Both Parties Are Not The Same

I am getting fed up with people assuming that my objection to both parties means that I think they are the same, I don't.

I think the Republican Party is now bat-shit crazy, racist, misogynist, homophobic, warmongering and corrupt

I think that the Democratic Party is just warmongering and corrupt.

There, you see, there are fundamental differences.

It's the similarities that get me, we must vote for the least bad is the meme du jour.

Why?

I thought we lived in democracy [yes I do know it's a Republic] where I could vote or not vote how I bloody well pleased?

My vote is not a given it has to be earned, now which of the two main parties has earned my vote?

I have watched the Democrats pardon war crimes, torture and murder whist at the same time ignoring their own under the pretences of exceptionalism.

I have watched the Democrats stand with their begging bowls out whilst at the same time decrying the money in politics.

I have watched Democrats discard a candidate that fought against this whilst hugging closely to its collective chest a candidate that has embraced whole heartedly its worst [in my eyes] tendencies.

The Democrats always hugging the excuse that they cannot change anything because "#Republicans!" won't let them do so has worn thin. they always do the best they can has become the stock excuse when they entrench the Status Quo yet further.

This is the time of year when we get flooded with promises that if we vote for them again it will all be hopey changey in the new year, then in February it will all be down to "what's possible", "be patient" and the final "you'll have to vote more of us in next time if you want anything to change!". Can kicked safely further down the never ending road. The cry will always be for more rather than better because when they have a chance for better they get annoyed and just say it's all about teh winning! If we win more next time, well, we will win more! More is better! But heaven forbid don't ask for stuff, now is not the time, just trust us!

Well, I don't trust you at all.

It's not up to me it is up to you to earn that trust and this last primary season has been retrograde in that respect I'm afraid. This time I am saying I don't believe you and it's going to take more money than you can hope to raise from the corporations in a hundred years, it's going to require proof. This time you don't have my vote.

Tags: 
Share
up
0 users have voted.

Comments

riverlover's picture

to part with Bernie if he concedes to Clintons are called "idiots" on FB, or accused of voting for Trump, even by not voting or by voting third party or fourth or fifth. I love how progressives get blamed whatever happens. Their problem, mine is way bigger.

up
0 users have voted.

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

are going to start their presidency damaged, weak and unpopular.

Promising, no?

up
0 users have voted.
Lily O Lady's picture

It's not a choice, it's a dilemma. Both candidates will screw us.

up
0 users have voted.

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Making that my standard answer.

up
0 users have voted.
hester's picture

represent what the country has in some senses become. Two beacons of vulgarity, corruption, greed, and narcissism. There is more that characterizes each of them but differently. The qualities I denote above, they share.

This is not what some of us deserve. No way I'll vote for either of them.

up
0 users have voted.

Don't believe everything you think.

up
0 users have voted.
Ken in MN's picture

...unfortunately the core outcome will be the same: Maintenance of the Status Quo...

up
0 users have voted.

I want my two dollars!

devoted to the goal of helping the rich get richer and enabling the giveaway of our common possessions as a nation: public land; clean air and water; what's left of the Bill of Rights; etc.

If the Soviet Union realized that to have a one party state you need to have two "competing" entities, they'd still be in business.

up
0 users have voted.

"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

up
0 users have voted.
Diomedes77's picture

Both favor this.

They are the same when it comes to their love of capitalism, which is the real root of our troubles. But they are different on issues like guns, and they're finally showing some spine about that with their sit in, which I think is really great.

It's actually got me just a little bit hopeful that the table is being set for future change. It won't happen now, with the GOP in power. But the GOP won't always be in power. Etc.

up
0 users have voted.

There is in me an anarchy and frightful disorder. Creating makes me die a thousand deaths, because it means making order, and my entire being rebels against order. But without it I would die, scattered to the winds.

-- Albert Camus

when they believe it is politically expedient to do so and that is a shame

up
0 users have voted.

We really don't have time for 'future change'. On the economic front, we are reaching a point of deflation (I believe is likely) or hyper inflation (not likely). Then, governments WILL NOT be able to react fast enough and throwing money at the problem will not work this time.

And of course we have a real existential crises on hands with global warming. All the world powers signed an agreement in Paris and then popped open a bunch of bottles of Krystal and slapped themselves on the back for 'doing something'. What is needed is real WWII type effort to change our energy policy.

