Well Roger, you have to remember that I was the child of Jewish working class
parents in the 1940's. My father never attended high school. About the only
reading he did was the local newspaper and some detective novels. The newspaper
was the New York Post which, back then, was a liberal newspaper. Now it's right
wing. My father knew union people and gangsters who mingled freely in the
midtown area of Manhattan where the millinary factory where he worked, was
located. He was an air raid warden during World War II. My mother graduated
from highschool with a commercial diploma, not academic. My family idolized
FDR. He'd helped working families during the depression and he was the
President on whom they depended, during the war. But in 1940, we moved from the
Bronx to an apartment building in Queens and there, my parents became very good
friends with another Jewish working class couple who had been Communists until
Stalin and Hitler signed that pact. A lot of people left the party then,
although they still were involved in left wing politics. That was when Pete
Seeger and Woody Guthrie also left the party. Anyway, because of that
friendship with the Silvermans, my parents' politics moved to the left. I was
an only child, a very protected child because I was legally blind and as an
infant and a very small child, my behavior was profoundly affected by my poor
vision. So I was very close to my parents and I absorbed their value system as
a result. They were loyal Democrats because, for them, the Democratic Party
symbolized support for working people and support for Jewish people whom Nazis
were murdering. The fact that FDR turned away Jewish refugees had no effect on
their loyalty to the party and I didn't learn the history until many many years
later.
That's a long way of saying that yes, I thought the Democratic Party
represented the interests of the working class. The working people who voted
for Trump, believe that he represents their interests. These choices are made
on the basis of emotion and family background. One needs to be intelligent,
become educated, and be exposed to other views held by people whom one trusts,
in order to change.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
(Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2018 8:59 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: [blind-democracy] RE: [blind-democracy] Re:
[blind-democracy] Midterm elections: Democrats’ ‘blue wave’ falls short
If you thought that the Democrat party was ever in the interests of the working
class then you certainly were deluded.
_________________________________________________________________
Isaac Asimov
“Don't you believe in flying saucers, they ask me? Don't you believe in
telepathy? — in ancient astronauts? — in the Bermuda triangle? — in life after
death?
No, I reply. No, no, no, no, and again no.
One person recently, goaded into desperation by the litany of unrelieved
negation, burst out "Don't you believe in anything?"
Yes", I said. "I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement,
and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers. I'll believe anything, no
matter how wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and
more ridiculous something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence
will have to be.”
― Isaac Asimov
On 11/9/2018 3:48 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
There was a time when the shame of the Democratic Party was its Dixicrats.
The party was supposed to represent the interests of the working class back
then, but there was this part of it from the southern United States whose
major focus was segregation. To those of us from the North, it was a relief
when all those bigots moved over to the Republican Party. We had this
delusion that now we had a party that would truly represent democratic
valyes. We thought that the war on poverty and the voting rights actd were
proof of the goodness of the party. Of course we were in denial about our
party's willing participation in the cold war and its succeeding involvement
in wars in Korea and Vietnam. Actually, we identified the party with FDR's
New Deal. Ever since the 70's, as the party has moved to the right
economically and eventually more openly embraced war as a major mechanism of
foreign policy, all we had left to cling to was, liberal social values. That
included feminism, LGBT rights, freedom of thought and religion, and
acceptance of people of all races and cultures. But because economic equality
has increased so ddrastically, because all of the laws and regulations have
changed to benefit the ultra wealthy, the corporations and the banks, because
trued educational values have morphed into training for class position and
college degrees now cost astronomical fees, there is now a fight over what
the Democratic Party should be, whom it should represent, what values it
should have. If the Republicans have moved so far to the right that they
represent only the financial interests of the wealthy and the values of
wealthy Libertarians and the religious right, then if someone who calls him
or her self a Democrat espouses those same values, many feel that, that
person doesn't belong in the Democratic Party. There are many people who
believe that had the party been even handed during the presidential
primaries, Bernie Sanders would have been the nominee and that he could
easily have won the election. That possibility then opens a whole new
complicated discussion. However, the feeling is that the same forces within
the party which did not permit that to happen, are so crippled by their ties
to wealthy donors and their complete detachment from the needs of the
majority of Americans, that the forces which allowed Mr. Trump to sit in the
oval office, will continue to run the country, one way or another.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Evan Reese
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2018 2:33 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: [blind-democracy] Midterm elections:
Democrats’ ‘blue wave’ falls short
Quoting the article in part:
"But the candidates within the Democratic Party “big tent” ranged widely in
their views—from Democratic Socialists of America members to conservatives
like party hack Joe Manchin in West Virginia—who shamefully voted for Brett
Kavanaugh to join the Supreme Court...."
Now I don't like Kavanaugh at all, but I hope the author doesn't think that
only people with a narrow range of views should be elected, as beginning the
sentence with the word, "But", implies. That doesn't sound like a very
intelligent way to run a party or a government. That's what's happening to
the Republican party. I do not want the Democratic party to become a mirror
image of that. We are talking about the House of Representatives after all.
And whatever I think of many other peoples' views, there are a wide range of
views out there. The House is supposed to represent those views, not be a
forum for a narrow set of them.
