Listen to a reading of this article: ❖ The US House of Representatives has voted 368-57 to spend $40 billion on a world-threatening proxy war while ordinary Americans struggle to feed themselves and their children. All 57 "no" votes were Republicans. Every member of the small faction of progressive House Democrats popularly known as "The Squad"
It's been said before by several folks, but I feel obliged to reiterate: If you're not opposing US imperialism, don't even try to tell me you're "on the left." Actually, you're jumping off the cliff with the other lemmings.
Caitlin’s Chomsky analysis/redux is a great exercise: it reminds us.
To wit, $40 billion will be spent on American munitions, by the Ukrainians, thereby transferring money from the taxpayers to the arms industry.
Afghanistan lasted 20 years because it was profitable. Ukraine will likely become a frozen conflict because it is profitable.
Of course the Ukrainians have no money so the Americans give them taxpayer money, borrowed from the Chinese, which the Ukrainians use to purchase American armament, which is profitable. Treason with a side order of manslaughter, whoopsie, what am I thinking, liberals are promoting democracy.
Trump may well keep this loop going, so no difference, or he may call bullshit. That’s the thing, he is a heretic and unbridled, there is hope in the bloviating Trump monster, but it’s like a toboggan ride, jump on board at the top of the hill then gravity takes over, you go where you go. But I am particularly enamoured of him because he insults the crap out of all the shit -libs, his crudeness is the attraction.
The rest - pols - are just feckless shills, regulatory capture is the proper term.
We might as well give the unauthorized president a second chance. It won’t work, the permanent bureaucracy will completely resist and obfuscate, but what the hell, what is Caitlin telling us about the dems.
What a joke the whole political circus called voting is. No meaningful change is coming from the top. We have to create parallel systems and stop thinking any of the current systems are going to be changed from within. They're not. You can cover a pile of sh*t with gold glitter and call it gold, but it is still a stinking pile of sh*t.
40 billion to spend on a proxy war in Ukraine ....
Seems like some people have lots of money out there to spend, while apparently the price of diesel is going to go up to $10 a gallon. Not sure if any of this is sustainable. Is the US a banana republic yet?
As for the $40 billion allocated to the Ukraine proxy war, consider that Biden recently asked for, and received two Pentagon budget increases that push it's annual haul above $800 billion. Out of that $800 billion, the brass hats can't find a lousy $40 billion? They have to ask for even more to fight their proxy war? And it's all A-OK with the Democrats.
I voted for Pressley in her primary against 10-term incumbent Capuano and again for her in her first general. Both were a mistake. Michael Capuano was about as decent as that rotten party can tolerate. I guess in that he was a bit like Barney Frank. There's only so much you can do once elected to office. Bernie Sanders is another example.
But I wonder if Pressley ever even suspects when she's being cynically used as an idpol decoration by the party, like kente cloth.
I've never laughed so hard at a Caitlin piece. Loved it! I would only say the problem's not that the US has a defective party system, or a defective electoral democracy. The problem is election itself. People don't vote for Joe Blow down the street, they vote for proven commodities, people of high reputation, so it's no surprise that elites occupy all positions of power in our so-called electoral "democracies". Question for Caitlin: how can a society where elites control all the levers of power be called a democracy, except in jest? So long as the US chooses its leaders by election, things will continue more or less as they are: power perpetually exercised by and for socio-economic elites first and ordinary people last. We'd need to dump elections altogether in favor of a system of sortition to reverse that. That might give us the kind of political life citizens had in ancient Greek democracies (minus the undemocratic limits they placed on citizenship of course).
One thing I think somewhat important to point out, (although not really important in the grand scheme of us getting screwed over) -- I don't believe "The Squad" are actively trying to work for the Washington establishment, I tend to think they're just being outplayed by the machine and lack the critical-thought intelligence to realize it. This is of course, exactly what the establishment machine wants.
The problem is that so many of these squad members came into Congress believing their own naive thinking that they could actually change things by trying to work within the system. They lacked the critical background knowledge to see how time and time again the Pelosi-types of the party use that mindset against people like them, and inevitably turn them into part of the machine, without them even realizing it.
The machine twists them into thinking that advancements for a few extra table scraps are in fact real, tangible advancements that should be celebrated. This is because table scraps are all that are ever up for debate, in terms of any advancement for the American working class and poor.
They would have done far better had they actually come from a Ralph Nader school of historical understanding of the system and it's crony corporate controllers. Instead, they idolized Bernie Sanders, who is perhaps the premiere modern example of an individual who undermined his own political power for the sake of appeasement, rooted in fear stoked by the Democratic establishment.
I understand in the grand scheme of things, whether they "meant" to undermine America or not really doesn't matter in the eyes of the American populace that they continue to screw over. But I think the whole "AOC is evil!" narrative is a popular Twittersphere talking point that ultimately misses the point, and distracts from the real problem of the total corrupting nature of the entire system of US Gov't as a whole.
It's been said before by several folks, but I feel obliged to reiterate: If you're not opposing US imperialism, don't even try to tell me you're "on the left." Actually, you're jumping off the cliff with the other lemmings.
