This isn't that other place.

This post is an opinion piece and does not necessarily reflect the views of this site. Speaking only for me.

Not everyone who voted for Trump is a racist.
Not everyone who doesn't subscribe in part or in entirety to liberal ideology or IdPol is a racist.
Not everyone who speaks truth to your power is a Trump supporter.

IhateEveryone.jpg

All silly memes aside, I am posting the article below in full. Given the community nature of the Ghion Journal and the fact that there is no copyright posted or discussed anywhere on the site except for their graphics, I think this is ok to do. I did send him an email advising him and asking if it was ok. If he responds and says it isn't ok, I will edit this down to fair use. I am not going to add anything to what he wrote. He couldn't have said it better or more passionately. If this makes him and/or me a racist or a hater, so be it.

Race Profits: Fixating on One Racist, Neglecting the Root Causes of Racism
BY LIJ TEODROSE FIKREMARIAM ON JULY 19, 2019

squad.jpg

Watching beltway politicians, news pundit and media personality gnash their teeth in disgust, it is easy to overlook that Donald Trump is their best friend and cash cow. Pelosi, AOC, Cuomo, Colbert and every ivory tower liberal and so-called “progressive activist from the District of Caligula to Hollywood are popping bottles at this exact moment; instead of focusing on the root causes of racism and doing the work necessary to mend America’s deepest wound, they would rather fixate on the bigot in the White House.

Let me be brutally honest here, I could not care less about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar’s hurt feelings. Far from suffering from injustice, the so-called “squad” are currently hitting the media circuits, elevating their Q ratings, and burnishing their name recognition. In short order, they will all become millionaires while the people they are leveraging will remain mired in poverty in perpetuity. The truth is Trump did them a huge solid, he elevated all four from backbenchers to the forefront of political discussion. However, “the squad” did not get the attention of mainstream media without a cost; they all sold their souls and implicitly agreed to become pawns and tokens of Democrat Inc.

Instead of speaking truth to power and leading national conversations that casts light on the sources of racism, the media darlings of the moment swallowed their tongues and pretend as though one man is the epitome of all that is evil in America. There is nothing as malevolent as people who speak half-truths in the face of injustice. Contrary to popular belief, racism did not begin on January 20th, 2017; systemic forms of exclusion and prejudice have been aimed at “black” people’s backs since the inception of this country. When it comes to the sins of the past and the discrimination of the present, both Democrats and Republicans are equally complicit.

It is a given that Republicans are a party of piety, prejudice and profiteering; though they have duped a large swath of Americans into believing that the GOP stands for “conservative values”, the truth is the party of Lincoln has transformed into the country club of godless globalists. However, as insidious as Republicans are, Democrats have them beat when it comes to duplicity and malice. At least Republicans have the decency of telling you that they are not with you, Democrats on the other hand smile and put their arms around your shoulder only to stick a shiv in your back the minute you are not looking. Such is the way of bourgeois hustlers.

Here is one thing you should know about Democrats, they love to talk about injustice and harp about the unequal treatment of women and “minorities” when they are not in positions to do anything about it. The minute elections are over and Democrats gain power, they quickly toss aside the concerns of their “base” and drop to their knees on the floor in a blink of an eye in order to serve the interests of the very principalities that exacerbate social inequalities to begin with.

Who do you think created the Federal Reserve and handed the keys to this nation over to the banking mafia? Who do you think repossessed gold from Americans in order to create fiat currency and enslave Americans with perpetual debt? Who do you think passed NAFTA and impoverished the working class and cratered the middle-class? Who do you think gave over $14 trillion dollars to the same Wall Street criminals in 2008 while letting countless millions of Americans’ homes be foreclosed? That would be Wilson, FDR, Clinton and Obama in that order—all Democrats.

Racism is not just about taunts and insults, racism is a structural issue that robs hope and opportunity from tens of millions of “African-Americans” and minorities based on skin color and external traits. Racism is a caste system that uses color codes to assign social status. Racism is the disparate treatment that is evidenced in the way “black” and brown people are valued at work, school and in society at large. Racism is economic inequalities, redlining and gentrification that has effectively turned millions of “African-Americans” into second-class citizens in a country that their ancestors built with their sweat and blood.

