Stunned by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s victory, the Democratic Party establishment is trying to contain the rebellion challenging its class interests and may try to stem the tide with a compromise on super-delegates, as Norman Solomon reports.
By Norman Solomon
Conventional wisdom said that powerful Congressman Joseph Crowley couldn’t be beat. But his 20-year career in the House of Representatives will end in January, with the socialist organizer who beat him in the Democratic primary in the deep-blue district of the Bronx and Queens poised to become Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
In a symbolic twist of fate, the stunning defeat of Crowley came a day before the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic Party voted on what to do about “superdelegates,” those unelected Democratic Party elite who’ve had an undemocratic and automatic vote in presidential nominations since 1984 to prevent leftwing candidates from being nominated.
Crowley’s defeat shows how grass-roots movements can prevail against corporate power and its pile of cash. The Crowley campaign spent upward of $3 million in the Democratic Party primary. The Ocasio-Cortez campaign spent one-tenth of that. He wielded the money. She inspired the people.
As the 28-year-old Ocasio-Cortez was quick to say after her Tuesday night victory, her triumph belongs to everyone who wants social, economic and racial justice. She ran on a platform in harmony with her activism as a member of Democratic Socialists of America and an organizer for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign.
Conventional wisdom said superdelegates—who exerted undemocratic power over the selection of the party’s presidential nominee in 2016—couldn’t be stopped from once again putting the establishment’s thumbs on the scale.
But on Wednesday afternoon, the party committee approved a proposal to prevent superdelegates from voting on the presidential nominee during the first ballot at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. (The last time the party’s convention went to a second ballot was 1952.)
As NPR reported, the committee “voted to drastically curtail the role ‘superdelegates’ play in the party’s presidential nominating process. The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee voted 27 to 1 to block officeholders, DNC members and other party dignitaries from casting decisive votes on the first ballot of presidential nominating conventions.”
Make no mistake: Those in the top echelons of the Democratic Party aren’t moving in this direction out of the goodness of their hearts. Grass-roots pressure to democratize the party—mounting since 2016—is starting to pay off.
Ocasio-Cortez: Stirring people’s hopes, and a nightmare for the Establishment. (YouTube)
Feeling the Heat From Below
Corporate power brokers of the national party are in the midst of a tactical retreat. But it’s not surrender.
During the latest Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting, former DNC chairs Donald Fowler and Donna Brazile voiced strong—and in Fowler’s case, bitter—opposition to changing the superdelegates status quo. They may be indicating an escalation of insider pushback before the full DNC votes on rules at the end of August.
Norman Solomon is the coordinator of the online activist group RootsAction.org and the executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is the author of a dozen books including “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.”
“Ocasio-Cortez’s victory has alarmed a Democratic Party elite trying to figure out how to contain the revolt to protect their privileges. ”
It’s a bit late. The DP sold out the US public by rigging the primary against Sanders, who was polling 20 points ahead of Trump in a race for president. This means the the corporate fascists who control the DP chose it to lose to Trump rather than let Sanders (espousing a little more equality for the plebs while supporting the MIC and its regime change resource wars) win. After 8 years of duplicity and lies from the intellectually dishonest war criminal covert climate crisis denier Obama, 4 years of the openly ecocidal resource war racist terrorist Trump will leave the planet’s ecosystems past the threshold at which life can exist. So, for those who decided not to vote for the Green Party ( Nader and Stein), and instead denigrated, maligned, slandered, for decades, those who would have honestly tried to save civilization and all sentient life from extinction, (although you will never admit to your role in helping the corporate fascists destroy life and civilization), I hope in these last decades of what is left of civilization, you can at least have the awareness and guts to vote for people like like Ocasio-Cortez.
F. G., very good post per usual, and thanks, Joe, you have alluded to the breakdown of our economy before. Ben, of course you have a good point about education, but the educational system has been unattended to for over 20 years, part of the reason other nations surpass Americans in knowledge by testing. I was reading in Asia Times online that some scientists, really good ones, are leaving US for China because of better research and development support.
Bruce Dixon of Black Agenda Report has an article pretty much saying what F. G. is saying about Ocasio-Cortez’s win. David Smith said it earlier, she won on a very poor turnout. It remains to be seen what she can do as a neophyte. Also, James Howard Kunstler is saying on Zero Hedge that reform of this limpid system is too little too late, there is no there there. The money is gone, yet the Navy just tested a new bomb! This is insanity…
I hate to be pessimistic, because I’d like to see this candidate become a transformative hero. But let me reel y’all back down to reality. You do realize, I hope, that the voter turnout for this primary was so poor that she won with 14% of the registered voters. I think that in New York, you have to be a registered Democrat to vote in the Democratic primary. So, that could actually represent as little as 7% of the electorate. She defeated Crowley by a wide margin – let’s assume (because I don’t know for sure) that he got 11% of the registered voters. That would mean that 75% percent of the electorate didn’t even bother to vote.
I watched the Colbert interview, and I gotta say, she sounded pretty vapid. FDR pushed his agenda by arguing that, if the private sector couldn’t provide adequate employment for people who wanted to work, it was up to government to bridge the gap. That’s a little easier to sell than a hardcore “socialist” position advocating “guaranteed income”. I get awfully tired of right-wingers blaming “lazy people who want free stuff” for their own misfortune when there are simply no jobs to be had. I also believe nobody should be sleeping on the streets in the world’s wealthiest country. Fascism is a reality when a country with 5% of the world’s population has 25% of the world’s prison inmates. Do average Americans register any of these realities or vote accordingly? The comments section under one of the articles about Ocasio-Cortez contained a window on the American mentality. I can’t repeat most of them here, but a relatively benign one said, “What’s up with those choppers? If she gets together with Nikki Haley, between the two of them, they could strip the bark off a tree in nothing flat.” Nope, the “average American voter” is not particularly sophisticated.
Just like “Judge Jeanine”, most Americans react with horror to the word “socialism”. Keep in mind, they have little idea what it actually means, and don’t realize that Medicare, Social Security, public education, city sanitation and public health all represent forms of “socialism”. If the Republicans mount a well organized campaign, her election could be a toss-up. If elected, she’s got an uphill battle selling her platform. The one-party corporate duopoly isn’t going to let her get very far.
F.G. While we all critique Ocasio-Cortez potentials, peace activists David Swanson is rather impressed with this new Dem on the rise. Swanson does a mirror to mirror comparison between Warren, Sanders, and Boxer, up against candidate Cortez which proves Ocasio to be above the crowd. Possibly Swanson is even under a spell, but he does a good job of analyzing our newest rising star in the Democratic Party, so read his review and decide for yourself.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/03/why-ocasio-cortezs-platform-is-so-great/
“Sober analysis may not be what some people wanna hear at a victory party where everybody’s popping champagne corks, dancing the electric slide and toasting the universal lessons of the Ocasio-Cortez victory without the bother of real analysis.
“Being the sober guy at a victory party kinda sucks that way. But real talk, we’re all gonna have to sober up eventually and figure out which parts of the Ocasio-Cortez playbook are peculiar to and which ones are applicable outside a majority Latino New York City district, and we have yet to devise any means of holding progressive politicians truly accountable. Those who think we don’t need critical analysis or institutions to enforce accountability are the magical thinkers.”
On Magical Thinking VS Sober Analysis of the Ocasio-Cortez Victory in NY
Bruce A. Dixon
https://blackagendareport.com/magical-thinking-vs-sober-analysis-ocasio-cortez-victory-ny
I didn’t find her vapid at all at least compared to Colbert and most his guests. American politics has to be vapid anyway because that is the essence of our culture.
F. G. Sanford — “I hate to be pessimistic”
At this stage in/of USA politics,
it’s impossible to NOT be pessimistic.
The mysterious, occulted
“Vast Right Wing Conspiracy”
That Hillary delineated, decades ago,
Owns the “United Stares of America”
With all three branches in their power,
The misanthropists and misologists
And tax cheating billionaires have the
Fate of the Nation in their greedy hands. …
http://reclaimdemocracy.org/powell_memo_lewis/
https://billmoyers.com/content/the-powell-memo-a-call-to-arms-for-corporations/
MISOLOGISTS
Misology is defined as the hatred of Reasoning; the Revulsion or Distrust of Logical Debate, Argumentation, or the Socratic method.
Mildly-
You must be a MISOLOGIST if you think Hillary isn’t on the same side as the “vast right wing conspiracy”, and the “tax cheating billionaires”. Thanks to Wikileaks we know she told her banking buddies, “So, you need both a PUBLIC and a PRIVATE position.” Those of us that aren’t misologists call that lying.
Your are correct, some form of Socialism also exists in America. That doesn’t scare me! The Socialism which gives me pause is the propoganda about profits, capitalism, etc, free will. But your analysis of this win is instructive. The Democrats lost a heavyweight pol for a novice/newbie and of course the MSM is in love with her already, despite knowing on details of who or what she is. Parts of The Bronx and Queens, just elected themselves a Trudeau clone, she will be corrupted quickly, if she wants to stay in office.
