Were he alive today, how sad and sick he would be to know that it’s still true 50+ years later, and that the Empire hadn’t heeded his visionary warnings. But of course, his socialist, radical warnings were what got him assassinated, weren’t they? That the amerikan military budget is now close to a trillion dollars, and that this President has even upped the ante on Obama’ Nuclear Posture, according to leaked documents on the DoD’s draft means the hegemonic impulses of the Empire are more frantic than ever, which many radical leftists believe indicates an Empire in its final throes.
How tragic that Ajamu Baraka was prompted to write: ‘The Responsibility to Protect the World … from the United States’
“One of the most ingenious propaganda weapons ever developed is that the powerful nations of the West—led by the United States—have a moral responsibility to use military force to protect the rights of people being repressed by their governments.
This violent, lawless Pan-European colonial/capitalist project continues today under the hegemony of the U.S. empire. This then begs the questions of who really needs the protection and who protects the peoples of the world from the United States and its allies? The only logical, principled and strategic response to this question is citizens of the empire must reject their imperial privileges and join in opposing ruling elites exploiting labor and plundering the Earth. To do that, however, requires breaking with the intoxicating allure of cross-class, bi-partisan “white identity politics.”
The result? International Gallup and Pew research polls have consistently shown the peoples of the world consider the United States the greatest threat to world peace on the planet.
National Security Strategy Under Trump: More of the Same“
Or that Jeffrey St. Clair had described watching on his teevee:
“In front of South Korea’s legislature, Trump brags about America’s military prowess, a boast reinforced by the looming spectre of three aircraft carriers and two nuclear subs prowling the Korean coastline in real time. He gives the impression that he considers military quagmires about as problematic as the sand trap on the 16th hole at Pebble Beach.
Trump warns that his country, that is, our country, will not hesitate to vaporize hundreds of thousands of beings. We’ve done it before, Trump implies, and felt no guilt, no remorse. This is the voice of a man who has learned nothing from mass death, except that it paved the way for the globalization of American power. In a voice that slips from talking about index funds to nuclear missiles, the prime rate to F-35s, Trump projects the image of president as gravedigger.
Is it possible, Trump seems to ask, to profit from H-Bombs after you use one? Is nuclear war really a growth industry? I was surprised that the Korean delegation didn’t jump up and run screaming from the chamber. Or storm the dais, as they did during the impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun.
What happens when the president, a man with the capacity for continent-wide annihilation, strays beyond the reality principle?”
Or that Nick Turse has been blacklisted (wsws)and deemed by the AFRICOM command ‘not a legitimate journalist’.
“Turse explained in an article published by the Intercept on Saturday that AFRICOM officials began stonewalling his queries after he authored an article in July which documented torture by US-trained Cameroonian forces at a US base in Salak, Cameroon.
For several years, the Pentagon has been perturbed by Turse’s reporting, which has exposed the vast spectrum of United States military operations across Africa, most of which it wishes to keep shrouded in secrecy.
With the blacklisting of a journalist who has exposed its criminal operations, the United States military is attempting to control the flow of information to those media outlets who toe the official line, such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and other such officially approved media organs which make up the corporate press on which the ruling class can depend.”
How despicable to read Ajamu Baraka’s Dec. 2017 ‘The Empire’s Hustle: Why Anti-Trumpism Doesn’t Include Anti-War’, although we know why that is…and loathe them for their abject hypocrisy.
“The Democrats are playing games with the people by pretending they are going to block increases in military spending during the appropriation stage of the process. And their criticisms of Trump’s bellicosity and claims that he is reckless also are disingenuous because if they thought he was militarily reckless, they wouldn’t have joined Republicans in supporting increased military spending.
Both parties support militarism because both parties support the interests of the oligarchy and the oligarchy is interested in one thing—maintaining the empire.”
I know that readers are familiar with the long list of other nations the Empire and its proxies are bombing, re-colonizing, and occupying, or making war on ‘by other means’.
