Once a regime starts to send people to concentration camps — including those in El Salvador — it creates a system of detention that eschews due process and disappears citizens into black holes.
I’ve never understood how Nazi Germany came to be. Yes I know their citizens were angry and looked to a Daddy figure to take their pain away. They did so by inflicting their pain onto others instead. Just as the USA is doing now. I get that, but I don’t understand such psychological insanity. And now I get to bear witness to it happening literally before my eyes, every fucking day in the USA. I still don’t understand it. Just how fucking stupid and cruel the citizens are as both parties over the decades have done in their own ways to “others” they deemed as enemies. It is so obvious how the oligarchs have bought off both so-called political parties a long time ago, whose only purpose is to keep the citizens divided and fighting each other over cultural issues. I’ve watched it happening for decades, yet I still don’t understand it. Cruelty and hatred are the values now. Those values have been the cornerstone of the USA since its inception. Just ask the native Americans and African slaves. I’ve refused to vote for either party now for decades. It mattered not. I’m sorry to say but the citizens have brought this upon themselves and the world with their willful ignorance all the while of doing their “duty” as citizens to keep voting for their chosen team who threw them overboard a long time ago. It’s so despairing to watch this unfold knowing that far worse is yet to come. What the USA (both fucking homicidal parties) have enabled and cheered on the GENOCIDE against the Palestinians is coming for all of us sooner than later. The illegal rendition to say nothing of due process against these so-called illegals is but the tip of the iceberg. We are all sailing on the Titanic now.
I understand Viktor Frankl's statement one night at a public lecture given on the UC-
Berkeley campus. When he said - "You Americans have the Statue of Liberty off your East Coast. But that cannot happen and cannot work without its necessary companion placed in balance on your West Coast." He paused. We waited. What is he driving at? "What you Americans are missing, is a Statue of Responsibility. You cannot have liberty without Responsibility." Parsed: Response-ability. What happened and/or didn't happen among us citizenry around the time and after the Powell Memorandum was circulated? I suggest what happened then is what is happening now. The supposed "genuine loyal opposition" wasn't. Just as today under Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries the flaccid weak kneed Democratic Party response to the Republican President's evisceration of the law of the Constitution, the abolition of the Dept of Education, etc. appalls in its betrayal of its charge as representatives of us, the People. At least Van Hollan has the guts, integrity, commitment to law and justice, to fly down to El Salvador in an attempt to extract a Salvadoran migrant, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, which the Trump Administration illegally kidnapped and deported into a notoriously treacherous El Salvadoran mega prison. Do we hear any righteous uproar emanating from the lips of Schumer and Jeffries about the Administration's wreckage done to due process? How come all the Senators didn't join Van Hollan on that flight down there to El Salvador to make a statement about the unjustness and illegality of what happened to Garcia and to all the others?
Why don't the Democrats fight back? The Citizens United decision allows unlimited money in our political system; couple that with AIPAC funding of the election campaigns of 98% of elected officials; the aversion by Democrats and supporters to never accept criticism; the complete abandonment of the Democratic base . . . these few things and many more over the years have neutered the party. I loathe the "inauthentic opposition" Democratic Party.
And just like their GOP/MAGA brethren, they all manage to amass a fortune while in office. Corporate bribes under the guise of “lobbying” and Insider trading is a given by both parties. As far as I am concerned ALL OF THEM are nothing but grifters who only care about enriching themselves in a system they have all corrupted.
We have been taken over by a brutal mafia that works wonderfully with the previous one that brought us here. They agree with it - paid and bought by the same sources as the Trump gang - just couldn't do it themselves. So now the big resistance is placed on the shoulders of Bernie and AOC that I guess are the useless device the Democrats "unleash" when they want to pretend they are doing something. I will never vote again for any of the two big parties. .
Its one single united gang destroying the US to ruble. Now the illustrious president of San Salvador is negotiating with Maduro to send them back to Venezuela. Win win all over the place. We have been taken over by a brutal mafia that works wonderfully with the previous one that brought us here. This is why "all the Senators didn't join Van Hollan on that flight down there to El Salvador to make a statement about the unjustness and illegality of what happened to Garcia and to all the others!" They agree with it just couldn't do it themselves. So now the big resistance is placed on the shoulders of Bernie and AOC that I guess are the useless device the Democrats "unleash" when they want to pretend they are doing something. I will never vote again for any of the two big parties. .
@schrodinger's cat: you're not alone with all your questions. there are hardly any words left to ask "Y?" and "how come, mankind came out so cruelly unkind?" to think of all the bla-blah about "never again!" and international law and "love your neighbor ...!"
insatiably greedy hypocrites, psychopaths, selfish hate and fear mongers CON_tinue their brainwashing operations - and "legacy" media help them succeed.
"peace does not pay!", they say and make a killing selling their arms. [still, it's nice to know: we're not alone in preferring peaceful coexistence.]
