Noam Chomsky. (photo: Andrew Rusk)
IT professor Noam Chomsky told Truthout
that, even if someone like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is elected
president, the Republican Party will retain the ability to stifle any
attempts to move the US in a more progressive direction for years to
come.“It’s important to recognize that they are no longer a normal political party,” Chomsky said in an interview published on Thursday, adding that “the former [Republican] Party is now a ‘radical insurgency’ that has pretty much abandoned parliamentary politics, for interesting reasons that we can’t go into here.”
Chomsky expanded on those reasons in a separate interview with Frontline earlier this year, citing findings from the conservative American Enterprise Institute:
Since Ronald Reagan, the leadership has plunged so far into the pockets of the very rich and the corporate sector that they can attract votes only by mobilising sectors of the population that have not previously been an organised political force, among them extremist evangelical Christians, now probably the majority of Republican voters; remnants of the former slave-holding States; nativists who are terrified that “they” are taking our white Christian Anglo-Saxon country away from us; and others who turn the Republican primaries into spectacles remote from the mainstream of modern society — though not the mainstream of the most powerful country in world history.
Sanders would also face opposition from many
Democrats, Chomsky argued, since their policy shifts would not make them
more like moderate Republicans. The senator’s best chance of effecting
change if elected, the philosopher argued on Thursday, would come from
the rise of popular movements which could push him further in his own
policies.
“That brings us, I think, to the most important part of the Sanders candidacy,” Chomsky said. “It has mobilized a huge number of people. If those forces can be sustained beyond the election, instead of fading away once the extravaganza is over, they could become the kind of popular force that the country badly needs if it is to deal in a constructive way with the enormous challenges that lie ahead.”
“That brings us, I think, to the most important part of the Sanders candidacy,” Chomsky said. “It has mobilized a huge number of people. If those forces can be sustained beyond the election, instead of fading away once the extravaganza is over, they could become the kind of popular force that the country badly needs if it is to deal in a constructive way with the enormous challenges that lie ahead.”
Comments
-43
#
2015-12-05 14:58
I'm surprised Chomsky has fallen into this Orwellian rhetoric. So many of the masses have but a linguistics professor?
Radical -(especially of change or action) relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough.
These right wing criminals are reactionary they are not radical.
Radical -(especially of change or action) relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough.
These right wing criminals are reactionary they are not radical.
+29
#
2015-12-05 15:29
Based on the
definition provided, the GOP are,"affecting the fundamental nature of
something"... namely the republican form of gov't in the U.S. Ie: To
legally bind any religion to the body politic of the U.S. would be a
radical change to our nation. Or to legally exclude or criminalize a
particular religion would be a pretty radical departure for the US. No
one would deny Hitler's "Final solution" was radical compared to
previous German conservative politics of the 19th and 20th century.
Sometimes the reaction is radical compared to the previous constituency
of the body politics? BTW few still understand or communicate in the
language created by Marx to describe his economic model today, except to
deride or debase those who still do. Not right, but regardless the
propagandists did their job well.
+22
#
2015-12-05 23:47
Reactionaries are
indeed radical, which in fact has nothing to do with criminality. The
definition of a reactionary is an extreme conservative who wants not
just to stymie but reverse all "progressive" change in order to return
to some status quo ante, usually gilded by memory and imagined as a
golden time in history. Hence the unending assault on the basic goals of
FDR's New Deal (which is the foundation of Bernie's definition of
democratic socialism) and LBJ's Great Society.
+11
#
2015-12-06 01:22
Noam is right except
in his choice of words, "the former [Republican] Party is now a ‘radical
insurgency’ that has pretty much abandoned parliamentary politics".
'Radical' (Latin radicalis "of or having roots," from L. radix (genitive radicis) "root").
Repugs, nor most of us, can't dig deep in our minds, to follow the roots of any issue, but lean upon misinformation fed by mainstream media. Repugs being subservient game-players to the dictates of oligarch power or money, abandon analysis. Rich oligarchs play repug insecure alienated minds with anger through hate media, fostering blame & insurgency against enemies they never meet. Angry Repugs decide quickly upon their emotional reaction or religious belief about any situation & descend into fantasy associations or generalizations.
