Yes. And now, we have entered the VFTBNMW stage of the "election" in earnest. Nope. In fact, I can see no reason to vote for any of the candidates. Oh, well, at least there is the diversion of watching for the moment when the vftbs stop their tediously verbose crap and start barking and foaming from their keyboards. Also, I think anyone shilling for Kamala Harris should be paid double. Yeah, they will be spouting cynical (I hope, sincere would be so so sad) bs, but surely there might be a tiny pang of WTF am I doing.
Too many applaudable truths ...you nailed everything....Simply put, when the $2,000 stimulus checks were reduced with no regrets and the Iran deal fell, the trajectory became clear. But this administration wreaks so bad there must have been something you missed.....Keep fighting everybody - I don't intend to even hold my nose and vote.
We must all SHOW UP and register some kind of "protest vote". They don't care about our apathy, but they would be terrified by a mass protest. https://yardrock2024.com/
Don't make it a protest vote - vote for who you want!! As I've been saying for many election cycles, if we voted FOR the candidate we wanted, we'd no longer have to vote for the lesser of two evils. I just can't vote for evil.
"That's great! That's the American spirit!"--President Barack Obama, responding to a woman who was complaining about having to work only three jobs to make ends meet.
Only three instead of four! Those were the good old days!
"Canceling democracy to save oligarchy, now that makes sense, and that is exactly what Democrats are going all out to try and get done."
A succinct wrap-up of what the Democrats have become.
Isn't int interesting how FDR, the most successful and beloved Democratic president ever, who won four elections despite being outspent 10-to-1, and whose picture was proudly displayed in homes across the country is NEVER quoted by today's democrats or pointed to as an example of what can be done, honored as a tradition to follow etc. For today's democrats, FDR is a blank spot in one of the most pivotal points in American history.
Today's Democrat is more likely to quote and speak fondly and longingly of corporate hack Ronald Reagan than to mention FDR. That tells you all you need to know about today's corporate-owned Democrats. They are nothing more than a Wall Street franchise.
If they would SINCERELY pick up the FDR banner and update it to the needs of families today they would have nothing to fear of Trump. But they won't, so do.
FDR was a moderate Social Democrat. I voted for Obama in 2008 because he was framed as FDR II. I figured that would be a vast improvement over Bush and Clinton. If he had actually accomplished a quarter of what he ran on, Obama would have become an icon and the Republicans may have gone the way of the Whigs.
It was never meant to be. Turns out the bloody Stalinists on a now defunct site were right. Obama was a plant all along.
I was initially cautious about Obama, he seemed a tad too good to be true. But as the campaign rolled along and my county Dem Party HQ ramped up into this wonderful community center, complete with music events, a food and clothing bank and even offerings of free furniture for people in need and a daily knitting circle to knit up mittens and socks for poor kids, I joined in. It was so in spirit with the energy of that campaign.
On election night 3 or 4 TVs were set up to accommodate a huge crowd. When Obama gave his Grant Park acceptance speech I remember people around me sobbing, crying tears of joy. One neighbor looked to me, with tears streaming down her face, saying, "He won, he won, it's over" (meaning the Cheney-Bush regime). In the back of my head I remember a little voice saying, "This guy better be genuine or he'll set the progressive movement back a generation."
My old hesitancy popping up.
Soon after the inauguration, someone connected with the Wisconsin Dem state party called to meet with me. I can't recall the group, but it was related to but set up outside the official party. We met in my office late one day, right after Obama had named his cabinet of Wall Street ghouls and corporate insiders. Appropriately, it was a wintry dark, cold late afternoon.
They wanted me to help with statewide communication/outreach stuff to support the Obama administration. When I brought up concerns about the recently announced corporate cabinet gang the rep got frosty. Finally I said, "I hope I'm wrong, but I'm beginning to feel Obama is not who he said he was." The meeting ended.
