[Peace-discuss] Countering Rightward Drift In The United States: This Struggle Is Long Term

Tue Nov 3 17:23:55 UTC 2020

To me it doesn't matter, BECAUSE....go look at the issues I listed they both support and oppose. IDENTICAL.

Why do you think that is Mort ?

It is one big game of kabuki theater WWF wrestling.

The U.S. ruling class knows that Americans are getting angry and fed up- The massive loss of jobs ( even shitty ones ) due to the pandemic, lack of access to healthcare, lack of decent paying jobs due to offshoring, an entire generation with student debt peonage and many of those young people with medical debt as well, the inability to get access to post high school education, the extreme difficulty ( compared to other developed countries )to form Unions, police murders of unarmed citizens, Flint and other cities facing water crisis, decaying infrastructure everywhere, climate change becoming more noticeable ( wildfires etc. ), a rigged electoral system, endless wars, and the list goes on.
Therefore they ( U.S. oligarchy ) need to DISTRACT and DIVIDE the American people to divert attention from themselves. Trump is the perfect catalyst ( foil ) for this task. Along with evidence free conspiracy theories about supposed ; Russian, Chinese, Iranian and next week probably Venezuelan interference in U.S. elections / politics.

You would think that the ruling class would be smart enough to yield somewhat in their insatiable never ending quest for more money and power for a long term strategy of stability to ensure their continued existence. But they are so arrogant and obstinate that they pulled out all of the weapons ( nonstop corporate media propaganda, massive voter disenfranchisement, and outright ELECTION FRAUD ) to stop even a mild reformer like Bernie Sanders and refuse to even compromise on Medicare for All like what the other 33 developed countries in the world have except the U.S.
But  oh no, the U.S. ruling class are the biggest psychopaths in the world.

Bernie Sanders was the real threat to the U.S. ruling class, NOT Trump. They prefer Biden but they are O.K. with Trump. Like all capitalists Mort, they have already hedged their bets. 
That is why Trump and Biden support the same issues and even both attack " Socialism", because that is what the ruling class wants.
The rest ( the election ) is just a personality contest between two assholes that the ruling class made certain that they control.
And an additional bonus for them is that they have stirred up enough hysterical shit about each candidate that regardless which one wins, there will be huge violent turmoil, which gives the ruling class a perfect excuse to use all of the  instruments of repression and probably enact new repressive laws restricting freedom of assembly and speech.

If you think that it will be happy days  are  here again or even a return to the " normal " we had prior to 2016 if Trump is defeated , I am sorry to inform you that that will not be the case. Even after Trump leaves office, he still will be getting all of the media attention he wants to stir up shit on a regular basis and the oligarch corporate owned media will love it. No matter how much the corporate owned media attacks Trump, they actually LOVE him. He is great for melodrama and divide and conquer / distraction politics  and earns them billions.

Regardless of who wins we will be fighting the same battles. With that said, it is going to get real interesting. The ancient Chinese curse of - " May you live in interesting times ".

Sincerely

David J.

-----Original Message-----
From: Peace-discuss [mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Brussel, Morton K via Peace-discuss
Sent: Monday, November 02, 2020 8:09 PM
To: J.B. Nicholson
Cc: Brussel, Morton K; peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Countering Rightward Drift In The United States: This Struggle Is Long Term

I just can’t help wondering. Will you be pleased if Trump becomes the president for the next four years, more so than if Biden does? Or don’t you care, as it being irrelevant? 
A customary response that we need a truly progressive, social movement, not frivolous elections, just does not address the present mess. Issues worth taking into account: the pandemic, climate change, the environment, a national health system, education (higher and lower), women's and minority rights, human rights in general, workers rights, Science values.  Indeed “liberal democracy”. And not least, the ignorance and craziness and anomie of the Trump personality, one who can initiate a nuclear conflict on a whim, as he has threatened.. 

Are Trump and Biden essentially equivalent on these issues? 

I can agree that on other vital issues (the Empire “we” strive to be, Capitalism, nuclear weaponry, foreign enemies (China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba,…), NATO, foreign relations (e.g., Europe, S America, Africa, India,…), “terrorism”, trade, Israel-Palestine, the military/national security budget, Assange, Snowden and whistle blowers), what encompasses “national security" …, it is not clear who might be less malign for humanity and the planet. 

Finally, I consider the opinions of those I respect on the left who ‘ve decided that the election is crucially important: Ellsberg, Chomsky, Jay, Martin, Stein, Nader, …many others that don’t come to mind, perhaps even Greenwald!

After saying all this, I confess that I want Trump removed, but I shall not vote for Biden.  Yes, there may be something irrational in this decision; I just refuse to vote for someone instrumental in destroying/murdering so much of the middle east with his strong support for the Iraq war. A horror which persists. 

> On Nov 2, 2020, at 5:10 PM, J.B. Nicholson via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
> 
> David Johnson:
>> The "ratchet effect" describes the roles both Republicans and Democrats have
>> played in moving our politics to the right for the last 40 years.
> 
> Yes; and this helps us put into context the claim that Trump is some kind of unique threat, a madman beyond compare ("I think Trump is an existential threat. I think that he is a unique threat. Unmatched." as Abby Martin said to Paul Jay in https://theanalysis.news/interviews/biden-is-not-on-the-left-but-there-is-a-difference-that-matters-abby-martin/ echoing establishment media).
> 
> The Democrats gave him his war budget and billions more. They made fun of his border wall then they funded his border wall. Certainly not the kind of reaction that jibes with the namecalling meant to get us to be so fearful that we'll settle for a known neocon like Biden or Harris, both of whom failed to capture interest in the DNC corporation primary.
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