The drift of both political parties to the right – the Republicans by now off the spectrum of traditional politics – that’s an aspect of the neoliberal assault, it’s turning the United States into a plutocracy. Noam Chomsky, lecture 8th July 2017, ‘The Corporatization of the Universities’, Youtube 1.39.35
The Democratic party is a vast body of confusion, sprawling between the Bay of Disorder and the dreaded Chaotic Pics. It is bounded on the North by the United Auto Workers and on the South by the Ku Klux Klan ... The Democratic Party was born in 1932. It gave the country four deals. These were the New Deal; the Fair Deal, which was the New Deal with hardened arteries; the New Frontier, which was the New Deal with a face lift; and the Great Society, which was the New Deal with hardened arteries, a fallen face lift and a Vietnamese accent ... The Democratic Party is a party of principle. It will sacrifice anybody to remain the principal party of the United States. Russell Baker, The New York Times 22 August 1968
The Democrats just never learn: Americans don’t really care which side of an issue you’re on as long as you don’t act like pussies. When Van Jones called the Republicans arseholes, he was paying them a compliment. He was talking about how they can get things done even when they’re in the minority, as opposed to the Democrats, who can’t seem to get anything done even when they control both houses of Congress, the presidency, and Bruce Springsteen. Bill Maher
The only difference between the Republican and Democratic parties is the velocities with which their knees hit the floor when corporations knock on their door. That’s the only difference. Ralph Nader
So the current two-party system has been dominated and bought up and controlled by the elite ... They form a royal arch ... Really it’s one unit supporting themselves, and containing revolution ... We are locked within the left/right paradigm, and then it becomes this huge pageant, this huge distraction, where we analyse every facet of the two political parties, never realising they themselves are simply a front, or puppets, for a larger power structure ... And then the two parties can limit the issues that are debated. Alex Jones, How the Elite Control Politics
Both the Republican and Democracy parties are owned by the same global elites. Dr Robert Bowman, Globalist Conspiracy Plans for the New World Order, Youtube
A Democratic convention is about to begin in a police state. Walter Cronkite, cited Ken Burns & Lynn Novich, The Vietnam War VII: Chasing Ghosts (June 1968-May 1969)
In 1976 Jimmy Carter was elected the president. Seven month before the Democratic convention the Gallop poll reported less than 4% of registered Democrats favoured Carter for president. Outside Georgia where he was governor few people knew who he was. What happened? Carter received a media blitz including adulatory pieces in The New York Times and a Wall Street Journal editorial declaring him the best Democratic candidate. The TV networks inundated the public with his image. Before the nominating Convention his picture appeared on Time cover three times and Newsweek cover twice. Who Controls America? aka Shadow Government: Who Rules America? aka The Real Leaders of the World, Youtube
On 10th July 2016 a young man was shot dead on the streets of Washington DC. 27-year-old Seth Rich was a political campaigner who worked for the Democratic Party. In a city torn by political divisions this unsolved murder has become dynamite. The Conspiracy Files: Murder in Washington, BBC 2018
Seth Rich’s murder became the focus of a series of conspiracy theories that have gripped America. ibid.
The Washington Post reported hackers working for the Russian government had broken into the Democrat’s computer system in the DNC headquarters where Seth worked. ibid.
Our moment of distress began – or let’s say it was accelerated – by the betrayal of the Democratic party under Clinton which knew that if it did corporate bidding, it would get corporate money. Chris Hedges, lecture Centre for International Governance Innovation August 2018, ‘The Collapse of the American Empire’
We have enough cumulative evidence to say that it was stolen from him [Bernie Saunders]. Chris Hedges, lecture Seattle University 2018, ‘Corporate Totalitarianism: The End Game’ *****
There used to be a liberal wing of the Democratic Party but it’s long gone. ibid.
The brilliance of Bill Clinton was that he transformed the Democratic Party into the Republican Party, and he pushed the Republican Party so far to the right, it became insane. Chris Hedges
The Democratic Party – seeking to blame its election defeat on Russian ‘interference’ rather than the grotesque income inequality, the betrayal of the working class, the loss of civil liberties, the deindustrialization and the corporate coup d’état that the party helped orchestrate – attacks Assange as a traitor, although he is not a US citizen. Nor is he a spy. He is not bound by any law I am aware of to keep US government secrets. He has not committed a crime … Chris Hedges, Crucifying Julian Assange, 2018
There was once a wing of the Democratic Party that stood up to the war industry. Chris Hedges, The Chris Hedges Report, ‘Democrats & the War Machine’, Youtube 33.56, 2022
The new Democrats, especially with the presidency of Bill Clinton, became shills not only for corporate America but the arms industry. ibid.
