There is a portion of the political Left who has the core belief that there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans. Certainly on a wide range of matters, the two parties agree or the difference is nominal. Their economic approach is nearly the same and both are addicted to war. However, there are other significant issues that impact people’s lives that we must take into account when assessing the Democrats and Republicans. The Jan 6
th incident during the reading of the Constitution in the U.S. House is a prime example.
Politico: (Read whole article here)
A woman was arrested in the House gallery Thursday after interrupting a reading of the Constitution by yelling out her belief that President Barack Obama is not a natural born citizen of the United States.
When Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) read the part of Article II, Section 1 mandating that only a "natural-born citizen" may be president, the woman, seated in the front row of the public gallery, screamed "Except Obama, except Obama. Help us Jesus."
An officer removed her from the gallery as she yelled out "My name is Theresa."
(Read whole article here) Watch Incident: not much to see. 🙂
There are potent ideas and beliefs that find a better home in one party or the other. The woman’s outburst is a mix of racial paranoia and theocracy. While the Democratic Party and the Left in general has issues of racism to face and struggles with its relationship to religion, the ideas that motivated Theresa do not easily find a home in the Democratic Party. They are very much at home in the Republican Party. This is important to understand because her mixture of thinking, while not held by all Republicans, is moving towards the center of governmental power. It is already acceptable political discourse and helped bring Tea Party members and politicians backed by them to power.
Simplistic class based or war reductionism does little to provide clear analysis in our efforts to build economic and social movements. It stands firmly in the way of effective grassroots organizing across struggles. It creates a collective mindset that binds creative thinking and blinds us to opportunities and strategies for positive change. This is not an apology for Democrats. This is a warning that one dimensional interpretations of people’s struggles by definition cannot build a Peoples’ movement. It will take more than a small group of people and it certainly will take a significant amount of people who call themselves Democrats.
“And that’s the way it is.”
There is a portion of the political Left who has the core belief that there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans. Certainly on a wide range of matters, the two parties agree or the difference is nominal. Their economic approach is nearly the same and both are addicted to war. However, there are other significant issues that impact people’s lives that we must take into account when assessing the Democrats and Republicans. The Jan 6th incident during the reading of the Constitution in the U.S. House is a prime example.
Politico: (Read whole article here)
A woman was arrested in the House gallery Thursday after interrupting a reading of the Constitution by yelling out her belief that President Barack Obama is not a natural born citizen of the United States.
When Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) read the part of Article II, Section 1 mandating that only a "natural-born citizen" may be president, the woman, seated in the front row of the public gallery, screamed "Except Obama, except Obama. Help us Jesus."
An officer removed her from the gallery as she yelled out "My name is Theresa."
(Read whole article here) Watch Incident: not much to see. 🙂
There are potent ideas and beliefs that find a better home in one party or the other. The woman’s outburst is a mix of racial paranoia and theocracy. While the Democratic Party and the Left in general has issues of racism to face and struggles with its relationship to religion, the ideas that motivated Theresa do not easily find a home in the Democratic Party. They are very much at home in the Republican Party. This is important to understand because her mixture of thinking, while not held by all Republicans, is moving towards the center of governmental power. It is already acceptable political discourse and helped bring Tea Party members and politicians backed by them to power.
Simplistic class based or war reductionism does little to provide clear analysis in our efforts to build economic and social movements. It stands firmly in the way of effective grassroots organizing across struggles. It creates a collective mindset that binds creative thinking and blinds us to opportunities and strategies for positive change. This is not an apology for Democrats. This is a warning that one dimensional interpretations of people’s struggles by definition cannot build a Peoples’ movement. It will take more than a small group of people and it certainly will take a significant amount of people who call themselves Democrats.
“And that’s the way it is.”
