The Bolshevikization of the Democratic Party
By Charles Lemos on June 13, 2008 at 3:20 PM in Barack Obama, Barbara Jordan, Bolshevikization, Chicago, Chicago politics, DNC, Democratic Party
Bolsheviks (or “the Majority”) were an organization of professional revolutionaries under a strict internal hierarchy governed by the principle of democratic centralism and quasi-military discipline, who considered themselves as a vanguard of the revolutionary proletariat. Their beliefs and practices were often referred to as Bolshevism. We can safely say that Obamaism can be equated with Bolshevism, this is nothing less than a coup led by a new caudillo, Barack Obama. For someone who professes to want to run a campaign from the bottom-up, this is the inverse. It’s centralized control from the top down.
Via Ben Smith at Politico:
In a major shakeup at the Democratic National Committee — and a departure from tradition — large parts of the committee’s operations are relocating to Chicago to be fully integrated with the Obama campaign.
The DNC’s political department, housed in Washington, D.C., will be dramatically rebuilt, with staffers offered a choice of moving to Chicago, joining state operations, or staying in Washington, DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney said.
But the power will clearly be shifting to a centralized Chicago hub.
The DNC’s key role in coordinating political operations with state parties is expected to largely be taken over and overseen by Obama’s senior staff in Chicago, state party officials said.
“This is part of the implementation of the plans Paul [Tewes] discussed last week with the state party chairs,” Finney said. “As part of the efforts to fully integrate DNC operations with the Obama campaign here in Washington, in Chicago and in the states, political, field and constituency operations are moving to Chicago to work in the Obama headquarters. The goal is to consolidate these efforts into one operation and effectively drive one national strategy.”
People familiar with the plan said that state party staffers paid for under Howard Dean’s 50 State Program would be shifted to working for the presidential campaign, at least in targeted battleground states.
The move reflects Obama’s desire to maintain an unusually streamlined campaign, as well as his swift and complete takeover of a Democratic Party that isn’t always known for its unity. The move may also save the campaign money, as the Obama campaign can use DNC salaries and staff to pay for elements of its organizing campaign and avoid some of the duplication that has often dogged presidential efforts.
Such a centralization of the Party’s apparatus is an inherent danger to the big tent character of the Democratic Party. Obama is seeking to personify the Democratic Party. No one person personifies the Democratic Party. This is an internal coup following on the heels of the May 31st Rules and By-Laws Committee that was anything but democratic, the Democratic Party is now a Bolshevik party. Political parties in Western democracies are governed by consensus, not by fiat. There is no place for a Politburo or a Central Committee that dictates commands. Such an apparatus is inherently anti-democratic and against the long-standing principles of the US Democratic Party, we were a party of inclusion, not exclusion. The more you tighten the screws, the more we shall resist you.
Obama and his cohorts need to be reminded of Barbara Jordan’s Keynote Address at the Democratic Convention in 1976:
We are a party — We are a party of innovation. We do not reject our traditions, but we are willing to adapt to changing circumstances, when change we must. We are willing to suffer the discomfort of change in order to achieve a better future. We have a positive vision of the future founded on the belief that the gap between the promise and reality of America can one day be finally closed. We believe that.
This, my friends is the bedrock of our concept of governing. This is a part of the reason why Americans have turned to the Democratic Party. These are the foundations upon which a national community can be built. Let all understand that these guiding principles cannot be discarded for short-term political gains. They represent what this country is all about. They are indigenous to the American idea. And these are principles which are not negotiable.
There is no executive order; there is no law that can require the American people to form a national community. This we must do as individuals, and if we do it as individuals, there is no President of the United States who can veto that decision.
As a first step — As a first step, we must restore our belief in ourselves. We are a generous people, so why can’t we be generous with each other? We need to take to heart the words spoken by Thomas Jefferson:
Let us restore the social intercourse — “Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and that affection without which liberty and even life are but dreary things.”
A nation is formed by the willingness of each of us to share in the responsibility for upholding the common good. A government is invigorated when each one of us is willing to participate in shaping the future of this nation. In this election year, we must define the “common good” and begin again to shape a common future. Let each person do his or her part. If one citizen is unwilling to participate, all of us are going to suffer. For the American idea, though it is shared by all of us, is realized in each one of us.
