Bernie and the Failed Revolution Eight Years Later

After eight years of witnessing the scuttled political revolution of Bernie Sanders, I can logically draw one conclusion: It was a failure. Taking over the Democratic Party and reforming from within was never going to work when varied interests are so entrenched that the party bosses would much rather go the way of the Whigs than halt its continued rightward drift. I am so happy that I gave my money to a short-lived art event known as the Ruby Slipper Festival instead of Bernie's campaign when he came to Winston-Salem.

Here's a list of all of the issues that I have with these progressives and why organizing outside of the two-party system is a much better solution:

• During the ’20 Senate race in Maine, most progressives were either silent on Lisa Savage or all in for Sara Gideon despite it being the first time the state used ranked choice voting

• The Force The Vote debacle

• The Squad foregoing fighting for Medicare For All in favor of committee assignments. Instead, AOC got kicked off a committee by a 46-13 vote in favor of a New Democrat that the NY delegation hated but national leaders liked

• A $15 minimum wage was also cited for skipping FTV but progressives did nothing to boost that issue

• Ayanna Pressley possibly sabotaging The Squad by saying that each member voted alone rather than as a bloc

• Progressives in Seattle tone policed former councilwoman Kshama Sawant when she called out progressive Dem members of the city council for being a roadblock to progress

• Congressional progressives ignoring the Marches For M4ALL, which were held in 56 cities in mid-2021

• Squad members and the Working Families Party conducting a sham rally on extending the eviction moratorium at the U.S. Capitol while failing to hold their fellow Congress members accountable

• PMCs finding ways to defend Squad members when they took indefensible positions—Iron Dome, breaking the rail strike, funding Ukraine unconditionally, the list goes on

• After The Squad came into existence, the Democratic Party establishment readjusted its strategy. After Nina Turner’s first congressional campaign, progressives didn’t

• Turner’s opponent, Shontel Brown, being allowed to join the Progressive Caucus two months after she joined the New Democrat Coalition

• AOC and Ilhan Omar pretending to be arrested at an abortion rally outside of the SCOTUS building in July 2022

• Progressives rallying behind John Fetterman despite his troubled past and his own declarations that he was a Democrat and not a progressive

• Ilhan Omar coming within two points (50.3-48.3) of losing her primary two years ago to a Minneapolis City Council member backed by the status quo because her fellow Somalis had a falling out with her over the congresswoman’s support of imperialist policies in their homeland

• The CPC folding on keeping the infrastructure bill and Build Back Better together and its letter to Biden urging a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine a year apart

• Marianne Williamson’s failed slate of candidates in the ’22 election cycle 

• Last year, AOC sneered at the House Freedom Caucus’s FTV tactic with Kevin McCarthy and said that The Squad doing the same thing to Nancy Pelosi would have caused “irreparable institutional harm”

• The Bernie movement created a lot of careers but not a lot of legislative success

• Now, the organizations that spawned from 2016 are in tatters. Justice Democrats laid off nearly half of its staff and are playing defense this year, taking on no new candidates. Our Revolution started out with dark money and began supporting non-progressive candidates as early as 2021. As for Brand New Congress, it’s out of business

• Kyle Kulinski let the cat out of the bag last fall about Justice Democrats’ true mission (fighting Trump, not the Democratic Party establishment), and it explains why Squad members rarely fought the establishment (unless they were named Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema)

• Ryan Grim’s new book was all about simping made easy as he consistently ran cover for the Fraud Squad (like that time all of them except Rashida Tlaib voted to block the rail strike)

• Progressives (except for Marie Newman—and look at what happened to her) didn’t end the rightward shift. If anything, they moved to the right themselves in some instances (*cough* foreign policy)

• In Nevada, a slate of DSA-backed progressives ran the state Democratic Party from ’21 to last year and got sabotaged by the Harry Reid Machine. Instead of supporting his proteges, Bernie actually condemned them

• Brandon Johnson’s in Chicago last spring was a stay of execution—not validation—of working within the Democratic Party. As his woes demonstrate, he’s already susceptible to losing in a rematch against Paul Vallas in 2027 or someone who’s actually worse than Vallas

