Who or What Can You Believe?

Who or What Can You Believe?

Some say capitalism is the only system of economics that works for everyone and that programs like UBI aren't necessary to maintain it, and yet...

Many workers have been told that "China is stealing your jobs!" And then there's this:
 

 

Democrats accused Trump's administration of being full of corporate grifters.  https://www.citizen.org/article/corporatecabinet/

Yet Biden's administration discloses that it's full of former corporate lobbyists as well. https://www.dailyposter.com/p/biden-aides-disclose-their-corporate

The CDC says six feet apart is the minimum safe distance to keep in order to prevent transmitting the coronavirus. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html 

Yet school districts across the nation now say it's safe for students' desks to be three feet apart--so their parents can return to work. https://nbc24.com/newsletter-daily/cdc-changes-school-guidance-allowing-desks-to-be-closer-03-19-2021-150920969

V.P. Kamala Harris says she is all for police reform, and yet her history as an Attorney General says otherwise: https://www.dailyposter.com/p/kamala-harris-police-accountability

And while V.P. Kamala Harris readily admits to smoking pot, Biden's White House fires their staffers for marijuana use. https://www.thedailybeast.com/biden-white-house-sandbags-staffers-sidelines-dozens-for-pot-use  

HR-1 or the "For the People Act" promises some needed voting reforms, yet  at the same time it will allow billionaires to flood unrestricted Dark Money into the campaign coffers of the Democrats and Republicans, further weakening what remains of our democracy.  https://continuousrev.blogspot.com/2021/03/poison-pill-politics.html

In February, the Biden administration submitted a bill to Congress, the US Citizenship Act of 2021, stating it would "reinstate the United States' commitment to human rights," and yet it reopened the very same Trump-era children "overflow facilities" to lock up immigrant children within a month. https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/68402-immigration-reopening-mass-influx-facilities-goes-against-biden-administration-promises 

https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/68353-unaccompanied-immigrant-minors-are-not-a-qborder-crisisq-but-a-humanitarian-crisis

❌ $2000 relief checks
❌ $15/hr minimum wage
❌ elimination of student debt
❌ halting of deportations from day 1
❌ decriminalization of marijuana
✅ 127,457 deportations
✅ 30% increase in jailed migrant children

— tr☆pp (@Iawnhater) March 19, 2021

 

Also:

All student loan debt hasn't been cancelled as promised by Biden during the presidential campaign.

We didn't realize the $2000 stimulus check as promised in January by Biden and Harris while campaigning in the Georgia special election. 

Medicare For All has yet to be enacted in spite of promises made along the campaign trail.

Enacting a $15 an hour minimum wage seems to be a thing of the past for Dems--no matter if they claimed to support it in 2020.

Police officers and others are still getting away with murder of minorities.

And there are still kids in cages.

Who or what can you believe?

We could go on and on, but I think you get the picture.  You can only believe in yourself. Any conflicting information you read and hear in the mainstream media only provides further proof that they're in on the con.

The mainstream media will take the contradictions inadvertently revealed by those in power and manufacture them into a cover story full of misdirection and half-truths--Russia!--rather than actual facts. These spin doctors are so good at what they do that they will make you question your own memory and your own sanity if you let them.

The solution? Cut back or stop altogether watching and reading mainstream media outlets. Stop allowing their talking heads to fill yours with their nonsense. It's only going to give you a headache. 

What can you do to find out what's really happening in the world? Find as many independent media outlets as you can broadcasting a news story and learn to trust your instincts when comparing sources. Who makes money if you follow this particular media outlet's lead? And if something coming out of the mouth of a politician or an extremely well-paid pundit sounds unbelievable or is later proven false, don't hesitate to refute them or boycott them.

There's no reason for anyone to put up with liars, no matter how apparently high ranking or famous they are. Always insist on integrity. If more of us did this more often, what a wonderful world this would be.