Thanks, Julia: You guys are not alone in wanting peace on earth. But there are very few of us in America willing to stand up to the warmongers and psychopaths who are running and ruining our country and the earth. In fact too many of Americans have no idea what is happening to the rule of law and our court system.
too many europeans are silent, too. if they take to the streets, they are silenced.
my country hosts the biggest US airbase in "the old world", our f.lawmakers are eager to station US state of the art mid-range missiles on our territory next year, and the new chancellor will probably deliver taurus cruise missiles to ukraine.
diplomacy? peace plans? down the drain! "putin does not want to negotiate", they claim. [and criticizing israel's policies is antisemitism, they claim.]
climate goals anyone, amidst their military mania?
while not a month goes by w./o. an unexploded bomb from WW II being dug up somewhere in my EU country, ukrainian soldiers, digging trenches, now strike the mortal remains of soldiers killed during WW II. just when you think 'things can't get any more miserable!' you realize they can - while the biggest humanitarian disaster unfolds in sudan ...
Raise cain - good trouble - with the passivity of the Democratic Party - especially and in particular its leadership - they should be broadcasting ceaselessly the lawbreaking and Constitution breaking that is happening...they should be organizing like crazy...educating the citizenry about what's happening....they should be supporting David Hogg's intentions to primary Dem-Repub Lite incumbents with candidates faithful to workers' concerns (google DNC) for which he's getting a lot of flak. I sure would love to see Democrat Josh Gottheimer - Mr. Repub lite - fancy errand boy of Big Pharma and anti-consumer kicked out of the legislative arena. He fits the Manchin-Sinema Fraternity...
How does a general strike with a voter strike on corporate Democrats and Republicans sound?
Hit the corporate monsters in the balls and the corporate stooges in the box.
Put them both together and it makes organizational sense which anyone will understand.
It is the puny response of Democratic Party "leaders" that deflates all fighting hope. Get the voters to pledge to vote independent and replace the glue factory path Democratic donkey gamers of Wall Street with the race horses of Progressive ingenuity. Damn the Wall Street Democratic status quo, it is the default enemy from within.
Our political system is beyond broken, neither party is going to get us moving in the direction we need to go. The problem with voting as an Independent (I've been an Independent for years) is that we don't have an Independent Party or candidate, as neither duopoly party allows one to form - that's the plan - we have no choice - never really have Ron. A general strike would be wonderful if a majority were in on it and I see nothing to indicate that is even possible. I have watched this shit-show for years and the party faith-fools who cling to the illusion's pedaled by Democratic hero figures that not surprisingly ever come to be and never will. Thanks for paying attention Ron.
That is the case John. Party politics are corporate captured as all the moving parts of government and elections are captured or intrinsically aligned to Wall Street’s estimated profits. What is possible is that the Orange Jack ‘O Lantern Trump makes such a horror show with his constantly flapping mouth that sufficient numbers will see the picture and act to resolve the issue with public action. Not being optimistic is a victory for the fascist fear mongers. The USA is slated for demolition to be replaced by BRICS economic power. The dollar will likely remain awhile as no replacement is yet discernible. But the empire is over, and the wolves and barbarian capitalists will pick the ruins for valuables as the oligarchs did at the end of the Soviet empire. Donald Trump sees himself as Vladimir Putin with capital to cash in on a collapsing American empire, a collapse he fervently promotes in devaluing the dollar and wreaking global economic warfare on friend and enemy alike. I see little hope of raising a trustworthy American financial market after Donald Trump has flushed it down the Oval Office DonJon as his trademark policy move.
Most boomers have no interest in participating with the complicated world of reality. Most feel they've done their part as wheels in the workaday cogs of the economy and job sector and just want to play like kids without worry as they add their years.
Can we blame them, since the leadership which should have tapped on their imagination was not there to lead them to unify and join in massive action?
The Democratic party leadership is the town sheriff who took to drinking when the gang rode into town, and though a couple of deputies are stepping in to fill the gap, the shooting match begins and people are taking cover.
The Democratic Party leadership is crying "advance to the rear".
There are times in battle when an officer or a soldier runs on to the field towards the retreating troops to rally them back to the offensive.
Run the colors up and charge impeachment.
Damn - Democrats need to get seriously offensive on these monsters of injustice or the battle is lost.
One extremely important underpinning fueling both the extreme cruelty of the perpetrators in power and those people magnetized to follow and copy them, is the sheer amount of physical, sexual and emotional child abuse starting often in infancy that's been growing and is well documented happening in this country for decades. Some are lucky enough to break free and to find modalities of healing, but the rest can easily repeat what was done to them becoming perpetrators filled with hatred and revenge. This is not the majority of the population who are shocked and frightened, but enough to tip the culture into the growing dystopian tyranny we are witnessing.
As has been recommended: only a militant labor force in this country can stop the authoritarian takeover happening today. Ralph Nader's Radio Hour on-line is consistently excellent on historical context and action and resistance. Check it out on youtube.com
These people have the guns is why. The literal people with the guns need to quit the gang/refuse to shoot, and then and only then will this turn around. Meantime, how do I get a cyanide pill?
Regarding your comment about a cyanide pill, my partner and I simply plan to sit in our car while it’s running in the garage. Perhaps a few tokes and sips of some wonderful beer or wine as well. And of course some of the wonderful music that came out of the 1960’s playing nice and loud. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but my inner alarm bells are ringing 24/7 these days. At least I can go to the other side knowing that I did not vote for either political party, both of which has contributed to where we are at now.