To listen to her full speech, please visit American Rhetoric.
The essence of a party is a diversity of opinion, a plurality of views. One person does not personify a party for the concept of party is, ipso facto, more than one. And I must ask this question, if this had been Senator Clinton moving the DNC to New York, can you imagine the outrage and indignation that would have resulted?
As Barbara Jordan put it, there is no executive order.
:::::::
From my blog, By The Fault.
I hate Obama and his supporters. There is no way I will ever vote for this fraud or any democrat who supported him. The democratic party is dead. We have to look at it like that and vote republican straight ticket with the exception of those democrats who stuck with Hillary. I would love to know what she thinks about all this.
The party is not dead. We are just not fighting back.
This is so easy to fix, folks. The DNC handed over the Dem Party apparatus on the bogus claim that Obama’s the nominee when he’s not. (Go ahead, check their website http://www.democrats.org.) He didn’t get enough pledged delegates. The Supers can’t vote till August. It’s June. He’s not the nominee, so the transfer of the hedquarters and control can be challenged.
Let’s start using our muscle. Raise money with our PACS. Buy ads in the Wash Post and NY Times. Get our people in D.C. to hold a press conference. Get small newspapers to write editorials. Use all our blogs to broadcast this campaign.
Here’s the second part of the strategy. What makes this whole Barack is the Nominee deception work publicly is Sen. Clinton’s endorsement. She was wrong to give it, and part of our job here is to force her to own up to her mistake. We shouldn’t treat her as a victim, because she promised she’d stay in it until the end. What she said on June 4th and in her speech later is simply not credible. She knows Obama is a crook who ripped off the African American community in Chicago and will continue to do the same if not stopped. She knows about his connections to Iraqi foreign agents. And of course, she knows what the DNC did disenfranchised 18 million voters.
Therefore we must demand that she reverse her endorsement and restart her campaign at the same time we’re demanding that the DNC reverse its decision to illegally declare Obama the nominee (and hand him the keys to the store). Silence will allow this coup to be completed. A loud, coordinated media protest can stop it.
Please contact all the advocacy groups you know and suggest they work together on an action along these line, like IMMEDIATELY. Here are some contacts. Please ask them to do a media campaign and use the info I just mentioned, in addition to your own suggestions.
Will Bower PUMA (202) 365-2536, Pam Hamilton icount@clintondems.com, murphy@pumapac.org, Diane Mantouvalos HireHeels.com, Robin Carlson HillaryGrassRootsCampaign.com
For more on Obama’s October Surprise and my contact info, please click on my screen name.
Time to Fight Back!
Or live on your knees.
I know which one I’m doing.
Thank god.
I’M ON IT - I AGREE - HILLARY HAS MADE IT VERY DIFFICULT FOR US TO FIGHT ANYTHING BY ENDORSING HIM!!!
WHY ISN’T SHE TAKING THIS TO THE CONVENTION??????????
SHE SAID SHE WOULD.
I JUST DON’T THINK SOMETHING IS RIGHT…
DO YOU THINK OBAMA HAS PROMISED HER SOMETHING AND SHE AGREED TO IT????
HER WEB SITE ISN’T TAKING POSTS RIGHT NOW, SO EVERYONE SEEMS A BIT IN THE DARK ABOUT WHETHER TO FIGHT ON TO DENVER OR CAVE IN…
HE ISN’T THE NOMINEE YET, BUT SHE SURE MADE IT SOUND LIKE IT WAS OVER FOR HER…DO YOU THINK SHE WAS PUSHED INTO DOING THIS???
WISH I COULD CALL HER AND SEE WHAT SHE REALLY WANTS US TO DO……
WHO EVER HEARD OF THE DNC MOVING TO THE CANDIDATES CITY????
I DO NOT TRUST THIS MAN OR HIS STAFF……..HE IS SO FRIGGIN ARROGANT IT JUST MAKES ME SICK…….
FRUSTRATED IN CA…………..
First of all the convention isn’t till end of August and for all we know she will be fighting to be heard and for a rollcall, at least.
She gave Ickes permission to take it to the credentials committee, and they might have done that already or perhaps it is in the works.