Skip, i do vote, now third party, but i am saying that corporate capitalism is killing us as it kills Earth, and the political system is deeply embedded with the corporations. I just don’t see Americans beginning to understand that they don’t need all this “stuff”. I read, for example, that the shade of lipstick Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez wears was publicized on the internet, and the lipstick was flying off the company shelves! And i watched her interview with the loud, superficial Stephen Colbert, and there was no substance to it.
We are actually watching the unraveling of our society. Nothing was done to address the inequities that led to this rot ever since Reagan really started us on a downward trend. I honestly think we are headed for collapse as the USSR did in 1989-1990. But it can’t be blamed solely on Trump, because the decay was in motion before him.
Jessika I think you are right. The kind of political landscape most Americans are working with, is what I call ‘Retail Politics’. This kind of politics is what you said is a political philosophy deeply rooted in no substance, nor has it any direction towards what the people really need, or do they want. This blob of deception is a front for the real aims and agendas of the National Security Deep State, and we all know how that never benefits we the people.
Hope you don’t mind me jumping on board to your comment, but I think your comment here is one of the best which describes the reality we are all dealing with these days. Joe
Here’s a good read on how progressivism is in the crosshairs of the DNC.
https://disobedientmedia.com/2018/06/observers-claim-political-retribution-motivated-arrest-of-progressive-congressional-candidate/
Jessika, our entire political system needs to be reformed for things to workout for the people.
You can’t trust communists, socialists, democrats, independents, republicans, or fascists who are going into a political and economic system that is full of corruption and waste. Whatever happened to being centered (middle) and for the people?
We should have an educational system in place for those who want go into governmental administration and law making.
Governmental administration grads and need to pass civil exam (like a bar exam for law) for these specific positions. However, we don’t. This is one of many reasons why we have people in power who make bad calls. They don’t have ethics, accountability, critical thinking, science, engineering, and professional financial planning. This results in the following:
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-math-science/
https://www.statedatalab.org/state_data_and_comparisons/detail/california
Ben I agree with you wholeheartedly, but shouldn’t we blame the money influences which corrupt our government? Good comment Ben, just thought I bring up the money aspect. Joe
Joe, you are right about the $.
See this one:
https://www.opensecrets.org/
This article talks of the complexities of being a Lefty inside the corporate DNC…. because Bernie won’t endorse the eradication of ICE he is now standing in the DNC docket.
https://newrepublic.com/article/149378/bernie-sanders-not-left
Response to Jessika :
You may be interested in the writings of Dmitry Orlov if not already familiar with them:
http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/
He is an astute observer of the collapse process and has some really good essays.
Vital reading for the ‘It can’t happen here’ crowd.
Glad to hear it about the super delegates. About time the Democratic party became… ahem… democratic.
Elizabeth Warren could not restore Glass-Steagall, and she worked mightily at it for years but could not do it. How do we think a fledgling will pull it off, if elected? Just embracing a vague concept of “socialism” will not work at this point. Corporate capitalism and its henchmen continue to overrun Earth, and we are at the edge of disaster. 85% of Earth’s rainforests are either gone or nearly logged out, for factory farming. That’s only one “statistic”. The ocean has about 6 dead zones now. We have to take a total change in consciousness and stop this consumption madness or we will be cooked. No political system has a solution. Look at the recent buyout of Monsanto by Bayer to form the most gargantuan pharmaceutical company ever. I fail to see that any politician in this system so corrupted by money/lobbying will turn this around. We have to be the change ourselves and not look to someone else.
Jessika-
You are spot on about this. A friend of mine once said that voting with your wallet is way more powerful than voting at the polls. Things like buying organic and keeping your spending to local small businesses are two great ways to have an impact. Also trading labor, gardening, and reducing fossil fuel consumption are big items. The old adage “Live simply, that others may simply live” is a powerful one to guide your life by.
However, I still think voting matters, and that voting for the Green party candidate has an impact, if only to let the evil ones know that we are aware of them. I’m really hoping for a tipping point in 2020. We just need someone with “star power” that the MSM can’t ignore, a lot of grass roots effort, and somehow get to the 15% mark to make the TV debates. Once the masses see that they have a REAL choice, we could be on our way.
Apparently she has updated her website to include a foreign policy platform :
https://www.opednews.com/articles/1/Why-Ocasio-Cortez-Platfor-by-David-Swanson-Peace_Peace-180701-309.html
A brave attempt but if she is serious she will back a movement for War Tax Redirection.
Words are one thing, money is another.
Irina-
I just went to her website, and there is a section called “A peace economy”, and also one called “Curb Wall St. Gambling: Restore Glass Steagal”. It is a pretty impressive platform, I must say. It will be interesting to see how things develop as the general election approaches. I will be very happy to say “I was wrong” if she wins and sticks to her guns (so to speak) down the road.
It is time you realized many Democrats do not support your corporatist policies. Many of my friends, I am 69, either voted for Trump, did not vote or voted for Clinton holding their noses. It is time that you played to your voters and not to your contributors. The working class is struggling and you do not address their needs. They are your greatest block of voters. Something had bettter be done to stop the attack on Social Security. If you let seniors lose their benefits in any way, it will be all over for you. If it hurts younger people, they will never be able to retire. WhT exactly are you doing? I have heard nothing. Millenials are the largest block of potential voters. You cannot continue to ignore them. They are progressive. Wake up or watch the Country and what it should stand for die.
The turnout of registered Democrat party voters in this district was low, however, about 14%. A 28-year-old Hispanic female beating a 56-year-old white male in a New York City district doesn’t seem that shocking in a Democrat primary. The person who said that it would be shocking if Andrew Cuomo were upset by Cynthia Nixon in the gubernatorial primary made a good point. And Skip Scott has the best point of all, we don’t have much time, and I would add that Earth is sending us messages about our human unsustainable living. I don’t see any politician speaking to that point.
Educator? I seem to recall reading that she was a bartender. Well, I’m getting older, maybe I just don’t remember. I do remember exactly where I was at 12:30 on 22 November, 1963. I also remember watching the California primary returns on the East Coast at about 3AM on live TV back in 1968. Nope, nothing in politics happens by accident. I’m certainly no “troll”. Some speculate that there are “big indictments coming this summer”. The entire “left” in the US is fragmented, hysterical and delusional. The Ocasio-Cortez election is like a Rorschach test: everybody sees what they want to see. Meanwhile, Trump operates a machine with simple, clear policy objectives – not all of them true, not all of them sensible, and certainly not many of them achievable. But, the Democrats keep approving his appointments and passing his legislation. So far, they’ve given him everything he wants. Nancy Pelosi keeps taking “impeachment off the table”. It isn’t difficult to postulate that the “deep state” Democrats favor what he does, but they don’t want to take credit for it themselves. Trump supporters are a solid block, and “identity politics” is driving “white flight” to the Republican camp. Trump’s support base actually appears to be growing. I’m expecting a right-wing ideologue to be appointed in Kennedy’s place, and he or she will be approved by “Democrats” just like they approved Gorsuch. And, it looks as though it was awfully easy to engineer Kennedy’s retirement. Absent a financial crash or some real scandal with indictments, don’t get your hopes up. The “Democrats” tossed you a bone with Ocasio-Cortez, but President Trump will be around for six more years. If that upsets you, remember that you could have run Bobby Kennedy Jr. instead of Hillary Clinton. In fact, even Cynthia McKinney could have beaten Trump. But that wasn’t what the “Democrats” really wanted. They got what they deserved instead. Cowardice begets surrender, not victory. By the way, what ever happened to those Assassination Records Review Board documents? Are “Democrats” too scared to find out what really happened?
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/06/29/how-ivanka-trump-enlisted-daughter-arabella-in-reported-white-house-effort-to-charm-anthony-kennedy/
Odd to see you posting links F.G., but with this link you provided it’s easy to see how real politics works. Apparently Ivanka is taking a page out of the JFK presidential playbook where children roam the halls of the Oval Office, that’s cute, and it works I might add.
I think you are right the Democrats are not straight shooters. In fact it’s because of their two face strategies that the Dem’s are where they are, and yet with a bit of progressivism they could have had it all… they could have been somebody Stella, or so it goes.
We humans have always used deceit as a motivator to push through suppressive agendas, but today where the left is right and the right is left deceit runs high. Obama would be a recent good example of the coming of the messiah which once elected is turned into the work of the devil. Best part is due to plausible deniability no U.S. President seems to be bothered much by their past performances, as accountability has left the DC station.
