My understanding is that Daily Kos's primary purpose is to elect more and better Democrats. Chris Hedges, in a recent article, seems to be saying that the Democratic Party is not going to fix much if anything. Here is Hedges quoting Ralph Nader:
“The people who go out there with some credibility and record, go into 50 states, sweat it out month after month, beating back ballot access obstacles, fighting the Democrats who are trying to suppress free speech and candidate choices for the voters, and then you still can’t get on the air to discuss civil liberties,” he said. “Never mind that they do not want to upset dear Obama or dear [John] Kerry. They don’t give you airtime to discuss the simple issue of the denial of civil liberties and the crushing of third parties.”
And, Hedges summarizes thus
If elections were that effective, as the anti-war activist Phil Berrigan used to say, they would be illegal. We must follow the path Nader forged, attempting to sway enough people with conscience to sever themselves permanently and unequivocally from the mainstream and especially the Democratic Party. This defiance will again be dismissed as counterproductive and ineffectual. The sacrifices we are called to make will be real, uncomfortable and immediate, while the goals will be distant and uncertain. It will remain hard, for this reason, to jolt people awake.
I realize this is contentious stuff, especially on a site whose purpose is to elect Democrats. I am an infrequent diarist and commenter here, but, still, I expected to find diaries and comments discussing what Hedges is saying. After all, many people read Hedges. The community should have an answer to what he is saying.
This subject may have been covered ad nauseum before, but we have a recent statement to address. So here is the question, spurred by Hedges: Will real, progressive change in America have to come from a party other than the Democrats?