeth. Just re-entering the Paris Agreement isn't going to cut it. I sincerely hope Biden and Kerry succeed here. I think they can.
But what's happening here is progressives are being told to withhold criticism of the people we all just helped get elected because it's
annoying the mindset of centrists. That's a bad model of civic engagement. We should all be demanding our government follow through on the policies we want them to enact. Our default attitude towards the powerful should be skeptical and assertive, not this weird passive hero worship.
The truth of the matter is that centrists ARE getting their ideal nominations and governance, but they're still committed to the pretense that they and progressives want the same outcomes. They don't. There are actual, legitimate ideological differences and battles that are going to be fought. Centrists are totally fine with only $10K of student debt being canceled. They're totally fine with a public option being the end point of health care reform. They're totally fine with the status quo when it comes to the Israel-Palestine issue. They're totally fine with a broadly monopolized economy. So when Biden's picks signal this is the extent of what they're going to do, Centrists say "fine by me! these are good, smart, sensible picks!". Progressives get aggy because we want more than that.