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Bernieolatry, Kumbaya Politics, and Other Delusions
(Part One)
1
On April 28, 2020, I intend to cast my vote, in the New York Democratic primary, for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, if he is still in the race. If he is not, I will vote for Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, if she remains in the race. While I am contributing to both the Sanders and Warren campaigns, Sanders’s strikes me as more clear-sighted about the nature and extent of the changes needed to the American polity if it is to remain a Liberal Democratic Republic. Namely: the end of corporate oligarchy and the cult of wealth, a radical overhaul of a murderous and unjust for-profit medical system, a solid and passionate commitment to oppose racism, sexism, and LGBTQ-phobia, and the extirpation of Trumpism from our political culture. Warren’s campaign is also committed to all of the above, albeit with different means and with a wonkier tone, and for that reason I would enthusiastically support her should her campaign prevail. But sometimes it is the melody rather than the lyrics that make the difference, and Sanders strikes a more urgent note. If Warren’s tone resembles Bob Dylan’s, Sanders is more like Rage Against the Machine. My mood is more aligned with the latter in these waning days of 2019.
But, as in 2016, I am getting more than annoyed by the false notes struck by some who…
