Re: [blind-democracy] Re: Sanders, socialism and the U.S. left in crisis

Right you are, Miriam. In fact the propaganda being heaped upon our
heads at every turn, is so effective that most Americans believe that
the nations troubles are caused by...fill in the blank. Blacks;
Mexicans; Jews; Asians; Gays; drugs; Terrorist threats; too big
government; supporting lazy worthless people. You might want to add
your favorites to the list.
And here's the dirty little secret. Our troubles are not caused by
any of the above listed. But one thing they all have in common, they
do not have a voice in this government. There is no strong Political
Party to represent their needs. The Democrat Party, once the voice
and support of the Working Class, has abandoned us and moved to where
the money is. The Republican Party, once the darling of the Rich, has
moved so far Right that it represents only mavericks, White Racists,
and Crazies. Oh yes, also religious zealots.
Perhaps Bernie Sanders efforts will gather enough like thinking people
that a new People's Party will rise up and represent the interests of
the 99%. But for this to happen there will need to be a return to
sanity by the Working Class. There must be a rejection of Corporate
First Class Citizenry; the removal of money from political campaigns;
and the uniting of those factions now struggling against one another,
into one solid union. Instead of thinking of our own little group, we
must begin to see a battle between the Drones and the Worker Bees. If
your taxes are going to the support of the rich, you are a Worker Bee,
no matter whether you wear a blue collar or a white collar, whether
you work two or three part time jobs or have a comfortable office,
whether you place your Faith in God, or Allah, or some other Deity, or
in your own inner self.
We need to stand together in support of our differences as well as in
support of our commonalities.
The bottom line is that we Working Class People have the tools at hand
to do the job...if we will only take them up, together.

Carl Jarvis


On 5/15/16, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@optonline.net> wrote:
> Actually, the Democratic party of today is equivalent to the Republican
> Party of yester year. It represents Business, the Corporate elite and the
> intellectual elite. I'm not sure what the Republican Party is. We don't
> have a party that represents middle and low income people anymore. That's
> possibly because most people now-a-days, think they're special, a member of
> one elite or another.
>
> Miriam
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org
> [mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of Frank Ventura
> Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2016 5:45 PM
> To: blind-democracy@freelists.org
> Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Sanders, socialism and the U.S. left in
> crisis
>
> Well if true, and I have no reason to doubt you, then that verifies what I
> was just saying about many Sanders' supporters being closet republicans
> whose real agenda is to derail any democratic candidate thus ensuring a
> republican victory. The write in effort is a real joke. If he doesn't
> numerically have enough support to win a nomination than he surely doesn't
> have enough numeric support to win as a write in candidate, and don't even
> get me started about Jill Stein. So the real question is does Sanders know
> that he is really a republican operative or is he still so naïve to believe
> anything but that?
> Frank
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org
> [mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of Miriam Vieni
> Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2016 4:54 PM
> To: blind-democracy@freelists.org
> Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Sanders, socialism and the U.S. left in
> crisis
>
> There is a strong movement among Sanders' supporters to either write in his
> name or vote for Jill Stein. There's a whole website devoted to the effort
> of preventing people from voting for Clinton, and I sent the URL to the list
> yesterday, I think. There is also a petition to Ssanders, asking him to
> leave the Democratic Party and run independently or with Jill Stein on the
> Green Party ticket. There are lots of articles about this floating around
> which I haven't posted.
>
> Miriam
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org
> [mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
> Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2016 4:34 PM
> To: blind-democracy@freelists.org
> Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Sanders, socialism and the U.S. left in
> crisis
>
> Frank,
> From where I sit, Sanders has been pretty consistent. He talks about a
> social revolution, but protects the Empire's World Dominance. His great
> reforms will never happen because the money will still be going into our
> eternal war and the expansion of the American Empire. My guess, and it's
> only a guess, is that when Clinton is declared the Party candidate, Sanders
> will release his supporters and delegates to vote their conscience. I
> suspect that many will turn to Clinton as the lesser of two Evils. Some of
> us will look for any Left Wing candidate as a protest vote, in the belief
> that either Clinton or Trump will destroy whatever is left of the once proud
> Working Class.
> But however it goes, we who are not Republicans, have no representation in
> this Oligarchy. The Democrat Party is the new Upper Class Party, while the
> old Republican Party has become the Party of the Crazies.