Obama's "Hope & Change" transformed into "Bait & Switch", and -- yep -- the progressive movement was wounded. A few years later and Sanders finished it off, endorsing war mongers Hillary and "my good friend" Biden and shaming his supporters to vote for both. (Note to Sanders: If you are a "good friend" with a cretin like Biden, you might want to keep that to yourself.)
As FDR confided in a letter to his brother, he considered his biggest achievement was saving capitalism. That's the best one can hope for in this bought off, corrupted system.
As things get worse and we jump into boots-on-the-ground war for Israel, maybe the reviving labor movement will provide a model and energy for real change. If not and if the censorship state ramps up even more, we'll soon be into out-in-the-open full-on fascism.
If censoring dissidents in flagrant violation of the First Amendment, first rigging then canceling their own primaries, and now criminalizing political opposition isn't proof that the Democrats are ALREADY full-on Fascists, I don't know what is.
Personally, I think the only people who believe, or say they believe, the Democrats are the terminally stupid, the blissfully propagandized, and those who are paid to lie.
Everyone else can see the layoffs, prices, wars, and continuing escalation of infinite wars.
And I've seen too much footage of Ukraine, where Joe was the point man during the Maidan and the civil war, to today.
So good luck Genocide Joe - Americans and the world see you.
Now, don't hold back any--tell us how you REALLY feel! LOL!
You've really hit the nail on the head in regards to what's wrong with the Dems. They don't give a sh*t about democracy. Never have and never will. Neither side of the duopoly need or want democracy. They say they do to placate the masses. They just need to make their corporate masters happy, and right now their masters want endless wars for oil and the control of natural gas coming out of Russia, while enjoying watching a genocide in real time. To evil sociopaths like those I say good riddance!
I'm currently watching Glenn Greenwald's Debate on rumble and it's pretty much like an attempt by the guy moderating to keep Alex Jones and the guy named Destiny from killing each other. However, what I hear most coming from the shit libs called Brian, Destiny and the other guy remind me of ANGRY HILLARY SUPPORTERS. I believe anyone saying they are "on the left" better re-define that term. I'm actually more interested in people like Alex Jones, and Tucker Carlson these days in addition to the ones I already use journalistic skills. When I looked at how "X" was reacting to this... well, at least it will get attention. It IS THE ECONOMY & GENOCIDE and #Genocide Joe is trending.
Thank you OB, another spot on piece. Even President Speeches and Lectures Obama warned us about Genocide Joe when he said "don't ever underestimate the ability of Joe Biden to fuck things up". I'll bet even Grifter Barack is shaking his head at this fool.
As a Brit, and thus I have no stakes in this (well I do as whatever happens in America affects the rest of us) I always point out the things I observed.
No new wars.
America became an exporter of energy.
The world wasn’t on fire.
The Abraham accords.
It looked like people in America were getting richer under Trump.
If those aren’t good things then I don’t know what is.
Sadly, Trump is and will be a disaster for the environment. The dems are always better on that issue, however slightly. But I won’t vote Biden again. I kind of have a rule about perpetrators of genocide.
Trump is no more a disaster for the environment than Biden. Biden approves of fracking and opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling, plus some offshore drilling, I think. Besides, war isn't exactly good for the environment, either.
That's why I didn't mention that issue. The only difference between Trump and Biden there is the rhetoric.
I am not defending Biden. As I said, I do not support him (or Trump). I do care about the environment and that topic gets lost in many folks’ equating of dems and republicans. And the differences are not insignificant, even if unacceptable.
How is it that "we the people" have no one to vote for? This is a SYSTEMIC issue. There are drunks driving the car and our children are in the backseat. We must TAKE THE WHEEL back. What could be more American than throwing off the ruling class? Here's my two cents - I think a massive protest vote, a refusal to give the mandate to ANY of these pretenders, would actually frighten the ruling class, remind them of citizen power. My vote will be The Late David Graeber, but this is good too, plus funny https://yardrock2024.com/
I have one quibble... I suspect this “steady flow of cheap and exploitable labor coming up through Mexico and over our border” might be just another culture war issue, intended to keep us punching down instead of looking up.