Trump's shows jump from fantasy association to generalization based on the indoctrination he has been fed, without reflection or analysis. Repugs have a deep inability to do any substantiative balanced research, from any form of neutral position.
Repugs are consequently unable to engage in 'Parliament' (French 'parler' = 'to-speak') & deride dialogue, debate, Congress, government or any process which requires positing one's assumptions in any kind of neutral forum. Given their self-deception, repugs are very uncomfortable at both-sided, equal-time, recorded & published dialogue. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/structure/both-sides-now-equal-time-recorded-dialogues
'Radical' (Latin radicalis "of or having roots," from L. radix (genitive radicis) "root").
Repugs, nor most of us, can't dig deep in our minds, to follow the roots of any issue, but lean upon misinformation fed by mainstream media. Repugs being subservient game-players to the dictates of oligarch power or money, abandon analysis. Rich oligarchs play repug insecure alienated minds with anger through hate media, fostering blame & insurgency against enemies they never meet. Angry Repugs decide quickly upon their emotional reaction or religious belief about any situation & descend into fantasy associations or generalizations.
Trump's shows jump from fantasy association to generalization based on the indoctrination he has been fed, without reflection or analysis. Repugs have a deep inability to do any substantiative balanced research, from any form of neutral position.
Repugs are consequently unable to engage in 'Parliament' (French 'parler' = 'to-speak') & deride dialogue, debate, Congress, government or any process which requires positing one's assumptions in any kind of neutral forum. Given their self-deception, repugs are very uncomfortable at both-sided, equal-time, recorded & published dialogue. https://sites.google.com/site/indigenecommunity/structure/both-sides-now-equal-time-recorded-dialogues
+4
#
2015-12-06 08:11
Ralph, I am not one
bit surprised that Pfof. Noam is, once again, taking action in favor of
'liberty and justice for all'. For example, he was heartily welcomed as
he got onboard the plaintiffs team in the 'case of the century', Hedges,
et. al. v. Obama, et. al. This is the case, the court's decision on
which (in hefty favor of plaintiff's) was reported on the front page of
the Sunday edition of The Guardian in the UK, but barely got even
mentioned in today's 'mess' media', here in the U.S.. So sad but true,
Obama, et. al. (including a Sect. of State named Hillary Clinton) pushed
for and got overturn on said decision, all the way to the U.S. Supreme
Court (no big surprise, with today's Supremes being loaded by the GOP
with anything but democracy protecting jurists).
Today, as we here in this now so broken country mourn endlessly over fascist style oligarchic 'police state ain't great' method of operating, with rule of law flushed down the toilet, and military now able to arrest any citizen, throw them into indefinite detention with no due process (trial), it is absolutely no surprise whatsoever that our low income populace (particularly people of color) are brutalized, tortured and slaughtered, with little and no meaningful investigation/p enalization of officer(s) who 'b.t.s.'.
Black (and brown) Lives do matter. Any and all who recognize what's going on, must elect Bernie Sanders.
Today, as we here in this now so broken country mourn endlessly over fascist style oligarchic 'police state ain't great' method of operating, with rule of law flushed down the toilet, and military now able to arrest any citizen, throw them into indefinite detention with no due process (trial), it is absolutely no surprise whatsoever that our low income populace (particularly people of color) are brutalized, tortured and slaughtered, with little and no meaningful investigation/p enalization of officer(s) who 'b.t.s.'.
Black (and brown) Lives do matter. Any and all who recognize what's going on, must elect Bernie Sanders.
+5
#
2015-12-06 09:13
"So many of the masses have but a linguistics professor?"
That sentence, if it is a sentence, makes no sense. However, it is excusable, if English is your second language.
You've accused Chomsky, one of the world's most respected intellectuals, of using Orwellian language. Do you really believe what you write, or do you, perhaps, have a poor understanding of the English language, or are just trolling us?
