The Revolution Continues blog is news, views, opinion and other expressions of hope from a leftist point-of-view. (We are not affiliated with any candidate, political party or organization. All are welcome.)
Everything You Wanted to Know About Maintaining the Status Quo (But Were Afraid You Already Knew)
by C.A. Matthews
From time to time The Revolution Continues (TRC) likes to do a “man on the street” interview to get a finger on the pulse of the public. What’s on the ordinary person’s mind lately? Here is the transcript of our latest meet-up with an Average American Voter (AAV).
TRC: Thanks for agreeing to speak with us today. You told us earlier that something is really bothering you. You suspect it’s also worrying others, and you want to hear our thoughts on the matter. What’s your concern?
AAV: Well, it’s hard to put into words, but here goes: Why does it seem the more Americans vote the way they tell us to, the worse things get? I mean, why aren’t the Democrats doing anything to stop Trump and his cronies from ruining the economy or stopping arms sales to Israel? I thought the Dems were different.
TRC: Different? In what way are they supposed to be “different”?
AAV: I expected them to take a more active role in protecting ordinary people like me. You know, protect us from being taken advantage of by the billionaires. But they’re just letting Musk tear the government apart. You’d think they’d stand up and stop him from destroying so many social programs, not just talk about it and do nothing of consequence.
TRC: And this inactivity on the Democrats’ part worries you?
AAV: Yes, it does. I’d like to be able to retire and collect my Social Security in a few years if possible.
TRC: Completely understandable. To re-state your concern, you’re wondering why the opposition party doesn’t seem able or willing to challenge the actions of the party in power currently. The Democrats seem to be cooperating more with the Republicans than actually challenging them. Is that right?
AAV: Right. That’s not what I voted for. I want change. I want them to challenge the status quo, not go along with them.
TRC: I see. I think that’s where your misinterpretation of the DNC’s inactivity comes in. Because the Dems have, in fact, been quite active as of late.
AAV: They have?
To discover the true nature of all this "activity," continue reading the rest of this article. Copy or click on this
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A Terrible Tale of Voter Suppression. (Plus "A Letter to Kamala.")
by C. A. Matthews
Living with a mystery series writer (check out my husband’s Veronica Nash series), I watch many (and I mean many) mystery movies, TV series, and the like. I’ve never been the biggest fan of mysteries since some feature “copaganda” with their noble-minded police detective sleuths showing off how damn smart they are. Putting that fault aside, I watch mysteries in order to learn more about how to plot a story as well as learn interesting science facts that occasionally pop up. I find an interesting twist in the tale or an outright surreal ending (like in a Twilight Zone episode) enjoyable, too.
Unfortunately, many mysteries are poorly plotted. If I can guess “whodunnit” within the first ten minutes of a mystery movie/TV show (or first chapter of a novel), then it’s safe to say it’s crap and needs a re-write. I mean, how the heck should anyone figure out the mystery so quickly? Mediocre mysteries are the worse. There’s no use reading the rest of the book or watching the next hour and half of silly red herrings if you know who the murderer/kidnapper/thief is already. I’ve got better things to do with my time.
Which brings me to what I do with my time these days—I try and solve real life mysteries of the political kind. In this season of post-election blues in the US, I submit for your approval the following: The Mystery of the Missing Votes or A Terrible Tale of Voter Suppression.
In New Jersey, Green candidate for Congress Ben Taylor was ahead of his duopoly competitors with 50,000+ votes, but a second later the screen said that Taylor was behind and had only 3,000 votes. What happened to his lead? Did his votes all die a mysterious death?
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(The US isn’t in any position to lecture anyone about morality. It's time to kick the moral idiots out of office.)
by C.A. Matthews
“How can they do such a thing!” is a phrase I’ve heard more than once over the past twelve months, closely followed by “That’s insane! They’re acting like sociopaths! They’re immoral!”
I agree wholeheartedly. Israel’s genocide of Gazans, trapped in an open air prison, on what are basically made up excuses to steal their land and resources qualifies as insane, immoral, and sociopathic. But it’s happening now to the Palestinian people in both Gaza and the West Bank, and the evil is spreading into Lebanon with the blessings (and armaments) of the USA.