We don't have time. If we did, I could see a path of voting for Hilary and hoping to kick the can down the road a bit. The can is worn out and smashed to pieces. Nothing left to kick.

up
0 users have voted.

Democrats, we tried to warn you. How is that guilt and shame working out?

are methods of herding and fundraising for Democrats. I don't believe they're serious about these issues, and so whatever differences exist are superficial and irrelevant.

up
0 users have voted.

that US arms manufacturers have something like 70% of the global arms market. Maybe this time, the Democrats will give us some gun control, nothing TOO aggressive now, but the trade off? Why the trade off is keeping our wars going. How are those weapons makers supposed to give up that yuge US gun market and not get something in return? Never mind that they're already making money hand over fist with all the shit going on in the world, they will need assurances that their profits won't be hurt.

Yes, guns are a wedge issue that works for both parties very well indeed. Just like abortion. Herding for fundraising.

up
0 users have voted.

Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

How are those weapons makers health insurance companies supposed to give up that yuge US gun insurance market and not get something in return?

The ACA did some good for some (or maybe even quite a few) people. But it doesn't answer the question of "why even do that when you could do so much better?"

up
0 users have voted.
NonnyO's picture

Thanks to the Hatch-Waxman Act, they've already made a fortune (Medicare Part D, for one), and TPP could make the global market for world-wide patents, copyrights, exclusive sales - at high, controlled prices - and with marketing exclusivity comes the ability to make huge profits because other pharmaceutical corporations will be forbidden from making a generic product. (Hatch-Waxman needs repealing in its entirety!)

It has already happened with Colchicine (for acute gout flare-ups, and I take it occasionally, so I got caught in this price scam; thanks to my pharmacist, I was warned when this was going to start so I could get all my refills of the generic tablet at $.09 cents each before the color/shape change of the exact same med, this time with FDA approval after fake testing - Colchicine's properties and correct non-lethal dosage have been known about since before it was first mentioned in ancient writing three thousand five hundred years ago; it didn't need fake FDA testing).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colchicine#History

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Price_Competition_and_Patent_Term_Res...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_exemption

Controlling medication that affects our overall health on a world-wide basis, and with the corporate triumvirate backing big pharma if they sue any governments signed on to TPP will be profoundly debilitating financially and physically to humanity.

up
0 users have voted.

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute ..., where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference. — President John F. Kennedy, Houston, TX, 12 September 1960

lunachickie's picture

over the carnage, the bills they purport to be fighting for seem to be kind of useless overall, so I have to concur with you, BAL.

Sure, the gun issue is immediate and urgent. But if you're going to stage a dramatic sit in in the Capital, why the fuck are you fighting for weak legislation at best?

And where are these people on election fraud? Oh, yeah, what's that nice older fella's name? The one that lied for Hillary not terribly long ago, and I wasn't to question that because by God, he touched the hem of MLK's garments, and I'm a hateful troll for suggesting he might have ulterior motives. Theater for theater's sake engenders even more cynicism, which is the last thing we all need.

up
0 users have voted.

about Lewis: fuck him. It's hard enough to get white folks to even admit racism exists, and much harder to acknowledge their own privilege. And believe me whites are the first to toss other whites under that bus when we try to point out these things. People aren't brave. If they see non-whites tossing whites (Bernie is Jewish, so it's more complicated there), it makes it harder because they perceive it as a stab in the back.

So when folks like Lewis do what he did, it hurts the cause for civil rights.

up
0 users have voted.

Why don't they do a sit-in to get rid of the oligarchy?

up
0 users have voted.

Beware the bullshit factories.

But they are different on issues like guns, and they're finally showing some spine about that with their sit in ...

Why now? Why not after the Newtown slaughter? Or any of several other slaughters? Why only when the party is *this* close to getting utterly ripped for throwing their base to the oligarch wolves?

Ok, *maybe* they're being sincere. But the timing has an odor to it.

up
0 users have voted.
NonnyO's picture

... compared to which skunk spray smells like spring flowers.

up
0 users have voted.

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute ..., where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference. — President John F. Kennedy, Houston, TX, 12 September 1960

Hillbilly Dem's picture

I'm Hillbilly Dem and I approve this message.

up
0 users have voted.

"Just call me Hillbilly Dem(exit)."
-H/T to Wavey Davey

heart of both parties and both exist to serve its needs. It's needs are to grow at all costs and that means uprooting traditional societies that practice sustainable agriculture, for example, throw the people off their land so that large plantation scale for-export crops can be grown and the former farmers of small parcels are reduced to seasonal Ag labor. To top it off, the countries that were formerly food secure, become food insecure with more than 50% imported.

