Against the Alt Left

You're not going to read the full post that has been germinating in my mind for the past couple of days. That post would take about five hours to write, and I haven't the time to invest. This post is the two hour version.

It's a post about the Alt Left and the dangers posed by the BernieBros. In other words, the familiar Roger Stone "split the Dems" strategy continues.

I have no doubt that the Alt Lefties would express sheer fury at anyone who suggested that their movement was supported (and probably funded) by the Trumpists -- even though it has been established beyond rational debate that Russia manipulated the Bernie movement with a fake news tsunami.

The supporters of Shirley Chisolm would have felt the same fury in 1972 had anyone made a similar suggestion about her movement. The supporters of John Anderson would have felt the same fury had anyone made a similar suggestion about his movement. Nevertheless, it is a matter of provable historical fact that both the Chisolm and Anderson movements received Republican money and aid. I've documented this history in several previous posts. (I will also freely admit that the Libertarian Party has received covert aid from the Democrats.)

Take a good look at the smirking, arrogant young assholes pictured above and discussed here. Their names are Matt Christman, Felix Biederman and Will Menaker, and their podcast is called Chapo Trap House. They consider themselves the Breitbart of the left -- as though mirroring Breitbartism were among the desiderata.

From an article in New Republic which has attracted a lot of attention:

“However, to the pragmatists out there and the people who don’t like purity in politics, yes, let’s come together. But get this through your fucking head: You must bend the knee to us. Not the other way around. You have been proven as failures, and your entire worldview has been discredited. You bend the knee to us and then let’s fucking work together to defeat these things, not with fucking means testing or market-based solutions but with a powerful social democratic message.”

Bend the knee? Bend the fucking knee?

The hilarious fact of the matter is that these smirking young fuckfaces think they know politics. Yet that's how they talk: "Bend the knee." They think that line will attract people outside their narrow group of likeminded individuals.

Talk about idiocy!

I've been blogging since 2004, and my own record is clear. I'm basically an old hippie at heart, and I've been poor for most of my life. I grew up with left values. In 1980, I supported Teddy Kennedy and then -- to my lasting shame -- voted for Barry Commoner. (Now that was purity.) A couple of years later, I worked a bit for Gore Vidal's campaign. I marched against the Reagan administration's covert wars in Central America. I started this blog to oppose the Iraq war. I've supported single-payer since the 1970s, when it was called National Health Insurance. In the past, I've referred to the New Republic as the Newly Republican.

But.

If THOSE arrogant young fuckfaces from Clapo Trapo take over the Democratic Party, I won't vote for it. I'll run my wrists through a table saw before my hand pulls the lever for any of their candidates.

I will not vote for any candidate they endorse. EVER. Not even if the opposition is running on a pledge to ignite World War III just for the hell of it. Apocalypse is preferable to bending the knee.

You want to know how strongly I feel about this? Let's put it this way. If I myself were running against Donald Trump in 2020 -- and this is just a thought experiment: I will never run for even the lowliest public office -- to repeat: If I myself were to run against Donald Trump in 2020, and if I myself won the nomination, and if I myself were the only thing standing in the way of Trump attaining four more years -- I would step aside if I were endorsed by any of those Chapo Trap House smirking young arrogant fuckfaces.

Why? Because anyone who gets their endorsement must be shit. And also because they made that "Bend the knee" remark, which you know damned they will never retract.

The Alt Left is not a new phenomenon. The Nazis would not have attained power if the German Alt Left of that era had not continually sought to undermine the Social Democrats (whom they considered their main enemy) and the centrist parties. The German left preferred the triumph of Nazism -- which they considered the lesser of two evils -- to governance by the Social Democrats.

How did that work out?

Here's a more recent example from American politics: When Bill Clinton spent enormous amounts of political capital trying to pass health care legislation in the 1990s, the left lambasted him ferociously because he would not get behind single-payer (which he knew would never pass). The left went crazy. Those of you old enough to recall those years may remember that leftwingers like Alexander Cockburn fastened on many of the right's conspiracy theories about Clinton.

In Los Angeles, you couldn't attend any lefty political function without hearing nonsense about Whitewater and Vince Foster. I'm sure the situation was similar elsewhere.

The left-wing manure-spreaders thought they were being incredibly hip when they parroted the far right's conspira-crap. The Alt Left of the 1990s did everything they could to besmirch the Clinton name -- and when you asked them why they were doing this, you would be told: "He didn't support National Health Insurance."

The result? Here's a bit of history most have forgotten.

