The Dark Truth Of John Boehner's Resignation

 

This is a very good piece, with its accompanying video (above), that asks, "what in the world is going on with the Republican party?"

It troubles me sometimes, though, that there are elements on the left, often alongside me in support of Bernie Sanders, who are, as the article describes the Trump/Carson wing of the GOP, "an insurgent outlier — ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition." I might add as well that both sides are given to conspiratorial explanations of things with which they disagree.

I wish I knew why this move to irrationality is so strong on both sides right now. Is it that social media is allowing isolated people with that mindset who have always been isolated to discover each other, to mutually reinforce their worldview, and to organize themselves for action? Could this be a response to the anxiety induced by the extraordinary challenges we face today, like climate change and terrorism? Maybe it's a reflection of the degree of inequality in income, wealth and political power in America today and the closing off of opportunities for upward mobility for the working and middle classes. Or all the above.

Whatever the reason, the most immediate course of action needed to correct it is to get Sanders nominated to run and then elected to serve as President of the United States of America.

Comments

[John in Colorado]

I don't agree. In order to realize significant albeit incremental change in such broad things as income inequality, it will take an elite to negotiate with the elites. Bernie is not that person. In order to pander to the disaffected left, Bernie has demonized the 1%. Yet those will be exactly the people he would have to get on board to accept and implement real change. It won't work. Too much water under the bridge with Bernie for that. And while I am a progressive Democrat, especially on social issues, I don't buy into Bernie's demagoguery. He is creating expectations on the left, like talk of revolution, that he cannot possibly deliver on, especially with a hostile Congress. He has people vilifying Hillary when she most likely be the Democratic nominee. If Bernie's supporters stay home for the general election, it will hand the election to a nutcase like Rubio or Cruz. The long term effect of a Republican making extreme right-wing Supreme Court appointments could set this country back for decades. So this election is far bigger than Bernie or Hillary.