Efforts at positive electoral change within the establishment parties have been doomed. As have changes from the left or right. What's needed is a party to ensure peace, liberty and economic justice.
That sane, center party you long for is what Kennedy was trying to put together. He seemed to have a crack at it with independents doubling the number of registered voters of each of the legacy parties. He appealed to disaffected people on the right and the left. He would talk to anyone and had an impressive alternate media campaign. He had the savvy and the people to resist the lawfare waged against him.
But his campaign fizzled out after his embrace of Rabbi Schmuley Boteach and his extremist praise of Israel. Maybe that's what derailed his campaign. But it must have been more than that. The Mighty Wurlitzer proved an invincible adversary after all.
P.S. Nice touch with the pic of Wright's playroom, prompting reference to the tale of the fisherman and the genie, a lesson in using wit and intelligence to survive against a powerful opponent. Maybe next time.
P.P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to all tomorrow on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
Thanks for all. The way Kennedy has acted has led me to conclude he is a tool and never really wanted to be anything else. I’ve written several pieces about him. I think I was the first to raise concerns about his Israel stance before his full embrace of Schmuley etc.
It is a good sentiment, Sam. I'm afraid that at the national level there is no room to unseat the duopoly. You are quite right to focus on core principles and goals that a majority of Americans can rally around. It is a no brainer.
However, where would that organizing come from?
Sadly, the non-profit industrial complex has captured the left almost entirely at the national strata. Many activists and organizers that have worked for one cause or another for many years for leftist causes have been effectively transformed into the grassroots of the Democrat party. All you need to do is look at the endless Harris endorsements from groups like WFP and Sunrise. The left is not situated to leverage real power to challenge the establishment.
On the right we have the Freedom Caucus as evidence that the right is just as capable of capturing legitimate populist calls for change and converting it into fuel for the Republican party.
The concept of Centrism is no help. Just look at Yang and his joke of a "party". They are little more than a sheepdog funnel for the Dems with a reformist flavor.
I'm afraid that I have no solution here except to hope that fixes to this nightmare will arise at the local level and metastasize from there; replacing our failing political infrastructure as the country dies.
Left, right, center; these are terms reflecting a 2 dimensional view of politics, but politics, and political thought has way more dimensions than 2. We must break out of the 2 party system first by rejecting a 2 dimensional world.
The number one thing that a new party should focus on is changing the electoral system so that more parties can have a chance. And then it should dissolve itself once it has reached its goal.
Disrupting the establishment control over democracy should be the number one issue. And because the most powerful establishment faction that is an actual "threat to democracy" are Zionists, as they are leading the charge against the first amendment to protect disparagement of their ideology, the party should be bullishly anti-Zionism.
Zionism is a threat to the U.S. as much as Nazism was a threat to Germany. If there isn't a strong effort to repel it, the U.S. may be destroyed in the Zionist effort to establish a Jewish supremacist state over Palestine, from the river to the sea. Fortunately, Zionism is still not the ideology of the majority of the country, but that has not stopped it from taking control of the foreign policy apparatus of the government. The United States government is occupied by Zionists. There was once a fear of communists taking control of the government; well, instead of communists, it turned out to be Zionists.
I commend your desire to start a new party. But it must be organized. Who is going to do it? It can't just be talked about. There needs to be people with loud voices and large audiences that back it.
A useful recent piece from Matt Taibbi describes what the Dems did to the No Label party, a rightwing third party startup.
The Democrats' Dirty Tricks Playbook?
Documents just made public show how groups aligned with the Democratic Party hit a third party rival with an array of underhanded schemes that put Watergate tricksters to shame
Hi everyone and here's the hope we all have the best Thanksgiving possible.
I agree that we need a 3rd partyand what Sam outlined looks to be an ideological good fit with the Peace and Freedom Party. Well, it would be if the Peace and Freedom Party still had the clout it did when first established nearly 60 years ago. But it doesn't and I think that party is only recognized in California.
RFK Jr had the Kennedy pedigree but although as an independent, he was strong in some areas, he was incredibly weak in others. Plus, his most eloquent lines were borrowed from his uncle - significantly not his father.
I think to have a chance at upsetting the 2-party stranglehold, there's a need for a charismatic leader more than a party platform. Ross Perot received nearly 20% of the vote when he ran against Bush Sr and Bill Clinton in '92 primarily because of his no-nonsense one liners. Again, RFK Jr proved he wasn't that person but there have to be others who have the passion, the ideology and oratorical skills to cause a movement to coalesce around him/her that can live on after that person has departed from the political scene.
I agree, Sam. It's time to outline the platform. I'm not sure that other centrist attempts were as well-defined as what the Greens and Libertarians have done. But candidates must be bound to the platform or they won't be nominated or reconfirmed.
That sane, center party you long for is what Kennedy was trying to put together. He seemed to have a crack at it with independents doubling the number of registered voters of each of the legacy parties. He appealed to disaffected people on the right and the left. He would talk to anyone and had an impressive alternate media campaign. He had the savvy and the people to resist the lawfare waged against him.
