[lbo-talk] Does the wolf in sheep's clothing provide "a better discursive and organzing environment for more radical critiques of The System"

[Chuck0]

Doug Henwood wrote:
> Chuck0 wrote:
> 
>> The Democrats provide an important safety valve for the excesses of 
>> government and capitalism. I have no evidence to back this up, but I 
>> suspect that the recent downturn in activism could be blamed on people 
>> who are wasting their time on stuff like the Dean campaign.
> 
> 
> See, if the Dems were in power, then the activists could devote 
> themselves to more important work. QED.

It doesn't work that way. The 1992 election of Bill Clinton poured a 
cooler of Gatorade on the activism that had heated up after Gulf War 1. 
Activism happened throughout the 90s, but it really didn't heat up again 
until the end of Clinton's term. It's like radical and progressives 
assume that stuff will start changing under some Democratic president. 
Wasn't there a similar Anybody But Bush refrain among left circles back 
in 1992?

Chuck0