Comments by "Harry Stoddard" (@HarryS77) on "Taking Down Passive Aggressive Progressive Jimmy Dore" video.

  1. Well, he gave two examples, DACA and the Iran Deal, which Trump today revoked. So Brooks did not "literally" say that Clinton is preferable to Trump because of one issue. He gave two examples; there are others he could have given. The two examples Jimmy Dore consistently gave to show how bad Clinton is were TPP and Syria. How do they hold up? Trump initially pulled out of the TPP, but he's been talking about renegotiating it, and he's bombed Syria multiple times, instigated conflict with Russia, and is currently deciding whether or not to arm Trident missiles with nuclear warheads. Dore contended repeatedly and vociferously that the left would only grow under an oppressive government, like Trump's, and would wilt under a "centrist" Clinton one. There has been some movement toward progressivism on the political left, but I think that's less an effect of Trump's presidency than it is a result of Bernie's candidacy and continued action. Brooks contends that moments of real social change and even revolution occur when things are actually getting somewhat better, and when desire for a more just and equitable society outpaces the ability of the old system to meet those demands. There's a long line of thinkers from Toussaint L'Ouverture to Murray Bookchin who agree with Michael, and plenty of historical events to corroborate, the already mentioned Russian Revolution, the Spanish Civil War, the American Revolution. Dore's counter-example, that the left faltered under Obama, was really only true when you look at elite circles, like the media. It also doesn't help his argument that the left was hardly radicalized by Bush 2's presidency.
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  2. Chomsky's position has always been that if you live in a safe state like California, New York, or Oregon, you can vote for whoever you want or not at all, but if you live in a contested state like Ohio, then you have an additional responsibility to consider voting for the "lesser of two evils" candidate because your vote means more.
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  3.  Pugilist Enthusiast  It'd be one thing Dore was just some guy shooting the shit and venting with his buddies. Who cares? But he was someone who had a platform and an audience, and rather than try to do the work, he used that platform to constantly spew uneducated, outraged nonsense.
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  4. The gains on the left right now have little to do with Trump, in my opinion, and everything to do with Bernie's primary and his continued advocacy for progressive policy. The right still uses Clinton as an electoral and fundraising tool. She lost and they still act as though she had won. I don't think her actually winning would have done much to advance them beyond where they are now, so emboldened as to have literal fucking neo-Nazis marching in the streets and to have a federal government stacked to the neckline with corruption. I also hate to tell you, but Clinton lost and she's still writing books patting herself on the back.
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