For a while in this country, every thirty years or so brought a swing back to progressive, liberal ideas. It happened at the turn of the 20th century and again with the New Deal in the 1930’s, which brought us unemployment insurance, social security, Glass-Steagall, and so on. And, the 1960’s brought Kennedy and Johnson and many progressive changes: the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, Roe v Wade in the early 1970’s and reproductive control, Affirmative Action, the Environmental Policy Act, Fair Housing and on and on.
Nothing about the changes of the 1930’s and the 1960’s was incremental…nothing. These changes were bold and progressive and happened over the span of a decade. And, Roosevelt faced a Congress that did not like him and did not want to institute the changes he asked. But, the changes happened. And, we were all the better for it.
During the advent of Reagan, I so longed for the 1960’s/early 1970’s that I could hardly stand it. And, one of the things that kept me going was the idea that historically, every 30 years in this country, there is a return to progressive ideas. I was looking forward to the 1990’s for that reason. I looked forward to the Clintons…and then …nothing changed, the Reagan era continued.
I was incredibly disappointed in the Clintons. Republicans in Congress were actually complaining that Clinton was stealing all their ideas, and, indeed, he was. Welfare reform in the way that it was instituted was a Republican idea. Free trade, that is NAFTA, free market, and the crime bill…all Republican ideas. And, ridding Wall Street of the Glass-Steagall act by Clinton was manna from heaven as far as the conservatives were concerned. And, let’s not forget DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act. Clinton also brought us the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, that old incremental change. The Clintons became the stars of the Democratic Leadership Council, founded in 1985…the “Third Way” of Democratic politics, the home of such blue dogs as Joe Lieberman. The Clintons were the antithesis of what history and I expected of the 1990’s.
And, here we go again. Granted, the 30-year-progressive-change scenario really isn’t due until the 2020’s. So, maybe Hillary will have a one-term presidency and Bernie’s ground swell of progressives will carry us into the 2020’s. Or, maybe, Elizabeth Warren will run in 2020. But, another Clinton presidency won’t be progressive and will certainly be disappointing if history and Hillary’s behavior have given us any clue as to how this is going to go.
Remember that conservatives are doing their best to rid us of any progressive legislation from the 1930’s and the 1960’s. They obviously don’t have to worry about the 1990’s. The plutocracy has worked hard to build an effective backlash to progressive legislation. For example, the American Legislative Exchange Council was founded in 1974 and their efforts have brought us the Voter ID laws, among other things, across the nation’s Republican-occupied states. The early 1980’s brought us the Federalist Society, which provided the four ultra-conservatives on the Supreme Court and they certainly have done their best to turn back the Voting Rights Act, Affirmative Action, and so on.
We are in desperate need of a progressive to lead this country and to stop the conservative backlash, a progressive to make ALEC and the Federalist Society obsolete, a progressive that will return us to our liberal roots and the Constitution. Our country was founded by liberals, the conservatives of the day wanted to stay with Britain. Democracy is a progressive/liberal idea and democracy in the US has already slipped through our fingers. If we don’t start fighting now, we may lose it forever. Bernie is a progressive in the truest sense of the word.
And, of interesting note, the Democratic Leadership Council was dissolved in 2011 and the DLC’s historical records were purchased by the Clinton Foundation.
