Photo credit: U.S. Department of State from United States /
Public domain
On Monday afternoon, on the eve of Super Tuesday, I voted for a Democrat for what will likely be the last time. I was never a very strong Democrat, always to the left of party policy. But in the past, I still believed that the Dems were at least marginally on the side of regular people. I no longer believe that. Today’s Democrats seem to be more interested in appealing to a better off clientele — people who really love their health insurance plans! and resent those who need help getting to sufficiency.
It wouldn’t be so bad if they had just sold out their values and left it at that. They didn’t. Instead, they went after their own frontrunner, Bernie Sanders, like he was Public Enemy #1.
In this election cycle, left wing Democrats and independents who voted for Bernie Sanders have been been treated to the most vile lies and slander about their chosen candidate that we’ve heard in many a year. It was stunning to see how much the Democratic establishment hates Bernie Sanders. No one who was breathing in the last few months could possibly have missed it, although memories can get short when people don’t want to remember. But nasty things were said, and can’t be unsaid, about the “radical,” “extreme,” “divisive,” “polarizing,” and “destructive” platform of Bernie Sanders.
His supporters were tarred and feathered too, labeled derisively as “Bernie Bros,” accused of abusive and violent behavior (Bernie supporters?), pitied for their stupidity and gullibility, and accused of being against “party unity” before the primaries even began.
The Dems had a gigantic army of well-paid warriors — all the mainstream media, battalions of pundits, commentators and experts, politicians, ex-Presidents, strategists, pollsters, and more. They used this huge advantage strategically to take out Bernie Sanders, one guy, and his supporters.
In the process, they threw every bit of mud, dirty tricksterism, and influence they had at him. And on Super Tuesday, it paid off. Their puppet Joe Biden won the day. American Democrats, by and large, chose to vote out of fear, not of Donald Trump but of one of their own party, Bernie Sanders. The fact that they got a lot of help from media influencers does not absolve them of their moral cowardice.
Here is a sampling of some of the slimy offal the Democrats have dished out:
Crazy. Dangerous. Sexist. Socialist (as a slur). Russian Asset. Brown shirt. Nazi. Revolutionist. Destroyer of America. Fake. Charlatan. And on a good day, maybe: grumpy, radical, idealist, wrong.
But still, they would like our votes. Imagine — the DNC have beat the progressive left to rhetorical ribbons and now they want us to get back in bed with them? Not likely. We’ve been down this road before and know where it leads — not just to feeling dirty, but to an electoral loss for whomever we’re told to hold our noses and vote for. Dukakis 1988, Gore 2000, Kerry 2004, Clinton 2016. If even members of your own party have to force themselves by the proboscis to vote, your candidate doesn’t have a chance.
And that is the Dems problem in 2020. One faction of the party wouldn’t vote for Bernie Sanders if he was the only thing between them and certain death; the other will vote for change or not at all.
This brings us to a rather obvious question which will have to be addressed sooner or later. Do progressives stay in the Democratic party and consent to have their views ignored and denigrated, pretty much for the rest of time? or do they dump the Dems and move on to their own party or join an existing association like the Progressives, where they could actively work to support issues and policies they believe in?
It seems crystal clear that the Democrats don’t want progressives anymore. With progressives out of the way, they could jump wholeheartedly into being the neoliberal cheerleaders they’ve been since Bill Clinton. Think how much freer they’d feel without that pesky left wing and its persistent and annoying ideas about better lives and a better world for all? They could get on with being the party of the rich and cool, attracting the wine cave set of both parties.
Meanwhile, the new progressive party could begin building that big tent coalition that includes everyone who wants real change and a government that’s genuinely for the people. Think how much more could be done without the droning voices of Centrist Democrats telling us how nothing good is possible….
Photo: U.S. Department of State from United States / Public domain
