Weaponizing Free Speech

 

This is the dystopia you were warned about. A mind-controlled populace thinking, speaking, shopping, moving and voting in accordance with the will of the powerful. All that's left now is to secure the few dissidents on the fringes and keep bolstering the mind control matrix.

This doesn't mean it's hopeless, it just means we've got to acknowledge reality and start working from where we're at. The biggest obstacle to real freedom is the belief that we already have it. --Caitlin Johnstone, The Empire of Hypocrisy

 

Weaponizing Free Speech

by C. A. Matthews

Most Americans believe that no one has ever gotten into trouble simply for speaking their mind. No matter how much you might disagree with a fellow American, you probably agree that they have the right to free speech. You believe that freedom of speech is a basic right protected by our Constitution. You feel confident that all Americans have the right to believe and express themselves as they deem fit. 

Sorry to break it to y’all, but you really don’t.  

Free speech is not guaranteed, as demonstrated by the latest US government shenanigans. The feds have charged four African Americans simply because they are members of the African People’s Socialist Party and expressed opinions that don’t align with the current administration’s viewpoint. 

According to the Black Alliance for Peace: 

The unsealed indictment states that on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, a federal grand jury in Tampa, Florida, levied charges of “conspiring to covertly sow discord in U.S. society, spread Russian propaganda and interfere illegally in U.S. elections.” While no evidence of conspiracy, propagandizing, or interference has been presented, the APSP and its members have the right, as all US citizens do, to freely criticize U.S. domestic and foreign policy.

Not since the Palmer Raids of the early 20th century, nor since the indictment of W.E.B DuBois in 1951, or the confiscation of Paul Robeson’s U.S. passport during the anti-communist “McCarthyist” era, has there been such a hysterical response to African people asserting their rights and freedom of speech in the United States.

The Department of Justice claims APSP members had “weaponized” free speech by expressing solidarity with the Russian people and “conspiring to interfere” with US elections. Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen in the DOJ's press release regarding the indictments stated, “The department will not hesitate to expose and prosecute those who sow discord and corrupt US elections in service of hostile foreign interests, regardless of whether the culprits are US citizens or foreign individuals abroad.”

Quick translation: The DOJ is prosecuting US citizens for political speech and related activities because they’re worried that more and more Americans don’t agree with the status quo of the uniparty and might not support the incumbent in the upcoming presidential election. The grand jury alleges that a Russian national "directed" these Americans to "publish pro-Russian propaganda" and "information designed to cause dissension in the United States." 

HandsOffUhuru.org

(Watch this excellent short video to learn more about the case: https://youtu.be/fvwhHouTZh0. Omali Yeshitela, APSP co-founder, voices how the US government apparently doesn't believe that African Americans are intelligent enough to come up with a socialist philosophy all on their own or know if they're being used by a foreign power. Obviously the FBI feels scared enough of an 82 year old African American man that they had to use violent tactics to break into his home to handcuff him and arrest him.)

I take all the Biden administration's legal mumbo-jumbo to mean that the Dems can’t afford to have any real competition running against the corpse of Joe Biden for a second term because he and his war in Ukraine are that unpopular. They must shut all dissenting voices down no matter how fascistic it makes them look. I suppose the white supremacists at the FBI couldn't wait to do something this evil, too.

(Did I just say that part out loud about Biden being a corpse and the FBI being Klansmen? Should I be watching out the window for the feds to arrive any minute on my doorstep carrying flash bang grenades?)

I do believe in “The pen is mightier than the sword,” and “The truth shall set you free.” But when an army’s worth of federal agents can show up at your front door and take you away simply because you’re an 82 year old African People’s Socialist Party member who doesn’t agree with the US government's racist and warmongering actions, can anyone ever too be careful speaking their mind? Will believing in the truth and the power of free speech save us from government abuse?

