They Did It Again (And Again...)

by C.A. Matthews

 

Example 1: Christmas in February

The postmark read December 19, 2024. We received the Christmas card this past week. In previous years we received mail from my husband’s cousin in less than a month’s time. What was so different this time?

Two Christmas letters that I’d mailed out the first week of December came back “return to sender” a little over week ago. Is there some new rule that says that these letters must sit in bag somewhere inside a post office for almost two months before being returned to the sender?

What gives with the US postal service? If you’re blaming Trump for the lousy mail service, you’re only half right. Sure, Trump appointed Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General during his first term, but I mailed these letters (and others in the past four years which have been delayed and lost) during the Biden administration. Who served as Postmaster General under Biden?

You guessed it—it was Louis DeJoy and it still is.

If Louis DeJoy was installed by Trump to wreck the USPS so Congress would be tempted to shut it down and turn it into a private mail delivery corporation instead of a public one, then why did Biden never attempt to appoint another Postmaster General? I’ve received tons of emails these past four years from various organizations saying we should all write our Congress members as well as President Biden pleading to work toward changing the USPS board so it could offer a replacement for DeJoy.

The thing is, DeJoy knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s doing as our real rulers want him to do. And Biden didn’t want to upset the rulers, so DeJoy remained in office.

DeJoy’s bosses are not the president and Congress. His bosses are the oligarchs (or billionaires) who control everything because they essentially own everything—up to and including the presidency...

 

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The Mystery of the Missing Votes

A Terrible Tale of Voter Suppression. (Plus "A Letter to Kamala.")

by C. A. Matthews

Living with a mystery series writer (check out my husband’s Veronica Nash series), I watch many (and I mean many) mystery movies, TV series, and the like. I’ve never been the biggest fan of mysteries since some feature “copaganda” with their noble-minded police detective sleuths showing off how damn smart they are. Putting that fault aside, I watch mysteries in order to learn more about how to plot a story as well as learn interesting science facts that occasionally pop up. I find an interesting twist in the tale or an outright surreal ending (like in a Twilight Zone episode) enjoyable, too.

Unfortunately, many mysteries are poorly plotted. If I can guess “whodunnit” within the first ten minutes of a mystery movie/TV show (or first chapter of a novel), then it’s safe to say it’s crap and needs a re-write. I mean, how the heck should anyone figure out the mystery so quickly? Mediocre mysteries are the worse. There’s no use reading the rest of the book or watching the next hour and half of silly red herrings if you know who the murderer/kidnapper/thief is already. I’ve got better things to do with my time.

Which brings me to what I do with my time these days—I try and solve real life mysteries of the political kind. In this season of post-election blues in the US, I submit for your approval the following: The Mystery of the Missing Votes or A Terrible Tale of Voter Suppression.

In New Jersey, Green candidate for Congress Ben Taylor was ahead of his duopoly competitors with 50,000+ votes, but a second later the screen said that Taylor was behind and had only 3,000 votes. What happened to his lead? Did his votes all die a mysterious death? 

 

To see and solve more electoral mysteries, continue reading the rest of this article by clicking on this Substack link: https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com  There you'll also see related article and video links, all the images, and be able to leave comments. You can subscribe to receive the weekly blog post in your email box as well. 

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One Trump, Two Trump, Red Trump, Blue Trump

“The hardest thing I’ve ever seen the Democrats fight for is to keep a disabled Marine combat veteran off the ballot.”

– Matthew Hoh, Green Party candidate for US Senate from North Carolina

One Trump, Two Trump, Red Trump, Blue Trump

(or The Future of the So-Called Democratic Party) 

by Coast Watcher

Frankly, the so-called US Democratic Party should be sued for flagrant misuse of the term democratic. They are without doubt the most undemocratic institution in the United States. It’s no secret that the party has a standing order to challenge the right of any third party to be included on electoral ballots, federal, state, or local. With friendly judges in their pockets these iniquitous attacks by Democrats on the right of the American people to have a choice frequently succeed.

As if this wasn’t bad enough, the Establishment Party (composed of the so-called Democrats and their good friends, the Republicans or GOP) have succeeded in placing their members in positions of authority in county electoral boards and changed the rules so no other parties can sit on such boards. These are the people who decide who does or does not qualify to be on the ballot. Naturally, the GOP and the Democrat candidates always qualify. But people running for third parties? Not so much.

