Democrats as Back-up Quarterbacks for Team Oligarchy?

8 min readDec 2, 2018

[NOTE: The bulk of this article was originally written on February 7, 2017 as a Facebook Note. I’ve done some editing. Since originally written, Democrats have re-taken the US House. The question becomes: Will they continue to pursue RussiaGate or will they embrace issues the citizenry needs?]

Do not be fooled: The term “resistance” does not exist only due to marketing opposition to Trump!

The bottom-referenced four articles are important writings. The first is written in OpEdNews by Patrick Walker; the second written by Mike Lofgren in Bill Moyers.com; the third written by Glenn Greenwald in The Intercept; and lastly some insight from Chris Hedges in TruthDig. Anyone who reads their works in whole will have a better understanding as to what’s really going on.

My commentary first.

Post-Trump, America switching to a centrist liberal viewpoint won’t heal the nation. We already experienced such an effort with Barack Obama. It didn’t work. It’s also why, in part, we ended up with Donald Trump. The electorate wanted an outsider and Trump masqueraded as one. Voters thought Obama would have been that outsider, but he governed with a Wall Street cabinet as an insider from the center.

So simply getting Trump out of the presidency — defeating, impeaching or indicting him — will feel good … but more is needed.

Hillary Clinton apologists blame Bernie Sanders, Russians, the FBI, the electoral system and fake news, etc. — anybody but Clinton! Those apologists can blame Bernie and the other distracting elements all they wish, but ultimately they must be truthful and admit Bernie and the other influences held no influence over Democrats losing the US House and US Senate, losing 33 governor seats and 32 state legislatures.

Truth be known, it was Clinton-like, neoliberal, politics that lost the 2016 elections! Democrats, lacking their fundamental FDR roots, hit rock-bottom!

https://www.facebook.com/notes/michael-weddle/democratic-party-hit-rock-bottom/1175558035862376

Watching tired, worn and overly-defeated centrist-liberal Democratic leaders — except for Sanders, who is legitimately progressive — reacting to Trump has been a near-pitiful experience. They think they can rehabilitate George W. Bush, his neocon advisors and conjure a pie dream Democrats will attract suburban Republicans. This not only is preposterous, it’s not what a Democrat should be about.

They’ve got no solid ground on which to stand as they, too, have become beholden to corporate America. Do you really think the Clintons became multi-millionaires only because of their hard-earned sacrifice in the cause of public service? A millionaire perhaps, but not multi-millionaire on towards billionaire status! Meanwhile, the political operatives who support them are all earning donor-fed six-seven digit salaries in subservience to America’s oligarchy.

Mainstream Clinton Democrats are equivalent to back-up quarterbacks for multi-national corporations whose candidate will always win the White House. Traditionally, as the past 50 years have shown, it’s usually a GOPwinger who is the first-stringer in the presidency! The general election, with main media support, is set up so America’s oligarchy always wins. It’s become a Duopoly Bowl with monopolized main media Super Bowl trappings.

Yes, Trump was elected seemingly as a wildcard from a crowded GOP field of candidates, but the combination of his ego, his billionaire status and his lack of political experience made him very trainable. Thus, his billionaire cabinet of Wall Street executives and retired generals now functioning deep in The Age of GOPwingerism.

Once again America’s greedy oligarchs will feed lavishly upon the people’s trough, having historically and continuing to rape third world nations for resources and cheap labor. In recent decades, America’s middle class and poor folk have become target victims for profiteering.

Today’s economics would have been similar had Clinton won because the oligarchy originally had her primed as the first-stringer, preferable to Trump. But no matter Clinton or Trump, America’s gonna feed wars so the defense, oil, banking and media conglomerates must remain well-nourished.

Interestingly, opposition to America’s military-industrial-complex actually accounted for some of the 2016 votes Trump received as many voters believed him when he campaigned he wouldn’t move towards war and espoused criticism over US Middle Eastern policy.

But nothing’s changed. Trump continues down the war path, building up in Syria and Afghanistan, moving clandestinely in Libya, Yemen and Somalia and overtly targets Iran on behalf of Israel and Saudi Arabia. At least Obama — pretty much a caretaker president in wait for the second Clinton — resisted a full-blown war which the Saudis were and are still willing to pay for.

Indeed, Trump oogles over Saudi weapons deals and has a nice 38 billion dollar package set for Israel, enough to provide every Israeli family of four at least $23,000.

You see, a President Hillary Clinton would have done this also!

Anyway, at one time it was very well understood Democrats were for people; Republicans were for profits. Not any more! Democratic back-up quarterbacks changed this.

