Lessons Learned

by C.A. Matthews

Welcome to our tenth anniversary celebration of The Revolution Continues!

It’s been ten years this month since I agreed to become blog editor. TRC had another name originally, and it was posted on another social media platform, but it gradually transformed into what you’re reading today. That tentative first step kicked off a busy decade of writing, editing, reading, and researching how human beings manage to screw things up and try to put them back together again.

Ten whole years. Would I agree to do it all again, knowing what I do now? Hmm… Let me think about it.

Some folks place TRC under the category of “political science,” but I prefer think of it more as a study in anthropology, history, sociology, and psychology. People making life either harder or easier for themselves or others is what our time on this planet is all about, in my humble opinion. And it’s amazing just how many in power enjoy making life more difficult for others in order to “get ahead.”

It’s issues like these that trigger my spidey-sense gained from my background in psychology. Why do sociopaths get such satisfaction from the struggles and suffering of their fellow human beings? Can’t we simply learn to respect each others’ differences, and live and let live? Most days, apparently not.

And with that insight, I’ll share ten pearls of wisdom gathered over the last decade from fighting in the trenches of American politics and activism. I’m sure you’ve discovered most of these yourself. Feel free to comment on which one(s) has/have made the biggest impression on you.

Ten Tough Lessons Learned Over the Past Ten Years

1. We must act as our own heroes.

Nobody is going to become our “savior” and save us from our failures as a nation or as a people or as a species. We must learn to save ourselves and do it over and over again. This is what the brave crew of the Madleen in the Freedom Flotilla are attempting. This is what the March to Gaza is all about.

Political heroes in particular are more than likely to let you down. Take for example Bernie Sanders. This blog began as The Bernie Blog in 2015 when a handful of enthusiastic “Berners” came together in hopes of spreading the word that democratic socialism could solve all of America’s problems. The only problem with that idea was that the corrupt system under which Americans elect their leaders and solve their society’s challenges didn’t want to have anything to do with people like Bernie or his followers. They particularly despised any philosophy of governance containing the word “socialism” in it as well.

More on that corrupt system in a moment. One day soon I promise to write more about the origin story of the TRC blog and how our relationship with Bernie changed. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of funny, scary, and very educational stories to tell about how we survived it all...

 

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This article is the 523rd blog posting of The Revolution Continues. We began in June 2015, and we're still going strong. Please keep reading, sharing, and subscribing to help TRC continue for another ten years. 

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The Peace Eagle

words and original artwork by C.A. Matthews

We don't have to submit to this. We don't have to keep sleepwalking into dystopia and armageddon to the beat of manipulative sociopaths. There are a whole lot more of us than there are of them, and we've got a whole lot more at stake here than they do. --Caitlin Johnstone, Advocating World War Three is Just Mainstream Punditry Now

Some days it’s hard to get out of bed knowing just how screwed up the world is. You want to turn over, go back to sleep, and wake up to the sound of angels blowing trumpets, calling us all heavenward in the Rapture (even if you don’t really believe in that sort of thing). You just want to get things over with, you know?

Headlines yelling that nuclear war is “survivable” and “necessary” to rub some other country’s leader’s face into the (radioactive) dust seem to trigger these feelings in me. I don’t believe for one moment that nuclear war is a preferable or survivable event. I actually passed my chemistry test on radioactive isotopes in high school. I know that I don’t want anyone to be bombarded by them or caught in an explosion that generates them for the next several hundred thousand years.

When it came to picking a theme for the blog this depressing week, I was leaning toward writing about the upcoming midterms because it’s a slightly less blood pressure rising topic. But then the news about “The Squad” (more like “The Frauds”) hit the Twitterverse and their antics struck a chord in me. The Frauds sent out a letter to the so-called Democratic Party leadership pleading for peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in order to put an end to the suffering there. About a day later The Frauds retracted the self-same letter and pledged their undying love for the military industrial complex instead. Yeah, they actually backed out of promoting a diplomatic end to hostilities in order to help killer capitalists sell more arms to a corrupt government we helped to set up in a coup in 2014, a government with openly Neo-Nazi militias that have been shelling the ethnic Russian Donbass region for eight+ years.

