Changing the Narrative

Changing the Narrative

We're changing the narrative this week and giving you, our dear readers, a glimpse into alternate narratives that are more vital than the false ones pushed by the mainstream media, a.k.a. the oligarchy's propaganda machine. 

Our first guest blogger gives us a look into how many Americans struggle to survive in our current economic system, a struggle our elected officials seem to be completely oblivious to, putting us all at risk. Linda wonders if we can wake  up politicians to our reality. It seems a daunting task, but it's one we can't afford not to tackle.

In our second piece, we'll gain insights from our friend north of the border, Vegematic, whose country is now on the wrong side of a Trump tariff policy. Who will suffer the worse from imposing trade tariffs on Canada? Surprise! It's probably the US, especially Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York, all states that do a lot of business across the border. But those states can afford to lose a few more jobs, right? (I'm joking, of course. No state needs more economic woes.)

New on the blog this week, a page for Ohio Green Party gubernatorial candidate Constance Gadell-Newton. With a Republican and a "Republican-lite" running to maintain the status quo in the statehouse, Constance is the only progressive running for the governor's office, and many Ohioans are interested in knowing more about her and her platform. A link to an excellent video interview Constance did on the Tim Black Show is provided as well. 

Lucas County Greens promoting Constance in the King Wamba Parade

The mainstream media will, of course, not share Constance's progressive narrative with voters (and the smear tactics have already begun, believe it or not), so please feel free to share this page and the information contained on it with others, particularly Ohio voters. They deserve to know they actually have a choice in November and can vote for the greater good, not the lesser evil.

No one said changing the corporate narrative would be easy, but we can do it if we work together. Power to the people--not the corporations! 

--C.A.M.

A Way of Bringing Elected Officials to Our Reality

by Linda Hansen

I'm disabled, and living on Social Security Disability. At the beginning of the year, my disability check went up a whopping $20 per month while elected officials in Washington DC voted to give themselves a raise of $20,000.00, which is an extra $1,666.00 per month. To think what everyone receiving Social Security could do with an extra $1,666.00 a month!

I'm one of the fortunate ones. Prior to Medicare coming out of my check every month, I bring in $1,012.00 a month. I know people on Social Security that receive $730 a month, and I wonder how in the world they make it. I have a hard enough time paying rent, paying utilities, keeping my vehicle in good condition so  I can drive to the store or laundromat, buying insurance, and getting my medications every month on what I bring in.

I was homeless, living out of my vehicle with my ESA (emotional support animal) until I found the room where I currently live that I can barely afford, but I was able to keep my emotional support dog with me. While homeless, I applied for and was approved to receive food stamps--a whopping $15.00 per month.

Sadly, even though I'm no longer homeless, I don't qualify for more SNAP benefits because utilities are included in my monthly rent.

It's a crying shame that senior citizens and disabled Americans are barely able to survive on the small “entitlement” (as defined by elected officials in Washington DC) check we receive every month while the officials give themselves such a huge raise, all on the taxpayers' dime. If our elected representatives were more concerned with actually representing us, We the People, instead of catering to lobbyists and whomever gives them huge, expensive gifts, maybe we'd get something accomplished in Congress?

I am proposing that every member of Congress, in both chambers, take a complete leave of absence and live as the bottom 99% do for a full year. They would have to put their children into public schools, leave their fancy homes, see regular physicians at regular hospitals and clinics, drink the same water and breath the same air that the rest of us do. They would have to go to homeless shelters to live, give up credit cards and not use any money in savings for the entire year.

Not only would they have to live like an average American citizen, they would have to go apply for the benefits that we use to survive on and see if they could do it with how things cost. I'm proposing a full year because, quite simply, thirty days isn't anywhere near long enough for them to get a full idea as to what we go through.

