Democratic Party now pandering to war patriotism

I recall another American mother who lost a beloved son in the Iraq War - the greatest foreign policy disaster in American history ( Bernie Sanders agrees ) - but became active and prominent in the anti-war movement. 

For some strange reason the Democratic Party is now pandering to war patriotism - to false patriotism. 

Demonizing right wing Donald Trump does not hide a reactionary agenda, the agenda of " Hillary the Hawk ".

The transcendent hypocrisy of the Hillary Clinton campaign

• 
  

  
  

  Republican Donald Trump can be counted on to be rude to anybody and everybody who does not slobber over him. But the mainstream media is giving uncritical winks to the " patriotic ", pro-militarist , neo-con tone of the Hillary Clinton campaign.
  
  You would think that most Americans were not completely sick of our bloody, stupid, New Colonialist wars.
  
  The American anti-war movement was unheard and invisible in Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. It is not sentimental about " service " in imperialist wars . Hillary is definitely not the peace candidate. And over- vilified Vladimir Putin knows it.
  Transcendent hypocrisy here.
  

  

The Democratic National Convention - a scene out of Sartre's " Nausea " ?

Does objective TRUTH matter in American politics ? Both the Democratic and Republican parties represent Corporate America, the dominant plutocracy.

 For me the Democratic National Convention – utterly betraying the Bernie Sanders ” political revolution ” – could easily be a scene out of leftist novelist Jean Paul Sartre’s ” Nausea ” or Celine’s ” Journey to the End of the Night “.

Will the American voters make peace with the growing darkness ?

Not for nothing Vladimir Putin sees Hillary ” The Hawk ” Clinton as the face of World War III .

Democrats embody the American Dream ?

As a critical supporter of ” socialist ” Democrat Bernie Sanders I say ” Never Hillary ” and ” Never Trump “.

Putin sees Hillary Clinton as the face of World War III

• No democratic socialist will have any problem imagining a Hillary Clinton presidency. The Clintons were pioneers of neo-liberalism decades ago.
  
   Hillary is the clear choice of Wall St. and the Pentagon. But the bipartisan attack on working class Americans and a continuation of a belligerent foreign policy will surprise no critical supporters of " socialist " Democrat Bernie Sanders.
  
  All this reaction will be covered up with homage to effete identity politics. It seems that the Democratic Party in a few weeks has revived the Cold War with Vladimir Putin's Russia. What is its case against Russia ? Military belligerence toward NATO ? A lack of American style democracy ( as observed in the DNC Wiki-leaks ?)
  
  Putin sees Hillary as the face of World War III . And Putin -no fool - is right.
  
  
  
• 

  
  
  

  Goturback 

  
  

    " If Hillary is elected, will she be our fattest president. It looks like she's giving Taft a run for his money. Does the WH "
• Young American soldiers sacrificing their lives for another stupid war will look up in adoration at the picture of a fat old woman in the military barracks: THEIR Commander in Chief
  
  

  

Even as an " independent " Bernie was out of touch with working class based democratic socialism

• Bernie Sanders is backing Clinton because he was himself entrenched in the corrupt, pro-capitalist Democratic Party machine.
  
   As an " independent " he was out of touch with serious democratic socialism with a base in the working class for years. But I had no problem being a critical supporter of Bernie Sanders until his abject endorsement of hawkish, " Wall St. Hillary ".
  
   He did do some good: he helped to detoxify the word SOCIALISM in American politics. And I was impressed with him as a speaker when he attracted a crowd of nearly 7000 at Roger Williams Park, Providence last April.
  
   Bernie later won the Democratic Primary here - won big but Hillary got most of our delegates anyway . " Corrupt Hillary " - Yes, Donald Trump gets that right.
  

Bernie Sanders - understanding pseudo-leftism

As a democratic socialist myself I try to understand Bernie Sanders' seemingly unprincipled compromise with " Wall St. Hillary " rather than just scorn it.
 The decay of capitalism has empowered pseudo-leftists all over the world. I won't say they are consciously corrupt .They just don't have the confidence in working class politics that was evident in the socialist movement - even here in the USA - one hundred years ago. Recall the era of Eugene V. Debs .

The collapse of the Soviet Union should have revived democratic socialism around the world - which never was corrupted by Stalinism. But until fairly recently it made global capitalism insanely arrogant. As if Ayn Rand had triumphed over Karl Marx .

Then we suddenly hear a Catholic pope condemning capitalist greed. And then a professed democratic socialist winning Democratic primary elections in the United States . Then we read polls saying that a younger generation has a favorable attitude toward socialist ideals.

The stirring is from below. The working class is awakening.

We can trust Hillary Clinton NOT to use nuclear weapons ?

