Ralph is joined by labor activist Gene Bruskin to discuss how labor leaders are joining with Progressive lawmakers to demand a ceasefire in Gaza, and the true meaning of solidarity.
Thanks in part to what you've been talking about for years, our little group in Carbondale, CO got the Glenwood Springs Town Council to unanimously pass a ceasefire resolution.
It's symbolic, we know that. But it's something.
As I've said in other comments, the group attended the Aspen City Council meeting two nights prior. One city council member turned their back on us. The other might as well have -- he was on his phone the whole time. Aspen claims to be a cultural and liberal hub? Not so much.
Organizing and volunteering for something isn't easy - in fact it's hard. My experience has been that getting in touch with people for advice or what not is just about impossible. I've tried a couple times (I wrote emails to you) and failed miserably.
Here's the link to the story on our group's substack page:
On the topic of Colorado, I did see in the news this week that Colorado's AG (on the topic of the power of state AGs as mentioned by Mr. Perlstein) has filed a lawsuit to block the Kroger-Albertsons grocery merger which will have a significant impact on grocery competition in the state if the merger is allowed to happen. Colorado is the second state to file such a lawsuit, Washington's AG did the same back in January. Link: https://coag.gov/2024/colorado-attorney-general-phil-weiser-files-lawsuit-to-block-proposed-kroger-albertsons-merger/
There are many other states, especially out west such as Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, California, and others which should file similar lawsuits to help bolster what I expect (or hope at least) is the FTC's effort to block the merger and to help bolster the anti-merger side of any federal lawsuit to bypass a FTC block.
Public Citizen and many unions have been against the merger for months now, but it has been radio silence on this topic on the RNRH, even in Francesco's segment, and I'm really quite confused about why that is the case. This seems like an issue that has Ralph Nader written all over it. Lina Khan herself has asked the public to provide their comments on the merger. I'm surprised the RNRH isn't being active at all in what appears to be a winnable case against corporatism.
Steve, what's the story here? I know there's only so much power you have on the show's agenda, but surely Public Citizen can contact Mr. Nader and suggest an informed expert who can discuss this important matter. I've talked to many people about this issue here in Texas and there is legitimate interest in the subject from both Republican and Democratic Party voters since Kroger and Albertsons both have a major presence here so I feel very confident that this topic won't make for 'boring radio' if that is the concern.
Gene Bruskin says that supporting Joe Biden is a given in the 2024 election, and I paraphrase here. Why? Trump is the ultimate evil: Perhaps? But the problem in moving the politcal elite to stop Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip is that it’s a bipartisan deal. The power elite don’t give a damn and their almost universal support for the weapons makers and Israeli agresssion tells much. I don’t think it’s a case of the dog (Israel) wagging the tail (of the US) in terms the ongoing genocide. It’s the money and it’s another case of following the money that leads to extreme greed and power. They don’t care about thousands of years on the thought of what is just in war that extends from ancient Babylonia up through the ages to today. It doesn’t matter to the elite in power.
Rick Perlstein gives a thorough account on the fascist bent of the MAGA crowd. History doesn’t matter to these people, moral behavior doesn’t matter, and empathy for the other certainly doesn’t matter. The Democrats, through decades of neglect of workers interests, has made quite a lot of space for the politics of anger and resentment to become the calling card of Trump et al. Globalization, deindustrialization, mass incarceration, and the gutting of social programs has done the rest.
On DeSantis' comments: I live about 7 miles from the Santa Fe, NM airport and see all the planes that come in from the SW and the SE; I haven't seen one Max Boeing fly in for years.
Regarding the huge number of working class Americans who can't seem to stop shooting themselves in the foot every time they vote, I'm reminded of the insightful George Carlin piece from 2006, "Dumb Americans," which if anything is even more on-point 18 years later. It closes with the following:
"Good, honest, hard-working people continue… these are people of modest means. Continue to elect these rich cocksuckers who don’t give a fuck about them. THEY DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU! THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT YOU. AT ALL. AT ALL. AT ALL! And nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care. That’s what the owners count on. The fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, white and blue dick that’s being jammed up their assholes every day. Because the owners of this country know the truth… It’s called the American dream. Because you have to be asleep to believe it."
This is relevant given comments made by both guests, but it is especially relevant given what was said by Mr. Bruskin. Let me cite some comments made by President Biden on Tuesday, February 13, 2024:
“I want to be clear about something, because I know it’s important to the American people: While this bill sends military equipment to Ukraine, it spends the money right here in the United States of America in places like Arizona, where the Patriot missiles are built; and Alabama, where the Javelin missiles are built; and Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Texas, where artillery shells are made.
And the way it works is we supply Ukraine with military equipment from our stockpiles, and then we spend our money replenishing those stockpiles so our military has access to them — stockpiles that are made right here in America by American workers. That not only supports American jobs and American communities, it allows us to invest in maintaining and strengthening our own defense manufacturing capacity.”
These are not new comments from Biden and from US Presidents in general. These are very important comments and sentiments which need to be addressed from a general labor perspective. The US government is selling our military misadventures as being jobs programs which are good for the US economy. In many ways, this sentiment isn’t far-fetched, military spending does create many jobs all over the country both in terms of white-collar engineering jobs and blue-collar manufacturing jobs often filled by minority workers in economically depressed areas. The jobs pay well and, politically, it would be very dangerous for any politician to threaten these jobs without a good alternative plan. Even if people would rather be making solar panels than bullets, few people, their families, and communities would be willing to trade in economic security for economic insecurity by voting their jobs away without a good alternative economic plan.