I guess one would need a petrol burning car, the same ones that have been polluting the planet in the first place. /s The feet in the street option is a better way to go; but we need many more of us to take part - thanks MG.
Thanks for the garage plan SC. We built a new garage last fall, and I never realized that option until you mentioned it. I wish I were kidding . . . my inner alarm bells have been ringing for years; those around me don't/won't hear the ringing and have been upset with me when I bring up reality - still are upset with me. Luchador
I want to be clear - my biggest existential concern these days is not our corrupt political scene or Pres Trauma, it is the destruction of our environment and the rate that it is happening. I don't want to be around for that ugly drawn-out death.
What I would like is a suicide pavilion like what they have in Soylent Green. Except I don't think it would be as nice. It would be advertised as being that nice, but then once you sign on the line they probably just cut your head off like a chicken, I don't know. Something fast and efficient. Who is going to sue? I love that movie and that part of the movie, though.
I think that's not as peaceful a death as you might think. Do some reading up, maybe? I don't want you guys to inadvertently torture yourselves to death!
Oh, rest assured, I don't want to off myself NOW, not at all. A cyanide pill is what people carry on them in case they get taken to the torture place. I don't want to get tortured. Game over at that point.
You speak for me -- and the urgency to stop the bs about how the midterm vote will "really show 'em". Or political system brought us trump and it will not be how we survive this.
This is so ghastly. We must first understand where we are, the reality. With the context of past and present. And connect with each other and stay in this reality. We resist because we must. Even when the rest around us do not turn on their brains to know and join.
In today's Paul Street Report, titled; "Trump Is the Law" you will find another spot-on analysis of the current madness. Please support The Chris Hedges and Paul Street Substack pages. I treasure each of them for saying what needs to be heard.
Add to these - check out Ralph Nader Radio Hour - an old hand with a fine mind and excellent suggestions/advice...(youtube.com)....and the terrific interviewer Nima Alkhorshid on his( youtube.com)Dialogue Works (interviews ret CIA's Ray MacGovern, Larry C. Johnson (State Dept Off of Counter Terrorism), Marine ex-UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, (Powell's Chief of Staff) Col Larry Wilkerson, ret USA Ambassador Chas Freeman, Former Senior Brit Diplomat Alastair Crooke, Canadian journalist Aaron Mate, American journalist Max Blumenthal, and more) First Class Interviewer!
A belated thanks for the heads up on Paul Street. I thought I was tuned into most of the true truth tellers, but managed to overlook Paul. Now I have yet another source to keep me informed and depressed. Sincerely, thanks for mentioning him. I’m a paid subscriber to Hedges, and CounterPunch. Now I will likely have to add Paul to those I choose to financially support. I wonder if my doing so will put me on a terrorist list. Regarding your comment to Phoebe Love and a cyanide pill, my partner and I simply plan to sit in our car while it’s running in the garage. Perhaps a few tokes and sips of some wonderful beer or wine as well. And of course some of the wonderful music that came out of the 1960’s playing nice and loud. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but my inner alarm bells are ringing 24/7 these days. At least I can go to the other side knowing that I did not vote for either political party, both of which has contributed to where we are at now.
Caitlan Johnstone, whose work can be found on Consortium News is another spot-on truth telling journalist out of Australia. She has a piece there today reminding us that Bernie Sanders is and has been a Zionist supporter besides his main job of sheep-hearding for the Democratic Party. Luchador
I’ve heard the name, but haven’t really checked her out. I will add her to my list. As depressing as it is, these truth tellers help me hold onto my sanity. I never want to be convinced that 2+2=5, like so many folks apparently do these days.
I read the "truth tellers" for the same reason SC, plus, most people I know won't go there, so, what would I talk about with them anyway? Caitlan gets right to the heart of the matter at hand, in a concise manner - she is refreshingly clear.
The petition is also being disturbed through the ACTION network but neither they nor Deportation Defense say who is being petitioned. I can appreciate the sentiment behind it but I think it’s a mistake to sign petitions online without knowing who is being petitioned/who is getting your email. I would hope you remove this post until you can provide your readers with full information on the action. Thanks for your activism
Hi Evelina, That is a really good question. Apparently there is an organization behind the petition. This is a link to an article in Newsweek that discusses the issue and mentions the group as Deportation Defense, but doesn't actually present any details about it:
I first heard about it in the NYT who, surprisingly, had a link to it. At that time they reported it had 400,000 signatures. It is now over 3 million, but seems to have stalled around that number. I think the purpose of the petition is to make a public showing of the numbers of people who are opposed to this action, which, IMHO, is something worth doing. I'd like to see 100 million sign it, but...
The world needs to see that humanity persists, that there is another way, and that despite everything, we will not stop fighting for a future built on dignity, justice, and peace for all. We can't do this alone and your support is crucial.
Amid the ongoing devastation in Gaza, we are here to say: the Israeli-Palestinian Joint Memorial Ceremony will take place this year. We will not bow to those who seek to silence us.
Every contribution goes directly toward production, logistics, and, most importantly, ensuring the safety and security of all participants and guests.
The ceremony is live streamed on 29th April 2025 at 8:30pm Jerusalem time. You can register online:
If the international institutions have any meaning, and it is questionable for how long, we cannot allow Israel to escape the legal consequences of their war crimes. The Hind Rajab Foundation has, among other things, filed a case with the ICC against 1,000 Israeli soldiers for war crimes in Gaza.