Late stage capitalism is marked by persistent low growth and the fact the further investment yields fewer dollars. This has led to the financialization of economies, the USA is a leading example, with the attendant sharp business practices and periodic crashes.

Surely people will get fed up with being fed up and say "enough" but I don't think it will happen in the context of the Republican and Democratic parties.

up
0 users have voted.

"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

Duckpin
your comment reminded me of an experience from many,many years ago, living in London, England during a terrible famine in Ethiopia, journalist friend invited me to accompany her team to Heathrow airport so her photographer could get picture of crates of green peppers being unloaded, labeled: Produce of Ethiopia.

That was decades ago. It's gotten so much worse. China is one of major buyers of land on African continent, tho USA couldn't be far behind...

up
0 users have voted.

The kingdom of Hawai'i was an independent country and had treaties with other countries like Russia and the UK. It was food secure.

The USA invaded and Hawai'i became a colony and the land use became typical for a colony: At the service of the owners. I can't think of a better example than what Dole did there, and is still doing because I don't think there's been reform of agricultural land. Hawai'l imports the majority of its food now. It has become like Puerto Rico - first a Spanish colony, now am American colony - having to import nearly 90% of its food.

up
0 users have voted.

"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

lotlizard's picture

now, because Obama!

Even though politically, Obama represents everything Chicago, not Hawaiʻi, and his biography has zero relation to any of the Polynesian or East Asian roots that make Hawaiʻi Hawaiʻi.

up
0 users have voted.

I'm sure the spirit of Obama is pretty consistent with how Hawaii became part of the US.

up
0 users have voted.

to get their own country back and run it the way they wish. Impossible? Probably. But, having more people on the mainland realize what was done by our government is an important step.

up
0 users have voted.

"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

NonnyO's picture

... with their biotoxins in the food chain, sometimes doing testing right next door to schools where children get sick because of the chemicals used on crops.

Think of what it's doing to humans and to plants and wildlife in, on, and around Hawai'i and the Pacific Ocean there....

HRC is the queen of Frankenfoods made by Monsanto.

Edit: P.S. I wonder if she'd feed her grandchildren a steady diet of the Frankenfoods put out by Monsanto???

up
0 users have voted.

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute ..., where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference. — President John F. Kennedy, Houston, TX, 12 September 1960

The problem in the USSR was that the special interests were the party bigwigs so when it went down it took them with it whereas here the fatcats are above the two parties and won no matter which part is on power.

It's interesting to note that the worst legislation produced by Congress is exactly when the two parties cooperate. That's why the media mouthpieces have such a fish for "bipartisanship": it's when the needs of the 1% are being enacted into law.

up
0 users have voted.
shaharazade's picture

that the illusion of two competing entities in the US political system is wearing thin. 45%? of registered voters are indies. This fiasco of a primary won't increase the Democrat's numbers. Then there is the huge number of people that do not vote. It is not because they are apathetic, low information or don't care about their best interests as the partisan true believer's would have you believe.

Not voting is my vote, as a friend who is a teacher of English as a second language told me. She did register and voted for Obama's pocket full of hope do to the Bush regime. I bet she's not about to self identify or vote for Democrat's in the wresltin' match of The Hair Ball vs The Mad Bomber.

Perhaps this primary was a good thing as it's pretty difficult to whip up fear of the other when it's a complicit duopoly and the only difference is do you want a vagina probe with your austerity and endless bloody war. The two party system has been spectacularly revealed for what it is a one party fascistic entity. Democracy, justice or the common good of 'we the people' are nothing but impediments to the donkey elephant puppet's nasty-ass global agenda.

up
0 users have voted.

up
0 users have voted.
Cassiodorus's picture

needs to be counted as an important development here. So for instance the Nixonian secrecy, the revival of war against Afghanistan, Dick Cheney's war on the world, deficit-phobia and resultant dismantling of safety nets (Dick Cheney established himself to the left of Obama in 2002 in this regard by saying "deficits don't matter"), the ACA (an invention mostly shaped by Mitt Romney and the Heritage Foundation), and so on. Obama even helped revive the Republican Congress that we saw under Clinton, by refusing to defend the Democratic majority that existed in 2009 and 2010.

up
0 users have voted.

