Originally published at http://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/12/19/comparing-republican-democratic-party-energy-levels-no-contest
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It boils down to many voters wanting to be associated with winners, not losers, that has made the GOP win so much and the Democrats lose so much.
Recalling many voters characterizing LBJ as the lesser evil during the 1964 election, the Viet Nam occupation started the Democratsâ losing streak. The GOPâs subsequent Powell memo strategy that launched the greatest propaganda machine the world has ever seen has perpetuated it. Naderâs stellar progress on consumer rights made him the first target of that propaganda machine.
If the Democrats donât aggressively prosecute Trump, his appointees, and other enablers post haste after January 21, it wonât be long before there are no Democrats to âwake upâ. âLooking forward, not backâ failed us when Obama tried it, and it will fail us in 2021.
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Thereâs plenty of energy in the Democratic Party. Thatâs why the Party leadership is so busy trying to crush it.
The conclusion of this article misunderstands (or misrepresents) the role of the parties. Both of them serve wealthy interests. They have different voting constituencies - those constituencies shift over time, but the basic role of the parties doesnât change, which is to get buy-in and public support for wealthy interests.
The Republican Partyâs job is to generate contempt for government, racism and xenophobia, and encourage selfishness and rugged individualism. All of which makes people easier to manipulate and exploit.
The Democratic Partyâs role is to manage the expectations, misdirect and rein in the efforts of people who tend to believe in collective action, basic fairness and social justice.
Thatâs why Republican leaders encourage and pander to fanaticism and Democratic leaders donât. Thatâs why elites bankroll right-wing groups while left-wing groups are marginalized and suppressed.
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Nice analysis!
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Itâs Simple
DP Leadership drains off enthusiasm by not being an opposition party. By supporting Wall Street, PHARMA and MIC and their profits over People. Theyâve been doing it since at least Clinton. Itâs difficult to get enthusiastic about the Lesser of two evils.
Look, THIS STILL holds true:
Given the choice between a Republican and someone who acts like a Republican, people will vote for the real Republican all the time
- Harry S. Truman
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Thread Winner !
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A succinct definition of duopolyâŚindeed !
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Yes.
I am so very disappointed by this repeated tendency on the part of Nader.
There is a bloated elephant of red and blue and lately Nader keeps writing as if
the red parts are the main problem and the blue parts arenât really part of the elephant.
Nader doesnât seem to grasp the fact that this tendency of his - which is widely shared -
is a major part of the problem which he seems to be trying to oppose. !!!
I love so much of what Nader has tried to do with his life, but this stuff is self-defeating
and disheartening.
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I read Ralphâs column a little differently. Every mention of the DP in the column is criticism of the DP, so Ralph is saying that the DP is part of the problem.
By telling the âDemocratsâ to wake up - and here I understand Democrats to mean members of Congress - Ralph is implying that those Democrats could be a solution to our problems. Democrats-as-a-solution is debatable (forgive me for stating the obvious.), but the performance of third parties has been disappointing. The Green Party and the Movement for a Peopleâs Party are not in a position today to block Pelosiâs reelection as Speaker, but progressive Democrats are able to bargain with her. Thatâs our only option right now.
By pointing out that the small Tea Party group took over the House Republican Caucus, Ralph is saying what so many in this thread have said - that progressive Congresscritters should unite and use their power as an almost-party to crush Pelosi et al.
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I like that saying, âthe beatings will continue until moral improvesâ. Progressives talk out of both sides of their mouth. The Democrats, are useless (not to mention the only real opposition) so lets attack them some more. We donât have any real substantial plan but lets go for it anyway. After all a poorly researched incomplete plan can be imposed if we just try harder, get louder, and ignore the majority of people that donât like it.
Welcome to being a part of the problem.
What you are saying is particularly pertinent right now
when you look at the movement which has sprung up from Jimmy Doreâs program -
force the vote â(the words with no spacing & .org).
and the way the so-called progressive democrats are using mealy-mouthed excuses
to resist this very appropriate method of making Nancy Pelosi bring Medicare for All
up for a recorded vote in this upcoming session.
Now is a distinctly opportune moment for the progressive caucus to stand up for what they
claim to support and, so far as I know at this time, they are resisting a chance for them to
show they mean what they have been saying for years.
If the supposed progressive caucus does not do this it means they would rather
be close to Pelosi than have integrity.
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Yes, and unless progressive MCs act now, the opportunity will not recur for a dozen years, thanks to inevitable Republican gerrymandering next year and the almost certain loss of the Democratic majority in the House in 2022.
