"The hypocrisy and ineptitude of the liberal class"

More dour-yet-on-point commentary from Chris Hedges:

The timidity of the left exposes its cowardice, lack of a moral compass and mounting political impotence. The left stands for nothing. The damage Obama and the Democrats have done is immense. But the damage liberals do the longer they beg Obama and the Democrats for a few scraps is worse. It is time to walk out on the Democrats. It is time to back alternative third-party candidates and grass-roots movements, no matter how marginal such support may be. If we do not take a stand soon we must prepare for the rise of a frightening protofascist movement, one that is already gaining huge ground among the permanently unemployed, a frightened middle class and frustrated low-wage workers.

Hedges also understands that electoral politics shouldn't be treated as the engine of social change (a realization he shares with about .002% of voters-for-Democrats), but he makes the worthwhile point that allowing the Democratic Party to represent the public face of the left in this country undermines the ability to achieve that change:

Social change does not come through voting. It is delivered through activism, organizing and mobilization that empower groups to confront the hegemony of the corporate state and the power elite. The longer socialism is identified with the corporatist policies of the Democratic Party, the longer we allow the right wing to tag Obama as a socialist, the more absurd and ineffectual we become. [...] The hypocrisy and ineptitude of the Democrats become, in the eyes of the wider public, the hypocrisy and ineptitude of the liberal class. We can continue to tie our own hands and bind our own feet or we can break free, endure the inevitable opprobrium, and fight back. This means refusing to support the Democrats.

Testify!

Comments

[Duncan]

But -- but -- surely, comrades, you do not want Bush back?

[John Caruso]

Oh my god, you're right. I never thought about it that way. I take it all back!

[drip]

Bush is gone? I've been away for a while.

[ms_xeno]

Some of the comments over there were actually quite good. I got almost dizzy a couple of times. :D

[mistah charley, ph.d.]

I posted the following at the website of the Coffee Party earlier this week:

I notice the strong emphasis [at the Coffee Party website] on health care reform, but I think there's something even more important and likelier to get broad agreement from the general public, once they are informed of the facts. There's a practical, positive program that the U.S. could implement that could save us LOTS of money, while making both America and the world a better place. We could Bring America Home - end our occupation and invasion of other countries, and dismantle our world-wide system of military bases.

My phone rang this morning. Judging by the voice, it was a middle-aged white man not too dissimilar to myself calling to ask for donations for the Democratic Party. I told him that missus charley and I did not plan to give money to the party any more, because we no longer consider ourselves members. The party is part of the problem, not part of the solution. I said we as a country need to Bring America Home - to bring the troops home, and to bring the country back to the values of Presidents Washington (no foreign entanglements) and Eisenhower (beware the power of the military industrial complex.)

Obama has done nothing to reduce the power of the military-industrial complex, and in fact has increased it. Both parties are full of commercial sex workers, to use the politest possible term, I said (and the fellow chuckled at that). He assured me that the call was being recorded, as he had stated at the beginning, and he would bring my sentiments to the attention of his superiors. I said I hoped he would, because maybe there would be a few who realize that temporary personal advantage is less important than the long term well-being of the nation, which is very much in danger. He agreed with this last point (at least verbally - i don't know if he REALLY agreed) and the call was concluded.

I can't take credit for the phrase BRING AMERICA HOME. Chris Floyd is the author, and on February 25, 2010 he wrote on his blog (the rest is quoted from him):

I do have a positive program to offer, a viable, workable, practical approach to many of our problems. This is what my program offers:

Lower taxes
Stronger national security
More jobs
Greater prosperity
Higher wages
Better schools, roads, and health care
Less government
Safer streets

What's more, this program requires no social upheaval, no political turmoil, no violence – no revolution from either Left or Right. It can be accomplished entirely within the existing political and economic system. It needs no new government powers, no new bureaucracies, no new taxes.

All it requires is simply this: Bring America Home. End our worldwide military empire.

As I noted the other day, ending America's imperial wars and dismantling America's global military empire – and its global gulag -- would save trillions of dollars in the coming years. Not only from cuts in direct military spending, but also from the vastly reduced need for "Homeland Security" funding in a world where the United States was no longer invading foreign lands, killing their people, supporting their tyrants -- and inciting revenge and resistance.

This would release a flood of money for any number of new domestic initiatives, while also giving scope for deep tax cuts across the board. Working people would thrive, the poor, the sick and the vulnerable would be better off, businesses would grow, opportunity would expand, the care and education of our children would be greatly enhanced, our infrastructure could be repaired and strengthened, our environment better cleansed and cared for. The end of empire would also mean an end to the horrendous economic distortion wrought by our war-profiteering industries. Other businesses would inevitably come to the fore, economic activity would be spread more evenly across more sectors.

In short, people could keep more of their own money while government spending could be directed toward improving the quality of life of all the nation's citizens.

Now, this is not some pie-in-the-sky dream. We all have our own ideas and beliefs about what consitutes the good life, or the best kind of society. And in a post-empire America, there would be plenty of scope for heated debate on all kinds of issues; ideological conflicts, 'culture wars,' partisan wrangling, would go on. And of course there would still be injustice, corruption, and much suffering in society. So we're not talking about a utopia.

But – it would be a better society than it is now. It would be more humane, more just, more secure, more peaceful, more sustainable, more prosperous than it is now. And all our culture wars and political conflicts would take place in a healthier context, in a freer land, where the focus is on "the pursuit of happiness," not the "projection of dominance" around the world.

[Gnome Chomsky]

Hey, Michael Moore says Democrats are wusses! It's on now! See you at the barricades!

[John Caruso]

Yeah, I'd planned a posting about that very interview (which I've put up now that the cat is out of the bag...).