The Democrats and the Republicans offer nothing but war and misery to
all the world’s peoples, but we in the belly of the beast have a special
responsibility to dismantle this juggernaut of planetary death. This
year’s United National Anti-War Coalition conference, in Richmond, will
have the largest Black presence in UNAC’s history: more than a third of
the speakers will be Black, including several from Black Agenda Report
and Ajamu Baraka, who is pulling together the Black Alliance for Peace.
The Black Alliance for Peace is already part of the UNAC coalition. As
Ajamu Baraka says: “The Democratic Party wants war with Russia, the
Trump administration wants war with China, so it’s up to the people to
demand and struggle for peace against both pro-imperialist parties.”
-- Glen Ford, "Ditch Both War Parties: Anti-War Coalition Maps Independent Course to Peace" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
Monday, June 12, 2017
Truest statement of the week II
In other words, what we may have witnessed in Comey’s ballyhooed
testimony on Thursday was just the latest chapter in a “soft coup” to
remove Trump – either through a forced resignation or impeachment. The
thinking is that Trump is so incompetent that “wise men” must step in to
“correct a mistake” made by the U.S. electorate and made possible by
the Constitution’s Electoral College system, which enabled Trump to win
the presidency despite losing the popular vote,
But the American people are not supposed to see it that way. After all, the realization that U.S. intelligence chieftains might be conspiring to overturn a constitutional election of a U.S. president could be most upsetting and unsettling, even if one assumes that they are sincerely doing what they think is “best for the country.”
So, this side of the story remains unspoken, a silence made possible by the fact that most of the nation’s top news executives and much of its political elite share the opinion that Trump’s presidency must be ended and a more traditional chief executive installed.
But no one in authority wants to acknowledge that a “soft coup” is in the works because that would make America look like a banana republic to the world. It also could infuriate Trump’s 63 million voters who might take exception to this sort of “deep state” veto of a duly certified election.
-- Robert Parry, "‘Soft Coup’ on Trump, Hiding in Plain Sight" (CONSORTIUM NEWS).
But the American people are not supposed to see it that way. After all, the realization that U.S. intelligence chieftains might be conspiring to overturn a constitutional election of a U.S. president could be most upsetting and unsettling, even if one assumes that they are sincerely doing what they think is “best for the country.”
So, this side of the story remains unspoken, a silence made possible by the fact that most of the nation’s top news executives and much of its political elite share the opinion that Trump’s presidency must be ended and a more traditional chief executive installed.
But no one in authority wants to acknowledge that a “soft coup” is in the works because that would make America look like a banana republic to the world. It also could infuriate Trump’s 63 million voters who might take exception to this sort of “deep state” veto of a duly certified election.
-- Robert Parry, "‘Soft Coup’ on Trump, Hiding in Plain Sight" (CONSORTIUM NEWS).
A note to our readers
Hey --
Early Monday.
Can you believe it?
Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
Early Monday.
Can you believe it?
Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen,
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And what did we come up with?
Glen Ford gets another truest.
Robert Parry gets a truest.
Iraq was the topic that gave life and value to the movement.
Ava and C.I. examine ANIMAL KINGDOM and its meaning.
Something needs to happen unless you want what's going on now to take place following every political election.
The world needs John Stauber, it could lose about a million of the posers though.
Margaret Kimberley.
When do these wars end? What are they accomplishing.
Press release from Senator Patrick Leahy.
Upcoming event.
What we listened to while writing this edition.Editorial: The Left lost a lot
Today, the US Defense Department announced:
Strikes in Iraq
In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted seven strikes consisting of 35 engagements against ISIS targets:
-- Near Bayji, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed three vehicles, two tactical vehicles, two ISIS-held buildings, an anti-air artillery system and an ISIS staging area.
-- Near Kisik, a strike engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed six fighting positions, four car bombs, two mortar systems, a medium machine gun, and an ISIS staging area.
-- Near Mosul, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; destroyed five fighting positions, two mortar systems, two car bombs, a supply cache, and an explosives cache; and suppressed a mortar team.
-- Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.
That never-ending Iraq War.
It never ends.
Thomas Gibbons-Neff (WASHINGTON POST) reports:
The U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria appears to have used white phosphorus-loaded munitions on at least two occasions in densely populated areas of Mosul and in the Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa, according to videos posted online and human rights groups.
The often-controversial munitions are common in western militaries and are used primarily to create smoke screens, though they can also be dropped as an incendiary weapon. When a white phosphorus shell explodes, the chemical inside reacts with the air, creating a thick white cloud. When it comes in contact with flesh, it can maim and kill by burning to the bone.
