Lily pads and the Spratlys

Lily pads and the Spratlys

·         Written by  Ken Fuller 

·         Tuesday, 07 February 2017 00:00

·         Daily Tribune

Anyone who wants to view the South China Sea controversy in a wholly new context could do worse than watch “The Coming War on China,” written, produced and directed by John Pilger, released in theaters last year and now available on DVD.

Pilger’s wholly convincing thesis is that the USA has for several years been assembling a huge war machine directed at China and that unless ordinary people in the Asia-Pacific and the USA take a firm stand against it, it will sooner or later be used, with potentially terminal consequences for the planet.

The film, almost two hours in length, begins with a comprehensive look at the US nuclear testing program in the Marshall Islands, which suffered the equivalent of a bomb of Hiroshima magnitude every day for12 years. (According to a November 2015 Washington Post piece, 67 tests between 1946 and 1958 resulted in an average of 1.6 Hiroshima bombs per day).

Just as ghastly as the tests was US treatment of the islanders. Residents of Rongelap atoll were relocated in 1954, two days after a huge detonation, a thousand times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb, on Bikini atoll. In 1957, they were told that Rongelap was now safe and were allowed to return.

 

The US authorities not only knew that it was not safe, but planned to use these returnees (referred to as “savages” in at least one US newsreel) as guinea-pigs for the study of the effects of radiation on humans. 
These were, of course, predictable: a host of cancers, burnt skin and birth defects in the next generation. One is reminded of the medical experiments conducted by the Nazis on “lesser peoples.”

After a review of the history of US-China relations, Pilger takes a look at today’s China. “The truth” he says, “is that China has matched the United States at its own great game of capitalism. And that is unforgivable.” China’s goals, says social scientist Eric Li, are very modest: it doesn’t want to dominate the world, or even the Asia-Pacific, but it does want to prevent the US from lording it over the region and preventing China from occupying its proper place in the world.

In Okinawa, the USA has 32 military installations and some 25,000 troops (around half of those in the whole of Japan). Ten years after World War II, the US’s “bulldozer and bayonets” campaign seized “prime agricultural land, burned farmhouses and killed livestock.” Small wonder, then, that a vibrant opposition to the military occupation exists to this day.

In December 2014, a new Okinawa governor was overwhelmingly elected on a pledge to stop the construction of a new base, but the Tokyo government is resisting this challenge to its authority. 

On Okinawa, there have been 44 accidents involving US aircraft, and prostitution and sexual crimes are a problem. In 1970, the latter gave rise to a major riot during which US personnel were dragged from their cars, which were then burned. Recent opposition to the military occupation has been spurred by the rape and murder of a young woman for which, in June 2016, a US contractor, a former Marine, was charged.

Okinawa also provides an example of the more serious dangers that come with the military bases. In the Cold War, nuclear weapons were secretly installed, and during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis the order was given to launch the missiles, most of which were targeted on China (which was not a party to the Cuban crisis). 
 

Thankfully, a sane duty officer queried the order, ordering that anyone attempting to launch should be shot. The major who had issued the launch order was discretely dismissed from the service.

The Korean island of Jeju, despite being declared an “island of world peace,” hosts “one of the most provocative military bases in the world, less than 400 miles from Shanghai.” 

Every day for a decade, a Catholic mass has blocked the gates to the base. Father Mun Jeong-hyeon has no doubts about the purpose of the new base: to aid US domination of the Pacific and to isolate China.

Outside of the USA, Washington has 1,000 bases across all continents. Lately, these have taken the form of “lily pads,” where US installations operate, often secretly, from bases of the host country. This has resulted, says Pilger, in the USA having “a secret army in 147 countries.”

There exists a “noose of bases right around China…a provocation to war.” Asks University of Missouri’s Stephen Starr: “What’s the purpose? When are we going to stop this process before it starts a war? And then, if the war starts, where does that end?” Starr says that scientists concerned about the effects of nuclear war, which could end human life on this planet, made several requests to discuss these concerns with the Obama administration, only to be turned away.

Anyone who thinks those scientists might have better luck with Trump should probably not be reading this column. Trump has talked of better relations with Russia (although, given some of his appointments, even this might be in doubt), but on China he seems likely to add to the chorus of saber-rattling.

