Showing posts with label #GreenNewDeal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #GreenNewDeal. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

How To Spot A Sell-Out

 

How To Spot A Sell-Out

by C.A. Matthews

I have never trusted AOC. I never once thought she was a “progressive” or even “honest” in a Demon-erratic Party sort of way. So, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez actively promoting a pro-genocide/pro-war/anti-worker candidate and smearing a decent anti-genocide/anti-war/pro-worker candidate in a recent video doesn’t surprised me one bit.

I can spot a sell-out from a mile away. What do I mean by a “sell-out”? I’ll post some photos to help explain what I mean.

Above is a photo of AOC promoting a Green Party candidate in 2017. Yes, AOC actually helped the Greens, although in her recent tirade smearing Dr. Jill Stein she doesn’t seem to acknowledge how much she truly owes the Green Party for her political success. AOC and the Dems stole the “Green New Deal” from former Green presidential candidate Howie Hawkins who first verbalized it when he ran for governor of New York back in 2010. There’s even a video from C-Span from back in the day that proves the Green Party US created the Green New Deal that Dems later stole and watered down (and then totally forgot about).

With voters growing evermore dissatisfied with Harris and her ardent support for Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, we are witnessing an increasing number of smears of anti-genocide candidates. Recently AOC was caught outright lying in a ratioed video about “how the Greens do nothing.” Really? This is what I have to say to her...

 

To read the rest of this article, click on this link to go to our Substack page: https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com  There you'll also see the related article and video links, all the images, and be able to leave comments. You can subscribe to receive the weekly blog post in your email box as well. Subscribe today! Power to the people!

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Real Representation, Not Celebrities

 

(We Need) Real Representation, Not Celebrities

by C.A. Matthews 

 

“It’s the real thing!” said a commercial a few decades back. Genuineness was a virtue to rejoice in, not disdain. I wish this sentiment were still true today when it came to our elected officials. 

Nowadays, it seems the more glamorous you appear to the public, the more raved about on Tik-Tok or Twitter you are, the more likely you’ll be seen as “the real thing.” Take for example one very famous Congress member from New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a.k.a. AOC. She’s been on magazine covers and seen noshing at the best galas in New York City, but has she even introduced or helped to pass Medicare For All like she promised when she first ran for office?

Uh,no. Not a thing AOC has promised to do, such as the DNC’s scaled-backed Green New Deal, has come to fruition. She’s even voted to send more money and weapons to a proxy war in Ukraine and more military aid for Israel to bomb Palestinians into the dust.

AOC hasn’t done anything to get the immigrant “kids in cages” out of our hellish, racist immigration system except to take advantage of a photo op to cry for them in front of the cameras. AOC is a good little Dem. She does everything House Speaker Nancy “Mama Bear” Pelosi tells her to--and then some.

AOC, in my humble opinion, is a cover model and a spokesperson for a corrupt faction that dares to call themselves the “democratic party.” Celebrities simply don’t fit the definition of “representatives of the people.” Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary says, “Celebrity--a famous or celebrated person.”

There’s no mention of a celebrity being an advocate for the people in that definition, is there?

Look at where other political celebrities have gotten us in the last forty years: B-movie star Ronald Reagan destroyed unions and preached “trickle down economics” that only concentrated more wealth in the hands of the super rich. Reality TV star Donald Trump set the clock back several hundred years by promoting conservative federal judges. If you’re reading this blog, probably neither one of these presidents are your favorite—and for good reason.


So sorry, AOC is a just another useless celebrity who doesn’t put the general wealthfare of the American people before her own fame or celebritiness. She forgets her “lines” that she promised to do for her voters when she campaigned. She has zero backbone and can’t or won’t act on the courage of her own convictions. 

But there is hope. There are “real things” running for office. One of these genuine candidates is Matthew Hoh of North Carolina.  

Matt is running for the US Senate as a Green. He isn’t taking corporate cash (like AOC does as a Dem) because he isn’t stuck in an establishment party that supports the military industrial complex. In fact, the Green Party US wants to overturn the Citizens United ruling and get rid of all corporate and dirty money in politics. Since Matt isn’t beholden to corporate paymasters, he is free to represent everyday people, not billionaires.

How refreshing!

And talk about having backbone: Matt went to war three times as a US Marine and a diplomat before realizing the courage to pronounce the wars as unjust and immoral. In 2009 he resigned from the State Department over the surge of troops to the war in Afghanistan and started speaking out against the endless war machine and the corruption in our political system.

