[Peace] [Peace-discuss] What we're up against

[Karen Aram]

If we only focus on foreign policy, which continues with each administration whether Democrat or Republican, our one Party system owned by the corporations, it’s merely a matter of “strategy,” 

The Pentagon was displeased with Obama’s pivot to Asia, because they aren’t ready for war with China, they prefer staying in the middle east, and the ramping up of war with nations on the African continent (across the sahel). 

Obama did a fine job, providing the resources with Africom spread across the continent during his reign. Of course the American people took no notice, because colonizing and killing Africans whether here or there, is something the West has been doing for centuries with impunity. 

So the battles taking place between our institutions currently within the Beltway are simply a matter of “strategy,” that of, which nation do we destroy next, one can only stretch ones resources so far. Yes, did I mention Iran? Iran is now in the crosshairs, along with Russia, war with China can wait.

There is no candidate, no one residing within either of the one Party system of Democrats or Republicans who cares for peace, our Congressional leaders are owned by the corporations and if one rebels against the system he/she is likely penalized or gerrymandered out in some manner or another.

There are many things and people that need to be ignored, those squabbling over the elections for one. If all we do is argue amongst ourselves, and take no action against that which threatens to destroy humanity then we deserve what we get. 

Trump said a lot of things during the campaign, as do most candidates, anything to get elected, what matters now, is what his Administration is “doing.”  Not what he says. He is no “peace” candidate, never was. Wanting peace with Russia is about the money to be made doing business with Russia. Trump bombed Syria, and his provocations for war with North Korea, otherwise China, provocations for war with Iran, the moving of the US Embassy to Jerusalem, and his support for intervention in Libya as far back as 2011 are proof.

In the meantime, the elites/billionaires under the Trump Administration are having a field day, further impoverishing the American people, with the tax increase, anti-net neutrality, etc.,etc. Yes, the Obama Administration paved the way, but now it’s in our face, now it’s no longer hidden with excuses and obfuscation of events. Are we going to do nothing? Or are we going to take action, take to the streets, make our voices heard which is the only tried and true method of producing any change or progress. 

Today 2:00 Champaign County Courthouse on Main and Vine stand up against the tax increase against the working class. By the way, even if you aren’t working, even if you are a professional with various degrees, unless you’re a billionaire, you are “working class.”

