Moving On.
Democrats should not be fist pumping about the events of yesterday the marches were about something more fundamental than political parties, it was about rights hard won over a century or more. Democrats have helped feed the current system where income inequality has damaged our very democracy and as always women are on the front line to be kicked first and hardest. In the battle for equality and rights political parties rightly becomes irrelevant and any attempt by a political party to claim it as their own should be rebuffed completely. The War on Women was a reality long before Trump and the Democrats hardly provided a unified front [e.g. Stupak-Pitts] with respect to reproductive health care and rights. The Republicans were and are uniformly disgusting and have lead the assault without rest.
There can be no doubt either that the current President is a sexist pig as were so many of his generation, DC is full of them. Our rights were often used as bargaining chips when legislation was written, this has to stop, there can be no negotiation whatsoever when rights are on the table. Also the resistance cannot be a one off day of marches, it has to be 24/7- 365, I'm glad to see it is finally sinking in, we have got to the tipping point.
This is not just about women's rights but about all our rights since when a majority can be safely discriminated against there is little hope for a minority to avoid the same. I'm so tired of the wedge issue games of the duopoly, it's long past time that they became history. Make this fight non political, make it about one issue alone, equality for all with no exception, rich/poor, white/people of colour, straight/gay and even left/right nobody can be or should feel excluded.
Income inequality is also at the heart of the issue since this governs the ability to change, reduces opportunity and allows discrimination to continue. It rots the very heart of our democracy and allows our rights to be bought and sold based upon a political whim. It allows division by jealousy and hate with mind games [wedge issues] playing one group of people against another to maintain power for the few, it's the fundamental building block of a corrupt system.
The fight is not in DC alone, it starts at the very lowest levels in every State and every day, it starts with you and I, no matter how powerless we believe ourselves to be, resist and fight back.
Comments
"Rights are merely privilege extended, unless enjoyed by one
and all" - The Internationale
Until and unless the wage earning class - the 99% - realize that women's rights are everyone's fight; and that American Indian treaties with the federal government and the wholesale violations of same impact all of the 99%; and that the school to jail track for African Americans is also everyone's fight, then divided we fall, or rather: Divided we can't get off the floor because of the capitalist boots on our necks.
Income inequality is wrong on its face but serves those who control the political economy by keeping a discrete group in relative poverty and ready to take any job at any wage. It's the same internationally with the global labor arbitrage where monopoly capital seeks out the countries with the lowest wages and the poorest workers protections and environmental safeguards. Within the lifetimes of many, textile mills and other manufacturing left New England and the upper midwest for the states of the old Confederacy that were right-to-work(right to work for less) states; and, then watched as even these states proved too expensive so production was sited in the global south.
Solidarity,international worker solidarity, is the only defense against this war initiated and perpetrated by the 1% against the rest of humanity.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Income Inequality
Can also be used as a measure to the success or failure of the current system, the higher it goes the more trouble the 99% are in.
@LaFeminista Agree entirely: The
Agree entirely: The capture of productivity gains by workers by the 1% is near total during the past few decades. With a strong union presence, gains in productivity were shared by workers and capitalists. No more - the goal of destroying private sector unions is nearing completion and, as you point out, the income disparity shows that the system has failed the 99%.
One concept many people fail to grasp is that a worker in a steel mill(say) has more in common with a worker in a steel mill in Brazil or Germany than with the capitalists who own the steel mill.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
And the more trouble the 1% will be in...eventually
Income inequality can only go so far before something changes - violently. History provides a wide range of examples.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
@duckpin I agree, but if we don't
I agree, but if we don't learn to distinguish between real resistance and an astroturf puppet show, it won't matter how good our principles are.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal I certainly agree with
I certainly agree with you. Occupy was, in my view, a non co-opted movement and served a critical purpose of educating millions of Americans as to who was responsible for their lowered standard of living and even bleaker prospects for their children.