They need to fully appreciate the experience of being homeless and trying to “pull yourself up by your boot straps,”,“work harder,” and “stop buying $600 cell phones.” Heaven help them if they get seriously ill and need to see a doctor! Nope, anything tied to their life in Washington DC would be off limits. All assets frozen for one year. And, yes, I would also include the current occupant of the White House and his immediate family. No one is exempt.

What are your thoughts? Do you think this proposal would actually cause Congresspeople to get off their rumps and do something about free childcare, free college tuition, free healthcare, raising minimum wage, and possibly putting a freeze on necessary items like rent, utilities, etc. so that those of us who have been drowning can actually get caught up and start breathing again?

BIO: Linda Hansen is a freelance writer for hire. She specializes in blogs, re-writes, social media and proofreading.  She can be found playing with her Labraheeler, Rocky, when she’s not busy writing. Linda can be found online at https://twitter.com/witornado and https://lmhansen2018.wordpress.com

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Contemplating the Unthinkable
by Vegematic Deluxe

Back in the spring of 2016 in the midst of the excitement and optimism of the Bernie campaign, I witnessed something that deeply troubled me. The endless free publicity a long shot fringe candidate in the Republican primary was receiving. Compared to a virtual blackout of Bernie Sanders, whose poll numbers were astonishing, it left no doubt that any pretense of a free press in America was over. Trump was beyond horrifying. The failed casino owner and loud-mouthed game show host spewed racist and hateful invective. Surely, I thought, the American people couldn't be stupid enough to fall for this known con artist.

The course of the next few months were a roller coaster ride for those of us who were enthralled with the bright and hopeful vision that Sanders offered. Having viewed Brunch with Bernie on Thom Hartmann's show for a couple of years, I knew who he was and already considered him the most decent and honest senator in Washington. There is no need to rehash here the corporate machinations that cheated Bernie out of the nomination. It was heartbreaking then and even more heartbreaking in hindsight.

Trump's "election" brought forth the ugly demons of America's past with a vengeance that was both shocking and repulsive. The oceans of national treasure already wasted on a bloated military were increased, as were the nuclear weapons hanging over humanity like Damacles' sword for decades. The wealthiest were showered with even more tax cuts, the EPA was staffed with oligarchical climate deniers and corporate yes men. America's descent into totalitarianism had begun.

When I used to read books about the Third Reich in high school, the question would invariably come up, "Why did no one stop Hitler?" As Trump continues to ignore the rule of law and create chaos, I do not think it is hyperbole to ask that same question. Will anyone stop him when 5000 children disappear instead of 1500? When Betsy Devos has completely decimated education? When deregulation of the banks causes a massive collapse? After he starts the next war? When?

The astonishing lawbreaking and corruption continues unabated and unchallenged while the courts are being stacked like pancakes with Trump sycophants. The checks and balances required for a modern democracy to function are failing badly. The ever-present racial and class divisions in America have been exacerbated to levels not seen in a century. On the verge of climate catastrophe, carbon extraction is being accelerated at an unprecedented pace. At a time when we need more cooperation in order to confront humankind's desperate condition, we are being served a large dose of enmity for "the other."

Those of you who know me from You Tube or my previous column here know that I am Canadian. Yesterday, while reading comments under a video about the tariffs being placed on Canadian steel, I discovered something truly horrifying. Dozens of comments from Trump supporters threatening and insulting Canada. Sadly, many proud Canadians took the bait and engaged them. Soon it escalated into an insult filled screaming match ending with a Trump supporter saying America should nuke us.

Suddenly I had a gut wrenching frightening thought: Where have I seen this before? What historical parallels could I draw? The answer was almost too frightening to contemplate, yet there it was. The US and Canada share the longest undefended border in the world. Our ties run deep. Friendship, family ties, and brothers-in-arms since WWI, we have forged a common bond between us. America has a trade surplus with Canada. Why on earth would Trump want to stir division and hatred with a staunch ally?

Then it hit me. Since well before the election of 2016, one would have to be blind not to notice similarities between Trump and Hitler. His ex-wife told the press that he slept with a copy of Mein Kampf on his nightstand. Could Canada become Trump's Poland? Could Trump actually desire to invade Canada? 