Matt isn’t one to take the cancellation of Roe v. Wade and the disregard for human rights lying down either: “This destruction by the Republicans and betrayal by the Democrats of a woman’s right to an abortion and all forms of healthcare is symptomatic of the larger degradation and disregard for human rights--civil, economic and political--by the two-party system in favor of money and special interests. This is why we must disrupt and remake our political system. Too many people have died and suffered due to the corrupt and money-beholden status quo.

Wow. That’s straight talk coming from a very brave man who isn’t afraid to take on the billionaires who run our government. Isn’t it nice to hear a candidate standing up for the people for a change? 

The time is now to elect a strong third party candidate like Matthew Hoh to the Senate, a candidate who isn’t pressured by a party that wants its members to do exactly as they’re told by their corporate donors. America can’t afford endless wars. We can’t afford more of our human rights taken away from us. We can’t afford to keep electing corporate-owned-and-operated celebrities to public office no matter how pretty they look in an expensive designer evening gown. 


Related Articles:

Matthew Hoh for Senate: https://www.matt4senate.org/

Follow Matthew Hoh on Twitter:  @MatthewPHoh

AOC is a Tool of the Democratic Party Establishment (video) https://youtu.be/XLHxm0Rt0QY

Spending Unlimited https://scheerpost.com/2022/09/12/spending-unlimited/

The Maskless Rich (Are Laughing At You) https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2021/09/the-maskless-rich-are-laughing-at-you.html 

What You Aren't Hearing About AOC's Dress Scandal (video) https://youtu.be/SryNJSASHdg 

Seen on Twitter:


Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Why Am I Not Surprised?




Why Am I Not Surprised?

by Redd (not a psychic) Phlagg

I'm frequently asked, "How did you know Biden wouldn't give us the $2,000 he promised back in January before the Georgia special election. Are you psychic or something?"

"No, I'm not psychic," I'll reply. "I just read the signs, and the signs were fairly clear on this pronouncement. You'll notice he's not done or said anything of any importance about Medicare For All in his first month, either, and he's also backed away from even promising Obamacare with a public option."

"Hey, you're right!" my questioner will exclaim. "You must be psychic."

"No, not psychic. I'm just observant. You can do likewise."

I switch into my teacher mode in an attempt to get my companion to connect the dots on their own. "Okay, here's what you do. Just watch a politician closely for a while and follow his or her most common pattern of behavior.  What have these two examples--the promised $2,000 check and the promised Medicare For All and Biden's lack of response on either issue--have in common?"

"Uh, that he's busy?"

"Sure, he's busy, but who isn't?" I'll heave a sigh here, but I won't give up. "Let me give you some more examples. Biden says he'll be an environmental president, yet he doesn't support even the Dems' watered down version of the Green New Deal, and it's open season on hunting wolves in Wisconsin now because his EPA won't put them and the rapidly dwindling Monarch butterflies back on the endangered species list to protect them from going extinct. When asked if he would forgive most student debt like he said on the campaign trail, he hems and haws. So, Biden says one thing and does the opposite, right?"

"Yeah, sounds like he's really busy," my companion says with a blank look on his face. "I sure hope we get that $2,000 check soon. I've been laid off since late March 2020, and my wife has left the state and taken the kids to live with her sister since they've got heat, and the landlord is ready to evict me."

It's at this point in the conversation that I usually feel like repeatedly bashing my head into a wall in frustration.

It seems some folks of the "Blue MAGA" persuasion can put two and two together and come out with six. They will almost always believe every utterance coming out of a Democrat's month and will give them the full benefit of the doubt. Doubly so if the Dem politician is good-looking and young(ish)--'cause how can a pretty lady lie, right?


Oh, to be so innocent and trusting!

And yet, they're hurting--badly. Whenever they notice that I'm batting a thousand when it comes to predicting what Biden's responses will be on the issues, they're impressed and honestly confused as to how I can be so certain what Biden will do/not do. It's almost as if the cognitive dissonance inside their skulls is too much to bear, so they just shut down and regurgitate the party line and drool down the front of their shirts.

How are these poor besotted souls any different from the original red-hatted MAGAts who blindly followed Trump? Answer: They're no different. They've joined a cult that tells them how to think and what to say. When painful reality creeps up on them, they could find themselves in an existential crisis. In time, some might even be willing to walk away from the lies and seek solace elsewhere in the arms of a welcoming "third party."


But not all will.  I've observed their behavior patterns closely. These blindly devout "blue-no-matter-who" types are the ones who, when the next election rolls around, will more than likely cast their ballots as they're instructed by the corporate-owned-and-operated Democratic Party USA. They'll believe every word, every promise, and fall for every trick in the book.

Why am I not surprised?