The Wall Street Journal reported showing the same description of a health reform plan to focus groups with and without the Clinton label. Without the label, the plan won more than 70 percent support; with the label, approval dropped 30 to 40 points. It seems likely, therefore, that when polls asked for opinions about the "Clinton health plan," they tapped general feelings of confidence in President Clinton rather than preferences about the specifics of health policy. Would different decisions on alliances, cost containment, and other provisions have attracted more public support? Elite opinion might well have been affected, but I am not sure it would have made any difference to the public at large. In fact, some survey evidence suggests that although public support for the president's approach fell, it remained higher than support for any other tested alternative.

The defeat of reform has set off a festival of recriminations. Among the criticisms, one often hears two complementary I-told-you-so's. From the left: If only Clinton had endorsed single payer or an expansion of Medicare, he would have had a simpler plan, and by rallying the public against the insurance industry, he could have won. And then, from conservative Democrats: If only Clinton had endorsed the Cooper plan or some other more moderate proposal, we would have substantial reform today.

Since we cannot rerun history, these critics are safe from ever being disproved. However, no serious observer believes that Congress might have passed a national single-payer plan. Paul Wellstone, single-payer's leading advocate in the Senate, had only four cosponsors for his bill; reaching 50 votes, much less 60, was inconceivable. Some single-payer advocates acknowledged that congressional passage was implausible but thought the president should take the issue to the public in a populist campaign against special interests. However, the defeat of California's single-payer ballot initiative by a margin of 73 to 27 percent should put to rest the notion that a popular uprising against the insurance industry was ready to be awakened. The supporters of single payer enjoyed the illusion that their plan was simpler and more popular only because the Clinton plan was the lightning rod for criticism.

Did you catch that last part? It's important.

In 1994, there was a single-payer plan in California called Proposition 186. This proposition passed the Alt Left purity test. The Alt Lefties of that period had long insisted that THE PEOPLE would support a National Health Insurance policy the moment such a proposal was placed before them. (For the past forty years, Alt Lefties have assured us that every ranch hand in Montana is an Emma Goldmanite at heart.)

The Alt Lefties had no evidence for this presumption -- but boy, they sure had smugness aplenty. Their capacity for self-delusion was matched only by their appetite for anti-Clinton conspiracy theories. And what happened? In true-blue California, the one state that should have been receptive to such a measure, 1994's Prop 186 suffered a blistering defeat.

The smug, arrogant, progressive-purist Alt Lefties stood revealed as bullshit-peddlers par excellence. They had insisted that everyone in America was desperate to get behind something like Prop 186, even though that idea couldn't even get 30 percent support in fucking California.

That's not the part that bothered me. What bothered me was this: When 186 failed spectacularly, the Alt Lefties at that time refused to take blame. They were so fucking arrogant they would not say "We misjudged the public" despite all the evidence against them. Your average Alt Lefty blamed Clinton, blamed capitalism, blamed the media, blamed anything and anyone except that guy in the mirror.

The current Alt Left is even guiltier of hubris. You can be sure that we're never going to get any kind of apology for that "bend the knee" remark. Like the Trumpers, your average Alt Lefty would rather slice off his own nipples with a potato peeler than ever utter the words "Gee, maybe I got it wrong."

Arrogance. Arrogance. ARROGANCE.

Like the Trumpers, the Alt Lefties are the living embodiments of the Dunning/Kruger effect. They all have egos more fragile than eggshells, and they compensate for their insecurities with bombast and thuggish behavior.

Take the $15 an hour minimum wage, Bernie's signature issue -- the main cudgel he used against Hillary. (And by the way, using that cudgel was in accordance with Roger Stone's plan, as published in 2014.) The Seattle experiment has proven this idea to be wrongheaded. I'm very sorry to admit that fact: Frankly, the failure in Seattle upended my own preconceptions about the minimum wage. Besides, I live in a household that could benefit from such legislation.

But that's the difference between a guy like me and a dirtbag leftist: I'm willing to utter the words "Gee, maybe I was wrong about that."

Alt Lefties, like the Alt Rightists, can't bring themselves to do such a thing. They can't admit that when Hillary and Bernie debated the minimum wage, Hillary was right -- Seattle proves her right. Those arrogant young fucks have such fragile egos that they cannot admit to even the slightest degree of error. That's why it is perfectly fair to accuse both the Alt Right and the Alt Left of "Dominance Politics."

Whenever I see an Alt Lefty combine ignorance, brutishness and jackass self-confidence, I'm reminded of Sarah Palin. In 2008, Palin was blissfully convinced that she had what it takes to lead the country even though she didn't know who fought whom during WWII. I wonder how the current crop of Alt Lefties would fare if they had to take the same history quiz that I'd like to administer to Palin or Trump?