I don’t think she cut a deal with ob or anyone else, but maybe she was forced to, who knows.
Hillary fought for us. It is now the time for us to fight for her.
We don’t know how DNC is trying to force her to do their bid. In my opinion her silence is shouting resistance.
We have to be able to think for ourselves. She gave her speach on “what does Hillary want?”. That is exactly what she wants.
And one day we will brake the last glass ceiling and launch a woman in the White House. It can be this November if she is becomes the nominee. It will be in 2012 if she is not the nominee. Obama will NEVER see the White House from inside without paying a tour guide.
Beyond what Hillary wants - we want to save our country from an other GW Bush who wants to learn on the job, but has good political instincts.
Lead us and we’ll follow.
We’re all spinning our wheels, waiting for a plan.
I agree with you. My fellow conservatives have posted their thanks and gratitude at Free Republic for Hillary and her supporters.
My friends at Free Republic have posted their thanks to Hillary supporters. Keep up the good work. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1992769/posts
VOTE McCAIN AND CORNYN
Pay attention African Americans:
I have a co-worker who has an account at Black Planet. I am going to save links to these pages, so African Americans can see the true DEMONaRAT party. John McCain has 24% of the black vote in Michigan…this campaign of education is spreading. You evil, corrupt dems are done. You can take your abortions, AIDS, welfare and lack of education and keep it down south where it belongs. You dems are not fit to run anything–nothing. The real democratic or should I say DEMONcRAT party. Full of baby killers, sodomites, welfare leeches, racists and general dummies.
All African Americans with jobs and pride, please hear me. When Obama loses, come home to the republican party. This is the real democratic party. We republicans depise them. Evidence is here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1992769/posts
Blacks, this is the real democratic party. The party of “black codes” Johnson, George Wallace and the Southern manifesto.
Republicans freed the slaves and gave you your rights. The first black senators were republican. Most of the signers of the civil rights bill were republicans. Ronald Reagan appointed Colin Powell to be National security advisor. George Bush appointed a black and a black woman to be secretary of state. Dems have been killing your babies, ruining your families and putting you on the back of the bus for advancement for hundreds of years. Educate yourselves…because what you see here is the real democratic party. Never ever vote democrat again.
You can see with your own eyes they hate you.
You can move HQ locations, but you can’t move around on your policy speeches. Sen. Obama has been inconsistent on Israel, Iran, Foreign Policy, and much much more. To stay informed on these developments and more on Obama go to http://www.obama-wire.com
Have they already removed this article at Politico already - too contoversial? The link provided goes to Politico where this message is found:
Sorry but this page has either moved or cannot be found
We apologize for the inconvenience and will work to correct the problem.
Please contact us to notify us of the problem.
Obama moves DNC operations to Chicago
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0608/Obama_moves_DNC_operations_to_Chicago.html
Oh, it was down temporarily while they “fixed” it. Better now:
In a coup destroying democratic principles, the DNC is being moved to Chicago where it will be run by Obama.
The DNC’s political department, housed in Washington, D.C., will be dramatically rebuilt, with staffers told to either move to Chicago, joining Obama’s operations, or stay in Washington, clinging to old fashioned ideas that the party belongs to all of us.
Only a fool would think they can continue in the DNC without pledging loyalty to the new power broker.
“This is part of the plan to fully integrate DNC operations with the Obama campaign here in Washington, in Chicago and in the states. The goal is to consolidate these efforts into one operation and effectively drive one national strategy with power being irretrievably given to Obama and the Daley machine.
The move reflects Obama’s desire to maintain an unusually repressive campaign, as well as his swift and complete takeover of the Democratic Party. The move may also save the campaign money, as the Obama campaign will have full control and will only fund the campaigns of loyalists. “Anyone who doesn’t like it can leave,” said Donna Brazile. “Okey dokey said millions of disenfranchised Democrats who thought it was their party, not Obama’s.
(This is a parody, folks. Don’t get em bunched.)
Ahhhhhh, the eloquence and wisdom of Barbara Jordan who saw “the common good.”
But then again, she understood, practiced, AND lived the principles of the Democratic Party.
She also did not fudge on the rules.