With that in mind, the labor movement, and everyone really, needs to push for demilitarization which transitions the military industry into a flexible nationalized engineering and manufacturing arm that produces materials for national and international benefit, such as meeting our public infrastructure needs, and which can be utilized for defense purposes on an as-needed basis.
The implication made by Mr. Nader that reductions in military spending opens up opportunities for healthcare and other purposes is, at least directly, false. The US can spend on both the military industry and for things like healthcare from a budgetary perspective. There could well be resource constraints with having such a large military industry as we have now though and that is a legitimate economic concern, not the direct ability to fund appropriations, but the usual, and false, narrative is that we cannot fund healthcare and infrastructure because of militarization.
Politically and functionally, however, we cannot just eliminate the current spending on militarization. John Kenneth Galbraith was very clear on this point. Over time, with national priorities, we can, and should, transform the labor force towards healthcare and other necessary and popular priorities, but for the people working in military engineering and manufacturing right now, they need to be able to make a seamless, expedient, and productive transition to demilitarized and nationalized industry and federal government spending can provide this just transition. This, of course, ensures and further strengthens economic security for labor without need for career changes, relocations, re-training, and so forth.
Biden’s comments which imply that global warfare, and all the pollution which comes from armed conflict, are necessary to provide jobs in the United States are abhorrent and economically false. Many people will agree with the abhorrent part, but the public is not-so-aware of the economic ramifications of matters and this is what causes reform efforts to stall before they even get started. The labor movement needs to work on their messaging on this front or else they risk alienating their membership because the public may wrongly think that demilitarization will lead to economic and way-of-life insecurity.
There was a time when I got head spins from drinking too much - age 66, I'm experiencing head spins from the chaos, corruption, brutality, censorship, lies, stealing, cheating, and my taxes funding it all!
Kathlean, taxes collected from individuals and businesses do not fund anything at the federal level. This is not to say that taxes are unimportant, taxation is actually very important as a fiscal policy tool, but it would not be correct to say that warfare, or a hypothetical national healthcare program, are/would be taxpayer funded.
State and local government programs are a different story, these entities do rely, though not entirely, on tax returns.
Regardless of the source of funding, these are our public governmental bodies. It is a problem when these bodies are not responsive to public needs.
Our group is causing quite the stir in Glenwood Springs and up valley to Aspen. The Mayor of Glenwood has been getting flooded with calls from Zionists. She called us, said because of the flack she's getting she regrets approving our resolution. My guess is that AIPAC and the Israeli Lobby has found us.
Can anyone here please point us to sources to refute the most popular talking points? The war is all Hamas's fault, the people of Gaza support Hamas, etc.
Our group is working on LTE's to fight back. But we all have jobs. If there's a source that we can pull from to get our LTE's out faster, please let us know.
Yesterday, #HillaryClinton was featured as a speaker at The World Forum organized by Cinema for Peace in Berlin.
During her speech, activists united to denounce violations of International Law and advocate for Human Rights of #Palestinians.
However, instead of addressing their concerns, Clinton responded with dismissive laughter as activists encountered physical and verbal aggression from event organizers.
Demonstrating a lack of awareness regarding the death toll in #Gaza, Clinton callously remarked, „Of course I’m not shocked because that’s what happens in war.“
Listening right now to this great podcast and your wonderful informative guest, Rick Perlstein. This segment hits home for me. A long friend of mine who is an avid trumper called me yesterday and wanted to see how I was doing. The conversation was fine but he always brings up some way to state his views of trump, big oil, anti rebates for electric vehicles, home improvement, etc. I pointed out the huge tax subsidies for big oil, coal and corporations not paying their fair share of taxes. This all went over him like the wind. Then he starts spouting out disinformation about President Biden and of course I counter it with trumps 91 felonies, 2 civil suits that he just lost and the Jan 6th Insurrection. Oh and how trump wants to be a dictator on day 1 if elected. He said he has never heard of any of this and that trump is allowed to fight back on his convictions and upcoming trials. This is a person who consumes all his mis/disinformaton from Fox News and Newsmax. None of this is ever shown on these right wing media outlets. We finally had to change the conversation to sports because he was just yelling at me and then not letting me get a word in over the phone. Although he felt he did a good thing by calling me as a friend I was left with very angry and disappointing feelings. I really don't want to talk to him again or see him again because I know this conversation will lead to more yelling over his love for trump and hatred of Biden and the Democrats. I have known this friend since grade school and now our friendship is gone due to his consumption of false right wind media. Oh he is a retired Maryland State Trooper which worries me even more because I wonder how many speeding and other tickets he gave to minorities and people of color. Very disturbing...
If Israel keeps this up, 'antisemitic' will soon mean 'anti-genocide.'
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Monday (Feb 19th) declared that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is unwelcome in Israel until he retracts his remarks comparing the campaign against Hamas in Gaza to the Nazi genocide.
Summoning Brazil's ambassador on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's instructions, Katz emphasised the seriousness of Lula's comments. Labelling them as a "serious antisemitic attack" he said that the Brazilian leader is "persona non grata" until he takes back the remark.
As per a statement from his office, he has instructed the message to be conveyed to Lula through Brazil's ambassador, stating, "We will not forget nor forgive. It is a serious antisemitic attack. In my name and the name of the citizens of Israel - tell President Lula that he is persona non grata in Israel until he takes it back."