Take the case of Matthew Hoh, Green Party candidate for US Senate to represent the people of North Carolina. (More details on this story at Whatever This Is, It's Not a Democracy.) A disabled Marine Corp veteran, Hoh is an excellent candidate for high office. An articulate, intelligent man, Hoh has "seen the elephant" in war. With such experience, his is a voice of authority when it comes to espousing the deep desire for peace and an end to the American government’s policy of constant warfare. Hoh’s campaign has gained a great deal of traction to the point that it looks like the Green Party is becoming a real challenger to the Establishment Party in NC. 

This, of course, doesn't sit well with the "Demopublicans."

The North Carolina Green Party workers went the extra mile in ensuring that all petition signatures for inclusion on the ballot were legitimate, collecting far more than the minimum required. The counties' election boards approved of the Green Party's signature petitions to be on the ballot and sent them onto the state board of elections for final approval. When it came to the state electoral board to certify the counties' findings, the chairman muted the Green Party’s legal representative to prevent him from asking questions and rejected the NCGP's certified signature petitions out of hand. 

The Greens are protesting the railroading of their candidate, but with the courts firmly in the hands of the Establishment Party, do you really think they'll decide in the Greens' favor before the ballot deadline? 

Matthew Hoh’s horrible experience isn’t the only such example. There have been many others across the country, some of which are described in this excellent article. The Establishment-owned electoral boards not only run interference against perceived challengers to the Democrats, they also reject petitions on behalf of Libertarians who are seen to be challengers to the GOP.

This constant denial of ballot access is draining Americans of the right to participate in their own government. It disenfranchises millions of voters who are not affiliated with either wing of the Establishment Party. It also appears to be the sign of the so-called Democratic Party in a death dive. 

Consider this: if the Establishment's policies are oh-so wonderful and beneficial to the American people, why do Democrats and their GOP allies act afraid of any challengers on the ballot? Could it be they realize their policies are actually harmful to working class Americans, and they rightfully fear revolution? Could the handwriting already be on the wall, and those currently in the status quo know they'll be first in line at the guillotine?

The rot has set into the so-called Democrats in a big way. Young adult support for the Dems has hemorrhaged. The current figures make woeful reading for the party leadership. According to a New York Times poll released last Sunday, 94 percent of voters aged 18-29 do not want Biden to run again in 2024. Biden’s betrayal of his election pledge to lessen student loan debt is coming home to roost.

His age is also against him. Biden will turn 80 in November—assuming he makes it that far. The signs aren’t good. You only have to look at his recent performances on TV to see there’s something badly wrong with the man’s health, both physical and mental.

End quote: Repeat sentence. Quite.

Support among Black Americans is also in free-fall. Biden pledged to end police violence against Black citizens. Instead he supported increasing police budgets and allowed police departments to siphon off money intended for COVID relief to fund their own projects. For instance, federal COVID funds are being used to pay for things such as security cameras instead of improving ventilation and filtration systems in schools and public buildings.

Misuse of public funds doesn’t end there. Over half a million Americans are homeless. Many more are insecure in how long they can remain in their dwellings, facing rent or mortgage hikes far beyond their ability to keep up with payments. Many states and local authorities are responding to this crisis by effectively criminalizing homelessness. Over 11 million children are food insecure. Over 17 million people lack even adequate healthcare coverage. Most Americans are but one unexpected $600 bill away from financial ruin. 

In spite of these somber statistics, billions of dollars are being sent to prop up a proxy war in Ukraine with nothing more than the rubber-stamp approval of Congress. Obviously, keeping the military-industrial complex profitable is more important to the Establishment Party than making sure all Americans are housed, fed, and have access to adequate health care.

So what is the future of the so-called Democratic Party?

From the way things are shaping up, I see it merging with the Republican Party before too many years are out. Ideologically they are growing ever closer until, like sunset and sunrise, there soon won’t be any daylight between them.

And the persecution of third parties and their candidates? Parties that offer Americans real choices on the ballot will continued to be harassed by the threatened Establishment. Vicious attacks on social media against alternative voices are at an all time high. It seems when neither wing of the Establishment Party can come up with a good policy to address the pressing needs of suffering Americans all the Demopublicans can do is post nasty tweets and broadcast mudslinging TV commercials. Casting doubt and blame on newcomers who come up with brilliant ideas comes naturally to those mired in the status quo.