That is Fucked Up.
Yea! Donkey is back! I’ve missed you!
at times like this i find this video very amusing…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3Ned5TQoW4
especially the very end of it where John Kass points out that there are no coincidences in Chicago politics…
Daley+ Rezko+ Obama = criminal gang
can’t wait till this Chicago crime wave goes national…
Fitzgerald is going to need and army of good guy reinforcements to take down all the crooks the dumb obamatrons are empowering.
He got them, I thought the FBI increased it’s Chicago staff by 50 per cent, not too long ago…
Coming from China, these all sound so familiar, scarily so.
Kat I think I remember you - did you say a few months ago Change is good but sometimes Change can go too far?
DNC is more like China Communist Party now. Centralized means censored.
I don’t see this as a problem. Barack has talked of change from the usual DC politics. This would be a good thing. It would get the DNC out of the beltway and be more in touch with the people.
I now understand this is what he meant by changing Washington, just move the corrupted party apparatus from Washington to another location that has more familiar surrounding to him, and doing this with the help from all those familiar Washington insiders.
Look, it’s Barack’s party now, and he will clean it up as he has promised.
ROTFL!
Clean as in purge ?
That is so funny considering that he is replacing one group of corrupt politicians with another …
The Democratic Party was NEVER ONE persons party and he is destroying it.
Surely you jest. He’s moving the DNC to his home state, the state known for corrupt politicians and corrupting politics.
If you don’t see a problem with this, then you are way too far gone to be saved.
Really, Washington has been as dirty as Chicago, for quite awhile.
This just ties a bow on the package.
Kinda funny, if they got the joke.
Yeah, nothing says “in touch with the people” like a criminal, corrupt political syndicate in Chicago, which is notoriously known for it’s corruption.
I don’t know. After my city being called corrupt for so long, I am just enjoying the saintly praises and flattery our fair city has been receiving from the Obama camp.
It is not about the physical location but about control. The Democratic Party has long been a BIG TENT party and now it’s clear that it is either Obama’s way or the highway. It’s about dissenting views not finding the air to circulate. This is not a positive development. It’s control from the top down, not from the bottom up. It is the exact opposite of you wrote. It’s not a party divorced from its roots.
Here’s an article on Germany’s SPD, another left of center party that has forgotten its working class roots is now in danger of becoming obsolete:
Whither Germany’s SPD? A Lesson for the US Democratic Party
Do you really feel ok with this? Chicago isn’t transparency and moving the DNC just means changing the location. Will they move again if he is not elected or doesn’t receive the nomination? If he is elected and serves four years, will they move again? Or will they move it in eight years if he should serve eight years?
I have asked this question so often and I never get an answer. What change is he planning other than moving the headquarters of the DNC? There is a video on another thread with a statement from 2004 where he says he doesn’t plan to remove the troops from Iraq. John Kerry said universal health care is a “non-starter”.
His economic advisor, Austan Goolsbey, favors free trade and has told the Canadian government as much. His campaign manager, Axelrod, is a former lobbyist and one of the people he chose to vet vice presidential candidates has financial connections to Countrywide Mortgage, a sub prime lender.
It will come as a big surprise to many Democrats the Party belongs to him, Brazil, Pelosi, Dean, Reid and other members of the elite group comprising the DNC. We, mistakenly, believed the Party was ours, the goals were ours and the ideals were ours.
One thing for sure, the votes are ours and the Republicans will be watching for dead people voting and disenfranchised Democrats will be watching while their former Party goes up in flames.
The Denver Police Dept. is worried they won’t have enough cops to watch the Black Panthers, Code Pink and others trying to rehash the 1968 Democratic convention and threatening to riot if Obama doesn’t win the nomination. It wouldn’t surprise me to see armed men outside polling stations in Nov.
You may call it unity to move the Party to a candidate’s state, but I call it sinister.
Do these young Obama followers understand that “unity” and “streamlined” and “centralized” runs counter to “bottom up” and “grass roots” and “decentralized”?
Well at least we know Chicago is at the bottom now.
Tim Russert just died? Holy shit.
Yeah. Tim Russet dies and Jack Cafferty lives. Where is the fairness in life?
