The Costs Of War

by C. A. Matthews

Notice the plural—it’s the costs of war. How much money is available to spend plays a large part in how any war is conducted and concluded, but there are so many other costs that are seldom considered by those who start a war rather than take the diplomatic route to settle their dispute with others.

The costs in human lives is perhaps the most tragic of the costs of war. It’s difficult to say how many soldiers have been killed in the two-week-old war with Iran since the United States and Israel (USrael) have been keeping very quiet on the numbers. Experts estimate that there have been far more American deaths than the thirteen or so admitted to the mainstream media. Some believe there to be at least 1,000+ American troops, CIA agents, and civilian contractors to the military killed so far in the bombings of the US military bases in the Gulf region alone. A US military hospital in Landstuhl has been inundated with the injured coming from the war arena according to X posts from Germany.

On the civilian side, there have been on estimated 1,500 deaths and more than 3 million displaced in Iran. This includes the 175 school girls and their teachers bombed in their school by a US Tomahawk missile during the war’s opening hours. Israel’s attacks on Beirut and Lebanon have added at least 800 civilian deaths to the totals and hundreds of thousands of Lebanese displaced. At least 15 Lebanese paramedics were targeted by IDF bombing. An entire village in southern Lebanon along with its church and Catholic priest were also targeted for destruction this week by Israeli forces.

War knows no boundaries. Children, medics, and priests are all fair targets, all a part of the costs of war...

 

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“Make Capitalism Hated Again” This Year’s Fashion

by C. A. Matthews

I’ve always been confused and dismayed by how some people can seemingly change their tunes and start acting like sociopaths with ease. Their newly acquired opinions don’t seem to conflict with their innate sense of right and wrong. I must have missed the class on how to stop acting like a decent human being at the drop of a hat. Without this ability, I stick out like a sore thumb in society without even trying.

Some people have simply stop talking to me because I said and/or did something that wasn’t quite in fashion. Whatever it was it must have made them feel uncomfortable, so uncomfortable that they had to dismiss me out of hand. It took some time, but I eventually figured out what it was that made some folks uneasy around me.

Nobody wants to be reminded that they have a conscience.

Nobody wants to hear that other human beings have rights and should be respected as equals. It’s so much easier to label others “human animals” or “serfs” or “illegals” and use and abuse them as you like. It’s no wonder these fashionable folks without a conscience stopped talking to me.

But I won’t apologize for making others feel uncomfortable about genocide, racism, and discrimination. I refuse to condone sociopathic actions of any kind. To quote Lillian Hellman: “I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year’s fashions.”

Will these budding tyrants ever apologize for making me feel like a freak whenever I stand up for the rights of others? Probably not. I don’t expect them to, frankly. They’ve made their bed with war criminals, and they’ll lie in it until the next political fad comes along.

You might be asking yourself at this point, “Where does all this talk about having a conscience fit in with what’s currently happening in the US and the world?” My answer: “How about everything?” Here are some recent headlines to make my point... 

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Pursuing Political Defiance

by C.A. Matthews

Political Defiance is nonviolent struggle (protest, noncooperation, and intervention) applied defiantly and actively for political purposes… “Defiance” denotes a deliberate challenge to authority by disobedience, allowing room for submission. “Political defiance” describes the environment in which the action is employed (political) as well as the objective (political power). The term is used principally to describe actions by populations to regain from dictatorships control over governmental institutions by relentlessly attacking their sources of power and deliberately using strategic planning and operations to do so… Political defiance, nonviolent resistance and nonviolent struggle [can be] used interchangeably… the later two terms generally refer to struggles with a broader range of objectives. --From Dictatorship to Democracy by Gene Sharp (The New Press www.thenewpress.com)

It’s time for Americans to be defiant. It’s time to stop cooperating. It’s time to nonviolently resist all the crap that is being thrown at us.

First off, let’s talk about how to become a conscientious objector. It might become a necessary option for American males between 18 – 26 years of age. It’s best to be prepared with your reasons for not wanting to be conscripted into the army in case a draft is reinstated.