Far from addressing the structural issues and economic inequalities that give rise to and worsen racism, these fraudulent puppets of corporatism are pouring fuel on the fire. The only way we can ever overcome the ugly legacy of racism is if we are able to galvanize a broad public movement that transcends politics and speaks to our common humanity. Democrats, Republicans and the media-politico complex writ large have zero interest in leading this conversation; to the contrary they are conditioning us to bash each other. As long as they can keep us divided and program the proletariat to bicker with each other, they will keep prevent a mass movement that can truly bend the arc of history towards justice.

Since Democrats and the liberal left are unwilling to address the disease of racism, the only courage they can muster is to rage at the symptoms. And boy do they put on an show worthy of multiple Oscars, instead of doing the hard work of helping the victims of racism, ivory tower debased (you know I don’t call them elites) turn to chicanery and froth at their mouth acting like they are mad at Donald Trump. If you look closely, that froth at their mouth is steamed milk for they are nothing more than latte liberals playing the part of social justice warriors in front of cameras and on social media.

To my fellow “African-Americans”, let me take this moment to impress upon you this one last message. Stop letting these malignant politicians and paternalistic politicians and pundits use you as billboards. Unlike some black pundits, I am not here to tell you to walk off the Democrat plantation and seek the confinement of the Republican jail cells. It is high time for us to stop being shepherded by civil rights leaders who are really paid agents of the status quo. Like Bob Marley said, we have to free ourselves of mental slavery; for too long the chains they have put on our minds is the idea that Moses would come for us from the establishment. No more, we must lead ourselves out of bondage and seek the mountain top of free thought.


“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil
to one who is striking at the root.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

If you appreciated this write up and believe that articles like this should be widely read by others and if you likewise support truly independent analysis, I ask you to support my endeavor. As noted in the Ghion Journal statement of purpose, we are a collective of writers who disavows corporations and we do not raise ad revenue, we are 100% supported and empowered by our readers and writers.

Lij Teodrose Fikremariam
Guest Writer at Ethiopians for Constitutional Monarchy
Lij Teodrose Fikremariam is the co-founder and former editor of the Ghion Journal. He is currently the chair of Ethiopians for Constitutional Monarchy. A published author and prolific writer, a once defense consultant was profoundly changed by a two year journey of hardship and struggle. Going from a life of upper-middle class privilege to a time spent with the huddled masses taught Teodrose a valuable lesson in the essence of togetherness and the need to speak against injustice.

Originally from Ethiopia with roots to Atse Tewodros II, Lij Teodrose is a former community organizer whose writing was incorporated into Barack Obama's South Carolina primary victory speech in 2008. He pivoted away from politics and decided to stand for collective justice after experiencing the reality of the forgotten masses. His writing defies conventional wisdom and challenges readers to look outside the constraints of labels and ideologies that serve to splinter the people. Lij Teodrose uses his pen to give a voice to the voiceless and to speak truth to power.

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who don't toe any political or ideological lines.

Just because someone has a hammer, it doesn't make everyone else a nail.

Note the edit at the beginning of the post. . By using your, my intent was two-fold. To allow the reader to identify their own leftish icon if any and to allow the reader the option of buying in or opting out of one or all of the statements listed. This is the Internet. I never assume the reader only exists at c99 even when posting here. I shouldn’t have tried to cover so many bases in so few words.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

@dkmich
a moderator here and to avoid any confusion, shouldn't you make it clear that this is an opinion piece and does not necessarily reflect the views of this site.

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@JtC

Will copy and paste your comment to my essay.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

@dkmich
oh yeah, and one other thing, I understand everything in your opening but this:

Not everyone who speaks truth to your power is a Trump supporter.

Who is the "your" that you allude to?

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@JtC @JtC

Criticizing (insert here) doesn’t put warts on something. It merely points them out.

Help?

Probably a Dem hero: squad, Bernie, Tulsi, Warren, etc

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

@dkmich
that just confuses me further since truth is a relative concept.

I'm just trying to figure out who you're so angry at.

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@JtC

Not angry. As I said in support of voices that do not parrot traditional and expected positions of the liberal left. Some people are eclectic and all over the board.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

@dkmich
so If I understand you correctly this piece isn't pointing to anyone in particular on this site because this:

As I said in support of voices that do not parrot traditional and expected positions of the liberal left. Some people are eclectic and all over the board.

describes just about everyone here, including myself.

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Centaurea's picture

@dkmich

I hesitated to interject myself into a conversation between you and JtC.

However, I am going to call this out:

Not angry.