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Early Election '24 Thoughts

• Here in my hometown, six Republicans--including ex-High Point Mayor Jay Wagner--have filed to replace Kathy Manning in the 6th Congressional District...and that's it--no Dems, no Greens, no Libertarians. It's going to be a long year because the winner will be the next representative
• Compared to the working class issues that would-be independent candidate Kent Garrett brought up in 2022, good luck getting any of the current candidates running to discuss them on the record. Mind you, the outgoing congresswoman is part of Greensboro's one percent--meanwhile, these six people will happily do the bidding for that same one percent in Washington
• Speaking of members of the previous High Point City Council, At-Large Councilman Britt Moore has already plotted out his future. During last fall's election, I privately said that there were two possible reasons for him giving up his political independence: ambitions for higher office or him being that triggered by the 2020 uprisings. Now, it can be confirmed that he's running to replace a retiring John Faircloth--he himself an ex-city councilman--in another crowded Republican field in State House District 62
• The second most bitter contest in North Carolina (after the governor's race, duh) will be the race for the open Attorney General seat between 14th Congressional District representative Jeff Jackson and 8th Congressional District representative Dan Bishop
• The Libertarian Party of North Carolina has 46 candidates running in 44 races (and a well-organized website)
• The Greens are only recognizing one congressional candidate and Josh Bradley running for Raleigh City Council despite another congressional candidate and a gubernatorial candidate declaring themselves as Greens
• The Constitution Party is still trying to get back on the ballot
• No Labels is talking about a unity candidate for president but it has yet to make a commitment. The party is totally absent on the downballot races

The nicest thing that I can say about Nancy Pelosi is that she's the vice president in waiting after the 25th Amendment kicks in on Joe Biden, who was formally declared the winner yesterday. She'll be Kamala's second in command provided that transfer of power happens before January 2023. 

A recent survey (until the 9:14 mark) shows that people hold her more accountable than Mitch freakin' McConnell--and McConnell is bonafide horrid. All Pelosi had to do was to pass a standalone stimulus or try give us a UBI and pay small businesses to remain open through this pandemic. Instead, she told reporters to "calm down" and that "we feed them."

Bottom line: Nancy Pelosi is a worse negotiator than Nido Qubein whose poor skills led to the current zombie state of Oak Hollow Mall when Dillard's and Sears prevented him from building High Point University's pharmacy school where it made the most sense.

NC's 13th Congressional District

Lacking any enthusiasm for both major party candidates, I decided to go with a different tack: Who will be the most beneficial for the arts?

Both Ted Budd and Kathy Manning are disastrous for the arts community.

The case against Budd is that he represents almost everything that I’m against—a reliable rubber stamp for the president, he’s a disciple of Grover Norquist and his economic philosophy (IOW, a reliable rightist). He also enthusiastically supported the dreadful tax law which includes a provision that adversely affects musicians. If Trump wants a budget to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts, Budd will back it without reservations.

The latter is one of the chief architects of the STPAC boondoggle, which will decimate local arts by further widening the gap between the haves and have nots. Once the venue is up and running, Manning’s big money pals will have (even) less time for unconventional art projects.

On a side note, the Downtown Greensboro clique Manning remind me too much of Southwest Raleigh residents that I had to deal with during my days as a student at NC State: Arrogant, elitist, and dismissive of anyone deemed “lesser” than them.

Either Tom Bailey (Libertarian) or Robert Corriher (Green) would be better for Congress but I decided to back the latter since a vote for him would be a vote for something better than merely casting a protest vote against an ancient two party system. Also, it is not my responsibility to bail out a party that doesn't want to save itself merely because the majority party is so vile. It was that type of thinking that resulted in enough voters staying home two years ago.

Supreme Farce

These links accurately sum up my views on the Brett Kavanaugh hearings:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/09/11/the-kavanaugh-hearing-is-about-political-posturing-not-keeping-a-political-hack-off-the-high-court/
https://www.blackagendareport.com/freedom-rider-kavanaugh-farce

Welcome to a new age of regression

From the time Trump named him, Kavanaugh being the next justice was a done deal. Instead of the handwringing over abortion, my main concern was the new justice will eradicate what’s left of Civil Rights Era laws like affirmative action.
Kavanaugh’s past should have been enough to disqualify him but then, I realized who was running the show in D.C.—a president who has his own sexual skeletons in the closet.

Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him

The president’s quote along with the GOP’s “we heard you but we’re not listening” attitude demonstrates that it isn't an issue of being tone deaf, it’s really a matter of them being arrogant.
Trump could have nominated any right wing blowhard hellbent on overturning Roe vs Wade, rendering anti-discrimination laws useless and eviscerating environmental laws but the fact that he stuck with Kavanaugh is the truest reflection of his character.

Sports analogy

Under Anthony Kennedy, 5-4 votes were like Game 7s that were dramatic at times. Under Kavanaugh, those same 5-4 votes will now resemble Game 7 blowouts.

America the Unstable

It's clear that America is in a deadlock that won't be resolved anytime soon. Here are several stories that best point out this dysfunction:

A prolonged stalemate?
The Disunited States of America
It looks like it may come down to which side will be beaten into submission because I don't see this ending well for anybody--the parties or the voters.