"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

help everyone was ingloriously dumped without even being heard.

up
0 users have voted.
Lily O Lady's picture

premiums and deductibles rise. The insurance companies are helping themselves to our money.

up
0 users have voted.

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

as a given, that's why I raged against its short term pretence as a solution even an "incremental" one I watched the Stupak Pitts amendment pass by executive order with mouth agape, that said it all really

up
0 users have voted.

Yes - there are several people who have fallen through the cracks that now have 'health insurance' (not necessarily health care). For that, the rest of us get crappy, high-deductible health insurance, rising premiums and more out of pocket expenses. I did not celebrate when the bill was passed.

up
0 users have voted.

Democrats, we tried to warn you. How is that guilt and shame working out?

karl pearson's picture

The reason I was a big supporter of Obama in 2008 ($$ donated to his campaign; canvassing in 3 states) was because I thought the American people would get decent healthcare at a decent price. When I saw the results, I felt like such a fool. I will never be tricked again and I was "born" a Democrat many decades ago. I will vote 3rd party this time and as long as Dems act economically like Repubs. Obamacare is a Republican plan.

up
0 users have voted.
Diomedes77's picture

Something like two trillion in unexpected "savings."

They waited until the end of it to mention this was likely mostly due to those high deductible policies, which push people to forego medical care.

I have direct experience with this aspect of the new law.

up
0 users have voted.

There is in me an anarchy and frightful disorder. Creating makes me die a thousand deaths, because it means making order, and my entire being rebels against order. But without it I would die, scattered to the winds.

-- Albert Camus

karl pearson's picture

http://kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/analysis-of-2017-premium-change...

Some people are going to see premium increases of over 20%. The average will be 10%. The increases had averaged 5% in past years. Take the report "with a grain of salt" because it is only preliminary. Who knows what the actual % increases will be later.

"Marketplace premiums under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), already a subject of perennial interest, have gained even more attention amid unfavorable financial results from some insurers, as well as initial reports of steep premium increases requested for 2017. Several factors will influence how premiums will change in 2017, and there is reason to believe that increases will be higher than in recent years."

up
0 users have voted.

It was an expansion of the Medicaid program, which could have been done without all of the drama and court challenges. Everybody else got handed the bill. I think Obama has been one of the most useless Presidents we ever had - a real Trojan Horse.

up
0 users have voted.

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

lunachickie's picture

a new website and layer of bureaucracy as well. Total bullshit, the system was already in place. When this had to be "new", that's when I saw a trainwreck coming.

Sad

up
0 users have voted.

Medicare was designed to eventually cover everybody, it is the most obvious path to health care sanity.

up
0 users have voted.

Beware the bullshit factories.

lunachickie's picture

That's kinda what I was talking about, but I may have garbled it a bit in my zeal to agree with you Smile

up
0 users have voted.
Wink's picture

My aca plan doubled in one year (and covered less). It's not worth the paper it's printed on. Thanks, Obama.

up
0 users have voted.

the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

Lily O Lady's picture

since Medicaid wasn't expanded there.

up
0 users have voted.

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Diomedes77's picture

They could have written that up in a few pages, thus pleasing the righties who don't like to read long bills.

And I'm sick of hearing so-called progressives saying they couldn't do this. Sure they could have, if they actually wanted to. They had the votes. They passed the ACA without a single Republican, even after giving them 150 of their amendments.

All it would have taken was Democratic Party solidarity up to the 51st vote. It was more than doable.

up
0 users have voted.

There is in me an anarchy and frightful disorder. Creating makes me die a thousand deaths, because it means making order, and my entire being rebels against order. But without it I would die, scattered to the winds.

-- Albert Camus

Lily O Lady's picture

There was never any intent to expand and improve. That was just a sales pitch.

up
0 users have voted.

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Diomedes77's picture

It creates a huge bureaucracy in support of for-profit health care insurance, with new subsidies for those profits.

Switching to Single Payer, moving from for-profit to non-profit, is now much, much less likely than it was before the ACA.

And the vast majority of our health care ills are due to our for-profit system.

up
0 users have voted.

There is in me an anarchy and frightful disorder. Creating makes me die a thousand deaths, because it means making order, and my entire being rebels against order. But without it I would die, scattered to the winds.

-- Albert Camus

to control costs.

Private insurance spends about 8 times what it costs Medicare to administer that program. Medicare doesn't have to waste money on advertising and denial-of-service panels and high salaries for the top managers. In 2014 the only thing that rose faster in the ACA implementation than administrative costs was the cost of medicines.

