Why Don't We Celebrate May Day Anymore?

It's springtime--the season when many contemplate the beauty of nature and why things have become the way they are.

The above meme is a wealth of information for those who wonder, "What are Rights of Nature and how do they affect me?" While many are supportive of the recent Lake Erie Bill of Rights initiative, they still have questions about how a Rights of Nature law can help We the People protect our natural resources such as our drinking water Check out the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund web site for more info. http://www.celdf.org 

And now, an article from a new TRC blogger that asks (and answers) a very pertinent question about why things have come to this point in history.

Why Don't We Celebrate May Day Anymore?
by Redd Phlagg


It's sad that Americans have no idea about the origins of May Day. They've never heard about the Haymarket Massacre. They have no clue where the eight hour day/five days a week workweek comes from. When they see or hear about a union action in the mainstream media, it's almost always slanted toward the negative. For example, a headline might scream, "Unionized School Teachers Demand Better Pay And Working Conditions While Hard-Working Parents Scramble For Daycare"

Oh, those nasty, greedy, evil union members!

Face it--Americans have been taught to hate unions and union workers. The vast majority enjoy the concessions that union activists have commandeered from the capitalist class, such as the minimum wage and overtime pay, but they simply don't have time for the people who make up the unions themselves. Workers are invisible to them.  Strange that is, too, since most Americans are--or have been--members of the working class at some point in their lives.

Why do we hate ourselves so much?

It's not a natural state of being. I don't imagine that most of us get up every day, look in the mirror and say, "Let's see how hard I can work myself to death today to make corporate profits for a bunch of rich people who couldn't care less about my health and welfare." So, how did it come to this sorry state of affairs? Mass brainwashing? Chemicals in the water?

Yes...and yes. All you need do is switch on the TV or open up a web browser and start watching the corporate-sponsored newscasts to see the brainwashing techniques at their best. Only certain issues, stories and candidates are featured on the big networks and that's not because nothing isn't happening involving lesser known people and events. It's a deliberate attempt to keep us slave laborers focused on only those things the capitalist class wants us to focus upon, namely how to make more money for them. 

Be it to deny corporate responsibility in poisoning our air and water, emphasize buying huge gas-guzzling SUVs to make you more popular with the ladies, or perpetuate the myth that the latest coup d'etat staged by the CIA and/or NSA is worth enlisting in the military and dying for (in order to make Raytheon a few more billions in profits this quarter), workers are being fed a whole lot of propaganda bullshit. 

There really isn't any simpler or nicer way to put it. We're just cogs in the capitalists' machine of profit generation. Nothing personal--we just need your blood, sweat and tears. And while you're at it, please leave your dead body in a zipper bag on an Air Force runway when you're done bombing and shooting innocent workers in exotic lands far away, like Syria, Iraq, Yemen or Venezuela. If you don't return alive, then  the elitists don't have to worry about  pesky veterans belly-aching about not receiving the medical care and benefits capitalists told them they could have if they did sign up to kill for "freedom" and Uncle Sam.

We're not celebrating May Day--a worker's holiday--anymore because the American worker is an endangered species. It's part of the oligarchs' plan. Once we're gone and used up as cannon fodder, they can easily replace most of us with androids and robots unless... 

Unless we replace them and their outdated, heinous, immoral system of economic servitude with one that embraces the rights of the worker, the average person, and rejects the ideal that parasitical hoarders of billions of dollars are somehow more worthy to enjoy "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Happy May Day, fellow drudges!  Deep down, we all know what we need to do. We just got to have the guts to do it.

BIO: Redd believes in putting the people first and foremost. Don't ever ask Redd to apologize for pointing out the selfish greed of the upper classes--you won't get it! Redd can frequently be found marching and speaking out for freedom, the real thing and not the imaginary idea perpetuated by corporate propaganda. Power to the people! 

Related article--May Day 2019 Labor Protests in 17 Photographs
https://www.vox.com/2019/5/1/18525416/may-day-labor-protests-2019

Strike action in the Midwest--

strike photos courtesy of NW Ohio DSA

Live Video of Nurses and Support Staff Strike at St. Vincent's Hospital
--over 2200 workers and supporters march for better working conditions in Toledo, Ohio.
https://www.facebook.com/Childofthesystem/videos/2379685248760175

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From UltraViolet:

A New York judge just let a child rapist off with no jail time and--unbelievably--justified it by saying he "only" raped one girl. "Only one"--these are the words of Judge James McClusky.