Enough to make one scream into the night, from Nicholas Davies’ exhaustive War post-Cold War compendium ‘Giving Wars Too Many Chances’, Nicholas Davies, just these two insane paragraphs:
“Today, after 16 years of occupation by up to 100,000 U.S. troops, thousands of deadly “kill or capture” night raids by U.S. special operations forces and over 60,000 bombs and missiles dropped on Afghanistan on the orders of 3 U.S. presidents, the corrupt U.S.-backed government in Kabul governs less territory today than at any time since before the U.S. invasion.”
“The most recent U.S. atrocity in Iraq was the massacre of an estimated 40,000 civilians in Mosul by U.S., Iraqi, French and other “coalition” forces. The U.S.-led bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria has dropped 104,000 bombs and missiles since 2014, making it the heaviest U.S. bombing campaign since the American War in Vietnam. Iraqi government death squads once again prowl through the ruins of Mosul, torturing and summarily executing anyone they identify as a suspected Islamic State fighter or sympathizer.”
US Special Ops (Nick Turse) are in 138 around the world (70%) (Davies names 149 in 2017 alone). but let’s hear from the Twittersphere:
“Let us instead remember when King refused to denounce protesters by saying “a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.”
And when he critiqued capitalism: “Again we have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that capitalism grew and prospered out of the Protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifice. The fact is that capitalism was built on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor – both black and white, both here and abroad.”
And when he demanded “a radical redistribution of political and economic power.”
(cross-posted at caucus99percent.com)
davidly
Greyson Smythe
LeMoyne
juliania2
ohiobarbarian
stephenadavis1
wendyedavis
café babylon 
quite peculiar?
As highly populated (non Facebook/Google Group/whatever sites) have dwindled down exponentially, no mention of Martin Luther King Day at orange font 2:00 (NC). Unless there’s something in the comments, I’ve not seen it.
Not totally surprised, but it seemed a very abrupt and jarring change, given that the writers make a living off presumably portraying what is going on. I’m betting that many (non-investor) commenters don’t even want to wade in the waters of asking, what’s up? and risk being banned from sharing atrocities going on.
Of course not to say that there aren’t those sites (likely Daily Kos, can’t be bothered to check), et al, which have posted fawning annual tributes which mean absolutely nothing (and worse) at the end of day.
if by orange font NC, you mean naked capitalism, i just checked and you’re too right; not even in strether’s ‘links’. now google (i need to use chrome to compose here, edit comments, argh, there was cartoonized banner of ‘black folk’ at mlk’s ‘i have a dream’ speech. but sure, there must be plenty of hypocritical virtue signaling afoot, as big al at c99% had noted.
ha! aaaand…an email in junk mail from (D-CO) jared polis was titles ‘why we march’; ‘marades’ are big in denver. (mlk + parade, what.ev.er) kewl; how ya vote on war? thanks, ‘quite peculiar’.
Yes, that’s the site I meant, and I shouldn’t be, as the site appears loaded with those economically comfortable, but am still jarred – actually despondent – by not only the utter lack of acknowledgement by the writers there, but also the utter lack of acknoweldgment, not the slightest mention, by most of the commenters there.
I forgot to note, I don’t understand where the cartoonized banner showed up, who big l refers to, and what c99 is?
Ian Welsh, a supporter of Nuclear Energy and Mars human insemination, has something quite lengthy (far, far more subtle) up, but (in my gut instinct) it’s also an Annual Anniversary no doubt self serving, given those he allows to pontificate on his site, while noting in so many words that his comment section are not as brilliant as he is, and are to be ignored.
my apologies for the typos, quite peculiar, and i’ve edited them, as well as hyperlinked c99%, where this diary is cross-posted.. i’d also shut down early last night to watch the film i’ll say more about in a separate comment below.
i’m not understanding your comments re: ian’s place, including whether you find his support for nuclear energy and mars human insemination (dunno what that means, actually). i didn’t have the time or inclination to read the whole ‘drum major’ speech transcript, but someone in comments said it contained things he’d said to his jailers, in birmingham, i’m assume.
but as or ian, yes, his commentariat in general believe he’s brilliant, as you seem to. don’t press me too hard on it, lol. but he also wants a UN climate change navy to enforce protocols, and is touting oprah for prez (or CFR george clooney). ;-) but he does try to be all things to most people, including a lot of posts similar to ‘this thing trump said isn’t crazy, is it?’ so…yeah, he gets a lot of that sort of people, and allows insane ad hominem attacks, some of which i’ve been the recipient, ptui.
