Yesterday the mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, condemned people for protesting against the sale of land in the West Bank, sales which were happening in a New York synagogue.
The Democratic Party is the graveyard of social movements. Its appointed historic role is to siphon off antiestablishment energy and ideas into the dead end of the two-party duopoly where they can be swiftly neutralised. The Democratic Party did this to the Civil Rights movement, the Women’s movement, the anti-war movement and Occupy. Any ‘radical’ who attaches themselves to the Democrats knows this and is complicit with it—look at the sad but instructive cases of Bernie and AOC.
Agreed. I long for the day Americans feel like I do, that speaking of political parties is blasé. That boredom will mean that everyone is aware they were duped, that major parties (maybe all parties) are entirely representative of the forces opposing them. Unfortunately, that will not happen. Mass stupidity has always been the reliable partner of banker capitalism.
My country of South Africa, like others, imitates the USA and UK, though ours is more absurd, with no difference between the fancy cars the liberals and the communists drive (and share). The USA (and Germany) have the upper-hand, assisted by billionaires funding several parties simultaneously. All our NGOs are political vehicles funded by the usual Soros, Ford and co., but its obvious that China puts up a fight for their place on this chessboard.
Yes, I'm using the same comments alot. And everyone posting about our situation and all the "alt" stramers are really doing the same thing. Endlessly reciting more circumstances that amount to "We're fucked." I've had decades to come to these conclusions, and like others, have had periods I too was deceived enough to set them aside, but eventually of course, the deceptions became obvious, both the people and the policies. Here's my repeat.
"You have NO effective friends in high places who can use civil reform to reverse the psychopathic horrors of a dying empire. Look to Gaza and Venezuela to grasp what would happen to any real threat it encounters. Look to Nov 22, 1963. We are not facing something new. We are facing the culmination of something parasitic and irrational, that cloaked itself in effective manipulations our entire lifetime. Now the cloak is gone and the monster stands before us, swinging Death’s scythe."
Too many alt streamers swung from pro-Trump to anti-Trump as if they dowsing for cash. Just like Greenwald going from Assange to Jones. You can't be anti-system with a history of having supported a side when knowing the whole damn thing is a show.
Will Mandami best AOC in shredding progressive principles? That's a high bar I hope he does not clear. But I have visions of the bar being raised as Mandami and AOC sell us out hand-in-hand.
‘I think the fear of Robinson and defenders of Mamdani is that their man might be proof, yet again, that the system is irredeemable. But they can’t bring themselves to see this. Because if liberal electoralism isn’t the answer, what is? Clinging to a belief in electoralism staves off painful revolutionary thoughts.’ Revolutionary thoughts are not painful to the workers; our liberation lies in building the Socialist Equality Party within the US and internationally as a party of world revolution that will overthrow the very capitalist system now resorting to genocide and fascism yet again. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/01/12/yjxc-j12.html
'we might as well pack up and go home', but where is home now? Where do you go to escape this unfolding fascist nightmare?
Funny how people like Mamdani only show us who they REALLY are once they are elected. You are right, its the destruction of a frail hope that people were clinging to, the terrible betrayal much much worse than monsters like Trump, Netanyahu and Putin- we know who they are, we know what they are capable of. We may be shocked, sickened and horrified, but not betrayed, not lose all hope. That is a much greater wound which does not heal and festers and takes away any drive to try again to get someone elected who will surely betray again. Best to keep your head down, try to keep your loved ones safe, and wait for it all to end.
We have the same problem in the UK, a government who came in on a promise of change and hope and are a moral vacuum, incapable of governing and just laying down the laws and path to fascism that Nigel Farage will bring us in a few years. Like Mamdani we have Zack Polanski, he seems so good at the moment, he's giving thousands hope, but will he be the same as Mamdani if he gets near power?
There are so many signs that our civilisation is ending now, decadence, greed, betrayal, cruelty- just like so many civilisations before, the speed is terrifying, the Roman empire dragged on for ages but ours looks like it will end in a blaze of wars, extreme violence and irreversible climate breakdown. We are already at the beginning.
Women who have chosen a self described “nice guy” only to wind up abused know exactly what you mean.
There’s no hating the abuser more than the fake nice guy because they’re the same.
Anyone who chose Biden in 2020 in hopes of keeping public health knows exactly what you mean.
When we look at the historical wastewater data we can see the winter of 2021 was the worst covid wave of all time, to date anyway. I hate his covid response more than trump’s because at least there was some resistance when trump wanted us all infected. Once Biden called for it all the “good guys” ripped off their masks and went all in on the genocide of the vulnerable.
💯Since I’m a glutton for punishment I joined the Pod Save America discord and found that liberals there will attack me for pointing out this very thing! The Dems have adopted all the same Republican talking points on Covid that were ridiculed by Dems a couple years earlier. I love John Stewart, but I saw him go even further mocking mask wearers. He seems to have forgotten the first rule of comedy you never punch down.
