Happy Co-Dependence Day, America (Boiling Frogs)

Happy Co-Dependence Day, America

(Boiling Frogs)

by C.A. Matthews

The story goes that you can boil a live frog, but you have to go about it the right way or else the frog will jump out of the pot. So, you start with the frog not sitting in boiling water, but sitting in a nice, relaxing bath of lukewarm water instead. Then you slowly, slowly turn up the heat under the pot. Since the frog enjoys sitting in their mini-hot tub, they don’t react and just stay there, slowly falling asleep in the hot water until it’s too late. They boil alive.

Not a very pretty picture, is it?

The boiling frog analogy keeps coming to mind whenever I contemplate this past week’s 100 degree plus Fahrenheit temperatures and hazardous 300 air quality index forecasts in the continental US. Americans are definitely in the second frog scenario. We’re happy to sit and relax in our gradually warming hot tub until we’re boiled alive or choked on the dust and pollutants from firestorms. We’re not even trying to hop out of the pot.

Worst yet, we completely trust our boilers, that is, our corrupt status quo politicians. We let them do whatever they like—and they love to please their corporate masters. We all acknowledge that burning fossil fuels has caused this global warming that is, in turn, intensifying the forest fires in Canada and elsewhere.

But we boiling frogs are happy to let our rulers take lobbyists’ money and pass legislation to allow BP, Chevron, Exxon and all the rest to drill for more oil. We’re not fighting back. We’re not hopping out of the pot, even though they’re slowly killing us.

Americans are acting as foolishly as those fatalistic frogs sitting in a pot of boiling water.

What’s wrong with us, America? Did our so-called “Founding Fathers” raise a bunch of wimps? A bunch of collaborators with corporatists? A bunch of Stockholm Syndrome sufferers?

On July the Fourth, this our supposed “Independence Day,” we act like we’re okay with not being...well, independent.

Americans seem to enjoy force-fed propaganda from our government's own version of the dystopian novel 1984’s Ministry of Truth. We’re good listening to and accepting outright lies as long as we’re comfortable in our hot water bath that isn’t quite boiling—yet.

Whenever a politician on a cable news network says, “The economy is doing great!” we take him at his word although we’re struggling to pay bills. Like good little boiling frogs we’ll even consider voting for the idiot! No push back, no demand for him to stop gaslighting us—we’ve convinced ourselves that the status quo always knows what’s best for us, even when it knows jack-shit.

And trust the evil sycophants of the mainstream media to chime in and give their stamp of approval to every half-ass thing our billionaire-bought-and-owned public officials try to pull over on us. Just watch them as they never question these fallacious statements:

“War is peace!” the warmongers claim as the bodies of soldiers and innocent civilians pile up.

“We had to cancel the election/primary in order to save democracy!” the politicians state because they can’t risk an upstart entering the race who could overturn their apple cart of lobbyist money.

“The US has the best medical care in the world!” (That money can buy, that is. Big Pharma lobbyists gave Biden $41 million in 2020 to run for office. Don’t worry—they gave Trump $21 million!)

“What homelessness? What horrible rents?” say the status quo sycophants who have never been hungry or without a bed to sleep in and would never be caught associating with poor Americans who have experienced such a perilous situation.

These quasi-journalists can’t wait to soft pedal their interviews with bigwig politicos and make brownie points with the establishment so they, too, can become a permanent part of that bourgeoisie class. And boiling frogs—I mean, Americans—just keep eating these lies up.

What is wrong with us? Didn’t our ancestors 247 years ago tell British soldiers to get the hell off their land and let them be their own bosses? Americans of today seem to want others to do all the thinking for them, even if it means others’ thinking is boiling us alive. We apparently give no thought to how silly or mentally-incompetent we appear to others, either.

Observing videos of the protests and riots in France this past week, I’m impressed at how much the French don’t act like Americans. They don’t act like boiling frogs (no offense intended) waiting to be eaten. A young man of Algerian descent was killed by police in a suburb of Paris on Tuesday, and the response was explosive before the end of the week. 