Last week, Judge McClusky sentenced Shane Piche, a school bus driver, to probation and $365 in fines for raping a 14-year-old child he met on his bus route. According to court records, Piche lured her and other minors to his house, gave them alcohol — and then raped her.⁴

It's horrifying that this even needs to be said, but one child raped is too many. Judge McClusky cannot be trusted to protect survivors of sexual assault, and he needs to be removed from the bench. This case is getting a ton of attention on social media and in the news, and calls are coming from across the country for the commission on judicial conduct to remove McClusky from his position permanently. 

Can you add your voice and demand Judge McClusky be removed from the bench?
 

Tell the New York Commission of Judicial Conduct: "Judge James McClusky just let a child rapist off with a slap on the wrist. Remove him from his position immediately for his blatant disregard for survivors of sexual assault."

Sign the petition

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time we've heard a story like this. In 2015, the nation erupted when California Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Brock Turner to a mere six months for assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster at a Stanford University party. More than one million people signed the petition to demand Judge Persky be removed from the bench, and Bay Area UltraViolet members staged a number of protests. Ultimately, voters rose up to remove Persky from the bench in 2018. That was a huge victory and shows what we can do when we raise our voices together.^5,6 

Like former-Judge Persky in California, Judge McClusky of New York has shown where his concern lies--for the lives of white male perpetrators and not the women or girls they assault. Because of Piche, the life of a 14-year-old child has been irrevocably changed. By demanding McClusky be removed from the bench, we can show that we won't let judges side with rapists over women and girls.

Can you sign the petition to get Judge McClusky removed from the bench?

Together we can build a world that believes and cares for survivors instead of perpetrators. 

Thank you.
-- Shaunna, Kat, Karin, Holly, Kathy, Susan, Anathea, Emma, Natalie, Melody, Pam, Lindsay, Ryan, Sonja, and Noma, the UltraViolet team

Source:
1. School Bus Driver Who Raped 14-Year-Old Will Not Go To Prison, New York Times, April 30, 2019
2. Judge Sparks Outrage for No Jail Time in Rape Sentence, Washington Post, April 30, 2019
3. Judge Gives No Jail Times to Former School Bus Driver Who Admitted to Raping 14-Year-Old Girl, USA Today, updated April 30, 2019
4. School Bus Driver Who Raped 14-Year-Old Girl Gets No Prison Time, Huffington Post, April 30, 2019
5. Judge In Stanford Sex Assault Case Will No Longer Hear Criminal Cases, BuzzFeed, August 25, 2016
6. Judge who was recalled after Stanford sexual assault case seeks donations to pay $135,000 in attorney fees, Los Angeles Times, December 12, 2018

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From Friends of the Earth:

Last week, the Trump Administration finalized its plan to gut safety regulations for offshore drilling.

These regulations were put in place after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster killed 11 people and caused the worst oil spill in American history. Communities near the Gulf of Mexico are still recovering today. Making matters worse, it’s even more likely that a similar disaster would happen in the Gulf again. Our leaders have long seen the Gulf as a “sacrifice zone” -- where drilling can continue unabated.

Congress could take a stand against the efforts to hand over the Gulf to Big Oil and expose its communities to a future oil disaster. But we need your help to push it to act!

Take action NOW: Tell Congress to protect communities in the Gulf from a future oil disaster!

Trump clearly learned nothing from the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. Instead of reducing offshore drilling, he wanted to open more than 90% of the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling activity.

We know from experience that drilling puts marine life and coastal communities at risk. We need to shift away from drilling in our oceans, including the entire Gulf of Mexico.

Any new drilling would threaten fishing, tourism, and the livelihoods of millions of Americans in coastal communities. The only benefits would go to Big Oil executives. 

We must continue fighting with all we have to ensure that our marine life and coastal communities are truly protected. So we need your help to keep the pressure on Congress.

Help send 25,000 messages to Congress: Tell your legislator to protect our oceans and coastal communities, not Big Oil’s profits.

Deepwater Horizon serves as a reminder that any drilling in our oceans is unacceptable. It’s only a matter of time before the next large-scale oil spill disaster. Drilling disrupts marine life, pollutes our coasts, and contributes to climate chaos as well.

