caucus99percent

free-range politics, organic community

Bernie Sanders inoculated several generations with the idea that the US should step up and act like a democracy.

We assumed we could win if we just worked hard enough. How wrong we were, and how transparent and disappointing his transition (again) away from his candidacy to his old-time used-to-be.

Much of what was alive during that campaign is now alive in the protests.

The current administration and cronies are having a very hard time controlling the narrative, so far. The typical divide and conquer strategy is not working. Certainly we are united across race, across gender and across class to a great extent.

So, how will they divide us? Can they take control of the narrative?

‘Race Is a Social Construct, Scientists Argue’, Megan Gannon, 04 February 2016, livescience.com

“More than 100 years ago, American sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois was concerned that race was being used as a biological explanation for what he understood to be social and cultural differences between different populations of people. He spoke out against the idea of “white” and “black” as discrete groups, claiming that these distinctions ignored the scope of human diversity.

Of course one possible answer to the title of this essay is, "both." Nevertheless I submit that this question is extremely important. A recent superb essay on this board focused on how to talk with lesser-evil voting folks, and cited the infamous Chuck Shumer line about picking up suburban moderate Republicans while losing traditional lunch pail Democrats.

It's symbolic of the U.S. today. Poor African countries are alarmed at the deterioration of human rights in the United States.

I was talking with an old friend in Austin this morning. He mentioned a newly published study in the British Medical Journal regarding the use of famotidine to treat infected patients.

Hello dear friends, old and new! First off, I want to say that I know I have been away too long; I have massive time-management issues, that is pretty much the only thing that has been keeping me away from these lovely parts. I recently wrote a post that is currently pinned at the top of r/WayOfTheBern and "stolen" (lol) by the mods to pin at the top of r/Kossacks_For_Sanders ... a very humbling experience. An old friend suggested that I post it here too, which I am more than happy to do. I hope you find it insightful.

“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.” ~ Frederick Douglass

Truth is fighting a circular battle of distortion and resistance from all sides. Which makes disseminating information challenging. But there are still ways to get voices like Garrick McFadden heard in the fight for racial justice. So, instead of posting the column I had originally planned for today, I am presenting his words instead. His experience as a black man living in the U.S. is both a powerful and sobering message and one I hope you will share with others.