The murders of unarmed civilians on the streets of Minneapolis, including the killing today of the intensive-care nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti, would not come as a shock to Iraqis in Fallujah or Afghans in Helmand province.
Major adversaries that the empire cannot compete with. Regional powers that the empire cannot subdue. Allies that the empire starts to cannibalize. And finally the empire sheds the facade of democracy and an emperor emerges.
I would say that what we are witnessing is the end of the remaining pretense that America is anything other than an empire, as now it doesn't need to pretend anymore.
Aw geez, FF, but it was so much FUN pretending: "American exceptionalism" (which doesn't even carry the slightest HINT of "Master Race"); "All men are created equal", even though for, like, 250 years (and, of course, continuing to this very day), some just happened to be more equal than others; "Greatest country on Earth!" (viz., slavery; indigenous genocide; Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Abu Ghraib; ICE; etc.)
"These washed-up colonizers really thought they were wolves and not sheep dipped in blood. But, in truth, Europe was just a place for America to launder money and weapons through. Denmark folded in six hours in World War II and Canada just goes wherever the imperial banners are called, these are not real countries on their own. All of these countries have been occupied by America since World War II and only got to participate in further wars like a kid in the back of the car, tooting on a toy steering wheel while running poor Muslims over. Now they're confused that ‘Daddy’ is yelling at them, when they used to have so much fun killing pedestrians together. As NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte pathetically said about Trump, “Daddy has to sometimes use strong language.”"
Whew! Overall, I don't disagree with him about Carney. I can also understand his anger. I just think it's taken him to a place that will perpetuate the hate and violence Then again, I think that's going to be the ongoing story of humanity anyway.
The fools in charge have no clear perception of what they are actually doing, or of the depth of the dangers they foment.
They are so narcissistic, bloated with the spoils of rapacity and power, that they would destroy even the fig leafs of democracy and decency that they needed, and exploited, to rise to where they are.
The French, Russian and yes--let us not forget it--American Revolutions declared: NO KINGS! no taxation without representation! no occupation!
No clear perception of what they are doing? That is a very dangerous assumption. Nothing has changed in their behavior, not for centuries. This did not begin with WWII, or even with America, or Rousseau, and further beyond. This habitual behavior goes way back and needs to be recognized and accounted for in any actions forward.
You warned us year after year. Our “luxury of indifference” is paying itself forward. My white friend after stating how ‘frightened’ she was in the isolated Colo mtns, requested I “Please, stop. ❤️Small doses only. Today, I had to walk away, but I will be at the next protest.”…. After telling her I was watching live stream interviews on Substack. I’m convinced I’ll be friendless by the end of the month
I don’t understand how so many Americans could just stand by and not lift a finger to try to stop a genocide that our government is funding with our tax dollars. We have seen unfold the character of the majority of Israelis over the past two years and should have no trouble identifying a mass psychosis. But what about Americans who have no trouble looking away? What does that say about the American character. It’s a sickness. A sickness that has been normalized, and called “centrist.”
Nonetheless, the genocide in Gaza does not lessen the depravity of the government’s war on its own people and these recent killings. These deaths are not diminished by the past, as it is often the innocent who pay for the indifference of the many. Don’t mistake this for karma.
Our country was born upon genocide. We deny it to this day! And we conduct our policies around the world in support of genocide. Gaza is untouchable for 80 decades … we created it! If you’ve read Mr Hedges’s work you’d know this. Americans are idiots
"easily led as sheep or lemming." Ah, the inferior Other; never the few so certain of their own superiority. Akin to the Dem loyalists explaining the last election as "they're stupid." But how smart is it never to have noticed the suffering of us, the working class majority, over decades? How smart is it not to understand our deep anger over betrayal by a party once ours?
Instead, look at the 1999 coalition opposing the Dem approved WTO. As a famous sign said: "Turtles And Teamsters. Together At Last." A big We the People...
And BTW, sheep aren't stupid and lemmings don't jump off cliffs.