Again, quoting the article in part:
"Evidence that the “blue wave” did not flow significantly to the left can be
seen in the fact that a quarter of the Democratic Party candidates in the
Nov. 6 election have a background in the CIA, the military, the State
Department, or national security...."
The fact that a quarter of them had such backgrounds is a problem? Does the
author mean to say that only people ignorant of such matters should be
elected? If the fact that only a quarter of them had such backgrounds is a
problem for him, that would seem to be what he's saying. Again, that doesn't
sound like a very intelligent way to make decisions. Whatever one's positions
on matters of the military, the CIA, the State Department, or national
security might be, it seems hard to justify ignorance as a good approach to
making decisions about matters involving them. Ignorance is Donald Trump's
approach to running things. I hope this author isn't advocating a similar
approach for Democrats.
Evan
-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Loran Bailey (Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2018 11:24 AM
To: blind-democracy
Subject: [blind-democracy] Midterm elections: Democrats’ ‘blue wave’
falls short
https://socialistaction.org/2018/11/07/midterm-elections-democrats-blu
e-wave-falls-short/
Midterm elections: Democrats’ ‘blue wave’ falls short
/ 2 days ago
Nov. 2018 Ocasio Cortez (AP)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the Democratic Socialists of
America, was elected to Congress on the Democratic Party ticket. (AP)
By MICHAEL SCHREIBER
“This is the most important midterm election in the modern history of this
country,” said Senator Bernie Sanders, and many politicians and pundits
agreed. President Trump spoke similarly during his week-long campaign tour,
aimed mainly at shoring up Republican candidates in so-called Red States.
“Everything we have achieved is at stake,” Trump declared to his cheering
admirers.
After the election, however, the mood quickly subsided; there was no evidence
that substantial changes had come onto the political landscape.
For one thing, the hoopla that Democrats had drummed up to create a mighty
“blue wave” produced merely a ripple of elected candidates. In a Nov. 7 news
conference, in fact, Trump boasted that his campaign rallies had “stopped the
blue wave.”
The Democrats’ lackluster finish came despite the fact that they had received
the bulk of Wall Street donations. The securities and finance industry backed
Democratic congressional candidates 63 percent to 37 percent for the
Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Of course, the Democrats did succeed in winning a majority in the House for
the first time since 2011, and made gains in many relatively affluent
suburban districts that had leaned Republican in years past.
And here and there, a few rookie Congress members were elected who consider
themselves to be “progressives” or even “democratic socialists.” More women,
LGBTQ people, and people of color than ever before were elected on the
Democratic ticket.
But the candidates within the Democratic Party “big tent” ranged widely in
their views—from Democratic Socialists of America members to conservatives
like party hack Joe Manchin in West Virginia—who shamefully voted for Brett
Kavanaugh to join the Supreme Court. The crook Bob Menendez was also
reelected as a Democratic U.S. Senator from New Jersey, despite having been
censured by the Senate Ethics Committee for accepting bribes from a wealthy
businessman.
Evidence that the “blue wave” did not flow significantly to the left can be
seen in the fact that a quarter of the Democratic Party candidates in the
Nov. 6 election have a background in the CIA, the military, the State
Department, or national security. They included, for example, Elissa Slotkin,
who won a congressional seat from Michigan’s Eighth District. Slotkin is a
former CIA operative in Iraq, who also served as Obama’s Iraq director on the
National Security Council. Later, she worked at the Pentagon, looking into
drone warfare, “homeland defense,”
and cyber warfare.
All in all, despite the addition of a few “progressive” Democrats to
Congress, the complexion of U.S. politics has changed very little since the
election. The policies of the capitalist Democratic Party have not been
altered one iota from the pro-corporate, pro-war, anti-environmental ones of
the past.
The social issues that the Democratic Party candidates addressed in their
campaigns were exceedingly narrow. “Medicare for All” was a central plank of
the Democrats this year, though we can expect that the proposal will be
watered down; as under Obama, the needs of the insurance industry will have
to be catered to before the proposal ever reaches a vote in Congress. The
Democrats also spoke about repairing the country’s roads and bridges—always a
safe bet at election time—but ignoring the need for efficient mass
transportation and the use of renewable fuels.
Major issues of an international scope were ignored, such as climate change
and out-of-control environmental pollution, and pouring more money into the
military (most Democrats in Congress supported this year’s $716 billion
military budget). Likewise, questions such as the sanctions against Iran,
trade wars with China and other countries, and the endless U.S. wars in
Afghanistan and the Middle East were virtually absent from the platforms of
Democratic candidates for Congress.
Moreover, important domestic issues such as raising the minimum wage to be
enough to live on; the right to low-cost housing; securing the rights of
women, immigrants, and LGBTQ people; and stopping police violence against
people of color generally received no more than a nod by the Democrats.
A referendum on Trump
The main issue that the Democrats ran on was simply “stop Trump.” CNN and AP
VoteCast polls on the eve of the election both showed that close to 70% of
voters hoped to send a message to Trump with their vote; about 26% to 28% of
the respondents were for Trump, and 38% to 40% were against. Trump readily
agreed that the election was a referendum on his administration. He told
potential voters in Mississippi, “Pretend I’m on the ballot.”
