The Interregnum
If we were living in an “in between” period, we wouldn’t know? Or would we?
The people who lived in the antebellum period, the interwar era, late antiquity, or the middle ages had no idea they were living in a “before the big change” period of history. The fall of Rome, the Civil War, the Renaissance: as these things had not happened, people thought they were living in the age of the great expansion following the Mexican war, or in an age of permanent peace following the Great War, or in a time of increasing knowledge, not knowing a greater period was around the corner.
Historians writing after the fact always make up the names and put dates of the periods of history. Nevertheless, I suspect we are living in an “in between period” not the Age of Trump or some such nonsense. Trump stumbled into the White House due to Hillary Clinton’s Pied Piper Strategy, as executed by the mainstream media and corrupt politicians like those in the Illinois state legislature who moved their primary at John Podesta’s command.
Trump still has three and half years to stop alienating everyone and do something effective but it seems unlikely. The real change will happen in 2020. Trump is preamble. We are in an in between period, an interregnum. The 2000 to 2020 period will be known as the “time before the big change.” The big change is not Trump. Trump’s “policies” won’t actually make any difference to the people, not that he cares, and he isn’t smart enough to stumble upon policies that make a difference on accident.
In 2018, we will get a confused result, with a few gains for Democrats based on low approval ratings for Trump and historical precedent, but very few gains, due to their corruption and incompetence. Sam Pratt said, “I can’t wait for the Dems’ inspiring 2018 message: “You may not have a job, or health care, or see any future for your kids. You also may be up to your ears in debt. To help with that, our party would like to offer up a barrage of confusing, circumstantial evidence about Trump colluding with Putin. And all of you deplorables who need help defining collusion and finding Russia on a map? Ha, ha, you’re dumb. Now vote for us!”
In 2016, we learned that the machine, the complex, the man, the combination of the corporate media and the two corporate parties could be beaten. Bernie was in fact not a stooge or an insider or a puppet, even if he was and is flawed in other ways. He did raise his fist and say, “Revolution” and, except for the cheating, he won. That’s all we really need to know. Bernie will be 79 in 2020. Assume his health holds up, he will win in a landslide in 2020 and they won’t be able to cheat their way out of it again.
The real story in 2016 was Bernie’s campaign. He actually won. In 2020 when he will win by an even bigger margin and bring congress along with him. Emmanuel Macron in France and his En Marche movement proved that something new can sweep away the old. The difference between Macron and Bernie, again, is that Bernie actually has a policy agenda that will work and make people’s lives better and Macron, like Trump and Obama, is all smoke and mirrors. Winning elections is nice. Actually doing something worthwhile is nicer.
If he Bernie follows Marcon in electoral success, then succeeds in passing his agenda, his legacy will dominate American politics for 25 to 50 years after he leaves office. Why? Because his policies actually make sense. To the extent that they don’t make sense, it’s because he is too cautious and moderate and will need a hard push to the left, once he’s in power.
The legacy through 2060
In 1929 before the crash, the Republicans controlled the White House, the senate by 17 votes and the House of Representatives by 104 seats. In 1933, after FDR’s election, the Democrats had the presidency, the senate by 23 seats, and the house by more than two to one, with a massive 126 vote advantage.
The people liked the New Deal. They knew who to thank and the Democrats held the presidency for 20 straight years, and 28 out of the next 36 years. Democrats maintained control of the senate for until 1981, except for four years, so 44 out of the next 48 years. Democrats controlled the house until 1995 except for four years, so 58 out of the next 62 years.
The same kind of dynamic will happen with Bernie. Bernie’s political descendents will be winning elections in 2060 because ot the success of his program.
In 2020, Bernie Sanders will be elected President in a landslide. It doesn’t matter who the Republicans nominate or who the corporate Democrats get behind, Bernie Sanders is unstoppable. He will announce his candidacy in a packed stadium in late 2019. He’ll open up his website for donations. The flood of money will crash any system. He’ll have 70 million dollars in 24 hours. Volunteers will flood into Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina and the Democrats will have a much harder time cheating this time. Kamala Harris is a corporate sell out, like Barack Judas Iscariot Obama.