The demonstrations in Seattle at the WTO confab was important because it exposed the international gang of corporations and their puppets in government to a broad audience.
On the other hand, the one million person march in New York City against nuclear weapons had no impact the I am aware of. (I wish it would have but does not seem to.)
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Movements not parties
The left has no party, but parties have never brought change. As you suggest it is movements....and today all progressive movements need to unite. I like the M. Moore plan. Call your rep and senators every working day (3 days a week for congress critters).
Here's his 13 min speech in NYC the other night -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lVoMRV69Ic
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
"Call your rep and senators every working day"
What is the point. Congress already has filters in place for all types of communication, citizens jamming the lines will not disrupt their three days at all. It's simply list gathering for duopoly profit as far as I'm concerned, but go on every one needs a purpose.
Honestly, as soon as I heard the intro "... whose latest film is Michael Moore in Trump Land" it made me not want to listen anymore. I tried, but if his brand is not currently crisis I'll eat my hat. He is still "with her" and to that I say no thanks. On MLK day I posted a story mentioning pro bono work for a group way back when, coincidentally they were called The Purple Berets and I wore mine with a proud jaunt. The logo had some kind of raised fist too LOL so radical. Too bad I can't eat our feminist progress, it does not even contain one calorie of nutrition. Going hungry makes me grouchy.
Peace & Solidarity
he gave the example of...
the ethic commission. It was phone calls that turned the ship. The phone calls can be a good tool. Not saying it is the end all, but maybe a start. The end of Moore's speech is best- when he call for an army of comedy.
I think it is important to be allies with all those willing to stand up to the corporate coup...even if we disagree on other issues.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Sexual inequality is a painful reminder
A reminder of "all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others" [G. Orwell, Animal Farm].
Unless women's rights exist unimpeded by party doctrine, there can be no equality. Unless Labor Unions recognize universally that the equal pay for equal work becomes the norm, there can be no solidarity of unionism. Republicans, of course regard Women as baby carriages with legs and nothing more. Witness Betsy DeVos as a role model for imposed inequality of women's rights. During her confirmation hearing (which could be considered farcical if it weren't so important), she refused to support the Violence Against Women Act. Instead her billionaire bubble prevented her from seeing what too many women have to endure (20% of female college students who are sexually harassed or worse). Of course her kids' bodyguards would never allow that to happen or the assailants would end up as Amway's new Soylent Green.
Agree; but this cuts both ways
Equal pay for equal work regardless of gender is the norm in many professions - as it is in mine, as a professor in a state university. But this is not a panacea for injustice in a profession in which over 50% of workers (and again I am talking professors) are forced to labor in precarity. I have seen very few self-styled feminist profs among the tenured class stand up to proclaim the necessity of equal pay for equal work for ALL members of the faculty, on the basis of their commitment to feminist principles of equality. They seem conveniently to imagine their feminism to be a separate issue from matters of 'economic' injustice. If this is what feminism is (and for the record I do not think it is), then how is feminism to be distinguished from the activities of any other special interest seeking privileges for itself - like big PhRMA, for example?
I am very glad the women (and their allies) marched, and I am glad to see they turned out in such numbers. But how many of the women marching yesterday were at Standing Rock? How many at Ferguson or Baltimore or NYC in the wake of Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner?
In her Preface to the 15th anniversary edition of Backlash, Susan Faludi lamented that "there are some things worse than backlash". What could be worse? What happened to feminism since the early '90s was worse, she answered. Feminism was coopted by capitalism:
Now that would be something worth seeing. And who knows? This may be the opportune moment for such a thing to happen.
@solublefish I believe yesterday's
I believe yesterday's events are designed to funnel people's energy into a fake puppet version of a resistance so as to pre-empt any actual uprising that would inconvenience the elites. I doubt this is the last time we'll see this tactic; my guess is that yesterday's marches will lead, in short order, to yet another astroturf organization, probably with Steinem, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Neera Tanden, and Madeleine Albright on the board.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Then we must push back.
