I quit the Democratic Party in 2008 because they were too corporate friendly. The final straw was when supposedly progressive Senate Democrats voted to support the FISA bill that allowed Telecoms to spy on their customer user data. That was just one of many issues - including supporting the invasion of Iraq, the Patriot Act, bankruptcy reform and many more. The neoliberals and the neocons were on the same page of way too many issues that were detrimental to democracy and the average citizen. Today there still remains far too many Corporate Democrat politicians, although there are some that are actually more progressive. An ongoing problem is that their good intentions are routinely stymied by those so called moderate Corporate Democrats and all the Republicans and Presidents too.
I support candidates like Bernie Sanders or even more progressive choices whenever I can. When there is no good choice available, I pragmatically vote for the best strategic option. In our current circumstance, that is usually the Democratic candidate. Occasionally I vote for a third party candidate like the Green Party in the Primary - even though I know they will not win - because the best option available is showing support for progressive politics. I would never vote for the modern Republican Party because they are actively trying to destroy the people's right to vote. The current Republicans are horrible on just about every issue and they are worse now than ever - even to the point of supporting insurrections. Today the only hope of making any progress at all is by electing more progressive Democrats.
History tells us that many of our Founding Fathers did not trust in any political parties. I am now launching The Sans Partisans populist movement, which is more a state of mind than a formal organization. To be a "Sans" does not require joining or quitting anything. You can still be registered to a formal party if that is the best political strategy for you. The Sans Partisans realize that our major problems are not ultimately going to be solved by either of the two establishment legacy parties that are controlled by corporate interests, oligarchs and plutocrats. Actual change can only come from the bottom up with the power of the people demanding it. Turns out Occupy Wall Street had the correct idea about that.
The Sans Partisans are the 99%. We all need to realize that we can agree to disagree about certain social issues and we can have that debate later. Now is when we need to band together and take the necessary steps to solve truly serious issues and problems we all face like the environment, overpopulation, inequality, voting rights and more. The Republican Party is currently attempting to gain and hold power by force and inhibiting the right of citizens to vote and have that vote count. They are the ones that try to steal the vote with voter suppression laws and control of state governments. Most people seem to think that they are going to succeed and win the elections in 2022 and 2024, and that may be correct. It is certainly possible that they can cheat enough and fool enough people and intimidate their way to being victorious. I for one, have more faith in our citizens' ultimate determination to protect democracy from insurrectionists and special interests.
I say that they will not manage to win in 2022 or 2024. I believe enough American citizens will realize the Democrats should maintain control of the government for now - not so much because of how great they are doing, but because of how terrible and dangerous the Republicans have become. Polls are starting to show what my gut tells me. The truly strong support for the establishment legacy parties is only about 25% each. The potential support for the Sans Partisans populist movement is potentially about 50%. We can keep the Democrats in power for now, and then pressure them to do more of the right thing for the 99% until we can get even better politicians nominated and elected in the future. Either a new and representative party will be formed, the Democrats will be reformed, or maybe there is less need for a formal political party at all. Sensible Republicans can be a part of this movement too. The problem is not so much left or right but have or have not. Regardless of your current party affiliation, do you really want greedy and selfish special interests to control our future? Do you really want deluded and detached power politicos controlling our government and handing it all to those special interests who do not care at all about you? Do you really want to trash the Constitution and our democracy? Who or what would protect the 99% from sociopathic CEOs and oligarchs then?
The hardcore 25% who now love Trump will never be convinced, so don't even try. They must be outvoted and held in check if they try to rebel against losing elections. I do not suffer fools gladly, but if some ditto head tried to argue with me that Biden did not win the 2020 election, I would ask them if the Democrats are so good at stealing elections without leaving even a trace of evidence, why did they not steal the 2016 election when Hillary ran and Obama controlled the government? Tell me why did the Democrats let Trump win in 2016 if they are so good at stealing elections and nobody can find any evidence that can hold up in court? It would have been so much easier for Democrats to steal the election in 2016 and not hand power over to the Republicans than waiting until 2020.
Is it really the case that the Democrats are so dominant and capable while the Republicans are supposedly so weak and vulnerable? Of course none of it makes any real sense and it is all part of The Big Lie. Trump was in charge of the government in 2020 and still lost, but the election was obviously not stolen. Eighty one million Americans showed up to vote in order to get rid of Trump - that is what actually happened. The Republicans still bow low to that insurrectionist loser and that makes me feel hopeful about 2022 and 2024. As I have stated before on this blog, I believe the powers that be will throw Trump under the bus and he will not be the nominee in 2024. Trump likely will never actually go to jail, but he will instead be disqualified to ever run for office again by invoking the 14th Amendment and other laws. The Trumpsters will be so angry and disillusioned they might even not bother to vote.
Any policy differences can be debated after we first protect and save our democracy. My list of some of the issues and principles The Sans Partisans populist movement should support are as follows:
>Voting - all citizens should be automatically registered to vote at 18 and constitutionally guaranteed access to voting rights that count. Public financing only for all elections with hand counted paper ballots. Your vote is important so overcome all Republican obstacles
>Executive - presidents and all politicians should be held accountable for any crimes committed while in office
>Congress - no filibuster - abolish gerrymandering and pass state recall laws for bad actors
>Supreme Court - pass term limits and impeach bad actors
>Mass Media - limit corporate ownership and expand more reality based public outlets
>Economy - a citizens dividend of $1000 per month each - cut the Defense budget in half or more to help fund it and reform welfare programs that are inefficient or outdated
>Taxation - tax the rich, large corporations and all income such as stock dividends and transactions - end all fossil fuel and other corporate subsidies
>Medicare for All - including eyes, ears, teeth and drug coverage plus totally remove the cap on Social Security contributions
>Labor - guarantee the right to unionize, equal pay at a of minimum hourly wage starting at $15 plus good benefits
>Equality - equal opportunity and justice under the law regardless of gender, race, orientation, religion, etc
>Diversity - civil rights for everyone because diversity makes the human race stronger
>Environment - start with the Green New Deal and then much more alternative energy. Develop more on hydrogen fuel, photosynthesis, nuclear fusion and eliminate nuclear fission
Join with the decentralized Sans Partisans populist movement because power centric political parties tend to become centers of corruption. The 99% can work together to control and use the existing party machinery to attain better more fair policies, but actual progress comes only if We The People demand it. Locally based activist efforts come from the bottom up and would include such tactics as boycotts and work strikes when necessary. Ultimately taking it to the streets at strategic times on a national level will also be necessary. These are the only kinds of actions that have ever worked. We no longer have the time for apathy. The so called Elites will not simply just hand anything over. They want to maintain their positions of wealth and power and grab even more. The time has come when they must now learn to share.
www.curtblog.com
cross posted from my blog