They have taken further steps in recent days, and vacations are becoming a lot more difficult for IDF soldiers, worldwide. The Hind Rajab Foundation can use our help. Please join me in making a contribution.
To know more about The Hind Rajab Foundation, there are a couple of really good interviews that Glenn Greenwald did on his Rumble platform, and Ali Abunimah of the Electronic Intifada, did with the head of this organisation, Dyad Abou Jahjah. It was very informative.
Here's a petition calling for accountability for the arrest of Ali Abunimah in Switzerland for the crime of speaking about Palestinian rights::
Thank you, Judith. I have had a few follow me on Substack, but I find I am more inspired these days to pivot off others' comments. So far, mostly positive responses.
When I want to do my own thing, I have a YouTube channel, very little is political about it. Mostly my encounters with African wildlife.
I feel the same way. I've had people "follow me". I think, Don't do that, I'm not, even with the push from substack, going to to start writing essays.
I'm grateful to those who do though. It educates many and gives us all a way to express our thoughts ...and anger! It's like being in classrooms, which I sorely miss.
DAWN has urged the ICC prosecutor to investigate and prosecute former President Biden, State Secretary Blinken and Defense Secretary Austin for their personal roles in aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Gaza as part of his ongoing investigation into the situations in Palestine since 2014.
Let’s give them our support. Maybe they will expand their complaint to include this latest US administration, and include all the leaders of the western nations supporting this genocide.
Thank you, once again, Mr. Hedges, for telling it like it is.
In other writing of Mr. Hedges, he also shows how fascist regimes collapse, and the will of the people can be restored. A clear example he points out is the case of what used to be "East Germany," where, once those tasked with enforcing the crimes of the state, that is, the soldiers, could no longer shoot their own neighbors, the regime collapsed within 24 hours.
Hence the fear the fascists have expressed about anything they considered "woke." Once people wake up, Trump, Musk, et al should find a rock to hide under, if they can.
After living in Germany as a student and returning to the US, I came to the conclusion that fascism was possible in the US. It was our institutions that set us apart. With the destruction of those institutions all manner of injustice is possible.
I have always been depressed when reading his work. I never doubted his sincerity and truth telling. I disagreed with his condemnation of the state of Israel. This was in large part due to sympathy for an ethnic group pushed to extinction. Hoping for a two state solution was futile. Gaza is being ethnically cleansed and the West Bank is next.
Apologies Chris, I didn't want to believe all you have provided.
I’d rather be shot dead fighting against someone from ICE than get thrown in a camp; because I’d want to go out swinging on my terms
knowing things are going to get a lot worse and ugly for all of us. There really isn’t anything to “live and die for” if tyranny has us all waiting our turn to be picked in the next round. This is not a world I desire.
I’ve never understood how Nazi Germany came to be. Yes I know their citizens were angry and looked to a Daddy figure to take their pain away. They did so by inflicting their pain onto others instead. Just as the USA is doing now. I get that, but I don’t understand such psychological insanity. And now I get to bear witness to it happening literally before my eyes, every fucking day in the USA. I still don’t understand it. Just how fucking stupid and cruel the citizens are as both parties over the decades have done in their own ways to “others” they deemed as enemies. It is so obvious how the oligarchs have bought off both so-called political parties a long time ago, whose only purpose is to keep the citizens divided and fighting each other over cultural issues. I’ve watched it happening for decades, yet I still don’t understand it. Cruelty and hatred are the values now. Those values have been the cornerstone of the USA since its inception. Just ask the native Americans and African slaves. I’ve refused to vote for either party now for decades. It mattered not. I’m sorry to say but the citizens have brought this upon themselves and the world with their willful ignorance all the while of doing their “duty” as citizens to keep voting for their chosen team who threw them overboard a long time ago. It’s so despairing to watch this unfold knowing that far worse is yet to come. What the USA (both fucking homicidal parties) have enabled and cheered on the GENOCIDE against the Palestinians is coming for all of us sooner than later. The illegal rendition to say nothing of due process against these so-called illegals is but the tip of the iceberg. We are all sailing on the Titanic now.
I understand Viktor Frankl's statement one night at a public lecture given on the UC-
Berkeley campus. When he said - "You Americans have the Statue of Liberty off your East Coast. But that cannot happen and cannot work without its necessary companion placed in balance on your West Coast." He paused. We waited. What is he driving at? "What you Americans are missing, is a Statue of Responsibility. You cannot have liberty without Responsibility." Parsed: Response-ability. What happened and/or didn't happen among us citizenry around the time and after the Powell Memorandum was circulated? I suggest what happened then is what is happening now. The supposed "genuine loyal opposition" wasn't. Just as today under Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries the flaccid weak kneed Democratic Party response to the Republican President's evisceration of the law of the Constitution, the abolition of the Dept of Education, etc. appalls in its betrayal of its charge as representatives of us, the People. At least Van Hollan has the guts, integrity, commitment to law and justice, to fly down to El Salvador in an attempt to extract a Salvadoran migrant, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, which the Trump Administration illegally kidnapped and deported into a notoriously treacherous El Salvadoran mega prison. Do we hear any righteous uproar emanating from the lips of Schumer and Jeffries about the Administration's wreckage done to due process? How come all the Senators didn't join Van Hollan on that flight down there to El Salvador to make a statement about the unjustness and illegality of what happened to Garcia and to all the others?
