Blood Money

Blood Money

by C.A. Matthews

Tax season in the US has to be the most stressful time of the year. Even if you’re fairly certain you’ll receive a refund and not owe anything, you still have to deal with the uncertainty of pleasing our masters. You must give them the correct figures to “appease the beast” and keep its growling belly full and its appetite satiated.

You may think it's over-exaggeration calling the US government an animal, but recent events prove my point. The US is financing and arming a genocide. It’s providing arms and aid to the ethnostate of Israel to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people from their land in Gaza. (It is even readying to send troops into Gaza as we've learned recently after the extreme protest of Airman Aaron Bushnell.) Can you get any more beastly than encouraging the mass murder of tens of thousands of civilians and the slow starvation deaths of innocent children?

Now that we’re agreed that the US government is a beast of unparalleled proportions, what can we do about it? Do we keep feeding the beast and hope for the best that it doesn’t turn around one day and decide to devour us as well? Don't think it couldn't happen. Is this any way for us to live, in perpetual fear and loathing? How can we as prey fight back to see a world freed from the bloodthirsty hunger of the beast?

Believe it or not, We the People (prey) do have the power to slay the beast. We can deny it sustenance. We can starve it, weaken it, and when it's spinning in confusion, topple it.

Can we do this simply by refusing to pay taxes to the Feds? Good question. There have been some Americans who have done precisely that in protest against the US war machine, and they have been penalized for it with jail sentences and fines. And still, the US funding of endless wars for oil and genocide continues. It’s as if tax dollars don’t really make much of a difference one way or the other in how the US government pays for its weapons and practices warfare.

And really, why should the government tax us at all? The government doesn’t need our tax payments. It can always print more money, or produce more ones and zeroes in a computer spreadsheet, nowadays. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) shows us how this works. There's no need for a Ft. Knox. There’s nothing backing up the US “petrodollar” except American wars and other oil resources grabs such as the one happening off the coast of Gaza. De-dollarization has begun.

So, if the government will continue to finance war-making in our names regardless to how We the People feel about it, or whether we pay our taxes or not, who really controls the war machine? Could it be that those who actually produce the weapons are the ones in control of America’s never-ending military conflicts?

When in doubt, follow the money. Who or what profits the most from the trillion dollar US “defense” budget? If you answer, “Raytheon, General Dynamics, Boeing…”  go to the head of the class! You are no dummy. You aren’t fooled by the US’s supposed democracy heralded by its paid-off politicians. You know who's the real rulers are.

In order to stop the genocide in Gaza, the genocide in the Congo, the genocide in Sudan, the ceaseless bloodbath in Ukraine, the bucks must stop here at the doors of the Military-Congressional-Industrial Complex and its supporters like AIPAC. But how do we shut off the flow of blood money to these heartless capitalist gangsters? This is where We the People need to get creative and grow a pair of whatever-gender-specific-organ that gives you courage and bravery, because it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better.

A good place to start is to find others of a like mind and become involved with organizations that are working to bleed money from corporate interests away from American politics. The Move to Amend organization is an excellent example of individuals working together to put the lobbyists for the MIC, Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Ag, Big Insurance… out of business forever. They wish to do so by having the US Constitution amended with a "We the People Amendment" stating that all elections must be fair and equal and federally funded—no money from corporations, billionaires, or their lobbyists allowed. 

The Move to Amend movement has been around for some time and receives endorsements from some Congress members, but so far it’s a no go. Neither the House or the Senate has held a vote on the proposal. It appears that Congress members are willing to put their names on it for good marketing purposes but nothing more. Perhaps one day the 28th amendment will come about, but in the meantime, it cannot be our only action.

What else can we be do to shut down the war machine? Move the Money (to Human Needs) is an organization which is working to help to take money away from the war machine, thus denying it of funding. Detroit recently became the biggest US city so far to pass a resolution that calls on Congress and the president to shift public money away from the military to fund social services. The Michigan Peace Council was a major backer of the campaign to win the resolution. It came on the same day that nearly 101,000 Michiganders voted “Uncommitted” in the Democratic primary to oppose Biden’s support for Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people. 

Halting the funding of the military industrial complex is like draining the blood out of the beast. It takes time, but it’s doable. Is there anything else we can do simultaneously while we’re denying the beast of its insatiable need of money? Yes, there is. We can expose its supporters and manufacturers of armaments to the world at large. We can get them where they’re most vulnerable, in their public relations area.

