Hollywood movie makers can learn much from the post war Italian cinema

John Hovan, citizen of Spain and the world

So bad are most Hollywood movies that only a good review can motivate me to see one now and then. Fred Mazelis succeeds here in making this " 60s radical " want to see " Trumbo ". You get a glimpse of his stunning anti-war book " Johnny Got His Gun " in the movie version of the Ron Kovic story " Born on the Fourth of July ".
I learned about the McCarthy era witch hunts directly from an old-and sadly too devoted - long time Communist Party member in Rhode Island- one John Hovan. About 5 years ago he was honored by the government of Spain for his service in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade during the horrendous and tragic Spanish Civil War. Hovan was transformed into a communist by his experience of the Great Depression in America. This story made the front page of the Providence Journal.
In the old fashioned card catalog files at the Providence Public Library I came across less " honoring " references to Providence Journal articles on HUAC's interest in this " commie " John Hovan. He too was hounded and persecuted by the local sanctimonious and patriotic Red hunters -saving America from godless communism.
In truth, Hovan was quite innocuous in those Cold War days of the 1950s. My " left -wing infantile " friends joked about John's vision of " socialism in one neighborhood ". But John was a very tough " survivor " - an honest friend of the working class - and very working class himself.
Just one humble suggestion for Hollywood movie makers that want to rise above the usual trash : they can learn from the style and the subject matter of the post-war Italian cinema. I suspect that Italian " commies " had no small influence in these stark black and white -social realism- unforgettable films. A while back I watched again " Umberto D "- available at the Providence Public Library.
 
   [ PROVIDENCE -- In July 1937, John G. Hovan boarded a France-bound boat to fight the rising Fascist powers.He headed to Spain, south across the Pyrenees, where thousands of other volunteers were already fighting a civil war that proved to be a prelude to World War II. The war was lost; an authoritarian regime ruled Spain for nearly three decades, cementing its power through military tribunals and political purges. On Thursday, Hovan, 93, who went on to fight in the Pacific...]

[ NOTE ON " Born on the Fourth of July "
       " as  far as fidelity to authentic detail and sustained concentration, this is his best. There are a thousand details that Stone got exactly right, from Dalton Trumbo's paperback novel of a paraplegic from WW I, Johnny Got His Gun, that sat on a tray near Kovic's hospital bed ....]

Hollywood can learn from post war Italian cinema

I find terrorism " understandable " the same way Darwin found the violence in Nature understandable

      I find terrorism " understandable " in the same way Charles Darwin found Nature" understandable " in terms of the " struggle for existence ". Human society evolved from some very socialized primate species. The CLASS STRUGGLE , in the final analysis, is the root of this terrorist insanity. As the young Karl Marx said "ideas do not fall down from the sky " - no, not even maniacal religious hallucination inspired by holy books . The Koran is no more inherently pernicious than the Old Testament . Jesus warned His followers not to cast the first stone. So stoning must have been an exciting pastime in Israel too. And John the Baptist was beheaded- another venerable tradition in the Holy Land before the Romans " civilized " it .
Today the United States is the greatest purveyor of STATE VIOLENCE in the world. Its " war on terrorism " is a phony cover for imperialist interests in the region.
By the way, Vladimir Putin is better at fighting terrorism.
And by the way, the neo-cons want to PRIVATIZE the public library. A more " civilized " way to destroy it.
If you think the American ruling class is fond of free speech and free thought and public access to THE FACTS , then you are very mistaken.

Palestinians ask : Why do you hate us ?

Why do you hate us ?

As a citizen of the United States and a democratic Socialist I have a different perspective on the question asked by the oppressed Palestinians and the demonized naturally peaceful Muslims of the Middle East : ” Why do you hate us ? ”
Any competent psychiatrist will observe that people do have a tendency to hate the people they most hurt. There is both a spark of social conscience here and the rational fear of revenge.
The United Nations got it right way back in 1975 when it declared Zionism to be a form of racism. But the ruling ideas in America- as Marx pointed out – are the ideas of its ruling class. A pro-Israel lobby controls the main stream news media here. Now it seems that anti-Zionism is a form of racism.
Democratic socialists have for years supported the Palestinian cause- without descending to the level of vulgar anti-Semitism.
The phony ” war on terrorism ” is just a cover for imperialist interests in the Middle East.
Think of all these old colonialist powers – England, France, Germany, Belgium- not known for their humanitarian subjugation of ” inferior ” races and ethnic groups – eager to combat Islamic terrorism. Willing to bomb Syria day and night- with no regard for faceless collateral damage. No bells will toll in the Notre Dame Cathedral for these slaughtered innocents.
Arrogant imperialism – the ” New Colonialism ” Pope Francis calls it- will keep the world in a hundred years war -unless checked by popular democratic forces.
How false is that old Wilsonian blather about FREEDOM and ” making the world safe for democracy "  -- especially coming from the mouth of billionaire Donald Trump.
And too many once leftist Jewish intellectuals have in the past 50 years  been corrupted by Zionism and besotted by Israel as a sort of exclusive ” Jew Heaven “.
Two outstanding exceptions are the late Professor Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky of MIT. Zinn wrote the popular textbook ” The People’s History of the United States “- scorned by hack scholars and bribed journalists.
Democrat Bernie Sanders would be a lot more worthy of the socialist tradition of Eugene V.Debs if he were more militant in opposing the reckless U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
Socialists here shout : ” We are all Palestinians now ! ”
How hypocritical for the muzzled bourgeois press to shout ” Je Suis Charlie Hebdo ! “.
Not much space for the Palestinian point of view in my ” Providence Journal “. Mostly neo-con drivel.
[ http://radicalrons.blogspot.com ]

Privileged blacks want YOU to vote for Hillary Clinton

  So called Islamic terrorism -and fascist violence- cannot be explained by individual mental illness. But both terrorism, fascism, and an epidemic of mental illness can be explained by the decaying capitalist social order. No educated socialist will racialize mental illness or the social inequality inevitable under capitalism. No socialist would suggest that the cure for rampant inequality among " people of color " is some form of " affirmative action " capitalism. In fact, the Obama years have been a golden age for the black bourgeoisie. These privileged blacks want YOU to vote for Hillary Clinton- a true ONE PERCENT-er .
People of color would be wise to pay more attention to the " socialist " Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
They would be even wiser to form an independent Labor Party-similar to the British Labor Party-but not so compromised.