If you’re not sure you want to exempt yourself from military service, ask yourself the following: Do I want to risk my life fighting to increase the profits of the CEOs of the oil companies and the military-industrial complex? Do I wish to become complicit in the ethnic cleansing/genocide of Palestinians by forcefully removing them from Gaza and the West Bank? Do I long to round up asylum-seekers at the border and force them back into possibly deadly situations in the countries they have fled from? Would I be willing to hunt down, capture, kill or imprison my fellow citizens who don’t agree with the current regime’s methods or policies?

If you answered no to any of the questions, watch the following short video: https://youtu.be/wLoUu_YIV3s?si=mcGuAkA5lHIn0-6Y

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Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree. —Martin Luther

What Are You Thankful For?

words and holiday parade photos by C.A. Matthews

About this time of the year in the good ol’ USA there comes a national holiday that pretty much is celebrated by all Americans (except for Jehovah Witnesses, of course). It seems a benign enough harvest-time holiday with no overtly religious overtones, but with some covertly religious ones for those who partake. Americans of all persuasions and socio-economic backgrounds celebrate this holiday, with or without help from their local food pantry or soup kitchen.

This national holiday is called “Thanksgiving.” It was supposedly the brain child of English colonists who invited the local Native Americans over for a grand meal in thanks for the Native’s assistance they unwittingly gave their white invaders. If it hadn’t been for the kindness of the Native Americans, the English colonists would have completely died off their first winter at the Massachusetts Bay colony. Later, the Natives would come to regret their good manners when the Europeans stole their land and passed small pox on to them, but white historians conveniently leave out all those unpleasant details.

Instead, historians have chosen to emphasize the happier aspects of the Thanksgiving feast—good food, togetherness, neighborliness, and sharing leftovers with anyone who’ll take them off your hands so you’re not stuck eating turkey for the next three weeks. These aspects make it a pretty nifty national holiday to celebrate in the short, dark, and damp days of late autumn in North America—as others called “Canucks” also celebrate this harvest festival about a month earlier. (Apparently they forget the calendar includes months after October.) Thus, border families of mix American-Canadian heritage have the chance to eat two Thanksgiving dinners, with the added bonus of putting on enough blubber to survive the arctic onslaught of the coming winter.

While everyone sits around the dinner table feasting on the traditional meal of roast turkey and stuffing—which is no where close to the supposed original Thanksgiving feast of venison and seafood—guests are supposed to share what they are thankful for in their lives. This is when the problems begin.

In presidential election years, Americans with big mouths not filled with mashed potatoes and gravy might make mention of how thankful they are their favorite presidential candidate won the recent contest. Others, who are not feeling quite so happy about this outcome, will then attack the sanity of the first party and call them some rather nasty names. The atmosphere of Thanksgiving thankfulness will immediately evaporate. Thrown bread rolls and tossed turkey drumsticks can be turned into semi-lethal weapons if calmer heads don’t quickly prevail.

This is why on pain of having a pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream thrown in their face that most Americans do their best not to bring up politics at Thanksgiving. No one is more thankful than the hosts of the traditional meal that politics have been left where they belong—in the trash can out back—before entering their home. With dinner table small talk limited to sports, the latest Hollywood blockbuster, and how everyone will go about losing all the weight they’ll gain from gorging on turkey and several desserts, the day proceeds much more smoothly than things did ultimately between the Native Americans and the English colonists.

So, here it is another US presidential election year and Thanksgiving approaches. This begs the question for Americans and Non-Americans alike: What are you thankful for?

 

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The Founders Would Be Proud

 

The Founders Would Be Proud

by C.A. Matthews

It’s not every day that I say something like this, so please take note.

The Founders (a.k.a. "The Founding Fathers of the United States of America") had a good idea when it came to making a permanent separation between church and state. It may have been one of only a handful of good ideas they ever had, being handicapped with their white, wealthy, Eurocentric, males-only, slavery-is-good-for-business worldview. But it is impressive that they foresaw a day when the need to be a strictly secular state (government) would be to their—and consequently our—benefit. So, for this insight I heartily thank them.

I do believe there were “Founding Mothers and Others-of-the-Non-White-Male Variety” as well, but in this case, we're sticking with the "Fathers" who wrote our founding documents. I was reminded of their wisdom concerning church/state separation when Dr. Jill Stein gave one of the most brilliant rebuttals of all time at the recent Free and Equal Debate.