now ‘google’ is the search page for chrome, and their banners are said to often be exactly what they want a person to ‘believe’, even down to supporting different imperial wars, etc., some folks have noted. eric schmidt: you might be interested to read julian assange’s ‘google is not what it seems’ an excerpt from his big book ‘when google met wikileaks’ (if i haven’t reversed the two). but google is also blacklisting a lot of leftist and sorta-leftist sites in their news searches; wsws.org speaks to it often.
anyhoo, fill me in on what i’m not understanding or mis-reading okay? and welcome to café. eeep, no one else has even commented on this diary, so double thanks. ;-)
p.s. i bing-searched and found mlk day mentioned at NC: links, 1/21/14 and mlk v mitt romney, 1/2012 and yes, i do believe most of yves’ commentariat are $ comfortable.
Thank you for the welcome!
Re Ian Welsh and your comment:
Eeerrk NO, he’s always made me cringe as I tried to figure out why so many refer (and appear to defer) to his site, perhaps I should have worded my initial comment differently (the lack of eye contact, tone and body language in online conversations has always depressed me, as it forces one to spend far more time – which many don’t have – wording their comments). Ian thinks he’s brilliant and clearly implied that in a comment made this past year that no one reads the comments posted to his pearls of wisdom; implying his own commenters were clueless (though, I confess, I also find most of his commenters self impressed blowhards of a similar strain).
Re Ian Welsh on Mars and Nuclear Energy
He’s repeatedly pearl clutched to the effect that breeding humans should be sent to inhabit Mars (Whitey
on the Moon!Mars!).As i recollect, after the (ongoing) Fukushima disaster on March 11, 2011, the patronizing asshole was indignant and vigorously doing the Big Caucasian Daddy Finger Wag against those who want to do away with nuclear energy plants (he should move to Hanover, Washington then, help them spiff things up a bit).
I very rarely visit his site unless someone links to it, so I hadn’t known about Oprah and Clooney, Oh my, Ian’s even worse than I imagined.
As to Naked Capitalism
Today Yves belatedly posted 2 Martin Luther King Links, one of which (Raw Story) was also a day late (UUUGH, at least acknowledge it and apologize), I also separately found an Aljazeera link dated a day late. And yes, Lambert did not mark the occasion on yesterday’s Links, or …Water Cooler, where one would expect them.
I actually prefer Yves commentary on many subjects to Lamberts, who has always struck me as as self impressed as Ian and way to quick with the editing/deleting of comments (though he seems to have eased up a bit on that). Lastly, the site is loaded with Capitalists, and, I suspect, predominantly caucasian males, as they dominate the Investor Class. I read, and post comments there – under another name – because it receives a lot of eyeballs and I really like much of Yves posts and commentary on our horrifying Technocracy and on some other subjects as well.
lol, boy, howdy, did i read your comment wrong, then. mr. wd and i talked it over and he first, then i, decided that you might have meant that welsh thought he was brilliant. glad i asked, and that you went to such lengths to explain both mars for breeders, and nuclear power. i did a post on one author of eco-socialsm some weeks back who claimed that the population explosion was rather irrelevant, but folks at his site are adamant about it. (i’m firmly against even ‘repurposing’ old nukes that obomba budgeted big bucks for.) but AFTER fukushima? holy hell! but then, folks pay him to write. (love your Eeeerk witless, by the by.)
i agree that strether is a know-it-all, and a bully besides. we had a bit of a set-to over ‘gardening’, when he was already the master after…one season of gardening. ‘nothing, i repeat NOTHING that is for sale at a gardening center is worth spit’ or something. double rotflmao. thanks for the links, dunno that i’ll get to them. i’ve also been researching a bit on baldwin and others who weren’t Allowed to Speak at what X had famously called ‘the farce on washington’. i’ll stick it below, and uh…solidarity forever; i’m quite peculiar myself. ;-) but given that every time i read your screen name, i ping ‘most peculiar, mama!’ i’ll bring the song.
