The Evening Blues - 5-9-18



eb1pt12


The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Carla Thomas

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Stax r&b singer Carla Thomas. Enjoy!

Carla Thomas - Baby What You Want Me To Do, For Your Love

"Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."

-- Mao Zedong


News and Opinion

Effort to 'Provoke Iran'? Right After Trump Nuclear Deal Decision, Israel Launches Airstrikes in Syria

In the immediate wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that America is withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, Israel reportedly carried out airstrikes in Syria and began mobilizing its defense forces over what it claimed were "abnormal movements of Iranian forces."


While the Israeli army said it fears Iran "is planning to carry out an imminent strike from Syria," critics were quick to cast serious doubt on this warning and argue it appears that Israel is the one attempting to pick a fight with Iran.

Israel's airstrikes came just hours after Trump's speech officially announcing U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear accord, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to applaud as "brave." In a tweet shortly after Trump's announcement, Yousef Munayyer, executive director of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, predicted that "Israel is going to try very hard to goad Iran into an escalation."


Follow the Money: Three Billionaires Paved Way for Trump’s Iran Deal Withdrawal

[T]oday’s unpopular announcement may have been exactly what two of Trump’s biggest donors, Sheldon Adelson and Bernard Marcus, and what one of his biggest inaugural supporters, Paul Singer, paid for when they threw their financial weight behind Trump. Marcus and Adelson, who are also board members of the Likudist Republican Jewish Coalition, have already received substantial returns on their investment: total alignment by the U.S. behind Israel, next week’s move of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and the official dropping of “occupied territories” to describe the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Adelson, for his part, was Trump and the GOP’s biggest campaign supporter. He and his wife Miriam contributed $35 million in outside spending to elect Trump, $20 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund (a super PAC exclusively dedicated to securing a GOP majority in the House of Representatives), and $35 million to the Senate Leadership Fund (the Senate counterpart) in the 2016 election cycle. ... Adelson, for his part, has advocated launching a nuclear weapon against Iran as a negotiating tactic and threatening to nuke Tehran, a city with a population of 8.8 million, if Iran does not completely abandon its nuclear program.

Home Depot cofounder Bernard Marcus, Trump’s second largest campaign contributor, contributed $7 million to pro-Trump Super PACs, $500,000 to the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), and $2 million the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF). In a 2015 Fox Business interview, Marcus compared the JCPOA to “do[ing] business with the devil.” He went on to clarify, “I think Iran is the devil.”

Adelson and Marcus also share a common affinity for the hawkish Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD’s Reuel Marc Gerecht may have set a record by publishing no less than three anti-JCPOA columns for The Atlantic in the past week.) Adelson contributed at least $1.5 million to the group by the end of 2011 (a year that saw a sharp rise in tensions and rumors of war by Israel against Iran) according to FDD’s 2011 Schedule A tax disclosure, and Marcus, the group’s biggest donor, contributed at least $10.7 million. ... Hedge Fund billionaire Paul Singer contributed at least $3.6 million to FDD by the end of 2011, making him the group’s second biggest donor after Marcus at the time. ... Between them, the three billionaires account for over $40 million in pro-Trump political money.

Trump Violates the Iran Nuclear Deal — Ignoring U.S. and Israeli Generals Who Support It

Guess who’s celebrating the president’s decision to violate a nuclear nonproliferation agreement signed by the United States less than three years ago? His new national security adviser, John Bolton, a former paid speaker for an Iranian ex-terror group who has long been obsessed with “regime change” in Tehran; the crown prince — and de facto ruler — of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, who claims Iran’s supreme leader “makes Hitler look good”; and the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, who constantly compares the Islamic Republic to the so-called Islamic State.

[G]uess who won’t be celebrating? The entire U.S. military establishment: Defense Secretary James Mattis, who says he has read the text of the nuclear agreement three times and considers it to be “pretty robust”; Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, who says, “Iran is adhering to its JCPOA obligations” and a U.S. decision to quit the deal “would have an impact on others’ willingness to sign agreements”; the head of U.S. Strategic Command, Gen. John Hyten, who says, “Iran is in compliance with JCPOA” and argues “it’s our job to live up to the terms of that agreement”; and the head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Joseph Votel, who says the nuclear deal is “in our interest” because it “addresses one of the principle threats that we deal with from Iran.” ... Guess who else isn’t celebrating? The Israeli security establishment. ...