Scrolling my Twitter (X) feed some days can be uplifting because there are so many videos of protests and strikes happening in the US and around the world that are each in their own small way helping to bring about the death of the beast. From attending politicians’ speeches (including Genocide Joe Biden’s) and shouting for the end of the genocide and all wars, to protesting in front of or on top of the headquarters of arms manufacturers, such as Israel’s Elbit Systems, We the People are making our wishes known. We are the majority. We know where they're making the instruments of death:

Here's Every US Factory Making Bombs for Israel: https://youtu.be/ETtAGRvO33w?si=aiVcXY9iwGnJecO3

We’re tired of the blood of innocents being spilled. We’re tired of watching the slaughter of our neighbors worldwide for the sole reason of making billionaire CEOs and their puppet-politicians ever richer. We’re making our voices heard, and we’re engendering fear in these purveyors of death and destruction. 

Protesting and general strikes, especially those events involving large numbers, are more effective than you may realize. The beast thrives on pretending that it only commits these unspeakable horrors out of a need to protect our “freedom and democracy” (TM). We all know this to be complete and utter bullshit. 

The fact that a New Jersey real estate agent is now selling stolen Palestinian properties in the West Bank to American Zionists negates the idea that the US is supporting "freedom and democracy" in apartheid Israel. The fact that the US and other NATO countries cut off funding to UNRWA because Israel told them twelve United Nations staff members were part of "Hamas," which has since been proven to be false, negates that. In fact, new evidence shows that Israel actually tortured (waterboarded) these UN workers into making false confessions. How "democratic" is that?

By standing together in a public space and shouting the lies back at the liars, We the People take charge. The beast finds itself increasingly cornered and isolated. By boycotting (BDS) any products that are funding our enemy's' evil actions, We the People make the beast realize its days are numbered.

We the People aren’t hiding in corners anymore, shivering in our shoes, acting like prey creatures ready to be eaten. We’re growing stronger, growing in numbers, and growing in our resolve to overcome the beast. We will consume the beast whole like a pack of mice nibbling on a wounded lion. We’ll eat it up bit by bit, but, in the end, the beast will be eaten. And that’s why it fears us.

We’ll no longer have to cry about the blood on our hands when we at last turn off the flow of blood money. Then true freedom and democracy will reign.

Related Articles and Other Interesting Links

‘Move The Money’: Detroit Votes For Slashing Bloated Pentagon Budget https://popularresistance.org/move-the-money-detroit-votes-for-slashing-bloated-pentagon-budget

Move the Money to Human Needs https://moneyforhumanneeds.org/

Report reveals Israel tortured UNRWA employees to falsely admit links to Hamas https://www.radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/349352-report-reveals-israel-tortured-unrwa-employees-to-falsely-admit-links-to-hamas 

Protesters target Teaneck event promoting West Bank real estate to U.S. Jews https://forward.com/fast-forward/590870/teaneck-protest-israel-property-sale-event/

Israel wants to seize Gaza's multibillion dollar gas field  https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-palestine-war-geopolitics-gaza-multibillion-dollar-gas-field

At least 5 killed after airdropped aid falls on them in Gaza
https://www.yahoo.com/news/least-5-killed-airdropped-aid-144754461.html

Pretending The US Can't Just Drive Aid Into Gaza https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/pretending-the-us-cant-just-drive

"Pay No Attention To That Genocide Right In Front Of Your Face"
 https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/pay-no-attention-to-that-genocide

The US pretends that imposing the Hunger Games on Gaza = humanitarianism https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/the-us-pretends-that-imposing-the

Most Americans Want the US to Stop Sending Weapons to Israel, Poll Finds https://truthout.org/articles/most-americans-want-the-us-to-stop-sending-weapons-to-israel-poll-finds/

Oscar Winners Who Don't Speak Out On Gaza This Weekend Will Be Complicit In Genocide https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/oscar-winners-who-dont-speak-out

A US politician has let slip his genocidal intentions for Gaza https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/a-us-politician-has-let-slip-his

How the ‘fight against antisemitism’ became a shield for Israel's genocide https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/war-gaza-fight-against-antisemitism-shield-israel-genocide

Leaked Israel lobby presentation urges US officials to justify war on Gaza with ‘Hamas rape’ claims https://thegrayzone.com/2024/03/06/leaked-israel-lobby-officials-war-gaza-mass-rape/

America Enters the Samizdat Era https://www.racket.news/p/america-enters-the-samizdat-era

The government is classing everyone it disagrees with as "extremists" https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/the-government-is-classing-everyone?

