The Battle of Our Lives: The Grassroots vs. the Establishment
A battle over the future of our country is well under way, and if the events of the past weekend are any indication, this war is only beginning.
Keith Ellison was an early favorite for DNC Chair, before being blindsided by islamophobic attacks from within the Democratic Party, derailing his widely supported candidacy simply because he was a progressive black Muslim who opposed corporate money in the Democratic Party. Soon after Tom Perez entered the race, Alan Dershowitz, mega donor and apartheid cheerleader Haim Saban, and organizations like the Anti-Defamation League began to smear Ellison as anti-semetic, using the scare tactic that his victory would harm Israel-US relations. Even as prominent members of the Democratic power elite like Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid came out in support of Ellison, other members including Barack Obama campaigned hard for Tom Perez, because they were afraid of the party losing their relationship with the corporate donors who fund their campaigns. In fact, only a few hours before voting for Party Chair, the DNC voted down reinstating the ban on corporate PAC donations.
For a party that tries to contrast the Republicans by calling themselves the ‘party of tolerance’, they had no problem utilizing islamophobia for their own gain. This is because for all their flowery speeches and claims of working for the people, The Democratic Party is only truly tolerant of the corporate money that floods into their elections.
Donald Trump used this to his advantage during his run for President, promoting his brand of faux populism against a candidate who embodied the worst of the party elites. Every time Hillary Clinton sold her soul throughout the 2016 election for multi-million dollar fundraising dinners, she was helping Trump’s campaign. Of course, the reality TV star also tapped into the spread of white fragility, promoting racism, xenophobia and misogyny alongside his proclamations that he would ‘drain the swamp’.
This being said, we can't ignore the fact that he framed the Democrats, and by extension Washington as a whole, as out of touch, and this sentiment certainly contributed to this victory. Unfortunately he was right about this, Bernie Sanders did so well in large part because the party of FDR and the New Deal have abandoned working people for a number of decades.
In normal Trump fashion, he only told part of the story. What he didn't tell his followers was that the Republican establishment were just as guilty as Democrats for abandoning everyday Americans, and his promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and bring jobs back to America was only a smokescreen for fascism and white supremacy.
The moral of the story is that the Democratic and Republican establishments are the same, even if on the surface, they seem like opposing parties. While Trump’s cabinet of horrors are the least qualified and most extreme that we've seen in our lifetimes, they aren't only neo-fascists, but represent the worst case scenario of neo-liberalism, an ideology championed by centrist Democrats.
While Head of the EPA, Scott Pruitt and Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry look poised to promote fossil fuels and diminish the transition to renewable energy, U.S. oil production surged under President Obama and Hillary Clinton sold fracking to the world as Secretary of State.
Steve Bannon and Jeff Sessions are already enacting a policy of mass deportations as we move closer to a police state, while Obama’s administration deported more people than any President before him.
Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos is a major advocate for charter schools and privatizing education, but she isn’t alone. The Clintons have always been huge supporters of similar education “reform”.
When we connect the dots, we realize that a Trump candidacy wouldn't have been possible without a Democratic Party which spent the past few decades advancing the interests of the rich while shunning and alienating everyone else.
Members of both parties have their campaigns funded by major donors who have a very strong influence on policies and messaging. Citizens United and subsequent rulings such as McCutchon vs. FEC have only increased their stranglehold over the political process, letting them consolidate their power at the top.
What lies before us is the battle of our lives, not just for the soul of the Democratic party but the soul of our country. This isn't Democrats vs. Republicans or even Neo-liberalism vs. Democratic Socialism. This is the grassroots vs. The political establishment. The bottom rising up to flood the system and conquer the top.
Disruptive protests shutting down the nucleus of this massive power structure are a requirement but we must also be ready to wage war in town halls and school board elections. We must completely overthrow the Democratic establishment in local and state elections. Bernie Sanders was the spark, the proof that campaigns funded by everyday people can challenge the large donations of the billionaire class.
The DNC can celebrate their victory in a proxy war that they began themselves. They can cheer as they continue to smear us and claim that just like Bernie, we aren't real Democrats. It literally has no effect on us.
They can cut all the flowers, but they can't stop the spring from coming, and we are coming for their seats.