There are fires and protests in every major city in France. Cars burning. Mayor’s mansions burning. Town halls burning. Police stations burning—as well they should. Seventeen year old Nahel's cold-blooded murder by police was part of a well-established pattern. In recent times, French police have arrested and killed persons of color at an alarming percentage compared to the majority white populace. No one in leadership has addressed this terrible issue. Perhaps now they will.

Three years ago, Americans marched and shouted “Black lives matter!” for a couple of months after the death of George Floyd and then stopped. Why? There are just too many deaths to mourn and protest. After a while they all start to blur together, don’t they? We just send our thoughts and prayers now and get back to sitting in our pot-shaped hot tubs like good little frogs waiting for the water to boil. 

Americans don’t stand up for themselves against the corrupt system. We don't want to cause our corporate masters any problems it seems. We don't burn nearly as many things as the French do, or the Belgians, or the Dutch, or the Swiss, or the...

Banks are burning in France.

Can you imagine Americans actually striking back at the bastards at BlackStone who have made it impossible for them to buy a home? I can hear the excuses now:

“Nah, we’re fine with the real estate investment mavens sticking it to us. We’ll just live in our mother’s basement for a few more years until our bankruptcy clears. Hopefully we’ll be able to save up enough money to afford a down payment on a tiny apartment. That is, if we don’t experience a medical emergency that wipes out all our savings before then.”

For pity’s sake, little froggies! Hop out of the pot before you boil and show some backbone!

https://stopcop.city/

Mercifully, not all Americans are afraid of their shadow. They do demonstrate courage. The brave protesters of Atlanta’s Cop City (Weelaunee Forest) aren’t acting like boiling frogs. They're in the streets and under the cops’ noses, making their point known. They won’t forget the senseless murder of Tortuguita, one of their own. And yes, the corporate-owned politicians (who have made millions of dollars off this Cop City scheme—don’t let them tell you otherwise) are instructing their bully boys in blue to arrest and charge the protesters with “domestic terrorism.”

Ha! What’s a charge of “domestic terrorism” to a warrior trying to save the planet from the “frog-boilers” of the police/military-industrial complex?

Americans have got to stop being such co-dependents before we cease to exist as a people. Face it—our government and its corporate henchmen don’t give a flying f*** about our collective health and well-being. They’re only in politics for the money. They figure they'll catch a ride on Bezos’ or Musk’s rocket later after they’ve completely destroyed the planet.

We’ve got to treat these villains like our ancestors treated the British soldiers on their soil: We fight them; we push back; we don’t take “no” for an answer. Take hints from the “domestic terrorists” at Cop City, the French, and others. It won’t be easy, but at least we will be choosing life over the slow boiling death these billionaire bastards have planned for us.

Happy Co-Dependence Day, America. Get yourselves out there and start acting like an American Revolutionary from 1776! Learn what true independence is all about. You know you want to, because now you realize you have to. There’s no excuse for us destroying our children’s future. It's time to free the frogs from the pot before it's too late.

Related Articles and Interesting Links: 

Sabby Sabs: MACRON'S FRANCE ON FIRE https://www.youtube.com/live/g8oNhXo2PhM 

Unbelievable Images of France Burning! https://youtu.be/2XV9MdrcNF8

‘Stop Cop City’ Week Of Action Day 5 https://popularresistance.org/stop-cop-city-week-of-action-day-5

Stop Cop City Week of Action Showed Movement’s Strength Amid Rampant Repression https://truthout.org/articles/stop-cop-city-week-of-action-showed-movements-strength-amid-rampant-repression

Mobilize the working class against French police murders and state repression! https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/07/01/mcrf-j01.html

Are Migrants Really Burning Down France? https://youtu.be/9p2HOVKvUIg

Cities burn across France as cops assault protests against police murder of youth https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/06/30/ivwt-j30.html

As Movements Like Stop Cop City Gain Power, Police Treat Free Speech as a Crime  https://scheerpost.com/2023/06/29/as-movements-like-stop-cop-city-gain-power-police-treat-free-speech-as-a-crime/

FRANCE RIOTS: 40,000 Police Deployed by Macron, Cities on Fire
https://www.youtube.com/live/A8Brb73OpjE

