Kamala Harris, like other ‘Democrats,’ eschews democratic socialism

Kamala Harris and other “Democratic” presidential aspirants sure were quick to sign on to Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for All Act of 2017” (above), but they cowardly run from democratic socialism.

This was predictable: Faux “News” asked Kamala Harris in New Hampshire today, “Senator Harris, one of the most popular Democrats in America right now is the guy who won here in 2016, Bernie Sanders, [who] describes himself as a democratic socialist. To compete in New Hampshire, do you have to — in the Democratic primary — do you have to move more toward the democratic socialist part of the party?” And Harris replied:

“Well, the people of New Hampshire will tell me what’s required to compete in New Hampshire, but I will tell you I am not a democratic socialist.

“I believe that what voters do want is, they want to know that whoever is going to lead understands that in America today, not everyone has equal opportunity to, and access to, a path to success, and that has been building up over the decades, and we’ve got to correct course.

“When we have an America where almost half of American families cannot afford a $400 emergency, we have to we know that we’ve got to do some course correction, When we have an America where [in] 99 percent of the counties in the United States of America, if you’re a minimum-wage worker working full-time, you can’t afford market rate for a one-bedroom apartment, we need to course-correct.

“And those are my commitments in terms of being able to be in a position where one, I see it, but also I intend to do something about it.”

Harris wasn’t directly asked if she considers herself to be a democratic socialist, but she immediately backed away from it nonetheless.

No doubt Harris wants no controversy and refuses — as is characteristic of her — to take any stance that might spook any centrist (or even center-right) voter.

What Harris prescribes, as does Elizabeth Warren (who also rejects the label of democratic socialist and calls herself a capitalist), is a mere tweaking of the capitalist status quo, but what we most likely would get under a President Harris (or even a President Warren) is what we got under President Barack Obama: more of the same, old capitalist status quo, where the rich continue to get richer and the poor continue to get poorer, only maybe a bit more slowly than under a Repugnican in the White House.

Capitalism is so deeply entrenched and so corrupt that we’re way beyond Band-Aids. We need a total overhaul of our socioeconomic system, and tepid attempts at reform aren’t going to cut it.

In politics, you always demand more than you’re probably going to get. Demanding only Band-Aids means you probably won’t even get Band-Aids. Aim much, much higher than for Band-Aids, and really push for it, and you might even surprise yourself at what you actually gain.

Of course, a huge factor in the “socialism” debate is that there are different definitions of “socialism.” The low-information definition — pushed by the plutocratic right wing, of course, since it serves their treasonous agenda of fucking over their fellow Americans — is that socialism is big-“C” “Communism”: totalitarianism, government ownership and control of everything, tyranny/oppression by the government, etc.

No, democratic socialism — which, by definition, must be democratically adopted by a majority of the people*, not forced upon them like Communism has been forced on those who have lived under it — is just the opposite of sociopathy: Its roots are a concern for other human beings, who are viewed as one’s fellows who are not to be exploited for craven personal gain. Sociopathy, on the other hand, views others as existing only for one’s own craven personal gain. And that’s also called capitalism.

It’s Orwellian that in the supposedly “free” United States of America, we’re not allowed to even discuss a socioeconomic alternative to capitalism (indeed, we’re not even supposed to think about it). We are to bow down to that golden calf, and if we have any thoughts that maybe the selfish, short-sighted pursuit of wealth for oneself that causes harm to others and to the entire planet isn’t such a great thing after all, we’re supposed to keep those “heretical” thoughts to ourselves or risk ostracism (or even worse).

Capitalism survives only because we let it, because we, the people, allow our capitalist masters — including cowardly and/or corrupt candidates for president who call themselves capitalist — to shame us from even thinking that a different, more fair and just socioeconomic system is even possible.

If you can’t even think that things could be better significantly and meaningfully, then they never will get better meaningfully and significantly.

Leaders fucking lead. They lead us toward that which will benefit the highest possible number of us, not toward what will continue to benefit the minority at the majority’s expense.

Leaders aren’t cowards and they don’t care what others, even if it’s a majority of others, think about them.** They press on anyway. They’re not trying to win a fucking popularity contest; they are trying to build a better world.

That is my litmus test for the 2020 Democratic Party presidential candidate.

Kamala Harris doesn’t cut it. Nor does Elizabeth Warren. Nor Joe Biden. Nor Cory Booker or Beto O’Rourke or the vast majority of the other “Democrats” who promise us that things would get better if they were president when no, if they president, things would stay the fucking same.

I don’t want yet another Democratic Party hack in the White House. I want a democratic socialist in the White House.

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*Because it has to be democratically adopted, if the majority of the people under democratic socialism want a mixture of public and private ownership, then that’s what the people would get.

I’m fine with a mixed system in which human beings’ necessities (food, shelter, clothing, education, etc.) are provided by commonly owned production, whereas non-essentials and luxuries are provided by privately owned production.

**I find it funny that Bernie Sanders is so frequently criticized for not calling himself a Democrat, but an independent and a democratic (small-“d”!) socialist.

Faux “News” incorrectly called Sanders a “Democrat” in its statement/question to Harris today, but because Sanders always has caucused with the Democrats in Congress, he certainly is closer to being a Democrat than to being a Repugnican.

Sanders is the longest-serving independent in Congress in history, and it takes courage not to join the pack, but to stand outside of the pack, perhaps even all by yourself.

Cowards bunch in packs, so that you call yourself a Democrat to me means that you’re probably a fucking coward who only can feel safe in numbers. You can’t/won’t stand on your own, and you can’t/won’t think for yourself. Oh, bully for you!

