A Tale of Two Socialists
My family came from a country destroyed by communism. My grandparents brought my mother to America as a child, fleeing the oppression of the Castro regime. For Cuban-American community I grew up in, the words “revolution” and “socialism” are synonymous with “tyranny” and “oppression.” As I’ve noted earlier, I grew up in the conservative media bubble, living in fear of the day that America would elect a socialist as president. And then, an amazing thing happened.
It turns out Republicans, the party of Eisenhower and Reagan, were totally cool with socialism, as long as it was disguised as “capitalism.” You see, Trump, in a political bind, promised billions in bailouts to farmers for their “loyalty” in his poorly thought out trade war with China. He routinely uses tariffs and government bailouts to decide winners and losers in the economy, as we see with his bailouts of coal mines and industrial jobs. In combination with his tax cuts, disproportionately focused on the upper class, what we have is Trump using the government to redistribute wealth and gain more control of the means of production.
I wonder what that sounds like?
Of course, the conservative news media crows that this is just the free market working, and Trump is protecting our great farmers in a patriotic war against the communist Chinese. In the same breath, however, they will rant and rave at the socialist hellscape that will come from a Bernie Sanders presidency. The Republican establishment wants it both ways: They will champion socialist policies to enforce the cult of Trump while still holding socialism up as the ultimate boogeyman. It’s complete and utter Orwellian doublethink. It’s hard to see the truth, however, when one is constantly told one socialist is a patriotic hero and the other is a pinko commie. Trump’s own acquiescence to Russia, of course, is dismissed as fake news.
Donald Trump would love nothing more than to run against Sanders, a self avowed democratic socialist. It’s the perfect thing for the right wing media to create negative partisanship. Here’s the dirty secret, though: Trump’s presidency has already proven itself to be a greater threat to America than Bernie Sanders socialism-lite.
Here’s just a few of the many things Trump has done to endanger the long-term wellbeing of our country.
Trump has gotten away with violating his oath of office.
Trump has asked Ukraine to interfere in our elections.
Trump has taken the words of communist dictators over our own intelligence agencies.
Trump excused the actions of actual nazis, and has a white nationalist working on immigration. Trump has put our economy in mortal danger with his tariffs and trade wars.
Trump has weakened our international alliances and made us less safe.
Trump was going to host Al-Qaeda at Camp David on the Anniversary of 9–11.
Trump actively calls us to hate our fellow Americans.
Trump goes after men of honor and courage like Lt. Vindman, while praising convicted criminals like Roger Stone.
Trump perpetuates Human Rights atrocities on our border.
Trump pardons war criminals and denigrates our military.
Trump is accused by multiple women of rape and sexual assault.
Trump’s words inspired mass shootings.
Now, Bernie Sanders has some terrible quotes about communist regimes in his past. He’s not accomplished all too much in his 40 years of congress. He’s also just a bit curmudgeonly. He’s not the ideal choice for me, personally. But I ask you this: Does Bernie Sanders represent the fundamental threat to America’s wellbeing that Trump has demonstrably proven himself to be? Even if he does become president, do you think that Republicans and Democrats will break out of their current intransigence to pass sweeping socialist reform of our government and economy? And even if he succeeds in a few reforms, will they cause more damage than Trump’s trade wars and foreign policy?
Regardless of what he says, what the Republicans will do is cast Sanders as the final fulfillment of the Red Scare boogeyman that has hovered over America for the 75 years that have followed World War II. Here’s the thing though: they will do this to every Democrat, from Tulsi Gabbard to Joe Biden. Because to do otherwise would be to lay bare Trump’s own socialist and authoritarian proclivities, and to expose the Republican establishment’s failure to protect America from socialist and communist threats, and Republican’s own subservience to Russia. So instead, they will do what Trump does, and accuse the other of what he himself is doing.
There’s no guarantee that Sanders will be the Democratic nominee. He’s the current frontrunner, but the moderates have collectively earned more votes than the progressive wing. There’s still good odds for Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Biden, and Bloomberg. And they all poll well against Trump. If the choice does come down to Bernie and Trump, however, at least Bernie is a comparatively honest man. In the choice between two socialists, choose the honest man over the liar.
Christian Thrailkill is a graduate of Southern Methodist University, musician, and columnist. He lives in Dallas, Texas. Follow him on Twitter @Wolvie616
