The 32nd National Convention of the Communist Party USA: The Joe Sims Coup. By: Haz Al-Din

6/10/2024

The 32nd National Convention of the Communist Party USA: The Joe Sims Coup. By: Haz Al-Din

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It is not news to anyone that the Communist Party USA has long resigned itself to being an appendage of the Democratic Party.

Gone are the glory days in which the party aspired to represent the political independence of the American working class.

Ever since the dissolution of the USSR, the CPUSA adopted a neo-Menshevik view, according to which politics must develop through more 'stages' before Communism can ever have political relevance again.

It became party orthodoxy to assert that the political relevance of the Communist Party is only possible if the Democratic Party accomplishes an absolute, permanent and final defeat of the Republican party.

At one point, this view was convincing to many old-guard members. The dissolution of the USSR & the socialist bloc demoralized them. The very purpose of the party was no longer clear to them.

All they could do is observe a continued political relevance of the conflict between the Democratic and Republican parties, which increasingly appeared as a conflict of interpretation over the legacy of the Civil Rights Act: 'Wedge issues' like Affirmative Action, Abortion, Gay Marriage, etc.

Economic questions, where they were not fully marginalized, were reduced to questions over the conservation of old institutions (Welfare, legacy unions aligned with Democrats politically, etc.). But they were never brought to the fore in a new and unique way - neoliberalism was the guiding outlook of both the Democrats and Republicans.

In any case, no drastic procedures to usurp Party democratic centralism were necessary. The view was not contentious enough to warrant that. Communism was becoming totally out of style. At best, the remaining 'true believers' thought that maybe, sometime in the future, it will be relevant again. But in the meantime, they must ensure a total defeat of the Republican party, whose agenda will certainly make this outcome less likely.

This was their reasoning in the past.

But never in the history of the party has it become as contentious as it has recently.

This is the product of three major factors, which will be ranked in order:

1) Joe Biden's culpability in the ongoing genocide in Gaza, which has shocked the international community and has led even major institutions of 'democratic civil society' to turn on him.

2) The launch of the CPUSA 2036 initiative in 2021, which has led to my followers flooding the party (while concealing their views to prevent expulsion) on the basis of Infrared's new interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, hoping to restore the party to its former glory by pursuing political independence.

3) The rise of a new generation of 'pan-leftists' or 'Red Liberals' (Redlibs), or adolescent ex-Democrats who reject supporting Democrats on purely emotional grounds.

So to put things into perspective, this weekend's 32nd National Convention of the Communist Party, was a referendum on the CPUSA's continued support for Democrats.

The CPUSA has 'National Conventions' every four years. These conventions establish procedures for democratically electing leadership and the future direction of the party.

The only major issue in contention for this national convention was about whether or not the CPUSA should continue to support Democrats. There were no other major issues that were in contention.

There is no point in having elections just out of procedural formalism. The point of democratic centralism is to be a mechanism for resolving disputes, disagreements and contentions within the party.

The reason why I told my followers to join the CPUSA is because having disagreements with the ideological, strategic or even programmatic line with the party is not sufficient grounds for abandoning it.

As Stalin pointed out, the Communist way is to submit to the will of the majority of the party, however erroneous it may be regarded by you individually.

The point is that through internal discussions and dialogue, you may have an opportunity to argue on behalf of the correctness of your position, in order to persuade others and ultimately change the party line.

This is the point of democratic centralism: To make the party as an institution responsive to changes and nuances concerning the will of the majority, while simultaneously enforcing submission to the outcome of that will.

So even when the party decided to undemocratically and unconstitutionally pursue a policy of trying to ban members affiliated with 'Infrared,' I continued to tell my followers to hold out, to stay in the party and follow its rules and procedures, and conceal their views.

The position taken on by the leadership was irrational - egged on by certain suspicious personalities with apparent connections to US intelligence agencies.

The best hope for restoring sanity in the party would be in the 32nd convention, where members would have an opportunity to discuss and vote on changes in the party.

For Infrared, the primary contradiction in the CPUSA was not about its stance on me personally, on 'woke' culture, or MAGA Communism. The primary contradiction was about its continued support for the Democratic Party, which was the root cause of all its other errors.

The 'redlibs,' who joined the party in large numbers purely to wreck the 2036 initiative also claimed to reject the CPUSA's subservience to the Democrats - but in practice, they did nothing to challenge it.

Those that sincerely took issue with it lacked the discipline to articulate their stance through party procedure, and were quickly expelled.

