"Red Scare"? Actually The Communist Resurgence In The Democratic Party Is Very Real

If you are paying any attention, you will have noticed by now that all of the energy in the Democratic Party at the moment comes from the faction calling itself the Democratic Socialists of America. As I reported in this post on June 24, DSA candidates had just won primaries for three safe-Democrat congressional seats in New York City, as well as eight safe-Democrat state legislative seats in the state, six in New York City plus one in Buffalo. In a ninth race in Syracuse that was still too close to call on June 24, the DSA candidate has since declared victory as well. Most of these districts had incumbent establishment Democrats (still far-left progressives), only one of whom had beaten back the DSA challenge. Since the New York primaries, a DSA-backed candidate has won the a congressional primary in Colorado (defeating a 15 term incumbent), and others are running in August primaries in states including Missouri, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The DSA calls itself the “Democratic” Socialists, but is there anything democratic about the form of government they are advocating? After all, East Germany called itself the “German Democratic Republic,” and North Korea even today calls itself the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” There has never been anything “democratic” about either of those two. Certainly, neither of them ever allowed voters an opportunity to oust the party in power.

And meanwhile, prominent voices in the DSA have begun either unashamedly adopting the “communist” label, and/or advocating policies or tactics explicitly associated with communist icons like Marx, Lenin or Trotsky. Pushback has been slow in coming from the complacent Democratic establishment, but there has been at least some from the few remaining “moderates” in the party.

And then President Trump joined the nascent chorus in his July 4 speech at Mount Rushmore, where he referred to the ongoing events as a resurgence of a “communist menace.” Excerpt:

There is now a resurgence of the communist menace in our land, including from newcomers to our country who embrace ideas totally opposed to our way of life and our great success. These are not mere political disagreements like differences over taxes or regulations. Communism is a mortal threat to American liberty. . . . [C]ommunism is the enemy of free people everywhere, everywhere in the world. Never works. It's the enemy of the Constitution.

Trump’s speech promptly elicited a round of attempted ridicule from the Left, calling talk of a “communist menace” nothing more than a renewed “Red Scare” reminiscent of the McCarthy era of the early 1950s. For example, on July 7, the Guardian ran a piece by one George Chidi with the headline “Red scare revived as Trump leads push to attack Democrats as ‘communists.’” Excerpt:

Trump often conflates democratic socialism with communism – a well-worn Republican tactic that aims to weaponize voters’ fears of Marxism against liberal policies – he has increasingly made the accusation distinct and clear.

On July 11, MS NOW had an editorial by Michael Steele (yes, the same guy who once ran the RNC) headed “Trump is trying to start a new Red Scare.” Excerpt:

The president keeps calling his political opponents “communist,” in defiance of history and common sense. . . . [A]s President Donald Trump stood at Mount Rushmore on the eve of the nation’s 250th anniversary, he matched [the rhetoric of 1950s Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy] beat for beat in remarks that preyed on his base’s religious devotion to falsely paint Democrats as communists.

Well, sorry Mr. Steele, but even as you say that Trump “falsely” paints Democrats as communists, many leaders in the DSA group that is dominating Democratic primaries are openly proclaiming the communist label for themselves. This is not at all like the “Red Scare” of the 1950s, where the communists who had burrowed into the government or film industry feared exposure and did their best to hide themselves and their beliefs. These new communists are loud and proud.

I don’t claim to be an expert on the DSA, but apparently that group contains within it various “caucuses” of slightly varying ideological views. The DSA is run by a National Political Council, basically a board of directors, with 25 members, that includes members from the various caucuses.

In a June 30 piece for Just the News, Steven Richards broke down some of the various caucuses of the DSA, the members of its NPC, and the clear statements that they have made about their policies and goals. Excerpt:

[M]any of the leaders of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), belong to internal party caucuses that explicitly define themselves as Marxist and advocate for achieving communism.  These groups control a significant portion of the DSA’s National Political Council, the body responsible for governing the party, according to a review of party records, social media posts, and caucus platforms. In fact, 10 members of the 25-person body belong to a caucus that espouses communism or have explicitly supported the ideology in public statements.  

Consider the views and statements of Megan Romer, one of DSA’s co-chairs and a member of its “Red Star” caucus. From Richards:

One of [DSA’s] co-chairs, Megan Romer, is a member of the Red Star caucus of the DSA, which explicitly pronounces its ultimate aim: the overthrow of capitalism in the U.S. and, eventually, attaining communism. . . . While she served on the DSA NPC, Romer promoted the writings of Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the Soviet Union, Ho Chi Minh, the communist leader of Vietnam, and Che Guevara, the Latin American militant figure who played a prominent role in the Cuban Revolution.

The Red Star caucus has its own website, one page of which is called the “Points of Unity.” On that page, Red Star explicitly describes itself as a “Marxist-Leninist caucus in DSA.” It continues:

Our primary goal, the goal which informs all of our organizing work, is to abolish capitalism and, ultimately, to achieve communism. We do not believe that capitalism can be reformed into socialism – it must be overthrown and replaced. . . . As Marxists, we maintain a firm anti-chauvinistic and anti-US imperialist line in every facet of our organizing. Red Star strives to weaken and ultimately dismantle US empire.

And there’s lots more of this at the link. Really, it’s not possible to be more explicit than this.

Red Star is only one of several DSA caucuses that are explicitly and proudly communist. Two others are the Bread & Roses caucus, and the Marxist Unity Group. Both of those also have members who serve on DSA’s NPC. From the Bread & Roses website (via Richards):

[S]ince no ruling class has ever peacefully ceded power, in a transitional period, a socialist government backed by popular mobilizations will have to do everything necessary to defend the mandate they have won to carry out a program of redistribution, expropriation, and democratic reform of state institutions. . . .

Another member of the DSA’s NPC — David Jenkins — comes from a caucus called the “Libertarian Socialists.” Good question what that oxymoron may mean. But in the video at this link, Jenkins, apparently speaking with respect to the entire DSA, says: “Our goal is liberation. Our goal is communism.”

Now you may say that these DSA directors are no more than youthful ignoramuses who know nothing and have no idea what the term “communism” really means. But I don’t think they can just be dismissed as not really meaning what they say. And they really are the energetic and surging part of the Democratic Party.