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How to explain to libs in crisis that the US Constitution is antidemocratic (piefed.social)

submitted 4 days ago by the_abecedarian@piefed.social to c/socialism@beehaw.org

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Part of what I see with 50501/Hands Off protests is that they have a theme of "defending the Constitution" from Trump. This is really a somewhat conservative position and doesn't have much historical rigor to it.

Prof. Aziz Rana of Boston College Law School is having a moment on Jacobin Radio right now. His basic thesis is that the Constitutional order is so deeply antidemocratic that the left argued with itself and the liberals over whether to focus efforts on challenging it in the early 20th Century. In the broad sweep of history since then, Americans have come to view the Constitution as a sacred text, but in fact, that order is part of what gives the Republicans and the far right their advantages despite losing the popular vote.

The shorter interview: https://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html#S250424 (April 24, 2025)
The 4-part long interview: https://thedigradio.com/archive/ (see the Aziz Rana episodes starting in April 2025) - Part 4 isn't up yet.

So why should we venerate the Constitution, when it holds us back from real, direct democracy? I think part of what our liberal friends and family hold onto is a trust in the Constitution and the framers. They weren't geniuses, they were landowners worried about kings taking their property. Use these interviews, or Prof. Rana's book, to handle those arguments.

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[–] HarkMahlberg@kbin.earth 1 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

All harris had to do was say 'i will ensure american laws are enforced with respect to weapons sales to isreal' and her major campaign problem would have disappeared.

If elections could be won in the United States solely, exclusively, by denouncing Israel, the Dems would have done it. Dems want to stay in power don't they? As you said, it's not hard to set up a press conference and make a statement. So why didn't the Dems just win the election? It's so simple, right?

Of course, in reality, the answer is no, this elections was not decided on one issue. Single-issue voters are wrong, nearly every single time. Abortion, gun rights, Palestine, I don't care what the cause is, it's not the center of universe. Their analysis of why certain things happened are so blatantly biased by the one thing they care about, they fail to consider the many other factors that contributed to Harris's loss: nascent racism and sexism of voters who won't turn out for a woman of color, inflation and price gouging and stagnant wages, right wing propaganda going absolutely gangbusters, fears of violence at the polls, active voter suppression, fear mongering against LGBT and immigrants.

Nah, all that will go away because Kamala said "israel bad." Kamala wins 500 electoral votes. Trump flees to Russia, and brainwashed Republican voters denounce their evil ways and turn back to good.

[–] jatone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 11 hours ago

Critical thinking 101: what happened to dems power last election? Oh right. Lols.

No one asked her to denounce isreali we asked her to uphold american laws regarding weapon sales to genocidal groups. The fact isreal is such a group is their problem that only they can fix.

Look when all the air in the room is being sucked up because you're supporting a genocide and you cant make any argument around your other (and in this instance: non-existent) beneficial policy positions. Then yes, you fucking change your position on a genocide, not that a decent candidate would have held such a policy to begin with.

Gaza literally tanked both harris and biden. Democratic voters were not quiet about their ire. Instead harris decided the path to victory was check notes parading with the daughter of a war criminal. Which Im sure went over well with a base that has traditionally been checks notes anti fucking war.

Oh you mean that the result of the parades with cheney didnt net harris any votes? Im shocked, shocked I tell you.

So you're correct the election wasnt decided by a single issue. It was a absolute catastrophy of a series of decisions by harris, biden, and the dnc that lead to the monumental fuck up that was the 2024 campaign all predicated around the absolutely disgusting and inhuman policy of unconditionally supporting Israel.

If harris hadnt had that policy the argument against harris would have been far weaker even though she still was a shit candidate.

But you idiots tried to bury your heads in the sand and you lost as a result despite a clear and loud message from the base. You shits couldnt defend the position only try and say trump is worse.

Well news flash trump wasnt the problem, you were. The people you needed the support of were the people who would never vote for trump in a million years, the people who show up when candidates offer the working class something. The people who think you never support a genocidal regime.

And now you sit here trying to blame the people who didnt show up for your check notes genocidal party for the position you're finding yourself in. Its fucking hilarious.

Finally: single issue voters are 100% correct when the issue is genocide. Yes, the solution was as simple a position change. You see her inability to shift her positions to match the wants of the electorate is why she lost.

If you cant shift from pro genocide to anti genocide who the fuck is going to think you'll shift on healthcare? Economic issues? Breaking up tech monipolies? Which i repeat: harris had no positions in those categories that align with the democratic base either.

God you mfers are dense. Its bad enough you idiots ran around for a fucking year defending fucking genocide. But to think gaza was the only issue harris failed on with the democratic base is another level of stupidity. It was simply the most egregious issue.

My favorite part about all this was immediately post election you had democratic reps coming out saying fuck the transgendered population cementing their transition into the Republican party.