And remember when "Assad the Butcher" must go because Democrats and Liberals cared so much about "human rights" and "chemical weapons" - Gee, seems like stupid Americans would eventually realize that wherever "we" stick our bloody little hands in the name of human rights (previously "anti-communism" or "anti-terrorism") things ALWAYS get worse and not better for the actual people involved. Point being, in a similar fashion to how you noted Yemen, suddenly there's nothing to beat Trump's head over in Syria despite the new, worse reality on the ground there.
All US ever does in/to other countries is to gain from their oil, gas or anything else tgat can be bought and sold by US$s. This has been their mode for so long people no longer see it staring them in the face. Each US government supports the energy companies and the military hardware companies because they pay politicians instead of paying their legal tax amounts. Same in Australia, the country would be able to do so much more, and I do mean much, much more, if these companies paid their fare share of taxes but, no, they are let off in so many ways that the ordinary folk never ever do, and still they rule governments in so many countries because they buy, cheaply, the politicians who are elected to work for the people thst elected them, with no votes, there's no being in government.
The whole business, and that's what it has become a business, is a total shame. And to have only two parties at the ballot box proves there us something terribly wrong, not just in America it has spread so far to other countries, they have become one name at the ballot.
The whole world needs to rise up in revolution before we end up with one big fat B over the whole planet. We all know who is hoping to be that one, and the hell on earth life would become if it us not stopped now.
OH BTW you are absolutely right about the arms merchants too. Most often, with exceptions being gulf monarchies most of which have oil and are part of the system, the weapons "sold" (really means rented out to) these target countries (new) leaders are as much for the purpose of intimidating or coercing the population as they are to threaten neighbors who may not be fully assimilated. It's also to ensure that chaos can be instigated whenever it's needed by stoking conflicts between countries in a given region now that they're well armed with Uncle Scam's weapons, even if they're otherwise cooperating - when there's a situation like "Israel" to distract people from. I ramble, I know. But you're correct about the weapons, and don't forget the surveillance and control systems these countries also "buy" - need to keep a close eye on the citizenry and prevent or destroy any pesky "socialist" uprisings - ya know, demand for an actual voice in their own government and use of their own tax money.
Yes, it most definitely goes way beyond oil and gas, or even other extractible goods and commodities. What they really want, at the end of the day, is akin to The Borg of Star Trek fame - full assimilation into the "US-based" "international order" meaning full access to and control (or as close or profitable as they can get) of the country's "markets" - people (consumers), social goods and services (transport infrastructure, utilities, education, health care, etc.) and to saddle the people of these countries with eternal debt whenever possible. This, of course, is done according to the same playbook as the oil, gas, minerals and crops - Privatization. Wresting not just the resources from the hands of the people (i.e., Venezuela's nationalized petroleum, etc.), but enslaving the country by "Americanizing" it and turning every possible aspect of life into a means of extracting rent and profit, turning citizens and sovereign nations into "consumers" of Western debt - aka the "financialization of everything."
Only those countries who refuse to bend the knee and offer sufficient cooperation with the "western" oligarch financial class (FIRE sector for short), are subject to mistreatment and meddling. The only difference is one of scope, scale and methods. For the ones who are already partially complying, perhaps a rigged election or soft coup. For the ones not really complying but maybe with enough (and sufficiently powerful) "upper class" rich people (most often those who obtained their wealth during the colonialism period - mostly land and property and ownership of minerals, etc. - and in countries where a severe (and completely false) strain of "anti-communism" remains from the decades of propaganda during the Cold War) to where a coup can be staged as non-violently as possible, and who will always be the class to place the next leader from among their ranks into power. Of course the further down the non-cooperation scale you go, the more violent it gets. Economic embargoes (Cuba), severe economic sanctions (Venezuela, Russia [in their delusional fantasies], formerly Syria, etc.) or straight up invasion and attempted regime change/destruction of the current order (Saddam, to be: Iran, Venezuela, etc.).
China is a unique case that has both obvious and not so obvious differences, the most obvious being that they are currently an economic and population powerhouse integrated enough into the Western supply chains that fucking with them in a serious manner would be like shooting ones self in the foot. But I digress....
Check out the following books if you haven't read them yet:
"The Racket - A Rogue Journalist..." by Matt Kennard
"The Jakarta Method" by an author named Bevins
"American Exeption" by Aaron good - more focused on the domestic side of this stuff.
Also happy to take any recommendations from others...
And it should be noted that the [Real] State's Ukrainian Nazi/CIA Army is and has been using both Chemical and Biological warfare against Russia - the latter of which will always 'blowback' to the USA, in ways convenient for the BioSecurity and [Real] State's Technocratic Totalitarian goals.
And remember when Obama, who had just been elected, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples"?
And remember when Obama said Assad using mustard gas on his own people was a "red line"?
And remember when Michelle Obama said, "When they go low, we go high?"
The Obamas have always been nothing more than grifters. Obama took more money from Wall Street than any candidate before him and allowed Citibank to appoint his cabinet. That was well documented.
I remember when Obama immediately turned his back on women when he and Pelosi decided that women's productive rights were never going to be a priority.
I remember Obama promising to end wars. They didn't.
I know it is not a real revolution, but the fact that so many people came out at all might be a starting point. Who knows, maybe more people will start reading more non mainstream news and maybe they will start to figure things out.
Hi Susan, I saw this a lot- people saying didn't it mean something that so many people got off their arses on their 'day of rest' to go for a cathartic march and enjoyable rant in the sunshine with their friends. Or, on the other side of the political aisle and the Atlantic, in the rain protesting authoritarian governments not Kings.
The point is they were both deliberately given something to get excited about and positively encouraged to march about it. It makes them even less likely to notice what's really going on and even more likely to continue to read and believe their 'alternative' but totally corralled and controlled social media news outlets. It makes them even less likely to do something that would actually make a difference to the establishment like ditching their leaf blowers, jet washers, iphones, porn, booze, Netflix, all vaccines, most pharma products or going vegan.
The marches were not starting points. They were culminations of propaganda.
Yes, we have to start somewhere, and after decades of skillful manipulation by the Powers-That-Be (i.e., Manufactured Consent) there is no longer much organized resistance based on concrete issues. Instead we get a lot of virtue-signaling, which seems to describe the No Kings event.
So, we (who seek real structural change) are in a kind of boot-strap position: How do we get organized when there's so little organization to build upon. The owner class has done a pretty good job at dividing the working class into mutually-antagonistic factions. The culture of internet and smartphones has accelerated the separation of people into individual silos and favors messages that reinforce separation (because it makes you feel more free to view yourself as an isolated autonomous being, instead of being a member of human society).
