Everything You Wanted to Know About Maintaining the Status Quo (But Were Afraid You Already Knew)

by C.A. Matthews

From time to time The Revolution Continues (TRC) likes to do a “man on the street” interview to get a finger on the pulse of the public. What’s on the ordinary person’s mind lately? Here is the transcript of our latest meet-up with an Average American Voter (AAV).

TRC: Thanks for agreeing to speak with us today. You told us earlier that something is really bothering you. You suspect it’s also worrying others, and you want to hear our thoughts on the matter. What’s your concern?

AAV: Well, it’s hard to put into words, but here goes: Why does it seem the more Americans vote the way they tell us to, the worse things get? I mean, why aren’t the Democrats doing anything to stop Trump and his cronies from ruining the economy or stopping arms sales to Israel? I thought the Dems were different.

TRC: Different? In what way are they supposed to be “different”?

AAV: I expected them to take a more active role in protecting ordinary people like me. You know, protect us from being taken advantage of by the billionaires. But they’re just letting Musk tear the government apart. You’d think they’d stand up and stop him from destroying so many social programs, not just talk about it and do nothing of consequence.

TRC: And this inactivity on the Democrats’ part worries you?

AAV: Yes, it does. I’d like to be able to retire and collect my Social Security in a few years if possible.

TRC: Completely understandable. To re-state your concern, you’re wondering why the opposition party doesn’t seem able or willing to challenge the actions of the party in power currently. The Democrats seem to be cooperating more with the Republicans than actually challenging them. Is that right?

AAV: Right. That’s not what I voted for. I want change. I want them to challenge the status quo, not go along with them.

TRC: I see. I think that’s where your misinterpretation of the DNC’s inactivity comes in. Because the Dems have, in fact, been quite active as of late.

AAV: They have? 

 

To discover the true nature of all this "activity," continue reading the rest of this article. Copy or click on this Substack link: 

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This article is the 516th 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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Sleight of Hand

by C.A. Matthews

Sleight of Hand (from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary online)

1a : a cleverly executed trick or deception b : a conjuring trick requiring manual dexterity 2 a : skill and dexterity in conjuring tricks b : adroitness in deception

Synonyms: legerdemain, fakery, front, scam, swindle, cheating, duplicity, chicanery, fraud, subterfuge, trickery, hoax, feint, dupery, skulduggery

I’m always amazed how easily adult human beings are taken in by the masters of sleight of hand. I don’t mean just professional magicians and jugglers, either. I mean some seem to believe every word that comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth while simultaneously insisting they detest the man because he’s a big fat liar.

Now, that’s some Grade A legerdemain on Trump’s part! He not only fools his own followers and devotees, he fools his avowed enemies as well.

But why would anyone believe a person they claim to be a liar in the first place? Why get upset over toddler-like antics such as shouting matches and name-calling? And perhaps the biggest question, why do they spend so much time and energy whining about the antics of a big fat liar?

Could it be...could it really be so simple? Are Trump and company simply acting like magicians practicing sleight of hand tricks? His job for our true rulers (the billionaires/oligarchs) of our corrupt capitalist system is to keep us distracted from what’s really going on? You got to admit it, Trump does have the perfect qualifications for the job of Distractor-in-Chief.

First off, he’s a failed businessman who makes used car salespersons look good. Secondly, he was the “star” of a TV reality show for several years, so he actually knows how to follow a script and improvise from a prompt. (You do realize that reality TV shows are all scripted, don’t you? I’ve met people who think everything they watch on TV reflects reality. Those who can think for themselves and practice critical thinking skills know how far from the truth that is.)

So, here you have Trump in his role as Distractor-in-Chief recently getting into a televised knockdown, drag out fight with Mr. Zelensky. All of a sudden people are crying and wringing their hands over how “rude and obnoxious” Donald Trump was to that “brave, honorable man” Volodymyr Zelensky.

Remember: Everything on television is not real—and neither is Mr. Zelensky...

 

To learn more about these "bad actors", please continue reading the rest of this article by copying or clicking on this Substack link: 

https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com

There you'll see related article and video links, all the graphics, and be able to leave comments. You can become a free or paid subscriber and receive weekly posts in your email box, along with occasional special articles just for paid subscribers, too.

Subscribe to The Revolution Continues on Substack today. Power to the people!

This article is the 510th 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.

You can make a donation at https://paypal.me/camatthews or at Buy Me a Coffee or at Ko-fi. Every little bit helps since this is my only source of income. Thank you.

The Best Democracy Money Can Buy

 

The Best Democracy Money Can Buy (Is No Democracy At All)

by C.A. Matthews

 

I believe most Americans understand that the United States is not a democracy or even qualifies as a representative democracy. The US is, in fact, an oligarchy, which means politicians work for their big money donors and not for the people.

The Princeton Study proved that no matter how hard average voters try to influence their elected representatives—try to make them vote for or sponsor a bill that would benefit ordinary people and not billionaires—the result will be the same. Whatever corporations and the super rich folks who own them want, they’ll get. To put it plainly, “Screw the needs of ordinary Americans!”

