Lesser-of-evils treachery has been refined over the years to bring America to its sputtering state. It was blatant this election, with right-leaning people holding their nose and voting for Trump, with lefties holding and voting for Harris. If you are a lefty, your lesser-of-evils lost, and vice-versa for Trump.

With Trump and Musk, we have the world’s most powerful man in bed with the richest, two out-of-control extremists. No good for humanity can come out of this affair, and we are starting to see the treachery unfold. Over half of the country bought into the GOP’s magical thinking, that the fascist types are going to quickly make it all better.

The Democrats are aggressively promoting their own magical thinking, that things are not so bad and they will tweak their messaging. They brag that they might not have lost the House, that Hakeem Jeffries will be the Speaker for the future, not mentioning that Jeffries is owned by Israel through AIPAC. So, the Dems are the eager complement to the GOP on the world fascism front; call it top shelf bipartisanship.

The Lesser-of-Evils, Bottom Line First

Let us start here, to be clear. Republicans are leading with an extremist plan, call it fascism. For the presidential election just completed, to stay in the good graces of the monied rulers, the DNC gatekeepers once again disallowed their candidate any meaningful resistance – nothing but platitudes for the welfare of the people and democracy. The DNC would rather let it go the last steps into fascism than risk their access to the money.

The Democrats, with this DNC charade, saw fit to empower the Trump GOP. This is why smart Kamala Harris could say or suggest nothing of substance on behalf of individual people or humanity at large. It is not inexplicable, and she was a willing dupe. On the big issues, democracy and income inequality and war, the two parties are one and the same. There is now all hell to pay in an open war on fascism. In this internal “war”, there can only be two sides – those who are for fascism (the feckless political duopoly) versus we the people who will not be subjugated.

Maybe now, given the ongoing cultural-political assault, the people will finally rise.

The Lesser-of-Evils Welcomes You to the Big Tent Prison

America is gradually getting locked down, not unlike a prison. Where you are not sure who to trust and, unless you are okay with unknowns and bad outcomes, you most certainly have to be vigilant and fight. This is where bipartisanship has brought America.

Yes, Trump won the election, but there was nothing free and fair about it. Not when it directly cost some billions of dollars and controlled some trillions more. Not when the two-party system dictated these were the only candidates allowed to have a chance.

The lesser-of-evils is worse than a cop-out, especially when it is all the system can offer. Effectively, it has become key to the duopoly strategy of our politics. The practice helps define and dole out the minimum allowances for the citizenry, while pitting the people against each other. It enables the political parties to serve up candidates and policies that don’t work for most Americans, while helping keep the bipartisan status quo unquestionable. It’s a path of political convenience and manipulation, contrary to hard work, principles, and meaningful progress.

The lesser-of-evils is just one of the lenses through which you can view and consider the erosion of American democracy. The left-right back-and-forth has put autocracy/fascism on top over civic socialism, leaving democracy in the dust, fast making us like Hungary.

The Last Turn of the Crank for the Democratic Party

One week ago, racism and misogyny, fueled by greed, enabled the right-wing to win. Establishment Democrats lost so bad they couldn’t even blame Jill Stein. For the last twenty years, white men have largely not voted for the Democratic party. With this election cycle, the lesser-of-evils gambit caused people of color and women to join white men on the right.

The Obama presidency, with help from Biden, cultivated a flaccid, hollow brunch democracy. Over the next three cycles, (2016, 2020, and 2024), the party tried to hold the big-money status quo, ignoring the masses. 2016 and 2020 featured populist noise-maker Bernie Sanders, both times swapped out for the more predictable party candidate. In 2024, Harris tried to run the same basic play again, and it had no chance. Along the way through these twenty years, the Democrats established themselves as top-shelf warmongers, today as strong as any in supporting fascist genocide.

