Wednesday, August 30, 2017

On Awakening the Democrats

Here's Vice-President Mike Pence speaking against aid for Katrina, back when he was a lowly Congressman. Of course Senator Ted Cruz opposed aid for victims of Sandy, while demanding help for Texas right now. Of course we should and need to help Texas, and we need to help all afflicted areas of our country, if indeed that's what it is.

You won't see Chuck Shumer standing up and saying screw Texas any time soon. So there are still fundamental differences between Democrats and Republicans. After Sandy, we saw the oddest thing--Obama and Christie standing together for a common cause. While that was important, it probably helped Christie win reelection too. There are always those unintended consequences.

Meanwhile the Republican standard bearer, Donald J. Trump, has gone to Texas. He went wearing a hat he sells on his website for forty bucks. I mean, you'll see product placement on TV and films, so why shouldn't the President of the United States sell his campaign stuff while on the job? And why shouldn't he treat a disaster like a campaign rally, shouting, "What a turnout," as though the crowd were in Nuremberg waiting to see him?

The Democrats suck, but as far as I can tell they're the only game in town. I've voted for Green candidates, twice against Cuomo, and once against Obama. Though I wasn't crazy for Hillary, I voted for her against Trump. He's absolutely odious, and manages to make some of his creepy colleagues look better by comparison. It was a vicious campaign cycle, and some Jill Stein supporters unfriended me on Facebook to show their displeasure. I can live with that, though. She wasn't gonna be President in any case.

It's important for us to pressure Democrats to wake up with a message that resonates with people. Hillary's message, that she was not Donald Trump, was enough to get my vote but not enough for the rest of the country. With an Electoral College, voting rules that discourage voting, and even foreign interference we basically face a rigged election. Personally, I don't see a third party working nationally in modern American politics.

Bernie Sanders had the right message, and still does.  The answer, for Americans, is not endless was a la 1984. It's not make nice with the nazis and hope they vote for you. The answer is universal healh care. It's a living wage. It's college education for everyone who wants it. It's public education, not business style, not private, and quality for all. A lot of other countries go this way and I don't know of any of them looking to reverse course.

And it's on us, as teachers, as unionists, as citizens, to move the Democratic party toward that. I'd love to see a Labor Party. I'd vote on that line if there were one. I like the idea of Working Families, but they screwed over Zephyr Teachout in favor of slimy Andrew Cuomo. I'm rating them in need of improvement.

But meanwhile, someone has to stand up, someone has to call our representatives and let them know we're here, and someone has to stoke activism. That's on us, as far as I can tell.
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