Yeah, Trump's different. Not the key point. The comparison is between the contending parties at the time of the election. So, yeah, Trump isn't Tom Dewey. . . .
On the other hand, people who think that Trump is the only potentially authoritarian danger in this election gloss over the fact that Biden and Harris are also different than their predecessors. Their careers reflect the way the Democrats of the 1980s through the 2000s responded to the Republican "law and order" rhetoric but seeing the rhetoric and raising it. The mass incarcerations promulgated by the Democrats under Clinton were not a flighty mistake but a long, deep-rooted, thoroughly racist war on young working class men of color with serious implications for the entire black community--and, indeed, the entire society. What it gained was the Democratic ability to show themselves to be as thuggishly authoritarian as the Republicans. That appeals to what Biden and Obama and Clinton see as their base. Anyone who thinks an incoming national administration is going to actually uphold the Constitution and enforce the law against the criminals that held the office earlier has not been paying attention. Joe bragged about being willing to work with the most reactionary Republicans in the Congress and has pledged to do again when he's in the White House. Earlier Democratic administrations not only failed to investigate, prosecute, and punish their predecessors for criminal activity but kept them in government or brought them back into government. Anyone who thinks the Democrats won't use force against a movement in the streets hasn't learned from experience. And, again, I suggest thinking about where you want a movement to be in two years or five years or ten years and ask yourself how a vote for Demoratic authoritarianism will help us get there. Cheers, Mark L. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#629): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/629 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/76307258/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES<br />#1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.<br />#2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.<br />#3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
