Tim Walz at DNC

The ongoing Democratic Party convention should be seen in two related contexts: One is the threat of a fascist-connected ethno-nationalist returning to power, this time far better prepared than he was in 2016. This context has been front and center in the convention. The other context is the ongoing genocidal war crimes being committed by Israel every day, with the support of the U.S. This context hovered in the background, at times whispered like a family’s dirty secret about the uncle who is a child abuser, while every effort is made to keep that secret exactly that – a secret.

Barack and Michelle Obama at the DNC

In these contexts, the Obama’s lit up the delegates on Tuesday evening. Their speeches reminded me of the old joke, “I miss Obama… and I miss her husband too.” For anybody who recognizes the extremely serious threat that Trump and his Christian nationalist horde pose, it is difficult not to get enthusiastic about every effective attack on Trump and their speeches were effective. It’s true that what the speakers offered as an alternative was in general little but the same pablum we hear every four years, but even that is better than the nationalist, bigoted rants of Trump. This includes his increasingly openly pro-Netanyahu rants.

Tim Walz and his family after he spoke. His son was shown actually crying during his dad’s speech.

Tim Walz, Democratic Party nominee for vice president, also gave a highly effective speech. As with other main speakers, he was a contrast to Trump’s increasingly non-sensical and bitter rants which encourage fantastical thinking, bitterness, ethno-nationalism, and bullying. The contrast is welcome.

anti-Trump Republicans
Interspersed among the main speakers was a number of lifelong Republicans such as Olivia Troy, former national security advisor for Mike Pence. She warned that, as opposed to Trump’s previous presidency, this time “the guard rails are

Geoff Duncan warning against the Republican “cult”

down”. Republican Geoff Duncan, former Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, also spoke. He warned that the Republicans are “a direct threat to democracy…. Our party [the Republicans]… is chaotic and crazy… it’s a cult.” He described how he’d had to have police protection 24/7 outside his house to protect his family “from other Republicans.”

Anybody who thinks that this violent “cult” coming to power is not a very real threat is simply not serious. And for the moment, there is only one party that can keep them out: The Democrats.

The UN central school bombed by Israel

Background Gaza
However, we must not ignore the second context. For anybody who has the slightest sense of humanity – also known as a sense of solidarity – it’s impossible to forget what is happening in Gaza (and the West Bank) every day. In fact, as the convention was going on, al Jazeera was reporting new war crimes by Israel, the killing of 22 more Gazans. This is in the context of a society that is nearly completely smashed, hospitals and schools bombed to smithereens, millions with no place to rest their heads at night. Yet how did the convention deal with this?

On Wednesday night, the convention featured the parents of a young man who is being held hostage by Hamas. The parents carried on and on about what a wonderful young man their son is. Not mentioned was that their son had traveled to Israel to enjoy a concert just a few miles away from the world’s largest open air prison. Presumably, that didn’t bother him in the least. The parents made one offhand remark about the suffering “on both sides”. No working class socialist can support Hamas or Oct. 7. In fact, as early as in 2011 and as recently as just a month or so ago, there are reports of protests against Hamas inside Gaza. But to equate the suffering of the people of Gaza with that of the hostages is gross. There is no other word for it. And yet Erin Burnett on CNN commented: “It’s hard to imagine hearing anything more searing and emotional that what we just heard.” No, it’s actually hard to imagine anything more infuriatingly hypocritical.

Even though the Democrats are the only ones who can keep the Republican cult from retaking near complete power in January, they still must be denounced for their support for these crimes against humanity.

The left in Chicago
But how about the left, including the socialist left – those who were out protesting in the streets of Chicago the last few days? They have proven themselves incapable of considering the words of black communist Clay Claiborne, who pointed out that “the election isn’t about who’s in power now, it’s about who will be in power after the election.” But yet that is precisely what the protesters are ignoring. Let’s start with the three “left” opposition candidates, Jill Stein, Cornel West and Claudia de la Cruz. We repeat here what

The three left opponents to Harris. Not opponents to Trump, only Harris.

we wrote previously: “Stein has a long history of picturing Trump as the lesser evil. In fact, on Monday they held a press conference where Stein said that it’s the Democratic Party rather than the Republicans which “is the cause of fascism”. As for West, he has happily accepted Republican operatives central role in putting him on the ballot in Arizona, Wisconsin, and North Carolina.” West’s campaign tries to deny his conscious reliance on Republican operatives but NBC revealed that this is untrue.

Claudia de la Cruz also spoke at that same press conference. She is the presidential candidate for the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), which has been very involved in organizing many of the pro-Palestine protests. Her campaign, and PSL in general, is intimately connected with the People’s Forum in New York. This group receives millions of dollars from Roy Singham, who represents the ruling party of the repressive Chinese government. Singham, in fact, has played a major role in corrupting the politics of the workers movement and the left all around the world. De la Cruz also apologizes for Russia’s imperialist invasion of Ukraine and, like the others, ignores Russia’s war crimes.

None of these candidates – nor any other speaker at that forum – warned of the immense danger of the MAGA cult. Nor do they have any plans to organize to resist that dangerous cult.

Add to that the fact that both of these candidates apologize for the equally criminal invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and what do you have but just an actual cover for the far right in “left” clothing? Stein made a link with the Number one leader of global traditionalism and ethno-nationalism, Putin, in 2016. She has never broken that link. As for West, in 2023 he co-authored an op ed in the Wall St. Journal praising Ron DeSantis’s education “reforms”. The co-author of this reactionary piece is Jeremy Tate, who is the founder of the Christian nationalist education NGO, Classic Learning Test. West sits on the board of academic advisors to this reactionary group.

These two campaigns are systematically working to do exactly what Clay Claiborne warned against. He wrote: “While the outcome of this election will no doubt have a great effect on the people of Gaza – and I’m willing to wager they will fare much worse if the Christian nationalists win the election – it won’t be decided on the basis of the Gaza question unless the white left artfully uses the issue to throw the election to the Republicans.”

Kshama Sawant and Jill Stein in promo for Workers Strike Back event. Sawant denounced both the Democrats and the union leadership for supporting them, but when she was a city council member she worked hand in glove with the same union bureaucrats and supported Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders.

These campaigns do not exist in isolation from the rest of the left. Former Seattle city council member Kshama Sawant and her present group, “Workers Strike Back” held a campaign event for Stein, for example. In it, they completely toed the line as far as denouncing the Democrats and ignoring MAGA, which can only mean leaving the Republicans as the lesser evil. No wonder those who want to fight the bigoted, ethno-nationalist, violent MAGA movement turn to the Democrats as the only alternative. Most of the left, socialist and otherwise, is in practice boosting MAGA!

Sooner or later, a movement in the streets will have to develop to throw back MAGA. It will develop at least in part outside and independent of and as an alternative to the Democratic Party. These same “lefts” who are “artfully” moving to throw the election to the MAGA cult, will then try to jump to the head of such a movement. When they do, they will have to answer for their effort to throw this election to the same forces against which the new movement will be protesting.

Tim Walz striding onto stage at DNC