Obama era a golden age for the black bourgeoisie

TV preacher saves Willy Loman : " God wants YOU to be rich too, Willy ! "

  There is a difference between a nut case and a lucid, angry but clear headed political terrorist. This guy is a nut case. A " Peeping Tom " when not obsessing on the " baby parts" Planned Parenthood free markets ?
One more alienated soul in a capitalist society becoming unglued. Ruined-and frequently divorced- middle class businessmen often have nervous breakdowns and crackups. And carry out revenge plots at first in drunken fantasy. Then one day their disturbed ID orders them .... to DO IT !
Our mental health system is a complete failure. A report- just recently -about suicide among white middle aged males who judge themselves as " losers " in the insane capitalist America rat race. Yes, so many Willy Lomans out there.( " Attention must be paid to this man ! ") . Having sold their souls to the American Dream, they are spiritually bankrupt.. Hell is OTHER PEOPLE . NO EXIT !
It happens with creepy frequency now : kill THEM then kill yourself -one way or another.Too bad : the FEEL GOOD TV preacher had a solution to his problem: the amazing power of positive thinking.God wants YOU to be rich too , Willy.

Arthur Miller's Willy Loman - a symbol of rat race failure

The root of terrorism is CLASS misery

It is all too clear now : the Washington led " war on terror " is just a phony cover for the ruthless pursuit of imperialist interests in the Middle East. It is all too easy to be cynical about bombastic and hypocritical condemnation of violence- by all these former colonial powers -England, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy- never known for humanitarian subjugation of " backward people ", " the white man's burden ".
What do these countries have to offer the teeming millions crowded together in hopeless, neglected, " downtrodden neighborhoods " ? Does global capitalism offer them the " good life ", a generous slice of the economic pie ? It offers them just what it offers the vast majority of working class people- a life time of misery, oppression, and exploitation.
The ROOT of this terrorism is the international misery of the exploited CLASS.
In the final analysis even maniacal religious hallucination must reflect social BEING.
The young Karl Marx understood this very well : " ideas do not fall down from the sky " - not even IDEAS in holy books like the Koran.
Only international socialism can check international terrorism.

Reactionary RIGHT TO LIFE hypocrites

Could anything be more ridiculous than these reactionary American politicians -these champions of what 60s radicals called the " American Death Culture " - identifying themselves with RIGHT TO LIFE anti-abortion fanaticism. ?
I am sure their Queen of Mean , Ayn Rand , was also a big fan of both the RIGHT TO LIFE and " The Virtue of Selfishness ".
War mongers and supporters of the state death penalty- opposed also to national health care and the SAVE THE EARTH movement - shedding tears over " the slaughter of the innocents ".
Under global capitalism , of course, the unborn have a right to a hell of a life.
Go figure !

Good Germans fighting Islamic terrorism like Bertrand Russell's " Nice People "

  I am bemused by all these former colonialist European powers ganging up on barely identifiable ( from the air ? ) " Islamic terrorists " with their round the clock bombing campaign of poor, miserable Syria-and bombastically making it sound as glorious and patriotic and world saving as the famous Battle of Britain during World War II.
With good sense Pope Francis speaks out today about the New Colonialism. Almost 60 years ago the French writer Albert Camus said that he would like to love both his country and justice-but French atrocities in the Algerian civil war were making that quite difficult.
Working class people should believe that imperialist arrogance will save the " civilized " world from Islamic terrorism ?
And the French president, Francois Hollande, calls himself a " socialist " ? It seems that betraying the ideals of socialism - like international working class solidarity- is nothing less than a lucrative for-profit industry in the " civilized " world.
I recall Leon Trotsky writing about truly exquisite French hypocrisy . Yes, " if lies were made of dynamite, the whole world would blow up ".
To be sure, the French " way of life " mocks the poor and oppressed just as much as the American Way of Life . Nice to know that former middle class Americans now living in their cars still enjoy the same " way of life " as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and the Ayn Rand fans in the Republican Party.
Don't let a little thing like the class struggle spoil inspiring patriotic drivel.
And let's keep an eye on those " good Germans ". I associate them with Bertrand Russell's " Nice People " ( from " Why I Am Not A Christian " ).

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No socialist will have much patience with bourgeois patriotism - French or American

   No SOCIALIST will have much patience with patriotic Wilsonian blather : sentimental talk about the " French way of living " is as fatuous as the right-wing drivel about the " American Way of Life ". For years - especially during the Cold War Era - our " way of life " - from all ruling class controlled information sources -with the exception of the PUBLIC LIBRARY ( soon to be privatized ) - was threatened by the very IDEA of SOCIALISM -not just the Stalinist Soviet Union.
Just about 100 years ago crackpot French and German " patriotism " culminated in the Madness of Verdun. Wilsonian blather about making the world safe for democracy helped get us into the Great War , the war to end all wars.
Never in history- not even going back to ancient Rome - has CLASS STRUGGLE been snuffed out by enthusiasm for EMPIRE.
How ironic that all the former colonialist powers now daily bombing Syria pretend to be saving the world from Islamic terrorism. Only the international socialists can save the world from THEM, the plutocrats of global capitalism and 21st century imperialism.
The American working and middle class is being ruined by American capitalists - not far away terrorists. An empowered United Nations police force can deal with those idiots.
To be sure , " something is happening here " with the presidential campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. But Bernie should find inspiration for " socialist " foreign policy in the famous Canton Speech of Eugene V. Debs. Debs would remind the working class voters today that the only just war is class war. For inspiration with a French flavor remember the 1789 Great French Revolution . Question : Was Thomas Jefferson a closet Jacobin ?
As the French writer Albert Camus put it : " I would like to love both my country and justice ". Camus was not impressed with the consequences of French " patriotism " in oppressed and rebellious Algeria.

A vote for Bernie Sanders is a vote for a better America ?

"Bernie 2016" bumper stickers are suddenly becoming a common sight on the roadways –
indeed "there's something happening here . . ."

For a better America...

As a democratic Socialist myself -and a registered Democrat in Rhode Island-I am proud of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont for helping to detoxify the word SOCIALISM. For Sale "intellectuals" have long associated it with the Stalinist nightmare of the Soviet Union or the suppression of everything most Americans think worth living for.