• So many false souls speak at the Democratic National Convention . We can't trust Donald Trump with nuclear weapons but we can trust hawkish Hillary ? We can trust her NOT to use them ? Why does Putin and Pravda think that she is setting the stage for World War III ?
  No credible stories of U.S. war crimes under Bush, Obama, and Hillary as Secretary of State ? No torture of " terrorists " ? No drone bombs killing innocent civilians ?
  
  

  • 

    jazzme48912 

     " WHAT is behind their failure to comprehend is beyond me, Ron. "
    
    
    

  • 

    Ron Ruggieri jazzme48912 • 8 minutes ago

    What is behind the American ruling class preparations for war - with Hillary as leader and cheer leader ? The world is a hard prize to give up. Read Gore Vidal's still relevant essays on the state of the empire.
    

DNC e mail leaks not about Putin - about democracy in America

So the DNC email leaks were all about " an assault on the integrity of the entire American political process " ? So it is all about sinister Vladimir Putin and Kremlin intrigue and " our enemy " ( ? ) Russia. And not about the enemy within, a subversion of " Democracy in America " ? 

The pro-Hillary clique of the Democratic Party has undermined the " political process " more than Putin's intelligence apparatus. 

THEY sabotaged the Bernie Sanders campaign -which had all the energy , all the crowds, all the fervor, and all the momentum- in contrast to the Queen of the Status Quo, " Wall St. Hillary ".

Republican security experts request congressional investigation of DNC hack

Washington Post‎ - 3 hours ago

Two dozen Republican national security experts signed a letter to congressional leaders ...

The mistaken racialism of " Black Lives Matter "

Black Lives Matter ( WATCHING AMERICA )

As a citizen of the United States I am so very pleased to read this article. There are not a few on the democratic left that are not besotted with effete identity politics. ” Socialist ” Democrat Bernie Sanders – sabotaged by the Democratic National Committee – was wiser to focus on unacceptable economic inequality .

 Class consciousness is on a higher political level in non-violent social change than obsession with race , gender , and sexual orientation.

The main qualification for president of the United States

 " Barack Obama says there has never been anyone more qualified to be President than Hillary Clinton  "

Any democratic socialist in the United States will tell you  that the main qualification for president of the United States is subservience and usefulness to the American plutocracy.

        So a corrupt " democracy " needs " Corrupt Hillary " . Presently Donald Trump is being demonized for his sarcastic suggestion on  Hillary's missing e - mails : Putin to the rescue ?

      The leaked DNC emails - exposing the sabotage of Bernie Sanders- are all about the decay of democracy in America - not about the Vladimir Putin or " our enemy " ( ? ) Russia.

After tonight the American presidential campaign will fade in public interest

I just had a long conversation on the phone with an old friend about this presidential campaign. He would be more likely to vote for Hillary as a " lesser evil " than I am. He also thought President Obama made " a great speech " last night. Nevertheless, he thinks Trump will win because nobody can make " Corrupt Hillary " look better than she is.

I think after tonight the presidential campaign will fade in interest. Who wants to hear three long months of brainless name- calling ? The supporters of Trump will call Hillary " corrupt " and the supporters of Hillary will call Trump a racist , a bigot , and even a fascist.

There might be such a low voter turn out that it will be judged a constitutional crisis in the United States.

The most cynical of all Democrats tell us not to be cynical. They sabotaged Bernie Sanders' moderate " political revolution ".

But political revolution is lot bigger than dubious " socialist " Democrats.

Ex CIA Chief Panetta appalled by Trump ?

Nobody on the democratic left trembles before the authority and prestige of the CIA or any ex-chief. When did the American people decide -years after the end of the Cold War - that Putin's Russia was a hostile power, " our enemy ", one of many at odds with imperial America ?

I support Donald Trump's right to speak his mind to arch-hypocrites. Where was " democracy " at work in the sabotage of the Bernie Sanders campaign by the pro-Hillary clique ? No CYNICISM here ?

Who is the hypocrite ?

True, the Democratic Party is best described in Orwellian terms

  I agree that the Democratic Party for years now is best described in
Orwellian terms. They have introduced THOUGHT CRIME into everyday
politics.

   I am sure that Hillary will set up a Ministry of Love to cope
with all politically incorrect souls. And she will assure us her first
week in the Oval Office that " War is Peace " and " Freedom is Slavery
".

Vladimir Putin is right in denouncing the idea of " American exceptionalism "

I am amazed how the far right could excoriate both President Obama and Hillary Clinton as some shade of Marxist themselves- getting guidance and inspiration in their political youth from the likes of one Saul Alinsky , author of the left-wing cult classic " Rules for Radicals ".