While independent progressives attempt to scale the walls of the Democrats DNC fortress you better bet that the establishment Dem’s will flip these rogue elements to the ground. As what you see is not necessarily what you get. Joe
Here is a positive review of Ocasio-Cortez’s win.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/07/02/the-ocasio-effect-a-new-yorkers-perspective/
If as the author states New Yorkers are rushing towards a progressive agenda, then there is hope. If not, then it’s just another ‘fake news’ story.
“…..The “Democrats” tossed you a bone with Ocasio-Cortez…”? Not sure I understand this, unless it is a ‘tongue in cheek’ comment. She beat Crowley, because like all big-wig politico’s he was too lazy to run an election and believed his own press clippings. Happened on the Republican side also some years ago.
The DNC learned nothing from it’s manipulation of the 2016 primaries. It learned nothing from its devastating loss to Trump. Hillary Clinton and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz can blame Comey, the Russians, the tooth fairy but this is the party which still blames Ralph Nader for Al Gore’s loss. Many real Democrats (the ones who believe in democracy) have left the party. 44% of us now refuse to be affiliated with either major party and we are independents. People like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are our future. Run Bernie Run.
“…an organizer for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign.” Oh oh!
Very astute analysis of how the Puerto Rican woman, educator, Democratic Socialist 28 year old Ocasio-Cortez has forced a scrambling of democratic elites. The democratic party will have to shift to left if it is to sustain the support of disgruntled grassroots folks who have had enough. The elites will also have to become more inclusive of Latinos and people of color. Given the resignation of Justice Kennedy it will require a more grassroots direct action and alternative strategies or risk the re-election of Trump.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s victory has not alarmed the Democratic Party’s elite, the Democratic Party’s elite rigged it and everything is going according to plan. A district that always goes Democrat was chosen, so the Democratic Party primary is the real election, the elite did not want their woman in a tough fight against a strong Republican. Crowley is, of course, a loyal party man and he was given orders to lose, his weak campaign was purposeful. The only thing left to do is spin it in the media: She is challenging the elite, She is a budding socialist, oh look a minority woman crushed the tired, irrelevant has-been old white man. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is a coddled agent of The Elite, a careerist who will follow orders willingly to keep her cozy seat in Congress. Look at her face in the photo for this article, a complete phony who has never missed a meal in her life, how could she be “a nightmare for the establishment”?
Wow, that’s an interesting “reality” you have crafted in your mind! You should go into writing political fiction, as this fine example of that genre shows!
It’s not like Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is Democratic Party outsider. She worked in the office of Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy before joining the Bernie Sanders campaign. And even if she was as good as Sanders, he never broke with the Democrats either.
That’s the problem in a nutshell. The Democrats are not a vehicle for progressive change. Their role is to block, blunt or divert in harmless directions (harmless to capital) all working class struggles. In all likelihood, what we are seeing is a re-branding of the Dems, a party of the .1%.
Well, according to this article, your hypothesis has merit. In fact, I’m inclined to think you may be “spot on”. It would appear that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is perhaps not quite the innocent fledgling of modest means she purports to be. Of course, Zerohedge has a right wing slant on most issues, so this is far from unbiased. Check out the comments for plenty of “politically incorrect” reader feedback: some of it is hysterically funny.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-06-29/girl-bronx-ocasio-cortez-called-out-fact-check-actually-grew-wealthy-enclave
Thanks for the link F.G. Looks like David Smith was right to smell a rat.
I didn’t know that about Zerohedge. It’s good to know if it’s true. Zerohedge pops up often enough in articles I read on progressive websites. Usually, it’s an article originating with Zerohedge. I haven’t had that good a look at Zerohedge. I’ll be sure to pay more attention going forward. It matters.
My question is so f*cking what? One of the things that really irks me by my comrades on the left in particular and most Americans is that you have no idea what American politics actually is or how it functions. You are still stuck in a high school civics class (when there was such a thing) and naïve view of politics. In the USA politics is mainly show-business–shouldn’t that be obvious by now. Maybe that isn’t a good thing but that’s what it is. It’s like being upset that in a fist fight somebody hits someone with their fist–that’s how the game is played! Nothing is ever what it seems in American politics but there are general directions we can align with or not. Ms. O-C is a star with a million dollar smile and she is, like Sanders, waving the flag of socialism now if you favor that you should support it. If not there are other factions you can align with. Whether the lady has money or not or came from a upper-middle class background is completely irrelevant–she connected with people. People who represent the interests of the working class which has been ground down by stress and cultural oppression (we believe that money = virtue) aren’t going to be able to come out of the shadows–we have one of the worst GINI coefficients in the developed world–our social mobility is zilch. A guy like Sanders could come out of the working class–much harder today.
So…let me get this straight. I’ve been pointing out that this is all just “show business”…and you’re reminding me that it’s all just “show business”…but you’re criticizing me because I’m not willing to at least give “show business” a chance? Sounds like more of the same old empty rhetoric. We should “speak truth to power”, and “give peace a chance”, and “take the first step”, and “be part of the solution, not part of the problem”. Well, how about we prosecute somebody for a war crime? How about we indict Hillary Clinton for espionage act violations and charity fraud? How about we investigate 9/11? How about we investigate which intelligence agencies the Awan brothers really worked for? How about we expose arming and supplying ISIS? No? What…no guts, no glory? I guess we should just “look forward, not backward”. Yeah…that’s the ticket!
Hey F.G. prosecuting the likes of Hillary Clinton, and beginning to hold politicians to some form of accountability, would be comparable to watching a dramatic play when suddenly one of the performers breaks from the script to get serious… ‘like why do we do matinees on weekdays’? Although the audience might get a kick out of the spontaneity there is a good chance that many would walk out, the big point to be made the rogue actor made the news. The problem the way I see it, is American politics has become a staged event, as substance of quality leaves the stage early on for more phony made up performances are what the bored audience members truly enjoys. Ticket sales are through the roof, as silliness and crude is what the howling public want…. so it’s give them what they want, and not so much of giving them of what they need. In a nutshell the American show is just that a show, and we are the unpaid extras needed to fill the many seats in the American theater. Joe
Fantastic response.
Response to Joe Tedesky : Such great analogy of ‘going off script’ !
Opera Fairbanks (yes, Fairbanks Alaska has an opera company) is
rehearsing I Paggliacci. The story line is based on an actual trial.
The setting is an Italian street opera. Everything is going along, with
the villagers all excited about a street opera coming to their little town.
Until the end, when Paggliacci goes off script in (this being opera) a
jealous rage. Events turn ugly very fast, literally in the last few pages
of the score. And of course (this being opera) people end up dead.
We are very much like the villagers in this opera.
Exactly, When will people LEARN? There aren’t two parties: there is just one, the corporate party, and the two departments whose selected – never elected – employees play their roles and read their lines. The trajectory on every single important area over the past 40+ years proves that it doesn’t matter which department of corporate plutocracy is “in charge”: it doesn’t matter, as they work together to do their masters’ bidding. More war, more war spending, more corporate giveaways, more rewards to the 1%, more policies that deliberately take away every last thing – wages, benefits, social safety net, health care, essential government functions, public land public school, civil liberties – in the plan to do what they already did: furn “upward mobility” into “downward mobility spiral”.
Over 51% of people in the US live at or below poverty, and more have no savings at all should the car break down or the furnace need replacing or someone gets hurt and can’t work.
But of course, Hedges says *some* of it best, although he ends the article with quotes that try to fool people into continuing to believe that “there are two parties” and a “democracy” (neither of which have existed for over 40 years).
“The two political parties are one party—the corporate party. They do not debate substantive issues. They each support the expansion of imperial wars, the bloated military budget, the dictates of global capitalism, the bailing out of Wall Street, punishing austerity measures, assaulting basic civil liberties through wholesale government surveillance and the abolition of due process, and an electoral process that has cemented into place a system of legalized bribery. They battle over cultural tropes such as abortion, gay rights and prayer in schools. We elect politicians based on how we are made to feel about them by the public relations industry. Politics is anti-politics.
The Republican Party built its political base in these culture wars around Christian fascists, nativists and white supremacists. The Democratic Party built its base around those who supported workers’ rights, multiculturalism, diversity and gender equality. The base of each party was used and manipulated by elites. The Republican Party elites had no intention of banning abortion or turning America into a “Christian nation.” The Democratic Party elites had no intention of protecting workers from predatory corporatism. Everyone was sold out. The ascendancy of a populist right, dominated by racists and bigots, is the inevitable product of the corporate coup d’état, Saul said. ”
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/07/02/america-failed-state
Sorry, couldn’t find edit – meant to say, Hedges says it better than I do, and I’m sick to death of articles that imply that there are two parties, that the US is a democracy, that there are elections (every election for over 40 years has been fixed – except, ironically, the 2016 general in which Trump won despite mathematical election analysis proving they cheated for Clinton and couldn’t pull it off! I see the articles that pretend the “Democratic” and “Republican” parties are actual political parties and that they can be “reformed” as propaganda, designed to prevent real revolution.