>
> Carl Jarvis
>
> On 5/15/16, Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@littlebreezes.com> wrote:
>> Just more political dupe and poop. Although I had real hopes for
>> Bernie it appears he has gone down the same path as any of the big
>> dogs feeding on the corporate entrails. While initially speaking about
>> social issues to dupe us he now obviously only wants to dismantle the
>> democratic party and leave the working class with a republican president
>> who will further poop on us.
>> Well maybe the Wednesday after the election he'll invite us all onto
>> his yacht which he will purchase from all of the GOP/Tea Party thank you
>> money.
>> Frank
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org
>> [mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of Roger Loran
>> Bailey
>> Sent: Friday, May 13, 2016 7:39 PM
>> To: blind-democracy@freelists.org
>> Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Sanders, socialism and the U.S. left in
>> crisis
>>
>> Then I would expect you to criticize Sanders for using the word
>> socialist so indiscriminately. He does confuse understanding when he
>> calls himself a socialist and then takes no socialist positions.
>>
>>
>> On 5/13/2016 4:11 PM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
>>> All those people who are talking about a political revolution,
>>> including Bernie, are just talking about a change in the Democratic
>>> party. People want it to represent the interest of low and middle
>>> income people. They want it to go back to a social welfare state
>>> similar to what they remember in the 40's and 50's. Bernie would like
>>> that social welfare state to include the kinds of social programs found
>>> in western european countries.
>>> He's talking about regulated capitalism or social democracy. And
>>> that is what most of his supporters want. They are not really looking
>>> for a socialist state or revolution. But they do want change. Whether
>>> or not that is possible, remains to be seen. But again, all these
>>> labels, these words being used indiscriminately, are very confusing.
>>>
>>> Miriam
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org
>>> [mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of Roger
>>> Loran Bailey (Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
>>> Sent: Friday, May 13, 2016 3:24 PM
>>> To: blind-democracy@freelists.org
>>> Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Sanders, socialism and the U.S. left
>>> in crisis
>>>
>>> And that is especially not going to happen even if Bernie is elected
>>> president because he has no perspective for abolishing capitalism at
>>> all.
>>> That is what makes him a fake socialist.
>>>
>>>
>>> On 5/13/2016 12:42 PM, Carl Jarvis wrote:
>>>> Fact: Any candidate, regardless of Party affiliation, will not,
>>>> repeat, WILL NOT head up a political revolution, if elected president.
>>>>
>>>> Reason: The USA is not a Republic. It is not a Democracy. The USA
>>>> is a Corporate Capitalist Empire. An Oligarchy.
>>>>
>>>> Second Fact: Revolutions do not start at the top.
>>>>
>>>> Reason: A revolution is, "an overthrow or repudiation and the
>>>> thorough replacement of an established government or political
>>>> system by the people governed".
>>>> Although a revolution might begin from within, by the uprising of
>>>> the military or a coup by a strongman and his supporters, usually
>>>> military, nonetheless, we normally think of a revolution as a
>>>> people's uprising. And that ain't going to happen, even if Bernie
>>>> were elected. Capitalism is the bugaboo. As long as Capitalism
>>>> reigns, there can be no compromise.
>>>> So I am back to why I will vote for Sanders in the primary, and
>>>> Stein in the general election. My reasoning, such as it is, goes like
>>>> this:
>>>> I am a spectator. The "team", the American Corporate Capitalist
>>>> Empire, is on the field of play. The old quarterback is tiring and
>>>> there needs to be a replacement. Several quarterbacks are trotted
>>>> out in front of the Fans, who are expected to cheer for the one they
>>>> like best. The winner of the popular cheering is sent into the game.
>>>> But nothing about the game changes. The game goes on as usual, and
>>>> if that quarterback can't move the ball, he is replaced with the
>>>> next, in hopes that he will turn the tide. But none of the
>>>> quarterbacks will dare try something out of left field. They have
>>>> all been thoroughly schooled in the fundamentals of the game. They
>>>> know all of the rules.
>>>> I can either cheer for my favorite quarterback or I can go off and
>>>> start my own team. Sure, there are other struggling little teams
>>>> around. But they will never be allowed to play on the Center Field.
>>>> I know full well that no matter what I do, I will not own a piece of
>>>> this team. But if I want to be a fan, I'll pause long enough to
>>>> cheer for one quarterback or another.
>>>> Meanwhile, I can make a difference down here in the trenches. I can
>>>> do my best to help folks understand that unless they are among the
>>>> 1%, they do not have a team in this fight. When enough of us
>>>> understand that we have no representation, and the "Law of the Land"
>>>> is not on the books for us, then perhaps we can begin talking about
>>>> putting our own team on Center Field.
