National Presidential debates. Sounds impressive. A chance for Americans to see and hear presumably the best among us discuss the issues facing our nation and how they would approach them if elected. Particularly those candidates who do not have the name recognition, who have not been relentlessly thrust before the public eye by corporate media for years. Those thoughts should be enlightening and should provide options for serious consideration for an extremely serious decision: who among us should administer the Federal government functions of the most powerful ( if not still the greatest ) nation in the world today. More often than not, we hear platitudes and a lot of tap dancing around real, substantive issues that is standard procedure for politicians today.
That fantasy still drives many of us in America and many of us believe in the pristine democratic process that we have been led to believe we participate in. I want to say nothing could be further from the truth, but that would be an exaggeration. There is still some small amount of choice and contest in the exercise for those of us not entirely fed up and cynical with the political process, which is of course the culmination of years of careful propaganda and intentional sabotage by the persons who whould most benefit from a wholesale abandonment of the democratic process by most Americans.
Now, when I speak of Presidential Debates I am not referring to the projectile vomiting of bankrupt ideology, threadbare talking points, racism, delusion and hate that passes for debate among the contenders for what passes for the Republican Party today. If I want to expose myself to pointless, annoying yammering and gibberish, I'm sure there are some reality tv shows out there and there is always the Fox Network. So there is no need to subject one's self to a "Republican Debate".
On the other hand, the Democratic Debates offer at least some opportunity to hear rational ideas, offering a public forum to people who would otherwise be entirely sidelined by the media. Even though they have absolutely no chance of ever being real candidates without the blessng of the national leadership and the corporate media, they could add some nuance to the conversation. For the leaders, however, it is unfortunately just an occasion to not screw up, to remain likeable and non-threatening so as not to alienate a potential voting group.
So we are left with the two presumptive contenders, Bernie and Hillary. Both are long time veterans of the political wars, though from very diffent backgrounds and directions. Honestly, I have no idea how either one will be as President ( assuming that even the United States would not be so demented as to elect from among the Republican Clown Show ). I see Hillary as a tough, tested veteran; certainly a neoliberal with clear ties to Wall Street and the politics of the past, and yet a smart and pragmatic candidate who can smell the winds of change. With Bernie, I see a long time, consistent warrior for justice and for ideals that I personally think exemplify what the United States was intended to be. And which we have strayed far, far away from. There is no mistaking where he stands, although I'm dismayed at the lack of substantive foreign policy positions from him.
Democratic Socialism, despite the name, is ( though most of us don't know it ) the underlying basis of the existence of the United States as our democratic republic was supposed to be. A government of the People, by the People, for the People. Every institution in our nation, from government to corporations, exists for the benefit of the People of the United States, individually and as community. Despite the hideously incomptent decision of the Supreme Court stating that corporations are people, they are of course not people. They are legal contstructs that exist at the will of the people with certain privileges that we expected to benefit the People, since the sole point of the existence of corporations is to create profit and that presumably would create jobs and prosperity. If and when a coporation becomes a liability to the People and our future, we can execute them simply by pulling their charter, withdrawing their legal right to exist and do business.
The obscenely wealthy in our nation are a different issue because they are in fact human beings and yet they tend to operate as corporations in public life due to their immense wealth and their isolation from real life. They become organisms devoted to accumulation of wealth at any cost, much like corporations, and some use that wealth to undermine democracy by purchasing those elected officials who make the laws, including taxation, trade, and regulation of commerce. The only antidote to this poison to democracy is an enlightened government that recognizes the need to regulate the activities of huge corporations ( read: Wall Street ) and the tiny ( 0.1% ) of Americans that have accumulated massive wealth, often through outright corruption. We do not at present have such a government, and the beneficiaries of corrupt government have insulated themselves very effectively from attempts to rein in their activities.
Which brings us of course to the second hideously incompetent and disastrous Supreme Court decision that money is free speech. With no qualifications or regulation, money is free speech. Anyone with a functional mind can see that money, in the case of campaign contributions of various types, is only free speech if everone in America has an equal opportunity to express that free speech. For example, if the average American can manage to pull together $1000 to contribute to a candidate, then $1000 is the base upon which we measure free speech...for everyone. If a billionaire is able to pay $900,000,000 from pocket change to influence an election, then logically that person has 900,000 times as much free speech as I do. That is the result of the genius of the Supreme Court with the inevitable and clearly visible result of massive corruption in government, unleashing the rats of greed to gnaw at the roots of democracy. It has been stated, and rightly so, that we are in fact no longer a democracy but functionally an oligarchy in the shell of a democracy, with elections becoming a Kabuki theater to placate Americans every few years.
So, my point...and I do have at least one...is that Presidential Debates and the Presidential election are only marginally important because we need to keep raving lunatics out of the Oval Office. Meaning voting for the Democrat, whoever that is, as a stop gap measure for the time being. In addition, without winning back majorities in the House and Senate, the Presidential election is largely symbolic and no real change can be expected to come from it, except change for the worse initiated by Congress and not vetoed by the President.
The People of the United States are desperate for change. There is an as yet undefined movement of public opinion and outrage at the bastardization of the principles of America and the promotion of massive inequality in our economy and injustice in our legal system. It is of a Populist nature by definition. People know in their guts that all institutions should exist to serve their best interests, and yet we have twisted our existence to a point that the People serve the institutions. Blame it on the Industrial Revolution opening the door for boundless greed and slamming the door on independent individuals.
All movements grow from the bottom up. Bernie Sanders is a catalyst to the extent that he alone among so called leaders identifies, calls out, and offers alternatives to the unsustainable status quo. But he is not a white knight, he is our Jeremiah, not a savior. But brave, outspoken people like Bernie, Elizabeth Warren and others voice the unspoken feelings of the voiceless and give form to a movement. I don't know what eventually will trigger that movement to gel and take motion, but it will and must come, or we can expect climate change and wealth inequality to fragment our civilization as we know it in the coming century.
Part of our nation has already been mobilized, unfortunately, by the lies and propaganda and conspiracy fear tactics of the Right, in the form of the Tea Baggers, the Dominionists, the militias, the NRA and the like. But that is a Neanderthal dead end that will accomplish nothing but anarchy and fragmentation of our society. A redemption of America as a nation will only come from the tens of millions of Americans who feel the winds of change, to find their voices and blend them into a clear and persistent demand for change that will not be denied. When the many advocacy groups that now exist recognize their commonality and join forces, knowing that all of their concerns are based on one concern, human rights.
The opposition knows better than we do that this time is coming. As evidence, we see the post-911 disintegration of Constitutional guarantees of freedom, the increasing militarization of our law enforcement, and the tentacles of ALEC inspired minions in our state houses, our city councils, our school boards, our religious institutions, and in fact any point of power in our nation. In addition, we see the large multi-national corporations clearly oweing no allegiance to the United States or the People, using their wealth to embed themselves into the world economy to suck the world dry.
Nothing is more powerful than the will of a mobilized People. This is not a phenomenon of America alone, but is growing around the world, if only our corporate owned media would properly report it. But but powerful institutions never ever give up power willingly or easily. History teaches us that it is often an ugly process, and the results are not always what we would have wished. Witness the violence against unions in the 30's and 40's and the sacrifices of women's suffrage and civil rights. And yet this is here, now, in front of us. And we can chose to move toward the light or roll over and let the darkness engulf us.