Military Keynesianism & the End of Empire

A good analysis of our economic demise and the failure of Military Keynesianism here. For many of us the depression has already begun as we wade knee-deep into unemployment. As gas prices skyrocket, good jobs shrink and salaries stagntate the future is looking grim. Our only option may be to build real local communities where we do our best to support each other on a cashless system. In the short term, this would be a good time to support the Prole by buying a progressive or humorous T-shirt from Partisan T-Party.

Clinton's Failed Stategy of Racism

The constant repeated attempt by Hillary Clinton to link Barak Obama with the Rev. Jeremiah Write is a remake of the Willie Horton strategy. Racism in the US remains widespread but it is not based on physical attributes. It is cultural. A problem for Clinton is that Obama does not fit the stereotypes that trigger racism in America so the solution she found is to link him with someone who does. There are problems however. As pointed out in an important article by David A. Lowe, there is nothing Rev. Wright has said that wasn't said by Dr. King decades ago or that rings as untrue to most Americans. Another miscalculation is that the most virulent and traditional forms of racism are generational. It is a good thing that many if not most of younger voters, having grown up in a more integrated society, do not buy into the stereotypes and fear that Clinton is trying to project. Instead, it is backfiring as voters see her for what she is -- another conservative Clinton, a Republican lite candidate.

As for Obama, he would do well to work with and listen to John Edwards. If he would take on single payer healthcare and better address economic disparity he might get Edwards to share a ticket which would be a victory for all of us.

Who's Bitter?

It may seem more than ironic that Hillary Clinton, a member or the very team that oversaw and orchestrated the flight of productive capital and jobs to poor countries in search of higher profits wrung from lower wages now accuses Obama of suggesting that some Americans may feel bitter about it as our economy sages into depression. Maybe instead of spewing platitudes and trying to paint a thinking candidate as "effete" or "out of touch" for speaking the truth, she should be asking, Why Americans are bitter?

The Weekend

A nice jam from better times --

The Real News

One of many good reports on the Real News. I would suggest bookmarking this site and supporting it. In this article, the lack of real difference in foreign policy between Obama and McCain is examined. Hype and "hope" aside, the clear lack of viable alternatives leaves real change off the table.

Remembering King 40 years Later

Here on the fortieth anniversary of Dr. King's assassination by the FBI. We pause to remember what he sttod for, what he struggled against and to say, in the spirit of the struggle for a better world. Martin Luther King Jr. -- Presente!




The Struggle Continues!

Perusing the Net

There are a couple of interesting sites and articles I'd like to steer readers to today, this blog is a good example of progressive analysis and discussion from members and friends of the Communist Party.

For some good economic analysis and commentary that is good food for thought, The Monthly Review is a worthy site and and even better magazine.

And finally, sit your kids down in front of this site. For that matter, pass this around as it explains a lot in a simple entertaining way.

The War is Going Well

Or so we are repeatedly told in spite of worsening violence and little real improvements in the situation for Iraqis. The oft repeated mantras of endless civil war and hatreds, eg, "they've been killing each other or centuries" along with the warnings that chaos would result if only our noble heroes weren't there to keep order and introduce the ideas of civilization while (re)building schools and handing out candy, reflects the racist hubris of the Imperial white man's burden. You can bet this comes replete with missionaries to spread the word of the obviously more civilized god of those who destroy countries.

We are told that many Iraqis are grateful for our presence and fear that we could abandon them to -- well, themselves. But the Association of Muslim Ulemas, the supreme religious Sunni authority in Iraq, made the following statement on the occasion of the fifth anniversary: “The occupier has entered our lands by force and he is not going to leave unless we use force. Any call made by politicians who acquiesce to working under the umbrella of occupation should be considered an invitation to surrender and capitulation. The occupation forces have turned Iraq into the world’s most dangerous zone. The era of occupation will soon end.” And the Shias under Muktada al Sadr seem none too pleased with the occupation as the Mahdi Army fights it in the streets.