And, of course, the Philippines will soon have its own US “lily pads,” courtesy of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement signed by former President Aquino. Despite President Duterte’s earlier objections to the presence of US troops, Defense Secretary Lorenzana recently told a news conference that “EDCA is still on.”

Pilger suggests that Chinese activity in the South China Sea must be viewed in the context of the “noose of bases” with which it is surrounded. The corollary of this, of course, is that the presence of “lily pads” in the Philippines is hardly likely to contribute to a resolution of the Spratlys problem.

Trump looks to stabilize health insurance market

In response to this article in the Austin American-Statesman:


https://www.google.com/search?q=Austin+American-Statesman+and+trump+looks+to+stabilize+health+insurance+market&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8


I submitted this Letter-to-the Editor:

"Trump looks to stabilize health insurance market" is the headline (Austin American-Statesman A-2; 2/9/17).


So, the "health"--- read profits--- of the health insurance industry supersedes the human right of people to health care?


Left out of the discussion is the real solution to this health care mess which would eliminate the health insurance industry: National Public Health Care based on the public education model:


Publicly financed.


Publicly administered.


Publicly delivered.


It makes more sense to finance a network of publicly funded neighborhood and community health care centers across the country dispensing free health care for everyone instead of squandering the precious wealth of our Nation maintaining over 800 military bases dotting the globe protecting Wall Street's interests and wasting trillions of dollars on these dirty wars from which only the Wall Street merchants of death and destruction profit.


A National Public Health Care System would create some twelve-million good-paying jobs.

Ted Cruz mocked the British National Health Service... but---

In the health care debate with Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz mocked and berated health care in Great Britain... however, Betsy DeVos' father in-law, multi-billionaire Amway pyramid scheme scam artist Richard Devos, went to Great Britain for a heart transplant using a hospital that is part of the socialized National Health Service:

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1997-06-04/sports/9706040079_1_heart-transplant-heart-transplant-devos-family

Devos Gets A New Heart

Magic Owner Rich Devos Was Listed In Stable Condition Following His Heart Transplant Surgery In London.

June 4, 1997|By George Diaz of The Sentinel Staff

Following a five-month wait, Orlando Magic owner Richard DeVos finally has a healthy heart. He now faces a critical and difficult recuperation.
DeVos, 71, was in stable condition at Harefield Hospital in London after heart transplant surgery Tuesday morning. DeVos should expect an extended hospital stay of at least two or three weeks, followed by three to four months living near the hospital for monitoring.

I find it interesting, but not surprising, the Democrats chose Bernie Sanders to articulate their position in a health care debate with Republican Ted Cruz

Bernie Sanders is definitely being an apologist for the Democrats as he touts the reactionary and regressive Obamacare as he is shilling for the American Medical Association; as all of his schemes leave the doctors setting the prices for the private, for-profit health care services they deliver.

Doctors setting the prices they charge for Medicare and Medicaid is one of the things destroying these two programs and causing higher co-pays... bankrupting the systems just like the co-pays are bankrupting so many working class families.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare into law way back in 1965... he envisioned Medicare as being one of the foundation cornerstones of The Great Society with it being extended to everyone--- a single-payer Medicare for All system--- without any co-pays and strict government control over all health care costs from the fees charged by the doctors to how much the pharmaceutical companies charge for medications and he envisioned "Medicare for All" becoming a National Public Health Care System--- socialized health care as advocated by Frances Perkins, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor.

Almost since Johnson first signed Medicare into law, reactionary politicians began chopping it to pieces rather than extending its coverage until it covered everyone until, today, often the co-pays cause tens of thousands of working class families to have to seek medical bankruptcies every year--- anyone who doesn't believe this just has to sit in a Bankruptcy Court for a day.

We have to ask why Bernie Sanders keeps talking about this vague "Medicare for All" without clearly stating what LBJ intended it to be and his vision of what it should have become.

In fact, Bernie Sanders does not share the vision that "Medicare for All" means a National Public Health Care System based of the model of public education: publicly funded, publicly administer and publicly delivered--- which, as a matter of fact, LBJ who had been a committed public school teacher always explained his idea of health care as being comparable to.I find it interesting how the Democrats are content to let Bernie Sanders who is not a Democrat speak for them when it comes to health care.

