I don't know how anyone can pay attention to American gong show which is American politics. I pay the least attention possible to just see what's going on.
Voting for a third party, like the Green Party and Jill Stein, is a rejection of this BS. I hope lots of Americans vote third party.
Not contradictory at all. The establishment's two clown picks are either one an equal vote for the establishment. Vote 3rd party and cast a vote against buying into the establishment's distraction game.
Stein cannot win any more than Roseanne Barr or any of the rest of the "hobby" candidates. The "serious" candidates are in it for the power, the rest are in it because they are after a quick buck, or are delusional.
Of course she can't, and if she could, she would be neutered or assassinated. That isn't the point. It's saying fuck you to the system, a protest vote if you will.
I don't get why you feel that you must. (I think that: If you vote, you endorse the system. If you don't, you demonstrate your understanding.) Seriously, why vote?
Marci, a democracy works best when each voter votes for the person who the voter believes will be best for the country. Isn't that the justification of a democratic form of government? Of THE PEOPLE?
Think about it. The people like russian_bot here who tell you to support the duopoly don't understand what a democracy is. They are the ones who have created this duopoly.
To illustrate, Congressmen play politics all the time, including with their votes in Congress. They make deals. It's so dirty, it's called "making sausage." Thus, people like russian_bot are only making sausage when they vote to keep the other guy out, for instance, instead of voting for who they believe is best for the country. I'm amazed at the wrongheadedness in such an approach. They actually believe their vote is effective in keeping the other guy out, with the belief, "this is what everyone should do." Ridiculous. But when you vote for whom you think is best is a noble exercise of your democratic right. And isn't "what everyone should do?"
It's very likely that if a significant portion of the voters voted outside the duopoly, both the Dems and Repugs will change their tune. For instance, if the Dems or Repugs lost this election by ten percent of their votes going outside the duopoly, you can bet that their platforms will change in the next election.
Thus, do you want to participate in democracy with honor, or make sausage?
I find your form of naivety quite charming. Infantile but charming.
Participating with honor is such a quaint concept and really has no place in politics and never has.
If the majority of voters voted outside the duopoly the wholly owned media would never tell anyone about it. Just as they do now they would pick the winner and announce it to the world and most will believe the lie.
>>"Propaganda is best ignored for your own sanity."
Unfortunately, propaganda is all too pervasive and permeates every aspect of our lives (whether we are aware of it or not). It is impossible to ignore. BUT, people can be educated (I don't mean formal education) to recognize it, think critically about it, know how it works and how it is used to gaslight and brainwash people, know how it is used for psychological manipulation, and observe and analyze how different industries (advertising, public relations, marketing, politics, etc.) employ the different methods of propaganda.
Hello Chang, I think most of us here know and have known from way back, about propaganda, gaslighting, brainwashing and psychological manipulation that is inherent in so called democracies. But after knowing it.... then what?
It amazes me to see the flag waving crowds who show up at these theatrical political rallies. Maybe from now on the rally will come with a stray bullet, all the better to keep the crowd animated to think their hero is risking his life for their cause!
Do they still believe in the biggest lie of all " Government of the people; by the people; for the people"?
I would say some (not most) of us in this substack know it - but not even that. They may be able to recognize some of it in the US, but many people fail to recognize that it is global - it happens in China, Russia, Iran, India, etc. too - though they fail to see it (or call it out). Russia, China, Iran, India, etc. are "NOT BETTER" to its own citizens than the US. (Here I'm talking about ordinary people, not the elites of these countries or the bourgeoisie that people hear about in the Western world). Unfortunately, most people fail to realize it. Think about it - how many people do we have in the comments section here from Russia/China/Iran/India/etc. sharing their own experiences to counterbalance the majority of Western opinions?
But I digress.
>>"But after knowing it.... then what?"
Just knowing about propaganda without change in thought, behavior, and actions is useless (IMHO). Just as Caitlin here does, it is incumbent on those that understand (like us for example) to bring that awareness to others - to dismantle the facades and structures hidden by smoke and mirrors - in discussions, conversations, organizations, gatherings, etc.
Just as knowing about different kinds of scams, frauds, grifters, con artists, swindlers, tricksters, impostors, charlatans, quacks, hoaxers, bullshitters, etc. and their methods get people to be more aware and think more critically (so as not to fall for their schemes), so also knowing about the different methods of propaganda makes people more aware of not falling for the brainwashing, gaslighting, deceptions, psychological manipulations, etc. of those in positions of power/authority/elites/etc. Hopefully, it will cause people to think and engage more critically to the behavior of others and what they see in their everyday lives.
This "awareness" should cause people to make different decisions, associate
with different people, take different actions (than they otherwise would), etc.
>>"It amazes me to see the flag waving crowds..."
It doesn't amaze me at all. I expect it. It is challenging to wake people up from their life-long narratives and ingrained belief-systems (and I don't attribute it to stupiditiy or education or any of that).
>>"Do they still believe in the biggest lie of all..."
Yes, unfortunately they do. This is the illusion that maintains the status quo - the mirage - that is a major hindrance/obstacle to making desperately needed real-changes to the world and its systems.
