Authority

I was listening to an interview with the mother of Ahmaud Arbery where she describes her reaction to the news of her son's death. She was told he was shot in a burglary attempt and she said she believed the officers because "she was taught to believe authority". Mind you, these are white police in a police force known for corruption in the Deep South. And the black woman trusts in their "authority". This is a problem.

In every account of Joe Biden's "comeback" over Bernie Sanders, we are told the "Democratic Party establishment" rallied and consolidated. For some strange reason the fact that Jim Clyburn, the House Majority Whip, endorsed Biden, thereby turning the tide, is never mentioned. Clyburn, whose father was a fundamentalist minister, has a great deal of "authority" in the southern black community and black voters fell in behind him. The black Christian church is also an "authority" which exerts tremendous sway in that community. Unfortunately, these tend to be conservative "liberal" voices opposed to any talk around democratic socialism. Bill Clinton liberal.

My point is, the DSA and others advocating an electoral route to power need to face this conundrum head on, rather than ignoring and deflecting it. They go on and on about racial inequality but as with every "community", there are internal divisions, as well as deep-seated, ingrained pathologies that cannot be ignored. The "Establishment" comes in all shapes and colors.

The news coverage around Latin America is always problematic but there is a very disturbing trend when it comes to Venezuela. Media of every stripe concentrates on the country's inflation and political turmoil, treating it the same way it does Palestine or Haiti or other places plagued with stagnant economies. They are condemned to the category of "basket cases", inept banana republics mired in mismanagement and corruption. Just needing to embrace America's help and guidance. If they would only fall in line, they could receive assistance instead of sanctions. They could become part of the constructive global community. If only they were reasonable.