The US has always imported cheap labor from Mexico, and then turned around and abused and deported these people. Woody Guthrie even wrote songs about it, including Pastures of Plenty and Deportees. The issue provides a great political football for whichever party is currently out of power at the time, and zillions of lies are regularly manufactured about how these people are on the public dole (they aren’t entitled to welfare or social security, or workers comp,even though they contribute through payroll taxes.)
The reason for the seeming sudden border storm is due to Trumps vastly unconstitutional “wait in Mexico” policy (the right to asylum is a guaranteed right, but one must apply in person.) If the US doesn’t want refugees, it should stop creating them.
To be perfectly honest, my bias is for globally open borders as a matter of principle. A human being has certain inalienable freedoms, and I believe that the right to move is as fundamental as the freedom of thought or speech. If one can be prevented from movement, then who, exactly, owns our bodies?
This aside, the issues of immigration are - if not completely solvable, at least manageable if there was the will to do it. However, it’s just too useful a redirection. “Don’t blame us! Juan and Maria are the reason you can’t have (affordable housing/a decent wage/medicare for all/an industrial base)”
The Border Patrol is literally escorting immigrants in around the checkpoints, and then releasing them to wherever they want to go. For once, the Republicans aren't even exaggerating about the numbers.
Most aren't even Latino. They're from Africa now, blowback from the destruction of Libya and other US Empire actions.
You are right in saying the immigration problem is completely solvable. Step One: Abolish ICE and bring back the old Immigration and Naturalization Service(INS). It worked better than ICE for sure. Step Two: Stop fucking with other countries and causing waves of refugees.
We need some immigration, just because our population is aging if nothing else, but what we have now is double-edged exploitation. The immigrants themselves are ruthlessly exploited by American capitalists, who then turn around and tell native Americans that the immigrants are the cause of all their problems.
The main ones are all wankers. If I was in the US I'd vote Green, to at least send a message that you're done with genocide and injustive and inequality. (NB I'm not saying Green is perfect, just better than the other options!)
I've voted Green before. 1996, 2000, 2016 and 2020. In 2012 there was a Socialist on the Ohio ballot so I voted for him. Now, I see the American Greens as some sort of exclusive, academic club that would rather feel good about themselves than actually do anything.
In 2020 they could have had Jesse Ventura and picked up 5% of the popular vote and federal funding for SURE. Nope, he had to jump through a bunch of identity politics hoops so he told them to bugger off. This year, they could at least have had Cornel West, but ran him off because he doesn't believe boys saying they're girls should play in girls' sports.
They're pretty worthless, and we don't even have a Pirate Party to cast a protest vote for. (sigh)
Imagine if enough americans took the trouble to actually show up and then wrote in, as a protest vote, something appropriately absurd like https://yardrock2024.com/ (or my personal fav, The Late, Great David Graeber) in enough numbers to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election. A massive protest against the whole kafkaesque system and situation in which we find ourselves would be a terrifying wake-up for the ruling class. A call for complete reorganization. Well, I can dream...
Just being not Trump isn't enough. Being American has to be tough this election year, but it's pretty bad in the rest of the global north too.
Yes. And now, we have entered the VFTBNMW stage of the "election" in earnest. Nope. In fact, I can see no reason to vote for any of the candidates. Oh, well, at least there is the diversion of watching for the moment when the vftbs stop their tediously verbose crap and start barking and foaming from their keyboards. Also, I think anyone shilling for Kamala Harris should be paid double. Yeah, they will be spouting cynical (I hope, sincere would be so so sad) bs, but surely there might be a tiny pang of WTF am I doing.
The WTF part has already started in the Biden campaign. I've seen reports of volunteers leaving the Biden campaign "in droves."
