Robert Reich
·
Friends,
In the wake of Kamala Harris’s loss to Trump, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says he isn’t going to criticize Trump’s nominees “because that’s all a distraction.”
A distraction from what? Governing?
Had 35-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez succeeded in her recent bid to become the lead Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, she would have represented a generational shift for the party and given it an energetic communicator with anti-establishment views.
But the party wouldn’t have it. The position went instead to 74-year-old Gerry Connolly, a longtime representative from Virginia who was next in line.
Some Democrats are now even calling for Biden to pardon Trump.
South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn says a pardon for Trump would be a way of “cleaning the slate” for the country. Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman posted (on Trump’s Truth Social, no less) that the “Trump hush money and Hunter Biden cases were both bullshit, and pardons are appropriate.”
Now, that’s bullshit.
I’ve been around long enough to remember how Democrats reacted to Adlai Stevenson’s two defeats to Republican Dwight Eisenhower: They said it was time for Democrats to move to the center.
When Humbert Humphrey lost to Richard Nixon, Democrats said it was time for Democrats to move to the center. When Jimmy Carter lost to Ronald Reagan? Move to the center! When Walter Mondale lost to Reagan? The center! When Mike Dukakis lost to George H. W. Bush? When Al Gore … When John Kerry … When Hillary Clinton … And on it goes: center, center, center.
What has this refrain bought Democrats apart from campaign contributions from big corporations and the wealthy? A loss of purpose.
Some Democrats warned along the way that a move to the so-called “center” would erode the party’s noblest goals. Ted Kennedy admonished Democrats at the 1980 national convention not to forget the fight for “the cause of the common man and the common woman.”
Historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. wrote in The New York Times that “me-too Reaganism” would be disastrous for Democrats because “if American voters are in a conservative mood, they will surely choose the real thing and not a Democratic imitation.”
But Democrats didn’t listen. In the late 1980s they became “New Democrats,” almost indistinguishable from “Reagan Democrats.” In 1996, Bill Clinton said “the era of big government is over” — ending welfare, enacting a vicious crime bill, and deregulating Wall Street.
Twenty years later, when Bernie Sanders tried to return the Democratic Party to giving voice to working people being shafted by CEOs and Wall Street, he was knee-capped by the Democratic National Committee to make way for Hillary Clinton — who lost to Trump.
Democrats have been moving to the so-called “center” so long they’ve pushed the “center” toward authoritarianism.
It’s more important than ever for Democrats to hold Trump accountable, even if doing so takes years. Democrats must also oppose any Trump move to prosecute those who have tried to hold him accountable.
Democrats must commit to opposing Trump’s agenda of deporting millions of people who, although undocumented, have been longstanding members of their communities; substituting Trump loyalists for dedicated civil servants; and appointing dangerous wackos like Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard, and Peter Hegseth, who shouldn’t be allowed to get anywhere near our government.
Now more than ever, Democrats should call out the multimillionaires and multibillionaires who are taking over our system by making gigantic campaign contributions and then seeking tax cuts, regulatory rollbacks, and exemptions to tariffs for their own businesses. Yes, I’m talking about you, Elon Musk.
It’s time for Democrats to commit to getting big money out of American politics.
Now is the time for Democrats to do what they used to do before the Democratic Party tried to move to the so-called “center.” Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Strengthen safety nets. Increase public investments. Pay for all this by raising taxes on the super-wealthy.
This is no time for retreat. No time for compromise.
There can be no center between decency and indecency, no center between democracy and authoritarianism, no center between a government of billionaires and a government of the people.
Thoughts?
Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'
We're finally on our own
This summer I hear the drummin'
Four dead in Ohio
Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are gunning us down
Should have been done long ago
What if you knew her and
Found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?
Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na
Na-na-na-na, na-na-na
Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na
Na-na-na-na, na-na-na
Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago
What if you knew her and
Found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?
Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'
We're finally on our own
This summer I hear the drummin'
Four dead in Ohio
Four dead in Ohio (four dead)
Four dead in Ohio (four)
Four dead in Ohio (how many?)
Four dead in Ohio (how many more?)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio (oh)
Four dead in Ohio (four)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio (why?)
Four dead in Ohio
Four dead in Ohio
Songwriters: Neil Young.
Cenk Uygur
cenkuygur
My whole life the media has painted a picture of Joe Biden as a sweet, empathetic man who cares about the average guy. What a load of bullshit. He financed the slaughter of innocent women and children in Gaza because he wanted more money from his donors. He was an egomaniac who wanted to hold on to power even when he was in obvious mental decline.
His party would have been much better off if he graciously stepped down a year ago, but he fought it all the way because his ego is more important than anything else. He put his own interests above everyone else, his own party and his country.
He did everything he accused Trump of doing. He cut off the democratic process in his own party. He lied about his condition over and over again. Let alone wild, outrageous lies, like getting arrested with Nelson Mandela while protesting apartheid (let alone his uncle being eaten by cannibals). Then, at the end, he said he wished he meddled with his own Attorney General so that he could have pursued his political opponent earlier and left his son alone.
But I'm much more mad at the media than Biden. Biden is a normal, craven, self-obsessed, corrupt politician. But did the media ever tell you that? Did they tell you he used to be called the Senator from MBNA (a credit card company that was one of his largest donors in the Senate)? Did they tell you he took over $11M from AIPAC throughout his career? No, they actively lied to all of us and told us that Biden was a sweet, empathetic man when he was the exact opposite. **** the mainstream media.
Revolutionary Blackout🥋
SocialistMMA
·
My prediction for 2025: We are about to witness the greatest free speech crackdown of all time
Donald Trump is teaming with Mike Johnson and Chuck Schumer to pass a “combating antisemitism” bill that will end free speech in America as we know it
Deeda Weeda aka DMAN 🇵🇸
DeemTheDreem
·
If the propaganda seems "sloppy" or "obvious" to you, it's probably because you're not the intended target.
Thought to ponder for socialists (of which I am one):
Shabazz
ShabazzArts
·
What does seizing the means of production even look like in the U.S.? The country has been heavily deindustrialized.