So let’s be clear: On the one side, we have a dizzying array of serving and retired generals and spy chiefs from both the United States and Israel, none of whom are friends or fans of Iran, yet all of whom agree that the Islamic Republic is complying with the stringent terms of the JCPOA, and that the United States should stay in the deal because it bolsters U.S., regional, and global security. And on the other side? A former property developer and reality TV star; a chicken hawk who wants to bomb everyone; a 32-year-old Gulf prince who can’t win a war against rebels from the poorest Arab country; and an allegedly corrupt politician who has been claiming Iran is “three to five years” away from a nuclear weapons capability since … 1992.

This isn’t about security or protecting American — or Israeli — cities from Iranian missiles. Trump & Co. aren’t trying to avoid war with Iran. They want war with Iran

Israel Threatens Lebanon After Hezbollah Makes Gains in Election

Iran's leader lambasts Trump over US exit from nuclear deal

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has lambasted Donald Trump over his decision to unilaterally pull the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal, saying that his statement was “ludicrous and shallow”, as hardliners rejoiced at the US exit. “I say it on behalf of Iranian people, Mr Trump, you can’t do a damn thing,” said Khamenei, who wields ultimate power in Iran, a day after the US president broke with European allies over what he said was a “horrible, one-sided” agreement.

The Ayatollah said Trump’s statement on the 2015 landmark nuclear deal, also known as the joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPOA), contained “more than 10 lies”. He said: “He both threatened the system as well as the nation ... The body of this man, Trump, will turn to ashes and become the food of the worms and ants, while the Islamic Republic continues to stand.”

Hardliners in Iran have been given a new lease of political life with Trump’s decision to torpedo the agreement and reimpose economic sanctions at the highest level, seizing on an opportunity to consolidate their power over reformists who championed the pact. On Wednesday the commander of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards congratulated the nation on the US exit. Mohammad Ali Jafari said: “I congratulate and see as a good deed the vicious withdrawal of the US from JCPOA, which was not credible even before the withdrawal … It was proved once more that US isn’t trustworthy in regards its commitments.” ...

Khamenei said on Wednesday it was not feasible for Iran to continue implementing the agreement without making sure that the European partners in the agreement, the UK, France and Germany, could withstand US pressure. The EU wants to keep the agreement but a US exit might trigger a collapse of the deal because US sanctions will hamper European business with Tehran.

“It is not logical to continue the implementation of the Iran deal without receiving enough guarantees from three European countries,” Khamenei said. “Now it is said that we continue [the deal] with the three countries. I even don’t trust these three countries. Receive practical guarantees from them. If you can, that’s fine. But if you cannot receive a guarantee, it will not be possible to continue implementing Barjam,” he said, referring to the Persian acronym for the JCPOA.

Trita Parsi: I Was Targeted by Black Cube in Dirty Ops Effort Attacking Supporters of Iran Deal


Israel orders Human Rights Watch representative to leave

Israel’s interior ministry has ordered the representative of Human Rights Watch in the country to leave within 14 days, accusing him of supporting a boycott against Israel.

Human Rights Watch, a New York-based rights organisation, said the decision showed Israel was seeking to suppress criticism of its human rights record, and that it would challenge the decision in court.

Omar Shakir, the group’s Israel and Palestine Director, holds US citizenship. He has denied the accusation against him. ...

HRW said it supported Shakir. “This is not about Shakir, but rather about muzzling Human Rights Watch and shutting down criticism of Israel’s rights record,” its program director, Iain Levine, said.

US - Scrapping Iran nuclear deal raises doubt over talks with North Korea

Haspel Won't Say CIA 'Tortured' and Refuses to Say If Torture Is 'Immoral'

After presenting herself as "a typical middle-class American" who was brought up with a strong "moral compass" in her opening remarks before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, Gina Haspel—President Donald Trump's pick to head the CIA—would not admit that the agency has ever tortured nor would she say that she believes torture is immoral.

