I think that if the Democratic Party leadership understood that their party
could have a new lease on life if the party actually represented the needs of
its base, and if it allowed Bernie to win, actually helped him to do so, there
are a lot of people who have been listening to him say, "It's us, not me", and
they would stay organized and fight for the changes they want. That is the hope
of all of the people who are working to elect him. They know that when Obama
won, he immediately disbanded the "Obama organization so that it would have no
power in his administration. Everyone is very clear that electing one man to
the Presidency will not change anything. They desperately want to use this
election as a golden thread with which to weave a tapestry.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2020 11:55 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: The Left is Back!
Social Structures, like Climate Change, can reach a tipping point where no
matter what we do, nature takes over. I frankly do not know if we've gone
beyond the point of No Return. Certainly we're close to it. So much power is
now held by the very small Ruling Class. And like every Ruling Class before
them, they can only see the immediate gains.
For sure the socialists will not bring about a ground swell, no matter how much
I would like to see it. I think our brains have been polluted to the place
where only confusion remains. With no means of educating the Working Class.
And it's taken years of constant pounding to bring them to their present
confused state, so it will take more than a few years to turn our Ship of State
around.
Bernie might have some helpful ideas, but he will not have the means to get
change through congress. Four years later and the American working class will
begin to be restless again, and could be easily charmed to follow a new Pied
Piper.
I would not rule out an uprising...a revolution. But it will end like those
people's revolutions that have gone before it. A new Ruling Class will take
over and bring their own brand of oppression.
Carl Jarvis
On 2/27/20, miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Trump is a monster and his economic decisions are as bad as the rest
of his decisions. However, he is not solely responsible for our
economic difficulties. That is a very complicated ddiscussion and
involves history and economic theory. But when we had the Great
Depression in the 30's, it was FDR's New Deal which was bringing us
out of it, with the help of the second world war. Bernie Sanders
economic and social platform is the closest thing to that. Elizabeth
Warren has some similar plans, but she is not willing to change any
basic structures. I actually like how Tom Stayer sounds. He's a nice
man. I even looked up his iography. The problem is that although what
he says, sounds really nice, he does not say how he will accomplish
his lofty goals. He's a very wealthy man who doesn't have any plans
for how to change the system. He talks about all of the bad things
that corporations and billionaires do, but he doesn't talk about
changing laws so that they can't continue doing those things. And he made
some of his money, doing the things that he now criticizes.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Frank Ventura
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2020 11:44 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: The Left is Back!
Carl, lets put this in terms that people actually care about, ie "its
about the economy stupid". Take a look at our ridicously overvalued stock
market.
We are heading for a really big recession and maybe even a depression.
If Sanders or even Warren for that matter were to win in November it
would be considered "their" recession. That very well could be the end to
theleft.
The right would have afield day with that one. The left has already
conceded this election to Trump. Let it be his recession and maybe
there would be hope for 2024. Have you noticed in the debates about
how all of the candidates carefully dance around direct topics on the
economy? I agree with Tom Steyer that the only real effective means of
going after Trump is on the economy. Truth is that he is taking credit
for the Obama economy and is heading us into a recession. However, the
current crop of challengers are focusing on his racism, sexism,
bigotry, etc. As horrible as those things are, we have to realize that
those are the traits that got him elected and most likely get him
reelected if none has the backbone to call him out on the economy.
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2020 8:48 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: The Left is Back!
Blah Blah Blah.
Everybody's an expert.
Well, from a guy who knew beyond a doubt that 2012 belonged to
Clinton, I'm offering my unprofessional opinion.
The Left is not now, nor will it in the near future, rise again.
Bernie may or may not win the election. If he wins it will not mean
that the Left is back. Not as long as the Empire controls the wealth,
the military and the Press.
And Frank, I have no idea what your point is.
Carl Jarvis
On 2/26/20, Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The only problem with this fantasy is that Sanders doesn't want to
beat Trump just like he didn't want Clinton to beat Trump four years ago.
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of
miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2020 6:32 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] The Left is Back!
The Left is Back!
WALTER L. HIXSON
02/25/2020
Akron, OH (Special to Informed Comment) - It's official: the American
left is back! Whether Bernie Sanders goes on to win the Democratic
nomination, which appears increasingly likely, the left has risen and
it is not likely to recede anytime soon.
Virtually destroyed by World War II and the Cold War, the left
attempted a revival in the 1960s, but the new left was too narrowly
focused, too divided, and too immature to have staying power. The
Reagan Cold War revival, Clinton centrism, the global war on terror,
and right-wing populist demagoguery have all worked to keep the left
on the sidelines.
It is now back, albeit as a politics pumping precariously through the
veins and cardiac stents of a steady Vermont warhorse who has had the
temerity to call himself a democratic socialist.
The demonization of that term and of Sanders himself of course will
continue. The Cold War cast a long shadow over American culture and
politics and it has not yet fully receded. President Donald Trump,
Michael Bloomberg and many others have already invoked the proverbial
specter of communism in relation to Sanders.
One lesson Trump should have taught us by now, however, is that many
Americans do not like labels, being told how to think, and that
certain candidates are too far out of the mainstream to be elected
president. At this point both political parties are so
discredited-and rightfully so-that alternatives on the far right are
being challenged by the revivified left.
Centrists like Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Joe Biden whine that
Sanders is too far to the left, but none of them has excited a base.
Clinton centrism is dead and they are its residue. Democrats may have
no choice but to move to the left, to get on the Bernie bandwagon, if
they are serious not only about defeating Trump but about having a
political future of their own.
In 2016 an electoral college-driven outcome produced a white
nationalist demagogue obsessed with the outgoing black president and
nurtured by daily doses of Fox News. Americans may now get a second
chance and a more genuine alternative to Trump than the uninspiring
Hillary Clinton, who secured the nomination through a corrupted
Democratic Party machine.
If Democrats move to the left, if they shed the discredited Clinton
centrism, they can win the 2020 election. If Trump tries to dodge
presidential debates, he will pay a price politically. If he accedes
to them, Sanders will destroy him. One man is tempestuous, imperious,
and bound to a record of climate denial, impeachment, ripping
immigrant children from their parents' arms, tax cuts for the rich,
and efforts to undermine Medicaid and Social Security.
Sanders, by contrast, champions taxation of the super-rich, a green
revolution, corporate regulation, universal health care, free
education, and higher wages for working people.
If it pits Trump against Sanders the 2020 election will offer
meaningful alternatives for minority groups. The results in Nevada,
the excitement in Texas, suggest that Hispanics will continue rally
in high numbers around Sanders. African-Americans, feminists,
LGBTQ-hard to believe they won't join in large numbers the
millennials already on the Bernie bandwagon. That leaves the
mainstream white folks, male and female-both of which turned out
majority votes for Trump over Clinton in 2016-but many of them may by now
have now seen enough.
Finally, American Jews, a small minority but known for their high
turnout, can help elect the son of a Polish Jewish immigrant whose
family was victimized by the Holocaust. That heritage underscores
something very important about Bernie Sanders: his honesty,
integrity, and issue-orientated approach to policymaking. Because
alone among the candidates Sanders has had the political courage to
condemn Israeli racism and repression of Palestinians, he will
confront AIPAC and the right-wing Zionist lobby with a choice of
supporting vicious authoritarians, Trump and Netanyahu, or backing a
progressive more aligned with traditional American Jewish liberal values.
Nine months is an eternity in politics and many things can and will
happen.
But whatever happens, the American left is back in mainstream
politics-and perhaps for good, in more ways than one.
Featured photo: Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
at a rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa. 8 November 2019, 18:54. Credit:
Matt A.J..
H/t
