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Back Cover “Stoft has provided an incisive, highly readable roadmap for Democratic suc- cess—one that upends the self-destructive political myths unknowingly perpetu- ated by the party. He articulately exposes, one by one, how each of these hidden myths has placed a stranglehold on Democrats and has served only to divide the party and provide fodder for Trump. Ripped Apart is a must-read for those who are serious about preserving our Democracy.” —John Ballard, recipient along with others, of The Congressional Gold Medal and the NAACP Drum Major for Justice. A feature film director as well as a civil rights activist, Mr. Ballard is the author of African-American Consciousness with an introduction by Nelson Mandela. “Our democracy is as fragile as it is precious. Polarization—Trump's strategy—is its nemesis. So fight it we must. Ripped Apart shows exactly how polarization harms us, and why understanding this will help us win. Read this book before it’s too late.” —Ying Lee Kelley, former Berkeley City Council member Legislative aide to Rep. Ron Dellums Democratic Convention delegate for Jessie Jackson Democrats should be winning—hands down We’re right to be worried. Trump’s all-polls-average approval during his im- peachment is higher than it was in most of 2017. How is that possible?! ● Some Democrats are helping Trump fire up his base ● Some insinuate that fellow Democrats are corrupt Who’s doing this? Despite making 117 endorsements in 2018, the three “revolutionary” PACs flipped zero House seats blue. They’re dedicated. But it was those of us focused on winning, not purity, who flipped 43 House seats. The same radicals are galvanizing Trump’s base by calling themselves “socialists” and taking extreme positions. This just fuels Trump’s war room. Why don’t we stop them? The answer is disturbing yet empowering. We’ve been deceived by radical mythology. By dispelling those myths, from crime-bill slanders to excessive ‘wokeness,’ this book will leave you saying, “I knew that sounded wrong. Now I know why.” Seeing through those myths will keep you safe from other deceptions. This is the way back to a unified Party. It’s not easy. But failing that, we will hand Trump the fractured party that will let him win. Ripped Apart How Democrats Can Fight Polarization to Win Steven Stoft PolyScience Press Berkeley, California . Copyright © 2020 by Steven Stoft All rights reserved. Most progressive, non-profit use requests will be granted. Cover art: partially by James Larkin PolyScience Press 2910 Elmwood Court Berkeley, California 94705 Notes and Documentation can be found at RippedApart.org. Ripped Apart: How Democrats Can Fight Polarization to Win Steven Stoft.—1st ed. (rev. 1.0.2) ISBN 978-0-9818775-2-5 Dedicated to the strategic liberals who took back the House in 2018 In theory there is no difference between practice and theory. In practice, there is. —Yogi Berra CONTENTS (Hyperlinked) Preface and Acknowledgments viii Introduction: How Delusions Spark Polarization 1 Part 1. What Polarizes Us? 1. The Perils of Polarization 12 2. Clear and Present Danger 17 3. How Polarization Develops 23 4. How to Depolarize a Cyclops 28 5. Three Political Traps 33 6. The Crime Bill Myth 38 7. The Purity Trap 48 Part 2. Charisma Traps 8. Smart People Get Sucked In 55 9. Good People Get Sucked In 58 10. Jonestown: Evil Charisma 63 11. Alex Jones: More Evil Charisma 69 12. The Charismatic Progressive 74 13. Trump: Charismatic Sociopath 82 Part 3. Populism Traps 14. What is Populism and Why Should We Care? 91 15. Trump: A Fake Jacksonian Populist 98 16. ‘Our Revolution’ Meets the Jacksonians 105 17. Economics vs. the Culture War 111 18. Sanders’ Populist Strategy 117 19. Good Populism: The Kingfish 123 20. Utopian Populism 130 21. Don’t Be the Enemy They Need 136 Part 4. Mythology Traps 22. Socialism, Liberalism and All That 143 23. Sanders’ Socialism Myths 150 24. The Myth of the Utopian Savior 158 25. The Establishment Myth 165 26. The Myth of the Bully Pulpit 170 27. The Myth of the Overton Window 178 Part 5. Identity Politics 28. When the Klan Went Low, SNCC Went High 187 29. What Is Identity Politics? 