A reminder about Trump and Russia, and America

So, today is the day. Today is the day that Democrats have been waiting for since Donald Trump got elected President of the United States.

Former Trump campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been criminally indicted by Robert Mueller on corruption charges. This means something, I’m sure, but it does not prove collusion with Russia, though I doubt very much that it will be reported as such by the mainstream media.

Here’s the thing: Manafort’s corruption is not news. Back in February The Intercept exposed the money laundering scheme, which involved off-shore companies and $19 million in New York real estate purchased over a five-year period. This is a problem, as is most illegal activity, but it isn’t damning evidence of anything we don’t already know. This is normal corruption, the same thing that has been enjoyed by Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama before.

But let’s take this back. Let’s do a thought experiment real quick:

Let’s say the Democratic leadership gets exactly what it wants. Let’s say Manafort is only the first domino to fall, and eventually Donald Trump gets impeached for all this Russia stuff.

1. Does it change that Hillary Clinton and the DNC were caught cheating Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic Primary?

2. Does it change that the Democrats are still fighting tooth and nail to protect the failing Obamacare, and denying Medicare For All to the will of the people?

3. Does it change that, since the election of Trump, the Democrats have done nothing meaningful to change its unpopular policies?

4. Does it change that, despite the fact that Hillary received more than three million votes, the Republicans won the electoral college in a landslide?

5. Does it change that the Democrats have moved even further right since Trump’s election, by virtue of allowing PAC money in the DNC?

6. Does it change that the DNC deliberately refused to fund Progressive candidates during special elections over the last year?

7. Does it change that, just last week, the DNC purged the only four Bernie supporters who were on the leadership council?

These things really happened. I will grant you that I have been skepical of any meaningful revelations coming from the Trump/Russia thing, only because since the beginning I thought it was an excuse from the Hillary campaign to remove blame from her for losing the 2016 election to a game show host. Probably the most embarrassing thing that could happen to anyone, ever.

Democratic leadership like Obama and Clinton and Nancy Pelosi and Tom Perez don’t like me. Or, at least they wouldn’t if they knew me.

Republican leadership thinks I’m a communist bastard, I imagine.

But as per usual, I’m on no one’s team here. I just want to see evidence. Democrats can jump with joy at what comes of all this bullshit, and Republicans can all kick and scream and call it fake news. Whatever.

I’m more concerned with the Democrats, right or wrong about Russia, refusing to change their corporate-friendly policies. They still don’t want single-payer healthcare. They still don’t want to end the disastrous trade deals that have turned working class people into Trump supporters. They don’t want to end fracking. They don’t want to end the wars. They don’t want kids to go to college for free.

What they want is what their donors tell them to want. The same can also (obviously) be said about their GOP counterparts, but there is one distinct difference:

The Democrats nefariously campaign like they are on the side of the labor, or everyday man and woman. They say all the things that make people feel all warm and cozy inside, then when they are elected they go right ahead and pass right-wing legislation to help their millionaire friends.

So like I said, this Paul Manafort stuff could lead to something bigger. But right now it’s old news, and there’s a long way to travel and a lot of dots that need to be connected before anything real happens to a Donald Trump, who predictably can get absolutely nothing done. Almost an impossible idea given that the Republicans have control of all three chambers.

So while the Democrats jump with joy, remember that none of this really means anything right now. It’s really just another chapter in the story of How Democrats Can Distract You instead of talking about how they failed the American people in 2016 by running Hillary Clinton — the only candidate capable of losing to Trump.