Ah yes Mr. Green Jeans!. The clue that he wasn’t a gardener, and certainly not a farmer, was always in his repeated comment (to this day) that he does not like to work (which clearly equated to physical labor which those who actually love to garden, generally don’t refer to as labor which they despise) . You’ve likely noticed that he silently gave up the Mr. Green Jeans role, quite a while back. (Yeah, I don’t miss it either.)
Re my comments noting Caucasian Males, its so fucking tricky
My belief – and experience – is that there are equal amounts of male assholes represented in every race and skin tone under the sun. My belief – and experience – is that there are also equal amounts of female assholes represented in every race and skin tone under the sun. The thing is, in the times we live in, and in the recent numerous centuries, males – the lightest skinned males – have been awarded the ability to horridly abuse, far more than females and those darker skinned.
On quite peculiar
Though many might well consider me quite peculiar (I suspect Capitalists – along with so many other know it alls – do, as they always have) I used that name only to specifically address how quite peculiar it was not to see Martin Luther King addressed whatsoever by the writers on a website which implicitly assumes a high moral ground – receives quite a few powerful eyeballs – and, most significantly, receives a significant amount of posts/PLEAS written by human beings falling through the cracks. For those human beings falling through the cracks, Time, as in the significant time spent html coding, commenting, reposting when a comment is eaten, responding, etcetera, means a forfeit of money/resources/time healing which they will suffer deeply for.
Ahhh, Music!
Thanks so very much for the music, but my shoestring access has meant I cannot view videos, for quite some time now. When I was able to view them, I stopped listening to YouTubes shortly after Google acquired it – on general principle – as I live close by the insidious nightmare of GOOG™, etcetera. I’ve seen the endless and continuing lives ruined in the vicinity, firsthand. The Homelessness, Desperation and FEAR that was, and still is, being created, is stunningly obscene and evil.
A very, very warm embrace to you and mr. wd, dear.
i confess that i like the violet avatar better, but maybe you’d misspell more often? but alas, if it’s just a temporary screen name, how will we know thee again? by verbiage? jason, a long-time commenter here, comes in so many guises, all of them funny as hell and on topic. he’s homeless in olympia now, so only comes rarely these days.
but you mean that you’re in the silicon valley? is that where the goog™ is? i’d just done a bit of a search (mistakenly as it turned out) for how many i silicon valley are homeless. lots, l.a. of course is the biggie, but here’s the link to some of it.
warm embraces to you as well, but ooopsie, i’d lain down to rest for a bit, but fell asleep, and got up to discover that 3 loaves’ worth of bread dough are about to rise enough to fall out of the bowl.
well, Jason has dominated the green avatar, as he should (FUCK AL GORE, et al). and believe me, I was dismayed when I saw my post being appointed, with no permission requested by Matt Mullenweg, a lime green avatar.
As to you, Wendy, preferring the violet one, as to my comments (as do I), you are in luck (until the algorithm color assignments change (again)), as I tediously screen shot all posts I make (not at all personal) so some fucker can’t claim I posted something which I didn’t; so, I’m aware of how I ended accidentally up with that violet avatar™
As to homelessness in Silicon Valley, I have years of links, I’ve lived here for decades and have been collecting and sharing links to the Technocratic treachery here for over a decade, but that is clearly not enough. sigh …
eeerk, bread dough rising! If I can find them, I might share some recipes: a potato bread (from potato flakes) and an onion potato bread recipe I have floating around here somewhere.
i’m not understanding a lot of this, quite peculiar, matt mullenweg, screen shots, etc., but good on having homelessness links, and as to breads, any recipes, really: i have a ‘recipes and cooking hints’ category on the right sidebar, and we might be due for one in the near future.
