With the death toll in Gaza exceeding 15,000 and the horror of Israel’s war of annihilation made even more clear by on-the-spot reports during the bombing lull, and worldwide protests against the genocide continuing unabated, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is seeking to present himself as an evenhanded advocate for both the Israeli state and the Palestinians.
  • megasteel32 [he/him]
    ·
    11 months ago

    your quip indicates you missed my point. hardly anyone starts out at the national level.

    • SacredExcrement [any, comrade/them]
      ·
      11 months ago

      My point was that no one left wing is ever going to be allowed to hold power at the national level in the US

      It is a two party state, and neither have any interest in anything anticapitalist. No local official will ever be allowed to get that far, either they get deep sixed procedurally by some committee or another, or they get it literally

      • megasteel32 [he/him]
        ·
        11 months ago

        and my point is I think you're wrong in that regard. you should pick up a history book, we had socialist congressmen in the early 20th century. look up Victor Berger

        • SacredExcrement [any, comrade/them]
          ·
          11 months ago

          I'm not trying to get into it this much, and I'm not trying to be combative here (I kind of hope I am wrong), but it doesn't help that the only name you give me is from pre Red Scare times, and when I look up the name this is one of the first things I see:

          In 1919, Berger was convicted of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 for publicizing his anti-interventionist views and as a result was denied the seat to which he had been twice elected in the House of Representatives...Wisconsin promptly held a special election to fill the vacant seat. On December 19, 1919, they elected Berger a second time, and on January 10, 1920, the House again refused to seat him. The seat remained vacant until January 1921, after his previous electoral opponent, Republican William H. Stafford, once again prevailed over Berger in the 1920 general election.

          I really just do not believe electoralism will ever be a potential path to power for contemporary leftists in this country. It may once have been, but that was before 'socialist' was a term that became synonymous with 'Nazi' in the minds of many Americans.

          Looking at self described socialists we have now, most of them are under the DNC banner, which makes them inherently beholden to that party, their funding at it's whims (and always with the threat of being primaried if they become too problematic)

          I am glad to see more socialists in current Congress then I remembered, that does give a little hope for the future. But surely you understand why I'm not exactly optimistic about electoralism as a path forward

        • LesbianLiberty [she/her]
          ·
          11 months ago

          The guy who literally wasn't allowed to hold office nationally because he was a socialist? I don't think that proves your idea that socialists can hold office nationally if we just try hard enough