Hillary Clinton's Betrayal of the American Left

[n2doc]

By Walker Bragman

It has long been said by disenchanted left-wing people that America has no left wing party—just a right wing and a moderate right wing party. This has been the case for years until recently with the candidacy of Bernie Sanders. One would think liberals would be ecstatic. While many are, once again, the left is cannibalizing itself in the face of opportunity.

I’m just going to say this: Hillary supporters are pessimistic and politically blind. There’s no other way of putting it. They are mostly Baby Boomers, many of whom base their votes on an assumption of Republican narrative dominance that has been for years since the realignment of the south, but no longer exists. For the sake of electability they are afraid of embracing ideas they think are “too radical” even though they may agree with them.

But here are five charts from the nonpartisan PoliticalCompass.org which places candidates on a political spectrum based rough estimations of their ideology. Each one should serve as a wake up call about what is actually “too radical.” The X-axis is the economic scale, and the Y-axis is the social scale:


This graph shows where Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders fall on a political spectrum in comparison to the GOP. We’ll keep referencing this as we go on, but for now, something very interesting should stand out: Bernie Sanders is closer to the middle—the objective political center—than any other candidate running.

much more

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/02/hillary-clintons-betrayal-of-the-american-left.html

[Faux pas]

1. K N R

[TTUBatfan2008]

2. That graph...

...goes to show the effect of Reagan on this country. Sanders is seen as some crazy ultra left person when he really isn't. It's that damn near everyone else in national politics is way to the right of where they should be, especially on the issue of authoritarianism. These politicians should be standing up for us, not trying to enact a police state against us.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

33. not just raygun - it is the machine behind the move to the right

About ten years ago a book was published that detailed the 40 right wing think tanks funded by a billion dollars each year. The goal of these organizations is to limit the range of topics that get broadcast to the world and frame how these topics are to be understood.

Many of the talking heads have been trained in these places and they have been very effective in directing the way Americans think about issues. Climate change is a very good example. Many here can see through the confusion spread about this issue but still are not able to do the same with so many other issues.

No we can't is true for those living in the right wing world. There are many wise people that quietly offer rational solutions to many of the problems that we face. It is time to listen to these voices. It is time to elevate a different and rational approach to our problems.

Sanders offers us a chance to take a fresh look at the world around us. Sanders offers us a chance to explore new possibilities in the way we deal with our challenges.

Sanders offers us a chance to Change the Narrative.

Take the chance - accept the challenge - join the movement that can Change the Narrative.

[appalachiablue]

40. +1

K & R. Thanks for this very impt. post-- the reality!

[azmom]

50. +1

[mrdmk]

53. Yes, there was a major push back in the 1970's for just that, it is called the Powell Memo

Powell Memorandum

Based in part on his experiences as a corporate lawyer and as a representative for the tobacco industry with the Virginia legislature, he wrote the Powell Memorandum to a friend at the US Chamber of Commerce. The memo called for corporate America to become more aggressive in molding politics and law in the US and may have sparked the formation of several influential right-wing think tanks and lobbying organizations, such as The Heritage Foundation and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), as well as inspiring the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to become far more politically active. Marxist academic David Harvey traces the rise of neoliberalism in the US to this memo.

On August 23, 1971, prior to accepting President Nixon's request to become an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Powell sent the "Confidential Memorandum" titled "Attack on the American Free Enterprise System." He argued, "The most disquieting voices joining the chorus of criticism came from perfectly respectable elements of society: from the college campus, the pulpit, the media, the intellectual and literary journals, the arts and sciences, and from politicians." In the memorandum, Powell advocated "constant surveillance" of textbook and television content, as well as a purge of left-wing elements. He named consumer advocate Ralph Nader as the chief antagonist of American business.

This memo foreshadowed a number of Powell's court opinions, especially First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, which shifted the direction of First Amendment law by declaring that corporate financial influence of elections through independent expenditures should be protected with the same vigor as individual political speech. Much of the future Court opinion in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission relied on the same arguments raised in Bellotti.

Though written confidentially for Eugene Syndor at the Chamber of Commerce, it was discovered by Washington Post columnist Jack Anderson, who reported on its content a year later (after Powell had joined the Supreme Court). Anderson focused on the efforts of Powell to undermine the democratic process (at least as Anderson saw it); however, in terms of business's view of itself in relation to government and public interest groups, the memo did little but convey the thinking among businessmen at the time. The real contribution of the memo, instead, was its emphasis on institution building, particularly updating the Chamber's efforts to influence federal policy. Here, it would be greatly influential in motivating the Chamber and other groups to modernize their efforts to lobby the federal government.

link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell,_Jr.#Powell_Memorandum

Confidential Memorandum:
Attack of American Free Enterprise System
Date: August 23, 1971
T0: Mr. Eugene B. Sydnor, Jr., Chairman, Education Committee, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
From: Lewis F. Powell, Jr.

