A gang of moderate conservatives

What are we going to do with the Democrats? Mike Davis has an interesting, if long-winded analysis
here. Sure, the party is liberal in cultural matters, but it is just as beholden to the corporate power structure of America (and the world). (Nader’s critique is still valid, even though he is persona non grata and a convenient scapegoat: after all, it was Gore who couldn't get those Nader votes, nor fight for his actual plurality.) It’s just as ensnared in the money power, which has developed a “bipartisan” system very much to its liking. Instead of the GOP’s oil, health profiteers, and mercenaries, the Dems have hitched their stars to high tech and high finance. Yes, they’re just plain nicer than the GOP, but they’re still in thrall to the bond market and the rest of the neoliberal project. As such, even if they win the Presidency and larger majorities in Congress, they will give us nothing but tepid measures. Unless, of course, we force them to change our nation for the better, towards a socal democracy that cares for its citizens, not the profits of a few, for us and not that tiny elite of owners whose boots they polish and hope to wear. And that force, of course, doesn’t come from the checkbook.

So while it’s sweet that lots of people are writing checks for Obama, I remained stupefied about the willingness of people to continue in their infantile course of hoping something will happen instead of making it happen. We already had the Man from Hope, an absolutely fucking disaster who paved the way for GOP control, so now it’s the man of hope? When are people going to realize that a symbolic politics keep leading to the same winners, and that’s not us.

This is a nation of taxi passengers. The driver breaks all the rules and the passengers just sit there hoping to get to their destination without saying anything, contributing to the lawlessness, recklessness, and obnoxiousness of the journey.