Even the ONE PERCENT will not be denied the "right to happiness" in a saner, more just social order than capitalism.

I would say a vote for Socialism is a vote for a better America. I hope that a vote for Bernie Sanders in the primary does not transfer to a very different- very compromised-very pro-Wall Street - Democrat, Hillary Clinton.

Only a scandalous- for "democracy"- low voter turn out in Election 2016 will give victory to the Ayn Rand fanatics– the Republicans.

United States now extends famous Monroe Doctrine to the whole planet

Russian view of war in Syria  More than 14 years after President George W. Bush declared ” war on terrorism ” it is all too clear to honest people- receptive to truth -that this war is all about U.S. imperialist interests in the Middle East. If Russia does not play along with the Pentagon’s criminal war plans, then there is always the option of World War III .
It is the very same ARROGANCE OF POWER that started the Spanish American War . I recall how that phony war for liberation infuriated the famous humorist Mark Twain : ” In America we have those three precious things : freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence to  never practice any of them. “.
I thought that we learned a lesson in Vietnam : never to get involved in the bloody and often insane civil wars of other countries.
And don’t think ” Harpy Hillary ” has a plan to end the war ( in the manner of Richard M. Nixon ) .
In a way Putin was right to view the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union as world tragedy. Now that famous Monroe Doctrine extends to the whole planet. God help us !

United States early on shows the Arrogance of Power

Pentagon investigates its own war crimes ?

Pentagon investigates itself ?

   Only truly subservient-hardly liberal-journalism-would accept the Pentagon investigating its own war crimes. It is a bit like a conservative College of Cardinals investigating rampant sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. What does the world think ? I consult a popular web site for scholars: www.watchingamerica.com. The whole world was watching . And the verdict is in : the U.S. bombing of the Doctors Without Borders Hospital in Afghanistan was a true war crime, a crime against humanity. There have been very many well documented U.S. military war crimes since President George W. Bush declared this phony " war on terrorism" way back in 2001. Clearly the U.S has no moral authority to lead any war on terrorism anywhere in the world.
Martin Luther King would say even today that the U.S. is the greatest purveyor of violence and STATE TERROR in the world today. All that blather about " terrorism " is a front for world imperialist interests in the Middle East.
Russia's Vladimir Putin is a more honest fighter against Islamic terrorism.
But behind Islamic terrorism is a real grievance: years of colonial exploitation in the Middle East and Africa.
What student of world history could ever forget the European atrocities in the former Belgian Congo -just to cite ONE example ?
And WHO were we or the French " freeing " in Vietnam ?
The whole world applauded the French debacle at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.
The whole world is still watching - imperialist, super-power America.

Yes, an INDEPENDENT investigation of U.S. war crimes

Both Obama and Putin pardon Turkey !

Thanksgiving headline : " BOTH OBAMA AND PUTIN PARDON TURKEY ". But no SOCIALIST president would leave humans on death row. No SOCIALIST president would help to start World War III. But neither Obama nor Putin believe in socialism. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has THE FAITH. But he does not take the "Socialist Pope " Francis any more seriously than JFK did Pope John XXIII ( Pacem in Terris ) .
I suspect that Sanders only winks at the Pope of Socialism - Karl Marx. But Sanders is preferable to Donald Trump in the same way that JFK was preferable to that Prince of Darkness, Richard Nixon.

Putin also pardons Turkey today

The dinousaurs were also lords of the earth - until the Day of the Asteroid

     Left-wing groups  and organizations have been talking about U.S. war crimes in Iraq since 2003. The big idea that emerges is that the U.S. ” war on terrorism ” is nothing but a cover for pursuing bloody imperialist interests. Presently the ruling class- after the terrorist attacks in Paris- is trying to revive the patriotic hysteria and war fever of the days after September 11, 2001.
They hope that the voting public will be too stupefied by war propaganda to pay much attention to ” socialist ” Democrat Bernie Sanders’ message of a sick and morally insane capitalist economic system.
How can any student of world history not be reminded of the very beginning of the First World War in August 1914 ?
The attacks on free speech rights everywhere are just a prelude to another world war. The TRUTH is invariably too subversive- and has a Socialist ring to it.
But even Karl Marx observed that the class struggle can end in the common ruin of the contending classes. Are we humans—homo-sapiens—about to become a failed species ?
The indifferent universe mocks all causes-good and bad, sane and insane. The dinosaurs -if they could have had one lucid thought- would think that they were the lords of earth-until the day of the arrival of that fatal asteroid.

Nothing lasts--not even the glory days of T-Rex

Is global capitalism too rotten to be reformed ? Lenin thought so in 1917

The destruction of democracy

  For decades the New York Times has been identified as the authentic VOICE of the U.S. ruling class. I recall-many years ago-browsing front page news stories of dramatic world shaking events. On one point both radical journalist John Reed ( " Ten Days That Shook The World " ) and New York Times editors agreed : " Lenin is perhaps the greatest revolutionary of all time ".
The lucidity of Lenin's work " The State and Revolution " utterly baffles neo-liberal philistines today. And not a few lap dog " socialists ".
Asked if a " peaceful " revolution were possible in other countries Lenin shook his head : No, no. the ruling classes are incurably greedy.
Presently Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is evoking nostalgic New Deal memories. Oddly enough the neo-liberals in the Democratic Party do make FDR look like a flaming Bolshevik.
But I think Lenin was right -even well into the 21st century: Global capitalism is too rotten to be reformed.Even bourgeois democracy is a serious threat to plutocratic rule. Yes, they are just PARASITES.

Lenin - greatest revolutionary ever ?

The TRUTH has a SOCIALIST ring to it

A lot of Willy Lomans out there   The writer ignores a fundamental axiom of Marxism : the ruling ideas are the ideas of the ruling class. The real CLASS STRUGGLE is reflected in this social media polarization. As a democratic Socialist I want to know ALL points of view. I want nobody silenced by ” more balanced ” ruling class bureaucrats. It is respectable drivel to assume that TRUTH and SANITY are always found in the philistine middle.
I can see why establishment news media feel threatened by the political independence of COMMENTS. Just recently I heard a right wing radio talk show host in Rhode Island ( Gene Valicenti, 630wpro.com ) suggest on air that newspaper COMMENT opportunities should be banned-not monitored but BANNED. I don’t worry so much about polarization as I do about the suffocation  of FREE SPEECH.
The TRUTH itself is always and everywhere subversive. TRUTH cannot serve the oppressors and exploiters of this world.
Too bad for them that TRUTH has a SOCIALIST ring to it.