Israel caused too much cognitive dissonance for them, I suppose.
https://yardrock2024.com/
Too many applaudable truths ...you nailed everything....Simply put, when the $2,000 stimulus checks were reduced with no regrets and the Iran deal fell, the trajectory became clear. But this administration wreaks so bad there must have been something you missed.....Keep fighting everybody - I don't intend to even hold my nose and vote.
We must all SHOW UP and register some kind of "protest vote". They don't care about our apathy, but they would be terrified by a mass protest. https://yardrock2024.com/
Don't make it a protest vote - vote for who you want!! As I've been saying for many election cycles, if we voted FOR the candidate we wanted, we'd no longer have to vote for the lesser of two evils. I just can't vote for evil.
You forgot employment. Employment is going so great. Used be everyone was working three jobs to make ends meet. Now they're working 4 jobs.
"That's great! That's the American spirit!"--President Barack Obama, responding to a woman who was complaining about having to work only three jobs to make ends meet.
Only three instead of four! Those were the good old days!
We're not voting our way out of this. "Elections" are a LARP. https://innomen.substack.com/p/we-dont-have-a-government
A mass protest vote would scare the shit out of the ruling class https://yardrock2024.com/
Voting of any sort is the last thing they care about beyond making sure we believe we can get out of this without a general strike or worse.
A general strike sounds great! I'm in!
"Canceling democracy to save oligarchy, now that makes sense, and that is exactly what Democrats are going all out to try and get done."
A succinct wrap-up of what the Democrats have become.
Isn't int interesting how FDR, the most successful and beloved Democratic president ever, who won four elections despite being outspent 10-to-1, and whose picture was proudly displayed in homes across the country is NEVER quoted by today's democrats or pointed to as an example of what can be done, honored as a tradition to follow etc. For today's democrats, FDR is a blank spot in one of the most pivotal points in American history.
Today's Democrat is more likely to quote and speak fondly and longingly of corporate hack Ronald Reagan than to mention FDR. That tells you all you need to know about today's corporate-owned Democrats. They are nothing more than a Wall Street franchise.
If they would SINCERELY pick up the FDR banner and update it to the needs of families today they would have nothing to fear of Trump. But they won't, so do.
FDR was a moderate Social Democrat. I voted for Obama in 2008 because he was framed as FDR II. I figured that would be a vast improvement over Bush and Clinton. If he had actually accomplished a quarter of what he ran on, Obama would have become an icon and the Republicans may have gone the way of the Whigs.
It was never meant to be. Turns out the bloody Stalinists on a now defunct site were right. Obama was a plant all along.
I was initially cautious about Obama, he seemed a tad too good to be true. But as the campaign rolled along and my county Dem Party HQ ramped up into this wonderful community center, complete with music events, a food and clothing bank and even offerings of free furniture for people in need and a daily knitting circle to knit up mittens and socks for poor kids, I joined in. It was so in spirit with the energy of that campaign.
On election night 3 or 4 TVs were set up to accommodate a huge crowd. When Obama gave his Grant Park acceptance speech I remember people around me sobbing, crying tears of joy. One neighbor looked to me, with tears streaming down her face, saying, "He won, he won, it's over" (meaning the Cheney-Bush regime). In the back of my head I remember a little voice saying, "This guy better be genuine or he'll set the progressive movement back a generation."
My old hesitancy popping up.
Soon after the inauguration, someone connected with the Wisconsin Dem state party called to meet with me. I can't recall the group, but it was related to but set up outside the official party. We met in my office late one day, right after Obama had named his cabinet of Wall Street ghouls and corporate insiders. Appropriately, it was a wintry dark, cold late afternoon.
They wanted me to help with statewide communication/outreach stuff to support the Obama administration. When I brought up concerns about the recently announced corporate cabinet gang the rep got frosty. Finally I said, "I hope I'm wrong, but I'm beginning to feel Obama is not who he said he was." The meeting ended.