The ACA is a gift to Big Pharma, and Big Insurance and neither need be a part of the delivery of health care services.

up
0 users have voted.

"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

Still hold deep anger against Daschle, was supposed to be the Champion of health care, but got so greedy/lobbying/MONEY, Obama couldn't use him. We got Max Baucus, and Joe Lieberman - who had to make sure the INSURANCE companies in Hartford were happy, and Obama wouldn't fight them. Claimed he didn't have the votes - BS. If Rahm Emmanuel was let loose, he had the votes.
Why Obama caved will always be a mystery to me. What did someone have on him, or threaten him with, or what deal did he cut, to give up on Single Payer?
Someday we'll read the book, but much too late.

up
0 users have voted.
shaharazade's picture

this was the Obama administration's intent from the beginning. The ACA was always meant to be an healthcare/insurance industry subsidy with a guaranteed monopoly and a mandate to get all people signed up for their extortion racket. Education, social security Cat Food Commission), prisons, corporate regulations or any public institutions is not what Obama's administration wanted or worked for. The WH cut the ACA deal's way before the RW town hall loonies hit the floor.

From August 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/health/policy/13health.html?_r=1

Lobbyists for both the drug and hospital industries say that, as early as June, White House officials directed them to work out cost-saving deals with Mr. Baucus’s committee.

Drug industry lobbyists said they negotiated a deal to contribute $80 billion over 10 years toward the cost of an overhaul with Mr. Baucus, under White House supervision, before taking it to the president for final approval. House lawmakers have said they were caught by surprise when it was announced.

Hospital industry lobbyists, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of alienating the White House, say they negotiated their $155 billion in concessions with Mr. Baucus and the administration in tandem. House staff members were present, including for at least one White House meeting, but their role was peripheral, the lobbyists said.

Several hospital lobbyists involved in the White House deals said it was understood as a condition of their support that the final legislation would not include a government-run health plan paying Medicare rates — generally 80 percent of private sector rates — or controlled by the secretary of health and human services.

“We have an agreement with the White House that I’m very confident will be seen all the way through conference,” one of the industry lobbyists, Chip Kahn, director of the Federation of American Hospitals, told a Capitol Hill newsletter.

It was a by-partisan kabuki show rigged from the start with their bogus 60= a majority and their 'victories for compromise. Who compromises with RW the lunatics that the majority of people voted them in to stop? The Dems. sucked as the loyal opposition to the Bushies and they sucked as the majority they blew it off the minute they had it. Obama was the talented PR salesman who sold us an empty pocket full of hope.

Obama at the Hamilton Project, 2006: “This is not a bloodless process.”
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/04/obama-at-the-hamilton-project-200...

As Gaius Publius remarks (about this speech): It’s not long, it touches most of the bases, and tells you all you need to know about how Barack Obama would govern.

Too bad I did not get to see this before the 2008 bait and switch bottom up change you can believe in campaign. A neoliberal/neocon smoking gun if I ever did see one.

up
0 users have voted.

Never knew this - makes me cry, even more. Thank you for posting this comment.
In my "defense" from 2007 to 2012, was mostly focused on myself & breast cancer, successful combination of treatments, & the great example of what doesn't kill ya' can make ya' stronger.

up
0 users have voted.
Diomedes77's picture

Much better on their old core issues -- at least the ones they claimed were theirs. Like deficits, helping business, shrinking government.

The irony is, presidents Reagan, Bush Sr. and Dubya all took the "liberal" route when faced with recessions. They spent a ton more, and each oversaw the hiring of more than a million new public sector employees. Obama saw the decline of 800,000, froze federal hiring, froze wages, held a deficit commission in the middle of a recession, etc. etc.

The Dems have become the true "conservative" party, and the GOP has moved to the right of conservative. We have two right-wing parties now, and that's horrifically bad for America.

up
0 users have voted.

There is in me an anarchy and frightful disorder. Creating makes me die a thousand deaths, because it means making order, and my entire being rebels against order. But without it I would die, scattered to the winds.

-- Albert Camus

The Dems are now the Party of Reagan.

up
0 users have voted.

Democrats, we tried to warn you. How is that guilt and shame working out?

Hillbilly Dem's picture

both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have showered Zombie Reagan with praise. Can you even imagine FDR and Harry Truman fawning over Herbert Hoover? What the f&ck has happened to the Democratic Party? To America?

up
0 users have voted.

