While Trump's Reality TV Show Gets Stupider, Exciting Things are Happening in the World of Real People
Of course, of course, of course, of course, the more we learn about Trump’s attack on Iran, the more it becomes a stupid reality TV war, a made-for-TV sham that became difficult to pull off because the star of the show is an insecure diva and not very smart. We start with the revelation that Trump wanted in on Israel’s war on Iran because Netanyahu was crushing it on Fox News. Polling numbers in the shitter, subject to daily ridicule, patronized by world leaders, executive orders stuck in court, stunts backfiring, shunned by his wife, ghosted by his kids, Trump needed something to reign over and Netanyahu got him it, a war where all Trump has to do is send some planes to Iran to drop a few big bombs.
Since this is Trump we are talking about, the US portion of the war (so far) is far more complicated than it should have been and for one reason: Diva Don could not keep his mouth shut. As soon as he agreed to the bombing, Trump started playing “I have a secret,” hinting about an US attack by finger shouting MAKE AN AGREEMENT and EVACUATE TEHRAN on his social media platform, and then pivoting to “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Iran, populated areas under Israeli attack, wasn’t buying it. They moved their uranium and whatever else they wanted to salvage out of the facilities they knew would be targeted to sites unknown, leaving the US free to attack nothing of consequence, under no resistance, though completely in the dark as to where the loot was being secreted to…and the US knew what Iran was doing! Soon thereafter, Iran called the US and Qatar, told both countries that they would be attacking a US base in Qatar, as well as when the attack would happen. Rockets fired. Lots of nice fireworks. And we had another spasm in the Reality TV War.
Trump proclaimed total victory, claiming that Iran’s nuke program was obliterated, a claim later downgraded to “severely damaged,” which translated to Iran’s nuclear program has been put back a couple months.
Meanwhile, Trump has been finger screaming CEASEFIRE to the world, hoping that his conjuring will make a ceasefire so. Iran says, “Sure.” Israel keeps bombing. Iran says, “Nope.” Israel says, “Ceasefire on.” Trump declares victory, again. Iran and Israel accuse each other of violating the “ceasefire.” Trump screams CEASEFIRE and starts lobbying for a Nobel Peace Prize. And as this repeats Iran, Israel, and the United States all declare victory!
Trust me, I am all for making wars kabuki attacks on empty military sites. But, come on, don’t pretend that this is anything but a very expensive dance, another Trump military parade, this time with boom boom.
On to the real real world:
Zohran Mamdani won New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, shocking the “Democratic establishment” and mainstream pundits, which says way more about those shocked than Mamdani and most New York Democrats.
The conventional wisdom is that the establishment candidate Andrew Cuomo would cruise to victory. He is well known, a former governor and attorney general, got endorsements from Democratic leaders including former President Bill Clinton, is well liked by Wall Street, and had a shit ton of money behind him. Smash all that together with the Cuomo Myth, the media-created hoopla around father Mario which tricked down to the two sons, the supposed roots of a new Kennedy-style dynasty, and you ride high in the polls until a credible challenger comes along.
Mamdani was that credible challenger: Young, handsome, smart, compassionate, optimistic – Mamdani has personal qualities that immediately draw attention, even with a very well-known opponent bogarting media coverage. He capitalized on voters’ growing interest by appearing everywhere, with every segment of New Yorkers, openly answering questions, while driving home the fact that if you agree with most of his ideas, that’s okay, in fact better than glomming onto all of them. He did this while refusing to play divide and conquer.
Mamdani does not cloak his ideas or obscure his politics. Like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, his is a Democratic Socialist. He campaigned on taxing the rich to pay for affordable housing and free public transit. His policies and history are unyieldingly pro-working class. Though unfairly called an antisemite, Mamdani has a very clear position on Israel – it should exist as a multi-ethnic, multi-faith democratic state with equal rights for all – and the war on Gaza – it is inhumane and must end – positions which are mainstream.