France is at War with its own People https://councilestatemedia.substack.com/p/france-is-at-war-with-its-own-people

New Docs Link CIA to Medical Torture of Indigenous Children and Black Prisoners  https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/01/new-docs-link-cia-to-medical-torture-of-indigenous-children-and-black-prisoners/

UN Expert Demands Immediate Shutting Down of Guantanamo Prison, Apology to Inmates
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/06/27/un-expert-demands-immediate-shutting-down-of-guantanamo-prison-apology-to-inmates/

Mexico Refuses To Bow To US Sanction Threats
https://popularresistance.org/mexico-refuses-to-bow-to-us-sanction-threats/

PSOE-Podemos enforcement of EU “Let them drown” policy kills another 37 migrants in Spain
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/06/28/knlq-j28.html

Supreme Court Keeps Navajo Nation Waiting For Water
https://popularresistance.org/supreme-court-keeps-navajo-nation-waiting-for-water/

Breaking: Supreme Court Ends Affirmative Action for Colleges
https://scheerpost.com/2023/06/29/breaking-supreme-court-ends-affirmative-action-for-colleges/

Systemic Racism and the US War Machine
https://scheerpost.com/2023/06/29/systemic-racism-and-the-us-war-machine/

US Supreme Court Strikes Down Student Debt Relief
https://popularresistance.org/us-supreme-court-strikes-down-student-debt-relief/

We can use stem cells to make embryos. How far should we go?
https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/04/07/1071121/stem-cells-make-embryos-how-far-should-we-go/

The Latest Honest Government Ad: Labor (The Shit-Lite Party) https://youtu.be/fHB0vDhdM3c 

Coming soon, the first book from The Revolution Continues blog:  The Little Red Book of Revolution

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French Revolution 2.0/American Revolution Nil

French Revolution 2.0/American Revolution Nil

by C.A. Matthews 

 

If a massive series of nationwide strikes and protests occur across France, but American mainstream media completely ignores them, or relegates brief mentions of them to the “back pages,” does this ongoing popular French uprising really exist at all? 

 

This point struck home this week after I had a conversation with a person who said “Huh? What?” when I mentioned the huge number of protests, strike actions, and other activist events happening since the start of the year in France. He didn’t know that France is literally on fire. 

 

It seems odd that an intelligent person who’s reasonably in touch with reality wouldn’t be following the story of how French workers are standing up to President Macron’s unilateral raising of the retirement age. But if you watch mainstream news channels and read rags such as Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post, you might have missed anything to do with the French building barricades and burning automobiles in the streets next to sky-high piles of uncollected garbage bags and brigades of baton-wielding police officers dragging protesters off to jail.

 

Some days I wonder if it’s all worth it. Should I keep following independent journalists and keeping up with what’s happening in the world? Maybe it’s time to throw in the towel and give in to the propaganda machine. What could it hurt? I could live in darkness and believe that things that average Americans believe, like how we haven’t had a series of war criminals for president and American intelligence agencies had nothing to do with either the 2014 Maidan Coup or the Nord Stream 2 pipelines bombing. 

 

 (If you have to look up any of these topics to understand what I mean, might I suggest you check out https://radindiemedia.com and use their search function? You’re welcome.)

Back to the French protesting and burning cars in the streets thing: I’ve wondered if this ongoing protest in France is somehow a chance for Americans to witness and learn what a real, honest-to-goodness revolution is like. Before you object and say, “Hey, Americans had a revolution in 1776!” I’d like to remind you that the French also had a revolution in the 18^th century, around 1789. 

The thing is, the French working class actually toppled their monarch off his throne and marched him to the guillotine. American working classes (excluding enslaved Africans and despised/displaced Native Americans) simply followed a bunch of wealthy, white, slave-owning/land-owning males who threw a temper tantrum (or “Boston Tea Party”) over having to pay their fair share of taxes to the king back home in England—a king who never lost one hair on his head due to rude behavior in the colonies. 

If a despot is still sitting on his or her throne at the end of the day, you can’t say you’ve experienced a revolution, now can you?