I think we need to re-build class consciousness (which fell apart in the late 1980s) and for that we need a positive vision of what that leads toward. And I don't mean the Scandinavian Welfare Capitalism shit-job that so many of my liberal friends have bought into. That just leads them toward a lot of whiny moralistic arguments about how unfair and hurtful the US system is. The postmodernist brain-rot of power theory and how we could all be happy living in basements and interacting through TikTok if we only had a government-supplied Universal Basic Income (UBI). Yeah, great, a UBI that's just enough to keep you out of abject poverty and that's ready to be snatched away again at the first sign of political opposition. Total separation of individuals and total demoralization. What a bunch of saps these liberals are! Kind of like the academic union I belonged to, that would spend years negotiating for meager salary raises and never had that huevos to go on strike. It's hard to convince a bunch of PhD academics that they are workers just like the gardeners and custodians. They almost all think they are above that.
I'm not a great organizer, and labor unions are difficult to organize in the US because the laws are so tilted against unions, but I think a broad project to build alliance among the working class would be a fruitful direction to move in. Organizing around the idea of Mutual Aid might work, and could build outward from Food Banks, where a lot of working people get their groceries. We can learn to stand together, so we don't fall apart. We can relearn the lessons of community; that the bonds of community are stronger than the differences between us.
Three items were able to be seen as triggers for moving the world out of its current crisis.
However......
* Israel's !00 years years of planning is not going to stop and genocide is accepted by all Israelis as normal, a requirement needed to achieve their goals. Now in place.
* The Western Media as part-owned by the Jews as investors (controllers). Nothing is ever likely to change this potential trigger for change, being profitable for the Jews and well planned for decades for one purpose only. Propagandised, biased news. It's the norm today.
'The USA as a major country........ but 86% controlled by Israelis and the narcissictic Trump, and 25 Cabinet puppets.
I concluded that the first two were unchangeable and I know that is correct. I was waiting to see if the demonstrations throughout the USA yesterday could ever be seen as a trigger for the third item, a 'revolution' from within in the USA. It was something of a failure. No objectives named, nothing achieved, no change in direction....or anything else.
Yesterday's 'No Kings' effort was clear indication that this will not be the trigger for change.
Back to the drawing board.
Yes. I know that there is the now feeble United Nations, long since handicapped by the inability to take the reins of justice and make decisions of any values to the world.
The US veto has made this organisation a useless tool for peace, justice, in fact for any positive progress at all and as a result should be closed down.
This leaves the remaining option. The US Cabinet of Trump and his like-minded entourage of misfits, none of who have a single independent thought that varies from the dictatorial Trump. But it also means searching out the identical number of the old Biden followers, the Gaza conspirators, one cluster of useless humans the same as the other.
So, no solution in sight. More AIPAC / USA controls to be applied, many more cities to be occupied by Trump's uniformed ICE terrorists, thousands more Palestinians to be butchered by Netanyahu's stormtroopers, the oilfields of Gaza to get under way and the Trump Tourist Empire to become a reality. Applications for membership of Trump's Gaza Country Club now soon open. Jews only, of course.
Lay back and enjoy the show, world, while you can. You could be next.
Of course the boomers were out in force to protest. First time in their adult lives they've had their economic standing threatened by the culmination of decades of financial mismanagement of this country.
Meanwhile, GenZ are facing a life of destitution because of this mismanagement.
Exactly right in every detail. Caitlin understands this country better than 99% of its citizens. No matter who we vote for, we get John McCain. Or some equally horrific warmonger. Either don't vote D or R or don't vote at all. We're fucked here no matter what we do. Reject this whole corrupt system!
We go to the rallies and poach people that are looking for genuine action.
Treat it as a recruitment ground, not a protest. The cops and fascists are often just mingling doing the same thing, even if the latter is less obvious about it.
Now maybe you see why McCain was addressing the crowd following the Maidan massacre in Ukraine, after Victoria Nuland passed out he cookies. Cookies in exchange for regime change!
I was born in Cuba and would never have left but I was 11 years old when my mother and stepfather decided to leave. I agree with you that the United States has always been a terrorist nation who has committed atrocities since its founding, but the protests are important because hopefully they will wake others to the need to change the status quo.
I am neither a Democrat or a Republican although I have voted Democrat three times in my life. Both parties are corrupt and support the same principles. As a socialist, I have no interest in anything the Government proposes.
I have been arrested multiple times for civil disobedience. I was an attorney for many years and found that in general, the system of justice is extremely corrupt. Once in a while you can find a decent lawyer or judge, but it’s a rare occurrence.
My issue with what you write is that you can’t paint millions of people with the same description. Many of the people I work and protest with seek to change a system of injustice and oppression to something else.
I have followed you and enjoyed your work for many years. Thank you for your service.
I attended a 400 person march and met boomers at their first march and I told them that both parties are corrupt and we need a socialist revolution. There were people
who listened and maybe it will sink in. Planted seeds of a general strike. I know it’s not happening as fast as we need it to, but I believe even small things matter.
Yes, it’s all fake, and shallow, and won’t change anything. But it’s counter productive to criticize the first stirring of activism among a population which makes complacency the eighth deadly sin. They need the practice, let them get out there and maybe next time they’ll have more to say. I think that even if it was empty, it was a good and necessary beginning.
But that's as far as it will go--it will just be the letting off of steam with their funny signs. There's no call to action or demands made. No organizing of the No King protesters except the local Democrats will email and call them with their contact info taken in the "registration" sign up online. It was just a big DNC vote gathering psy-op. There hasn't been a "beginning" yet.
Trump's regime is out of control. They show no fear of ever being held accountable for their many corrupt and criminal actions. They display no concern about being reelected.
When the President's response to massive No Kings protests by outraged citizens is posting an AI video of himself wearing a crown, piloting a Trump branded jet and bombing Times Square protesters with feces, he needs to be removed from power, by whatever means are necessary.
i detest donald trump but I'm concerned about "removed by whatever means are necessary" considering that, dude -- he won. and the dem's loss was their own stupid ass fault. now. these were supposedly "pro democracy" protests. so...what are you suggesting?
This cynical rant reveals a shallow understanding of US politics. The focus now is public pressure and pressure on the courts to stop Trump from making fascism the norm. I was at the No King rally in Sedona, a small town of 10,000, where perhaps 3000-4000 people turned out, all resisting the turn to fascism (which includes support for genocide in Gaza), part of a mass movement of grass roots democracy which sees as the need of the moment to push back against fascism. If y ou think that is fake, you are cynical and ignorant to boot.
The game plan is public pressure and court actions to stop Trump, then in 2026, remove the fascist from power in Congress and thus neuter Trump and perhaps, for there is no other possible alternative to stop Israel, pushing thru a ban on arms shipments to Israel. There is no way to speed up the process, which invovles understanding the limits, but there is no other way that anyone has suggested. If you have an alternative to elected progressive Democrats who will vote to stop arms to Israel, what the fuck is it? Whining and demonizing and calling the largest protest in American history "fake' is something I would leave to Trump. Ok what's your alternative to Congress banning arms to Israel? Bueller? If you can't lend a hand, get out of the way (Dylan).
Weak take! The Ukraine proxy war was started and escalated by Biden and the Dems. The Palestinian genocide was started, funded, armed and escalated by Biden and the Dems. We've had fascism since 2021 under Biden and Harris with attacks on free speech, radical censorship of the web, massive propaganda operations waged against the people, mandates to take experimental medicines. Did you all "protest" in Sedona then?
