It's Time
I've lost all patience with moderates, centrists, incrementalists and mainstream establishment democrats who think the status quo is not so bad, just needs a little tweaking around the edges. They'd be satisfied just getting rid of Trump – which is fine as far as that goes, it just doesn't go nearly far enough.
Anybody with a clear-eyed view of the status quo understands the horror of US foreign policy and the shameful neglect of US domestic policy. The system has failed us. The duopoly has frustrated all serious efforts to change things for the better. The owners of the USA, the billionaire class, like things just the way they are. There is no profit in peace or taking care of the needy or delivering justice to the masses. America is owned and dominated by greed monsters who don't care that their money comes drenched in the blood of patriots and innocent victims of US war crimes.
I'm still furious with the DNC for ripping off Bernie and his millions of supporters and ushering in the Trump presidency.
Mainstream democrats have failed us. They like to claim to be progressives, liberals and/or part of 'the left' but in truth they are none of those things.
I'm done with those who think war is okay or that the Military Industrial Complex is just a conspiracy theory or that the wildly unfair distribution of wealth in this country is remotely okay. I'm sick and tired of those who insist that the Main Stream Media is equivalent to the “free press,” and NOT the propaganda organs that lied us into Vietnam, Iraq, Libya and Syria (among others) and now Venezuela and Iran while helping to undermine anything smacking of true change or real reform of our screwed up and hopelessly corrupted system. That is not to say that they don't occasionally say something that is true, just that they can't be trusted not to lie for the oligarchy, as that is their top priority.
"MSNBC IS A dishonest political operation, not a news outlet. It systematically and deliberately refuses to adopt a defining attribute of a news outlet: a willingness to acknowledge factual errors, correct them, and apologize. That they not only allow their lies to stand uncorrected but reward their employees who do it most frequently — especially when those lies are directed at adversaries of the Democratic Party — proves that they are, first and foremost, a political arm of the Democratic establishment."
I am gobsmacked that so many Americans seem blithely unaware of the extent to which we are lied to and who have no clue about our own sordid history of assassinations, coups, torture, death squads, etc. throughout Central and South America – and much of the rest of the world. Or how the main stream media has fed our blood thirsty empire by manufacturing consent for war and propagandizing the public with sinister intent in the interest of the corporate elite and America's uber-wealthy owners - the very same folks who own the media.
The trend of media conglomeration has been steady. In 1983, 50 corporations controlled most of the American media, including magazines, books, music, news feeds, newspapers, movies, radio and television. By 1992 that number had dropped by half. By 2000, six corporations had ownership of most media, and today five dominate the industry: Time Warner, Disney, Murdoch's News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany and Viacom.
Mega-Corporations controlled by the super-rich determine what information is broadcast to the world and how it is framed. Sandwiched in-between the straight news are poison pills of rank propaganda meant to shape the thinking of the entire culture - such as the present daily drumbeat for war on Venezuela so our rich guys can take their oil, or how they're all attacking and smearing Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. The corporate-owned media consciously manipulates the public mind to get people to think and believe what the elite wants them to - which all ends up supporting and enabling their robbing, raping and pillaging of the world. The worst thing about all of this is how appallingly effective it is.
A Century of U.S. Intervention Created the Immigration Crisis
“The liberal rhetoric of inclusion and common humanity is insufficient: we must also acknowledge the role that a century of U.S.-backed military coups, corporate plundering, and neoliberal sapping of resources has played in the poverty, instability, and violence that now drives people from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras toward Mexico and the United States. For decades, U.S. policies of military intervention and economic neoliberalism have undermined democracy and stability in the region, creating vacuums of power in which drug cartels and paramilitary alliances have risen. In the past fifteen years alone, CAFTA-DR — a free trade agreement between the U.S. and five Central American countries as well as the Dominican Republic — has restructured the region’s economy and guaranteed economic dependence on the United States through massive trade imbalances and the influx of American agricultural and industrial goods that weaken domestic industries. Yet there are few connections being drawn between the weakening of Central American rural agricultural economies at the hands of CAFTA and the rise in migration from the region in the years since. In general, the U.S. takes no responsibility for the conditions that drive Central American migrants to the border.“
When we overthrow governments, assassinate leaders, run death squads and torture people, it devastates the societies to whom we do these things. The CIA and other nefarious agents of our government sow the seeds of mayhem and chaos and destroy whole cultures. Now that the victims of our unspeakable evil are seeking the only relief they can conceive by making their arduous way to our border and asking for our help, we shun them, smear them, stir up irrational fear and hatred against them, imprison them and kidnap their children.
Things are NOT normal when the US has fifteen-thousand children ripped from the loving arms of their impoverished and desperate families (who came to us begging for help) locked in cages on the Mexican border. Things are NOT normal!
Is it hyperbole to compare these monsters to Nazis? Increasingly, no. I'm not saying they are equal to the Nazis in terms of sheer evil but who can say they're not headed that way? They're trying awfully hard. They are normalizing that level of hate. Certainly nothing good can come from it.
Those who support the status quo are complicit in the crimes against humanity that the global elite have committed. You don't get to call yourself “progressive” if you have propped up the status quo and worked against any meaningful change. Having some moderately liberal social ideas doesn't make up for all the rest. The lesser evil is still evil. The Establishment is still the Establishment.