Everytime.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal I can understand your
I can understand your cynicism. But I did not intend to dismiss yesterday's event as hollow, by any means (though I did seek to establish some critical distance). It was huge; and it was worldwide; and I take that as a very hopeful sign. A great many of the people who were there, I do not doubt, are very much devoted to the general cause of human rights and would agree that bourgeois feminism is a contradiction.
But as you note, a number of the people there were self-serving acolytes of power who saw an opportunity to advance the cause of their own privilege by 'waving the bloody shirt', so to speak. One may still hope (I do!) that their bad faith will in due time be recognized for what it is by the tremendous rank and file who took the time to go pounding the streets. Today's 'Hillarybots' may yet become tomorrow's socialists.
One does not become politically conscious and aware all at once, after all. We are all born narcissists (anyone who has children knows this well), and must learn to care for others in this large and complex world. And there is always more to learn.
Thanks for your reply
For me, who was at the Hartford, CT rally (10,000) with my pussyhat and a sign saying
It was important to be there. Why? To make a statement and for TPTB to 'see' that there is some shit we will not eat (e.e. cummings).
My hope over the next 4 years is simply to prevent a rollback of safety nets, abortion rights, Medicare, etc.
Don't believe everything you think.
Or worse still, Her!
We all know She's out there lurking, waiting for an opportunity to hog the spotlight again. Her never deserved it and should never get another chance at it.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Thank you for putting words to that
- CSTS. My excellent and honest British-born dentist turns out to be a heartfelt No DDAPL supporter, to whom I have been sending links to related posts here. Yet s/he was planning to march yesterday. I might have been swayed were I physically stronger and less of a recluse still holding in mind having read the Fall of the Roman Empire in the early 1960s when the NYRB mentioned that model, and images of Kent State. Instead gathered dry scrap wood from three units going up nearby that are replacing a shoddy 1950s duplex. I make carbon emissions, but not the steady 15-20+ pounds per gallon of gasoline burned by cars.
this is key
When I was asked on Saturday if I was going to the Tucson women's march, I replied "I march for social justice, not for electoral politics." One woman said, "that's what this is about."
But it wasn't. If Clinton had been elected, none of those people would have been marching. If she had been elected, the march wouldn't have happened at all.
I asked: Were you at the last Black Lives Matter march? Were you at the last NoDAPL march? at the last border action?
I hope that people were energized, and I hope that they take their resistance to the next level (whatever that is for them), but don't tell me this wasn't about who won the election -- and who didn't.
Who's gonna have our backs when the cops' violence hits again?
There is no justice in America, but it is the fight for justice that sustains you.
--Amiri Baraka
Great points blaze and s. fish
Did anyone answer your question whether they were at those marches?
Both parties screw us but the DP provides vasoline so it doesn't hurt as much and many people on the supposed left can ignore that they got screwed.
The number of people who approved of Obamas's tenure shows that point.
There is more economic pain after he left office because he didn't want to change anything that would get in the way of profits or hurt the elites.
Everyone who approves of his time as president are hypocrites because he did the same things as Bush did on foreign policy. Which they protested against.
As noted, he spent his whole time in office as a war president. Why does he (and Hillary) get a pass for the further destruction of the Middle East? Millions more dead and are refugees who are freezing to death because the countries that have taken them in have put them in camps without adequate protection from the elements.
What has the USA done for those refugees that they are mostly responsible for?
His war on whistleblowers, the number of people who were deported back to the countries he destroyed and on and on.......
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
my question was rhetorical
I knew those people hadn't been at any of the actions I named. We're lucky if we get 100 people to a Black Lives Matter march here.
And I completely agree with everything else you wrote.
Thank you
There is no justice in America, but it is the fight for justice that sustains you.
--Amiri Baraka
I'm sad to report
that I, who would normally rally to something like the women's march, was put off by signs blaming Russia or Putin, and by the sheer numbers of Hillary sore losers.
