What Will Happen Next?

 

What Will Happen Next?
by Coast Watcher

It's a valid question given today’s political climate. Currently the so-called Democratic Party’s supporters are indulging in an orgy of vote-shaming to an extraordinarily high degree, far higher than that many experienced in the 2016 election. Anyone on social media who professes to have reservations concerning Joe Biden's qualifications is immediately set upon by trolls who moan, "But you’ve got to support Biden or you’ll get Trump!" 

Green Party voters are told either that they’re wasting their vote, their party is irrelevant, or "This isn’t the time for third party politics." (It never is. Funny, that). Some voters are acting so scared of the prospect of a second Trump term in office they’re practically wetting themselves.

So, what’s going on here?

The Democratic Party is either playing a game of brinkmanship by refusing to countenance any shift to the political left, relying upon dislike of/hatred for Trump to carry them to a victory, or they have no intention of winning. It’s pretty obvious that if the Democrats wanted to win by a landslide they’d have nominated Senator Bernie Sanders for president. Instead the Dem leadership spits in the face of Sanders and his millions of supporters for a second time—then expects the Berners to all fall in behind their Corporate-Owned Anointed One, Joe Biden.

What will happen next? Well, I suspect that we’re seeing the seeds of a bait and switch operation.

Let’s assume the Democrats want to win and that they succeed in putting Biden in the Oval Office by whatever margin of victory. Given his obvious health issues (about which the Democrats are being extraordinarily close-lipped) I don’t think Biden will last more than two years in office, tops. His mental health is a cause for speculation, especially after the debacle of the solitary debate with Trump. At some point Biden will become too unwell to continue his duties and will step down under the terms of the 25th Amendment. Kamala "the Cop" Harris will become president for the remainder of the term then stand under her own candidature in 2024.

Should Harris become president then, she’ll be in office for another four years, and again be legally able to stand for president in 2028. That means in effect Kamala Harris could be in the White House for something approaching twelve years. Given her punitive record on "law and order" in the state of California, that’s a pretty frightening prospect.

Of course we can’t ignore what might happen to the so-called Democratic Party party in the next few years. By obviously sidelining, and then ejecting progressives from their ranks, the party is sliding further to the political right. It already occupies much the same ideological ground as the Republican Party did during the 1950s. The fact Biden is attracting so many endorsements from  moderate GOP politicians is telling. The Republicans in 2020 occupy much the same ideological ground as the fascist movements of the 1920s and 30s. 

I can see the Democratic Party hemorrhaging support to such a degree after this election because of their blatant dishonesty of what they truly stand for (their corporate donors). They’ll become an irrelevance on the political landscape and will eventually merge with the Republican Party into one mega-corporate-owned-and-operated political faction. For the remainder of the time until that happens, the Dems will continue to claim erroneously the "right" to any and all votes from voters on the actual political left.

Even if things don’t pan out the way I describe, a potential eight years of a Biden presidency is nothing to look forward to given his forty year plus record of voting for war and creating harsh law and order bills. He has already promised the corporate world that "Nothing will change" for them. But neither is another four years of Trump a pleasant outlook. The man’s record resembles that of a mad bull with a sledgehammer tied to its tail, running amok in a china shop.

This isn’t the time for third party politics? I beg to differ. Here’s another prediction: With the so-called Democrats becoming increasingly irrelevant on the American political scene, third parties will step up to represent the vast majority of Americans. After all, someone has to pick up the torch dropped by Sanders. 

Of all the parties in this strange time we’re living in, only the Green Party with its nominee, Howie Hawkins, champions the cause of Medicare for All, a living wage, environmental protections, paid vacation and maternity leave, and healthier workplaces. In short, they aim to bring the United States into the twenty-first century and join the rest of those countries with a First World economy. 

With even a modicum of luck and the imminent implosion of the so-called "major" political parties, the Greens will have their place in the sun some day soon.