Establishment dems are only superficially better than establishment republicans. At the deepest level they are functional equivalents. Both groups serve the empire and the wealthy elite. They all take the dirty money. They are all okay with war and corruption as long as they get theirs. Anyone who doesn't understand that by now, understands very little.
The type of society we live in has a huge bearing on our happiness and well-being. The following article goes back to 2015 but is still valid and relevant.
The Global Elite’s Crimes Against Humanity
From Bernays to Albright: ‘their’ happiness, our miseryVirtually every government in the world creates an illusion for its people. Take economic policy. Government policies might hurt us in the short term, but we are all on a one way route to the ‘promised land’ of happiness, or so we are told by the politicians, the corporate media and spokespersons for the ones who make us suffer to ensure they never have to – the privileged elite, the ruling class.
Western governments set out to con ordinary working folk by bringing us war in the name of peace, austerity in order to achieve prosperity and suffering to eventually make us happy. Is there any room for truth? Politicians never like to tell the public the truth. The feel-bad factor is never a vote winner. Best to keep the public in the dark and rely on positive spin. If people knew the truth, they just wouldn’t be happy.”
People wouldn't be happy if they knew the truth. Well, no kidding, the truth is ugly. But some people would rather be falsely happy than suffer the painful truth. Ignorance is bliss and all that. Mainstream establishment-supporting democrats are a fine example of people who don't want to understand what is actually true. They are willing to settle for that which confirms their own biases and that which makes them feel good: Democrats, team blue, those with Ds next to their name. They reduce governmental and social policy to a simplistic team sport and juvenile popularity contest, never noticing that the outcome is always the same: Democrat or Republican, it's all war all the time, austerity for the people, tax cuts for the rich, bonuses for banksters and crimes against humanity dressed up in pretty rhetoric and a big fat NO to any effort to reform this despicable system.
The outcome is always the same.
We should be tending to the needs of our people and improving lives here at home and around the world. Instead we lavish all our treasure on warmongers and war profiteers, building the most lethal modern weapons possible to sic on the rest of the world. The undeveloped world, especially where they have resources like oil that our rich guys want, wade in the blood shed on their land by our tax dollars and our government's anti-humanitarian gangster policies.
That the American people want peace and a better life for themselves and the rest of the world matters not one whit to our so-called leaders.
"We've become now an oligarchy instead of a democracy. And I think that's been the worst damage to the basic moral and ethical standards of the American political system that I've ever seen in my life." ~ Jimmy Carter
We've descended into oligarchy and fascism. The billionaires and millionaires at the top don't care about us. To them we are merely pawns to be manipulated and preyed upon. Everything else about our government is sheer kabuki, slight of hand and rank bullshit.
The US is not a democracy but an oligarchy, study concludes
"The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence.”
Establishment democrats are every bit as corrupt as republicans. They are not serving the public interest, only their own. Corruption is rife from the bottom to the top.
Nancy Pelosi is worth $16 million and Dianne Feinstein is worth 58.5 million. (According to Wikipedia.)
"You can't get rich in politics unless you're a crook." ~ Harry S. Truman
Now the mainstream dems want us to all pull together, which would be fine but what they want is for us to unite behind some neoliberal, war-mongering, elitist millionaire who will only betray us to Wall Street and the great American war machine on day one while they cheat any real change agent out of the opportunity to serve the people and history. We've seen this movie before.
It didn't work in 2016 and it won't work now. Even some of the dead-enders get it now.
A Clinton-era centrist Democrat explains why it’s time to give democratic socialists a chance
“The baton rightly passes to our colleagues on our left.”
The result, he argues, is the nature of the Democratic Party needs to shift. Rather than being a center-left coalition dominated by market-friendly ideas designed to attract conservative support, the energy of the coalition should come from the left and its broad, sweeping ideas. Market-friendly neoliberals, rather than pushing their own ideology, should work to improve ideas on the left. This, he believes, is the most effective and sustainable basis for Democratic politics and policy for the foreseeable future.
IMHO, we shouldn't be trying to unite or make nice with those who still don't get it. We should be uniting with all of those who DO get it and who have been ignored, belittled, preyed upon and shut out of the process for forever. It's time for a new deal - and a great big giant new deal. All those people who have been sitting at home on election day need to be given real reasons to come out and choose a new and better destiny. The same old tired crap wrapped in a shiny new box won't get it. We need a new deal.
The Green New Deal isn't outlandish — it's a necessity
We’re not talking about a bit less emissions; we're talking about a phaseout of emissions by 2050 in order to have a fighting chance to hold Earth’s temperature rise to 1.5-degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level, a rise that should not in any way be construed as “safe,” just potentially not catastrophic.How do we get to zero by 2050, not only in the U.S. but also in Europe, China, India and the rest of the world? We need to move rapidly to zero emissions while keeping the energy system functioning robustly and reliably during the transition. It’s a massive transplant operation requiring the greatest skills of our top engineers and power-grid operators.
Now is the time to get serious about real change in America because humanity itself is at stake. We have to change now or forever hold our peace. It's time to get on the right side of history and bring desperately needed change to the world. We need to stop taking NO for an answer, stop making excuses for the corrupt government and media and stop swallowing the propaganda. It's time to stand up, not acquiesce. If we continue to roll over and hide our heads in the sand, this story is not going to end well.