No politically literate democratic socialist would mistake any loyal Democrat - not even Bernie Sanders- for Marxists .

So this Putin denounced American " exceptionalism " is little more than a national myth ? America forever rejects political extremists on the right and on the left ? That would suggest that America has a highly stable and fearless middle class - which it does not. Fascism can happen here. .

In the final analysis, only democratic socialism can save America from ruin and hopeless civil strife.And the Democratic Party sabotaged Bernie's incipient " political revolution ".

But Vladimir Putin was right. This ex-communist must understand that no rational view of history would make any nation or people " exceptional ."

" The Arrogance of Power " is speaking here.

Pravda warns of nuclear war danger

• 
  

  For a broader perspective on the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign I recommend NPR listeners read on line Pravda : news and opinion from Moscow.
  
   Pravda has been reporting for months now on dangerous U.S. military moves against Russia. The Chinese also report being taunted in the South China Seas.At the same time U.S. imperialism is organizing the New Colonialism in the Middle East - with complete disdain for popular democracy -or even international law.
  
  Sad to say the anti-war movement was silent or silenced so far in the American presidential campaign. And Hillary Clinton is clearly favored by the Pentagon.
  
  I also recommend " Watching America " -on line. Yes, indeed : " The whole world is watching ! "
  

  

  Russia warns NATO of  nuclear war peril

Is Jill Stein the new Bernie Sanders ?

In general, American political battles assign too much importance to individual personalities - all of whom are shaped by roots in this or that economic class -or this or that profession in the strait-jacket division of labor in capitalist society.

 
Class society would be dysfunctional if millions of " middle class " individuals did not indeed put aside social conscience whenever it seriously conflicted with ambition for " success  ".

 
All that cant about LOVE at the Democratic National Convention. Most of these people really fear that an abrupt change in the status quo ( Trump ? ) would threaten their comfort and security.
There is not a hint of the old New Deal idealism in the Neo-Democrat Party.

 
If Jill Stein is the new Bernie Sanders I hope she is more clear about taking on the ONE PERCENT. In general, democratic socialists challenge the very moral legitimacy of " legitimate " wealth. And they are not besotted with philistine respect for the American Constitution - which has served so well our ruling class.

To be sure, Donald Trump is now the " lesser evil " . But vote your conscience !

As a " critical supporter " of Bernie Sanders I see no moral integrity in  " progressive " political revolution " endorsing the corrupt status quo, indeed the Queen of the Status Quo, " Wall St. Hillary ".
     As for lesser evil I would say that Republican Donald Trump  is now just that. But Jill Stein is right in urging Americans to  vote their conscience .

        I will say that Bernie is very peculiar " democratic socialist "-just as  Hillary's vice president choice of Kaine is a very peculiar Roman Catholic - no disciple of anti-capitalist, pro-environment, anti-death penalty, anti-New Colonialism Pope Francis.

           On the campaign trail Bernie never explained the ABC of socialism - democratic or Stalinist.
       I  might WRITE IN Mother Teresa- who had some empathy for wretched of the earth.

Sanders supporters should WALK OUT of the Democratic National Convention

I hope the supporters of Bernie Sanders stage a dramatic WALK OUT the last night of the Democratic National Convention. That moment will mark the end of the two party system as we have known it since the end of the Civil War.

 
Political revolution cannot endorse the corrupt status quo. Hillary Clinton is a sinking ship. All aboard ?

Rhode Island Secretary of State rigged the state's April Democratic Primary

Hillary Clinton is a sinking ship. Follow the conversation on talk radio ( 630WPRO.com) this morning.

 The e-mail leaks prove that the Rhode Island Secretary of State was intentional in closing so many polling places on primary day. John DePetro is commenting on it at this very moment.

Trump now leads " Wall St. Hillary " in the latest poll. Bernie Sanders should tell his supporters to " vote your conscience ".

So it is the Neo-Democrat Party that implodes today !

New Atheist Democrats questioning Bernie Sander's Jewish faith ?

" In one email out of the 20,000 leaked, the committee's
Chief Financial Officer Brad Marshall appears to float an idea to
question Sanders' Jewish faith. "

This shows the ideological disease of the neo-Democrat Party -and for years now: The party establishment 's stock in trade is effete " identity politics ". " Socialist " Democrat Bernie Sanders in the great tradition of " New York Intellectuals " ( writer Irving Howe ) was appealing to class consciousness.

Sadly, Sanders has not in least moved Hillary to the left. As a neo-con she is now appealing to traditional Republicans.

I am considering voting for Jill Stein of the Green Party - who welcomed Bernie into the Green Party ticket. And so are many other Bernie Sanders supporters.

Was Frederick Douglass a failure in fighting gross racism ?