What you say doesn't seem to make any sense to me. Specifically, there are two political parties. Those two parties have control of the election process. The US Constitution specifies the Electoral College elects the president. 270 Electoral College votes are needed to elect the president. There are two problems with any other party attempting to elect a president.
1. There is no funding capable of spreading sufficient information actually to elect someone. Any votes cast for a third-party candidate will only detract from one of the two main candidates.
2. If by some miracle enough votes were cast to elect a third-party candidate, it would mean that no candidate would earn the necessary 270 Electoral College votes. In that case, the election would be given to the House of Representatives to determine who the president should be. Under the current makeup of the HR, the Republican would be awarded the presidency..
- fwo of them have control the electoral process, and mostly at national level
- funding is the primary means of promoting a candidate...on brain dead terms...which would defeat the purpose
The proper approach to upending this system is not merely "third party" candidates but rather a long term effort to flood the political system with more parties and crumble the facade of two large blocks.
So pushing only for a "third candidate" every four years as a "now or never" is a doomed mission. And it's the only mission you assume is valid.
In this light, any and all efforts to field candidates and normalise a variety of options is a good long term move. As the old saying goes, "Rome was not built in a day".
People need to unplug from the dead end mindset of media-based artificial emotional moments and politics of personality and celebrity. This is long term generational work here. Its not about money or "likes" and there are not any Hollywood moments in this.
This is not matter of collecting likes. It's a matter of changing mindsets. It's a matter of grinding out and detoxifying all interactions that turn young people into establishment fans who question nothing. It's generational work.
You need to drop the social media mindset - that's a disjointed landscape full of ephemeral and forgotten slogans. Precisely what the fake left wants you to do.
You want real change. It takes work and time. There is no hero saviour, and there is no quick fix.
I think you should know what’s going on in politics! By picking a third party candidate you’re on the wrong side of democracy because it’s a vote for Trump! At least read Project 2015; Trump’s playbook!
So much agonising over Trump and Biden, whether to vote at all or whether to vote Green when the elections themselves will ultimately barely affect the future. Asia is rising, America is diminishing. The Global Majority inherit the climate crisis.
With all this awfulness there HAS to be a time soon when an 'awakening' happens.
It will come I think as China/Russia/Kenya/possibly India stop using the dollar. At present they are investing in gold so I hear BUT then that's 'news' I read: is it true or not.
I've been waiting 50 years for the American people to wake up. We have sunk to an intolerable level and still they're dazed by the propaganda. How much longer will it take?
kenya? is a 'special partner' outside nato and are policing haiti on empire's behalf, iirc. they had to roll back their imf austerity plans though, because of significant protests.
They are indeed all phonies playing roles in a WWF-style "battle royale".
But the biggest sign of what Is going in is that they (rightly) decry violence at in the US ....while continuing to be supporters of violent conflict in Ukraine and outright mass murder in Palestine. They continue to support even as the US have even just now doubled down on militarising outright nazis in Ukraine:
When we all know violence is not OK in inside the US, why on earth then is endless global violence the official foreign policy of the United States and its vassals?
The school shootings are not done by the politicians, so I wont put that on them, but but all that killing abroad is and its the polar opposite of the"civility and respect" that Obama is posting about.
Chris Hedges says, and I agree with him, that all of American society is based on violence. The school shootings are as much a part of the underlying state of the United States as the wars abroad.
Yes, Susan Mercurio. Just like a deranged person goes on a killing spree with an all too accessible lethal weapon, the US government goes on a full scale killing of people all over the world.
Hedges is extreme, but he has a point. We go to war, we support killing, we pay others to kill for us. This is VIOLENCE enacted my childishness. Grown ups negotiate. They outgrow violence. They talk to each other and find common ground.
This is one of Trump's talents. Sorry to tell you, but he avoided a lot of internationally violence.
No. Trump is as violent as the rest and he implemented mass violence abroad as president. Just not in Ukraine is all. He was and is still a fully paid up member of the war war war crew.
"Stupid question............many countries live without guns!"
Stupid answer! You mean there are many countries where only the government has guns...not the proles. Many of those countries have a subjugated populace.
It would be best if no one had guns. However, the vast majority of nations in the world have strict gun control laws (some police forces don't carry guns), most of the world's population does not own a gun (and when they do it's not hand guns and assault weapons), and all of those nations have fewer deaths from guns and fewer people in their prisons than the USA. Finally, the vast majority of people who kill kids in schools, at concerts and events, or sniping from a roof top do not have criminal records when they do that.
"However, the vast majority of nations in the world have strict gun control laws (some police forces don't carry guns), most of the world's population does not own a gun (and when they do it's not hand guns and assault weapons), and all of those nations have fewer deaths from guns and fewer people in their prisons than the USA."
Which brings to mind the trans "man" who shot up the Presbyterian church school because (according to its diary), they were "privileged". The Biden administration press conference regarding it featured Genocide Joe joking about ice cream, while his press secretary doubled down on reassuring the Alphabet Mafia that "We've got your backs!" So, according to this administration, shooti g up schools is A-OK, as long as it's a church-affiliated school.