Ah, but you don’t understand. It’s so attractive to be counted as one of the superior. It starts by someone attacking the intelligence of other posters, divide and conquer the site. Appoint yourself to educate the ignorant, who needed to be told by Chris Hedges about the existence of genocide in America’s history. (We must have missed that issue). And remember, always ally with the authority figure against the rabble. You didn’t know that Kathy is Hedges’ publicist, did you. She needs to explain him to the dunces who would otherwise not get him. I’ve seen this happen on other sites. What was once a community becomes dominated by the self-anointed, who need to dominate. Never mind that others don’t need to be dominated. But, as someone else noted, that’s human nature, it happens in the workplace, in the family, in organizations. It’s not confined to Trumpworld. There are very special geniuses everywhere.
From 28 years a blue collar worker plus being BIPOC and LGBTQ, I'm all too familiar with smug upper-middle-class-white-man-splaining. (Plus the occasional umc-wf.) I love Chris Hedges for not only speaking truth to power, but also for his commitment to treating us lessers as capable of leading ourselves.
His Substack report has been an oasis. I agree with him upwards of 90% of the time and admire his integrity, his wisdom, his life-experiences and intellect. But there’s something messed up about sycophancy, regardless of the recipient. Not suggesting you do that. There’s a word for people who invoke and ally with authority figures to immunize their own words and actions from challenge, but I forgot what it is. Definitely relate to your blue collar roots.
I grew up a barn cat. Yeah, sheep are pretty stupid. And you never will hear me praise Team D. There's a reason that, with all their institutional advantages, they twice couldn't put up a candidate that could beat Donald Trump, and only barely wheezed out a victory in 2020.
Kathy, you didn’t ask me, but I would urge you to give some grace if you can find it. Your friend is freaked out because the empire has a powerful machine designed to freak people out. Don’t shun those who are essentially on your side simply for their weakness; we have actual enemies aplenty. I know just how you feel, but with age sometimes comes occasional wisdom, especially as we have all lost so many friends from 2016 and through the c19 era.
I’m starting to smell a psy-op, designed to split the leftish faction. Every where I look, people are yelling at others about “what about George Floyd! How come you didn’t listen to black people?’ And of course, being white, I can’t respond, because then I’d be a horrible person.
Then I think, ‘hold on, didn’t the entire DNC establishment pretend they were all #BLM? Weren’t there widespread protests and riots? Don’t I remember Pelosi, pretending she gave a fuck by kneeling in Kente cloth?’
So, all of a sudden, a part of the liberal class is banging on the leftish class because #BLM wasn’t a thing, and we only care if white people die? That’s not true. People did care. They turned up in droves. The issue won 2020 for Biden. It was the DNC who threw the issue away once they’d used it as a campaign issue.
The coordination of this whataboutism smells like astroturf. If some centrists or right-wingers are starting to come around now that the complexions have changed, I welcome them. What I don't want to have happen is to waste this momentum with liberals again attacking the left, who were ALWAYS on the right side of our carceral dystopia.
Spare me those who are lefter than thou, more enlightened than thee. It’s “weak” to be shocked by a response to genocide — or lack there of? Because we’re not resigned to it we’re ignorant of history? Oh wise ones, I believe the two of you are too fine for this site. Good grief.
Thanks for the explanation. Kathy, especially, introduced nastiness against others on the site, and you injected condescension — the first time I’ve seen it here. It diminished the discourse. This isn’t a competition. Some people need to feel superior. Fine — you’re both superior. Now can we move on?
Scroll up to the comment above about people as lemmings and sheep. It's "the Other," so unlike the superior few, right? An attitude which makes it rather difficult to form coalitions with us, the inferior majority working class. But then deferring to our betters, the Dem party neolibs and neocons, has worked so well for decades now.
Hedges warned us, year after year, in column after column and book after book, but he was ignored, vilified, and dismissed. The terror we unleashed on others in the world would never come home, so we kept expanding DHS and ICE and spending obscene sums on the Pentagon. It was only a matter of time and the right combination of circumstances, and now we see that our cruelty and arrogance has come home. DHS will never properly investigate its murders or be held accountable. We don't do accountability in this Home of the Cowardly.