Hope neither Matthews nor Olbermann take over Meet the Press.
That is what they are saying. Either to take over.
Did you all know Tim of Meet the Press died?
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBIT_RUSSERT?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME
The Democratic Party is a sad state of affairs. Well they can have it. I’ve already left and won’t be looking back. This reminds me of the many hostile takeovers I’ve either witnessed or been a recipient of. There is a real opportunity here for a new coalition or party to take hold for the refugees and other disenfranchised voters. JustSayNoDeal.com is a good start.
It’s like Bush II: Electric Boogaloo
Only this time it’s Obama instead of Bush.
I don’t know that I have ever seen a Democratic candidate I regarded as scarier than the Republican. If Obama wins the nomination and the election, this nation will be left witout an instrument for progresive change. We will be post-Soviet Russia with two thoroughly corrupted parties as the only offering.
The people arguing that we should vote for Obama because he is better than McCain sound a lot like the poeple who were defending the ramp up to the Iraq war. In a lot of cases, including WKJM, they are the same persons.
There is no way I will vote for Obama. I’ve been planning on writing in Clinton’s name but we are fast approaching the point where I think mcCain winning is essential to the health of the nation and the Democratic party and the future well-being of the world. Obama may be a better president in some sense, but the Democratic party as an organ of Obama’s will is far worse for the nation and the world than four years of McCain.
If the Democratic party of the United States, in its collective wisdom, nominates a yellow dog for the presidency of the United States, I’ll for the yellow dog but lower than that, ye shall not drag me.
Charles,
This is an excellent piece that needs to be read by a much larger audience–The New York Times, for example. Unfortunately, however, they’ve join the Bolsheviks, and can no longer be trusted to present a critical analysis.
I hope people realize the import of this. The Big Tent Democratic Party no longer exists now. And it is a coup. You are 100% correct.
What’s that old saying?
Well I am historian so yes I see parallels that perhaps others do not.
Will you elucidate please?
Bolshe… - I have a hard time with that word. We call it Chicago politics here in Chicago.
That’s funny!
How long have they been similar, Soviet style politics, and Chicago politics?
Since the first wave of gangsters, in the 1930’s?
Or even before, as during the haymarket riots?
I have just changed my party affiliation. Could not go as far as changing it to the Republican Party, but I could no longer be associated with the Democratic “Party”. I feel like I need a shower.
You know, I was going to change mine, but a friend told me to leave it at Dem so that it will be clear that my McCain vote was one of dissent against Obama and the DNC.
I’m staying Dem. I called Pelosi’s office and said I want to be a good Democrat and will continue to vote downticket Dems but will vote McCain. Said I am not angry just concerned for my country.
I thought about the same thing before I changed to Independent. But, I truly couldn’t handle what the Party is turning into. It disgusted me so badly, that, like I said, I felt so dirty that I needed a shower. I changed my affiliation to Independent. He is vying for Independent votes too. So I am happy to deny him mine.
I left on Monday…changed to DST–Declined to State–which is basically “unaffiliated” here in NM….
I detest the Democratic Party.
Contrast between McCain and Obama:
Obama represents change, McCain represents business as usual.
Obama wants to give peace a chance, McCain wants 100 years of war.
Obama represents unity, McCain represents divisiveness.
Obama is articulate, McCain is clueless and gaffe-prone.
Obama is intelligent, McCain is stubborn.
Obama is a loving family man, McCain ditches his wife for a blonde bimbo.
Obama is patriotic, McCain doesn’t American troops dying is too important.
Obama is inspirational and exciting, McCain is a cranky old white male.
Obama believes in women’s reproductive rights, McCain doesn’t.
The choice is clear. Obama 08!
So-called Freedom Fighter, you are a numbskull. You’ve been sold a bill of goods and all you can do is spout of platitudes. Go back to school, take some night classes. Do something to improve your ability to think. You poor little thing, you are clearly duller than dogshit.
You can call me names, but what I wrote is factually accurate.
You are ill informed.
Obama is articulate, McCain is clueless and gaffe-prone.
You can call me names, but what I wrote is factually accurate.
What a, um, deludanoid, um.
Why don’t you go on HuffPo and search McCain + gaffe?