The good news is, pressure from people like you to stop giveaways to Big Oil is working. Trump was recently forced to walk back his plan to open nearly all of our oceans to more new drilling. And that was largely thanks to people like you who spoke up in opposition.

But Trump isn’t about to give up. Rumors are already swirling that he will revive his offshore drilling plan after the 2020 election. So we need Congress to step up, check Trump’s handouts to Big Oil, and protect our aquatic ecosystems from future destruction.

Help protect our oceans from Big Oil: Tell your member of Congress to keep fighting for coastal communities and our marine wildlife.

Standing with you,
Hallie Templeton,
Senior oceans campaigner,
Friends of the Earth Action

Biden: My Time?

Another Earth Day has come and gone, but here we are in the US way behind the rest of the world on generating power from the sun and wind. Why do we seem to be in a permanent state of denial?

More denial: Bernie  Sanders is leading in the polls--he's even popular among Republicans as the following video shows. If this is the case, why is the DNC trying to throw a wrench in the works? Coast Watcher gives his insights on  the real reasons behind Joe Biden's stepping into the race.

https://youtu.be/aHq_Dkx5GCo

Biden: My Time?

by Coast Watcher

On Thursday April 25 former Vice President Joe Biden finally came out and announced his candidacy for president. In many ways this was expected. His fan base in the so-called Democratic Party has long agitated for him to step up to the plate. They admire Biden "warts and all"—and my, doesn’t he have some warts!

Biden’s record is a long and shameful one for someone who supposedly espouses democratic values. Right-winger Biden has never met a war he didn’t like. He has voted for all American military interventions since beginning his Washington DC career as senator for Delaware in 1972. He was instrumental in helping draw up the iniquitous Patriot Act that followed 9/11. 

 

He readily accepts donations from Big Business. After stating that he would not accept corporate cash donations, Biden’s first fund raising event in Philadelphia was held at the private home of David Cohen, a Comcast executive known for cutting big checks for the Republican Party. Could the connection between the two faces of the Establishment be any clearer? Also present was Steven Cozen, founder and chairman of the union-busting law firm Cozen O’Connor, an obvious indicator of Biden’s contempt for the average worker. (It only matches his outspoken contempt for the Millennial generation.) One wonders why organized labor is so ready to leap on the Biden bandwagon. 

Incidentally, this cozy little event was a $2,800 a plate meal—hardly chump change for the average American. All this, and we haven’t even begun to list Biden’s history of sexual harassment of women of all ages!

In 1974 Biden went on record as saying he thought Roe vs. Wade "went too far. I don’t think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body." During Bill Clinton’s administration Biden supported and voted for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) which did immense harm to the cause of LGBTQ+ rights. Twenty eight years ago, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Biden presided over the confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas, George Bush Sr.’s nominee to the Supreme Court. During the hearings, black law professor Anita Hill accused Thomas of sexual harassment. In response Biden and the all-white male committee virtually crucified Hill, subjecting her to an extremely embarrassing and detailed examination which reeked of racism and sexual bigotry.

On the same day Biden announced his candidacy, in an obvious attempt to head off trouble before it starts, he issued an apology in a telephone call to Professor Hill. She rejected it, saying in a statement: "I cannot be satisfied by (Biden) simply saying, 'I’m sorry for what happened to you.'" There’s absolutely no evidence that Biden is genuinely contrite for his behavior toward Hill and all other women who have said he has harassed them, either during, before or after this troubling behavior.

His supporters tout Joe Biden as running for the presidency in order to defeat Trump. Not so. For all intents and purposes, his sole purpose in standing for election as president in 2020 is to defeat Bernie Sanders, who has consistently led all other candidates in the polls, much as he did during the 2016 campaign. 

Sanders once more is faced with getting the shaft from the so-called "Democratic" Party. Their corporate handlers (Wall Street banksters and the military-industrialists) want anyone but a popular progressive candidate as president. These moneyed elitists don't want time and energy wasted on improving the quality of life for the vast majority of Americans. Who cares about a free college education or Medicare For All when you're a billionaire? Bernie Sanders and his kind are not wanted and need to be eliminated before more voters wake up to how rigged the voting process truly is.