What Lula said
The Brazilian President on Sunday (Feb 18th) accused Israel of committing "genocide" against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
Further drawing a comparison between Israeli military actions and Adolf Hitler's campaign to exterminate the Jewish people, he said, "It's not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It's a war between a highly prepared army and women and children."
While attending an African Union summit, Lula told reporters that what was happening in the Gaza Strip "isn't a war, it's a genocide".
"What's happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn't happened at any other moment in history. Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews," he said.
'Shameful and grave' comments
Reacting to Lula's remarks, Netanyahu deemed them as "shameful and grave", and said that his government had called in Brazil's ambassador in protest.
In a statement, he said that the Brazilian President's comments were "a trivialisation of the Holocaust and an attempt to attack the Jewish people and the right of Israel to self-defence. Drawing comparisons between Israel and the Nazis and Hitler is to cross a red line".
"Israel is fighting to defend itself and ensure its future until total victory, and it is doing that while upholding international law," he added.
Brazilian President Lula should be proud of having the decency of calling out Israel for its horrific and depraved slaughter of millions of innocent Gazans.
Let Israel slander Brazil and South Africa for all the good it will do it. Spain and Ireland are right behind them getting ready to pass legislation to boycott Israel. As the slaughter and starvation get worse, more countries will do the same.
I hope that Israel in one hissy fit after another cuts itself off from the human race.
The best thing that could happen is that no one does business with Israel until all their war criminals are arrested and convicted and imprisoned. And that includes Netanyahu.
Of course, before that happens, all those war criminals will come here and be protected by our gutless and fawning politicians.
From Israeli TV:
Israeli forces are building a fortified highway cutting Gaza into two
Stein is a spoiler with no national constituency. A vote for her is a vote for Trump.
If Trump wins, there will never be another free election in the US.
Americans must stop thinking that we can rearrange players on the chessboard and fix our issues. If Trump is defeated, we need a grassroots movement. The best approach is to align GenZ, unions, Black churches, and Latino leaders to form the backbone of a new movement.
We will never have money on our side, so we need to have the numbers and a discrete set of absolute demands in exchange for our voting block.
It means running candidates at the local and state level, volunteering, and monitoring elected officials. If they break commitments, they never receive votes from this block.
They have the money, but we make the country run. It will take work, effort, and sacrifice. Otherwise, it's just meaningless posts on social media.
You tune in to the Ralph Nader Radio hour, and don't realize the absurdity of that tired old Democratic tripe? If I vote for Jill Stein, my vote goes to Jill Stein. It's not legal for election workers to switch votes. Are you accusing the Retropublicans of hacking voting machines?
Meanwhile you will vote for the genocide of the Palestinian people. I will not!
Stein is a spoiler...a vote for her is a vote that doesn't go to Biden. Just as in 2016, she siphoned off enough votes to tip the election to Trump, raised money for a recount...then disappeared with the money and never held a recount.
I'm voting against fascism, which will destroy millions of lives in the US and Ukraine. It's a luxury to vote on principle...one we can't afford.
I've explained why a grassroots movement is needed vs voting for bv a 70-year-old to replace an 80-year-old, but wasting your vote won't save Palestinians.
It's not a luxury to vote on principle- it's a responsibility.
A responsibility we can't afford to abrogate out of an irrational fear that if Trump wins there will never be another free election in the US.
We survived eight years of Reagan, four years of GHW Bush, eight years of Clinton, eight years of GW Bush, eight years of Obama, four years of Trump and three years of Biden despite claims that those presidencies would end democracy as we know it.
The trouble is democracy as we know it is only a fairy tale.
The claim that a vote for Stein is a vote taken from Biden is just one small facet of the fairy tale.
Stein can only be a spoiler in swing states as we elect presidents with Electoral votes.
And so what if she is?
If the corporate Democrats believe correctly or not those spoiler votes cost them the election then they will be provided with a powerful incentive to offer a better candidate in 2028.
There are three basic alternatives.
Vote for Biden or Trump and vote for more of the same in 2028.
Don't vote.
Or vote for a candidate like Stein or cast a write in vote to register a vote against Biden and Trump demonstrating and creating demand for something different in 2028.
It will not matter if a million or two people in California vote for Stein or cast a write in vote. Biden will still get the electoral votes.
It will not matter if a million or two people in Texas vote for Stein or cast a write in vote. Trump will still get the electoral votes.
But 10, 15 or 20 million people in non-swing states voting for Stein or casting write in votes would provide incentive for better candidates from both parties in 2028 even if there were no swing states lost to a spoiler.
Don is correct here. For Klassik, in Texas, it makes all the sense in the world to vote for a third-party/independent candidate in the presidential election. Voting in the primaries is a different story, but the Democratic Party is not interested in running a primary for the presidential ticket and so that is a lost democratic opportunity for the people. The Republican candidate is all but assured of winning in Texas. Voting for the Democratic candidate does little, but voting for a third-party/independent candidate helps those parties/candidates gain ballot access and greater viability in future elections.
I believe it is a mistake to assume that a vote for a third-party/independent candidate is a vote stolen from one of the main parties. There are people, perhaps many people, who vote for these independents who otherwise would not have voted at all. Some of the popular independent candidates in recent history, such as Ralph Nader, have had broad appeal and their voters don’t just come from the progressive side of the electorate.
Furthermore, when outsiders gain traction, they can help push the two big parties. Many people claimed voting for Bernie Sanders in the 2020 primaries was wasting a vote, but Sanders’ popularity helped him leverage some power over Biden’s nominees. Lina Khan probably would not be the head of the FTC if Sanders was not a popular candidate. And, of course, when popular independent candidates exist, it would behoove the major party candidates/party favorites to adopt some of the policies pushed by the popular independents.