It's not reasonable for the government to just dismiss the First Amendment on the grounds that it is being "weaponized". You can't have your government dictating what speech is valid and what counts as "agitprop" and "disinformation", because they'll always define those terms in ways which benefit the government, thus giving more power to the powerful and taking power away from the people. -- Caitlin Johnstone

Speaking of abuse, although this is nothing quite as horrific as what’s happening to the APSP members, I was accused of using “weaponized” free speech this past week as well. I found myself a victim of corporate censorship. For the first time in eight years of writing and editing this weekly blog, a warning appeared at the top of the Blogger posting page. It read:

Your post titled "Who Is Stealing Our Election? " was flagged to us for review. We have determined that it violates our guidelines and have unpublished the URL http://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2016/05/who-is-stealing-our-elections
making it unavailable to blog readers.

Say what? What could we have published that was so heinous that it had to be hidden from public view now? Why was Google (who owns Blogger) all of a sudden so upset that it had to censor the post, “Who Is Stealing Our Election?” after seven years? The post was published in early May 2016, long before Trump and his followers’ denials of the 2020 election results began. The date of the post should have been a dead giveaway about whose election was being “stolen” and by whom.

Flashback: Bernie Sanders was being royally screwed over by the Hillary Clinton campaign in early 2016. The trolling of “Berners” online was dreadful. As editor of what was then known as The Bernie Blog, I gladly published almost every decently written submission sent in by Bernie supporters. A short piece called, “Who Is Stealing Our Election?” was the first of two short pieces that I edited and published that week, so I titled the entire posting with that catchy question.

Who would have thought that seven years later a bunch of neoliberals would get their knickers in a twist (or panties in a bunch) so much that anything that sounds remotely like something a Trump supporter might say about the 2020 election must be completely blocked from public view, censored forever?

After a quick edit or “self-censoring” of the title, Blogger allowed the post to go live again. I didn’t change a word of the posting, just its title. Somehow that change made it acceptable to Google for public consumption. The English-speaking public once again has been saved by the brave censorship of private agents working behind the scenes for the US government, or, in this case, the Joe Biden re-election campaign.

And what exactly are we being saved from by corporate censorship? What didn’t you have the right to read because the powers-that-be wanted to protect your delicate sensibilities? From what I can gather from the Blogger policy page, it’s most likely this:

Misleading Content

Do not distribute content that deceives, misleads, or confuses users. This includes:

Misleading content related to civic and democratic processes: content that is demonstrably false and could significantly undermine participation or trust in civic or democratic processes. This includes information about public voting procedures, political candidate eligibility based on age / birthplace, election results, or census participation that contradicts official government records. It also includes incorrect claims that a political figure or government official has died, been involved in an accident, or is suffering from a sudden serious illness.

Now, why would anyone have any doubts about Joe Biden based on his “age” or from“suffering from a sudden serious illness,” such as having a stroke or dementia or that he hasn't "died" already and is simply a walking zombie? It's not like he's ever been seen babbling like an idiot on camera or wandering off a stage or looking to shake invisible hands, is it?

I apologize if we’ve ever mislead you with the content here at The Revolution Continues or made you not trust in “civic or democratic processes,” but that was never our intent. The post from seven years ago was simply a Berner’s lament over how the Clinton campaign had “stolen” Bernie’s primary wins. Well, we live and learn and move on, don’t we? The Dems haven’t “stolen” any primaries from their rightful winners since 2016, right? And it's not like they're cancelling the Democratic Party primaries and debates in 2024, either!

(If you believe those last two statements, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you, or its equivalent in the Midwest. Your choice!)

Free speech is a right no American should ever take lightly. People have fought and died for your right to express yourself freely. People have been imprisoned around the world for expressing themselves and sharing important—and sometimes embarrassing and incriminating—information about governments. 

  

One such journalist springs to mind: Julian Assange. This week marks the fourth anniversary of Assange becoming the guest of His Majesty King Charles in England's Belmarsh Prison. In other words, an Australian journalist has been imprisoned in the UK because of his “crime” of journalism that has made the US government very angry. Assange dared to publish on his online platform, Wikileaks, the infamous “Collateral Murder” video. He exposed the lies of many governments, but he was particularly prolific in sharing information about the US involvement in the bloody war in Iraq and the tortures of detainees at our super-secret base at Guantanamo Bay. And, so far, nothing Wikileaks has ever published has been proven false.

