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<h1 class="print-title">Rep. Keith Ellison, the Personification of the Phony, Pro-War “Progressive”</h1>
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<div class="submitted">Tue, 04/30/2013 - 23:40 — Glen Ford</div>
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<ul class="taxonomy"><li class="vocab-term"><a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/war-against-syria" rel="tag" title="">War Against Syria</a> <span class="print-footnote">[1]</span> | </li><li class="vocab-term"><a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/no-fly-zone-syria" rel="tag" title="">no-fly zone Syria</a> <span class="print-footnote">[2]</span> | </li><li class="vocab-term"><a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/no-fly-zone-libya" rel="tag" title="">no-fly zone Libya</a> <span class="print-footnote">[3]</span> | </li><li class="vocab-term"><a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/iraq-troop-surge" rel="tag" title="">Iraq troop surge</a> <span class="print-footnote">[4]</span> | </li><li class="vocab-term"><a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/human-right-watch" rel="tag" title="">Human RIght Watch</a> <span class="print-footnote">[5]</span> | </li><li class="vocab-term"><a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/amnesty-international" rel="tag" title="">Amnesty International</a> <span class="print-footnote">[6]</span></li></ul> </div>
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<div class="filefield-file"><img class="filefield-icon field-icon-image-jpeg" alt="image/jpeg icon" src="http://www.blackagendareport.com/sites/all/modules/filefield/icons/image-x-generic.png"><a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/sites/www.blackagendareport.com/files/keith_ellison.jpg" type="image/jpeg; length=29169">keith_ellison.jpg</a> <span class="print-footnote">[7]</span></div> </div>
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</div><div style="margin-top: 0.06in; margin-bottom: 0in; "><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><b>A Black Agenda Radio commentary by executive editor Glen Ford</b></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0.06in; margin-bottom: 0in; "><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">Hard
right Republican Senator John McCain and Progressive Caucus co-chair
Rep. Keith Ellison both support no-fly zones over Syria. That's because,
o</font></font><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">n U.S. imperial policy, there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between between the pro-war Left and the Right.</font></font></div><p style="margin-top: 0.06in; margin-bottom: 0in"> </p><div style="margin-top: 0.06in; margin-bottom: 0in; "><font color="#280099"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="4"><b>Rep. Keith Ellison, the Personification of the Phony, Pro-War “Progressive”</b></font></font></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0.06in; margin-bottom: 0in; "><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><b>A Black Agenda Radio commentary by executive editor Glen Ford</b></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0.06in; margin-bottom: 0in; "><font color="#2323dc">“</font><font color="#2323dc"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3"><i>Ellison
is part of the pro-war Left, whose primary mission is make
self-described liberals and leftists comfortable supporting imperial
wars.”</i></font></font></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0.06in; margin-bottom: 0in; "><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">Keith
Ellison, the Black U.S. House member from Minneapolis who is co-chair
of the Progressive Caucus, says the U.S. should push for a no-fly zone
over rebel-held areas in Syria. Ellison, who is also one of only two
Muslim members of Congress, appeared on NBC’s “</font></font><font color="#0000ff"><u><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/apr/28/rep-keith-ellison-syrian-red-line-does-not-mean-bo/print/"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">Meet the Press</font></font></a> <span class="print-footnote">[8]</span></u></font><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">”
on Sunday, as did Republican Arizona Senator John McCain. It is a
measure of how far to the right the Democratic Party has come under
President Obama, that </font></font><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">McCain,
the war monger who likes to sing about bombing Iran, and Ellison, who
claims to be a progressive, are in basic agreement over Syria. </font></font><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">Both
McCain and Ellison want no-fly zones, and both claim to prefer that
there be no U.S. “boots on the ground” in country. Both are raving
American imperialists who believe that the U.S. has not merely the
right, but the obligation to intervene in the internal affairs of other
countries. As Ellison, the phony progressive, puts it, </font></font><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">“I
don’t think the world’s greatest superpower, the United States, can
stand by and do nothing” – which is, essentially, John McCain’s
position.</font></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0.06in; margin-bottom: 0in; "><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">Ellison has been advocating a no-fly zone for Syria for at least a year. Last May, he told </font></font><font color="#0000ff"><u><a href="http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/05/15/rep-keith-ellison-us-must-protect-syrias-innocent_print.html"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">U.S. News and World Report</font></font></a> <span class="print-footnote">[9]</span></u></font><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">
that so-called “safe zones” should be set up by the U.S. and its allies
around the borders of Syria. Ellison made it quite clear that he sees
such zones as a prelude to regime change. “I think the Libyan action was
a good example of that,” he said.</font></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0.06in; margin-bottom: 0in; "><font color="#2323dc">“<font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3"><i>Both are raving American imperialists.”</i></font></font></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0.06in; margin-bottom: 0in; "><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">On
U.S. imperial policy, there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between
McCain, the hard-right Republican, and Ellison, who purports to be a
progressive Democrat. </font></font><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">Neither
gives a damn about international law or the rights of smaller people’s
to shape their own destinies. Ellison went to Saudi Arabia, the most
socially backward rich country on the planet, and described the King as a
“</font></font><font color="#0000ff"><u><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040700951.html"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">visionary leader</font></font></a> <span class="print-footnote">[10]</span></u></font><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">.”