Cause of Big Bang : Nothingness got bored with itself ?

   I have great respect for scientific logic. But I am bold enough to speculate in a shameless metaphysical way about the CAUSE of the Big Bang : NOTHINGNESS just got so bored with itself that it exploded into its very opposite: the potential for EVERYTHING. This NOTHINGNESS was just God's nightmare-and is reflected in our own morbid fear of death.
If the whole universe can emerge from nothing, is Christ Risen too preposterous ? Something coming from nothing also violates scientific logic.
Let a New Atheist cast the first stone at this disciple of H.P. Lovecraft-who longed for the " Silver Key " of his dreamy youth. But Dream Time is forever !

"The Silver Key" by H. P. Lovecraft

www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/sk.aspx

The Silver Key By H. P. Lovecraft ------=-O-=-----. When Randolph Carter was thirty he lost the key of the gate of dreams. Prior to that time he had made up for the .

Happy Thanksgiving from Blue Cross- layoffs coming soon

Right around Thanksgiving time my sister Rita - and many others employed by Blue Cross here- get the depressing news that they are all facing a layoff. Of course, only naïve employees of Corporate America think ANY job is secure in this post Great Recession era. For 30 years Rita had been happily employed as a LPN at Kent County Hospital. About 30 of these LPNs - good , skilled, beloved health care workers- were suddenly jobless 5 years ago.
Capitalist propaganda plays a BLAME THE VICTIM game with the exploited and oppressed in America. Its tells poor kids that education and job skills are the key to job stability and a pass to a lifetime of middle class bliss. Then the government cuts back on public education, tuition grants, and job training. If so many people crack up under the stress, there is always the prison system for restoring their CHARACTER and mental health.
Why oh why should working class - middle class - Americans think capitalism is the last word in social sanity ? Ask Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. He is at least making SOCIALISM smell good again.

Zionist Israel will not open its doors to the Syrian refugees

I am pleased that prominent members of the Jewish community reject the Donald Trump view of these Syrian refuges as sinister and dangerous. But there is little attempt to " identify " with the anger, rage, and alienation of the terrorists themselves. Over the weekend I read much about the panic in Belgium.

How can we in the Western " democracies " even imagine why those often dark and sinister THIRD WORLD PEOPLE have a chip on their shoulder- even if far from " terrorists " themselves ? What, for example, did the nice people who rule and ruled Belgium do to deserve this nightmare ? Let's see- an introduction to a history lesson:
" The Belgian Congo is often cited as one
of the most brutal and exploitative colonial regimes in modern history.
It stands as an extreme example of the cruelty of European rule in
Africa for the sake of economic gain "
The American Black Muslim Malcolm X would call all this " chickens coming home to roost "
To what degree is the U.S. ruling class - so well represented by Republican Donald Trump himself - responsible for the hell of daily terrorism ?
During the Great Depression many Jews turned to socialism/ communism as a solution to the world crisis. But in the last half -century many left-wing Jews have become besotted with their own brand of EXCLUSIVE nationalism . Has Zionist Israel opened its doors to these Syrian refugees ? The leaders of Israel even refuse to assimilate the Palestinians. Prime Minister Netanyahu got himself re-elected by raising fear about THE STRANGER in the land - in the manner of Donald Trump.
Not for nothing America is not so well liked in Israel nowadays.
      Netanyahu rejects calls for Israel to accept Syrian refugees

Donald Trump and " It Can't Happen Here " by Sinclair Lewis

    As a democratic Socialist myself, a registered Democrat in Rhode Island ( where is the more- left- than- thou competition ? ) , I am a critical supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. No socialist would let any oppressed minority heckler be bullied by a vicious ,angry crowd. A socialist candidate would be ashamed of their " support ". That being said, there is a FREE SPEECH crisis in this country and politically correct neo-liberals, illiberal liberals, are doing little to correct it . You must always LISTEN to your political enemies. They might , after all, have a share of TRUTH in very serious and controversial matters.
" The Donald " - Republican Donald Trump- reminds me of a Depression Era classic protest novel " It Can't Happen " by American writer Sinclair Lewis. That book was about the rise of a fascist leader in oh-so-democratic America.
Both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump share this thought : " The American dream is dead ", 
      Socialists blame capitalism. Even Pope Francis has no love for this mean spirited social system.
ALL Republicans are fans of that militant atheist- and money worshiping reactionary - Ayn Rand. She wrote THE BOOK of the fascist movement: " The Virtue of Selfishness ".
Only a very low voter turnout can secure an election victory for Donald Trump or Dr.Ben Carson ( who always asks " What would Jesus do ? " ) .
( NOTE : Jesus recommends torturing prisoners of war )

Belgium - " chickens coming home to roost "

Imperialism in the Belgian Congo

How can we in the Western " democracies " even imagine why those often dark and sinister THIRD WORLD PEOPLE have a chip on their shoulder- even if far from " terrorists " themselves ? What, for example, did the nice people who rule and ruled Belgium do to deserve this nightmare ? Let's see- an introduction to a history lesson:
" The Belgian Congo is often cited as one
of the most brutal and exploitative colonial regimes in modern history.
It stands as an extreme example of the cruelty of European rule in
Africa for the sake of economic gain "
The American Black Muslim  Malcolm X would call all this " chickens coming home to roost "
Perhaps one democratic right of working class people must be to choose their own political enemies . In defending its capitalist and imperialist interests our ruling class has less and less respect for " democracy " at home .
STATE TERRORISM is just as wrong as the mindless rage-terrorism of the oppressed.
Let a United Nations police force check rage-terrorism. And introduce a measure of JUSTICE into the lives of these super-oppressed, super-exploited THIRD WORLD PEOPLE.
No justice, no peace !