(sorry, forgot to note that goog is google’s Wall Street™ stock market ticker™ symbol, and yes, google is domiciled (its physical/geographical Headquarters; versus Delaware, where it was quite silently Incorporated™) right in the DOD gut, from where it was bred, of Silicon Valley, California.)
to say the truth, after lambert blasted me w/ that nonsense, i never read his links again, so luckily, i missed his mr. green jeans schtick. i garden, we garden, and the banner photos are all mine, and i find then so nourishing to my soul that i often come here and click the banners to see the randomly-generated others. of course some are skies, clouds, mountains, critters, and all…but same dif as far as soul-nourishment.
ah, rats about the music, this is café babylon, soul food and freedom music, so…i won’t give up youtube until they pry it from my cold, dead…hands. i will leave that hypocrisy to stand, although i hadn’t known google freaking bought youtube. ish.
how did you come to find us here? glad you did, in any event. pretty fun just gossiping today, among other things, lol. ‘quite refreshing, mama!’ the song is john lennon’s ‘nobody told me there’d be days like this’, and boy, howdy, ain’t it the truth.
juliania, a frequent commenter had said that some internet plan her son had bought for her caused her to think that she couldn’t afford to play videos w/o exceeding…something or other. she only has a smart phone now that her laptop committed hara kiri, dunno how anyone could read or comment w/ one, not that i’ve ever had any sort of cell phone. well, i often post lyrics w/ songs so one can get more or the poetry and message, so i’ll try to remember. darlin’.
i suspect you’re right about this: ‘ The thing is, in the times we live in, and in the recent numerous centuries, males – the lightest skinned males – have been awarded the ability to horridly abuse, far more than females and those darker skinned.’
Lambert’s garden schtick I was referring to was on his water cooler post at Naked Capitalism. I haven’t viewed his other site for ages, and never was a frequent visitor then, as I was aware of a woman – who seemed far better versed, and kind, than him – who he basically booted from his site during his Hillary years, in addition to the general impression that he was way too self impressed and bullying (though too, he seems to have mellowed a bit, perhaps hard times with something in his life). Anyway, from the looks of your photos you have a very beautiful garden. The Heavenly Blue Morning Glory and the nasturtiums are one of my favorites, very uplifting. I used to love to plant from seed, buying it from Thompson & Morgan Catalogues a lot, but ceased being able to do so quite some time ago due to being a renter with no sun lit earth.
Yes it was great fun conversing, I think there have been quite a few unhealed wounds which have occurred over the internet and it helps when someone else’s commentary validates your own feelings. I generally only post on the internet at Naked Capitalism, for the reasons I noted above – basically as sharing news links on a site which gets a lot of eyeballs, and providing supportive or counter realities regarding some comments or links.
I didn’t use my normal user name here as I didn’t want to be blocked from posting there, and it’s a very small internet world. Don’t know whether it’s just my state of mind, but the lack of posts and comments noting the date really had an effect. I do understand it’s been discussed for decades, but a simple timely honoring, seems very important in these cruel times. I feel for Yves sometimes. I think she might have a better since of justice on many issues than quite a few of her commenters.
At any rate, Thank you for your tribute! If I post here again (I’ve got more than one crisis going on in my life, with little time to do anything but attempt to survive it) I’ll use this same violet avatared name, if I don’t misplace it in my scrambling. Take care, and thank you again for the welcome, it was a much needed embrace on a sacred day!
yes, in our decrepitude we garden far less than we used to, thus few veggies, mainly herbs and flowers, which given our short season, we vase into our house w/ often 9 or 10 vases-ful
i do understand that you seem to be signing off for greener (‘more eyeballs’ ) pastures, and that this is a boutique blog is incontestable. should you desire to contact me, there’s also a category for that on the right sidebar. lol, it’s where one’s blogroll usually sits. why the hell should a person care to create one? more: i’m so hip’ sort of thing? ;-) best to you, most peculiar, mama!