Lee demonstrates how disingenuous our mainstream media can be in the following video:

 

https://youtu.be/rcPyb_9Rl68

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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!

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We’ll be direct: There’s a youth nicotine addiction crisis raging across America, and Big Tobacco’s flavored products are fueling it like gasoline on a fire.

Whether it’s longtime products like menthol cigarettes or stealthy new e-cigarettes like Juul, the tobacco industry has relied on flavors to hook generation after generation on their dangerous products. It’s a strategy dating back decades – one that continues even during a pandemic, when protecting lung health couldn’t be more critical.

The result? More than 15,000 flavors on store shelves, addicting more kids and putting their health and brain development in jeopardy.

We must end flavored tobacco sales to stop this crisis of youth addiction – but we can’t do it without you. Will you add your name and join this urgent effort?

Here are the facts:

• More than 81% of kids who have ever used tobacco started with a flavored product
• Flavored tobacco makes it easier for young users to start
• 3.6 million kids nationwide are using nicotine-loaded e-cigs, unraveling years of progress in lowering youth tobacco use

It’s not all bad news, C.A. – we’ve made real progress against this threat. Five states and hundreds of cities nationwide have cracked down on flavored tobacco products. And last year, for the first time ever, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to end the sale of flavored tobacco.

2021 could be the year we finish the job and finally stop Big Tobacco from luring and addicting our kids with flavored products. But it won’t happen without a grassroots army demanding action. That’s where you come in.

JOIN US: There’s no time to waste. Sign up and join our fight to end youth nicotine addiction. >>

SIGN UP

Thanks,

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids 

*** 

 From Public Citizen:

“Get used to me.”

That’s what Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told Congress last month during a hearing into unprecedented service cuts and mail delays under his leadership of the United States Postal Service.

DeJoy is a Republican mega-donor who has given over $2 million to the Trump campaign and other Republican causes since 2016.

Last year, Public Citizen helped file a lawsuit in federal court — in which we prevailed — to stop DeJoy from disrupting mail delivery leading up to the November election.

Now, DeJoy is about to propose additional changes that could delay the mail even more.

Too many Americans count on the Post Office to leave it in the hands of a Trump sycophant who seems bent on running the agency into the ground.

Tell the USPS Board of Governors:

Fire Louis DeJoy.

Add your name.

Thanks for taking action.

For progress,

- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen
 

 

The Fraud Squad

The Dude knows the score in DC!

The Fraud Squad: 

Window Dressing for the DNC Store

by Coast Watcher

 

The Squad! It began with those wonderful, talented women who set out to challenge the Democratic Party’s centrist-right stance! How they were praised for their progressive values, their drive, their youthful vigor! How we hoped they would pick up the torch of socialism from Bernie Sanders and carry it forward into a bright Democratic Party future!

Well, guess what? It seems our idols have feet of clay.

There’s no denying the so-called Democratic Party detested them from the get-go for the very reasons I outlined above. The Squad became a burr under the saddle of business-as-usual and attracted brickbats and catcalls from those of a Democrat persuasion as much as they did from the GOP and Trumpanzees. Then the dirty Dems figured out how to tame the Squad and bend them to its will.

To take one member in particular, Alexandria Occasio-Cortez, she has progressed from a barkeep to Congresswoman and blazed a path into the headlines. Now she pulls in tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees per speech. AOC now can earn more in one night giving a speech than she possibly made in all those years of tending bar combined.

Has she forgotten what it’s like to scrimp and save, to worry about health care coverage or if she has enough money to cover rent and/or food this month? Possibly she has forgotten what it's like to be a struggling worker. Her new Congressional plan health care coverage is premium quality and for life, regardless if she continues in government or not. If she does depart her political career, there’s many a Big Business concern that would offer her a lucrative position on its board, complete with perks.

How does that old adage go? Oh yes, Power corrupts. I'm sure all that lobbyist money helps you sleep at night if your conscience bothers you, too.