"Entire categories of public policy options are effectively off-limits because of the combined influence of industry groups and donor interests," argues law professor Tim Wu.
Most Americans support Medicare for All, higher taxes on the rich, a Green New Deal, and other major items on the progressive agenda—so why has Congress failed to enact them?
The reason, Columbia University Law School professor Tim Wu argued in an op-ed for the New York Times on Tuesday, is that the influence of corporations and the donor class on the American political system has drowned out the policy desires of the public.
There is a weird strain of political thought in this country that most people are moderates and only by pulling to the center can we garner enough support to win elections and guide the ship of state. This is the thinking of mainstream democrats and also why most people stay home on election day. They have little to no interest in which group of elitist millionaires and billionaires get to screw America for the next four years while lying through their teeth and changing absolutely nothing - and who can blame them?
I've long believed that nothing short of a bold departure from the conventional wisdom will change anything – and most people, when they aren't being freaked out by propaganda boogymen, want change: better living conditions, greater opportunity, a brighter future for posterity, a viable ecosystem, less violence, more peace, greater equality, less hate, a more benevolent and less corrupt government, a friendlier and more supportive society, etc.
A world of hate and war, fear and loathing, resentment and strife are not what people want and not what they deserve.
The tide of history seems to be turning at long last.
It's time to get radical and force the changes that are needed – and we should have less than zero patience for anyone who stands in the way – whether it be through ignorance, incompetence, misplaced loyalty, gullibility or malevolence. Too many of these people are impervious to education or reason, they simply need to be defeated or left behind.
It's time.
Are Bernie, the Green New Deal and the leftward movement in our political system the revolution we need? No, not by a long shot, but they are baby steps in the right direction. As I have often said, show me a better revolution and I'll sign right up. In the mean time, baby steps are better than none. They are baby steps compared to what we need but giant strides compared to what we've had up till now.
And yes, I know Bernie has his faults and shortcomings. I do worry that 'here we go again' and that we will once again be sheep-dogged and ripped off by the establishment in the end. Still, as by far the best of a sorry lot and the only politician who actually listens to constituents or makes sense when talking about virtually anything, he has my vote.
To give credit where credit is due, Bernie has profoundly changed the national conversation. He brought Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and many other actual progressives into the process and they are (arguably) making a huge difference. He has inspired and given hope to the young who face the dire consequences of decades of tragic policies that serve only the short term interests of the hideously rich at the expense of everyone else - especially the young.
Thanks to Bernie and his supporters, people are not so utterly freaked out by the word socialism in this the most highly propagandized society in the history of the world as they consider alternatives to the capitalist nightmare with which we are all so familiar. Bernie's “radical” ideas have become mainstream: Medicare for All, a living wage, tuition free education, paid family leave, the notion that government should actually serve the people and so on. These ideas have caught fire, which is a fairly stunning fact, and Bernie deserves the credit.
It's time to reform our society from the prisons to the presidency. Don't listen to the status quo defenders who will tell you that the only thing that matters is beating Trump. That's the tune the establishment dems will be singing. We need to be rid of Trump to be sure, but getting rid of the present establishment is paramount. If we shed ourselves of Trump but are still saddled by the same old establishment, we'll still be just as screwed.
Remember that things have been screwed up in this country since long before Trump came along. His ridiculous reign has simply brought it all into sharp focus – but Trump is a symptom of a much older disease, the logical end result of a corrupt and hateful rightwing government that serves only the myopic, greedy, selfish mega-rich. We are all out of time for putting up with this greed, corruption and madness.
"Don't let the greedheads win." ~ Hunter S. Thompson
It's time.
Time to do the right thing.
Comments
Hey everybody.
I hope you all are as well as you can be under the present circumstances.
One of your most powerful posts, ever, OPOL!
Well done! From the heart: RIGHT ON!
"Freedom is something that dies unless it's used." --Hunter S. Thompson
I totally agree
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
@gulfgal98 Thank you gg.
It is a beautiful post
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
@bobswern Thanks Bob. I
OPOL!
Thanks for putting this together OPOL
These truths go unspoken far too often.
We need to shout them from the roof tops!
@jbob Gracias.
I do not support the Green New Deal.
It's not thought out well, it's a blatant fascist power/cash grab by corporate slime with a green smiley face on it. The rich will just move countries/states and change the laws to ensure that they can keep doing whatever the fuck they want while the poor deal with the mess they left behind.
You're dead right about the propaganda. It limits the discussion to topics that will never result in the change we need. Haven't heard one WORD in the Green New Deal about reigning in the pollution and power of the MIC. And you won't. Because it's the only thing keeping people in check. People don't stick their heads up because they're afraid of it getting blown up by a drone or a ATF sniper. Hell even wanting to NOT engage gets you a drone or an ATF sniper if you do it in a way that TPTB don't like. And you'll never hear about it on the news, because it's far more scary for the people to be targeted by someone they aren't allowed to confront than someone they see on the street.
I'm tired of dancing around their fucking "Feelings". The folks at the top are a group of fucking liars who are looking out for their own. Time we started doing the same.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS3QusbCXNw]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
@detroitmechworks You may have a point
Doing pretty good.