This memorandum is submitted at your request as a basis for the discussion on August 24 with Mr. Booth (executive vice president) and others at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The purpose is to identify the problem, and suggest possible avenues of action for further consideration.

<snip>
Dimensions of the Attack
No thoughtful person can question that the American economic system is under broad attack. 1 This varies in scope, intensity, in the techniques employed, and in the level of visibility.

<snip>
Sources of the Attack
The sources are varied and diffused. They include, not unexpectedly, the Communists, New Leftists and other revolutionaries who would destroy the entire system, both political and economic. These extremists of the left are far more numerous, better financed, and increasingly are more welcomed and encouraged by other elements of society, than ever before in our history. But they remain a small minority, and are not yet the principal cause for concern.


<snip>
Tone of the Attack
This memorandum is not the place to document in detail the tone, character, or intensity of the attack. The following quotations will suffice to give one a general idea:

William Kunstler, warmly welcomed on campuses and listed in a recent student poll as the "American lawyer most admired," incites audiences as follows:
"You must learn to fight in the streets, to revolt, to shoot guns. We will learn to do all of the things that property owners fear." 2 The New Leftists who heed Kunstler's advice increasingly are beginning to act -- not just against military recruiting offices and manufacturers of munitions, but against a variety of businesses: "Since February, 1970, branches (of Bank of America) have been attacked 39 times, 22 times with explosive devices and 17 times with fire bombs or by arsonists." 3 Although New Leftist spokesmen are succeeding in radicalizing thousands of the young, the greater cause for concern is the hostility of respectable liberals and social reformers. It is the sum total of their views and influence which could indeed fatally weaken or destroy the system.

There is a lot more at the link and a very interesting read.
link: http://www.webcitation.org/64jAmJkKB

[SoLeftIAmRight]

58. Many Many Thanks

So many people do not understand what forces are aligned against us.

[Mufaddal]

3. Can't rec this enough

But I wish I had more than one to give it.

[ladjf]

4. It appears to me that Hillary's file goal is to make more and more money.

She's likely to be a billionaire before she dies.

[n2doc]

6. I maintain it is more about power

Her attitude has clearly been "I'm Queen Hillary, and you had better treat me like that!". The power and prestige of the Presidency can't be bought by a mere billionaire for themselves. Unless they are named Trump, of course. But I think she is in it for the Power. That is scarier than being in it for the money.

[ladjf]

7. I think power and money are an equation and that

money is the goal of the power. She doesn't strike me as the megalomaniac type. But, power is attractive to people.

[n2doc]

9. I disagree

Watch this

The quote "We came, We Saw, He Died". She is reveling in the power of the moment. Hell that interaction she had with the BLM protester yesterday was full of contempt for the person who dared to ask her a question.

The female Nixon, that is what I believe she will turn out to be if elected.

[ladjf]

10. Well, regardless of the two sides of our argument, doesn't look

as though either of us is backing Hillary. That's the important thing.

[n2doc]

14. Certainly!

[chervilant]

16. For me, this incident simply iced the

"Won't Support Hi11ary" cake. She was and is a disgusting politician, and I cannot understand why ANYONE supports her.

[Duval]

42. That BLM protestor is from Charlotte, NC.

I thought she showed tremendous courage by asking Clinton to apologize for previous comments. Clinton's dismissive and condescending answer, followed by a Secret Service guy who escorted her out, nearly made my eyeballs turn blue. She has a YOUUGE problem.

[eridani]

56. Unbelievable. I think Bill has already apologized for mass incarceration.

No clue why she couldn't do the same thing when presented with a perfect opportunity.

[JDPriestly]

45. Contemptuous -- sums up Hillary.

And that is the opposite of Obama. Obama is always respectful and kind.

Hillary's contempt will get her into trouble especially if we have, as we are likely to have, a Republican Congress.

If elected, I do not believe she will finish her term without being challenged in a number of unpleasant ways that will be disruptive to our country.

Hillary is contemptuous and arrogant. There is no getting around that.

Hillary will mean trouble if she is nominated.

[90-percent]

46. Thanks for this clip

Watching her revel in the death of the leader of a country is much more impactful than reading it! I know he was a creep in the Idi Amin dictator model, but didn't he get mobbed to death "by his own people"? Certainly doesn't seem like a giggly thing to me. It seems monstrous. Not to mention the standard unintended consequences of making things even worse afterwards.

Hillary is Dick Cheney without the snarl.

-90% Jimmy

[Fairgo]

54. Gruesome

Its fascinating what people will reveal bout their sordid inner world.