(errk, hit a different letter of the alpha bet – in a rush and accidently – and the avatar™ changed. Just to let you know that was me who made the last comment as quite peculiar. I’m ultrasensitive to the issue as I’ve twice (that I know of, it’s likely there may have been more incidences) had someone/somesoftware™bot post as me. In both instances, it was done so horrifyingly abusively: whoever/whatever it was, did it while I was still actively commenting.)
i’d shut down even earlier than usual last night in order to watch ‘i am not your negro’ on pbs salt lake city, independent lens. the imdb says of the storyline:
‘‘In 1979, James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing his next project, “Remember This House.” The book was to be a revolutionary, personal account of the lives and assassinations of three of his close friends: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. At the time of Baldwin’s death in 1987, he left behind only 30 completed pages of this manuscript. Filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished.’
to call it ‘mesmerizing’ is true; to call it one of the best films ever…would be so in my estimation. lyrical prose, historical images, and as relevant now as in the three friends’ day, although class distinctions have come to bear by now, and the Rabble classes around the world are treated as ‘third-worlders’, as well. i love that he’d talked about MLK and malcolm X finally having a meeting of the heart, soul, revolutionary spirit (iirc, it was after X returned from his Haj. i used to have some film footage of at least one of their meetings then.
baldwin telling his own atypical story as a kid, later inner thoughts and desires would be one of the best exemplars (is that redundant?) of ‘Know Thyself’ i can imagine. the whole film (99 mins.) is on youtube, but your local pbs stations may have it soon, as well. i’ll try to find it another night, another station, it’s seriously that good. they chose the right clip for the trailer.
i’d been trying to remember all of the ingredients that caused X to declare ‘the farce on washington’; here’s the relevant excerpt from his autobiography (at least at this site).
it hadn’t told me that my memory for once was correct about the farce as re: james baldwin. from da wiki’s from da wiki’s ‘excluded speakers’ entry:
“Author James Baldwin was prevented from speaking at the March on the grounds that his comments would be too inflammatory.[99] Baldwin later commented on the irony of the “terrifying and profound” requests that he prevent the March from happening:
baldwin: “In my view, by that time, there was, on the one hand, nothing to prevent—the March had already been co-opted—and, on the other, no way of stopping the people from descending on Washington. What struck me most horribly was that virtually no one in power (including some blacks or Negroes who were somewhere next door to power) was able, even remotely, to accept the depth, the dimension, of the passion and the faith of the people.”
Actress/singer Lena Horne was present but excluded from speaking.
Despite the protests of organizer Anna Arnold Hedgeman, no women gave a speech at the March. Male organizers attributed this omission to the “difficulty of finding a single woman to speak without causing serious problems vis-à-vis other women and women’s groups”. Hedgeman read a statement at an August 16 meeting, charging:
“In light of the role of Negro women in the struggle for freedom and especially in light of the extra burden they have carried because of the castration of our Negro men in this culture, it is incredible that no woman should appear as a speaker at the historic March on Washington Meeting at the Lincoln Memorial. . .”
The assembled group agreed that Myrlie Evers, the new widow of Medgar Evers, could speak during the “Tribute to Women”. However, Mrs. Evers was unavailable. Daisy Bates spoke briefly (less than 200 words) in place of Myrlie Evers, who had missed her flight. Earlier, Josephine Baker had addressed the crowd before the official program began.[81][94] Although Gloria Richardson was on the program and had been asked to give a two-minute speech, when she arrived at the stage her chair with her name on it had been removed, and the event marshal took her microphone away after she said “hello”.[70] Richardson, along with Rosa Parks and Lena Horne, was escorted away from the podium before Martin Luther King Jr. spoke.
Early plans for the March would have included an “Unemployed Worker” as one of the speakers. This position was eliminated, furthering criticism of the March’s middle-class bias.
Singers:
Dylan also performed “Only a Pawn in Their Game”, a provocative and not completely popular choice because it asserted that Byron de la Beckwith, as a poor white man, was not personally or primarily to blame for the murder of Medgar Evers.
Some participants, including Dick Gregory criticized the choice of mostly white performers and the lack of group participation in the singing.[106] Dylan himself said he felt uncomfortable as a white man serving as a public image for the Civil Rights Movement. After the March on Washington, he performed at few other immediately politicized events.
yes, a bit of a farce, in that the WH arranged it w/ the help of randolph and bayard, then co-opted it.
Sherrilynn Ifill, NAACP Legal Defense Fund Head was the speaker at Duke University Chapel in Durham.
Mayor Steve Schewel told about the action taken subsequent to the toppling of the Confederate soldier at the Court House.
Vincent Price, the President of Duke University hired when some alumni asked how Richard Spencer and Stephen Miller received degrees from Duke and how was it that nazism was being propagated on campus had his own monument commission .