Yes, we are aware of the fact that Biden was President and support was by both parties. Are you aware that since 1988 (37 yrs ago), Bernie Sanders has proposed banning weapons to Israel and that in the last vote, the majority of Democrats voted to do just that. Either you support that or you don't. Which is it? I am not defending Biden, whom I consider a weak and pro-war President. I am supporting the effort, now supported by the majority of Democrats in the Senate, to stop sending arms to israel. Are you for that or not? That is the question today, not looking back in anger but working to build a consensus to actually defund arms to Israel. That is the issue you are ignoring so tell me: do you support the Sanders bill or not? If you don't, the IDF has a job for you.
The protest in Sedona, population 10,000 was beautiful and the 7 million nationwide and millioins in other nations protesting, formed the largest protest in history. If you mock the protests, you must be a Trump supporter. This is not about Biden but about stopping Trump from pushing fascism down our throats, which only massive public protest can stop, as it stopped 7 dictatorships in Eastern Europe in 1989, without bloodshed, a revolution that relies on the solidarity of the people, which you mock. You are now doubt envious of the loving protest that happened yesterday, a beautiful and effective measure to show the fascists that free speech and protest are alive and well in the US........we are not afraid. Perhaps you are so you mock the protesters just as the fascists do. Shame on you. You are not working to free Palestine but to spread hatred and distrust, when we can only win when we are united, as we were yesterday.
First let me say I'm envious of your protest--I was in Charleston, WV, population about 50K but drawing from all surrounding counties as well, which an organizer claimed 2000 but I think it was less. I enjoyed the protest, was pleased to accommodate a pair of 16-year-olds' first protest, think it was worth the drive.
But I also think your post is a bit naive. It's not like Biden was an anomaly. And if all the Democrats (except that asshole Fetterman) voted to stop arms shipments to Israel--AFTER two years of genocide, during what many imagine is a real ceasefire--here's a little thought experiment, suppose there is a midterm election (I think less than even odds of that) and the Dems sweep both Houses (but Trump will only allow an election if her can be pretty sure of being able to cheat hard enough to maintain control). Now they can actually block arms shipments, thus pissing off their Zionist and MIC funders. Think they'd even have a vote on it, let along again vote to DO it? And then there's Venezuela--even the Squad members go along with the "Maduro is a dictator, we need to restore democracy (meaning US control) in Venezuela" bullshit, if not the blowing up of fishing boats.
We've had fascism (ie sticking together of white men) for as long as the British Empire started and was then handed over to the US one. It's just that it's been more hidden until now.
Yes there is continuity of agenda on war and global hegemony under all US presidents whatever R or D it makes no difference.
Except that Trump's admin is more out in the open- partly to make a backlash against it which also suits their purposes and deflects from themselves.
You know dale ruff...whenever I see your name, I think of dandruff. It's involuntary. You just gross me out without even reading your ignorant and utter crap.
You think Dems are better?! They're the same thing. The entire system is built to control the populous no matter which party wins. With people like you, we're sure to be stuck in this hellhole of a reality forever.
do you support the vote to ban shipping arms to Israel? Yes or No. If you do support it, why do you attack the people pushing it?
. In the recent Senate vote, the Sanders bill to do just that, got a majority of Democrats voting for it. If you want the US to continue sending arms to Israel, keep it up. My word to you is that your insult about my name is about a 2d grade level and your use of vulgar language suggests you have no rational or civil ability. I have asked: what is your alternative to banning shipping arms to Israel? And if you attack those who do, and those like me to support them, then I suggest you join AIPAC, whose criticism of the Sanders bill and the Democrats supporting it aligns with your stupidity. If you opposing Congress blocking arms to Israel, what is your alternative?. You have none. You are an ignorant troll, trading in infantile insults. Now go home. If you can't lend a hand to bring to power those working to stop US support for Israel, get out of the way.
Demands for Yes or No answers like that are sure signs of the Democrat Cult. There's a reason they always fall JUST a few votes short, and most of the votes in favor of whatever desirable thing are just psyops to sucker voters like you.
Bernie ("Israel has a right to defend itself) Sanders after 2 years can now say Genocide. Wow. Vote D or R for Israel. Hope Change Beleive. One State Palestine.
Now this is just silly, the kind of binary thinking the Trumpers excel at. Either you support the Dems because when they have no power they vote to stop arms shipments to Israel, or you're in favor of the genocide. The real world is way wider than that.
Lost you when you implied the Courts will "save us." THAT horse IS out of the barn. The summer of 2024 SCROTI 5 + 1 Hand Maid crowned, anointed preznit f*wit Fuhrer/King/Supreme Poo Bah. The Traitors have already "done the dirty deed." Why do people, many lawyers, still keep their fingers crossed: the courts will save us? NO. THE court that "counts" has already ruled.
When was the last time when your wonderful democray yielded an acceptable human being as candidate for the presidency? Or at least "kind of acceptable".
Ralph Nader. Jill Stein. Sanders, with all his faults, voted against funding the Iraq war. It would have made a difference to the Iraqis, if not to you.
I understabn where you are coming from. Th issue is, third party candidates have problems, substantial problems, to get on the ballot in all states. And then, those candidates will have problems finding the billionaires that slip them the odd 100 million, let alone 250 million. And if so, that mone might come, like elsewhere, under conditions. And then you have all the fakenewsers out there who will ignore and misrepresent the campaign of a third party candidate. You might check with your local library if they have "End Times" by Prof Peter Turchin. A book that explains the 2025 US in reasonably non-challenging language.
Stein was on the ballot in most states. Do not forget that more people did not vote for either Biden or Trump and that "not Vote" would have also won the electoral vote. I voted for Stein because of the Green Party platform and because both candidates, Trump and Harris, are genocidaires. Of course I live in CA where it is easy to vote one's conscience, since Trump would not win in Ca, but still, I am sick of voting for murderers and probably would have voted for Stein in a swing state.
And I did the same in West Virginia where also it made no difference. But in 2000 I was a Nader Trader--I voted for Gore--because that was when WV was crossing from heavy majority Dem to today's heavy majority Rep., so Gore had a chance--while someone in Maryland who supported Gore voted for Nader on my behalf.
Absolutely right about third parties, although I voted for them in the past. I’ll check out the book — thanks. BTW, I read somewhere recently that the Greens in the UK recently out-polled both the Labor and Tory parties. It’s not easy, but we have to keep trying.
Voting is not going to help, even if its for third parties or 'Greens'. Any party that's allowed to be elected will have to support continuity of agenda of the US interests (fossil fuels and arms etc) either before or after election. The 'Green' party in Germany is an example of a completely compromised shit show.
We can vote with our dollars, sterling and purchases though.
Good point about the German Greens, they started out from often far left, even communist orientated people associated with the peace movement and environmentalism. Now your average centre right, pro war party. Already back in 1999 in coalition with the Social-Democrats (by name only) dismantly the welfare state and in support of the war against Yugoslavia. Nasty, indeed!
