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Freedom Rider: Trump Has No Opposition
Margaret Kimberley, BAR senior columnist
12 Feb 2020
🖨️ Print Article
Freedom Rider: Trump Has No Opposition
Freedom Rider: Trump Has No Opposition

The Bloomberg cash onslaught and the anti-Bernie conspiracy have laid bare the degree of collusion among the rulers.

“The blatant war crimes committed against Venezuela elicit either nonchalance or outright support from the so-called resistance.”

The Democratic Party is every bit as corrupt as its pretend rival, the Republican Party. The theatrics of phony opposition have been on full display in recent days but no one should be fooled by the cheap theatrics. The impeachment show, Iowa caucuses, and State of the Union address all put a spotlight on the fraud of democracy in this country.  

Among other crimes, Donald Trump uses the presidency to enrich himself, and assassinated an Iranian general in violation of United States and international law. But the only article of impeachment the Democrats were willing to put forward focused on Trump’s foolish effort to involve the Ukrainian President in an investigation of Joe Biden.

This gift to the Democrats was milked for all that it was worth but not before the Democrats gave Trump everything he wanted. Nancy Pelosi and congressional Democrats gave Trump a border wall, a trade bill, a new branch of the military known as the Space Force, and a more than $700 billion military budget.

“The Democrats gave Trump everything he wanted.”

One wouldn’t know about any of these capitulations and collusions after listening to Democrats wax poetically during the impeachment debate. They droned on endlessly about the founding fathers and the greatness of a democracy that doesn’t really exist. Even members of the Congressional Black Caucus joined in the charade of praising people who enslaved their ancestors. 

The farce continued at the State of the Union address. Pelosi and Trump behaved like enemies and he refused to shake her hand. She did him one better in the publicity stunt department by ripping up his speech. 

But the torn pages were not the highlight of Democratic Party treachery. The Trump administration is still trying to overthrow the Venezuelan government and invited their hand picked pretend president Juan Guaido to attend the SOTU spectacle.

Pelosi jumped to her feet when Guaido was introduced, proving that disagreements over anything substantive are practically non-existent. Not only did Pelosi give Guaido the stamp of approval but Bernie Sanders used the most recent debate to continue his tirades against Kim Jong Un and Xi Jinping too. He went right along with the imperialist narrative. 

“Disagreements between Democrats and Republicans over anything substantive are practically non-existent.”

The manufactured impeachment drama even turned Mitt Romney into a hero for liberals. The man rightly despised as a hedge fund chieftain who condemned half of the population -- the 47% who receive some public benefit -- is now revered after voting to convict Trump in the senate trial. The fact that one-time villains can become heroes is proof that the differences in the duopoly are small and getting smaller. Image making and public relations count for more than any policy differences. 

The rank and file are largely taken in by the nonsense. Any semblance of ideological difference occurred so long ago that there is little expectation of real change. The sight of Rush Limbaugh receiving the meaningless Presidential Medal of Freedom may raise ire but the blatant war crimes committed against Venezuela elicit either nonchalance or outright support from the so-called resistance.  

The impeachment farce and State of the Union capped a week of comedy and criminality from the duopoly. The seeming incompetence in declaring a winner in the Iowa caucuses proved just one thing. Bernie Sanders won that contest but the party establishment has already decided that he won’t be allowed to get the nomination. The Democratic National Committee changed debate rules to allow Michael Bloomberg to take part even though he is his only donor. One is expected to ignore the fact that he also made a $300,000 donation to the DNC. Bloomberg paid good money to get his way but it is unlikely that the DNC had their collective arms twisted. They are in sync with the billionaire and are glad to get paid to do what they already intended.

“The differences in the duopoly are small and getting smaller.”

The cheating has begun in earnest, and the only thing Democrats are resisting is any turn to the left. Even a little bit of reformism is off limits for the supposed leaders who are little more than errand boys and girls for the billionaires. The Bloomberg cash onslaught and the anti-Bernie conspiracy have laid bare the degree of collusion among the rulers.

The Democratic rank and file do hate Donald Trump but the machinations of the DNC and others may well put him back in office for a second term. Any real change is off limits for them. They hope to skirt around the issues of low wages and health care and all of the ills that create so much suffering. They hope that some nibbling around the edges with denunciation of Trump’s open racism will be enough to win. But if they are wrong they prefer Trump 2.0 to allowing millions of people to think they will be allowed to enjoy a resuscitated welfare state. There is more misery ahead regardless of who wins in November. Thanks to the Democrats’ treachery, that person may well be Donald Trump.

Margaret Kimberley’s Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well at patreon.com/margaretkimberley and she regularly posts on Twitter @freedomrideblog. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com.  

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