In addition, I heard that there was some kerfluffle about the march not wanting to include women's pro-life groups in the rally.
Pshaw I say to both myself and the "purists" in the women's movement. Only when you and I get into the mix will these Hillary bots hear anything about the propaganda they've been fed. Only when the pro-lifers meet women who have abortion stories that will give them pause, will change begin to occur.
So this is my hope - that this is the beginning, the moment when we put aside our differences to rally to the same cause with a single voice because that is where we all learn how to better spot the bullshit, how better to protect ourselves, how to keep an eagle eye on all their doings, how to coalesce.
Power to the People!
It is interesting to find commonalities with people who are
on "the other side". I have friends (loose term) who are on the other side of that Thin Blue Line, and often dare to go there. But we can laugh about dogs and kids together. Mutual trust? Not sure, but working on it.
I should talk to my next-door neighbor more often. Sana is also a single woman.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
@gustogirl Yeah, that's what it was
Yeah, that's what it was about. DWS' face on the goddamned mainstage confirmed everything I thought about it.
And those fucking Clintons and their fucking party have now put me in a position where I'm agreeing with Ann Fucking Coulter. Do you realize the horror of that? This is the person who wrote a whole book so she could call people with my views traitors. But yesterday Ann Coulter Tweeted something that made more sense than what half the left-of-center people were saying. She said "These women are here to protest Trump because he did....They're here to protest him because of his policy that...." As Cass has said, Trump hasn't done anything yet. All he's done is say some horrible shit. Half the Democrats on Capitol Hill have done more damage to women than Trump has, like when they signed onto that horrible Obamacare compromise in 2010--to say nothing of the economic damage they've rained down on, in particular, single mothers with their fucking economic austerity policies.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
There's the rub
Trump has done plenty. True: he has not yet used the power of his office to assault or undermine the rights of women. In that sense the marchers are moving preemptively. But in his life, Trump has consistently treated women with contempt, as objects of his own purposes and desires. Of course, this is how he treats everyone.... The real question is, what will happen if Trump does NOT use the power of his office to assault the rights of women? Will all those people in the streets yesterday still be there to defend the rights of LBGTQ, or Muslims, or Latinx? Will they be there to defend the poor against the rich? To defend the earth against Exxon? I don't think we know the answer to that just yet.
@solublefish The damage he's done
The damage he's done in his personal life can't compare to the scope and destructiveness of bad policy, which affects millions. Now, he may have bought and paid politicians for some of that bad policy over the years. If people were focusing on that, instead of on cruel bullshit he says, I'd be more interested in the protests.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
@solublefish I'd say they'll be
I'd say they'll be there to defend whatever is being threatened as long as the power of the Clinton political machine and its allies is being poured into producing that result. Otherwise, it's more hit-and-miss. Sometimes you get a ton of people; sometimes only a few.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
@gustogirl As for converting
As for converting Hillbots, I doubt that attending their rally and reinforcing their worldview of "we're all a bunch of moral people opposing Trump the destroyer of women everywhere" is going to penetrate the haze.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
By participating,
we will be able to keep an eye on what's going on. We cannot do it from our sofa. Every protest can provide confidence for another, keeping some momentum going. It has to start somewhere. Being negative about yesterday's march only provides confusion-what is a person to do? Who should I join?
Participate in everything you are able! Stand up and be heard! Write letters to the editor, your local government officials, your Congresscritters! Go to as many marches as you are able. There will always be people we disagree with at any event, but guess what-they were also exposed to YOU and YOUR message.
That's how I felt yesterday. I was there. I held my sign and participated for three hours. It snowed on us. It blew on us. We stayed. We rallied. There were as many messages as there were people. Yet, we stood together.
"Keep on participating," was the message they sent. It is the message I gave a young activist on campus on Friday, who was passing out flyers. We are at critical mass. Participation is the only way to accomplish anything in this environment.
They want us complacent. They want us fearful. We must be active and courageous, no matter the venue.