We CANNOT solve anything by buying green. But we can keep our incomes low enough to not pay federal taxes, so we aren't supporting the US military, and we can shift from big box, chains to local mom and pops, and we can change our lives so we buy much less, instead doing more for ourselves, engaging in trade, and finding better things to do with our time than recreational shopping.
Thanks for indulging my typos. And yes, in Britain both major political parties are discredited. So Liberal-Democrats (also kind of discredited) and Greens as well as a new left movement around Jeremy Corby (formerly candidate for Prime Mnister of Labour) and the newly founded right-wing (can we call them Trumpists?) are havng high hopes for the future. This kind of happens in many European countries. Literature here by the Canadian Alain Denault, "Mediocracy The Politics of the Extreme Centre" (2015 / there should be some reviews out there which give you an idea). Cheers, and good luck!
So you get off kicked out and Vance steps in - oh, well, tgat will make such a difference won't it? No bloody way, just out of the pan and into the fires of hell with him in that job.
Do not assume we are belonging to either of the two corrupt political parties in control. I am 72 yrs. of age and haven't voted as a registered Dem since Jimmy Carter was POTUS, Democratic "leadership" is as much to blame as the GOP for drumpf being elected not once, but twice. P.S. It took millions of people demonstrating in the streets for four days in a row to drive the Marcos' crime syndicate from the Malacañang Palace in 1986.
The Filipinos had a specific demand. The No Kings protest did not. One does not effect real change by giving up brunch and then acting like it's some great sacrifice.
Those two signs are stupid — no question. But I didn’t see a single Harris sign at the 200,000 plus march I attended. (Neither were there any palm trees). I did see a large contingent of anti-genocide/pro-Palestinian protesters, which I joined. And several speakers denounced and called for an end to the U.S. support for the genocide in Gaza to wide applause. I voted “uncommitted” in the 2024 presidential election, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one there who did. We’re not all stupid and complicit here, Caitlin. Many of us are like those of the rest of you in the Western world whose governments don’t represent you and who are trying to figure out what to do about it. This of course has been building for a long time. And you’re of course right about the two U.S. mainstream parties. And you’re also right that many (but not all) groups that organized the march have ties to the Democratic Party. Many of us know that neither party is going to save us — that they both got us to where we are now. My sign, btw, was about the Supreme Court, which orchestrated a silent coup when it held that presidents were immune from suit for “official acts” performed in office, whether or not those acts are crimes. The decision had no legal foundation and instead rewrote the Constitution, as did the “money equals speech” decisions of the Court dating back to 1976, legalizing bribery in elections and allowing billionaires to buy them. The question is, what do we do — what do the populations of the UK and France do when speech is criminalized? We can start in the U.S. by throwing out every politician who has taken AIPAC and other Israeli lobby money and supported genocide. And that of course includes Harris. The cult members of both parties will continue to vote for whatever party name is put in front of them. But what are the rest of us to do?
Very well articulated. Depicting an entire country as either silly "brunch" dems or GOP-worshipping trumpers is quite a wide brush to be painting with. People worldwide are struggling with their governments not truly representing the people as intended. Not understanding that the same is true here in the US is juvenile. The simple "performative Americans, protest is futile", yet not a single suggestion as to what they should do instead? Nihilism in its worst form. No Kings may be performative for many, and not everyone is taking the situation here as seriously as they should. However, humans are like that - discomfort IS uncomfortable. But to simply decry protesting? In any form? Sure, it isn't enough...but it's something. If you attack (as you see it) the only thing people ARE doing, you risk shutting down the chance they will ever do better. If you do in fact wish for better, then this is an incredibly counter-productive take.
Coming back to link another post, for everyone who thinks nihilism is the answer, and that "I miss brunch" is the average protestors sentiment. If common sense has failed you, maybe your eyes will not.
Agreed up to the "We can start by throwing our every politician who takes money from AIPAC..." No we can't, actually, since that's nearly all of them. This how ugly shit happens globally--we pretend voters have a choice when it's a choice in the US between two viable candidates, elsewhere more than two, but usually both of them are compromised because that's how it WORKS--when SCOTUS won't allow even weak, inadequate controls on political spending, and the one who spends the most wins 90% of the time, and all the major media is corporately or billionaire-owned and pro-corporate, pro-imperial, pro Israel...actually we CAN'T throw them out by voting.
What the rest of us can do starts with talking about it, instead of wasting so much time every four years arguing about whether voting for a third-party candidate who can't win is "throwing away your vote."
So true they've convinced many in the country it's somehow a red/blue battle for the "soul of the nation," when in reality, it's the predator elites' non-stop war on the people.
On the bottom line there is really not much difference between the Parties on either side of the Isle.
Both are bought and Paid for by the Powers that be. AIPAC and the like, lobbyist, and have the biggest most well used, well oiled and best Western propaganda Machine, with lots of Money $$$$$$$$$ that puts Israeli Interest over Americas,
*Former President Nixon:
The Jews Are Aggressive and Obnoxious Personalities.
They Put the Jewish Interest Above American Interest .And its about Goddam Time the Jews Realize that
He is American First And a JEW Second. Richard Nixon ,Nixon Tapes,1972-1973
Chris Hedges frequently uses the term “Inverted Totalitarianism” to describe US politics (he in turn got it from another commentator). The system’s rigged so that real power (capital, industry etc) places figureheads in office so we can point at them and argue with each other about who’s in office while the overall agenda remains the same.
Remember how Team D was against the genocide in Yemen, but only for so long as it could be used as a stick to beat Trump with.
Once Biden presided over that genocide, they suddenly changed sides. Just like that.
And remember when "Assad the Butcher" must go because Democrats and Liberals cared so much about "human rights" and "chemical weapons" - Gee, seems like stupid Americans would eventually realize that wherever "we" stick our bloody little hands in the name of human rights (previously "anti-communism" or "anti-terrorism") things ALWAYS get worse and not better for the actual people involved. Point being, in a similar fashion to how you noted Yemen, suddenly there's nothing to beat Trump's head over in Syria despite the new, worse reality on the ground there.
All US ever does in/to other countries is to gain from their oil, gas or anything else tgat can be bought and sold by US$s. This has been their mode for so long people no longer see it staring them in the face. Each US government supports the energy companies and the military hardware companies because they pay politicians instead of paying their legal tax amounts. Same in Australia, the country would be able to do so much more, and I do mean much, much more, if these companies paid their fare share of taxes but, no, they are let off in so many ways that the ordinary folk never ever do, and still they rule governments in so many countries because they buy, cheaply, the politicians who are elected to work for the people thst elected them, with no votes, there's no being in government.
The whole business, and that's what it has become a business, is a total shame. And to have only two parties at the ballot box proves there us something terribly wrong, not just in America it has spread so far to other countries, they have become one name at the ballot.
The whole world needs to rise up in revolution before we end up with one big fat B over the whole planet. We all know who is hoping to be that one, and the hell on earth life would become if it us not stopped now.
