DemExit on Dem Bones

“The People’s Convention”- Sunday, 8/30/20 on the Internet 
This convention was sponsored by the U.S. Movement for a People’s Party (MPP).  After the speeches they reported that 99% of viewers voted to endorse the formation of a People’s Party (PP) in 2021.  I watched the whole 5 hours, listened to 32 speakers and listed the 33 or so MPP demands.  Nick Brana, a former national organizer for Sanders in 2016, chaired.  That basically tells you what is going on.  The Sanders campaign, after 2 attempts, has now given birth to an independent, mild social-democratic party without Sanders.  Much as Bill Clinton’s vote for NAFTA in league with Republicans gave birth to the labor-based Labor Party (LP).  Whether the PP will follow in the LP’s footsteps is up for grabs, but the MPP promised to run candidates starting in 2021, something the LP never did.

The PP program is a sprawling grab-bag of every demand Sanders had along with extras like supporting a state bank, an Economic Bill of Rights, Universal Basic Income and animal rights.  What was notable was that labor speakers were not in abundance, nor were references to the ‘white’ working class or even the use of the lone word ‘class.’  One exception was Chris Smalls, who spoke for non-union workers.  Another was Omar Fernandez from the Vermont postal workers, who while detailing the destruction of sorting and relabeling machines at USPS, oddly ended his speech with two God stories.  “No god!” was laughably popping up in the comments section after that.

Brana noted that the People’s Convention was trending #2 on Twitter on Sunday.  He also noted that the MPP now had 100,000 members, 10,000 joining in the last week.  Brana said that no one at the Convention was told what to say.  On YouTube I counted a high of 11,697 viewers right after Chris Hedges spoke at about 1.5 hours in, but the convention was also streaming on FB, Twitter, Jimmy Dore’s site and others, so there were more than that. On YouTube it hovered around 10,000+ viewers most of the night.  According to their own Aug. 31 stats, they had 400,000 individual views across all platforms.  Always have to wonder when numbers always end in 000.

The convention had speakers from the recent U.S. presidential campaign – Marianne Williamson and Mike Gravel – though Gravel bailed.  One Green Party activist spoke, while Chris Hedges called for voting Green in this election, as well as calling for ‘overthrowing the system.’  It had two supporters of the ‘Yang Gang’ calling for UBI.  Jesse Ventura also spoke, warning that the Democrats and Republicans would unite against the PP.  He said conditions were worse now than in the 1960s and predicted a possible civil war.  He ended by quoting Jerry Garcia as to ‘a lesser evil still being evil.”  Nina Turner, co-chair of the Sanders 2016 and 2020 campaigns also spoke, doing her best to out-prophet love warrior Cornel West who preceded her, and without giving Biden props.  So the lineup was reaching out to different groups, also including members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). No one mentioned socialism or nationalization and no hard-core socialists were invited.  Nor does the program mention socialism, unlike the formation of the British Labour Party.  People didn’t mention capitalism much either, substituting adjectives like neo-liberalism, neo-conservatism or neo-fascism or ‘the system.’  The system without a name.

There were a lot of podcast people and comedians, so the MPP has kind of an on-line media network.  Gram Elwood cracked everyone up with the suggestion that perhaps Rosa Parks should have gradually moved up one row in the bus each year so as not to upset the liberals.  Or that the difference between Trump and Biden is like that between a pedophile or a tweeker.  Elwood took the tweeker.  Jimmy Dore called Biden a “tottering relic” … “yearning for his pajamas and Gunsmoke re-runs.”  According to Dore, in any re-run of “It’s a Wonderful Life” Biden is actually Mr. Potter, as his spokespeople are now talking austerity and 'bare cupboards.'  The Convention cut Lee Camp’s submitted video because I think there was too much swearing, after Camp went off on the big-tent, no-change ‘Resistance©’ to Trump.

It was a pretty multi-ethnic event, though only two black women spoke, and no one from outside the U.S.  Williamson recommended studying the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany, though I blessed god when her swarmy speech ended. Danny Glover also warned of fascism.  Brana enthused about the overwhelming election of Obrador’s party in Mexico, as Obrador’s party had only existed for 4 years. Brana mentioned other new left political formations like Podemos, Syriza and Frente Amplio. (Brana’s parents are from Chile.)  He predicted the PP would win in 2024 and would be running candidates in 2022. Cornel West asked the toughest question of all – Can you have radical democracy in this country and be without imperialism, white supremacy, labor exploitation, gay hatred etc.?  No one was going to answer that in this upbeat atmosphere.

Some other speakers or points made:

·        A pod-caster, Tim Black, refused to trail tired sell-out politicians like Jim Clyburn, who corralled older African-Americans into the Biden camp in South Carolina.  Black doesn’t want to watch the DNC dump Sanders’ platform a 3^rd time.

·        Cheng-Sim Lim, a Medicare-For-All advocate (M4A), understood that this was a contest for power, not a polite debate.   

