I grew up in the 1960's and still retain the lessons learned from that era about issues such as civil rights, economic inequality and the foolish quest for empire. Since I started paying attention to politics I have leaned left and voted for the most progressive candidate in the Primary then for the chosen Democrat in the General Election. For President so far I have voted for Jimmy Carter twice, no vote in 1984 (because I knew Reagan would win in California and I was disillusioned), Michael Dukakis, Bill Clinton twice, Al Gore, John Kerry, Barack Obama, the Green Party in 2012 (because I was disillusioned about the Democrats not being progressive enough and I knew Obama would win in California), Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden. The Democrats are always the preferred choice but they must do better. It seems like no matter who control the government the United States is like a rockslide turning into an avalanche rushing downhill. I think that the only way to stop this or slow it down is to elect more progressive Democrats to every political office possible. We certainly won't reverse the downfall by supporting third parties that cannot win (until a new viable one comes along) or by not voting at all.
It's tempting to assume that our society plods along slowly progressing toward some more perfect union achieving an inevitable modern manifest destiny. However, if one steps back to ponder where we have been - where we are - where we are going - the arc of the moral universe is not bending toward justice. It almost seems like invisible hands relentlessly hold back any real social or economic progress. It kinda makes you wonder and raises a lot of questions about why social and economic inequality keeps growing hugely bigger almost every decade. Is the causation of this an avalanche of happenstance or is our world mostly controlled by a ruling elite? I'm just asking because I care about the US Constitution. As flawed as it remains, it is about the only thing we have to pursue the goal of equal protection under law and maintain relative freedom.
We do know that throughout human history there has existed a ruling elite presiding over the majority consisting of dirt poor commoners. There has always been a wide gap of money and power separating the haves and have nots. The United States was supposed to be the country that fought a Revolution to ditch the monarchy and establish a republic with a mission statement that all men are created equal then we fought a Civil War to reaffirm it. The Founding Fathers hypocritically qualified only white males but made the Constitution to always be a work in progress by including the amendment process. There was always the hope that we would eventually evolve as a society into the melting pot of diversity creating that more perfect union.
So why do we treat some of our Presidents like kings, Senators like Lords, the rich corporate businessmen like a Royal Oligarchy and the Supreme Court like a mystical Priesthood? This is most especially true of the ones that unquestionably support unfettered Capitalism and the Corporate Agenda. Our country's journey from the Revolution to the Civil War to the Industrial Revolution to the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era to the Roaring 20's to the Great Depression to the World Wars to the New Deal to the Cold War to Vietnam to the Great Society to Nixon/Reagan/G W Bush/Trump to the Green New Deal was manipulated behind the scenes by powerful wealthy interests in order to remain Kings of the Hill - not simply just occurring by accident.
Some of the levers of power to manipulate things for benefit of the rich and powerful include:
- The President - can't be indicted for a crime - and apparently is never held accountable post presidency. The Chief Executive has to be powerful to run the government, but should not be able to turn the White House into a crime scene without facing consequences
- Congress - the Senate filibuster assures nothing too populist gets done - a partisan dance between the political parties quells progress. The progressive members are not allowed to pass their agenda because The Speaker and Majority Leader have total schedule control
- The Parliamentarian - an unelected office holder Democrats defer to and Republicans ignore if they don't like the unofficial opinion decided about legislation
- Corporate Democrats - there always seems to be just enough "centrist" Democrats on hand to make sure of minimum legislative progress Corporations and oligarchs oppose. When they leave office cushy lobbyist jobs and speaking fees are often provided
- Supreme Court - can now cancel an election vote count - nulling Separation of Powers. Past precedent is being ignored and rulings are partisan to favor conservatives. Democrats defer when Republicans take unfair advantage nominating Justices by stealing seats
- The Electoral College - can cancel the popular vote and can be more easily manipultated
- US Census Reapportionment - helps keep the Republicans in power - Democrats defer
- The Debt Ceiling - helps create a fake deadlock to hold back economic progress
- The Federal Reserve - a made up entity attempts control of the economy to favor the rich
- Mass Media - almost all owned by Oligarchs to control the flow of information
- Social Media - largely owned by the Oligarchy manipulating the mindset of people
- Corporate Personhood - the courts allow them free reign to buy influence in elections