Obama's "Hope & Change" transformed into "Bait & Switch", and -- yep -- the progressive movement was wounded. A few years later and Sanders finished it off, endorsing war mongers Hillary and "my good friend" Biden and shaming his supporters to vote for both. (Note to Sanders: If you are a "good friend" with a cretin like Biden, you might want to keep that to yourself.)
As FDR confided in a letter to his brother, he considered his biggest achievement was saving capitalism. That's the best one can hope for in this bought off, corrupted system.
As things get worse and we jump into boots-on-the-ground war for Israel, maybe the reviving labor movement will provide a model and energy for real change. If not and if the censorship state ramps up even more, we'll soon be into out-in-the-open full-on fascism.
If censoring dissidents in flagrant violation of the First Amendment, first rigging then canceling their own primaries, and now criminalizing political opposition isn't proof that the Democrats are ALREADY full-on Fascists, I don't know what is.
Oh, we have only been served the hors d oeuvres.
Personally, I think the only people who believe, or say they believe, the Democrats are the terminally stupid, the blissfully propagandized, and those who are paid to lie.
Everyone else can see the layoffs, prices, wars, and continuing escalation of infinite wars.
And I've seen too much footage of Ukraine, where Joe was the point man during the Maidan and the civil war, to today.
So good luck Genocide Joe - Americans and the world see you.
Really well said. More people should be aware of these facts.
Thanks for sharing!
Now, don't hold back any--tell us how you REALLY feel! LOL!
You've really hit the nail on the head in regards to what's wrong with the Dems. They don't give a sh*t about democracy. Never have and never will. Neither side of the duopoly need or want democracy. They say they do to placate the masses. They just need to make their corporate masters happy, and right now their masters want endless wars for oil and the control of natural gas coming out of Russia, while enjoying watching a genocide in real time. To evil sociopaths like those I say good riddance!
I'm currently watching Glenn Greenwald's Debate on rumble and it's pretty much like an attempt by the guy moderating to keep Alex Jones and the guy named Destiny from killing each other. However, what I hear most coming from the shit libs called Brian, Destiny and the other guy remind me of ANGRY HILLARY SUPPORTERS. I believe anyone saying they are "on the left" better re-define that term. I'm actually more interested in people like Alex Jones, and Tucker Carlson these days in addition to the ones I already use journalistic skills. When I looked at how "X" was reacting to this... well, at least it will get attention. It IS THE ECONOMY & GENOCIDE and #Genocide Joe is trending.
Thank you OB, another spot on piece. Even President Speeches and Lectures Obama warned us about Genocide Joe when he said "don't ever underestimate the ability of Joe Biden to fuck things up". I'll bet even Grifter Barack is shaking his head at this fool.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.
As a Brit, and thus I have no stakes in this (well I do as whatever happens in America affects the rest of us) I always point out the things I observed.
No new wars.
America became an exporter of energy.
The world wasn’t on fire.
The Abraham accords.
It looked like people in America were getting richer under Trump.
If those aren’t good things then I don’t know what is.
Sadly, Trump is and will be a disaster for the environment. The dems are always better on that issue, however slightly. But I won’t vote Biden again. I kind of have a rule about perpetrators of genocide.
Trump is no more a disaster for the environment than Biden. Biden approves of fracking and opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling, plus some offshore drilling, I think. Besides, war isn't exactly good for the environment, either.
That's why I didn't mention that issue. The only difference between Trump and Biden there is the rhetoric.
I have to disagree. Looking at the entire record, your statement doesn’t appear to be true.
You are free to disagree, but if your only defense of Biden is some insignificant regulatory changes, you really don't have a valid argument.
I am not defending Biden. As I said, I do not support him (or Trump). I do care about the environment and that topic gets lost in many folks’ equating of dems and republicans. And the differences are not insignificant, even if unacceptable.
OK. that's reasonable. They both lose me as soon as they do the unacceptable, that's all.