Representative Ilhan Omar of The Frauds even went as far as to tell peace protesters at a town hall meeting that they didn’t have the right to tell her how to vote. Uh, these folks are your constituents, Ms. Omar, so they have every right to tell you they don’t appreciate you supporting an unpopular war. You, as their Congresswoman, are supposed to pipe down and listen to their concerns instead of insulting them. If there was one member of “the boutique left” I would have expected to be in favor of a peaceful, diplomatic end to war, it would have been an immigrant from war-torn Somalia such as Rep. Omar. I guess the benefits of negotiating peace are null and void when there are big DNC donors like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon involved.

Perhaps the worse news I’ve heard this week is that Senator Bernie Sanders has also renounced all diplomatic measures to bring an end to this war over liquefied natural gas pipelines and selling American oil to European markets at super-high profits. Bernie, the man who boasted he voted against the Iraq War not once but twice, is a now war hawk? Wow. Talk about a gut punch.

Most persons of the socialist/eco-socialist persuasion have moved on from following Bernie too closely after he went on the road to sell Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden to unwitting voters, but this news still hurts. The Fraud Squad has always come across as a bunch of faux progressives, all-too-ready for their next glossy magazine cover shoot, but I thought Bernie was the real deal for a while and wouldn’t give in so easily. We live and learn.

The one upbeat note this week was attending a Zoom meeting with US Senate candidate Matthew Hoh and his special guest Roger Waters, formerly of the band Pink Floyd. Roger is quite a peace and justice activist, and he doesn’t pull any punches. When Roger used a few choice expletives to describe how little regard he holds for the members of the Fraud Squad who support endless wars, Matt told him that it was okay to use the F word because, “War is the obscenity.” I like how that short sentence sums up so many peoples’ feelings on the topic. (I support Matt, a disabled veteran and peace activist, and encourage North Carolina voters to vote for him on November 8.)

Back to the prospects of endless war/nuclear Armageddon: As I walked through our junk-filled garage earlier this week, I came across an old metal eagle plaque. The eagle hung on the front of the house when we moved in, but I took it down and replaced it with a metal peace sign. I didn’t throw the eagle plaque away because we recycle, re-purpose, and re-use everything in this household. I’d thought about turning the scowling eagle into something like a dove a while back, but life intervened and I’d forgotten about it. Today I’m painting that damn blood-covered, warmongering American eagle and transforming it from a “war hawk” into a “Peace Eagle.”

No more wars for oil and blowing up LNG pipelines so US Big Oil can sell fuel to Europe at obscene prices! The American eagle is going to become a protector of the peace and dignity of all humankind, not just for those who write establishment politicians large donation checks. Unlike The Fraud Squad, I’m proudly sending out my "letter" supporting a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the proxy war. I’m not retracting it no matter how many nukes the US/NATO war machine threatens to rain down on my head

If you have a metal eagle plaque or any kind of symbol of the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex, may I suggest you get out your paints or needle and thread and do a few alterations to it? Please post your Peace Eagle photos here in the comments or email them to us or send us a Twitter DM. It’s time to speak out loudly against suicidal/homicidal/genocidal narcissists who want to nuke the planet in order to increase their stock portfolio profits.

It’s time to make the Peace Eagle the symbol of our land. And to paraphrase Roger Waters: Screw the war hawks!

 

A description of what the colors/symbols mean on the Peace Eagle:

I first painted the aluminum eagle plaque all white as a base to hold the other colors, and because I wanted the eagle not to be associated with war such as the brown-bodied bald eagle has become in the US. The rainbow-colored flight feathers symbolize that the Peace Eagle protects people of all races, colors, ethnicities, nationalities, and gender identities. The shield boasts a peace sign with pink and light blue stripes,  signifying that the Peace Eagle will protect the most vulnerable in our society against those who would harm them. The olive branch remains the same—a sign of peace and generosity. The quiver of arrows of the American eagle have been transformed into a bouquet of coneflowers or echinacea, a native flower known for its healing properties and beauty. Together beneath the wings of the Peace Eagle we can protect our country’s natural wonders and provide food, health care, justice, and healing for all.