>>>>
>>>> "Preacher" Carl Jarvis
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 5/13/16, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@freelists.org> wrote:
>>>>> https://socialistaction.org/2016/05/12/may-2016-sanderssanders-soci
>>>>> a m ay-2016-sanderslism-and-the-u-s-left-in-crisis/
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Sanders, socialism and the U.S. left in crisis
>>>>>
>>>>> / 18 hours ago
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> May 2016 Sanders
>>>>>
>>>>> By JEFF MACKLER
>>>>>
>>>>> U.S. primary election math pundits are now calculating that Bernie
>>>>> Sanders cannot win the Democratic Party presidential primary contest.
>>>>> His impending demise, and indeed his Democratic Party candidacy
>>>>> itself, has sparked a wide-ranging discussion and debate in the U.S.
>>>>> socialist movement, and in broader circles, that reveals an
>>>>> extraordinary level of confusion and disarray. The spectacle of
>>>>> most U.S. socialist organizations' supporting, in one form or
>>>>> another, an open Democrat is a sure sign of a left in crisis.
>>>>>
>>>>> Including 53.5 percent that he won on May 3 in Indiana and his 51.4
>>>>> percent in West Virginia, in which he actually lost ground in his
>>>>> race with Hillary Clinton, Sanders now needs more than 65 percent
>>>>> of all remaining pledged delegates for a pledged convention
>>>>> majority and
>>>>> 82 percent of all remaining delegates—including super-delegates.
>>>>> The latter have been handpicked by the Democratic Party hierarchy
>>>>> and pledged long ago to vote for Clinton. Any illusion that these
>>>>> lifelong professional ruling-class politicians will accede to the
>>>>> "popular will" and shift to Sanders is absurd. But promoting this
>>>>> illusion is Sanders' current bait-and-switch tactic.
>>>>>
>>>>> It is not the math of the matter, however, that motivates Sanders
>>>>> to "fight on." He clearly explained his views in a recent KQED
>>>>> National Public Radio (NPR) interview: "I think we are perpetuating
>>>>> the political revolution by significantly increasing the level of
>>>>> political activity that we're seeing in this country. I think it is
>>>>> good for the United States of America and good for the Democratic
>>>>> Party to have a vigorous debate, to engage people in the political
>>>>> process" (emphasis added).
>>>>>
>>>>> NPR reported that by staying in the race, Sanders believes he is
>>>>> "energizing voters" and, therefore, "boosting the Democratic Party
>>>>> to victory in November." He contended that Democrats do well and
>>>>> Republicans do poorly when turnout is high. "So I'm going to do
>>>>> everything I can to stimulate political discourse in this country
>>>>> and get young people, working people, involved in the political
>>>>> process."
>>>>>
>>>>> Following four primary contest losses to Hillary Clinton in late
>>>>> April, Sanders insisted that even if he lost the nomination he
>>>>> would fight for his delegates to have substantial convention
>>>>> representation on the Democratic Party's "Platform Committee,"
>>>>> where party leaders supposedly would hammer out the program to be
>>>>> implemented should Clinton win. Only the most naïve in politics
>>>>> believe that ruling-class policies are decided by a handful of
>>>>> delegates cloistered in the backrooms of party conventions. Sadly,
>>>>> however, most of the U.S. socialist left believe that the Sanders
>>>>> campaign represents some sort of "political revolution"
>>>>> that merits their support—in one form or another. We shall review
>>>>> this almost bewildering phenomenon shortly.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sanders, despite his protestations to the contrary, has been a
>>>>> welcome addition to the periodically orchestrated "lesser evil"
>>>>> sham employed by ruling-class leaders and their ever calculating
>>>>> and sophisticated think tanks. They know full well that capitalist
>>>>> elections are essential to maintaining the myth of democracy, on
>>>>> the one hand, and to dissipating the anger and hatred at its
>>>>> inherently anti-working class, racist, and sexist policies into
>>>>> safe electoral channels, on the other.
>>>>>
>>>>> Well before Sanders proclaimed his "democratic socialism," national
>>>>> polls—the Pew polls of three years ago, for example—indicated that
>>>>> socialism was on the minds of millions. In a recent Pew poll, 49
>>>>> percent of youth 30 years old and under preferred socialism over
>>>>> capitalism.
