[Peace-discuss] FW: where we are currently at, where we should be going and how to make that happen.

[J.B. Nicholson]

David Johnson via Peace-discuss wrote:
> This is a great interview with the former president of the Northern
> California Progressive caucus / Bernie Sanders supporter, that details where
> we are currently at, where we should be going and how to make that happen.

Jimmy Dore has been one of the few people to offer actionable ideas on what needs to 
be done now: strikes, particularly among workers we all know are critical -- grocery 
store workers & Amazon.com workers are the two Dore points to most often -- so that 
the public can put a list of demands in front of Congress and not go back to work 
until those demands are met such as establishing a Universal Basic Income and 
Medicare for All (there are now 2 bills to implement this[1]). Dore is also sharp on 
pointing out how the so-called progressive Democrats are doing nothing helpful now 
(he names the same people in Congress including: Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria 
Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar, Ro Khanna, and more). Rep. Omar had a 
particularly shameful interview on Democracy Now including discussing the recent 
massive business bailout bill (constituting the largest wealth transfer) where she 
said mutually exclusive things right next to each other and Amy Goodman never 
challenged her on it:

 From https://www.democracynow.org/2020/3/27/rep_ilhan_omar_coronavirus_relief_bill

> Rep. Ilhan Omar: [...] I think this crisis and this pandemic really lays bare the 
> kind of inequalities that have existed for far too long in our country. And the 
> conversations we’re having right now as we put forth our third relief package 
> shows us that there is often a prioritization of corporate interests and often not
> a prioritization of the interests of the people.
> 
> So, today I plan on voting for this bill, not because it’s perfect or it’s
> sufficient, but because I think, in a time where we are facing one of the largest
> crises we’ve faced in our country, it’s going to be really important for us to do
> everything that we can to protect the lives and the livelihoods of the people of
> this country. [...]
Note how Rep. Omar used a false dichotomy as an excuse for her "bending the knee to 
the party" (as Jimmy Dore rightly put it) and spoke about the bill as if it helps us 
in some serious way. She continued on explaining our public needs as if a one-time 
$1200 (with possible $500/child additions) is really going to help people in what 
looks like a multi-month period in which people can't work, get paid, and therefore 
pay their bills. The phrase "Medicare for All" doesn't make an appearance anywhere in 
that interview. Goodman has really fallen since the run-up to the 2003 US/UK-led Iraq 
invasion: coverage like the above, pro-Russiagate coverage, and pro-Syrian "gas 
attack" allegations which directly contradict OPCW engineer evidence. To Dore's 
credit: he got all three of these major modern issues right.

However I think that Jimmy Dore could be a little more understanding when it comes to 
the feckless so-called "progressive" media because Dore had a weak spot for covering 
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard's 2020 campaign. Dore never covered Gabbard's 2018 Intercept 
interview in which Gabbard (who was widely called "anti-war" by supporters and 
critics alike, a review she accepted) described drone bombing as "surgical strikes" 
and she said that didn't want to see "a large amount of civilian casualties"[2]. 
That's pro-war talk. Dore criticized that kind of talk when other people said it 
(like Sanders repeating CIA talking points about the Venezuelan coup attempts). Dore 
remained silent as Gabbard told Primo Nutmeg and CBS News[3] that she was a loyal 
Democrat, vowing never to run outside the Democratic Party, and when she promised 
around August 2019 to ultimately support the Democratic nominee (which meant 
supporting someone more belligerent than she was taken to be). When Sanders 
demonstrated that same fealty by pledging to support the Democratic nominee very 
early Dore chastised him for it[4] but remained silent on Gabbard who did the same 
thing. It wasn't that long ago that Dore was doing shows which were so highly 
supportive of Gabbard that Dore's position on Gabbard was indistinguishable from 
being 'in the tank' for her.

I think that Dore was right to call attention to how bad (for the public) Sanders' 
choices were, but it looks like Dore preferred to keep good relations with Gabbard 
perhaps in order to increase the odds of securing another interview with her. Dore 
should have applied his mostly valid criticism evenhandedly and demonstrated the 
point he's now struggling to make -- progressives need to criticize their own leaders 
when they see those leaders doing bad things.



[1] And neither author of either bill -- Sen. Sanders and Rep. Jayapal -- are arguing 
for their bills nor are they calling for much of anything that would help ordinary 
Americans. Sen. Sanders only recently wrote "I support workers who strike, conduct a 
sick-out, or participate in a walk-off to support our collective health and safety 
amid this pandemic. Period." in 
https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1245481619772903425 on 1 April. But he had 
to be pushed to that by advocates who embarrassed him like Jimmy Dore.

[2] https://theintercept.com/2018/01/17/intercepted-podcast-white-mirror/ around 
28m43s into the audio interview or search the transcript for the phrase "surgical 
strikes".

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzVSYBNgOeI and 
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/tulsi-gabbard-on-her-political-future/

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5BVBJpjNZo around 10m22s.