OH BTW you are absolutely right about the arms merchants too. Most often, with exceptions being gulf monarchies most of which have oil and are part of the system, the weapons "sold" (really means rented out to) these target countries (new) leaders are as much for the purpose of intimidating or coercing the population as they are to threaten neighbors who may not be fully assimilated. It's also to ensure that chaos can be instigated whenever it's needed by stoking conflicts between countries in a given region now that they're well armed with Uncle Scam's weapons, even if they're otherwise cooperating - when there's a situation like "Israel" to distract people from. I ramble, I know. But you're correct about the weapons, and don't forget the surveillance and control systems these countries also "buy" - need to keep a close eye on the citizenry and prevent or destroy any pesky "socialist" uprisings - ya know, demand for an actual voice in their own government and use of their own tax money.
Yes, it most definitely goes way beyond oil and gas, or even other extractible goods and commodities. What they really want, at the end of the day, is akin to The Borg of Star Trek fame - full assimilation into the "US-based" "international order" meaning full access to and control (or as close or profitable as they can get) of the country's "markets" - people (consumers), social goods and services (transport infrastructure, utilities, education, health care, etc.) and to saddle the people of these countries with eternal debt whenever possible. This, of course, is done according to the same playbook as the oil, gas, minerals and crops - Privatization. Wresting not just the resources from the hands of the people (i.e., Venezuela's nationalized petroleum, etc.), but enslaving the country by "Americanizing" it and turning every possible aspect of life into a means of extracting rent and profit, turning citizens and sovereign nations into "consumers" of Western debt - aka the "financialization of everything."
Only those countries who refuse to bend the knee and offer sufficient cooperation with the "western" oligarch financial class (FIRE sector for short), are subject to mistreatment and meddling. The only difference is one of scope, scale and methods. For the ones who are already partially complying, perhaps a rigged election or soft coup. For the ones not really complying but maybe with enough (and sufficiently powerful) "upper class" rich people (most often those who obtained their wealth during the colonialism period - mostly land and property and ownership of minerals, etc. - and in countries where a severe (and completely false) strain of "anti-communism" remains from the decades of propaganda during the Cold War) to where a coup can be staged as non-violently as possible, and who will always be the class to place the next leader from among their ranks into power. Of course the further down the non-cooperation scale you go, the more violent it gets. Economic embargoes (Cuba), severe economic sanctions (Venezuela, Russia [in their delusional fantasies], formerly Syria, etc.) or straight up invasion and attempted regime change/destruction of the current order (Saddam, to be: Iran, Venezuela, etc.).
China is a unique case that has both obvious and not so obvious differences, the most obvious being that they are currently an economic and population powerhouse integrated enough into the Western supply chains that fucking with them in a serious manner would be like shooting ones self in the foot. But I digress....
Check out the following books if you haven't read them yet:
"The Racket - A Rogue Journalist..." by Matt Kennard
"The Jakarta Method" by an author named Bevins
"American Exeption" by Aaron good - more focused on the domestic side of this stuff.
Also happy to take any recommendations from others...
B?
And it should be noted that the [Real] State's Ukrainian Nazi/CIA Army is and has been using both Chemical and Biological warfare against Russia - the latter of which will always 'blowback' to the USA, in ways convenient for the BioSecurity and [Real] State's Technocratic Totalitarian goals.
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And remember when Obama, who had just been elected, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples"?
And remember when Obama said Assad using mustard gas on his own people was a "red line"?
And remember when Michelle Obama said, "When they go low, we go high?"
The Obamas have always been nothing more than grifters. Obama took more money from Wall Street than any candidate before him and allowed Citibank to appoint his cabinet. That was well documented.
Did Michelle Obama really say that? If she did she stole it from Jackie Chan who has used that for 40 years to describe how he differs from Bruce Lee.
I remember when Obama immediately turned his back on women when he and Pelosi decided that women's productive rights were never going to be a priority.
I remember Obama promising to end wars. They didn't.
Biden hasn’t been President for 10 months. How is your comment relevant today?
It shows the depth of the Team D commitment to human rights.
I'm glad you wrote about the No Kings rallies, Caitlin. Your "Fake Revolution" description is GOLD!
I know it is not a real revolution, but the fact that so many people came out at all might be a starting point. Who knows, maybe more people will start reading more non mainstream news and maybe they will start to figure things out.
Hi Susan, I saw this a lot- people saying didn't it mean something that so many people got off their arses on their 'day of rest' to go for a cathartic march and enjoyable rant in the sunshine with their friends. Or, on the other side of the political aisle and the Atlantic, in the rain protesting authoritarian governments not Kings.
The point is they were both deliberately given something to get excited about and positively encouraged to march about it. It makes them even less likely to notice what's really going on and even more likely to continue to read and believe their 'alternative' but totally corralled and controlled social media news outlets. It makes them even less likely to do something that would actually make a difference to the establishment like ditching their leaf blowers, jet washers, iphones, porn, booze, Netflix, all vaccines, most pharma products or going vegan.
The marches were not starting points. They were culminations of propaganda.
Yes, we have to start somewhere, and after decades of skillful manipulation by the Powers-That-Be (i.e., Manufactured Consent) there is no longer much organized resistance based on concrete issues. Instead we get a lot of virtue-signaling, which seems to describe the No Kings event.
So, we (who seek real structural change) are in a kind of boot-strap position: How do we get organized when there's so little organization to build upon. The owner class has done a pretty good job at dividing the working class into mutually-antagonistic factions. The culture of internet and smartphones has accelerated the separation of people into individual silos and favors messages that reinforce separation (because it makes you feel more free to view yourself as an isolated autonomous being, instead of being a member of human society).
I think we need to re-build class consciousness (which fell apart in the late 1980s) and for that we need a positive vision of what that leads toward. And I don't mean the Scandinavian Welfare Capitalism shit-job that so many of my liberal friends have bought into. That just leads them toward a lot of whiny moralistic arguments about how unfair and hurtful the US system is. The postmodernist brain-rot of power theory and how we could all be happy living in basements and interacting through TikTok if we only had a government-supplied Universal Basic Income (UBI). Yeah, great, a UBI that's just enough to keep you out of abject poverty and that's ready to be snatched away again at the first sign of political opposition. Total separation of individuals and total demoralization. What a bunch of saps these liberals are! Kind of like the academic union I belonged to, that would spend years negotiating for meager salary raises and never had that huevos to go on strike. It's hard to convince a bunch of PhD academics that they are workers just like the gardeners and custodians. They almost all think they are above that.
I'm not a great organizer, and labor unions are difficult to organize in the US because the laws are so tilted against unions, but I think a broad project to build alliance among the working class would be a fruitful direction to move in. Organizing around the idea of Mutual Aid might work, and could build outward from Food Banks, where a lot of working people get their groceries. We can learn to stand together, so we don't fall apart. We can relearn the lessons of community; that the bonds of community are stronger than the differences between us.
We can do this!