At first I dismissed the thought as imaginative paranoia, but being the son of a Polish immigrant father who survived the Nazi invasion, the thought kept nagging at me. Canada has abundant natural resources. Water, minerals, oil, lumber. America has the largest military the world has ever known. It is ruled by an increasingly unstable leader desperate to cling to power. Am I right to be concerned? That really depends on you, my dear American friends. If he wanted to do this, would you be able to stop him? Would anybody?

BIO: Vegematic is an artist and You Tuber extraordinaire with a growing audience of independent thinkers. You can enjoy his excellent commentary on the Vegematic Deluxe  channel.  Like his videos and subscribe to his channel today.

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Another narrative that needs airing in this LGBTQ Pride Month: International Sex Workers' Day rally in in DC for equality and labor rights.

 http://www.dcmediagroup.us/2018/06/03/sex-workers-rally-labor-rights-international-whores-day/

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The Revolution Continues has set up an easy way to donate to the cause of keeping it ad-free. Three years without obnoxious ads (that many news sites have to cover costs) has been great, but the editor does have to pay for internet, electricity, etc. Any amount you can donate to keep this progressive site going without those awful ads is appreciated. Thank you.

You can donate via Paypal at http://paypal.me/camatthews 

Power to the people and not the corporations!

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From Climate Hawks Vote:

Did you see the shocking new report on Hurricane Maria’s impact on Puerto Rico? Despite the official death toll from Maria being just 64, the actual death toll was likely more than 4,600!

Please email your member of Congress to let them know you haven’t forgotten and urge them to do more to speed recovery.

A study by academics at Harvard rigorously reviewed death rates in the months following Maria. Their conclusion: the actual death toll as a result of Maria was more than 70 times the official death toll, mostly due to disruption of health care and lack of electricity.

Meanwhile, more than half a year later — as a new hurricane season is set to begin June 1 — some parts of the island remain without power. And powerful corporate interests are trying to use the recovery to privatize essential government services.

Let there be no mistake: this disaster was not solely an act of nature. Human-made climate change fueled the hurricane’s intensity. Then, apathy and indifference by the Trump Administration and too many members of Congress led to a delayed and inadequate emergency response.

As a climate hawk, you recognize that aggressive efforts to reduce global warming pollution must be paired with swift and just responses to climate fueled disasters.

The United States has failed that test so far with Puerto Rico.

Now what?

There is no silver bullet — or single action to take at this point. We need to:

• Continue to push for more aid — and forgiveness of debt — to address the continued challenges posed to Puerto Ricans.
   
• Advocate for rebuilding the Puerto Rico power grid in a manner that keeps it in public hands and emphasizes distributed, renewable energy.
   
• Investigate the Trump Administration’s incompetence and malfeasance in the recovery process, to help ensure that the victims of the next natural disaster get better treatment.
   

As one step you can take today, please email your member of Congress and ask them to do more and do better when it comes to addressing the challenges facing Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Maria.

Email Congress

Our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico—and those fighting for them in the halls of Congress—need our continued support, our determination, our anger, and our love. They need us to not forget them.

Your fellow climate hawk,

RL Miller

References

Puerto Rico Maria Death Toll, CNN
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/29/us/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-death-toll/index.html

“Study Puts Puerto Rico Death Toll at 5,000 from Hurricane Maria in 2017,” NPR
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/05/29/615120123/study-puts-puerto-rico-death-toll-at-5-000-from-hurricane-maria-in-2017

“Trump is Responsible for Puerto Rico,” Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2018/05/30/trump-is-responsible-for-puerto-rico/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6cfb1d186ba3

From Replace NAFTA:

  Together, we’ve changed the national narrative so much that NAFTA’s job outsourcing incentives and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) regime could very well be removed from NAFTA.
And the corporate lobby is freaking out.