A lot of the propaganda that went into the Cold War against the former Soviet Union was based on the USSR’s "One Party State" system. So tell me, how is the United States of America any different from the USSR in denying its citizens a choice on the ballot and a real say in their government? 

BIO: Coast Watcher is very observant. Not much gets past his eagle eyes when it comes to what the Establishment Party says and what it actually does. By forcing voters into choosing between the "lesser evils," evil itself has been baked right into the whole corrupt system of government. It's time to throw out the inedible bad cake and let the people decide how to bake things themselves.

 

Related Articles:

The Democrats' Third-Party Massacres https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/07/15/the-democrats-third-party-massacres/ 

Whatever This Is, It's Not a Democracy http://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2022/07/whatever-this-is-its-not-democracy.html 

Biden Snaps at Reporter Over Low Poll Numbers (video) https://youtu.be/8TYVyQv5qXA

We Are Sooo F*cked... (video) https://youtu.be/p1IVJUdjBY4  

If Trump Jumps Into the Presidential Race Before Midterms, All Bets Are Off    https://truthout.org/articles/if-trump-jumps-into-presidential-race-before-midterms-all-bets-are-off/

Noam Chomsky: Biden's Middle East Trip Contains Echoes of Trump's Policies   https://truthout.org/articles/noam-chomsky-bidens-middle-east-trip-contains-echoes-of-trumps-policies/

Neo-Cons: Genesis to Ascendency  https://scheerpost.com/2022/07/15/neo-cons-genesis-to-ascendency/ 

The Corporatization of Just About Everything  https://scheerpost.com/2022/07/17/the-corporatization-of-just-about-everything-including-the-climate-crisis-and-outer-space/

Seen on Twitter:

"Why do you criticize Biden so much and not Trump?"

Good question, thanks for asking. It's because I understand how linear time works, and at this point in linear time, Joe Biden is the President.

— Lee 🖖 Carter (@carterforva) July 16, 2022

The people: Can you guys at least try to do something about the staggering amounts of wealthy inequality?

Congress: We’re working on it! We’ll let you know as soon as we figure out how to shrink that gap through massive increases in corporate profit and shareholder value! 🥰

— mousdrvr (@mousdrvr) July 17, 2022

Homer Simpson - America, take a good look at our candidates, they're all corrupt

Candidates - It's true, we are corrupt, but what are you going to do about it, it's a TWO PARTY SYSTEM, YOU'LL HAVE TO VOTE FOR ONE OF US pic.twitter.com/TJeSS5LRc3

— Compton Jay (@ComptonMadeMe) July 16, 2022

You outnumber your oppressors 12 to 1. You can not only relieve yourselves from the consequences of this accursed system, you can absolutely abolish it. You can put yourselves in control of the government, take possession of your own, and emancipate yourself from slavery

— Eugene V. Debs (@DebsEbooks) July 18, 2022

I don't expose Biden because I like Trump, I expose Biden because people believe he is a better person than Trump

— Black in the Empire (@blackintheempir) July 19, 2022

FICTION: A third party can’t win.

FACT: There’s currently 127 Green party candidates holding elected office in 19 states & since 1985 the @GreenPartyUS has won 1347 races.

So please take your duopoly talking points & throw them in the trash where both corporate parties belong!

— Ryan Knight ☭ (@ProudSocialist) July 16, 2022

Mr. T Comes To Town

Photo by Hexen Photography

This is the smile you'd expect when someone important comes to town, isn't it? But behind this innocent's bright countenance lies a darker reason why she and her family were out protesting on the streets that day. Our guest blogger shares his impressions of the event.

Mr. T Comes To Town

words and photos by Coast Watcher 

President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence visited the Huntington Center in the heart of downtown Toledo on January 9, the venue for their first rally of the 2020 campaign season. They got a warm reception in more ways than one, getting heartily booed as the motorcades passed by demonstrators en route to the hockey arena and cheered by their followers once they took the stage. Mainstream media reported a gathering of “hundreds” of protesters and “fifteen thousand” Trump supporters present. Surprise, surprise—the rally attendees waiting on line appeared to be all white and mostly male.

From my estimate taken on the ground, the Trumplings were at most half that number. (Others also estimated the protester count to be higher and the rally attendance lower, as the Huntington Center only sits 8,000 maximum according to their website.)  Television footage taken within the Huntington Center showed a half-empty arena in one shot with most people pushed toward the stage to make it look as if more were present. The number of
protesters fluctuated throughout the day, as groups of people arrived and departed. Unlike the Trumplings, who appeared to be financially able to take time off to travel a distance to worship their admired leader, the protesters were mostly local and had jobs and family demands to attend to—which makes it difficult to spare much time to protest. Yet protest they did, on a not-so-warm day in early January.