Apologies for the long post.
Yes, the first thing I thought was " this looks like a national day of Doo-Dah parades"
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Indeed, TTW.
Three items were able to be seen as triggers for moving the world out of its current crisis.
However......
* Israel's !00 years years of planning is not going to stop and genocide is accepted by all Israelis as normal, a requirement needed to achieve their goals. Now in place.
* The Western Media as part-owned by the Jews as investors (controllers). Nothing is ever likely to change this potential trigger for change, being profitable for the Jews and well planned for decades for one purpose only. Propagandised, biased news. It's the norm today.
'The USA as a major country........ but 86% controlled by Israelis and the narcissictic Trump, and 25 Cabinet puppets.
I concluded that the first two were unchangeable and I know that is correct. I was waiting to see if the demonstrations throughout the USA yesterday could ever be seen as a trigger for the third item, a 'revolution' from within in the USA. It was something of a failure. No objectives named, nothing achieved, no change in direction....or anything else.
Yesterday's 'No Kings' effort was clear indication that this will not be the trigger for change.
Back to the drawing board.
Yes. I know that there is the now feeble United Nations, long since handicapped by the inability to take the reins of justice and make decisions of any values to the world.
The US veto has made this organisation a useless tool for peace, justice, in fact for any positive progress at all and as a result should be closed down.
This leaves the remaining option. The US Cabinet of Trump and his like-minded entourage of misfits, none of who have a single independent thought that varies from the dictatorial Trump. But it also means searching out the identical number of the old Biden followers, the Gaza conspirators, one cluster of useless humans the same as the other.
So, no solution in sight. More AIPAC / USA controls to be applied, many more cities to be occupied by Trump's uniformed ICE terrorists, thousands more Palestinians to be butchered by Netanyahu's stormtroopers, the oilfields of Gaza to get under way and the Trump Tourist Empire to become a reality. Applications for membership of Trump's Gaza Country Club now soon open. Jews only, of course.
Lay back and enjoy the show, world, while you can. You could be next.
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Of course the boomers were out in force to protest. First time in their adult lives they've had their economic standing threatened by the culmination of decades of financial mismanagement of this country.
Meanwhile, GenZ are facing a life of destitution because of this mismanagement.
Exactly right in every detail. Caitlin understands this country better than 99% of its citizens. No matter who we vote for, we get John McCain. Or some equally horrific warmonger. Either don't vote D or R or don't vote at all. We're fucked here no matter what we do. Reject this whole corrupt system!
Agree with you about what not to do — the question remains, what do we do?
We go to the rallies and poach people that are looking for genuine action.
Treat it as a recruitment ground, not a protest. The cops and fascists are often just mingling doing the same thing, even if the latter is less obvious about it.
I've been doing "either don't vote D or R or don't vote at all" for 20 years--THAT doesn't change anything. We need to start talking about what might!
Now maybe you see why McCain was addressing the crowd following the Maidan massacre in Ukraine, after Victoria Nuland passed out he cookies. Cookies in exchange for regime change!
I said that we needed to vote for third party independents in 2024, trying to manifest that into existence.
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McCain was a MAVERICK!
I was born in Cuba and would never have left but I was 11 years old when my mother and stepfather decided to leave. I agree with you that the United States has always been a terrorist nation who has committed atrocities since its founding, but the protests are important because hopefully they will wake others to the need to change the status quo.
I am neither a Democrat or a Republican although I have voted Democrat three times in my life. Both parties are corrupt and support the same principles. As a socialist, I have no interest in anything the Government proposes.
I have been arrested multiple times for civil disobedience. I was an attorney for many years and found that in general, the system of justice is extremely corrupt. Once in a while you can find a decent lawyer or judge, but it’s a rare occurrence.
My issue with what you write is that you can’t paint millions of people with the same description. Many of the people I work and protest with seek to change a system of injustice and oppression to something else.
I have followed you and enjoyed your work for many years. Thank you for your service.
Silvia Brandon-Pérez
I attended a 400 person march and met boomers at their first march and I told them that both parties are corrupt and we need a socialist revolution. There were people
who listened and maybe it will sink in. Planted seeds of a general strike. I know it’s not happening as fast as we need it to, but I believe even small things matter.
Yes, it’s all fake, and shallow, and won’t change anything. But it’s counter productive to criticize the first stirring of activism among a population which makes complacency the eighth deadly sin. They need the practice, let them get out there and maybe next time they’ll have more to say. I think that even if it was empty, it was a good and necessary beginning.
But that's as far as it will go--it will just be the letting off of steam with their funny signs. There's no call to action or demands made. No organizing of the No King protesters except the local Democrats will email and call them with their contact info taken in the "registration" sign up online. It was just a big DNC vote gathering psy-op. There hasn't been a "beginning" yet.
Nope. The next planned march is a “Refuse Fascism” march organized by socialists, among others, with no connection to either major party.
That's fair.
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Trump's regime is out of control. They show no fear of ever being held accountable for their many corrupt and criminal actions. They display no concern about being reelected.
When the President's response to massive No Kings protests by outraged citizens is posting an AI video of himself wearing a crown, piloting a Trump branded jet and bombing Times Square protesters with feces, he needs to be removed from power, by whatever means are necessary.
i detest donald trump but I'm concerned about "removed by whatever means are necessary" considering that, dude -- he won. and the dem's loss was their own stupid ass fault. now. these were supposedly "pro democracy" protests. so...what are you suggesting?
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That video was genius. Trump is a gift in that he plays up to his role with such conviction. And he sees the funny side.
The point is they want you to think that Trump is the problem. You seem to believe it.
I guess you haven’t read any of my other posts.
The line between genius and insanity is non existent in those pulling Demented Donald’s puppet strings.
You keep cheering the depravity. I’ll keep calling out the traitorous regime.
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This cynical rant reveals a shallow understanding of US politics. The focus now is public pressure and pressure on the courts to stop Trump from making fascism the norm. I was at the No King rally in Sedona, a small town of 10,000, where perhaps 3000-4000 people turned out, all resisting the turn to fascism (which includes support for genocide in Gaza), part of a mass movement of grass roots democracy which sees as the need of the moment to push back against fascism. If y ou think that is fake, you are cynical and ignorant to boot.
The game plan is public pressure and court actions to stop Trump, then in 2026, remove the fascist from power in Congress and thus neuter Trump and perhaps, for there is no other possible alternative to stop Israel, pushing thru a ban on arms shipments to Israel. There is no way to speed up the process, which invovles understanding the limits, but there is no other way that anyone has suggested. If you have an alternative to elected progressive Democrats who will vote to stop arms to Israel, what the fuck is it? Whining and demonizing and calling the largest protest in American history "fake' is something I would leave to Trump. Ok what's your alternative to Congress banning arms to Israel? Bueller? If you can't lend a hand, get out of the way (Dylan).