"Just call me Hillbilly Dem(exit)."
-H/T to Wavey Davey

Either we are mutually delusional or it actually happened Smile

up
0 users have voted.

Democrats, we tried to warn you. How is that guilt and shame working out?

karl pearson's picture

I'm not delusional. I was raised "strong" Democrat by parents who lived through the Great Depression. My parents were not fond of the Clintons when they gained power in the 1990's. My parents taught me to admire FDR and his successors' policies and said the Democratic party had changed. They held their noses and voted for Bill, but were not happy campers. I will not hold my nose and I will vote for Jill Stein. I hope my vote gets registered.

up
0 users have voted.
lunachickie's picture

that's what happened to the Party.

up
0 users have voted.
ZimInSeattle's picture

America. One wing led by a center right Wall Street warmonger, the other by a proto-fascist bloviating orange billionaire.

up
0 users have voted.

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020

GOP denies it's a problem.

Dems acknowledge it's a problem (but too weak/corrupted/vision-less to lead effectively). That's where we come in.

up
0 users have voted.

it amounts to the same in the end.

up
0 users have voted.

'All of the Above' energy policy is probably the worst thing for climate change except doing absolutely nothing. Just like the ACA.

up
0 users have voted.

Democrats, we tried to warn you. How is that guilt and shame working out?

Cassiodorus's picture

-- to mention what needs to be done.

up
0 users have voted.

"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

riverlover's picture

Just a little straightening around the edges, the olde rearrange the deck chairs ploy. If any do have an idea of the immediate nedd, they are too scared to admit it. Easier to decide they are clueless.

up
0 users have voted.

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Diomedes77's picture

No way on earth we can have capitalism AND save the planet. Can't be done. Capitalism is inherently "Grow or Die," and all of its competitive laws of motion require more, and more, and more.

Endless loops of over-production, consumption, waste and pollution. More and more and more.

There is absolutely no incentive under capitalism to reduce those loops.

Naomi Klein finally came around to this conclusion in her latest book. Ecosocialists, as you know, got there decades before that.

up
0 users have voted.

There is in me an anarchy and frightful disorder. Creating makes me die a thousand deaths, because it means making order, and my entire being rebels against order. But without it I would die, scattered to the winds.

-- Albert Camus

The earth cannot sustain unregulated global capitalism. It may be too late but we have to act as if it's not too late. And, as you point out, step 1 is ending capitalism.

up
0 users have voted.

"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

Cassiodorus's picture

That's the ideal step, though it's like the "higher phase of communist society" described in Marx's Critique of the Gotha Programme:

In a higher phase of communist society, after the enslaving subordination of the individual to the division of labor, and therewith also the antithesis between mental and physical labor, has vanished; after labor has become not only a means of life but life's prime want; after the productive forces have also increased with the all-around development of the individual, and all the springs of co-operative wealth flow more abundantly -- only then then can the narrow horizon of bourgeois right be crossed in its entirety and society inscribe on its banners: From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs!

You have to prep for it. In this regard there are some basic things which can be done. Getting fossil fueled-vehicles off the road for instance. Have the government open a car company. The car company will make only electric cars which you can run off of solar panels. Offer to trade everyone's fossil-fueled vehicle for an electric one. Tell them that at some point the gasoline pumps will be shut off as it will be illegal to sell gasoline in the US. Once everyone has taken the exchange offer, shut off the pumps.

But they won't even do that. Instead it's this nonsense about "cap-and-trade schemes." Even the so-called "Left" buys into it, with "carbon pricing." More and better nonsense!

up
0 users have voted.

"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

and de-commodify the economy and the examples you cite are good ones.

It hasn't escaped notice that the legislators who serve monopoly capital are quick to outlaw, or at least make more difficult, the ability of home solar systems to sell their output on the grid(for one example of the asymmetric economic environment).

up
0 users have voted.

"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

They find it useful to fundraise and scare votes up with, but otherwise are mainly not really interested in fighting for these issues. Some (many) even are more aligned with Republicans on them.

up
0 users have voted.

up
0 users have voted.

Democrats, we tried to warn you. How is that guilt and shame working out?

Diomedes77's picture

Well said.

It's what I've been saying to so-called "progressives" who insist everyone MUST vote Democratic or the end of the world is nigh. And, that it is our apparent duty, and we're lazy bums if we don't.

I keep saying the Dems must earn our votes. They're not entitled to them up front. They have to earn them, and they rarely do.