But violence is OK within the USA. Note the number of school children, concert and event goers, wives, girlfriends, kids going for candy, people walking down the street that are killed by their "fellow Americans" on a daily basis. Violence is only not OK when it is used against one of those firmly ensconced in the capitalist power structure. For the vast majority of Americans, the power structure doesn't care if they were all wiped out as Gazans are being wiped out, except they might have a concern at the loss of that number of customers to fleece.
Remembering the contempt I felt for Bush & Cheney and the “shock & awe” against the people of Iraq—thinking U.S. foreign policy, long heinous record and all, was kinda crossing new thresholds with this brutal destruction & occupation. Bush was the worst!
~~
Wouldn’t you know….Obama sailed right past the aforementioned mendacious and malevolent motherfuckers to do the most dirty shit it would make Poppy Bush proud.
~~
So if someone had told me 20 years ago that the terror, death, & destruction the United States unleashed in Iraq was just a warm-up and that the next President (I voted for him) would end up being someone I would despise exponentially more (yes, I think that’s fair) than Bush-Cheney…I don’t know my reaction. But I do know my present-day reaction to Obama. He’s simply the most galling personality on Earth to me. The despicable meter broke.
I think I'd disagree slightly, in that those Dems with their bullshit sympathy probably would quite like to see Trump dead. If he had actually been killed, their tweets would have been just as empty and meaningless.
The most depressing part of this whole post was seeing that Obama's platitude got 822k likes. So many pathetic simps 😞
They'd have been considerably happier to see him dead, though. I have my suspicions the "Well wishes" are not entirely of an honest or authentic nature.
The western world is unraveling as fast as the U.S. now. Maybe even faster. Thirty years ago I entertained the notion of immigrating to Australia but I am very glad I didn't now. Not that the U.S. is any better but at least it is the evil I know. I can cover up here and wait it out, much like other major storms. They all pass and we go out afterwards and clean up the mess. Assess the damage and figure it out from there. If, as I suspect, the U.S. and the western world, collapses soon, I will survive as best as I can and keep moving forward one step at a time. I have been through other political and economic tragedies and I will weather this one as well. I know how to grow and forage for food so I won't starve to death but it would be a tough go for a while. I have been there before so it won't come as a surprise. But for the majority of the spoiled westerners, the great famine will commence and it won't be pretty.
Completely agree with you, Terrence. Plus, I’m trying and succeeding at forming little cooperative groups that will check in with each other and share what we have—you grow corn, I’ll grow tomatoes, you beans, or let’s build a bike powered generator this weekend or can So and So use these second hand clothes/shoes for her kid? These are tiny “co-operatives” but they are fun and helpful and neighborly.
I am glad to read that you are able to set up that kind of cooperative. Not many people want to do that anymore in the west. I remember when we had that decades ago before the advent of the internet. In the new modern world we live in, if the electric network goes down taking the internet with it, the majority of the younger population would be lost and would die out before learning what their parents or grandparents knew. Lost skills would need to be relearned. Which can be done but not before a lot of people would die of hunger and disease. We see this happening in places like Sudan right now. The U.S. is closer than we know to this right now.
The neo liberal world order would be scared shitless of cooperatives. Provide the coops adhere to tried and true principles without any neoliberal infection, behold the power of collective strength.
Well I don’t share your pessimism with the younger generation. They know plenty about cooperation and how to “live off the land”. Maybe you’re thinking of their parents, that yuppie generation who never saw a corporate power grab they didn’t just LOVE! That generation is between 50 and 65 now and wow are they going to be surprised when their life style has to change or die motherfucker, as we say here in reality.
Indeed! And I’m going to try to stay healthy so I can share with them anything that I can still do when I’m old-er! I’m already old! House sit, dog walk, drive to the air port—😁. Of course my help is only good in a still functioning high level society. In a blown society I’ll be pretty useless.
I raised a child, now in her late forties, who despises gardening / landscaping. I always think, how the fuck did this happen? She grew up with my love for all things flora, which I inherited from my own father.
If the Bidens, Obamas, Harris-Emhoffs were praying as hard for the recovery of all the wounded, traumatized, starving, displaced, suffering Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank as they do for Trump's recovery, the Palestinians still wouldn't have a hope in hell. Because what do the Bidens, Obamas, Harris-Emhoff and their ilk really care about anything but their own image?
“…. Israeli airstrikes massacre hundreds across Gaza over the weekend
Kevin Reed
14 hours ago
The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Sunday that the Israeli military has killed hundreds and injured 400 others in multiple airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave since Saturday….”
Where is the rage? Where is the disgust? Where are the cries, shouts, screams for this horror to stop? Nowhere in Washington, Ottawa, London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Amsterdam, Brussels, Canberra, or any other Western capitol, or in Muslim countries! https://dianeengelhardt.substack.com/p/under-the-rubble
Australia is just joining the rest of the world in denouncing any criticism of Israel. It is a disease that is spreading. World leaders are especially susceptible.
Thank you for a little insight into OZ politics. I'm sick to death of hearing about the US. Fortunately soon neither Trump nor Biden will matter at all on the world stage as multipolarity rises and rises.