Weak take! The Ukraine proxy war was started and escalated by Biden and the Dems. The Palestinian genocide was started, funded, armed and escalated by Biden and the Dems. We've had fascism since 2021 under Biden and Harris with attacks on free speech, radical censorship of the web, massive propaganda operations waged against the people, mandates to take experimental medicines. Did you all "protest" in Sedona then?
Yes, we are aware of the fact that Biden was President and support was by both parties. Are you aware that since 1988 (37 yrs ago), Bernie Sanders has proposed banning weapons to Israel and that in the last vote, the majority of Democrats voted to do just that. Either you support that or you don't. Which is it? I am not defending Biden, whom I consider a weak and pro-war President. I am supporting the effort, now supported by the majority of Democrats in the Senate, to stop sending arms to israel. Are you for that or not? That is the question today, not looking back in anger but working to build a consensus to actually defund arms to Israel. That is the issue you are ignoring so tell me: do you support the Sanders bill or not? If you don't, the IDF has a job for you.
The protest in Sedona, population 10,000 was beautiful and the 7 million nationwide and millioins in other nations protesting, formed the largest protest in history. If you mock the protests, you must be a Trump supporter. This is not about Biden but about stopping Trump from pushing fascism down our throats, which only massive public protest can stop, as it stopped 7 dictatorships in Eastern Europe in 1989, without bloodshed, a revolution that relies on the solidarity of the people, which you mock. You are now doubt envious of the loving protest that happened yesterday, a beautiful and effective measure to show the fascists that free speech and protest are alive and well in the US........we are not afraid. Perhaps you are so you mock the protesters just as the fascists do. Shame on you. You are not working to free Palestine but to spread hatred and distrust, when we can only win when we are united, as we were yesterday.
First let me say I'm envious of your protest--I was in Charleston, WV, population about 50K but drawing from all surrounding counties as well, which an organizer claimed 2000 but I think it was less. I enjoyed the protest, was pleased to accommodate a pair of 16-year-olds' first protest, think it was worth the drive.
But I also think your post is a bit naive. It's not like Biden was an anomaly. And if all the Democrats (except that asshole Fetterman) voted to stop arms shipments to Israel--AFTER two years of genocide, during what many imagine is a real ceasefire--here's a little thought experiment, suppose there is a midterm election (I think less than even odds of that) and the Dems sweep both Houses (but Trump will only allow an election if her can be pretty sure of being able to cheat hard enough to maintain control). Now they can actually block arms shipments, thus pissing off their Zionist and MIC funders. Think they'd even have a vote on it, let along again vote to DO it? And then there's Venezuela--even the Squad members go along with the "Maduro is a dictator, we need to restore democracy (meaning US control) in Venezuela" bullshit, if not the blowing up of fishing boats.
Just one correction, the genocide of the Palestinians has been going on for far longer than Biden's presidency.
We've had fascism (ie sticking together of white men) for as long as the British Empire started and was then handed over to the US one. It's just that it's been more hidden until now.
Yes there is continuity of agenda on war and global hegemony under all US presidents whatever R or D it makes no difference.
Except that Trump's admin is more out in the open- partly to make a backlash against it which also suits their purposes and deflects from themselves.
You know dale ruff...whenever I see your name, I think of dandruff. It's involuntary. You just gross me out without even reading your ignorant and utter crap.
You think Dems are better?! They're the same thing. The entire system is built to control the populous no matter which party wins. With people like you, we're sure to be stuck in this hellhole of a reality forever.
do you support the vote to ban shipping arms to Israel? Yes or No. If you do support it, why do you attack the people pushing it?
. In the recent Senate vote, the Sanders bill to do just that, got a majority of Democrats voting for it. If you want the US to continue sending arms to Israel, keep it up. My word to you is that your insult about my name is about a 2d grade level and your use of vulgar language suggests you have no rational or civil ability. I have asked: what is your alternative to banning shipping arms to Israel? And if you attack those who do, and those like me to support them, then I suggest you join AIPAC, whose criticism of the Sanders bill and the Democrats supporting it aligns with your stupidity. If you opposing Congress blocking arms to Israel, what is your alternative?. You have none. You are an ignorant troll, trading in infantile insults. Now go home. If you can't lend a hand to bring to power those working to stop US support for Israel, get out of the way.
Demands for Yes or No answers like that are sure signs of the Democrat Cult. There's a reason they always fall JUST a few votes short, and most of the votes in favor of whatever desirable thing are just psyops to sucker voters like you.
You are mistaking a bad act for sincerity.
Bernie ("Israel has a right to defend itself) Sanders after 2 years can now say Genocide. Wow. Vote D or R for Israel. Hope Change Beleive. One State Palestine.
Now this is just silly, the kind of binary thinking the Trumpers excel at. Either you support the Dems because when they have no power they vote to stop arms shipments to Israel, or you're in favor of the genocide. The real world is way wider than that.
Lily, what is accomplished by starting your argument with a personal attack? It just discredits you. And that's POPULACE.
Lost you when you implied the Courts will "save us." THAT horse IS out of the barn. The summer of 2024 SCROTI 5 + 1 Hand Maid crowned, anointed preznit f*wit Fuhrer/King/Supreme Poo Bah. The Traitors have already "done the dirty deed." Why do people, many lawyers, still keep their fingers crossed: the courts will save us? NO. THE court that "counts" has already ruled.
When was the last time when your wonderful democray yielded an acceptable human being as candidate for the presidency? Or at least "kind of acceptable".
Ralph Nader. Jill Stein. Sanders, with all his faults, voted against funding the Iraq war. It would have made a difference to the Iraqis, if not to you.
I understabn where you are coming from. Th issue is, third party candidates have problems, substantial problems, to get on the ballot in all states. And then, those candidates will have problems finding the billionaires that slip them the odd 100 million, let alone 250 million. And if so, that mone might come, like elsewhere, under conditions. And then you have all the fakenewsers out there who will ignore and misrepresent the campaign of a third party candidate. You might check with your local library if they have "End Times" by Prof Peter Turchin. A book that explains the 2025 US in reasonably non-challenging language.
Stein was on the ballot in most states. Do not forget that more people did not vote for either Biden or Trump and that "not Vote" would have also won the electoral vote. I voted for Stein because of the Green Party platform and because both candidates, Trump and Harris, are genocidaires. Of course I live in CA where it is easy to vote one's conscience, since Trump would not win in Ca, but still, I am sick of voting for murderers and probably would have voted for Stein in a swing state.
And I did the same in West Virginia where also it made no difference. But in 2000 I was a Nader Trader--I voted for Gore--because that was when WV was crossing from heavy majority Dem to today's heavy majority Rep., so Gore had a chance--while someone in Maryland who supported Gore voted for Nader on my behalf.
Absolutely right about third parties, although I voted for them in the past. I’ll check out the book — thanks. BTW, I read somewhere recently that the Greens in the UK recently out-polled both the Labor and Tory parties. It’s not easy, but we have to keep trying.
Voting is not going to help, even if its for third parties or 'Greens'. Any party that's allowed to be elected will have to support continuity of agenda of the US interests (fossil fuels and arms etc) either before or after election. The 'Green' party in Germany is an example of a completely compromised shit show.