- Federal Agencies - Executive Branch offices like the FDA, EPA, DEA, FCC etc were created to protect the public interest but are often headed by Corporatists with industry goals
- Religion - partisan blind faith based religion manipulates followers to deny reason and do as told in the pursuit of owning the liberals
- Human Nature - So many people are so easily amused and so easily brainwashed with propaganda that they are also easily manipulated to vote against their own interests
Those are fifteen of the Federal political levers plus there are state and local levers like Secretaries of State and the Legislatures of each state - you can probably think of many more - used to control how power is wielded over the have nots by the haves even more. The economic imbalance between the classes now rivals or surpasses the Gilded Age. The Progressive Era forced many reforms back then, including women's right to vote ratified in 1920. The Bankers and Oligarchs reacted by pushing us into The Roaring 20's - which resulted in bringing on The Great Depression. That collapse led to four times elected President Franklin Roosevelt and The New Deal. The Power Brokers hated those popular reforms so much they attempted a coup against America. The coup failed to materialize but there was no punishment for the perpetrators or even a real investigation. The New Deal reforms were so popular that the Democrats controlled Congress for most of the next 60 years. That proves when real progress is delivered the general population will give their support to that party with policies that help the people.
Except for the reasonable Republican Eisenhower, the Democrats also controlled the White House until 1969. John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson got even more popular reforms passed. JFK was assassinated under mysterious circumstances. LBJ decided not to run for a full second term because of his Vietnam War escalation. That left the door open for Richard Nixon to then be elected. A relentless political war to reverse The New Deal and Great Society reforms began and still continues to this day. Republicans leaders must lie, cheat and steal to win and are often allowed to do so. Nixon lied his way into winning the election then committed crimes in office and was forced to resign. However he was never indicted and received a pardon. A few years later Ronald Reagan lied his way into winning the election and committed crimes in office but was also never indicted.
Several years later the Democrat Bill Clinton won the election fairly and became the neocon President who actually did reverse or weaken some of the popular reforms with so called bipartisanship and triangulating policy. The cynical Republicans still impeached him for nothing and he was appropriately not convicted and served two terms. That resulted in a conservative Supreme Court totally trashing the Constitution and installing the loser George W Bush as President in 2000. GWB lied to win office, lied us into war, committed war crimes and yet again was never indicted. He also enriched the Banks and crashed the economy. Democrats deferred and decided to look forward not back. The Republicans always push their advantage too far and the Bush years led to President Barrack Obama for two terms. He was somewhat a breath of fresh air being a decent person who mostly held onto the status quo with some reforms. The Republicans never let the Democrats slide on anything. One wonders why such a disparity between the two parties is allowed to persist.
All of this has led us to Donald J Trump. The biggest liar and crook and worst human to ever be President. After four years of his horrible one term in office he could not win a second term, so he tried to pull off a coup to overturn his election loss. He is still trying ten months later. The question now is will Trump be punished for his crimes or is he above the law? Do we live under a secret monarchy where the powerful can commit crimes with impunity? Is insurrection, sedition and an ongoing coup attempt enough for the Department of Justice to prosecute these crimes committed by Trump and his enablers? All of these politicians on both sides swore an oath to protect the Constitution. We will soon find out what kind of a country we have devolved into. If we do not deserve to be the United States of America for which it stands, I guess we can thank Trump for ripping away the mask to expose our in name only democracy.
The good news is that DJ Trump is such an ass that almost everybody hates him and the majority of voters are getting very sick of his whining. He may finally be the one former President who gets thrown in jail so that the rest of the Elite class can keep the game going and continue the grift. They may have to throw a few crumbs of progress at the commoners for now so I think the Democrats will win the next couple of elections at least. Incremental gains will be made on social issues and a watered down Green New Deal will be passed. Republicans can always claw a lot of it back in a few years when they convince the people to vote for them again. That is unless a true Progressive Populist revolution occurs that forces real lasting change to make us a true democratic republic. For now I will keep voting for Democrats until there is a viable alternative, but establishment political parties like the Democrats and Republicans won't get us there without being forced to by a massive wave of People Power.
cross posted at curtblog.com