I was thinking of posting this political cartoon without comment because it does make a solid point about the GOP’s adherence to trickle down economics and tax cuts with-or-without spending cuts.
But this image only represents a small piece of the larger reality.
Many Democrats, too, claim that bold progressive proposals are fantasy.
Let us remember, as a quick example, some of the words Hillary Clinton reserved for Bernie Sanders’ proposals during 2016: they were “little more than a pipe dream” and claimed he was promising everyone a “pony.”
When it comes to responses to progressive proposals, the difference between corporatist Democrats and Republican politicians and pundits is often one of style and tone, not so much the message that progressive ideas are impossible or fantastical.
While we’d expect dismissiveness from a centrist Democrat, there’s ample evidence of conservative outlets and politicians not just dismissing progressive ideas like the Green New Deal, but calling it socialist, communist, and Stalin-like. Earlier today, for instance, Fox News ran the following headline:
“Cotton says media was 'Stalin-like' in Ocasio-Cortez Green Deal cover up”
While I would expect and have seen some red-baiting and Cold War call backs from the corporate media, certain Republican officeholders and news sources go to the extreme, and it’s important to know this because as progressive and leftist ideas gain more establishment traction, we will see more and more hysterical claims about “the left” destroying America/being Maoists/somehow advocating for gulags. We may also see, based on America’s history, attempts to silence and disrupt any attempts at implementing progressive legislation and at organizing around leftist causes.
We must not let outrageous smears, disingenuous attacks, and outright lies deter us from advancing policies that will help the working class.
Peace and solidarity--
Tom