Claims from the Sanders’ camp that the DNC has reformed and reduced the powers of super delegates are far from reassuring. If Biden wins the nomination (and after the example shown by the nomination of Clinton during the scandalous Democratic convention of 2016, it’s pretty much a given), then once again American voters in 2020 will be facing an identical slate from the the two major parties. Their choice essentially will be between voting for one serial woman groper over another. 

 

Trump or Biden--it’ll be business as usual and with virtually the same policies. The United States will continue to ignore the needs of its poorer citizens. Infrastructure will continue to crumble. The US will still meddle in the affairs of foreign countries with bombings and drone strikes across the Middle East and Africa, murdering thousands of innocents yearly. The only real difference would be that we'd have replaced the current clownish incumbent in the White House with "Uncle Joe," a smooth-talking, experienced politician eager to please his wealthy donors. That's a vast improvement, right?

Related articles and video:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/us/politics/joe-biden-anita-hill.html

https://theintercept.com/2019/04/25/joe-biden-presidential-bid-lobbyists-fundraiser/

http://paydayreport.com/union-busting-lawyer-to-host-bidens-1st-fundraiser-thursday/?fbclid=IwAR1uuKWcP7OFig7ZPqUn1f9ThOIj

https://harpers.org/archive/2019/03/joe-biden-record/ 

Elizabeth Warren calls out Joe Biden's corruption:
https://youtu.be/reXYgFJb--4

BIO: Coast Watcher isn't too optimistic that the DNC has learned its lesson from the 2016 election. He advises that you share this piece with every voter you know and keep them awake until Election Day 2020. 

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From Progress America

Donald Trump isn’t shy about his disdain for the press. All he wants is for our independent media to turn into a GOP-aligned propaganda network, like Fox News. When that doesn’t happen, he calls the media the “Enemy of the People.”
The Trump Administration’s abuse of the press goes further than words--right now, reporters investigating the family separation crisis are being harassed in pursuit of the truth. 

We rely on journalists to tell the truth about what’s going on in the country. The House Oversight Committee must take action to ensure that the press can operate free of harassment by the Trump Administration.

ADD YOUR NAME: Congress must hold the Trump administration accountable for these unconstitutional actions to suppress press freedom!

From Trump’s decades of tax fraud, to the family separation crisis, to Russian interference in the election, to his cabinet’s many scandals/crimes, it’s no surprise that Trump doesn’t like the press.

But the solution isn’t trampling on the constitution--it’s respecting the elected office he holds in the first place!

ADD YOUR NAME: Congress must hold the Trump administration accountable for these unconstitutional actions to suppress press freedom!

Thank you,

Mike Phelan
Progress America

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From Move to Amend:

May 28th is going to be a BIG DAY for democracy as Move to Amend supporters will take to Congressional offices across the country and tell them now is the time to support the We the People Amendment to end corporate rule.

And the best part is, YOU CAN JOIN US!

Here is all that's needed:

• You, and some friends, or your community group if you already belong to one -- organize a demostration/press conference at the nearest office of your member of Congress.

>> Click here to find your Representative if you don't know or if you're not familiar with where their offices are (click their name to go to their website and check their office locations, depending on the size of your district there might be a couple).

• Invite 3-5 community organizations to speak at your demonstration about how the issues they work on connect with corporate rule and how ending corporate constitutional rights will help "Free the People" they work to protect.

>> Ask the groups to pass a resolution of support in advance that you can bring into the meeting with your Congressperson (MTA National will provide a template)

• Schedule a meeting with your Congressperson or their staff (Reps should be back home in their District the week of May 28) to happen right after your demonstration/press conference.

>> Plan to go into the meeting with 4-5 other folks from the event and together request they co-sponsor the We the People Amendment (HJR48).

• Share what happened to reach more people!

>> MTA National will provide a template press release and tips for taking photos and recording the event to help spread the word on social media to folks who were not in attendance.

Sign up to Free the People and let us know you want to organize an action for May 28 in your community.

Amending the Constitution to end corporate rule and big money in politics requires a massive democracy movement. We’ve been building this movement for 10 years -- with thousands of endorsements and 800 communities that have passed resolutions and ballot measures, this year is the year we ask every member of Congress, which side are they on? We the People? Or Corporate Rule?

Help us demand answers and #FreeThePeople!

Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap
Move to Amend National Director

P.S.: Organize an action with your friends and #FreeThePeople this May 28 with Move to Amend.

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From Friends of the Earth:

Good news! It’s being reported that Trump’s Department of the Interior has decided to table its efforts to hand over nearly all of our oceans to Big Oil.

This is a huge victory for our marine wildlife, coastal communities across the country, and climate. And it happened in part thanks to massive public opposition to the plan from people like you.

But Interior Secretary Bernhardt is already floating the idea of reviving the plan after the 2020 election. So we need you to urge the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management -- the agency responsible for this plan -- to scrap it for good!

Tell BOEM: No new drilling in our oceans -- not now, not ever!

Trump and Bernhardt were forced to walk back the plan after coming under pressure from even Republican elected officials in coastal states. The governors of Florida and South Carolina listened to their constituents and came out against it due to the devastating impact it could have on their states’ beaches and tourism-driven economies.

After all, new drilling would threaten fishing, tourism, and the livelihoods of millions of Americans in coastal communities. The only benefits would go to Big Oil executives.

Every day we delay the plan is another day that our marine life and coastal communities are protected. So we need your help to keep the pressure on.

Take action now: Send a strong message that BOEM must scrap its offshore drilling plan for good.

Trump tried to put Big Oil’s profits ahead of the people who live in coastal communities nationwide. Many of these communities depend on fishing and tourism for a healthy economy. 

What’s worse, Trump was doing this to help his friends in the oil industry. He even picked an Interior Secretary to lead the effort -- David Bernhardt -- who is a former fossil fuel industry lobbyist.

Our ocean ecosystems and coastal communities are more important than Big Oil’s profits. Public pressure is working to delay and stop Trump from causing the next ecological disaster in our oceans. We’re so close to a major victory for our environment -- but we can’t let up the pressure now.

Stop Trump from handing over our oceans to Big Oil: Write to BOEM now!

Standing with you,
Hallie Templeton,
Senior oceans campaigner,
Friends of the Earth

Do Not Repeat These Errors!

Toledoans for Safe Water organizer Markie Miller addressed the Interactive Dialogue of the United Nations General Assembly on Harmony with Nature during the commemoration of International Mother Earth Day, April 22. Here what she had to say about the Lake Erie Bill of Rights and Rights of Nature in general:

Markie demonstrates how We the People can't afford to sit on the sidelines and let another algal bloom disaster happen again. Our guest blogger Bern Notice points out even more American history we dare not repeat.

An Open Letter to the Democrats — Do Not Repeat the Errors of 2016 

by Bern Notice

The 2020 election is in full swing. The field is being filled with contenders with large national profiles, and with others without as much name recognition. Having a great number of people in the election is a good thing as it presents an array of options which were limited in 2016.

Choice is truly a wonderful thing as long as those choices are respected. That is the great concern that should be on everyone’s mind as we progress through the 2020 electoral cycle. The whole point of democracy — which is the root of the word “Democrat” — is found in its definition:

Definition of democracy

1

a : government by the people especially : rule of the majority

b : a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections

2 : a political unit that has a democratic government

3 capitalized : the principles and policies of the Democratic party in the U.S. from emancipation Republicanism to New Deal Democracy — C. M. Roberts

4 : the common people especially when constituting the source of political authority

5 : the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges

Reference: Merriam-Webster

In short, the will of the common people is the source of political power and authority. It is their vote and support which grants you the ability to be an arbiter of justice or a writer of laws. Without their support, that power and authority is lost. It is their consent to your laws that gives you any authority over the masses.

For those reasons, it is imperative that the will of the people is obeyed. When that will is undermined, it is no longer a democracy—and that is when tyranny and revolutions begin.

If you are wondering what the point is for explaining this, I will make it plain. The DNC and their shenanigans in 2016 directly led to Donald Trump becoming President of the United States. If the DNC is perceived as tipping of the balance toward any candidate, it can alienate supporters of other candidates.

If the outcome of the election is determined by the voters and perceived to be done without bias of the power brokers in the DNC, I think even the weakest Democratic candidate can beat Donald Trump this election. The progressives and liberals would coalesce around that candidate and put a Democrat in the White House.

Before we get too deep into the weeds, lets get this out of the way now: 2016 is over and done with. There is no changing it. We have the results we have, and there is no changing that fact. There is no point in re-litigating it. That being said, there is value in learning from the mistakes of that year so they aren’t repeated.