 

Assange is being charged under the 1917 Espionage Act. His case raises troubling questions about whether it breaches both the First and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution. The Espionage Act criminalizes journalism by ignoring the fact that the First Amendment makes an exception for a journalist possessing and informing the public about state secrets that reveal government crimes and corruption. 

 

Assange’s indictment should be dismissed on the ground that the Espionage Act’s overreach is an existential threat to First Amendment freedoms. For a US court to do otherwise is to undermine due process and threaten the First Amendment’s guarantee of a free press. But we will see. This administration's paranoid take on free speech being used as a "weapon" seems to be the driving force in his continued imprisonment.

Just like the APSP members speaking their minds, and our blog posting a short piece with an incendiary title implying that elections can actually be stolen in the US, Julian Assange is being actively censored. He is by being blotted out of human memory, locked up to wither away behind bars without trial, his reputation smeared by Western governments because they didn’t like what he had to say, and they don’t want the rest of the world to know what he has yet to say. 

Other independent journalists have been censored, mocked, and threatened recently. Remember Matt Taibbi and Seymour Hersh? We featured both on them on the blog not too long ago. They're also being harassed by the US government and their corporate media partners.  

  

Matt Taibbi is even being threatened with criminal charges of lying to a Congressional committee for a mistake made by a network propagandist who interviewed him on MSNBC. Seymour Hersh has been ridiculed and his Substack posts about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline bombing have been blocked on Facebook and labeled as "disinformation." If you ever needed more proof that the US government doesn't believe in the public's right to know and practice free speech, the demeaning treatment of these two maligned journalists prove it.

To all of you who are still reading at this point, I have just one word of advice to you in case you ever feel compelled to censor yourself and not use your right of free speech as a “weapon” for good in the world.

 

Don’t.

 

No matter what the corrupt government threatens, no matter what the corrupt corporations that do their bidding threaten, nothing—absolutely nothing—is as important as free speech and your right to express yourself fully. It is your inborn right, and it is your duty to continue to speak and write freely. It is your inborn right and your duty not to believe, agree with, or even acknowledge the lies and propaganda put out by untrustworthy powers-that-be.

 

Because if you don’t believe in and practice free speech in spite of the risks, then who else will?

 

Related Links:

Why Is The Government Targeting Black Socialists? (video) https://youtu.be/fvwhHouTZh0

Indictment Of African People’s Socialist Party Is A Racist Assault On The Black Liberation Movement https://popularresistance.org/indictment-of-african-peoples-socialist-party-is-a-racist-assault-on-the-black-liberation-movement/

Biden DOJ Just Indicted 4 Americans For Free Speech! Who's Next? (video)  https://www.youtube.com/live/EzvJIBfIYu4

War on Dissidents: New DOJ Indictments Criminalize Dissent—Weaponizing the Russian Censorship Tactics They Condemned (video) https://youtu.be/uxa_BSMPf1Q

Biden DOJ Indicts Four Americans For "Weaponized" Free Speech
https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/biden-doj-indicts-four-americans

Biden DOJ Charges Black Activists For Supporting Russia (video)
https://www.youtube.com/live/sbKT-MeY7kU

You're Not Immune To Propaganda (video) https://youtu.be/dl2fnWIlDZg

The Empire of Hypocrisy https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/the-empire-of-hypocrisy-notes-from 

The American Empire and its Media
https://swprs.org/the-american-empire-and-its-media/

1st Amendment Authorized Assange’s Possession of Classified Data
https://scheerpost.com/2023/04/21/1st-amendment-authorized-assanges-possession-of-classified-data/

WikiLeaks: Collateral Murder (Iraq, 2007) https://youtu.be/HfvFpT-iypw (video)

Corporate Media Are The Anti-Wikileaks https://popularresistance.org/corporate-media-are-the-anti-wikileaks/