The French have experienced a revolution on several occasions besides 1789, and it appears Macron is going to be out on his ear before too long if the people have anything to say about it. Sure, the militarized police and the armed forces are being used and will be used against the people, but the French seem bound and determined not to allow Macron to cross their line in the sand. They’re in it to win it, no matter how physically, financially, or emotionally damaging it could be.

What’s the difference between the French and Americans when it comes to standing up to injustices, such as forcing a raise in the retirement age? Independent journalist Patrick Lawrence in his piece, French Streets and American Sofas, puts it well:

...It is remarkable the world over to watch the French explode into the streets of dozens of cities and towns to protest the imperial president residing in Élysée Palace. It is altogether singular to follow the demonstrations against Emmanuel Macron as an American. The French are still citoyens and take to their streets and public squares. Americans long ago cashed in their citizenship to live as consumers—and take to their sofas no matter how abusively political elites treat them, no matter how many wars they start, no matter how corrupt the financial system, no matter how many people live in poverty, no matter how grotesque the “defense” budget, no matter how poisoned the environment, no matter… let me not go on.

Please pass the Fritos and turn on the big game.

Lawrence has wisely discerned the major difference between the French and the Americans that demonstrates why the French make revolutions and Americans make… simply a change in the TV channel and a choice of chips. The French still see themselves as one people, one body, one class of workers, standing up against the injustices of the king or the emperor or the president. The French don’t sit back and eat junk food and ignore the plight of their fellow workers. Instead, they stand up and take their righteous indignation to the streets and fight for justice for all workers, for all citizens, for all their people. 

Americans have, from time to time, attempted to do likewise—such as in the Civil Rights protests of the 1960s—but basically we’ve never been able to keep that level of righteous indignation going for very long. We profess that we don’t care all that much about our neighbors, particularly if our neighbor wears a red hat or votes “blue no matter who” or attends a different church or happens to use a public restroom we’d rather they didn’t use. Americans have been divided and conquered for so long that it’s as natural to us as breathing. We’d rather give in to the ruling oligarchy and turn on the game and tune out of life than stand up and fight for what really matters. 

Lawrence further elaborates on how the French see the raising retirement age problem as an indication of whose side their government is on: “Macron’s choice lay between raising taxes on the wealthy and the corporations or pushing the problem on the shoulders of the working class. He made the wrong choice.” 

Can you imagine American workers getting upset over the federal government raising the retirement age? Can you imagine American workers getting angry over how the wealthy and the corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes, so the poor and struggling workers are forced to make up the deficit? Of course you can’t imagine Americans having their noses put out of joint over this type of ill-treatment because these two things have already occurred in the US, and American workers have done nothing serious about them. Not. One. Thing.

You owe it to yourself to read the entirety of Lawrence’s article. Here’s one last quote that sums up where Americans have gone wrong in thinking that once we actually experienced a revolution:

The [French] Revolution was an attack on the vestiges of divine right, the notion that a monarch’s authority was God-given. It was about humanity, not the heavens, as the agent of its destiny. And it was class-conscious. There were no illusions in 1789 as to the nature of power. The fate of the French is in the hands of the French: This was the core thought then and it is the core thought now.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees this fault in Americans. We don't really believe in ourselves as a people. We don't universally believe in anything really, other than the oligarchs’ propaganda that we gladly consume from our mainstream media like a bag of chips. Americans are indoctrinated from a young age and propagandized throughout our adulthood to do as we're told by our bosses. We have a natural instinct telling us things aren't quite adding up, that they're wrong or unfair, but we can never quite put a finger on it. We are blind to our society's class conflicts and never lose faith in the powers-that-be, no matter how blatantly corrupt they are or how perverted the capitalist economic system has become. 

Oh, to be as class-conscious and community-minded as the French! Oh, to be able to rise up as one people and set the streets on fire to scare the corrupt politician-puppets out of power! 

Maybe one day we shall have the strength, wisdom, and courage to take our destiny into our own hands like the French have done. Maybe we’ll even experience that “First American Revolution” that our poorly written history textbooks tell us our ancestors once participated in. Until then, pass the Fritos and hand me the remote. It’s my turn to pick the channel.