Hell, Ron Paul was right about the so-called "Patriot Act " and that anyone who thought it never would be used on Americans was a fool.
Whenever you give government any power, ask yourself whether you would be comfortable with giving that power to your worst political enemy. Because sooner or later, they will have that power.
it grieves me that I helped to cause this. I had the opportunity to re-elect Jimmy Carter, with his unpopular message of lowered thermostats and self-sacrifice. Instead, I was seduced by Reagan’s trickle-down prosperity theology. And now we’re here.
Don’t take too much weight upon yourself. Carter was a deeply moral man, but it was his administration that began the deregulation process that became a crusade under Reagan. Carter, though, revealed something critical about America, something Reagan and subsequent administrations capitalized upon: sacrifice is for others, not for us. This was driven home after 9/11 (go shopping) and during Covid (hell no I won’t wear a mask).
Where are all the NRA gun cultists who rationalize arming themselves with military grade weaponry against a tyrannical government. Not that I support anyone arming themselves, but they sure seem silent let alone getting their butts out to support and protect their fellow citizens against a government gone full tyrannical. It turns out that was just a big fat lie and they are all cowards. Or more ironically they are the ones in ICE acting for the tyrannical government. Cowards and hypocrites. And the biggest irony is that Trump just declared that anyone carrying a gun legally is fair game to be killed by his ICE Gestapo. That means them in the heat of the moment. And mark my words, I have said for years now, that if anyone comes to take their guns away it will be Trump.
They (MAGA, NRA, etc) will be for it, until inevitably, it gets turned against them too - as it will. The ruling class has no allies - only useful idiots.
Yes, presumably all the NRA people and the back woods weekend militias all now have jobs with ICE. Can anyone track whether ICE staff numbers increase at weekends with part timers ?
and those same, some who toted guns to the michigan capitol to protest shut downs and masks, now support "public servants" who wear them to terrorize with impunity.
I’m not sure anything can be done at this point other than to fight the regime through economic means. We need to boycott ALL corporations on the stock market, not just select companies, and purchase our necessities from local, family owned businesses. Once Wall Street feels the impact, the politicians will be forced to listen.
It seems evident that Minneapolis is the proving ground for the tactics - including citing the Insurrection Act and declaring martial law. And another win-win for the Trump regime: there's been little mention of - what was his name? Oh yea, Epstein.
Violence is the language of empire and central to the American national character. America is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world and calls it "civilization". Lies too are a form of violence.
My apologies. I always thought it was "desserts" because the consequences of your actions come AFTER you've done them, the same way "desserts" come AFTER a meal!
Apparently, thanks to the interwebs, it looks like I'm not the only who's made that mistake/had that interpretation.
Well, as Trump et. sim. said about ICE: "We all make mistakes". Of course, my mistake leads to a (welcome) correction from the Hedges community; ICE's "mistakes" lead to the murder of innocent human beings.
Thanks for giving me a smile. I always interpreted it as deserts as "correct". But love your interpretation. It also makes sense. You're original not wrong! :-)
As the Romans warned: hodie mihi cras tibi (today it's me, tomorrow it will be you). In the past 842 days of genocide in Gaza I often wrote: if we don't oppose the genocide and the undermining of international law by the zionists USA and their supporters, if we don't support the Palestinians and their human rights, the day will come that they will do the same to us as well.
That day has come, in USA and Europe. It's only getting more extreme by the day. ICE in Minneapolisis is just an example.
Let the murder of two young protesters (a mother of 3, an intensive-care unit nurse), using their right to protest, be a warning to all of us. Hodie mihi cras tibi.
>> Fight for their rights = your rights. Use them or lose them. <<
Mr. Hedges’ reportage is always correct (not to mention terribly beautiful and poetic) in his analysis—because he does and has always done the work of studying primary documents, deep research & only then analysis … the purview of a true journalist.