The rest took the craven position of focusing on 'purging' and rooting out my followers. They failed to identify the overwhelming majority, who still remain in the party and a huge portion of which remain present at the convention as delegates as of this writing.

Rather than form a united front with us to disentangle the party from Democrats, they decided that 'patsoc' ideology (a term they made up themselves) was the primary contradiction, and not the concrete subservience of the Communist Party to Democrats.

But everything changed after the Zionist genocide in Gaza. This genocide has made even the most ardent liberals hostile to the Biden administration and the overall tendency of the Democratic party.

It finally provoked some of the Redlibs to have the courage to finally challenge the 'party line' on support for the Democrats.

Such that by the time of this weekend's convention, delegates could be divided into three camps:
1) Pro-Democrat Joe Sims sycophants.

2) Followers of Infrared and Midwestern Marx (Anti-Democrat)

3) Redlibs (Anti-Democrat)

SO, WHAT HAPPENED?

On Friday, the convention rules and the presiding committee were presented. According to the CPUSA constitution, the rules for the convention are to be adopted democratically.

Any dissent with these rules, while being presented, requires that they be discussed openly.

According to the rules for the 32nd convention, votes would not be counted. Instead, they are to be arbitrarily decided by a vocal vote of 'Yeas' or 'Neighs.'

If the decision by vote appeared to be split audibly, it would be taken to the National Committee to decide.

Only, the National Committee is more or less hand-picked by the Sims clique themselves through the 'slate system,' meaning that whatever decision they arrive at reflects the authors of the resolution!

It's just a roundabout way to pass the resolution without having to secure a majority!

Someone made a clear objection to these rules. They were completely ignored, in total violation of the CPUSA constitution!

It was clear to everyone that day that this convention was a referendum on Democrats.

Nearly all the discussions had and speeches presented were tightly controlled by leadership to argue that the 'MAGA fascist threat' was existential, that defeating it was of paramount importance, and that this was only possible by following the Democratic Party.

It was the constant and recurring theme of the entire convention.

The leadership knew it was the only really contentious and decisive issue, and went out of their way to make sure that those who disagreed with them would not have a voice.

They went out of their way to establish undemocratic convention procedures, which ensured that they were guaranteed to prevail on the most decisive issue without any democratic legitimation.

The second day, or Saturday was also primarily devoted to pro-Democrat evangelizing. But wait until you hear about this utter tomfoolery:

For all other resolutions, panels were held comprising not less than 10 people, each of whom spoke for no more than 3 minutes - and left the remaining time for the floor.

These were nothingburger resolutions, just procedural formalisms - with the exception of the resolution on Palestine.

So, the most time and discussion was permitted for those issues for which democracy was superfluous - there was no sufficient contention to even require voting.

But for the panel on the one resolution that actually mattered the most and which was the most contentious - Resolution 5:

- The presiding committee violated all precedent and cut speaking times from 3 to 2 minutes.

So they violated the very conventional procedures that were already adopted unconstitutionally to begin with!
- Of the 51 people who chose to sign up, 4 were selected to speak. Now get a load of this:

All four of these panel members were pro-Democrat, and were deliberately chosen on that basis. It is even said that some of them DID NOT EVEN SIGN UP TO SPEAK, but were simply called by name by the presiding committee!

- The panel discussion began at 2:44pm, ended at 3:19pm.

So after panicking and shortening the length of panel speakers, the leadership ensured that the four speakers were pro-Democrat so as to not take any risks.

And allowed them to speak AT LENGTH jibbering about the need to support the Democratic Party and Joe biden to defeat the 'MAGA fascist' threat. This 'panel' was in fact longer than all others! And it was not a panel at all, but a Democrat-glazing circlejerk.

- The discussion was given to the floor at 3:20pm. The discussion was promptly put to an end at 3:25pm.

For a grand total of FIVE MINUTES, this charade of a 'panel' could be challenged. Note that voting would begin seven minutes later, at 3:32pm!

It's unbelievable: They took 30 minutes away from the floor, after the 'panelists' took up a bunch of time - under the pretext of 'allowing time for Dinner.'

The only problem? The party didn't even provide dinner! Such cynical nonsense!

Saturday was filled with nothing but stalling to totally minimize discussion on Resolution 5. Again, this was the only resolution, the one to decide the party's future relationship with Democrats, that mattered.

Voting was imminent.

A motion was called for the vote for resolution 5 to take place by secret ballot.

