LOVE, DEMOCRACY, AND GANGSTER POLITICS

I've seen it all

In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “The desegregation of the American South is the externalization of the goal of the Civil Rights movement, but the ultimate goal is the establishment of the beloved community.” As a devotee of political nonviolence, King knew that spiritual as well as political change would be necessary in order to save the world. He was a Baptist preacher who transitioned from being a religious leader who addressed political change, to a movement leader whose politics were based on spiritual understanding. He was grounded in both realms.

In King’s words, “Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of men and is not concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them is a spiritually moribund religion awaiting burial.”

 I believe that too.

People would often say to me, “Why would you want to go into politics, Marianne? Don’t you know how toxic it is?” Of course I knew that politics is toxic. But having seen up close the ways in which bad public policy creates intense human suffering, I felt it was something good people couldn’t in good conscience avoid taking on. I also thought it might take someone speaking from the deepest moral commitment, to move people on the level required to create genuine political force. And I still believe that. I have seen how audiences respond to a political message grounded in the pursuit of justice and love.

The American people are not the problem; the problem is a political system that’s like a fist holding down the will of the people lest it become too pesky. Audiences might be moved by talk of principle and compassion, and recognize the relevance of such things to politics and to their lives. But America’s political establishment is not about justice and love; it’s about power and greed. And it’s difficult to change Washington when the opponent owns it. I’ve tried, and what I have seen is disturbing.

Towards the beginning of my campaign I received a call from the FBI asking me to come into their office in D.C. I was told I would be given the exact same briefing they gave every other candidate; then was informed of all the dirty tricks I should expect from foreign adversaries such as China, Russia or Iran.

I did experience those dirty tricks, but they weren’t from there. They were from here.

Establishment politics is not just toxic, or even corrupt. At least on the level of Presidential politics, in essence it’s a gangster culture. It’s replete with operatives who are political hit men, character assassins, psy ops, political saboteurs, and an unholy alliance between the political and media elite that creates what is essentially a kind of state TV. Corporate State TV, if you will - a political-media industrial complex that works unceasingly to create narratives convenient to those who control it, and to debunk any narratives that would challenge their dominance. They basically curate elections, platforming who they want to platform and blacklisting who they want to blacklist. They use media operatives, bots, and anyone willing to casually lie on the Internet as their useful idiots. Anyone who tries to get around all that pays dearly.

We like to think that independent media would counteract its influence. But they too play favorites, indulge biases, and selectively platform campaigns in ways that are deeply undemocratic. For all our talk about democracy, I don’t see it at play in situations where journalists and podcasters purposely block the exposure of candidates they simply don’t like. With something as important to our national destiny as the choice of President, the people of the United States have the right to hear their options, to know the agendas of every qualified FEC registered candidate. But hey, who’s thinking about the public good these days.

And for those who have no clue what it means, spirituality is easy to put down as unsophisticated nonsense. Spiritual folks are told to “Stay in your lane!”, though the very point of this country is that there aren’t supposed to be any lanes. Theoretically it belongs to all of us, not just all those experienced people who, it must be said, have driven us into the godawful ditch we’re in now. The kooky, crazy, crystal lady, “unserious” b.s. gets old pretty quickly when you realize we were the only campaign having a serious conversation about Americans dying from lack of health care or selling their blood plasma in order to pay their rent. But hey, those who control the media control the narrative and facts be damned.

America’s greatest accomplishments in social justice, in fact, have emerged from spiritual waters: Early evangelical churches fueled the Abolitionist movement, Quakers fueled the Women Suffragist movement, and Dr. King was a Baptist preacher. I believe the same will be true now.

The greatest domestic need of our own time is fundamental economic reform, and the suffering caused by our unjust financial system is a moral as well as an economic problem. With the largest income inequality in a hundred years, 39% of Americans reporting that they skip meals in order to survive, one in four Americans living with medical debt and over a million people rationing their insulin, a soulful cry of conscience is necessary to drown out the forces of greed and power that create and maintain such a moral wrong. I received the full fury of a system that doesn’t want such a cry to be heard, but I go forward with if anything a deeper realization that it must be.

Over the next five weeks we’re still on seven State primary ballots, and we have enthusiastic volunteers working there to get the word out. Why? Because every vote and every voter counts. People should still have the opportunity to weigh in with their desire for an Economic Bill of Rights, Medicare for All, free college and tuition, guaranteed paid family live and sick pay, a jobs guarantee and a guaranteed living wage. All voters should have the opportunity to express their desire for a U.S. Department of Peace, plus their wish to stop Bibi Netanyahu from invading Rafah. They should be able to vote for an actual ceasefire candidate, the end to America’s Drug War, and a Department of Children and Youth. They should know that with enough votes, that candidate could still be a voice at the Democratic convention.

To me, that’s not nothing. Maryland votes on May 14th, Kentucky and Oregon on May 21st, and Idaho on May 23rd. New Mexico, the District of Columbia, and South Dakota vote on June 4th, while Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands vote on June 8th. While President Biden has clinched the nomination, every vote we get increases the chance that we could influence his agenda. And I believe with all my heart that nothing short of such a bold plan of justice and reform will override the forces working against Democrats in 2024.

If you wish to help support the skeletal staff and amazing volunteers still maintaining that effort, we are deeply grateful. Our continuing through the primary season is a victory in itself, given the viciousness of the system that wanted us gone from Day One. I have a mischievous smile in my heart at the very thought that we’re taking it all the way, and I hope you do too. Our little engine didn’t make it up the hill but our little engine carried a whole lot of love.

And it still does.