Y'see, I do know history. Not as well as I would like: Of the reading of books, there is no end -- and the more I learn, the more ignorant I feel. Still, after more than a half-century of bookworming, a few basic facts have managed to seep into my obdurate skull.

I've already cited the sorry tale of the Alt Left in Weimar. I've already cited the sorry tale of the Alt Left in the Clinton era. If pressed, I can cite many, many similar tales.

Think of the people who could have had health insurance since the mid 1990s but didn't get it, thanks in large part to sabotage from the so-called progressives of that era. Study the history of how the German left joined forces with the Nazis in eradicating the potency of the Social Democrats and the center parties. Read up on the American Alt Lefties of the 1930s, who did everything they could to weaken FDR (on the grounds that he was just another capitalist elitist). And while you're at it, think about how much happier Russian history would have been if Kerensky had been given a fair chance.

The Alt Lefties have racked up quite a body count. They have literally killed millions. Those smirking, arrogant young BernieBro fuckfaces are killers. Historically speaking, they (and their intellectual forebears) are the ones who have failed -- again and again and again.

The Clapo Trapos refer to their supporters as Grey Wolves, in non-ironic reference to the Turkish fascist movement, which they seem to admire. It's one of those "jokes" that's not really a joke.

I know full well what the progressive purists would say if they read these words. They're extremely predictable -- yet every time they give me their rap, they seem to be under the impression that I've never heard such words before. They keep telling me that they are going to blow my mind with some new new new arguments -- and every single time, they hit me over the head with a bag filled with cliches. In fact, I first heard the Alt Left yada-yada long before the current crop of smirking arrogant young assholes were born.

I even fell for their spew. For a while.

You'll never again catch me throwing away my vote on a Barry Commoner.

Lord H.A. H.A. I can't prove that that the "Clapo Trapo" folks are getting money from the Trumpists. But in order to assess them, let us learn from the tale of H.A. Goodman -- who was granted full leave to spread lies about Hillary Clinton in Salon and other "progressive" forums.

Have you seen the kinds of comments his videos now attract?

In Goodman's world, Hillary is still the devil incarnate, and the election never ended.  Yesterday's video bears the euphonious title: "CLINTON EMAIL BREAKING NEWS: James Comey Will Help Christopher Wray Indict Clinton." Here are some sample comments:

Comey wont roll, the Clinton body count is too high

When us Trump supporters were chanting, "Lock her up! Lock her up!"... We were NOT asking him to, we were telling him to.

I do believe that the democrats are done. They don't have a message. I just want to see something moving into the direction of investigations into wire tapping that will bring down obama Brennan Clapper Rice etc. I want to see investigations into clintons emails and pay for play. I am little worried about mueller he is just as corrupt as Hillary.

Cant they just send a terminator from the future etc. I really wish those clintons never existed.

Enough with soft-coddling FRIGGING CRIMINALS!!!!! Comey is guilty as sin. The punishment needs to fit the crime. NO DEALS, NO BARGAINS. MY GOD, in what reality are these people living?????
No deals for criminals! Can I get an AMEN???????

Can Trump do a cease and desist on the Obama Library which is where they are starting to hide information can we shut it down before it's even complete

Trump can shut this down with an execuative order.

HA is an awesome reporter! "Another brick on my load " love HA's analogies. Fucking Comey. Piece of shit liar!

You mean she didn't use a private server for convenience??? Lying snake, don't know how can anybody still support her? You need to be lying underneath a rock not to know there's nothing worse in Washington than Killary

And so on. And remember: Goodman was allowed to romp and scamper all over progressiveland. In large measure, the current incarnation of the Alt Left is an outgrowth of Goodmanism.

I'm reminded of the naive young lefties of the late 1980s -- the left-leaning anti-Reagan kids who considered themselves opponents of "corporate Democrats" like Mondale and Dukakis. In 1987, they fastened onto the Christic Institute lawsuit, which functioned as their introduction to the insidious attractions of conspiracy theory. By 1994, many of these same former young "progressives" were supporting the Gingrich revolution in Congress: "Maybe this new crop will bring about REAL CHANGE!"

Yes: Self-proclaimed lefties voted for the Gingrichites because they thought that the really important thing was bringing down Clinton, whom they considered the embodiment of covert evil. I saw this devolution happen to people I knew.

It was an old story even then. Young, idealistic left-wingers will always think that they are the hippest of the hip, and they always turn out to be incredibly easy to fool -- and to co-opt.