For approximately 20 years he (usually freelance & alone but for a photographer) has literally and figuratively firmly put his own boots on the ground all over the globe wherever conflict was brewing (usually initiated & thus attributed correctly to the inevitable involvement of the CIA, MI6, Mossad, et. al.)
Firmly entrenched in the actual afflicted regions and armed not with firearms but with his ethical revulsion, unflinching morality, and a visceral desire for Truth, as an authentic war correspondent he did his homework as few did back then or now, learning the languages he needed to know to correctly assess the situation, understand local reporters & the people in such zones as South and Central (and now North) America, the Balkans, the utter ugly mess of the Serb/Croat “war region,”and of course in the Middle East. He consistently and to this day (via his interviews & personal essays) tackles Zionist insistence that Israel rule not only their own sovereign state but also Palestine as well as all of the Middle East & North Africa.
Of course, most of you know all this already. I simply had to say what I feel about Mr. Hedges, and as well to acknowledge & appreciate some others of his ilk — worthy comrades such as Max Blumenthal, Norman Finkelstein, & Noam Chomsky, among a few others. These folks do/did not fear socialism—they simply reveal facts—the truth.
We are basically doomed for hiding behind false tenets for so long, thereby upholding & continuing to mask the lies so conveniently dressing up the one-way ultra-capitalist Keynesian Department Store windows — which were never going to reveal a magical economic “trickle down effect” for the 99%.
I dare not even wish to hope for rescue—that would be dangerously
nostalgic, and the Nostoi, itself lost forever, is for mythical Epic heroes — not average citizens such as me.
How many times have we been warned by Chris Hedges and other independent journalists that this would happen? Nobody should be surprised. I remember thinking at the time the Patriot Act was passed that I would live to see the empire collapse (I’ll soon be 83).
Yes. I’m 77. The Patriot Act and the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security were certainly the beginning of the end. The US has been slouching in this direction all my adult life. My first vote against this direction was for George McGovern but Nixon won by a landslide. Any uprising against this paroxysm of evil will have to be accompanied by repentance for all the historical evil committed by Empire.
I’m shocked by how the Democrat congress doesn’t care about what’s happening. I guess Netanyahu’s paid them to get rid of the woke left. Chuck Schumer could totally care less about his constituents. Since he hasn’t done anything yet he is clearly not ever going to.
Liberal folk have no representation at all. Not Bernie, not AOC, no, just lip service.
Chris,I've followed your work for nearly ten years, and you've been warning us of this boomerang for most of that time. I guess that just as there are none so blind, there are none so deaf.
difficult to feel and say but Hedges is always refreshing for his clarity and fearless insight.....I've read/barely tolerated enough Taibbi lately/ugh to know how valued, crucial and rare these insights are and how much courage it takes to speak them .....
I've given a lot of thought to Taibbi and I also mostly just feel sad. Getting targeted by the FBI might make me feel chastened. Fearing for his wife, his kids? Just not quite willing to give up what comforts he has created? But yeah, his writing is very distorted. And you are right, Hedges--refreshing and fearless.
also Max Blumenthal/fearless and refreshing.....Taibbi told the Due Dissidence guys that he wasn't compromised but clearly he is no longer the journalist he once was.....I was sad, then I was angry...now I stopped subscribing as he has become irrelevant....also Walter is too annoying to watch.......
I rarely listen to him and Walter meander through their conversations. When I listen to Kirn's anecdotes, with often some name or location dropping, I just think, "Taibbi what are you doing with this self-aggrandizing dork?"
YES!.....Walter is so.....I have secret sources/I know people....so primitive and annoying.....and this in addition to their turn to the right (clearly now seen also in the kinds of commenters commenting)....UGH
Major adversaries that the empire cannot compete with. Regional powers that the empire cannot subdue. Allies that the empire starts to cannibalize. And finally the empire sheds the facade of democracy and an emperor emerges.
All signs of a declining empire.
I would say that what we are witnessing is the end of the remaining pretense that America is anything other than an empire, as now it doesn't need to pretend anymore.
