In the Struggle to Get Rid of Trump/Pence...
The Democratic Party Is Part of the Problem, NOT Part of the Solution!

December 4, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

We face an urgent, indeed a crossroads, moment for humanity. You have a demented American Hitler at the controls of nuclear weapons. He—and yes, his whole administration—have adopted a posture and are grounded in a world view where the “logic of the logic” leads to war, with a very real chance of nuclear war. This has to be looked at, hard, and opposed with everything we have. As Refuse Fascism has said, “This nightmare must end, the Trump/Pence regime must go!”

In the face of this urgent need, what top leader of the Democrats has called for the removal of Trump or Pence? Indeed, Nancy Piglosi and Fuck Schumer have tried to “build bridges” to Trump. Piglosi has peremptorily and openly ruled impeachment out of order and actively rebuked those who call for it. Fuck Schumer has been played like a violin by Trump’s con-man shtick. They are willing to risk the nuclear button remaining in the hands of a psychopathic chauvinist rather than running the risk of upsetting the “proper channels.” They are willing to go along with what could very possibly be irreversible damage to the ability of humans (and other species) to even live on the planet rather than running the risks of calling millions of people into the streets. In the name of somehow containing a rabid monster, they are leading people to accommodate to it.

The Bogus Bullshit of 2018

As for the promise of 2018, this is bogus bullshit, for four reasons.

First, due to the ways in which the fascists have been able to prevent Black people and other “minority” groups from voting, and due as well to their drawing of electoral districts in ways that nullify Democratic votes, it is highly unlikely that even if a solid majority of people in the nation vote for Democrats next year, the Democrats will actually win either house of Congress.¹

Second, even if the Democrats do win, Piglosi has already ruled impeachment off the table in advance, as she did in 2006 when the Democrats actually won a majority.

Third, this plan still allows Trump and Pence a free hand for the next year to do even more oppressive and vicious shit. Further, should the Democrats somehow manage to win a majority, Trump would then perceive even more necessity to preemptively use and cement executive power to impose yet more draconian, fascistic measures. He could very possibly unilaterally launch war as a pretext to severe clampdown.

Fourth, related to that and extremely important: the Democrats are certain to support Trump in any move that he undertakes toward war, or any war he actually wages (as they are essentially doing now in Yemen, Iraq, Somalia, West Africa, and elsewhere). In fact, should he go to war with North Korea—which would actually risk the whole planet—they will not just support him, but fall all over themselves to do so, as they did under George Bush I and George Bush II when they each launched major wars.

Even some of those who continue to steer people into voting as the path for change, like Michael Moore,² say that the Democratic leaders are war mongers. And they are because the vast majority of Democratic leaders—and at the leading levels, every single Democratic leader—and more important, the Democratic Party as an institution—are “dedicated to the proposition” that the U.S. must dominate the world, and if it comes to war to do that, well, so be it.

Putting trust in leaders—and moreover institutions—like these is deadly. There is no alternative to millions taking the streets and demanding the ouster of this regime and by so doing compelling all institutions and social forces, including forces and politicians representing the ruling class and the system, to react to that.

These two paragraphs provide a crucial framework in relation to all this:

The Democrats, along with the New York Times and the Washington Post, etc., are seeking to resolve the crisis with the Trump presidency on the terms of this system, and in the interests of the ruling class of this system, which they represent. We, the masses of people, must go all out, and mobilize ourselves in the millions, to resolve this in our interests, in the interests of humanity, which are fundamentally different from and opposed to those of the ruling class.

This, of course, does not mean that the struggle among the powers that be is irrelevant or unimportant; rather, the way to understand and approach this (and this is a point that must also be repeatedly driven home to people, including through necessary struggle, waged well) is in terms of how it relates to, and what openings it can provide for, “the struggle from below”—for the mobilization of masses of people around the demand that the whole regime must go, because of its fascist nature and actions and what the stakes are for humanity.

 

1. Elections for each of the 435 seats in the U.S. Congress are held every two years. In recent years, Democrats have received about as many votes as Republicans nationally—yet the Republicans have held a firm majority in the U.S. Congress. Results from the last four elections make this clear:

The Republican majority in Congress has remained steady and basically insurmountable for years. Even in 2012, when the Democrats got more votes than the Republicans, the Republican majority remained unchanged from 2010. This is primarily a legacy of how the U.S. Constitution embedded slavery, and also gave disproportionate and ongoing power to slaveholders. Today that legacy continues in the disproportionate voting power weighted towards smaller states and rural areas, and away from major cities with their large populations of Black and Latino people, and immigrants. In addition, many Black people and Latino people, not to mention immigrants, are disenfranchised—not allowed to vote—for various reasons. [back]

2. Moore, to his credit, warns his audience that they must not follow the Democratic leadership when they do this; but by not telling people to get in the streets now, he sets them up to do the very thing he warns against. [back]

 

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