I guess these Democrats don't want to be asked why they have failed to deliver on their promises of real health care reform--- instead choosing to stick with the same system of health care the Republicans are for: private, for-profit health care where the profits of the pharmaceutical companies, the hospitals and doctors are more important than keeping us healthy and getting us well when sick.

It is very convenient for the Democrats to have a self-proclaimed "independent loyal Democratic Socialist" shilling for them so as to leave them untouched and unscathed for the next election in which they will continue to say they, and they alone, are for health care reform without having to declare what they mean by "health care reform."

Bernie Sanders, and not a Democrat, defended the reactionary and regressive Obamacare that most people are fed up with just like they are fed up with wars.

"The white working class"... a racist Wall Street trap.

First the Wall Street pundits and professors wanted us to believe the lie that there was only a "middle class" and there is no "working class."

Now these same over-paid Wall Street pundits and professors want us to believe there is a "white working class."

This is what happens when the working class left--- socialists and Communists--- are weak; the Wall Street bosses hire people to do our thinking for us. This leaves the over-paid Wall Street pundits and professors to define what the working class is... hence we get all this talk about "the white working class" which is really nothing but a very vile form of racism elevated to an "intellectual" level as if it is credible when it is totally and completely deceitful and dishonest because our working class is multi-racial, multi-ethnic, men and women, young and old and a diversity of religious and non-religious with many cultures and no monolithic ideology even though if we had a much stronger and larger current of working class Marxist ideas and thinking in this country these over-paid pundits and professors would not be able to twist and distort everything to conform to Wall Street dictate which includes these racist definitions of what constitutes the working class.

The obvious intent in keeping on talking about "the white working class" is to sow discord and divisions among the working class.

The New Deal reforms were won by uniting the working class under the banner of "Black and white, unite and fight" and this should be our strategy today in the struggle for peace and re-ordering the priorities away from militarism and these dirty wars in order to pay for what we the people require to live decent lives--- quality integrated public schools, a National Public Health Care System based on the model of public education, a National Public Child Care System and jobs for all who want to work at real living wages with the Minimum Wage and Social Security based on the actual cost-of-living as calculated by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

All these politicians who talk about "jobs, jobs, jobs" to ghet elected should be legislatively forced to attain and maintain full-employment.

What we need is a "21st Century Full Employment Act for Peace and Prosperity" which would put all of this together.

Think about this:

All of the above are very hot topics which concern working people:

Isn't it just plain common sense that we put people to work at good paying jobs providing the American people with free health care and free child care thus creating full employment which will keep Social Security solvent with everyone who pays in getting a living retirement income out--- provided we stop these crooked and corrupt politicians from stealing the Social Security Trust Fund blind to pay for their boon-doggles, the biggest of which are militarism and wars?

Together--- our class, working class of all races united in the struggle for peace, jobs and justice, we can eliminate racism and create a decent life and standard of living for everyone.

There has been a lot of talk about the "working class."

Yet, in spite of all this talk about the "working class;" the point has yet to be made that it is the collective labor of our diverse working class which creates all wealth... the wealth which is horded by the Wall Street parasites who are further enriched beyond the wealth they accumulate from exploiting us as our taxes are squandered on militarism and wars. Of course, the over-paid Wall Street pundits and professors escape talking about all of this when they hawk these racist ideas about "the white working class."

Reforms or false promises of reforms

Franklin D. Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins, said people need to be fed when they are hungry and they need health care when they are sick; she loathed politicians who kept saying reforms providing these human rights needed to wait. No wonder the Democrats do not want to own the outspoken liberal Frances Perkins. Democrats want to sell us promises they never intend to make good on and this is why they lost and we got stuck with Donald Trump.

It's time for a new party

Are the American people ready for a new party?

Some people argue the American people have to be "more left" before we start a new working class based people's party.

According to all polls, the majority of the American people are for peace and the reordering of priorities away from military spending and wars and for meeting the needs of the people... with at least thirty percent of the people very favorable to the socialist alternative to capitalism--- how much further left do the American people have to be before we have a new party which reflects these views?

As far as a platform and program for a new party...

How about stand up for democracy, defend the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights and implement the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

Enough with the excuses.

We need real health care reform; the fight for real health care reform should be uniting us

I think the health care issue is THE issue to bring people together in greatest unity… after all we all need health care... do you know anyone who doesn't need health care?


