Strange ommission

“The Democratic Party circled the wagons to maintain Wall Street Control,” tweeted RoseAnn DeMoro, former executive director of National Nurses United, the first union to back Bernie both in the 2016 campaign and now. “We changed the narrative, won the ideological struggle, Bernie is right about that. But our representatives will still belong to the wealthy. Wall Street Won again. Thank you, Bernie. We will carry on.”

I find this wrong in many ways. But here I only want to mention one thing. In DeMoro’s analysis, primary voters, first in South Carolina and then in the states that followed (most of whom are workers), are missing in her account of Joe Biden’s path to the nomination.

Strange omission for a labor leader, and one who sits on the left. Much more could be said.

Closing ranks

In recent days Democrats have closed ranks and turned their attention to November. Not a moment too early. Still work to do to unite the party, but the momentum is in the right direction. Bernie and Biden have been at the center of this unity process.

Betting the House

In leaving no light between themselves and Trump, Republicans are effectively putting their fate in his hands this November. It could turn out to be a calamitous bet in the near and longer term.

Class struggle

The current fight over the next stimulus bill will have far reaching ramifications. McConnell and his Republican mates would like to limit it to small business aid. Nancy Pelosi and Congressional Democrats, on the other hand, are resisting this narrow casting of the bill. They argue that it should include aid to working people as well as to cities and states that are on the front line of the pandemic and the economic crisis. We should support their efforts. We have tools to communicate to our legislators, friends, and media outlets.

Dr. Fauci

I don’t think Dr. Fauci has quite earned the title of fearless truth teller that so many are ready to bestow on him. On the crucial issue of testing on a broad scale, for example, he is less than candid. I’ve heard him say, when asked, that the country will never reach a point where “every single person” is tested. But that is a straw man and deflection of a question that he should answer straight on, that is, the imperative for extensive testing before the economy is reopened and people end social distancing. In fact, he should go a step further and admit that the Trump administration is woefully behind in this regard. And, furthermore, that the administration has no plans yet to test on the scale required if we ever hope to return to a state of semi-normalcy. In fudging on this life and death matter, it is hard not to think that Fauci is isn’t truth telling, but bending truth to the pressures of his narcissistic and corrupt boss in the White House.