"Their only job is to keep you clapping along with the two-handed puppet show as they rob you blind and tighten your chains while your gaze is fixed on the performance."
Yes, indeed, bread and circuses all around
"This comes just days after the Australian government appointed its first “anti-semitism envoy”, a move many have feared would lead to crackdowns on speech that is critical of Israel.
I really cannot overstate how crazy and evil this is. This is probably a good time to once again share my periodic reminder that Australia has no bill of rights, and it shows."
And the media, like Sky News, is ape shit for Zionism.
I'm not into predictions, but my guess is that this assassination-attempt incident will be turned into another call for more Internet Censorship. Violent video games and Entertainment Industry Products more generally (military propaganda) get routinely thrown out of Court, but somehow the Internet "radicalizes" some users, like our Mystery Man shooter du jour. Big Party politics, the Duopoly, in America are two labels for the same brand of toothpaste.
Celia Farber has the supposed statement about being denied the order to take out the snipper, by the kneeling police/Secret-service sniper who had a bead on him for minutes before he fired on Trump.
She has a couple of other videos of odd behavior just before Trump was shot, including the (impressively odd) lady with the black hat right behind him and a Secret Service guy clearing the area behind him (which is less impressive to me).
Sadly can’t remember his name now but there was a great iconoclastic journalist in the Cheney Rein who said “you can borrow our Bill of Rights, we’re not using it” Still true.
No, but that would have been great. This guy was not as well known as Gore, and always wore a fedora, somewhat in jest I think, because he was an intrepid investigative reporter. Remember those?
Oooooooo, you mind saver!!! ayes, Greg Palast. Loved that guy! And now I LOOOVE you for pulling that name up so I don’t have to lie awake tonight alternately searching my feeble memory for his name, or berating myself for having such a feeble memory. THANK YOU!
I don't know how anyone can pay attention to American gong show which is American politics. I pay the least attention possible to just see what's going on.
Voting for a third party, like the Green Party and Jill Stein, is a rejection of this BS. I hope lots of Americans vote third party.
You can't fix a corrupt system by plugging a third party into it.
You need to clean out the system and start anew.
that's my take on it, too. the system is so rigged no 3d party can win.
That may be true, but I can still make a statement that I reject the status quo by voting third party: Jill Stein 2024 is the anti-war choice.
Two completely contradictory sentences. The cognitive dissonance and illogic just blows my mind.
The election is a sham, so ... vote! vote! vote!
Not contradictory at all. The establishment's two clown picks are either one an equal vote for the establishment. Vote 3rd party and cast a vote against buying into the establishment's distraction game.
"cast a vote" in a fraudulent system. That means you agree with the system, you participate in it, you legitimize it.
The fact it's so hard to understand is once again confirming the old adage - people deserve the governments they have. They really do.
Stein cannot win any more than Roseanne Barr or any of the rest of the "hobby" candidates. The "serious" candidates are in it for the power, the rest are in it because they are after a quick buck, or are delusional.
Of course she can't, and if she could, she would be neutered or assassinated. That isn't the point. It's saying fuck you to the system, a protest vote if you will.
So simply don't vote.
I don't get why you feel that you must. (I think that: If you vote, you endorse the system. If you don't, you demonstrate your understanding.) Seriously, why vote?
What makes you think I feel that I must vote? Silence can be interpreted as laziness and apathy. A protest vote is not open to interpretation.
Have you not seen the evidence that the elections are rigged ?
Your vote is meaningless.
Marci, a democracy works best when each voter votes for the person who the voter believes will be best for the country. Isn't that the justification of a democratic form of government? Of THE PEOPLE?
Think about it. The people like russian_bot here who tell you to support the duopoly don't understand what a democracy is. They are the ones who have created this duopoly.
To illustrate, Congressmen play politics all the time, including with their votes in Congress. They make deals. It's so dirty, it's called "making sausage." Thus, people like russian_bot are only making sausage when they vote to keep the other guy out, for instance, instead of voting for who they believe is best for the country. I'm amazed at the wrongheadedness in such an approach. They actually believe their vote is effective in keeping the other guy out, with the belief, "this is what everyone should do." Ridiculous. But when you vote for whom you think is best is a noble exercise of your democratic right. And isn't "what everyone should do?"
It's very likely that if a significant portion of the voters voted outside the duopoly, both the Dems and Repugs will change their tune. For instance, if the Dems or Repugs lost this election by ten percent of their votes going outside the duopoly, you can bet that their platforms will change in the next election.
Thus, do you want to participate in democracy with honor, or make sausage?
If the Dems lose this election, there will be no future elections for them to change the platform. Not voting democratic ends the democracy.
I find your form of naivety quite charming. Infantile but charming.
Participating with honor is such a quaint concept and really has no place in politics and never has.
If the majority of voters voted outside the duopoly the wholly owned media would never tell anyone about it. Just as they do now they would pick the winner and announce it to the world and most will believe the lie.
Good assessment. Ignore politics...then vote. Better to know everything about politics before considering voting.
You'll learn nothing about politics by listening to mainstream media. Propaganda is best ignored for your own sanity.