I had adopted an I’ll wait and see attitude with respect to Mamdani. I am not surprised in the least to hear about what he has done. I almost expected something like this would happen sooner or later.
We go through this same cycle again and again.
The political systems there, here and elsewhere never bring real or lasting change for the good of the people and planet, and they are too slow to act on our collective needs in any case.
We need new political systems - radically different and distinct from our current systems.
Keep at it, Nate. You are absolutely correct. Don't let the priestcraft of these liberal eunuchs put doubt in your mind. They are just as culpable as Trump for the perverted world we live in. More so because, as you pointed out, they come as friends.
"An ally who stabs you in the back is worse than an enemy who stabs you in the chest."
I absolutely agree with this. What passes for the left in the West has become an absolute fraud, so naturally they will be very upset when you are able to see through their latest version of AOC. This is the kind of flack you get when you're getting close to the target.
The fake left are insideous in the West. They have managed to maintain a shread of political credibility via Mandani while always finding some left sounding phraseology to support Israel and US Imperialism. The Hallmark of the fake left is that they always protect Israel. They enabled it's genocide and continue to do so. They can parade their virtue all they want, but in the end they are an agency of Imperialism and Zionism.
No Kings really does have to mean No Kings. Handing this much of our collective hope and faith to one person, no matter how likable he is, is never a good idea. One person never has the answer. One person will never save us.
I already didn’t have high hopes for Mamdani because he didn’t say one word about the ongoing pandemic and public health crisis. If you don’t stand for basic public health, you are a tool of Empire.
Despite my initial take on him, the simple moral test remains true: If they're not taking any precautions against airborne disease, I remain suspicious of any human rights statements they make.
He certainly burst my bubble (just like AOC & Bernie)...I feel sorry for the thousands of people who gave up their precious time knocking on doors to recruit the voters. For God's sake, I'm 81--you'd think I would've learned a thing or two by now!
The Democratic Party is the graveyard of social movements. Its appointed historic role is to siphon off antiestablishment energy and ideas into the dead end of the two-party duopoly where they can be swiftly neutralised. The Democratic Party did this to the Civil Rights movement, the Women’s movement, the anti-war movement and Occupy. Any ‘radical’ who attaches themselves to the Democrats knows this and is complicit with it—look at the sad but instructive cases of Bernie and AOC.
Jacksonian democracy and its consequences…
“Siphoning off energy” results in a status quo. No new ideas put into action, they just drift away.
Agreed. I long for the day Americans feel like I do, that speaking of political parties is blasé. That boredom will mean that everyone is aware they were duped, that major parties (maybe all parties) are entirely representative of the forces opposing them. Unfortunately, that will not happen. Mass stupidity has always been the reliable partner of banker capitalism.
My country of South Africa, like others, imitates the USA and UK, though ours is more absurd, with no difference between the fancy cars the liberals and the communists drive (and share). The USA (and Germany) have the upper-hand, assisted by billionaires funding several parties simultaneously. All our NGOs are political vehicles funded by the usual Soros, Ford and co., but its obvious that China puts up a fight for their place on this chessboard.
Yes, I'm using the same comments alot. And everyone posting about our situation and all the "alt" stramers are really doing the same thing. Endlessly reciting more circumstances that amount to "We're fucked." I've had decades to come to these conclusions, and like others, have had periods I too was deceived enough to set them aside, but eventually of course, the deceptions became obvious, both the people and the policies. Here's my repeat.
"You have NO effective friends in high places who can use civil reform to reverse the psychopathic horrors of a dying empire. Look to Gaza and Venezuela to grasp what would happen to any real threat it encounters. Look to Nov 22, 1963. We are not facing something new. We are facing the culmination of something parasitic and irrational, that cloaked itself in effective manipulations our entire lifetime. Now the cloak is gone and the monster stands before us, swinging Death’s scythe."
Too many alt streamers swung from pro-Trump to anti-Trump as if they dowsing for cash. Just like Greenwald going from Assange to Jones. You can't be anti-system with a history of having supported a side when knowing the whole damn thing is a show.
I had a low bar for my expectations of Mamdani, but he managed to limbo beneath them.
For brevity, I am sharing a link to the Socialist AI site that gives a timeline for Zohran Mamdani's back-peddling on progressive promises:
https://ai.wsws.org/en/threads/d5cf80af-69c3-42eb-a349-3844c03cc9cd
Mea culpa, I have form with misspelling Mamdani.
Will Mandami best AOC in shredding progressive principles? That's a high bar I hope he does not clear. But I have visions of the bar being raised as Mandami and AOC sell us out hand-in-hand.
‘I think the fear of Robinson and defenders of Mamdani is that their man might be proof, yet again, that the system is irredeemable. But they can’t bring themselves to see this. Because if liberal electoralism isn’t the answer, what is? Clinging to a belief in electoralism staves off painful revolutionary thoughts.’ Revolutionary thoughts are not painful to the workers; our liberation lies in building the Socialist Equality Party within the US and internationally as a party of world revolution that will overthrow the very capitalist system now resorting to genocide and fascism yet again. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/01/12/yjxc-j12.html
If the establishment is good at nothing else, it is very good at determining whom to co-opt, whom to buy off, whom to neutralize, whom to ignore.
