THE WHOLE CHICKEN

THE WHOLE CHICKEN (Part 1)

Way back in 1928, Herbert Hoover's surrogates bragged that Republican policy had delivered to America the greatest prosperity the nation had ever seen--a chicken for every pot and a car in every garage. Democrats, led by Al Smith, responded by noting that Hoover's wealthy friends all had chickens in their pots and cars in their garages, but that America's newfound wealth was not being equally distributed. The working class was not getting a fair share of the national wealth, these Democrats argued.

Welcome to modern, American politics. This debate from 1928 remains at the heart of our political discourse.

The "original recipe" chicken story is older. King Henry IV of France wanted to insure that every peasant in his realm would have a chicken in their pots (on Sundays, at the very least). He didn't want his people to be any poorer than that. Suffice it to say that the working people of the Western world have been looking for that chicken ever since. We were promised it. We haven't gotten it yet--not by a long stretch, especially not in the United States.

Those of us who voted for Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic primaries voted for these politicians because they insisted that the working people deserve THE WHOLE CHICKEN. It didn't matter to us whether or not these politicians could actually deliver THE WHOLE CHICKEN. We were simply pleased to know that they agreed that the American people deserve THE WHOLE CHICKEN. We voted for Bernie and for Elizabeth because they were willing to fight for THE WHOLE CHICKEN ... for the American people.

Here's THE WHOLE CHICKEN:



That, my friends, is THE WHOLE CHICKEN that most Americans want in their pots! It's what the American people need, and it's what they deserve. We know that we're the wealthiest nation on Earth. We also know that we're the hardest-working people on Earth. The primary purpose of the Democratic Party is to give the people some economic justice--to spread the wealth and to make capitalism work for all of us and not just the rich folks.

If the Democratic Party can just give us the neck (Eliminate the Filibuster), I have every reason to believe that Joe Biden can and will be a transformative, liberal President. So I hope. Give us the neck, and we can make some Real Democratic Soup that will lead us to THE WHOLE CHICKEN. Go JOE!

If you're with me, simply respond (here and elsewhere) by saying:

I WANT THE WHOLE CHICKEN.

The American people deserve it.



-Laelth

Part 2 will follow with a careful examination of each part of the chicken and why the American people deserve THE WHOLE CHICKEN and not just the bits of chicken that the Democratic Party has served up since the Age of Reagan.