Donald Trump pointed to a 2020 Republican talking point in his State of the Union Address when he said America would never become a socialist country. Most of the major presidential contenders adhere to “democratic socialist” Bernie Sanders’ principal platform promises so, no matter who wins the Democratic nomination, you know the GOP will wallow in McCarthyism.
In 2020 Will Socialist Be A Smear? Or a Compliment?
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication, WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "The Stringer."
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Perhaps due to aggressive inattention, I’ve missed the alleged phenomenon that “(m)ost of the major (Dem) presidential contenders adhere to ‘democratic socialist’ Bernie Sanders’ principal platform promises … ”
To the extent it is true, I assume the DNC will effectively and viciously quash any such unbeatable political relevance well before its nomination convention.
I’m more looking forward to a Joe Biden candidacy than I was, a few years back, hoping that the always “newsworthy,” pistol-wielding then Gov of Texas, Rick Perry, would shoot off his winkie for nightly network TV “mass-insult-to-all-viewers-with-IQ’s-in-double figures.”
I’ll concede that the GOP, fighting valiantly to avoid being seen as “weak on truth,” will be in high McCarthyism mode anyway.
«I’ll concede that the GOP, fighting valiantly to avoid being seen as “weak on truth,” will be in high McCarthyism mode anyway.» Beaten only by the Democrats, flying high on «Russiagate» (and soon enough, «Chinagate») ?…
Henri
:: sigh ::
Unfortunately, the century-long disinformation campaign has been highly successful. Few liberals understand what ‘socialism’ and ‘communism’ actually are. I still can’t look at a hammer & sickle graphic without thinking “evil.” While I realize that’s wrong, it was programmed in long before I understood what it was all about.
If you actually read Marx, you’ll find he sounds a lot like Jefferson. The preamble of the constitution sounds a lot like socialism, with that stuff about promoting the general welfare and all. But just try to point that out a liberal or conservative either one – they’ll both vilify you due to their own ignorance and bias.
example: Conservatives say the founders were capitalists, and that’s wonderful! The liberals say the founders were capitalists and that’s terrible! The problem is that they’re both full of hooey – the founders were mercantilists, a few of the better-read ones may have been physiocrats, but “capitalism” wasn’t even a word in 1776. The first copy of The Wealth of Nations in the country was brought back by Jefferson in 1789. There is no way it influenced the folks who wrote the constitution two years prior.
To CH:
See what I meant about “evil,” especially when the economic system has supplanted both government
and religion?
the goldfish
Dude – I got what you meant with your original post. I agreed with you then and still do.
The symbol ‘evil’ has a lot of baggage, agreed.
The D-mob deselected Bernie in 2016 and will likely do so again because they are more reliant on “store bought” campaign propaganda that hides their disdain for the electorate, instead of appealing to the needs of electorate itself.
Hillary Clinton referred to the electorate as “deplorables” just as Obama referred to them as a “mob with pitchforks” in choosing to bail out his criminal financier banksters over the interests of the “mobile vulgus” electorate.
Bernie might have a better chance running as a Republican because they have demonstrated that they will let anyone who wins their more democratic primaries be their candidate, whereas the Democrats hold their primaries to be merely a non-binding referendum.
Trump appealed to the “deplorables” and won their votes in 2016. I’d love to see Bernie go head to head with Trump in the Republican primaries, since the Democrats have shown no remorse for cheating him and his voters in 2016.
I will donate to Bernie’s campaign regardless of which capitalist pig party label he runs under.
Bernie would have won a lot of Republican votes from Trump and maybe even have become president if the fix wasn’t already in for Hillary.
A Bernie Republican candidacy would beat the pants off a Biden Democratic candidacy in the general election.
Yeah, I think there’s a very good chance that Bernie woulda taken it if the D-party had played nice. (AKA “by their own published rules”)
But I cannot see him taking Republican votes from a capitalist pig. They’re just too scared of the word “socialism” – they got no idea what it means, but they are absolutely certain it’s A Bad Thing. You say “Marx” they hear “Stalin;” you say “Medicare for all” they hear “Gulag Archipelago.”
Note: this is a friendly, hypothetical discussion, right? No need for anyone to get bent out of shape, as the premises are unprovable by definition.
Yes, hypothetical.
And I do appreciate your present tone, CH.
“What makes US progressives think that the Lords of Capital will be more tolerant of austerity-busting ‘socialists’ here at home than they are with Venezuela?”
https://blackagendareport.com/imperial-racist-saga-comes-home-where-it-began
American Exceptionalism:
The belief that no matter how many foreign governments and their elections the US subverts; no matter how many baseless wars devastate no matter how many millions; no matter how many are tortured and imprisoned without cause for no matter how long; no matter how many Americans now populate the extreme lower economic classes and its prisons: The Government of the USA would NEVER do anything so cruel, underhanded and deceptive to its own “exceptional” people.
«Socialist», Ted ? Isn’t that merely a noa word for «Commie» ?…
Henri
Protester: “I’m a socialist, not a communist”
Policeman: “I don’t care what kind of communist you are (hits him)”
(This also exists in a version where the policeman beats up a bystander at a demonstration. The bystander protests: “But I am an anti-communist” willy nilly setting up the same (literal) punchline)