Aw geez, FF, but it was so much FUN pretending: "American exceptionalism" (which doesn't even carry the slightest HINT of "Master Race"); "All men are created equal", even though for, like, 250 years (and, of course, continuing to this very day), some just happened to be more equal than others; "Greatest country on Earth!" (viz., slavery; indigenous genocide; Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Abu Ghraib; ICE; etc.)
Oh, very well then:
https://indi.ca/wolves-crying-wolf-canada-denmark-etc/
"These washed-up colonizers really thought they were wolves and not sheep dipped in blood. But, in truth, Europe was just a place for America to launder money and weapons through. Denmark folded in six hours in World War II and Canada just goes wherever the imperial banners are called, these are not real countries on their own. All of these countries have been occupied by America since World War II and only got to participate in further wars like a kid in the back of the car, tooting on a toy steering wheel while running poor Muslims over. Now they're confused that ‘Daddy’ is yelling at them, when they used to have so much fun killing pedestrians together. As NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte pathetically said about Trump, “Daddy has to sometimes use strong language.”"
And I thought Sarah Palin was the Queen of the Word Salad! Trump's got her beat by a mile!
"404 Error"
I fixored the link.
Whew! Overall, I don't disagree with him about Carney. I can also understand his anger. I just think it's taken him to a place that will perpetuate the hate and violence Then again, I think that's going to be the ongoing story of humanity anyway.
Sorry: couldn't open the link. Got the standard "404 Error"
I edited to insert a different link.
The fools in charge have no clear perception of what they are actually doing, or of the depth of the dangers they foment.
They are so narcissistic, bloated with the spoils of rapacity and power, that they would destroy even the fig leafs of democracy and decency that they needed, and exploited, to rise to where they are.
The French, Russian and yes--let us not forget it--American Revolutions declared: NO KINGS! no taxation without representation! no occupation!
No clear perception of what they are doing? That is a very dangerous assumption. Nothing has changed in their behavior, not for centuries. This did not begin with WWII, or even with America, or Rousseau, and further beyond. This habitual behavior goes way back and needs to be recognized and accounted for in any actions forward.
I meant, no clear conception of the resistance that may arise, as it should.
No dictator
The Great Unveiling of the rot at the core of this country....since its inception, the genocide, ethnic cleansing of Native Americans. MORAL ROT
You warned us year after year. Our “luxury of indifference” is paying itself forward. My white friend after stating how ‘frightened’ she was in the isolated Colo mtns, requested I “Please, stop. ❤️Small doses only. Today, I had to walk away, but I will be at the next protest.”…. After telling her I was watching live stream interviews on Substack. I’m convinced I’ll be friendless by the end of the month
I don’t understand how so many Americans could just stand by and not lift a finger to try to stop a genocide that our government is funding with our tax dollars. We have seen unfold the character of the majority of Israelis over the past two years and should have no trouble identifying a mass psychosis. But what about Americans who have no trouble looking away? What does that say about the American character. It’s a sickness. A sickness that has been normalized, and called “centrist.”
Nonetheless, the genocide in Gaza does not lessen the depravity of the government’s war on its own people and these recent killings. These deaths are not diminished by the past, as it is often the innocent who pay for the indifference of the many. Don’t mistake this for karma.
Our country was born upon genocide. We deny it to this day! And we conduct our policies around the world in support of genocide. Gaza is untouchable for 80 decades … we created it! If you’ve read Mr Hedges’s work you’d know this. Americans are idiots
"But what about Americans who have no trouble looking away? What does that say about the American character. It’s a sickness."
The problem is humans are herd animals as easily led as any sheep or lemming.
"easily led as sheep or lemming." Ah, the inferior Other; never the few so certain of their own superiority. Akin to the Dem loyalists explaining the last election as "they're stupid." But how smart is it never to have noticed the suffering of us, the working class majority, over decades? How smart is it not to understand our deep anger over betrayal by a party once ours?
Instead, look at the 1999 coalition opposing the Dem approved WTO. As a famous sign said: "Turtles And Teamsters. Together At Last." A big We the People...