Now, all of this said, I don’t find the current group of third-party/independent candidates for president to be a particularly compelling group. Independent candidates need to try even harder than the major candidates to have compelling policy agendas, but what we see are mostly toilet paper thin policy agendas. Single-issue candidates in particular need a compelling policy agenda so they have something to push which maybe the major candidates will adopt, but I really don’t see much strength in that area at the current time.
A vote for Stein in 2026 brought up Trump, a loss of abortion rights and abortion bans in half the states.
A vote for Stein brought trans bans, book bans, Muslim bans.
A vote for Stein brought 3 ultra right-wing SCOTUS justices who are decimating the administrative state.
A vote for Stein brought us the insanity of the 5th Circuit, which is approving far right wish lists at the speed of light.
The Heritage Foundation has created a 900-page document (Project 2025) to eliminate apolitical civil servants and replace them with Trump loyalists who will consolidate power and privatize education, Social Security Medicare and Medicaid.
Protect Democracy has compiled a list of actions that Trump and his cohorts plan to pursue to institute authoritarian rule...from targeting political rivals with the IRS and DOJ, to deporting Muslims and other ethnic minorities to activating the Insurrection Act.
We are not in the Bush era.We are in an era where the GOP base and its leaders openly support dictatorships around the world.
Stein is a 70-year-old conwoman, who kept funds intended for a recount (which never occurred), and who has failed to do anything positive to promote democracy or help working people. If you think she has your interests in mind, you are gravely mistaken.
There is no heroic figure that can be placed atop a rotted foundation and fix what ails us. A true change requires a movement. Voting for Stein makes people feel like they're making a difference, but it's smoke and mirrors.
Making a difference takes work and sacrifice, not a wasted vote.
Actually it was the Democrats once again offering the non-heroic figure Hillary Clinton placed atop a rotted foundation in 2016 that brought us all those things you blamed on a vote for Stein.
And it was Democrats once again offering the non-herioc Biden that almost lost again in 2020 and that has made 2024 into what it is today.
I do somewhat agree that Stein (also a big money candidate) is merely the lesser of three evils, but at least she brings some youth into the choices. :)
A true change requires a movement. I described how people can start a movement using a write-in vote rather than wasting their vote on voting for more of the same by voting for Trump, Biden or Stein.
Citizens can also use this strategy in the 90% of congressional districts that are gerrymandered for either half of the one big money party.
Do you have no argument against that strategy or did you just forget to address that in your zeal to rationalize your belief in the smoke and mirrors offered by the Democrats?
I have no need to make an accurate reply as Don Harris did. I will simply say that your comments are totally inaccurate where they are directed at Dr. Stein. You appear as knowledgeable as any other FOX so-called-news groupie.
Yes, Netanyahu should go to elections, leave his office, finish his trial, and go to jail.
However, some misconceptions and fake news storm US politics.
This is why I forgive the fake-facts that are mentioned in both text above
and many comments here.
Even President Biden missed the true situation in Gaza.
When he said that the toll of 30,000 dead Gazans is high and the US cannot tolerate more 30,000 victims, he missed a lot:
1. Almost half of the 30K victims were Hamas fighters - even 14 years old Arabs are among the terrorists: Last two months in Israel, there were three terror attacks against Jews in Israel, made by 14 years old "youngsters" - at least one victim was stabbed to death.
2. All others were killed while Hamas is using Gazan civilians as human-shields - a practice forbidden by Int'l law, which allows attacking such military targets! The 4th Geneva Convention, Article 28 says: "The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations." (See: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gciv-1949/article-28)
3. When telling us that Israel told Gazans to go south, President Biden failed to mention that the purpose was to save Gazan lives while Israel fights Hamas, reducing the chances that they serve as human-shields for Hamas.
4. Some of the Gazans were killed by explosives, that were detonated in their homes - because they stored Hamas ammunition in their homes: they were many photos published by Israel troops showing rockets stored under kids' beds, guns in kids closets, and even arms stored in a big manikin at the entrance of a school.
Howdy Ralph and all,
Thanks in part to what you've been talking about for years, our little group in Carbondale, CO got the Glenwood Springs Town Council to unanimously pass a ceasefire resolution.
It's symbolic, we know that. But it's something.
As I've said in other comments, the group attended the Aspen City Council meeting two nights prior. One city council member turned their back on us. The other might as well have -- he was on his phone the whole time. Aspen claims to be a cultural and liberal hub? Not so much.
Organizing and volunteering for something isn't easy - in fact it's hard. My experience has been that getting in touch with people for advice or what not is just about impossible. I've tried a couple times (I wrote emails to you) and failed miserably.
Here's the link to the story on our group's substack page:
https://ceasefirenowrfv.substack.com/p/breaking-news-glenwood-springs-passes
Anyway, our hope is that others will form citizen groups and take action as well.
Thanks again,
Free Palestine!
On the topic of Colorado, I did see in the news this week that Colorado's AG (on the topic of the power of state AGs as mentioned by Mr. Perlstein) has filed a lawsuit to block the Kroger-Albertsons grocery merger which will have a significant impact on grocery competition in the state if the merger is allowed to happen. Colorado is the second state to file such a lawsuit, Washington's AG did the same back in January. Link: https://coag.gov/2024/colorado-attorney-general-phil-weiser-files-lawsuit-to-block-proposed-kroger-albertsons-merger/
There are many other states, especially out west such as Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, California, and others which should file similar lawsuits to help bolster what I expect (or hope at least) is the FTC's effort to block the merger and to help bolster the anti-merger side of any federal lawsuit to bypass a FTC block.
