Majorities of members from both parties in the U.S. House of Representatives voted last week in favor of a nonbinding resolution condemning socialism. All Republicans and 109 Democrats voted for the resolution but 86 Democrats voted against it and 14 voted “present.” The resolution “denounces socialism in all its forms, and opposes the implementation of socialist policies in the United States of America.”
Illinois Democrats Chuy García, Jan Schakowsky, Danny Davis and Delia Ramirez and Robin Kelly voted against the resolution. Illinois Democrat Sean Casten declined to vote, writing “I have too much work that the voters expect me to do. And I have too much respect for them to pretend this is of value.” The rest of the Illinois delegation voted in favor.
Sure, the resolution was designed by Republicans for political reasons and, yes, there are problems with how the resolution was worded.
But votes on the resolution still tell us something.
MSNBC found enough significance in the vote to praise the “no” voters, writing that the “Democratic establishment is still largely hostile to even incrementalist left-wing principles,” an MSNBC column says. “Ultimately embracing its left wing will yield better results for the American people than living in constant fear of association with the s-word.”
Today’s Democratic establishment is hostile “to even incrementalist left-wing principles”? Um, OK.
Chuy García’s vote against the resolution is particularly significant because he’s a candidate for mayor in Chicago, and the vote is one more bit of evidence about where he stands on big picture issues.
For a more comprehensive look at García’s views, the best summary I’ve found is an article prepared jointly by the Chicago Reader and In These Times, which are both on the left.
The report’s headline says it best: “He’s a Real One”: The Squad’s Middle-Aged, Mustachioed Ally in Congress.” It’s about García’s allegiance to the radically left “Squad” in the House led by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn).
He’s a real one, alright. If you like the Squad, he should be your guy.
In a statement to In These Times, Pressley called García “a trusted partner in good trouble” and praised his legislative record. “I often say that the Squad is big, because it includes anyone committed to the work of building a more equitable and just world. I can think of no one who fits that description better than Chuy García. He’s a real one.”
García returned the compliment, writing In These Times: “They are my allies. They are my soulmates. I love them,” he said.
Returning to the House resolution, it would have been better not to equate socialism with the worst of communism, which it did.
More importantly, if you want to put today’s left on the spot, isn’t there a more comprehensive word than socialism? Don’t the defining characteristics of today’s left go well beyond socialism?
While many on today’s left are socialists, some by name and many more in practice, they are much more than that. On top of socialism, they commonly oppose free speech, support racial discrimination as “equity” and reject, for their political opponents, due process and equal treatment under law. They often don’t hide an intention to establish one-party rule by trying to brand, if not outlaw, their opposition as insurrectionists and racists.
That’s certainly not true of all Democrats, but it’s fair to say those traits are common on today’s left.
What the right word would be is a lengthy topic for another day. I’m not entirely sure what it should be, but something a whole lot nastier than socialism.