I think that Jimmy Dore is aiming way too low. Pelosi can easily render a vote ambiguous. She could, for example, schedule two votes - one on M4A and the other on âMedicare for Americaâ. (Remember that DP trick?) Her cronies could add poison pill amendments to the bill to force real progressives to vote against it. The result would leave the public thoroughly confused, and progressives would spend the next five years arguing about who is a real progressive. If Republicans retain control of the Senate, House members can pretend to be progressive and vote for the bill, knowing that it will go nowhere. Pelosi has lots of ways to scuttle the floor vote ship.
If the progressive Democrats were serious, they would do what minor parties in parliamentary legislatures do and demand seats in committees and committee chair positions and hearings as well as floor votes in exchange for supporting Pelosiâs bid for the Speakership. Theyâd also leave the coalition if Pelosi didnât produce.
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Jimmy Doreâs idea is to trade the Speakership for a measly floor vote. Doreâs role model must be Chuck Schumer, who fast-tracked McConnellâs judicial confirmations in exchange for a two day recess - twice.
Nonetheless, proggies everywhere are all over this idea. Why canât they recognize crumbs?
Donât forget heâs like 80 years old. Give 'him a break. He created OSHA which has probably saved millions of americans from being maimed by their own employers. He is a great americanâŚand probably should be on Mount Rushmore when time remembers.
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Yes!
Ralph Nader was also instrumental in getting seat belts installed as standard equipment in cars. Seat belts save about ten thousand lives each year. That doesnât include reduction in injuries. 10k x 50 years = a lot! of lives. I canât think of anyone else who has done that much good.
Every time I click my seat belt, I say âThank you, Mr. Nader.â
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The Republican Party is of one stripe. Power now, Power tomorrow, Power yesterday by any and all means necessary. When the Democratic Party is referred to, the reference pertains to the mis-leadership tribe of wealthy, as Nader points out âsmug entrenchedâ neoliberal elites, Clintons, Obamas, Schumer, Pelosi, Manchin III. In other words the personally wealthy Old Guard/Corporate Democrats. Their self-importance exceeds any authentic grasp and heart for the needs of their working class constituents rendering their view myopic and their energies twisted back toward themselves. Witness their blunt political savagery cutting the rising Peopleâs choice - Bernie Sanders - off at the knees, not once but twice. Status quo regressive and stunted their âcentristâ Republican lite corporatized agenda patronizes and down right ignores the depth of needs extant. They are essentially limp, uncreative, backward. Limp , that is, unless confronted by the Truth Teller Progressives. Suddenly, their political longevity at stake, they rise, oh how they rise. To beat the Progressives down and back out of sight. Pelosiâs repeated arrogant dismissals of the Squad come to mind. Wholly lacking in essential integrity as it relates to the problems and solutions to serious societal and climate requirements, and especially to self-assessments in the context of these requirements. Smug. Yes. And thereby immune to self-scrutiny and their non big donor constituents.
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A-FUCKING-MEN! to your observations Ray. As Nadar pointed out, most Dems are a gutless, energy-less group of complacent hangers-on who just donât want to rock the boat. We have to get rid of Nancy Pelosi, Schumer, Feinstein and dozens of other dead wood just for openers.
In this last presidential election the Dems didnât win, Trump lost. How many voted for Biden because they absolutely hated Trump?
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If the speakership is Pelosiâs, it is not ours. Pelosi could be traded for the crumbs left over after a floor vote, and the profit would be greater than crumbs.
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Yes. Ralph saved my life at least a couple times.
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Imagine that. I had thought of the exact same idea as Ralph relates here. But I was going to frame it as:
Hey, you know what, there IS a difference (a huge difference) between the Democrats and Republicans. Look at how Trump is trying and trying to eek out a win, and he had lots of legislators and constituents rallying him on! The election occurred over a 6 weeks ago and he STILL hasnât given up the fight! And now look at what happened to Al Gore in 2000 in Florida (it turned out he HAD won but he and/or the democratic party chose not to contest it *(but the DP did choose to use the results as a way to smear Naderâs presidential run)) and John Kerry in 2004 (they said he didnât win, and he goes âok, fine, whateverâ) even though there were lots of questions regarding Ohioâs election results.
*Well to be fair, Iâm not clear on the details, but I guess they did contest it but it went to Supreme Court which said they had to stop counting the votes and perhaps at that point they didnât have any other options, Iâm not sure
So thank you Ralph, for saying in this article what I wanted to say.