Quoting from the King James version of the Bible, Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Mammon.”
I should mention that while I am a former Catholic, I’m an agnostic bordering on an atheist today. But that is not to say that there is not wisdom to be found in the Bible. The above quote is one of them. “Mammon” in this context meant wealth or material things. In modern times it means much the same. The two party governing system which evolved over time in America was basically sold to the public as a system without class bias for which anyone could vote for anyone. But they had to work overtime to conceal the fact that it was pretty much the exact opposite in practice. Both took their marching orders from the privileged classes, which used to take the form of what was called bipartisanship. And while the two main parties that survived recruited from different bases, it was usually Wall Street interests that prevailed regardless of who was in power after the Civil War years.
Increased Political Polarization
One consequence of the political polarization that has taken place in recent years is that stark racial, social and class differences have managed to increasingly come to the surface. After much struggle, progressive ideologies and voices have surfaced in the Democratic Party, while reactionary and racist ones have been concentrated in the Republican Party. But underneath the surface certain capitalist/corporatist interests still dominate both political parties’ allegiance.
I believe why the corporate owned media and related information sources have been leaning Republican in recent years is that the Democratic Party, however inept at the leadership level, have chosen to seek the votes of the most victimized groups and classes and progressives. And when in power, will be increasingly pressured to pass reform and anti-corporate legislation.
Which adds another level of struggle for the future direction, leadership and strategy for the party. Which presently has no long term strategy to combat the corporate domination of the media, which gave cover to the Republicans, all 50 of them, and seems happy to throw Judas goat Joe Manchin to the wolves and put all the blame for the failure of progressive legislation on the Dems and Biden. Although clearly the centrist leadership, and Biden himself, have shown themselves to have been at least partly responsible for the failure to pass BBB, primarily when they allowed infrastructure legislation to be separated from BBB, losing any leverage they might have had to hold their own party together or even attract a few Republican votes. I don’t think voter rights legislation, without a major massive campaign, will get passed either.
The centrists have shown that they will do all in their power to keep the party under a corporate friendly leadership. And have allowed more than a few folks into the Senate that have much more in common with the Republicans. And keep pretending that bipartisanship still exists in areas beyond supporting the military budget. They have consistently used the same arguments — that Bernie Sanders or someone like him is too radical and left to win a national election. Yet Bernie polled very well with a segment of voters that went over to Trump back in 2016 and also in 2020. So the centrists must take some responsibility for losing large segments of white working class voters to the Republicans over the years and later to Trumpism.
To those who believe that the development of Trumpism, which can legitimately be viewed as a manifestation of fascism, arises solely out of our country’s history of white racism I would agree. But add one additional aspect: The failure of the centrist leadership to convince working class white voters that they have their true class interests at heart, and not their racial beliefs. The Republicans have played their own race card successfully by openly giving signals that they share the racist views of many in the white working class, that it’s OK to be an angry bigot, and that they alone can protect their racial privileges from so called minorities. The centrists have not been able to expose the corporate friendly nature of Republican policies over the years or hide their own links to the upper and corporate classes. Could this be in part be because of who they are, and their own connections to corporate money, power and interests?
Republicans: Experts at Pandering to Racism
By embracing racism and the arguably false promise that they can protect their “white interests”, the Republicans get mostly a pass on who they are and who they really serve. It stands to reason that the same sort of treachery is not going to work for the corporate friendly centrist leadership before many elements in the white working and lower middle classes. They can see Democratic corporate type hypocrisy, but not Republican. They can rightfully question the sincerity and class sympathies of the centrist leadership. And prefer the racial embrace of the Republicans.
The Republicans have few cards to play that are greater or more effective than the race card and have mastered the art of winning white votes on that basis. In fairness to the centrists, few other groups today have been able to weaken the strangle hold that racism holds over all too many white voters. But Schumer and Pelosi are certainly not even speaking the right language, and any campaign against racism should start with economic development for those in the “the hood and the poorest areas” as well as for the millions of other less poor people in America of all colors. Equal opportunity measures may also be important but without a major economic campaign to address poverty they will have limited value.
Looming Disaster in 2022?
The centrists seem incapable of accepting that when they took to recruiting black and progressive voters and other oppressed segments of the population and expressing sympathy and a measure of political support for them, they would fall out of favor with the corporate media and would have to actually produce the much-needed reforms and changes, and no longer be able to escape blame for their failures. The centrist led Democratic Party faces virtually extinction in next year’s elections. One would think that the horrendous Republican record on Cov19, and attacks on abortion, women’s, and voting rights would also make them vulnerable, but the Dems are presently battling internal demoralization, the corporate media, AND the Republicans. Anything can happen in politics in 11 months, but not if you keep on trying the same failed strategies.
Manchin and Sinema’s betrayals are a symptom of the bankruptcy of the centrists to lead the country away from racial polarization and dictatorship. Months ago it was clear that Manchin was going to sabotage Biden’s key piece of legislation. Especially after Democrats allowed infrastructure to be separated legislatively from BBB, with destroyed any leverage Biden might have had with Manchin and the Repubs, and he is indeed a “virtual” Republican occupying a Democratic Senate seat.
Mid-terms are typically a referendum on the party in power. With the current leadership, it’s doubtful that a disaster can be averted at the polls. To have a chance to avert this disaster, the centrists from admit that they face one, at least to themselves. And recognize the need for a new strategy and some new leadership at the top.
Updating Matthew 6:24 to modern American times: “A political party cannot effectively serve the interests of sharply differing constituencies, for either they will ignore the one, and cater to the other; or else they will hold to the one, and regulate the other. Ye cannot represent both the people and the corporations.”
There is no longer a bipartisan two party structure that can be sold to the population. The centrists must face this fact. The Republicans knew this years ago. To exist in this climate, tough class positions must be taken and represented. The Republicans have gone all in on corporate dictatorship and Trump or a replacement Trump-type leader. The weight of the past has propelled the Republicans ahead in the power game for whom will control America. I’m not optimistic that the centrists will see the light. Biden’s reforms to be fare, whether you argue they are too much or two little, do represent an attempt to take a class position on an issue, which the party desperately needs to do instead of making concession after concession. But to use the expression, he went to a gun fight armed with a cream puff without realizing it. There are millions of Americans, a voting majority, which backs his reforms and voted for him. Use them.