Learn more about Kamala Harris' track record in California at https://ccinamon.wordpress.com/2019/01/22/kamala-harris-resource-list/

Related pieces written by Coast Watcher: 

Kamala The Cop https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2020/08/kamala-cop.html

Biden: My Time?  http://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2019/04/biden-my-time.html

BIO: Coast Watcher doesn't have a crystal ball to gaze into to peer into the future, but the greed of the oligarchs and the mindlessness of their political puppets doesn't make it difficult to predict what will happen next. His advice to voters is "Don't fall for these con-artists. Vote your conscience. Support the causes you want and need for you and your family's future. Now is not the time for moderation and centrism. Now is the time to build the future to believe in."

 ***

 Seen on Facebook:

I would never under any circumstances vote for this!
Joe Biden wrote the 1994 Crime Bill and still defends it. He wrote the Omnibus Counterterrorism Act, later became the Patriot Act.
In 1996 he voted against gay marriage.
In 1999 he repealed Glass Steagall Act.
In 2001 he voted for the Patriot Act.
In 2002 he voted for the Iraq invasion.
In 2005 he voted to end bankruptcy protections for students.
Biden advocated for social security cuts for forty years and tried to cut it FOUR times, 1985, 1994, 2007, and during the Obama years; supported cutting medicare, medicaid and veterans benefits, FOUR times, you can access videos of him bragging about it.
He supported raising the retirement age.
He supported the Kline-Miller Pension Act, a bill that cuts union pensions.
He has a rating of D- by Greenpeace due to his support of fracking, oil and gas extraction and the building of new fossil fuel infrastructure.
He held fundraisers with union busting lawyer, Steven Cozen.
He took $200,000 speaker fee to help elect Republican candidate, Fred Upton.
He voted for the telecommunications Act of 1996, deregulation of media industry,
He voted to repeal Glass Steagall, leading to financial crisis.
He voted against expanding a child care tax credit.
He voted in favor of a 700 mile long border wall with Mexico.
He voted for NAFTA.
He voted for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
He voted to let states overturn Roe v. Wade.
He supports the Hyde Amendment.
He worked to undermine the ACA coverage of contraception,
He pushed for the job killing China Trade bill.
He backed the TPP.
He opposes cannabis legalization.
He supported extending Bush tax breaks for the 1%.
He promoted the war on drugs.
He plagiarized part of his “climate plan” from fossil groups.
"Nothing will fundamentally change,” were Biden's words to his rich donors if he is elected (6/19).
Voted with Clinton to end welfare.
Opposed measures to allow consumers to sue for price fixing.
Opposes universal health care/Medicare For All.
He didn't just compromise with segregationists, he fought for their cause in schools. Joe is a racist to the core, always has been. He repeatedly lied about marching in the civil rights movement.
He repeatedly lied about being arrested in apartheid South Africa. He flip flops on his long held support for the death penalty now that he's running for president.
He won't commit to reducing the prison population, and he’s a paid hack for the credit card industry.
So there you have the facts about Joe Biden.~ Bibi Bowmen

 ***

These times are tough, but we're tougher!

Still, we have to pay for internet and keep the lights on. If you're financially able, please consider making a small donation to keep The Revolution Continues going. You can do so via the Paypal address below. Thank you, fellow revolutionaries, and keep fighting! http://paypal.me/camatthews

***

Recently introduced legislation would open federally-controlled waters to large-scale open ocean aquaculture, putting our oceans and food supply at risk.

Open ocean aquaculture may sound harmless, but it’s really just another term for dangerous, industrialized, large-scale factory fish farms. These facilities damage wild ecosystems, threaten coastal economies and rob local fishing communities of their livelihoods.

That’s why Food & Water Action is calling Congress out and demanding they protect local communities by stopping corporations from taking over our oceans for their own profit.

Send a message to your Members of Congress asking them to reject factory fish farms.

In May, Trump issued an executive order aimed at slashing regulatory protections and environmental reviews of factory fish farms. For years, federal agencies have been pushing factory fish farms in federal waters, even though they know the harm those facilities will cause. In fact, we had to file a federal lawsuit and get a U.S. Court of Appeals to declare that it was unlawful for the government to give industrial fish farms everyday permits. Now some members of Congress want to give fish farmers a pass.