Public Citizen and many unions have been against the merger for months now, but it has been radio silence on this topic on the RNRH, even in Francesco's segment, and I'm really quite confused about why that is the case. This seems like an issue that has Ralph Nader written all over it. Lina Khan herself has asked the public to provide their comments on the merger. I'm surprised the RNRH isn't being active at all in what appears to be a winnable case against corporatism.
Steve, what's the story here? I know there's only so much power you have on the show's agenda, but surely Public Citizen can contact Mr. Nader and suggest an informed expert who can discuss this important matter. I've talked to many people about this issue here in Texas and there is legitimate interest in the subject from both Republican and Democratic Party voters since Kroger and Albertsons both have a major presence here so I feel very confident that this topic won't make for 'boring radio' if that is the concern.
Gene Bruskin says that supporting Joe Biden is a given in the 2024 election, and I paraphrase here. Why? Trump is the ultimate evil: Perhaps? But the problem in moving the politcal elite to stop Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip is that it’s a bipartisan deal. The power elite don’t give a damn and their almost universal support for the weapons makers and Israeli agresssion tells much. I don’t think it’s a case of the dog (Israel) wagging the tail (of the US) in terms the ongoing genocide. It’s the money and it’s another case of following the money that leads to extreme greed and power. They don’t care about thousands of years on the thought of what is just in war that extends from ancient Babylonia up through the ages to today. It doesn’t matter to the elite in power.
Rick Perlstein gives a thorough account on the fascist bent of the MAGA crowd. History doesn’t matter to these people, moral behavior doesn’t matter, and empathy for the other certainly doesn’t matter. The Democrats, through decades of neglect of workers interests, has made quite a lot of space for the politics of anger and resentment to become the calling card of Trump et al. Globalization, deindustrialization, mass incarceration, and the gutting of social programs has done the rest.
Like you say, “why”? Vote for Biden because he’s not Trump?
If not voting for Biden means Trump, maybe that will cause the D’s to make wholesale changes.
Hold your nose and vote for Biden? I can’t do it. Not today anyway.
You missed the main point of elections:
Absentee means you vote for the one that you hate the most
On DeSantis' comments: I live about 7 miles from the Santa Fe, NM airport and see all the planes that come in from the SW and the SE; I haven't seen one Max Boeing fly in for years.
Regarding the huge number of working class Americans who can't seem to stop shooting themselves in the foot every time they vote, I'm reminded of the insightful George Carlin piece from 2006, "Dumb Americans," which if anything is even more on-point 18 years later. It closes with the following:
"Good, honest, hard-working people continue… these are people of modest means. Continue to elect these rich cocksuckers who don’t give a fuck about them. THEY DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU! THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT YOU. AT ALL. AT ALL. AT ALL! And nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care. That’s what the owners count on. The fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, white and blue dick that’s being jammed up their assholes every day. Because the owners of this country know the truth… It’s called the American dream. Because you have to be asleep to believe it."
Thanks 4 the thumbs up - I've heard boycotts are sending the "vocal minority" message right to the high rise CEO desk tops.
boycott.thewitness.news A-Z "businesses as usual" who support the Israel Defense Forces.
Listened twice. Gotta go Labor Unions - stop Congress their $$$ collective forces of evil.
This is relevant given comments made by both guests, but it is especially relevant given what was said by Mr. Bruskin. Let me cite some comments made by President Biden on Tuesday, February 13, 2024:
“I want to be clear about something, because I know it’s important to the American people: While this bill sends military equipment to Ukraine, it spends the money right here in the United States of America in places like Arizona, where the Patriot missiles are built; and Alabama, where the Javelin missiles are built; and Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Texas, where artillery shells are made.
And the way it works is we supply Ukraine with military equipment from our stockpiles, and then we spend our money replenishing those stockpiles so our military has access to them — stockpiles that are made right here in America by American workers. That not only supports American jobs and American communities, it allows us to invest in maintaining and strengthening our own defense manufacturing capacity.”
Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/02/13/remarks-by-president-biden-on-senate-passage-of-the-bipartisan-supplemental-agreement/
These are not new comments from Biden and from US Presidents in general. These are very important comments and sentiments which need to be addressed from a general labor perspective. The US government is selling our military misadventures as being jobs programs which are good for the US economy. In many ways, this sentiment isn’t far-fetched, military spending does create many jobs all over the country both in terms of white-collar engineering jobs and blue-collar manufacturing jobs often filled by minority workers in economically depressed areas. The jobs pay well and, politically, it would be very dangerous for any politician to threaten these jobs without a good alternative plan. Even if people would rather be making solar panels than bullets, few people, their families, and communities would be willing to trade in economic security for economic insecurity by voting their jobs away without a good alternative economic plan.
With that in mind, the labor movement, and everyone really, needs to push for demilitarization which transitions the military industry into a flexible nationalized engineering and manufacturing arm that produces materials for national and international benefit, such as meeting our public infrastructure needs, and which can be utilized for defense purposes on an as-needed basis.
The implication made by Mr. Nader that reductions in military spending opens up opportunities for healthcare and other purposes is, at least directly, false. The US can spend on both the military industry and for things like healthcare from a budgetary perspective. There could well be resource constraints with having such a large military industry as we have now though and that is a legitimate economic concern, not the direct ability to fund appropriations, but the usual, and false, narrative is that we cannot fund healthcare and infrastructure because of militarization.
