If You Hate Biden and the Democrats — I Need to Hear Your Plan B
I’ve been seeing a lot of Medium essays, social media posts and comments enraged about the “Democrats” these days. Actually, since the debacle with Bernie Sanders in 2016, there is an underlying rage on the progressive “Left” that has overlapped with an underlying rage on the “working class” Right — both of which (if they do not include anti-women, anti-Trans, racist, white supremacist or homophobic and a whole mess of “anti-other” sentiments) have basis in truth.
People speak of the “kleptocracy” and neoliberal elite, the smug and sheltered corporate news media, the multinational, corporate globalist agenda and clear influence on our national politics in the US. Some — even many — have said to me: “Biden is no better than Trump” and some support Trump or Trumpists (or threaten to) out of sheer malice or frustration. Most of these folks seem to be white, and often male. Nothing wrong with that, except that it often represents a worldview that is not inclusive.
Those who critique centrist Democrats for being “corporate” from the (I assume, non-wealthy) Right, who attack the profit motives of the pharmaceutical industry now during the Pandemic, seem to entirely overlook the profit motives of the multi-trillion-dollar fossil fuel industry (as if they are immune to profit motive and malicious intent completely); when, in fact, the fossil fuel industry spent decades funding “denial science,” which has led us to this point in human history, at which we are undergoing climate and ecosystem destabilization at a level that threatens human civilization and even human and animal life on Earth. (Not to mention the asthmatic communities, cancer alleys, terrible spills and pipelines that today affect mostly POC, the poor and indigenous).
There are a great many threads to untangle here, and I begin to doubt whether this essay can address them all. But I feel the need to at least try as my Medium notifications fill up with anti-Biden, anti-Dem sentiments.
It seems to me that although many turned to Trump as some kind of “great hope” to bust the system open or apart, they deliberately (gullibly?) ignored the troubling racist, sexist, mafia-esque, grifting and lying tendencies of the man. I have spoken to such Trump supporters (not necessarily bad people, although perhaps of narrow vision) and I documented some of the worst, racist excesses of Trump here and in prior essays. The culmination of all this, for me, was when the Trump Administration posted a 14-word-sentence that is a thinly veiled version of the “most famous white supremacist sentence in the world” on the official Department of Homeland Security web page, which a friend of mine discovered and reported to her local representative, to no avail. Here is the screen shot of that home page, which is still in government archives:
And here is the full descripton of the original sentence from the Anti-Defamation League: “‘14 Words’ is a reference to … ‘We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.’ The slogan was coined by David Lane, a member of the white supremacist terrorist group known as The Order (Lane died in prison in 2007). The term reflects the primary white supremacist worldview in the late 20th and early 21st centuries: that unless immediate action is taken, the white race is doomed to extinction by an alleged ‘rising tide of color’ purportedly controlled and manipulated by Jews.”
Clearly, this kind of racism and attempts to exclude such a huge, huge swath of the US population (including the actual, original population) from politics, and even from basic respect, compassion and kindness is not acceptable. (If it is to you, you can stop reading here.) If you are still not convinced: In 2016, just after the election, a friend sent me compiled video recordings of Trump going on about “superior genes” and his pride in his “German genes.” And there is much more.
Most people of color, the indigenous, Jewish people, trans, gays and others who have been historical victims of great violence and trauma due to white and CIS supremacy are far more attuned to all of this, of course, than white people. Even if they are good white people. But the time to wake up is now.
It is 100 percent, crystal, sparkling clear in my mind that we cannot allow the current GQP — which now centers Trumpism, lying, violence and vigilanteeism, climate denialism and the genocidal (yes, genocidal*) conspiracy theories of QAnon (originating from Chat boards full of misogynistic sexual violence, Nazism and pedophilia, in fact) as well as the new worship of cruel and narcissistic strongmen in Hungary, Russia and elsewhere — back into power in Congress nor in the Presidency.
People share their frustration with “Democrats” (and there are so many of them, of course, including Bernie, AOC and the progressive “Squad,” and entire 94-member Progressive Caucus), but to what end? Does this feed into the Trumpist/GOP agenda? I think it does, because people tell me so when they threaten not to vote at all, or to actually vote for Republicans. What? (Did you know that Bernie supporters and “Bernie Bros” were also targets of Russian disinformation and chaos-sowing campaigns in 2016 — as per the Mueller Report?)
The GOP is no friend to the working class. That should be obvious. Their net worth and corporate ties are more than those of Dems in Congress (although most Dems are worth far too much, too). But the clear lean in the GOP toward demagoguery, fascism and out-and-out racism (as well as fundamentalist, religious extremism) is not acceptable for this now decidedly multicultural, multifaith and pluralistic nation. They simply cannot win in 2022, nor in 2024.
