Political Misfits

May Day Protests, Economic Storms, Political Denials and Loyalty Tests

Let today be a day of militancy and celebration, Misfits. And then let’s think about how to take our movements beyond politics.
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Dr. Jack Rasmus, economist, radio show host and author of “The Scourge of Neoliberalism: US Economic Policy from Reagan to Trump,” explained the funhouse mirror that is Wall Street and why people should ignore it. The real economic state can be seen in our unemployment, real investment and housing crises, and it’s grim. If and when the financial sector cracks, a cycle of defaults could tip us into Great Depression territory, and the Federal Reserve is engaged in an unprecedented experiment to try to stave it off. But we can’t blame this instability on the virus alone ‒ this corporate debt pileup has been accruing for years, and the virus is a great excuse to wipe it out, at the expense of everyone else. Don’t expect a new normal after that kind of fleecing, he warns, but prepare for a push for the cruelest austerity packages yet. 

Political analyst, writer and president of ReThinking Foreign Policy, Mitchell Plitnick joined Misfit hosts Bob Schlehuber and Jamarl Thomas to discuss the diplomatic protests against Israel’s plans to annex more of the West Bank this summer and the International Criminal Court’s reiteration of its position that Palestine is correctly classified as a state for the purposes of investigating war crimes by Israel there. These are positive developments, he says, but this is only the beginning of a long-overdue process. Europe’s objections to Israel’s annexation push are sincere, but they have no real leverage to exercise over Tel Aviv or none they’d choose to use in the face of certain retaliation by the US. 

China Dickerson, national political director for Forward Majority, dropped by to discuss Joe Biden and whether his continued support by high-profile Democrats contradicts the party’s full-throated support for the MeToo movement. How long will Biden command the loyalty of the party with these charges in the air, whether or not they’re true? The three grapple with the limits of morality when it comes to winning the dirty game of politics and the role of the Democratic Party in the future. 

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