A useful template for understanding the present state of left-wing political existence is as follows: there exists a centrist mainstream in firm control of the Democratic party which, despite its colossal failures in 2016, is more concerned with staying in power than learning from said failures and rightfully stepping aside. A mainstream who, consequently, are at least as interested, if not more so, in attacking the burgeoning ranks on their leftward flank than those to their immediate right:
If you would rather read the present history of this country as a binary clash between the Democrats and the Trumpists, you will find plenty of material elsewhere on this site to slake your thirst for the politically simplistic. And of course, by all means we should continue to hit Trump and his rabid base at every chance we get, dragging his poll numbers as low as they can possibly go by showing how racist, craven and hypocritical his supposed right-wing populism is, and how antithetical his policies to an authentic, working class populism.
But observe, gentle reader, Paul Ryan and Gary Cohn are both now publicly counted among those supposed anti-Trump “ranks”, tariffs being the apparent third rail for these Ayn Randian extremists, and ask yourself if such groupings as “left vs. Trump” are of much further analytical purchase at this juncture. I submit they are not. However, the left-vs.-Democratic center model is more salient than ever.
This is the first in a series of memoranda compiling various bric-a-brac from the trenches of the center-vs. left wing front. Lest 2016 repeat itself.
Medicare for All
First, observe that there are now 17 Senators signed on to S.1804 — the Medicare for All Act of 2017, including Kamala Harris, Kristen Gillibrand, Corey Booker, Elizabeth Warren, and of course the bill’s chief sponsor Bernie Sanders. That’s the entire field of Presidential front-runners in the Senate, which is pretty much the entire 2020 field thus far. Meanwhile the Center for American Progress, a major Democratic Think Tank closely aligned with the presidential campaign of Hillary “We Are Not Denmark” Clinton, just released its own “Medicare Extra” for all plan which looks strikingly similar to the Medicare for All Act. So where’s all the supposed hippy-punching?
Well one thing that the donor class that owns the party apparatus of both political machines in this country has learned is how to hide the salami. Let me explain: by shifting the sources of the attack around, our opponents can claim plausible deniability for their leftward onslaught.
Enter the United States of Care, an innovative new reactionary diversion scheme cooked up by Bill Frist, former Republican Senate Majority Leader from 2003 to 2007, Andy Slavitt, former Obama Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-turned darling of the #Resistance/healthcare investor, and a handful of others to provide political cover for Democratic politicians in 2018 and 2020 who refuse to support M4A. Its stated mission: to put “Healthcare over politics”. Lol. Try this:
Included in that handful? Board member Jon Favreau, perhaps crown prince of the #Resistance and head honcho of Pod Save America. Pod Save America is getting its own HBO series, packing huge theaters, and boasts millions of listeners. Frankly, that’s more influential than the Center for American Progress and the 16 S. 1804 cosponsors put together, and, potentially, more influential than Bernie Sanders himself.
Or not. Interestingly, Favreau’s announcement tweet of his support for USofC was met with significant scorn from his own fanbase:
Maybe the left is actually ready this time to weather the inevitable, time-immemorial attack from the Democratic center. Millennials saddled with indentured-servitude-level student debt are harder to trick than, say, blue collar boomers with a 30-year fixed rate mortgage and a pension, working union at the local factory, as per the 80s-90s.
Anyway, this has been the first in a series of Sundry Tchotchkes from the Left-Center Struggle. Next up: the DCCC and its increasingly failed attacks on left-wing 2018 Democratic candidates.