Good post Reviewer. FYI- to get to the edit function after you’ve posted, just reload the webpage on your browser. A screen will come up with your post that gives you five minutes to edit.
You’re spot on correct. Norman Solomon has got this all wrong and I’m so glad you pointed this out. The Democratic Party is using people like Ocasio-Cortez to get folks back into supporting them. It’s a ruse. She is young, Hispanic and says all the right things.
She wouldn’t be getting all this media exposure if she was really a threat to the establishment. It’s all a game and once you see through it, you become amazed that people get taken in by this stuff.
Until we address the private banking coup in the 70’s that took over government’s authority to issue new currency to invest in the public sector, nothing will change. That’s one of two ways that new money is created.
The other way is private banks. They’ve authorized trillions in QE and are spending it all on themselves, buying up real estate in Monaco and elsewhere, holding an austerity debt gun to other nation’s heads and stealing their national assets and social services, stock buybacks, speculation, devising new fraudulent financial services and products, etc.
The government bank and departments are being held hostage by these economic fascists, who shouldn’t be anywhere near the cabinet. This is why eastern capitalism works so much better. We need to end the dismantling of the nation-state as well as the expansion of the MIC.
“The [West’s] first error was to regard capitalism as an ideological good, not as a pragmatic instrument to improve human welfare. Alan Greenspan was probably the greatest victim of this ideological conviction that markets always knew best … As Mr Greenspan … believed that market traders were smarter than government regulation, and he failed to regulate them vigorously … But no Asian society, not even Japan, fell prey to this ideological conviction. Instead, Asians believe that no society can prosper without good governance … For capitalism to work well, governments have to play an essential regulatory and supervisory role.”
http://business.time.com/2012/03/25/can-asian-style-capitalism-save-the-west/
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step.”
The antipathy towards the Democratic Party from the left is certainly well earned. But the fact remains that, given the failure of third party politics to gain a foothold ( yet) the democrats remain the single best hope for enacting progressive legislation and returning our nation to sanity.
Obviously, in their current incarnation, with aging and uninspired leadership, they offer little hope, but this primary victory shows that there is hope for reforming that party and even ousting the (lack of ) leadership and making that party a bastion against a Republican Party way off track.
The future belongs to free youth – street youth; not to elite, not to entitled [ wealthy ] youth.
Let not the police state/military state stop ’em – after all, gunning terrorists {police & students} target those with natural skills!!
Your mindset is exactly what the corporatists want for the proles. We don’t have the luxury of time any more for your “journey of a thousand miles” B.S. Thinking there is any life left in the rotting corpse of the Democratic Party is delusional, and it only keeps the progressives from being successful by banding together and starting over with the Green Party. If we haven’t learned from the leaked DNC emails what the corporatist’s game plan is, we’ll never learn. We don’t have time for another bait and switch game for 2020. Making the Green Party a major force in American politics is the only hope for “enacting progressive legislation and returning our nation to sanity” before humans go the way of the dinosaurs.
Agreed Skip; the nation’s “sanity” in all its glorious relativity is what should be most carefully observed. I fear the “sanity” referred to in the above comment is merely more of Reagan’s-Bush the elder’s-Clinton’s-Obama’s “moderate,” or “sensible” imperialism with token, social welfare scraps tossed from the big table to keep the mob in line (I purposefully omitted Shrub since there was nothing remotely “moderate” or “sensible” about that clod). The exigencies created by over 70 years of US-led political and environmental destabilization demand more than “centrism.”
Tariq Ali was particularly prescient is warning of the rise of what he termed, “the Extreme Center.”
Great comment, Skip.
Time for the Dem Exit.
I did it years ago prior to the stink of corruption in 2016.
So skip, like a leftist insurgent, you hope that an unchecked Trumpkin and his repubs will become so cruel and dangerous that a pure left wing rebellion will rise from the ashes… because the democratic party just isn’t good enough. great fantasy….but with the exception of the Sandanistas in Nicaragua, what really happens in every case, is that is that the despots simply win while you look for that purity (which in any case; due to your cynicism, you wouldn’t recognize if it was right in front of you). Sad.
And your plan is to keep getting herded into supporting the next DNC vetted, Wall St loving, warmongering shill? Which is sadder?
Thanks Skip…That anyone thinks the DNC will allow a true progressive to have an ounce of real influence blows my friggin mind. And if there is anyone spouting off a progressive domestic agenda while shying away from crticizing the imperialist war economy, as did Sanders (for the most part, yes Israel was an exception), they are suspect on arrival. You cannot have one without abandoning the other. I also cannot stand this defeatist talk of “real change is not possible so vote for the most progressive Dems you can.” It is this apathetic point of view that will guarantee as you so rightly said that we go the way of the dinosaurs.
Why does the Green Party membership remain silent about this?:
“Jill Stein’s “The Russians Did It” Recount Petition is Based Entirely on Flawed and Discredited MSM Propaganda Reports” by Scott Creighton –
https://americaneveryman.com/2016/11/27/jill-steins-the-russians-did-it-recount-petition-is-based-entirely-on-flawed-and-discredited-msm-propaganda-reports/
Arby-
I was wondering about that too. I can’t imagine that Jill Stein is so stupid as to really buy into RussiaGate. Maybe she was just angling for some MSM coverage. Our election system is very flawed and subject to hacks. I just doubt it’s a priority for Putin. We need to go back to paper balloting. I also think the Green party is in need of some new blood to give it a boost.
Acknowledged. Thanks.
Sorry Skip Scott – follow the money! Stein collected all of this money during the election, which she didn’t spend. In this way, she can spend this money and drag out her 15 seconds of fame in luxury.
THANK you Skip Scott!!! It’s people falling for the propaganda and not looking at what the US Corporate Plutocracy has done over the past 40 years right in the open, who are complicit in the destruction of the first-world status o the US into a banana republic with two states: the poor or getting-poor and the plutocrats. There aren’t two parties, and progressives need to lead the way, not play the peon role.
Political careers often end in failure because politicians, like one-popular actors, don’t realize that they’ve lost their audience until they bomb at the box office or the polling place. This sort of thing happens to a long-serving politician or two every election cycle, and every time it happens eager commentators discover trends and deeper meanings that three or four months later nobody thinks or cares about. I’m guessing that Democrats in Crowley’s district know that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez will vote with her party and toe the party line as required, so a change of face is welcome and no big deal, except to Mr. Crowley. Let ten or twelve big Democrat pols get the boot and then we’ll know something serious is up. But not until then. A trend of one is no trend.
Why should millenials support the Dems when Dems don’t support millenials? I’m a baby-boomer, but the Dem machine hasn’t supported my interests for a long time. The leaders of the Dem party are just “liberal” Republicans. They always give us more warfare, more poverty. The last Dem administration legalized death squads and disappearing Americans into secret prisons to be held forever. Yet they are always saying “vote for our candidate, the other guy is Hitler!” Meanwhile the US has become “dirty war” Argentina.
has the GOP i am with you neither party represents the MC all are corporate poodles…i quit voting years ago becuase i dont think it really matters…i dont beleive the elections are even legit any more dont know what happen here that the money changers didnt get there in time to change the out come…
Couldn’t have said it better myself
Because you have offered no alternative, that’s why.
Be the change you want to see or STFU
That’s sad.
Zhu, no one should support the US Corporate Plutocracy’s two “parties” (actually just departments full of plutocrat employees). No one.
Heh, heh, heh. You will, I hope, forgive me if I’m amused. A couple of years ago, I put a comment up on Salon, I think, to the effect that the “Democratic Party” such as it was in 2016 was not the Democratic Party of my youth. The Democratic party of today really doesn’t give a shit about the common working man/woman and what they have to do to survive. If you doubt this, just consider that ever since St. Ronnie drove all the moderate Republicans out of the Republican party, the real average wage has flat lined and the percentage of the population living in poverty has increased and our wage gap is creating a huge underclass and an itsy bitsy oligarch class. Somebody responded to me, telling me that my memory of the Democratic party wasn’t the Democratic party today and if I wanted a party like that, I should go start one. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez gives me hope that I won’t have to. That there still are real Democrats out there and maybe they can start driving the moderate Republicans (read the current Democratic elite) out of the party to go back where they belong. Right on cue, some guy starts complaining that she didn’t talk about all these military/foreign policy things that the government distracts us with. And he’s right she didn’t talk about any of those things. She doesn’t need to. You need to talk about those things if you want the US to be the global hegemon. If you’re content to actually just make America great, you’ve got a lot of work to do but most of the stuff that guy was listing was stuff that was the result of our twizzling with the rest of the world. Stop jacking everybody around and start actually taking care of the US and let the world get on with itself and everybody will be a lot happier. Except, of course, for the imperialists.