The demonstrators represented a variety of causes, from factory-standard Democrats through (Bernie) Sandernistas, the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, the Lucas County Greens, union workers, Planned Parenthood of Northwest Ohio—and even a few outright Communists. A single-issue group identifying itself as  “No Vape, No Vote” contained especially noisy members. One anti-fascist group down from Detroit,#OutNow, wore orange and used megaphones to outshout the other demonstrating parties. An anti-Trumper was spotted carrying a gallon of milk, presumably to wash away tear gas from people’s eyes should the need arise. (It did not.) 

A retired hook-and-ladder firetruck drove repeatedly around the block, its Trumpling crew sounding the siren as they jeered, waved Trump flags, and flipped off  demonstrators. Questions were asked whether such a vehicle was legal, since it still had its red paintwork and horn, but none of the law officers present seemed to know or cared to stop and ticket the driver.
 

Overall the event was peaceful.

The police were out in force. When asked, some officers were well aware of the Trump campaign’s propensity for not paying police security bills at numerous cities across America. Jaded by the knowledge, probably many were not expecting Toledo PD to receive any better treatment. 

The police were universally tolerant of both sides, keeping the parties apart via barriers to prevent trouble, so I find it a shame to report that one officer stationed by the main library branch rallying point abused his position. He snatched a PA speaker unit from the hands of a man I know to be a Vietnam veteran, threw it to the ground, and shoved him violently. The veteran, a leader of Veterans for Peace, didn’t respond to this flagrant bullying. Instead he moved onto the sidewalk and led protesters away.
 
Trumplings made a point of flipping off the demonstrators while waiting to enter the venue. One fan of the

president spotted a protester’s sign reading “Love thy neighbor” and shouted out how, while he didn’t love his neighbor, he really did love his 401K. Wonder if this guy knows that his orange-faced idol recently said that dismantling Social Security would make for “a fun second term project.” Wonder if he couldn't care less, just as long as he can hoard his wealth.

Another Trumpling shouted, “America comes first!” She was quickly shut down by a tart response from a savvy protestor with a British accent: “The world must come first. America’s not the only nation on this planet, madam.” It seems to be something that many Trumplings forget.

A Trumpling vendor selling camouflage MAGA hats and shirts demanded to know what we demonstrators would do if America was attacked. Hmm, let’s see... 9/11 was the last time America was “attacked” (and we all know that debate still rages over who the true instigators of that heinous crime were). Since then the US has attacked several countries, both militarily and through sanctions, usually to gain control of their oil and mineral deposits—and occasionally to destroy a socialist government. And although the hijackers who flew those airplanes back in 2001 were Saudi Arabian in origin, America did not see fit to launch a counter attack against their mega-wealthy oil-rich country, possibly because they happen to be a good customer for the American military-industrial complex.

Post-rally, the area where the Trumplings had queued to enter the arena was a

After the Trump rally photos courtesy Natalie Renee

total mess. Mounds of litter strewn along the fenced-off line necessitated hours of Toledo taxpayer-funded hours to clean up. Much like the cost of policing a Trump event, the taxpayer will more than likely not be reimbursed for the costs. This gives evidence to support many people’s opinion that the vast majority of Trump’s supporters came from out of town. Although given Trumplings' general contempt for the environment, it’s entirely possible the litterers were locals with lower than average civic pride.

Toledo has a lot of unemployment and a lot of empty houses courtesy of the first NAFTA that wrecked the Rust Belt. Trump recently signed up the US to NAFTA  2. With income taxes lowered for the one-percent, ordinary citizens are forced to pick up the slack for social programs (that haven't been cut already). Lake Erie, Toledo's water supply, has serious problems with the annual toxic algae bloom, and Trump has gutted the EPA and killed the Clean Water Act. Toledo is home to a large Muslim community and a large mosque. Trump seems bent on starting yet another war for oil in Iran and encouraging religious bigotry among his followers. Large immigration raids by Trump's ICE have happened in the NW Ohio area, leaving children without parents and local churches and agencies desperately trying to reunite families, yet the GOP declares itself the party of “family values.”  Yeah, sure they are.