>>"Propaganda is best ignored for your own sanity."
Unfortunately, propaganda is all too pervasive and permeates every aspect of our lives (whether we are aware of it or not). It is impossible to ignore. BUT, people can be educated (I don't mean formal education) to recognize it, think critically about it, know how it works and how it is used to gaslight and brainwash people, know how it is used for psychological manipulation, and observe and analyze how different industries (advertising, public relations, marketing, politics, etc.) employ the different methods of propaganda.
Hello Chang, I think most of us here know and have known from way back, about propaganda, gaslighting, brainwashing and psychological manipulation that is inherent in so called democracies. But after knowing it.... then what?
It amazes me to see the flag waving crowds who show up at these theatrical political rallies. Maybe from now on the rally will come with a stray bullet, all the better to keep the crowd animated to think their hero is risking his life for their cause!
Do they still believe in the biggest lie of all " Government of the people; by the people; for the people"?
I would say some (not most) of us in this substack know it - but not even that. They may be able to recognize some of it in the US, but many people fail to recognize that it is global - it happens in China, Russia, Iran, India, etc. too - though they fail to see it (or call it out). Russia, China, Iran, India, etc. are "NOT BETTER" to its own citizens than the US. (Here I'm talking about ordinary people, not the elites of these countries or the bourgeoisie that people hear about in the Western world). Unfortunately, most people fail to realize it. Think about it - how many people do we have in the comments section here from Russia/China/Iran/India/etc. sharing their own experiences to counterbalance the majority of Western opinions?
But I digress.
>>"But after knowing it.... then what?"
Just knowing about propaganda without change in thought, behavior, and actions is useless (IMHO). Just as Caitlin here does, it is incumbent on those that understand (like us for example) to bring that awareness to others - to dismantle the facades and structures hidden by smoke and mirrors - in discussions, conversations, organizations, gatherings, etc.
Just as knowing about different kinds of scams, frauds, grifters, con artists, swindlers, tricksters, impostors, charlatans, quacks, hoaxers, bullshitters, etc. and their methods get people to be more aware and think more critically (so as not to fall for their schemes), so also knowing about the different methods of propaganda makes people more aware of not falling for the brainwashing, gaslighting, deceptions, psychological manipulations, etc. of those in positions of power/authority/elites/etc. Hopefully, it will cause people to think and engage more critically to the behavior of others and what they see in their everyday lives.
This "awareness" should cause people to make different decisions, associate
with different people, take different actions (than they otherwise would), etc.
>>"It amazes me to see the flag waving crowds..."
It doesn't amaze me at all. I expect it. It is challenging to wake people up from their life-long narratives and ingrained belief-systems (and I don't attribute it to stupiditiy or education or any of that).
>>"Do they still believe in the biggest lie of all..."
Yes, unfortunately they do. This is the illusion that maintains the status quo - the mirage - that is a major hindrance/obstacle to making desperately needed real-changes to the world and its systems.
(Apologies for the long-winded response)
What you say doesn't seem to make any sense to me. Specifically, there are two political parties. Those two parties have control of the election process. The US Constitution specifies the Electoral College elects the president. 270 Electoral College votes are needed to elect the president. There are two problems with any other party attempting to elect a president.
1. There is no funding capable of spreading sufficient information actually to elect someone. Any votes cast for a third-party candidate will only detract from one of the two main candidates.
2. If by some miracle enough votes were cast to elect a third-party candidate, it would mean that no candidate would earn the necessary 270 Electoral College votes. In that case, the election would be given to the House of Representatives to determine who the president should be. Under the current makeup of the HR, the Republican would be awarded the presidency..
"Specifically, there are two political parties."
I agree with your intent. But the fact is there is only one party (acting as two), and that is the Deep State.
Corrections:
- there are many political parties
- fwo of them have control the electoral process, and mostly at national level
- funding is the primary means of promoting a candidate...on brain dead terms...which would defeat the purpose
The proper approach to upending this system is not merely "third party" candidates but rather a long term effort to flood the political system with more parties and crumble the facade of two large blocks.
So pushing only for a "third candidate" every four years as a "now or never" is a doomed mission. And it's the only mission you assume is valid.
In this light, any and all efforts to field candidates and normalise a variety of options is a good long term move. As the old saying goes, "Rome was not built in a day".
People need to unplug from the dead end mindset of media-based artificial emotional moments and politics of personality and celebrity. This is long term generational work here. Its not about money or "likes" and there are not any Hollywood moments in this.
We don't have the time for incremental change.
This is not matter of collecting likes. It's a matter of changing mindsets. It's a matter of grinding out and detoxifying all interactions that turn young people into establishment fans who question nothing. It's generational work.
You need to drop the social media mindset - that's a disjointed landscape full of ephemeral and forgotten slogans. Precisely what the fake left wants you to do.
You want real change. It takes work and time. There is no hero saviour, and there is no quick fix.
I'm an old San Francisco hippy flower child.
I want real change and I've been waiting 50 years for the rest of the United States to catch up with me.
What I've watched was 50 years of the United States sinking into the abyss. We're running out of time.
imo, it is the rather childish attitude that most americans only want to 'win' (this election cycle!) and so they lose every time.
