This may not be popular - but it had better GET popular.
The Democratic Party has been declining for decades. I thought (well, hoped) Bill Clinton's nomination in 1991 might wake up the left. I mean, he was a GREAT campaigner, and a charming guy, but he was no champion of Leftism, or even Centrism.
And now, 14 years later, it's WORSE.
The Craziest Republicans of All Time control all three branches of government! Our rights, our future, and our nation are at stake. All because the Right has done a brilliant job of
coopting the Democratic Party. And it has cost them very little:
(I'll tell you how - Intro to Populist Politics 101, below the fold)
It's all about money. The same
banks and businesses and corporations and industries support candidates in
both parties, sometimes both candidates in the
same race.
So, whoever loses,
they still win.
If the
Republicans win, it's a
field day for corporate interests, and the people's interests are just ignored, or diverted.
Business gives
tons of money to the Republicans.
If the
Democrats win, well, they have to
dance with the ones who brung 'em, so while they don't do
as much, as rapidly for business as the Republicans do, they also don't do much for the people either, where it might alienate their corporate backers.
Business gives
less money to the Democrats - but enough to
keep them addicted; to prevent them from
straying out to center
The result is, there is
one constituency in America, represented by
two parties, with mainly superficial differences, and
surrounded by citizens of all stripes, most of whom gain nothing from electing
either party.
Progressives wonder why
working class rednecks are stupid enough to vote for Republicans, who don't represent their
real interests. I'm suggesting that shoes come in pairs...
I can see the flames now! So to save you some time and
carpal tunnel, I"ll answer some of them:
Yes, point taken. Conceded.
You are right! BushCo are liars, warmongers, and fools. The economy is not good. The deficit is bad. Iraq is even worse. There are many examples! Kerry would have been
better. A Democratic majority in Congress would be
better. A more moderate judiciary would be
better.
But look:
BushCo, and the Real power-holders behind them, couldn't DO these things, if they hadn't first
coopted the Democratic Party.
Yes, yes, yes, Democratic insiders will,
honestly, even
eloquently, deny this, in precisely the same way that the
main stream media will also,
honestly and
eloquently, deny they are the
tools of their corporate masters. They mostly believe it, too. But
you shouldn't.
The
RESULT of the merging of the two parties' money interests is that
THE SCOPE OF THE DEBATE IS BOUNDED BY THE CORPORATE AGENDA.
Do you suppose GE or GM cares
at all whether
abortion is legal or illegal? About
flag burning? About
prayer in schools? About
gay marriage? About
kids in bodybags? About ANY of the topics that get
debated?
If you don't agree with me (yet!),
please re-read the previous paragraph and
ask yourself: Are these the issues that the wealthiest, most powerful people in the world care
most about?
And if not, why are they the issues that we
hear most about? From Democrats too.
Yes, those are the
wedge issues. Yes, they are political. But that's
ALL they are, from the
perspective of the ruling class.
Why do you suppose those are the wedge issues?
Those are
safe areas where the two Capitalist parties can differentiate themselves, without having to address
real, centrist issues - the issues that would bring 75% ofthe
red voters and 75% of the
blue voters together! Together
against the most destructive wasteful and greedy corporate interests.
You, personally, right now, can think of a
dozen more vital issues, and yet they don't get more than lip service.
So, yes, there are
differences: differences in the
pace of implementation of the same corporate agenda. And most of the people are the victims, blue and red and green alike.
I
do have
hope. You should too. This
is a democracy. The people we vote for
do (don't say it!) win. The issues we believe in
are nearly universal - to
all Americans. But mysteriously not represented in Washington DC.
We want jobs in the blue states, and we want jobs in the red states. We all want freedom. Justice. Security. Fair taxes. Honest representation. Retirement. Health care. Peace. There is more uniting us than dividing us, if we only knew it. If only those were
campaign issues.
Imagine if those were the "wedge" issues! Imagine holding politicians accountable to
that.
So
I have hope, even for the Democratic Party, because democracy is still possible. If they don't chase him out first, and if he is then successful,
Dean may revitalize the party, by raising money from
us instead of
them. If the Dems can wean themselves off of corporate money, they may be able to start responding to the
majority again, instead of the
same banks and institutions that bankroll the Right.
THIS is what progressives have to fight for - the Party itself.
But to earn that money, they have to start, yesterday, talking about the things that people already want to hear - about the things people already want them to do. They have to publicly renounce their old boyfriends
before we will kiss them. And
we have to make them do it,
If we can't, or they won't, then we will have to look elsewhere for representation. We need a second party. I'd just as soon it was the Democrats.