And BTW, sheep aren't stupid and lemmings don't jump off cliffs.
Ah, but you don’t understand. It’s so attractive to be counted as one of the superior. It starts by someone attacking the intelligence of other posters, divide and conquer the site. Appoint yourself to educate the ignorant, who needed to be told by Chris Hedges about the existence of genocide in America’s history. (We must have missed that issue). And remember, always ally with the authority figure against the rabble. You didn’t know that Kathy is Hedges’ publicist, did you. She needs to explain him to the dunces who would otherwise not get him. I’ve seen this happen on other sites. What was once a community becomes dominated by the self-anointed, who need to dominate. Never mind that others don’t need to be dominated. But, as someone else noted, that’s human nature, it happens in the workplace, in the family, in organizations. It’s not confined to Trumpworld. There are very special geniuses everywhere.
From 28 years a blue collar worker plus being BIPOC and LGBTQ, I'm all too familiar with smug upper-middle-class-white-man-splaining. (Plus the occasional umc-wf.) I love Chris Hedges for not only speaking truth to power, but also for his commitment to treating us lessers as capable of leading ourselves.
His Substack report has been an oasis. I agree with him upwards of 90% of the time and admire his integrity, his wisdom, his life-experiences and intellect. But there’s something messed up about sycophancy, regardless of the recipient. Not suggesting you do that. There’s a word for people who invoke and ally with authority figures to immunize their own words and actions from challenge, but I forgot what it is. Definitely relate to your blue collar roots.
I grew up a barn cat. Yeah, sheep are pretty stupid. And you never will hear me praise Team D. There's a reason that, with all their institutional advantages, they twice couldn't put up a candidate that could beat Donald Trump, and only barely wheezed out a victory in 2020.
Kathy, you didn’t ask me, but I would urge you to give some grace if you can find it. Your friend is freaked out because the empire has a powerful machine designed to freak people out. Don’t shun those who are essentially on your side simply for their weakness; we have actual enemies aplenty. I know just how you feel, but with age sometimes comes occasional wisdom, especially as we have all lost so many friends from 2016 and through the c19 era.
And I kinda feel that’s by design too.
I’m starting to smell a psy-op, designed to split the leftish faction. Every where I look, people are yelling at others about “what about George Floyd! How come you didn’t listen to black people?’ And of course, being white, I can’t respond, because then I’d be a horrible person.
Then I think, ‘hold on, didn’t the entire DNC establishment pretend they were all #BLM? Weren’t there widespread protests and riots? Don’t I remember Pelosi, pretending she gave a fuck by kneeling in Kente cloth?’
So, all of a sudden, a part of the liberal class is banging on the leftish class because #BLM wasn’t a thing, and we only care if white people die? That’s not true. People did care. They turned up in droves. The issue won 2020 for Biden. It was the DNC who threw the issue away once they’d used it as a campaign issue.
The coordination of this whataboutism smells like astroturf. If some centrists or right-wingers are starting to come around now that the complexions have changed, I welcome them. What I don't want to have happen is to waste this momentum with liberals again attacking the left, who were ALWAYS on the right side of our carceral dystopia.
By design. You are correct. Eyes open!
Spare me those who are lefter than thou, more enlightened than thee. It’s “weak” to be shocked by a response to genocide — or lack there of? Because we’re not resigned to it we’re ignorant of history? Oh wise ones, I believe the two of you are too fine for this site. Good grief.
🙄🙄🙄. Hello kettle. Grow up is my message.
And I’m gonna give you some grace too.
I haven’t slept well for three years now, It makes me bitchy.
Thanks for the explanation. Kathy, especially, introduced nastiness against others on the site, and you injected condescension — the first time I’ve seen it here. It diminished the discourse. This isn’t a competition. Some people need to feel superior. Fine — you’re both superior. Now can we move on?