“the real average wage has flat lined”
Real wages have actually declined. Forty years ago, there were plenty of one income families among the working class. They owned a house, a car, had a secure 40 hour a week job with defined benefits pensions which included medical care. If wages had merely flatlined, the two income families which are now typical should be rolling in clover, working fewer hours, retiring early because their real family income is now TWICE what it was in the past. But of course this is not the case. We have to remember that the CPI which is used to calculate real wages is fraudulent. Off the top of my head, I would say real wages are no more than half what they were in 1975. Shadow Statistics has good information on this.
In general, I agree. But the “military/foreign policy things” are not just distractions. They are a major part of why ordinary Americans are getting poorer. Too, it’s working people who have to go fight and kill and die, to satisfy the vanity and blood lust and greed of out “betters.”
Precisely ~ progress is healthy, domestic and compassionate!
Speaking of military and external power diminishes social strength.
Not surprising ~ the dems responses ~ Ocasio-Cortez is a threat to weapons, banks, pharm.
+1 Jeff!
You all realize that if Trump ran as a Democrat he would never have gotten near the Oval Office because the Super Delegates would have stopped him? So, because there were no Super Delegates in the Republican Party, it got taken over by populists and Trumpized. I bet the Never Trump Republicans so wish they had a Super Delegate system in there party. Just think about that folks…
The only reason Donald Trump won the Republican Primary is because he self funded his own campaign. None of the big funders in that party stepped up for him. But after he won the primary they were full force behind him because as Grover Norquist said ” We don’t care who is President we only need a hand … any hand … to sign the legislation we want to pass.”
“he self funded his own campaign”
We all know the story. The Clintonites put out the word to their friends in the media to give this “buffoon” non-stop media coverage to pave the road for Hillary’s cakewalk. It worked. It was all Trump all the Time. The paving part didn’t go well, though.
The only reason Trump won was because of Hillary Clinton.
No Hillary = No Trump
Hillary was so unpopular even she knew she would lose to all the other republicans but Trump.
She even knew she would lose to creepiest Munster Ted Cruz .
It had to be Trump and she had her cronies in the MSNBC pushing Trump and gave him 6 billion in free airtime
MSNBC fired Ed Shultz for wanting to cover Sanders
Bill Clinton even talked Trump into running and gave him advice on how to run as a republican. Trump hasn’t been a republican since 1999 and was a Huge Hillary supporter.
It is extremely ironic that “Strngr tgthr” is apparently against democracy. Orwell’s “Animal Farm” comes to mind:
“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
Skip Scott – spot on. It’s amazing that anyone – (strngr-tgthr) – posting at this site would do so as essentially an open totalitarian.
The real reason Trump won lies at the feet of the 93 million eligible voters who did not vote.
Because they felt they had no one to vote for!!!
or *couldn’t* vote-you guys seem to miss all that work that has been put into vote suppression and gerrymandering over the last 10 years
95% of them could have voted Green and Jill Stein, as they were on 95% of the ballots, staring you right in the face. She would have been head and shoulders above Trump and Hillary. That’s who I voted for, after Sanders was knee-capped by the Clinton machine (he got my primary vote).
Their Green New Deal is still just what the Nation needs right now.
Will-
Voter suppression and gerrymandering will be much bigger issues when the DNC actually allows someone working people care about to get the nomination. If they keep running Wall Street shills and warmongers, not so much.
Brad-
I voted the same way you did. However, many people are under one of two assumptions. They either think voting is a waste of time, or they think voting for a third party candidate is a waste of time. And as much as I despise Will’s trolling at this great site, he has a point about voter suppression. Making it on a Tuesday purposely makes it tougher for the working man, and poor neighborhoods are purposely understaffed and have long wait times. Those things along with purging voter rolls and gerrymandering, make it is a real issue. The Greens need to figure out a way to break through to the 15 pct. threshold for the National debates. Once they make it to the TV debates and get their message out to the masses, we’ll have a real shot. But it will be a tough road, and I don’t underestimate for a second the evil forces allied against us.
strngr-tgthr —
The Republicans nominate one of the worst candidates in history, and the Democratic super-delegates nominate the only candidate in the country that could possibly lose — and did lose — to their candidate. And you think Republicans wish *they* had super-delegates? Does that even begin to make any sense?
There you go with that darn “logical thought” stuff. I love Stranger Together’s posts. I always get a chuckle.
Superdelegates are still bad. They didn’t keep Mrs Clinton (the Dem Trump) out.
Trump got nearly 70% of the pledged delegates. Supers would not have been able to stop him.
The dismissiveness of party elites regarding the recent wave of progressive primary wins is telling
the dismissiveness of leftys at Consortium News regarding the recent wave of progressive primary wins is also telling
I mean the lefties who aren’t actually righty trolls…
Support from people like me depends on their foreign policy positions particularly in the Middle East and moving away from the concept of open borders. The first is about principle, the second about political viability. It will take courage to stand against our behavior in the Middle East and reality regarding open borders. That issue alone could destroy the progressive movement. Universal health care, free merit based education through college, a strong retirement program, cutting military spending, and a more progressive tax structure make up a strong platform. And get off the identity politics merry go round. It turns people off.
How about free rent? Seriously. Capitalism was supposed to end rents, which are a feature of feudalism.
Iron, ad absurdum is always a tempting way to refute a more general proposition but yes there should be limits. I think, though, that free education, not free rents, can be construed as an economic benefit where capitalism is the means of commerce and shouldn’t be construed as a political system. Capitalism is an efficient way of conducting commerce.
I like your comment, Herman. I would add that we could address much of the immigration problem by ceasing to trash other countries and wreak their economies in support of big business.
Herman:
I agree with you about identity politics, whose proponents would have us believe that “what’s good for anyone (in a specific demographic) is good for everyone.” In fact, when certain categories of people are perceived to be favored, or privileged, identity politics becomes a source of resentment. Better to turn it around: “What’s good for everyone is good for anyone.”
An interesting take on her campaign poster by WaPo :
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/06/28/ocasio-cortez-scored-a-victory-for-well-designed-campaign-posters/?hpid=hp_hp-cards_hp-posteverything%3Ahomepage%2Fcard
She seriously seems to be channeling Rosie the Riveter !
“Legally DNC and Dems party is not even political party but a private party as lawsuits demanding open access to campaign rallies and meetings clearly declared.”
Everywhere in the world, political parties are private organizations answerable only to the members. The Democratic party has no members, only registered voters. It, along with the Republican Party which also have no members, is a quasi-state organization. It has special standing in the country’s political system. The struggle to control the two “parties” is actually a struggle to control a part of the state.
Certainly most states and locales put legal restrictions on would-be alternative parties.
For the “REALIST”. Get educated before making such broad claims about the history of socialism here in the U.S.. Corporate socialism started before 1947. Then the U.S. Government and private industry engaged in the incestuous relationships that resulted in the military industrial complex and the CIA was created in the mold Allan Dulles envisioned. A branch of government that would bend to the will of the super wealthy elitist I dis-affectionately refer to as the “SWETS”.
You seem to be saying that none of this started before the end of the 60s. If so you are blatantly ignoring or are ignorant of the facts.
Before this the SWETS were already buying congress. After CIA was created they had a second branch of government to lobby for them beside the Pentagon.
Spot on again, Joe.
I recently saw a headline on Strategic Culture (I think it was there…) that said “empire requires a Caesar to save it.” I thought (wryly) to myself, “too bad the closest the world has come to having another Julius Caesar (one of the better Roman leaders IMO) is currently leading Russia and not the US.”
Ah robjira bringing up American leadership, and mirroring it up against Putin will get you a special spot on the Rachel Maddow show, that’s for sure, but enough with her reeling against the Russians for your point is well made. If our fellow Americans were to only ignore the MSM and find out for themselves to what a great leader Putin is, why these same Americans would certainly want a Putin leader of their own to govern their land. People who are tired of the oligarchy crowd always sucking up all the coin in the empire, should recognize Vlad for his laying down the law to these richly entitled for doing that very thing to the victimized Russian people. I mean even Bernie looks flat footed and lame when held up next to Putin, when it comes to yanking these rich robber barons in.
If we Americans ever get pass this time we are now experiencing, and start seeing the world for what it really is, and not for how our American MSM portrays it, then we Americans will learn to how great a leader Vladimir Putin is….until then You and I robjira regretfully will be considered but merely simple minded Putin apologist.
I always enjoy corresponding with you robjira. Joe
Putin and Russia do not control US politics. Obama is a real US citizen, too. We Americans are condemned to freedom. We are responsible for our mistakes, like electing Trump. No one else is. Blaming scapegoats and wallowing in conspiracy fictions will not change that.
Here, here, Zhu Bajie no truer words could be spoken, and that is Putin does not control American politics. No my friend, the chaotic state of American politics, is entirely to be saddled onto the shoulders of the American political elite, and there by these elite politicians confound and manipulate the American electorate at the same time. Besides that Vladimir Putin is constantly busy guarding himself from behind the screen American NGO/CIA interference. It’s a sorry world to govern in, as psychological projection is the preferred tool to be deployed when passing around the blame. With this tool of high deception it is almost impossible to unravel the narrative anywhere’s close to ever settling it in on the truth. The greatest threat to these lies, is the truth.