Stand and be counted.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
"Democrats should not be fist pumping" but that is just
What they will do. They will shamelessly seek to co-opt these demonstrations to fund raise and make themselves seem relevant. Their job as second best party, even when they do hold the White House, requires it.
Can anyone imagine a time when a Republican president wouldn't have appointed a Supreme Court justice to a vacancy? But a Democrat couldn't do it.
Remember how the Republicans rammed through bill after bill and cowed the Democrats in Congress during the Bush Administration? Democrats even went along with things we rail about now. They voted for war with Afghanistan when Saudis used planes as weapons. They voted for war in Iraq based on fabricated intelligence. They allowed bills like the Clear Skies Act through even though there was nothing clear about it.
My thesis is that the Democratic Party is meant to be the foil and sometimes just the pitiful little brother to the GOP in order that the will of TPTB be done. I had been frustrated for years when Democrats proved impotent against the Republican Party. Now I believe it's all just part of the plan.
These demonstrations will be shamelessly exploited by Democrats because, "Eeww! Trump!" But things will continue to get worse for the little guy and policy will continue move to the right no matter who occupies Congress and the White House. Things will move faster with Republicans in control of the Executive and Legislative branches than they did under Obama. The sad thing is that things never moved that fast during Obama's first two years. And I believe that is the way things are supposed to work. The Democratic Party is the party of impotence.
The demonstrations just make me sad because the wrong message will get through. Democrats will continue to get the wrong message and will corrupt the narrative in spite of the noble intentions of the demonstrators.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
Over the years at TOP, two apt metaphors developed for the
role of the Democrats.
The first: that even in power, they (we?) are like abused spouses, always attempting to somehow please the abusers -- for example, to find some sort of compromise legislation that will win the support and agreement of the republicans. The effort is doomed, of course, because one of the particular objectives of the abusers is to humiliate and reject the abused.
The second: that they are the equivalent of the Washington Generals, existing only to give the whole show the appearance of an actual competition.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
@UntimelyRippd The Washington Generals
The Washington Generals?!! Love it & 0bama is Red Klotz!
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
@Lily O Lady Co-opt?
Co-opt?
Gloria "Where the Boys Are" Steinem was a co-chair of the Women's March, and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz spoke from the stage at the DC March.
Somebody should tell me again how this isn't a continuation of Hillary 2016.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
I'm thinking about all the well-meaning participants
like my sister and my daughter. They really think they are speaking truth to power, but power is using them to obscure the truth.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
@Lily O Lady Oh, gods. That's what
Oh, gods. That's what makes this so horribly disgusting. It's like a very ugly form of vampirism focused on draining moral conviction from sincere people...into a black hole of anti-credibility that always needs more alibis. The Clinton political machine specializes in associating itself with other people's morality, and thus draining it of its meaning.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
@Lily O Lady In other words, you're
In other words, you're completely right. And man, after yesterday on Twitter (my last day on Twitter), you guys are a balm to my soul.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Excellent comment, lily.
obama sat back and watched as the republicans took over the country as did the DP.
As you said, the republicans were able to pass any legislation they wanted to and the democrats kept on keeping their powder dry.
Someone mentioned that the DP is the Washington Generals to the Harlem Globetrotters.
When the republicans are the minority party they can block any bill they want, yet for some reason when they are the minority party they can't use the same procedures.
Why people can't see that it's a scripted dance tells me that they aren't looking for the game being played.
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
Almost as basic as the wheel but elusive until now
I like the analogy but we should rename the Washinton squad "the Corporals" and the Harlem team "the Globe Smashers"…oops, that wouldn't distinguish them from Obama's party.
Funny how that works.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
The 2008-10 period
isthe evidence to support your belief. The Dems were given full control of the government at a time when the republican party could haev been rendered to the dust heap of history for the economic collapse. The Dems immediately starting making excuses for why they couldn't get anything done. And Obama single-handedly resuscitated the GOP by propping up its resistance.
