Ralph and the team invite cofounder of RootsAction, Norman Solomon, to autopsy the carcass of the Democratic Party after Donald Trump’s decisive defeat of Kamala Harris in the presidential election.
Look at the big picture: Capital dominates big time and wants a right wing shift to crush labor and Progressivism. The very rich wanted Biden, Harris was an easy sacrifice, Trump will do what he’s told. Congress is thoroughly owned and harmless. The stage is set, the wealthy have won, we become a corporate fascist state. Corporations can’t rule themselves much less the USA. Collapse. A new Progressive Era. Or nuclear holocaust.
It’s interesting that journalists and commentators habitually stress individual personalities of people of interest. When the actions that are taking place are the result of social and economic forces that the people of interest have no power to effect. In other words they have no true agency. By defining them as though they do have agency, the reporting shields those who actually do have responsibility in the situation, or it reveals a collective structural weakness of accountability within the environment.
I’m 70 & have retired but work 40+ hrs / week mentoring younger people. But my work for 30 years (some paid, most unpaid) to organize people who use criminalized drugs into “mutual aid” groups to do advocacy, education & support in order to stop massive deaths due to toxic drugs. Young people rarely step up to advocate for criminalized “addicts” because they face unprecedented consequences in their careers. The most valuable way to create a movement against the criminalization of addicts, the destitute & the homeless is to organize in each local community. We bring the moms of their dead or soon to be dead children & the addicts to public education meetings where we look at well researched best practices. We have been betrayed by the govt who continue to criminalize an illness, the for profit ineffective recovery industry, the criminal industrial complex including police & jail guard unions, the homeless industrial complex & the medical industry including MDs & hospitals. Without decent rates of welfare income for the destitute & real govt owned social housing, even people who “recover”are sent to tents in the streets where they remain trapped. Most old people have no understanding of how difficult it is to rent an apartment where a tenant must produce more paperwork than an applicant for employment. A network of social justice soirées & funding for mentoring programs for community organizers will be a good start. ❤️
Mr. Nader's point about good governance groups being too chummy with Democrats to be effective is well taken, and extends to other organizations. I was dismayed to see major climate groups endorsing Harris without a single demand. More than anyone, they know that the incrementalism (at best) on offer from both major parties is insufficient to meet the climate moment.
The path to fixing ::all this:: lies outside of Teams Red and Blue.
Yes, it was difficult for Arab-Americans to vote this time around. I am sure there was many who did not vote at all because the choices were not there.
In 2016 I took Ralph's advice (finally!) and started voteboebertout.com. My first move was to get Boebert to attend a townhall meeting.
But once I started, I had questions - I'd never done this before. I found Steve and David's email, sent them questions. Same with Ralph. Never got a response.
I contacted citizens groups including public citizen, asking for advice and answers to my questions -- no reply.
It was all so discouraging that I gave up. I think I convinced myself that the preachers don't walk their talk.
Hannah mentioned that the old guard should retire, mentor new leaders. That's a good idea. But I also think that support should also be there for folks like me, rookie activists wanting to hold town hall meetings. After all, you and they know what I and others are trying to learn.
After listening today, I'm going to try again. But I could sure use some mentoring and support -- and by that I don't mean responding to tweets (I'm not on X or FB). Maybe have a Zoom call for rookie activists where we could ask questions?
We’re in some deep shit here. For those who watched the Harris campaign unfold, the handwriting was on the wall that there was no impetus to push for the bread and butter issues that ordinary people were concerned about.
I look and write about the political environment from the perspective of student activism of the 1960s, at about the same time that Ralph Nader made history by making corporations face the music for producing dangerous items. He then launched the consumer movements that live on today. The political landscape we now face is more than daunting and this program caught that feeling accurately. It’s hard to say where people go now who have a history of standing for the good and standing up to power. We’ve witnessed decades of the growth of police power, endless wars, and what unbridled wealth and greed can do to ordinary people.
I’m not shocked by the result of Tuesday’s election. The Democrats have been the party of neoliberalism for decades. People who voted knew that and the result is a train wreck.
I think it should take about a year and trump will turn the ship of state over to J D .
Why ?
Enough time for trump to shore up his balance sheet , get the legals off his back ,, and get to the golf course .
Along the way he will let Putin have his way with him,,good by NATO and for his sons he'll get those contracts signed to rebuild Gaza and of course there will be a few .more love letters passed to and from North Korea ,, and least I forget better deals for his friend Elon to build cheaper cars in China regardless of the tariffs.
Will J D do a better job at running the country than Trump ?
With J D 's limited government and financial experience the ship of state could be sailing into troubled waters . The wrong guy or gal at the Fed printing press $$$$ ( like last time ) and selected tariffs on our neighbors from Mexico could pose problems along with the serious border deportation issue.. Will J D cut government agencies to the bone and transfer the savings to those that do not need more ? Will private schools continue to get increased benefits to live off the dole of the tax payers public school system. will J D intelligent and attractive wife step up to plate regarding the abortion issue ?