 

Related Links:

UPDATE: The French People Battle Pension Reform in Paris (video)https://unicornriot.ninja/2023/the-french-people-battle-p ension-reform-in-paris/ 

Patrick Lawrence: French Streets and American Sofas
https://scheerpost.com/2023/03/30/patrick-lawrence-french-streets-and-american-sofas/

France Burns! What the F*ck is Going On?! (video) https://youtu.be/drIYG3J86tI

Protests Rage In France For A Tenth Day https://popularresistance.org/protests-rage-in-france-for-a-tenth-day/

'The Movement Has Spread': Strikes Across France Aim to Block Macron Attack on Pensions
https://www.commondreams.org/news/france-protests-macron-pensions-mar-7

Macron Loses Control - Train Tracks Blocked https://youtu.be/lnXOkJzP63U

Women’s rights at the heart of the fight over pensions in France
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/03/07/womens-rights-at-the-heart-of-the-fight-over-pensions-in-france/

Macron Faces National Strike in France (video) https://youtu.be/ChpZ3p6MT9A

Despite Government Attacks: Workers, Students In France Stay Strong  https://popularresistance.org/despite-government-attacks-workers-students-in-france-stay-strong/

Workers in France are still refusing to back down to Macron’s pension reforms  https://www.thecanary.co/global/world-news/2023/03/23/workers-in-france-are-still-refusing-to-back-down-to-macrons-pension-reforms/

Covering Up Anti-War Protest in US Media https://scheerpost.com/2023/03/31/covering-up-antiwar-protest-in-us-media/

How The Rich Are Prepping For End Times & Why (video about the petrodollar crashing) https://youtu.be/bW1bibPhJfA

CNN Pushes Propaganda on French Protests (video)
https://youtu.be/0_KtcRvxJnY

Fresh Clashes Rock France As Protests Shift To Water Dispute
https://popularresistance.org/fresh-clashes-rock-france-as-protests-shift-to-water-dispute/

No to French unions’ “mediation” with the state! Mobilize workers to bring down Macron!  https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/03/30/yyvw-m30.html

Rubbish collectors lead last-ditch strikes against France’s pension reforms https://www.thecanary.co/global/world-news/2023/03/15/rubbish-collectors-lead-last-ditch-strikes-against-frances-pension-reforms/

Massive Anti-NATO Protests Erupt in France (video) https://youtu.be/_sZcC8QAojU

Protesting French Students Denounce Trade Union "Mediation" with Macron https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/04/01/summ-a01.html

UN Security Council Won’t Probe Nord Stream Bombing
https://popularresistance.org/un-security-council-wont-probe-nord-stream-bombing/

Bad Faith UN Report On Nicaragua Whitewashes Violent US-Backed Coup
https://popularresistance.org/bad-faith-un-report-on-nicaragua-whitewashes-violent-us-backed-coup/

Congress Has Been Captured by the Arms Industry
https://scheerpost.com/2023/03/28/congress-has-been-captured-by-the-arms-industry/


The US Has Seen 50 Chemical Spills or Fires This Year, and It’s Only March https://truthout.org/articles/the-us-has-seen-50-chemical-spills-or-fires-this-year-and-its-only-march/

At Least 39 Asylum Seekers Dead After Fire at Migrant Jail in Mexico  https://truthout.org/articles/at-least-39-asylum-seekers-dead-after-fire-at-migrant-jail-in-mexico/

Google founder, former Disney exec to get subpoenas in JPMorgan Epstein lawsuit  https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/31/google-founder-former-disney-exec-to-get-subpoenas-in-jpmorgan-epstein-lawsuit.html

 

Seen on Twitter:

LITERALLY MILLIONS of French PEOPLE are PROTESTING each DAY

Do you think it’s simply over a pension reform……?

It’s not.