So all the so-called Democratic Party had to do was wait until the delicious benefits of being a professional national level politician kicked in. Then the Squad would no longer have any desire to overthrow a system which works so well for them. Instead, their new job is to act as window dressing, something shiny to make it appear the Democratic administration-to-be of Joe Biden really is progressive in its values, when everyone admits that in stark reality "nothing will fundamentally change."

What the DNC store has to offer isn’t worth the time of anyone to the left of center. It’ll be the same old attack on civil liberties from Biden, a man who made a career out of formulating oppressive laws. It’ll be a program of austerity and tightened belts from a man who has wanted to cut Social Security for decades. Biden flat-out stated he’d never tolerate Medicare for All, and he would veto any such bill that reached his desk.

The #ForceTheVote movement, birthed by the new People's Party and other aligned groups, has pulled back the curtain and revealed who the real Wizard of DC truly is. Surprise--it's the health insurance industry! The Squad of brightly painted mannequins in the shop window has failed to fool anyone for long.

When AOC came under pressure from the public for not agitating and pressing for Medicare for All in the middle of this dreadful pandemic, she complained and whined like a child that people were acting "violent" toward her on Twitter for calling her out. 

 

So sorry, Alexandria! You chose to become a politician. That means you have to take the blows as well as the bouquets. And if you think you’re under pressure to provide health care and a decent stimulus package for your constituents now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

In the recent vote for Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi gained re-election by the narrowest margin in modern history. Had even two of the Squad not voted for her then Pelosi, with all her neoliberal-centrist authoritarian attitude and praise for overthrowing democratically elected leaders of South American countries, would have been left high and dry. It seems the Squad’s main argument for following the Dem party line is that had they not voted for Pelosi then a Republican would have become Speaker of the House.

Like, there’s a difference? Since both parties receive funding and policy guidance from Big Business they are effectively one and the same. The so-called Democrats simply wear blue ties, the Republicans red.

Even a casual glance through social media shows a huge amount of anger at the way the Squad betrayed the working poor and the struggling across the country. The hashtag #FraudSquad has quickly trended. Has the window dressing failed to distract us? Are people sick of politics as usual? The rapid response of the American public via social media indicates this.

The United States seems to be at a crossroads. The neoliberals' happy fallacy that, "Things will be so much better once Trump is gone," is being shown for what it is. The divide between the rich and poor has never been so large and so clear to all.

Those bourgeoisie (who think nothing of spending their $600 stimulus check on a hair appointment before they go to brunch) keep telling us "Now isn’t the time to (insert urgent public need here)."  We're supposed to forget how the so-called Democratic Party screwed the Left—again—and move on, but they've underestimated the working classes. Soon they'll find a cold wind blowing through their lives, and the window dressing of the Squad won’t be able to save them.

BIO: Coast Watcher possesses Superman's super vision--he can see through the distractions of the neoliberal establishment and figure their game out. They enjoy the lobbyists' money they receive for simply being in office. They're not worried about dying in the Covid-19 pandemic since they know they'll get to go to the front of line at the hospital and the vaccination queue. We the struggling workers will have to become our own heroes and force a vote to gain what we and our families deserve, Medicare For All. The Squad and anyone else who tries to hold us up should get the hell out of our way.

Related Articles:

Dems Move On After Stimulus Check Standoff Ends 

https://www.salon.com/2020/12/31/stimulus-standoff-ends-in-democratic-surrender-after-mcconnell-blocks-2000-checks-dems-move-on_partner/ 

In 2021, the Best Way to Fight Neofascist Republicans is to Fight Neoliberal Democrats

https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/67103-rsn-in-2021-the-best-way-to-fight-neofascist-republicans-is-to-fight-neoliberal-democrats

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All right! An actual Socialist is running for governor of Virginia--Lee Carter. Virginians may be the first to enjoy universal health care in the US if he gets into office. Good luck, Lee!

https://youtu.be/kyawBhkeQ68

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From Roots Action:

Too many of Biden’s cabinet nominees have deep industry ties and alarming track records. The predictable results would be nothing more than the status quo that landed us with President Trump in the first place.