If you're not angry, you're doing a darn good imitation of an angry person.

I don't mean this as a criticism of anger, yours, mine, or anyone's. I think anger - rage! - is a natural response to what's going on in the world we're living in.

I think the energy in that anger can be our ally, our fuel, if we can harness it and use it well.

We can't harness it if we're not aware of it. If we don't acknowledge and focus our anger, it can and will be a destructive force. One way that happens is when it gets distorted into passive-aggressive acts. Some of your comments in this thread are pretty darn passive aggressive.

(To note, my comment has nothing to do with the article you posted. I've read Teodrose Fikre's writing for a while now, and I enjoy and appreciate his voice.)

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"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi

"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone

@dkmich
to the edit you made in your first comment:

Note the edit. By using your, my intent was two-fold. To allow the reader to identify their own leftish icon if any and to allow the reader the option of buying in or opting out of one or all of the statements listed. This is the Internet. I never assume the reader only exists at c99 even when posting here. I shouldn’t have tried to cover so many bases in so few words.

"I never assume the reader only exists at c99 even when posting here." Then why did you title it: This isn't that other place? A casual reader would probably have no idea what you meant by that title.

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Alligator Ed's picture

Instead of speaking truth to power and leading national conversations that casts light on the sources of racism, the media darlings of the moment swallowed their tongues and pretend as though one man is the epitome of all that is evil in America. There is nothing as malevolent as people who speak half-truths in the face of injustice. Contrary to popular belief, racism did not begin on January 20th, 2017; systemic forms of exclusion and prejudice have been aimed at “black” people’s backs since the inception of this country. When it comes to the sins of the past and the discrimination of the present, both Democrats and Republicans are equally complicit.

Oh, this is so juicy that I can't help but salivate. Wait till the feces impacts the fan. Wow! Collateral damage will decimate the District of Caligula.

Thanks for your essay that proves sanity still exists. Yowsa.

Not everyone who voted for Trump is a racist.
Not everyone who doesn't subscribe in part or in entirety to liberal ideology or IdPol is a racist.
Not everyone who speaks truth to your power is a Trump supporter.

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@Alligator Ed

He is independent as hell. Read him all the time.

I just don’t want to see civil voices shamed. Glad you enjoyed.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

mimi's picture

@dkmich
Why would the author of this article support the Ethiopians for Constitutional Monarchy?
What kind of Monarchy ist that?

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@mimi @mimi I do not. My best friends toured there.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Centaurea's picture

@mimi @mimi is a form of government in which there is a king or queen, but he or she is limited in what they can do by a governing document (a constitution). No more "off with their heads!"; no more absolute power of the king by divine right.

Some current examples of constitutional monarchies are the United Kingdom, Japan, Spain, and Sweden. In those countries, the monarch is essentially a figurehead.

Ethiopia has not been a monarchy for several decades. The last monarch was Haile Selassie, whose name will be familiar to many of us over a certain age.
There is a movement to reinstate the Ethiopian monarchy, limiting it to being a constitutional monarchy.

The author of the article is Teodrose Fikremariam. He is originally from Ethiopia, and is actively involved in the movement to reinstitute the Ethiopian monarchy.

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"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi

"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone

mimi's picture

@Centaurea

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Centaurea's picture

@mimi and I don't know the answer. Teodrose Fikremariam is a descendant of Ethiopian kings, and apparently wants to see his bloodline back on the throne. From his writing, I don't get the sense that he wants people to worship his family as gods, though.

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"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi

"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone

thanatokephaloides's picture

@Centaurea

Teodrose Fikremariam is a descendant of Ethiopian kings, and apparently wants to see his bloodline back on the throne. From his writing, I don't get the sense that he wants people to worship his family as gods, though.

Exactly. He wants a Restoration like England and Scotland had in 1660, and Cambodia had in 1993.

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

lotlizard's picture

@thanatokephaloides  
were, in the 1960s, always denigrating Prince Norodom Sihanouk, whom all factions of Cambodian politics in those days accepted as Head of State.

The U.S., in the process of escalating the war in Vietnam, didn’t like Sihanouk because he was keeping Cambodia neutral.

In 1970 Sihanouk was deposed by Lon Nol in a military coup, who abandoned Sihanouk’s neutrality and became a U.S. ally, dependent on U.S. aid.

This didn’t turn out well, especially when, in 1975, it culminated in Lon Nol in turn being deposed by the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot.