Is there any way to save these individuals from themselves? Furthermore, is there any way to save our country from the destruction to our environment and society that is caused by these Red/Blue cult members? Until the cultists leave their cult by recognizing how they are simply acting as a front for the billionaire oligarchs who truly run the show, there is no hope. We are screwed.

Next time someone makes a comment that they're surprised why they haven't received their stimulus check or Medicare For All yet, tell them you're a psychic. You're a psychic who will predict what Biden won't do next. Maybe if enough of us do this it will convince them to join our cult, the cult of intelligent and independent thinkers.

 

BIO: Redd Phlagg has seen the handwriting on the wall--and it was scribbled there using purple crayon by the Red/Blue cultists. Redd's mission in life is to help de-program these sad souls and lead them back to reality, thereby freeing the world of endless enslavement to the capitalist class. It's a lofty goal, but Redd heartily welcomes you to join in this crusade.

Related Articles:

Biden's First Month Marked by Broken Promises

https://popularresistance.org/bidens-first-month-marked-by-broken-promises/

Biden's Comments on Loan Forgiveness

https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/67932-fact-check-bidens-comments-on-loan-forgiveness-and-elite-colleges

Half of America In or Near Poverty

https://www.nationofchange.org/2021/02/22/2021-update-half-of-america-in-or-near-poverty/ 

Biden's Agriculture Nominee Could Bring Us Back Into the Trans Pacific Partnership

https://truthout.org/articles/bidens-agriculture-nominee-could-bring-us-back-into-trans-pacific-partnership/


Caught on Twitter--

***

The Revolution Continues is now in our sixth year taking on the propaganda of the fauxgressives and their friends in the corporate-owned duopoly. We need passionate revolutionaries like you to help us provide progressive insights that are being actively censored elsewhere. If you can donate a little to the cause, please do so at the Paypal.me link below.

http://paypal.me/camatthews

Thanks for all you do in making the world a better place. Power to the people!

***

From Change:

Over the past days, millions of Texans have gone without power. Freezing weather. Burst pipes. Flooded homes. Petition starter Anil knows it didn’t have to be this way. Texas should have been able to source energy from out of state. But their energy grid is disconnected from the other two energy grids in the country. Anil is calling for Texas leaders to right this wrong. Add your name now to call for Texas to join the East and West power grids. 


Petition Texas to Join East and West Energy Interconnects with the Tres Amigas Project

1,995 have signed Anil Raj’s petition. Let’s get to 2,500!


Sign now with a click

Texas has faced a unique disaster of its own making in the historic winter storm that hit the state in Feburary 2021. As of Feb 16th, some 4 million Texans are facing extended power outages in freezing weather will little to no warning to prepare beforehand. With several accident-related deaths already caused by these power outages, and countless stories of frozen pipes and other property damage, Texas’ mismanagement of the power grid has caused untold harm to its citizens.

One unique aspect of Texas’ energy system stands out as a determining factor in this disaster--the isolation of the state’s energy grid from the only other two energy grids in the country, the Eastern Interconnection and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council. As an independent energy grid, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) must balance its own energy production and consumption within the state. Since Texas can not borrow energy from other states, and with a drastic curtail of energy supply due to the storm, Texas citizens must bear the brunt of the consequences of this failed governance with prolonged energy blackouts.

Fortunately, the Tres Amigas project in New Mexico, started in 2010, would create such an interconnection between the country’s three power grids. Since ERCOT has proven themselves incapable of living up to their name and sustaining the reliability of the Texas power grid, we demand Governor Greg Abbott and Public Utility Commission Chariman DeAnn T. Walker to cease stonewalling their participation in the Tres Amigas project, and to join the East and West interconnections for ensured power reliability throughout the state.

Additional Reading:

Grandmother, 3 children die in Sugar Land house fire, officials say by Vincent Crivelli. Feb. 16, 2021.

HPD: Woman, little girl die from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by car running in garage to keep warm by Dough Delony. Feb. 16, 2021.

Texplainer: Why Does Texas Have Its Own Power Grid? by Kate Galbraith. Feb. 8, 2011

Hola, Amigas by Kate Galbraith. Aug 26, 2010.

Tres Amigas

Sign now with a click

Visit petition page

***

From Public Citizen:

At a town hall last week, President Biden was asked about taking executive action to cancel up to $50,000 of federal student loan debt for millions of Americans.

Biden replied, “I will not make that happen.”

That was disappointing.

But it doesn’t have to be — and we can’t let it be — the end of the story.

Join Public Citizen in urging Joe Biden not to give up already on using his authority as president to provide millions of Americans relief from crushing and discriminatory student loans.