>>>>> Three years ago, the figure was 46 percent who preferred capitalism
>>>>> over socialism. The figures for the Black population as a whole
>>>>> were higher, with a significant majority, 55 percent, preferring
>>>>> socialism—in their view a more egalitarian and less predatory
>>>>> society, in which human solidarity and social welfare trump the
>>>>> greed of the elite one percent.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sanders is undoubtedly correct in recognizing his role in the past
>>>>> year as attempting to bolster the credibility of the Democratic
>>>>> Party. He has consciously taken the assignment of demonstrating
>>>>> that "dissident"
>>>>> ideas, or perhaps better, "dissident" rhetoric—as with his
>>>>> frequently touted expression, "political revolution"—is acceptable
>>>>> terminology inside this tried and true ruling-class institution,
>>>>> the nation's infamous "graveyard of social movements."
>>>>>
>>>>> Hillary Clinton and her advisers understand shell game politics
>>>>> just as well, as demonstrated by their efforts to remake one of
>>>>> capitalism's most heinous warmongers and racist apologists into the
>>>>> feminist, humanist, anti-racist, and environmentally concerned
>>>>> politician they are projecting as Clinton's campaign image today.
>>>>> As we go to press [May 11] a nervous Clinton has moved another step
>>>>> to the "left," according to the New York Times, by embracing in
>>>>> part Sanders' single-payer "Medicare for all" proposal.
>>>>>
>>>>> Political discontent rising in U.S. population
>>>>>
>>>>> In due time, we will all "feel the Bern," or better, witness the
>>>>> "fizzle," when Sanders, as promised, stumps the nation hustling
>>>>> votes on Clinton's behalf to save the nation from the "greater
>>>>> evil"—Donald Trump. Step one in the current two-stage "lesser-evil"
>>>>> game was Sanders'
>>>>> shepherding growing and undeniable anti-capitalist sentiments back
>>>>> into the Democratic Party. Step two now includes Sanders' making
>>>>> every effort to do the same with those who have been hornswoggled
>>>>> into his orbit but might yet decide to quit the electoral shell
>>>>> game in disgust with the thought of voting for Clinton.
>>>>>
>>>>> The fact that capitalism's media pundits felt compelled to lend an
>>>>> air of legitimacy to Sanders' fake socialism is an indication of
>>>>> the questioning nature of our times and the deep discontent that is
>>>>> percolating in the consciousness of working people.
>>>>>
>>>>> A New York Times/CBS News poll last November indicated that some 56
>>>>> percent of registered Democrats who were questioned said they felt
>>>>> positive about socialism as a governing philosophy. Twenty-nine
>>>>> percent had a negative view. This, in itself, goes a long way in
>>>>> explaining why Clinton, and in fact, most Republican Party
>>>>> candidates, largely refrained from the red-baiting tirades that
>>>>> have been the usual stock-in-trade of capitalist politics.
>>>>> Attacking Sanders as a socialist might well have the effect of
>>>>> advancing his credibility, not to mention socialism's!
>>>>>
>>>>> In time, when the inevitable and broad-ranging fightback takes
>>>>> shape in forms truly independent of and against the twin parties of
>>>>> capital and its liberal "third-party" middle-class-based variants
>>>>> like the Green Party, working people will find genuine political
>>>>> avenues and mass organizations of struggle to express their disgust
>>>>> at capitalist austerity and social regression. This combination of
>>>>> renewed and massive mobilizations in the streets, in reinvigorated
>>>>> and democratically led union fightbacks, and in anti-racist,
>>>>> anti-sexist, anti-homophobic, and pro-environment struggles will
>>>>> undoubtedly find an expression in the political arena.
>>>>>
>>>>> But this magnificent and longed for "music of the future," based on
>>>>> the deeply felt rejection of the system of two capitalist parties,
>>>>> to be effective—to mark a clean and qualitative break with the
>>>>> endless variations of "lesser evilism" that are consciously
>>>>> presented by the most sophisticated practitioners of capitalist
>>>>> politics—can only be grounded on the foundation of working-class
>>>>> independence. The desire for political "independence," however
>>>>> vague this term might be, is today gaining ground in the United
>>>>> States. A full 43 percent of the electorate, according to a recent
>>>>> Gallop Poll, is registered as Independent, with Democratic Party
>>>>> registration at 32 percent, and Republican Party registered voters
>>>>> at 23 percent.
>>>>>
>>>>> These facts alone explain why in states like New York, where
>>>>> registered independents are excluded in the primary process,
>>>>> Hillary Clinton's margin of victory over Sanders was quite
>>>>> significant. In states with an "open primary," that is, where
>>>>> "independent" voters can participate, Sanders is expected to win a
>>>>> substantial, but still insufficient majority, as in the June 7
>>>>> California primary.