But, the solution is not single-payer; the solution is not private, for-profit health care like we have now... the solution is a National Public Health Care System:


Campaign for a “21st Century Full Employment Act for Peace and Prosperity”


We are fed up with politicians campaigning on promises of “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs” and then failing to make themselves legislatively responsible for attaining and maintaining full employment.


We are fed up with our tax dollars being squandered on militarism and wars instead of being used to create jobs by solving the problems of the people and defending our living environment… its time to beat swords into ploughshares. Put people to work solving the problems of the people.


A National Public Health Care System would create over twelve-million new jobs paying real living wages providing people with free health care— general medical, eyes, ears, dental, family planning and mental health— through a network of neighborhood and community health care centers; this is a better use of our tax-dollars than wasting our human and financial resources on a far flung empire of over 800 U.S. military bases around the world. Or, it could be financed the same way Social Security is financed.


Public funding. Public administration. Public delivery… nothing controversial; just like public education.


A National Public Child Care System would create over three-million new jobs providing working class families with free child care.


We need to restore WPA, CCC and C.E.T.A.


We insist Congress and the president enact full employment legislation which makes them legislatively responsible for attaining and maintaining full employment; assure everyone who wants a job employment at real living wages in line with the actual cost-of-living.


Full employment would provide stability for Social Security; everyone paying in; everyone getting something out.

A health care program that puts America to work by beating swords into plowshares; what makes more sense?

Demand a real Peace Dividend now!

We are entitled to a Peace Dividend in the form of a National Public Health Care System... don't agree to settle for anything less.

Bring this demand into the public square.

The struggle for real health care reform will bring the power of the working class into the movement to stop Trump and win this most important health care reform.

Health care is one of the most basic and fundamental human rights... that's why Eleanor Roosevelt and Frances Perkins insisted it be included in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Now when health care is the focus of attention is the time to advance this demand... Obamacare should be replaced with a National Public Health Care System... no deductibles, no co-pays, free and all inclusive health care paid for with a Peace Dividend derived from ending this insane militarism and ending these dirty imperialist wars... a fair deal, a good deal.

The struggle for real health care reform has the greatest potential for creating working class unity and action in struggle... this is the way to beat and defeat Trump.

Raid in Yemen

With all the media attention to the "raid" in Yemen, what do we really know about this raid?


Was it coincidental this eight year old girl, whose father and brother were murdered in separate drone attacks targeting them, was killed?


Who killed the Navy Seal? Was he killed by "friendly fire?" If not, who was shooting?

Would we have even ever known about this raid had Navy Seals not been killed and wounded?


What gives the United States the right to conduct such raids in a foreign country?


A raid we know was concocted by Obama and authorized by Trump.


Doesn't anyone except for me want to know what went down in Yemen?

While the dogs bark, the caravan passes

You know, at this late date being confronted with the mess in front of us, I am getting all kinds of accusations tossed my way by those who supported Hillary Clinton that because I didn't fall for Wall Street's trap and back her, I am now somehow responsible for Trump and this cabal of racist bigoted fascist imperialist warmongers occupying the oval office who are hell-bent on undermining the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights as they engage in their seditious actions intended to provide Wall Street the authority to govern through open dictatorship.


This has been my response to these people who have sat along the sidelines of the class struggle barking like dogs acquiescing and falling into this two-party trap as the caravan passes by:


I objected to the entire election as a farce and fiasco rigged by Wall Street as part of the two-party trap set by Wall Street for us. Because I refused to support a corrupt, lying, Wall Street warmonger like Hillary Clinton does not make me responsible for the outcome of this "election."


In fact, those who claimed to be "Progressives for Obama" when Obama himself was nothing but a lying, deceitful Wall Street warmonger--- exposed by his own words they didn't want to believe; and then told us Clinton was the legitimate alternative to Trump are the ones who set us up for an "election" of Clinton versus Trump. In fact, all along I said Trump was nothing but a Wall Street imperialist warmonger, a racist bigot and a fascist creep.


In fact, I called for creating a new working class based people's party.


In fact, Wall Street selected the president just as it always has for over one-hundred years.


In fact, I repeatedly circulated what both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were saying and explained how they were each nothing but Wall Street imperialist warmongers.