Americans can’t deny it. US tax payers are arming “The World’s Most Moral Army (TM)” with our tax dollars. We’re arming them in spite of Israeli soldiers videoing themselves committing war crimes such as looting and shooting innocent civilians and children in cold blood.
So how is it that Israel claims to have a “moral” army when its soldiers are anything but? How can the US claim to be moral when it has broken its own humanitarian laws that say it's unlawful to arm a country that is breaking those same humanitarian laws? How can what the US military is doing in the Middle East be considered moral when they don’t even live up to their own standards?
“Because we say it is,” is the typical reply given by US and Israeli government spokespersons. “We say our actions are moral, and you are mistaken if you think otherwise. We are superior in our wisdom.”
Do you believe them? I don’t...
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Editor's
note:
I had a dream about this whole hot mess the
world finds itself in. I wanted to share my vision, but I struggled to put it
into words until I decided to write it as a short short story. Other
than the odd poem (not very often and very odd), I haven't posted
anything like a short story at the The
Revolution Continues
before. This is a first. I've not written much fiction in recent
times because, frankly, I don't feel like writing anything funny or
with a happy ending. My last
novella is set in a dystopian world where an anarchist commune that practices mutual aid is
struggling to survive alongside a fascist state. My publisher
insisted it at least have a "happy for now" ending.
(You can buy a copy of it here. It would make my publisher very happy. Or you can drop me a donation via my
Paypal.me page here. That would make me very happy!)
If you decide you'd like to read more short fiction posts, let me know. I'll
see what I can do. If you'd rather I didn't post fiction here, leave a
comment stating your preference. Thanks for your feedback.
A must-watch short video:
We can put an end to this genocide. We have the power.
The
Miracle
by C.A. Matthews
“That’s
my planet,” I confessed, trembling. I pointed to the big blue marble that is Earth through the spaceship observation port. The
tallest of the grayish, bulb-headed, big-eyed, mouthless alien beings
nodded in understanding. “You can tell it’s inhabited from the
amount of pollution in the atmosphere detectable from this…
height.”
I’d
never believed in alien abduction before, but now that it was
happening to me it didn’t seem all that bad. No anal probes. No
poking or prodding of any kind really, unless you count the mental
probing my hosts—I hated to label them “my captors”—had
gently done to determine how best to communicate with me. I spoke
out loud, but I realized fairly quickly that they were reading my
mind and communicating me mentally, so using
my vocal cords
wasn’t
necessary. Talking just made me feel less nervous in their presence,
and they didn’t seem
to mind.
The
pollutants and toxins in your biosphere are slowly killing your kind
and many other species. Do you understand?
The tallest
of the aliens
sent its
thoughts directly into my head. Its tone and intonation made me
imagine it was coming from an
older, wiser individual. Itcommunicated
slowly and kindly as if speaking to a lost child. Would
you like them removed?
“The
pollution, you mean, not the people, right?” I laughed
and then gasped
as
what it meant hit me fully.
“You’re saying that you all can actually clean up our polluted
planet
after
all we’ve done to it?”
Yes,
we have the means to return your planet’s biosphere to its state
before the mass burning of fossil
fuels began. We can purge the toxins from the atmosphere,
the water
cycle, and from the soil. Crops
and forests will thrive. No longer will adverse climate effects harm
food production or the wildlife. We
can replace the
engines that run your
vehicles, machinery, and industrial plants that cause pollution and
radiation
with ones that do not. We can eliminate rogue viruses and bacteria
that cause serious illness and provide your
healers with instruction on how to cure through natural means, not
through
the
use of synthetic chemicals. Allow
us
to demonstrate.
With
a wave of its hand—or what I thought would pass as a
hand
on Earth—Tall
Guy
gave
its
compatriots
the signal to start Operation Earth Clean-Up. I’m not sure if what I
witnessed from the spaceship
window happened instantaneously or was happening over a period of
days,
years,
or centuries,
but within what seemed only a few short minutes to
me
the face of the Earth looked much
greener
and bluer and...well, healthier.
“Wow…”
I whispered. “Thank you! I am very impressed. No more bad air
quality days? No more boil warnings for our tap water? I can actually
swim in the lake now and not get covered with an outbreak of
poisonous blue-green algae?”
We
have purged
the toxins that are hazardous to life on your planet, my
host mentally informed me. Your
kind can be cured of sicknesses
now
with simple medicines and techniques available
to all.