But, there is a flipside to this as well, which I have been seeing quite a bit of here. To me, it seems like the other side of that (all or nothing) coin. The other side of "The Dems own your vote" is "It's okay to vote for Trump because the parties are the same."

IMO, Trump is a fascist piece of garbage, and if we go by exit polls and surveys of his supporters, a majority of them hold severely racist, homophobic and xenophobic views, which are quite dangerous, if empowered. It's also my opinion that people are using different standards for Clinton and Trump, with regard to "what kind of president will they be." For Clinton, it's worse case scenario. Which is fine. That's certainly a legitimate way to go. But at the same time, they say, "Oh, shucks, Trump won't be nearly as bad as people think." So for Trump, it's best case scenario. And that doesn't make sense. If a person is going for the worse case scenario route with one party, they should apply that to BOTH parties.

Anyway . . . very good essay. Thank you.

up
0 users have voted.

There is in me an anarchy and frightful disorder. Creating makes me die a thousand deaths, because it means making order, and my entire being rebels against order. But without it I would die, scattered to the winds.

-- Albert Camus

earned my intense dislike bordering on hatred.

up
0 users have voted.
Diomedes77's picture

Which is another excuse I've seen bandied about. How does one fight the oligarchy by voting the Republicans into the White House? Voting Trump in means one is voting the GOP agenda in as well. Trump is going to sign off on everything Ryan and McConnell want. He's not going to veto them.

In short, saying no to the duopoly, or no to oligarchy, also means saying no to the GOP. Not just the Dems.

And this should be self-evident.

I'll be voting for Jill Stein, and will support third party leftist candidates whenever I can. If a Dem has earned my vote down ballot, I'll consider them as well. But no way on earth would I pull the lever for the Republican. It boggles the mind that anyone truly on the left would do that.

up
0 users have voted.

There is in me an anarchy and frightful disorder. Creating makes me die a thousand deaths, because it means making order, and my entire being rebels against order. But without it I would die, scattered to the winds.

-- Albert Camus

up
0 users have voted.
Diomedes77's picture

How is it done? If you don't have time to summarize, do you know a good link for this?

up
0 users have voted.

There is in me an anarchy and frightful disorder. Creating makes me die a thousand deaths, because it means making order, and my entire being rebels against order. But without it I would die, scattered to the winds.

-- Albert Camus

counted even if they are not on the ballot there is a box on the ballot paper for "write in"

Each State may have something different Vermont it is our norme

up
0 users have voted.

the anti-Trump arguments by saying that anyone who would pull the lever for him is just enabling Repugnants, or are delusional or somehow just confused. Sure, there is that risk, and maybe that is true, but hopefully, you do understand why many have even considered doing that - because if Trump gets everything "done" that they want done, then maybe, just MAYBE, enough people see the damage the Repukes and Tea Bags have wrought and do something about it.

You do, however, make an excellent point about the worst case and "no big deal" camps though. But I have always thought since the advent of that stupid Tea Party that the only way these people are going to give up the racism and blaming the poor is when they themselves are staring down the barrel of living in a cardboard box. I realize, that is probably a terribly idealistic idea, but what else do we have at this point? We can either vote status quo and watch while the whole country/globe goes to hell in nice little incremental pieces, or we can take a chance and vote to blow the whole thing up. I am getting to the point that I want to blow the whole thing up, but I'm angry today too. And, I guess, in reality that is exactly how these people want us all to be - angry and full of impotent rage, and they want us to KNOW we can do nothing about it but watch. But even I won't pull the lever for Trump. He still represents the worst of the Repugnants and I can't vote for even the best of Repugnants anymore.

up
0 users have voted.

Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

lunachickie's picture

because you can do that easily, behind the scenes, with these computerized tabulators.

Sure, we should be voting Green. But I'm not doing that unless I know that vote counts. Otherwise, it'll count for Clinton even if I don't want it to.

I abhor the idea of voting Trump. I'm not sure I can actually do it, but I'm damn sure not voting for that woman. I'm pretty sure a GOP or a Dem vote will count more than a Green one will. Full stop. Unless they demonstrably fix that shit before November, I may have no other choice.

up
0 users have voted.

"It's what I've been saying to so-called "progressives" who insist everyone MUST vote Democratic or the end of the world is nigh. And, that it is our apparent duty, and we're lazy bums if we don't."

That is the same schtick they have been fling out there forever. It was getting old 20 years ago, at least. I have most certainly never saw that it was any way a good plan, but when have they ever let that stop them?