'we might as well pack up and go home', but where is home now? Where do you go to escape this unfolding fascist nightmare?
Funny how people like Mamdani only show us who they REALLY are once they are elected. You are right, its the destruction of a frail hope that people were clinging to, the terrible betrayal much much worse than monsters like Trump, Netanyahu and Putin- we know who they are, we know what they are capable of. We may be shocked, sickened and horrified, but not betrayed, not lose all hope. That is a much greater wound which does not heal and festers and takes away any drive to try again to get someone elected who will surely betray again. Best to keep your head down, try to keep your loved ones safe, and wait for it all to end.
We have the same problem in the UK, a government who came in on a promise of change and hope and are a moral vacuum, incapable of governing and just laying down the laws and path to fascism that Nigel Farage will bring us in a few years. Like Mamdani we have Zack Polanski, he seems so good at the moment, he's giving thousands hope, but will he be the same as Mamdani if he gets near power?
There are so many signs that our civilisation is ending now, decadence, greed, betrayal, cruelty- just like so many civilisations before, the speed is terrifying, the Roman empire dragged on for ages but ours looks like it will end in a blaze of wars, extreme violence and irreversible climate breakdown. We are already at the beginning.
So where is home? and is it safe any longer?
Women who have chosen a self described “nice guy” only to wind up abused know exactly what you mean.
There’s no hating the abuser more than the fake nice guy because they’re the same.
Anyone who chose Biden in 2020 in hopes of keeping public health knows exactly what you mean.
When we look at the historical wastewater data we can see the winter of 2021 was the worst covid wave of all time, to date anyway. I hate his covid response more than trump’s because at least there was some resistance when trump wanted us all infected. Once Biden called for it all the “good guys” ripped off their masks and went all in on the genocide of the vulnerable.
Thank you for raising this point. It's one that gets missed or dismissed constantly in "progressive" circles.
💯Since I’m a glutton for punishment I joined the Pod Save America discord and found that liberals there will attack me for pointing out this very thing! The Dems have adopted all the same Republican talking points on Covid that were ridiculed by Dems a couple years earlier. I love John Stewart, but I saw him go even further mocking mask wearers. He seems to have forgotten the first rule of comedy you never punch down.
Thank you for reminding me why I unsubscribed! I prefer The Death Panel Podcast. They’re fantastic.
Thanks Nate. I agree with you.
I had adopted an I’ll wait and see attitude with respect to Mamdani. I am not surprised in the least to hear about what he has done. I almost expected something like this would happen sooner or later.
We go through this same cycle again and again.
The political systems there, here and elsewhere never bring real or lasting change for the good of the people and planet, and they are too slow to act on our collective needs in any case.
We need new political systems - radically different and distinct from our current systems.
I wish I knew how that could be brought about.
Looks like they got to him. Fast, and deep.
You know, of course, that his life is no longer his own and if he does not do the bidding of the overlords, they will simply unalive him.
Sigh...
Keep at it, Nate. You are absolutely correct. Don't let the priestcraft of these liberal eunuchs put doubt in your mind. They are just as culpable as Trump for the perverted world we live in. More so because, as you pointed out, they come as friends.
"An ally who stabs you in the back is worse than an enemy who stabs you in the chest."
I absolutely agree with this. What passes for the left in the West has become an absolute fraud, so naturally they will be very upset when you are able to see through their latest version of AOC. This is the kind of flack you get when you're getting close to the target.
The fake left are insideous in the West. They have managed to maintain a shread of political credibility via Mandani while always finding some left sounding phraseology to support Israel and US Imperialism. The Hallmark of the fake left is that they always protect Israel. They enabled it's genocide and continue to do so. They can parade their virtue all they want, but in the end they are an agency of Imperialism and Zionism.
No Kings really does have to mean No Kings. Handing this much of our collective hope and faith to one person, no matter how likable he is, is never a good idea. One person never has the answer. One person will never save us.
I already didn’t have high hopes for Mamdani because he didn’t say one word about the ongoing pandemic and public health crisis. If you don’t stand for basic public health, you are a tool of Empire.
I saw people getting excited about him, not because of him specifically, but because of the socialism angle. Socialists CAN win elections.
Mamdani is an op.
Despite my initial take on him, the simple moral test remains true: If they're not taking any precautions against airborne disease, I remain suspicious of any human rights statements they make.
He certainly burst my bubble (just like AOC & Bernie)...I feel sorry for the thousands of people who gave up their precious time knocking on doors to recruit the voters. For God's sake, I'm 81--you'd think I would've learned a thing or two by now!
Your lense is so clear.
As I have said in the past and will again and again, Nate,
I am beyond grateful that you publish your clear and cutting points of view.
Reading what you write is mana in this "Democratic" desert.
Very kind CarolAnn thank you
thanks for that, mister bear. the arc of disillusionment is long.