Facebook Brands Seymour Hersh Reporting As ‘False’ & What Does This Mean For A Free Press (video) https://odysee.com/@HardLensMedia:9/facebook-brands-seymour-hersh-reporting:2

Matt Taibbi: House Democrats Have Lost Their Minds
https://scheerpost.com/2023/04/19/house-democrats-have-lost-their-minds/

MSNBC Host’s Lie Could Send Journalist to Prison! w/ Matt Taibbi (video) https://youtu.be/tWNh03Ma1SA

Digital McCarthyism  https://continuousrev.blogspot.com/2023/03/digital-mccarthyism.html

Pay For Your Own Wars, Big Oil! https://continuousrev.blogspot.com/2023/02/pay-for-your-own-wars-big-oil.html

Here Come the Militarized Robots (But There Go Our Civil Liberties) https://scheerpost.com/2023/04/18/here-come-the-militarized-robots-but-there-go-our-civil-liberties/

House Democrat Threatens Twitter Files Journalist with Prosecution and Imprisonment  https://leefang.substack.com/p/house-democrat-threatens-twitter

Today In Empire: War Machine-Funded War Games, Facebook Censors Hersh, And More  https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/today-in-empire-war-machine-funded

Universal Public Services: The Power of Decommodifying Survival
https://popularresistance.org/universal-public-services-the-power-of-decommodifying-survival/

Fossil Fuel Giants with Most Emissions Paid $118 Billion to CEOs in the Last Decade https://truthout.org/articles/fossil-fuel-giants-with-most-emissions-paid-1-18-billion-to-ceos-in-last-decade/

You Won't Believe Who Got The Richest From The Afghanistan War
https://youtu.be/wEFTLIzGZ6M

 

The Battle

He's back...

The Revolution Continues would be amiss not to mention that Senator Bernie Sanders has officially announced his candidacy for the office of president of the United States of America. Since we are the original "Bernie Blog" (started a few months before a commercial site stole our name) we do keep an eye on the doings of the independent senator from Vermont. 

We've changed our name and transitioned since those exciting early days of following Bernie's campaign to covering the issues that effect everyone--from climate change to health care, from warfare to social justice concerns, from income inequality to student loan debt. Even so, we can't forget our roots. We wish Bernie well in his battle against the forces of darkness, that is, the corporate-owned-and-operated Democratic Party.  

(Somewhere out there, blog co-founder Barb McMillan is smiling down on Bernie and his friends from heaven. I wish you could have lived to see him run again, Barb!)

We hope--and expect--to hear more from "Berners"  in the near future. Please submit your blog posts via email at thebernieblog2016@gmail.com Remember, this is a workplace friendly blog and not an outlet for character assassination. You have Twitter and Facebook and other social media platforms for those kinds of things. We're looking for progressive insights and ideas that can be shared with human beings both here in the US and around the world. 

We hope to hear from you soon. Until then, take care of yourselves and Feel the Bern. Always.

A Battle for the Hearts and Minds of Voters 
is taking place...

The powers-that-be and the haters of net neutrality have made it even more difficult to access this blog site. If you landed here in one piece, consider yourself fortunate. Do us a favor and share the blog link with others. Better yet, share  http://therevolutioncontinues.com with your friends and acquaintances on social media platforms. That URL doesn't seem to be blocked by firewalls--yet. If you have any programming or web site experience and are willing to help The Revolution Continues find a better location on the internet to preach its progressive message, please contact us at the above email. Thank you.

And now it's time to reflect on the toll that activism can take on a person fighting hard for that future to believe in that Bernie Sanders spoke so eloquently about in 2016.

The Battle

by C. A. Matthews

It's Special Election Day in Toledo. The results of this ballot to determine if the Lake Erie Bill of Rights has become part of the city charter won't be known for a few hours yet, so this is why this particular blog post isn't entitled "The Ballot." It's not the only reason, as you'll soon learn.

photo by Stefania Czech

The Battle I'm referencing isn't the two year knockdown, dragged-out struggle to get LEBOR onto the ballot. It's not even a general reference to how difficult it is to be an activist in this day and age when most are content to keep their eyes glued to their phone screens and their minds entertained with state-produced propaganda while filling their bellies with GMOed junk food. It's related to both of these things, but it's more than that. Much more.