Why don't the Democrats fight back? The Citizens United decision allows unlimited money in our political system; couple that with AIPAC funding of the election campaigns of 98% of elected officials; the aversion by Democrats and supporters to never accept criticism; the complete abandonment of the Democratic base . . . these few things and many more over the years have neutered the party. I loathe the "inauthentic opposition" Democratic Party.
Good question. From the little I've read about the unmoveability of the DNC is their reliance on "consultants" for advice....imagine: money.
And just like their GOP/MAGA brethren, they all manage to amass a fortune while in office. Corporate bribes under the guise of “lobbying” and Insider trading is a given by both parties. As far as I am concerned ALL OF THEM are nothing but grifters who only care about enriching themselves in a system they have all corrupted.
We have been taken over by a brutal mafia that works wonderfully with the previous one that brought us here. They agree with it - paid and bought by the same sources as the Trump gang - just couldn't do it themselves. So now the big resistance is placed on the shoulders of Bernie and AOC that I guess are the useless device the Democrats "unleash" when they want to pretend they are doing something. I will never vote again for any of the two big parties. .
Its one single united gang destroying the US to ruble. Now the illustrious president of San Salvador is negotiating with Maduro to send them back to Venezuela. Win win all over the place. We have been taken over by a brutal mafia that works wonderfully with the previous one that brought us here. This is why "all the Senators didn't join Van Hollan on that flight down there to El Salvador to make a statement about the unjustness and illegality of what happened to Garcia and to all the others!" They agree with it just couldn't do it themselves. So now the big resistance is placed on the shoulders of Bernie and AOC that I guess are the useless device the Democrats "unleash" when they want to pretend they are doing something. I will never vote again for any of the two big parties. .
@schrodinger's cat: you're not alone with all your questions. there are hardly any words left to ask "Y?" and "how come, mankind came out so cruelly unkind?" to think of all the bla-blah about "never again!" and international law and "love your neighbor ...!"
insatiably greedy hypocrites, psychopaths, selfish hate and fear mongers CON_tinue their brainwashing operations - and "legacy" media help them succeed.
"peace does not pay!", they say and make a killing selling their arms. [still, it's nice to know: we're not alone in preferring peaceful coexistence.]
Thanks, Julia: You guys are not alone in wanting peace on earth. But there are very few of us in America willing to stand up to the warmongers and psychopaths who are running and ruining our country and the earth. In fact too many of Americans have no idea what is happening to the rule of law and our court system.
too many europeans are silent, too. if they take to the streets, they are silenced.
my country hosts the biggest US airbase in "the old world", our f.lawmakers are eager to station US state of the art mid-range missiles on our territory next year, and the new chancellor will probably deliver taurus cruise missiles to ukraine.
diplomacy? peace plans? down the drain! "putin does not want to negotiate", they claim. [and criticizing israel's policies is antisemitism, they claim.]
climate goals anyone, amidst their military mania?
while not a month goes by w./o. an unexploded bomb from WW II being dug up somewhere in my EU country, ukrainian soldiers, digging trenches, now strike the mortal remains of soldiers killed during WW II. just when you think 'things can't get any more miserable!' you realize they can - while the biggest humanitarian disaster unfolds in sudan ...
Raise cain - good trouble - with the passivity of the Democratic Party - especially and in particular its leadership - they should be broadcasting ceaselessly the lawbreaking and Constitution breaking that is happening...they should be organizing like crazy...educating the citizenry about what's happening....they should be supporting David Hogg's intentions to primary Dem-Repub Lite incumbents with candidates faithful to workers' concerns (google DNC) for which he's getting a lot of flak. I sure would love to see Democrat Josh Gottheimer - Mr. Repub lite - fancy errand boy of Big Pharma and anti-consumer kicked out of the legislative arena. He fits the Manchin-Sinema Fraternity...
How does a general strike with a voter strike on corporate Democrats and Republicans sound?
Hit the corporate monsters in the balls and the corporate stooges in the box.
Put them both together and it makes organizational sense which anyone will understand.
It is the puny response of Democratic Party "leaders" that deflates all fighting hope. Get the voters to pledge to vote independent and replace the glue factory path Democratic donkey gamers of Wall Street with the race horses of Progressive ingenuity. Damn the Wall Street Democratic status quo, it is the default enemy from within.
Our political system is beyond broken, neither party is going to get us moving in the direction we need to go. The problem with voting as an Independent (I've been an Independent for years) is that we don't have an Independent Party or candidate, as neither duopoly party allows one to form - that's the plan - we have no choice - never really have Ron. A general strike would be wonderful if a majority were in on it and I see nothing to indicate that is even possible. I have watched this shit-show for years and the party faith-fools who cling to the illusion's pedaled by Democratic hero figures that not surprisingly ever come to be and never will. Thanks for paying attention Ron.