The perception of the DNC trying to help the Clinton campaign may have been the difference between a Clinton presidency and a Trump presidency. Some would quickly argue that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, and the antiquated electoral college system is what put Trump in office. This is true.

It is also true that the Electoral College is the system we currently elect our presidents under. It is also arguable that there was a sufficient margin of Sanders voters who voted for Trump in 2016 to have affected the results in Michigan and Wisconsin.

Reference: Here’s How Many Bernie Sanders Supporters Ultimately Voted For Trump — NPR

 

Reference: MSNBC’s Morning Joe

The problem isn’t solely that they voted for Trump, but also the fact that a great number of Sanders supporters thought they were screwed in the primary by the DNC. It’s not as though they were thinking this in a vacuum. They had reason for it. Even corporate news networks noticed it.

Then there’s Donna Brazile, DNC chair, who said explicitly that the primary “wasn’t rigged” but mentions the memorandum between the DNC and the Clinton Campaign that “prevented the DNC from running it’s own operation”.

 
Reference: ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos

Whether it is called rigged or not, just the perception of the DNC having a clear preference was enough for certain individuals to vote for Trump, Jill Stein or stay home. According to FiveThirtyEight, the number of voters who voted for Jill Stein account for more than the victory margin in certain key states that many expected Clinton to win.

harry (Harry Enten, senior political writer): The case, as far as I see it, is twofold: First, the number of votes cast for Stein in the three states that proved to be pivotal (Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) exceeded Trump’s margin of victory over Clinton.

Jill Stein is now officially the Ralph Nader of 2016.

Stein votes/Trump margin:
MI: 51,463/10,704
PA: 49,678/46,765

WI: 31,006/22,177

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) December 1, 2016

Reference: FiveThirtyEight — Jill Stein: Democratic Spoiler Or Scapegoat?

Is this to say that all of these voters who defected to Stein or Trump would have voted for Clinton? (Editor's note: Most Green Party supporters do not automatically vote for the Democrat over the Republican when there is a Green on the ballot, so calling Stein a "spoiler" is inaccurate and denigrates the important place third parties play in American politics.) No, of course not. You can try to mitigate your losses by simply staying out of the fray and letting the voters decide for themselves who will represent them.

As long as the election is run fairly, it doesn’t matter which candidate wins, Biden, Sanders, Buttigieg, Yang… They are all substantially better than leaving Trump in power. They will likely get the support across the board.

If the DNC tips the scales again, or even appears to be doing it, then they are undermining the very process that they profess to care about. They would be undermining democracy. Period. It will alienate anyone who feels burned by it. Still, it seems as though certain members within the DNC do not want to let this play out.

'Stop Sanders' Democrats Are Agonizing Over His Momentum
WASHINGTON - When Leah Daughtry, a former Democratic Party official, addressed a closed-door gathering of about 100… from www.nytimes.com

Why does the DNC insist on doing this? This is how we got into this mess in the first place. Regardless of the candidate, this should not be how elections are decided. Make your case on the debate stage. If a candidate is not viable, the people should make that choice based on what they find out on the debate stage or on the news.

The power brokers within the party should not be trying to make that decision for them. That would be no better than the voter suppression that they rightly demonize the Republican party for. That would be the height of hypocrisy. In fact, it’s hard to accept the notion of “Any blue will do” when you go against the democratic principles your very own party is named after.

The power to decide elections should reside solely with the voters, not the power brokers within the party.

Let me be clear, this is not a argument for one candidate. It is an argument for any and all candidates who run for office, even ones I am not in favor of. Nor is this a request for a coronation. This is simply a request to allow the democratic process to take place organically. Live up to the meaning of your party name. Let the voters decide who wins without your influence.

If you ignore this, then you risk repeating the results of 2016 and giving Trump another term. None of us wants that— or at least, I hope we don’t.