Keep up the message Zhu Bajie. Joe
Excellent comment. One only has to examine the lack of introspection after the defeat in Indochina, and the skillful propaganda programming to blame that defeat not on the war mongers and the high Corporati war makers – McNamara et al, but instead to fix blame on those who were right about that war from the drop, to realize that the American Way requires a constant supply of scapegoats, preferably politically dangerous and financially powerless persons who can be demonized on the nightly news, primetime sitcoms, and in the cinema multiplex.
Hillary cheating doesn’t count?
“W” Bush was our Augustus, in that he installed a new, more authoritarian, mode of governance (GTMO, Homeland Security, rendition, etc.). Obama was our Tiberias, in that he continued and extended the new mode of governance (the Kill List, disappearance into secret prisons, etc.). Trump is our Caligula, taking the new mode of governance to a loony extreme. Next, a palace coup and Claudius Pence? I don’t want to push the analogies too far. History does not repeat itself, but sometimes it rhymes.
There’s no way we’ll last long enough to get a Marcus Aurelius.
Congratulations. Ocasio-Cortez’ victory showed that money isn’t everything, that a Trump hating Wall St/DNC candidate who raised ten times as she can be defeated by, in the words of the president,” a young woman who showed a lot of energy,” and showed there is a populist rebellion still going strong in both parties The way for her to make a real mark is to campaign vigorously for Glass-Steagall banking separation. This will draw the line against all those in both parties who have been purchased at different price points. I guarantee Schumer andPelosi will go nuts. The other way is to demand a real multi-trillion dollar infratructure program, beginning with a rebuilding of the crumbling NY subway system, paid for, not by taxes, financed by PPPs, but through direct federal credit into a Hamiltonian national infrastructure bank modeled on the RFC of FDR. By doing do, she puts national interest over partisanship, making her off limits to the DNC. She should relentlessly demand that President Trump support both demands, as he prommised during his campaign; both for infrastructure and the Glass-Steagall provision he inserted into the Republican platform at the time when Bernie was doing likewise for the Democrats. At no time should she give in to the temptation to fall into the “impeach Trump,” camp or the Mueller/FBI cheering section, as that will be the kiss of death for her independence, her integrity, her platform, and a chance to break the insane partisan divide which can build a winninbcoaltion against the City of London-Wall Street tyranny.
Spot on and well said.
Sanders proved that money didn’t win
Hillary proved that cheating gets you Trump
She already said if Hillary runs in 2020 she would support her.
DEM EXIT!
This reaction demonstrates that the Democratic party elite did not get the message from Hillary’s defeat. They meant to do it again, to run another Republican-Lite.
Crowley himself was even more “centrist” than Team Hillary, meaning more Republican. Rejecting him should have been seen as expected, not a total stunning shock. Even Crowley himself had tried to remake himself, although obviously voters did not believe him just as so many did not believe Hillary.
The real danger is that they’ll keep doing this.
There is nothing centrist about this lot. The established Dems are neoliberal right-wingers through and through, along with many of thgeir supporters. And I suspect that they will resolutely oppose a leftward redirection of the party.
This article is pure wind. Actual story here:
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/06/28/pers-j28.html
Yes, the linked story seems realistic: Ocasio is likely another sheepdog for oligarchy.
We should probably spend a little time discussing cultural determinism. I’m going to go out on a limb here and make a prediction based on the anthropological concept of culture. No, not race or ethnicity, but culture: the accumulated beliefs, practices, sentiments, traditions, values and attitudes passed from one generation to the next. These are arbitrary, so I make no qualitative assessment whatsoever. “Socialism” is a semantically “loaded” term. It means vastly different things to different people from different backgrounds. A Fidel Castro “socialist” is not the same as an Antonio Gramsci “socialist” or a Henry Wallace “socialist” or an FDR “socialist”. Much has been made of the fact that this woman is a hispanic minority candidate, and that she somehow represents the “working class”. That said, I’m trying to recall some historical example of a Hispanic cultural social construct that was “egalitarian” as opposed to “hierarchical”. I recall Ferdinand and Isabella, Torquemada, Francisco Franco, Juan Perón, Augusto Pinochet, Anastasio Somoza, Rafael Trujillo, Fulgencio Batista, Alfredo Stroessner, Jorge Rafael Videla, Humberto Castello Branco, Gabriel Paris Gordillo, Guillermo Rodriguez Lara and Juan Velasco Alvarado. Just wait and see. As soon as this candidate gets a taste of the “perks” associated with the one-party corporate duopoly, she’ll be just as big a disappointment as Kamala Harris and Tulsi Gabbard. Bank on it.
Interesting and well grounded, but “cultural determinism” might indeed lead one “out on a limb” for purposes of prediction of specific cases. After all, present democracies made the cultural transition to democracy from authoritarian structures, Spanish-American culture has done so in many cases, Spain is now a democracy, and some older native American cultures were democratic.
The authoritarian personality that aspires and ascends to oligarchy can be found everywhere; it is the family and community (and literature and education) that create the morally-concerned youth, who may become morally educated in the right subculture, sometimes even in an authoritarian culture. And the influence of tribal dictates, group-think, money, corrupt associates, and the moral corrosion of organized political struggles seems to corrupt when power is attained.
Your points are well taken – let’s hope I’m wrong. Culturally, my impression is that Hispanics make better Republicans than Democrats. Bill Richardson always struck me as a Republican. Not many are familiar with the Romney family’s adventures “south of the border”. Then, we’ve also got Jeb’s affinity for that cultural milieu, along with Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. Somewhere, I read that arch conservative William F. Buckley Jr. spoke Spanish before he learned English, and that E. Howard Hunt was also a gifted Spanish speaker – even running a publishing concern in South America. Only time will tell, but I think folks have their hopes up based on a mirage. Even if she is truly transformative, the lobbyists, think-tanks and PACs are no doubt sharpening their knives with great precision. I recall what happened to Cynthia McKinney in a state where she should have been easily re-elected. This will be interesting, if nothing else. Thanks for your considerate response-
Thanks for more good points. Rubio and Cruz are part of the Florida Cuban-right subculture, from which (like much of Florida) little good has emerged. I am privately investigating political corruption there, the casual acceptance of graft by the Repubs. Florida has the highest rate of convictions of public officials in the nation (over 70 annually). Almost all of them are anglos so far.
It is interesting that so many candidates from previously under-represented groups (early in the history of acceptance) turn out to be right-wing sheepdogs groomed by oligarchy. They may be the ones who rose fastest in business and politics due to their lack of ethics.
For some reason, you left out Subcomandante Marcos, not to mention Allende or all those initially successful egalitarian lefty folks in the southern cone who quickly found themselves on the wrong side of a US trained death squad
And on Zerohedge and on American Everyman and probably other truly progressive sites.
I just want to point out a few of the words you will *not* find on Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign platform web page, which Norman Solomon links to above:
– military
– Pentagon
– war
– peace
– surveillance
– NSA
– CIA
– drone
– bomb
– international law
– NATO
– Afghanistan
– Syria
– Yemen
– Iran
– Cuba
– Israel
– Palestine
– Gaza
– Russia
– Korea
In fairness, she did do one tweet calling recent killings by Israel in Gaza a “massacre”, and stuck to it in an interview with Glenn Greenwald. http://theduran.com/avocados-in-power-millennial-upsets-democrat-establishment/
And the platform does have a climate change section, with various tepid proposals.
If anybody knows of any other statements by Ocasio-Cortez on international issues, I’m very happy to learn.
Ah, I erred. Her platform does mention:
– “war”, by associating ICE with the era of the Patriot Act and the Iraq War
– “military”, as in: Trump wants “to take away the rights of trans people to serve in the United States military”
Make of those exceptions what you will.
Trans people would have to be insane to want to serve in our criminal military. I don’t understand why this is even an issue. Just goes to show there can be stupidity in any group.
or desperation as in ‘the a hope that the military service will be brief, uneventful and followed by college and a decent job”. easy to take your position if you were born to some money,education and opportunity…and/or with white skin.
Apparently during the primary her web site included an antiwar statement. As soon as she won it was removed. Hmmm.
I find that hard to believe. If true, appalling.
It was reported on American Everyman as well. American Everyman is Scott Creighton who had some important things to say about Jill Stein as well.
Hey lois,why don’t you get o n the Way Back Machine and provide us with evidence that she took her anti war statement off her website. thanks!
Hey troll-
Here’s a link for you:
https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2018/06/28/as-election-day-approached-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-removed-antiwar-foreign-policy-section-from-her-website/
Thanks for that link.
So she dumped her anti-war plank, such as it is (and ducked responsibility for the change), and now I see it’s back on her site.
