Nov 11 2008
The Democrats: A Critical History
The latest unofficial tally in the still too close to call Minnesota Senate race has Republican incumbent Norm Coleman ahead by only 206 votes over his opponent Al Franken. The Secretary of State of Minnesota has projected a hand recount of the ballots to be completed by mid-December. Should Franken ultimately prevail in the race, his seat would increase an already commanding lead for the Democratic Party in the Senate. President-elect Barack Obama, who emerged victorious just one week ago today, will also be inaugurated with a sizable majority for his party in the House of Representatives as well. With such favorable political circumstances will the Democrats bring change many have hoped for? In the newly released book, “The Democrats: A Critical History,†author Lance Selfa cautions Americans to be more skeptical. Describing the party institution as essentially capitalist, Selfa retraces how the Democrats have acted in decisive moments in history in favor of big business interests both at home and abroad. As some progressives understand Obama to be a moderate centrist and accordingly call for broad social movements, the book also importantly evaluates past dynamics between Democrats administrations and grassroots activism.
GUEST: Lance Selfa, author of “The Democrats: A Critical History,” writer for the Socialist Worker and International Socialist Review
One Response to “The Democrats: A Critical History”
Well, it looks like Al Franken, former president of SNL (Saturday Night Live) may become among the most poweful politicians in the U.S. One hundred Senators making decisions for a nation of 300,000,000–the most influential nation on the planet, by some accounts–seems far from democracy. But they say that’s the way it dysfunctions. Is a time of minority obstructionism coming in the Senate? It’s been a problem with the governance since the beginning of the U.S., if I remember correctly.
Let me tak this opportunity to offer a surge–no, no, it’s a stimulus for the economy. Why don’t you give veterans over some age health care on demand from providers that they choose? The doctors will get the money, and being doctors, they will spend it wisely.
There is no use of talking of universal health care as a right. I don’t believe we’ll get there. But sometimes you can get some benefits for a politically popular group & th results will trickle down. Sounds familiar.
Democratic control of the Senate or not, it looks like resources will be surging toward warfare in Afghanistan instead of toward Americans, especially weak Americans, old Americans, underemployed Americans–those who have traditionally been a burden to the war effort. Where’s Osama bin Laden? If he’s captured can the war be punctuated? Or will the end come in 2018, or some even farther off date?
(to be continued)