Add your name.

Thanks for taking action.

For fairness,

- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen



Tuesday, September 8, 2020

The Cult of Personality



So, fascism is a cult of the leader who promises national restoration in the face of supposed threats by leftist radicals, minorities and immigrants. He promises only he can save us. In the RNC, what we saw is we saw a cult of the leader. The Republicans didn’t even bother to provide a platform. They just said, “Whatever Trump wants.”  --Jason Stanley, author of How Fascism Works


The Cult of Personality
by C.A. Matthews

 I once had the most extraordinary conversation. The individual I conversed with was fascinating and quite sincere in his beliefs. Ex-military, he was highly trained and obviously no slouch in the intellect department, evidenced by his more than adequate use of the English language.

He was also completely and certifiably insane.


His official diagnosis was schizophrenia. As an intern on a V.A. rehab and psych ward, my mentors encouraged me to experience a first-hand encounter with a madman, a very erudite and polite one, of course. In the course of our conversation I learned all about the invisible vampires that were taking over our minds and running things behind the scenes for the last few centuries. He told me he'd come recently from a V. A. hospital in St. Louis, and the vampire influence was particularly bad there. After smiling and nodding a lot, I thanked him for his time, wished him well for the remainder of his stay on our ward and went about the rest of my day.


Several years later, I moved to St. Louis and learned about how the older parts of the city were built upon caves on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi. The caves are filled with bats, no doubt, and bats are often associated with vampires. Maybe this gentleman was right about the vampires all along? He seemed to know what he was talking about, and he was very entertaining.


(Side note: Conversing with wide variety of people can inspire you.  I've written several vampire novels under a different pen name. You can find them online here.)

So, what does the ramblings of a mentally ill person have to do with Trump and the insanity he inspires? If you're a supporter of Trump and believe he's our "Savior" and the leader of the "only Christian nation in the world," then you'll feel insulted by any comparison of him to an obviously mentally ill individual no matter how entertaining he may be. If you're not a fan of the current White House occupant, you'll probably laugh and then point out how much a paranoid schizophrenic who speaks in complete sentences and a schizophrenic who speaks in "word salads" like Trump does both have in common.


Thing is, both of these supporters have fallen into what many see as the "cult of personality." They'll act as paranoid, jumpy and/or defensive of their ideas as the veteran who believed in invisible vampires acted. These diametrically opposed groups worship Trump, each in their own special way. One sees Trump as a "redemptive god" and the other sees him as a "demon god," but they're both obsessed with the orange man. These groups' members seem to spend every waking moment--or at least the moments they spend on social media--either cursing or defending Trump. 


Those that appear willing to compromise their own morals to keep him office (i.e., the MAGA hat wearers) work hard denying Trump's obvious infidelities in marriage, his crass misogynism and his outright racism. Conversely, those that say they'll vote for the Democratic Party's Not-Trump, but still want to enact programs such as Medicare For All and a Green New Deal, seem okay with throwing those noble goals under the bus if it'll throw Trump under the axles as well. 

Compromising what you truly believe in to either support or defeat one particular candidate isn't a wise action, in my opinion. Trump's insanity has rubbed off on some folks. "I'd crawl over broken glass and wear a hazmat suit to vote for Biden," a voter declared on a social media site. "I'll do anything to get rid of Trump!" 

Anything? Lie? Cheat? Steal? Kill? If that statement doesn't demonstrate an unhealthy obsession with and an over-the-top fear of the orange toddler-man, I don't know what else does.

To put an end to this destructive cult of personality surrounding Trump, we must nullify the obsession so many have with him, both pro and con. Trump needs to be made less of  and not more of the solution/problem. Frankly, he needs to be marginalized as a person of power and ridiculed. His name needs to be shouted, printed or breathed out less often in hymns of praise or shouts of despair and rage. The constant barrage of "Save us from Trump!" or "Trump will save us!" memes, articles, videos and protests only add to his sense of power and fuels obsession among his cult members. It must stop.


Obsession is dangerous. It gives energy to conspiracy theories and delusions that somehow anything to do with socialism is evil and capitalism is good and can fix everything, including racist killer cops and global climate catastrophe. This sickness fuels our society's growing instability because it's more than apparent that capitalism is the root of much evil and can't (or won't) fix jack. Capitalists like Trump don't deserve all the free advertisement, either.

Americans must stop drinking the Kool-Aid of Trump obsession and shut down the cult before it kills more than just its members. The US possesses the majority of the nuclear warheads in the world, so the whole planet's safety is at stake. Pouring the gasoline of endless bickering over the burning match that is Trump could set off an explosion the likes of which hasn't been seen before (and will never be seen again).

