2004 Election: one of the final battles in the war of the classes?

[Q]

2004 Election will be one of the final battles of the cultural-class warfare

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- "...a resurgent conservatism to convert public concern and hostility into a crusade to resurrect social Darwinism as a moral philosophy, multinational corporations as a governing class, and the theology of markets as a transcendental belief system."

- "...media oligarchy whose corporate journalists are neutered and whose right-wing publicists have no shame."

- "...to change how America is governed - to strip from government all its functions except those that reward their rich and privileged benefactors."

However, I'm just as puzzled as to why, with right wing wrecking crews blasting away at social benefits once considered invulnerable, Democrats are fearful of being branded "class warriors" in a war the other side started and is determined to win. I don't get why conceding your opponent's premises and fighting on his turf isn't the sure-fire prescription for irrelevance and ultimately obsolescence.

The failure of democratic politicians and public thinkers to respond to popular discontents – to the daily lives of workers, consumers, parents, and ordinary taxpayers – allowed a resurgent conservatism to convert public concern and hostility into a crusade to resurrect social Darwinism as a moral philosophy, multinational corporations as a governing class, and the theology of markets as a transcendental belief system.

As a citizen I don't like the consequences of this crusade, but you have to respect the conservatives for their successful strategy in gaining control of the national agenda. Their stated and open aim is to change how America is governed - to strip from government all its functions except those that reward their rich and privileged benefactors."

Bill Moyers
June 4, 2003
Washington, DC

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- Make no mistake: the 2004 election will be one of the final battles in a class war/crusade the Republicans started and have been fighting for decades. They don't believe in Democracy or representative government. Their intent is to transform the United States into an oligarchy that serves only the rich and 'privileged benefactors'. Republicans and their neocon masters have gutted our government and the services it once provided to all the people and redirected our resources to the richest one percent of the population, the military and the church. They use war and rumors of war to reverse decades of progress in areas such as the environment, social welfare and civil rights. They use religion to justify their crusade while implying their leaders were chosen by God. The Democratic party must stop pretending this war doesn't exist and defend the victims of class warfare from the social Darwinists now in control.

[wakfs]

1. Now I'm really depressed

I don't see our beloved Democratic party responding to the challenge on a national level any time soon.

[asjr]

3. democrats

Sadly, I have to agree. There doesn't seem to be cohesiveness in the party. Some of course are speaking out, but it is too late in some instances. We have really good candidates running for the presidency, but I wish they would not spend time on bashing one another. The real culprit is the WH. They speak out about that but it doesn't really seem to be coming through. I am very depressed about the situation, especially when I hear some Repub C-Span callers who support Bush. I have to think they are either brain-dead or deaf, dumb and blind. I realize this is rhetorical, but What Happened to Us. We have become a nation of haves and have-nots.

[wyldwolf]

5. The lack of cohesiveness in the party isn't the fault of the DNC...

The left is a self described "big tent" with the DNC as it's focal point. However, some of the smaller factions - the greens and further left democrats, for example - are increasingly demanding a say in the policies of the DNC - some going so far as to threaten to withhold their votes. I'm not making a judgement as to whether they deserve a say or not so don't flame me for it - I'm just making a comparison, and it is this:

Conservatives, represented by the GOP, seem to be much more united in their purpose than we are. They may quibble over minor details, but they all seem to agree on the big things enough so as not to cause waves within the party.

[asjr]

6. 2004

You stated it better than I. The GOP, right or wrong, does stick together.

[RichM]

12. Translation: it's the fault of "the greens and further left democrats."

Didn't you forget something? There's also that little problem with "centrist" and right-leaning Democrats, isn't there? I seem to recall a pattern of their giving away the store to Republicans, capitulating repeatedly to Republicans, & often resembling Republicans in all but name?

That wouldn't have anything to do with the lack of unity, now, would it?

[wyldwolf]

13. Once again, RichM, you're reactionary in your reply...

Personally, I do feel that the minority factions of the left pull us down a bit. That is my opinion based on national trends.

It is your opinion, void of anything but your imagination, that there is "a pattern of their giving away the store to Republicans, capitulating repeatedly to Republicans, & often resembling Republicans in all but name."

If there is more two it, kindly provide documentation.

[RichM]

20. Do you know what the word "reactionary" means?

It means tending towards ultraconservative in politics. Since your position here is critical of the left, do you see the logical problem of your calling me "reactionary?"

Oh yes, that little matter of Dem centrists capitulating to Republicans -- I don't have all day to type out the list for you, but it was little things like: not contesting the stolen election, voting for the IRW, not contesting the appointment of Ashcroft, voting for the PATRIOT Act, giving the rightwing "welfare reform" & the Telecom Act of 1996, having no strategy for the '02 midterm elections, failure to press the Yellowcake-gate scandal 3 months ago (with Clinton himself defending Bush on a Larry King call-in right when the issue was in the public eye), 37 Dem senators voting for the $87 billion 2 weeks ago, the general mousy timidity of Daschle's leadership in the Senate, and a few hundred other things.

