The U.S. House voted last week to pass a resolution condemning “socialism,” the latest example of gotcha politics at its worst, and messaging disguised as governance.
To wit: the resolution as written didn’t address an uncomfortable truth for those who don’t like “socialism” – that popular government programs like Social Security and Medicare are, yes, you guessed it, “socialism.”
The Republicans who wrote the resolution chose to instead make “socialism” entirely about the totalitarian regimes of the USSR, China, Cuba, Cambodia – all gulags, forced famines and internal exile, all the time.
Anohter uncomfortable truth on that: hard-right authoritarians, the intellectual brethren of today’s election-denying GOP, are just as bad (see: Nazi Germany, Hitler; Italy, Mussolini; hell, the United States of America, Trump), if not sometimes a million times worse.
From the perspective of partisan politics, the resolution predictably divided Democrats, who were damned if they do, damned if they didn’t do, either way.
Vote for the resolution, as Virginia Democrat Abigail Spanberger did, and you piss off your left of center supporters who don’t want you to fall for the nonsense.
Vote against it, or even just vote present (or skip town entirely), and the ‘Pubs will use it against you next time you run to make the insane claim that you’re a totalitarian, when they’re the ones who slurp lustily from Putin’s hind end.
As far as Spanberger is concerned, she’s being looked at as a possible top contender for the Virginia Democratic Party gubernatorial nomination in 2025, which, if she’s going to make a run, and that’s almost certain, she’ll be needing to ramp up a campaign pretty soon.
The press statement that she offered on her vote on this all-important condemnation of “socialism” last week won’t help win any Democratic Party primary voters over.
“I’m glad we got that out of the way, because Virginians know that I will always vote to condemn atrocities committed by the most brutal dictators in world history. For those who seek to escape the grip of communism and totalitarianism, the United States of America has always been a beacon of hope, opportunity, and freedom. That’s why I have been proud to serve my country, defend its values, and protect our homeland from its enemies,” Spanberger said.
She did then go on to offer that she hopes to “see House GOP leadership bring bills to the floor that focus on lowering prices, addressing inflation, and keeping our communities safe. We should be looking to build bipartisan agreement around the pressing issues facing the American people in the here and now — not just condemning the violence and terrors of the past.”
Probably should have sat this one out, in retrospect.
Even Republican voters don’t want to have anything to do with the people they send to Washington in their name who want to get rid of their Social Security and Medicare, though the cruel joke is on them – those Republicans that they vote for have their Social Security and Medicare squarely in their crosshairs.
This is the very definition of Orwellian, and that good Democrats like Spanberger can’t see that is another big part of what’s wrong with the Democratic Party.
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Chris Graham