Don't forget that Americans only make up four percent of the world's total population. The other ninety-six percent of humanity deserves a chance to survive. By sidelining a personality cultists worship and focusing our energies instead on the tasks that need to be accomplished, such as tackling the climate catastrophe, insuring universal health care, providing decent food, shelter and education/training for all to improve their lives and the lives of their children, and dismantling the Forever War Machine, we will create a mentally healthier, happier and, above all, safer world.

Or to put it the way school kids everywhere can understand: "Stop giving in to the bully! Ignore him and get back to work on the things that matter." We are the leaders we've been looking for--it's time to step up to the plate and take ourselves seriously.


Related Articles:

How Fascism Works: Trump's "Law and Order" Is Lawlessness, Fueling Racist Violence and Chaos
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/64954-how-fascism-works-trumps-qlaw-and-orderq-is-lawlessness-fueling-racist-violence-and-chaos

Trump: Americans Who Died In War Are Losers And Suckers
 https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/64950-focus-trump-americans-who-died-in-war-are-losers-and-suckers

The Politics of Racial Division--Trump Borrows Nixon's Southern Strategy
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/64966-the-politics-of-racial-division-trump-borrows-nixons-southern-strategy

 And now, a song to take you mind off of obsessing over the orange toddler-man in the White House...

https://youtu.be/zuh1xuH-3es

***
From Friends of the Earth:
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans to offer thousands of acres of land in Colorado for oil and gas drilling. This could pollute the rivers and contribute to air pollution. It would cause irreparable harm to wetlands and riparian areas -- greatly impacting wildlife. Will you help stop it?

What’s more, the BLM’s plan puts our nation’s bird at risk. Bald eagle territories in Colorado are already being harmed by Big Oil. Further land leases will only drive them closer to extinction.

We can’t let the BLM get away with handing over more of Colorado’s public lands to Big Oil.

Tell the Bureau of Land Management: Stop exploiting our land for Big Oil profit!

Sign Now

The Bald Eagle is often seen near large reservoirs and rivers in Colorado, but its numbers are dwindling. There are now 10 times fewer nesting bald eagles in Colorado than coastal states.

If the BLM moves forward with its proposed lease sale, eagles’ habitat will be filled with oil rigs and drillers. Not only will this harm the beauty of Colorado’s natural land, it will likely force bald eagles from their nests. These eagles require habitats that allow them to rest without being bothered.

But fracking on these lands will not only harm bald eagles. The water extracted by fracking has the potential to be radioactive. This will also harm elk, mule deer, pronghorn, waterfowl, and ferruginous hawks. All their habitats will be destroyed.

Demand the Bureau of Land Management protect our wildlife.

Sign Now

In addition to causing harm to wildlife, this public land sell-off could cause harm to local Indigenous communities who are disproportionately at risk from these new fossil fuel projects.

The BLM is holding virtual public meetings during the pandemic to push land leases forward. But less than 12% of Indigenous people in Colorado have access to broadband internet. The BLM is effectively silencing their voices through a corrupt process.

The BLM must delay the leasing process until after the pandemic in order to give all Coloradoans the ability to weigh in. The agency owes it to the people of Colorado, but it won’t listen without hearing from people like you.

Demand the Bureau of Land Management stop the Colorado lease sale until all voices can be heard.

Sign Now

Standing with you,
Nicole Ghio,
Senior fossil fuels program manager,
Friends of the Earth


***
Declare the KKK a terrorist organization
no racists started this petition to Department of Homeland Security and it now has 234,240 signatures
Sign now with a click
For generations, the Ku Klux Klan has been persecuting black people. Through-out American history, they have murdered innocents, lynched thousands, and terrorized many more. And surprisingly, this group still exists. They promote a spirit of aggression and hatred towards African Americans and people of color. They encourage violent and hateful behavior, which is especially dangerous to young, impressionable minds.

The KKK is a terrorist organization protected by the first amendment. It is a travesty to allow such an organization to function under the law in a generation that abhors racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. What kind of message is the government spreading by allowing the KKK to function? That it’s okay to be racist? Because it isn’t. Think about the pain African Americans endure every single day for the color of their skin. Think about how hard it must be for them to know that they can be murdered by a cop no matter their innocence, but a group that is inherently violent and racist is allowed to exist.

It is dishonoring our black citizens by allowing a group that has tortured them from the very start to still exist. Abolish this hateful group that is carrying on a history of abuse, racism, and murder. Abolish the KKK.
Sign now with a click