That is the case John. Party politics are corporate captured as all the moving parts of government and elections are captured or intrinsically aligned to Wall Street’s estimated profits. What is possible is that the Orange Jack ‘O Lantern Trump makes such a horror show with his constantly flapping mouth that sufficient numbers will see the picture and act to resolve the issue with public action. Not being optimistic is a victory for the fascist fear mongers. The USA is slated for demolition to be replaced by BRICS economic power. The dollar will likely remain awhile as no replacement is yet discernible. But the empire is over, and the wolves and barbarian capitalists will pick the ruins for valuables as the oligarchs did at the end of the Soviet empire. Donald Trump sees himself as Vladimir Putin with capital to cash in on a collapsing American empire, a collapse he fervently promotes in devaluing the dollar and wreaking global economic warfare on friend and enemy alike. I see little hope of raising a trustworthy American financial market after Donald Trump has flushed it down the Oval Office DonJon as his trademark policy move.
Most boomers have no interest in participating with the complicated world of reality. Most feel they've done their part as wheels in the workaday cogs of the economy and job sector and just want to play like kids without worry as they add their years.
Can we blame them, since the leadership which should have tapped on their imagination was not there to lead them to unify and join in massive action?
The Democratic party leadership is the town sheriff who took to drinking when the gang rode into town, and though a couple of deputies are stepping in to fill the gap, the shooting match begins and people are taking cover.
The Democratic Party leadership is crying "advance to the rear".
There are times in battle when an officer or a soldier runs on to the field towards the retreating troops to rally them back to the offensive.
Run the colors up and charge impeachment.
Damn - Democrats need to get seriously offensive on these monsters of injustice or the battle is lost.
One extremely important underpinning fueling both the extreme cruelty of the perpetrators in power and those people magnetized to follow and copy them, is the sheer amount of physical, sexual and emotional child abuse starting often in infancy that's been growing and is well documented happening in this country for decades. Some are lucky enough to break free and to find modalities of healing, but the rest can easily repeat what was done to them becoming perpetrators filled with hatred and revenge. This is not the majority of the population who are shocked and frightened, but enough to tip the culture into the growing dystopian tyranny we are witnessing.
As has been recommended: only a militant labor force in this country can stop the authoritarian takeover happening today. Ralph Nader's Radio Hour on-line is consistently excellent on historical context and action and resistance. Check it out on youtube.com
These people have the guns is why. The literal people with the guns need to quit the gang/refuse to shoot, and then and only then will this turn around. Meantime, how do I get a cyanide pill?
Regarding your comment about a cyanide pill, my partner and I simply plan to sit in our car while it’s running in the garage. Perhaps a few tokes and sips of some wonderful beer or wine as well. And of course some of the wonderful music that came out of the 1960’s playing nice and loud. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but my inner alarm bells are ringing 24/7 these days. At least I can go to the other side knowing that I did not vote for either political party, both of which has contributed to where we are at now.
How does that work with electric vehicles?
Keep up the fight.
Pray with your feet, get out in the street.
I guess one would need a petrol burning car, the same ones that have been polluting the planet in the first place. /s The feet in the street option is a better way to go; but we need many more of us to take part - thanks MG.
Thanks for the garage plan SC. We built a new garage last fall, and I never realized that option until you mentioned it. I wish I were kidding . . . my inner alarm bells have been ringing for years; those around me don't/won't hear the ringing and have been upset with me when I bring up reality - still are upset with me. Luchador
I want to be clear - my biggest existential concern these days is not our corrupt political scene or Pres Trauma, it is the destruction of our environment and the rate that it is happening. I don't want to be around for that ugly drawn-out death.
What I would like is a suicide pavilion like what they have in Soylent Green. Except I don't think it would be as nice. It would be advertised as being that nice, but then once you sign on the line they probably just cut your head off like a chicken, I don't know. Something fast and efficient. Who is going to sue? I love that movie and that part of the movie, though.
I think that's not as peaceful a death as you might think. Do some reading up, maybe? I don't want you guys to inadvertently torture yourselves to death!
I’ll check into it further. My understanding was that you simply passed out along the way. Cyanide is supposedly painful, though fairly quick acting.
Anyway, I never have been nor will ever be one of these people, but in the spirit of flipping those who are now, I support this group:
https://aboutfaceveterans.org
Oh God there is such a disgust at listening to the moans of the defeated planning their ultimate defeat.
Take a cue from the Palestinian example.
Grow a life and put your back into it.
There is nothing of value in death but the absence of life.
Removing oneself deliberately guarantees deliberate victory to the oppressor.
Oh, rest assured, I don't want to off myself NOW, not at all. A cyanide pill is what people carry on them in case they get taken to the torture place. I don't want to get tortured. Game over at that point.
Thank you for bringing up the "cyanide pill" option. Ahh, gun violence and gangs . . .
You speak for me -- and the urgency to stop the bs about how the midterm vote will "really show 'em". Or political system brought us trump and it will not be how we survive this.
"I’ve never understood how Nazi Germany came to be. Yes I know their citizens were angry and looked to a Daddy figure to take their pain away."
This is because you are a cat. Humans are not like cats, more like dogs or sheep, meekly and dumbly led to slaughter.
Not "sailing." SINKING.