In fact, I repeatedly circulated educational materials like this exposing the nature of U.S. politics: http://collections.mnhs.org/.../art.../47/v47i04p154-161.pdf


Am I correct in recalling that you succumbed to the lie that Obama was a candidate progressives should be supporting and then supported Hillary Clinton without trying to educate voters to the truth of what was going on?


In fact, I encouraged working people to unite in movements around real solutions to our problems like this:


Campaign for a “21st Century Full Employment Act for Peace and Prosperity”


We are fed up with politicians campaigning on promises of “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs” and then failing to make themselves legislatively responsible for attaining and maintaining full employment.


We are fed up with our tax dollars being squandered on militarism and wars instead of being used to create jobs by solving the problems of the people and defending our living environment… its time to beat swords into ploughshares. Put people to work solving the problems of the people.


A National Public Health Care System would create over twelve-million new jobs paying real living wages providing people with free health care--- general medical, eyes, ears, dental and mental health--- through a network of neighborhood and community health care centers; this is a better use of our tax-dollars than wasting our human and financial resources on a far flung empire of over 800 U.S. military bases around the world. Or, it could be financed the same way Social Security is financed. Public funding. Public administration. Public delivery… nothing controversial; just like public education.


A National Public Child Care System would create over three-million new jobs providing working class families with free child care.


We need to restore WPA and CCC.


We insist Congress and the president enact full employment legislation which makes them legislatively responsible for attaining and maintaining full employment; assure everyone who wants a job employment at real living wages in line with the actual cost-of-living.


Full employment would provide stability for Social Security; everyone paying in; everyone getting something out.


In fact, I wrote two statements that were distributed at two AFL-CIO national conventions, one on health care, the other challenging the betrayal of Trumka and the millionaire labor leaders with their pathetic non-struggle "pragmatic" imperialist ideology.


Here is one of those statements:

A viewpoint by Alan Maki, a union, peace, environmental and civil rights activist;  retired member of UNITE-HERE Local 17.

I offer this for discussion about Peace, Equality, Full Employment, Universal Health Care and Protection of the Environment.

This is my response to the invitation extended by the AFL-CIO to all people and organizations to comment on its White Paper, “Prosperity Economics, Building An Economy For All” by Jacob S. Hacker and Nate Loewentheil, intended to create discussion about the direction of organized labor and the kind of country we all want to live in where peace, social and economic justice for working people prevail.

Democracy--- as well as social, economic and environmental justice--- require no less than a full and broad discussion of these important concerns and issues.


I agree with the concept of “prosperity economics” by “building an economy that works for everyone.” There are several very basic facts left out of this “White Paper” and it is very hazy, vague and nebulous as to what our concrete and specific goals and objectives are to be and what kind of movement and struggle it will take for the working class--- organized and unorganized together--- to create a prosperity economics for us all.

The “White Paper” does not clearly articulate our main enemy: Wall Street. The “White Paper” doesn’t reflect the fact that we, as working people, are engaged in a social, political and economic struggle for power with the intent to replace Wall Street’s dominance over every aspect of our lives--- in our schools, at work and in our communities.

Let’s state right up front workers create all wealth but workers have had no say in how this wealth is distributed and used. This needs to change. Democracy requires no less.

Let’s also put it right out there before the American people that militarism and wars are squandering the wealth of our Nation to such a large extent we don’t have the resources to solve our many domestic problems. These dirty imperialist wars are killing our jobs and our standard of living just like they kill people.

Militarism and wars are a major contributing factor to the world-wide collapsing capitalist economy. No nation can continue to endlessly use the wealth of its nation to prepare for wars and to fight wars. This is sheer insanity.

Wall Street’s greedy drive for profits results in wars which exacerbates our problems.

Detroit goes broke; the rest of our cities are sure to follow as Wall Street wallows in profits.

Working people go without adequate health care; insurance and pharmaceutical companies get fabulously wealthy. Earlier retirement and shorter workweeks/longer vacations with no cut in pay create jobs and would keep us healthier, too.

Our public institutions like public education fall apart, crumble and collapse just like our roads, highways and bridges because we are constantly feeding a war machine intended to fight never-ending wars waged to protect Wall Street’s assets and profits.


We don’t need, and can’t afford, 800 foreign military bases dotting the globe.