>>>>>
>>>>> Of course, none of these registered voter statistics tell the full
>>>>> story since some 51 million voters, about 25 percent of the
>>>>> eligible electorate, are not registered. Further, the actual
>>>>> percentage of all eligible voters who vote stands at 55 percent!
>>>>> The vast majority of non-voters are Black, Latino, and youth more
>>>>> generally, many of whom are consciously excluded due to reactionary
>>>>> legislation or are disillusioned with the entire electoral charade.
>>>>>
>>>>> U.S. left collapses before Sanders
>>>>>
>>>>> There is no doubt that Sanders' "political revolution" and
>>>>> "anti-establishment" rhetoric, not to mention his self-proclaimed
>>>>> "democratic socialism," has captured the imagination of and spiked
>>>>> interest in the current primary contests as well as in socialist
>>>>> ideas more generally. Indeed, this is precisely and, again, the
>>>>> consciously orchestrated Sanders project; the U.S. ruling class and
>>>>> its pundits are more than capable of appealing to the best
>>>>> instincts and highest aspirations of working people for a better
>>>>> life for all in order to once again lure them into their
>>>>> life-extinguishing anaconda-like institutional clutches.
>>>>>
>>>>> Tragically, many of those who claim to know better—those who
>>>>> seriously consider themselves socialists—have been active
>>>>> partisans, if not enthusiastic advocates, of today's
>>>>> ruling-class-promoted Bernie Sanders brand of lesser-evilism.
>>>>>
>>>>> Among these socialists, and perhaps the most prominent, is Sanders'
>>>>> supporter in the primary contests, Kshama Sawant, and her Socialist
>>>>> Alternative party. Sawant is a two-time winner in recent Seattle
>>>>> city-council election contests, where she ran as an open socialist
>>>>> and against the Democratic Party machine. Socialist Action hailed
>>>>> Socialist Alternative's Seattle campaigns, and the associated
>>>>> Socialist Alternative city council run by Ty Moore in Minneapolis.
>>>>> Socialist Action enthusiastically participated in these campaigns,
>>>>> contributed financially, organized public fund-raising forums, went
>>>>> door-to-door, and otherwise widely publicized this inspiring
>>>>> socialist effort.
>>>>>
>>>>> This is not to say that we were not aware that Socialist
>>>>> Alternative originally sought, unsuccessfully, to organize these
>>>>> campaigns as joint efforts with the pro-capitalist Green Party. But
>>>>> Green Party leaders rejected these overtures, leaving Socialist
>>>>> Alternative with a critical decision as to how to proceed. To their
>>>>> credit, they took the high road in working-class politics and ran
>>>>> as socialists, but their penchant for the middle-class Green Party
>>>>> was never far from their perspectives.
>>>>>
>>>>> Today, that high road, the road to independent socialist
>>>>> working-class politics against the Democratic Party, has been
>>>>> abandoned, with Socialist Alternative and Sawant actually
>>>>> campaigning for Sanders in all the Democratic Party primary contests.
>>>>>
>>>>> In an article published in the May 4 issue of CounterPunch, Sawant
>>>>> gives an explanation for phase two of their electoral strategy. She
>>>>> writes:
>>>>> "To endorse Hillary, even with a more progressive platform, would
>>>>> be the opposite of political revolution and would abandon all the
>>>>> vital energy and momentum we have built over this historic past
>>>>> year. We simply can't afford to make this mistake. That's why I
>>>>> have launched a petition calling on Bernie Sanders to run all the
>>>>> way to November as an independent, and to use his campaign as a
>>>>> launch pad for a new political party of the 99%."
>>>>>
>>>>> Sawant immediately continues: "If Bernie's only concern is that
>>>>> running independently could open the door to a President Trump,
>>>>> then why could he not at least campaign in the 40+ states where
>>>>> it's generally clear the Democratic or Republican candidate will win?
>>>>> Even in this way, while not putting his name on the ballot in the
>>>>> 5-10 closely contested 'swing states,' he could still run an
>>>>> historic campaign if linked to building a new party" (emphasis in
>>>>> original).
>>>>>
>>>>> But Sawant's "new party" in this case is, again, the middle-class,
>>>>> pro-capitalist Green Party, which has regularly urged its
>>>>> supporters to vote Democrat in "swing states" or simply declined to
>>>>> seek ballot status in these "contested states." Sawant's petition
>>>>> calls on Sanders to run on the same ticket as the Green Party's
>>>>> presumptive presidential candidate, Jill Stein—perhaps to replace
>>>>> Stein on the ballot with Sanders.
