This is good news. Prof. West won’t be disrupting the Democratic Party Convention from inside and trying to turn it into a hate fest against Zionism. Probably, he’ll try to become Dr. Nader Redux’s vice presidential candidate. Maybe his cult-leader friend Bob Avakian (aka God) will send the zombies of the so-called Revolutionary Communist Party to join the fun.
I didn’t realize how “out there” Jill Stein is until I saw her being interviewed Friday night about how the Greens are the “revolutionaries” fighting against the “counterrevolutionaries” (Hillary and now presumably Bernie). After she used the word “counterrevolutionaries” she gave a little smile that reminded me of Gilda Radner’s character who’d always follow her odd statements with a “neVERRR mind.”
In the not completely impossible event that Stein draws enough votes from the Foolish wing of the Left to give Trump the White House, one thing will be sure: she’ll never admit any regrets or acknowledge the suffering she will have helped to cause for hundreds of millions of Americans. Just as Nader will never come down off his own pedestal of self-righteousness to accept any responsibility for the eight years of Bush and Cheney.
As for me, I firmly believe there is a time and place for Lesser Evil Politics. If that makes me a “counterrevolutionary,” so what?
I agree with Dennis.
Btw, the top right logo and descriptive words about “Social Democracy in America” would attract me more if it included Michael Harrington, either instead of or in addition to Max Shachtman. I guess I’m giving away my age by mentioning this.
I have to disagree with you, Dennis. Regardlessof Bernie Sander’s plans behind his endorsement of Hillary Clinton, it should have been expected that he would lose support. And the candidate closest to him just happens to be a member of the Green Party. Social Democracy is suppose to reject lesser evil politics, because lesser evil and greater evil politics has dismantled the welfare state and legitimate democracy we SDs believe in. Furthermore, it is a further insult to democracy and the goals of SDUSA to suggest that supporting one candidate leads to the election of another. Those who claim there is such a thing as “wasting your vote” or “spoiling an election” show themselves to be uncaring of others and their voices.
Ok, you are reasonable and spot on. How does the above writing even get published? Looks like something on CNN.
I have to ask, are you really a Socialist? You write like every other neocon Clinton supporter out there. Case in point, you think saying someone is “out there” qualifies as journalism. Honestly did not think I would encounter this tired drivel from this site, and I’m hoping there’s writing of value here.
Ralph: Yes! I loved Michael Harrington, and greatly mourned his passing.
Cyrus: The politician closest to Bernie Sanders is Hillary Clinton, she being a Liberal Democrat and a serious politician. Jill Stein is, to be kind, a gadfly and nut – check out her support for Homeopathy and for vaccine quackery. We Social Democrats gain nothing by association with people like her.
Ronnie: Of course he’s not a Socialist. Since forever, that has been the defining characteristic that sets us apart from our brothers, the Democratic Socialist. They are the long term goal, we are the left edge of the possible – working within the Democratic Electoral Coalition to make things better. Capitalism is still doomed, we’ve all read Marx and Engels and Bravermann and Gramsci, but it’s taking a long time in the dying so we have plenty of work to do in the interim.
Since when does Social Democracy reject “lesser evil” politics? Has Social Democracy never entered into a united front with parties which did not subscribe to all points of its program? Perhaps the notion of the united front is more naturally understood in polities with parliamentary systems and more sanguinary histories. “Lesser evil politics” is simply coalition politics. Nader, Stein, et al, represent the politics of purity. To keep ourselves righteous, we’ll found a sect and refuse to cooperate with any party which, although it may hold many of our positions, is for some reason not pure enough to support. This reminds me of Stalin’s theory of social fascism: support the Second International against Hitler? No! They’ll just sell out to the Nazi’s anyway.