The center cannot hold. We need our own independent organizations.
Oriignally published by The Indypendent.
The question of war is — always is — the central political question that faces us. Kamala Harris lies when she says she is working ceaselessly for a ceasefire. The United States is a full partner with Israel in the genocide in Gaza, the spread of murder to the West Bank, the attack on Lebanon and the plans to go to war against Iran.Supporting the Democratic Party and its candidate gives them a mandate for all of this. It is not just a vote against Trump.
Yes, it is true that Trump is a repellent personality and a horribly damaged person. Politically he suggests things that are scary, such as calling the National Guard on protesters.
If he does try to win over the National Guard, we also will try to win them over. That’s the revolutionary tradition from the Bolsheviks in World War I to our work during the movement against the Vietnam War.
The Democrats have facilitated the rise of Trump and Trumpism. Democratic President Bill Clinton successfully advocated for the North American Free Trade Agreement, and millions of jobs left the country. The working class was crushed and filled with despair, the root of Trump’s ‘s popularity.
The pragmatist among us in the movement say we have to vote for the lesser of two evils. No we don’t. The acute political thinker Glen Ford said it’s not a question of the lesser of two evils; it’s a question of the more effective of two evils.
When push comes to shove, the Democrats will not protect us against fascism. Their policy of defeating Bernie Sanders and his broadly popular social-democratic program was evidence of this. The rich elites who control the Democratic party won’t stand for it. Their latest betrayal is their genocidal partnership with Israel and its wars in the Middle East.
Where is our fighting spirit? Where is our imagination? Don’t let it be buried under the illusion that the ex-prosecutor Kamala Harris will lead the way. She won’t. The center cannot hold.
We need our own independent organizations. And we need to come together. We are the majority. We have power. Let’s use it.
Michael Steven Smith is the author, editor, and co-editor of many books, including Imagine: Living In a Socialist U.S.A. and The Emerging Police State, by William M. Kunstler. He lives and practices law in New York City with his wife Debby (and Charlie). Michael Smith has also organized and chaired the Left Forum. He is co-host of the Pacifica radio show Law and Disorder and is a longtime member of the National Lawyers Guild and a former board member of the Center for Constitutional Rights. His most recent book, written with his wife Debby Smith, is Parrot Tales: Our Life With a Magical Bird.