[tk2kewl]

5. have some water... it's free

for now

[Dragonfli]

8. For comparative purposes and those that think the meaning of right/left changes

depending on the whims of political parties in the US (A great many do by the way)
It is important to note that political right and left are well defined and the definitions don't change via popularity contests of what some wish they mean depending on their personal preferences.

Here is a map of Canada 2015, note the differences, if you follow Canadian politics you will see that they are quite acurate, just as the US one above is

[PatrynXX]

22. yeah I remember

Liberal was Right of Center then it would show Conservatives and a little farther right it was some guy called Hitler I learned this at a WELS based (one of the more Conservative wings) Lutheran School .. Imagine that

[Dragonfli]

47. Actually, I wrote that because Vanilla R kept posting a graphic showing Hillary as far left as Mao

A pop chart From a site that basically said to take their graphs with a grain of salt as it was just based on a little theory of theirs they were trying to develop and that that was ALSO based on the results of a test taken by the politician herself, with nothing other than the test itself, easy to manipulate for any outcome one may want (not the issues votes or stances) so yeah, as condescending as it sounded I felt the need to post a "control" or comparison chart based on the only country besides the US most Americans even notice exists

Do you remember the Hillary as extreme left chart?

I was also lectured the other day that FDR was left in His day, but things change and politicians in "our' age mean the progressive caucus were the extreme left and Hillary was just plain left (further left than centrist even.)

Knowing that definitions mean something and political compass has a well tested and respected methodology internationally, that does not use a self test but metrics based on policy and actions or proposed policies taken as a whole, although my post sounded condescending I felt it very necessary. (they do have a test if you want to graph yourself, but it will only be accurate if your answers are truthful) They don't let politicians use the test because around the end of the first year into it they found out the pols (surprise) were cheating on the tests to manipulate the outcome)

[retrowire]

11. knr nt

[nenagh]

12. Wow, that photo... the word kowtow

came to mind.

[LiberalEsto]

13. My husband and I are boomers AND Bernie supporters

Great chart!

[mountain grammy]

15. K & R from another boomer Bernie supporter.

[chervilant]

17. k

from yet ANOTHER Boomer.

Go BERNIE!!!

#NotMeUs

[stupidicus]

18. it's another thing that is Bush's fault

the theft/selection that occurred in 2000 left those of on the actual left and the 3rdway pretenders united against that, but in a sad state of disarray when it came to our collective introspection and analysis that the Bernie candidacy has forced like just about no other would at this point in time.

The same can't be said of the BHO admins, because they have played a critical role of putting the spotlight on our differences with and objections to the 3rdwayer ways Hillary champions.

That's why I told them around here in response to their pottymouthing over BHO criticisms prior to the last election, that they were likely the minority here on DU as well as the wider public arena, and hopefully, Bernie will show that to be correct.

THe cat is now outta THE BAG IMHO, and the Bernivirus will continue to spread and afflict more with the network moment feeling, regardless of the outcome this Nov.

[chervilant]

19. This:

Hillary Clinton is hurting the Democratic Party, and ensuring America’s left remains unrepresented. Her ambition and lack of judgment are liabilities. Enough is enough.

Enough IS enough.

Feel the BERN!!!

#NotMeUs

[PatrynXX]

20. I miss that chart

First one I ever took I was pretty much dead center, although below the line Libertarian. I see from Bernie he's both and neither so thats probably why alot of Libertarians like him. Right Win Libertarians are better known as Tea Party.... in theory although I assume thats a fake.

[starroute]

32. There really are differences between libertarians and tea partiers

At some point in 2009 or 2010, I was trying to track down how one particularly paranoid anti-Obama rumor had originated and spread, so I had occasion to check out a number of right-wing message boards. And what I found was that the mainly libertarian movement that had come out of Ron Paul's 2008 presidential run was being overwhelmed by tea partiers and was reacting with a horrified tone of "who are you people and why are you spreading these insane stories?"

Of course, there's not much to be hoped for from right-wing libertarians these days either. Most of them are hard-line anarcho-capitalists, defenders of deregulation and the "free market," and sworn enemies of any kind of collective action for the public good. But they're still not as insane as the tea party.

[Populist_Prole]

39. The TR was only libertarian-ish very very early in its life

It turned out to be just a re-branding of the republican far right, bristling with christian theocrats, bigots and MIC worshipping authoritarians.

[Betty Karlson]

21. K&R for truth!

[maddiemom]

23. ALL RIGHT! Enough already.

This Bernie supporter will vote for him in the PA primary. I'm sick of all the D.U. Hillary hate, however. There isn't even an equivalent amount of Trump or Cruz bashing (or just barely). Reminds me a little of the 2000 Nader supporters who claimed Gore was no better than Bush. Freeze Hillary news out, if you want. Just don't sit back and pretend you'd rather have Trump or Cruz. At my advanced age, I'm more than sick of the "lesser of two evils" voting thing, but stop giving the Repugs so much ammo that their work is done for them if Hillary is the nominee.