Sources:

1. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy
2. https://www.npr.org/2017/08/24/545812242/1-in-10-sanders-primary-voters-ended-up-supporting-trump-survey-finds
3. MSNBC youtube site, clip from Morning Joe “https://youtu.be/dGeyhgp2N8A?t=292"
4. This Week “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZcl9fCEvi8"
5. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/jill-stein-democratic-spoiler-or-scapegoat/
6. “https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/16/us/politics/bernie-sanders-democratic-party.html" 

Bio: Bern Notice is closely observing the candidates this election cycle, and he's reporting all the facts he can get his hands on. Visit his blog, Seeing through the B.S.,  today to learn more about the political personalities we'll be seeing more of in the coming year.

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested by the U.K last week and the reaction coming from the Democratic Party is astonishing. Instead of opposing the Trump administration’s campaign to extradite him and criminalize journalism, the Democrats are debating whether they should drag Assange before a congressional committee, interrogate him on his connections to Trump, and use him to ignite a new round of Russiagate. The world owes a huge debt of gratitude to Julian Assange. It’s thanks to him and WikiLeaks that we know that the 2016 American presidential election was rigged, not by Republicans and Russians, but by the Democratic Party. Assange exposed war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, mass surveillance through our personal electronic devices, corruption spanning many governments with the State Department cables, and ensured that Snowden wouldn’t end up in a U.S. blacksite. He has publish documents pertaining to every country in the world, exposed governments and corporations alike, and has a perfect record of accuracy in his reporting. He has paid an enormous personal price to shine light on the crimes of the powerful, having been confined to a small room inside the Ecuadorian embassy in the U.K. for nearly seven years before his arrest. Trump’s indictment of Assange is a dramatic escalation in the war on press freedoms that Bush and Obama waged. The government’s indictment charges Assange with receiving classified information without the proper security clearance and soliciting government secrets through his publishing platform WikiLeaks, activities that are both central and routine to investigative journalism. By that standard, every journalist and newspaper that reports on government secrets could be prosecuted. The same Democrats who have spent three years consumed with righteous indignation over Trump’s attacks on the press are now cheering him on as he criminalizes journalism. Democratic Rep. Jim Himes from Connecticut, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said the party might try to force Assange to testify on his connections to the president, in an apparent attempt to salvage the imploding Trump-Russia conspiracy. Other congressional Democrats said they might want to force him to bolster American counterintelligence. Determined not to be outdone by Trump, the Democratic Party is on its own crusade against press freedoms. The DNC sued Wikileaks last year for publishing its emails in 2016. The ACLU and other civil liberties organizations consider the suit so damaging to press freedoms enshrined in the First Amendment that they called on the judge to dismiss the case, pointing out that it arbitrarily singles out Wikileaks among news outlets “for publishing truthful information that is unquestionably of public interest.” In fact the threat to journalism is global. If Trump and the Democrats succeed in extraditing and prosecuting a foreign journalist for publishing U.S. government documents, it will set a precedent allowing governments around the world to extradite and imprison American journalists for reporting on their classified materials. Anytime a reporter at the Washington Post, New York Times and other U.S. publication covers leaks emerging from foreign governments, they would be at risk. In December, the New York Times exposed Ecuador’s motivation for expelling Assange from the embassy after nearly seven years. Ecuador’s new neoliberal president sought to trade Assange to the U.S. for debt relief. It finalized the deal in February, receiving $10.2 billion in loans from the IMF, World Bank, and other U.S.-dominated financial institutions two months before handing Assange to the U.K. In 2016 the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had ruled that Assange was being held unlawfully without charge and called for his release. The Trump administration claims that Assange will be tried for a single count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, but it is merely giving Ecuador and the U.K. plausible deniability that Assange won’t be subjected to further human rights violations upon his extradition to the U.S. On Wednesday CNN reported that more charges are coming. He is likely to be charged with espionage the minute he is in U.S. custody. Perhaps better than any of us, Julian Assange understands that the Democratic and Republican parties are extensions of Wall Street and the military industrial complex. They are committees of corporations, much like ALEC, where lobbyists come together to rule with a veneer of democratic legitimacy. I’m proud that a few months after our movement began, Assange wrote this essay urging progressives to form a major new party in America, and echoing us on why it can and must be done. Here is a preview of what he said:

Powerful governments and corporations perpetrate the biggest crimes on the planet. They fear what Julian Assange and WikiLeaks represent: a world where reality is not filtered through their censors in the corporate media, where opinions are not warped by their prisms of interests.

They fear a world where we make up our own minds.

Here's to that world,

Nick Brana
Founder and National Director
Movement for a People’s Party