Joe Biden as the lesser-of-evils final straw

The death knell for the party (and Biden) was 2020, when Trump and Sanders represented two distinct styles of populism. Sanders lit a righteous populist fire under the youth in 2020, talking to them in straightforward fashion and making sense on all the things they needed and wanted. He reminded the eager kids it was their future, their environment, and that they needed to vote. But the DNC discounted the votes before the hopeful youth could even cast them.

People craved freedom, opportunity, and stability that Trump and Sanders were touting in 2020

Trump wrapped his populism of 2020 in hate and chaos and lies, like the term he was just finishing. Trump was weak at the time and Sanders could have beaten him. But the Democratic party simply took Bernie Sanders out of the race. The ruling elites intervened and put Joe Biden on the ticket in place of Bernie – the lesser-of-evils from the DNC perspective.

The Democratic leaders were willingly to harm the party to stop Sanders from being the ticket leader. Sanders is old and jeopardized, but he is right on this point again today – Democrats have abandoned the working class. The party aligned with former Republicans and rich donors, while alienating the working-class majority.

In 2020, the DNC worried about potential harm to the party. But actual harm to the youth is what they delivered. The DNC made disenfranchised youth and young adults vote on the past, denying them the future. Then disillusionment and broken social contracts characterized Biden‘s term. So, in 2024, it is not surprising that they voted for Trump.

Now What? Reality Based Change to Restore Power to the People

Or at least, protect the people, which is the first step. The government is not doing its job. The challenge is daunting.

I am lucky to be within the five percent or so of Americans with the wherewithal to read on the important matters of the day. I am further lucky to be exposed to Bill Fletcher Jr., a man with deep knowledge and experience on the matters. This interview article can inform and build confidence for people who acknowledge the inevitable change. It gives a glimpse into the issues to be confronted, with insights into what change likely entails. If you have your eyes open, this article might help you. It offers a stark reality-basis. It makes no vague compromises and is nothing close to a lesser of evils.

Points made by Bill Fletcher Jr. during the interview conducted by Dave Zirin of The Nation

• Take Trump’s words seriously
• There was a repatriation of 1-2M people during the depression and it could happen again. This time could include a combination of legal and extralegal violence, a strengthening of ICE, federalizing of the National Guard, and vigilante assistance
• Immigration discussions are not limited to undocumented. Discussions include “remigration”, ethnic cleansing, and denaturalizing naturalized citizens, all of which could use legal and extralegal violence
• Legal protections and support organizations are needed for immigrants, and poitentially massive action
• There are differing business opinions on immigration labor, and direct action is needed from unions
• Immigrant neighborhoods will need neighborhood watches with sensitivity to both legal and extralegal forces
• Mobilization forces and legal teams are needed to respond to immigrant evictions, and to help return personal property. Fll the courts with lawsuits
• Organized labor will: 1) go silent, 2) cover their asses (run to the Trump forces, cut special deals, etc.), 3) hard fighting unions will resist
• The union movement needs to become an anti-fascist movement, where the idea that anti-fascism is partisan is irrelevant and absurd
• There are only two sides to this particular threat to constitutional democracy, not three, and it is the unions that take anti-fascism against the two political parties. Make the union movement the anti-fascist movement. We need to tap into the global alignment of anti-fascist unions that has emerged
• The dangers of right-wing populism have been fought but dismissed for years. Trump had some progressives believing his messages. Now there is growing acknowledgment of fascism
• People are going into paralysis, a big danger. America cannot afford to let people get trapped in despair
• We know the monster and it is real. We need a strategy of counteroffensive, recognizing it is not economics, it is revanchism on an unimaginable scale
• We need to build organization and not disappear. We cannot be purists, we must unite broadly

Democracy is Very Much Alive

The speed and scale of the energy surge that tried (unsuccessfully) to get Harris’s attention is still needed. The same speed and energy must now go into organized effort aimed at Trump directly. It has become obvious that the political parties cannot/will not protect the people nor their rights. Leaders must think carefully to define the right timely actions.