A case where limited monarchy was definitely superior to dictatorship by a military junta or strongman.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@lotlizard

..... was against the bombing of Cambodia in 1970. I was 12 years of age at the time.

A case where limited monarchy was definitely superior to dictatorship by a military junta or strongman.

A pretty strong parallel to Ethiopia after the fall and exile of Emperor Haile Selassie.

Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

hecate's picture

@lotlizard
was not neutral under Sihanouk. All factions did not accept his rule. The long-simmering Lon Nol coup boiled over when Sihanouk moved to arrest him; people arrested by Sihanouk often disappeared and/or were executed. Sihanouk several times allied with the Khmer Rouge and served as its head of state for some years. Sihanouk cannot be considered your standard constitutional monarch, as he frequently, dizzyingly shifted the base of his rule from monarchial, to dictatorial, to constitutional, to electoral, and back again.

That said, he did finesse Cambodia out from under the French; but then was plunged into a maelstrom wherein the three rat bastard imperial superstates—the US, China, the Soviet Union—were all running their grubby little hands all over the region, directly and/or through their various cat’s-paws and true believers, roiling the place for decades, in chaos that would have had even christ jesus longing for the cross.

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mimi's picture

@Centaurea
and it said he went through two years of hardship, coming from middle class privilege.

Lij Teodrose Fikremariam is the co-founder and former editor of the Ghion Journal. He is currently the chair of Ethiopians for Constitutional Monarchy. A published author and prolific writer, a once defense consultant was profoundly changed by a two year journey of hardship and struggle. Going from a life of upper-middle class privilege to a time spent with the huddled masses taught Teodrose a valuable lesson in the essence of togetherness and the need to speak against injustice.

Originally from Ethiopia with roots to Atse Tewodros II, Lij Teodrose is a former community organizer whose writing was incorporated into Barack Obama's South Carolina primary victory speech in 2008. He pivoted away from politics and decided to stand for collective justice after experiencing the reality of the forgotten masses. His writing defies conventional wisdom and challenges readers to look outside the constraints of labels and ideologies that serve to splinter the people. Lij Teodrose uses his pen to give a voice to the voiceless and to speak truth to power.

Did he choose to experience the hardship or happened something to him that threw him out of his comfort into the reality of the forgotten masses. ?

It's hard to understand who he was and who he is. His writings are thought provoking and somehow courageous. Yet it's hard to know what he was and what he is At least to me.

He really looks very sad.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@mimi

Why would the author of this article support the Ethiopians for Constitutional Monarchy?
What kind of Monarchy is that?

spelling corrected

The author, who is of Ethiopian extraction, wants the country to restore its ancient Solomonic Monarchy under constitutional constraints, as Britain did in 1660 and Cambodia in 1993.

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

hecate's picture

@thanatokephaloides
makes him a freak from out of a time tunnel. Because what people really need is to party like it’s 1000 BCE.

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smiley7's picture

@hecate

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@hecate

which makes him a freak from out of a time tunnel. Because what people really need is to party like it’s 1000 BCE.

Haile Selassie, of the Ethiopian Solomonic line of Monarchs, was deposed in 1974 CE.

And lotlizard and I (and Mr. Fikremariam) have a point: several other nations have found a monarchy with limited powers to be quite superior to rule by military junta or some sort of dictatorial strongman. Again, Britain (where the alternative was Cromwell or someone just like him) and Cambodia (where the alternative was Pol Pot or someone just like him) are examples of this.

You may, of course, disagree with this idea. As with all political proposals, there are certainly pros and cons. But the mere consideration of the same does not make one "a freak from a time tunnel".

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

hecate's picture

@thanatokephaloides
noted above that this retovert wants to return Ethiopia to the Solomonic Monarchy, which was established in 1000 BCE. That’s where it belongs. Anything that even smells of divine right and power through blood is, to me, vile, and odious. As well as freakish. It's a relict, like trial by water, and needs to go, permanently, away. Best popped down the bunghole of a time tunnel, my view, to return it from whence it came.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@hecate

you noted above that this retrovert wants to return Ethiopia to the Solomonic Monarchy, which was established in 1000 BCE. That’s where it belongs. Anything that even smells of divine right and power through blood is, to me, vile, and odious. As well as freakish. It's a relict, like trial by water, and needs to go, permanently, away. Best popped down the bunghole of a time tunnel, my view, to return it from whence it came.

