THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN REAL LEFT AND FAKE LEFT

Thanks to Green Left Infoasis, there's an interview with Dennis Perrin - remember his Red State Son blog? - the author of Savage Mules, a scathing indictment of the Democratic Party.

GLI: In your book you document the Democratic Party's history of militarism and imperialism. In the 2004 Avocado Declaration, Ralph Nader's former Vice presidential running mate Peter Camejo pointed out that "since the Civil War, without exception, the Democratic Party has opposed all mass struggles for democracy and social justice". Considering this long and ignoble history, how does the Party retain its reputation as a progressive antiwar party?

DP: There've been antiwar elements within the Democratic Party for some time, but they're pretty marginal. George McGovern ran the closest thing to an antiwar Dem campaign there ever was, with certain qualifications, naturally, but light years from what Obama is promising. When McGovern got trounced by Nixon, that type of campaign was discredited and never returned. "McGovernite" became a dirty word, especially among liberals. Jesse Jackson ran on some social justice issues in 1984 and '88, and was really good on Central America and southern Africa. But as you may have noticed, he never snagged the Dem nomination.

The Democratic Party of today is a corporate/imperial war party. End of story. It cannot be reformed or redeemed. It simply serves too much private power to ever become a "people's" party. Any hope for political change must happen outside of the two party system. But as you can presently see, not a lot of people seem all that interested in such a challenge. They'd rather vote, cross their fingers, and hope for the best. They are in the way, but in a sense, they always have been.

When I went to the Barnes and Noble store in South Burlington, naturally, it was not displayed with the newly arrived Obamaniac selections; it was not even in stock. So I berated the clerk for that and I placed an order. I'm looking forward to its arrival next week.

And here are a few choice paragraphs from Louis Proyect's review.

What you will not find is anything quite like Dennis Perrin’s “Savage Mules”, a slashing attack on the Democratic Party so badly needed in a time when so many false hopes are now invested in the party of “peace” and “progress”. “Savage Mules” is a pithy, sharp and funny survey of Democratic presidencies (and failed bids) going back to Woodrow Wilson that takes no prisoners. While it was written prior to the rise of Obamamania, it would certainly provide a useful corrective to a “change” campaign that seems to be recycling the centrism of the past 30 years at least.

Perrin is writing in the tradition of Howard Zinn and other radical critics of American corporate power but has his own voice that is really unique. It shares the outrage of a Jon Stewart or a Bill Maher (for whom he used to write jokes) but dares to go where they dare not.

Cross-posted at Green Democratic Alliance blog.