#Paris #France #MacronIsScum pic.twitter.com/OOvEg6Viyx

— Concerned Citizen (@cotupacs) March 31, 2023

How French is this? Two French people casually drink red wine and chat, as their city burns in the background.#FranceProtests #FrenchProtests #BeMoreFrench #MacronDemission pic.twitter.com/b9ahhkCjbZ

— Wide Awake Media (@wideawake_media) March 25, 2023

It’s amazing the lack of coverage western media outlets are giving the mass protests in France. Just imagine if this was Russia or China. It would be on constant repeat. But if in the EU, limited cover. Same for Dutch farmers protesting. #Frenchprotests #France #Macron pic.twitter.com/C0KlyQCbzp

— Con Murphy (@ConMurphyCarlow) April 1, 2023

Have Yourself A Non-Materialistic Little Christmas

Have Yourself A Non-Materialistic Little Christmas
by C. A. Matthews

We've made it through another year. More of our fellow citizens have died due to gunfire, murderous cops and unattended health conditions. More have gone into bankruptcy because of unpaid student loans and medical bills. More of our fellow human beings have been uprooted from their homelands because of war, drug cartels, and climate change. More have been killed by American drone bombers, merciless ICE and Border Patrol agents, and our financial and military support of corrupt regimes intent on genocide.

Ho. Ho. Ho.

It's difficult to feel "merry" when there's more than enough misery to go around, and yet… Yet there is still hope that things will get better. There is hope that we will see that "future to believe in" eventually after a long, hard struggle. We are seeing signs of the people waking up in France and elsewhere as they don their yellow vests and take to the streets to vocalize their dissatisfaction with the status quo.  The people aren't taking things lying down. One can only hope that Americans will do the same. Odds are we will see some similar protests and marches soon.

In the meantime, we have to find joy in the journey we've embarked upon when we decided to follow the progressive path. We have to take comfort in the companionship of our fellow activists. We have to stand the distance and take our lumps from time to time, knowing full well that potential glory could be lurking right around the corner.

Putting things into perspective, we know that money is essentially a fiction of the sick capitalist state and the endless pursuit of material wealth leads to the hoarding of resources of the Jeff Bezos variety. (Watch a Richard Wolff video to learn more.) The military-industrial complex and its sycophants doesn't need any more of our tax money, either!

As we gather with friends and family during the holidays, let us return to the basics and acknowledge what we can do without. We can do without hatred, grudges and jealousy. We can do with more charity, cooperation and generosity. We can do without buying things we can't afford, we don't really want and we don't have any use for in the long run. We can do with more understanding, compassion and courage.

To re-phrase the song Judy Garland made famous in the movie Meet Me in St. Louis: Have yourself a non-materialistic little Christmas. And a revolutionary New Year. Maybe Santa will put a yellow vest in your stocking if you're good, eh?

Here's more from a group that hasn't lost hope.

Toledoans for Safe Water are fighting the latest attempt at destroying democracy. Please sign the "I Support the Lake Erie Bill of Rights" letter online and share this link with others. You can sign as both an individual and as a representative of your business or organization or church. Thank you.
http://lakeerieaction.wixsite.com/safewatertoledo/support-lebor

  

And now for more insight on hope from our friend in the North.

We Can And Must Build A More Just World
by Vegematic Deluxe

 When one reaches a certain age, our experiences tend to breed a certain cynicism about life. It becomes easy to dismiss all hope for a brighter future. After all, we have repeatedly witnessed our hopes dashed until optimism can seem to be the province of youthful idealism. We consume media that indeed confirms our dark vision of humanity. We isolate ourselves behind screens. We ingest antidepressants, drink, gamble, shop, anything to numb the pain of our  existence. We have forgotten how to be human. If we lose our sense of the possible, we not only do ourselves a disservice--we betray those who come after us.

 My memory drifts back to my childhood in Montreal. At the age of ten, it was 1967 and Montreal was hosting The World's Fair, Expo67. I wandered enthralled and amazed at the futuristic pavilions from every nation on earth. The glittering spires from Iran, America's geodesic dome--even the Soviets got in on the act. My ten year old brain was infused with boundless joy and optimism. I truly believed that the world of the future would be wonderful. People would be evolved enough to put an end to racism, poverty and war, and of course scientific ingenuity would solve our pollution problems.