We usually ask you to contact your member of Congress, but right now we have a quick ask for your state legislators that could make a big difference at this critical point in the NAFTA renegotiations.

Ask your state legislators to sign a simple letter supporting the elimination of ISDS in NAFTA.
The infamous, corporate-funded American Legislative Education Council (ALEC) — yes, that pay-to-play group that pushes state policies to benefit corporations and their lobbyists— organized a pro-ISDS letter from state legislators.

They managed to scrape together just 12 state legislators to sign.

In response to ALEC’s pathetic effort, in just a matter of days, already more than 45 state legislators from 18 states have signed our letter opposing ISDS — the provision in NAFTA that empowers corporations to sue our governments before panels of three corporate lawyers.

Our letter reiterates that the National Conference of State Legislatures — the national body that represents state legislatures — has long opposed including ISDS in trade agreements on a bipartisan basis.

Let’s bury ALEC’s latest pro-corporate push.
Urge your state legislators to join this letter today.

Talk soon,

Ryan Harvey
National Field Director
Replace NAFTA

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Straws Can Be Devastating For Wildlife. Let's Create a Citizen Tsunami to Limit Starbucks Straw Pollution!

Sign Now

Care2 is celebrating World Oceans Week by taking action for our blue planet every day from June 3 - 9. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is growing exponentially and is now twice as large as Texas. At least two sperm whales have been found dead with dozens of pounds of plastic trash in their stomachs. The turtle from the heart-breaking image above had a cocktail straw stuck up its nose. For World Oceans Week, we need to build a massive movement to save our blue planet from plastic. Stephanie is a Care2 community member and works at a Starbucks in New Jersey. She loves her job, but hates the huge number of straws used by the store. She knows straws are largely unrecyclable and can be devastating to wildlife. Support Stephanie's efforts and sign her petition to urge Starbucks to significantly limit its use of plastic straws. The movement to save our seas from plastic trash is growing. Over a hundred cities have already banned styrofoam take-out containers, and California has banned single-use grocery bags. But we need more leadership from the world's largest corporations. Sign Stephanie's petition to ask Starbucks to step up for our oceans. Thank you for taking action for our blue planet, Aaron V. The Care2 Petitions Team

P.S. Stephanie's petition has already gotten the attention of Starbucks leadership, so it's time to increase the pressure. Please add your name to her campaign now.

A Christmas Story--Republican Style

A Christmas Story--Republican Style

(with many apologies to Jean Shepard)

by Cindy A. Matthews 

Ralphie knew what he wanted for Christmas. More than anything in the world Ralphie wanted a  Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle. But his mother (being a lowly woman without the same mental or moral capacity as a man according to their preacher) had been heavily influenced by the left wing media conspiracy full of "libtards" who smugly declared that a nine year old boy can't safely run around with a loaded weapon without hurting himself anymore than he can run around with pointed scissors and long shoelaces without tripping.

"You'll shoot your eye out," Ralphie's mom told him in no uncertain terms.

Ralphie, being an all-American, red-blood boy who knew who really was in charge, was disappointed in his mother's response, but he wasn't about to give up. 

Ralphie decided he'd get his teacher on his side in this debate. He would turn in the best essay that a boy could buy from an online essay-writing service out of India, which only charges pennies on the dollar compared to American-based ghostwriters who whined all the time about being paid a living wage.

In his well-chosen essay, Ralphie insisted that it was his God-given right to own a BB rifle and shoot the hell out of anything that crossed his path. He demanded protection for his Second Amendment rights to own a firearm--or several hundred firearms, if he so choose. 

But Ralphie's teacher recently had lost a good friend in a mass shooting at an elementary school. A middle-aged white male (who'd been having a rough time of it since he'd been downsized and lost his health care and could no longer deal with his opioid addiction) shot a whole classroom of first-graders and their teachers.

