JIMMY DORE—After losing the Democratic presidential primary in 2020 and the race for New York mayor in 2021, Andrew Yang might have been expected to give up on his dreams of being a political mover and shaker. Instead, Yang has opted to join with other “centrists” like former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman and former Republican congressman David Jolly to launch a third party – specifically the Forward Party. Despite claiming to be an antidote to the extremism and partisanship of the Republicans and Democrats, the Forward Party has yet to take a single stance on any political issue. Jimmy and The People’s Party’s Nick Brana discuss just what voting demographic is supposed to be interested in a new party that takes plenty of money from the wealthy but no policy positions.
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Chances are extremely slim that the new leader of Colombia may achieve anything of consequence during his tenure, as the nation is an imperialist fortress in South America, and even a member of NATO, all of which facilitates US meddling of all types, from economic to political and military. There’s also the problem that the reformist incrementalist model sailed a long time ago, and will accomplish little or nothing in Colombia and other nations following the same approach (i.e., Chile, Argentina, Peru and possibly Brazil in the near future).
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The link in that paragraph goes to “The Far Right’s Fear of ‘Glowies,’” a January 20, 2021, article in The Atlantic by Olga Khazan that explains the origins and meaning of glowie. It’s the term, Khazan writes, that far-right groups use “to describe people they suspect of being federal law-enforcement agents or informants infiltrating their communication channels, trying to catch them plotting violence, or prodding them into illegal acts.”
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RAMIN MAZAHERI—If, as the last chapter proved, Western voters are herded – or browbeaten – into supporting parties which falsely claim to be progressive but are merely PFAXIst (Popular Fronts Against Xenophobia but for Imperialism) then is Western parliamentarianism a total sham?
The problem is not in the idea of a parliament of course – which would be to say of representative democracy – but the parliamentarianism habitually produced by Western Liberal Democracy, where power is not based on reflecting the popular will but where power comes from an extra-parliamentary base controlled by an elite. English-style parliamentarianism – French revolutionaries realised in 1789 – does not prioritise representativeness but mere governability of the masses on behalf of an oligarchy which has been only extended only a bit further than the royal family.
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The January 6th hearings are underway and, according to the New York Times, Democrats are hoping that the public demonstration of just how loathsome the Republicans who supported the “insurrection” are will turn the tide of public opinion in their favor. Without a strong economy or any tangible legislative gains to point to, it may be their only hope. But will it work? Jimmy and The Dive’s Jackson Hinkle discuss whether average Americans will take much interest in the hearings and the electoral bloodbath shaping up for Democrats come November.