Asked repeatedly by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) to provide a "yes or no" answer to whether the CIA's torture techniques used in the aftermath of 9/11 were immoral, Haspel repeatedly dodged and at one point strongly endorsed the tactics she reportedly oversaw as an a CIA official, saying the agency "did extraordinary work to prevent another attack on this country."

Haspel went on to say that while she doesn't believe "torture works" as Trump has suggested, she does think the CIA's "program" elicited "valuable information" from detainees. ...

Though President Obama once acknowledged how the U.S. "tortured some folks," throughout her prepared statement and during questioning, Haspel repeatedly referred to the CIA as having a "detention and interrogation program" in which she played a pivotal role. However, she avoided at every opportunity use of the word "torture" and never once admitted that the agency "tortured" anybody.


‘Bloody Gina!’: Protest breaks out during Haspel Senate hearing

Plainclothes NYPD Cops Are Involved in a Staggering Number of Killings

There have been at least 174 fatal shootings by on-duty New York City police officers since 2000, according to an analysis of data from Fatal Encounters, a website that tracks deaths involving police. Plainclothes or undercover police were involved in 54 of those deaths, while uniformed police were involved in 41 fatalities. Eleven cases involved both uniformed and plainclothes cops. (Three of the shootings were self-inflicted.) ...

In shooting incidents reviewed for The Intercept’s analysis, press reports referred to officers wearing both casual clothes or specific disguises as either “plainclothes” or “undercover” officers. Because the NYPD does not release comprehensive data about shooting incidents, The Intercept’s analysis relied on Fatal Encounters, which uses open-source information to track police shootings but acknowledges that it does not supply a complete data set.

The NYPD does not disclose how many of its roughly 20,000 officers operate in its plainclothes units. But Joe Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said that a typical precinct will have a four-person plainclothes team for each tour of duty, or shift. The police service is composed of around 77 precincts across the city, with each day divided into three tours, so the number of plainclothes police working out of precincts on a given day is likely around 900 at a minimum. If officers working for the 20 or so transit, housing, and special-assignment commands work in plainclothes at the same rates as the precincts — about four per shift per command — the estimated number of plainclothes cops working on any given day would jump to approximately 1,200.

In other words, plainclothes officers, estimated to be around around 6 percent of the force, account for 31 percent of all fatal shooting incidents.

Thousands of teachers are skipping school to demand higher pay in North Carolina

So many teachers have called off work on May 16 to rally for better pay that three of the state’s largest districts already canceled classes.

At Wake County Public Schools, the largest district in the state, around a quarter of the 10,000 teachers called out. And Guilford County Schools only has enough substitute teachers to cover about half of its 2,000 teacher absences. Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Durham County, and Chapel Hill-Carrboro districts will also close. Those districts combined serve around 427,000 students.

North Carolina’s teachers, who make about $10,000 below the national average, called off work en masse to march on the state capitol to demand better funding for their schools and better pay. North Carolina ranked thirty-fifth in the nation for average teacher salary, and the state also spends below the national average per student. The teachers’ call for action follows walk-outs in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Colorado, and Arizona.

Last year, Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, proposed a bill that would raise North Carolina’s average teacher salary to the national average by the 2021-2022 school year, but the state legislature rejected the legislation. Teachers will only receive $55,000 by 2020, still almost $5,000 below the national average, according to the state legislature’s final 2017 budget, which Cooper vetoed and then Republicans overrode.

Iowa Bans Most Abortions As Governor Signs 'Heartbeat' Bill

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed one of the country's most restrictive abortion bills into law on Friday.

The so-called "heartbeat" legislation bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat has been detected, at about six weeks of pregnancy. Exceptions are made in cases of rape, incest or medical emergency.

Republican state lawmakers worked late into the night this week to push the measure forward. During Tuesday's debate in the Statehouse, Rep. Sandy Salmon said, "A baby has become something we can throw away. This bill says it's time to change the way we think about unborn life."

At a rally on Friday at the Iowa State Capitol, Suzanna de Baca, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, said the organization would file a lawsuit against the governor if she signed the bill. The organization tweeted, "We will fight like hell with everything we have."