We need to do something bold, something decisive. We need to redefine our party. House of Cards s3e2: Chapter 28, Frank, Netflix 2015
For eight years you’ve been a heartbeat away from the Oval Office. A loyal vice-president. Biding your time. Waiting your turn. You know the path to power. And you think you know the rules. But what happens when you discover you don’t even know how to play the game? Race for the White House s1e1: John F Kennedy & Richard Nixon, CNN 2016
1960: America, land of the free, is terrified of the Red Menace. ibid.
Kennedy does have one advantage being a candidate: his father Joseph, rich, powerful and the former ambassador to Great Britain has always wanted a son as president. ibid.
Glamour, show business and family – who can compete with that? ibid.
Kennedy’s illness is never mentioned again. It’s a victory for JFK’s team if not for truth. ibid.
Nixon In Hospital: Knee Infection Sidelines Vice President. ibid. Newsreel, commentary Peter Roberts
Nixon is exhausted, haggard, trailing in the polls, but then there is a ray of hope – the first ever television presidential debate. ibid.
Nixon has one last card to play – his old boss, ex-general and president Dwight D Eisenhower. ibid.
You know you’ll have to play dirty and devious to become president. Race for the White House s1e2: Abraham Lincoln v Stephen Douglas
Illinois: They’ve come to hear Abraham Lincoln confront Stephen A Douglas on the issue that threatens to tear America apart: slavery. ibid.
Lincoln has assembled a prize team to take on the favourites. ibid.
So, you want to be the most powerful man in the world. How far are you prepared to go? Will you turn friends into enemies? Will you break your own rules? If you want to be the most powerful man in the world, do the ends ever justify the means? Race for the White House s1e3: George H W Bush v Michael Dukakis
In the fall of 1986 the White House is mired in scandal. America’s most dangerous enemy – Iran. With the profits diverted illegally to fund a right-wing guerrilla group in Nicaragua, the Contras. Bad news for Reagan but worse for his loyal deputy George Bush. Iran/Contra could kill his own presidential plans. ibid.
Dukakis v Biden 1988: Biden finds himself under the microscope like a pinned bug ... It’s not a sex tape: it’s worse than that … ‘Here is Joe Biden giving a speech: it’s almost word for word what British Labour party leader Neil Kinnock had said … More and more plagiarism.’ ibid. journalist
Whilst Dukakis is dismantling his team, Bush is assembling a gang of political hard men. ibid.
Iowa: Bush is hammered into third place behind television preacher Pat Robertson and senate majority leader Bob Dole. ibid.
George Bush takes New Hampshire with close to a ten point lead: Dole just got [Lee] Atwatered. ibid.
Also taking New Hampshire is the new Democratic front-runner Governor Michael Dukakis. Ten points ahead, Michael Dukakis seems untouchable. ibid.
To show he’s a real man, Dukakis is going to sit in a tank: what could possibly go wrong? ibid.
By late September Dukakis’s lead is like mist in the sun. Can things get any worse for him? Of course they can. ibid.
‘The ‘revolving door’ ad accomplished what Lee Atwater said was his goal – which was to make Willie Horton into Dukakis’s running mate.’ ibid. Susan Estrich, Dukakis’ campaign manager
George H W Bush thunders home with almost 80% of the electoral college votes. ibid.
You’re the president nobody wanted. In office by default. Now you’re the candidate nobody believes in. In a race you’re expected to lose. Do you have the guts? The political cunning? The sheer determination to prove your enemies wrong? Race for the White House s1e4: Harry Truman v Thomas Dewey
Truman may be America’s post-war president but there’s no peace for him. American veterans are coming home to a land not fit for heroes. A tidal-wave of strikes overwhelms the country. ibid.
Galvanised, the Republicans now target the White House. Their candidate is tough, slick and camera savvy. ibid.
Truman’s and Dewey’s trains criss-crossed the country eating up the miles in search of votes. ibid.
Dewey is set for the White House. ibid.
Truman has achieved the unthinkable. ibid.