Would you still like to see some of my email info?

up
0 users have voted.

'Well, I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years, Doctor, and I’m happy to state I finally won out over it." Elwood P. Dowd "

Diomedes77's picture

But, again, I'm looking for non-partisan, objective research. My guess is that's your thing too.

Too much of the GOP witch hunt already out there. I really don't have the patience for that.

Thanks in advance.

up
0 users have voted.

There is in me an anarchy and frightful disorder. Creating makes me die a thousand deaths, because it means making order, and my entire being rebels against order. But without it I would die, scattered to the winds.

-- Albert Camus

riverlover's picture

level (clever, those States Rights things) and now that we know how easily any effort to actually count votes is forgotten, I don't think that write-ins will be effective. Just my beaten-down view. I wrote in Teachout for NY Gov, I never saw a vote total for her.

up
0 users have voted.

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Diomedes77's picture

She'd make a very good governor. It's my hope that she keeps trying for higher office.

Pretty cool ticket: Jill Stein and Zephyr Teachout.

I can also see what you mean about write-ins. Probably very easy to "accidentally" lose, etc.

up
0 users have voted.

There is in me an anarchy and frightful disorder. Creating makes me die a thousand deaths, because it means making order, and my entire being rebels against order. But without it I would die, scattered to the winds.

-- Albert Camus

See, see - see how wrong you are? I'd say the Dems are pretty near to batshit crazy if they think Bernie's supporters are goig to buy that theater. Notice who is leading it? Yep, poc don't like Bernie so let's see if we can remind all those young black folks and liberals why they need to listen to their party elders and forget all about freedom and democracy. Once a hero always a hero, even when stricken with influenza. Too bad influenza isn't fatal. Wouldn't that be a delicious dilema.

up
0 users have voted.

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Diomedes77's picture

They've been in a fetal position on the issue of guns for nearly two decades, and if it takes some theater to spark real change, I'm for it -- cynical, manipulative, faux or not.

And I think it WILL work to set the table for future change.

And there is this. If a Ted Cruz can say openly that Americans need guns to fight against tyrannical government, that this is what the 2nd amendment was all about -- it wasn't; it was about the opposite: using state power to crush domestic rebellions -- then some civil disobedience in the name of sane gun safety regulations is more than fair.

It's incredibly rare that the Dems do ANYTHING to make me smile. And this is one of those times.

up
0 users have voted.

There is in me an anarchy and frightful disorder. Creating makes me die a thousand deaths, because it means making order, and my entire being rebels against order. But without it I would die, scattered to the winds.

-- Albert Camus

I am always opposed to lying for votes no matter the reason.

up
0 users have voted.

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Diomedes77's picture

And I think we won't know that until we see the fallout.

If this does lead to legislation, then it becomes moot how this was done.

All politics is "theater" to some extent. If you automatically dismiss this kind, you might as well dismiss every bit of it and spend your time talking sports, movies, books, etc. etc. instead.

Just my take, anyway. As in, I'll take my sunshine where I can get it.

up
0 users have voted.

There is in me an anarchy and frightful disorder. Creating makes me die a thousand deaths, because it means making order, and my entire being rebels against order. But without it I would die, scattered to the winds.

-- Albert Camus

They had a skit for America to direct your attention away from the fact that they had stolen the nomination. Hey Everyone! Let's round up a few guns!!!!! You were good boys and girls and got out of the way of our candidate! nasty Bernie.
I'm furious. This is a bad trick. An obvious trick.

Look at the guns. They didn't have a skit about fixing the elections. Guess guns are more important right now. Are you certain they didn't slip the TTP into being while we were smiling over guns?

up
0 users have voted.

'Well, I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years, Doctor, and I’m happy to state I finally won out over it." Elwood P. Dowd "

making excuses for Obama and Hillary because an action of their's intended to exploit people might inadvertantly help a few - ACA comes to mind.

up
0 users have voted.

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Diomedes77's picture

Not me. I'm happy they're doing this. Flat out. I'm damn happy to see them show some spine. Is that not allowed here, without an attack? Can we not be happy about tiny rays of sunshine in an all too dark sky?

Sheesh.

up
0 users have voted.

There is in me an anarchy and frightful disorder. Creating makes me die a thousand deaths, because it means making order, and my entire being rebels against order. But without it I would die, scattered to the winds.

-- Albert Camus

Pages