Related Articles:

Advocating World War Three is Just Mainstream Punditry Now https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/advocating-world-war-three-is-just

The Military Industrial Complex Strikes Again https://scheerpost.com/2022/10/28/the-military-industrial-complex-strikes-again/

Chris Hedges: Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/listen-to-this-article-stop-worrying

Worthless House Progressives Retract Mild Peace Advocacy Under Pressure from Warmongers https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/worthless-house-progressives-retract  

The West Must Stop Blocking Negotiations Between Ukraine and Russia https://therealnews.com/vijay-prashad-the-west-must-stop-blocking-negotiations-between-ukraine-and-russia

US Lowering Nuclear Threshold by Upgrading Nukes in Europe https://scheerpost.com/2022/10/31/russia-says-us-lowering-nuclear-threshold-by-upgrading-nukes-in-europe/ 

New Study Finds the Rest of the World Supports China and Russia https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/new-study-finds-the-rest-of-the-world 

NATO Had Plans for a Preemptive Strike on Russia... https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/10/30/nato-had-plans-for-a-preemptive-strike-on-russia-using-the-cover-of-a-french-led-naval-exercise-in-the-mediterranean/

Is Russia Poised to Win the Ukraine War? (video) https://youtu.be/EyXhwbj6_yA

The Official Narrative on Ukraine https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/the-official-narrative-on-ukraine

Mick Wallace Calls Out the Squad (video) https://youtu.be/HgAbCqd2DWE

Ilhan Omar Uses Identity Politics as a Shield for Pro-War Votes https://youtu.be/3jni7sofUf4

Finland Will Allow NATO to Place Weapons on Border with Russia https://www.newsweek.com/finland-will-allow-nato-place-nuclear-weapons-border-russia-1754925

House Progressives Pushed Negotiations with Russia Then Buckled Under Pressure https://truthout.org/articles/house-progressives-pushed-negotiations-with-russia-then-buckled-under-pressure/

"This is What Price-Gouging Looks Like": Exxon Profits Break All-Time Records  https://truthout.org/articles/this-is-what-price-gouging-looks-like-exxon-profits-break-all-time-records/

Seen on Twitter:

"War is the obscenity." --@MatthewPHoh

— READ TheRevolutionContinues.substack.com (@cynthianna3) October 28, 2022

— Living in a recessionary dystopian hellscape (@breakify547) October 28, 2022

The so-called progressives in the neoliberal fascist democrat party have declared war on peace & everyone who advocates for peace & restraints on U.S. & Western imperial power. For these progressives peace is a Kremlin talking point!

— Ajamu Baraka (@ajamubaraka) October 29, 2022

Back in March, Ilhan Omar sounded a lot like the antiwar protesters she demonizes today as Putin puppets.

Her rhetoric then was purely performative, while her actions ultimately reinforced the objectives of Empire.

This is why we call them the #fraudsquad. pic.twitter.com/RM64jQCP6Y

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) October 28, 2022

Imagine retracting & opposing a letter to the president which stated:

“It’s America's responsibility to pursue every diplomatic avenue to help end the war."

That’s what @PramilaJayapal, @AOC & the fraud squad did this week.

There are no peacemakers or progressives in Congress.

— Ryan Knight ☭🕊 (@ProudSocialist) October 30, 2022

#BernieSandersMittens

 #BernieSandersMittens

by C.A. Matthews

It's amazing how quickly human beings can glomp onto a symbol of hope and run with it.

A photo of Senator Bernie Sanders, sitting on a folding chair at the inauguration ceremony in his usual brown parka and wearing a pair of handmade woolen mittens, has set the Internet alight and raised the spirits of many a Berner.

Hundreds of memes popped up overnight showing Bernie and his trademark mittens in a variety of positions and places--everything from sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office to sitting at the bar with the Dude from The Big Lebowski. Every single one brought a smile to thousands of faces. Every smile brought hope and revived fond memories of both Bernie's campaigns for the White House.

True to his nature, Bernie donated all proceeds from a "Bernie in Mittens" icon t-shirt/sweatshirt sale to the Vermont chapter of Meals on Wheels. For those who feel Bernie has become "just one of the boys" on Capitol Hill, consider this: A Vermont second grade teacher knitted Bernie's mittens from an old sweater and recycled plastic bottles. Joe Biden, the man whom Bernie inadvertently upstaged at the inauguration, typically wears a $7,000 Rolex watch and was found to have set up a "cancer foundation" that raised millions of dollars that was spent on executive salaries with none of the money actually going toward research for a cure.

No wonder memes of $7,000 Rolexes aren't trending!

The popularity of the Bernie's mittens meme speaks for itself. It's what is needed in an era where more Americans than ever before are becoming aware that they cannot trust those in power. They cannot trust a politician who promised a $2000 stimulus check right away before the election but now has backpedaled and lowered that amount to $1400 and pushed off the date to send it out to sometime in March at the earliest. 