Everyone knew that anyone identified who voted against it would be identified as an enemy of the Sims clique, and their prospects for future leadership destroyed.

That motion was ignored.

A motion was called to actually count the Yeas and Nays on resolution 5. It was ignored.

Finally, the big vote.

Note that all the newer clubs, known to be anti-Democrat, were placed all the way in the back where they would be less audible - while pro-Democrat established clubs were placed in the front.

Predictably, the results were 'unclear.'

The room was clearly divided before between pro-leadership sycophants and anti-Democrats.

But the votes weren't counted. My own followers, plus the redlibs formed the majority of delegates. Obviously the sycophants were sizeable - most people do not have the discipline to even stay in the party.

Additionally, some redlibs themselves are sycophants, talking about game on Twitter but bowing before the 'old guard' leadership because they have too much 'social anxiety' to stand up for what they claim to believe.

To be fair, the establishment exerts a great deal of pressure to fall in line on this issue. But most redlibs do not have the integrity or courage to stand on business when push comes to shove.

But it is clear that there was a strong possibility that the majority voted against Resolution 5. The lack of being able to count the votes meant it was 'unclear.'

And the unconstitutionally adopted convention rules established that in the absence of clarity, the Resolution would be decided by the National Committee.

Meaning it would pass, against the will of the majority.

And the best part? The National Committee is more or less hand-picked by the leadership!

A 'nomination committee,' appointed by the existing NC nominates 88 names. Delegates have an opportunity to nominate others on the floor, but not enough time.

Delegates decide, via a checklist, which names they want to be part of the National Committee - and need to choose a minimum of around 70.

There is very little room for actually voting here. At best, delegates can challenge 10 or so people 'nominated.' The rest are guaranteed to be part of the National Committee.

In this case, only one delegate from the floor was elected.

Formally, the process of nominating the National Committee is supposed to be based on recommendations by local chapters and clubs. But in reality, all of them were hand-picked on the basis of being pro-Democrat.

On Sunday, or the final day, the National Committee, hand-picked by the Sims clique in the first place, was 'sworn into office.'

And they unanimously decided to 're-elect' Joe Sims as party chair.

The entire purport of the Sims clique craven policy to submit to Democrats is based on 'defending democracy.'

But to defend democracy, they must in fact suspend any trace of democracy in the actual party itself!

It reminds me of how Democrats themselves actively seek to destroy our civil liberties in the name of 'protecting democracy!'

Make no mistake. The events of this weekend prove without any doubt that a coup has taken place in the party.

The leadership has engaged in shady practices for a long time, but never have they been so explicit in suspending democratic centralism completely as in the 32nd convention.

The one issue for which democracy mattered, was imposed upon the entire party without any semblance of democracy.

The newer clubs - both 'patsocs' (made up term btw) and 'Redlibs' alike - simply do not have representation. The perspective of the younger generation has been completely suppressed, without any possibility of discussion.

It is one thing to insist upon the wisdom of leadership. But dissenting views were simply not given a platform, in the only convention in which they are promised to have the opportunity to.

The fascistic behavior of the Sims clique violates all the traditions of the party. It is an insult to the honor and legacy of the party, not just in terms of the content of the positions (which is nothing new) - but for the first time, in terms of the form itself.

The sacred protocols of party procedure and decision making have been defiled and effaced.

The great Foster turns in his grave in this unprecedented usurpation of party authority - all for the sake of enabling genocide Joe Biden!

Before, one could say that they oppose the CPUSA line ideologically and strategically. But now, the party itself has been usurped in a coup.

This is not about ones opinion or ideology anymore. It is about the integrity of democratic centralism and the party as a formal organ of power itself. The constitution has been burned, and the party is now formally occupied.

They have simply rigged the convention. And their actions will not go unanswered. There will be consequences.
For now, my followers remain entrenched in the party awaiting their orders.

Shame on all those who have allowed it to get to this point. History will not look upon the enablers of the Gaza genocide kindly.

I find it difficult to see how the imagined 'fascism' Joe Sims uses as a pretext to in all but name liquidate the party - could be worse than what is happening to children in Gaza.

History will not look upon those who sold out the only party of the working class to the Democratic Party at a time in which they help oversee the murder of over 30,000 civilians.

Author

Haz Al-Din, philosopher and entertainer, Infrared collective.

The 32nd National Convention of the Communist Party USA: The Joe Sims Coup. By: Haz Al-Din

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