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"Often a movement from below is foretold by a crisis at the top. Is that what is happening now? A recent article <http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/16/patriotic-republicans-must-vote-for-democrats-in-2018-trump-russia-comey/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fp&utm_term=Flashpoints> by Max Boot seems to show that. Boot, a former lifelong Republican, is a central figure in the Council on Foreign Relations, which is *the *prestigious foreign affairs think tank. After outlining some of the issues with Trump, he concludes with these words: *‘It pains me to say this as someone who spent 30 years as a loyal Republican — I re-registered as an independent on Nov. 9 — but I agree with Mark Salter, Sen. John McCain’s former chief of staff, who tweeted <https://twitter.com/MarkSalter55/status/862370152553349123>: “Words I thought I’d never say: the security of the United States might now depend on electing a Democratic Congress in 2018.”’* Ever since the 1930s, in general the Republicans have been the preferred party of most of the US capitalist class. The capitalists are perfectly capable of ruling through the Democrats, but in general the Republicans are more stable for them. So, when they seem to be shifting to the Democrats, if we’re serious about understanding the society we live in (and understanding is the first requirement for changing it!), then we have to understand what is happening here. "*Michael Flynn and the Republicans* Take the case of Michael Flynn, Trump’s fired national security advisor. He’d previously been fired from his post as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency under Obama for being such a loose cannon and a conspiracy theorist. But there’s another connection: In December of 2015, Flynn traveled to Russia as a guest of RT (the Russian state news program) to give a speech there. He was paid $34,000 for this. In other words, not only is Flynn a right wing nut, he’s also a corrupt money grubber. And this illustrates the problem: The far right lunatics are often some of the most corrupt, meaning that they are more looking out for themselves than for the interests of US capitalism in general. In fact, that is their problem with President Trump. But it’s not only Trump; the entire Republican party is riddled through-and-through with these types. Not that the Democrats are exactly self-sacrificing servants of the (capitalist) “national interest”, but at least their corruption seems to be under control." https://oaklandsocialist.com/2017/05/17/trump-and-the-political-crisis-for-the-us-capitalist-class/ John Reimann -- "No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them." Asata Shakur Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com and // www.facebook.com/WorkersIntlNetwork?ref=stream _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com