 

Meanwhile, millions of unemployed Americans face eviction from their homes and starvation today and every day until then. Don't their lives matter more than the profits of Big Pharma and the health care industry? The military-industrial complex?

Bernie's mittens represent that even a working class boy like Bernie Sanders can grow up and do great things. They represent that the working class still has a friend in Washington DC who will stand up against the moneyed elites and their corporate donors and fight for our rights to health care and funds to survive during this pandemic.

Bernie's mittens will stand up there someday with the Statue of Liberty and the Liberty Bell as great symbols of what America could be without the greed and tone-deafness of the oligarchs and their politician-puppets.

God bless America. God bless Bernie Sanders' mittens.

Thanks to James Kirkland who posted most of these memes on the Artists for Bernie Sanders Facebook group.

You can make your own  memes at https://outsnapped.com/content/sit-with-bernie-sanders-meme-generator/

More insights on Bernie Sanders' Mittens:

Sanders Hopes Nation Smitten by His Mittens Will Back Food Charity Push  https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/67456-sanders-hopes-nation-smitten-by-his-mittens-will-back-food-charity-push

The Mittens
https://correspondent.afp.com/mittens

The Meaning of the Mittens: Five Possibilities
https://theintercept.com/2021/01/21/inauguration-bernie-sanders-mittens/ 

***

Incredible hope that Trump's sadistic attacks on children and families will end. Overwhelming heartbreak at the incredible pain so many families have suffered. Fierce determination to reunite all separated children with their families and forever turn the page on this nightmare.

President Biden has made clear that his administration is going all-in undoing the horrors of the last four years. We’re optimistic about the soon-to-be-announced Presidential Task Force on Family Separation, an immigration bill that centers care and compassion, and the rebuilding of our asylum system with an eye towards dignity and compassion.

It is a BIG deal politically that Biden has announced reuniting families and overhauling our immigration system as a major priority, but the key will be Congress. That's where you come in, right now:

Can you let your representatives in Congress know there is huge public support for not just rebuilding but re-imagining America’s cruel immigration system?

ACT NOW

Families have been waiting decades and decades for a more caring and compassionate immigration system. Many of them are essential workers who are keeping our communities together, whether serving as doctors and nurses on the front lines of the pandemic, picking our food, keeping our grocery stores going, or caring for our loved ones.

Millions of children come home every day unsure that their parents will be there to greet them, living in perpetual fear of ICE's family separation force.

We can not rest until every child torn from their parents is safe and reunited with their family. We will not rest until families are released from ICE jails. And we will tirelessly fight to ensure that these families get the restitution, love, and mental health support they need to start healing.

And we must hold those behind these atrocious policies accountable.

Restoring our moral standing in the world starts with doing right by those we have wronged and revamping our immigration and asylum system so no family lives in fear of being separated ever again. We have to seize this opportunity to fundamentally reshape our immigration system. Every single voice of public support can help tip the balance, so I'm asking:

Can you let your representatives in Congress know there is huge public support for fixing America’s broken immigration policies?

Thanks for all you do,

Paola Luisi, Director
Families Belong Together

 ***

The Revolution Continues will keep dancin' along with Bernie and his mittens!

We're now in our sixth year fighting against the corporate duopoly. We're not ashamed to say that we need fellow revolutionaries like you to help us stay online and provide progressive insights that are being actively censored elsewhere. If you can spare some of your pocket change, please use the Paypal.me link below to donate to help fund our operations.

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Thanks for all you do in making the world a better place. Power to the people!

Nina! Nina! Nina!

Nina! Nina! Nina!

by C.A. Matthews

Nina! Nina! Nina!

The chant is infectious. The roar of the crowd is deafening. To hear Nina Turner speak in person is electrifying. You just know you're going to hear the truth and it will set you free whenever you're in the presence of one of the progressive movement's most gifted orators.

I remember the first time we caught up with the former Ohio state senator on the campaign trail. It was early 2016. Nina Turner was the "opener" to Bernie Sanders at a Sanders rally at Baldwin-Wallace University, just south of Cleveland proper. It was a cold winter's day, but well worth the trip. Still a relative newcomer to the national progressive scene, Nina's straight talk and heartfelt inspiration mobilized the troops for Bernie that day.