Of will she cow tow to the men in her life and walk that fine line of sweet charity .
Will this is enough of my b s ..today
Keep cool , stay warm ,the season of discontent is just beginning.
C u on the tennis or pickball courts ,,,or slopes ⛷️ soon
Nader sensibly aims herein at a sharper analysis of Progressives' self-wrought disaster, and his overall analysis is quite accurate, imo, though it could be sharper if there was more focus on the herd-mentality that still typifies too-many-otherwise-well-intended Progressive election strategists.
Said Progressive election strategists seem insufficiently aware of basic 'theory of mind' cautionary principles, which advise any forensic speaker to be keenly aware of how his/her contentions are likely being cognitively processed in the emotion-driven minds of the Listener. who is necessarily driven by his/her own 'confirmation biases'
MORE on this i will elucidate, if readers here are interested, <><><><>
". . . and they [senate committees] got to put it [the plans they come up with to combat Project 2025] on social media." THIS. And along the same lines . . .
The first thing I should have seen from the Democratic Party *this* morning on my YouTube, my X, my Bluesky - everywhere - was a political ad featuring the X post by the woman whose husband's manufacturing company in southwest Pennsylvania was told by its president employees wouldn't get a Christmas bonus because he had to buy a year's worth of stock to prepare for Trump's tariffs, and he had to explain to all these Trump supporters how a tariff works, and who pays for it. And it should have had the tag line, WE TOLD YOU. THE CRUELTY IS THE POINT. above the DNCC logo. Run these NOW, brand them with the 2028 candidates' names ASAP (Bernie and Jill would be my first choices, but I'll take war hawk white guy Buttigieg only because you don't know the shit Trump is going to unleash in the next 4 years and take-no-shit democracy defender Crockett). *ASAP*. These have to be a major investment everywhere from now until this nightmare ends, countering *every* degradation that happens in real time in the ensuing 'shock and awe' chaos.
Look at the big picture: Capital dominates big time and wants a right wing shift to crush labor and Progressivism. The very rich wanted Biden, Harris was an easy sacrifice, Trump will do what he’s told. Congress is thoroughly owned and harmless. The stage is set, the wealthy have won, we become a corporate fascist state. Corporations can’t rule themselves much less the USA. Collapse. A new Progressive Era. Or nuclear holocaust.
Yes! I hope you appreciate this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJaJ4BST6Nc&t=2s
It’s interesting that journalists and commentators habitually stress individual personalities of people of interest. When the actions that are taking place are the result of social and economic forces that the people of interest have no power to effect. In other words they have no true agency. By defining them as though they do have agency, the reporting shields those who actually do have responsibility in the situation, or it reveals a collective structural weakness of accountability within the environment.
I’m 70 & have retired but work 40+ hrs / week mentoring younger people. But my work for 30 years (some paid, most unpaid) to organize people who use criminalized drugs into “mutual aid” groups to do advocacy, education & support in order to stop massive deaths due to toxic drugs. Young people rarely step up to advocate for criminalized “addicts” because they face unprecedented consequences in their careers. The most valuable way to create a movement against the criminalization of addicts, the destitute & the homeless is to organize in each local community. We bring the moms of their dead or soon to be dead children & the addicts to public education meetings where we look at well researched best practices. We have been betrayed by the govt who continue to criminalize an illness, the for profit ineffective recovery industry, the criminal industrial complex including police & jail guard unions, the homeless industrial complex & the medical industry including MDs & hospitals. Without decent rates of welfare income for the destitute & real govt owned social housing, even people who “recover”are sent to tents in the streets where they remain trapped. Most old people have no understanding of how difficult it is to rent an apartment where a tenant must produce more paperwork than an applicant for employment. A network of social justice soirées & funding for mentoring programs for community organizers will be a good start. ❤️
Mr. Nader's point about good governance groups being too chummy with Democrats to be effective is well taken, and extends to other organizations. I was dismayed to see major climate groups endorsing Harris without a single demand. More than anyone, they know that the incrementalism (at best) on offer from both major parties is insufficient to meet the climate moment.
The path to fixing ::all this:: lies outside of Teams Red and Blue.
Yes! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJaJ4BST6Nc&t=2s
Yes, it was difficult for Arab-Americans to vote this time around. I am sure there was many who did not vote at all because the choices were not there.
Howdy everyone,
Great show, as always.
In 2016 I took Ralph's advice (finally!) and started voteboebertout.com. My first move was to get Boebert to attend a townhall meeting.
But once I started, I had questions - I'd never done this before. I found Steve and David's email, sent them questions. Same with Ralph. Never got a response.
I contacted citizens groups including public citizen, asking for advice and answers to my questions -- no reply.
It was all so discouraging that I gave up. I think I convinced myself that the preachers don't walk their talk.