Politically and functionally, however, we cannot just eliminate the current spending on militarization. John Kenneth Galbraith was very clear on this point. Over time, with national priorities, we can, and should, transform the labor force towards healthcare and other necessary and popular priorities, but for the people working in military engineering and manufacturing right now, they need to be able to make a seamless, expedient, and productive transition to demilitarized and nationalized industry and federal government spending can provide this just transition. This, of course, ensures and further strengthens economic security for labor without need for career changes, relocations, re-training, and so forth.
Biden’s comments which imply that global warfare, and all the pollution which comes from armed conflict, are necessary to provide jobs in the United States are abhorrent and economically false. Many people will agree with the abhorrent part, but the public is not-so-aware of the economic ramifications of matters and this is what causes reform efforts to stall before they even get started. The labor movement needs to work on their messaging on this front or else they risk alienating their membership because the public may wrongly think that demilitarization will lead to economic and way-of-life insecurity.
There was a time when I got head spins from drinking too much - age 66, I'm experiencing head spins from the chaos, corruption, brutality, censorship, lies, stealing, cheating, and my taxes funding it all!
Kathlean, taxes collected from individuals and businesses do not fund anything at the federal level. This is not to say that taxes are unimportant, taxation is actually very important as a fiscal policy tool, but it would not be correct to say that warfare, or a hypothetical national healthcare program, are/would be taxpayer funded.
State and local government programs are a different story, these entities do rely, though not entirely, on tax returns.
Regardless of the source of funding, these are our public governmental bodies. It is a problem when these bodies are not responsive to public needs.
Thank you from an American Idiot.
gm all,
Our group is causing quite the stir in Glenwood Springs and up valley to Aspen. The Mayor of Glenwood has been getting flooded with calls from Zionists. She called us, said because of the flack she's getting she regrets approving our resolution. My guess is that AIPAC and the Israeli Lobby has found us.
https://www.postindependent.com/opinion/wednesday-letters-ceasefire-resolution-criticism-spring-valley-development/
Can anyone here please point us to sources to refute the most popular talking points? The war is all Hamas's fault, the people of Gaza support Hamas, etc.
Our group is working on LTE's to fight back. But we all have jobs. If there's a source that we can pull from to get our LTE's out faster, please let us know.
Thanks,
At Berlin Peace Meeting, Hillary Clinton said, "This is what happens in war" re: Gazan deaths.
Great video that shows multiple courageous people getting up and screaming at her that she is a "war criminal."
https://twitter.com/IkaFerrerGotic/status/1759869770923487643?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1759869770923487643%7Ctwgr%5Ee4169fe32a207721ca21d23642654c13a39ce641%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Factualidad.rt.com%2Factualidad%2F499830-hillary-clinton-decir-no-sorprendida-numero-victimas-gaza
Yesterday, #HillaryClinton was featured as a speaker at The World Forum organized by Cinema for Peace in Berlin.
During her speech, activists united to denounce violations of International Law and advocate for Human Rights of #Palestinians.
However, instead of addressing their concerns, Clinton responded with dismissive laughter as activists encountered physical and verbal aggression from event organizers.
Demonstrating a lack of awareness regarding the death toll in #Gaza, Clinton callously remarked, „Of course I’m not shocked because that’s what happens in war.“
Howdy all.
We’ve managed to upset people in Aspen.
Here’s a piece some former FBI guy wrote the other day:
https://www.aspendailynews.com/opinion/doebler-don-t-fall-prey-to-the-terrorist-playbook/article_00011a4a-cd3c-11ee-91df-27092e30e6a1.html#ath
And here’s another:
https://www.aspendailynews.com/opinion/ireland-turn-around-put-down-the-phone-listen-up/article_12c6b62a-cef0-11ee-8aae-13ae0e682d4b.html#ath
Listening right now to this great podcast and your wonderful informative guest, Rick Perlstein. This segment hits home for me. A long friend of mine who is an avid trumper called me yesterday and wanted to see how I was doing. The conversation was fine but he always brings up some way to state his views of trump, big oil, anti rebates for electric vehicles, home improvement, etc. I pointed out the huge tax subsidies for big oil, coal and corporations not paying their fair share of taxes. This all went over him like the wind. Then he starts spouting out disinformation about President Biden and of course I counter it with trumps 91 felonies, 2 civil suits that he just lost and the Jan 6th Insurrection. Oh and how trump wants to be a dictator on day 1 if elected. He said he has never heard of any of this and that trump is allowed to fight back on his convictions and upcoming trials. This is a person who consumes all his mis/disinformaton from Fox News and Newsmax. None of this is ever shown on these right wing media outlets. We finally had to change the conversation to sports because he was just yelling at me and then not letting me get a word in over the phone. Although he felt he did a good thing by calling me as a friend I was left with very angry and disappointing feelings. I really don't want to talk to him again or see him again because I know this conversation will lead to more yelling over his love for trump and hatred of Biden and the Democrats. I have known this friend since grade school and now our friendship is gone due to his consumption of false right wind media. Oh he is a retired Maryland State Trooper which worries me even more because I wonder how many speeding and other tickets he gave to minorities and people of color. Very disturbing...
Thanks for the program. Many rights groups have been calling out the Zionist Israelis for their genocide, as well as very few national leaders.