Unless we are to believe that Frederick Douglass was a failure in his fight against gross racism and the Civil Rights Movement of the 50s and 60s failed to end institutionalized racism, we must realize that institutionalized racism is dead in America. It lives on mostly in the imagination of self-centered " identity politics ".

Today's " racism " is clearly a form of class oppression. The growing police state is a threat to ALL working class Americans.

I think " socialist " Democrat Bernie Sanders was right to focus in the 2016 presidential election in the United States on unacceptable economic inequality.

Recall that both Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were highly critical of capitalism.
For that reason they were targets of FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover.

Democratic socialism and " The Population Bomb "

I felt a need to reconcile democratic socialism with Malthus and " The Population Bomb " years ago. I credit the late Isaac Asimov with alerting me to future nightmare of overpopulation.

 To be sure, unless inhumanity becomes the norm , the world of the immediate future must be a SHARING world. Even socialism must recognize limits to growth. Also, if civilization itself breaks down, there can be no hope for any social or economic justice.

Bernie Sanders certainly did not push " Wall St. Hillary " to the left. With her choice of Tim Kaine for vice-president Hillary Clinton has evolved into a complete neo-con .

" Political revolution " is just not compatible with this effete status quo couple. Never Hillary !

( When was the last time any reporting was done on the anti-war movement in the United States ? It most certainly won't endorse Hillary Clinton.)

We can now smell defeat for Hillary -with her choice of Tim Kaine for vice-president

I wonder just how " socialist " Democrat Bernie Sanders can justify endorsing this now super-status quo presidential team. Sanders has not pushed Hillary to left. On the contrary, the party establishment has used and abused Sanders and his vaporized " political revolution ".

Also, not a hint of the American anti-war movement in this presidential campaign. 

Endorse the candidates of Wall St. and the Pentagon ?

By the way, the working class people in my world think that Donald Trump's speech to the Republican National Convention - " The Speech " - should soon put Trump way ahead in the polls.

Will we get a soporific speech from Status Quo Hillary ? And if everything has been so wonderful under President Obama was Bernie just being frivolous with his anti-establishment line ?

The Left's Beef With Tim Kaine - POLITICO Magazine

www.politico.com/magazine/.../hillary-clinton-2016-vp-pick-tim-kaine-21399...

Politico

Jun 29, 2016 - Everyone assumes Senator Tim Kaine is Hillary Clinton's “safe” pick for ... long despised in progressive circles as a conservative “Democrat In ...

Democratic socialists would extend the right to vote to all prison inmates

In the context of a society which produces so much unacceptable economic and social inequality allowing even convicted " criminals " still in prison to have this measure of collective power - the right to vote - certainly makes sense from the perspective of democratic socialism.

I see this as a check on the documented inhumanity of our overcrowded " American Gulag "

Socialist - and idol of Bernie Sanders - Eugene V. Debs ran for president of the United States inside a prison cell. I am sure his fellow inmates would have loved to vote for him.

How many prisoners are , in truth, political prisoners ?

Eugene V. Debs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Debs

Wikipedia

Debs ran as a Socialist candidate for President of the United States five times, including 1900 (earning 0.63% of the popular vote), 1904 (2.98%), 1908 (2.83%), 1912 (5.99%), and 1920 (3.41%), the last time from a prison cell.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein visits Rhode Island

I am sure many of the passionate supporters of Bernie Sanders' " political revolution " find his endorsement of hawkish " Wall St. Hillary " as unacceptable as the economic inequality he denounced during his campaign - which had more momentum and enthusiasm than Hillary Clinton's fatuous " identity politics ".

The angry working class will not vote for " Corrupt Hillary ". Donald Trump gets that right. I am sure Jill Stein of the Green Party will have no trouble getting 1000 signatures to get on the ballot in Rhode Island. I did this for Socialist Workers Party presidential candidate Peter Camejo way back in 1976.

 We also distributed a classic " Bill of Rights for Working People ".

Peter left the SWP ( some Byzantine ideological dispute ) and years later - still quite radical- was Ralph Nader's running mate in the Green Party.

Good luck Jill Stein. I did vote for her last time.

Movie maker Michael Moore thinks Trump will win

Economic stagnation and depression - extreme social decay - does not make for " reasonable people ".
 What do impoverished working class and ruined middle class Americans think ?

Movie maker Michael Moore thinks they will elect Trump.

3. 1. 

      10:30

Michael Moore's warning to Democrats: Take Trump seriously

Trump's speech last night - an American Mussolini ?

I listened to the whole of Trump's speech last night and it fixed his image in my mind of an American Mussolini. A former " socialist " , the Depression Era Italian dictator knew how to appeal to the angry working class and the ruined middle class of the nation.