I came across an example this week that illustrates the American oligarchy in action. I will make a few suggestions on how we can fight back against their tactics, but feel free to come up with some actions of your own. Please write them in the comments below because sharing knowledge is power. Thank you.

From a recent Jill Stein for President campaign email:

On Thursday June 27th, the FEC [Federal Elections Commission] informed us that our campaign had qualified for primary matching funds. Then minutes later, FEC told us the Treasury department will withhold our payments to give priority to general election funding–just in case the Democratic and Republican candidates decide they want it.

Let me explain why that’s so outrageous...

 

To read the rest of this article, click on this link to go to our Substack page: https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com  There you'll also see the 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. Subscribe today! Power to the people!

Performative Politics

Performative Politics

by C. A. Matthews

I’ve heard the term performative politics quite often in recent times. It makes me wonder why this kind of politics has come into vogue.

 

Let’s take a look at the words and define them separately. According to Wikipedia:

Politics...activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status.

Merriam-Webster Online defines performative this way:

1. Relating to or marked by public, often artistic performance

2. Made or done for show (as to bolster one's own image or make a positive impression on others)

Both definitions describe more than a few actions taken recently by neoliberal politicians. Before I describe these incidents, perhaps it’s wise to define what exactly is meant by neoliberal or neoliberalism.

From Britannica.com:

Neoliberalism: an ideology and policy model that emphasizes the value of free market competition. ...It is most commonly associated with laissez-faire economics... Its confidence in free markets as the most-efficient allocation of resources, its emphasis on minimal state intervention in economic and social affairs, and its commitment to the freedom of trade and capital.

Now that we’re on the same page with what is meant by these terms, politics, performative, and neoliberalism, here are three examples of recent performative politics and what I think each of the actors (that is, politicians) is communicating to their obvious and not-so-obvious audiences and why they choose to perform in such as way at this time.

First off, we have the extremely photogenic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or “AOC” as she is known. AOC gave a fiery speech at the recent March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City. Her obvious audience was, of course, the crowd that gathered there or watched her performance online. This crowd included environmental activists and protesters of all the destructive things “Big Oil” has done to our planet with their constant drilling, mining, and burning of fossil fuels. But who was the not-so-obvious audience AOC was reaching out to with her speech? And why did she choose to perform this particular speech at this particular place and time?

To understand, AOC’s motivations we have to do a little research and look back at her history in politics. AOC ran as a “Bernie Sanders Democrat” and was photographed interacting with the youth-led Sunrise Movement environmental organization. She led a very loud protest with these young environmental activists inside Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s offices early on in her career, so it makes sense that she would show up at the march where many of them were protesting that day.

But many things have happened since AOC’s time hanging out with the Sunrise Movement in 2018. AOC has been re-elected to Congress a couple times, and she’s made quite a name for herself, not so much as an environmentalist but as a very good Democrat who does as she’s told. She has voted several times for massive Pentagon/Defense Department budgets in spite of the fact the US military is one of the most polluting organizations in the world.

AOC declared earlier this year that she supports President Biden running for office again, although he has done the complete opposite of what an environmentalist would support. Biden has opened up more federal land to oil drilling than any other president, particularly with the Willow Project:

The Biden Administration released its final decision approving three drilling sites for the Willow Master Development Plan, otherwise known as the Willow Project that threatens local communities, wildlife, and the global climate. This is a massive oil drilling development on Alaska’s North Slope, which is a stretch of public land known as the National Petroleum Reserve that borders the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

This project developed by ConocoPhillips would be the single largest oil extraction point on US public lands, emitting 278 million metric tons of climate pollution over the next 30 years. That’s equivalent to the annual emissions from 74 coal plants — one-third of all remaining U.S. plants. Willow will disproportionately impact the community of Nuiqsut, a predominantly Iñupiaq village of about 500 people already suffering extreme pollution from existing oil projects.--from Biden Administration Breaks Climate Promise and Approves Willow Project

By supporting Biden's actions, it seems AOC doesn't care much about the environment at all.

AOC has never protested the billion of dollars Biden has sent to Ukraine to continue NATO’s proxy war there. She hasn’t really come out against the sale of cluster munitions (cluster bombs) and depleted uranium to Ukraine, either. Cluster bombs maim primarily civilians—children for the most part—and depleted uranium radiation can lead to generations of genetically malformed babies and horrible rates of cancers in persons of all ages.

By supporting these astronomical Defense budgets and the US sale of cluster bombs (munitions that have been outlawed in almost every country in the world) as well as Biden’s Willow Oil Project, AOC's actions tell us that she isn’t particularly concerned with the health and well-being of her fellow human beings or the planet. Her actions in Congress just don’t support her image or “performance” as an environmental activist, now does it?

Who is Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez’s not-so-obvious audience she was trying to reach with her fiery environmental tirade at the march? I think she was telling the major donors of the Democratic Party—the military-industrial complex, corporations like Raytheon, Lockheed-Martin, Boeing and the rest—that she is more than willing to act as a front to keep the public from looking too closely at what’s really going on behind the scenes in Washington DC. AOC is good at getting positive press by looking pretty on camera and saying what the public expects at the right time and place. What she says has no real depth or substance, since none of her actions back her words up. 