He rejected George Bush’s troop “surge in 2007, by calling it “too
little, too late.” Like Obama, he quibbles about whether U.S. wars are
smart or dumb, too late or right on time, but never about the inherent
right of the United States to wage war against the weaker nations of the
world. </font></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0.06in; margin-bottom: 0in; "><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">Ellison
is part of the pro-war Left, which includes Amnesty International and
Human Rights Watch, whose primary mission is make self-described
liberals and leftists comfortable supporting imperial wars.</font></font><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">
McCain can’t do that, but Ellison can. Amnesty International is
shameless enough to use women’s rights as an excuse to support continued
occupation of Afghanistan. </font></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0.06in; margin-bottom: 0in; "><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">Much
of the pro-war left has been forced by events to recognize that the
U.S. and its allies are backing jihadist Islamic fundamentalist
terrorists in Syria – people they wouldn’t like to have brunch with.
Therefore, they now demand that the U.S. intervene to make sure that the
jihadists don’t get their hands on chemical weapons. Thus, the pro-war
left starts off by advocating U.S. intervention to facilitate the coming
to power of the rebels, but in the end winds up demanding that the U.S.
do whatever it can to stop these guys from taking power. Either way, it
ends with U.S. intervention. John McCain and Keith Ellison pretend to
be on opposite ideological ends, but they are like Jack and Jill walking
up the same hill when it comes to the obligations and privileges of
U.S. imperialism. </font></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0.06in; margin-bottom: 0in; "><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2">For Black Agenda Radio, I’m Glen Ford. On the web, go to <a href="http://BlackAgendaReport.com">BlackAgendaReport.com</a>.</font></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0.06in; margin-bottom: 0in; "><font color="#280099"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at </i></font></font></font><font color="#0000ff"><u><a href="mailto:Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com</i></font></font></a> <span class="print-footnote">[11]</span></u></font><font color="#280099"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="2"><i>.</i></font></font></font></div><p style="margin-top: 0.06in; margin-bottom: 0in"> </p>
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<div class="print-source_url"><strong>Source URL:</strong> <a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/rep-keith-ellison-personification-phony-pro-war-%E2%80%9Cprogressive%E2%80%9D">http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/rep-keith-ellison-personification-phony-pro-war-%E2%80%9Cprogressive%E2%80%9D</a></div>
<div class="print-links"><p><strong>Links:</strong><br>[1] <a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/war-against-syria">http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/war-against-syria</a><br>
[2] <a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/no-fly-zone-syria">http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/no-fly-zone-syria</a><br>
[3] <a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/no-fly-zone-libya">http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/no-fly-zone-libya</a><br>
[4] <a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/iraq-troop-surge">http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/iraq-troop-surge</a><br>
[5] <a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/human-right-watch">http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/human-right-watch</a><br>
[6] <a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/amnesty-international">http://www.blackagendareport.com/category/department-war/amnesty-international</a><br>
[7] <a href="http://www.blackagendareport.com/sites/www.blackagendareport.com/files/keith_ellison.jpg">http://www.blackagendareport.com/sites/www.blackagendareport.com/files/keith_ellison.jpg</a><br>
[8] <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/apr/28/rep-keith-ellison-syrian-red-line-does-not-mean-bo/print/">http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/apr/28/rep-keith-ellison-syrian-red-line-does-not-mean-bo/print/</a><br>
[9] <a href="http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/05/15/rep-keith-ellison-us-must-protect-syrias-innocent_print.html">http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/05/15/rep-keith-ellison-us-must-protect-syrias-innocent_print.html</a><br>
[10] <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040700951.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040700951.html</a><br>
[11] <a href="mailto:Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com">mailto:Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com</a><br>
[12]
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