 " I am your voice " , Donald Trump shouts at now " underprivileged " America.

With greater credibility " socialist " Democrat Bernie Sanders could have asserted this -until he endorsed hawkish " Wall St. Hillary ".

I agree with Jill Stein , the presidential candidate of the Green Party, that American voters should not be intimidated into voting for that Queen of the Status Quo, Hillary Clinton.

Let the American ruling class " reform " a future President Trump. The working class will rediscover the populist democracy of the street.

Trump delivers fascistic rant to conclude Republican National Convention

By Joseph Kishore
22 July 2016

Donald Trump formally accepted the nomination as the Republican Party candidate in the 2016 presidential elections Thursday night with a fascistic rant delivered before cheering delegates at the convention hall in Cleveland, Ohio.

Interesting times for democratic socialists - even in Russia and China

 In general, the United States is undergoing a severe crisis of capitalism and an historic crisis of its two party political system. There is no neo-liberal formula to save the day.

 Will Trump’s ” make America great again ” quasi-fascist message triumph over the fatuous ” identity politics ” of that Queen of the Status Quo, hawkish ” Wall St. Hillary ” ?

Whatever, this 2016 presidential election in America belongs to the ” angry working class ” anti-establishment voters.

 Interesting times for democratic socialists everywhere-even in Russia and China.

Born again communism in Russia ?

No sense or theory of history evident in mainstream capitalist news media

  I notice that in taking sides in these police brutality stories the news media people seem devoid of general ideas about human society, seem clueless about any long view of history. They really talk as if " history is bunk ". But history is rich in rational explanations for the breakdown of social orders.
And history has not ended.

Ted Cruz says VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE... good advice for Bernie Sanders supporters

• What do Donald Trump and Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton have in common ? They are all committed to the rotten corrupt capitalist economic system. And to its future war plans. And to its two party system. Trump shook up the Republican Party. He did not destroy it.
  
  Bernie Sanders should also send a VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE message to his numerous supporters.
  
  For many of them voting their conscience means " Never Hillary ! ".
  
  I just heard Jill Stein, the presidential candidate of the Green Party , being interviewed here in Rhode Island on a local radio station. She urges American voters - in a very anti-establishment mood - not to vote for any " lesser evil " candidates. Yes, vote your conscience.
  
  You might even write in a ghost for president : Eugene V. Debs. He is even to the left of Jill Stein.
  

Would the Beat Generation have supported the likes of Harpy Hillary ?

Gays and lesbians of the Beat Generation - Allen Ginsberg, for example - integrated their sexual liberation into a broader socialist political philosophy. I can't imagine any of them supporting that Queen of the Status Quo, Hillary Clinton, if they were still around today. Ginsberg's cult classic poem " Howl " was also a protest against greedy insane capitalism and militarism.

THE DAILY BEAT: Bernie Sanders' success is Jack Kerouac's fault

 [ thedailybeatblog.blogspot.com/2016/02/bernie-sanders-success-is-jack-kerouacs.html

Feb 12, 2016 - Jack Kerouac was the Father of the Beat Generation. This is ... The hippies paved the way for a socialist like Sanders to succeed. This has to be ...]

" Political correctness " is not enshrined on the socialist left

Yes,Trump is a movement - on the right- just as " socialist " Democrat Bernie Sanders was a movement on the left. Both presidential candidates reflect the state of class struggle in capitalist America. The Sanders " political revolution " will not fade with his rather absurd capitulation to the status quo queen, " Wall St. Hillary ".

This is still the year of the anti-establishment voter. " Political correctness " is not as enshrined on the left as right wing speakers insist. For decades now democratic socialists have perceived it as a form of intellectual tyranny that over-emphasizes race and gender and forgets economic class.

The pseudo " left "( and neo-liberalism ) has also made itself alien to the great religious traditions of humanity- none of which teach hate or the " virtue of selfishness ".

Which candidates speak for the masses ?

Utterly forgettable speeches-original or plagiarized - of capitalist politicians

• The speeches of most Republican and Democratic politicians- original or plagiarized-are utterly forgettable but have a unity of purpose: they invariably bless the market place values of the capitalist way of life.
  
   More often than not the words are original but the " message " is false. How can any honest soul heap praises on a rotten economic system that perpetuates war and so much mass misery ?
  
  For more than a hundred years democratic socialists have told the damning truth about world capitalism. Working class people should be able to vote this system out of existence.
  
  They support neither fascism nor the insufferable status quo.Both disdain the common good.
  

The shameless plagiarism of a future First Lady ? ( Trump's wife )

• 
  
  

  If you are a college sophomore , you soon learn that the 9th circle of Academia Hell is reserved for shameless plagiarists. But a politician's wife ? Donald Trump's attractive wife ? A future First Lady ?
  