What a lot of “progressives” who support Bernie Sanders do with me is assume I don’t understand neoliberal hegemony. Of course I do; I am a climate and climate justice activist. Neoliberalism and runaway capitalism, including our “endless growth” model is now killing the life support systems we all depend on (no matter your politics, or even wealth). What I want to say to you is: When have we ever had some kind of utopian government — even on Earth? When and where was that? What are you surprised by? What were you expecting? And what do you want to do about it?
The history of the world is full of demagogues and mass murderers, tyrants and sociopaths, ruling classes and then even “revolutionaries” who rain terror down upon their populations one way or another.
If you don’t like how our cabins are arranged on the ship USS US, is it going to help us to blow up and sink the entire ship? And if you do manage to blow a hole in the hull, who do you think will be tossed overboard first as everyone races for the life boats? Not the white people! … Well, not first, but eventually, yes — those on the lower decks. Who do you think will get into the life boats first? The kleptocracy.
Therefore, if you don’t support the US GOP as an alterative to the Democrats (and I hope you don’t), what is your PLAN B? I ask this over and over and get … nothing. How will you protect the vulnerable, women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and others on your “mission” to tear down the Dems? What is your end goal and what are your means to achieve this?
One person told me he saw: “A knife fight for democracy in the streets.” Really? How is that going to go as we are struggling with a global pandemic and supply disruption — including food shortages — related to that and also to the ongoing and worsening climate crisis?
It is fair to berate, critique and push the Democrats. Even to be angry. But it is not OK in my book to do so without a plan. Also, let us remember that the first piece of legislation Democrats passed in the House when they regained their majority in 2018, was HR1, the “For the People Act,” which was intended to bring corporate dark monies under some control and bring more financial fairness to elections. And folks like Sanders, Warren, “the Squad,” and the bulk of the Progressive Caucus (which has grown larger year over year) and Senator Seldon Whitehouse of RI are not afraid to call out corporate rule and excess. Whitehouse, indeed, has documented dark money control of SCOTUS nominations both on the Senate floor, for the public record, and in his book Captured: The Corporate Infiltration of American Democracy. Where else do we find this in Congress?
And while most (not all) politicians take funding from corporations (and Democrat Joe Manchin** is one of the worst), actual dollars are still not actual votes. We are still able in this (certainly troubled, somewhat broken) country to run for office, to gain grassroots support, to organize, to protest, to help Get Out the Vote (GOTV), to advocate for issues and speak up ourselves. We can still have face-to-face meetings with our elected officials. We can try to run someone against a Centrist Democrat. (And remember: BIPOC and others face more violence and more severe consequences at protests and even in speaking up in this country.)
Many billions in this world do not even have these priviliges. If we cannot end or dramatically reform the filibuster to pass voting rights laws in this year, we must do all we can to get out the vote at record numbers to overcome the gerrymandering, voter suppression efforts, and outright election rigging by Republicans happening at breakneck pace at this time. Because there is something even worse than kleptocracy, and that is fascism or kakistocracy: the rule of the very worst in society.
Look, nobody promised you a rose garden in this life (or did they?) … Maybe putting all our hopes in a handful of Progressives, in Bernie Sanders, the Squad, or even (Heaven forbid, IMHO) Donald Trump is not the answer. Maybe those of us in in the 99 percent (Right and Left) need to work on uniting to support more Progressives. That takes dialogue and effort.
There are now 95 members of the Progressive Caucus in Washington. Not all of them are the real deal (my own representative, for example, is more Centrist, but is still a member). Nonetheless, that number is approaching 25 percent of the House. This is because of POC, young people and so many others. We cannot let them down.
Maybe the answer — instead of bitter, angry nihilism — is in the hard work of actual democratic engagement. I find it odd that we peel off our leaders and claim only they will suffer if we fail to vote. We all will suffer! We all live in this same house. We must tend to it and repair it when it is broken. Its maintenance is our job.
And, if you don’t like what we have now, then change it. And tell me your Plan. What is it? Protest and lobby Democrats? Start a Third Party? If I like it, I will help. But if you are just — through your current rhetoric — paving the way for GQP victory in the next two election cycles, then I, of neccesity, as a woman, a mother and as a Chinese-American, must oppose you and your work.
Because, believe me, as bad as things are now in our fragile and teetering democracy, they can be far, far worse.
*Genocide historians trace QAnon’s “global elite,” Satanic-pedophile conspiracies to those used in Russian Programs against the Jews and then later by the Nazis to demonize Jews.
**Possibly a side note: Donald Trump may have “kompromat” on Joe Manchin. See this Facebook post at Vigil for Democracy.
Worth reading, I think:
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