AOC’s example of performative politics shows that she is willing to act as the perfect front in order to take interest away from the true polluters and causers of death and destruction on our planet. She’ll make all those young environmental activists in NYC forget that nothing has really changed since she first marched with them. Magicians would say she’s the “smoke and mirrors” of the establishment, a perfect distraction. And by the size of her growing bank account since joining Congress, she has been well rewarded for her work.

This next example of performative politics is very easy to spot, and it’s easy to figure out who the obvious and not-so-obvious audiences are. The United Auto Workers are on strike. President Joe Biden—who didn’t permit the railroad workers to go on strike for safer working conditions in 2022—said he wanted to be the first sitting president to visit a picket line. So Biden spent about 12 minutes for a photo op at one of the picket lines in Detroit. Looking at the photos of some of the strikers, you can tell what the obvious audience thinks about Biden’s performance. Just look at the expression on the guy’s face standing to the far left in this picture!

Tim Black tells us exactly what Biden’s motivations were for making that oh-so-brief visit in this video clip on Twitter:

Does Joe Biden Really Care About Union Workers? #JoeBiden #CornelWest2024 #UAW pic.twitter.com/4s55qW127k

— RealTimBlack (@RealTimBlack) September 29, 2023

The not-so-obvious audience of the CEOs of the Big Three Automakers know that Joe Biden’s many years of not supporting the workers and always being there to help bail out the corporations at the expense of the public purse isn’t going away anytime soon. They understand Biden's trip to a UAW picket line was just the photo op that it so obviously was. The billionaires hope that it will trick enough workers into thinking they're being heard by Washington to stave off the revolution for a while. But does Biden and his campaign staff realize just how shallow this attempt came across? That remains to be seen.

Our last example of performative politics took place recently north of the border. Compared to the first two examples, it was a complete and unmitigated disaster. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government invited a Ukrainian-Canadian veteran to be honored with a standing ovation in the House of Commons… A man who turned out to be a veteran of the 14th division of Hitler’s Waffen-SS (1st Galician) in World War II, a group that was known for its genocide of Poles, Jews, and other ethnic minorities in what eventually became Ukraine after the break up of the Soviet Union. The soldiers of the 1st Galician were responsible for burning 1,000 Polish people alive.  Horrific!

Oops! 

After Canadian Jewish groups demanded an explanation, the prime minster tried to rationalize why his government acted so callously:

Trudeau, meanwhile, pointed to the “deeply embarrassing” event as a reason to “push back against Russian propaganda,” as though the Kremlin somehow smuggled an nonagenarian Nazi collaborator into parliament, then hypnotized the Prime Minister and his colleagues, Manchurian Candidate-style, into celebrating him as a hero. --from Canada's Honoring of Nazi Vet Exposes Ottawa's Longstanding Ukraine Policy

Using your critical thinking skills you’ve sharpened with the first two examples, who are in the obvious audience and the not-so-obvious audience Trudeau hoped to reach with this performance? We can assume that the public wasn't suppose to discover the genocidal history of this particular Ukrainian-Canadian veteran and that this “honor” given by Parliament would promote more Canadian corporations arms sales to Ukraine. Obviously, independent thinkers weren’t fooled and shared the information of the man's identity widely. Whether or not this negative publicity will affect Canadian arms sales to Ukraine remains to be seen.

Trudeau's not-so-obvious audience were the arms manufacturers who want the bloodshed to continue in Ukraine. The CEOS of the Canadian military-industrial complex were probably salivating at the thought of more arms sales. Endless proxy war is great for the NATO war machine, even if it’s not so great for the health and safety of human beings on the whole.

Hopefully you’re getting a handle on what is meant by “performative politics” by studying these recent examples. If you’re still confused why I labeled these three politicians “neoliberals” then go back to the definition for neoliberalism above and re-read the last line: [neoliberalism's]“commitment to the freedom of trade and capital.”

Think about that sentence. There’s a lot of capital to be made in the trading of armaments and munitions. All three of these politicians—AOC, Biden, and Trudeau—are on good terms with the military-industrial complex and are eager to see the trade in arms grow. They may say they support the striking workers, the environment, and veterans, but at the end of the day their actions make more money for the CEOs of the Big Three automakers, Big Oil, and the military-industrial complex.

And remember: actions always speak louder than words. Just ask this guy:

Keep sharpening your critical thinking skills and doing your research into the backgrounds and motivations of everyone who is involved in politics or the “activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status.” 

Why? Because it seems politicians enjoy distributing the world's resources into their own pockets and keeping the status quo exactly the way it is while the world burns. Their fat personal bank accounts apparently help them sleep well at night, too. Stop believing the "performances" of politicians and hold them accountable before it's too late.

 

Related Articles and Interesting Links:

The Climate March, Joe Biden, and AOC's Dubious Endorsement https://scheerpost.com/2023/09/19/the-climate-march-joe-biden-and-aocs-dubious-endorsement

Biden Administration Breaks Climate Promise and Approves Willow Project https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/biden-administration-breaks-climate-promise-and-approves-willow-project 

Clusterf*cked: The Cruelty is the Point https://continuousrev.blogspot.com/2023/07/clusterfcked-cruelty-is-point.html

Nazi SS Veteran Receives Standing Ovation in Canadian Parliament https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/09/26/nazi-ss-veteran-receives-standing-ovation-in-canadian-parliament/

Canada's Honoring of Nazi Vet Exposes Ottawas Longstanding Ukraine Policy https://scheerpost.com/2023/10/01/canadas-honoring-of-nazi-vet-exposes-ottawas-longstanding-ukraine-policy/

How Joe Biden and The Democratic Party’s Climate Agenda Increases Environmental Racism More Than It Reduces Emissions https://blackagendareport.com/how-joe-biden-and-democratic-partys-climate-agenda-increases-environmental-racism-more-it-reduces

GOOD NEWS: Climate Lawsuits Against Fossil Fuel Industry Starting to Build Major Momentum https://stevendonziger.substack.com/p/good-news-climate-lawsuits-against

Biden’s Picket Line Visit Doesn’t Mean He Is On Our Side
https://www.leftvoice.org/bidens-picket-line-visit-doesnt-mean-he-is-on-our-side/

Canadian parliament’s applause for Nazi war criminal exposes NATO war against Russia  https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/09/28/xalg-s28.html

In Canada, Denialism Grows Over Residential Schools Ahead of Orange Shirt Day  https://truthout.org/articles/in-canada-denialism-grows-over-residential-schools-ahead-of-orange-shirt-day/

Senator Menendez and co-defendants plead not guilty as Democrats seek to contain fallout from bribery scandal
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/09/28/lwpt-s28.html

William Astore: What Would Real ‘National Defense’ Look Like?
https://scheerpost.com/2023/09/27/william-astore-what-would-real-national-defense-look-like/

People Are Dying For Inches In Ukraine, The "World's Largest Arms Fair"  https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/people-are-dying-for-inches-in-ukraine

Caitlin Johnstone: Neocons Love the Ukraine War
https://scheerpost.com/2023/09/28/caitlin-johnstone-neocons-love-the-ukraine-war/

US House Rejects Cluster-Bomb Ban https://consortiumnews.com/2023/09/28/us-lawmakers-reject-cluster-bomb-ban/

Fog Over Nord Stream https://scheerpost.com/2023/09/28/fog-over-nord-stream/

Files Expose Syrian ‘Revolution’ As Western Regime Change Operation https://popularresistance.org/files-expose-syrian-revolution-as-western-regime-change-operation/

Patrick Lawrence: The Undiscovered Country https://scheerpost.com/2023/09/28/patrick-lawrence-the-undiscovered-country/

Suing For a Livable Planet https://scheerpost.com/2023/09/28/suing-for-a-livable-planet/

A Major Win Against Factory Farming In Oregon https://popularresistance.org/a-major-win-against-factory-farming-in-oregon/

Uninvited and Unaccountable: How CBP Policed George Floyd Protests https://theintercept.com/2023/09/21/cbp-george-floyd-protests/

UN Report Urges End to Forced US Prison Labor—a 'Contemporary Form of Slavery' https://www.commondreams.org/news/racism-in-the-criminal-justice-system

Philadelphia Youth React When Charges Are Dropped Against Killer Cop https://popularresistance.org/philadelphia-youth-react-when-charges-are-dropped-against-killer-cop/

Why Our Popular Mass Movements Fail https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/why-our-popular-mass-movements-fail

 

Using Your Vote In Our "Destroyed Democracy"

Using Your Vote In Our "Destroyed Democracy"

by C. A. Matthews  

Readers might have noticed that TRC has spent very little blog space on the US midterms this time around. There are a couple of reasons for this. First off, since we’re open to guest bloggers expressing whatever is on their mind at the moment, we let our readers/bloggers set the pace in regards to posts about elections. We haven’t had anyone really interested in writing about the 2022 midterms, so there’s that.

Secondly—and perhaps most importantly—is this reason: Why bother?

Really, what difference will it make to ordinary working class Americans which of the establishment factions has the majority in the US House or Senate? What difference will our votes make one way or the other when study after study (starting with the infamous Princeton Study) demonstrate that our elected officials completely ignore the bottom 90% of American voters and only listen to those with the most money?

Just get a load of these figures:

According to a report released Thursday by Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF), just 465 American billionaires had donated an unprecedented $881 million by the end of September — even before last-minute campaign pushes in the last five weeks before Election Day. This is already more than the amount that billionaires spent in the entirety of the 2018 midterm election.

 

Further, the vast majority of this spending — $643 million, or 73 percent — comes from just 20 billionaire households, including prominent figures like the Koch family, Peter Thiel, George Soros, Michael and Susan Bloomberg and Jeffrey Yass.  --465 Billionaires Have Pumped An Eye-Popping $881 Million Into the Midterms

 

In past elections, reading an article like the one above showing how many millions—excuse me, billions—are being spent by the oligarchs/billionaires to influence US governmental policy, our planet’s health, and our general welfare would have made me extremely irate. I might have suggested that you make a plan to go to the polls and vote for an independent or third party candidate to send the duopolists a strong message that we’re on to them and their corporate puppet masters. I might have led everyone in a chant of, "We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore!"
 
Nowadays, I’m more resigned to our fate. Those with the money will get their agenda passed with no problems, and there’s nothing we the poor and struggling workers can do about it. It's not like we can come up with over one billion dollars every election to bribe the candidates and take the reins away from our true masters and rulers, the billionaires, can we?

Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges puts it very well:

The bipartisan project of dismantling our democracy, which took place over the last few decades on behalf of corporations and the rich, has left only the outward shell of democracy. The courts, legislative bodies, the executive branch and the media, including public broadcasting, are captive to corporate power. There is no institution left that can be considered authentically democratic. The corporate coup d’état is over. They won. We lost.

The wreckage of this neoliberal project is appalling: endless and futile wars to enrich a military-industrial-complex that bleeds the U.S. Treasury of half of all discretionary spending; deindustrialization that has turned U.S. cities into decayed ruins; the slashing and privatization of social programs, including education, utility services and health care – which saw over one million Americans account for one-fifth of global deaths from Covid, although we are 4 percent of the world’s population; draconian forms of social control embodied in militarized police, functioning as lethal armies of occupation in poor urban areas; the largest prison system in the world; a virtual tax boycott by the richest individuals and corporations; money-saturated elections that perpetuate our system of legalized bribery; and the most intrusive state surveillance of the citizenry in our history.

In “The United States of Amnesia,” to quote Gore Vidal, the corporate press and the ruling class create fictional feel-good personas for candidates, treat all political campaigns as if it is a day at the races and gloss over the fact that on every major issue, from trade deals to war, there is very little difference between Democrats and Republicans. The Democratic Party and Joe Biden are not the lesser evil, but rather, as Glen Ford pointed out, “the more effective evil.”  --The Politicians Who Destroyed Our Democracy Want Us to Vote for Them to Save it 

All this is not to say that I’m not voting this time out and that you shouldn’t vote, either. It's just that, with what I know now, I’m not wasting my time voting for either the Republican or Democratic Parties’ candidates. Both establishment factions accept plenty of money from the billionaires, so their loyalty will always be pledged to the top 1% and not to bottom 99% of Americans. 

I’m willing to vote for any and all independent and third party candidates who don't take corporate cash, and I will voice my opinion on all local and state issues. In my case, that’s about one page out of several of the printed ballot. I will make my opinion known on these ballot issues since they are important to my community and directly affect our lives together. 

If there’s no electronic diddling with the vote count, then at least some form of democracy will occur in regards to those ballot issues. I see that as a “win” for the ordinary people. We might still have to put up a while longer with a corrupt system that blithely calls itself a “representative democracy” (watch this video for more about how easily corrupted that is), but at least we’re not running away scared with our tails between our legs. We are buying ourselves time to figure out how to rebuild our destroyed democracy.

We ordinary American voters should stand proud. We’re interested in our local communities' well-being. We don’t have to explain ourselves to anyone about why we didn’t waste time rubber-stamping a vote for a bunch of corporate candidates to make their billionaire bosses happy. There's no need for us to feel shame about not supporting the status quo with our votes. We proudly can leave these corporate sell-outs twisting in the wind, desperate to come up with a good excuse to explain why no decent hardworking American wanted to vote for them. 

I think the biggest joke this midterm election is on the billionaires. They think they’ve successfully bought off American “democracy.” Ha! We all know it doesn’t exist, and we're not keeping silent. We've got the perseverance to keep working toward building a government that doesn't include the likes of them.

Of course, the billionaires will be laughing all the way to the bank in the short term as their politician-puppets gift them billions of our tax dollars to produce weapons, weapons to pass on to another corrupt government under the guise of a proxy war. These Daddy Warbucks will then sell their leftover weapon stockpiles directly to the US war machine. The US war machine will bomb even more countries in our collective good name until these decimated countries are overflowing with “freedom and democracy” and a whole lot less of their natural resources and citizens. 

It's why the billionaires bought out the US government in the first place. How else are they supposed to make so much money? Work for it with their own hands like we peons do?

I hope you can see now that voting alone isn’t going to get us out of this mess. Voting isn’t going to stop the endless wars for oil and liquefied natural gas at the expense of innocent human beings’ lives. Voting red and blue and red and blue will do nothing because of you-know-who! Billionaires and their bought off cronies have a lock on our corrupt system of government. The only way We the People can take back power is by refusing to play along with their abusive games.

It’s like that well-worn adage that the Dems seem to enjoy shouting every couple of years: “This is the most important election of our lives!” These midterms are the most important elections of our lives but only because now we understand that we no longer need waste our time putting check marks in front of the red or blue candidates on the ballot. We know now how much a real democracy is worth and that it can’t be bought by anyone. It's priceless, and it's worth fighting for until we get it. 

So, whatever you decide to do this midterm election or in elections to come, feel proud. You're mad as hell, and you're smart enough not to fall for the duopolists' propaganda. That makes you a "winner" in my book. Don't let a bunch of soulless billionaires' puppets tell you otherwise.

 

Related Articles:   

UPDATE: Total Cost of 2022 State and Federal Elections Projected to Exceed $16.7 Billion  https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/11/total-cost-of-2022-state-and-federal-elections-projected-to-exceed-16-7-billion

Congress Literally Doesn't Care What You Think https://act.represent.us/sign/problempoll-fba/

465 Billionaires Have Pumped An Eye-Popping $881 Million Into the Midterms https://truthout.org/articles/465-billionaires-have-pumped-an-eye-popping-881-million-into-the-midterms/

Chris Hedges: The Politicians Who Destroyed Our Democracy Want Us to Vote for Them to Save it  https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-politicians-who-destroyed-our

AIPAC Had a Banner Year in Election Meddling and We Should All Be Concerned  https://truthout.org/articles/aipac-had-a-banner-year-in-election-meddling-and-we-should-all-be-concerned/

US Again Isolated on UN Vote Against Its Cuba Blockade https://popularresistance.org/us-again-isolated-on-un-vote-against-its-cuba-blockade/

Why the US is Not a Democracy (video) https://youtu.be/srfeHpQNEAI 

Chris Hedges: Betrayed by Liberals (video) https://youtu.be/a-aVr6H0c3U 

The Racism of the Supreme Court Supermajority Was on Full Display This Week  https://scheerpost.com/2022/11/05/the-racism-of-the-supreme-courts-supermajority-was-on-full-display-this-week/

Seen on Twitter:

Democrats were never on our side for decades. We're all on our own. So not voting for either party won't do us any more damage than voting for them.

— Jaybefaunt🏳️‍🌈 (@Jaybefaunt) November 5, 2022

Didn't we vote Blue in 2020 to "save America" or is my brain misremembering that?

— 🛠T.M.Poe MSc 🆘️ (@Tyler_M_Poe) November 5, 2022

Where do I go to vote out the USA military industrial complex?

— REVOLUTION IS THE ONLY SOLUTION (@jorymicah) November 6, 2022

You are lucky if you live in a nation that has little natural resources. Your people didn’t get bombed, sanctioned or displaced because the US Govt just didn’t see any value in destroying your country. Congratulations.

— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) November 5, 2022

If Democrats gave a sh*t about Democracy they wouldn’t be trying their damned best to stop Greens and independents from running.

— nuno marqs ☭ (@marqsism) November 5, 2022

Weapons manufacturers run US foreign policy for both parties and they cannot be voted out.

— Blue Check Beth! (@torstrick) November 5, 2022

You don’t have to comply and vote for more corruption. In fact, the best way to vote in a duopoly that’s controlled by two corrupt parties who serve Wall Street and the War Machine is to open your ballot and vote for any candidate who does not have a D or an R next to their name.

— Ryan Knight ☭🕊 (@ProudSocialist) November 6, 2022

The Ministry of Truth v. Roe v. Wade

 

The Ministry of Truth v. Roe v. Wade

by C.A. Matthews

Two shocking revelations were made public this past week that, at first glance, may not seem to have anything in common. Yet at second glance, any intelligent person can see they have everything in common.

The first revelation: The US Department of Homeland Security announced that they have been lying to us. (A big surprise to everyone, I'm sure!) Their "Disinformation Governance Board" is essentially what George Orwell described as "The Ministry of Truth" in his novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. Government propagandists work to "spin" what's happening in the world in order to cover over a multitude of faux pas made by our officials and other embarrassing truths about the United States. The theory of propaganda is that if you, the public, don't know what's actually happening, you'll never become angry at the right villains and hold them accountable. You'll be easily manipulated into hating people, places, and things that possibly could be of benefit to you.

Remember: Private health care works! You've never once donated to a GoFundMe to help out a friend or stranger who is struggling with medical bills. Those homeless people on city street corners deserve to be homeless. It's not like we have a surplus of 17 million+ empty homes in the US currently. (Like what the "Disinformation Governance Board" (DGB) is doing thus far?)

These propagandists feed their concocted fairy tales to the mainstream media where good-looking, well-paid, big name newsreaders obediently pass them onto the public with little fact-checking of the facts. (Okay, I exaggerate here. There's no fact-checking done, whatsoever, especially if it comes from the mouths of "anonymous officials" who are probably with the CIA. These "anonymous tips" are just accepted as gospel truth. The DGB appreciates your cooperation in this matter.)

We're seeing the outcome of these propaganda tales currently in a number of "fake news" stories on broadcast outlets about events going on in Ukraine, some of which there is no proof of having ever occurred.

Remember: You've never heard of the Azov Battalion. Those funny tattoos on their bodies are not swastikas. There is no Nazi symbology on either their flags or helmets. You've never heard them once bragging about killing LGBTQ folks or other minorities. The DGB crosses its fingers and sings, "This is true! We hope to die, stick a needle in our eyes." Yes, you really are back in third grade. 

The second revelation: A leaked draft opinion (featuring references to a discredited misogynistic 17th century judge) reveals that the US Supreme Court will repeal the Roe v. Wade pro-abortion ruling. It was verified by the Chief Justice as a genuine document. Pro-choice activists immediately took to the streets to express their anger at the infringement of their rights to privacy and to exercise bodily autonomy.

Remember: Women enjoy equal rights in the United States. Look at how we passed that Equal Rights Amendment so many years ago…  See how a woman of color makes the same amount of money in the same job with the same training and experience as a white male does... You can trust us at the Disnformation Governance Board to steer you in the right direction, just like neoliberals can "push Joe Biden left."

So, how do these two revelations intertwine? Let's take a look at the mainstream media's promotion of this statement: "The Democrats are the party that supports abortion rights." If this story is true, then why is reality so different? Crystal, an abortion care worker in Pennsylvania, attests:

The Democratic Party has not had any substantial response to the recent attacks on Roe. Their statements and brief denouncements of these egregious abortion bans and restrictions have been toothless and weak, hardly even mentioning abortion services the majority of the time.

Why did President Obama promise on the campaign trail in 2008 that on his first day in office he'd sign Roe v. Wade into law if he never was planning to do so? If you realize that abortion rights have yet to be codified in the year 2022 and that Obama ran as a Democrat in 2008, then Crystal's statement that Obama's party has not made any substantial moves to protect Roe v. Wade contradicts the propaganda put out by the party currently in power.

I hope you now can see the "spin" of propagandists at work. The workers at our Ministry of Truth work hard at trying to convince you of falsehoods that serve the status quo's best interests. But why would they lie about Democrats being the champions of abortion access? What purpose do these lies serve? My exploding email box gives us the answer:

From Sen. Chuck Schumer: 

The instant Roe is overturned, abortion could be illegal in 26 states. And Republicans are already plotting to pass a nationwide ban on abortion if they take back control of Congress and the White House.
This is what's at stake in this year's election. So I need you to donate anything you can right now to some of the most vulnerable Democratic Senators up for reelection this year in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Washington and Democrats running to flip critical Senate seats in Ohio, Florida, and North Carolina. We need every single one of them to win if we're going to stop the Republicans from taking over Congress again and add to our majority to protect abortion rights.

From Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi: 

The only -- ONLY -- way to get justice is to win this election, protect the Democratic House and Senate, and replace every last anti-choice Republican who made this happen. I need a historic response to meet this earth-shattering moment -- 25,000 Democratic gifts in the next 24 hours -- to send a message so powerful, so resounding, there can be no question of our opposition. Will you rush $15 to stand with me on the right side of history? 

These and many other emails I--and millions of others--have received in the past week reveal the real truth: The Democrats have never really cared about putting Roe v. Wade into law because it scares neoliberal people into writing checks to support their campaigns. Simply put, never codifying this decision is a great way to raise money.

"Oh, but they have to deal with the ugly Republicans and those mean ol' Supreme Court justices!" you cry. "They keep the Democrats from making Roe into law." If these assertions are true, then why couldn't Clinton, Obama, or Biden with Democrat majorities in both the House and Senate even attempt to pass legislation to protect a woman's right to choose? Why did they let their majorities in Congress evaporate without putting up much of a fight to protect abortion access? Why did they pick justices to the high court who ultimately wouldn't stand up for abortion rights?

Two words: Ka-ching! Ka-ching! Keeping voters upset about access to legal abortion services is all about fundraising. It's just another way to control the public--especially women. (Read my take on how abortion rights are used against women in A Matter of Control.)

Now that your eyes are open to how the DGB/Ministry of Truth along with their well-paid allies in the mainstream media operate to spin facts in order to cover up the hidden agenda of their corporate-owned masters, you can't deny it. Roe v. Wade is an excellent fundraising tactic for both Democrats and Republicans. 

One group raises money by promising to defend Roe against the "evil conservative" people on the other side of the aisle. The other raises money by promising to "save the babies" or at least those babies who aren't born yet, since starving children without health care or a roof over their heads doesn't seem to bother them all too much.

So long as the establishment duopoly remains in power, a woman's right to abortion care will never be safe. 

Scarier still, other recently won rights such as same-sex marriage could be threatened as well. Check your email for the fundraising pitches to see which story the Ministry of Truth will spin next, and keep your money in your wallet. There's no use being robbed blind by these corporate-owned political machines as well as lied to by your government, is there?

Remember: Voting Democrat or Republican makes America great. We're not involved in a proxy war or selling bombs to drop on innocent civilians anywhere on the planet--and especially not on Palestinians or Yemenis! Women and minorities have always been treated equally in the USA. Americans are never arrested and incarcerated simply for "driving while Black" or living rough on the streets because they lost their homes due to unpaid medical bills or overwhelming student debt or high unemployment during a pandemic or...

Seen online:

I'm not pro-murdering babies.  

I'm pro-Becky who found out at her 20 week anatomy scan that the infant she had been so excited to bring into this world had developed without life sustaining organs.

 I'm pro-Susan who was sexually assaulted on her way home from work, only to come to the horrific realization that her assailant planted his seed in her when she got a positive pregnancy test result a month later.

 I'm pro-Theresa who hemorrhaged due to a placental abruption, causing her parents, spouse, and children to have to make the impossible decision on whether to save her or her unborn child.

I'm pro-little Kathy who had her innocence ripped away from her by someone she should have been able to trust and her 11 year old body isn't mature enough to bear the consequence of that betrayal. 

I'm pro-Melissa who's working two jobs just to make ends meet and has to choose between bringing another child into poverty or feeding the children she already has because her spouse walked out on her. 

I'm pro-Brittany who realizes that she is in no way financially, emotionally, or physically able to raise a child. 

I'm pro-Emily who went through IVF, ending up with SIX viable implanted eggs requiring selective reduction in order to ensure the safety of her and a SAFE amount of fetuses.

I'm pro-Christina who doesn't want to be a mother, but birth control methods sometimes fail.

I'm pro-Jessica who is FINALLY getting the strength to get away from her physically abusive spouse only to find out that she is carrying the monster's child.

I'm pro-Vanessa who went into her confirmation appointment after YEARS of trying to conceive only to hear silence where there should be a heartbeat. 

 I'm pro-Lindsay who lost her virginity in her sophomore year with a broken condom and now has to choose whether to be a teenage mom or just a teenager.

 I'm pro-Courtney who just found out she's already 13 weeks along, but the egg never made it out of her fallopian tube so either she terminates the pregnancy or risks dying from internal bleeding.

You can argue and say that I'm pro-choice all you want, but the truth is: I'm pro-life. Their lives. Women's lives. You don't get to pick and choose which scenarios should be accepted. Women's rights are meant to protect ALL women, regardless of their situation!

Related articles:

Obama and Liberals Killed Abortion Rights  https://popularresistance.org/obama-and-liberals-killed-abortion-rights/

Democrats Have No Plan To Stop the Overturning of Roe v. Wade https://therealnews.com/democrats-have-no-plan-to-stop-the-overturning-of-roe-v-wade

Republicans Kill Roe v. Wade, Democrats Vow to Tweet Harder https://www.directleft.com/p/republicans-kill-roe-v-wade-democrats?s=r

Democrats Had 50 Years To Save And Protect Roe. They Failed. https://truthout.org/articles/democrats-had-50-years-to-save-and-protect-roe-they-failed/

Leaked Draft Opinion Shows Supreme Court Set to Strike Down Roe v. Wade https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/05/02/leaked-draft-opinion-shows-supreme-court-set-strike-down-roe-v-wade 

https://www.propublica.org/article/abortion-roe-wade-alito-scotus-hale

The Roe Disaster--And What To Do About It  https://www.levernews.com/the-roe-disaster-and-what-to-do-about-it-2/ 

What Does Roe V. Wade Really Say?  https://www.abajournal.com/web/article/what-is-roe-v-wade 

Legal Experts Fear Loss of Abortion Rights Could Usher in End of Same-Sex Marriage and Other Rights  https://www.abajournal.com/web/article/legal-experts-fear-loss-of-abortion-right-could-usher-in-end-of-same-sex-marriage-other-rights

Homeland Security's "Disinformation Board" Is Even More Pernicious Than It Seems  https://greenwald.substack.com/p/homeland-securitys-disinformation

Western Claims of Russian Mass Graves Near Mariupol Another Fake News Hoax  https://scheerpost.com/2022/05/05/western-claims-of-russian-mass-graves-near-mariupol-another-fake-news-hoax/

There Are Many American Soldiers Already in Ukraine https://popularresistance.org/former-cia-contract-pilot-tosh-plumlee-there-are-many-more-american-soldiers-like-willy-joseph-cancel-already-in-ukraine/ 

Manufactured Truth (video) https://youtu.be/WG2q811Rmb0

CNN Helps US Government Lie About Spying on Americans https://www.rokfin.com/post/84932  ( very short video) 

Ukraine Alone Makes Biden the Worst US President In a Long Time https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/ukraine-alone-makes-biden-the-worst

Seen on Twitter:

Roe v Wade was decided in 1973. Democrats had 49 years to pass legislation for protecting abortion rights. They didn't.

— José Angel (@ComradeHavik) May 3, 2022

I wish Democrats fought for Roe v. Wade as hard as they fought against Bernie Sanders.

— John Brown was a socialist (@demsocjohnbrown) May 3, 2022

For decades, the Hyde Ammendment - which sexist Joe Biden supported throughout his career- prevented millions of poor women, who are disproportionately black, from getting abortion services. White liberals voted for Joe anyway.

Reproductive "freedom" is not reproductive justice.

— Prof Zenkus (@anthonyzenkus) May 4, 2022

So glad Trump lost because otherwise Roe v Wade would be on the chopping block and immigrants would still be getting mistreated and the Iran deal would still be dead and the military budget would keep inflating. Bastard would probably have us on the brink of World War 3 by now.

— Caitlin Johnstone ⏳ (@caitoz) May 3, 2022

democrats hold women’s health hostage for fundraising dollars and votes

— #GayUnemployedWaiter (@PaulSorrentino3) May 5, 2022

That's the whole idea of this charade--pretend to do something but then the bad guys in red hats stop it. Voters are told to keep voting "blue no matter who" to save Roe v. Wade. The Dems aren't serious about codifying it or else they'd have done it by now.

— C.A.M.@ TheRevolutionContinues.com (Pls read & RT) (@cynthianna3) May 6, 2022

Remember right before the Roe decision leaked how people were saying Biden should forgive all student debt? See how no one's talking about that now? That's why they leaked it.

— John Meade (@johnmeadeb2) May 9, 2022