We saw the same play out, only with nakedly in NYS. The Dems finally gained control of the senate and the party sanctioned three members to causcus with the republicans to give republicans control of the senate- to maintain the folly of gridlock. This was approved by DLCer Andy Cuomo, who's clearly trying to position himself for 2020.
The party is morally and ethically bankrupt, as are most, if not all, of its members. We saw this exposed during the election: Albright, Boxer, Lewis, DWS, the DNC officers, Hillary, Chelsea, the list goes on...
Your belief is reality.
The Democratic party is for women's right
donchaknow.
That's exactly where this is going, it always does because that's our political system and everything revolves around the political system.
Don't snuff their Torches of Freedom Big Al
thanks, every thing looks like propaganda to me these days. lol
@Big Al Thank God some people see
Thank God some people see it. Yesterday was a disgusting day, perhaps one of the worst days, politically, I've ever had. It almost beat out the day that I realized that Bush had successfully stolen the election and nothing was going to be done about it.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
ain't about parties anymore
think we are beyond that. try rights and objectives, values and perspective. somewhere to grow and consolidate. new horizons, etc.
They should have been protesting at the DNC
instead of the White House. At least in addition. I have little hope that the Democrats will change anything - the Republicans either. Take it from blue state held hostage by the Republicans for 8 years, they don't give a fuck who or how many object. Thanks to a neoliberal democratic party that cared more about their own jobs than the people held hostage, things in the states are going to get a lot, lot worse.
IN THE CROSSHAIRS: HOME RULE IN MICHIGAN
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
@dkmich One small glimmer of
One small glimmer of light:
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Jimmy Dore is 100% right
I can't wait for Dore to have those responsible for hanging that banner on the DNC headquarters on his show.
Frankly, I wish they'd have taken out the windows at the place ... at the least. In fact, it would have been a good day to leave every DNC office in the nation as a smoking pile of ashes. That's what it's going to take. (Do I get banned for talking like this here at c99p? Hope not.)
Insofar as protesting, there's good strategy and poor; good timing and not so good. Good strategy is blocking Interstate highways during weekdays - in states that have just passed laws allowing V8-weilding fascists to legally murder roadway-blocking protesters. Good timing is massive protests after The Billionaires have proposed dismantling of Social Security, Medicare, the United States Post Office, etc, etc (choose any or all).
@dkmich This Big March thing
This Big March thing should have happened ten years ago when Roe v. rights were being overturned in state legislatures and state courts. To finally show up here in 2017 may be too little too late. But, hey, better late than never. As "Roy" said in Die Hard, "welcome to the party!" Hopefully this cooks up some progressive momentum.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
At least photos of the march
- put to rest DT's canard that he'd drawn the largest ever inauguration crowd.
On Saturday, an old local guy and DT voter (would never vote for Clinton - "she's too corrupt") who rides my bus told me happily and in no uncertain terms that DT had already signed legislation ending NAFTA - and meanwhile believes he'd never touch Social Security.
And for that guy
I would bet he's right, the Repugnants need those older voters who've already got theirs, but for those of us under 60 we're fucked. Even Lyin' Ryan knew he'd have to hit that younger group, far too much of his base is already on SS. Hell, my mother, stepmother, and one of my Mom's cousins are all Rumpers and they're ALL good with cuts being made, just not now.... And when I mention that I've been paying into it too for the last 25 years, crickets.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
He is old - fought in WWII
with Canadian army, in kilts, he says - though he's a bit of a Baron Munchausen (see Wiipedia if needed), also a loner. Family background Sardinan, mother lived to 104. Impossible to place him wealth-wise or in any social context. Curious to learn if and how his views change
DeVos bitch.
The entire DeVos family based in both MI and FL are white trash garbage of the first order. Betsy DeVos may be the one piece of tRump cabinet vomit that does not get confirmed. Not holding my breath though. Right to Work means Right to Serfs. Always has and always will. Rec'd!!