Prosperity for all begins with the recognition peace is required to achieve full employment.

Full employment is about the government seeing to it that jobs are created for all at real living wages. It is about putting people to work by creating massive universal social programs like National Public Health Care, not job destroying legislation like Obama-care as detrimental to our health and jobs as wars without providing real health care reform while pushing the price of health care up instead of its stated intent to push prices down.

Eliminating militarism and wars eliminates the largest carbon footprint contributing to global warming and climate change as the Military Industrial Complex wastes our precious resources in a huge, monstrous complex that ruins our environment--- power generation, mining, manufacturing, the resources like oil and gas required to fight wars. Preparation for war, and war itself, creates a mammoth sized carbon footprint destroying our living environment while creating massive joblessness and poverty and ill health for our people as our air, water and land gets polluted.


The Wall Street selected politicians talk about “jobs, jobs, jobs” when their hidden agenda is really “profits, profits, profits” and “war, war, and more war.”

The time has come to make politicians legislatively responsible for full employment and peace because prosperity economics requires: peace and full employment--- a healthy people and a healthy environment.

Therefore, I propose that a central goal of the American labor and working class movement needs to be the building of an economy for all that is inseparably linked to peace and full employment which must include:

A Minimum Wage tied to all cost of living factors indexed to inflation. Jobs or a living income for all.

National Public Health Care. Protect, defend and expand Social Security programs.

Legislation prohibiting lockouts and scabbing. Repeal of “At-Will Employment” legislation--- the primary obstacle to worker empowerment and union organizing. End racism... Enforcement of Affirmative Action.

Price controls are needed for food, gas, home heating fuels and electricity.

A healthy economy means a healthy living environment and a healthy planet. We need a quality of life index.

The two-party system is a trap for working people. We must free ourselves from the Democrats and Republicans. A working class based people’s party is required if we are going to have a prosperity economics that works for all of us. We can learn a thing or two about health care and politics from our Canadian Brothers and Sisters.

We are now at a crossroads.

We will have an economy that serves Wall Street or we will have an economy that works for the rest of us--- we can’t have both just like we can’t have both war and full employment.


I encourage the use of the proposed Full Employment Act of 1945 pushed by the CIO unions and authored by liberal Texas Congressman Wright Patman and the associated hearing testimonies to broaden this discussion:

http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015081304209;seq=10;view=1up

I also call to your attention the excellent Op-Ed piece by Bob Herbert, “Losing Our Way,” his last piece in the New York Times (March 25, 2011), which declares:

“The U.S. has not just misplaced its priorities. When the most powerful country ever to inhabit the earth finds it so easy to plunge into the horror of warfare but almost impossible to find adequate work for its people or to properly educate its young, it has lost its way entirely.”

I ask: What ever happened to William Winpisinger’s “Rebuild America Act” and the “peace dividend?” The AFL-CIO should bring back to life its Committee on Conversion--- from military production to producing for human needs; swords into plowshares is what was advocated by the late International Association of Machinist’s President, William Winpisinger. Where is this advocacy for peace and reordering our Nation’s priorities now?

Thank you for allowing me to share with you my critique of the AFL-CIO’s “White Paper.”

In solidarity and struggle.

For peace, equality, full employment, universal health care, ending racism and protection of the environment.

Alan L. Maki

Check out my blog:

Thoughts From Podunk

http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/

E-mail: red_finn@live.com        

Phone: 651-587-5541                                                                               (end)

In fact, I was constantly explaining how whatever the outcome of the election the American people would be the big losers.


In fact, when many of you were content to sit out the struggle, content to simply "support" one of the Democratic Party candidates over the other, I was involved both inside and outside the Democratic Party; I was involved in both areas of struggle and not once did I see any of the "Progressives for Obama" who later "supported" Bernie and then Hillary.


Tell us what you did over the last ten years or so to try to help avert the outcome of where we are at now.


Even at this late date, what are you doing to stop Trump, defend democracy and win struggles for reforms? Let's here what you have in mind.


Anyone can read what I have written in letters to the editor, leaflets I have distributed, seen my active participation as an engaged citizen in a variety of struggles and determine that I bear no responsibility for Trump being elected.


But, the dogs will continue to bark as the caravan passes by.

Who represents the American people with government in chaos?