Another aspect of civil life in occupied Iraq that goes unreported is the organized civil resistance led in large part by the Iraq Freedom Congress which seeks a unified secular nation. It's no surprise that this organization is repressed by our puppet regime and banned from the media of the occupying Empire. A truly independent, secular, and united Iraq would not be in the political/economic interest of US Oil or the corporations that run our country. The rejection of our noble occupation and the continued Iraqi ownership of all that oil would surely be an insult and all of our heroes will certainly have died (and killed) in vain! And so, McCain wanders the world with his travel companion Leiberman to support an endless occupation and expansion of our "noble cause" into neighboring Iran where heathens await our benevolent civilized influence while the Democratic (not very)hopefuls hem and haw and poke each other in another charade "election" in which one thing is obvious. Nothing has been learned about the insidious nature of a deadly and unsustainable system or its grossest crimes in which no one can ever be charged or brought to justice and nothing significant can change.

Gawd's Candidate

While Obama is getting bad press because his preacher had the audacity to say the obvious about this country, Hillary Clinton's religious connections are really creepy! Her connection to a proto-fascist cult shows our worst thoughts about her to be, if anything, underestimates. Heck, she's every bit as bad, if not worse than McCain!

So?!

That one word adequately reflects the cynical hubris of this criminal administration regarding the massive dissent to their disastrous policies. You can count on a Clinton of McCain adminstration to continue that attitude along with the worst aspects of an extreme right corporate dictatorship whereas, there is room for hope that an Obama administration might be different. On this fifth anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, corporate media are doing their best to promote the misbegotten mantra of "success" in Iraq along with the glorification of "Heroes" lost in this ignoble venture. In response, I sent the following letter to my local rag:

No matter how you spin it, the war was sold on lies and the promulgation of known
misinformation. There was never any connection between Iraq and al qaeda nor any
WMDs. Many of us knew it and many knowledgeable people like Hans Blix and Scott Ritter pointed this out but the administration played on the opportunism of Democratic leaders by falsely portraying Iraq as a dire threat while linking a policy of aggression to "patriotism" and demanding action on short notice. Lying to Congress
is a crime. Fomenting war based on known misinformation is the ultimate crime and has cost well over a million lives. Had the press done it's job we wouldn't be in this situation today and many lives would not be ended or in ruin. Instead, dissent was suppressed and administration lies were parroted. The Pilot still wrongly refers to the occupation of Iraq as "the war on terror." The complicity of the press in aiding and abetting the crimes of this administration is a crime as well.

Unfortunately that pattern continues.We see no coverage of the "Winter Soldier" hearings in which Iraq vets describe the reality if their experience and no coverage
of the large and well supported local anti-war rallies marking this sad anniversary.
Instead only the reverential memorial to "heroes" whose lives have been squandered in this neocon debacle.

We who have objected to this illegal and unjustified aggression from the beginning
also mourn the many lives wasted. Had the press listened to what we were saying then, many of these soldiers would not be gracing the pages of a memorial spread.
Would that the press begin to cover the realities and, like the majority of citizens,
demand an end to this tragedy and the application of the rule of law in holding
our leaders accountable for their crimes, maybe there wouldn't be a new batch
of missed faces in the paper next year.

and this is what they printed:

No matter how you spin it, the Iraq war was sold on lies and misinformation. Had the press done its job, we wouldn't be in this situation today and many lives would not be ended or in ruin.

The Pilot still wrongly refers to the occupation of Iraq as 'the war on terror.' The complicity of the press in aiding and abetting the crimes of this administration is a crime as well.

Unfortunately, that pattern continues. We see no coverage of the large and well-supported local anti-war rallies marking this sad anniversary. Instead, we see only the reverential memorial to heroes whose lives have been squandered in this neocon debacle.