Took me a long time to come to grips with a lot of things. (Yes, that WAS a pun.) Writing again, but nothing I feel comfortable sharing here. It's under another pseudonym which I won't be sharing, but so far has racked up half a million hits and over 400 subscribers who are notified every time I post something new. Not a lot of comments, but a ton of likes. (To be fair: Free Book, but I prefer to keep my romance novel and my politics as separate as possible, thanks.)
Glad to hear from you, just waiting on the shoulder to finish healing before I get back to the art. And I'm just putting this out there, because craigslist and the want ads are no help these days. Trying to find an anvil! Would prefer decent condition with minimal rust, but I'll work with what I can get.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy1V5LHXWbg]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Real New Deal would incentivize SAVING, not more gov’t SPENDING…
https://www.theautomaticearth.com/2019/03/the-real-new-deal/
The Green New Deal --
my diary here, is an opportunity to point to the insanity of the political ruling class. They think it cuts into their oil portfolio profits, while the whole world dies of their oil portfolio profits.
-- as I pointed out inThe ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.
The Green New Deal
is a proposal, not a piece of legislation. It focuses attention in some of the places attention needs to be focused most. It substantially weakens the argument that environmentalist confront that they'll destroy the little that's left of American prosperity. It doesn't address everything. It has changed the conversation.
Why don't you wait at least for a bill close to being voted out of committee to make these sorts of arguments if they still make sense.
What does changing the conversation even mean?
I think we all know the answer to that.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMoPR2IA2Uk]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Conversations, IMHO, are good
Based upon my personal experience with a local Peace vigil, having these conversations with the public is always positive. With elected officials, definitely not. But if the public does not get in their faces and demand it, then the elected officials can ignore it. Our job as citizens is to not allow the elected officials ignore the most pressing issue facing mankind today.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
The "Conversation" we're having goes like this.
Public: Hi! We'd like you to stop destroying the planet for profit, and maybe stop bombing the place to hell.
Government:
Fuck off or we shoot you.
Now pay up, and participate, because this is YOUR FAULT.
Oh what? You're serious this time?
Ok, we'll do something.
Check back with us later, after the election, because we can't do anything until the election.
What?
That isn't what you were asking for?
Look we can't let the enemy be the perfect of the good...
And later the archangel gabriel appears...
look just because you think something is happening, doesn't mean...
and then the cyst was totally healed!
Why no, I have no idea what you mean about the large bags of cash. Clearly you're a conspiracy theorist.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u8teXR8VE4]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
The conversations I was talking about
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
This is a conversation.
The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.
Thanks OPOL!
A great summary read to start my day!
It only took us 200 years, but we've let the thugs take over. "A Republic, madam, if you can keep it", said Benjamin Franklin when a woman asked him what the Constitutional Convention was creating.
We didn't keep it.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
@Fishtroller 02 Thanks for reading. Good
You were silent so long, now you have spoken, 'chief' ...
good for you and all of us. Thank You.
When people think of babysteps, they forget that once a baby has learned to make its first steps, it's running vigorously after a couple of days and then bumps into everything and doesn't care about it, it falls and gets up again ... and runs some more .... and that changes EVERYTHING. ... Thank God for the babies...
Hope you are doing fine in your part of the world. Is your son still in Ukraine? I just don't understand the Ukraine. May be one day you write about it?
Thanks for writing here.
https://www.euronews.com/live
@mimi Lovely to hear from you,
@mimi Oh! He also spent some
Berlin?
And I am stuck here and haven't made it yet to Berlin aside from some 'extended family trip'. I can't get used to the overcrowded cities in Germany anymore. Want my peace on a piece of land, where I can grow food, have my own house and can do whatever I want.
But where is the money? oh, one day I write my story. It could be a movie. WTF.
Have a good one.
https://www.euronews.com/live
My grandson loved Berlin too.
He may be leaving Stockholm for London. He applied and was accepted for a PhD program at the London School of Economics. Even though the school is free, he needs to put funding together to support him while he takes a leave of absence from his job to attend class. This last credential would improve his earnings substantially and help him not to be so poor in Europe. Europe is expensive. A glass of beer in Stockholm is $9. He said if he wanted to sell his soul to the devil, he could work at the World Bank and make a ton of money. Right now he is about helping nations and the environment, not destroying them.
How great it is to see Daniel and Kevin off exploring the world and enjoying life.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
heh, even if he would sell his soul to the devil
he wouldn't make that much money. But may be with a PhD from the London School of Economics he would go up high places at the World Bank.
I just remember that most Americans my former husband's American collegues at the WB and IMF usually said they could make much more money outside the WB and IMF than working there. I guess it depends how high up your son could get.
Oh well, most people can't resist to sell their soul to the devil. So, what do I know. I lived for 12 years in Berlin, we got our education there and came from less privileged places. It took some efforts to get into the WB and the IMF. And, if I may say so, it helps to be not black too, to get into there. There, I said it.
Good luck to your son.
https://www.euronews.com/live
@dkmich That's awesome about
Not sure what you're pointing to here,
revolution or support for Bernie and the progressives in the democratic party? There sure won't be a revolution coming from anywhere within that party imo.