Scroll up to the comment above about people as lemmings and sheep. It's "the Other," so unlike the superior few, right? An attitude which makes it rather difficult to form coalitions with us, the inferior majority working class. But then deferring to our betters, the Dem party neolibs and neocons, has worked so well for decades now.
https://substack.com/@drstaceypatton1865/note/c-204923303?r=khorh&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
https://substack.com/@drstaceypatton1865/note/c-204923303?r=khorh&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Hedges warned us, year after year, in column after column and book after book, but he was ignored, vilified, and dismissed. The terror we unleashed on others in the world would never come home, so we kept expanding DHS and ICE and spending obscene sums on the Pentagon. It was only a matter of time and the right combination of circumstances, and now we see that our cruelty and arrogance has come home. DHS will never properly investigate its murders or be held accountable. We don't do accountability in this Home of the Cowardly.
Hell, Ron Paul was right about the so-called "Patriot Act " and that anyone who thought it never would be used on Americans was a fool.
Whenever you give government any power, ask yourself whether you would be comfortable with giving that power to your worst political enemy. Because sooner or later, they will have that power.
it grieves me that I helped to cause this. I had the opportunity to re-elect Jimmy Carter, with his unpopular message of lowered thermostats and self-sacrifice. Instead, I was seduced by Reagan’s trickle-down prosperity theology. And now we’re here.
Don’t take too much weight upon yourself. Carter was a deeply moral man, but it was his administration that began the deregulation process that became a crusade under Reagan. Carter, though, revealed something critical about America, something Reagan and subsequent administrations capitalized upon: sacrifice is for others, not for us. This was driven home after 9/11 (go shopping) and during Covid (hell no I won’t wear a mask).
Where are all the NRA gun cultists who rationalize arming themselves with military grade weaponry against a tyrannical government. Not that I support anyone arming themselves, but they sure seem silent let alone getting their butts out to support and protect their fellow citizens against a government gone full tyrannical. It turns out that was just a big fat lie and they are all cowards. Or more ironically they are the ones in ICE acting for the tyrannical government. Cowards and hypocrites. And the biggest irony is that Trump just declared that anyone carrying a gun legally is fair game to be killed by his ICE Gestapo. That means them in the heat of the moment. And mark my words, I have said for years now, that if anyone comes to take their guns away it will be Trump.
They're all for rhe crackdown. Those against it, are, for the most part, not the fighting types.
They (MAGA, NRA, etc) will be for it, until inevitably, it gets turned against them too - as it will. The ruling class has no allies - only useful idiots.
you nailed it
all those years i thought you all kept guns for exactly what’s happening now…
cowardice seems to rule now.
Yes, presumably all the NRA people and the back woods weekend militias all now have jobs with ICE. Can anyone track whether ICE staff numbers increase at weekends with part timers ?
and those same, some who toted guns to the michigan capitol to protest shut downs and masks, now support "public servants" who wear them to terrorize with impunity.
the hypocracy is stunning.
the fascist reality is not
The facade has been completely lifted.
I’m not sure anything can be done at this point other than to fight the regime through economic means. We need to boycott ALL corporations on the stock market, not just select companies, and purchase our necessities from local, family owned businesses. Once Wall Street feels the impact, the politicians will be forced to listen.
The point is to provoke a response and thus an excuse for a military crackdown.
If ICE does not get the response it seeks, then it keeps killing innocents until it does.
Win-win from the totalitarian perspective.
It seems evident that Minneapolis is the proving ground for the tactics - including citing the Insurrection Act and declaring martial law. And another win-win for the Trump regime: there's been little mention of - what was his name? Oh yea, Epstein.
Violence is the language of empire and central to the American national character. America is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world and calls it "civilization". Lies too are a form of violence.
Sadly, you are correct. These are our just deserts.
or "desserts"
That was my original choice but when I looked it up on line, Wikipedia seemed to indicate it was “just deserts”. That surprised me.
"Deserts" as in "deserving".
Cats don't taste sweet, and thus we have no use for dessert. This makes it easier for us to grasp this idiom.
My apologies. I always thought it was "desserts" because the consequences of your actions come AFTER you've done them, the same way "desserts" come AFTER a meal!
