https://themilitant.com/2018/09/22/are-frenzied-liberals-afflicted-with-trump-derangement-syndrome/
Are frenzied liberals afflicted with ‘Trump derangement syndrome’?
By Terry Evans
Vol. 82/No. 36
October 1, 2018
As the November midterm elections loom, liberals in the Democratic Party
and media, and the middle-class left, are grabbing anything to try and
advance their frenetic “resistance” against the Donald Trump presidency.
They are driven by fear of the workers who voted for Trump, who they
claim are racist and reactionary and have to be controlled.
Their frenzy is deepening the splintering in the Democratic Party, as
the Democratic Socialists battle the “progressives” to represent the
“resistance” this November.
Trump and some of his supporters have responded by saying the liberals
have the “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” This description has ruffled the
feathers of prominent New York Times columnists.
In his Sept. 16 column titled, “Not Deranged. Determined!” Times scribe
Charles Blow argues the president was elected by “white racial anxiety,
reaction to the first black president, unease about the possibility of
the first female president, voter suppression and voter apathy, and an
attack on our elections by the Russians.”
He says that because Trump is president “we live a life with nerves
frayed and bodies pushed to the edge of our seats.” He adds, “This
constant state of chaos and anxiety has been exhausting and nearly
unbearable.” And the workers are a problem, because “there are people
who support him without hesitation and without question.” Blow does
sound a little unhinged.
The response of the liberals has been an all-out effort to paint the
administration as beyond the pale.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters called for resisters to seek out
administration members and harass them. Incitement like this led to its
ultimate outcome last year when Bernie Sanders supporter James T.
Hodgkinson went to a congressional softball practice and opened fire on
Republican legislators, attempting to assassinate as many as possible.
He shot and nearly killed Rep. Steve Scalise before he was stopped.
Other “resisters” propose restrictions on political rights and the right
to vote of the workers Hillary Clinton described as “deplorables” in her
losing 2016 campaign. The latest call comes from another Times
columnist, David Leonhardt, who demands term limits on Supreme Court
justices. He denounces the “randomness of how long justices live.”
His proposal would turn the Supreme Court even more into another
legislative body, a constant dream of the liberals, with a membership
changing to push each administration’s political agenda. He says this
would require a change in the Constitution, but to liberals that
document is outdated.
Calling Donald Trump a fascist does a great disservice to workers
seeking to understand class society and defend their interests. The
Times reviewed How Fascism Works by Jason Stanley, who says fascism is
“ultranationalism of some variety (ethnic, religious, cultural) with the
nation represented in the person of an authoritarian leader who speaks
on its behalf.”
He argues Trump fits the bill. “And 20 months into Trump’s presidency,
the evidence is mounting that he’s right,” Times reviewer Peter Beinart
says.
But the U.S. isn’t a fascist country today. Workers haven’t been crushed
in blood after seeking to take political power. The capitalist rulers
feel no need to turn power over to a Bonapartist dictator as the only
way to defend their system. Workers today can and do fight to defend and
expand their political rights.
It’s a canard that workers are more racist and reactionary today.
Because of the mass proletarian battle for Black rights, and decades of
working and living side by side with immigrant co-workers, workers today
are less racist, less anti-immigrant than ever before.
Leonhardt wrote another column for the Times Sept. 16, titled “‘Trump
Derangement Syndrome’ Is a Myth.” He attacks the Bernie Sanders and
Democratic Socialists of America wing of the party, saying the Democrats
“have not actually become radical leftists.” He believes the “leftists”
are a danger to the Democrats’ chances in the elections.
Most importantly, he concludes, “The one mistake no voter should make is
pretending that the two parties are just different versions of the same
thing.” But that is one thing many workers correctly sense and why the
Socialist Workers Party gets a hearing today.
Rulers’ ‘world order’ decaying
The U.S. rulers face a historic turning point as the “world order” they
imposed after emerging the victor in the second imperialist world
slaughter in the 1940s is coming apart. The Trump White House recognizes
this and has ceased operating on the false premise — relied on by the
last several Democratic and Republican administration alike — that the
U.S. capitalist rulers can still impose their will anywhere they choose.
They are pushing against institutions and alliances from the past,
seeking bilateral agreements to blunt war threats and achieve some
stability for U.S. capital.
In an article in the Washington Post Aug. 30, headlined “The Trump
Presidency Marks the End of the American Century,” Mitchell Lerner
laments “the potential demise of the international alliance system that
lies at the heart of the modern American success story.” Lerner claims
bodies like NATO, the U.N. and International Court ensure “peace and
prosperity.” But the crisis of capitalism, and growing antagonism among
former allies, is ripping this apart.
Moves by the White House — from Korea to Afghanistan and the Middle East
— are aimed at advancing the interests of the ruling rich. But they have
unintended results that are good for working people, opening space for
political discussion, debate and action by workers to defend their
rights and class interests.
“The Socialist Workers Party starts from the fact that the U.S. is
divided into opposing classes, as are the competing capitalist powers.
Workers advance our interests when we organize independently of the
bosses, their parties and their state,” Róger Calero, SWP candidate for
governor in New York, said Sept. 19. “This is the road to increasing
workers’ self-confidence and class consciousness. It advances
international working-class solidarity. It’s the course to build a
movement that can take political power.”
In This Issue
Front Page Articles •Iraq protests shake up moves to form new gov’t
•‘Militant’ wins a round, fight against prison censors goes on
•‘We need to get a union into the place where I work’
•Protests in Dallas demand cop who killed Botham Jean be fired
•Are frenzied liberals afflicted with ‘Trump derangement syndrome’?
Feature Articles •Social catastrophe from storms are a product of
capitalist rule
Also In This Issue •Great Russian artists of 19th century and 1917
Bolshevik Revolution
•Pa. prison authorities curb letters, books, newspapers
•Colo. meatpackers win suit against right to pray firings
•Manila book fair draws over 100,000 participants
Editorials •Join and build the Socialist Workers Party 2018 campaign
On the Picket Line •SF hotel workers rally, say ‘One job should be enough’
•Striking hotel workers in Chicago rally for yearlong health care
•Industrial glass strikers in Montreal win solidarity
Books of the Month •Imperialism pauses only when it faces a people ready
to fight
25, 50 and 75 years ago
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