While international humanitarian law stipulates that civilians must be protected from all military operations, it also says that countries must take even more care when using white phosphorus. Additionally, because of the weapon’s ability to cause grievous and inhumane injuries, rights groups caution against using white phosphorus to kill enemy troops if other weapons are available.
Where is the outrage?
Let's be really clear, the left abandoned Iraq and when it did so, it lost it's way.
"It's horrific that this country gives weapons from Iraq & Afghanistan to police forces, as we saw at Standing Rock." Amy Goodman #PPLsummit
Oh, look, War Hag Amy Goodman 'rediscovers' Iraq -- to talk about the US.
That War Hag pimped the war on Libya and pimps war on Syria.
She's a foundation baby these days, just another whore for war.
And until she's called out and rebuked, don't expect anything to change.
She rode the Iraq War to national prominence.
And then she tossed it aside.
Not unlike the bitchs of Iraq Veterans Against the War -- the bulk of whom were never in Iraq, but, hey, that just explains why they ignore Iraq today, right?
June 3rd, news of the use of White Phosphorus in Iraq surfaced. It took THE WASHINGTON POST a week, but even they covered it.
But check the Twitter feed of IVAW and you'll see that they still haven't noted it.
They all waked away -- our a-la-cart 'activists.'
Like that joke Antonia Juhasz. is -- she's not even managed to reTweet it.
But she's just another craven whore desperate to crawl back up the ass of Congress yet again.
She'll make it.
Human s**t like Antonia always does.
But notice that they ignore Iraq today -- all this trash that used Iraq to make their names and to beg for money.
The Iraq War continues but these whores have moved on -- and, in doing so, they've revealed just how corrupt and trashy they are.
TV: Conventions ingrained
TNT's ANIMAL KINGDOM is a study in class and masculinity.
The series is loosely based on the 2010 film and revolves around the Cody crime family -- a group that carries off robberies. These aren't glamorous heists -- in fact, most recently, they robbed a food truck.
But these robberies are how brothers Baz (Scott Speedman), Pope (Shawn Hatosy), Craig (Ben Robson) and Deran (Jake Weary) define themselves.
Why?
Because that's the life their mother Smurff (Ellen Barkin) introduced them to, yes. But also because there are few other opportunities for them.
Consider it a sign of the economy.
Deran currently dreams of buying a restaurant with his take from the robberies.
Baz struggles to raise his daughter and Pope's usually the one pitching in when Baz's nerves are on edge.
Everyone's on edge.
And in times like that, the stories audiences hold onto are often gangster stories.
It was during The Great Depression, for example, that America embraces James Cagney -- first in THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931).
The reasons for that are complex but the simplest explanation is that, as Americans see the system that's supposed to benefit them turn around and crush them, they root for those who find a way to overcome it.
In real life, some do.
But The Great Deception is so ingrained that even those whose actions buck the system still, like Deran, define 'success' by the end game the system has conditioned them to embrace.
Why have we allowed that?
There have been alternatives.
For example, Henri Storck made THE STORY OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER (1932) during The Great Depression
But they don't seem to last.
More recently, for example, Steven Soderbergh kicked off a new wave of American film making in 1989 with SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE. The independent film scene was alive with features like GAS, FOOD AND LODGING, EL MARIACHI, GO FISH, CLERKS, DO THE RIGHT THING, RESERVOIR DOGS, DAZED AND CONFUSED, PRISON SONG, IN THE COMPANY OF MEN, PARTY GIRL, TO DIE FOR, THE LIVING END, HENRY FOOL, SLEEP WITH ME, WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, SLACKER, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, THE HOUSE OF YES, THE USUAL SUSPECTS, DEAD MAN, PI, THE LAST SEDUCTION, GRACE OF MY HEART, BOUND, GOTTA HAVE IT, METROPOLITAN, BOYS N THE HOOD, BUFFALO '66, ARMY OF DARKNESS, BOTTLE ROCKET, SPANKING THE MONKEY, I LIKE IT LIKE THAT, SCHOOL DAZE, GEORGIA, THE OPPOSITE OF SEX, THE WATERDANCE, HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, GEORGE WASHINGTON, SHIVERS, PRIMER, DRUGSTORE COWBOY, and BODIES, REST & ; MOTION.
Those films and many more from the period screwed with convention and narrative and what was acceptable.
That's all gone as students of Syd Field churn out one cookie cutter movie after another.
The 'independent' film scene today isn't independent and is really just a farm for the studios to make their low budget dramas even cheaper than they used to.