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
Funny how Trump team says its Inauguration attendance
far exceeded the Woman March totals.
Here's the visual truth.
It's also very telling that Trump who painted himself as representing all of america, did NOT make even a feeble attempt to reach out to the woman's movement to assure them that he hears the concerns and is in support.
Not much comment from me about Dems except to say I'm in total agreement and I Moved On by last June 2016.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
That is one yuge positive in my mind
of that co-opted march, the numbers that generated, and all over the world to boot, I think really pissed him off. I'm not so sure he'd have made that big a deal about the whole inaugural thing if that hadn't happened but that's just me. I do relish that, but when I read today that he's just gutted discussion of abortion by providers I couldn't help but wonder if some of that was personal revenge.
A friend and her daughter went to a local one, and I'm proud of them for doing it. It's harder to explain Democratic sell out and corruption to a 10 year old, but she understands completely what Trump is. If the numbers of women who marched pissed him off, good. He's going to let his cabinet do lots of damage to women by sheer economics so not like that would be any woman's fault for standing up.
And I have started some snippets of discussion about Democratic corruption with that 10 year old, if she's around me much at all, she'll hear lots of it! It made me absolutely sick to see the pictures of sell out Steinem up there, I couldn't really look anymore after seeing that.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
Moving beyond political parties
Personally I think I'm done forever with either party and believe future solution is not to add another, but reduce to one or zero. Vote for the candidate that best represents a voter's issues, there are not that many, it is not that complicated. Don't divide by right or left, call every one independent with a small i and let them vote however they choose. At least Trump wants term limits for the ossified, but then he wants fresh killers in as replacement, that is sick.
The primary committee apparatus has jumped the shark, and so has the electoral college complex. Why do we even need them at all? They're not the training grounds currently needed, instead they are hurting the 99%.
Real change for me means registering every person age 18 (or 16!), and make publicly funded elections mandatory, most votes wins. From local to state to federal keep it simple. I guess paper ballot trails are a must too. There is enough national infrastructure between Rs and Ds already, re-purpose all of it, put a full-time office in every town that has a Chamber of Commerce. Put it right next door if possible. Equality.
#1 for me is still to get money the eff out, all else is mere distraction. Thanks
Of course they're fist-pumping.
Their psy-op went off beautifully.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Amazing isn't it that people wouldn't see it that way
Keith is on tv ranting about how we've been invaded by Russia, while the only thing that happened is someone leaked Podesta's emails.
That's all that was done. And they showed how the DNC screwed Bernie from winning the primary. Period.
The Vermont electrical grid hack was shot down, but I still see people writing about it.
The CIA has been lying its asses off for how many decades and suddenly people are believing them?
Gawd!
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
I've been watching Oliver Stone's "Untold History of the
United States" on Netflix. It confirms my suspicions and clarifies how we got into this mess.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
"...it's the fundamental building block of a corrupt system."
Indeed. The wedge issues are effective distractions that allow the corporate reach around to the unaware middle class wallet. One of my co-workers, a Trump supporter, actually said, "I ONLY care about my 2nd amendment rights." Another co-worker is a lefty but he's convinced America is the greatest country on Earth. It's like wedge issues and nationalism are the alcohol of an alcoholic country in serious denial. They don't realize they have a problem and that the Republicans and Democrats are the two wings of a corrupt vulture capitalist bird of prey. One can only hope people are waking up. I did like what Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba had to say at Davos the other day:
Bold added.
More here: https://www.rt.com/business/374289-alibaba-us-jobs-military/
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020
That's hardly an original observation
You'll find Victor Hugo making essentially the same point in one of his essay-chapters in Les Miserables. (It's the one where he does a takedown of Karl Marx as an excellent diagnostician with the wrong prescription. Not that Hugo had any practical suggestions himself....)