RootsAction.org is organizing now to oppose the most problematic of Biden’s appointments. We have a real chance to prevent them from being confirmed by the Senate in early January -- but we need your help.

Fill out this short Action Survey to join our team of volunteers and help challenge Biden’s nominees.



Who is President-elect Biden nominating?

TOM VILSACK, also known as “Mr. Monsanto,” has (again) been nominated to head the USDA. During his first tenure as Agriculture Secretary, Vilsack racked up a grim record of protecting the interests of “Big Ag” over the needs of independent farmers, workers, consumers, and the environment. To top it all off, he’s currently serving as president and CEO for a major U.S. dairy lobby.

NEERA TANDEN is widely known as one of the most anti-progressive voices of the neoliberal establishment. She has been tapped to head the Office of Management and Budget, the department tasked with formulating the Biden administration’s spending plans -- an especially critical endeavor amid the current economic crisis. It is concerning that Tanden has, in the past, expressed support for cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and has been a staunch opponent of Medicare for All and a $15 federal minimum wage.

We need your help to stop these confirmations in the Senate and ensure Biden’s appointees put the people’s interests over corporate interests. Sign up here to volunteer for the #NoHoneymoon campaign.

ANTONY BLINKEN has been nominated to serve as Secretary of State. He supported the war in Iraq, supported interventions in Libya and Syria, and co-founded WestExec Advisors -- a firm that provides “strategic consulting” for undisclosed clients in the tech and defense sectors, greasing the revolving door between industry and the federal government (i.e. the military-industrial complex).

AVRIL HAINES has been nominated to serve as Director of National Intelligence. She was the former deputy national security adviser and former deputy CIA director under Obama. Haines helped author the Presidential Policy Guidance that established the legal framework and normalization of the Obama administration’s use of drone strikes, and failed to discipline CIA officers who hacked Senate Intelligence Committee networks while the committee was compiling a report on CIA torture.

Given the records of these nominees, we can’t expect them to meet this political moment and do what needs doing for the American people. The push for better leadership in the Biden administration is a vital part of our #NoHoneymoon campaign. We invite you to join us in this effort.

In solidarity,

Norman Solomon and Jeff Cohen
Co-founders, RootsAction.org

P.S. Here are a few more actions you can take in under five minutes to amplify our campaign!

1. Join our Facebook Volunteer Network for volunteer opportunities and campaign updates.
2. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for regular updates on Activism and Pressure Campaigns.
3. Take Action at NoHoneymoon.org

Background
>>Vilsack
George Goehl, The Guardian: "Biden's pick for agriculture secretary raises serious red flags"
Claire Kelloway, The Intercept: "Tom Vilsack for USDA Secretary Is What’s Wrong With the Democratic Party"
>>Tanden
Walker Bragman, Daily Poster: "Biden Picks Budget Director Who Pushed Social Security Cuts"
>>Blinken
Stephen Zunes, Truthout: "Biden’s Pick for Secretary of State Has a Record of Militarism"
Bryan Bender and Theodoric Meyer, Politico: "The secretive consulting firm that’s become Biden’s Cabinet in waiting"
>>Haines
Sarah Lazare, In These Times: "Biden's Foreign Policy Picks Are From the Hawkish National Security Blob. That Is a Bad Sign."
Jerry Dunleavy, Washington Examiner: "Avril Haines, deputy of John Brennan and Susan Rice, named Biden’s future spy chief"

www.RootsAction.org

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It's high time we turned around and started walking!  The Revolution Continues will be with you every step.

Five and a half years on, and we're still fighting the duopoly, and we're not ashamed to say that we need fellow revolutionaries like you to help us stay online and provide progressive insights. If you can spare some of your pocket change, please use the Paypal link below to donate to help fund our operations.

http://paypal.me/camatthews

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