For some on the left, centrists, moderates, and incrementalists include those that support Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and the supposed left wing of the democratic party, i.e., it's all relative. That's for sure not a radical approach. For some, we feel the entire democratic party is the opposition in the class war, not just the leadership. On the one hand, you say you're tired of incrementalists, but on the other hand, you support "baby steps" from the dem party.
So what is it time to do? Vote for Bernie?
As for the Green deal, I certainly won't be supporting any "deal" that comes out of this duopoly political system, there will be only baby steps to further servitude to the capitalists and imperialists. They will take us farther from where we need to go, not closer.
Yup.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
You just...
insinuated that a good portion of this site's membership are insane. How civil of you.
Yeah, this political nihilism stuff is frustrating....
...what's the point? Anarchy?
"Freedom is something that dies unless it's used." --Hunter S. Thompson
Nihilism,
by your definition means that all political ideals are useless.
I never said that but I do imply that the current duopoly is.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
I hate our country's one-party system.
That is what it is. But, right now, in the moment (and for many years prior), we are--and we've been--dealing with "converging emergencies" (with the most critical one being climate change, and other matters such as never-ending war, the Mideast, crony capitalism, and basic capitalism, in general, and on and on) that need(ed) to be addressed (many yesterdays ago). In an emergency, one uses the proverbial tools they have to get the job done, at least until there's time to properly address it. And, yeah, it may be too late, as it is.
"Freedom is something that dies unless it's used." --Hunter S. Thompson
I disagree.
If I have a broken handle on a hammer and need a nail driven, do I use the broken tool, or do I create a new handle?
You're asking me to continue to use the broken tool because it's an emergency. All that will do is frustrate me further and take much longer. Incrementalism.
I'd rather use a rock. It won't be as pretty but will accomplish the same thing.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Eventually, a rock might be helpful.
But, there's this oncoming train we refer to as climate change...and the rock's not going to stop it.
"Freedom is something that dies unless it's used." --Hunter S. Thompson
It's what I love about this site.
We can agree to disagree.
The train metaphor is a great one.
Who's driving the train? Are politicians willing to apply the brakes as needed or is it full speed ahead because it's all they've got for their gravy train. Will the passengers (you and I) agree that the train is traveling too fast and demand it be slowed down even though it will take longer to reach our destination?
Mother earth doesn't care about the train or who drives or rides it.
We're all riding on the crazy train.
[video:https://youtu.be/vy1V5LHXWbg]
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
No, the "train," is climate change...
...and it's happening as we blog.
"Freedom is something that dies unless it's used." --Hunter S. Thompson
Yes, and
To quote this article:
It's too late to apply the brakes of incrementalism. We need to disconnect the engine if there's any hope of halting climate disaster.
Nope.
I insinuated that the duopoly is useless.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Yeah, well...
sorry I feel it was insulting. Maybe think twice next time.
Aren't we?
To adjust to a Demonstrably insane world IS insanity.
Fuck it, I'LL own that. No nihilism required.
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
It's not about "adjusting," it's about affecting CHANGE!
You can bitch about it, or you can do something about it. Pretty cut and dried, IMHO.
"Freedom is something that dies unless it's used." --Hunter S. Thompson
philosophy smear
Yeah! You can smear someone's political philosophy and call it "doing something", instead of "bitching". heh good one
peace and good luck v2.0
keep tickling those lizards
hee hee hee
Herein lies a problem
How can any one of us feel secure in a system in which private organizations are allowed to use tax payer money to install whomever they wish to the highest offices in this country. The Democratic party stated in open court that they are a private organization that has the right to choose their candidates however they wish, including in a back room and in the face of voter preference. The Democratic party installed the super delegate system which is designed to over ride any public preference for a grass roots candidate.
The duopoly is enshrined by rules making it nearly impossible for candidates associated with lesser parties or independents to have an equal opportunity before the voters. In the Presidential campaign, only the nominees from the Democratic and Republican parties are allowed to participate in the televised debates.
Further, I would add that our system of government basically prevents any representation of third parties whereas, in a parliamentary system, minority parties still can have a voice.
While I will be supporting Tulsi and Bernie because I believe in the value of their messages, I do not believe that anything short of a revolution will change how our government functions which is as the protector of wealth and privilege.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
well said /nt
https://www.euronews.com/live
you hit the proverbial nail
square on it's head
thanks
question everything
Well, for
But, there's this oncoming train we refer to as climate change...and the rock's not going to stop it.
TAKE that rock and bash the fuckin' driver in the Head. Then take over the controls,i if we can and have time.
TIME is the issue. We. Are. Out. Of. TIME.
For Effevtive Change..
What? Flail around Again in that political maelstrom-you takin' a piss? as the brits might have it.
I've had Enough of jumping through Their hoops for Their fun and profits. Participating in a Knowingly Rigged System(we All agree?) is no better than throwing my money on the table at a three card monte dealer.
Look, I don't have the answer, most of us have No Idea of the Scale of the problem. Unless they've done large scale logistics.
Can it Be done? Yeah, but the bastards that run the program work for them. And don't see anything wrong.
There's a post up about The Real Problem to progress, and that's the psycho/sociopaths that climb, and cling, to power.
Or we wall off their power(somehow) and do it ourselves(somehow).
