Will Lehman gets a glowing review from the WORLD SOCIALIST WEB SITE this morning , July 9, 2022 : [ "Workers throughout the US and internationally are issuing statements of support for Will Lehman, a 34-year-old Mack Trucks worker who is running for president of the United Auto Workers (UAW). Lehman is a socialist who is fighting not to reform but to abolish the UAW bureaucracy. He is calling for the formation of rank-and-file committees to mobilize autoworkers to fight for massive wage increases, a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to meet soaring inflation, the abolition of all tiers, and full health care and pensions for workers and retirees. "] As a democratic socialist I know that the position on unions of David North's Socialist Equality Party is scorned on the generic Left . Has their position changed here ? Cannot the treacherous union bureaucracies be abolished within the framework of THE UNION ? I don't pretend to any great wisdom or experience here. To the extent that this Will Lehman is a sincere friend - indeed member - of the working class I can only wish him success . But for more than a century now even SOCIALIST parties have been poisoned by ruling class intrigue. Once deified union " leaders ' achieve a prosperous standard of living FOR THEMSELVES they tend to look down on the still exploited and oppressed workers beneath them and identify with their capitalist masters . Needless to say, what passes for SOCIALISM has been betrayed again and again . I just read American Trotskyist leader James P. Cannon's stunning essay " The Treason of the Intellectuals " written way back in 1947 . No SOCIALIST party has emerged with any firm roots in the working class in any country on earth in one hundred years. I wonder if Cannon really grasped the nature of this " treason " ? Is SEP cult leader David North in Leon Trotsky's league ? Whatever - I am still banned from his World Socialist Web Site as a " Catholic , anti-Semite , fascist " ! Go figure !