My friend and fellow progressive commentator Chris, a.k.a. Vegematic, discusses The Battle openly and honestly in his recent video:
https://youtu.be/uoiJwlun7NY
 

The Battle is more than just activist burn-out or ennui. It's the battle we as human beings have with ourselves when we face a crisis in our existence on this plane and seriously consider  the question, "Is it better for all the causes I hold dear to end it now?" 

Life isn't giving us any indications that all our hard work and prayers to build a better future are going to pan out. Do we continue to draw breath in hopes that the agony of facing The Battle will end some day? We are taught to serve and to work hard without complaint. We reason that perhaps it is simply ourselves who are defective when this impossible task strangles us. We view our meager efforts as getting in the way of others' success. It's selfish and cruel to thwart others' chance at a satisfactory ending. Why are we standing in their way of happiness?

The Battle isn't something that comes and goes--it is constant and always lurking beneath the surface of many sunny faces. Too many. 

To those who have been blessed with the ability to always see the bright side of life, The Battle seems a distant fight, one that they're not particularly eager to enter into with their comrades-in-arms. "Focus on the task at hand and things will work themselves out," they'll lecture, even while knowing that things don't always work out, and there are potentially lethal consequences for not taking their friends' battles seriously.

photo by Anthony Curi

In 2019, the forces of darkness seem more real to activists than ever before. We can't afford to let up in our fights against fascism, racism, sexism, ageism, fill-in-the-blanks-ism. We need all hands on deck and all soldiers on the field. 

We're facing a world war of late-stage capitalism that steals the bread from the mouth of innocents and allows them to die without remorse. We're facing a sick society bent on preventing health care for millions in the United States of America while dropping bombs on millions more in the Middle East. 

Lies mailed to voters by lobbyists

We can't just stop the fight right now with so much at stake to take care of our own walking wounded, can we? But we can and we must. If we don't, then for what purpose do we labor to build a utopia for all to grow and thrive in? There will be blessed few to dwell in it.

Please keep these thoughts in mind the next time you interact with your fellow activists. Tell them how much you appreciate their efforts. Better yet, show them how much you appreciate their efforts. A hug, a kiss, a pat on the back, a dinner and a hot shower--demonstrate that you are glad they are still here, on this physical plane of existence, standing with you. Let them know that you are there for them in the same struggles, both on the streets and in the soul.

It takes so little to be kind, and that kindness can be so beneficial. It can be the seed that grows and spreads the revolution of rising consciousness… that all human beings are to be simply loved and cherished, and even now the creation is anxiously waiting to blossom into the fullness of its purpose.

The ballot boxes will always be with us, and those human beings who fight alongside us to protect our right to the ballot box should always take precedence over petty politics. Give each and every one of your comrades in the struggle the recognition and appreciation they deserve today!

***

 From Friends of the Earth:

The Trump Administration could expose the Grand Canyon area to a massive increase in uranium mining. 

Opening this iconic landscape to mining would lead to its destruction. It would cause devastating water pollution. And it would increase the risk of cancer and other public health issues for local Indigenous communities. 

With the help of Friends of the Earth members like you, we’ve protected our public lands from the greed of the Trump Administration and fossil fuel industry. We need you with us again. 

Take action now: Tell your member of Congress to permanently ban uranium mining near the Grand Canyon!

Since 2012, mining in the area near the Grand Canyon has been prohibited under a twenty year ban. However, the Trump Administration included uranium on a list of 35 minerals it considered ‘critical’ for national security, which could overrule the ban. 

Contaminated water from an abandoned uranium mine on the south rim is already poisoning a creek deep within the canyon, and another mine on the north rim, reopened in 2009, is housing more than two million gallons of contaminated groundwater. 