Ralphie's teacher didn't agree with Ralphie that it was okay to sell weapons to a man who wasn't in his right mind since he wasn't a Muslim terrorist. She said she didn't understand why innocent six-year-olds and their teachers had to die in order to make America great by keeping the weapons-manufacturing industry churning out products and selling them cheaply to the paranoid masses. She added that she couldn't see why voting for a adult white male who stalked and picked up teenage girls in malls was preferable to voting for a progressive, too.

Ralphie received a failing grade on his essay. When he asked why, his teacher explained, "Ralph, do your own homework next time. Besides, you'll shoot your eye out."

Disgusted, but not surprised by his teacher's callous disregard for his Second Amendment rights to bear arms, Ralphie decided to ask his Old Man directly for his ideal Christmas gift.

Ralphie had been avoiding his Old Man lately since his father had been spending a lot of time down in the cellar cursing and drinking while trying to Band-Aid their rickety oil furnace together by fencing chop-shop auto parts to scrimp up enough dough to keep it fueled so they didn't freeze. 

The Old Man blamed those liberal goody-two-shoes who wanted to build wind turbines and erect ugly solar panels everywhere for his manufacturing job being offshored to China after NAFTA became the law of the land. Who cared if their air in the crumbling inner city was growing opaque with diesel fumes and the algae-bloomed water in the lake was the color and consistency of green slime? Who cared about lead pipes? Fossil fuels were still cheap, and fracking makes perfect sense because... who'd want to drink well water anyway?

  

Ralphie realized that since the union folded a few years ago the Old Man hadn't been able to find a decent job. None of the part-time jobs his father toiled in made anywhere near that fabled $15 an hour the lazy McDonald's workers were always protesting about. The Old Man was in a chronically bad mood nowadays, but Ralphie was pleasantly surprised how his father's eyes lit up when he mentioned how much he wanted to purchase and own a weapon.

"Just the BB gun, son?" the Old Man asked, his words slightly slurred, his eyes blazing with undisguised loathing. "How about an Uzi or an AK-47? We could do some serious deer hunting with one of those. We could even take out some of those illegal Mexicans and the Muslim terrorists who've destroyed our neighborhood by moving next door. We could splatter their brains about the sidewalks and teach'em all a lesson that this country was discovered by white men and immigrants aren't wanted or necessary. What do you say, Ralph?"

Ralphie was more than a little frightened by the Old Man's enthusiastic response. He smiled, turned around slowly and fled the cellar.

Christmas morning, Ralphie was happily surprised to spy a tall, narrow package standing beside the tree. Joy, oh joy! It was the Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle he'd asked for all along.

"Now, be careful with that thing," his mother warned him. "We no longer have any health insurance through the CHIP program for you or your brother."

Who needs health care? Ralphie thought. New and Improved Medicare for All was for libtards and girls according to the Old Man. Ralphie couldn't wait to dress and run out into the snow to practice his shooting.

Ralphie fired his new gun first at the Bumpuses' dogs because the malnourished beasts had ran through their backdoor earlier that day and devoured their holiday turkey. Then Ralphie shot at Old Man Bumpus when he came over to complain about his bleeding pets.

A ricocheted shot hit Ralphie in the glasses and shattered a lens, but he didn't mind. Somehow his parents would figure out a way to get him a new pair. Some charity would pay for them because he'd earned it as a white male. It wasn't like he was some lazy welfare queen who didn't deserve to have her eyes taken care of that the Old Man blamed all their economic troubles on, right?

Last, but not least, Ralphie took aim at the police officers who drove past their house in response to the neighbors' calls about a "crazy kid running around with a rifle shooting at anything that moved." Thirteen seconds after the cops exited their patrol vehicle they raised their weapons and took aim.

Ralphie was pronounced dead at the scene. He was one of only a handful of white children shot by the police in their city that year--the vast majority of those killed being either African-American or Latino. Ralphie's family filed bankruptcy after they paid his funeral expenses and settled the civil suit filed against them by the Bumpuses.