Finally, Mamdani has been clear that his challenge to Cuomo and the Democratic establishment is more than political. It’s generational. At 67-years-old, Cuomo sits at the tail end of the Baby Boom. Because of his pedigree, he is a bit older politically, part of the Clinton crowd. Cuomo not only represents the stale “neoliberal” ideas of the “New Democrats,” he embodies their corruption – personally (sexual harassment, cover ups, lying) and politically (money, money, money). Mamdani is in his thirties and represents a break with the old “New Democrats” gerontocracy, a break that most Democrats desperately want (begs the question as to who is really in the “mainstream”?).
Mamdani won more than 40% of the vote. Give him Comptroller Brad Lander’s 11% (Lander and Mamdani campaigned together and supported each other) and Mamdani tops 50% against Cuomo’s 30-something. Mamdani won both wealthy and working-class neighborhoods, as well as votes from every ethnic area. Cuomo has deep ties in NYC’s Black community (as does now indie Eric Adams) and won the middle-class vote, as well as votes from New York’s orthodox Jewish neighborhoods. Still, the voting demographics show that Mamdami’s appeal is in his ideas and outlook, not his identity.
From the mid-1930s to the 1950s, New York City was represented in Congress by a radical leftist reminiscent of AOC and Mamdani. His name is Vito Marcantonio. Here’s the thumbnail on Marcantonio:
Vito Marcantonio was the most consequential radical politician in the United States in the twentieth century. Elected to Congress from New York’s ethnically Italian and Puerto Rican East Harlem slums, Marcantonio, in his time, held office longer than any other third-party radical, serving seven terms from 1934 to 1950. Colorful and controversial, Marcantonio captured national prominence as a powerful orator and brilliant parliamentarian. Often allied with the U.S. Communist Party (CP), he was an advocate of civil rights, civil liberties, labor unions, and Puerto Rican independence. He supported social security and unemployment legislation for what later was called a “living wage” standard. And he annually introduced anti-lynching and anti–poll tax bills a decade before it became respectable. He also opposed the House Un-American Activities Committee, redbaiting, and antisemitism, and fought for the rights of the foreign born. He was a bold outspoken opponent of U.S. imperialism.
Though Marcantonio’s power base was in New York’s poor and working-class ghettos, he had broad-based support, thanks to taking very clear positions and being very upfront as to why he stood where he did. Marcantonio was not a mealy-mouth fudger. He represented the people and did not play to the powerful. If you knew Vito Marcantonio, you knew where he stood. And, like Mamdani, he stressed that voters didn’t have to agree with him on everything to know that he was working for them, which he did, until 1950, when he was finally red-scared out of office.
In his last speech to Congress, Marcantonio said, “I have stood by the fundamental principles which I have always advocated. I have not trimmed. I have not retreated. I do not apologize, and I am not compromising.” And he did not. Done with electoral politics, Marcantonio returned to his law practice, taking on very contentious civil rights cases, including one representing W. E. B. Du Bois. Unfortunately, Marcantonio’s post-congressional life was short. He died in 1954, four years out of politics and only 51-years old.
Marcantonio didn’t come out of nowhere. His politics were formed in the early 1900s, while American socialist, anarchist, and labor movements were becoming a significant force (or threat). As a teenager, he drew the attention of Fiorello La Guardia, one of the mightiest political entities in New York’s political history. He worked under La Guardia in politics and at the “Little Flower’s” law firm, until he established himself as a force.
During his rise and reign in Congress, Marcantonio pulled other radical politicians up, further strengthening the organized liberal/leftist legacy of his mentor. He also empowered the people he represented, specifically Puerto Rican and Black New Yorkers, which in turn helped them establish their own political power bases and grow activists and politicians from their communities. And though organizations rise and fall, politicians fade, and power structures shift, the influence of people like Vito Marcantonio lasts far longer than they are in the headlines.
Minimally, Vito Marcantonio represents possibility. It is a possibility that exists in Bernie Sanders, AOC, Maxwell Frost, and now Zohran Mamdani, as well as many others. It is a possibility of building something good after the horrible reality TV show we are forced to watch gets cancelled.