The Constitution Party candidate, Randall Terry, had just given the most sick and twisted rant imaginable. I don’t know much about the Constitution Party, but if this is their pick for president, I really don’t want to know anything more about them. Terry’s diatribe went along the lines that Americans should believe as he does (seemingly he’s an ultra-conservative, Zionist “Christian”) and that those of the Muslim faith are dangerous terrorists and deserve to be killed in Gaza (and elsewhere). He actually sounded like he would start another Crusade if he ever got into the White House. His verbal vomit of sheer naked bigotry sent shivers down my spine.

Dr. Stein’s reply to Terry’s steaming pile of Islamophobia was eloquent and to the point. Watch a clip on X/Twitter or on You Tube:

https://twitter.com/peopleforstein/status/1849264793011818948 or

https://twitter.com/TeamJillStein/status/1849906420340408804

https://www.youtube.com/live/HLCplaowzy8?si=AKHM8u9vnCWE1v5U

Randall Terry’s rant and Jill Stein’s rebuttal starts at approx. 1:20 and goes to about 1:24.

To find out what else would make the Founders proud...

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Priorities, People! Priorities!

 

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." —Voltaire

Priorities, People! Priorities!

by C.A. Matthews

Everyone probably has had a teacher, professor, coach, boss, or parent who has shouted, “Priorities, people! Priorities!” whenever you seemed to lose focus or got distracted by something not as important as you thought it was.

I can still hear my 9^th grade Algebra teacher repeatedly telling us to do our assignments first or we wouldn’t be able to pass the chapter test.

“Did you do the even numbered exercises last night? he’d challenge us. “You want to pass the test and pass this class, don’t you? Priorities, people! Priorities!”

Of course, not everyone did their homework. Not everyone passed the test or passed the class. They got distracted by something more fun than working math problems. In my era, that meant watching too much TV or listening to your latest rock LPs for hours on end instead of doing your homework. And the results of their distraction showed—in their grades then, and possibly in their lives later on because of the type of jobs they were able to get without passing Algebra. Not the good paying kind.

Becoming distracted from what is really important can lead to serious consequences. “What happened?” these distracted folks whine in confusion. They’ll blame everyone but themselves for making poor decisions by following a false priority down a dead end path.

I want to help you focus on what should be your top priorities, not because I enjoy scolding people, but because I hate seeing people suffer later, angry, because no one warned them from wandering far from what really matters.

 

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The Fight

 

 The Fight

by C.A. Matthews

 

Nowadays there are so many things coming at us all at once—climate disasters, political disasters, personal disasters—that it sometimes becomes so overwhelming that all you want to do is shout, “ENOUGH ALREADY! LEAVE ME ALONE!”

Only once you’re free from the stress will you be able to walk away from everything with your fingers in your ears and your eyes closed as you curl up with your favorite blanket in a corner of your bed like you did when you were three years old and then forget that the world even exists.

Too bad the world never forgets about you.

The world has a way of finding us no matter how much we try to hide from it, like it or not. It won’t leave us alone if we have half a brain cell or even a tiny gram of integrity. It will call to us and plead with us to take part in its happenings. It will call to us saying, “Help me get rid it of these evil and immoral elements and replace them with just and moral ones.”

And we’ll feel obligated to do so, until it all becomes too much for us again. Then we’ll curl up in a fetal position and sob, “Enough! Please?”

I’ve been hovering over the “Enough!” cliff edge for quite some time now, so I really appreciated reading Caitlin Johnstone’s latest poem. Here it is in case you haven’t read it yet...

 

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To Proclaim Loudly

 

I don't know if there has ever been a time comparable to this one, where we are seeing people for who and what they really are. There's nowhere to hide anymore. You're either with God or you're with the devil and his legions. You either support children being stripped naked, having their hands tied behind their back, and executed or you don't. There's no middle ground. And whatever side a person is on has become abundantly clear to everyone around them. The masks are off.  --Mike Stone

To Proclaim Loudly

by C.A. Matthews

As the weeks turn into months, and the genocide in Gaza continues unabated, you really start to wonder: “Is it worth it? Is it worth protesting to a (mostly) uncaring audience that ethnic cleansing is wrong? Is it worth doing march after march after protest after protest after informational meeting after informational meeting when you’re essentially reaching the same folks (who were already pro-Palestinian) time and time again?”