A lot has been made of Donald Trump being an "illegitimate president."

One would be hard pressed to disagree with this given the chaos now sweeping the country where millions of people in this country now recognize the only way they are going to stop Trump and make any headway when it comes to anything is by taking to the streets in mass numbers... and this is correct as we see the Democrats even only respond once confronted with millions in the streets.

When we look at the circus being passed off as government, this government as a whole and the entire corrupt political process hypocritically being passed off to the world as democracy, don't we have to acknowledge the the entire government is thoroughly corrupt and so rotten to the core this whole Wall Street bribed government is illegitimate?

Given the situation we are in with wars most people don't want and such screwed up priorities with spending on militarism and wars instead of meeting the needs of the people when it comes to jobs, a living Minimum Wage, defense of Social Security and pensions, the defense of public education, the need for a National Public Child Care System and the need for a National Public Health Care System... how are we going to achieve peace and establish a new set of priorities unless people in the streets establish some kind of powerful people's organizations capable of asserting the power of the people?

Perhaps we need to be thinking of creating some kind of "people's assembly" that could replace the current government which is unable, and unwilling, to deliver government of the people, by the people and for the people?

Otherwise how do we defend and expand democracy which has been under constant curtailment for so long as we now approach what can only be described as a "Constitutional crisis" with Trump thumbing his nose at the people and running roughshod over the most basic and fundamental Constitutional rights protected by the Bill of Rights?

Anyone bothered to read the Constitution and Bill of Rights lately? Obviously Trump has not; and the American Legislative Exchange Council is preparing to push for a Constitutional Convention which will enshrine the "rights" of corporations over people and the environment.

Without some kind of people's assemblies being created to represent the demands of the millions of people in the streets we won't be able to stop Trump and win the kind of real reforms required to solve our problems.

POLITICS IN MY LIFETIME

POLITICS

IN MY

LIFETIME

Elmer A. Benson



http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/47/v47i04p154-161.pdf

We are paying a hefty price for Trump's racism

Now we learn the racist twenty-five billion dollar Trump Wall will have to be defended night and day with military might... so, the cost of building this Wall will be "small" in comparison to its never-ending "defense."

Once again we pay a high price for tolerating racism.

Might now be the time to reject racism once and for all?

Trump Is In… So What Are We Willing To Do About It?

Trump Is In…

So What Are We Willing To Do About It?

Panel discussion with full citizen participation… We want to hear from you.

Saturday          January 28, 2017                   3:30 PM - 5:30 PM

Carver Branch Library 3350 East Commerce Street San Antonio, Texas 78220

Details

Regardless of who you voted for we are stuck with El Naranjado aka El Trumpudo.

Donald Trump has promised to derail much of the progress made over the last 15-60 years including weakening the powers of the EPA putting our air, land and water at risk for more contamination.

Trump has also talked about weakening existing labor laws, laws prohibiting racial profiling by the police and women's reproduction rights. Social Security is at risk as is health care.

We can resist these draconian policies, but we must be organized and clear as to what our strategies are going to be.

Come out to this panel discussion that includes civil rights, labor and other activists from our community and nearby Austin.

Panelists:

                 

Stephanie Collier, Staff Rep., Communication Workers of America (CWA)

Mustafa Ali, member Nation of Islam and Civil Rights activist

Rachel Barrios Van Os, Democratic Party/community activist

Alan Maki, UNITE-HERE member (retired) and community activist

Stewart Alexander, former Presidential Candidate, Socialist Party U.S.A., blogtalk host and community activist

D. Trent Champ, RA, National Sanders’ Delegate TX-SD24 and lifelong activist

We will be hosting forums in the weeks ahead in Dallas, Temple and Austin…

Contact: (210) 422-8000                                                   (labor and materials donated)

Profits and wages

Here we go again with "Jobs, Jobs, Jobs"

The millionaire labor leaders are getting behind Trump's plans to create a few jobs on oil pipelines and building the "Wall."

Twelve million people could be put to work creating a National Public Health Care System; another three million people could be put to work creating a National Public Child Care System.

Millions more could be put to work through re-establishing the WPA, CCC and C.E.T.A. programs.

Why do we need more oil pipelines; to fuel the war machine?

Stop squandering our Nation's wealth on militarism and wars and we can put people to work providing for real human needs.