It's not nihilism to finally be done with tilting at windmills.
peace
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
@Big Al Like I said, show me a
This might be a better option, particularly when you read
Union and Progressive Leaders Launch Organizing Committee for a Major New Party
"We, the undersigned unionists and activists, met on February 24 and 25 in Washington D.C. to discuss the next steps to a labor-based party. We unanimously concluded that Americans need a major new party rooted in labor, the struggles of working people and communities of the oppressed. We hereby constitute ourselves as the Organizing Committee of the Labor-Community Campaign for an Independent Party for this purpose."
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eLBYjXa89fMNrFqprGn1PRUcJrGs_Wb2/view
Failure to launch
peace & love
United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC)
US Solidarity Economy Network (SEN)
keep going
Here's the full text,
https://www.forapeoplesparty.org/our-platform/
We, the undersigned unionists and activists, met on February 24 and 25 in Washington D.C. to discuss the next steps to a labor-based party. We unanimously concluded that Americans need a major new party rooted in labor, the struggles of working people and communities of the oppressed. We hereby constitute ourselves as the Organizing Committee of the Labor-Community Campaign for an Independent Party for this purpose.
In the wake of the Gilded Age of robber barons and monopolies, unions and community groups organized mass strikes and social protest movements, and banded together in independent parties that led to landmark progressive reforms, from child labor laws to the eight-hour work day, from food and drug regulation to Social Security. They came close to establishing a major party for working people.
In the midst of this second Gilded Age of big finance and tech corporations, labor and community are uniting again to finish what they started. Together we will build an independent party of and for working people that can achieve the landmark advances of the early 21st century, from Medicare for all to free public college, from an end to mass deportation to the abolition of police violence against Black and Brown communities, from a Green New Deal to a federal jobs guarantee, from full labor rights to budgets that fund social needs at home, not wars and interventions abroad.
Our decision to form this organizing committee is rooted in two groundbreaking resolutions adopted by the AFL-CIO at its October 2017 national convention. The first affirms that, “whether the candidates are elected from the Republican or Democratic Party, the interests of Wall Street have been protected and advanced, while the interests of labor and working people have generally been set back.” The resolution also affirms that whether “labor’s candidate wins or loses the election, the results for labor and the 99% remain fundamentally unchanged.” The second resolution concludes that, “the time has passed when we can passively settle for the lesser of two evils politics.”
The implications of those statements are urgent and profound. Accordingly, our Organizing Committee will pursue two intertwined objectives:
We will build labor-community assemblies that engage around pressing local issues and run independent city and state candidates beginning in 2019. These assemblies will bring together local unions and community organizations to serve as the building blocks of a major new party. Assemblies will develop platforms rooted in the struggles of working people and select candidates to represent them.
We will promote widely within the labor movement the formation of a labor-based party and rally supportive unions to speak with a powerful collective voice.
The Organizing Committee will meet biweekly, organize labor-community assemblies, unite unions and progressive social movements, engage in local struggles on the issues, form a speakers’ bureau to present the campaign to interested organizations, develop a grassroots and membership dues-based fundraising model, design a cutting-edge digital and social media strategy to reach millions, and map out in greater detail the path to a party for working people.
With inequality skyrocketing, health care and student debt mounting, climate change roiling the planet, civil and human rights under assault, and wages and benefits evaporating, the majority of Americans are now calling for a major new political party, including an even greater number of young and working people.
With 80 percent of Americans now living paycheck to paycheck with little to no savings, a precarious nation is at its limits. Within a year, working people will be subjected to another economic downturn and another rigged Democratic primary. By taking steps now, we can be prepared to offer a genuine alternative in the face of those crises. Without it, Trump and the far right will continue to fill the growing void in political representation.
The Organizing Committee will build on the progress of the Labor-Community Campaign for an Independent Party. Founded last fall, the campaign has grown to 15 unions and organizations representing more than 100,000 members, plus labor leaders, AFL-CIO executive council members, and some of the leading progressive voices of our time, including Dr. Cornel West, Abby Martin, Oliver Stone, and Chris Hedges.
In 2015, a Princeton study revealed that the American public’s influence over the Democratic and Republican parties is so minuscule that the U.S. does not meet the definition of a democracy. The study found that the preferences of working people have a “near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy,” whereas billionaires write the laws.
Public trust in government has plummeted from 80 percent to 20 percent in the last 50 years. The loss of confidence stretches across the institutional fabric of American society, including public schools, the criminal justice system, big business, and the media. A remarkable 93 percent of Americans now say that their views are left out of the political process. A collapse of trust of this magnitude signifies a loss of the consent of the governed and a deep yearning for a new political and economic system.
In response, tens of millions of Americans have left the establishment parties, creating a swelling ocean of independents. Pew Research found that for nearly 70 years after the Second World War, more Americans identified as Democrats than Republicans. But about 10 years ago, the share of independents surpassed both parties and has risen sharply to the highest percentage in more than 75 years. This January, Gallup reported that 42 percent of Americans are independent, while only 30 percent are Democrats and 26 percent are Republicans.
As the New York Times stated last week, new parties on the left and the right are sweeping to power around the world, replacing establishment parties that have reigned for decades in those countries. “Long-established political parties across the democratic world are blowing up,” the column states. “Could America’s parties be next?”