  The big " news " this morning seemed exceptionally trivial in view of all the really important news stories. Like a world in chaos !
  
  But consider the substance of the plagiarized message : good people work hard and love and respect everybody -even incorrigible political enemies . Right up there with the original Jesus " Sermon on the Mount ".
  
  We should forgive all such well meaning , benevolent plagiarism from whatever self-serving
  source.
  

  

  
  

Karl Marx had the only scientific view of human social evolution

Karl Marx notified Charles Darwin that his theory of biological evolution was the materialist basis for understanding the human social order. For Marx the only scientific view of human social evolution viewed the capitalist class as social parasites -which working class revolution will remove.

The global capitalist class does not permit " socialist " experiments in any country. It actively tries to sabotage them making the false comparison of socialism to a perpetual motion machine - that must always and forever fail miserably.

The ruling class has hired an army of corrupt intellectuals to defend its economic and political system. Indeed right wing Talk Radio sings praises to Ayn Rand every minute of the day.
What can be said positive about a system that brings war and misery to millions and can only be defended by lies and brutality ?

The only problem with Venezuelan " socialism " is that it was not militant enough.You do not call yourself " socialist " and let the rich people keep their bank accounts -or their capitalist private property rights. Lenin got it right with the Russian Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.

Why not just VOTE American capitalism out of existence ?

• " How many people do you think a SoCom would have to kill in the US to make SoCom really really work. SoCom Mao did 60 million, SoComFascist Hitler some 40 million, Pol Pot 3 million. Would 295,000,000 be a number in the US you could live and die with? "

  • How many working class American voters would die to make the world safe for greedy, world destroying capitalism - or sacrifice their children for Ayn Rand's " Virtue of Selfishness " ? Democratic socialists hear this craven nonsense all the time. It is pretty tired. What is the atrocity record for numerous. pro-capitalist fascist leaders -backed by U.S. imperialism ?
    Why not just VOTE American capitalism out of existence?

  
  

Ralph Nader still telling us to vote our political conscience .... right on Ralph !

I voted my own political conscience when I voted for militant socialist Peter Camejo of the Socialist Workers Party in 1976. Years later I still voted my political conscience when I voted for the Green Party presidential team of Ralph Nader and Peter Camejo. That remarkable old radical Peter ( author of 60s cult classic pamphlet : " How to Make A Revolution in the United States " ) likened himself to a watermelon - green on the outside, red on the inside " ).

Like Nader I have been a critical supporter of " socialist " Democrat Bernie Sanders. I don't see how his " political revolution " can endorse " Harpy Wall St. Hillary ", the Queen of the Status quo.
In contrast to neo-Democrat devotion to fatuous " identity politics " , true democratic socialists will focus on the issue of unacceptable economic inequality in capitalist America.

They focus on economic class issues.If you feel well connected to the ONE PERCENT , you can vote your class interests by voting either for Hillary or " The Donald " .Racialism will get you nowhere in the 2016 presidential election.

As Ralph Nader said again and again both major parties represent and serve Corporate America.
But clearly Hillary Clinton is presently the favorite of Wall St. and the Pentagon.

We can junk most of our military force- and enjoy greater national security

• The number of arrests suggests that this was no Banana Republic coup. Turkey is a NATO country on the brink of civil war. We should have learned from the Vietnam moral and military catastrophe not to get involved in the internal conflicts in areas of the world where we are really just cultural illiterates.

  
  

  Turkey is now an insufferable ally for any country that calls itself " democratic ". We should just get out of Turkey - military bases and all.
  
  We should give up the Bush Crusade altogether. These arrogant foreign military adventures do not protect Americans at home- in the least- from " international terrorism ".
  
  What use are nuclear weapons against ISIS ? We can junk most of our military force and be all the safer for it. Corporate America might be a little upset . So what ? Majority rules here ?
  

Class not race behind routine police brutality

This routine finding of police " innocence " in these controversial brutality cases is easily explained by the socialist sociological concept of " class conflict ". The capitalist ruling class and their vast " private property " must be protected - often with contempt for human rights. " Law and Order " is also threatened by labor unrest, by strikes, even by state worker unions.

The ruling class does not want to demoralize the police force by serious prosecution of even the more outrageous cases of police " over-reaction ".

There are thousands of less dramatic cases of police misbehavior where they just " rough up " some " disorderly " citizens. If hospital emergency room walls could speak ( nowadays they probably do ).
It is not all about race. The reporting makes it look like that. How many affluent Afro Americans feel victimized by the police ?

But numerous references to the " black community " suggest a still segregated America . The basis for it is not institutionalized racism - but the black hole of economic inequality.