Look, this woman is going to Congress. We’ll all be able to see if she really has any intention to rock the boat or not.
Not to defend this large omission, but Ocasio-Cortez focused on issues that have a direct connection to the voters she was trying to reach; issues they could readily see as having an effect on their lives. What she says and does on foreign policy remains to be seen. I can’t blame her for presenting a message that people could understand.
Two progressives upset the apple cart, that’s hardly earth shattering. The Democratic party IS NOT changing nor feels threatened. It’s all about protecting the brand, nothing more.
Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic party are backing PayGo which means progressive policies can’t be enacted.
Actions speak louder than words and the Democratic party’s action show who they really are.
“Actions speak louder than words and the Democratic party’s action show who they really are.”
The Republican Party, Part II.
Well, despite your cynicism about the Democratic party ‘not changing’, this surprise victory IS earth shattering. I’m sure Joe Crowley feels shattered right now! And as for the Pay-Go from that insufferable corporate republicrat Pelosi requiring money to be taken from other programs rather than add to the budget, just take whatever amount is needed from the BLOATED “defense budget”! That was easy.
Funny how adding 710 billion to the Pentagon’s budget happened so effortlessly with no discussion, no ‘Pay-go’ requirements, no town hall meetings, etc.
Problem solved!
I’m solidly with the ‘cynics’ on this.
I’m with David Smith. I don’t think it is necessarily “earth shattering” that a well educated Hispanic woman from a wealthy neighborhood with ties to the Democratic machine going all the way back to Ted Kennedy has won a primary contest in a very “blue” district. She has already been vetted, and the DNC will love her. It’s all about “Identity Politics” now. She’s trying to pawn herself off as a Bronx blue-collar toughie, but the reality is a little different.
Here’s a link F.G. posted above:
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-06-29/girl-bronx-ocasio-cortez-called-out-fact-check-actually-grew-wealthy-enclave
because if it ever did change, who could you feel superior to?
I don’t know about “superior”, but I always prefer commenters like JoeD that make rational arguments over trolls that post “snark”.
When manipulation is replaced by representation then and only then will American political parties have any chance to survive, and move this country in the direction of a true democracy.
I think it is overly optimistic to think this signals an end to corporate control of the Democratic Party. We’re talking about one member of the House of Representatives from a very “blue” district. The change to the power of the super delegates is not a done deal yet, and never underestimate the PTB. Even if they do manage to relegate the super delegates to the second ballot, they have other ways of vetting potential candidates. Look at the upcoming roster of democratic candidates with ties to the so-called Intelligence “Community”. The Democratic Party is rotten to the core, and if the Progressives stick with it they will get the shaft again in 2020. Sheepdog Bernie will get them all herded up and cave to the “Corporatist” candidate in the end. And Bernie’s foreign policy creds suck if you bother to take a closer look. It really is time to go Green if we want to save the middle class and the planet. There isn’t enough time to keep piddling around.
Skip I agree with you entirely, that the Democrats have a bad habit of celebrating a little too early. Remember when it was Hillary’s race to lose? Do you recall how Sanders was reduced to his becoming a shepherds puppy dog following the herd, instead of leading it? Who will forget to how our Democrat women were warned of them going to a special place in Hell if they didn’t vote for Queen Hillary? Why, even the pollsters were wrong, and with that disappointment we then blame the Russians. Thank God for Vladimir Putin, because without him to be tagged the scapegoat the Democrats may have needed to become undeniably democratic. Joe
Hey Joe, I meant to reply to you here but it wound up further up the thread. Great comment as usual.
This is the case and will tend to be the case for some time to come. Our political economy is systemically corrupt–even assuming this young woman is honest in her intentions, it won’t matter.
One of the biggest problem with the Democraps is that they have invested all their energy in stupid “identity politics” by attacking Trump constantly, in a echo chamber of ridiculous nonsense that only feeds Trumps ego, making him more popular! It’s a one trick pony strategy that hasn’t worked & they need to wake up & stop living in the past, the Election is over & they lost! Get over it & stop blaming others! Democrats need to focus on the real issues that are affecting everyday Americans lives & come up with “REAL POLICIES” that will improve those lives! We have a saying in my Country which every Politician tries to adhere too & its a sports analogy from the game of rugby which states “Play the Ball, not the Player” or play the game, not the player? Loosely translated to Politics it means play the Political game by focusing on the issues only & don’t attack the opposition with personal attacks or identity politics! Unfortunately for the Democrats they are a rabble, completely rudderless, Leaderless & paid of by special Superpac donors interests! Barrack Obama & the lousy Candidate Hillary Clinton left the Party in a terrible mess that they are struggling to recover from! The shameful, idiotic displays of the mentally impaired Maxine Walters, & incompetence of Chuck Schmumer & Nancy Pelosi are destroying this Party & Bernie Saunders is just to damn old. Time for new blood with progressives like Occasio Cortez, who are the future of where the Democrats can head to! True Democratic Socialists! And yes she has Policies to promote rather than harp on about blaming Russia, Trump & everyone else for their problems!
So true. The Democrats are beyond reform. Why someone who identifies herself as a socialist would run as a Democrat is ludicrous. Shades of Uncle Bernie.
This upset has ramifications that must be considered. There has been a well earned malaise towards the Democratic Party among Progressives and Leftists, even Moderates. There has also been a less well earned antipathy towards those who remain within that party trying to reform it, to turn it from its rightward path back towards the “big tent” party it once was.
As a third party advocate I still believe that the path to halt our spiral into fascism lies with the inclusion of third parties into our Duopoly. But I have always encouraged those who believe reformation of the democrats to be the preferred way. Any and all working for change is far more welcome than bitter denunciations without associated work.
The victory of Ocasio-Cortez over an entrenched democratic stalwart seems to vindicate those who remain within that party trying hard to reform it.
I don’t think it “vindicates” squat. Progressives who think one little win in the House will lead to full scale reform are grasping at straws. As Jean said in another comment thread it’s time to “blow the whole charade up”.
It’s sad how something like this gets people so excited.As you said, there’s no time to waste on such a minor occurrence.
Your whole Political system needs to be overhauled & replaced with a European system such as MMP! The outdated, US, First past the post model ensures a two party dictatorship that means you really have no choices! It’s either vote for the Rich Party(Repubs) or the slightly less Rich Party (Dems). We have MMP in NZ & it works really well! We have two main Political Party’s, the National Party is our lite version of a Republican Party & the Labour Party, who are Democratic Socialists, but not a extreme version as they incorporate Capitalism! It evens the playing field as one big Party cannot rule alone, they are forced to work with smaller Party’s, such as the Greens, if they wish to govern! They are forced to form Coalition Govts. This “more even playing field” acts as a restraint against extreme policies being inacted by one dominant Party against the wishes of its people! It’s a fairer more Democratic model than the Corporate Oligarchy that rules America!
MMP? multiple main parties? multiple ministers of parliament? miscellaneous multipersonality politicians?
Mixed Member Proportional (New Zealand electoral system)
{YVW}
All true, but I don’t think the US constitution can be replaced at all easily. Most of us Americans are brainwashed in childhood to think of it as sacred scripture, divinely inspired and inerrant. Much as we are brainwashed to ID with our government, to think that we Americans are unable to do wrong (the American Adam), etc.
Howard Zinn has a fair bit to say about the undemocratic American Consitution and I have Daniel Lazare’s book (one of) about the Constitution on my ‘to buy’ list. Give Zinn’s stellar “A People’s History Of The United States, 1492-2001” a read. He gets Bernie Sanders wrong however. Sanders is ‘not’ a socialist.
Well obviously history started yesterday if the answer to corporate socialism is State socialism, this countries doomed.
There is no such thing as corporate socialism. Like many right wing people, you mangle concepts to suit your purposes. Socialism has always meant one thing: the public, common ownership of the means of production. Whether a centralised government controls productive organistions is another matter. This was a Leninist position, but also a response to an economic crises. This was opposed by anarchists who tend to see the state as an undesirable hangover from capitalism. I tend to favour a form of socialism, based on the workers’ and soldiers’ councils that were the bedrock of the Russian revolution. That businesses be run by elected councils of workers and that these, as well as neighbourhood councils be the future governments both local and national. I do not trust elected “representatives” or delegates with power. I believe in taking literally Lincoln’s dictum: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”. The only sure way to have a government act in the interests of the people, is for that government to be the people.
“Socialism has always meant one thing: the public, common ownership of the means of production….based on the workers’ and soldiers’ councils” True, but not entirely true. Socialism/communism has always meant another thing, probably a more important thing, too, i.e. the eradication of all privately-owned banks worldwide.
Control of the creation of money is the key. 97% of money is created out of thin air by commercial banks when they make loans. People think banks borrow from depositors at one rate of interest and lend to borrowers at a higher rate, and hence make a profit. This is false, and hides the fact that commercial banks create the money supply. This is THE most important falsehood believed by most people, and is the basis of the control of society by finance capital.