How is it that "we the people" have no one to vote for? This is a SYSTEMIC issue. There are drunks driving the car and our children are in the backseat. We must TAKE THE WHEEL back. What could be more American than throwing off the ruling class? Here's my two cents - I think a massive protest vote, a refusal to give the mandate to ANY of these pretenders, would actually frighten the ruling class, remind them of citizen power. My vote will be The Late David Graeber, but this is good too, plus funny https://yardrock2024.com/
There's always someone to vote for if you don't limit yourself to two parties.
Brilliant. Thank you for this.
“
I have one quibble... I suspect this “steady flow of cheap and exploitable labor coming up through Mexico and over our border” might be just another culture war issue, intended to keep us punching down instead of looking up.
The US has always imported cheap labor from Mexico, and then turned around and abused and deported these people. Woody Guthrie even wrote songs about it, including Pastures of Plenty and Deportees. The issue provides a great political football for whichever party is currently out of power at the time, and zillions of lies are regularly manufactured about how these people are on the public dole (they aren’t entitled to welfare or social security, or workers comp,even though they contribute through payroll taxes.)
The reason for the seeming sudden border storm is due to Trumps vastly unconstitutional “wait in Mexico” policy (the right to asylum is a guaranteed right, but one must apply in person.) If the US doesn’t want refugees, it should stop creating them.
To be perfectly honest, my bias is for globally open borders as a matter of principle. A human being has certain inalienable freedoms, and I believe that the right to move is as fundamental as the freedom of thought or speech. If one can be prevented from movement, then who, exactly, owns our bodies?
This aside, the issues of immigration are - if not completely solvable, at least manageable if there was the will to do it. However, it’s just too useful a redirection. “Don’t blame us! Juan and Maria are the reason you can’t have (affordable housing/a decent wage/medicare for all/an industrial base)”
The Border Patrol is literally escorting immigrants in around the checkpoints, and then releasing them to wherever they want to go. For once, the Republicans aren't even exaggerating about the numbers.
Most aren't even Latino. They're from Africa now, blowback from the destruction of Libya and other US Empire actions.
You are right in saying the immigration problem is completely solvable. Step One: Abolish ICE and bring back the old Immigration and Naturalization Service(INS). It worked better than ICE for sure. Step Two: Stop fucking with other countries and causing waves of refugees.
We need some immigration, just because our population is aging if nothing else, but what we have now is double-edged exploitation. The immigrants themselves are ruthlessly exploited by American capitalists, who then turn around and tell native Americans that the immigrants are the cause of all their problems.
" If the US doesn’t want refugees, it should stop creating them." Appreciate that!
The main ones are all wankers. If I was in the US I'd vote Green, to at least send a message that you're done with genocide and injustive and inequality. (NB I'm not saying Green is perfect, just better than the other options!)
"send a message" - the power of this should not be discounted!!!
I've voted Green before. 1996, 2000, 2016 and 2020. In 2012 there was a Socialist on the Ohio ballot so I voted for him. Now, I see the American Greens as some sort of exclusive, academic club that would rather feel good about themselves than actually do anything.
In 2020 they could have had Jesse Ventura and picked up 5% of the popular vote and federal funding for SURE. Nope, he had to jump through a bunch of identity politics hoops so he told them to bugger off. This year, they could at least have had Cornel West, but ran him off because he doesn't believe boys saying they're girls should play in girls' sports.
They're pretty worthless, and we don't even have a Pirate Party to cast a protest vote for. (sigh)
Imagine if enough americans took the trouble to actually show up and then wrote in, as a protest vote, something appropriately absurd like https://yardrock2024.com/ (or my personal fav, The Late, Great David Graeber) in enough numbers to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election. A massive protest against the whole kafkaesque system and situation in which we find ourselves would be a terrifying wake-up for the ruling class. A call for complete reorganization. Well, I can dream...
Don't call it a protest vote. It's a real vote for a good candidate you want instead of a corrupt politician you don't want.