Eugene V. Debs : " The only just war is class war "

   How many registered voters here read these eloquent words of an un-compromised SOCIALIST - Eugene V. Debs -with a cramped soul and a mind befogged by having to pretend on your rotten job that American capitalism and U.S. imperialism are just the last word in social sanity ?
The ruling class would like nothing better than for you to ignore the voice of your inner TRUTH TELLER and cheer on World War III. Look for the enemy in far away foreign places with often strange sounding names... but turn a blind eye to the ferocious enemy within -the sinister and controlling ONE PERCENT plutocracy ?
" Socialism or barbarism " , another famous socialist put it. For guidance in foreign policy read Debs' Canton Speech : " The only just war is class war ".

World terrorism is best checked by a United Nations police force

      

  How did the latest terrorist act in Paris make a supposed " state of war " in the United States more self-evident now than right after the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept.11 2001 ? More than 14 years have passed since George W. Bush declared perpetual WAR ON TERRORISM and authorized criminal invasions and occupations of Middle East countries. The chaos in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria can be traced to the Bush BIG LIE - about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The ONLY weapon of mass destruction there now is U.S. air power.
Despite the hysterical ruling class controlled daily BREAKING NEWS about terrorists deeds, it is clear to most thinking people that the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today is the U.S. military.
Working class Americans should have some say in WHOM we declare war on. When they learn all the relevant facts about a world crisis, they will invariably find the villain in global capitalism and imperialist interests.
And world terrorism is best checked by a United Nations police force. The U.S. ruling class would love to have us just forget all about every day capitalist injustice and insanity and cheer on World War III.

The endless war on terrorism has created an Orwellian political reality at home. Soon we will have mass media sponsored TWO MINUTES HATE rallies- where we are all invited to throw stones at RAG HEAD images on a giant TV screen in local shopping malls.

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

2+2 = 5

Letter to the editor : WE ARE AT WAR STUPID !

Homeless friend gets job interview for selling houses

I have been observing homeless people in Providence, Rhode Island for years now. I made the point in a number of published letters in the Providence Journal that the homeless, who cluster in the Kennedy Plaza area, are mostly neglected mentally ill. Who can be more helpless than they ? I called it " America's moral catastrophe " and a " crime against humanity ".
Oddly enough, I am presently in daily contact with a homeless 67 year old friend I refer to as " Ragged Dave " in a letter ( just descriptive ). He is living in an old Lincoln Town Car . But last night he was staying at a rather seedy -and notorious- Motel 6 . His vagabond life style makes it difficult for him to even apply for public housing, his only hope, I told him.
A Jewish charity paid for three nights at Motel 6 for 67 year old " Ragged Dave ". Tonight he will be living in that stinking, messy car again.
On SSI " Ragged Dave " had job interviews recently: for selling houses and selling cars !

I can let him take a shower at my cramped studio apartment in Cranston. And wish him GOOD LUCK !
By the way , " Ragged Dave " helped put the Socialist Workers Party on the ballot in Rhode Island in 1976.

" Ragged Dave " is almost a celebrity at shady Motel 6 in Warwick

Islamic Terrorists of the world : throw away the Holy Koran and take up and read ... " Atlas Shrugged "

   No civilized person will make excuses for useless-and deranged- violence anywhere on the Good Earth. But the fact that Mali is " a former French colony " is not insignificant. The former colonialist and present day imperialist world powers are shocked and awed by the merciless terrorist violence-now connected with the Islamic ISIS. I am sure that the American Black Muslim Malcolm X  would call  it an example of     " chickens coming home to roost ". So wonderful and so pure minded and idealistic is bourgeois democracy- in France, England, Germany, the United States - that the ruling classes are utterly baffled by the motivation of these wicked terrorists. Only round the clock bombing of their countries- with the permission of subservient regimes- and to hell with COLLATERAL DAMAGE - will bring the terrorists to a state of sound and docile common sense.
I am sure the enlightened governments of Western Civilization will succeed in terrifying the terrorists- the  best and brightest  among them will throw away the Holy Koran and start reading " Atlas Shrugged " and " The Virtue of Selfishness ". Allah was great but greed is good !

   

Abolish the cult of THE DOCTOR !

  This informative article makes it perfectly clear that this state and this country is long way from Senator Ted Kennedy's dream of health care as a basic human right. So called Obama-care is a very shabby compromise-only better than the Republican Ayn Rand Plan for caring for the sick and elderly.
A real national health care plan would replace separate state Medicaid plans with a uniform national plan-really just a simple extension of Medicare.
A real national health care plan would simply make it ILLEGAL for medical doctors, psychiatrists, and even dentists to refuse to see and treat any patient.
We should also abolish the CULT OF THE DOCTOR. Thousands of RNs could be quickly trained-in two years perhaps- to be primary care physicians. And they will make house calls and be more than mediocre pill pushers for the big drug companies.
Recalling Dr. Ben Casey ! Recalling Dr. Kildare ! They will be working for Big Government-with a smile.
A failing health care system in Rhode Island 

The former colonialist powers bomb Syria day and night- scorn the refugees

Karl Marx pointed out way back in 1848 in his Communist Manifesto :" The working people have no country ". To this ruling class inspired xenophobia, inflamed by Islamophobia , socialists around the world raise the banner of INTERNATIONAL WORKING CLASS SOLIDARITY.
Senator Bernie Sanders should read -or re-read- the famous speech of Eugene V. Debs , his Canton Speech. Debs opposed the Great War, the war to make the world safe for democracy. Debs explained that the war was all about imperialist interests and that rabid nationalism could only be toxic to ordinary working class people.
If Martin Luther King were alive today , he would say about this " war on terrorism " just what he said about the criminal Vietnam War : The United States is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.
Daily injustice in the lives of so many Middle East people is also a form of terrorism. The former colonialist powers bomb Syria day and night and then deny the thousands of refugees any shelter in their homelands.
No bells will toll in Notre Dame Cathedral for the faceless COLLATERAL DAMAGE of this moral catastrophe- and miserable failure- war on terrorism.

NPR ridiculed at World Socialist Web Site

I was rather shocked myself to discover just how illiberal LIBERAL NPR has become. Now I know I am not alone in smelling a pseudo-progressive rat. I was recently rebuked -not deleted - by a NPR moderator for referring to Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as " Harpy Hillary ". To this I added that at least I did not call her a MARXIST. .
And NPR has the nerve to request listeners to SEND US A CHECK . To help them maintain their inspiring independence ( from the ruling class ? ).
I will sooner send my socialist friends here a check- just as soon as I win the state lottery.
But NPR might still endorse Bernie Sanders, after all . Sanders represents SOCIALISM for advanced liberals-without backbones.

