The Dispossessed Left

"Voting Blue is Not Enough; Democrats We Call Your Bluff."

Since my son Casey was KIA in Iraq in 2004, I have been struggling up a steep learning curve: sometimes with the wise guidance and help of others, but mostly with agent provacateurs and other inflitrators.

The largest demographic of people coming into my life to impede our movements were liberal Democrats. These impediments to peace started moving into my life in Crawford Texas, at Camp Casey in the summer of 2005.

In 2005, I was the definition of a naive noob to activism. I truly believed that organizations like MoveOn and people like Joan Baez, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton were coming to support peace, not funnel the movement into the Democrat party. However, politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama convinced me that if I helped them elect more Democrats in 2006, they would help me “end the Iraq war” (Nancy Pelosi). Seventeen-years later, I am embarassed by my naivete, but my heart was in the right place.

When the Democrats didn’t “help” me “end the war,” but, in fact, funded escalations and didn’t impeach Bush/Cheney. When Obama was president, he invaded/bombed even MORE countries. I felt very betrayed at first: until I started noticing these patterns of Blue mis-behavior. With the 20-20 vision of hindsight, I finally realized that the Democrats could have done nothing else but betray the anti-war movement. I was reminded of the parable of the Scorpion and the Turtle:

The Scorpion and the Turtle

The scorpion and the turtle meet on a river bank. The scorpion cannot swim, so she asks for a ride across the river on the turtle’s back. Mr. Turtle has been around the block a couple of times, has heard the stories about scorpions and their deadly stings, and replies no. He knows better than to trust the Scorpion. The scorpion

has some experience herself and knows how to ask the turtle in a convincing fashion.

This is where the story gets interesting. Although he knows better, Mr. Turtle decides to trust Ms. Scorpion. Mr. Turtle reasons that Ms. Scorpion’s life depends on him making it to the other side; if the scorpion stings him, they both will die. Mr. Turtle goes against his knowledge and judgment because he is sure that Ms. Scorpion wants to live. He agrees to help her.

Mr. Turtle begins the trip across the river with doubts, concerns and fear. His desire to help prevails and he discounts his impressions and feelings. Sure enough, halfway across the river, Ms. Scorpion can no longer resist her impulses and she stings the turtle.

“Why?” asks the turtle with his dying breath. Ms. Scorpion answers, “Because it is a compulsion. I have to do it.”

Of course, it’s in Nancy Pelosi’s nature to be a Scheming Scorpion, and it used to be in my nature to be the Trusting Turtle—the betrayal was actually my fault because I believed them. After Camp Casey and the betrayal by Democrats and their toady organizations, I have seen them do it (not that I didn’t try to warn the leaders of these movements) to Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, Anti-gun protests, The Womens March, anti-drilling, etc. All of these movements with righteous demands were funneled into getting more useless and cowardly Democrats elected by these Sheepdogs of disaster. So, we find ourselves where we are today: Mired in global wars, the repeal of Roe, hyper-inflation with food and other essential goods shortages, more oppression and police state violence, and the rapid destruction of our environment.

I left the treachrous Democrat party in 2007 and have landed in a politically independent position. I don’t even see any 3rd parties that are fighting against neo-fascism and some are even supporting Biden’s efforts in Ukraine, because “Putin single-handedly elected Trump” so the correct response to Trumpism, is, of course: WWIII and the end of life on earth.

The problem with being Dispossessed is that we have no political power, but isn’t that also the problem of people who feel very connected to their scummy political party of choice? Weren’t the Democrat faithful just betrayed by their political party vis-a-vis Roe? Weren’t the GOP faithful just betrayed by Senators of their own party supporting gun control? Aren’t we all betrayed on a daily basis by these geriatric boneheads?

Socialists in Texas confronted the rightwing Democrat Beto O’Rourke by chanting, “Democrats we call your bluff, voting blue is not enough.” They wonderfully get part of the problem: “voting Blue.”

However, we need a working-class, politically independent left-coalition that will not only chant slogans which threaten to not vote for the enemy, but one that will challenge the enemy and crush it at every opportunity.

“Vote Blue, no matter who,” is the desperate cry of privilege and the death knell for oppressed peoples here and throughout our planet. (As, it should go without saying, is voting Red). My point is that both sides are the enemy of working and poor people.

There is no way to be co-operative, or collegial with war criminals and Wall Street political-prostitutes without becoming captured by that enemy.

KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING: HOW CAN WE BETTER ORGANIZE THE DISPOSSESSED?