Open ocean fish farms wreak havoc on everything around them:

• They pollute. Waste, excess food, antibiotics and other chemicals pollute ocean water, promoting algae growth that leads to habitat loss and the destruction of sea life.
• They spread disease. Outbreaks of diseases and parasites can spread to wild fish populations, killing them or making them unsafe for consumption.
• The fish escape. Approximately three million fish escape every year from fish farms, pushing non-native species into the ecosystem and disrupting Indigenous fisheries.
• They harm fishing communities. Factory fish farms eliminate fishing jobs by undercutting wild fish prices. This means lost jobs in coastal communities.

Send Your Message

Despite the hype from agribusinesses and industrial fish companies, it’s clear that factory fish farms solve zero problems and create a whole lot of new ones. Allowing open ocean aquaculture in U.S. waters would make our food less safe and damage our oceans.

The wild-capture fishing industry, Indigenous nations and local communities are already speaking out against this bill. Let’s stand with them. We can't let this threat to our oceans and food system move forward.

Take action now to tell your Members of Congress to protect our oceans and fishing communities.

Onward together,

Wenonah Hauter
Founder and Executive Director
Food & Water Action and Food & Water Watch

P.S. Learn more about Open Ocean Aquaculture.

 

The Only Wasted Vote...

  Promise Nothing, Deliver Nothing, Blame

A tutorial on vote shaming told in memes 

by C. A. Matthews

American voters are looking for inspiration and some indications that their wants and needs are heard and being considered seriously this election. But all we get are empty promises and vote shaming when we consider voting outside the prescribed parameters.

"Here's your choice. Live with it," the powers-that-be tell us. And yet...

So, what can voters do? The "choice" they give us rings hollow. Recent history shows us how voting for these parties' candidates doesn't improve our lives. Surely there's something better we can do than keep voting for the "lesser evil" in some insane expectation that conditions will miraculously change?

Worse yet, those who constantly push that old adage of "voting is the cure for all ills" aren't the ones who suffer from the problems we ordinary Americans face, such as lack of adequate health care, evictions, unemployment, police brutality... Their lives are secure and their wealth insulates them from the ups and downs of life in a failed state.

We're left holding the ball, working our butts off, scratching our heads in confusion, and wondering what our next steps should be. The answer is obvious--we must work together and break open the rigged system.

Together we are a force to be reckoned. If we need Medicare for All and want free college for all Americans, we should vote for the candidate who supports our needs and desires--and we have every right to expect those policies to be implemented. Elected and appointed officials are supposed to be servants of the people--we do not serve them! We should never "settle for less" in a candidate because We the People deserve better.

 

Political parties whose members do nothing but vote shame and tell us our needs cannot be met are not to be trusted. Their "smokescreens" or lame excuses indicate their lack of trustworthiness and perhaps their need to please their corporate donors at our expense. Furthermore, these excuses tell us we aren't important enough to be given straight answers. This is where we  draw the line. This is where we tell these manipulators we aren't fooled, and we won't be dismissed anymore.

We tell our oppressors through our voting that we're not afraid of them. We're ready to take them on and take them out. We've found a better choice and no amount of vote shaming or blaming is going to talk us out of it. We know that when we vote our conscience our vote goes to that candidate alone--it doesn't go to or take away a vote from another candidate.  We understand basic mathematics, but for those who don't we'll repeat this simple lesson...

And we support these policies and would never settle for anything less:

http://howiehawkins.us

The next time anyone tries to vote shame you tell them you're not into bullies. You'll never settle for anyone who is okay with vote shamers and vote shaming, either. If supporters of a certain candidate can't win you over to their side by sharing what they stand for in a polite manner, don't feel obligated to put up with their hate. Show them the door. And always vote your conscience. To quote Jimmy Dore: "There's no such thing as a wasted vote!"

The following video gives a great critique of a recent incident of vote shaming done by a well known person:  

https://youtu.be/ObR8TiAHIh0 

 <-- This meme rings true. The status quo doesn't like change, so why would they change to help us? They'll make more lame excuses!