We were fortunate to hear Nina introduce Bernie again--and all because we made that first trek in the dark and cold to Cleveland. After the Baldwin-Wallace rally, I was fortunate enough to get down to the floor to shake Nina's hand and chat with her for a minute.

 "Nina, you've gotta get Bernie to come to Toledo for a rally!" I shouted over the noise of the crowd. 

"You're right. We need to support our brothers and sisters in western Ohio," she replied. 

Meeting Nina Turner at Baldwin-Wallace University

Sure enough, within a few weeks' time--and with less than 24 hours notice--a Bernie rally was scheduled to take place in Toledo. Along with Bernie and Nina, we also heard from Congresswomen Tulsi Gabbard and Marcy Kaptur, among others. Sort of a "grand slam" of  political celebrities, you could say. 

Without Nina Turner's ever-present support and superb oratory skills, Bernie probably wouldn't have made it as far as he did before the DNC pulled the rug out from under him in the latter half of the 2016 primary season when their chosen candidate was slipping in the polls. It truly was a crime when the DNC leadership refused to allow Nina on stage to introduce Bernie at the nomination convention in Philadelphia. A knife in the back would have been kinder, in my opinion.

To say I'm a "big Nina Turner fan" is an understatement. Even after Bernie Sanders called it quits in 2016, I still harbored much respect and affection for Nina. I've kept up with her work as the first president of Our Revolution, and secretly hoped she would run for a statewide office (like governor) so I could vote for her. Finally, she's taking the plunge--only she's running for US Congress from Ohio 11th district (eastern side of Cleveland to the Akron area). Alas, I live in Ohio's 9th congressional district across the state. So close and yet so far!

While I'm excited to see Nina Turner running for Congress--as she will be a much needed progressive voice there--I won't lie to you. I'm very disappointed to see her running in the Democratic Party primary. Didn't she learn anything about the dirty Dem's duplicity during her time with Bernie Sanders' two presidential campaigns? The Democratic Party leadership have already provided obvious clues that they've chosen their candidate (Shontel Brown) to replace Rep. Marcia Fudge, who will be stepping down to serve in the Biden administration. And after Nina recently spoke at the virtual (online) convention for the Movement for a People's Party, the DNC isn't going to be happy about her openly siding with a new progressive party.

Oh, Nina! Nina! Nina! I feel like crying out. Why can't you run as an independent, a Green, the first big name under the People's Party banner or a Party for Socialism and Liberation candidate instead? Anything except one of those not-to-be-trusted Dems.

The next couple of months will be decisive. Nina will know for certain who all she'll be up against in the Democratic Party primary before too long. Biden will be installed as the next paid-off puppet of the oligarchy in D.C. on January 20. The People's Party has formed officially and been registered in its first state (Maine) and is working hard to do the same in many others. The Green Party US is mopping up after the bloodbath of ballot banishing in several states (including Ohio) and congratulating the many Greens who beat the odds and were successfully elected to local offices. Progressives and their organizations are in a state of flux presently. All is not lost, but things do need improvement.

By the time the special election to replace Rep. Fudge's vacated seat rolls around this spring, we should know more about the lay of the land. Nina could have changed her mind about running in the Democratic Party primary at that point. We'll see. My fingers are crossed that she'll win whatever primary she enters and then the special election and then be seated in Congress. After all, that's where Senator Bernie Sanders first entered the national stage--and just look how far he's come. 

I hope that one day soon we'll be able to call our favorite truth-teller, "President Nina Turner." And we'll be chanting joyfully together once more: Nina! Nina! Nina!

Related Links:

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/09/nina-turner-files-run-congress-ohio

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/henrygomez/nina-turner-congress-ohio-11

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2020/12/12/national-democratic-party-complicated-iowas-caucus-efforts-dnc/6509514002/

***

Tell Congress NOT to cut endometriosis funding!