You do have a point, hecate. A point I've made myself. To paraphrase what I said in the Comment I linked, "Monarchy is still archy, and archy still sucks!"

Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

TheOtherMaven's picture

@thanatokephaloides

An "archy" of the biggest liars, deceivers and double-crossers. There is no form of hierarchy that cannot become corrupted and abusive.

That being the case, it is less important what the figureHead of State is, than how much they can do (the less, the better).

I think it was a Danish monarch who joked that his handkerchief was the only thing into which he was allowed to put his nose.

As for the Brits and their restorations, 1660-61 was far less important in the long run than 1688. Charles II agreed to restraints, though he chafed at them, because ruling the country took second place in his mind to chasing of skirts. His brother James II was quite different, and might have brought back the horrors of Bloody Mary's reign - but in just three years he was out, his daughter Mary (II) and husband William (III) were in, and the restrictions on the monarchy were tighter than ever. (William, the little tick, demanded and got a concession of his own, that if his wife predeceased him - as she did - he was to be permitted to continue wearing the crown for his lifetime.)

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Seems to me he was agreeing that Trump, et al, were spewing actual racist tropes, but that the "Squad" took the wrong tack to counteract it.
He just might not agree that supporters of racist Trump are themselves racists. We should ask him.
This article he wrote does not at all support the thesis that voting for Trump does not necessarily mean you are a racist.
That is entirely on you.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@on the cusp

No one would think otherwise. The point is that “the squad” started this, will profit from it, and brown kids in cages are long forgotten. That is the point of it to me.

He is even more cynical as he accuses the squad as Democrats of keeping and using race as a wedge and ploy.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

@dkmich @dkmich
greedy, exploitive, and self-serving that money would overcome any prejudices he held. At least that is my opinion. .

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

@dkmich He would give up his racist trope for money? You really think that?
Is that your reason for this essay?
If so, why isn't it stated anywhere in it?
I fell on my sword that I may have read Ghion Guy's article bassackwards, but did I do the same with yours?
I think, in the spirit of nonpartisanship, you and I agree that every voice from every side of the political spectrum should be fairly heard. Let everyone say their piece.
But when anyone supports anyone in power, like the most powerful office on earth, it should...no, MUST be said Trump is a racist, they are associated with that person. I have not read anyone on this board that they only support his foreign policy, but nothing else. I have not read anyone on this board that they just support his wall, but nothing else.
I have read they support him. Period.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@on the cusp

I think Trump would sell his mother for money.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

@dkmich I have no idea why you responded in that way. @dkmich

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

edg's picture

@on the cusp

If you think that people on this board aren't nuanced in the what and why of their support for Trump, then you are reading with blinders on.

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I think they called it out for what it was.
The first person to say the word "racist" in response to a racist comment/tirade didn't bring racism into the conversation. The person that caused the response brought it.
And I agree with the Ghion Journal guy that what they did is not enough. At least it is a start.
And I hope against hope they didn't call it out for personal or professional gain. I hope they start the damn conversation about institutional racism, which Bernie tried to do, out to the forefront.
I am going to sit back, see what happens next.
I question anyone who votes for the man who said the marching Klansmen were very good guys.
There were lots of other Republican candidate choices, as I recall.
I might just be the only person on this site who spoke with a person who witnessed a lynching.
My college roommate's Dad. He said it was a picnic, then the real interesting part began.
It involved castration, and whooping and joyous crowd. All with police complicity. It saved time and money not to have a trial.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@on the cusp

When Pelosi went after AOC for dissing her gift to Trump in public and on Twitter world, AOC asked her why she was attacking women of color. Not progressives, women of color. A black caucus member even accused AOC of playing the race card. Rank and file Dems lined up with Pelosi against AOC. Then Trump jumped in and fanned the flames and the whole thing did turn racist.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

@dkmich Now what? The women of color made IT a matter of race THAT EXISTS? in the USA, and in all political parties, and in all states?
Every damn day, in every city, state, work place, police force, judicial system, and has since the USA became the USA?
Shall we call them out as opportunists b---ches, or, maybe take one more opportunity, like Civil War, Civil Rights, Affirmative Action, to fix the problem?
No. Nobody should get money and power for that. Right?

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

k9disc's picture

The corporate wing certainly does. Nothing harms an old Jewish guy from Brooklynn's chances in a presidential election like saying he's a racist, or that his supporters are racist.