Think. Carter-Mondale mopped up after eight years of Nixon-Agnew/Ford-Rockefella; Clinton-Gore mopped after for 12 years of Reagan-Bush/Bush-Quayle and Obama-Biden mopped up after eight years of Bush-Cheney … good cop/bad cop all the way!

The difference is GOPwingers govern as hemorrhoids and Democrats govern in a pretension of being Preparation-H! The general public remains sore!

The rich got richer and the poor got poorer!

Amazingly, Obama enabled 95% of all wealth generated in America to go to the fat cas at the top (Trump is in the 85% range). It’ll be interesting to observe how Obama’s millionaire fortunes now grow now that he’s free to take money!

So Democrats have been backup/mop-up quarterbacks for The Oligarchs. It’s much like as John Lennon wrote in his song, Working Class Hero:

“There’s room at the top they’re telling you still … But first you must learn how to smile as you kill — if you want to be like the folks on the hill!”

So How Do We Make Democrats Starting Quarterbacks And Play Against The Oligarchs?

Number One:

The absolutely best way to beat back the 99% to one odds is put all Clintonites out to pasture, especially her political operatives. In particular, keep them far-far away from the DNC! It’s time to win back state houses and governor seats, Congress and the presidency!

Number Two:

Fire every superdelegate who supported the Clinton team, in the face of clear and obvious disaster, for non-performance of duty — they let down the team of Democrats big-time! In fact, completely get rid of superdelegates!

Number Three:

Certain elements within mainstream media must be challenged. Those journalists who made deals for Clinton by building up Trump in the early primaries, and ignoring the obvious-growing movement of Bernie Sanders, now need new pens and better writing pads. They need to report objectively, and pressure must be brought to bear upon them.

Number Four:

The Bernie Sanders Movement was a shining light to American politics. By rejecting corporate-lobbyist funding, Bernie proved a presidency could be won on the strength of issues and on the people’s dime, that the donor strategy means not only a loss of principle but also a loss of moral values.

Clinton’s donor-induced credibility was so ruined she couldn’t hold solid ground against Trump, no matter the distractions. Had the Democratic primaries not been rigged to Clinton’s favor, we would today be enjoying a Bernie Sanders presidency as he drew support from seven of every 10 independent voters. Democratic primaries must become open to independent voters as Democrats will never grow with Independent voters left out of the possibility.

Number Five:

As the pattern goes, Trump (or Pence) will be horrible and Democrats will win the next Duopoly Bowl. But we do not want an oligarch-drafted back-up quarterback reporting for GOPwinger mop-up duty!

The next Democratic president must be for all people and be so strong and so pure on people-related issues that Democrats also win the US House, the US Senate, governor seats and state legislatures. We must win because our presidential candidate stands for the future, not because GOPwingers were so bad in the past. This future must be for everyone, not only a privileged few!

Conclusion

Instead self-criticizing mistakes the party made throughout the 2016 election, establishment Democrats immediately went into a blame game. Meanwhile, Trump made a promise to “drain the swamp.”

Rather than pursuing, as they’ve done, relentless attacks on Bernie, the Russians, etc. the prudent media strategy for Democrats should have been to insist on cogently defining the swamp Trump promised to drain. Democrats never did this, thus giving Trump a free ride!

Thus, it was Trump and his political operatives who got to define the so-called swamp. We’re now suffering accordingly.

Be wise and remember Bernie Sanders was also talking about a swamp and he actually advocates clearcut positions to get out of it! Clinton, essentially used a Rose Garden campaign strategy to simply imply Democrats were the best when it came to god, gays and gun issues, ones the main media primarily uses to define the difference between “good” Republican and a “good” Democrat.

Creating and marketing the brand term “resistance” is all fine and good. However, “true resistance” would have meant standing against the DNC and the media for what it did to the Sanders campaign throughout the primaries.

This new movement of “resistance”I think is more of a concoction of the Clinton wing of the party deflecting its embarrassment over losing to Donald Trump, as if “Resist Trump” is a cure-all. The Democrats’ new-fab “resistance” is more likely a campaign of Clinton operative David Brock who pumped out 20 million dollars for a make-over of the Democrats. This is imagery and no cure at all! It’s not even “Resistance!”

Bernie Sanders is the only nationally-renown politician who knows “Resistance!” If you wish to change politics in America you need to support his leadership!

By the time 2020 rolls around let’s have a Twofer in Resistance: Bernie Sanders as president of the United States and Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister of the United Kingdom! These two leaders in power could actually make The World Great Again!