But his campaign fizzled out after his embrace of Rabbi Schmuley Boteach and his extremist praise of Israel. Maybe that's what derailed his campaign. But it must have been more than that. The Mighty Wurlitzer proved an invincible adversary after all.
P.S. Nice touch with the pic of Wright's playroom, prompting reference to the tale of the fisherman and the genie, a lesson in using wit and intelligence to survive against a powerful opponent. Maybe next time.
P.P.S. Happy Thanksgiving to all tomorrow on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
Thanks for all. The way Kennedy has acted has led me to conclude he is a tool and never really wanted to be anything else. I’ve written several pieces about him. I think I was the first to raise concerns about his Israel stance before his full embrace of Schmuley etc.
It is a good sentiment, Sam. I'm afraid that at the national level there is no room to unseat the duopoly. You are quite right to focus on core principles and goals that a majority of Americans can rally around. It is a no brainer.
However, where would that organizing come from?
Sadly, the non-profit industrial complex has captured the left almost entirely at the national strata. Many activists and organizers that have worked for one cause or another for many years for leftist causes have been effectively transformed into the grassroots of the Democrat party. All you need to do is look at the endless Harris endorsements from groups like WFP and Sunrise. The left is not situated to leverage real power to challenge the establishment.
On the right we have the Freedom Caucus as evidence that the right is just as capable of capturing legitimate populist calls for change and converting it into fuel for the Republican party.
The concept of Centrism is no help. Just look at Yang and his joke of a "party". They are little more than a sheepdog funnel for the Dems with a reformist flavor.
I'm afraid that I have no solution here except to hope that fixes to this nightmare will arise at the local level and metastasize from there; replacing our failing political infrastructure as the country dies.
Sorry for the black pill, I couldn't help myself.
Left, right, center; these are terms reflecting a 2 dimensional view of politics, but politics, and political thought has way more dimensions than 2. We must break out of the 2 party system first by rejecting a 2 dimensional world.
The number one thing that a new party should focus on is changing the electoral system so that more parties can have a chance. And then it should dissolve itself once it has reached its goal.
Disrupting the establishment control over democracy should be the number one issue. And because the most powerful establishment faction that is an actual "threat to democracy" are Zionists, as they are leading the charge against the first amendment to protect disparagement of their ideology, the party should be bullishly anti-Zionism.
Zionism is a threat to the U.S. as much as Nazism was a threat to Germany. If there isn't a strong effort to repel it, the U.S. may be destroyed in the Zionist effort to establish a Jewish supremacist state over Palestine, from the river to the sea. Fortunately, Zionism is still not the ideology of the majority of the country, but that has not stopped it from taking control of the foreign policy apparatus of the government. The United States government is occupied by Zionists. There was once a fear of communists taking control of the government; well, instead of communists, it turned out to be Zionists.
I commend your desire to start a new party. But it must be organized. Who is going to do it? It can't just be talked about. There needs to be people with loud voices and large audiences that back it.
A useful recent piece from Matt Taibbi describes what the Dems did to the No Label party, a rightwing third party startup.
The Democrats' Dirty Tricks Playbook?
Documents just made public show how groups aligned with the Democratic Party hit a third party rival with an array of underhanded schemes that put Watergate tricksters to shame
Matt Taibbi
Nov 26, 2024
∙
https://www.racket.news/p/the-democrats-dirty-tricks-playbook?publication_id=1042&post_id=152157818&isFreemail=true&r=kxouf&triedRedirect=true&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
You forgot Ross Prot & Ralph Nader
AND the unholy union of the Permanent Ruling Party (both wings) & the Lamestream Media in their attacks on any possible Second Party
Hi everyone and here's the hope we all have the best Thanksgiving possible.
I agree that we need a 3rd partyand what Sam outlined looks to be an ideological good fit with the Peace and Freedom Party. Well, it would be if the Peace and Freedom Party still had the clout it did when first established nearly 60 years ago. But it doesn't and I think that party is only recognized in California.
RFK Jr had the Kennedy pedigree but although as an independent, he was strong in some areas, he was incredibly weak in others. Plus, his most eloquent lines were borrowed from his uncle - significantly not his father.
I think to have a chance at upsetting the 2-party stranglehold, there's a need for a charismatic leader more than a party platform. Ross Perot received nearly 20% of the vote when he ran against Bush Sr and Bill Clinton in '92 primarily because of his no-nonsense one liners. Again, RFK Jr proved he wasn't that person but there have to be others who have the passion, the ideology and oratorical skills to cause a movement to coalesce around him/her that can live on after that person has departed from the political scene.
I agree, Sam. It's time to outline the platform. I'm not sure that other centrist attempts were as well-defined as what the Greens and Libertarians have done. But candidates must be bound to the platform or they won't be nominated or reconfirmed.
Correctamundo, and as TCBoyle might say, Happy Thanksgimme🍉☮️🎶🎵💃🎺🤠