U.S. unions have spent billions of worker dollars propping up the Democratic and Republican parties over the past several decades. In return these parties have given us mass incarceration, skyrocketing healthcare costs, crushing student debt, job-killing trade deals, unprecedented inequality and endless war. The corporate bosses would never tolerate that kind of return on investment, and neither should we.
We invite union members and community activists across the country to join the Labor-Community Campaign for an Independent Party. Share the campaign with your friends, colleagues, union locals, and community groups. Encourage them to endorse and join the campaign here.
Signed by the Organizing Committee members
I would say "trust, but verify," BA--
'cause, as I've posted in the past, Brana has been very much involved with the most Establishment of Dems. (He worked on both John Kerry's and Terry McAuliffee's campaigns--the latter, not that long ago. Yikes!)
I do agree with the statement that,
.
However, since the organization sponsoring this movement (4aPeoplesParty) self-describes as,
I'd have to say, 'color me a bit skeptical' that they (4aPP) would withhold their support from whomever the Dem Party Candidate turns out to be in 2020.
Particularly, if somehow, Bernie slips by DNC efforts to defeat him, and wins the Dem Party primary--as a Dem, since it was reported just several days ago that Bernie's already signed the DNC 'pledge' to run as a Dem, and, to support the Dem Party in 2020.
Now, could be wrong--hope so! And, will gladly eat crow if that is the case. But, I'd have to see it, to believe it.
Hey, thanks for posting the info. Think I'll start following 4aPP on Twitter.
As it stands, I figure that it'll be the Repubs who'll actually have the guts to launch an effective third Party candidate for President. (i.e., Never-Trumpers)
Oh, according to some anchors/hosts on Cable News--CNN and MSNBC--polls show that policy stances will not rule the day this election cycle. IOW, they claim that polling indicates that the Dem Party Base wants to defeat DT, period--that they don't care 'which' Dem Candidate does it. Now, that's me quoting corporatist talking heads, or parroting their propaganda, which is spewed daily--doesn't mean that I agree with them.
Of course, time will tell . . .
Blue Onyx
I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive.
~~Gilda Radner, Comedienne
Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.
~~Cicero
The obstacle is the path.
~~Zen Proverb
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Agree U.L.
I don't think a third party is going to cut it anyway, not for what we want.
Of course they do
Wasn't that how the Dems ran their campaign against Trump last time? Geez, I can't remember the last time these vomitus political pundits ever said anything that approximated reality out here where my family, friends, and neighbors live.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Agree, zoebear,
which is why I added,
My impression is that folks like Lemon, Cuomo, Hayes, Maddow, etc., are referring to the 'base' of the Dem Party. IOW, loosely speaking, the DKos crowd and their ilk.
Blue Onyx
I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive.
~~Gilda Radner, Comedienne
Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.
~~Cicero
The obstacle is the path.
~~Zen Proverb
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
This is a great start.
I hope it is wildly successful. The only issue I see is whether or not it will be a force to be reckoned with by the 2020 election. Time will tell.
"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
2020 is next year
Here's part of the email they sent out.
"Accordingly we formed a 29-person organizing committee to mobilize the labor and progressive movements and bend the arch of history towards a people's party.
As we speak, the committee members and their organizations are kicking their organizing into high gear. In the weeks and months ahead, we will be discussing our plans with unions and progressive groups from coast to coast, weaving the fabric of a new party with each town hall, rally and meeting. Now it's up to you and me to show that the Movement for a People's Party will power this historic mission at every step of the way. That is why I ask that you consider making a recurring monthly donation by clicking here. Your contribution will supercharge our momentum."
As I said, I'm not endorsing it yet, just spreading the word.
sounds good and I think the movement will come
ha, bookmarked the document.
https://www.euronews.com/live
You and all 10 of them. That's some critical mass.
Like Detroit, I'm pretty direct and tired of all the dancing. I too am tired of what to me is whining. This sucks, that sucks, he sucks, and how stupid everyone is for not wallowing in it. Acknowledging it and moving on with what there is is just too stupid for words.
Yes it sucks, and I truly don't believe there is a damn thing anyone can do about it. I personally think nothing will improve until we burn it all to the ground and start all over again. Having said that, what good is wallowing in fatalism and condescension?
Since that isn't likely to happen before the planet dies and my 20 something grandsons need to earn a living and have healthcare, I'll settle for a broken tool, a rock, my bare hands - whatever is the fastest and most effective response I can get my hands on. So let's see. I can join some obscure and small group of people who may or may not have a great idea, or I can join the largest critical mass behind the person or message that will give my grandkids the best and most immediate shot at reform and salvation that I help to create? There is no time left to grow anything from seeds.
This is not to be construed as me telling you can't wallow in fatalism and praise small groups with no teeth on c99 or anywhere else all you want. Just expressing how futile I think your opinion is. I'm sure you feel the same.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
That's up to you dk.
Whoa, Big Al!!!
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Confused
what about the people who just insulted Big Al?
Why is that ok? I seriously do not understand this.
I saw a disagreement of opinion
Moderators are not infallible and if anyone believes that I have been unfair in my moderation, I encourage you to report it to JtC. It certainly will not hurt my feelings or cause me to react negatively to anyone who disagrees with my moderation.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
I’m asking because I want to understand
Which I do not. Telling someone that their opinion is worthless is not a personal insult? The comment from future passed about the fire truck is not a personal insult?