Of course, my childhood naivety is humorous to me today, yet I can see something of value in it. Something in the innocent belief in a just universe. It's easy for those of us who believe in progressive causes to become bitter and cynical. Many of us have fought the good fight for years only to witness the forces of oppression grow more powerful.

 In 2011, I once again felt that sense of optimism with the Occupy Movement. I felt it again in 2016 when Bernie gave us all hope. Each time our hopes have been dashed on the rocks of corruption and repression, and with it, each time, a little more hope dies. The 61-year-old man in me says that things are hopeless. But every once in a while, the ten-year-old boy reemerges to inspire me to continue. I hope he never goes away.

BIO: Vegematic elaborates on what he calls the "sh*t-o-sphere" of our current society, but deep down he's an optimist. Don't tell him that--or do tell him by leaving a comment on a video at his You Tube channel. He'll return your comment. No kidding. Canadians are nice that way.

***

Since Christmas falls on a Tuesday this year, and we usually post a new blog on Tuesday, we thought we'd take a break this coming week. It'll be the first time we have ever skipped a weekly posting since June of 2015. It's rather amazing considering how hectic life can be. The urgency to keep the progressive dialogue going actually keeps us going through illness and major life upheavals. I hope it does you, too. So, enjoy the week off, but remember--the Revolution will be waiting when you return.

Don't forget you can always click on the archive links on the right sidebar (keep scrolling) and read past posts--Christmas or otherwise--from the past 3 1/2 years. There's a lot of material there you might want to catch up on. (Last year's holiday piece was pretty interesting--A Christmas Story--Republican Style.)  Please share it with others on your social media sites. Nothing ticks the establishment off more than progressives sharing information and thought-provoking commentary with each other. Power to the good people--not the naughty corporations!

***

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Power to the people and not the corporations!

***

This is critical --

Late last week, a conservative U.S. District Court judge in Texas ruled that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. The ruling advances Republican efforts to kill the ACA and strip millions of their lifesaving and necessary care.

This ruling also violates the will of millions of health care voters like you, who sent a strong message in the midterm elections that we won’t stand for any more attempts to sabotage the ACA.

We will NOT let the GOP get away with this -- call your member of Congress and urge them to protect the ACA.

If this disastrous ruling is upheld, more than 17 million people could lose access to their health care coverage in a single year. Even worse, 130 million more Americans with pre-existing conditions would be left without protection.

The ruling is expected to be appealed, and Senate Democrats already have a plan to intervene. Now, Congress needs to know that we won’t stay on the sidelines while our care is ripped away.

Call your Representative and demand that Congress take action to protect the ACA.

Thanks for keeping up the fight,

The Health Care Voter Team

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Tell Congress: "People fleeing violence and poverty in Central America and elsewhere should be treated with humanity and compassion – not face family separation, military troops, or criminalization." ADD YOUR NAME

The United States is full of people whose parents were seeking a better life. My great-grandparents were fleeing Ireland after the potato famine. For all of our faults, America was a beacon to many other parts of the world where people were fleeing violence and poverty.

Donald Trump has tried to snuff that beacon, pulling up the ladder of opportunity behind him, and denying the internationally recognized human right of asylum. He deployed troops to the border and imprisoned children. A 7 year old girl recently died in Border Patrol custody this week after her group of migrants turned themselves in.

That’s not how this is supposed to work. By criminalizing the asylum process, Donald Trump is terrorizing families who are just trying to stay safe. It’s unconscionable.

Sign the petition: Respect the human right to migrate and end militarization at the border.

Instead of responding with compassion, President Trump has deployed thousands of troops, shot tear gas at children, and pursued policies to criminalize all who seek refuge. Trump’s cruel strategy is to create as much danger for families seeking asylum here as they faced at home.

People fleeing violence and poverty in Central America and elsewhere should be treated with humanity and compassion – not face family separation, military troops, or criminalization.

It’s time for Congress to stop funding cruelty against immigrants.

Sign the petition: Respect the human right to migrate and end militarization at the border.

Thank you,
Mike Phelan, Progress America

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A little humorous vignette that makes a good point....