Dumb, Numb and Passive

“The only way Democrats can take control and reverse their four decade slide into minority status is to embrace a real progressive and populist agenda that puts people first.” John Atcheson

Americans of goodwill and decent instincts cannot, must not, normalize Donald Trump, even if the corporate media does. Trump isn’t normal, he’s an aberration, a Frankenstein president. His recent trip to the Middle East and then to a meeting with NATO leaders wasn’t a success, it was an embarrassment, the fat, arrogant American Bull barging around in the tight confines of an antique shop. Trump can Tweet all he wants about the great results his trip produced, but all one needed to see was the expression on the faces of the European leaders when Trump badgered them for money.

(For the record: I am not an enthusiastic supporter of NATO, so I don’t mind a spirited discussion about NATO, its purpose and role and limits, but I don’t want Trump leading that discussion.)

During the best of times Americans have short historical memories. We hardly know our own history, let alone the history of other countries and regions. We’ve been the badass with the big stick so long we believe ignorance is our right. I don’t think many Americans comprehend how corrupt our government and financial institutions and universities and labor unions and political parties and elections have become. We still cling to the idea that we, as citizens of this republic, matter, but we don’t, and we haven’t for a very long time. The lust for salvation, fulfillment and happiness through consumption has rendered us impotent and atomized. We are dumb and numb and passive, as likely to strike fear in our country’s rulers as Trinidad is to invade and occupy California.

We know what the Republicans are up to -- cruelty and theft on a massive scale, a kleptocrats wettest dream -- but what of the Democrats? Has the Party seen the error of its ways and faced left, begun to articulate a vision that pays attention to the needs of the poor and middle class, a vision of social and economic justice, single-payer health care and an end to fruitless wars? There’s no indication that such a change of course has happened or will happen. My sense is that Democrats have decided to bide their time, wait for Trump to self-destruct (which looks like a possibility), so they can continue occupying the center-right, supporting corporate-friendly policies, endless war, outrageous military expenditures, and austerity measures. This is a losing strategy.

As Chris Hedges repeatedly points out in his speeches and columns, we have lost the language of rebellion, the language to analyze and critique power structures dominated by big banks and military contractors and insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry. We speak their language now, use their words to keep debate narrowly focused on their agenda, not a people’s agenda. When was the last time you heard a talking head on mainstream corporate television criticize capitalism, or war, or proposals to gut programs that benefit the working poor and the poor? Have you ever heard a corporate talking head speak in terms of morality, justice or equality?

Liberals used to believe in truth and the rule of law, now they believe in the fantasy of a just, fair, self-regulating and all-powerful Market; they believe in regime change and “humanitarian” intervention. In Death of the Liberal Class, Chris Hedges writes, “The liberal class has ossified. It has become part of the system it once tried to reform.”

This is one reason why Democrats like Hillary Clinton are so out of touch with the struggles and fears and aspirations of ordinary people. It’s also the reason Barack Obama’s soaring rhetoric seemed at such odds with his actions. Both Clintons, Obama, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and Dianne Feinstein sound the right notes from time to time, usually when elections draw near, but when it gets down to action, they always support the corporate agenda over the needs of ordinary people.

Always. Democrats have forgotten how to stand, march or sit for justice. We can’t depend on them to deliver us from Trump’s gang of dangerous ideologues and thieves. Deliverance is a DIY project.