199 30. Identity Politics—The Dark Side 205 31. Cultural Appropriation 212 32. The Microaggression Hoax 218 33. Roots of the New Identity Politics 224 34. Postmodernism: The Anti-Truth 232 35. The Ultimate Con Game 239 Part 6. Wrap-up and Overview 36. Radical-Left Mythology 253 37. The Tragic Paradox of Radicalism 264 38. How Progressive Change Happens 275 39. Putting the Pieces Together 291 Bibliography 299 Major Topics Index 302 Sidebar Pages Defined Terms xi Political Tribes in the U.S. 16 Traps and Polarization 47 Why You Will Find Teddy Roosevelt on Mount Rushmore 177 The European Godfathers of the New Identity Politics 238 Preface and Acknowledgments Mario Savio, fresh from civil rights work in Mississippi, took his shoes off and climbed on top a police car in the middle of the U.C. Berkeley campus to lead a sit-in. That was Day One of the free speech movement in 1964, and I was stuck in high school waiting for my freedom. But by the next year, I was in Berkeley myself, protesting the Vietnam War, and the year after that I was canvassing to put Ron Dellums on the Berkeley City Council (he would later cofound the Congressional Black Caucus). Soon after, in 1968, 17-year-old Black Panther Bobby Hutton was killed by the Oakland Police after taking part in an ambush of the police (back then we heard the police ambushed the Panthers). I was arrested for posting an invitation to his funeral, but they could think of nothing to charge me with. That summer, on a black-and-white television, I watched as Mayor Daley’s Chicago police attacked nonviolent demonstrators protesting the rigged 1968 Democratic Convention. As the protesters chanted “The whole world is watching,” I felt sure the country would finally see the establishment for what it was, and we might even stop the war. This was the height of the 1960s revolution. With the best of intentions, we had launched the second great polari- zation of America. The first had led to Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War and the end of slavery. No one in 1968, could imagine the consequences unfolding today. And no one knows now where they will lead. That year I voted for the Black candidate from Chicago for presi- dent—Dick Gregory. He was a wonderful activist-comedian, but the rad- ical left’s disdain for liberals probably handed the presidency to Richard Nixon. After that, McGovern rejiggered the nomination process, which allowed him to unseat Mayor Daley’s delegation, win the nomination, and lose the election by a landslide. That’s when I realized we had committed revolutionary suicide. How long would it take to clear out all the crazy ideas? Not the goals of peace and equality, but the crazy self-righteous utopian “strategies” that took no account of the real world. Having a math and astronomy background, I tried to calculate. My generation of activists would need to be replaced and that would take 20 to 25 years. Preface⸱·⸱ix Biding my time, I taught middle school for a year, did my alternative service as a conscientious objector and wandered around Europe reading Marxist economics and quantum mechanics. I returned to Berkeley for a Ph.D. in economics, started the newsletter for Berkeley Citizens Action to hold the group together between biennial elections and advised City Councilwoman Ying Lee Kelley regarding the CETA federal job-training program. I had met Ying when we were both arrested at an antiwar demonstration. Fourteen of us won our suit for false arrest against the Alameda County Sheriffs. Bill Clinton did show up 20 years after I made my calculation, but where was the progressive movement? Then, after I’d given up hope, out of the blue, there was Barack Obama. After 36 years. And there was a movement of progressives right behind him. They were not a reflection of the late ‘60s radicals. They were a little more like I had imagined the civil rights movement, Year One of the free speech movement, and the start of the antiwar move- ment—thoughtful and dedicated but with a new upbeat sense of humor. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. But even before he was elected, I was driving with friends to a movie when the guy in the back seat, an old ‘60s radical, began ranting about how Obama was just a corporate shill, as bad as the Republicans. My heart sank. I knew what this meant. I went online, and there they were, the baby-boomer radicals and their political descendants, all foaming at the mouth. As the election neared, I found myself pacing the floor, asking my- self: Do I want him to win? There was no question I’d vote for him. But I knew the radical left. It would take them a while, but they would make life hell for him. I couldn’t bear the thought. I had some idea how much support he would need as our first Black president, facing a well-oiled, ultra-right-wing media machine. At a MoveOn meeting after his first midterm election, the few radi- cals there were crowing that they had given him a few dollars but had not worked for him—he was “such a disappointment.” Right. In two years, all he’d done was prevent another Great Depression, save the auto indus- try and pass Obamacare, the first big addition to FDR’s agenda since 1965.