Your vote is meaningless and has been for years regardless of who you cast it for.
Your principled political stand is a joke in D.C.
They don't care who you vote for, they only care that you are apathetic enough to allow anyone to win without questioning it.
Oh dear.
I think you should know what’s going on in politics! By picking a third party candidate you’re on the wrong side of democracy because it’s a vote for Trump! At least read Project 2015; Trump’s playbook!
So much agonising over Trump and Biden, whether to vote at all or whether to vote Green when the elections themselves will ultimately barely affect the future. Asia is rising, America is diminishing. The Global Majority inherit the climate crisis.
No place for violence in Amerikkkan politics.
But clearly violence perpetrated BY Amerikkkan politics the world over is just goddamned fine.
Trump got blood on his ear, while meanwhile Gazan daddies are picking up the pieces of their children. Fuck this shit.
Thank you for your post. Now I don’t need to write the same exact sentence.
With all this awfulness there HAS to be a time soon when an 'awakening' happens.
It will come I think as China/Russia/Kenya/possibly India stop using the dollar. At present they are investing in gold so I hear BUT then that's 'news' I read: is it true or not.
Makes sense to me.
Also others get really fed up with bullies.
I've been waiting 50 years for the American people to wake up. We have sunk to an intolerable level and still they're dazed by the propaganda. How much longer will it take?
kenya? is a 'special partner' outside nato and are policing haiti on empire's behalf, iirc. they had to roll back their imf austerity plans though, because of significant protests.
Here's a question for you dear...
What's the last administration that didn't start or support war in another country?
Help me with this one?
none in my lifetime.
"At present they are investing in gold so I hear BUT then that's 'news' I read: is it true or not."
Smart countries and people are buying gold.
Israel's folly extends all the way to Australia! Deeply disturbing.....
They are indeed all phonies playing roles in a WWF-style "battle royale".
But the biggest sign of what Is going in is that they (rightly) decry violence at in the US ....while continuing to be supporters of violent conflict in Ukraine and outright mass murder in Palestine. They continue to support even as the US have even just now doubled down on militarising outright nazis in Ukraine:
https://theintercept.com/2024/06/22/ukraine-azov-battalion-us-training-ban/
They even run daily kill lists with snipers and drones with weekly approvals at meetings attended by the president and vice president:
https://www.aclu.org/issues/national-security/targeted-killing
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/10/how-white-house-kill-list-became-white-house-disposition-matrix/322180/
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/inside-the-cias-kill-list/
And then Obama talks about "civility and respect"? Is that what he showed the rest of the world in his 8 years in office? "Civility and respect"? Nope: https://blackagendareport.com/obama_legacy_part_viii
When we all know violence is not OK in inside the US, why on earth then is endless global violence the official foreign policy of the United States and its vassals?
https://www.brown.edu/news/2021-09-01/costsofwar
Not to mention the shootings of kids in schools etc.
The school shootings are not done by the politicians, so I wont put that on them, but but all that killing abroad is and its the polar opposite of the"civility and respect" that Obama is posting about.
Chris Hedges says, and I agree with him, that all of American society is based on violence. The school shootings are as much a part of the underlying state of the United States as the wars abroad.
Yes, Susan Mercurio. Just like a deranged person goes on a killing spree with an all too accessible lethal weapon, the US government goes on a full scale killing of people all over the world.
US citizens definitely lack a good role model.
Hedges is extreme, but he has a point. We go to war, we support killing, we pay others to kill for us. This is VIOLENCE enacted my childishness. Grown ups negotiate. They outgrow violence. They talk to each other and find common ground.
This is one of Trump's talents. Sorry to tell you, but he avoided a lot of internationally violence.
No. Trump is as violent as the rest and he implemented mass violence abroad as president. Just not in Ukraine is all. He was and is still a fully paid up member of the war war war crew.
Actually Trump was the first to send weapons to Nazi Ukraine!
Until they change the gun laws and the gun culture, the politicians are as much to blame as those who pull the trigger on those school kids.
Politicians allow guns and in some States 'open carry?'
"Politicians allow guns and in some States 'open carry?"
Would you prefer only criminals have guns?
Stupid question............many countries live without guns!
"Stupid question............many countries live without guns!"
Stupid answer! You mean there are many countries where only the government has guns...not the proles. Many of those countries have a subjugated populace.
Isn't that why the US controls them?
It would be best if no one had guns. However, the vast majority of nations in the world have strict gun control laws (some police forces don't carry guns), most of the world's population does not own a gun (and when they do it's not hand guns and assault weapons), and all of those nations have fewer deaths from guns and fewer people in their prisons than the USA. Finally, the vast majority of people who kill kids in schools, at concerts and events, or sniping from a roof top do not have criminal records when they do that.
"However, the vast majority of nations in the world have strict gun control laws (some police forces don't carry guns), most of the world's population does not own a gun (and when they do it's not hand guns and assault weapons), and all of those nations have fewer deaths from guns and fewer people in their prisons than the USA."
Most countries don't have the freedom of the USA.