The American Civil Liberties Union also announced plans to sue with the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

What Is The New Human Rights' Movement w/Peter Joseph

Trump calls on Congress to pull back $15 billion in spending, including on Children’s Health Insurance Program

President Trump is sending a plan to Congress that calls for stripping more than $15 billion in previously approved spending, with the hope that it will temper conservative angst over ballooning budget deficits.

Almost half of the proposed cuts would come from two accounts within the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that White House officials said expired last year or are not expected to be drawn upon. An additional $800 million in cuts would come from money created by the Affordable Care Act in 2010 to test innovative payment and service delivery models.

Those are just a handful of the more than 30 programs the White House is proposing to Congress for “rescission,” a process of culling back money that was previously authorized. Once the White House sends the request to Congress, lawmakers have 45 days to vote on the plan or a scaled-back version of it through a simple majority vote. ...

Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) said in an interview that conservatives were given assurances from the White House that this package would be the first of several, and he said lawmakers were anxious to get started on the cuts. “I hope it’s never painted that this is just symbolic or a political gesture,” Walker said. “We think it’s very legitimate.”



the horse race



Joe Biden Clarifies He's No Bernie Sanders: "I Don't Think 500 Billionaires Are Reason We're in Trouble"

With the so-called "invisible primary" reportedly already underway among Democrats for the 2020 presidential election, former vice president Joe Biden on Tuesday staked a bold  familiar position for the party as he tried to straddle the fence between the reality of extreme inequality and the apparent need not to offend the mega-rich who play such an central role in how the economy—and society more broadly—currently operate.

"I love Bernie, but I'm not Bernie Sanders," Biden said during remarks at the Brookings Institute in the nation's capital. "I don't think 500 billionaires are the reason we're in trouble. The folks at the top aren't bad guys. But this gap is yawning, and it's having the effect of pulling us apart. You see the politics of it."

While Sanders—who polls have shown ranks as the most popular active politician of any party in the U.S.—ran his insurgent 2016 primary campaign on a platform that railed against extreme inequality and the power of the "billionaire class" while also rallying support for an agenda that included a Medicare for All healthcare system, free higher education, taxing Wall Street, an urgent jobs and energy transformation program to address climate change, and an end to the "outrageous" size of the Pentagon budget, Biden appears more comfortable using the Clinton and Obama playbook of the Democratic Party that hopes to address inequality while doing everything possible not to offend the key beneficiaries of the system that drives it.



the evening greens


What Does Eric Schneiderman's Resignation Mean for N.Y.'s Exxon Probe and Environment Lawsuits?

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's abrupt resignation after allegations surfaced that he had physically assaulted four women has complicated, but probably not derailed, a series of high-profile environmental investigations and lawsuits that his office spearheaded. Being the chief law enforcement officer for the state of New York gave Schneiderman a bully pulpit from which he attacked the environmental policies of the Trump Administration and challenged ExxonMobil and its political allies. ...

It may be too early to assess the damage to the environmental causes he was pursuing. Much depends on who replaces him as attorney general, how robustly his staff carries on, and how effectively other state officials take up the slack. Schneiderman spent three years digging into a possible fraud case against Exxon over what the oil giant told investors and the public about climate change, sparking round after round of litigation in which he has been allied with Attorney General Maura Healey of Massachusetts. The work is far from complete.

He also scored some success against Trump policies, including but not exclusively those involving the environment and climate change, and he has filed one case after another challenging the administration in its broad assault on environmental protections. New York's national clout, its advantageous laws and its big, skillful corps of state prosecutors are all powerful advantages that survive him.

Although his resignation may not derail the state's investigation of Exxon, it could add fuel to the campaign by Exxon and its supporters to weaken public confidence in the New York and Massachusetts investigations. Healey's staff said Schneiderman's resignation will not affect her commitment to pursuing the Exxon probe. ... Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, who frequently allied with Schneiderman on environmental issues, said other states will step in if there is any void to fill. "Schneiderman was very influential; smart and dynamic," he said. "But this has been a collaborative effort from the beginning, and I expect it will continue."

The soil in these Indiana towns has 5 times the amount of lead the EPA allows

The soil in two small, Indiana towns is seeped with lead, but the smelting facilities that caused the problem are still operating along the border.

