Should the Left Bury or Revive the Democrats?
Image by Jack Prommel.
It’s tradition for Democrats to get loud and radical whenever they lose an election, posing as bold obstacles to any Republican agenda.
But this time things are different. The Democratic Party is either telling the public to “roll over and play dead” while many Democrats are actively collaborating with Trump.
The “resistance” has been left to a symbolic few, such as Bernie and AOC, who are warning about the oligarchy that is using Trump as their vehicle.
The oligarchy’s previous vehicle, Joe Biden, warned about this same oligarchy in his farewell speech, saying “an oligarchy is taking shape in America that threatens our democracy.” Biden failed to mention that he and Obama took turns fattening-up the already-powerful oligarchy.
Once Trump won re-election Bernie Sanders regained his mojo for blasting the oligarchy, on his “Fighting Oligarchy tour,” where he said, “When we take on Trumpism we are taking on the oligarchy.”
Bernie of course delayed the start of his tour by four years, so as not to confront the oligarchy-drenched Biden administration.
Bernie will “fight the oligarchy” until the Democrat Party machine comes back into power, at which time he and AOC will have their muzzles placed back on. The momentary rhetorical flourishes of these two do not represent the larger party, who’ve shown no motivation to fight a Trump agenda they largely agree with.
Why the Democrats Won’t Fight Trump
The Democrats have stood aloof while Trump and Musk seek to revamp and slash the US government at home while maintaining US imperialism abroad.
The Democrats general agreement with Trump’s imperialism was showcased when Trump’s pick for Secretary of State — arch-imperialist Marco Rubio — was approved 99-0 by the Senate, where Bernie too voted for Trump’s chaos agent.
Then Democrats showed their agreement with Trump domestically by helping him pass the Laken Riley Act that focuses on scapegoating immigrants instead of blaming billionaires for the state of the nation.
Ultimately the Democrats since Clinton have been more influenced by Reagan than FDR, and most of Trump’s policies are merely extensions of Reagan (it was Reagan who first promised to abolish the Department of Education). The Democrats may have differences in how fast the public sector is torched but not enough to do much about it.
In the official Democrat response to Trump’s State of the Union Address, Trump was criticized for not acting in the spirit of Reagan, while Democrats pledged support in Trump’s attempt to slash the government.
It’s true that Trump is dangerous and has a sizable and growing wing of supporters influenced by fascist ideas, but currently the most dangerous thing about Trump is that he has seemingly united the US ruling class in a time of growing domestic and international crisis.
What unites the two parties? Beyond their common ancestor Reagan, the two parties are united in recognizing that US corporations are facing an existential crisis due to the faltering power of the US government abroad coupled with the rising power of China, which now outcompetes US corporations on more advanced products like........
© CounterPunch
