There are two well written, but diametrically opposed, essays on whether to endorse Biden or not endorse Biden at this point, which I believe any concerned citizen who are not Trumpist should read. The first one, which is saying endorse and vote for Biden, is from a former 1960s radical, Max Elbaum. Elbaum sees Trump as an existential threat to the Republic. The second is from a Salon writer, Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, who cites much more factual data, and comes to the conclusion Biden is not worth supporting, nor is the Democratic Party's national leadership worth supporting. I stand with the latter strategically in May 2020 because it is ridiculous to me to endorse Biden without making him concede the moment, and without making the Democratic National Committee, and their enablers in corporate media, sweat with fear. One may criticize both articles for not stating the best argument the other has offered, but I think lurking beneath Elbaum's essay is the historical analogy to Germany in the period of 1932-1933, as Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, and Germany was off to the races toward World War II and the Holocaust.
With respect to that analogy, I ask readers to look, once again, at the last footnote in my long post from a few weeks ago. I am more clear than ever that the whole "Don't be like the German Communists, who gave us Hitler" argument is wrongheaded, and is a reflection of a failure of historically-based reading comprehension and judgment that is being weaponized for the profesional-managerial and business classes. If we read that footnote at the end of my long post, we see it is German Social Democrats who failed, not the Communists. The German Social Democrats did not want a coalition. They wanted capitulation, and demanded the Communists trust them when, just a few years before, the German Social Democrats had stood with the business classes against the Communists at a time when the Communists had the upper hand in the general strikes pervading major cities in Germany. Yes, the Comintern, in November 1932, had told the German Communist Party not to coalesce with the Social Democrats, who they called Social Fascist (owing to that previous experience, one must say). However, if World War I proved anything, it was that people more often go with their nations more than an international ideology. Had the German Social Democrats offered real compromise to the Communists, there would have been a split among Communists, and the ones in the Reichstag who were elected would have likely and largely agreed to that coalition.
Worse for those using the wrongheaded analogy, the reason Hitler gained power at the end of 1932 and the start of 1933 was because the business community coalesced with monarchists and leading Catholic clergy to demand Hindenburg put Hitler in charge, even though the Nazis, in the time between the July 1932 and November 1932 elections, lost 35 seats in the Reichstag and lost five percent of their already far less than majority of the vote (37% to 32%, in round numbers). Finally, does anyone think the Social Democrats were going to tell the Brits and French that reparations would no longer be paid, and use mass government investment to put Germans to work in the searing days of the Great Depression? They were passive-defensive in their entire approach to politics. Thus, I say we have the whole 1932-1933 German political history story backwards. The German Communists were not free of blame, but certainly not the main causes for Hitler's rise.
So, with that excursion into historiography completed, where are we today? I agree with the former 1960s radical we are potentially in a fascistic and perhaps Nazi-like moment with respect to Trump. However, I also agree with the Salon writer that Biden and the business class are completely failing to understand the moment, and must restore the social contract with fundamental reforms they continue to refuse to do. Elbaum misses the significance of Biden suddenly bringing on board Larry Summers as a top adviser, and how the VP short list includes only corporatists like himself. The corporate Dems are the Social Fascist/Social Democrats if one wants to use the analogy in any proper way. Further, as with the business class with Hitler, it is clear the business class has essentially thrown in their lot with Trump, as this article in The New Yorker shows (though the article makes Prescott Bush sound like a near "liberal," when he was an enabler of Hitler in the 1930s, and a supporter of fascist reaction through World War II and beyond). What The New Yorker article shows is the comfortable will almost always be more likely to side with fascists and Nazis for purposes of holding onto their personal wealth. However, when we look at the weak, passive-defensive worldview of the corporate Democrats, we see how the way in which I interpret the German political-historical period of 1932-1933 is playing out in a way which shows how the corporate Democrats and business class are coalescing in a manner which is leading to a second term for Trump. They hold the political power, and are not interested in broadening any coalition that would enact reforms to help regular people. They are the ones ignoring the cries of the people, and are content to have half of Americans not vote, as those are more often the poor and working class. They think they will be able to keep the comfortable comfortable, rather than focus on the needs of the working classes and the poor. These people have no respect for their children's future. They have no respect for people of color, other than hanging with the Oprah-Whoppi set, and virtue signaling with people like pro-white/anti-minority criminal justice system supporter, and corporate tool, Kamala Harris. They are the ones who work much harder to defeat the large progressive base in the Democratic Party, and would rather risk a second term for Trump.
If the corporate Democrats had any strategic political sense, and truly wanted to defeat Trump, Sara Nelson would be on the vice president nominee short list. Nelson is truly pro-labor to get labor voters out in Rust Belt states. And we already know minority voters are much smarter about not looking at superficialities as skin color for a candidate. The two top candidates African-Americans and Latinos supported were Biden (mostly older African-Americans) and Sanders (younger African-Americans and Latinos across ages). They will see very clearly how Sara Nelson is on their side.
I hope this is finally clear to Boomers and Oldsters. You want to protect your children's and grandchildren's future? Don't give in to the Biden Inevitability this early in the negotiations, especially as we see the rank hypocrisy with respect to the Tara Reade allegations. Stand up and with the Millennials and Gen-Zers. As I keep saying, the Kids are not only alright. The Kids are right. We Boomers and Oldsters are the ones who should be lectured, and, really, it is past time to bury the bad historical analogy about how Hitler gained power in Germany--or at least more properly apply it to the people in power, not the outsiders.