It’s draining, and it’s frustrating, but what is the alternative? To give up? To stop caring about the plight of two million souls who are enduring the worse that humanity has to offer? And this isn’t the only place on Earth where people are being indiscriminately killed because of… Well, simply put, greed and prejudice. The Congo, Sudan, and Haiti come to mind. You can see the “why” of how Westerners can forget about the suffering of darker-skinned peoples. It’s not like the Western nations have never been racist against non-whites, but now the West has adopted the racism of Zionism as well. How open-minded of them!

Giving up on saving the lives of others will not save our lives, in case you’re leaning that way. If we stop caring for others, we will eventually stop caring for ourselves and our loved ones. You can’t just turn off the tap of compassion for one part of humanity and expect love to flow to the rest. It doesn’t work that way. Ask an addict. When you use chemicals to kill the pain and stop feeling those uncomfortable emotions, it doesn’t just stop the negative feelings. It shuts down all your feelings. And how can you love others when you’re not even loving yourself through the abuse of substances or engaging in destructive habits? Answer: You can’t.

The United States of Israel is one such addict.

The US has become addicted to greed itself. We hoard others’ natural resources such as land, fossil fuels, copper, cobalt, platinum, uranium… The list goes on ad infinitum. Our powers-that-be have perfected the use of racism and fear of others in their quest to steal others’ natural resources. They promote racism and fear of others in their divide and conquer tactics within our country. With all of us at each others’ throats, we will never have enough energy to go after those who are truly our enemies, the capitalists and their minions.

You don’t have enough to eat? It’s those people down the block or the country across the globe from yours who are “stealing your food.” Go fight them for it, but forget all about blaming the rich and powerful who control food distribution. Forget who are manufacturing the false narrative that your fellow workers are at fault. Somehow it’s never the fault of the wealthy who own everything. Remember you should never tax the “job creators” and make them pay their fair share of taxes… Trust the Trickle Down Theory implicitly! It will eventually trickle down some wealth to you and yours in perhaps three to four hundred years.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t expect to live that long.

The bottom line is we can’t give up. We can’t give up on the Palestinians, the Congolese, the Sudanese, the Haitians...or ourselves. To give up on any part of humanity is to give up on the whole of humanity.

To give up on humanity is to give up on any chance we have of turning the climate crisis around. It’s to give up on seeing your children or grandchildren grow up to take the reins away from the greedy and prejudiced powers-that-be who are currently screwing us and the planet over.

So, what can we do on days when all we can think about doing is throwing in the towel? On days when all we want to do is to stop caring so much about others because it hurts? On days when we could just walk away from this struggle called life and not miss it? There’s only one thing we can do: We have to give ourselves new marching orders.

We take it to the streets again. And again. Because...

We keep proclaiming the truth of what’s happening—loudly. We keep marching in protest parades even when threatened with mace, rubber bullets, tear gas or a night in jail. We keep sharing the truth of things even when others refuse to listen and shun us or shame us. We don’t need their approval, after all. Our consciences approve of us and our actions. And these stone-hearted fools really do need to hear us.

They really do understand there is a genocide happening in Gaza, but they’re afraid of us knowing that they do. They’re scared of acknowledging their part in perpetuating the official narrative that there is no genocide. They have become slaves of the corrupt system. In their fear they’ve locked themselves into the cycle of Zionist lies thinking they'll stay safe, not realizing that losing their souls is a prison worse than hell itself.

Poor pitiful things! This is where the “proclaim loudly” part comes in handy.

We simply don’t shut up. We don’t shut down. We keep repeating the reality of our messed up world over and over again because these sell-outs to the Zionist lie are both stupid and stubborn. But we can act pig-headed, too. With so many innocent lives at stake, why should we waste precious time playing their silly “Shut up, you’re hurting our feelings” game?

Saving lives, the planet, and our souls comes well before anyone-who-is-okay-with-babies’-faces-being-blown-off-by-US-provided-bombs’ “feelings”. These narcissists need a wake up call to reality, not our coddling. Let me put it bluntly: F*** the feelings of all greedy zionarcissists! It time for you to grow up and think of the welfare of others, you self-centered morons!