Also -- it's not just what they DID do, it's also what they did NOT do. The passive complicity, the silence. You know - that sort of thing. Surely you've heard something about such matters?

[tom_paine]

22. I'm afraid I agree with RichM

At least regarding the Democratic capitulations.

The things Rich listed scarcely scratch the surface on Democratic Congressional Capitulations.

[Q]

25. This isn't a coincidence...

- The 'Republican Revolution' goes back to Reagan and before... These are people who not only want to 'rule' the United States...they want to get rid of the last vestage of 'liberalism' and individuality.

- Part and parcel of the 'revolution' was to infiltrate the Democratic party with conservatives that would help push the agenda along. In actuality...the DNC is one of the few remaining organizations still interested in traditional Democratic values..although their power has been considerably weakened by the NeoDems in the DLC.

[Brucey]

2. "Respect the conservatives"??

Perhaps, like Ahnold, we should respect Hitler for his strong leadership and unfaltering determination. No, I don't think this is the end of the culture wars. It is just the beginning. In the short run, the assholes will win (and I give them no respect whatsoever, only contempt and pity). But in the long run, we will win. Look at history. Those who defended slavery lost. Those who fought against women's right to vote lost. Those who fought against civil rights lost. Gay rights are much more accepted now than ever. We will win in the long run.

[camero]

7. To look at it another way

All of the empires of the 20th century have fallen. The British, Ottomans, Soviets (also the Czarists so that makes 2 for Russia), the Chinese with the fall of the Nationalist government. The last empire is the neo-con US empire, which will also fall and we will be ascendent.

[Touchdown]

16. But we're talking social darwinism here.

Throughout human history, Democracy (or even representative Republics) hasn't exactly been a model of stability or longevity, since it's so fragile and requires of it's citizens constant stewardship. At 45-55% voter turnout, it seems the masses in the US are willing to forego that necessary responsibility.

The only political system that has proven to be stable and long lasting is Feudalism. Once a society is in the throes of it, it could take centuries for societies to emerge from it. Divine right of Kings, oligarchies, Monarchies, Plutocracies, merchantilism, or Social Darwinism...whatever term you wish to use, it all amounts to subjugation of the masses for the privelege of the few.

I hate to be so doom and gloom, but our ultimate victory of a permanent liberal state is hardly assured, and even if and when it happens, will still require constant vigilance to preserve..

[Arianrhod]

23. One of the primary events that brought down Feudalism

was the rise of the middle class. The "neo"cons are systematically taking care of that little problem. Even if we manage to kick them out in 2004--not a mean feat, btw--the damage they've done to the country's financial and social support infrastructures is so great that the middle class may collapse regardless. I agree with you that such a collapse could take centuries to recover from.

[oc2002]

4. The Democrats are too spread out.

Patience my friends.

The Dems still want to be seen as a centrist party, as soon as you talk 'class warfare' you’re labeled a radical leftist fringe. Which I disagree, but never the less the corporate media will do it, and so will the Republicans.

It took the great depression to shake the strangle hold of the Republicans out of congress, and that’s about what it will take to wake up the 'rubes' into voting for their own interests, and that means a another NEW DEAL after the unraveling that lies ahead. Not in 2004, but more likely 2012.

Patience. All in good time.

[AP]

8. I believe this, and think this is why Edwards is the best candidate.

No other candidate stands in opposition to this trend so clearly in every way -- in their biography and in their message.

This is not time to elect a fiscal conservative president. And this battle is about class not about national security.

[Iverson]

9. a logical problem

You don't think that these crazed predators will stop with a simple victory, do you? They beat up upon the weak because they enjoy it. It is a way of life. They have children who they'll need to carry on the traditions. No, no cessation of class warfare is in the cards.

Democrats have a problem here, since the big tent includes the ruling classes as well as the lower classes. Maybe it's just safer not to talk about it at all.

[LeahMira]

14. So how to "fix it" now?

You don't think that these crazed predators will stop with a simple victory, do you? They beat up upon the weak because they enjoy it. It is a way of life. They have children who they'll need to carry on the traditions. No, no cessation of class warfare is in the cards.

So are you saying that the resistance will have to come from outside the U.S.?

I think that if there is a significant shift to the left, the ultra-right will not accept it easily or "nicely" in this country. But does that mean that the Democrats need to nominate a Lieberman in order to pull things more gradually to the left, which actually means, IMO, pulling things more to the center and away from the far right?