We can vote with our dollars, sterling and purchases though.
Good point about the German Greens, they started out from often far left, even communist orientated people associated with the peace movement and environmentalism. Now your average centre right, pro war party. Already back in 1999 in coalition with the Social-Democrats (by name only) dismantly the welfare state and in support of the war against Yugoslavia. Nasty, indeed!
We CANNOT solve anything by buying green. But we can keep our incomes low enough to not pay federal taxes, so we aren't supporting the US military, and we can shift from big box, chains to local mom and pops, and we can change our lives so we buy much less, instead doing more for ourselves, engaging in trade, and finding better things to do with our time than recreational shopping.
Thanks for indulging my typos. And yes, in Britain both major political parties are discredited. So Liberal-Democrats (also kind of discredited) and Greens as well as a new left movement around Jeremy Corby (formerly candidate for Prime Mnister of Labour) and the newly founded right-wing (can we call them Trumpists?) are havng high hopes for the future. This kind of happens in many European countries. Literature here by the Canadian Alain Denault, "Mediocracy The Politics of the Extreme Centre" (2015 / there should be some reviews out there which give you an idea). Cheers, and good luck!
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Carter.
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So you get off kicked out and Vance steps in - oh, well, tgat will make such a difference won't it? No bloody way, just out of the pan and into the fires of hell with him in that job.
Vance, Tulsi, Vivek... liberals think it's just Donald Trump when in fact the entire of Washington D.C. is corrupt.
Do not assume we are belonging to either of the two corrupt political parties in control. I am 72 yrs. of age and haven't voted as a registered Dem since Jimmy Carter was POTUS, Democratic "leadership" is as much to blame as the GOP for drumpf being elected not once, but twice. P.S. It took millions of people demonstrating in the streets for four days in a row to drive the Marcos' crime syndicate from the Malacañang Palace in 1986.
The Filipinos had a specific demand. The No Kings protest did not. One does not effect real change by giving up brunch and then acting like it's some great sacrifice.
Those two signs are stupid — no question. But I didn’t see a single Harris sign at the 200,000 plus march I attended. (Neither were there any palm trees). I did see a large contingent of anti-genocide/pro-Palestinian protesters, which I joined. And several speakers denounced and called for an end to the U.S. support for the genocide in Gaza to wide applause. I voted “uncommitted” in the 2024 presidential election, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one there who did. We’re not all stupid and complicit here, Caitlin. Many of us are like those of the rest of you in the Western world whose governments don’t represent you and who are trying to figure out what to do about it. This of course has been building for a long time. And you’re of course right about the two U.S. mainstream parties. And you’re also right that many (but not all) groups that organized the march have ties to the Democratic Party. Many of us know that neither party is going to save us — that they both got us to where we are now. My sign, btw, was about the Supreme Court, which orchestrated a silent coup when it held that presidents were immune from suit for “official acts” performed in office, whether or not those acts are crimes. The decision had no legal foundation and instead rewrote the Constitution, as did the “money equals speech” decisions of the Court dating back to 1976, legalizing bribery in elections and allowing billionaires to buy them. The question is, what do we do — what do the populations of the UK and France do when speech is criminalized? We can start in the U.S. by throwing out every politician who has taken AIPAC and other Israeli lobby money and supported genocide. And that of course includes Harris. The cult members of both parties will continue to vote for whatever party name is put in front of them. But what are the rest of us to do?
Very well articulated. Depicting an entire country as either silly "brunch" dems or GOP-worshipping trumpers is quite a wide brush to be painting with. People worldwide are struggling with their governments not truly representing the people as intended. Not understanding that the same is true here in the US is juvenile. The simple "performative Americans, protest is futile", yet not a single suggestion as to what they should do instead? Nihilism in its worst form. No Kings may be performative for many, and not everyone is taking the situation here as seriously as they should. However, humans are like that - discomfort IS uncomfortable. But to simply decry protesting? In any form? Sure, it isn't enough...but it's something. If you attack (as you see it) the only thing people ARE doing, you risk shutting down the chance they will ever do better. If you do in fact wish for better, then this is an incredibly counter-productive take.
Coming back to link another post, for everyone who thinks nihilism is the answer, and that "I miss brunch" is the average protestors sentiment. If common sense has failed you, maybe your eyes will not.
https://substack.com/@toshyou/note/c-168074845?r=6ky0qq&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Agreed up to the "We can start by throwing our every politician who takes money from AIPAC..." No we can't, actually, since that's nearly all of them. This how ugly shit happens globally--we pretend voters have a choice when it's a choice in the US between two viable candidates, elsewhere more than two, but usually both of them are compromised because that's how it WORKS--when SCOTUS won't allow even weak, inadequate controls on political spending, and the one who spends the most wins 90% of the time, and all the major media is corporately or billionaire-owned and pro-corporate, pro-imperial, pro Israel...actually we CAN'T throw them out by voting.
What the rest of us can do starts with talking about it, instead of wasting so much time every four years arguing about whether voting for a third-party candidate who can't win is "throwing away your vote."
So true they've convinced many in the country it's somehow a red/blue battle for the "soul of the nation," when in reality, it's the predator elites' non-stop war on the people.
Omg....America is full of dumb sheeple (also a lot of people across the globe are as well, but Americans take the cake).
God help us all...
Haha! 👍 That's one thing 'murKKKans do, "take the cake."
On the bottom line there is really not much difference between the Parties on either side of the Isle.
Both are bought and Paid for by the Powers that be. AIPAC and the like, lobbyist, and have the biggest most well used, well oiled and best Western propaganda Machine, with lots of Money $$$$$$$$$ that puts Israeli Interest over Americas,
*Former President Nixon:
The Jews Are Aggressive and Obnoxious Personalities.
They Put the Jewish Interest Above American Interest .And its about Goddam Time the Jews Realize that
He is American First And a JEW Second. Richard Nixon ,Nixon Tapes,1972-1973
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Co opt and subvert. Gotta hand it to them, when it comes to counter revolution, these guys are both thorough and relentless.
If the establishment is good at nothing else, it is very good at determining whom to co-opt, whom to buy off, whom to neutralize, whom to ignore.
Yeah they’ve crunched the numbers
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If there had been one or two placards critical of Israel, the police state would've jumped into action to crack skulls and shut it down.
No the cops ignored us--it was our "fellow protesters" who seemed to take exception to our anti-Israel signage and chanting.
The rally I attended was pretty blatantly pro-Palestine, Anti-Israel/Zionism, and Anti-Trump.
The cops didn't care enough to do anything even while people were openly talking about socialism and the need to disrupt town halls and unionize.
They knew if they did act, it would only backfire PR wise, so it's a waiting game on their end to see if any momentum is built.
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Chris Hedges frequently uses the term “Inverted Totalitarianism” to describe US politics (he in turn got it from another commentator). The system’s rigged so that real power (capital, industry etc) places figureheads in office so we can point at them and argue with each other about who’s in office while the overall agenda remains the same.
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