Then Ifill allowed how the mission of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund always was about white poor people as well as colored people because too many of the justice issues are class issues, the reality not exactly her words.
Then I followed up Cornel West’s op-ed in the Guardian and found out at the same time that Chelsea Manning is primarying Ben Cardin.
OT: Democrats have 9 House members who should be primaried prima facie on NSA 702 plus any who break tonight.
Procession at 23:11
Sherrilyn Ifill at 1:07:00
Jazz Band is The John Brown Little Big Band
thanks for cliffs notes for 2 hrs +. dunno chelsea’s politics, but she is putin’s bitch, and tra la la. and of course, russian anchor babies. ;-)
more tomorrow i expect, but i think i’m knackered; can’t imagine a second wind, but…. hope you can find ‘i am not your negro’ on your pbs stations if you haven’t seen it already. bowled me over with its power and lyricism.we get to watch it again tomorrow, albeit at a rather inconvenient time.
ifill is only too right that oppression is a class issue, but i would have stood and cheered for her ‘back to a radical vision’ had he indicted capitalism itself, as dr. king had.
had to look up ben cardin, russophobe; how did he vote on 702? haven’t listened to her ad yet, but her selfies announcing her candidacy were not quite the ticket, i think. but…she’s more rooosian chaos, ya know.
on edit: oopsie, i’d forgotten i’d grabbed this link for you, although i’m sure you know the issue well. ‘Judges Rule N. Carolina Representatives Cannot Choose their Voters; In a major blow to partisan gerrymandering, a panel of federal judges ruled that North Carolina’s congressional districts are unconstitutional and must be redrawn before the 2018 midterm election. The decision boosts other efforts to reverse gerrymandering in the US, explains Dan Vicuna of Common Cause, via TRNN
NC Republican majority of general assembly will just repass the bill and how the Trump Supreme Court makes it legal. Meanwhile there are great candidates lined up for the NC Supreme Court if turnout can approach Presidential levels. One progressive NC Supreme Court judge got elected in 2016.
My fellow South Carolinian Mick Mulvaney of York County (he flipped the last Dem district in 2014 (or was it 2012) is the honcho in charge of Management and Budget, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, and now the shutdown. Experience: like Trump he is a scion of a real estate development dad who made great when America was great for real estate developers. The turf he is from was the home of Thomas Dixon, a Southern Baptist minister born in Shelby NC (Col Morris Davis’s home town) who was author of The Leopard’s Spots, the Clansman, and The Traitor. The Clansman was adapted for D,W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation in 1915, as part of the KKK propaganda campaign to greet Negro soldiers coming home from WWI. Having the cachet of “veterans” was one of the things that drove the wartime and postwar lynchings under allegations of presumed crimes (sometimes true, sometimes not).
Tradition is heavy in York County, now that they’ve beaten back the New Deal legacy. Watch how clever Harvard Grad Mulvaney will be with his government cuts. They know exactly who they want to hurt and how to do it. The tax cuts paid off the people they want to help in advance and will continue to drive the shutdown.bloodshed cycle after cycle. Until the public realizes how they are being fleeced. This is going to get ugly if the Freedom Caucus bunch and Ryan keep control with McConnell being go-along Mitch and holding his entire caucus. Given the array of Republicans in the Senate those must be some strong threats and bribes.
thanks for all that, THD; most of the cast of characters i’m unfamiliar with. but re: the book/s that led to ‘birth of a nation’, please, please try and find this on one of your pbs stations that carry independent lens. never in my life have i watched a more powerful an unforgettable film. baldwin is the epitome of Know Thyself, i think. the whole thing’s on youtube, as well.
the shutdown: see the dem charade of it on my just published diary.
(i reckon he wrote it on the 14th for MLK day./s way to go, bern. MLK was a democratic socialist, but not so much a reform capitalist as y’all are now.)
‘Bernie Sanders seeks to derail growing working class opposition to capitalism’, wsws.org (in a nutshell):
“Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders issued a call, published Sunday in the Guardian, for a global effort to overcome mounting economic inequality. It cites evidence of gross disparities in wealth, but offers not the slightest prospect for a genuine struggle against the economic system that has produced such levels of social inequality. Indeed, it is aimed at preventing such a movement.