> On Dec 16, 2017, at 02:48, Carl G. Estabrook <galliher at illinois.edu> wrote:
> 
> Anti-Trumpism Is Anti-Progressivism In Disguise – Caitlin Johnstone <medium.com>
> 
> The usual Clintonite pundits are crowing triumphantly about their narrow, expensive victory over a spectacularly awful candidate in Alabama yesterday, effectively claiming that this vindicates the way they’ve been ignoring everyone to the left of John McCain since the election. I don’t care about the Democratic party enough to write an entire article about how this is yet another sign that its leadership has no intention of ever moving even a single inch to the left in any way that matters, but I’d like to share a few thoughts on the general big-picture trend in US politics that this is a part of.
> 
> When I say that anti-Trumpism is anti-progressivism in disguise, I don’t mean to suggest that Trump is progressive in any way, shape or form, nor do I mean to suggest that his administration isn’t advancing many legitimately toxic policies which must be ferociously opposed. By anti-Trumpism I mean the blinkered, frenzied “ZOMG LITERALLY HITLER” cult which prioritizes impeachment of the sitting president above all else and at any cost, and by anti-progressivism I mean it’s being used as a deliberate ploy to manipulate what remains of the American political left into the pro-neoliberalism, pro-war “center”.
> 
> The campaign against Roy Moore was simply a microcosm of this general “vote for us because we’re not that scary boogieman” good cop/bad cop game both parties have been extorting the American public with for generations. Like Trump, Moore was a scandal-saturated slob who represented some of the most pernicious aspects of the GOP, and, though his opponent Doug Jones campaigned as a centrist who would work with Republicans, he was still viewed as better than Moore by enough people to win an election. This extortion scheme forced the people of Alabama to choose between a senator who would help move US politics far to the right and someone who would help move US politics only somewhat to the right, and they voted in self-defense, not because they liked Jones but because they feared Moore.
> 
> This is a perfect illustration of how anti-Trumpism is being used on a much larger scale. By constantly masturbating the absurd narrative that Donald Trump is simultaneously (A) crazy, (B) stupid, (C) a secret Nazi and (D) a treasonous Kremlin agent, the Democratic party is able to herd the political left into supporting pro-war, pro-oligarchy candidates and agendas. In the same way they used “But Roy Moore!” to win support for an imperialist corporate whore, they will use “But Trump!” to win support for their neoliberal neoconservative extortion scheme at every turn.
> 
> Whenever I point this out I get a bunch of Democratic party loyalists telling me “We can walk and chew gum at the same time! We can work to impeach Trump while advancing progressive causes!” No you can’t. You can’t and you don’t. When it came time to fight the DNC’s illicit, charter-violating installation of Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders they “But Trump!”ed you into conforming. When it came time to support a third party they “But Trump!”ed you into conforming. When it came time to demand a massive overhaul of the DNC they “But Trump!”ed you into conforming. When it came time to demand a full investigation and restitution for the Democratic party’s misdeeds and manipulations exposed by WikiLeaks they “But Trump!”ed you into conforming. Every meaningful movement toward economic justice has been muted and marginalized since the election by “But Trump! But Trump! But Trump!” while the Republicans march the country further into corporatist oligarchy, and this scheme will continue for as long as it continues to work.
> 
> As long as the American left allows fear of Trump to determine the way it thinks and votes, the American left will be completely neutered. When this boogieman is out of office, they’ll simply elevate another one just like they did with Trump, probably one that’s even scarier since the last one was so effective. If they can’t beat that one they’ll use him to herd the left into the center, just like they’re doing now.
> 
> There’s a pipe dream in the DemEnter school of thought that progressives will be able to stage a takeover of the Democratic party beginning in 2018, but as long as the cult of anti-Trumpism, impeachment and Russiagate continues to dominate the way Democrats think and vote, this simply will not happen. 2018 will not be a year in which Berniecrats shore up influence over the Democratic party, it will be a year in which Democrats are “But Trump!”ed into supporting the so-called “center”, which only gets to call itself that because its massive corporate funds and media influence have enabled it to become a mainstream force.
> 
> You cannot have your impeachment/Russiagate crusade and also move US politics to the left, progressives. You cannot. What you are trying to do isn’t like walking and chewing gum at the same time, it’s like trying to walk in one direction while taking a jet plane in the other direction at the same time. Keep supporting the impeachment/Russiagate narrative and you’re just handing the ranchers an easy day’s work as you march yourselves all straight into the slaughterhouse. They will “But Trump!” you into conformity until you stop letting fear and corporate narratives rule your minds and start pushing for what you truly want for yourselves instead.
> 
> _______
> 
>> On Dec 16, 2017, at 4:17 AM, John W. <jbw292002 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> On Sat, Dec 16, 2017 at 3:41 AM, Debra Schrishuhn via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>> 
>> Did it ever occur to you that Trump might have been LYING when he criticized "neolib and neocon policies" in order to stoke voter anger and gain votes, just like he lied about draining the swamp, respecting women, not hurting Medicare and Social Security, providing "terrific" health care for everyone, and too many other subjects to mention?
>> 
>> Deb
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>> Even the term "lying" seems too rational or calculated or sophisticated, somehow, to describe tRump.  You can't THEORIZE about tRump in anything like the normal way.  I would simply say that tRump is so far gone that his words bear absolutely no relation to his actions or intentions, which are impulsive and childish and motivated solely by insecurity and narcissism, certainly not by any coherent ideology.  His words are never to be believed or trusted, to a far greater degree even than the average politician.  They are simply to be ignored, and his actions observed and noted as the actions of a madman.  He's a dangerous child with the nuclear codes.