It's freeing when you give yourself permission to keep marching with heads and flags held high. And no, not the flags of the military-industrial complex lackeys, better known as the US and its NATO allies. We fly the flags of truth, liberty, revolution, freedom and peace for all humankind. Wave those flags proudly and raise a fist and shout loudly!
 

Let’s keep encouraging one another as the days drag along and it seems like there’s no end in sight to the bombing, shooting, starving, and suffering of innocents. It is our duty. We are their witnesses. We are their bringers of hope. We may even be their bringers of salvation in time. And we’d want them to do the same for us when our time of suffering comes.

Power to the people!

Related Articles and Other Interesting Links

Chris Hedges: Israel’s Willing Executioners
https://scheerpost.com/2024/05/13/chris-hedges-israels-willing-executioners/

Please Stop Saying Israel Is an “Ally” of the United States — It Is Not.  https://joebrunoli.substack.com/p/please-stop-saying-israel-is-an-ally

Israel Orders Evacuation in Rafah, Hours After Raiding Al Jazeera Offices https://truthout.org/articles/israel-orders-evacuation-in-rafah-hours-after-raiding-al-jazeera-offices/

Police Brutality “Made in Israel” https://joebrunoli.substack.com/p/police-brutality-made-in-israel

US Army Officer Resigns Over ‘Unqualified’ Support for Israeli Slaughter in Gaza  https://news.antiwar.com/2024/05/13/us-army- officer-resigns-over-unqualified-support-for-israeli-slaughter-in-gaza/

Jewish Biden Appointee Resigns from Interior Department Over Gaza Slaughter https://scheerpost.com/2024/05/16/jewish-biden-appointee-resigns-from-interior-department-over-gaza-slaughter/

The Genocide Case Against Israel Before the World Court Just Got Much Stronger https://stevendonziger.substack.com/p/the-genocide-case-against-israel

Report: Israel Has Bombed Known Aid Worker Sites in Gaza at Least 8 Times  https://truthout.org/articles/report-israel-has-bombed-known-aid-worker-sites-in-gaza-at-least-8-times/

Biden’s Shifting ‘Red Line’ Allows Israel To Keep Getting Away With Murder https://popularresistance.org/bidens-shifting-red-line-allows-israel-to-keep-getting-away-with-murder/

Biden won't turn his back on Israel because he is just as fanatical as Netanyahu https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/biden-wont-turn-his-back-on-israel

ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity https://www.nationofchange.org/2024/05/20/icc-prosecutor-seeks-arrest-warrants-for-netanyahu-and-hamas-leaders-for-war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity/

'Dark Times' As Renowned Israeli Historian Ilan Pappé Detained, Interrogated By FBI https://www.commondreams.org/news/ilan-pappe  https://mark192.substack.com/p/alert-dark-times-as-renowned-israeli

The Nakba: All you need to know explained in five maps and charts https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-nakba-ethnic-cleansing-explained-five-maps-charts

UCLA attackers exposed: meet the violent Zionist agitators LA police haven’t arrested https://thegrayzone.com/2024/05/13/ucla-attackers-exposed/

13% of 2020 Swing State Biden Voters Won’t Be in 2024 Because of Gaza: Polls https://scheerpost.com/2024/05/14/13-of-2020-swing-state-biden-voters-wont-be-in-2024-because-of-gaza-polls/

Booing of Israeli Singer Covered up by Eurovision https://rumble.com/v4uywkb-eurovision.html

The US Empire Deliberately Stokes Hatred And Violence In The Middle East https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-us-empire-deliberately-stokes

Orf vs. The Memory Hole: When Israel Bombed AP's Gaza Office https://censorednews.substack.com/p/orf-vs-the-memory-hole-when-israel 

 

Assange Wins Right to Appeal on 1st Amendment Issue https://consortiumnews.com/2024/05/20/assange-wins-right-to-appeal-on-1a-issue/ 

 

Why You'll Never Achieve The American Dream https://youtu.be/vu7IJ-HDIos?si=zzYvS4vHxhy5C7Qk

 