Given all the damage Trump and his government have inflicted and still inflicts on cities like Toledo and Americans in general, it’s a wonder he dares shows his five-dollar, fake-tanned visage anywhere.

BIO: Coast Watcher finds his first experience of standing across the street from the "leader of the free world" to be both humbling and completely humbug. The following short video is how he sees the president's supporters:

https://crooksandliars.com/cltv/2020/01/trump-supporter-flummoxed-question

David Doel from The Rational National podcast gives a brief analysis of this video clip and what it really says about Trump supporters:  https://youtu.be/RH8YISd6w-o 

Question: Can you spot one Trump voter who isn't white and of Anglo-Saxon heritage in this photo?  Answer: You can't because there weren't any.

***

Today we joined faith leaders, including denominational and national leadership, with moral advocates across the country in requesting that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights hold our government accountable for violating the UN Charter and escalating us toward war with Iran. This afternoon we formally requested a meeting with High Commissioner Bachelet. As the request began:

"We write gravely disturbed, indeed outraged, by the death that is occurring because of our President's rogue actions in the Middle East. His willingness to bypass congressional approval, violate international law, pardon convicted war criminals, implement harsher sanctions and abandon existing peace deals, sets a dangerous precedent that can have continued lethal and destabilizing results.

The US President's order to carry out a lethal drone strike violated the UN Charter's prohibition on the use of force. The assassination of General Qassim Suleimani represented an act of war against a country with whom the United States was not at war. Trump’s claim of imminent danger from Suleimani is unfounded and must be investigated.

The threat to add new sanctions to Iran, and to involve the NATO military alliance, all indicate that the threat of war remains very real. Furthermore, we know that the majority of impact from these sanctions will be on the poor."

We know that in the words of Rev. Dr. King "war is the enemy of the poor."  We must say no to war and militarism.

Join us in our request. Sign here. Share it widely as we humbly and whole-heartedly work to keep our country from war and our world from the dangerous precedence of immoral and unaccountable leadership. Our people across the world are hurting, and it's gone on far too long.

We know that together we can and must revive the heart and soul of this nation.

Join our signatures here.

Forward together,
Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II, President of Repairers of the Breach
Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis, Director of the Kairos Center
Co-Chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

***

Jeff Bezos Will Ring in the New Year by Leaving These Employees Out in the Cold

Nearly 2,000 part-time Whole Foods employees may not be celebrating at all. On January 1st, these workers were stripped of their healthcare benefits and left to fend for themselves.Tell Jeff Bezos to do the right thing — use his billions to help his employees, not his bottom line. Any employee who works less than full-time but at least 20 hours per week will now have to find their own healthcare. The extra cost is substantial: healthcare across the nation is staggeringly expensive, even for full-time workers with a middle-class salary. For a part-time employee making anything less, the cost could be crippling. The company now says they will help some of these employees transition into full-time jobs so they can qualify for continued benefits or help them find care in the private market, but this won't help everyone. One employee who had been with Whole Foods for 15 years explained that in order to work full-time hours, she would need to pay for daycare, which is sometimes even more expensive than healthcare. The high-end supermarket is owned by Amazon, which is, in turn, owned by Jeff Bezos, who is the second-wealthiest person on Earth. If he wanted to, he could easily afford to provide healthcare — after all, he is personally worth $112 billion dollars. His company earns billions of dollars a year, but when it comes to his employees, this billionaire is a penny-pincher. Tell Jeff Bezos this is unacceptable. His part-time employees depended on their company-provided healthcare. Snatching it away right after Christmas is something only a Grinch would do. Sign the petition and demand that Whole Foods continue to provide healthcare for their part-time employees.  Thank you, Lauren W. The Care2 Petitions Team P.S. Whole Foods must not treat its employees so cruelly. Healthcare is a human right. Please sign the petition. *** Tell Congress: "Demand our lawmakers put human rights above corporate profits by guaranteeing housing for all." ADD YOUR NAME Americans spent more on Christmas decorations in 2012 than researchers say it would cost to completely end homelessness in America.1 Is that the country we want to live in? Where big banks and corporate developers push over 3 million families into homelessness and others into poverty? ADD YOUR NAME: We need a homes guarantee! Everyone living in the United States should have safe, accessible, sustainable, and permanently affordable housing. Period. Thanks, Mike Phelan Progress America 1 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/homelessness-christmas-decorations_n_2276536