The Republicans held onto their “strongholds” in rural districts and in areas
of discontented white workers who had voted for Trump in 2016.
Accordingly, the Republicans increased their edge in the Senate and won
several key governor races. In general, right-wing and Trump-supporting
politicians were elected, while more mainstream Republicans did not do as
well. In a Nov. 7 tweet, Trump acknowledged the fact, saying, “Those that
worked with me in this incredible Midterm Election, embracing certain
policies and principles, did very well. Those that did not, say goodbye!”
One loyal Trump supporter who followed the formula, Marsha Blackburn, was
elected to the Senate from Tennessee. “I’m going to work with President Trump
all of the way to build that wall,” she affirmed to voters. A Blackburn
commercial started with a shot of the immigrant caravan crossing Mexico. “I’m
going to stop the criminals who are going toward our border,” Blackburn
stated in a voice-over.
In order to rally his supporters in the weeks leading up to the election,
Trump relied almost exclusively on scare tactics, using racist descriptions
that are commonly employed by the ultra-right. Trump described the Central
American migrants traveling through Mexico as “invaders” and “terrorists,”
and he endorsed a campaign ad that likened them to Luis Bracamontes, an
immigrant who had been convicted for killing two police officers.
Polls showed that the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court was
a key issue for Trump supporters in the election. Only a month before the
election, Trump spread the conspiracy theory that people protesting Brett
Kavanaugh’s nomination (“elevator screamers”) were being paid for by
billionaire George Soros—a figure who is frequently denounced in anti-Semitic
literature.
In the South, with its long history of injustices against Black people,
racism was merged with anti-immigrant prejudices in Republican messages
against the Democrats. In Georgia, Trump said that Democrat Stacey Abrams, a
Black “progressive” running for governor, was “unqualified”
for the office, and that she “would turn Georgia into a giant sanctuary city
for criminal aliens, putting innocent Georgia families at the mercy of
hardened criminals and predators.” The National Rifle Association in Georgia
put out a message, “Defend yourself. Defeat Abrams.” And ABC News reported
that a robocall on behalf of her Republican opponent, Brian Kemp, called
Abrams a “negress.”
Should socialists work within the Democratic Party?
The elections reflected the broader polarization that has taken place in the
United States during the last few years, brought on in part by the
dissatisfaction and alienation that working people feel toward the status quo
in capitalist society. Some workers and middle-class people, often in
“rust-belt” districts that have seen better times, have been hoodwinked by
the anti-immigrant and racist messages of the right wing.
But likewise, there is no doubt that the reactionary pronouncements by Trump
and the right have had an electric effect in mobilizing people in opposition.
The last two years have seen massive rallies in the streets against Trump’s
policies.
Unfortunately, at the present time, working people have no authentic
voice in the political arena except in the streets. Some socialists
mistakenly adhere to the idea that it might be possible to change the
pro-big business nature of the Democratic Party by working within it,
or that it might be possible to break a “left wing” (such as Bernie
Sanders
supporters) out of the party. But both scenarios are merely wishful thinking.
Similarly, it is a deadly illusion to think that revolutionary socialists can
be elected to public office and work for significant social change when using
the ballot line of the capitalist Democratic Party—always a “lesser-evil”
trap for the unwary. History has repeatedly demonstrated that the former
party of the Klan, White Citizens Councils, and Southern slavocracy serves
the ruling class elite unfailingly.
That this “graveyard of all fighting social movements” can be considered a
vehicle for advancing working-class interests is preposterous. In general,
when “progressive” or “left” candidates run as Democrats, the party hierarchy
forces them to align their positions with those of the mainstream, not the
opposite.
Consider Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the member of the Democratic Socialists of
America (DSA) from the Bronx, who was just elected to the House as a
Democrat. At first, the party leadership viewed her with suspicion, but after
winning the primary vote, she became a celebrity, the subject of talk
shows—and even Barak Obama endorsed her.
Accordingly, the DSA enlisted Ocasio-Cortez to travel to California to raise
money and support for other “left” candidates running in the Democratic
Party. We can expect, too, that the Democratic Party leadership will use her
services in selected and “safe” locales as an opportunity to refurbish the
party’s image when it suits their needs.
They understand that Ocasio-Cortez and other DSAers are fresh faces who can
attract young people and activists with new energy into the party—and thus
channel dissident voices into the double-talking capitalist mainstream.
Sanders played a similar role in 2016, shepherding the unwary first into his
campaign and then into Hillary Clinton’s.
At her acceptance speech on Nov. 6, Ocasio-Cortez told supporters, “We can
make change … We are here, and we are going to rock the world in the next two
years … This is not the end. This is the beginning.”
But real change will never be achieved from within the Democratic Party.
The beginning of a new day for working people in the United States will
arrive when they construct their own party, one that operates not only at the
ballot box but in workplaces and in the streets, and with a revolutionary
program to enable the working class to take political power in its own name
and abolish the rule of the capitalists.
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November 7, 2018 in Elections, Trump / U.S. Government.
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