The boundaries of the towns, Hammond and Whiting, surround an old Federated Metals smelting facility, which operated from 1937 to 1983. Though the area has been polluted for decades, regulators are only just starting to act. The smelter pumped out heavy metals through much of the 20th century, but it wasn’t until 2016 that EPA employees dug up old files on polluted areas of Indiana and started to address the problem.

And the situation is bad: The ground in the towns has levels of contamination that are up to five times the federal lead standard for areas in which kids play, according to new EPA data. And an EPA sampling of soil at 30 homes around the facility in the last six months revealed 25 had high levels of lead. One of those yards clocked in at 2,760 parts per million (ppm); the EPA’s upper limit for soil that children play in is 400 ppm of lead.

Hammond and Whiting are located just northwest of East Chicago, another Indiana town that’s become infamous for its flourishing lead problem and weak regulatory responses. A review of Indiana Department of Health data by the Chicago Tribune revealed that about 8 percent of East Chicago kids tested between 2005 and 2015 for lead had high levels of the metal in their blood. ...

But even as remediation efforts move forward, Indiana state regulators in December decided to green light another lead operation outside Hammond and Whiting. A new smelting facility, operated by Whiting Metals, took over the old site and has since opened for business. How much lead the facility is currently emitting into the air remains unclear; the factory is small enough that it doesn’t need to report its emissions to the EPA.


Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

Intercepted podcast: Just Following Orders

Trump’s Shameful Choice of ‘Bloody Gina’

Freedom Rider: Trump and Israeli Collusion

Trump Vindicates Iranian Hardliners and Victimizes Ordinary Citizens

Giuliani Takes Cash to Speak to Terrorist Cult; Media Find This Unnoteworthy

‘A Result of McCarthyism Is a Much Narrower Range of Political Ideas’

The Political Gift Economy

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman Resigns Due to Sexual Assault Allegations, After Getting Away With Selling Out Homeowners

The Market Is Going to Test Obama’s Legacy on Wall Street Bank Reform

You Should Care About The Bank Exactly As Much As It Cares About You

Global warming is melting Antarctic ice from below

Terry Gilliam suffers stroke


A Little Night Music

Rufus Thomas with Carla Thomas - Don't Mess Up A Good Thing

Carla Thomas - Every Ounce Of Strength

Carla Thomas - I've Got No Time To Lose

Rufus Thomas & Carla Thomas - When You Move You Lose

Carla Thomas - A Woman's Love

Rufus Thomas with Carla Thomas - Reconsider Baby

Carla Thomas - I'll bring it on home to you

Carla Thomas - I want to know

Otis Redding & Carla Thomas - Lovey Dovey

Carla Thomas & Sam Moore - Knock On Wood

Carla Thomas - B.A.B.Y., Little Red Rooster, Walking The Dog


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mimi's picture

going on to find more s...ers and f....ers to put on my list.

Feels like a knock-out EB today. Good Work, Good Night, and thanks.

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joe shikspack's picture

@mimi

now that home despot has killed most (if not all) of the local hardware stores around where i live, it is going to be hard to find a decent, small hardware store, but i'm on the lookout for one.

have a good evening!

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mimi's picture

@joe shikspack
the only smaller businesses like hardware stores and others here, who survive, are those who own the buildings from which they operate and still have some living quarters in that building aside from their stores. In the earlier days there were no building codes that disallowed a business or store owner to live, work and own for all three purposes ONE place and operate legally from there. n my little town of around 30 000 ante portas of Hamburg Germany we had three bookstores, when I grew up in the sixties. None today. In Washington DC the story is even worse. Individual grocery stores are extinct. it's all corporate chains throughout. It's competition between three chains for groceries and two chains for drugs and household small stuff.

This morning I read in the German press a note about "Leiharbeiter" (these are the day-laborer which are "rented out" on contracts that provide no labor protection against being nilly willy fired. Huge (world wide) corporation who make money renting out day-laborers has now arrived everywhere. The income of day-laborers in comparison to other workers who are directly hired by companies, is 35 percent less. I was very shocked to read this statistic. Thought in Germany the labor laws are more protective and equally protective for all kinds of workers. But they aren't. Same situation as in the US, where my son just lost his mind to realize that he earns 1/4 less than other co-workers. You see, cheapest to hire, easiest to fire, the browner your are as well. Nobody likes to admit it. But it's just a fact, one that is denied all the time.