Send THEM a check ? Such flaming liberalism !

   Not so liberal NPR

Warwick Beacon publisher John Howell interviewed by Gene Valicenti on banning newspaper COMMENT

Speaking about " free speech " and " public comment " in Warwick, I heard John Howell's morning interview with Talk Radio newsman Gene Valicenti where Valicenti feels out the Warwick Beacon publisher on Valicenti's BRIGHT IDEA of banning newspaper COMMENTS--- in The Providence Journal, for example - as they are frequently annoying ( to whom ? ) vulgar ( that's DEMOCRACY ) and " serve no purpose " ( like right here ). I guess Gene Valicenti thinks all we need is right-wing talk radio. And this is the last word in popular democracy ?
I commend Mr. Howell for not letting Gene make him sound too interested in this suffocation of PUBLIC COMMENT. If COMMENTS annoy the reader , he or she can just ignore them . And they are well monitored anyway. A democratic Socialist myself- giving critical support to Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont- I listen to 630wpro.com Talk Radio simply because I am interested in every barometer of PUBLIC OPINION. This morning there was a lot of hysterical rabble rousing by John DePetro on the hot topic of those oh-so-dangerous and sinister Syrian refugees. Certain illiberal liberals have boycotted John DePetro. I think this long boycott is foolish. Political correctness can also become tyrannical.
[ http://radicalrons.blogspot.com]

Warwick Beacon publisher John Howell

For WHOM the bell tolls ?

  No serious student of American history will conveniently forget the well-documented -and often self-documented -WAR CRIMES OF U.S. IMPERIALISM in fighting its various and numerous enemies around the world. In general an ENEMY is any group that opposes U.S. ruling class interests. The " socialist " school-even that of Bernie Sanders- understands that the interests of this wealthy ruling class is hardly identical with the interests of the American working class.
In general, we see U.S. imperialism as the root cause of the growing strength of these Islamic terrorists groups in the Middle East today.
No bells will toll in Notre Dame Cathedral for the faceless COLLATERAL DAMAGE of these air strikes. If Martin Luther King were alive today, he would say about our war on terrorism just what he said about our criminal war in Vietnam: we are the greatest purveyors of VIOLENCE in the world today.
Ask the survivors of the bombing attack-deliberate- on the Doctors Without Borders trauma hospital in Afghanistan. This story was reported just weeks ago as a definite " war crime " by United Nations observers.
NO SUPPORT FOR CRIMINAL WARS in the American working class.This " war on terrorism " is both a moral catastrophe and a miserable failure.

My Mayor Cianci letter -2003

Letter in Providence Phoenix on "Buddy" Cianci ( 2003)

Letter published April 17-24, 2003:  I am not a fan or defender of the now imprisoned ex-mayor of Providence, Vincent "Buddy" Cianci. But I did not want him to languish in prison.

What happens to any man's soul in prison is always of great human interest. I'll bet many readers might enjoy a monthly LETTER FROM BUDDY. What does he think about late at night, all alone in very un-regal surroundings. What does he read?

I do miss his color and flamboyance. But how quickly prison can break a man. "Know thyself" advises the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. What has Buddy discovered in prison about the real Buddy? Any spiritual growth here? A penny for your thoughts, Buddy.

EDITORS NOTE under "Seven Pillars of Wisdom", Phillipe & Jorge  .... "Double No Soul on Ice."

Vincent Cianci - not a portrait of Dorian Gray

Cianci portrait unveiled at Providence City Hall

As mayor of Providence Independent Vincent " Buddy " Cianci was certainly an able and creative LEADER, truly independent of the local ruling class. Almost Caesar like in his " independence ", Cianci was loathed by these lesser plutocrat snobs- not a few of them rather bigoted against Italian-American politicians. I recall his rejection by a Brown University " gentleman's club ".
I note in my blog the amazingly hypocritical campaign against him led by those oh- so -ethical Knights on White Horses at 75 Fountain St. And ethical Puritans like Gordon Fox !
As a democratic Socialist I have a CLASS perspective on the nature of political corruption. And the Catholic religious tradition does believe in forgiveness and redemption for ALL types of sinners. .
I wonder what type of " character " that Cianci portrait reveals. I speculated on his soul in a letter published in the Providence Phenix a few years after he was sent to federal prison- having been convicted of no crime in particular.

Cianci was a victim of anti-Italian- American snobs

ALL the great religions have created a venerable tradition

   I recall taking a Philosophy of Religion course in the late 70s. It covered the core beliefs of ALL the world's great religions. From the point of view of culture and civilization ALL of them had created a venerable tradition . As a democratic Socialist myself I think it foolish to declare war on any of them. I find more malice in the New Atheism than in any long existing Islamic sect.
I find it very significant that a gifted Jewish psychiatrist named Viktor Frankl could survive a Nazi concentration with his faith in God unshaken. In " Man's Search for Meaning " he makes the observation that a person can always figure out HOW to live if and only if he or she has a WHY to live.
The New Atheists forget that religion gives MEANING to the lives of millions of human beings. I can understand how conservative Islam is appalled by the spiritual bankruptcy of our capitalist, consumerist, profane culture of narcissism.
Secular Socialism is also a HUMANIST faith. The New Atheists have given polite and respectful atheism ( the atheism of the French existentialist Albert Camus, for example, or the British philosopher Bertrand Russell ) of the past a hateful public image.
I can't imagine even Karl Marx writing a book titled " God Is Not Great ... How Religion Poisons Everything " . Christopher Hitchens wrote that book. The former Trotskyist died a drunken supporter of the Bush war on Iraq - and a pathological Islamophobe.
The Rev. John A. Kiley makes a good point here: even rude atheism can benefit from the Christian tradition.
Rev. John A. Kiley on secular insolence

Catholic Jeb Bush says shelter only Christian Syrians

  I commend Providence Democrat Aaron Regunberg and Bishop Thomas Tobin for taking the right-if not the right-wing-position on these Syrian refugees.The Republican presidential candidate opposed to sheltering these " widows and war orphans " ( Obama ) Dr. Ben Carson, babbles that he always asks himself on morally troubling issues " what would Jesus do ? " . I suspect that he also asks himself - like the other Tea Party darlings -- " what would Ayn Rand do ? " .
The terrorism of U.S. foreign policy is responsible for this " unprecedented migration crisis ".
We could end terrorism by ending our insane war on terrorism. And ending imperialist domination of the Middle East. As Black Muslim Malcolm X said more than 50 years ago: " The chickens are coming home to roost ".
Daily injustice is also a form of terrorism. What would Jesus do ? And what do American Jews think about Catholic Jeb Bush's suggestion that we take in only Christian Syrians ? I don't have to ask Aaron Regunberg.