Saying "Hamas Just Needs To Surrender" Is Saying "We'll Kill Kids Until We Get What We Want" https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/saying-hamas-just-needs-to-surrender

The Most Dangerous Thing In The Western Hemisphere
https://youtu.be/33p-8QHZpzY?si=9lkt9Knz46pI2j00 

Dedollarization: 95% of trade between China and Russia is no longer done in US currency https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/19/dedollarization-95-of-trade-between-china-and-russia-is-no-longer-done-in-us-currency/

Blood Money: The Top Ten Politicians Taking The Most Israel Lobby Cash https://www.mintpressnews.com/blood-money-top-ten-politicians-taking-most-israel-money-israel-lobby/286491/

Palestine Action Has Been in Action Four Times This Week--doing what politicians dare not https://www.thecanary.co/editorial/2024/03/01/palestine-action-four-actions/

Liberals Are Always Trying To Distance Biden From Netanyahu, And Netanyahu From Israel https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/liberals-are-always-trying-to-distance

Save the people of Piqua, Ohio, from toxins caused by lithium-ion battery burning their city government is allowing: https://savepiqua.com/

Subscribe to The Revolution Continues on Substack today! Blogspot/Blogger isn't working as well as it once did (Is it blatant censorship? Who knows?) so it's time to migrate to a better platform. Go to https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com/ and click on one of the stories and subscribe at the link at the end of the article. You'll enjoy having each week's post automatically sent to your email box or reading it at the Substack site. Many thanks for your consideration.

Protecting Our Right To Protest

 

 

If you think billionaires and massive corporations aren't the problem, think again...

Protecting Our Right To Protest

by C. A. Matthews

Just when you think you can't fall down the rabbit hole into Alice's Wonderland any farther, your elected officials will come up with legislation to abridge your rights to protest and free speech.

I'm not kidding.

Who could joke about something so offensive and so entirely undemocratic? Who could come up with a law that would make even chalking a protest message on a sidewalk a felony? Who could come up with a way to make it legal for the cops to shoot unarmed protesters if they feel the least bit "threatened"?

Our elected officials can--and they have!

Ohio isn't the only state to introduce anti-protesting legislation, but it's the one I'm most familiar with. There are several bills currently in the Ohio legislature that focus on curtailing or restricting protesting and free speech. They are Senate Bills 33, 16 and 41 as well as House Bills 22 and 109. I recently encountered some protesters in Toledo who were speaking out (while we still can) about protecting our rights to protest. Here's my impression of where they were coming from and how it differs from my take.

Most of my fellow anti-protesting protesters (you go crazy just saying that!) weren't happy about their elected representatives supporting these measures, but they felt sure one thing could turn all of these bills around. And what one thing is that? Why, voting these naughty politicians out of office. 

The only reason these politcos created these anti-protesting bills in the first place, according to one of my fellow protesters, is because they belong to the Republican Party. It's that simple. To be a Republican is to be anti-free speech and against embarrassing protests, in his opinion. As soon as "good Democrats" can be put into office and take over these wayward politicians' seats, all threats to our rights to protest and free speech will simply evaporate like a light rain on a hot summer's day.

I wish I could be so optimistic.

Alas, I doubt that turning around the overwhelmingly Republican Ohio House and Senate will automatically kill these anti-protest bills. I wish it could be that simple. But it isn't.

Why isn't it? You only have to look at who or what is behind these pieces of legislation to see why they won't simply "go away" when all the bad, evil, wicked GOPers are voted out of office and replaced with the only other "recognized establishment party" (the Democrats) in the Buckeye State. (That's a whole other blog piece in the making. Ohio's current political establishment hates alternative parties so much that it makes it almost impossible for third parties to keep their "recognized" status from election to election.)

The real money and impetus behind Ohio's anti-protesting measures isn't because Republicans hate free speech. It's because the fossil fuel industry hates free speech and bad publicity more. Big Oil is terrified of protesters shouting, "People over pipelines!" over each and every mile of pipe they bury into our soil. The fracking industry doesn't care much for the bad press they get whenever one of their wells or collection ponds leak. Somehow, Ohioans are supposed to drink petroleum-laden well or river or lake water and like it and live happily ever after.