Our prison system - our American Gulag - screams out at class injustice.

  [ Most Senior Police Officer In Freddie Gray Case Is Found Not Guilty Of Manslaughter

Lt. Brian Rice is the highest-ranking of the six Baltimore police officers who were charged in the death of Freddie Gray last year.  ]

President Obama no cheer leader for cop hating ... " Red Eye Radio " ridiculous

I just heard right wing " Red Eye " talk radio describe President Obama as the number one cheer leader for cop hating in the country.

Democratic socialists reject this pernicious nonsense. The police violence is explained , in the final analysis , by the class structure of American capitalist society.

Any striking worker on a picket line - of any race or ethnic background- knows what the cops are all about. Any working class family evicted from their house or home knows what THE LAW is all about.

The president of the United States - no more than the Supreme Court- is above the class struggle. President Obama serves the American plutocracy- and that is incompatible with " cop hating ".

Answer to killer cops : we need a new New Left

Chaotic 1968 Democratic Convention recalled ( NPR story )

I remember very well the chaos and the cop violence at the Democratic National Convention in that tumultuous year 1968. There was a sharp class conscious New Left active back then.

The cop violence in the streets of Chicago -denounced on the floor of the convention - had nothing to do with race and everything to do with bloody war and U.S. imperialism. Yes, to quote Black Muslim Malcom X : the chickens were coming home to roost.

Relevant to today's killer cop stories was a Mayor Richard Daley quote : " The policeman is not there to create disorder ; the policeman is there to preserve disorder ".

The solution to the present chaos is not hawkish, " Wall St. Hillary ". We need a new New Left.

The working class knows what " our finest " ( the cops ) are all about

• After listening to several hours of right wing ( " Red Eye " ) talk radio early this morning I welcome this more realistic view of " our finest ". The American working class " respects " the police out of respect for normal " law and order ". But they do not idealize the police. Any striking worker on a picket line knows what the police are all about : protecting the private property interests of the ruling class. That is just ABC of " democratic socialism ".
  CLASS explains these killer cops better than RACE in general. And yes, our New Colonialism war crimes in the Middle East are coming home to roost . Black Muslim Malcolm X made the same point way back in 1963 when President Kennedy was shot in Dallas.
  Malcolm X made a connection of racism with capitalism , a connection of racism with U.S. imperialism.
  The solution to this chaos ? Whatever happened to the Bernie Sanders " political revolution " ? Forget about the fatuous " identity politics " of hawkish, " Wall St. Hillary ".
  Jaded feminism won't help much either.Neither will a lying pseudo-liberal news media.
  

Protect Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen

It would be outrageous for the U.S. government to deliver this innocuous, well meaning Muslim cleric to the increasingly corrupt and authoritarian Erdogan regime in Turkey.

Whatever is going on in terms of intrigue is truly Byzantine. The man is at least on talking terms with always vilified ( in these countries ) leaders of Israel.

And Turkey has a horrible reputation for prison brutality .

What kind of " democracy " was just saved in Turkey ?

What kind of " democracy " was saved in Turkey last night ? The whole Middle East has been destabilized  by our New Colonialism and that of Old Europe.

What regimes does President Obama back ? Ones with exquisite respect for human rights ? Or ones that U.S. imperialism can make a deal with , where the rich rule despite regular elections ? And the working class suffers ?

A colossal failure - our 15 year " war on terrorism "- with ourselves as chief supporters of state terror ( recall the Abu Ghraib prison atrocity ).

Leave the world to chaos ? No, revive the authority of the United Nations.

Attempted coup fails in Turkey

Working class politics is not a casino : PLACE YOUR BETS !

  " I think my mom should be the first female president. But she won't be. And neither will Jill Stein.

Seriously, BEN Stein has a better chance of getting elected than Jill Stein."

 

 

Working class " political revolution " has nothing in common with frenzied trips to the casino: in which you place your bets. Bourgeois political campaigns greatly exaggerate the importance of mere individuals- all different faces and personalities but ALL serving the same ruling class ends.
The American Constitution so far permits no voting on the capitalist system itself. I can't imagine those Supreme Court judges ruling in favor of socialist property relations.
My vote for any " democratic socialist " or very " progressive " president is just symbolic. The magic is in MASS ACTION.
Was the Great French Revolution of 1789 decided in the ballot booth or on the seething streets of Paris ?

Pious Hillary contrasted to indifferent -to-religion Donald Trump ?

I just read an article that contrasted pious Hillary with Donald Trump's seeming indifference to any religious orthodoxy. But just where is the evidence that " Wall St. Hillary " assimilated the " social gospel " ?

