OMNI WAR WATCH WEDNESDAYS, #195, SEPTEMBER 18, 2024.

 

 

OMNI WAR WATCH WEDNESDAYS, #195, SEPTEMBER 18, 2024.  Compiled by Dick Bennett

Struggle—La Lucha--for Democracy

Dick.  Anti-Democratic Republican Party Advancing.
Prabhat Patnaik.  Worldwide Attenuation of Democracy.
Dick.  The Idea of Democracy, The Democrats v. The Republicans,  the ACLU and Electoral Democracy/Voting Rights.  

 

Anti-Democratic Forces Advancing.  The extreme right-wing Republican Party, heavily financed by wealthy individuals and corporations and reinforced by its new comprehensive Project 2025, has gained control of the presidency for one term and is striving to repeat that victory; it instigated a (failed) insurrection against Pres. Trump’s defeat; it now controls or almost controls both Senate and House;  its majority of justices control the US Supreme Court; it has been striving to gain control of state legislatures under its ALEC project; it is doing the same with state Secretaries of State, Attorneys General (RAGA, Republican Attorneys General Assoc.), and governors—gaining power over the institutions of the idea of democracy.  (Refs. : Elie Mystal. “Justice on the Ballot,” The Nation (Sept. 2024) on Attorneys General. The American Legislative Exchange Council [ALEC] offers its corporate sponsors a variety of options for buying access to state lawmakers.)  --Dick

 

A grim view of the US electoral “democracy” focused on foreign policy is argued by Prabhat Patnaik in “The Bizarre State of Western Democracy.”    Mronline.org (9-8-24).   (Originally published in Peoples Democracy  on September 8, 2024.   Here are his opener and conclusion; click on title for the entire essay, which is devoted mainly to US and German foreign policies.).  

DURING the entire post-war period when it has been in existence in the metropolitan countries, democracy has never been in as bizarre a state as it is today. Democracy is supposed to mean the pursuit of policies that are in conformity with the wishes of the electorate. . . . What is currently happening however is altogether different: public opinion, notwithstanding all the propaganda directed at it, wants policies that are altogether different from those being systematically pursued by the ruling class. The policies favoured by the ruling class in other words are being pursued despite public opinion being palpably and systematically opposed to them. . . .   What all this means is that a fundamental decision on war and peace that affects everybody is being taken in the metropolitan countries against the wishes of the people by a political establishment that is financed by lobbies with vested interests.   In the metropolis there has thus been a transition from “manipulation of dissent” through propaganda, to the total ignoring of dissent, even dissent by a majority, that has proved to be immune to propaganda. This represents a new stage in the attenuation of democracy, a stage characterised by an unprecedented moral bankruptcy of the political establishment. Such moral bankruptcy of the traditional political establishment also constitutes the context for the growth of fascism; but whether or not fascism actually comes to power, the attenuation of democracy in metropolitan societies has already disempowered people to an extent that is quite unprecedented. 
About Prabhat Patnaik  Prabhat Patnaik is an Indian political economist and political commentator. His books include Accumulation and Stability Under Capitalism (1997), The Value of Money (2009), and Re-envisioning Socialism (2011).

TWO RESPONSES TO PATNAIK

“ANALYSIS is generally correct, but the U.S. situation is far more complicated--the AIPAC

 is there, but the fundamentalists are a strong force behind Trump, and the issue of immigration and racism is far more heightened here in the US to appeal to frightened white electors who are economically distressed, and are afraid of Latino immigrants portrayed as criminals.  So the white racism in the US is more pronounced.   WHAT I don't like in the analysis is there is no perception of opposing forces--student encampments, academics against authoritarianism, --no mention of resistance at all, so there is a tone of hopelessness in an elegantly written piece. “  Sonny.

“I think the recent news of the "good guys," currently leading a "Textbook Case of Genocide" & escalating the risk of nuclear war, of the "Democratic" Party successfully kicking the Green Party peace option off the ballot in Nevada yesterday, & Kamala's warm embrace of war criminal Dick Cheney's endorsement would bolster the argument. Corporate Capitalism inherently opposes democracy, especially economic democracy, which inherently leads to fascism, which is a central reason both right wing corporate imperialist parties must be opposed and a new economic system established, one way or another. Fascism was always baked into corporate capitalism. Can it be overthrown, will it collapse under its own internal contradictions and unsustainable elements, and will we survive its collapse are the only 3 worthwhile questions in my mind. “ Abel

 

 Dick.  The Idea of Democracy, The Democrats v. The Republicans,  the ACLU and Electoral Democracy/Voting Rights.   As Patnaik shows, in foreign policy the US has One War Party, against which you and I are trying to hold onto our idea of a democracy, against the authoritarian gains by the Republicans on all fronts. But in domestic matters we retain two Parties, and the struggle for electoral legitimacy continues.  We might think of the idea of democracy as a government composed of institutions that are more of, from, and for the people than not.  Voting is one of those institutions, and as the ACLU letter argues, the Republicans would limit voting rights as a feature of our democratic hopes.   The Democrats continue the struggle to expand the New Deal and the Great Society, as the editor of The Progressive observes about Biden:  “he has done more to push through major progressive policy change than any President since Lyndon Johnson—from expanding labor rights, to lifting a substantial portion of the crushing burden of student debt, to the most ambitious climate legislation ever.” Ruth Conniff.  “Democrats Need to Stop Running from Biden.”  The Progressive (Oct.-Nov 2022).   

The ACLU is an outstanding example of defenders of the electoral institution of the idea of democracy, now under heavy attack, and the daily struggle for it.

“A guide to [Republican Party] tyranny:
Step 1 → Eviscerate the Voting Rights Act
Step 2 → Limit who has access to the ballot box, state by state.
Step 3 → Implement an authoritarian platform like Project 2025.
James (Dick), our democracy is under attack, and it all starts with undermining our right to vote. As we approach the general election, voter suppression tactics – like limiting ballot access and racially gerrymandering districts to exclude people of color – have already unfolded and are only intensifying.  The ACLU is fighting to safeguard every American's fundamental right to vote, but Congress has a job to do, too.   James (Dick), this is where you come in. We know Congress won't act without serious pressure from constituents. Your support is urgently needed to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA). The VRAA will restore and fortify the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which the hostile Supreme Court majority undermined, ensuring equal access to the ballot box for all.

Sign the petition now and demand Congress act to pass the VRAA. Together, we can defend democracy and protect the integrity of our elections.    The ACLU Team.”
(For a vivid account of a voting precinct in Rhode Island preparing and performing a presidential  election, the idea of democracy in action, see PBS’s “America Reframed: ‘No Time to Fail’.” Or just join Washington County’s Democratic Party organization to experience it locally.)