Israel declares Brazilian President Lula 'persona non grata' over 'antisemitic' comments
https://www.wionews.com/world/israel-declares-brazilian-president-lula-persona-non-grata-over-antisemitic-comments-691703
If Israel keeps this up, 'antisemitic' will soon mean 'anti-genocide.'
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Monday (Feb 19th) declared that Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is unwelcome in Israel until he retracts his remarks comparing the campaign against Hamas in Gaza to the Nazi genocide.
Summoning Brazil's ambassador on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's instructions, Katz emphasised the seriousness of Lula's comments. Labelling them as a "serious antisemitic attack" he said that the Brazilian leader is "persona non grata" until he takes back the remark.
As per a statement from his office, he has instructed the message to be conveyed to Lula through Brazil's ambassador, stating, "We will not forget nor forgive. It is a serious antisemitic attack. In my name and the name of the citizens of Israel - tell President Lula that he is persona non grata in Israel until he takes it back."
What Lula said
The Brazilian President on Sunday (Feb 18th) accused Israel of committing "genocide" against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
Further drawing a comparison between Israeli military actions and Adolf Hitler's campaign to exterminate the Jewish people, he said, "It's not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It's a war between a highly prepared army and women and children."
While attending an African Union summit, Lula told reporters that what was happening in the Gaza Strip "isn't a war, it's a genocide".
"What's happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn't happened at any other moment in history. Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews," he said.
'Shameful and grave' comments
Reacting to Lula's remarks, Netanyahu deemed them as "shameful and grave", and said that his government had called in Brazil's ambassador in protest.
In a statement, he said that the Brazilian President's comments were "a trivialisation of the Holocaust and an attempt to attack the Jewish people and the right of Israel to self-defence. Drawing comparisons between Israel and the Nazis and Hitler is to cross a red line".
"Israel is fighting to defend itself and ensure its future until total victory, and it is doing that while upholding international law," he added.
Brazilian President Lula should be proud of having the decency of calling out Israel for its horrific and depraved slaughter of millions of innocent Gazans.
Let Israel slander Brazil and South Africa for all the good it will do it. Spain and Ireland are right behind them getting ready to pass legislation to boycott Israel. As the slaughter and starvation get worse, more countries will do the same.
I hope that Israel in one hissy fit after another cuts itself off from the human race.
The best thing that could happen is that no one does business with Israel until all their war criminals are arrested and convicted and imprisoned. And that includes Netanyahu.
Of course, before that happens, all those war criminals will come here and be protected by our gutless and fawning politicians.
From Israeli TV:
Israeli forces are building a fortified highway cutting Gaza into two
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haS3EJk4VSg&ab_channel=DemocracyNow%21
Thanks for the Michigan info. I'll let my neighbors know about this villainy. Go Biden 👍🇮🇱🇺🇲🇺🇸🇺🇸
To Mr Bruskin; No G J Biden. Jill Stein 2024!
To Mr. Perlstein; two words-Fascism, racism.
And...4 WOOTS to AMLO!!!!
Stein is a spoiler with no national constituency. A vote for her is a vote for Trump.
If Trump wins, there will never be another free election in the US.
Americans must stop thinking that we can rearrange players on the chessboard and fix our issues. If Trump is defeated, we need a grassroots movement. The best approach is to align GenZ, unions, Black churches, and Latino leaders to form the backbone of a new movement.
We will never have money on our side, so we need to have the numbers and a discrete set of absolute demands in exchange for our voting block.
It means running candidates at the local and state level, volunteering, and monitoring elected officials. If they break commitments, they never receive votes from this block.
They have the money, but we make the country run. It will take work, effort, and sacrifice. Otherwise, it's just meaningless posts on social media.
You tune in to the Ralph Nader Radio hour, and don't realize the absurdity of that tired old Democratic tripe? If I vote for Jill Stein, my vote goes to Jill Stein. It's not legal for election workers to switch votes. Are you accusing the Retropublicans of hacking voting machines?
Meanwhile you will vote for the genocide of the Palestinian people. I will not!
Stein is a spoiler...a vote for her is a vote that doesn't go to Biden. Just as in 2016, she siphoned off enough votes to tip the election to Trump, raised money for a recount...then disappeared with the money and never held a recount.
I'm voting against fascism, which will destroy millions of lives in the US and Ukraine. It's a luxury to vote on principle...one we can't afford.
I've explained why a grassroots movement is needed vs voting for bv a 70-year-old to replace an 80-year-old, but wasting your vote won't save Palestinians.
It's not a luxury to vote on principle- it's a responsibility.
A responsibility we can't afford to abrogate out of an irrational fear that if Trump wins there will never be another free election in the US.
We survived eight years of Reagan, four years of GHW Bush, eight years of Clinton, eight years of GW Bush, eight years of Obama, four years of Trump and three years of Biden despite claims that those presidencies would end democracy as we know it.
The trouble is democracy as we know it is only a fairy tale.
The claim that a vote for Stein is a vote taken from Biden is just one small facet of the fairy tale.
Stein can only be a spoiler in swing states as we elect presidents with Electoral votes.
And so what if she is?
If the corporate Democrats believe correctly or not those spoiler votes cost them the election then they will be provided with a powerful incentive to offer a better candidate in 2028.
There are three basic alternatives.
Vote for Biden or Trump and vote for more of the same in 2028.
Don't vote.
Or vote for a candidate like Stein or cast a write in vote to register a vote against Biden and Trump demonstrating and creating demand for something different in 2028.
It will not matter if a million or two people in California vote for Stein or cast a write in vote. Biden will still get the electoral votes.