Keep telling yourself that one Nancy, the warfare state is the welfare state what do you call what we pay to Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, corporate socialism goes back to at least the Civil War but really took off under Willson, it is not possible in a market economy that is based on anything other than the Fiat dollar but thank you, I needed a good laugh this morning as the never ending examples of left-wing ignorance are just the gift that keep on giving.
State socialism is what you have, as I understand it. Isn’t that what you call it when the State’s domestic industrial policy is in fact the military/intelligence/security-industrial complex, namely a welfare scheme for the rich? Chomsky explains how it works:
“Public relations aside, our actual stance must be aggressive in “the conflict which has been imposed upon us.” “Given the Kremlin design for world domination,” a necessary feature of the slave state, we cannot accept the existence of the enemy but must “foster the seeds of destruction within the Soviet system” and “hasten [its] decay by all means short of war (which is too dangerous for us). We must avoid negotiations, except as a device to placate public opinion, because any agreements “would reflect present realities and would therefore be unacceptable, if not disastrous, to the United States and the rest of the free world,” though after the success of a “rollback” strategy we may “negotiate a settlement with the Soviet Union (or a successor state or states).”
“To achieve these essential goals, we must overcome weaknesses in our society, such as “the excesses of a permanently open mind,” “the excess of tolerance,” and “dissent among us.” We will have to learn to “distinguish between the necessity for tolerance and the necessity for just suppression,” a crucial feature of “the democratic way.” It is particularly important to insulate our “labour unions, civic enterprises, schools, churches, and all media for influencing opinion” from the “evil work” of the Kremlin, which seeks to subvert them and “make them sources of confusion in our economy, our culture and our body politic.” Increased taxes are also necessary, along with “Reduction of Federal expenditures for purposes other than defense and foreign assistance, if necessary by the deferment of desirable programs.” These military Keynesian policies, it is suggested, are likely to stimulate the domestic economy as well. Indeed, they may serve to prevent “a decline in economic activity of serious proportions.” “A large measure of sacrifice and discipline will be demanded of the American people,” and they also must “give up some of the benefits” they enjoy as we assume the mantle of world leadership and overcome the economic recession, already in progress, by “positive governmental programs” to subsidize advanced industry through the military system.” – pgs 12 & 13 of “Deterring Democracy” by Noam Chomsky
I don’t think that a socialist country means the same as State socialism (socialism for the rich and powerful). I might be wrong about labels here. But I do understand the counterrevolutionary forces behind the Cold War, which forces are just as present today as when there was a Soviet Union. As Chomsky also notes, When the Soviet Union dissolved, the doctrine hardly changed. It just got tweaked when “threats to our interests… could not be laid at the Kremlin’s door…” -pg 29 of “Deterring Democracy” (for quotes, See the National Security Strategy report of 1990: http://nssarchive.us/NSSR/1990.pdf)
That result is more evidence that Bernie Sanders would have won the presidential election if the DNC had not favoured Hillary Clinton in the primary. But of course the presidential loser Clinton still blames Sanders for challenging her God-given right to be President.
I happen to agree that Sanders would have won the general election, if he had gotten the nomination.
Nevertheless, while I also see that the party apparatus cheated in Clinton’s favor in various ways, it’s not so clear to me Sanders would have been nominated if they had not done so.
As a reality check on the result in NY14, look at the primary result in CA12 three weeks earlier: Nancy Pelosi won with 68.5%, with a *much* higher turnout (about 7.5 times as many votes cast as in NY14). Granted, that may be a worse result than Pelosi is used to, though I haven’t researched it.
I think a good amount of Ocasio-Cortez’s support was based in the changed ethnic demographics of her district: Crowley was vulnerable as his white base dwindled. And Crowley, who had the seat handed to him by the local machine in the first place, has never had any experience in actually being a good candidate.
But while Ocasio-Cortez needed that ethnic appeal, I’m certainly not saying that her positions didn’t matter: the tiny turnout would usually have favored the party-backed incumbent.
If the ghastly Andrew Cuomo loses to Cynthia Nixon in September’s NY gubernatorial primary, then there will definitely be something to talk about, at least in the state that saw fit to send Hillary Clinton to the U.S. Senate twice for no discernible reason.
But do millennials really want socialism?
A return to the call of civic duty, and to a serious regard for the General Welfare of ALL citizens, and to the Establishment of Justice at last, and to Provide for the Common Defense, NOT for wars of corporate/imperial conquest, like what the Constitution’s Preamble says.
Yes with the caveat
Democratic socialism not true socialism
An FDR type socialism
A fair deal
Well said. A perfect characterization. The shopkeeper cannot be allowed to veto the existence of the public sector (as libertarianism is prone to doing).The public sector cannot be allowed to veto the shopkeeper (as socialism is prone to doing). Both are necessary for a healthy society of healthy communities of healthy, happy people.
Its nothing mysterious. It was called The Mixed Economy in the 50s and 60s, with a strong Private Sector AND a strong Public Sector. Citizens can parley over the mix (what should belong to the Public Sector, what should belong to the Private Sector); this is called Democracy. The present trend has drifted too far to the Private Sector, producing a corrupt racketeering/casino economy, with glaring deficiencies in the General Welfare of the people (the 1%ers doing quite well however, at our expense).
Let it also be said that the most effective, efficient social welfare program is a secure, well-paying job; so well-paying jobs should NOT be left to the whimsy of the Private Sector alone. The CCC/WPA/PWA/TVA complex should NOT have been disbanded (which was simply replaced with a military/industrial/intelligence/banking complex injurious to the General Welfare, democracy, and even the national security, and World Peace)
I guess history did started yesterday
In a recent survey over 50% of American 18-24 year olds said they preferred socialism to capitalism. As for the comment about democratic socialism, that is not what the term means. It is how Bernie Sanders appears to use the term, but frankly I think that just shows he’s being ignorant or dishonest (I think the latter). Traditionally, self-professed democratic socialists believed in achieving socialism by parliamentary means through a staged process of reforms. Alternatively, someone could so describe themselves to emphasise that they believe in a socialist economy combined with political democracy. The revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg’s position could be summed up as: There can be no true democracy without socialism and no true socialism without democracy. But all of these have a shared concept of socialism: the communal ownership of the means of production. What the comment refers to is normally described as social democracy. Pre-Clinton Democrats supported that to a limited extent, but the Clintons led a rightward movement of the party to abandon that policy. I doubt that will change and I think it’s too late to try. This has happened in every western country and is getting worse. Economic changes have undermined the basis on which these former policies depended. I think we are now left with the 2 choices that Rosa Luxemburg believed we faced: barbarism or socialism. I would add that capitalism and its associated neo-imperialism has managed to add a third option: extinction, via either global warming or nuclear war. That none of these matters are even addressed in national elections shows how irrelevant the charade that is officially called politics has become.
I agree with your critique right up until the very end, I personally don’t believe in global warming or rather that is if it were that big of a problem which I think is debatable, the power is within our means to pole carbon out of the atmosphere reasonably efficiently, obviously it took the better part of 200 years to get carbon so high in the atmosphere it will likely take 20 to 50 years to reverse that who knows but is just not that big a problem, say compared to the depleted uranium the US has generously fired all over the Middle East, not to mention all of its basis, that’s a real mess! The other thing is your aversion to capitalism, the welfare state is the warfare State, there’s just no getting around that. I believe our biggest problem right now is just structural, late stage capitalism is more or less occurring here first as we are the heart of the Empire but it will hit everyone at some point, the increased mechanization of the workplace is going to make the labor obsolete probably within 50 years this will be a cataclysmic like event, socialists and libertarians need to get together and figure out a way to help move society toward in integrated self-sufficiency in which more or less common people are able to freely trade for the things they need, or on the other hand we’re all just going to be back to serfdom, which might be the plan.
What do you mean by “socialism”?
They want government safety net programs, labor unions and progressive taxation, not government controlling the means of production, nationalisation of the banks or confiscation of your property. You know, the America we grew up in back in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, before the avaricious 1% paid the corrupt politicians to buy the courts, the electoral process, the mass media, lawmaking for the exclusive benefit of elites by congress and its enforcement by a puppet executive who preaches populism while practicing favoritism for the privileged regardless of his party affiliation. Unfortunately, an America that both parties would have us believe is impossible, even though we lived through such an existence and can remember it quite fondly and vividly. Yes, Virginia, higher education used to be practically free in state universities.
That was not the question being asked. Thanks for the faux framing.
Millienials have backed and continue to back progressive policies that Bernie Sanders has articulated.
They sure don’t want poverty and homelessness.
Social Democracy in Scandinavia grows out of the tradition of peasants working together to harvest more quickly — what US farmers used to call “neighboring.” It has nothing to do with Marx, Lenin, etc., etc.