What is most remarkable about the statement issued by Sanders is that in the course of nearly 1,200 words, there is not a single mention of either capitalism or socialism. Perhaps most significantly, Sanders says nothing about the growing danger of imperialist world war, one that would be waged with nuclear weapons. He makes no reference to North Korea, Iran, Syria and other global hotspots, or to the record of the Democratic Party under Obama in bombing Libya, escalating the war in Afghanistan and making drone warfare a staple of American foreign policy. “Military” is another word that makes no appearance in his Guardian column, because Sanders is a supporter of American imperialism.”
the only ‘partner in the movement’ he’d mentioned was…the pope speaking in 2013.
(his ‘call to arms’ at the guardian)
“All of the Western nations have been caught in a lie: a lie of their pretended humanism. History has no moral justification and the west has no moral authority. For a very long time America prospered; this prosperity cost millions of people their lives. Now, not even those who are the most spectacular beneficiaries of this prosperity, are able to endure these benefits. They can neither enjoy, nor do without these benefits. Above all, imagine the price paid the victims or subjects for this way of life and so they cannot afford to know why the victims are revolting. This is the formula for a nation declined, for the nation does not work in the way it’s advocates think in fact it does. It does not, for example, reveal to the victim the strength of the adversary. On the contrary, it reveals the weakness, even the panic, of the adversary and this invests the victim with passion.” ~james baldwin
amen, and good night.
Couple of links to add:
Chris Floyd has a piece up (“Least Resistance: No Liberal Outrage at New Regime Change Op) wherein we learn that the US is not leaving Syria any time soon:
Also, Alternet has: Trump Is Turning the State Department into a Global Weapons Dealer, which is no-doubt a real ego booster among the professional diplomatic corps.
many thanks, greyson smythe. and chris floyd’s so right that the Ds are either silently or openly complicit. their version of #resistance is to guide especially middle-class and elites into cul-de-sacs like the #metoo movement, russia-gate, with a bit of reform capitalism thrown in. mattis’s new DoD strategy is even a few notches wore than orange julius’s, but dems memorably increased his budget by another $45 billion: because russia.
yes, in his era diplomacy is threats of war, military buildup, and weapons and weapons systems sales. but i will admit that when ten years ago i learned that weapons sales and purchases were one of the prime reasons for diplomatic parties in deecee…i was surprised. seems silly by now, that i was.
and smooth-talking, good-lookin’, neocon fareed zakaria was the most sought-after guest. of course!
but with the Ds: there’s always room for war-o!
p.s. one edit: yesterday’s womens marches seemed to have different themes, globally, ending violence toward women…deecee ‘not so much pink pussy hats, but register women to vote, have them run for office, and #me too. wonder what they reflected in the many other cities across amerika? any idea? jason went to one in oly, i’ll have to look for that coverage on another break.
olympia:
“One year later, the pussy hats were back.
Thousands turned out for a rally at the Capitol in Olympia followed by a march around Capitol Lake on Saturday to mark the one-year anniversary of the Women’s March.
Many in the crowd held signs that took aim at President Donald Trump, who marked one year in office Saturday: “Grab Trump by the Midterm,” “Rise and Vote” and “What Oprah Said.” There were signs supporting women’s rights, indigenous rights and the Black Lives Matter movement, signs supporting immigrants and LGBTQ people and health care for children.”
nothing anti-war or anti-imperialism that i saw.
http://www.theolympian.com/news/local/article195798089.html
seattle: tens of thousands, a by the many pix, believable. workers rights, women for unions signs, medicaid and chirrens’ health care, shitholes, immigrant rights, proud to be muslim, protect indigenous women & protect stolen sisters, good, and they led the march, which is a bit of virtue-signaling on its own, imo), lots of young uns, surprisingly, lots of pro-choice sings (including my fave: public cervix announcement: fuck you!), and…one no more war sign that i saw. the videos may have more…
http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2018/01/thousands-fill-streets-of-capitol-hill-for-2018-seattle-womens-march/