To me, those are very personal and very insulting comments. If the rule is civility and no personal insults, I do not understand why those types of comments are ok.
Al’s response to them was not ‘nice’ but neither were those who insult him.
That’s my opinion as a complete nobody with zero importance.
To be sure
In my moderation, I used my subjective judgment as to when and what crossed the line. Generally I am a firm believer in less moderation is better. however, in this case, it was telling another member to F off. That is my own opinion and I own it.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Did I tell him to fuck off?
He needs to smile when he says that or it is a violation of the rules. Disagreeing isn't. This was a great OPOL diary until it dissolved into the usual anyone who works within the establishment is a fool schtick. How stupid can they be to do the same thing over and over. My oh my, when will they ever learn. Critique the facts, don't insult people, and I'm not just talking about Al telling me to fuck off.
With this, I'm walking away out of respect for OPOL. He didn't deserve any of this.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
I read his comment dk
It didn’t say any of those things.
Al was expressing “a difference of opinion” and I still don’t get why that makes him fair game for a slew of insulting personal comments directed at him. Personally. Not disagreeing with his views, but just attacking him on a personal level.
As JtC might say, very civil of you.
Well said.
As for myself though, I believe we have to change the average citizens understanding of what they can do for themselves.
Myself, and many in my local community, believe that planting individual seeds of knowledge will gain more than trying to change the larger apparatus. We teach others how to grow. Many could grow or raise a large amount of their own food but it takes a will to. we teach others about how to sustain themselves and those around them with the tools they already have. Everybody, if they try, can reduce their carbon footprint. Unfortunately, the majority have become accustomed to their lifestyles and will never make the change.
I have ceased waiting for the government to make the changes that we all need. I'll do as much as I can for myself and others as long they contribute in any way possible. It's those little combined efforts, the seeds so to say, that is humanities last chance if there is one.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Thanks, dkmich
After a long circuitous route circling back here, I think I get it now how I've allowed myself to jump down the rabbit hole vis-a-vis certain, er, ah, perspectives.
Ima geez and it takes me a while sometimes.
Nevermind.
(Too late to this party).
[EDITed to delete comment).
pst, Big Al, we know that, but some times some people
just want to be a little polite and don't talk substance. Don't be angry with me for trying to be nice to everybody.
https://www.euronews.com/live
If you were in a burning building
you'd shout down to the firefighters, get away from here until you can come back with a bigger firetruck.
You're saying that because I don't support Bernie,
No, he's saying that because it is true.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
If I were in a burning building
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
100 large corporations are responsible for the world's ruin.
Yet, we as individual consumers get all the blame. They've been doing that for years.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koqNm_TgOZk]
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
@The Aspie Corner I watch this program
It's not just the GOP, and they didn't start it
Gerrymandering predated the GOP by a long chalk, since it was named after Elbridge Gerry of the "Democratic-Republican" (Democratic) Party. As Governor in 1812, he had Massachusetts redistricted for the benefit of his Party, and one of the districts was so long, thin and twisty that it was likened to a "salamander" (not the familiar lizard, but the mythical dragonet that lives in fire). Before long the derisive term "Gerry-mander" was on everyone's lips. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering
Edit: You may well wonder if we have ever had a genuinely fair and free election!
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
MSNBC
Zerlina Maxwell also falsely claimed Bernie wrote the 1994 Crime Bill with Biden. Of course, she went unchecked by the other talking heads there:
https://twitter.com/prmtvatheist/status/1103070046459318272
And look at the comments for more very disturbing information about her.
Bernie in the House voted AYE, Biden in Senate voted YEA
VOTES
House: FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 416
Senate: Vote Summary
All actions, including signed in to law:
H.R.3355 - Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994
Chucky Schumer was a co-sponsor and all the Ds voted for it, because Clinton I guess. I almost remember, but don't want to really. Bernie would be doing the exact same things today if Her had won, that's what I think. He is pretty pretty consistently loyal to the Democratic Party, but I still love him. And Jane too.
Jane! Stop this crazy thing! Jetson future: stuck on the treadmill going round and round, as Astro steps off and watches.
woof!
PEACE
Edit: fixed typo first link.
@eyo You don't have to look
1. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/27/18240474/bernie-sander...
2. https://www.vox.com/2016/2/26/11116412/bernie-sanders-mass-incarceration
Sometimes, politics isn't as simple as a yea or no vote.
Biden's words about the crime bill
Why any black persons vote for anyone in the DP is beyond me. I'd like to see one thing that has helped them.
As I have stated numerous times Biden's voted for any legislation that hurt main stream Americans. F'ck you, Biden.
Sometimes, politics isn't as simple as a yea or no vote.
she
he
it
@snoopydawg Biden didn't simply
Also, there has been quite a bit of Democratic party legislation that has benefited working families over the years. If you have a problem with those benefits, you can always donate equal value of those you receive and will receive in the future to causes you think more beneficial to society.
Yes I'm aware that he did that
As well as many other legislation such as the bankruptcy bill and his crappy additions to on the war on drugs, what he did during Clarence Thomas's confirmation to the Supreme Court... I'm up on his wandering hands too..
I should have clarified that I meant recently and especially during Obama's wonderful tenure.
@snoopydawg With so many possible
More can see it now.
Trump wins.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
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