Why don’t you put down the kool-aid, as has been suggested, and Google ‘obama gaffes’.
You may be in for a shock.
Do your parents know you’ve joined a cult?
No, you are a LIAR!
WE.WILL.NOT.VOTE.FOR.OBAMA!
factually accurate per Obama and bots, and with all the lies and flip flops I wouldn’t take your so called- facts to the bank.
NOBAMA!
obama is articulate mccains gaffes? hmmmm McCain didn’t claim there were 57 states, I could provide plenty more, but won’t waste my time….as for the rest of your bullshit that is all it is bullshit….oh but change yeah we see where he wants to take us….and I say NO WAY IN HELL!
And we fight for your freedom to say it. Unlike at pro-Obama HuffPost and its censorship.
I am not affiliated with HuffPo, but I am sure they don’t censor content, only abusive posters.
They absolutely do. From commentors from the right AND the left - i.e. Greens and Nader supporters.
I have seen plenty of pro-Hillary posts on HuffPo.
Listen comrade troll, you’re not speaking to illiterate starving peasants in some 3rd world country that will embrace lies and propaganda only to realize too late what’s been imposed on them.
We know who and what Obama is and who his backers are. There is NOTHING democratic about them!
Clyde is right. I don’t use profanity and don’t threaten people. Huffpo stopped posting my comments several weeks ago.
You are an idiota!
If Obama really wanted all these things why didn’t he just endorse Hillary who had the experience to do what she said. The point is that Obama is a novice. He will not be elected. I am beginning to think Obama has been the republicans puppet all along. Who else would cheat and lie their way to the nomination while smearing a mainstay of the Party (Bill Clinton)? Obama is the Bush of the left. It is very sad. Obama is Dean’s wet dream of becoming president this time. McCain is his own man. Yes, the republicans will make him their champion but we all know John McCain is an Okay guy… he is our favorite republican. And Obama is a marxist, black power freak.
Hillary’s negatives are too high, and her divisive nature makes her the weaker candidate in the general election. Obama has cross over appeal with Independent and even some Republicans.
LOL. Have you checked Obama’s lately?
I guess this is why he lost Puerto Rico and South Dakota? And limped across the finish line and had to have delegates given to him in Michigan and was making strong arm phone calls? Yeah. He finished HUGE! hahahahahahahahahahaha
You’re describing Nobama. If Hillary has baggage Obama’s got friggin’ cargo!
And Obama is the one who’s divided the party. I’m sure Karl Rove will send him a nice Xmas present.
I have never heard such irrational claptrap in my like.
You simply made a personal decision, then looked to justify it with any specious fact that would sound acceptable.
Nothing to do with truth, nothing to do with the reality you are facing.
No wonder you keep getting your asses kicked.
freedom your a litle punk the only ones who have been divisive is punks like you, obama, his campaign and the media. Unlike obama Hillary has been completely vetted and NOTHING, NADA, ZIP but obama? It is beginning to come out and Wright was enough for some. so take your right wing smear job and stick it.
His are higher than hers now. He only had low negatives early on because nobody knew him. Now people know him and they do not like him.
Tell me about Hillary’s divisive nature. I would like specifics.
Get off the kool-aid and you may see clearer, or better yet go read a book about Hitler,maybe you will be smart enough to figure out what will happen if Obama gets in office
You sound like a recording. And there is no one home here for you. We are now independents. You can’t badger us or yell at us, we are out of your reach.
It doesn’t really matter what your party affiliation is on paper. The fact is, your core beliefs probably overlap with Obama’s at about 90% of the time, and only 10% of the time with McCain. Does it make sense to vote for someone who agrees with you only 10% of the time over someone who agrees with you 90% of the time? Let’s be honest, could race play a role at all?
Not if the 10% (one person, one vote) underlies all else.
Race? Please.
Bush = sociopath, Obama = sociopath. I never vote for the sociopath. You have to draw the line somewhere!
Obama is leading DNC to Soviet Union politics, one party, one voice. He is Hitler II.
To compare the man who is the successor to JFK and MLK to Hitler is just vile! Shame on you!
Successor to JFK and MLK implies he will be assasinated.
Military stooge would imply he will not…