Moving Rightwards in America
Ratcheting Up America's Problems
On Twitter/X, I stumbled across this useful image that visually captures the U.S. political scene:
The modification I’d make to this illustration is with the caption. It’s not only Republicans who turn everything rightwards—Democrats help too. Consider Kamala Harris’ embrace of Dick and Liz Cheney during her campaign of ill-fortune. Or her embrace of military lethality and her celebration of Israel’s “right” to “defend” itself as it wages genocide in Gaza.
It’s Republicans and Democrats who are turning this country rightwards even as Democrats block any appreciable movement in progressive or “leftist” directions.
Mainstream Democrats will always say they need to do this as allegedly it’s the only way they can win, which is pure BS, as Harris’ defeat recently shows. It’s the old “fake left, run right” tactic, and corporate-friendly Democrats keep using it, if only to keep the money flowing.
No matter. Liberal magazines like The Nation are telling me that Harris lost because of “bigotry,” not because she embraced the Cheneys and left workers behind. I guess President Obama won two terms because of bigotry?
Given this “ratchet effect,” America desperately needs a political revolution, as Bernie Sanders in 2016 was wont to say, as rightist Hillary Clinton ran against Trumpist Donald Trump. (Trump makes populist noises, but his guiding light is self-aggrandizement.)
As Democrats offer rightist candidates like Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, Republicans give us a plutocratic “man of the people” (never mind the contradiction here) like Trump. Facing that grim “choice,” sensing that Clinton and Harris and Democrats like them are not what they say are, many Americans opt for the scrutable plutocrat and his friends. Elon Musk, anyone?
And thus America’s problems are ratcheted up.
P.S. A hearty “Happy New Years!” to all my readers wherever you are!
"...Democrats block any appreciable movement in progressive or 'leftist' directions."
While that statement is demonstrably true of the Dems, it's also true of the GOP, as we've seen for decades. In other words, we have a right-wing party and an extremist right-wing party.
Happy New Year all. Yes indeed Bill, I have written about this before. It is clear to me that the source of all of this comes from the wealthy people in control. They want policies that make them richer, and those are all right-wing policies that act to concentrate wealth even further, while making sure that there is no path back to a more equitable world. The trend will never end until average working people stop bickering with each other and complaining about things like immigrants, and focus all energies on defunding the wealthy. What I want is a modern day "Jubilee". where all debts are canceled (and the rich take a big kick in the gut). If you haven't heard of Jubilee, look it up. It is exactly what we need right now.