Note how "The Squad" ever always only falls right in line when it comes to things that the Empire wants.
And the identity politics crap neither stops the wars nor changes the way that the pie is sliced.
Caitlin’s Chomsky analysis/redux is a great exercise: it reminds us.
To wit, $40 billion will be spent on American munitions, by the Ukrainians, thereby transferring money from the taxpayers to the arms industry.
Afghanistan lasted 20 years because it was profitable. Ukraine will likely become a frozen conflict because it is profitable.
Of course the Ukrainians have no money so the Americans give them taxpayer money, borrowed from the Chinese, which the Ukrainians use to purchase American armament, which is profitable. Treason with a side order of manslaughter, whoopsie, what am I thinking, liberals are promoting democracy.
Trump may well keep this loop going, so no difference, or he may call bullshit. That’s the thing, he is a heretic and unbridled, there is hope in the bloviating Trump monster, but it’s like a toboggan ride, jump on board at the top of the hill then gravity takes over, you go where you go. But I am particularly enamoured of him because he insults the crap out of all the shit -libs, his crudeness is the attraction.
The rest - pols - are just feckless shills, regulatory capture is the proper term.
We might as well give the unauthorized president a second chance. It won’t work, the permanent bureaucracy will completely resist and obfuscate, but what the hell, what is Caitlin telling us about the dems.
What a joke the whole political circus called voting is. No meaningful change is coming from the top. We have to create parallel systems and stop thinking any of the current systems are going to be changed from within. They're not. You can cover a pile of sh*t with gold glitter and call it gold, but it is still a stinking pile of sh*t.
Ilhan Omar is my "representative." I'm sending the URL to her.
As Ana Kasparian screeched, "I'm Done!"
They sell hopium to dopes.
44 billion to purchase twitter ...
40 billion to spend on a proxy war in Ukraine ....
Seems like some people have lots of money out there to spend, while apparently the price of diesel is going to go up to $10 a gallon. Not sure if any of this is sustainable. Is the US a banana republic yet?
Outstanding article!
As for the $40 billion allocated to the Ukraine proxy war, consider that Biden recently asked for, and received two Pentagon budget increases that push it's annual haul above $800 billion. Out of that $800 billion, the brass hats can't find a lousy $40 billion? They have to ask for even more to fight their proxy war? And it's all A-OK with the Democrats.
I voted for Pressley in her primary against 10-term incumbent Capuano and again for her in her first general. Both were a mistake. Michael Capuano was about as decent as that rotten party can tolerate. I guess in that he was a bit like Barney Frank. There's only so much you can do once elected to office. Bernie Sanders is another example.
But I wonder if Pressley ever even suspects when she's being cynically used as an idpol decoration by the party, like kente cloth.
The fraud squad called again big time.
Can't stop being amazed at how slow the Exceptional American/Western One(TM) - aka The Dupe - is at waking up.
Democracy, a fairy tale... The Tale of Peter Rabbit of Beatrix Potter is nearer to the reality principle as the narratives about 'western democracy'.
Elizabeth "Fauxahantas Karen" Warren is the cringiest of them all.
I've never laughed so hard at a Caitlin piece. Loved it! I would only say the problem's not that the US has a defective party system, or a defective electoral democracy. The problem is election itself. People don't vote for Joe Blow down the street, they vote for proven commodities, people of high reputation, so it's no surprise that elites occupy all positions of power in our so-called electoral "democracies". Question for Caitlin: how can a society where elites control all the levers of power be called a democracy, except in jest? So long as the US chooses its leaders by election, things will continue more or less as they are: power perpetually exercised by and for socio-economic elites first and ordinary people last. We'd need to dump elections altogether in favor of a system of sortition to reverse that. That might give us the kind of political life citizens had in ancient Greek democracies (minus the undemocratic limits they placed on citizenship of course).
One thing I think somewhat important to point out, (although not really important in the grand scheme of us getting screwed over) -- I don't believe "The Squad" are actively trying to work for the Washington establishment, I tend to think they're just being outplayed by the machine and lack the critical-thought intelligence to realize it. This is of course, exactly what the establishment machine wants.
The problem is that so many of these squad members came into Congress believing their own naive thinking that they could actually change things by trying to work within the system. They lacked the critical background knowledge to see how time and time again the Pelosi-types of the party use that mindset against people like them, and inevitably turn them into part of the machine, without them even realizing it.
The machine twists them into thinking that advancements for a few extra table scraps are in fact real, tangible advancements that should be celebrated. This is because table scraps are all that are ever up for debate, in terms of any advancement for the American working class and poor.
They would have done far better had they actually come from a Ralph Nader school of historical understanding of the system and it's crony corporate controllers. Instead, they idolized Bernie Sanders, who is perhaps the premiere modern example of an individual who undermined his own political power for the sake of appeasement, rooted in fear stoked by the Democratic establishment.
I understand in the grand scheme of things, whether they "meant" to undermine America or not really doesn't matter in the eyes of the American populace that they continue to screw over. But I think the whole "AOC is evil!" narrative is a popular Twittersphere talking point that ultimately misses the point, and distracts from the real problem of the total corrupting nature of the entire system of US Gov't as a whole.