“Unprecedented” – CO2 Rising 10 Times Faster Than Any Time in Recorded History https://scitechdaily.com/unprecedented-co2-rising-10-times-faster-than-any-time-in-recorded-history/ 

 

For those who think Biden is "soft" on immigration:  

"...The Biden Administration seeks to engage in the type of politically-motivated action that the Refugee Convention and 1980 Refugee Act sought to eliminate. For the above reasons, such action would violate the intent of Congress, our treaty obligations, and over two centuries of U.S. case law." Proposed Asylum Bar Regs Are At Odds With International Law (And Why That Matters)  https://www.jeffreyschase.com/blog/2024/5/16/proposed-asylum-bar-regs-at-odds-with-international-law-and-why-that-matters

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Deal With The Devil

by Mark Taylor, DeMOCKracy Ink

Deal With The Devil
by C.A. Matthews

About once a year, I feel compelled to write a post about the dangers and pitfalls of lesser evil voting in the US. So here it is, for better or worse.

If you add a letter “d” to the front of the word “evil”, you’ll get the personification of evil, that is, the “devil.” However lesser evil voting is being discussed, the end result is the same: The voter is being asked to make a deal with the devil or evil.

What is often left out of this old saying are what consequences you incur when you make a deal with the devil. Here’s the complete saying: “When you make a deal with the devil, be careful you don’t get burned.”

Dealing with the devil can get you burned. Lesser evil voting burns voters. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a closer look.

The Devil is in the Details

First, a definition of lesser evil voting is needed. In the lesser evil voting scenario, voters are informed that there are only two candidates running for each office. We’ll call them candidates “A” and “B”. Voters are told they have no other options, and they have been convinced of this fact. They feel compelled to vote for either A or B or stay home and not vote. That’s it.

But what if voters don’t care for either candidate A or B? What if they strongly detest and/or despise both A and B? Can they vote for candidate C, D, E, or F instead? In most states in the United States there are other candidates’ names printed on their ballots for each office. However, many voters have been programmed (brainwashed) into thinking those options simply do not exist for them, so they’re stuck with choosing between A and B or not voting at all.

But what happens when a voter decides to vote for C, D, E, or F, and their treachery to vote outside the box is discovered? Woe to that voter! The voter will be vote shamed and pressured to change their mind. The most common vote shaming method is to tell renegade voters that they have cast a wasted vote because they refused to vote for either A or B. They are informed by supporters of A and B that all voters who dare to vote for C, D, E, or F are stupid and foolish.

Other forms of coercion exercised by supporters for A and B can include ostracizing these rebel voters socially in-person and/or online, threatening the rebel voters’ careers or job positions, and sometimes even threatening or committing physical violence against the rebel voters or their property. 

All of these forms of lesser evil voting coercion tactics have been documented widely (and some of them experienced by yours truly). These are only but a few of the ways voters can get burned when making a deal with the devil called lesser evil voting.

I’m sure there are supporters/past-supporters of A and B out there whose ears are burning about right now as I expose their crimes. But I’ve found that lesser evil aficionados often are proud of their vote shaming tactics. They rarely get caught or charged with any criminal activity since fellow A or B supporters will cover for them, so I doubt they’ll ever stop the dirty tricks.

With that sort of pressure placed upon voters to consider voting for only A or B, what do you think happens to candidates C, D, E, and F? Do you think they receive as much attention in the mainstream media as A and B do? Lesser evil voting supporters for A or B cannot afford to allow voters to learn about other candidates and their platforms, so mainstream media spokespersons are generally kept in line and told to exclude all mention of other candidates as much as possible.

Can you see how this practical censorship would prevent C, D, E, and F from effectively advertising or fundraising? Without sufficient funds to campaign, what would you say are the chances of these alternative candidates being able to compete against the well-funded and well-promoted campaigns of A and B? Did you say zero to none?

It should be obvious by now that lesser evil voting isn’t really a strategy to help American voters choose a candidate who represents their values, needs, wants, or desires. Lesser evil voting is simply a method to get rid of A’s and B’s competition. 

Think about it: It’s much cheaper and easier for corporate lobbyists, wealthy individuals, and political action committees (PACs/Super PACs) to bribe two candidates to do as they command than a multitude of candidates who may or may not be open to taking corporate lobbyist cash. This legal bribery of politicians in the US is allowed under the 2010 Citizens United ruling. Money talks, and it talks much louder than average voters' voices, obviously.