Aaron Regunberg agrees with Bishop Tobin on Syrian refugees

Independent thinking at 630wpro.com

Central Falls mayor wants to take in Syrian refugees 

     "  Last Friday’s terror attacks in Paris have triggered an international media campaign aimed at inspiring panic and justifying an escalation of the wars in the Middle East and the assault on democratic rights within the US and Europe. " ( World Socialist web site )
   
I was amazed to hear a local talk radio celebrity here in Rhode Island ( they are invariably just shades of right wing. For them even LIBERAL is a dirty word. ) demand that the more influential on- line newspapers -like the Providence Journal- simply ban COMMENTS . Not monitor ( that is understandable even here ) but BAN. " They serve no purpose ", said the local big shot news man Gene Valicenti. I guess he thinks all we need to hear is right wing talk radio , which he thinks is the last word in popular democracy - unless you disagree with the talk radio blow hard narcissists
Oddly enough, Valicenti was foolish enough to talk about this with  the owner-publisher of the Warwick Beacon. Mr. John Howell  politely suggested that Valicenti was a little daffy-and hypocritical here.
Still the two bit talk radio celebrities get THEIR ideas from their ruling class employers.-even the more notorious INDEPENDENT MAN at the radio station, John DePetro, whose favorite topic is all those despicable ILLEGAL ALIENS coming to Rhode Island. Now he is troubled about a horde of dangerous Syrian refugees invited here by the Democratic mayor of Central Falls ,  James Diossa. By the way, DePetro never fails to claim his Catholic identity. He graduated from Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick. I suspect he hates the rather " progressive " Pope Francis.
What Talk Radio 630wpro.com teaches any socialist is this: THE RULING IDEAS ARE THE IDEAS OF THE RULING CLASS. I make no claim to originality here.
And their latest IDEA is World War III .

" What would Jesus do ? " - about these Syrian refugees ?

If my little state of Rhode Island were bombed day and night in order to rid the world of some entrenched Mafia on Federal Hill in Providence, you can be sure a lot of us would be refugees in our own country. I must ask " nice guy " Dr. Ben Carson his own favorite guidance question : " What would Jesus do ?  "
        To be sure, we have lost the war on terrorism . Albert Camus wrote " In fighting our enemies we must not come to resemble them ". Think about this all those heroic drone pilots and those gallant bombers of the Doctors Without Borders trauma hospital in Afghanistan.

Brown University needs affirmative action for ALL campus socialists

 I have a democratic Socialist perspective on Brown University's racial tensions. To be sure, despite its liberalism or illiberalism, Brown University is a fundamentally ruling class institution. Most of the kids accepted for Brown have all the brilliance, goodness, and idealism of youth. But most Brown students come from upper class backgrounds -whatever their particular race or ethnic group. They instinctively show a haughty attitude ( not malignant racism ) toward ANYBODY who might not fit into their social world. I suspect  Brown Security police sense this.
       But ALL working class people since the Great Recession feel " underprivileged "  now. CLASS  is more fundamental than race in the America of 2015. Endless war on racism, endless " sensitivity " work shops, will not change more deep rooted social inequality.
        Brown University thinks it is making PROGRESS in racial relations by endlessly pandering to the always peevish black bourgeoisie.
         There should be an affirmative action program for ALL democratic socialists teaching or studying at Brown University.

Oppose terrorism with international working class solidarity

  The ingenious military leaders of the world's once brazen colonial powers cannot think of any better way to destroy ISIS than round the clock bombing of long suffering Syria. At the same time demagogues-and patriotic scumbags- are shouting " NO MORE SYRIAN REFUGEES ".

          More than 50 years ago the American Black Muslim Malcolm X talked about " chickens coming home to roost ". Is not daily injustice also a form of terrorism ? Among the working class-the class that does the fighting and the dying for the ONE PERCENT - there is ZERO support for more U.S. military action in the Middle East.
      The bells will not toll in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris for the thousands of faceless, Islamic  " collateral damage " from this daily bombing of Syria.
        14 years after President George W. Bush declared war on terrorism the terrorists have not even been terrified. I fail to see anything cowardly about these suicide bombers : maniacal , no doubt , but not cowardly. Compare them to our heroic teams of nerdy- and possibly psychotic themselves- drone pilots.No victory parade in the near future for them. Or for our gallant hospital bombers in Afghanistan.
          A lot like the war on drugs, the war on terrorism is both a miserable failure and a moral catastrophe.
       Nothing changes if nothing changes. As a democratic Socialist myself I recommend a strong dose of working class solidarity .  

Terrorism can be replaced by more rational international class struggle.
       Senator Bernie Sanders should ponder the famous Canton Speech of his hero, Eugene V. Debs. Debs said very eloquently that the only just war is CLASS WAR. We have had quite enough of Wilsonian blather.

What America will look like the day after SOCIALISM

   I have been a critical supporter of ” socialist ” Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. He has un-demonized the WORD socialism. But I must say that any hard core SOCIALIST has no business showing any respect for capitalist values, including sacrosanct property rights or intellectual property rights. Most socialists- not recognized celebrities- want to abolish FOR PROFIT medicine,FOR PROFIT nursing homes and hospitals, FOR PROFIT pharmacies; they want to nationalize the banks,the energy companies, all the natural resources of the nation, want to abolish the whole capitalist class – with the exception of well scrutinized small business owners.
Militant socialists have always questioned the legitimacy of legitimate wealth. This follows from Marx’s labor theory of value.
A real socialist revolution in America would -almost overnight- abolish the whole legal system ( yes, even the Supreme Court ) and every individual connected with it. There will be a lot of judges, lawyers, cops, prison wardens and guards collecting unemployment benefits for more than 6 months.
Everybody connected with advertising will simply be obsolete. There will be no legalized gambling or state lotteries.
Even the present day funeral industry will quickly disappear. Being buried soon after death will simply be a human right.
What would a Bernie Sanders presidency be like ? It would be a lot like liberal Hubert Humphrey in the White House .
No surprises from a ” socialist ” Democrat !