I don't know what kind of laws were introduced to successfully kill small store owners. Are these the building codes, who divides commercial and residential quarters and does not allow them to be in one building? Or is it that there are no corporate restriction as to how large they can grow and no restriction of what they can do with their profits?

Somewhere there has to be a method to control it. It is mind boggling that there seems to be nothing that can be done about it, as all parties involved in that circle are being bought, bribed or selling themselves out deliberately.

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joe shikspack's picture

@gjohnsit

i guess it doesn't really matter to democrats if they have explained what they would do if elected. all that's important to them is that they are against trump and russia.

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Azazello's picture

Today was Victory Day in Russia. Here's the fireworks over Moscow:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKY249AjJ-o width:500 height:300]
I think this little statement was at least as important as the fireworks.
Click the cc button if the subtitles don't show.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKCC9eBQ_vk width:500 height:300]

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We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

joe shikspack's picture

@Azazello

putin has certainly been making noises in the direction of developing an international non-dollar economy for a while, which i suppose accounts for a certain amount of u.s. hostility towards him. however, it seems unlikely that the u.s. can continue to prosecute a sanctions regime against a lot of countries (many with serious oil reserves) and not have a non-dollar economy emerge as an unintended consequence.

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joe shikspack's picture

i'm off to do some grandpa duty, i'll be back a little later.

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

joe shikspack's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

excellent! here's one that i ran across the other day that you might appreciate:

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mimi's picture

@joe shikspack
than the "ethically and morally accepted" plants. So, why worry? We'll always have weed. Smile

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Wink's picture

“ 'It’s totally undemocratic and unconstitutional to tell me I would need to support a Democrat even if they don’t display Democratic values,' Lynch said. 'This has nothing to do with party loyalty — it has to do with the establishment wing of the party not understanding why some of us are still so upset about the 2016 primary.' ”
via The Intercept

This is not just happening in little ol' middle of nowhere NY. Even the party faithful have had enough of the party b.s.

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

joe shikspack's picture

@Wink

wow, the establishment dems must be really desperate to hang on to their illusory feelings of control to try to institute loyalty oaths.

i am going to have to put aside more popcorn, these fools are goin' down sooner than i thought.

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Peter Joseph makes me think of Don Mikulecky (sp?) who used to write here once in a while about complex systems. I feel like I am starting the grasp the tip of the iceberg of Don's writings. I'm going to read that book by Joseph, of course.

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Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

joe shikspack's picture

@lizzyh7

jimmy dore has several more segments of his interview with joseph up on his youtube channel, if you want a bit more. i'm hoping to catch up on all of them this weekend.

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enhydra lutris's picture

think $500 billion could provide any measure of benefits to the country's poor, even though it is but a fraction of the total wealth owned by those 500 (multi)billionaires. In any event, he surely would never propose redistributing any of it to that effect.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

joe shikspack's picture

@enhydra lutris

i'm sure that the owners that pay off the former senator from mbna so well are not terribly interested in hearing him spout off about wealth redistribution. his only hope for the presidency is to stay in their good graces and reap the benefits that big money and corporate press approval deliver to his doorstep.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@joe shikspack

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

The Aspie Corner's picture

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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.

joe shikspack's picture

@The Aspie Corner

that seems like a pretty reasonable assessment of the energy situation. i think that it is also likely that there are pipelines at stake here, too.

i think that strategically, israel recognizes that iran is its most powerful opponent in the region and the neocon-led u.s. policy implemented since 9/11 has actually strengthened iran's hand. consequently, the israeli hard liners are desperate to roll back iran's gains by getting the stupid u.s. to engage in a war against iran.

the energy situation is just an appetizer for a powerful u.s. constituency to encourage them to support a war.

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detroitmechworks's picture

They're a goddamn millstone around this country's neck. A millstone with a million sycophants explaining that millstones are one of the fundamental pieces of equipment for swimming.

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

joe shikspack's picture

@detroitmechworks

exactly. well said.

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