Which brings to mind the trans "man" who shot up the Presbyterian church school because (according to its diary), they were "privileged". The Biden administration press conference regarding it featured Genocide Joe joking about ice cream, while his press secretary doubled down on reassuring the Alphabet Mafia that "We've got your backs!" So, according to this administration, shooti g up schools is A-OK, as long as it's a church-affiliated school.
But violence is OK within the USA. Note the number of school children, concert and event goers, wives, girlfriends, kids going for candy, people walking down the street that are killed by their "fellow Americans" on a daily basis. Violence is only not OK when it is used against one of those firmly ensconced in the capitalist power structure. For the vast majority of Americans, the power structure doesn't care if they were all wiped out as Gazans are being wiped out, except they might have a concern at the loss of that number of customers to fleece.
If someone had told me 20 years ago…
Remembering the contempt I felt for Bush & Cheney and the “shock & awe” against the people of Iraq—thinking U.S. foreign policy, long heinous record and all, was kinda crossing new thresholds with this brutal destruction & occupation. Bush was the worst!
~~
Wouldn’t you know….Obama sailed right past the aforementioned mendacious and malevolent motherfuckers to do the most dirty shit it would make Poppy Bush proud.
~~
So if someone had told me 20 years ago that the terror, death, & destruction the United States unleashed in Iraq was just a warm-up and that the next President (I voted for him) would end up being someone I would despise exponentially more (yes, I think that’s fair) than Bush-Cheney…I don’t know my reaction. But I do know my present-day reaction to Obama. He’s simply the most galling personality on Earth to me. The despicable meter broke.
I think I'd disagree slightly, in that those Dems with their bullshit sympathy probably would quite like to see Trump dead. If he had actually been killed, their tweets would have been just as empty and meaningless.
The most depressing part of this whole post was seeing that Obama's platitude got 822k likes. So many pathetic simps 😞
If you are an 'Obama devotee' you need not read what he says. You just love approving of him.
That's a religious imperative! There are tons of 'old people' doing the same with Biden. Radical MAGA; same with Trump.
You don't have to THINK.
Just feel your way through the voting process. This is exactly why we have the government we have
Twitter's bot population is estimated at probably 10-20%. There there are the paid sock puppets and trolls and the professional liars too.
So you can cut the number or real individual dimwits who clicked "like" to about half of that number probably. Still a lot of fools though.
"So many pathetic simps 😞"
You would be surprised how many there are.
I've met a few, it was shocking and depressing to discover they exist in real life
They'd have been considerably happier to see him dead, though. I have my suspicions the "Well wishes" are not entirely of an honest or authentic nature.
Of course not. They are from POLITICIANS.
The western world is unraveling as fast as the U.S. now. Maybe even faster. Thirty years ago I entertained the notion of immigrating to Australia but I am very glad I didn't now. Not that the U.S. is any better but at least it is the evil I know. I can cover up here and wait it out, much like other major storms. They all pass and we go out afterwards and clean up the mess. Assess the damage and figure it out from there. If, as I suspect, the U.S. and the western world, collapses soon, I will survive as best as I can and keep moving forward one step at a time. I have been through other political and economic tragedies and I will weather this one as well. I know how to grow and forage for food so I won't starve to death but it would be a tough go for a while. I have been there before so it won't come as a surprise. But for the majority of the spoiled westerners, the great famine will commence and it won't be pretty.
Good to hear, Terrance.
I’m fortunate enough to live on a farm and canning season has already begun!
I grow enough to feed TEN Gazan families. Now, if only….
So dearest Gypsy we know where to come!
Jenny, I welcome you and yours with open arms! ❤️
How sweet best to let the poor in first mind you I would be poor getting over to the US!
Completely agree with you, Terrence. Plus, I’m trying and succeeding at forming little cooperative groups that will check in with each other and share what we have—you grow corn, I’ll grow tomatoes, you beans, or let’s build a bike powered generator this weekend or can So and So use these second hand clothes/shoes for her kid? These are tiny “co-operatives” but they are fun and helpful and neighborly.
I am glad to read that you are able to set up that kind of cooperative. Not many people want to do that anymore in the west. I remember when we had that decades ago before the advent of the internet. In the new modern world we live in, if the electric network goes down taking the internet with it, the majority of the younger population would be lost and would die out before learning what their parents or grandparents knew. Lost skills would need to be relearned. Which can be done but not before a lot of people would die of hunger and disease. We see this happening in places like Sudan right now. The U.S. is closer than we know to this right now.
The neo liberal world order would be scared shitless of cooperatives. Provide the coops adhere to tried and true principles without any neoliberal infection, behold the power of collective strength.
Well I don’t share your pessimism with the younger generation. They know plenty about cooperation and how to “live off the land”. Maybe you’re thinking of their parents, that yuppie generation who never saw a corporate power grab they didn’t just LOVE! That generation is between 50 and 65 now and wow are they going to be surprised when their life style has to change or die motherfucker, as we say here in reality.
I like your enthusiasm. I agree that the young people appear to be more resilient than their parents. They will need it in the next couple of years.