How fair is lesser evil voting? Not fair at all unless you absolutely adore A and/or B. But it’s completely legal and acceptable by the parties of A and B who rather you didn't know you have more choices. Here’s an example of how it’s manifesting itself in this year’s presidential election.

The Devil You Know...

Americans worship stability and sameness. Life just seems safer that way. Even if their present lives are miserable or downright unbearable, Americans’ philosophy of life can be summed up thusly: “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.”

Note once again how the letter “d” can be subtracted from “devil” leaving the word that describes the devil’s best known quality of “evil”. Americans rather put up with a known evil than radically change their lives by making a different choice, possibly for the better, because what if their choice proves worse than the one they’ve been told to make by supporters of A or B? Many American voters seem paralyzed by indecision. They seek guidance and are looking for someone else to make the decision for them.

If only Americans believed they needn’t be cornered into corner A or B! Think of all the possibilities for a brighter future voters might have by choosing C, D, E, or F. How can we break through such a lack of imagination and encourage American voters to invite change and consider non-duopoly (non-A or -B) candidates?

Let’s say you’re an American voter who wants the genocide in Gaza to end as soon as possible and all the war criminals punished. You’re sick and tired of the bloated US military budget and long for more funding for programs such as Medicare For All, free university tuition, student loan debt forgiveness, and programs to tackle the climate crisis. What are your choices for president who speak to your conscience?

Here in a nutshell are the options of the upcoming presidential election:

A – a current known evil who supports the genocide in Gaza and takes money from AIPAC and many corporations/PACs

B – a past known evil who supports the genocide in Gaza and takes money from AIPAC and many corporations/PACs

C – another candidate (with a famous last name) who accepts corporate cash and loudly supports the genocide in Gaza and takes money from AIPAC/PACs

D – a candidate who doesn’t accept corporate/PAC cash and doesn’t support the genocide in Gaza, supports Medicare For All and climate crisis actions, and will probably be on all 50 state ballots and the District of Columbia

E – a candidate who doesn’t accept corporate/PAC cash and doesn’t support the genocide in Gaza but probably won’t be on very many state ballots

F- a candidate who doesn’t accept corporate/PAC cash and doesn’t support the genocide in Gaza but probably won’t be on very many state ballots

(G, H, I candidates – some accept corporate/PAC cash, some don’t support the genocide or war, but most probably won’t be on very many state ballots)

Looking at the above chart, you’ll see that your personal choices do not include the A or B candidates that lesser evil voting strategists are going try to shame you into voting for. Your best bet to change the leadership the White House to a person who represents you is to vote for candidate D or possibly E or F or one of the other lesser known candidates if they're on your ballot. By voting for a candidate like D, you’ll feel proud of yourself that you aren’t perpetuating the genocide in Gaza and are helping to make the US a better place for all its people.

Sounds like a sound voting choice that reflects your values and speaks to your conscience, right? If only it was that easy in the USA!

The political parties of A and B will do all that they can to block your preferred candidate’s name from being on as many states' ballots as they possibly can. With huge war chests of campaign donations from military-industrial complex corporations and money from PACs such as AIPAC, these parties will use every legal and extra-legal trick in the book they can to prevent any competition from challenging them. Supporters of A and B who own the mainstream media outlets will block all mention of the other candidates and pass along the propaganda that teams A and B dream up to slander/libel their competition.

Many American voters, never knowing there are actually candidates who closely represent their own values because of the practical censorship, might choose to stay home and not vote. Voter apathy in the US is sky high, and with such a screwed up system, is it any wonder?

This is lesser evil voting strategy at its worse. These devils you’ve known for years are anti-democratic and bullies. And you will be forced to put your conscience to sleep and vote for A or B because you’re told these are your only options. 

You’ll be told that C, D, E, or F have no chance of winning, not realizing that in poll after poll the largest percentage of American voters consider themselves as independent. These voters don’t support the parties of either A or B and stay home more often than not if they don't have another option. If that large percentage of voters followed their conscience and voted for other than A or B, another candidate might actually win. The math speaks for itself.