Hannah mentioned that the old guard should retire, mentor new leaders. That's a good idea. But I also think that support should also be there for folks like me, rookie activists wanting to hold town hall meetings. After all, you and they know what I and others are trying to learn.
After listening today, I'm going to try again. But I could sure use some mentoring and support -- and by that I don't mean responding to tweets (I'm not on X or FB). Maybe have a Zoom call for rookie activists where we could ask questions?
Thanks man,
We’re in some deep shit here. For those who watched the Harris campaign unfold, the handwriting was on the wall that there was no impetus to push for the bread and butter issues that ordinary people were concerned about.
I look and write about the political environment from the perspective of student activism of the 1960s, at about the same time that Ralph Nader made history by making corporations face the music for producing dangerous items. He then launched the consumer movements that live on today. The political landscape we now face is more than daunting and this program caught that feeling accurately. It’s hard to say where people go now who have a history of standing for the good and standing up to power. We’ve witnessed decades of the growth of police power, endless wars, and what unbridled wealth and greed can do to ordinary people.
I’m not shocked by the result of Tuesday’s election. The Democrats have been the party of neoliberalism for decades. People who voted knew that and the result is a train wreck.
You might like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJaJ4BST6Nc&t=2s
We need to reflect together on each sentence in this conversation. Does RNRH have an official transcript?
Fully-proofed transcript in the works. Toward the end of the week it will be posted as a pdf under the bios and quotes.
Thank you Steve. I am not trying to be jerk. I just love your work.
I have no confidence that this Congress will do anything to mitigate the disaster.
Only 72 days until the world as we know it is replaced by the Fourth Reich.
State power is essential...all the blue state governors need to get together and make a plan.
I think it should take about a year and trump will turn the ship of state over to J D .
Why ?
Enough time for trump to shore up his balance sheet , get the legals off his back ,, and get to the golf course .
Along the way he will let Putin have his way with him,,good by NATO and for his sons he'll get those contracts signed to rebuild Gaza and of course there will be a few .more love letters passed to and from North Korea ,, and least I forget better deals for his friend Elon to build cheaper cars in China regardless of the tariffs.
Will J D do a better job at running the country than Trump ?
With J D 's limited government and financial experience the ship of state could be sailing into troubled waters . The wrong guy or gal at the Fed printing press $$$$ ( like last time ) and selected tariffs on our neighbors from Mexico could pose problems along with the serious border deportation issue.. Will J D cut government agencies to the bone and transfer the savings to those that do not need more ? Will private schools continue to get increased benefits to live off the dole of the tax payers public school system. will J D intelligent and attractive wife step up to plate regarding the abortion issue ?
Of will she cow tow to the men in her life and walk that fine line of sweet charity .
Will this is enough of my b s ..today
Keep cool , stay warm ,the season of discontent is just beginning.
C u on the tennis or pickball courts ,,,or slopes ⛷️ soon
Have a great day my friends
Blessings to you,Mr. Nader for sharing with us this morning ☕ and will reStack ASAP 💯👍
Love you lots Ralph Nader!!
Steve and David and Hannah have something valuable to say.
Nader sensibly aims herein at a sharper analysis of Progressives' self-wrought disaster, and his overall analysis is quite accurate, imo, though it could be sharper if there was more focus on the herd-mentality that still typifies too-many-otherwise-well-intended Progressive election strategists.
Said Progressive election strategists seem insufficiently aware of basic 'theory of mind' cautionary principles, which advise any forensic speaker to be keenly aware of how his/her contentions are likely being cognitively processed in the emotion-driven minds of the Listener. who is necessarily driven by his/her own 'confirmation biases'
MORE on this i will elucidate, if readers here are interested, <><><><>
Stephen Pfrimmer looks forward to giving Ralph Nader Radio Hour another $60 on December 24, 2024.
". . . and they [senate committees] got to put it [the plans they come up with to combat Project 2025] on social media." THIS. And along the same lines . . .
The first thing I should have seen from the Democratic Party *this* morning on my YouTube, my X, my Bluesky - everywhere - was a political ad featuring the X post by the woman whose husband's manufacturing company in southwest Pennsylvania was told by its president employees wouldn't get a Christmas bonus because he had to buy a year's worth of stock to prepare for Trump's tariffs, and he had to explain to all these Trump supporters how a tariff works, and who pays for it. And it should have had the tag line, WE TOLD YOU. THE CRUELTY IS THE POINT. above the DNCC logo. Run these NOW, brand them with the 2028 candidates' names ASAP (Bernie and Jill would be my first choices, but I'll take war hawk white guy Buttigieg only because you don't know the shit Trump is going to unleash in the next 4 years and take-no-shit democracy defender Crockett). *ASAP*. These have to be a major investment everywhere from now until this nightmare ends, countering *every* degradation that happens in real time in the ensuing 'shock and awe' chaos.