On Presidents’ Day, the ‘president’ is dead to me

It’s fitting to reflect upon “President” Pussygrabber on Presidents’ Day.

On Friday on my way into work I listened, live, to much of Pussygrabber’s little shit show in the Rose Garden. I noted his stream-of-consciousness rambling, his ample bragging and his pathological lying, China, China, China, The Wall, The Wall, The Wall, Americans killed by “illegals” (replete with their survivors as human political props [and no mention, of course, of the far more American citizens who are killed by their fellow citizens than by non-citizens]), his interesting suggestion that we end the drug problem by simply executing drug dealers, etc. (How about execution for collusion with foreign adversaries like Russia? That’s much worse than drug-dealing; that’s fucking treason.)

But Pussygrabber can’t surprise me anymore. Nothing he does or says is really new. It’s just a continuation of the long Dumpster fire that he had lit even before he said this in June 2015:

When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.

I mean, that’s how he officially launched his 2016 presidential campaign, but even before then, in 2010 (colluding with the National Enquirer), Pussygrabber had begun to engage in “birtherism” — propagating the racist, xenophobic lie that twice-actually-democratically-elected President Barack Obama (duly elected by the popular vote, entirely unlike the “president” before him and the “president” after him) wasn’t qualified to be U.S. president because he hadn’t been born on U.S. soil.

In November 2015, Pussygrabber mocked a disabled reporter at one of his KKK rallies in the South.

And even before then was the “Access Hollywood” tape, recorded in 2005. Here is a partial transcript of that (the whole thing is here):

Unknown [Billy Bush? That’s my guess]: She used to be great. She’s still very beautiful.

Trump: I moved on her, actually. You know, she was down on Palm Beach. I moved on her, and I failed. I’ll admit it.

Unknown: Whoa.

Trump: I did try and fuck her. She was married.

Unknown: That’s huge news.

Trump: No, no, Nancy. No, this was [unintelligible] — and I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping.

She wanted to get some furniture. I said, “I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture.” I took her out furniture — I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldn’t get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look.

Billy Bush: Sheesh, your girl’s hot as shit. In the purple.

Trump: Whoa! Whoa!

Bush: Yes! The Donald has scored. Whoa, my man!

[Crosstalk]

Trump: Look at you, you are a pussy.

[Crosstalk]

Trump: All right, you and I will walk out.

[Silence]

Trump: Maybe it’s a different one.

Bush: It better not be the publicist. No, it’s, it’s her, it’s —

Trump: Yeah, that’s her. With the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

Bush: Whatever you want.

Trump: Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.

Bush: Uh, yeah, those legs, all I can see is the legs.

Trump: Oh, it looks good.

Bush: Come on, shorty.

Trump: Ooh, nice legs, huh?

Bush: Oof, get out of the way, honey. Oh, that’s good legs. Go ahead.

Trump: It’s always good if you don’t fall out of the bus. Like Ford, Gerald Ford, remember?

Bush: Down below, pull the handle.

Trump: Hello, how are you? Hi!

Arianne Zucker: Hi, Mr. Trump. How are you? Pleasure to meet you.

Trump: Nice seeing you. Terrific, terrific. You know Billy Bush?

Bush: Hello, nice to see you. How you doing, Arianne?

Zucker: Doing very well, thank you. Are you ready to be a soap star?

Trump: We’re ready, let’s go. Make me a soap star.

Bush: How about a little hug for the Donald? He just got off the bus.

Zucker: Would you like a little hug, darling?

Trump: O.K., absolutely. Melania said this was OK. …

As I noted at the time, this (the revelation of the “Access Hollywood” tape in October 2016) really should have been the end of Pussygrabber’s presidential campaign, but he is nothing if not a cockroach, albeit a tackily gilded cockroach.

I’d call Pussygrabber nauseating, but I’m beyond nausea. I’m numb. His shtick is beyond old. He has become what he has never wanted to be the most: boring.

Pussygrabber has caused plenty of damage — just when Obama (for the most part, anyway) rescued the office of the presidency after eight long years of “President” Gee Dubya (replete with the blatantly stolen 2000 election, the possibly preventable 9/11, the wholly preventable and unnecessary Vietraq War, the wholly preventable Hurricane Katrina deaths and the wholly preventable national economic meltdown, in that order), along comes Pussygrabber to shit and piss all over the presidency again.

That said, Gee Dubya caused much more damage to the nation than Pussygrabber has thus far. Pussygrabber is vulgar and revolting and is not only a national embarrassment but is our real national emergency, but he doesn’t have the attention span to cause the damage that your run-of-the-mill despot (who usually possesses an attention span) usually causes.

Stylistically, Pussygrabber is worse than Gee Dubya was (Gee Dubya was/is just fucking dumb, but most of the time he did apparently restrain himself from being too crass), but when you look at the actual damage — body counts and dollar losses, for example — you can’t say that Pussygrabber is worse than Gee Dubya was.

That said, for the past two years for me it’s like we haven’t had a president at all. Not just because Pussygrabber lost the popular vote by millions of votes and thus (like Gee Dubya) always has been illegitimate, but because Pussygrabber is such an insubstantial “human being” that it’s like he doesn’t even exist at all.

He’s like a poltergeist that haunts the White House and that, if he isn’t exorcised by the electorate in November 2020, will be banished from the White House in January 2025 at the latest.

Hopefully, Presidents’ Day in February 2021 will be a holiday to celebrate: