Hedges' piece is for the most part bullshit not tethered to the US reality. It suffices to say that if there were indeed a potential for anything else than the Democrat-Repug duopoly, that potential would have materialized itself in some form in the US history. The fact that it did not proves that there are systemic forces that prevent if from happening.
The only nod that I can give to Nader is not for his pathetic third party campaigns, but for his latest fiction suggesting a "revolution from above" - that is, prominent movers and shakers being fed up with the status quo and launching a movement to change it. That is a far more probable scenario than the delusional belief that one day "the people" will wake up and launch such a movement from below. Of course, "more probable" does not mean "realistic" - but slightly more probable, but still unlikely.
While we are at probabilities, I think that the percent of popular vote that Nader attracted in the last presidential election (less than 1% if memory serves) is indicative of the percent probability of a mass progressive movement bringing about the changes that Hedges is daydreaming about. The share that Ross Perot received can be indicative of the probability of a revolution from above.
Wojtek
On Wed, Mar 3, 2010 at 7:00 PM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> Michael Lerner is such a jackass. This is the opening of his latest sermon:
>
> Why I Disagree with Hedges and Nader on Obama
>> By Rabbi Michael Lerner, Editor of Tikkun and Chair of the Network of
>> Spiritual Progressives
>>
>> Many of the specific failures highlighted by the article I sent out
>> yesterday by Chris Hedges criticizing the performance of the Obama
>> Administration are legitimate points. But the way Hedges's positions are
>> stated, and the conclusions drawn from them are not the path of spiritual
>> progressives, in my view. There was too much anger in his statement
>> overshadowing our spiritual progressive commitment to compassion and a
>> spirit of generosity toward others with whose politics we disagree. And not
>> enough sympathy for the problems anyone would face trying to get elected as
>> President and to repair the damage of the past 30 years.
>>
>
> Too much anger? Fuck you! How's that for anger management?
>
> Doug
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