Indeed! And I’m going to try to stay healthy so I can share with them anything that I can still do when I’m old-er! I’m already old! House sit, dog walk, drive to the air port—😁. Of course my help is only good in a still functioning high level society. In a blown society I’ll be pretty useless.
You’re not old Jeano.
I describe myself as 70 going on 30.
I still do anything I put my mind to , only with a few more aches and pains 😉
In addition to all my other chores, I’m painting the exterior of our home 🙂
Hi Jeano
I raised a child, now in her late forties, who despises gardening / landscaping. I always think, how the fuck did this happen? She grew up with my love for all things flora, which I inherited from my own father.
....and I inherited the same from my grandfather. Neither kids interested but grandson and 24 very much loves gardening. Maybe it skips a generation?
Great idea Jeano!
Yes, Now if only......
If the Bidens, Obamas, Harris-Emhoffs were praying as hard for the recovery of all the wounded, traumatized, starving, displaced, suffering Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank as they do for Trump's recovery, the Palestinians still wouldn't have a hope in hell. Because what do the Bidens, Obamas, Harris-Emhoff and their ilk really care about anything but their own image?
This is what their bombs and planes are doing, even as they decry violence:
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/07/15/awwb-j15.html
“…. Israeli airstrikes massacre hundreds across Gaza over the weekend
Kevin Reed
14 hours ago
The Gaza Health Ministry reported on Sunday that the Israeli military has killed hundreds and injured 400 others in multiple airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave since Saturday….”
And who do we hear praying for the victims and their families? None of the above-mentioned.
I saw today a young child being pulled out from rubble, he/she was hardly breathing.
Where is the empathy.
Is this YOUR kid?
Then I saw an older woman looking for the grave of her child/she had gone mad after the Israelis had decimated a cemetery.
WHO does this sort of brutal killing?
Where is the empathy.
Where is the rage? Where is the disgust? Where are the cries, shouts, screams for this horror to stop? Nowhere in Washington, Ottawa, London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Amsterdam, Brussels, Canberra, or any other Western capitol, or in Muslim countries! https://dianeengelhardt.substack.com/p/under-the-rubble
Australia is just joining the rest of the world in denouncing any criticism of Israel. It is a disease that is spreading. World leaders are especially susceptible.
How to stop a 'disease?'
Too bad there weren't empathy pills
Well I just had some really nasty antibiotics for Bronchitis...............who delivers bottled water to Congress?
It’s always “not the right time” to bring up the reality of what the US empire is, that excuse is over used.
Thank you for a little insight into OZ politics. I'm sick to death of hearing about the US. Fortunately soon neither Trump nor Biden will matter at all on the world stage as multipolarity rises and rises.
Goodbye American Empire, God bless.
Good riddance, very good riddance. They’ve been phonier than a xeroxed $3 bill.
“Xeroxed”…your age is showing 👍🤣😉.
Yup jbut not so old I expect Biden to attack Assyria.
"Their only job is to keep you clapping along with the two-handed puppet show as they rob you blind and tighten your chains while your gaze is fixed on the performance."
Yes, indeed, bread and circuses all around
"This comes just days after the Australian government appointed its first “anti-semitism envoy”, a move many have feared would lead to crackdowns on speech that is critical of Israel.
I really cannot overstate how crazy and evil this is. This is probably a good time to once again share my periodic reminder that Australia has no bill of rights, and it shows."
And the media, like Sky News, is ape shit for Zionism.
I'm not into predictions, but my guess is that this assassination-attempt incident will be turned into another call for more Internet Censorship. Violent video games and Entertainment Industry Products more generally (military propaganda) get routinely thrown out of Court, but somehow the Internet "radicalizes" some users, like our Mystery Man shooter du jour. Big Party politics, the Duopoly, in America are two labels for the same brand of toothpaste.
These statements of "well wishes" are all distantly objectified, written in a standard style, and politically buffed.
Similar comments by world heads of state are quite revealing. Some seem to care, but most don't: https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/07/14/729286/Western-Leaders-React-To-Trump-Rally-United-States-Pennsylvania-Butler-Shooting
Celia Farber has the supposed statement about being denied the order to take out the snipper, by the kneeling police/Secret-service sniper who had a bead on him for minutes before he fired on Trump.
https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/two-videos-that-prove-operators-near
She has a couple of other videos of odd behavior just before Trump was shot, including the (impressively odd) lady with the black hat right behind him and a Secret Service guy clearing the area behind him (which is less impressive to me).
Thank you
Sadly can’t remember his name now but there was a great iconoclastic journalist in the Cheney Rein who said “you can borrow our Bill of Rights, we’re not using it” Still true.
I’ll guess Gore Vidal.
No, but that would have been great. This guy was not as well known as Gore, and always wore a fedora, somewhat in jest I think, because he was an intrepid investigative reporter. Remember those?
Greg Palast?
Oooooooo, you mind saver!!! ayes, Greg Palast. Loved that guy! And now I LOOOVE you for pulling that name up so I don’t have to lie awake tonight alternately searching my feeble memory for his name, or berating myself for having such a feeble memory. THANK YOU!
The fedora gave it away!
😄😍🕵️♂️ 🙏.
Team D cares very much about optics and tit for tat.