Friday, July 29, 2016

David Rovics — The Republicans and Democrats Have Now Switched Places

Very simply: all of the changes to the DNC platform are meaningless words until they become laws. And most of them can’t become laws because implementing them would run right up against the goals of the TPP/TTIP — “barriers to trade” in neoliberal speak — which the current president and his party leadership actively support. These politicians — whatever gender or color — are bought and sold. (Yes, I agree that both Barack and Michelle give great speeches. Speeches, however, are not policy.) The proof is in their voting records. For them to support secretive, corporate-driven trade negotiations and pretend to be progressive is to render the term “progressive” completely meaningless. WTF is a “pragmatic progressive”?
What I seem to be witnessing is the two parties completing a 100-year process of mutual inversion, or whatever the term may be. For a century, the Democrats were the party of white supremacy and white labor — the party of the white working class. That’s how they sold themselves, essentially, for a century. The Republicans were the party of capitalism and freedom.

If that seems like a strange mix of values to you, well, it is, but I didn’t make it up. And now look at the party leadership today. Of course what they do and what they say are two different things, but how are they positioning themselves in terms of rhetoric?….
Trump is now the Democrat, and Clinton the Republican. 
Rovers makes a historical case for his assertion.

You knew this was going to happen eventually as the Democratic Establishment triangulated and left their flank not only open but drove away the defenders of it.

Counterpunch
The Republicans and Democrats Have Now Switched Places
David Rovics

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