I am quite sympathetic to the arguments laid out in the article. There is no winning or value in the outrage from this situation, unless you want to agitate and manipulate voters and public opinion, in which case it's a grand distraction from war, famine, and economic collapse and the profits and power vacuum that follows.

Drumpf is a fascist, corporate pig. Pelosi is a corporate raider's tool. Why can't we have that discussion - why can't it just be "progressives" or "Lefties" that are being taken to task? Do you have any doubt that Pelosi would come after those of us on c99p for our political beliefs alone? Or is she really a bigot who has it out for people of color?

Drumpf is certainly in favor of maintaining racist institutions and trafficking in racial and nationalist tropes. Was he singling these ladies out and siding with a political enemy because they're people of color? Or was it because they talk about ending the wars and the Privilege of the Golden Toilet.

It wouldn't have mattered what color they are. Glenn Greenwald gets the same type treatment, is it because he's gay? What about Jimmy Dore? John Pilger, Greg Palast, Timothy Robbins... Do they get any friendlier words than the ladies in question?

I'm finding it harder and harder to stay tuned to the corporate media's reality. It's looking more and more forced, and more and more manipulative. This is a stupid national topic. Nancy Pelosi is not a bigot, she's a corporate tool.

Drumpf is a very wealthy bigot who uses his wealth and power to make more wealth and power. Anyone in the way of his wealth or the political and social leverage it affords him has got to go. I mean, they're probably not even real Americans, anyway, right?

@on the cusp

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

mimi's picture

As if I ever wanted to know who is and who is not.

Not everyone who speaks truth to your power is a Trump supporter.

What is that supposed to mean? What is my power? Nil.
This is the place? What place?
It is profitable to talk about race. Who would have thought. How much money did you make, C99p?

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@mimi

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

mimi's picture

@dkmich
And I am sick and tired of 'racism' discussions. I am always serious.

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@mimi

Sick and tired of the debate? That makes at least two of us. We should be talking about babies in cages, ending wars, providing health care.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

snoopydawg's picture

@dkmich

This wasn't the intent that gjohnsit had when he wrote his essay until someone decided to turn the conversation toward it which happens quite frequently. Maybe people could try sticking to the topic of the essays here and if they have something else to say they can write their own.

(Another suggestion I'd like to make is when people edit their comments could they please explain why they did? Quite frequently I'll see a new comment, but it's only been edited without explanation. When it happens to one I've already replied to I have no idea what has changed from the first time I responded. This is common courtesy)

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@snoopydawg

Essay. I had zero problem with what he wrote. Joe the kind and gentle spirit that he is made a supportive and open minded comment that I supported.

The Point of this essay isn’t even about race. It is about politicians and people who use race as a tool. It is about people and voices that oh fuck. The thread in this essay demonstrates what this essay is about. I ‘m done

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

gulfgal98's picture

@dkmich I actually have been avoiding commenting on this essay because I have seen comments made in good faith twisted, but here is what I see as the key to all of this.

The Point of this essay isn’t even about race. It is about politicians and people who use race as a tool.

It is very common for politicians of all stripes to use race a bludgeon or as a way of casting a good light upon themselves. It is also one of the best ways for the oligarchs and their stooges to divide us against each other.

I can name a whole bunch of ways they use to keep us divided, with race being the most emotional and obvious given the history of this country. But I also have see ways that politicians and some people here have used to consciously or unconsciously divide us against each other. Just a short list includes gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, educations, and geographic location. These are important issues, but when we allow them to override our ability to band together against those who wish to further enslave us, we are playing into their hands and allowing them to control us.

While Trump is dangerous, he is not the real problem. He is a very dangerous symptom of the systemic problems that got us to where a man like Donald Trump could become President of the United States. To label all people who voted for Trump as racists is not necessarily valid as demonstrated by their voting patterns in the Presidential campaigns of 2008 and 2012 when Obama won many precincts that were subsequently carried by Trump.

I am going to repost a tweet that snoopydawg also posted in an earlier comment because it bears repeating.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

k9disc's picture

All of them, too. Not one Establishment Democratic Leader can say they don't. If there is one, please name the individual. The article in question here speaks to this incident and the quick transition to strip all the public policy from it by taking it to the gutter in Drumpf's case and by suggesting Pelosi's motivation was racial and could not be ideological.

