Is this the democracy that kills citizens using drones, with no prosecution or trial? The following example of partisan campaign agit-prop somehow doesn't mention the fact that the current administration undermines faith in democracy, too, by undermining democracy further. So we must choose between anti-democrats?
> Ryan and Akin serve notice of imminent threat to democracy > > http://peoplesworld.org/ryan-and-akin-serve-notice-of-imminent-threat-to-democracy/ > > The pick of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney's vice presidential running mate > and the outrageous remarks of Missouri Republican Senate candidate > Todd Akin serve notice on the American people that the threat to our > nation's future is imminent and profound. > > Every inch of social progress secured in the course of struggle over > the past several decades is subject to reversal in the event of a > government takeover by the Republican Party in November. > > This danger takes center stage in the midst of a deep, protracted, and > structural economic crisis that is roiling the entire country - the > multiracial working class in the first place. It occurs on the cusp of > long-term demographic changes that create new democratic possibilities > as we scan forward in time. And it comes at the close of the first > term of an African American president whose re-election is viscerally > dreaded by right-wing extremism, due to the president's skin color and > politics. > > Each of these factors give right-wing extremism - in its newest form > (it goes back to the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and subsequent > iterations up to the present) - a particularly venomous and > reactionary character. > > Indeed, in the worldview of the present-day right-wing extremists > there is too much equality, too much democracy, too much > "redistribution," too much regulation, too much secularism, too much > science, too much diplomacy, and too much government. > > In their view, the rights revolution that began in the '30s, took a > leap forward in the '60s, and continues to this day, needs to be > reversed and unceremoniously crushed. > > I'm not suggesting that fascism is around the corner. But the > ascendancy of the Republican Party in November could well set the > stage for an authoritarian government not bound by the democratic > desires of the vast majority of Americans, or by constitutional > limits. > > It is fair to ask: How could a party that presents such extreme > dangers to the democratic values and fabric of our country possess any > chance of winning in November? > > There is no simple answer to this question. But some explanations come to > mind. > > The extreme right cleverly conceals its overarching aim to do the > bidding of the top layers of the capitalist class at the expense of > everyone else. It appeals to racist, misogynist, xenophobic, and > homophobic feelings and beliefs. It resorts to demagogy, lies, and > twisting facts. It invokes the fairy tale of an unrelenting government > intruding into every aspect of the economy and people's lives. It > conjures up a rampaging secularism that is supposedly at war with > religious practices and values. It exploits legitimate (and > illegitimate) discontent, economic and otherwise, with the Obama > administration. It raises the specter of "freeloaders" (re: people of > color, welfare recipients, and low-income people) living off the labor > and taxes of hard working Americans. And, not least, it systemically > tries to suppress the vote. > > At the core of this political coalition of the Right are the most > reactionary sections of monopoly capital on Wall Street and elsewhere, > willing and able to spend billions of dollars in this campaign. > > But gathered around them are disparate social groupings set adrift by > larger socioeconomic changes in our society and convinced that the > world as they knew it is collapsing before their eyes. > > While this is a formidable coalition, it is neither of one mind nor > invincible. Indeed, because of its diverse character, it contains > contradictions - contradictions that the people's movement, with an > eye to peeling away some of its social base, should take advantage of. > > The main task however is to mobilize every American who is worried > about this gathering danger to register their opposition at the polls > on election day. > > >From rural to urban America, from schoolyard to college campus, from > neighborhood to workplace, from small town and to big city, from > ghettos and barrios to suburbs and exurbs - no voter who is concerned > about the democratic character of the country should stay home. > > It is a big challenge for the labor and people's movement, but there > is no other road forward to a better future for the American people. -- Jim Devine / If you're going to support the lesser of two evils, you should at least know the nature of that evil. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