***

Amazon is funding police without any public oversight.

Tell Amazon: divest from police foundations now!

MESSAGE AMAZON

Police foundations were policing’s best-kept secret — until now — and Amazon is in the thick of it.

Over the past six months, tens of thousands of people have loudly condemned police violence and the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and too many others. But even with all the protests, the government and corporations haven’t yet acted in ways to create real, significant change.

Enter Amazon.

Even though Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos has prominently come out against racial inequity¹, Amazon still gives dark money donations to police foundations who then give massive amounts of cash to some of the biggest police departments, without any public oversight. This is absolutely inexcusable.

Today, we’re joining Color Of Change to call out Amazon because it’s not enough for one of the world’s biggest corporations to say it wants to end racism — it needs to take real action. If we’re loud enough, we can push Amazon to divest from policing and stop being complicit in terrorizing Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities.

Tell Amazon: divest from police foundations now!

Police foundations, like massive corporations or oil companies, are private, corporate-sponsored entities that supplement already bloated police budgets and serve powerful interests. 

From NYC to LA, they raise money from wealthy corporations like Amazon to help cops acquire surveillance tech, SWAT team equipment, and weapons designed to target and systematically oppress Black, Brown, and Indigenous people. And, they do it outside of public scrutiny or budget oversight.

In the past few months, Color of Change and over 40 organizations have been pressuring corporations to divest from police foundations. Thousands of messages have been sent to various companies from people like you with amazing results. Wells Fargo has announced it will "pause" all contributions to police foundations² and we’re waiting on active policy decisions from several more corporations.

That’s why it’s so important we pressure Amazon right now. Jeff Bezos is now the richest man in the world.³ His wealth has increased by $88.9 billion in the past five months⁴ and Amazon is worth more than $1.7 trillion. If Amazon divests from police foundations, many others will follow.

And, here’s the thing. Amazon’s image is its most valuable asset. Amazon doesn’t want to be associated with racist police departments and practices. If you speak out, I know we can pressure Amazon to stop giving money to police foundations. Send this message to Amazon and Jeff Bezos right now: Stop your recklessness! Divest from police foundations that have helped grow and militarize the police at the expense of Black and Brown communities.

Racism is a root cause of the climate crisis.

For too long, fossil fuel companies, chemical companies, and other mega-polluters have treated Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities as sacrifice zones — polluting air, land, and water where people live. This environmental racism is part of the broader racism in this country, and it continues with devastating impacts.

If everyone in the U.S. doesn’t work to end racism, elites will be all too willing to let Black and Brown communities suffer the intensifying heat, fires, storms, and rising seas of climate change while continuing their destruction for profit. It’s that simple. Corporate polluters funding police foundations are an example of how climate justice and racial justice are even more connected. The same companies causing climate chaos are also propping up the institutions that keep Black and Brown communities oppressed.

Funding police departments without any public scrutiny or budget oversight is so atrocious. There’s no reason tech corporations like Amazon need to donate to policing and only pretend to care about racial equity. It’s absolutely not enough for corporations to say they want racial equity — they need to prove it with their money.

Greenpeace exists to dismantle the system of corporate power that puts profit before people and the planet. Join us and tell Amazon to divest from police foundations now.

Thank you for taking action. This is an all hands on deck moment.

Gabe Smalley and everyone here at Greenpeace

[1] nytimes.com/2020/06/24/technology/amazon-racial-inequality.html

[2] politico.com/news/2020/09/18/new-racial-justice-target-defund-police-foundations-417423

[3] forbes.com/stories/ten-richest-people-in-the-world-2020/

[4] cnbc.com/2020/08/26/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-worth-more-than-200-billion.htm

***

These times are tough, but we're tougher!

Still, we have to pay for internet and keep the lights on. If you're financially able, please consider making a small donation to keep The Revolution Continues going. You can do so via the Paypal address below. Thank you, fellow revolutionaries, and keep fighting! http://paypal.me/camatthews