"No
government fights fascism to destroy it; when the bourgeoisie sees that
power is slipping out of its hands, it brings up fascism to hold onto
its privileges" - Gilbert captures the essence of fascism as capitalism
in decay. But Gilbert's most important contribution in "Looking…" comes
in his exposing of the modern Democratic Party as not only enablers of
the Trump phenomenon, but also as standard-bearers of this very system.
In doing so, he indirectly answers the question so often posed within
liberal circles. Gilbert sums up the Democrats' role:
"The
Democrats, in blaming 'those damn Russkies,' are deflecting attention
away from the real reason they lost: they represented the prevailing
global capitalism and all the associated frustrations of the decline of
US manufacturing and erosion of job security. Trump spoke to those
anxieties - in a totally demagogic and dishonest way. For example,
during the campaign he railed against Goldman Sachs as the prime example
of how Wall Street banks screw the working man; then, as president he
selected seven of his top economic appointments from the ranks of
Goldman Sachs. The Democrats could not provide a compelling alternative
to this racist scam artist because they too are deeply rooted in the
long bipartisan history of white supremacy, capitalism, and wars of
aggression." (12)
In comparing Trump's "more blatant racism and
misogyny" to Obama's "kinder and more inclusive rhetoric," Gilbert
concludes that Obama, the face of the Democratic Party and confidant of
Hillary Clinton, "provided trillions of dollars to bail out Wall Street
at the expense of Main Street… presided over seven wars (drone strikes
have killed hundreds of civilians and are acts of war under
international law)… deported a record number of immigrants… kept 6,000
people behind bars by opposing retroactive application of legislation
that reduced harsh sentences for crack cocaine… and played a key role in
sabotaging the 2009 Copenhagen Conference of Parties."