“No
more need
for bad
health
insurance that never covers what you really need? Cancer cured? It
all
sounds
too good to be true.” I shook
my head in
disbelief.
“In my country, big corporations make
lots of money from keeping people sick and addicted to drugs.”
Tall
Guy blinked. If it
had possessed a mouth, it might have frowned. The
concept
of capitalism was probably as foreign and strange to my hosts as
their spaceship and advanced technology were to me. If they were
reading my mind at that moment, they might have regretted lavishing
such kind gifts upon our selfish species.
Is
there anything else we can do for your kind before we return you? Tall
Guy asked.
I
couldn’t wait to return to Earth—the beautiful, unpolluted Garden
of Edenwhere
sickness would be no more. I
sighed. There was something
niggling
me
in the back of my mind. I
had to know ifmy
hosts could
grant methis
one last, grandwish.
“Can
you rid our
world of war? Can you remove all the weapons—that
is, the
tools of violence
and destruction? Guns,
cannons,
nukes,
tanks, submarines, bomber
jetsand
the like that
humans use
to
kill other humans?”
Tall
Guy blinked again.
I was pretty sure this time it was
frowning
inside even without a mouth.
I
probably had asked too big of a favor. After all, extracting
pollution out of the biosphere could be just an
elaborate
chemical equation to them, but taking weapons away from warmongers? If
the concepts of capitalism andgreed
were incomprehensibly
horrible
and cruel to my
hosts,
can you imagine what they would have thought of humanity’s
insatiable need
to slaughter their
neighbors
and steal each
others’ land
and resources?
A
few
minutes later, after much discussion
as I called my hosts’ method of communicating as a group by
touching their foreheads
together,
I got my answer.
We
will try.
It
took more than ahand
wave from Tall Guy to bring peace about on Planet Earth. Several
different groups of gray aliens
started to work out different aspects of the challenge. I was allowed
to walk about and watch each team
tackle their part of the problem. I watched a view screen with
fascination as one group disintegrated
the biggest and most obvious weapons of war. They
focused what must have been a laser upon anaircraft
carrier and
then poof!
It was vaporized. Gone. Likewise to nuclear subs and battleships. The
sailors aboard were all magically transported to the closest port.
I
couldn’t help but clap my hands with glee as another group took out
an entire fleet of bombers and nuclear silos.
Zap! They
disappeared.
But
my hosts didn’t stop there. Another
group worked on eliminating all the small arms and automatic
weapons on
the planet. I’m not sure how their scanners could pick up on the
millions of firearms, some of which were hidden in cellars and barns
by the thousands in
my country,
but they did it. Abracadabra!
They vanished.
Wars
aren’t only fought on the battlefields, but in the cities and towns
where the oppressed are helpless to defend themselves. Several groups
of my gray hosts worked on tearing down barbwire fences and concrete
walls that had imprisoned so many within their own homelands or kept
them from entering a place of safety. I don’t know how they did
it, but my hosts flung open the prison doors that had incarcerated
freedom fighters and innocents alike, setting them free.
In
turn, the
politicians and the corporate war lords who had profited greatly
from
eternal wars for oil and similar
land grabs were escorted by invisible forces to trade places with the
unjustly imprisoned. Ta-da!
What
a brilliant move!
The
destruction of homes, family farms, and small businesses, the results of the wars
and genocides, was instantly reversed. Homelessness and
hunger were no
more. All who had been separated by violence and
divisions were
once again reunited with their family
members
and friends.
I
wept
tears of joy.
It
is accomplished,
Tall Guy communicated to me. Why
do you experience sadness?
“I’m
not sad. I’m happy.” I wiped my tears away with the back of my
hand and gazed upon one
of the
view screens
where a neighborhood, once reduced to rubble by bombing, now stood
whole and complete. “I am so
happy
with
the results of your
wonderful talents. How
can we ever thank you?”
And
then I caught a glimpse of something on the screen that caused my
smile to fade.
“What the hell… What is he doing?”
A
man picked up a rock and threw it hard at another man just about to
enter his rebuilt home. The second man fell to his knees, blood
pouring from a deep
gash
on his forehead. The
first
man and his group
ran toward the second man’s home,throwing
more rocks at it as
well as the
peopleof
the rebuilt neighborhood.
