Saturday, April 30, 2016

A gut political intuition favors Bernie Sanders


  There is gut political intuition in favor of " socialist " Democrat Bernie Sanders. The " democracy of the street " is all for Bernie. The political machine of the Democratic Party more than favors Hillary Clinton.

   The news media has sneered at Sanders' impressive rallies and victories. The Michigan primary was the shocker.

   I was at a campaign rally for Bernie Sanders last Sunday in Roger Williams Park in Providence, Rhode Island. There on a beautiful springtime day thousands were " feeling the Bern "-- with the Temple to Music and a sparkling lake in the background. A picture worthy of Norman Rockwell.And all very peaceful too. Nope, no violence here !

    A Brown University poll predicted a sure win for Hillary. And what happened ? A landslide victory for " political revolution " and Bernie Sanders.

   Of course I voted for Bernie Sanders. I even took a digital cell phone photo of my ballot choices. Rhode Island has a reputation for corruption, you see.

Hillary Clinton should read " The Arrogance of Power " by Senator J. William Fulbright

Protests in Baghdad theaten U.S. puppet government ?
   Our New Colonialist wars of occupation-all miserable failures- have been mostly ignored by the American presidential candidates. But " socialist " Democrat Bernie Sanders at least admitted that the Iraq War was the greatest foreign policy blunder in U.S. history. 

   Listening to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz one wonders how our " democracy " recommends itself to these troubled Middle East countries. 

   We have learned nothing from moral catastrophe of the Vietnam War ? Hillary Clinton should read a book titled " The Arrogance of Power " by Senator J. William Fulbright. I recall that young Bill Clinton was " tutored " by this Senator Fulbright. 

   Today's neo-liberals are rather obtuse.




   [  "  Mr. Clinton worked on the Senator's Washington staff in 1966 and 1967 and followed him to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. During those years the future President imbibed the fierce antiwar mood of the Fulbright office, and that no doubt influenced his own desire to avoid military service in Southeast Asia.

For the young Arkansan, Senator Fulbright was also a role model in a deeper, more personal sense  "]


Image for the news result
BAGHDAD -- Anti-government protesters tore down walls and poured into the Iraqi capital's ...

In Roger Williams Park that Sunday Old Bernie looked like a Norman Rockwell painting

 
     I noted the connotation of the Providence Journal headline : " Sanders snares Rhode Island ". With the help of the devil ?
 
The day before the Providence Journal headline - with no journalistic acumen or integrity- seemed to take seriously a charlatan Brown University poll predicting a big win for Hillary Clinton - but only if the reader paid no attention to the details of the story.
 
There was at this time a more accurate poll predicting a more probable Bernie Sanders victory in the primary.

        I " felt the Bern " in Roger Williams Park on the Sunday before. Bernie spoke eloquently -in a surprisingly strong,appealing voice ( in contrast to Harpy Hillary's ) - to a crowd of thousands.

       I don't think his victory here was just an anti-Raimondo vote. No, it was a conscious vote for " democratic socialism ".

        And a vote for peace, not war. Both Hillary and Trump assure their fans that they have the " right stuff " to start World War III.

        But Old Bernie with Temple to Music and that sparkling lake in the background looked like a Norman Rockwell painting.

       Nope, no violence here !

Our soldiers never commit REAL war crimes ?


   No self-evident atrocity of war is a " war crime " when WE commit it. So noble are our intentions, you see. And just what are those intentions ?
  Making the world safe for the American ruling class ? Making the world safe for the New Colonialism ? The endless " war on terrorism " is a cover for various imperialist interests.

   A democratic socialist president will immediately proceed to shut down the military industrial complex- with blessing of the whole world.




  Scapegoats ? Yes, I am reminded of the Flint Michigan toxic water scandal. The ruling class put Flint on rations-with orders for drastic budget cutting- with complete contempt for the health of the common people.I just read that THEY have discovered the villains here: some low level city employees !
I suspect these American military people got the " Flint Justice " . THEY had to " hold someone accountable "..

What, our American soldiers are no longer loved around the world ?


   Have they somehow earned a bad reputation ? Where is " democracy " in foreign policy ?

   Cannot the common people of America decide for themselves just who are the enemies of " our way of life ".

    To be sure, Hillary Clinton 's " way of life ", Donald Trump 's " way of life ", is not our way of life.

    Only experts - in what ? - humanity ? - know when to drop the A bombs ? Know when to send thousands of working class youths to be maimed or killed thousands of miles away from their homes ?
    In Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria.

Friday, April 29, 2016

Why the American ruling class hates Bernie Sanders


    Every ruling class that ever existed- for centuries now- could not imagine a world in which they were not needed, did not exist, were not daily flattered for being such wonderful exploiters of the common people.

   The American ruling class is no exception. And it burns with resentment that a Bernie Sanders should question divine property rights. The arrogance of the man !

Angry American working class getting sick of voting for " lesser evil "



   It was obvious to me when I voted for Bernie Sanders in the Rhode Island Democratic Party that he is more the New Deal liberal than even a moderate socialist. Do you " expose "  Sanders as an old fashioned liberal in order to condone an unprincipled vote for hawkish Wall St. Hillary Clinton, the Queen of the Status Quo ?

   I think Sanders should team up with Jill Stein, the presidential candidate of the Green Party . The " angry working class " is getting sick of lesser evils ? Imagine a Lenin thundering for an increase in the minimum wage in Russia in 1917.

      " All power to the Soviets ! " has a more radical ring to it.




Take Bernie Sanders's advice and THINK BIG , Patrick QUINN of SEIU1199

Labor leader Patrick Quinn interviewed on NPR
    As a democratic socialist I would respect any strike authorized by the SEIU1199. One way to strengthen unions and unionism in this country is to encourage more- a lot more- internal democracy.

   When a union boss says he loves and supports Hillary Clinton -and offers only big chill " praise " for Bernie Sanders- has he talked it all over with the rank and file organized workers ? I recall George Nee way back in the early 8os .

   I was an 1199 member ( hospital workers, Bannister House, R.I. ) To be sure , it was imperative for the workers at Bannister House to have union representation. In his younger days George Nee was quite the activist idealist ( with the Caesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers, I recall ) .

   The idealists -alas- evolve into complacent bureaucrats. Union bosses are too loyal to the political establishment of the Democratic Party. There must be an organized labor cause with more moral grandeur than a 15 dollar per hour minimum wage . THAT is no ticket to the middle class.

   Take Bernie Sanders' advice, Patrick Quinn, and THINK BIG. Why should we not have the equivalent of the British Labor Party in the United States ?

Pseudo-left shows contempt for traditional FREE SPEECH rights


 
 
 
No supporters of " socialist " Democrat Bernie Sanders would encourage violent protest against ANY candidate for the American presidency.

 A pseudo-Left has for years now shown a certain contempt for traditional FREE SPEECH rights guided by an often fatuous " identity politics " and " diversity " ideal as some sort of moral absolute.

  A democratic socialist myself, I often find " political correctness " in action to be even ruder than political incorrectness.

      Bernie's focus on CLASS inequality is morally and intellectually superior to the effete politics of gender and race and ethnic self-absorption.

          Also, the news media has been over-vilifying Donald Trump,  who rarely says anything really dissonant to heart beat of the GOP . Trump just has a more brazen style.