That which stands out is either beaten down or co-opted.
Ellen Barkin's Smurf does that with her children and her grandson J (Finn Cole). She's drugging her son Pope, for example. She pulls the strings. If she can't, she's plotting to take her own children down.
Of all the masculinity on display in ANIMAL KINGDOM, the most toxic is that exhibited by the matriarch Smurf.
The series is loosely based on the 2010 film and revolves around the Cody crime family -- a group that carries off robberies. These aren't glamorous heists -- in fact, most recently, they robbed a food truck.
But these robberies are how brothers Baz (Scott Speedman), Pope (Shawn Hatosy), Craig (Ben Robson) and Deran (Jake Weary) define themselves.
Why?
Because that's the life their mother Smurff (Ellen Barkin) introduced them to, yes. But also because there are few other opportunities for them.
Consider it a sign of the economy.
Deran currently dreams of buying a restaurant with his take from the robberies.
Baz struggles to raise his daughter and Pope's usually the one pitching in when Baz's nerves are on edge.
Everyone's on edge.
And in times like that, the stories audiences hold onto are often gangster stories.
It was during The Great Depression, for example, that America embraces James Cagney -- first in THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931).
The reasons for that are complex but the simplest explanation is that, as Americans see the system that's supposed to benefit them turn around and crush them, they root for those who find a way to overcome it.
In real life, some do.
But The Great Deception is so ingrained that even those whose actions buck the system still, like Deran, define 'success' by the end game the system has conditioned them to embrace.
Why have we allowed that?
There have been alternatives.
For example, Henri Storck made THE STORY OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER (1932) during The Great Depression
But they don't seem to last.
More recently, for example, Steven Soderbergh kicked off a new wave of American film making in 1989 with SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE. The independent film scene was alive with features like GAS, FOOD AND LODGING, EL MARIACHI, GO FISH, CLERKS, DO THE RIGHT THING, RESERVOIR DOGS, DAZED AND CONFUSED, PRISON SONG, IN THE COMPANY OF MEN, PARTY GIRL, TO DIE FOR, THE LIVING END, HENRY FOOL, SLEEP WITH ME, WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, SLACKER, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, THE HOUSE OF YES, THE USUAL SUSPECTS, DEAD MAN, PI, THE LAST SEDUCTION, GRACE OF MY HEART, BOUND, GOTTA HAVE IT, METROPOLITAN, BOYS N THE HOOD, BUFFALO '66, ARMY OF DARKNESS, BOTTLE ROCKET, SPANKING THE MONKEY, I LIKE IT LIKE THAT, SCHOOL DAZE, GEORGIA, THE OPPOSITE OF SEX, THE WATERDANCE, HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, GEORGE WASHINGTON, SHIVERS, PRIMER, DRUGSTORE COWBOY, and BODIES, REST & ; MOTION.
Those films and many more from the period screwed with convention and narrative and what was acceptable.
That's all gone as students of Syd Field churn out one cookie cutter movie after another.
The 'independent' film scene today isn't independent and is really just a farm for the studios to make their low budget dramas even cheaper than they used to.
That which stands out is either beaten down or co-opted.
Ellen Barkin's Smurf does that with her children and her grandson J (Finn Cole). She's drugging her son Pope, for example. She pulls the strings. If she can't, she's plotting to take her own children down.
Of all the masculinity on display in ANIMAL KINGDOM, the most toxic is that exhibited by the matriarch Smurf.
New voting requirements
We're not favoring the return of the poll tax.
Nor are we calling for the voting age to be raised.
But, in lieu of a maturity test, we think each voter in a presidential election should have to sign a statement -- and have it witnessed -- agreeing that, in an election, (a) the results are not known until the vote is counted, (b) that anyone may end up the winner and (c) they will abide by the outcome and not spend weeks and months whining after an election.
Hillary Clinton's Temple Prostitutes have sucked up all the oxygen in the room.
Hillary lost, get over it.
Last week, Senator Patrick Leahy declared, "Poverty is 'no state of mind.' Housing is not a political issue; it is a moral one. In Vermont, we know that housing people first is key to helping them step out of poverty. With the help of Federal investments like Homelessness Assistance Grants, states like Vermont have reduced chronic homelessness by 45 percent, but this is only possible with help from your Department. Communities across the country know that, instead, your budget will close emergency shelters and put people back on the streets."
Poverty, a topic rarely addressed, could have gotten traction.
But instead, we were all wasting our time on 'Russia' and nonsense because that's what The Temple Prostitutes want.