Uh-huh. Yeah, like who's really fallen down the rabbit hole here?

Big Agriculture plays a part in all this shutting down of free speech, too. But I suspect you already know something about that if you've followed this blog's coverage of the first Rights of Nature Law passed in the United States, The Lake Erie Bill of Rights.

Since both establishment parties--the Republicans and the Democrats--have been well-awarded by Big Oil, Big Ag,  and their lobbyist friends over the years, the chances that a flip in the Ohio House and Senate to a majority Democratic Party leadership would make any difference to how these new laws would be passed and enforced is slim to none.  Money talks--and politicians whose hungry campaign coffers love a big helping of Big Oil dollars aren't going to tell the fossil fuel industry to shut up and go away.

So we will have to do it.

Calling all activists! This spring and summer our voices must be heard and our signs and bodies must be seen before it is too late. And start raising your bail money now. Anti-protest laws mean more arrests. That's the purpose of them. But we have something Big Oil doesn't have--sheer numbers. They can't lock all of us away, all at the same time, can they?

Related Articles:

Ohio Passes Fossil Fuel-Backed Anti-Protest Legislation. https://drillednews.com/ohio-passes-fossil-fuel-backed-anti-protest-legislation/

Protecting the Right To Protest (video)  https://www.wtol.com/video/news/local/protecting-the-right-to-protest-toledo-church-holds-rally-against-proposed-anti-protest-legislation/512-266dcda9-5e4e-4fdd-81db-837610b8093e

Lawmakers, Activists Speak At Cleveland Protest Condemning Anti-Protest Bills in Ohio https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/lawmakers-activists-speak-at-cleveland-protest-condemning-anti-protest-bills-in-ohio/ar-BB1fvDhu

Stop Ohio Anti-Protest Bills https://www.facebook.com/takeactionforoh

Ohio Hearing Proposed Anti-Protest Law Draws Loud Protest https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/30/ohio-hearing-proposed-anti-protest-law-draws-loud-protest 

House Bill Would Impose Harsh New Penalties on Protesters and Their Organizations https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2020/11/16/house-bill-would-impose-harsh-new-penalties-on-protesters-and-their-organizations/

Our elected representatives in Washington DC are also trying to abridge our right to free speech. Watch this interview with a person who was intimidated by the police for a response to a tweet he posted--not his actual tweet (which wasn't threatening) but another person's response to it that was. He was questioned and scared essentially because the tweet wasn't exactly flattering to a certain Congressmember's recent performance. If your elected officials can't be held accountable and take responsibility for their actions, then are you really living in a democracy?

https://youtu.be/TTBVwTXM2eA

***

From Friends of the Earth:

Plastic is accumulating on our beaches and in our oceans. There could be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050. Take action now.

Corporations love plastic. Thanks to the fracking boom, it’s cheap for the fossil fuel industry to create. So oil and gas companies are pushing plastic consumption -- including the widespread use of one-use plastics -- to line their pockets.

But the plastic waste problem has become massive: in the United States 91% of plastic ends up being thrown away, never recycled. Some of it ultimately ends up in our oceans, where it harms or kills marine wildlife.

Call on Congress to protect our planet by supporting the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act. 

Demand Congress address the plastic crisis before it overruns our planet.

Sign Now

Plastic pollution kills over a million marine creatures annually, including turtles, dolphins, whales, and sea birds. And plastics don’t disappear. They just break down into smaller and smaller pieces until they become microplastics. 

But plastic also impacts humans. On average, people ingest the equivalent of a credit card each week. That’s right -- if you’re an average person, you are likely consuming an average of 5 grams of plastic per week. Microplastics can be found in everyday foods and drinks -- like beer, salt, shellfish and even drinking water!  

Tell Congress you do not want to be exposed to more plastic in your food and water. Stop plastic polluters.

Sign Now

Plastic production also worsens the climate crisis. More than 99% of plastic is created from fossil fuels. The emissions from creating plastic could soon reach the equivalent of 300 coal-fired power plants.

Finally, our country is one of the worst plastic offenders, which is why Congress needs to take action. The United States produces the most plastic waste per capita of any country -- then ships a large portion abroad to countries that are already struggling to maintain their own waste effectively.

