Mike Ballard:
Yeah, "Part of the way with LBJ." What a nice chant,
only to be followed by, "LBJ, LBJ, how many kids did
you kill today!" I remember that. Ah yes, I remember
it all. The thing is, as hard as it is for US to
admit it, LBJ WAS the better choice between the two
candidates who were REALISTICALLY (as defined by the
owner/controllers of the corporate/State media)
allowed to be voted for.
Once again, there is no argument that LBJ was better than Goldwater or that
Dean is better than Bush. Once that distinction failed to exist, the
2-party system would no longer have a useful function. The real question is
class. The Democratic Party is a bourgeois party. Marxists oppose voting
for bourgeois parties on a class basis. Why would you go to the ballot box
and vote for the class that exploits you the rest of the year? There are
all sorts of quotes from Eugene V. Debs to this effect. Opposition to the
2-party system was fundamental to the left and socialist movements until
the 1930s when the CPUSA backed FDR in a bid to establish a popular front
against fascism. Even though the CPUSA no longer has the influence it once
had, people trained in their traditions have a big influence--like Leslie
Cagan and others.
Basically, it miseducates the left when people like Michael Moore back a
General Clark. But the same thing is true for a Dean endorsement. Let me
qualify that. It is no big deal if a left-liberal endorses Dean. That is
consistent with their philosophy. But to be mouthing phrases about
revolution and socialism while jumping on the "anybody but Bush" bandwagon
is vintage Gus Hall, god rest his Finnish soul.
Louis Proyect
Marxism list: www.marxmail.org