This is so ghastly. We must first understand where we are, the reality. With the context of past and present. And connect with each other and stay in this reality. We resist because we must. Even when the rest around us do not turn on their brains to know and join.
Microsoft workers oppose ties with Israel.
Take action with us — and support the Microsoft workers organizing to cut the company’s ties with Israel’s military
https://act.mpowerchange.org/go/71588?t=3&akid=10199%2E809623%2EH7UcG5
Microsoft and other tech partners, like Google and Amazon, are helping redefine the ugly underbelly of U.S. technology’s use in war.
We’ve set up a digital action where you can send emails to Microsoft leadership, including AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, with just a few clicks.
And let’s tell Google to stop weaponizing AI, and to cut ties with Israel.
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-google-stop-using-your-ai-for-genocide-apartheid-and-border-violence?source=mc_GoogleNext_2025_04_10
Paul Street Report had Fascist Trump pegged very early on in Trump's political career.
Check Professor Street out at the Paul Street Report.
Paul and Chris and Katie and Arron Judge Napolitano and others. Please keep your reporting and op-eds coming. We must overcome this.
Refuse Fascism America
Oppose Oppression America.
Get this sicko and his elk out of the white house and into the flames of hell.
God would never bless what Trump is doing to america and the world.
In today's Paul Street Report, titled; "Trump Is the Law" you will find another spot-on analysis of the current madness. Please support The Chris Hedges and Paul Street Substack pages. I treasure each of them for saying what needs to be heard.
Add to these - check out Ralph Nader Radio Hour - an old hand with a fine mind and excellent suggestions/advice...(youtube.com)....and the terrific interviewer Nima Alkhorshid on his( youtube.com)Dialogue Works (interviews ret CIA's Ray MacGovern, Larry C. Johnson (State Dept Off of Counter Terrorism), Marine ex-UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, (Powell's Chief of Staff) Col Larry Wilkerson, ret USA Ambassador Chas Freeman, Former Senior Brit Diplomat Alastair Crooke, Canadian journalist Aaron Mate, American journalist Max Blumenthal, and more) First Class Interviewer!
Jazzme listed my youtube journalists...
Thumbs Up: Our NJ Italian, a "gift from Yahweh: Judge Napolitano!
A belated thanks for the heads up on Paul Street. I thought I was tuned into most of the true truth tellers, but managed to overlook Paul. Now I have yet another source to keep me informed and depressed. Sincerely, thanks for mentioning him. I’m a paid subscriber to Hedges, and CounterPunch. Now I will likely have to add Paul to those I choose to financially support. I wonder if my doing so will put me on a terrorist list. Regarding your comment to Phoebe Love and a cyanide pill, my partner and I simply plan to sit in our car while it’s running in the garage. Perhaps a few tokes and sips of some wonderful beer or wine as well. And of course some of the wonderful music that came out of the 1960’s playing nice and loud. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but my inner alarm bells are ringing 24/7 these days. At least I can go to the other side knowing that I did not vote for either political party, both of which has contributed to where we are at now.
Caitlan Johnstone, whose work can be found on Consortium News is another spot-on truth telling journalist out of Australia. She has a piece there today reminding us that Bernie Sanders is and has been a Zionist supporter besides his main job of sheep-hearding for the Democratic Party. Luchador
I’ve heard the name, but haven’t really checked her out. I will add her to my list. As depressing as it is, these truth tellers help me hold onto my sanity. I never want to be convinced that 2+2=5, like so many folks apparently do these days.
I read the "truth tellers" for the same reason SC, plus, most people I know won't go there, so, what would I talk about with them anyway? Caitlan gets right to the heart of the matter at hand, in a concise manner - she is refreshingly clear.
Petition for the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil.
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/demand-the-immediate-release-of-columbia-student-pro-palestine-advocate-mahmoud-khalil-from-dhs-detention
The petition is also being disturbed through the ACTION network but neither they nor Deportation Defense say who is being petitioned. I can appreciate the sentiment behind it but I think it’s a mistake to sign petitions online without knowing who is being petitioned/who is getting your email. I would hope you remove this post until you can provide your readers with full information on the action. Thanks for your activism
Who is the petition going to?
Hi Evelina, That is a really good question. Apparently there is an organization behind the petition. This is a link to an article in Newsweek that discusses the issue and mentions the group as Deportation Defense, but doesn't actually present any details about it:
https://www.newsweek.com/mahmoud-khalil-petition-more-popular-overtakes-2000-stimulus-checks-2043685
I first heard about it in the NYT who, surprisingly, had a link to it. At that time they reported it had 400,000 signatures. It is now over 3 million, but seems to have stalled around that number. I think the purpose of the petition is to make a public showing of the numbers of people who are opposed to this action, which, IMHO, is something worth doing. I'd like to see 100 million sign it, but...
