Paris, November 15, 2015: A tug of war erupts between police and protesters over the physical person of a protester at the UN climate conference. (photo: AP)
16 November 16
The people who control this country at this moment are
not the majority.
he
blueprint for resisting the Trump takeover of America and putting
social progress back on track has three main points. These are the
points of the triangle.
Reshaping the Democratic Party
The disenfranchised American majority needs immediate
traction in the nation’s Capitol. Alternative political parties hold
exciting potential and in truth are essential to the democratic process,
but we have a real live political five-alarm-fire going in Washington,
and the Democratic party is best positioned to respond politically.
For the Democratic Party to be of any use to the
American people it must be remade, and very quickly. It will not be
easy. Many of the longest serving Democratic members of Congress are
resigned to the ideology of corporate sponsorship. They may not like it,
but they accept it as something they cannot change. We must bring
change to them, and we must do it with urgency.
In all likelihood, the biggest factor in Hillary
Clinton’s defeat was the DNC’s secretive meddling in the nominating
process. It cost them something they absolutely had to have on Election
Day, credibility. Most left-leaning voters did in fact vote for Clinton,
but it was those who did not turn out who delivered the White House to
Donald Trump. They simply lacked the motivation to go vote.
From the perspective of rank and file Democrats, the leader of the Democratic Party is Bernie Sanders. In fact he’s the most popular politician in America. Based on his popularity, his message and his credibility Sanders would in fact likely have defeated Donald Trump.
Rank and file Democrats need to line up squarely
behind the movement Sanders is building. There is a pitched battle
underway right now to wrest control of the Democratic Party from the
corporatists.
Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and former Labor
secretary Robert Reich are leading it. Rank and file Democrats need to
get behind their efforts shoulder-to-shoulder. This sends a message to
the party that our leaders are in charge. The ones the voters have
chosen. Not ones chosen by party operatives.
Movement Building
Donald Trump is a scoundrel who has seized the power
of the Presidency without an electoral majority. With the Oval Office in
his hands, both houses of Congress under Republican control, and the
Supreme Court almost assuredly lost to right-wing activists for decades
to come, resistance movements are the most powerful remedy left. They
must be big and determined.
The labor, environmental, and civil rights factions
must unite their forces. There must be fundamental cooperation between
these groups and aggressive organizing. Would Donald Trump’s attitude
improve with all of his hotels shut down by combined labor and
environmental protests over deportations and pipeline building? You bet.
The people who control this country at this moment are
not the majority. The time has come to make that clear. On this front
it is important to act quickly and forcefully. Mr. Trump must face a
powerful opposing force the moment he assumes office, even before. It is
key to thwarting his plans.
In building movements we must also look to a broader
agenda than just derailing Donald Trump. We must be inclusive of the
objectives of all the participating community groups. We must be a real
platform for labor, the environment, and civil rights. The core of the
objectives must always be the core of the movements.
Using Our International Process
The American political left has spent the past forty
years building a process of international cooperation, often inclusive
of – and in many important ways dependent on – Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs).
The resistance movements we build here must not be
confined here. They must be part of a greater international effort to
defeat fascist military initiatives wherever they gain traction.
Deep concern and shock over the rise of Donald Trump is not confined to the U.S. Europeans are also reeling
from the results of the American election. The time is now to reach out
and collaborate with other Western nations and NGOs to organize
opposition to policies that threaten humanity. Indeed, there is clear
support in Europe for collaboration with America that would oppose the
new authoritarian Trump government.
German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in
fact seemed to invite participation, saying: “Just as we Germans learned
a lot in the past from our American friends, we should now encourage
our American friends to stay true to past partnerships and to us.”
We have an international process; we built it to
function in situations exactly like this. We must use our international
capacity for organizing. If we do not use it, we will surely lose it.
Prepare to go further.
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