Like Nancy could not have had an ideological axe to grind? This entire situation is about Drumpf's gutter mouth and mind and Nancy's picking on people of color. It seems to me that the bipartisan Establishment public policy failure is not on the table. Medicare for All? Corporate Democratic Leadership?

Can't do that. To do that would be to allow racism to rise unchecked.

@gulfgal98

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

lotlizard's picture

@k9disc  
but they refuse because
(1) although positive accomplishment would help the country, they don’t want Trump to be able to claim a success,
(2) they want to get back at the Republicans for having had that same attitude during Obama’s presidency, and
(3) doing something would involve risk, it’s safer to do nothing and blame the inaction on Trump.

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gulfgal98's picture

@k9disc that the Democrats hide behind identity politics to avoid doing something of real value to benefit the people of this country.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

@mimi End racism, that will go a LONG way into border control, war, and so forth.
Babies in cages at the border is not being properly addressed by anybody.
Or, dying kids in Yemen. Or...
I could go on, but won't.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

mimi's picture

@on the cusp
Ok, I have to leave now and won't respond anymore. Going to surgery.

May be when I wake up afterwards, racism is gone, heh. Wink

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Centaurea's picture

@mimi for your surgery to go well.

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"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi

"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone

@dkmich You suggested that the Squad was capitalizing racism.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

thanatokephaloides's picture

This is posted in support of the few minority voices here who don't toe any political or ideological lines.

Your citation of the Solomonic wisdom of Lij Teodrose Fikremariam, on the other hand, is a very large shot in the arm for one specific set of political and ideological lines: those of us who advocate a Constitutional Restoration of Ethiopia's Monarchy. ("Practice Safe Government, Use Kingdoms!")

In honor of Mr. Fikremariam and his Cause:

[video:https://youtu.be/X2W3aG8uizA]
[video:https://youtu.be/U4e7kUgSQ00]

Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@thanatokephaloides

The message of the post.

He goes where facts lead him. No ox is too sacred. An open mind hear’s “his” truth. Agree or not, he is not a lesser man for speaking them.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

thanatokephaloides's picture

@dkmich

I hope your comment means that you got The message of the post.

Indeed. There were two major themes: one, to quote snoopydawg's comment below, "I think the point of this article is that no one is addressing systematic racism and that AOC and squad have/had the chance to do so, but failed." Mr. Fikremariam defended that idea quite well indeed.

The second major theme is that this really isn't "that other place"; and because it isn't, we are free to do what you encredit Mr. Fikremariam with doing:

He goes where facts lead him. No ox is too sacred. An open mind hear’s “his” truth. Agree or not, he is not a lesser man for speaking them.

And the way things are supposed to work around here (and to our credit usually do) none of us treats another of us any the less for an honest disagreement.

I hope that made sense, and was reasonably consonant with your Essay!

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

snoopydawg's picture

systematic racism and that AOC and squad have/had the chance to do so, but failed.

However, “the squad” did not get the attention of mainstream media without a cost; they all sold their souls and implicitly agreed to become pawns and tokens of Democrat Inc.

Contrary to popular belief, racism did not begin on January 20th, 2017; systemic forms of exclusion and prejudice have been aimed at “black” people’s backs since the inception of this country. When it comes to the sins of the past and the discrimination of the present, both Democrats and Republicans are equally complicit.

Here is one thing you should know about Democrats, they love to talk about injustice and harp about the unequal treatment of women and “minorities” when they are not in positions to do anything about it. The minute elections are over and Democrats gain power, they quickly toss aside the concerns of their “base” and drop to their knees on the floor in a blink of an eye in order to serve the interests of the very principalities that exacerbate social inequalities to begin with.

Who do you think created the Federal Reserve and handed the keys to this nation over to the banking mafia? Who do you think repossessed gold from Americans in order to create fiat currency and enslave Americans with perpetual debt? Who do you think passed NAFTA and impoverished the working class and cratered the middle-class? Who do you think gave over $14 trillion dollars to the same Wall Street criminals in 2008 while letting countless millions of Americans’ homes be foreclosed? That would be Wilson, FDR, Clinton and Obama in that order—all Democrats.

