"You should get it into your head, and pass it on to whoevr needs to know up above, that your power depends on not taking absolutely everything away from people. The man from whom you've taken everything is no longer in your power; he is free again."
-Aleksandr Solzhenyysin, In the First Circle.
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose."
-Kris Kristofferson, Me and Bobby McGee.
In case you hadn't heard, nobody is coming to save us. In case you needed more evidence of this reality, look no further than an extraordinary admission in a lead article in the New York Times. It seems that the elite ruling class, both liberal and conservative, are all terrified of criticizing the Trump regime lest they, their families, their prestige, their careers and their finances come to grief.
The article, written by veteran journalist and consummate Washington insider Elisabeth Bumiller, baits the audience with a subhead stating that "people" are so intimidated they're afraid to speak out. You read on, thinking they'll interview the little old lady worried about not getting her Social Security check or the immigrant terrified of an ICE raid or the college student fearing arrest for participating in a protest against genocide.
But the Times piece is nothing less than an abject bid for sympathy for anonymous CEOs, college presidents and elected politicians. Readers are graciously invited to cut them democrats, especially, some slack for staying mute in the face of a fascist takeover of the federal government.
Put yourself in their $600 Manolo heels and see how it hurts! Imagine being put in the position of having to deny that Russia was totally unprovoked into invading Ukraine. If you are against war and killing, it follows that you are a trump supporter and you are damned if you and damned if you don't.
It was a prelude to the spectacle of our elected congressional reps holding up signs during Trump's address. The Pepto-Bismol pink they wore in protest was meant to keep our gorges from rising, and the "Resist" logos emblazoned on their fleeing backs were obviously placed to divert our attention from the "kick me" offers placed just below their spineless spines.
It did not work. They displayed for the whole world to see thair tacit complcity with Trump, that they are all siblings under the skin.
They are not so much afraid of him as they are of their constituents. Beholden as they are to their own billionaire donors and in utter groveling awe of Elon Musk, they're trapped in the hell of their own corruption.
Of course, once the social safety net is utterly destroyed, the masses of people might finally wake up, take to the streets, stage wildcat strikes and boycotts and form strong unions and all the other stuff that desperate people do when they have nothing left to lose.
They don't want the desperate people they have helped to throw under the bus to blame them. On the contrary, the democratic cowards will pretend to "stand in solidarity" with regular people once the misery index increases so much that the capitalist facade finally begins to crack. That is when, as bottom-up victory approaches, they will attempt to co-opt any and all independent movements. They will want us to let the credentialed experts take over so we can retreat and go back to doing our assigned duties of voting and buying crappy Amazon stuff.
We must not let them. Now that they have lost face and lost power by taking too much away from us, we must seize the power we have and use it to change things for the greater good. We are our only hope.
What have we got to lose?