>>>>>
>>>>> Here it is important to remind readers that the terms "independent"
>>>>> and "third party" are not always clear. There are several "third
>>>>> parties"
>>>>> today, ranging from extreme right-wing expressions of capitalist
>>>>> politics like the Libertarians and the Constitutional Party to
>>>>> liberal, reformist Democratic Party-oriented outfits like the
>>>>> Working Families Party, to the pro-capitalist Green Party.
>>>>>
>>>>> In the case of the Green Party, let me remind readers that Green
>>>>> Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader achieved ballot status in
>>>>> six states via heinous agreements with Patrick Buchanan's incipient
>>>>> fascist Reform Party. Nader ran on the Reform Party's ballot line
>>>>> in return for making reactionary statements limiting the right of
>>>>> women to abortion and restricting immigrants from entering the
>>>>> country.
>>>>> (See Nader's June 21, 2004, interview with Patrick Buchanan in the
>>>>> American Conservative.)
>>>>>
>>>>> None of these "third parties" are independent of and against the
>>>>> fundamental capitalist politics of the Democrats and Republicans.
>>>>> Or, to be precise, none seek to organize the working class to
>>>>> replace the capitalist system with a socialist one—in which the
>>>>> private ownership and control of the nation's banks, corporations,
>>>>> and wealth is ended, and the vast majority, the 99 percent, act to
>>>>> reorganize society for the common good. None are based on,
>>>>> financed, and controlled by working-class organizations like trade
>>>>> unions or other democratic mass working-class organizations. None,
>>>>> as a matter of class principle, reject voting for capitalist
>>>>> parties. Indeed, in local elections, as well as national, Greens
>>>>> routinely endorse "progressive" Democrats, and in races where the
>>>>> Republican is a bit too overtly reactionary, "not so progressive
>>>>> Democrats."
>>>>>
>>>>> Asking Bernie Sanders, a lifelong capitalist politician with a 98
>>>>> percent Democratic Party voting record, to run as a candidate
>>>>> independent of and against the party he has assiduously supported
>>>>> for his entire career is like asking the proverbial leopard to
>>>>> change its spots. Or better, it's akin to yet again playing
>>>>> politics in the ruling class' institutional party ballpark.
>>>>>
>>>>> Today, much of the socialist left has made this choice; some, like
>>>>> the Communist Party and Democratic Socialists of America, have
>>>>> habitually supported Democrats for many decades. The CP today
>>>>> supports Clinton, while the DSA supports Sanders—that is, until
>>>>> Sanders drops out.
>>>>>
>>>>> Solidarity and the International Socialist Organization call on
>>>>> Sanders to run for the presidency as an "independent" or as the
>>>>> Green Party candidate. The Workers International League also speaks
>>>>> favorably of an "independent" campaign by Sanders. Workers World
>>>>> Party and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, both of which
>>>>> have called for votes for left-sounding Democrats in the past,
>>>>> including Jesse Jackson, are fielding their own presidential
>>>>> candidates this time around, but nevertheless have called for
>>>>> Democratic Party primary votes for Sanders.
>>>>>
>>>>> Keenly aware of the rapidly growing interest in socialist ideas
>>>>> generated by capitalism's deepening crises and sparked by the
>>>>> Sanders campaign, Socialist Action branches across the country have
>>>>> sponsored a series of well-attended public debates where most of
>>>>> the above socialist organizations, as well as representatives from
>>>>> the Labor for Bennie campaign, shared the platform for fruitful
>>>>> exchanges.
>>>>> While the "lesser evil" syndrome was undoubtedly at work in the
>>>>> presentations of these socialist groups, we were heartened to see
>>>>> that the Marxist-grounded revolutionary socialist ideas of
>>>>> Socialist Action were well received and that our proud party, a
>>>>> consistent participant and advocate of independent mass-action
>>>>> united-front mobilizations against all aspects of capitalist racism
>>>>> and plunder, won new members to the cause of socialist revolution.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Share this:
>>>>>
>>>>> Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) 43Share on
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>>>>> in new
>>>>> window)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> May 12, 2016 in Elections, Uncategorized. Tags: Democrats, Kshama
>>>>> Sawant, Sanders
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Related posts
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Is Sanders campaign a 'new movement'?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Socialist Action sponsors election debates
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Sanders seeks nomination by Democrats
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Post navigation
>>>>>
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