Vote shaming can be intense, but it can be dealt with rationally as the above meme demonstrates. A candidate must earn your vote and stand for your values. Follow a litmus test like I do to pick your candidate, and you'll never suffer from a guilty conscience. You won't be tempted to sell your soul to the devils and their corporate masters. You'll help others to avoid getting burned as well.

The great Eugene Debs gave us this sage advice that voters should always follow:

"I'd rather vote for something I want and not get it than to vote for something I don't want and get it."

Don’t be tempted to make a deal with the devil (d-evil). Don’t get burned. Stay away from lesser evil voting. Always vote your conscience, and encourage others to do the same. And may the best candidate win.

Related Articles and Other Interesting Links

Here's a way to turn lesser evil voting on its head: https://twitter.com/CallForCongress/status/1771242193438593153

The Democrats’ “all-out war” on third parties and independent candidates https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/03/23/bzsf-m23.html

UN Special Rapporteur finds Israel is committing genocide https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/un-special-rapporteur-finds-israel

The Chris Hedges Report: Halting Biden’s Weapon Shipments to Israel https://scheerpost.com/2024/03/22/the-chris-hedges-report-halting-bidens-weapon-shipments-to-israel/

"It's Not About Trump": American CJ Hopkins, Charged Again in Germany, Describes Global Censorship Effort https://www.racket.news/p/its-not-about-trump-american-cj-hopkins

Armed by Washington, Israel Trashes the Genocide Convention https://scheerpost.com/2024/03/20/armed-by-washington-israel-trashes-the-genocide-convention/

Flour Massacre Called ‘Aid-Related Deaths’—Rather Than Part of Israel’s Engineered Famine https://fair.org/home/flour-massacre-called-aid-related-deaths-rather-than-part-of-israels-engineered-famine/

Find Someone Who Loves You Like Israel Loves Attacking Palestinian Hospitals https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/find-someone-who-loves-you-like-israel

As Conflict Rages On, Israel and Gaza’s Environmental Fates May Be Intertwined https://insideclimatenews.org/news/15032024/todays-climate-gaza-israel-sewage-environment-debris-pollution/

British Surgeon Describes Children Suffering “Appalling Injuries” in Gaza, Demands Immediate Ceasefire  https://www.democracynow.org/2024/3/21/gaza_doctor_nick_maynard

After Aaron Bushnell’s self-immolation, a Pentagon witch hunt looms https://therealnews.com/after-aaron-bushnells-self-immolation-a-pentagon-witch-hunt-looms

Just Seeing Through The Propaganda Isn't Enough - We've Got To Open Our Hearts As Well https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/just-seeing-through-the-propaganda

IDF General Admits War Impossible Without US Support https://rumble.com/v4kh2tc-system-update-245.html

Here’s What Canada’s Vote to End Arms Sales to Israel Means for Antiwar Effort https://truthout.org/articles/heres-what-canadas-vote-to-end-arms-sales-to-israel-means-for-antiwar-effort/

Israel Lobby DESTROYED On Mainstream Media! https://youtu.be/kQ_58cRZeaM?si=ITU3k366k5V3BnIO

Things That Have Been Discredited During The Destruction Of Gaza https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/things-that-have-been-discredited 

If you say this is a genocide and then you support the people who are backing this genocide, it means either (A) you’re fine with genocide or (B) you only called it a genocide to score progressive political points and don’t actually believe what you said.

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More nominees for "The Aarons"

Here are a few more names that were nominated for A Human With A Conscience Award (read about it here) this past week. These folks and organizations can post the above meme on their social media sites if they choose. Keep your nominations coming!

Banksy (Best Graffiti Artist with a Conscience)

Laura K from Normal Island News (Best Satirist with a Conscience)

Randy Credico (Best Podcaster/Indie journalist with a Conscience)

Neil Oliver (Best Podcaster/Journalist with a Conscience)

Toledo Area Activists with a Conscience:
Jomana Al, Walaa Kanan, Mike Ferner, Jasmin Nada Hummos, Yousef Baddar, Susan Kuehn, Terry Lodge, Omar Aysha, and Ahmed Amrou.

Suggested category: Best Poet with a Conscience 

Congratulations all!