It will not matter if a million or two people in Texas vote for Stein or cast a write in vote. Trump will still get the electoral votes.
But 10, 15 or 20 million people in non-swing states voting for Stein or casting write in votes would provide incentive for better candidates from both parties in 2028 even if there were no swing states lost to a spoiler.
Don is correct here. For Klassik, in Texas, it makes all the sense in the world to vote for a third-party/independent candidate in the presidential election. Voting in the primaries is a different story, but the Democratic Party is not interested in running a primary for the presidential ticket and so that is a lost democratic opportunity for the people. The Republican candidate is all but assured of winning in Texas. Voting for the Democratic candidate does little, but voting for a third-party/independent candidate helps those parties/candidates gain ballot access and greater viability in future elections.
I believe it is a mistake to assume that a vote for a third-party/independent candidate is a vote stolen from one of the main parties. There are people, perhaps many people, who vote for these independents who otherwise would not have voted at all. Some of the popular independent candidates in recent history, such as Ralph Nader, have had broad appeal and their voters don’t just come from the progressive side of the electorate.
Furthermore, when outsiders gain traction, they can help push the two big parties. Many people claimed voting for Bernie Sanders in the 2020 primaries was wasting a vote, but Sanders’ popularity helped him leverage some power over Biden’s nominees. Lina Khan probably would not be the head of the FTC if Sanders was not a popular candidate. And, of course, when popular independent candidates exist, it would behoove the major party candidates/party favorites to adopt some of the policies pushed by the popular independents.
Now, all of this said, I don’t find the current group of third-party/independent candidates for president to be a particularly compelling group. Independent candidates need to try even harder than the major candidates to have compelling policy agendas, but what we see are mostly toilet paper thin policy agendas. Single-issue candidates in particular need a compelling policy agenda so they have something to push which maybe the major candidates will adopt, but I really don’t see much strength in that area at the current time.
A vote for Stein in 2026 brought up Trump, a loss of abortion rights and abortion bans in half the states.
A vote for Stein brought trans bans, book bans, Muslim bans.
A vote for Stein brought 3 ultra right-wing SCOTUS justices who are decimating the administrative state.
A vote for Stein brought us the insanity of the 5th Circuit, which is approving far right wish lists at the speed of light.
The Heritage Foundation has created a 900-page document (Project 2025) to eliminate apolitical civil servants and replace them with Trump loyalists who will consolidate power and privatize education, Social Security Medicare and Medicaid.
Protect Democracy has compiled a list of actions that Trump and his cohorts plan to pursue to institute authoritarian rule...from targeting political rivals with the IRS and DOJ, to deporting Muslims and other ethnic minorities to activating the Insurrection Act.
We are not in the Bush era.We are in an era where the GOP base and its leaders openly support dictatorships around the world.
Stein is a 70-year-old conwoman, who kept funds intended for a recount (which never occurred), and who has failed to do anything positive to promote democracy or help working people. If you think she has your interests in mind, you are gravely mistaken.
There is no heroic figure that can be placed atop a rotted foundation and fix what ails us. A true change requires a movement. Voting for Stein makes people feel like they're making a difference, but it's smoke and mirrors.
Making a difference takes work and sacrifice, not a wasted vote.
Actually it was the Democrats once again offering the non-heroic figure Hillary Clinton placed atop a rotted foundation in 2016 that brought us all those things you blamed on a vote for Stein.
And it was Democrats once again offering the non-herioc Biden that almost lost again in 2020 and that has made 2024 into what it is today.
I do somewhat agree that Stein (also a big money candidate) is merely the lesser of three evils, but at least she brings some youth into the choices. :)
A true change requires a movement. I described how people can start a movement using a write-in vote rather than wasting their vote on voting for more of the same by voting for Trump, Biden or Stein.
Citizens can also use this strategy in the 90% of congressional districts that are gerrymandered for either half of the one big money party.
Do you have no argument against that strategy or did you just forget to address that in your zeal to rationalize your belief in the smoke and mirrors offered by the Democrats?
I have no need to make an accurate reply as Don Harris did. I will simply say that your comments are totally inaccurate where they are directed at Dr. Stein. You appear as knowledgeable as any other FOX so-called-news groupie.
Yes, Netanyahu should go to elections, leave his office, finish his trial, and go to jail.
However, some misconceptions and fake news storm US politics.
This is why I forgive the fake-facts that are mentioned in both text above
and many comments here.
Even President Biden missed the true situation in Gaza.
When he said that the toll of 30,000 dead Gazans is high and the US cannot tolerate more 30,000 victims, he missed a lot:
1. Almost half of the 30K victims were Hamas fighters - even 14 years old Arabs are among the terrorists: Last two months in Israel, there were three terror attacks against Jews in Israel, made by 14 years old "youngsters" - at least one victim was stabbed to death.
2. All others were killed while Hamas is using Gazan civilians as human-shields - a practice forbidden by Int'l law, which allows attacking such military targets! The 4th Geneva Convention, Article 28 says: "The presence of a protected person may not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations." (See: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gciv-1949/article-28)
3. When telling us that Israel told Gazans to go south, President Biden failed to mention that the purpose was to save Gazan lives while Israel fights Hamas, reducing the chances that they serve as human-shields for Hamas.
4. Some of the Gazans were killed by explosives, that were detonated in their homes - because they stored Hamas ammunition in their homes: they were many photos published by Israel troops showing rockets stored under kids' beds, guns in kids closets, and even arms stored in a big manikin at the entrance of a school.