What’s more, recent water tests show that 15 springs and 5 wells within the Grand Canyon’s watershed contain dissolved uranium concentrations which exceed the standards for safe drinking water. But now, the Trump Administration could reverse the temporary 2012 uranium prohibitions.

It is time for Congress to step in and stop any giveaway to the mining industry for the purpose of building more nuclear warheads and propping up the nuclear energy industry, at the expense of public health and the environment. We need your help to make the ban on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon permanent. Can we count on your support? 

Send your message: Tell Congress to protect the Grand Canyon from the mining industry!

Trump’s vision for our environment is clear. He thinks our public lands are first and foremost meant to be exploited for the benefit of his coal, oil, and uranium industry friends.

With the help of Friends of the Earth members like you, we’ve been leading the fight to keep fossil fuels in the ground on our public lands for years. With your support, we helped build a nationwide movement to preserve these places for future generations.

We can’t let Trump hand over these places to the extractive industry. We need your help to fight back!

Help send 40,000 comments: Tell Congress to defend the Grand Canyon from uranium mines. 

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

***

From Credo: We will never give up fighting for net neutrality – and Republicans know it. When Trump's FCC repealed open internet rules, our movement filed lawsuits, pressured Congress and passed state net neutrality laws. Public support for net neutrality has only grown. So instead of trying to beat us, now they want to trick us. Three Republicans in the House of Representatives announced they will be introducing three so-called "net neutrality" bills. These bills would give telecom companies huge loopholes so they can continue discriminatory practices that are bad for consumers.1 Passing them could make it impossible for the FCC to enforce real net neutrality in the future. Fake net neutrality is not net neutrality. But Democrats could easily cave unless we speak up. Our elected officials need to hear that we won't accept anything less than the real open internet rules that Trump's FCC repealed. We need to kill these bills to make room for strong net neutrality legislation that actually protects the open internet for everyone.  Tell Congress: Reject fake net neutrality. Click here to sign the petition. These bills aren't real net neutrality.2 Although they would prohibit certain kinds of anti-competitive practices by broadband providers, they won't restore all the rules we need to protect our rights online. 1 As technology keeps changing, we need the FCC to keep up. By narrowing the definition of net neutrality, these bills would prevent the FCC from adapting to open internet issues of the future.3 By declaring that the internet is not a public utility, the bills would also limit the FCC's ability to protect privacy, ensure universal service, enforce truth in billing and guarantee disability access.4 Democrats in the House of Representatives have said they want a bipartisan net neutrality bill, which means they are open to compromising with Republicans.5 But we cannot compromise on the core principles that keep the internet open and free. Now that Democrats control the House, we have a real opportunity to push Congress to pass meaningful net neutrality legislation and direct the FCC to do its job. But if these bills gain momentum, we could lose that opportunity, maybe forever. Tell Congress: Reject fake net neutrality. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/GOP-net-neutrality?t=9&akid=31706%2E9999572%2E3oTLSZ Thanks for fighting back, Brandy Doyle, Campaign Manager CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: Kieren McCarthy, "It's OK, everyone – Congress's smart-cookie Republicans have the answer to America's net neutrality quandary," The Register, Feb. 8, 2019. Klint Finley, "Republicans in Congress are talking net neutrality, at least," Wired, Feb. 7, 2019. John Eggerton, "GOP House Members Offer Trio of Net Neutrality Bills," Multichannel News, Feb. 7, 2019. Shiva Stella, "Public Knowledge Opposes Net Neutrality Bills Weakening FCC’s Authority to Protect Consumers," Public Knowledge, Feb. 7, 2019. Harper Neidig, "House members hint at bipartisan net neutrality bill," The Hill, Feb. 7, 2019.