Since the Democrats would not hand the party over to progressives willing, the only way to get them out of the way is to push them out of the way. They can’t be pushed out of the way in 2018 but they can be by Bernie winning the Democratic primary. If Trump runs for re-election and gets the Republican nomination, Bernie will probably carry 45 states and blow him out.
Stage one of Bernie’s New Deal
First step once in power is to grab the low lying fruit and solidify the majority, as FDR showed was possible by providing needed security to the people. The first seven acts should be a broadly popular as possible so as not to divide the coalition or get into division before solidifying the majority. Also, the actions should be stuff the voters will FEEL in their lives as quickly as possible, certainly well before 2022. And the voters should have no doubt about who was responsible for these new securities. Here are the first five, the low hanging fruit, all 99% versus the 1%:
Free college
Medicare for all
$15 an hour
Tax the rich
Regulate Wall Street
Infrastructure/jobs programs part one
Net neutrality/punish the ISPs
More than 50% of the households should get a direct boost from this agenda in less than a year after Bernie takes office in 2021, that should be the goal. If you raise the minimum wage (about 10% of households have a minimum wager earner in the family) end student debt in the future (maybe another 10%, with a bit of overlap), and Medicare will hit a lot of people (maybe 40% of households over a year) plus shovel ready infrastructure (maybe get another 10% of households in the mix). Everyone hates Time Warner and Comcast. They have been stealing from the people through subsidies and they killed net neutrality. This Net Neutrality issue is as big as it gets and a vote rich environment. Give everyone cheaper, faster internet quickly. Go get those crooked cable companies. They charge WAY too much. It’s not a working market. And billionaire bankers: put a couple in jail quickly. The people will love it.
When Bernie says that his program is for the people, more than 50% of the households should know that it’s true based on personal experience in less than a year. If Bernie can achieve that goal, he can build from there.
Here in stage one, Bernie and his team should avoid a showdown with the internal police establishment over racism in criminal justice, avoid a confrontation with the military over excessive defense spending, avoid any divisive social issues as much as possible and keep the focus on the super rich against the people. Secure the base. Then move on to other more controversial issues. In stage one, the enemies are the ISPs, the health insurance companies, the super rich. That’s enough enemies for round one.
Stage two
Now that the majority is firmed up, it’s time for stage two, starting in 2022.
Phase out fossil fuels
Rebuild the Rust Belt
Abolish racism in education, criminal justice and wealth
Cut defense spending
Increase transparency
Change the justice system
Eliminate and consolidate the CIA and NSA
Bring all the troops home and close foreign bases
Infrastructure part two
Change trade agreements, particularly the WTO, to favor workers and the environment
Tax college endowments to share the education wealth
Increase public lands
Sane gun laws
Tax speculation with international trading tax
End large, inherited fortures
International carbon tax
Now it’s time for structural change. The American Empire and neocon imperialism do not benefit the people of the United States in any way and are an abomination on the world. We have to stop intervening. Vietnam, Iraq, Central America, Syria: we have a terrible record and need to get out of the empire business.
Protectionism and “America First” is not why we oppose trade deals. Workers in Bangladesh don’t want to die in workplace accidents and workers in China don’t want to drink lead. If trade deals put worker’s rights and the environment front and center, then they can be a good thing for us here and them there. It’s people against unrestrained capitalism, not the US against the world.
It’s not okay for part of our country to get “rusty.” We have to rebuild and reinvest in parts of the country that need to get back to work. We will need fast trains, solar power generating roads, new ways to build tunnels, wind turbines, solar panels, huge space telescopes, satellites, and we can build a lot of this stuff in and around Buffalo, Detroit, Cleveland, etc.
Racism is the country’s original sin. We can abolish it, end it, stop it, in schools and criminal justice and in disparities in wealth. It’s actually easy: all we have to do is want to end it. We don’t right now but with the right leadership, we can.
The CIA and the NSA do absolutely nothing productive for the American people and are a threat to democracy. They should be eliminated.
And on and on… all from 2022 through 2024 and beyond with Vice President Nina Turner taking over in 2024… We’re living in the interregnum before the Sander Turner era of prosperity and peace.