No, from what I read on the "freeper" board, they would like to kill us all off, or at least export us all to Cuba.

[Iverson]

15. no ...

I am not arguing that a solution must be imposed from outside the US.

Fixing the problem is tricky because so many of those under attack don't want to see the problem. That is a necessary - and very big - first step.

[tom_paine]

21. "They beat up on the weak because they enjoy it"

EXACTLY, Iverson. The Nazi bullyboy mentality is alive and well amongst the Busheviks. One only has to mosey on over to Freeperville and listen to the astinsihingly high number of these Brownshirts who lovingly fantasize about the day they can murder liberals and get away with it. And their children will be even more vicious than they. History says that: I believe it will be true.

Further, when the Greatest Generation is finished dying off and if the Busheviks succeed in fully purging law enforcement and military ranks of honest men, replacing them with Bushevik Loyalists, then we shall certainly have the same kind of "law enforcement" they had in Missippi in the 1930s.

Then we are all in trouble.

The Busheviks didn't spend all that effort and $$$ creating Goebbels v2.0 for nothing.

[leftofthedial]

10. If Bush "wins" it will be the final battle

Otherwise, it will drag on and on as the oligarchs undermine and marginalize any Democratic President through their mass media control of the masses.

The only solution is to take the neocons out of the body politic, if not the gene pool.

[Q]

18. The problem remains that the neocons...

...have installed themselves into every level of our government, media and courts. We can't 'get rid of them' until we recognize the problem and confront it head on.

- This is the work of the entire Democratic party...not just the few like Byrd and Kennedy.

[forgethell]

19. Are you advocating Genocide??

n/t

[ramapo]

11. No final battle next year

It is unlikely that the Dems will capture the Presidency along with Congress. If the economy doesn't pick up, Bush is vulnerable. The Senate could go either way. The House likely stays Repub unless things really fall apart and people begin putting blame on the ruling party.

So in our best case, we win back the Presidency. This will signal a return to the "attack the President no matter what" that the Repubs are so good at. So the wars continue.

If Bush wins and Repubs strengthen their hold, then the battle may stall. I believe at some point it will become obvious that the Repub philosophy is against the interests of the majority. Only at this point will there be a political backlash sweeping enough to be the "final" battle.

It all boils down to economics, barring some type of disaster.

[Q]

17. The Republicans will block the next Dem president...

...just as they obstructed Clinton from governing and Gore from taking office. The very system of govenment is broken...making it impossible for Democratic institutions to prevail.

- The Republican crusaders simply switch from offense to defense...depending on which side is in power at the time.

- Their success at watering down abortion laws will be followed by a complete ban in the next battle in the war of the classes.

- Now that they have the 'corporate' media on their side...it makes it that much easier for them to privatize the government and turn it over to the corporations. At the same time...look for social programs to be 'defunded' or eliminated.

[Brucey]

24. Q is right, that is the trend,

but I don't think it can go as far as suggested, because we still have the intelligentsia mostly on our side, and the rest of the developed nations mostly on our side. A bad sign is Bremer's unilateral decision allowing foreign ownership and control of all of Iraq's corporations and resources.

[tom_paine]

26. The intellegentsia usually die easy when faced with Totalitarians

While the intelligentsia is ponderng, the Busheviks, Nazis, Soveits, Marcos-Followers are imprisoning them and killing them.

The intelligentsia is only useful in a civilization under the Rule of Law. Once the Busheviks have finished eradicating those concepts in Imperial Amerika, the intelligensia will get the same treatemnt they got from Hitler, Stalin, et al.

(maybe "kinder and gentler", but with the same end...eradication of the intelligentsia)

Bush, Hitler and Stalin all hate/hated the intelligentsia for the same reason. They (we?) function as the lie-detectors of society, the debunkers of propaganda.

And I believe they all share(d) the same dream of what to do with such people.

[Q]

27. The 'intellectual' elements of our society...

...have been marginalized and called the 'enemy of the state' when they attempt to shed light on the truth. This is what always happens when totalatarian governments suppress opposition...they go after the 'intellectuals' first. You can see the trend by how the RWingers are going after 'liberal' teachers and professors.

- Developed nations aren't in a position to 'help' us...as the only remaining 'superpower' under totalitarian rule willing to use bribes and nuclear weapons to buy off or smash any opposition.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

28. But many Democratic "leaders" want to eliminate Social Security

unions, and the social safety net. On DU everyday, there are "Democrats" who preach the "theology of markets as a transcendental belief system" and tell us not to fight class war.

[Q]

29. They want to change the Democratic party...

...just as the Neocons want to change the US government. In fact...one of the biggest challenges facing our party is the conservative Democrat's vision for America being similar to that of the New Republicans.

- The Dems you refer to also deny the existence of 'class warfare' and beret others who bring up the subject.