While we can:
Free Rumeysa Ozturk. Tufts PhD student snatched from the street by unidentified, masked men, from HHS/ICE.
https://actionnetwork.org/forms/free-rumeysa-ozturk/?source=group-just-strategy&referrer=group-just-strategy&redirect=https://secure.actblue.com/donate/nc4j_free_ozturk&link_id=3&can_id=a707410023f29d0530df1e255f3edf18&email_referrer=email_2694599&&&email_subject=speaking-out-is-not-a-crime-stop-the-deportation-of-rumeysa-ozturk&refcodeEmailReferrer=email_2694599
Join Us on April 17, 2025 to Fight for Higher Education
https://www.dayofactionforhighered.org
Tell Universities: Protect Student Rights, Reject Trump's Order
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/protectstudents?source=direct_link
Combatants for Peace
The world needs to see that humanity persists, that there is another way, and that despite everything, we will not stop fighting for a future built on dignity, justice, and peace for all. We can't do this alone and your support is crucial.
Amid the ongoing devastation in Gaza, we are here to say: the Israeli-Palestinian Joint Memorial Ceremony will take place this year. We will not bow to those who seek to silence us.
Every contribution goes directly toward production, logistics, and, most importantly, ensuring the safety and security of all participants and guests.
The ceremony is live streamed on 29th April 2025 at 8:30pm Jerusalem time. You can register online:
https://form.jotform.com/250713298885065
You can support them here:
https://www.drove.com/campaign/67e136ebc7b99f39b8ccd657?emci=524b798a-ce0f-f011-90cd-0022482a9fb7&emdi=c73421bf-da0f-f011-90cd-0022482a9fb7&ceid=13999075
If the international institutions have any meaning, and it is questionable for how long, we cannot allow Israel to escape the legal consequences of their war crimes. The Hind Rajab Foundation has, among other things, filed a case with the ICC against 1,000 Israeli soldiers for war crimes in Gaza.
https://www.hindrajabfoundation.org/perpetrators/hind-rajab-foundation-files-historic-icc-complaint-against-1000-israeli-soldiers-for-war-crimes-in-gaza
They have taken further steps in recent days, and vacations are becoming a lot more difficult for IDF soldiers, worldwide. The Hind Rajab Foundation can use our help. Please join me in making a contribution.
https://buy.stripe.com/cN228hbY5g7jaM84gg
To know more about The Hind Rajab Foundation, there are a couple of really good interviews that Glenn Greenwald did on his Rumble platform, and Ali Abunimah of the Electronic Intifada, did with the head of this organisation, Dyad Abou Jahjah. It was very informative.
Here's a petition calling for accountability for the arrest of Ali Abunimah in Switzerland for the crime of speaking about Palestinian rights::
https://chng.it/8D4pkxPhWS
Please sign the petition and share widely.
Joy, maybe you should have a substack..I read you everywhere...that I read.
Thank you, Judith. I have had a few follow me on Substack, but I find I am more inspired these days to pivot off others' comments. So far, mostly positive responses.
When I want to do my own thing, I have a YouTube channel, very little is political about it. Mostly my encounters with African wildlife.
I feel the same way. I've had people "follow me". I think, Don't do that, I'm not, even with the push from substack, going to to start writing essays.
I'm grateful to those who do though. It educates many and gives us all a way to express our thoughts ...and anger! It's like being in classrooms, which I sorely miss.
Your encounters with African wildlife??
Link?
joyinhk3269 on YouTube
Hope you enjoy and leave a like and comment if you can, and let me know what you think.
While we still can:
DAWN has urged the ICC prosecutor to investigate and prosecute former President Biden, State Secretary Blinken and Defense Secretary Austin for their personal roles in aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Gaza as part of his ongoing investigation into the situations in Palestine since 2014.
https://dawnmena.org/latest/
Let’s give them our support. Maybe they will expand their complaint to include this latest US administration, and include all the leaders of the western nations supporting this genocide.
How does it feel to be in (what I thought was) wonderful Hong Kong...given that.... it.. lost.
The Constitution and Bill of Rights have long been a dead letter.
Now we are acknowledging openly what has long been manifest.
So accurate, thank you. The irony is layered like a parfait of brightly colored toxic waste.
What is the way to interrupt this madness? Where the hell are our so called leaders?
I am thinking about your book "Our Class"
Only the conditions in foreign prisons, or US prisons in the future, will be much, much worse.
Thank you, once again, Mr. Hedges, for telling it like it is.
In other writing of Mr. Hedges, he also shows how fascist regimes collapse, and the will of the people can be restored. A clear example he points out is the case of what used to be "East Germany," where, once those tasked with enforcing the crimes of the state, that is, the soldiers, could no longer shoot their own neighbors, the regime collapsed within 24 hours.
Hence the fear the fascists have expressed about anything they considered "woke." Once people wake up, Trump, Musk, et al should find a rock to hide under, if they can.
After living in Germany as a student and returning to the US, I came to the conclusion that fascism was possible in the US. It was our institutions that set us apart. With the destruction of those institutions all manner of injustice is possible.
I have always been depressed when reading his work. I never doubted his sincerity and truth telling. I disagreed with his condemnation of the state of Israel. This was in large part due to sympathy for an ethnic group pushed to extinction. Hoping for a two state solution was futile. Gaza is being ethnically cleansed and the West Bank is next.
Apologies Chris, I didn't want to believe all you have provided.
I’d rather be shot dead fighting against someone from ICE than get thrown in a camp; because I’d want to go out swinging on my terms
knowing things are going to get a lot worse and ugly for all of us. There really isn’t anything to “live and die for” if tyranny has us all waiting our turn to be picked in the next round. This is not a world I desire.