·        An Iranian-American woman and Sanders delegate, Hanieh Jodat, warned of the brown-shirts in the U.S. She pointed out that there was a deep connection between the U.S. military’s wars and domestic police violence financially and politically. 

·        A climate scientist, Peter Kalmus, said the fossil fuel industry had to be destroyed to save the planet.  He warned that billions will migrate from a wide uninhabitable heat band along the equator. 

·        The head of the MPP’s youth arm, Mayo Engeshi, advocated a united front. 

·        Elynelys Vinson, a former candidate for political office, mentioned she had ‘fled the Castro regime’ as a kid and the response by the constant stream of comments to the right on Youtube was hilarious, mostly consisting of ‘Viva Fidel.’ 

·        Chris Smalls, who led a strike at Amazon in New York, is now organizing essential workers.

·        Ryan Knight, podcaster, wants a $20 minimum wage.

·        Jerry Perez, a vet in the Marine Corps who did time in Iraq and Afghanistan, was the toughest guy in the room.

·        Isiah James, another vet and a housing organizer, is tired, tired, tired of all the problems in NYC – homelessness, student debt, Biden, de Blasio, the NYPD, the U.S. military budget.  “A Change is Gonna Come…” as Sam Cooke might say.

·        Jamarl Thomas said the ‘comfortable class’ looked down on protests and would do so even if they knew African-American poverty in Kenosha is 39%.  The refusal by the DNC, even in a pandemic and vast unemployment, to endorse M4A showed Pelosi and Schumer will never allow a popular left-wing plank to get by them. 

·        Chase Iron Eyes, NoDAPL activist, addressed ‘existential dread’ and said the fascists will be defeated because they are too few.  By the way the MPP program endorses ‘respecting treaties.’

·        Medea Benjamin of CodePink noted the dangerous new cold war against Russia and China endorsed by both parties and how this will fuel continued military spending. 

·        Brana pointed out that sclerotic Congress people did not and will not budge, even with tens of thousands in the streets calling for police reform. 

·        Cornel West admitted he was going to vote for Biden, but understood the other side’s position.  He’s Coltrane’s man with a plan or two.

·        Nina Turner mentioned the ‘owner-donors’ of U.S. parties.  The PP, like Sanders, would not have corporate donors or corporate PACS, but would run on small contributions.

All the present crises were mentioned – environment, pandemic, Trump, unemployment, racist cops, fascists, Biden - and indeed, this conjuncture, especially the kow-towing of Sanders to the DNC, has presented the MPP with a chance to grow.  Many speakers mentioned the U.S. as a ‘failed state’ – not just one that was failing.  Some of the speakers had already run for a political office, or held one.  It was a politically correct vibe with some poetry, some swearing and a few MPP videos. It was mostly activists, small bore politicians including a drag queen and media commentators, as well as the nationally-known.  A good number were former Sanders delegates.  Missing top names were people like the radioactive Ralph Nader, African American intellectual Adolph Reed and former presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard.  Telesur podcaster Abbey Martin and filmmaker Oliver Stone endorsed but did not speak.

I’m not sure how much mass appeal this group has to the working class, as it is not yet centered on labor or proletarian organizations or appeals.  Though its lead platform demand is an “Economic Bill of Rights,” borrowing from Roosevelt and the second is “Strong Unions and Workplace Democracy.” Whether the PP will be able to garner mass support from unions, community groups, leftists, office-holders, single-issue organizations and the like is yet to be determined.  Certainly the need for a left-wing party is there.  There is a gaping political hole on the Left as the two ruling-class parties trend even further to the right.   Given the legal, media and economic stranglehold by the corporate parties in this imperial headquarters, chances are not good.  Without the present granular changes among millions translating into action and changing minds out of the corporate trap, the PP will remain a minor party like the Greens.  But in this true time of crisis, the time may be right when many proletarians and white and blue collar workers feel they cannot go on as before, especially the youth.

 

On that note, many young activists in my city are now calling themselves 'communists' of some kind, so that might tip-off the PP that things are going 'lefter' than they think. 

My list of the MPP program:  Economic Bill of Rights / Strong Unions-Workplace Democracy / Infrastructure modernization / Fair tax code / Rein in Wall Street – Public Bank / Fair Trade / UBI-Job Guarantee / Abolish Money in Politics / Free and fair domestic elections / Ranked Choice Voting-Proportional rep / Oppose Surveillance / Wealth Tax / Human Rights / M4All / Free public college / Cancel student debt / Citizenship path / Protect environment / Biodiversity / Green New Deal / Animal Rights / Sustainable Ag / Housing for All / End Mass Incarceration / Legalize Weed / Racial Justice / Equal Women Rights / LGBTQIA Equality / Honor Treaties / End Wars / Expand Social Security / Veteran’s Support … and a few others.

Red Frog

September 1, 2020