 Just a year ago it seemed that the Republican Party was dominated by the Ayn Rand clique. Rand was a militant atheist. And Hillary is no Eleanor Roosevelt.

The only true religion of the capitalist politicians is capitalism - with or without the God of the Moral Majority.

No points here for hawkish Hillary. Does she ever quote Pope Francis on the sins of greedy capitalism ? Both the Democratic and Republican parties are looking more and more ridiculous.

Can we predict a very low voter turn out in the 2016 presidential election - a real crisis for American " democracy " ?

Now considering Jill Stein and militant socialist candidates-Radical Ron

A registered Democrat in Rhode Island, I was a critical supporter of " socialist " Democrat Bernie Sanders up to his not surprising capitulation to the Queen of the Status Quo, Hillary Clinton.

The Democratic Party is now just a shadow of the pro-labor, working class oriented party of FDR and his impressively " progressive ". New Deal. Not for nothing American plutocrats called Franklin D. Roosevelt " that man " years after his death.

Hillary Clinton sounds more and more like a neo-con Republican . Bernie has most certainly not pushed her to the left. On the contrary, " Wall St. Hillary " has sabotaged his really quite moderate " political revolution. ". And clearly she is the candidate of the Pentagon.

If " democratic socialism " means anything at all, it means a questioning of the moral legitimacy of even respectable, legitimate wealth . It does not give American capitalism a passport to the future. We who are without cramped souls can imagine a better, saner economic and political order.

I have voted for Jill Stein in the past . I voted for Ralph Nader twice with no regrets.

I am presently considering militant socialist candidates. I reject only violent fanaticism on the left.There is quite enough brainless violence in the world.
Jill Stein now a contender  

What ALL holy texts have in common ?

What do Islamic, Jewish, and Christian holy texts all have in common ? They all have said nothing new for many centuries. I recall the late Isaac Asimov scolding the Republican Moral Majority during the now halcyon Reagan era for subverting science education in the 1980s.

 They thought Creationism should have equal time in high school biology classes." The Armies of the Night " , Asimov called them.


If you want to understand terrorist violence today , you can begin with the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq which destabilized the whole Middle East.

" Revenge Terrorism " will not be stopped by expanding the New Colonialism in Syria.The United States has lost the moral authority to lead any war on terrorism- having committed itself to so much state terror.

Time to revive the United Nations - not NATO.

The French ruling class more fearful of labor unrest than Islamic terrorism

I suspect that on Bastille Day 2016 the French ruling class was more terrified by mass labor unrest than by deranged Islamic terrorists. I doubt if the French economic elite really identify with the spirit of the Great French Revolution of 1789 . But the French workers do.

One hundred years ago French and German workers were persuaded that their greatest enemy was some foreign menace. Hint ?

More terrorist horror in France -on Bastille Day

To be sure, this " war on terrorism " -carried out by a coalition of old colonialist powers now involved in the " New Colonialism " in the Middle East - is now a 15 year spectacular failure. We will not stop terrorism by escalating war in the Middle East.

A friend of mine and his wife is just back from a two week summer vacation in France. He mentioned all the labor unrest there. Something very strange when ANYBODY can commandeer a big white truck. Very sharp French " intelligence!

France Could Be Immobilized by Massive Protests Over Labor Law ...

time.com/4348204/france-labor-law-reform-strikes/

Time

May 25, 2016 - Labor strikes and student protests could bring France to a standstill, as the government and public face off over labor law reform.

Anybody can commandeer a big truck in France ?

Justice Ginsberg apologizes for " ill advised " Trump comments

The American plutocracy needs the many illusions of " democracy " just to make itself tolerable to the working class majority. One of these illusions is that of the LAW being above the class struggle.

None of the Supreme Court Judges would have been appointed if their loyalty to the capitalist ruling class had not been tested over many years.

         Just imagine a Supreme Court ruling on capitalist private property right- should a socialist government be legitimately elected ?

    What is the real case against Trump ? No working class American kid looking at billionaire Donald Trump as president in the Oval Office can be told : " Any kid can grow up to be president now ! "

   And yet I see Trump as a " lesser evil " than Hillary Clinton. But I won't vote for " The Donald ".

    Even Ralph Nader has a few good words for Donald Trump.

" Black Lives Matter " protest on Elvis Presley Boulevard

My favorite Elvis song is the touching " In the Ghetto ". I think it suggests that class-not race- keeps working class Americans in their place. Is it color that keeps people " in the ghetto " or capitalist economic relationships ?

The police bully all of us whenever we threaten capitalist property rights - like striking workers on a picket line , for example.

Do they have a champion in " Wall St. Hillary " ?

• 

  Outside Graceland

  Protesters with the Black Lives Matter movement block traffic on Elvis Presley Blvd ....