>> 
>> John Wason
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Dec 14, 2017, at 8:41 PM, "Carl G. Estabrook" <galliher at illinois.edu> wrote:
>> 
>>> The Democrat party supports neoconservative policies (more war) abroad, and neoliberal policies (more inequality) at home. Jones is an apparatchik of that party. The people of Alabama need to educate him on their real needs - viz., an end to 40 years of accelerating immiseration, under Democrat as well as Republican administrations. Their remarkably quiescent suffering finally elected a president who criticized neolib and neocon policies (who was then under intense pressure to continue those policies). Time-servers like Jones probably won’t be able to put the populist genie back in the bottle. We shouldn’t help them. 
>>> 
>>> Here’s what we’re dealing with, along with the vicious military policies of the Obama-Clinton administration to “maintain the disparity” with the rest of the world: <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Finequality%2F2017%2Fdec%2F14%2Finequality-is-not-inevitable-but-the-us-experiment-is-a-recipe-for-divergence&data=02%7C01%7C%7C1e6fa1ce5d6942af0f8208d54472cbb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636490182183861995&sdata=AKazhqT%2BQRqrAWIT6YM3ZXi5xU5TLP7PuLuMya9zmh8%3D&reserved=0>.
>>> 
>>> All the political establishment (very much including the Democrats) has to offer is disingenuous 'anti-Trumpism’: <https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedium.com%2F%40caityjohnstone%2Fanti-trumpism-is-anti-progressivism-in-disguise-9e688e6152e9&data=02%7C01%7C%7C1e6fa1ce5d6942af0f8208d54472cbb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636490182183861995&sdata=vYu8vIFiRvRR90Koy%2B%2BvpvwLqu6Hbd7Tu4NxmavS8OU%3D&reserved=0>.
>>> 
>>> Americans are coming to understand that they can do better than that, but rather clearly not with Democrats. —CGE
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Dec 14, 2017, at 5:58 PM, Debra Schrishuhn via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Right you are, Karen. Doug Jones has a decades-long record of public service. Getting elected in AL was step 1. Now he needs to truly represent (and educate) the people of AL, those who elected him and those who opposed him, in a principled and fair manner. It was the Democratic grassroots who first embraced Jones--the Democratic leadership hung back and only offered support when it looked like he might win. 
>>>> 
>>>> As we at PDA say, we have to drag the Democratic Party kicking and screaming toward more progressive policies. It is a long journey, full of setbacks, but we keep trying. Doug Jones offers an opportunity--we would be foolish not to take advantage of it. 
>>>> 
>>>> Deb
>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>> 
>>>> On Dec 14, 2017, at 12:11 PM, Karen Aram <karenaram at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Exactly: As a “Green socialist” I may not support the Democrat Party, but given evil of Mr. Moore, and the Republican Party, especially their record of impoverishment of the people in Alabama. It’s time for a change, Democrat candidate Doug Jones, has an opportunity to do something for that state and his constituents, lets see if he is up to the task. As I have said previously, he prosecuted the KKK successfully in the 70’s for the crimes they committed in the sixties, that everyone else allowed them to walk free. 
>>>>> 
>>>>> According to JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Doug Jones’ victory marks the first time in 25 years that a Democrat has won a U.S. Senate race in Alabama. Tuesday’s special election was highly controversial, pitting Doug Jones against Roy Moore, an accused pedophile with a long history of racism, sexism, homophobia and Islamophobia. 
>>>>> AMY GOODMAN: Tuesday’s vote was highly divided by race and gender, with African-American voters, particularly women, largely responsible for defeating Roy Moore. Overall, 96 percent of African-American voters voted for Doug Jones, with a staggering 98 percent of all black women voting for Jones. In contrast, nearly 70 percent of white voters voted for Roy Moore. A full 63 percent of white women voted for Moore, despite Moore being accused by multiple women of sexually harassing or assaulting them when they were teenagers, one as young as 14. Democratic strategist Symone Sanders, who served as Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ press secretary during his presidential campaign, said, quote, “Doug Jones would not have won today without the turnout we saw from African-American voters. … Black women have been absolutely clear in their support for Democratic policies and Democratic candidates. It’s high time for Democrats to invest in that effort,” unquote.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Dec 14, 2017, at 09:15, Debra Schrishuhn <deb.pdamerica at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Karen
>>>>>> I agree with you. It is definitely a victory to elect a moderate Democrat who is a decent man and citizen over a lecherous, bigoted Republican who totally disrespects the rule of law. 
>>>>>> Deb
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Dec 14, 2017, at 9:35 AM, Karen Aram via Peace <peace at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> In the case of Alabama, it sure as hell is. A state with such extreme poverty, that the UN compared conditions in Alabama to that of many nations in sub saharan African villages. 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Dec 14, 2017, at 06:58, C G Estabrook via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Finequality%2F2017%2Fdec%2F14%2Finequality-is-not-inevitable-but-the-us-experiment-is-a-recipe-for-divergence&data=02%7C01%7C%7C1e6fa1ce5d6942af0f8208d54472cbb5%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636490182183861995&sdata=AKazhqT%2BQRqrAWIT6YM3ZXi5xU5TLP7PuLuMya9zmh8%3D&reserved=0
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> It’s not a victory to elect Democrats instead of Republicans.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> "The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum - even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there's free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate.” [Chomsky]
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