This is an historical look at the dysfunction of both political parties:

Two deeply dysfunctional parties being strained to a breaking point.

The current Republicans most resemble the Jacksonian Democrats (rather fitting given Donald Trump’s conspicuous idolization of Andrew Jackson). In the 19th century, the Democratic Party was controlled by Southern slave owning oligarchs. These oligarchs spouted off populist rhetoric to attract the votes of mostly Catholic immigrant workers, small farmers and artisans in the North who resented getting the short end of the stick in the emerging Northern industrial capitalist order. Likewise, the current Republican Party is an alliance between some of the most reactionary sections of the capitalist oligarchy, particularly ‘traditional’ industries such as oil and gas, with masses of middle class, working class and poor whites mobilized against ‘free trade’ neo liberal agreements.

On the other end, the current Democrats most resemble the Whigs, which were the party of the banking and industrial capitalist ruling elite in New England/NorthEast, as well as prosperous middling farmers in the Midwest who benefited from the railway and canal projects the Whigs championed. The Whigs also attracted reformers and progressives, including many abolitionists, and had a loyal following amongst Northern free blacks who were appalled by the vile racism of the Jacksonian Democrats.

The primary focus is how the racial divide in Portland and immigration policy are symptomatic of the divisive forces Trump has unleashed.

Likewise, the Republican and Democratic parties are in a bind on immigration- the white nationalist populists who have gained a foothold in the GOP are earnest in their desire to ‘save’ white America from the menace of mongrelization through mass deportations, but the corporate interests that dominate the GOP know that the low-wage police state they desire requires a large undocumented population. On the other side, the growing progressive, multiracial working class base of the Democratic Party sincerely wishes for there to be mass resistance to Trump’s attacks on immigrants, for ‘sanctuary cities’ and states to live up to their name.

But the leadership of the Democratic Party can only go so far beyond posturing and symbolic gestures, since the root causes of mass migration from Latin America and the Middle East are the result of the very policies the neo-liberal establishment of the Democratic Party champions: neo-liberal trade agreements like NAFTA, imperialist wars in the Middle East, US backed coup d’etats against socialist and populist governments in Latin America, and the increasing pressure on resources brought about by global climate change.

The rest of the story:

https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/07/05/bleeding-portland-and-the-collap...