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Friday, May 27, 2016

Will Democrats Sacrifice Public Education for the Sake of Party Unity? - Living in Dialogue

Will Democrats Sacrifice Public Education for the Sake of Party Unity? - Living in Dialogue:

Will Democrats Sacrifice Public Education for the Sake of Party Unity?

By Anthony Cody.
I noticed an interesting phenomenon on some progressive web sites over the past week or two. Even with the California and New Jersey primaries still looming a couple of weeks from now, the focus has shifted to supporting Clinton, and news of Sanders has been put on the back burner. A look at the front page of Crooks and Liars reveals a dozen stories about Trump, and a couple favorable to Clinton, including this breathless report of Bill Clinton “debating” a young Sanders supporter for thirty minutes. But no major stories about Sanders — not even the news of a possible Trump/Sanders debate. This web site has apparently decided that the election will be between Clinton and Trump, and no further coverage of the Sanders campaign is needed.
Politics is a team sport, and some have decided the time has come for the team to unite behind Clinton. So Sanders is not to be mentioned. Instead we focus on the issues both “teams” can all agree to disagree about. Transgender bathrooms. Guns. Gay marriage. Abortion. Voting rights. Immigration reform. Bashing Trump. These are ON the table for debate.
But what other issues are off the table because the Democratic Party “team” does not have a unified stance?
One of the things I have appreciated about the Sanders campaign has been the space it has opened up to question some “progressive” orthodoxies. We have seen moving videos of Berta Caceresmade prior to her tragic assassination, calling out Clinton’s support of a military coup in Honduras. In my view “progressives” should not support military coups in Latin America – but this issue will not be mentioned if Clinton becomes the nominee. We have heard questions raised about uncritical support for Israel – again, this will be off the table. Even the fracking that is destroying groundwater across the country and the world will be swept under the rug.
Of course the hallmark of the Sanders campaign has been his calling out Wall Street financiers and hedge funders, and if we get down to a Clinton/Trump race that will be greatly muted as well. The progressive focus will be on how scared we all should be of a Trump presidency.
This “progressive” team unity has left some other huge issues off the table. As I wrote last year, K-12 education has been largely ignored by progressives – even “bold” ones. Republicans regularly assail public Will Democrats Sacrifice Public Education for the Sake of Party Unity? - Living in Dialogue: