Real Representation, Not Celebrities

 

(We Need) Real Representation, Not Celebrities

by C.A. Matthews 

 

“It’s the real thing!” said a commercial a few decades back. Genuineness was a virtue to rejoice in, not disdain. I wish this sentiment were still true today when it came to our elected officials. 

Nowadays, it seems the more glamorous you appear to the public, the more raved about on Tik-Tok or Twitter you are, the more likely you’ll be seen as “the real thing.” Take for example one very famous Congress member from New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a.k.a. AOC. She’s been on magazine covers and seen noshing at the best galas in New York City, but has she even introduced or helped to pass Medicare For All like she promised when she first ran for office? 

 

Uh,no. Not a thing AOC has promised to do, such as the DNC’s scaled-backed Green New Deal, has come to fruition. She’s even voted to send more money and weapons to a proxy war in Ukraine and more military aid for Israel to bomb Palestinians into the dust. AOC hasn’t done anything to get the immigrant “kids in cages” out of our hellish, racist immigration system except to take advantage of a photo op to cry for them in front of the cameras. AOC is a good little Dem. She does everything House Speaker Nancy “Mama Bear” Pelosi tells her to--and then some.

AOC, in my humble opinion, is a cover model and a spokesperson for a corrupt faction that dares to call themselves the “democratic party.” Celebrities simply don’t fit the definition of “representatives of the people.” Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary says, “Celebrity--a famous or celebrated person.”

There’s no mention of a celebrity being an advocate for the people in that definition, is there?

Look at where other political celebrities have gotten us in the last forty years: B-movie star Ronald Reagan destroyed unions and preached “trickle down economics” that only concentrated more wealth in the hands of the super rich. Reality TV star Donald Trump set the clock back several hundred years by promoting conservative federal judges. If you’re reading this blog, probably neither one of these presidents are your favorite—and for good reason.

So sorry, AOC is a just another useless celebrity who doesn’t put the general wealthfare of the American people before her own fame or celebritiness. She forgets her “lines” that she promised to do for her voters when she campaigned. She has zero backbone and can’t or won’t act on the courage of her own convictions. 

But there is hope. There are “real things” running for office. One of these genuine candidates is Matthew Hoh of North Carolina.  

Matt is running for the US Senate as a Green. He isn’t taking corporate cash (like AOC does as a Dem) because he isn’t stuck in an establishment party that supports the military industrial complex. In fact, the Green Party US wants to overturn the Citizens United ruling and get rid of all corporate and dirty money in politics. Since Matt isn’t beholden to corporate paymasters, he is free to represent everyday people, not billionaires.

How refreshing!

And talk about having backbone: Matt went to war three times as a US Marine and a diplomat before realizing the courage to pronounce the wars as unjust and immoral. In 2009 he resigned from the State Department over the surge of troops to the war in Afghanistan and started speaking out against the endless war machine and the corruption in our political system.

Matt isn’t one to take the cancellation of Roe v. Wade and the disregard for human rights lying down either: “This destruction by the Republicans and betrayal by the Democrats of a woman’s right to an abortion and all forms of healthcare is symptomatic of the larger degradation and disregard for human rights--civil, economic and political--by the two-party system in favor of money and special interests. This is why we must disrupt and remake our political system. Too many people have died and suffered due to the corrupt and money-beholden status quo.”

Wow. That’s straight talk coming from a very brave man who isn’t afraid to take on the billionaires who run our government. Isn’t it nice to hear a candidate standing up for the people for a change? 

The time is now to elect a strong third party candidate like Matthew Hoh to the Senate, a candidate who isn’t pressured by a party that wants its members to do exactly as they’re told by their corporate donors. America can’t afford endless wars. We can’t afford more of our human rights taken away from us. We can’t afford to keep electing corporate-owned-and-operated celebrities to public office no matter how pretty they look in an expensive designer evening gown. 

Related Articles:

Matthew Hoh for Senate: https://www.matt4senate.org/

Follow Matthew Hoh on Twitter:  @MatthewPHoh

AOC is a Tool of the Democratic Party Establishment (video) https://youtu.be/XLHxm0Rt0QY

Spending Unlimited https://scheerpost.com/2022/09/12/spending-unlimited/

The Maskless Rich (Are Laughing At You) https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2021/09/the-maskless-rich-are-laughing-at-you.html 

What You Aren't Hearing About AOC's Dress Scandal (video) https://youtu.be/SryNJSASHdg 

Seen on Twitter:

AOC, where is that ruckus you promised??? Asking for millions of embarrassed political chumps.

— American Pi: March on with the torch of freedom! (@American3141592) September 8, 2022

Translation: "It's really important for me to spend time getting on magazine covers and attending Met Galas than to fight for #MedicareForAll or the #GreenNewDeal ." https://t.co/ICb18ihfAC

— STRIKE! & READ TheRevolutionContinues.com (@cynthianna3) September 8, 2022

"What Green New Deal? I never said that YOU PEASANTS! Now out of my way I have a Gala to attend that costs more than your families total lifetime earnings!" pic.twitter.com/vHF6iui34M

— Squid Diddly ☭ (@SquidDiddly1989) September 7, 2022

AOC is worth 8 thousand a couple years ago now 20 million plus and no one says hum her apartment cost more than her yearly salary

— Joseph YINGLING (@joseph_yingling) September 12, 2022

WE ABSOLUTELY NEED TO HELP AOC TO GET HER MESSAGE OUT THERE SHE PROBABLY ACCIDENTALLY DELETED IT SO LETS HELP HER SPREAD THIS TWEET pic.twitter.com/sGo2ZLyb3I

— Cathy Lang (@CathyLa10001258) September 10, 2022

Women Power!

Sheena Barnes and Stefania Czech

Women Power! 

observations by C.A. Matthews 

It's exciting living in America in the year 2019, and it's not because we're never sure we won't wake up some morning to a giant mushroom cloud exploding over  the horizon because Trump has a tiny-handed finger resting on the nuke arsenal button. It's exciting because in the last two years we've seen a huge surge in progressive first-timers entering into the political arena both at the local and the national level. Here are some images and thoughts on two such women, both single moms, taking on the establishment and running for office to make changes for the better for both theirs and others' children.

Sheena Barnes is running for Toledo Public School (TPS) Board. She is raising three kids so she knows what's really going on in public schools and what should be happening to provide brighter outcomes for all Toledo public school students. Running for school board in a large city (over a quarter million residents) isn't as easy as you might think, but Sheena is up for the challenge. She first needs to secure 300 valid signatures in order to gain ballot access. It's imperative that she raise a war chest to promote herself in what will probably be a large field of already well-known (and better off financially) candidates.

 Stefania Czech like Sheena is also a single mom, living in subsidized housing

and attending school full-time. She's an activist with Toledoans for Safe Water, the group that brought forth the successful Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR) citizens' initiative, and a college student studying environmental science. Stefania feels that Toledo City Council doesn't take the new law to protect drinking water seriously. The council current non-support of LEBOR in the face of lawsuits from Big Agriculture demonstrates how council members seem more intent on pleasing their corporate sponsors than their constituents. 

Stefania wasn't about to sit idly by and watch her young son's future be jeopardized by a future of toxic blue-green algal blooms on Lake Erie. She decided to run for city council, district 2, and unseat the current city council president, Matt Cherry. Mr. Cherry is known primarily as a trades union leader who voiced opposition to LEBOR. He isn't even particularly well-liked by members of his own party, the Lucas County Democratic Party, but he will be listed on the ballot as their "endorsed" candidate with a large war chest to fall back on. 

Can an activist-mom running as a Green-Independent take on an icon of the corrupt establishment? Stefania knows she can, but she also knows it's not going to be easy. Luckily she has another powerful young woman, Monika Perry, helping to run her campaign. Sheena's campaign manager is the power-filled Kwinlyn Tyler. Women power is found in all roles--from those running for office to those who work behind the scenes to bring these candidates to the public's eye.

Kwinlyn and Monika discuss their campaign strategies.

Some other instances of Women Power witnessed recently... 

 The right to freely access abortion health care is being denied in Ohio. Activists have taken to the streets once again to express their disgust with the government interfering with a woman's right to make decisions about her own body. Recently Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed the 6-week abortion ban. The protests will continue. Pro-choice women have the power and the voice, and they're not going back to coat hangers in back alleys. Be sure to sign the link below to show your support.

Who do you know is a powerful woman in your life? What gives her that power? How do you support her in the fight for justice and equality? Let us know in the comments section. Power to the people--all peoples, of  all gender identities!

Websites:

Sheena Barnes for TPS

Stefania Czech for Toledo

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Declaration for Reproductive Freedom

Add your name to the Declaration for Reproductive Freedom:

 

"We, the undersigned, pledge to build an Ohio where reproductive health and safety are guaranteed, where Ohioans from all walks of life have equal access to a full range of reproductive health care, and where we are united in our commitment to health equity for all Ohioans, to reproductive freedom, and to safe and legal abortion.

 

"As Ohioans, we believe in our right to make decisions about our own bodies, and we believe that reproductive rights are human rights."

 

Sign the Declaration for Reproductive Freedom