“I
thought you had eliminated all war?” I
whispered.
My
hosts assembled and pressed their foreheads
together in communion. After a long
minute,
Tall Guy approached,
its
appendages spread open in an imploring fashion.
We
eliminated all the human-made tools of war and violence as you had
asked us to, but we cannot take away the feelings of hatred and greed
and fear from inside each human being. That is something humanity
must do for itself. Do you understand?
I
nodded
and closed my eyes. “I understand. I appreciate all that you’ve
done for us. I realize now that I
can’t
expect you to perform a miracle.”
A
miracle? Explain.
“Something
that seems impossible, but it can and does spontaneously
occur
on rare occasions.”
Tall
Guy nodded. Its gaze appeared softer, more sympathetic.No,
we cannot perform a miracle. We cannot change the minds of living
beings set on hurting others.
“How
long will it take until humankind rebuilds
all the weapons it
had?”
I sniffed.
“Years? Months? Days?”
Not
long. Tall
Guy’s
tone
registered upon my mind
as
resignation.
I
turned toward the window. The
skies above the Earth weregrowing
darker and dirtier by
the second.
Humanswere
already rebuilding
the polluting factories to
create instruments of death, to
destroy each other and Earth’s fragile ecosystem without mercy.
Can
we help? Tall
Guy communicated
to
me.
I
slowly
smiled
at
my gracious
hosts.
“We’d all better start praying for that miracle,
or else I’ve wasted your time.”
This meme of Israeli girls writing their names on bombs to drop on Gaza is a couple months old. Recent estimates say 15,000+ children have been murdered in the Israeli genocide of Gaza.
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“The hardest thing I’ve ever seen the Democrats fight for is to keep a disabled Marine combat veteran off the ballot.”
– Matthew Hoh, Green Party candidate for US Senate from North Carolina
One Trump, Two Trump, Red Trump, Blue Trump
(or The Future of the So-Called Democratic Party)
by Coast Watcher
Frankly,
the so-called US Democratic Party should be sued for flagrant misuse of
the term democratic. They are without doubt the
most undemocratic institution in the United States. It’s no secret
that the party has a standing order to challenge the right of any
third party to be included on electoral ballots, federal, state, or local. With friendly judges
in their pockets these iniquitous attacks by Democrats on the right
of the American people tohave
a choice
frequently succeed.
As
if this wasn’t bad enough, the Establishment
Party (composed of
the so-called Democrats and their good friends, the Republicans or GOP)
have succeeded in placing their members in positions of
authority in county electoral boards and changed the rules so no
other parties can sit on such boards. These are the people who decide who does or
does not qualify to be on the ballot. Naturally, the GOP and
the Democrat candidates always
qualify. But people running for third parties? Not so much.
Take
the case of Matthew Hoh, Green Party candidate for US Senate to
represent the people of North Carolina. (More details on this story at Whatever This Is, It's Not a Democracy.) A disabled Marine Corp
veteran, Hoh is an excellent candidate for high office. An
articulate, intelligent man, Hoh has "seen the elephant" in war.
With such experience, his is a voice of authority when it comes to
espousing the deep desire for peace and an end to the American
government’s policy of constant warfare. Hoh’s campaign has gained a
great deal of traction to the point that it looks like the Green Party is becoming a real
challenger to the Establishment Party in NC.
This,
of course, doesn't sit well with the "Demopublicans."
The
North Carolina Green Party workers went the extra mile in ensuring
that all petition signatures for inclusion on the ballot were
legitimate, collecting far more than the minimum required. The counties' election boards approved of the Green Party's signature petitions to be on the ballot and sent them onto the state board of elections for final approval. When it came to
the state electoral board to certify the counties' findings, the chairman muted
the Green Party’s legal representative to prevent him from asking questions and rejected the NCGP's certified signature petitions out of hand.
The Greens are protesting the railroading of their candidate, but with the courts firmly in the hands of the Establishment Party, do you really think they'll decide in the Greens' favor before the ballot deadline?
Matthew
Hoh’s horrible experience isn’t the only such example. There have been many
others across the country, some of which are described in this excellent article. The Establishment-owned electoral boards
not only run interference against perceived challengers to the Democrats, they
also reject petitions on behalf of Libertarians who are seen to be challengers to the
GOP.