Plastic is polluting our entire planet, from the beaches to the deepest depths of our oceans. Congress must address this crisis and stop Big Polluters from destroying our health, land, air, and sea.

Demand the United States break free from plastic and stop the pollution at its source!

Sign Now

Standing with you,

Michelle Chan,
VP of programs,
Friends of the Earth

***

We're rapidly approaching the May 1 deadline to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, and President Biden still has not proposed a plan to fulfill his campaign promise.

War hawks in the foreign policy establishment are trying to dominate media coverage and claim nobody cares about ending the Forever War in an attempt to force President Biden to continue it.

But we have news for them — we care. There is an overwhelming consensus among veterans and civilian supporters that we must end the Forever War.

That's why Common Defense is calling on supporters across the country to write Letters to the Editor to hold President Biden accountable and show the media there is a grassroots movement calling for an end to the Forever War.

If you agree that we need to end the Forever War, will you write a Letter to the Editor using this tool that will send it directly to the newspapers closest to your home? It’ll just take 2 minutes. We’ve even included sample language you can use!

Write a Letter to the Editor »

SAMPLE LETTER: The war in Afghanistan has dragged on for nearly 20 years, and it is time to do the right thing and end what veterans call the "Forever War." An entire generation has never known a country at peace, and this conflict has cost a trillion dollars and countless lives. Pres. Biden has the chance to right this wrong. This conflict must end now, as he promised many times during his campaign. Our continued presence in Afghanistan is not making America safer. In fact, prolonging these conflicts is making us a target and putting our troops in harm's way unnecessarily. It's well past time, please, Mr. President, bring our troops home now. Military withdrawal from Afghanistan will give our diplomats a chance to do the hard work of building a peace agreement, rather than continuing with a failed military strategy that cannot accomplish anything further, and which the "Afghanistan Papers" published by the Washington Post reveal top generals themselves do not even believe in. America's veterans and military members deserve to have a government which advocates for them. We're counting on you to do the right thing. Write a Letter to the Editor »

Writing a Letter to the Editor can have a real impact, especially if you include any applicable information about your military service or name your Representatives in Congress. Believe me, elected officials read these!

If we can get dozens of veterans to sign on, we can take a crucial step to defending our democracy. But we need your help.

Write a Letter to the Editor today — it only takes a few minutes — and send a message that we need to end the Forever War.

In Solidarity,

Alex McCoy
U.S. Marine Corps
Team Common Defense

  ***

 From CPDA:

 This week, we learned what happens after a multi-billion dollar company like Amazon spends a year intimidating, punishing, and suppressing workers in Bessemer, Alabama who were working to form a union to push back on unfair working conditions.

 

While this was not the result that we were hoping for, we are proud of the bravery and tremendous success the workers had in standing up to one the biggest corporations in the world, telling their story on the global stage, and demanding that they be treated with dignity and respect. 

 

Congress needs to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act to make sure worker voices cannot be silenced. Unions are one of best ways to ensure fair working conditions and equity. And we need to break up these corporations through stronger antitrust laws that give the tools that regulators need to ensure that no corporation can make billions of dollars by profiting from the suffering of workers and the destruction of small businesses. 

If people keep organizing and coming together like the people of Bessemer, we will break Amazon’s stranglehold on our democracy. Sign the petition now to break up Amazon and other Big Tech giants like Google and Facebook!

ADD YOUR NAME NOW

This is only the beginning. Workers and communities have been standing up to Amazon's greed and abuses for years and we will soon see a time where those efforts will result in the power that workers need to break up Amazon's grip on our economy.

 

We need to remember that what’s happening in Bessemer is a result of Amazon’s unchecked corporate power and what corporations have done for decades to diminish the power of labor law so that they can get the most profit out of us as possible. 

 

Workers cannot be the only ones that carry the burden of these abuses. Add your name to demand meaningful antitrust reform that will break up Amazon and rein in its power!

 

In solidarity,

Ana Maria Archila

Co-Executive Director, CPDA

 

The Fraud Squad

The Dude knows the score in DC!

The Fraud Squad: 

Window Dressing for the DNC Store

by Coast Watcher

 

The Squad! It began with those wonderful, talented women who set out to challenge the Democratic Party’s centrist-right stance! How they were praised for their progressive values, their drive, their youthful vigor! How we hoped they would pick up the torch of socialism from Bernie Sanders and carry it forward into a bright Democratic Party future!