My point being that the cynicism, hubris, and criminality of this administration would not be effective or even practicable without the vital abetting of the corporate press. While they are glad to print an extremely edited version of my letter to show how "fair and balanced" they are, their edition along with the quality of news presented shows just the opposite. What they failed to report adminst the supplementary pages lauding a failed war and it's dead "heroes" was any of the local actions against the war taking place which were received with overwhelming support in this conservative military town.

Bush Connected to Child Prostitution!

Though the facts may be pieced together creatively, the truth of the matter is that George W. Bush is connected to a massive child prostitution ring along with, and as a result of the crimes against humanity he has perpetrated without possible justification against Iraq.

Another Milestone on the Road to Serfdom

The Prison of our police state continues to be constructed brick by legal brick. The corporate candidates offer nothing but platitudes as the last vestiges of democracy and privacy are legislated away.

"The curtain continues to fall over American democracy. Americans understandably are sickened by the tragi-comedy that spreads itself across this stage. But their faith in another presidential election and another leader is misplaced. They need to reserve their faith not for the new, but for the old: for the constitutional model that the Founders left. It needs to be forced to work. And all those who undermine it must be held to account. That includes the should-be watchdogs, who slobbering at the prospect of a few drug-drenched sirloins hurled their way, are failing in their duty to protect their true masters: the American people.

We live in the age of the Great Betrayal, in an age in which too few are willing to state the obvious. There is still time to check the progress of tyrannical power, but the hour grows late, and the sounds of alarm no longer seem to register with a somnolent populace."

The Truth Emerges from the Mouths of Soldiers

Winter Soldier's tell us first hand that what we told them all along was true. Yes, the activists were right and the Administration and media lied. Now, a million dead Iraqis, a destroyed country, and hundreds of thousands of US dead and wounded later, they are willing to speak out about the terrible things they saw and did. Hopefully they and others could learn who to believe next time . . .

Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

Beyond the Green Zone

La Lucha Continua!

While the bourgeoisie gloat in their ignorance projecting their fantasies on the stepping aside of Compañero Fidel, Let us consider his own wise words:

"Dear compatriots:

Last Friday, February 15, I promised you that in my next reflection I would deal with an issue of interest to many compatriots. Thus, this now is rather a message.

Fidel Castro RuzThe moment has come to nominate and elect the State Council, its President, its Vice-Presidents and Secretary.

For many years I have occupied the honorable position of President. On February 15, 1976 the Socialist Constitution was approved with the free, direct and secret vote of over 95% of the people with the right to cast a vote. The first National Assembly was established on December 2nd that same year; this elected the State Council and its presidency. Before that, I had been a Prime Minister for almost 18 years. I always had the necessary prerogatives to carry forward the revolutionary work with the support of the overwhelming majority of the people.

There were those overseas who, aware of my critical health condition, thought that my provisional resignation, on July 31, 2006, to the position of President of the State Council, which I left to First Vice-President Raul Castro Ruz, was final. But Raul, who is also minister of the Armed Forces on account of his own personal merits, and the other comrades of the Party and State leadership were unwilling to consider me out of public life despite my unstable health condition.

It was an uncomfortable situation for me vis-à-vis an adversary which had done everything possible to get rid of me, and I felt reluctant to comply.

Later, in my necessary retreat, I was able to recover the full command of my mind as well as the possibility for much reading and meditation. I had enough physical strength to write for many hours, which I shared with the corresponding rehabilitation and recovery programs. Basic common sense indicated that such activity was within my reach. On the other hand, when referring to my health I was extremely careful to avoid raising expectations since I felt that an adverse ending would bring traumatic news to our people in the midst of the battle. Thus, my first duty was to prepare our people both politically and psychologically for my absence after so many years of struggle. I kept saying that my recovery "was not without risks."

My wishes have always been to discharge my duties to my last breath. That’s all I can offer.

To my dearest compatriots, who have recently honored me so much by electing me a member of the Parliament where so many agreements should be adopted of utmost importance to the destiny of our Revolution, I am saying that I will neither aspire to nor accept, I repeat, I will neither aspire to nor accept the positions of President of the State Council and Commander in Chief.