This
constant denial of ballot access is draining Americans of the right to participate in their own government. It disenfranchises
millions of voters who are not affiliated with either wing of the Establishment Party. It also appears to be the sign of the so-called Democratic Party
in a death dive.
Consider this: if the Establishment's policies are oh-so wonderful and
beneficial to the American people, why do Democrats and their GOP
allies act afraid of any challengers on the ballot? Could it be they realize their policies are actually harmful to working class Americans, and they rightfully fear revolution? Could the handwriting already be on the wall, and those currently in the status quo know they'll be first in line at the guillotine?
The
rot has set into the so-called Democrats in a big way. Young adult support for
the Dems has hemorrhaged. The current figures make woeful reading
for the party leadership. According
to aNew York
Times
poll released last Sunday, 94
percent
of voters aged 18-29 do not want Biden to run again in 2024. Biden’s
betrayal of his election pledge to lessen student loan debt is coming
home to roost.
His age is also against him. Biden will turn 80 in
November—assuming he makes it that far. The signs aren’t good.
You only have to look at his recent performances on TV to see there’s
something badly wrong with the man’s health, both physical and
mental.
End
quote: Repeat sentence.
Quite.
Support
among Black Americans is also in free-fall. Biden pledged to end police violence against Black citizens. Instead he supported increasing police budgets and allowed police departments to siphon off money
intended for COVID relief to fund their own projects. For instance, federal COVID funds are being used to pay for things such as security cameras instead of improving ventilation and
filtration systems in schools and public buildings.
Misuse
of public funds doesn’t end there. Over half a million Americans
are homeless. Many more are insecure in how long they can remain in their dwellings, facing
rent or mortgage hikes far beyond their ability to keep up with
payments. Many states and local authorities are responding to this
crisis by effectively criminalizing homelessness. Over 11 million
children are food insecure. Over 17 million people lack even adequate
healthcare coverage. Most Americans are but one unexpected $600 bill away from financial ruin.
In spite of these somber statistics, billions of dollars are being sent to prop up a proxy war in Ukraine with nothing more than the rubber-stamp approval of Congress. Obviously, keeping the military-industrial complex profitable is more important to the Establishment Party than making sure all Americans are housed, fed, and have access to adequate health care.
So
what is
the future of the so-called Democratic Party?
From
the way things are shaping up, I see it merging with the Republican Party before too many years are out. Ideologically they are growing ever closer
until, like sunset and sunrise, there soon won’t be any daylight
between them.
And
the persecution of third parties and their candidates? Parties that offer Americans
real
choices on the ballot will continued to be harassed by the threatened Establishment.Vicious
attacks on social media against alternative voices are at an all time high. It seems when neither wing of the Establishment Party can come up with a good policy to address the pressing needs of suffering Americans all the Demopublicans can do is post nasty tweets and broadcast mudslinging TV commercials. Casting doubt and blame on newcomers who come up with brilliant ideas comes naturally to those mired in the status quo.
A
lot of the propaganda that went into the Cold War against the former
Soviet Union was based on the USSR’s "One Party State" system. So
tell me, how is the United States of America any different from the
USSR in denying its citizens a choice on the ballot and a real say in their
government?
BIO: Coast Watcher is very observant. Not much gets past his eagle eyes when it comes to what the Establishment Party says and what it actually does. By forcing voters into choosing between the "lesser evils," evil itself has been baked right into the whole corrupt system of government. It's time to throw out the inedible bad cake and let the people decide how to bake things themselves.
The people: Can you guys at least try to do something about the staggering amounts of wealthy inequality?
Congress: We’re working on it! We’ll let you know as soon as we figure out how to shrink that gap through massive increases in corporate profit and shareholder value! 🥰
Homer Simpson - America, take a good look at our candidates, they're all corrupt
Candidates - It's true, we are corrupt, but what are you going to do about it, it's a TWO PARTY SYSTEM, YOU'LL HAVE TO VOTE FOR ONE OF US pic.twitter.com/TJeSS5LRc3
You outnumber your oppressors 12 to 1. You can not only relieve yourselves from the consequences of this accursed system, you can absolutely abolish it. You can put yourselves in control of the government, take possession of your own, and emancipate yourself from slavery