If MSNBC were truly a left -- or even center-left -- network, Leahy's remarks would have been addressed, the budget from the Housing Department would have been discussed -- non-stop.
But it's just another corporate network dedicated to disguising reality.
So instead of poverty discussions, they serve up testimonials to the FBI and CIA.
The same CIA and FBI who attacked the rights of so many.
We shouldn't have to endure this nonsense.
Again, sworn statements to abide by the outcome of a presidential election should be implemented in 2020.
----------
Illustration is Isaiah's "The Rebel Hillary."
Nor are we calling for the voting age to be raised.
But, in lieu of a maturity test, we think each voter in a presidential election should have to sign a statement -- and have it witnessed -- agreeing that, in an election, (a) the results are not known until the vote is counted, (b) that anyone may end up the winner and (c) they will abide by the outcome and not spend weeks and months whining after an election.
Hillary Clinton's Temple Prostitutes have sucked up all the oxygen in the room.
Hillary lost, get over it.
Last week, Senator Patrick Leahy declared, "Poverty is 'no state of mind.' Housing is not a political issue; it is a moral one. In Vermont, we know that housing people first is key to helping them step out of poverty. With the help of Federal investments like Homelessness Assistance Grants, states like Vermont have reduced chronic homelessness by 45 percent, but this is only possible with help from your Department. Communities across the country know that, instead, your budget will close emergency shelters and put people back on the streets."
Poverty, a topic rarely addressed, could have gotten traction.
But instead, we were all wasting our time on 'Russia' and nonsense because that's what The Temple Prostitutes want.
If MSNBC were truly a left -- or even center-left -- network, Leahy's remarks would have been addressed, the budget from the Housing Department would have been discussed -- non-stop.
But it's just another corporate network dedicated to disguising reality.
So instead of poverty discussions, they serve up testimonials to the FBI and CIA.
- Every black person not hoodwinked into loving the FBI. I was worried about some of my people. https://mic.com/articles/179369/black-people-on-twitter-are-struggling-to-remember-when-the-fbi-was-honest#.dywTiLEYa … #BlackTwitter
The same CIA and FBI who attacked the rights of so many.
- What's up with the Comey love? Did people forget about COINTELPRO? How the movement was crushed? Fuck Comey and everybody else from the FBI.
- Margaret Kimberley RetweetedComey and FBI are new champions of liberal left. And you wonder why it's so difficult to build a real progressive opposition in the U.S.
We shouldn't have to endure this nonsense.
Again, sworn statements to abide by the outcome of a presidential election should be implemented in 2020.
----------
Illustration is Isaiah's "The Rebel Hillary."
Love for sale?
#DNC vultures are pumping big $$ into @MotherJones, @thenation etc to build their lists. #Resistance, a wholly owned front of @TheDemocrats
We can't get reality from our beggar media because they're too busy walking the streets.
Hillary Clinton is a corrupt politician, she is a War Hawk, she is a corporatist.
Her defeat has everything to do with that.
But the vultures toss out dollars and THE NATION, MOTHER JONES, et al hands out lap dances.
Every whore should grasp that you can't stand up if you're on your knees giving head.
And every leftist should notice how we are being lied to and misled.
Mark Ames (CONSORTIUM NEWS) reports:
Mother Jones recently announced it’s “redoubling our Russia reporting”—in the words of editor Clara Jeffery. Ain’t that rich. What passes for “Russia reporting” at Mother Jones is mostly just glorified InfoWars paranoia for progressive marks — a cataract of xenophobic conspiracy theories about inscrutable Russian barbarians hellbent on subverting our way of life, spreading chaos, destroying freedom & democracy & tolerance wherever they once flourished. . . . because they hate us, because we’re free.
Western reporting on Russia has always been garbage, But the so-called “Russia reporting” of the last year has taken the usual malpractice to unimagined depths — whether it’s from Mother Jones or MSNBC, or the Washington Post or Resistance hero Louise Mensch.
But of all the liberal media, Mother Jones should be most ashamed for fueling the moral panic about Russian “disinformation”. It wasn’t too long ago that the Reagan Right attacked Mother Jones for spreading “Kremlin disinformation” and subverting America. There were threats and leaks to the media about a possible Senate investigation into Mother Jones serving as a Kremlin disinformation dupe, a threat that hung over the magazine throughout the early Reagan years.
They have no sense of history and they have no sense of shame.
Tweet of the week
Whoever loses the election in the U.K. will step down from leadership. A good system. Too bad we don't have it here. Hillary! #GE2017