In short letters addressed to Randy Alonso, Director of the Round Table National TV Program, --letters which at my request were made public-- I discreetly introduced elements of this message I am writing today, when not even the addressee of such letters was aware of my intention. I trusted Randy, whom I knew very well from his days as a student of Journalism. In those days I met almost on a weekly basis with the main representatives of the University students from the provinces at the library of the large house in Kohly where they lived. Today, the entire country is an immense University.

Following are some paragraphs chosen from the letter addressed to Randy on December 17, 2007:

"I strongly believe that the answers to the current problems facing Cuban society, which has, as an average, a twelfth grade of education, almost a million university graduates, and a real possibility for all its citizens to become educated without their being in any way discriminated against, require more variables for each concrete problem than those contained in a chess game. We cannot ignore one single detail; this is not an easy path to take, if the intelligence of a human being in a revolutionary society is to prevail over instinct.

"My elemental duty is not to cling to positions, much less to stand in the way of younger persons, but rather to contribute my own experience and ideas whose modest value comes from the exceptional era that I had the privilege of living in.

"Like Niemeyer, I believe that one has to be consistent right up to the end."

Letter from January 8, 2008:

"…I am a firm supporter of the united vote (a principle that preserves the unknown merits), which allowed us to avoid the tendency to copy what came to us from countries of the former socialist bloc, including the portrait of the one candidate, as singular as his solidarity towards Cuba. I deeply respect that first attempt at building socialism, thanks to which we were able to continue along the path we had chosen."

And I reiterated in that letter that "…I never forget that ‘all of the world’s glory fits in a kernel of corn."

Therefore, it would be a betrayal to my conscience to accept a responsibility requiring more mobility and dedication than I am physically able to offer. This I say devoid of all drama.

Fortunately, our Revolution can still count on cadres from the old guard and others who were very young in the early stages of the process. Some were very young, almost children, when they joined the fight on the mountains and later they have given glory to the country with their heroic performance and their internationalist missions. They have the authority and the experience to guarantee the replacement. There is also the intermediate generation which learned together with us the basics of the complex and almost unattainable art of organizing and leading a revolution.

The path will always be difficult and require from everyone’s intelligent effort. I distrust the seemingly easy path of apologetics or its antithesis the self-flagellation. We should always be prepared for the worst variable. The principle of being as prudent in success as steady in adversity cannot be forgotten. The adversary to be defeated is extremely strong; however, we have been able to keep it at bay for half a century.

This is not my farewell to you. My only wish is to fight as a soldier in the battle of ideas. I shall continue to write under the heading of ‘Reflections by comrade Fidel.’ It will be just another weapon you can count on. Perhaps my voice will be heard. I shall be careful."

Comrade Fidel Castro is one of the greatest in the lexicon of Marxist thinkers and leaders, maybe the greatest. The Cuban Revolution will not only continue but its influence will continue to spread. It is the future of civilization. We look forward to many more years of Fidel's incisive analysis and inspirational writing. Viva la Revoluciõn! Viva Fidel!

Codification of a Police State Being Solidified

While your attention is pulled to the manufactured excitement of elections, insidious things are being done to solidify a police state under the guise of "National Defense."

Sect. 1042 of the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), "Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies," gives the executive the power to invoke martial law. For the first time in more than a century, the president is now authorized to use the military in response to "a natural disaster, a disease outbreak, a terrorist attack or any other condition in which the President determines that domestic violence has occurred to the extent that state officials cannot maintain public order."

Fraud-busters such as Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, have complained about these contracts, saying that more taxpayer dollars should not go to taxpayer-gouging Halliburton. But the real question is: What kind of "new programs" require the construction and refurbishment of detention facilities in nearly every state of the union with the capacity to house perhaps millions of people?

If you don't think we already have a police state, you're not paying attention. This codification makes it official and deepens the consequences for all who speak against the criminal dictatorship that has taken over our country.