DNC dispatch #4 Behind Enemy Lines, Chicago

This is the fourth dispatch from Behind Enemy Lines in the political battle against the Death and Nakba Coronation in Chicago (DNC). These dispatches will provide commentary on the important political and practical questions rising in the fight against Genocide Joe and Killer Kamala and to shut down the DNC for Gaza. 

The selection of Tim Walz as the vice presidential candidate for Killer Kamala has been heralded as the following: a progressive victory, evidence of the power of the “left” in the Democratic coalition (sic), and, according the Democratic Socialist of America (DSA), irrefutable evidence that the DSA is a force that can’t be ignored. Supposedly, Walz is a homespun folk, hero hunting and fishing while building a social-democratic utopia in Minnesota. People have even deluded themselves into thinking that Killer Kamala selecting Walz over the abhorrent Zionist governor of Pennsylvania was somehow influenced by the “power” of the left and people on Twitter(!), rather than a crass electoral calculation. The choice was aimed primarily at getting votes and secondarily at continuing to de-fang any opposition to Killer Kamala to bring people back into the Democratic Party. 

In short: they’re running game on you. 

Killer Kamala is absolutely committed to the US imperialist consensus, to maintaining the US as the number one power in the world, and to maintaining the genocidal outpost of US imperialism that is the state of Israel. She is committed to the continued flow of funds and arms. She is committed to the ongoing project of Zionist occupation of Palestine, to the murder, torture, imprisonment, starvation, and assassination of the Palestinian people. The fact that she once, supposedly, whispered the word ceasefire (in the context of temporary pause in fighting, not an end to US-Israel aggression), and has occasionally mentioned Palestinian suffering in her speeches, changes nothing about what she wants to accomplish as president, which is to preserve and defend US imperialism, a project and policy that necessarily entails Palestinian suffering. 

In short: they’re running game on you. 

In 2010, Tim Walz appeared before AIPAC and said this about the Zionist occupation state of Israel, “Israel is our truest and closest ally in the region, with a commitment to values of personal freedoms and liberties, surrounded by a pretty tough neighborhood.” What he was doing, of course, was auditioning for a position in the ruling class by pledging his fealty to US imperialism by way of one of its most critical outposts. What he was saying was that the mass amputations of children and detainees, the starvation and blockade of millions of people, the continued removal of people from their homes, ongoing bombing, apartheid road checkpoints, assassinations, and every injustice and indignity of the occupation of Palestine is a “shared value” between the US and Israel. The Zionist Democratic majority for Israel even endorsed his selection, claiming that, “As governor, he has been a steadfast supporter of the pro-Israel community in Minnesota.” And yet, there are still some people out here claiming that his selection by Killer Kamala represents some sea-change from the Genocide Joe/Killer Kamala ticket. 

In short: they’re running game on you. 

The movement to encourage voters to vote “uncommitted” in certain Democratic Party primary elections expressed an early crack in the Genocide Joe’s facade. Its success in Michigan was one expression of the widespread revulsion with the Gaza genocide, concentrated but not exclusive to the large population of Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims in that state. Its organizational expression and self-appointed spokespeople has always been contradictory and largely served to steer people back into the Democratic Party and electoral politics as usual. It’s clear now from the fawning endorsements of the selection of Walz that a number of people (including grifters like Linda Sarsour) were more than happy to use the uncommitted vote as a tool to advance their own careers by delivering the best present to the ruling class they can: bringing people back into the confines of electoral politics. What could better serve the butchers in the Democratic Party (who are in office, right now, carrying out this genocide), and the rulers of the country overall, than people thinking and feeling that they are being listened to, while they are actually being told to go fuck themselves. 

In short: they’re running game on you. 

Simps for Walz are pimps for genocide. Whether its the DSA, the “uncommitted” movement, or academics on Twitter, celebrating Tim Walz is celebrating genocide. In countries like the US people are taught through schooling, the electoral machine, and the media that the only way to effect change is to line up with one or another wing of the ruling class, one or another political party. Many well-intentioned people hate this genocide and have had their horizons beaten down and narrowed so badly that they’re willingly handing themselves over to a genocidal political party that’s currently waging a genocidal war. This process is being midwived by the chattering classes, social media grifters, and pathetic social chauvinist organizations desperately clinging on to relevance. The Democratic Party, while having zero platform beside “orange man bad” has developed a viciously effective electoral machine. Here’s a reality check: on the same evening that the Walz pick was being celebrated, the Democratic Party teamed up with AIPAC to kneecap St. Louis congresswomen Cori Bush for stepping outside of the acceptable limits of criticism of Israel, the exact same kneecapping they gave Jamaal Bowman. 

In short: they’re running game on you. What are you going to do about it? 

Come to Chicago and shut down the DNC! 

This weekend our political fight kicks into high gear. Multiple volunteers will be hitting the streets all weekend, we’re holding a mass meeting, training, and mass street team on Saturday, and opening our Organizing Center for an open house on Sunday. We encourage everyone in Chicago to come out for both, or either of these events, to check out all of our Shut Down the DNC programming, and do whatever you can to support our out of town volunteers, especially offering housing, donating food, or making a financial contribution.