Well, guess what? It seems our idols have feet of clay.

There’s no denying the so-called Democratic Party detested them from the get-go for the very reasons I outlined above. The Squad became a burr under the saddle of business-as-usual and attracted brickbats and catcalls from those of a Democrat persuasion as much as they did from the GOP and Trumpanzees. Then the dirty Dems figured out how to tame the Squad and bend them to its will.

To take one member in particular, Alexandria Occasio-Cortez, she has progressed from a barkeep to Congresswoman and blazed a path into the headlines. Now she pulls in tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees per speech. AOC now can earn more in one night giving a speech than she possibly made in all those years of tending bar combined.

Has she forgotten what it’s like to scrimp and save, to worry about health care coverage or if she has enough money to cover rent and/or food this month? Possibly she has forgotten what it's like to be a struggling worker. Her new Congressional plan health care coverage is premium quality and for life, regardless if she continues in government or not. If she does depart her political career, there’s many a Big Business concern that would offer her a lucrative position on its board, complete with perks.

How does that old adage go? Oh yes, Power corrupts. I'm sure all that lobbyist money helps you sleep at night if your conscience bothers you, too.

So all the so-called Democratic Party had to do was wait until the delicious benefits of being a professional national level politician kicked in. Then the Squad would no longer have any desire to overthrow a system which works so well for them. Instead, their new job is to act as window dressing, something shiny to make it appear the Democratic administration-to-be of Joe Biden really is progressive in its values, when everyone admits that in stark reality "nothing will fundamentally change."

What the DNC store has to offer isn’t worth the time of anyone to the left of center. It’ll be the same old attack on civil liberties from Biden, a man who made a career out of formulating oppressive laws. It’ll be a program of austerity and tightened belts from a man who has wanted to cut Social Security for decades. Biden flat-out stated he’d never tolerate Medicare for All, and he would veto any such bill that reached his desk.

The #ForceTheVote movement, birthed by the new People's Party and other aligned groups, has pulled back the curtain and revealed who the real Wizard of DC truly is. Surprise--it's the health insurance industry! The Squad of brightly painted mannequins in the shop window has failed to fool anyone for long.

When AOC came under pressure from the public for not agitating and pressing for Medicare for All in the middle of this dreadful pandemic, she complained and whined like a child that people were acting "violent" toward her on Twitter for calling her out. 

 

So sorry, Alexandria! You chose to become a politician. That means you have to take the blows as well as the bouquets. And if you think you’re under pressure to provide health care and a decent stimulus package for your constituents now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

In the recent vote for Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi gained re-election by the narrowest margin in modern history. Had even two of the Squad not voted for her then Pelosi, with all her neoliberal-centrist authoritarian attitude and praise for overthrowing democratically elected leaders of South American countries, would have been left high and dry. It seems the Squad’s main argument for following the Dem party line is that had they not voted for Pelosi then a Republican would have become Speaker of the House.

Like, there’s a difference? Since both parties receive funding and policy guidance from Big Business they are effectively one and the same. The so-called Democrats simply wear blue ties, the Republicans red.

Even a casual glance through social media shows a huge amount of anger at the way the Squad betrayed the working poor and the struggling across the country. The hashtag #FraudSquad has quickly trended. Has the window dressing failed to distract us? Are people sick of politics as usual? The rapid response of the American public via social media indicates this.

The United States seems to be at a crossroads. The neoliberals' happy fallacy that, "Things will be so much better once Trump is gone," is being shown for what it is. The divide between the rich and poor has never been so large and so clear to all.

Those bourgeoisie (who think nothing of spending their $600 stimulus check on a hair appointment before they go to brunch) keep telling us "Now isn’t the time to (insert urgent public need here)."  We're supposed to forget how the so-called Democratic Party screwed the Left—again—and move on, but they've underestimated the working classes. Soon they'll find a cold wind blowing through their lives, and the window dressing of the Squad won’t be able to save them.

BIO: Coast Watcher possesses Superman's super vision--he can see through the distractions of the neoliberal establishment and figure their game out. They enjoy the lobbyists' money they receive for simply being in office. They're not worried about dying in the Covid-19 pandemic since they know they'll get to go to the front of line at the hospital and the vaccination queue. We the struggling workers will have to become our own heroes and force a vote to gain what we and our families deserve, Medicare For All. The Squad and anyone else who tries to hold us up should get the hell out of our way.