It was a quiet holiday season after that. Ralphie's mother joined a self-help group for grieving mothers and even got to know their neighbors better. The Old Man bought more weapons and stashed them in the cellar. Somehow, he believed, owning all that firepower could make America great again.

BIO: Cindy A. Matthews has been the editor (and chief writer) of The Revolution Continues blog since its inception as The Bernie Blog in June 2015. For all her fighting for progressive causes, she's never received a dime (or a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle such as Ralphie wanted). If you appreciate her work, please consider buying one of her fiction titles or giving a Paypal (cynthianna@hotmail.com) donation to help  keep this web site up and running in the coming year. Thank you, and may you and yours experience a truly peaceful holiday season.

 A Holiday Meditation

 by C.A. Matthews

It's a very different holiday season than last year, isn't it?

Last December, we were anxious to see how Trump and company would act upon taking their new offices, and this December we know for sure how they'll act. The following meme sums up their callous disregard for ordinary Americans:

  

The 1% get richer and the rest of us... Well, we're the 99%. It's not like we  matter to the super-wealthy, is it? They can dress up their "tax reform" all they like, but in the end, their hypocrisy shows through in the provisions that make life harder for the poor and middle classes.

Can any politician who claims to be a Christian honestly defend the current administration's positions when asked, "What would Jesus do in regards to providing health care for all Americans, especially children, veterans, the elderly and disabled? What would Jesus do when faced with refugees and others seeking a new life in a safe place?" (Whatever happened to "Love thy neighbor," Republicans? I guess the parable of Good Samaritan isn't in your Bible.)
 

If there's one good thing to come out of the Trump administration, it's now we know for sure what we're up against. We know fascists exist in this country in the year 2017, and they are considered "nice people" by our president. Compassion and empathy are character traits to be laughed at by those in power. For-profit health care and for-profit prisons are what it's all about, since you can always bilk the poor for what little pocket change they have until they drop over dead in their tracks.

Maybe there is no Santa Claus, but there's still We the People. Together we will fight these injustices, change our society for the better, and build a future to believe in. 

Have faith, progressives. Dr. Martin Luther King said he might not get to the mountain with us, but we're going to get there if we believe our cause is just. Keep believing. Keep fighting. 

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to you and yours. We're going to be busy in 2018, no doubt about it.

Here's a link to a great Facebook video by Upworthy about how facts don't always convince others to see your point of view. It has some tips to help others "see the light" this holiday season. 

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Militarizing Our Police? No Thanks!

Jeff Sessions Protest in Toledo

photos by Adrian Matthews

Even the cold and damp couldn't dissuade protestors from gathering in front of 4 Seagate Center in downtown Toledo, Ohio on Monday afternoon. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was in town for a brief meeting with the Toledo Police Department. It seems the Feds want to militarize our streets because having a city police force alone isn't seen as enough to keep order nowadays in dying Rust Belt cities. 

Perhaps they're worried once the remainder of our manufacturing jobs (that weren't lost to NAFTA previously) are offshored we'll be rioting and marching in the streets? Toledo cops will need some Humvees and tanks to keep the peace?

And, of course, we can't be a city offering sanctuary to immigrants of any kind--especially those of a darker skin color or different religious background than Mr. Sessions.  That would be just "wrong." Right, Jeff?

 Sessions' record against the LBGTQIA community and the Dreamers speaks for itself. Several protestors took to the bullhorn to tell why they opposed his visit and the tactics the current administration is using against people of color and the disadvantaged.

Ruth Leonard with the Community Solidarity Response Network rallied the crowd for a march about the Seagate building while the meeting with Sessions and the Toledo city police administration was taking place. Shouts of "Jeff Sessions, go home!"  and "This is what democracy looks like!" rang throughout the downtown.

 Remember--you're never alone when you have right on your side.  Others feel the same way. Others want to restore democracy to our land. We can do it if we stick together and raise our voices as one.

 Speak out. Silence isn't golden--except to the greedy billionaires who want to shut us up to maintain the status quo. Power to the people!