Sign now with a click

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Leader McConnell, Chairman Shelby, Vice Chairman Leahy, Chairwoman Lowey, and Ranking Member Granger: As advocacy organizations and individuals that understand firsthand the pain and hardship endured by those living with endometriosis, we urge you to support the requests led by Representatives Finkenauer and González-Colón along with Senators Romney and Warren to prioritize funding for endometriosis research in the upcoming fiscal year. Specifically, we ask that you increase funding for the National Institute of Health National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to at least the levels included in the House-passed bill as well as include report language that lists endometriosis as an eligible condition under the Department of Defense Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP). Endometriosis affects about one in ten women, can cause intense pain, and is a leading cause of infertility. Despite its prevalence and health impacts, too little funding has been dedicated toward better understanding, diagnosing, and treating this condition. Many women who live with endometriosis go for years, seeing multiple doctors and even spending thousands of dollars, before they can get a diagnosis and treatment. Women with endometriosis lose an average of six hours of productivity per week at work and the condition is estimated to cost over $78 billion annually in healthcare expenditures and lost productivity. Medical research is the key to finding better ways to diagnose and treat this common and life-altering condition. Specifically, we request: Inclusion of endometriosis as eligible for funding under the DOD PRMRP in FY 2021. We are concerned by the report put forth by the Senate Appropriations Committee, which does not include endometriosis among the condition eligible under the PRMRP. Endometriosis was included in both FY 2018 and FY 2020, and this opportunity for investment in endometriosis research through the PRMRP must remain available. When research funding is low or inconsistent for a medical condition, it is difficult to attract researchers to specialize in that condition or apply for related research grants and we respectfully ask that you reinstate endometriosis as an eligible condition for FY 2021. The highest possible funding level for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in final FY2021 appropriations legislation to ensure that resources are available to double funding for endometriosis research from the FY 2019 level and increase funding for endometriosis for $26 million. We appreciate efforts in both the House and Senate to increase funding for NICHD in FY2021 and ask that the highest possible increase be preserved in the final legislation. Over 6 million people in the United States are living with endometriosis and our members know firsthand how endometriosis affects the lives of these women and their loved ones. The critical issues that face women with endometriosis need to be addressed and require quick, decisive action to increase research and awareness. As such, we ask that you provide increased funding better to diagnose and treat this condition.

Sign now with a click

Visit petition page

***

 

In a stunning recently-leaked video, Joe Biden is heard telling civil rights leaders that they should be satisfied with his rhetorical acknowledgment and expect nothing more. Biden screams at them saying that he will not be using his executive powers to stand up for the Black community that worked hard to elect him — or any other working-class community. This is a huge development because progressives had rested what little hope they had for Biden on the possibility of executive orders — hopes that Biden just smashed as he said he would only be undoing Trump orders. Adding insult to injury, Biden nominated dairy industry lobbyist and former Obama Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, to head the department again. "Vilsack is a rerun of pro-corporate policies that continue to drive rural communities away from the Democratic Party," said The Intercept. Biden and Harris are determined to convince you that their cabinet of lobbyists "looks like America." The first Latino Secretary of Health and Human Services, the first woman to run the Treasury, the first all-female communications team, the youngest national security advisor in decades. But what difference does it make if your family's poverty, hunger and homelessness are imposed by a Black, Latino or White person? We already have a Republican Party. What actually is the point of the Democratic Party?

Donate to power our movement

If confirmed, Vilsack will face one of the worst American hunger crises since the Great Depression, with a surge in food prices, COVID-19 cases, unemployment, and food lines running for miles. Instead of using his Obama-era experience to help minority-owned or small farms, Vilsack has used the intervening years to lobby for the corporate American Farm Bureau Federation and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, where he is currently the CEO. The USDA has been almost exclusively led by white men and has systematically discriminated against Black farmers by giving them less federal aid than White farmers.

Vilsack's nomination also risks the loss of one or both of the Senate seats in Georgia's special runoff election because of depressed turnout. He is loathed by progressives in the state for his ouster of civil rights leader Shirley Sherrod while heading Georgia's USDA department of rural development. Vilsack fired her after a deceptively-edited video on Breitbart said she was racist.

This administration is shaping up to be a mash-up of the Obama, Geroge W. Bush, and Clinton administrations. The only difference is they've all had more time to deepen their corruption as corporate lobbyists in the private sector. If it sounds like the country is moving backward, it's because it is. And the Peoples Party is going to turn that around.

Join our National Call this Thursday at 8:30 pm ET with special guest Thomas Frank, the author of Listen, Liberal and The People, No. We will also be joined by Scientists for a People's Party Coordinator, Johanna Heureaux-Torres, who will discuss actions to support Steven Donziger, the lawyer who helped win a historic Amazon clean-up deal against Chevron and now faces six months in jail. It will be our last National Call of the year and we will ring in the holidays with a celebration of everything our movement has accomplished this year! 

In Solidarity,

Carol Ehrle
Media and Messaging Coordinator
Movement for a People's Party