That sentence, if it is a sentence, makes no sense. However, it is excusable, if English is your second language.
You've accused Chomsky, one of the world's most respected intellectuals, of using Orwellian language. Do you really believe what you write, or do you, perhaps, have a poor understanding of the English language, or are just trolling us?
+16
#
2015-12-05 21:30
For f*ck's sake, since at least the early days of Nixon, they've ALWAYS been a radical insurgency.
WHAT ELSE IS NEW?
WHAT ELSE IS NEW?
+18
#
2015-12-05 23:02
They have WAY over 60
more seats in Congress than Dems, control most state houses & state
legislatures. A very powerful Political Party. If Rubio hangs in long
enough, it could look like a pretty typical race, no? There is a
reactionary insurgency INSIDE the GOP. I wish there were a radical
insurgency inside the Corporate-Dem-N eo-Con Party.
+16
#
2015-12-05 23:19
OK folks, Noam Chomsky has challenged us to "rise UP", and Bernie Sanders has called on us to do the same - so what now?!?
+8
#
2015-12-05 23:25
The modern GOP is
almost totally divorced from any public utility or value, spending most
of it's time interfering with and trying to man handle every advantage
they currently enjoy to undo, without the slightest whiff of a better
idea, speaking with sound and fury long dispelled myths, and decrying,
attacking any person whose values contradicted those of Republican party
donors. Service with a grimace as they attacked potential threats to
your streams of wealth. Never mind that they ran up enormous deficits,
and swelled the size of the government, starting us down the path to
huge deficts, and staggering loss of human life. Still, they insist that
others are corrupt. Yet conservation of resources, Constitutionall y
defined government, these are necessary for a positive change, but I
fail to see any attempt to create, only to fail in the attempt to
destroy the twice elected president.
+1
#
2015-12-06 00:04
Slick Willie took the
DP to the right re "end of welfare as we know it;" "era of Big
Government is OVER" (CONCEDING that government big enough to stand up to
U.S. BASED GlobalCorps was a BAD thing); advocated spending more on War
Machine than Dumya. Intervened in Serbia to screw Russia, even though
the outcome turned out OK, luckily. Rove countered with more
mobilization of the Nixon-Reagan bigots and the nutcase religious right.
OxyContin "Rush" and Phone SeXXX O'Reilly of Radio Uganda turned up the
heat. No Romney like robo-Republican with any charisma chose to run;
"Stanley, a fine mess you've gotten US into."
+5
#
2015-12-06 00:05
I have been referring
to the Republican party & base as the Radical Right Insurgency for
some time now. These radicals are not interested in governing the US in
the normal sense of the word. They wish to institute religion
(Christianity) as a prime part of politics, abolishing the separation of
church & state. They also have the wish to limit all new foreigners
seeking to become American citizens to those of the Caucasian race.
Xenophobic to the core, they picture sealed borders surround both Mexico
& Canada. There is also the hope that the privacy rights of
citizens is stripped to the barest minimum thus allowing them complete
control over all communication enabling them to flush out those that
disagree with their radical politics & religious views.Public
schools as we know them would no longer exist & in there place
academies that teach Creationism as a science & a warped version of
American history that would make America appear as the worlds big
brother never having committed any atrocities or war crimes.
These people are Anti-American to the core & must be stopped from pushing their biased & warped versions of self created facts at the peril of America ceasing to exist as an independent nation where supposedly its citizens are instrumental in creating laws. I have not even touched on the police state that would exist much more than it ruefully does today.
You may not like Hillary but damn it between her & any one of these deranged pols, there is no choice.
These people are Anti-American to the core & must be stopped from pushing their biased & warped versions of self created facts at the peril of America ceasing to exist as an independent nation where supposedly its citizens are instrumental in creating laws. I have not even touched on the police state that would exist much more than it ruefully does today.
You may not like Hillary but damn it between her & any one of these deranged pols, there is no choice.