How tumultuous 1968 ended ( revolution postponed )

" We will be pitiless ".... sometimes liars tell the truth

As a long time socialist myself I feel a moral obligation to commend this editorial which explains all too well the real nature of the Washington led " war on terrorism ". In times of approaching war, hysteria and reactionary stupidity are contagious. One can expect at least this from any " socialist " : a fierce independence from bourgeois " public opinion ".
When French president and " socialist " Francois Hollande says " We will be pitiless ", he is being the voice of the old European colonialist bullies.
While they are bombing Syria around the clock political demagogues in Europe and the United States say " no more Syrian refugees ".
Did not the Black Muslim Malcolm X ( moving toward socialism ) talk about " chickens coming home to roost " more than 50 years ago ?
What a disgrace is this " socialist " Bernie Sanders in foreign policy. Compare him to " his hero " Eugene V. Debs who opposed the Great War, " the war to end all wars ... the war to make the world safe for democracy ".
And yet we get Wilsonian blather from Hollande of France and Sanders of the United States. And I expect just " bully " from the oh-so-far left leaders of the British Labor Party.
Jeremy Corbyn should read Debs famous Canton Speech- not with his cerebral cortex in a coma.
Is not everyday injustice also a form of terrorism ?
" We will be pitiless " . Sometimes liars tell the truth !

Translation : oppressed people turn on their oppressors

Acclaim Senator Sheldon Whitehouse , BOO the Koch Brothers !

 

I completely agree with the Honorable Senator of Rhode Island, Sheldon Whitehouse here. And yes, global warming is a greater threat to your grandchildren than ISIS.
Way back in 1989 science writer Isaac Asimov said that man made climate change was the science story of the year. You can see him on a brief You Tube film.
Nobody ever suspected the great genius Isaac Asimov of being in anybody's pocket.
ALL science literate voters in Rhode Island should acclaim Senator Sheldon White House. And BOO the notorious Koch Brothers. Even Bernie Sanders is sick of their pernicious power to form pseudo-public opinion in the popular news media. Does a proven quack have FREE SPEECH rights at a meeting of medical doctors ?

    

U.S. losing the stupid war on terrorism

  When French president ,Francois Hollande- a disgrace to honorable socialists in France and in every other civilized nation-says " We are going to wage a war that will be pitiless " he is simply being the voice of the Old European imperialism. No surprise that victims of French colonialist " virtues " ( like " compassion " ? ) reacted ferociously. The whole non-colonialist world cheered at the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 . This world- and many socialist internationalists - cheered when Saigon fell to communists in 1975. Today it looks like heroic Vietnam fell to the Vietnamese.
Nothing changes if nothing changes. The phony war on terrorism will go on forever until the imperialist lions cut off their claws. But the " elephant " masses can also bring down the lions.
The American working class - the class that does the fighting and the dying for the ONE PERCENT plutocracy- is showing zero support for any new military adventures in the Middle East.
While the old colonial bullies are bombing Syria around the clock, demagogue politicians are saying : " No more Syrian refugees ".
Just weeks ago the United Nations condemned the U.S. bombing of the Doctors Without Borders trauma hospital in Afghanistan. FRENCH doctors called it a " war crime " , " barbaric ". Yes, rather PITILESS indeed.
Those bells at Notre Dame Cathedral will not toll for thousands of faceless Islamic " collateral damage ".
Our war on terrorism is  both a complete failure and a moral catastrophe. We are losing yet another stupid war .
    

No bells will toll at Notre Dame Cathedral for " collateral damage "

Nine out of ten university professors in France , England, the United States- with some expertise in " foreign affairs "- offer their sage advise to their respective ruling classes and government on fighting terrorism, pretending that European and United States imperialism is and was on a higher moral plane than the damnable deeds of the terrorists.
Just weeks ago the U.S. bombing of the Doctors Without Hospitals trauma hospital in Afghanistan aroused moral condemnation in France. A true WAR CRIME , reported FRENCH doctors who survived the nightmare.
No bells will toll at the Notre Dame Cathedral for faceless " collateral damage " done by the attacks-reported this morning -on hundreds of oil trucks in Syria.
The American working class presently offers ZERO SUPPORT for more military adventures in the Middle East.
One quick way to terminate the momentum of desperate -and brainless - terrorism is to end imperialist rule in these Middle Eastern countries.And daily injustice is also a form of terrorism.
Way back in 1954, for example, the whole " socialist " world applauded the defeat of French colonialism at Dien Bien Phu .
Likewise, the the fall of Saigon to the Vietnamese communists in 1975 was applauded by progressive people all over the world.
To a degree the rise of Islamic terrorism can be attributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s .  Angry young men around the world were at least exposed in " higher education " centers to a rational philosophy of history : Marxism, however distorted by Stalinism. That was during the so called Cold War.
The Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky -leader of the triumphant Red Army- warned in numerous articles against the self-defeating terrorism of isolated groups.
Only ruling class resistance would prevent a completely overthrow of the ONE PERCENT plutocracy in the United States. A simple majority vote could end this rotten, VIOLENT, capitalist system- and very peacefully.

So what message do the common people of America send to the whole world ? NO SUPPORT for imperialist wars !
As Socialist Eugene V. Debs said : " The only just war is class war ". I read that Debs is a hero of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Do the bells toll for faceless " collateral damage "

What does " white privilege " mean to most working class whites ?

        I know what Hillary is suggesting when she says " I am from the 60s ". I too am just her age and I do identify with the idealism even the radicalism of that era. But as democratic Socialist I more readily give critical support to Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Hillary Clinton's support for imperialist wars disguised as defensive war on terrorism and her support for Wall Street greed does not endear her to her own generation- still idealistic and un-compromised in their core values.
Indeed the Neo-Democrats- like Obama and Hillary- make the New Deal president Franklin D. Roosevelt look like a flaming Bolshevik.
The old class struggle cannot be stifled by slick and often phony political correctness campaigns.
The attacks on racism do nothing to eliminate the systemic inequality of the capitalist system.
What does " white privilege " mean to the poor, homeless, unemployed or desperate and insecure white working class people ?
And how secure is the white middle class ?