The science is clear: People love fear
If it weren't the case, there would have never been that overreaction to Ebola last year and ISIS's role in last week's Paris attacks. The American public have clearly thrown FDR's famous quote into the trash heap of history. Also, I hope those political scientists from 1950 are happy.

Americans Are Sick to Death of Both Parties
Can the American public finally start ditching the lesser of two evils talk every other year now? Or at least after next year's elections? We needed a third party like a decade ago!

Democrats are in denial. Their party is actually in deep trouble
The Emerging Republican Advantage
In the age of Trump, there are plenty of people who support presidential candidates that are more than willing to utilize the Sailer Strategy en route to the White House.

Also, what is going to happen if key demographic groups don't show up next fall? Blacks and college students are subject to voting restrictions in Republican and some swing states. Younger voters may have an enthusiasm gap in '16 as opposed to '08, especially if Bernie Sanders doesn't win the Democratic nomination. On the other hand, blacks may stay away if he does win the nomination in Philadelphia. Hispanics are another group to look out for. President Obama has deported more immigrants than anyone else, and as an additional demerit, moderate Senate Democrats squashed the DREAM Act in the summer of 2010. The result is that most Hispanics may sit out the 2016 election because Democrats failed to deliver on their promise when they controlled both houses of Congress and Republicans nominate a candidate who is openly hostile to their interests.

The Democratic Party Keeps Screwing Up
America is long overdue for a political realignment, but it's a matter of which party (or someone else) gains the upper hand. Assuming that the author in Link #5 is proven correct, then, the party of FDR & JFK is in for a very big world of hurt that may see them in the same company as the Federalists and the Whigs at worst and relegated to being a Northeastern party at best. If disillusioned progressives do get into a pattern of backing third parties like the Greens, then, what recently happened in Seattle may prove to be an excellent way of toppling the whole two party diagram.

America Is Ripe For Authoritarianism
This could likely be the ultimate result of that prolonged stalemate mentioned in the first two links. All it would take is another Great Depression as a solution. That, and a second Civil War.


The Big Picture: An overhaul is badly needed in this country because the two party system has failed America. The first step to correcting this mess is to dump the current first past the post/winner take all voting system in favor of some type of proportional representation or an entirely new system that requires a brand new centrist party in order to govern so that the extremists are kept in check.

In a diverse nation of 320 million people, I find it unfathomable that we are still using a system that was intended for a much more homogenous society. If the Republicans do rule for the next couple of decades, then, it will get to the point where the establishment and the Tea Party factions splinter. Once that happens, then the latter group will either join the far-right Constitution Party or form their own party outright.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the spectrum, it's no secret that Democrats have taken its coalition partners for granted for years if not decades. When it comes to the two biggest minorities--blacks and Hispanics--it is not all that inconceivable if the ushering in of a true multiparty system results in new parties that specifically caters to each community's needs. There could be one party per each race or there could be multiple black and Hispanic parties. Another group that has received lip service from Democrats is the party's progressive wing. If Hillary is nominated (or is that coronated?) next year, these lefties may jump ship to Jill Stein's Green Party and continue doing so in future elections. By then, the breaking point will have happened. After all, the DNC changed the rules to keep Larry Lessig out of the debates because he ran on an electoral reform platform. If the party is willing to keep out someone who had little chance of winning, then, it can continue to feel complacent about its other wings because the business wing thrives on complacency.

A real immigration option

It's almost been a year since Arizona passed SB 1070, the harshest immigration law in the land. That law addressed a long neglected issue, but it was as inflexible as the bankruptcy law that Congress passed in 2005.


The Mexican government has no right to complain about SB 1070 when it: 1) has done nothing to alleviate poverty in its own country, 2) cannot even control its own country from brutal, thuggish drug cartels, and 3) hypocritically treats migrants from its south harshly. So, Felipe Calderon needs to mind his own business before he opens his mouth about someone else's immigration policies.


The antidote to all of this is this: Fixing the nation's immigration policy is well past due. There is no reason to force law-abiding citizens to wait years upon years to become U.S. citizens. The way to do this is a merit-based system that will reward those who show a willingness to become American in character. The reform effort would apply to all nationalities in a significant effort to avoid being prejudiced towards a significant ethnicity or nationality. In the case is of a guest worker program, a national agency would be created to work with businesses to determine how many migrant workers are needed. Then, the workers would be brought in to work for however long employers need them. Once the work period expires, the workers will be sent back home. What we need to advance America in the 21st century isn't cheap labor but brilliant minds from all over the world.


Tamar Jacoby raised some excellent points last June 21 when she suggested that immigration reform is in danger of being as much of a wedge issue as abortion where the opposing sides have no room for compromise. The politicians in Washington must not let that happen at all.