Racism is not just about taunts and insults, racism is a structural issue that robs hope and opportunity from tens of millions of “African-Americans” and minorities based on skin color and external traits. Racism is a caste system that uses color codes to assign social status. Racism is the disparate treatment that is evidenced in the way “black” and brown people are valued at work, school and in society at large. Racism is economic inequalities, redlining and gentrification that has effectively turned millions of “African-Americans” into second-class citizens in a country that their ancestors built with their sweat and blood.

Far from addressing the structural issues and economic inequalities that give rise to and worsen racism, these fraudulent puppets of corporatism are pouring fuel on the fire. The only way we can ever overcome the ugly legacy of racism is if we are able to galvanize a broad public movement that transcends politics and speaks to our common humanity. Democrats, Republicans and the media-politico complex writ large have zero interest in leading this conversation; to the contrary they are conditioning us to bash each other. As long as they can keep us divided and program the proletariat to bicker with each other, they will keep prevent a mass movement that can truly bend the arc of history towards justice.

There is one person who has said just that. Bernie. When he was asked about reparations he said a better idea and way to elevate blacks from poverty is to fix the system that has caused it.

Of course racism isn't new to us, but Trump is flanning the flames of it. When he was running and after he became president he called immigrants rapists and murderers. Who was he talking about? The people coming from Central America countries of course and not the ones who come from predominantly white ones. Telling the 4 women to go back to their countries was definitely racist in my opinion because he thought that they were in the same class as the immigrants who are fleeing their 'shit hole' countries. Did he even give a thought to they were Americans?

And remember who it was who started the f'cking birtherism saga during Obama's presidency. This was just another way of saying that a minority couldn't have been born in the Great United States of America. In my opinion of course. But that too was just another way to keep people from focusing on what the government was doing to them. Why did Obama take so many years to release his birth certificate when he could have done it right away and put a stop to the silly saga?

I'll stop here..., but I might have more to say later.

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hecate's picture

@snoopydawg
respectfully, it isn't accurate that "no one" is addressing systemic racism. To wit:

The central framing of this kind of thinking is that this is a white country, founded and built by white men, and destined to be maintained as a white country. For anyone to be accepted as truly American they must assimilate and acquiesce to that narrative, to bow to that heritage and bend to those customs.

It sees a country from which black and brown people come as deficient—“a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world”—because, at its base, it sees black and brown people as deficient.

It is a form of white identitarianism, which opposes multiculturalism, but refuses to deem that opposition racist.

And so, it chafes when these black and brown women from exotic-sounding places with exotic-sounding names would dare to challenge the white patriarchy in this country. Why do they not know their place? Why do they not genuflect to the gentry? Why do they not recognize—and honor—the white man’s superiority?

Start here: because the entire white supremacist ideology and ethos is a lie. America expanded much of its territory through the shedding of blood and breaking of treaties with Native Americans. It established much of its wealth through 250 years of exploiting black bodies for free labor.

And, for the entire history of this country, some degree of anti-blackness has existed. Now, there is an intensifying anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant xenophobia.

America was born with a congenital illness and it has been in need of active rehabilitation ever since, although it has often rejected the curative treatments and regressed.

Challenging America to own its sins and live up to its ideals isn’t a vicious attack, it’s an act of patriotism. As James Baldwin once put it, “I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”

And, who better to lead the charge than four women who represent the future face of America.

But, Trump—and many of his supporters and defenders—spew their racism and tell themselves that it is perfectly acceptable when it is read back to them, in much the same way that a dog will eat its own vomit.

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smiley7's picture

@hecate

I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain. James Baldwin

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snoopydawg's picture

@snoopydawg

So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly ...

... and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how. ...

... it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!

I don't see how this can be interpreted as anything but racist. This is from the article that Hecate links below and I highly recommend reading it. It states that Trump wasn't coming to Nancy's defense, but hiding behind her. Right on.

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Deja's picture

@snoopydawg

. . . and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run.

Yo, Trump! Aren't they actually elected officials in said government; therefore, their jobs are to actually run the gd thing? Asking for a friend.

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guy from the Ghion Journal. And sorry, but this piece is an unpersuasive screed.

But very gracious of him to come down from his inherited upper-class throne to deign to worry about the "huddled masses" and "forgotten masses". Sure. And I'm sure he will continue to consider himself and be seen as the 'umble Voice of the People -- once he gets back on his rightful throne.

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because they know he's a racist and they voted for him anyhow. Makes them a racist too. You can't ally with or enable racists without being one yourself. The act of doing so makes you one.

Racism is a choice.

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