 

The Media "Bern-Out" vs. The Media Black-Out

 The Media "Bern-Out" vs. The Media Black-Out

by Cindy A. Matthews

(Editor's note: We are updating these links on this post as we receive new sources for news about Bernie Sanders' campaign. Thanks for sharing! #FeeltheBern)

Much has been said about the media "black-out" of Bernie Sanders' record setting rallies happening across the U.S. this summer. Of course, much of this discussion has taken place between Bernie's supporters and not among the members of the "establishment media" themselves. When talking to persons who aren't particularly active on the Internet, or who receive the majority of their political news through local/national newspapers and television/radio stations, supporters excitedly sharing their admiration of  Bernie Sanders observe friends or family members scratching their heads and asking, "Bernie Who?" It's as if the outspoken independent senator from Vermont simply doesn't exist.

(If you still don't know what I mean, read this excellent article "Two Candidates Surge in 2016 Polling--But Only Trump, Not Sanders, Fascinates Media"  from the Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting web site. The statistics are very telling.  Click on this link to sign a petition to protest NPR's poor coverage of Bernie Sanders' campaign. Their bias is horribly obvious.)

Many feel this media black-out (or blatant ignoring) of Bernie Sanders' polling surge and well-attended events is due to their corporate owners. These print and broadcast media moguls are frightened of how a Sanders presidency might affect their profits. Would they have to pay their fair share of taxes? Would squirreling profits to offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands or Switzerland be outlawed? And, scariest of all, would they actually have to give their employees paid maternity/paternity leave, paid vacation time and promise their workers at least $15 an hour? Oh, the horrors!

While ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, NPR, CNN, Fox News, and the like, refuse to give much television/radio time to showing the rapidly growing popularity of Bernie Sanders, all is not lost for those viewers who'd like to hear and see the candidate in action. The Internet has come to the rescue of the wannabe informed voter with a variety of web sites and live-streaming services providing live and recorded coverage of Bernie events. Here are the links to just a few of them.

One of the best, with team coverage and live-streaming of Bernie's rallies:
Bernie2016TV 

The new link to subscribe to their channel: 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYZGETbTWW-0wv_csBcMwfw
http://live.bernie2016.tv

BernieSandersVideo.com

Bernie Sanders You Tube Channel

 Vote4Bernie You Tube Channel

Bernie 2016 You Tube Channel


Bernie Sanders for President You Tube Channel

BernieSanders2016 Channel

The Progressive Liberal-- http://egbertowillies.com (Video and articles)

Before you think all is bleak in regard to the mainstream "establishment media", here's a link to an optimistic video that shows you just far we’ve come since April 30, 2015:
https://youtu.be/vlo-qSnuKec

What's even more exciting, there are many talented singers and performers recording music videos extolling the virtues of Bernie's platform. Think of it as "Bernie MTV". You can turn on the videos and sing along at You Tube:
Bernie Sanders Music Videos
 
Web sites that regularly post news articles on Bernie Sanders' activities, in no particular order, include:

BernieSanders.com

Democracy Now 


Op-Ed News

The Huffington Post 

Real Progressive Politics

Blue Nation Review

http://readersupportednews.org

Bernie's not being completely ignored in the foreign media. Check out this excellent story of Bernie's growing popularity in pictures as posted on The Guardian. (Mind-blowing, isn't it?)

While it may not seem fair for the major American newspapers and television/radio networks to blockade decent news coverage of Bernie Sanders' run for the White House, the people will not be denied access to the truth. To quote those zany comedians of TV's Mystery Science Theater 3000 (who had trouble getting viewers for their show in its early days on Comedy Central): "Keep circulating the tapes!"  Lucky for us, we don't need VCRs--we just need a decent computing device and Wi-Fi.

So, Bernie supporters take heart and keep the "Bern-Out" going. Good news has a way of traveling and getting disseminated no matter what. We #FeeltheBern here at The Bernie Blog and want to do whatever we can to keep the information flowing.  

Please share your links to web sites, music videos, online blogs and magazines that regularly post Bernie Sanders-related content. You can post them in the comments below or email them to us and we'll list them on The Bernie Blog. #WeStandTogether #Bernie2016

We'll see you at the Books for Bernie book and garage sale this week in Perrysburg, Ohio. Keep spreading the news to all your friends and neighbors--vote for Bernie Sanders in 2016!