[n2doc]

26. Yeah, the Repubs would never be able to think up bad things to say about Hillary Clinton

Only Sanders supporters are smart enough to do that!

I would be interested if you could point me to a post in the HRC forum or GD P where you said something similar about the attacks on Sanders....

[maddiemom]

35. Attacks on Sanders? On D.U.? I was referencing the home page, which probably attracts more viewers

in general. I'd spend all day in front of my screen if I had more free time for the forums, etc. Bernie's already got my vote, he doesn't need my support when probing deeper into what are meant to be far more detailed and slanted critiques.

[farleftlib]

27. It's primary season

The examples you gave were from the GE. The tenor of the debate is the same as 2000, '04 and '08. It will continue until the convention because this needs to be discussed.

[Jester Messiah]

31. It's not "enough" until the threat is dispatched. [nt]

[Betty Karlson]

24. "Hillary Clinton is hurting the Democratic Party"

"Hillary Clinton is hurting the Democratic Party, and ensuring America’s left remains unrepresented. Her ambition and lack of judgment are liabilities. Enough is enough."

Quite so.

[nashville_brook]

25. just look at the amount of House seats lost during Bill's admin

the Clintons are horrible for the party.

[PatrynXX]

28. well I see I'm more to the left and more Libertarian than I used to be

Figures. I'm Ghandi O_O hey he had glasses too.

[Bonhomme Richard]

29. Her husband started it and she will contiue along that path.

I became very disillusioned with the direction of the party during his presidency.

[Javaman]

30. it's really amusing how hillary has long called herself a centrist...

then Bernie comes along and now she calls herself a progressive.

More over, people in the press and in political circles call Bernie a "leftist" when it's apparent from this graft his is certainly closer to a centrist then a leftist.

my take away from all of this? it's a glaring example of our we as a nation have slide so far to the right, that a centrist is considered a leftist.

any self respecting Dem that is of the belief that Hillary represents the average person is under some major delusions.

[Dragonfli]

48. True leftists are very rare in this country slightly left of center is mostly what we have.

There used to be a left in this country, Communists and socialists were all over most notably active in the very early labor movements, that ended when McCarthy put a stake through the heart of our domestic left.

The closest we have to left now is really center left, like FDR, that infused some Socialism into Capitalism and created the New Deal etc. He was sort of the first American Democratic Socialist, Bernie and his policies are very FDR, even his most extreme policies can be found in FDRs second bill of rights, hardly a communist manifesto.

But this country runs on spin and so they call Sanders a "leftist" and a "Socialist" when he is in fact a Capitalist that believes like FDR that some socialism is needed for a nation that is more evenly prosperous (which is true of Capitalism by the way) and is really, just like FDR center left.

There is a simple formula that I believe in, Capitalism without Socialism in the mix=Fascism and Socialism without Capitalism in the mix = Communism.

My biggest worry is that although Communists are nearly extinct in this country Fascism was not attacked by it's McCarthy opposite (if one ever existed) and fascists are sill alive and well in this country, just waiting for the Republicans who are already at about John Birch Society level craziness are just a short step away from Fascism for real.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

52. many thanks

There is no left in America

[LittleGirl]

34. I'm far left on that chart

and lower than Sanders on the scale toward libertarian. This boomer is voting for Bernie.

[Deadshot]

36. Hillary is a Republican.

I don't even know why she calls herself a Democrat.

[Dragonfli]

49. As a tactic decided on long ago By her and Bill to help get elected. It happens all the time. /nt

[LongTomH]

37. Can't rec this enough! Bernie isn't radical. he's in line with FDR, Truman, JFK and LBJ......

......all the greats of the Democratic party.

After the election, Hillary will move to the right so fast it'll make our heads spin.

[99th_Monkey]

38. Bernie is America's chance to grow up, and become a real democracy. Let's do this thing!!! n/t

[WillyT]

41. HUGE K & R !!! - THANK YOU !!!

[Duval]

43. K&R! nt

[TBF]

44. I just posted a similar article in the socialist group

about lowering expectations. The elite would like us to elect Hillary to deliver austerity to America. They can f+++ off.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/102411218

[Enthusiast]

51. Kicked and recommended!

[Major Hogwash]

55. Bernie will pull the entire country to the left, thus moving the Overton Window farther to the left

Farther to the left than President Obama has been able to do so far.

There is no doubt where the corporation's interests lie, with either Hillary or Trump they get pretty much the same thing.

That's why Bernie's campaign is so important.

[cantbeserious]

57. Maintaining The Status Quo For Oligarchs, Corporations And Banks Is The Limit Of HRC's Vision

eom

[mmonk]

59. Nailed it.