Related Articles:

Dems Move On After Stimulus Check Standoff Ends 

https://www.salon.com/2020/12/31/stimulus-standoff-ends-in-democratic-surrender-after-mcconnell-blocks-2000-checks-dems-move-on_partner/ 

In 2021, the Best Way to Fight Neofascist Republicans is to Fight Neoliberal Democrats

https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/67103-rsn-in-2021-the-best-way-to-fight-neofascist-republicans-is-to-fight-neoliberal-democrats

 

*** 

All right! An actual Socialist is running for governor of Virginia--Lee Carter. Virginians may be the first to enjoy universal health care in the US if he gets into office. Good luck, Lee!

https://youtu.be/kyawBhkeQ68

***

From Roots Action:

Too many of Biden’s cabinet nominees have deep industry ties and alarming track records. The predictable results would be nothing more than the status quo that landed us with President Trump in the first place.

RootsAction.org is organizing now to oppose the most problematic of Biden’s appointments. We have a real chance to prevent them from being confirmed by the Senate in early January -- but we need your help.

Fill out this short Action Survey to join our team of volunteers and help challenge Biden’s nominees.



Who is President-elect Biden nominating?

TOM VILSACK, also known as “Mr. Monsanto,” has (again) been nominated to head the USDA. During his first tenure as Agriculture Secretary, Vilsack racked up a grim record of protecting the interests of “Big Ag” over the needs of independent farmers, workers, consumers, and the environment. To top it all off, he’s currently serving as president and CEO for a major U.S. dairy lobby.

NEERA TANDEN is widely known as one of the most anti-progressive voices of the neoliberal establishment. She has been tapped to head the Office of Management and Budget, the department tasked with formulating the Biden administration’s spending plans -- an especially critical endeavor amid the current economic crisis. It is concerning that Tanden has, in the past, expressed support for cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and has been a staunch opponent of Medicare for All and a $15 federal minimum wage.

We need your help to stop these confirmations in the Senate and ensure Biden’s appointees put the people’s interests over corporate interests. Sign up here to volunteer for the #NoHoneymoon campaign.

ANTONY BLINKEN has been nominated to serve as Secretary of State. He supported the war in Iraq, supported interventions in Libya and Syria, and co-founded WestExec Advisors -- a firm that provides “strategic consulting” for undisclosed clients in the tech and defense sectors, greasing the revolving door between industry and the federal government (i.e. the military-industrial complex).

AVRIL HAINES has been nominated to serve as Director of National Intelligence. She was the former deputy national security adviser and former deputy CIA director under Obama. Haines helped author the Presidential Policy Guidance that established the legal framework and normalization of the Obama administration’s use of drone strikes, and failed to discipline CIA officers who hacked Senate Intelligence Committee networks while the committee was compiling a report on CIA torture.

Given the records of these nominees, we can’t expect them to meet this political moment and do what needs doing for the American people. The push for better leadership in the Biden administration is a vital part of our #NoHoneymoon campaign. We invite you to join us in this effort.

In solidarity,

Norman Solomon and Jeff Cohen
Co-founders, RootsAction.org

P.S. Here are a few more actions you can take in under five minutes to amplify our campaign!

1. Join our Facebook Volunteer Network for volunteer opportunities and campaign updates.
2. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for regular updates on Activism and Pressure Campaigns.
3. Take Action at NoHoneymoon.org

Background
>>Vilsack
George Goehl, The Guardian: "Biden's pick for agriculture secretary raises serious red flags"
Claire Kelloway, The Intercept: "Tom Vilsack for USDA Secretary Is What’s Wrong With the Democratic Party"
>>Tanden
Walker Bragman, Daily Poster: "Biden Picks Budget Director Who Pushed Social Security Cuts"
>>Blinken
Stephen Zunes, Truthout: "Biden’s Pick for Secretary of State Has a Record of Militarism"
Bryan Bender and Theodoric Meyer, Politico: "The secretive consulting firm that’s become Biden’s Cabinet in waiting"
>>Haines
Sarah Lazare, In These Times: "Biden's Foreign Policy Picks Are From the Hawkish National Security Blob. That Is a Bad Sign."
Jerry Dunleavy, Washington Examiner: "Avril Haines, deputy of John Brennan and Susan Rice, named Biden’s future spy chief"

www.RootsAction.org

 ***

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