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
I hope we get good at concentrating and injecting money
when the most egregious offenses happen. I think it was an eye-opener when Bernie raised hundreds of millions of dollars in small donations, or when millions of dollars went to support the water protectors at Standing Rock or the way Jill Stein raised millions in a short period for a recount. Fuck hierarchical politics. Each of us are our own units of change. A beautiful organism of higher awareness and intelligence can be made with each of us as it's individual cells. When lower life forms, such as Trump, try to con us and steal from us, the higher organism will react in a powerful way.
Beware the bullshit factories.
damn straight
Ds trying to CoOp the protest
Seeing them there just discounted the protests
Fighting for democratic principles,... well, since forever
A sad sobering thought
crossed my mind as my tv showed a shot of Gloria Steinem speaking from a podium yesterday.
What if the amazing organization of this worldwide event was done by the CIA. Another color revolution, this time pink hats?
There's a lot to consider here. While Trump went to Langley and asked the agency to call off the dogs, the revolution was out in the streets? But if it were a revolution augmented by our intelligence agencies, or if it originated within our intelligence agencies, who's leading and where are we going?
It wouldn't be the first time.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
yeah, like I didn't know what to tell my sister in Germany
who was asking: "Why are these women all wear pink hats? What is that all about? How do I explain the term "co-opting" to an average German TV viewer with zero knowledge about the last decades of the Democratic Party's development and all its 'protest human and civil rights movements'?
[video:https://youtu.be/0L9ZDnOB5ZU]
(So Here We Are: Donald Trump Is Officially The President - posted on January 21)
I am helpless. Have you ever tried to translate Stephen Colbert's video for a German audidence? When you are not English native speaker and know tons of details of the US political theater, it's impossible. Therefore don't be surprised if nobody cares among the non-English little people. They care about Trump twittering assholish bullshit, if you like it or not.
https://www.euronews.com/live
@mimi All they need to
All they need to understand is that Hillary is horrible and Trump is horrible. They're both horrible. The Democrats are horrible and the Republicans are horrible. They're in the pay of a tiny group of sociopathic rich people who are horrible. They're destroying the world & they're going to get us all killed, and the electoral system here is so corrupt that the voters can't stop them because all the choices are horrible.
American politics in a nutshell.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
@Bob In Portland I always watch the
I always watch the legacy media to tell whether something is a plant/work or not. That's one of the reasons I believe Bernie was initially sincere and not a sheepdog till later. If he had been a piece of the establishment plan, they would have reacted quite differently (like they did with Trump, whom they supposedly didn't support but whom they kept helping with more and more coverage).
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
"The fight is not in DC alone" - it's not in the USA alone
it's now universal considering how many countries around the world took part in the marches.
Good point, the DNC should not take credit for these marches, they are bigger than that. Here's the world map:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/19/womens-march-against-trump-t...
To thine own self be true.
The discontent is slowly growing.
No, it's not just about Trump or Hillary or Putin. It's about stifling inequality forced upon us by the elites of the world. High points so far in this developing story are: Bernie, Brexit, EU crumbling, women's marches.
Never mind the leeches like Albright and Steinem and DWS, they will be blown off these arising movements (plural) just as surely as last night's rain drops get blown off a speeding car. Stay tuned. We're in for stormy weather.
agreed ed
thinking it's not so slow glowing at this point. Expect an uproar while the fuse hits the dynamite. pow!
And yet Trump just withdrew from TPP. Confusion reigns.
So how does the non-democratic party left react to these sorts of actions.
Trump withdraws the US out of TPP:
And makes home ownership more expensive.
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/20/first-hour-president-trump-d...
I am highly skeptical
of him sticking to gutting TPP. Or doing anything real about NAFTA. I think that could be another bait and switch to "get a better deal" that doesn't really do much at all. There's far too much money behind both of those for it to be that easy.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
@lizzyh7 I'm bemused about TPP,
I'm bemused about TPP, with a wait and see attitude. As far as renegotiating NAFTA, I expect the renegotiated version will suck, but then the current version sucks too.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver