August 08, 2011 11:19 PM UTC

Progressive Democrats Of America "banned" me for talking about an Obama Primary

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• by: John H Kennedy

I am a 46 year Democratic voter who was recently “banned” from the ACCOUNTABILITY & JUSTICE DISCUSSION GROUP (a google group) run by the Progressive Democrats Of America.  I was a long time member of that PDA group and had organized over 150 Impeach Bush-Cheney protests in Denver, CO and published the http://AngryVoters.org website.

MY CRIME?  I posted the following email to the PDA google group  and was immediately “banned” from the group.

National Officers of PDA have said that they have not yet decided whether PDA will support Barack Obama for reelection…in fact they go so far as to say that “only the members” can decide that… however, my “banning” by these officers seems to suggest that “they” will not tolerate any threat to their standing within the Democratic establishment or any threat to Obama’s reelection.

Censoring of PDA member’s speech or banning of certain topics from discussion is certainly not something any Democrat would expect PDA to be involved in.

I get the impression that PDA Officers will fight against a Primary regardless of what any member wants.

Perhaps the part of PDA that is “inside” the party has now become part of the Party establishment. and is no longer as tolerant as when we were the “big tent” party.

The email that got me banned:

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[PDA Accountability] We need to discuss a Democratic Presidential Primary for Obama

Thursday, July 21, 2011 3:18 PM

From:”John H Kennedy” protestinthestreet @yahoo.com

To:”PDA A&J” pda-accountability @googlegroups.com

I believe we should discuss finding a primary challenger for Obama.

Information is coming to light that indicates that Obama has planned to cut our Nation’s Social Safety Net for a long time, since before 2008 by some accounts and certainly since right after his inauguration.

Defending Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are ‘the’ key planks of the Democratic Party.  If Obama pushes to cut them, it suggests he was Never a true Democrat.  Voters and the rank and file of the Democratic Party need to understand before Nov. 2012, Just ‘What Democratic Party Principles’ Obama will Pledge to support and fight for, if any.  It would be best for the political health of the party if this is accomplished in a Democratic Primary.

The ‘only’ way we can determine his position on issues is to have him challenged by a Lefty Democrat.  Someone who is not necessarily a nationally known figure but more important someone who is well spoken and well versed in defending liberal and progressive issues.  The idea is to force Obama to reveal to voters just which party he aligns with and force him to take positions on our platform issues.

With the general disappointment with Obama, a well spoken challenger might have a chance.  At the very least such debates would go a long way to helping our rank and file understand Obama’s positions on issues important to us and would very possibly force Obama to move Left on some issues.

I would very much like to hear what you all think about this.  I realize it is a touchy issue but I believe the time has come for all of us to deal with it openly.

John H Kennedy

Denver,CO

720-384-7084 A lifelong Democratic voter.

Email protestinthestreet@yahoo.com

Website http://AngryVoters.org

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Has anyone else had a similar experience with PDA?

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