Apparently, thanks to the interwebs, it looks like I'm not the only who's made that mistake/had that interpretation.
Well, as Trump et. sim. said about ICE: "We all make mistakes". Of course, my mistake leads to a (welcome) correction from the Hedges community; ICE's "mistakes" lead to the murder of innocent human beings.
Thanks for giving me a smile. I always interpreted it as deserts as "correct". But love your interpretation. It also makes sense. You're original not wrong! :-)
As the Romans warned: hodie mihi cras tibi (today it's me, tomorrow it will be you). In the past 842 days of genocide in Gaza I often wrote: if we don't oppose the genocide and the undermining of international law by the zionists USA and their supporters, if we don't support the Palestinians and their human rights, the day will come that they will do the same to us as well.
That day has come, in USA and Europe. It's only getting more extreme by the day. ICE in Minneapolisis is just an example.
Let the murder of two young protesters (a mother of 3, an intensive-care unit nurse), using their right to protest, be a warning to all of us. Hodie mihi cras tibi.
>> Fight for their rights = your rights. Use them or lose them. <<
Mr. Hedges’ reportage is always correct (not to mention terribly beautiful and poetic) in his analysis—because he does and has always done the work of studying primary documents, deep research & only then analysis … the purview of a true journalist.
For approximately 20 years he (usually freelance & alone but for a photographer) has literally and figuratively firmly put his own boots on the ground all over the globe wherever conflict was brewing (usually initiated & thus attributed correctly to the inevitable involvement of the CIA, MI6, Mossad, et. al.)
Firmly entrenched in the actual afflicted regions and armed not with firearms but with his ethical revulsion, unflinching morality, and a visceral desire for Truth, as an authentic war correspondent he did his homework as few did back then or now, learning the languages he needed to know to correctly assess the situation, understand local reporters & the people in such zones as South and Central (and now North) America, the Balkans, the utter ugly mess of the Serb/Croat “war region,”and of course in the Middle East. He consistently and to this day (via his interviews & personal essays) tackles Zionist insistence that Israel rule not only their own sovereign state but also Palestine as well as all of the Middle East & North Africa.
Of course, most of you know all this already. I simply had to say what I feel about Mr. Hedges, and as well to acknowledge & appreciate some others of his ilk — worthy comrades such as Max Blumenthal, Norman Finkelstein, & Noam Chomsky, among a few others. These folks do/did not fear socialism—they simply reveal facts—the truth.
We are basically doomed for hiding behind false tenets for so long, thereby upholding & continuing to mask the lies so conveniently dressing up the one-way ultra-capitalist Keynesian Department Store windows — which were never going to reveal a magical economic “trickle down effect” for the 99%.
I dare not even wish to hope for rescue—that would be dangerously
nostalgic, and the Nostoi, itself lost forever, is for mythical Epic heroes — not average citizens such as me.
Thanks for listening.
How many times have we been warned by Chris Hedges and other independent journalists that this would happen? Nobody should be surprised. I remember thinking at the time the Patriot Act was passed that I would live to see the empire collapse (I’ll soon be 83).
Yes. I’m 77. The Patriot Act and the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security were certainly the beginning of the end. The US has been slouching in this direction all my adult life. My first vote against this direction was for George McGovern but Nixon won by a landslide. Any uprising against this paroxysm of evil will have to be accompanied by repentance for all the historical evil committed by Empire.
I’m glad I’m old, but I constantly worry about the future my two little great nieces face. And they’re among the lucky ones.
I’m shocked by how the Democrat congress doesn’t care about what’s happening. I guess Netanyahu’s paid them to get rid of the woke left. Chuck Schumer could totally care less about his constituents. Since he hasn’t done anything yet he is clearly not ever going to.
Liberal folk have no representation at all. Not Bernie, not AOC, no, just lip service.
There are a few - Jaymie Raskin for one. Jayapal for another. Oregon's Merkely's decent.
All too true, though the successful cooperative effort to pass legislation ordering the release of the Epstein files is/was encouraging.
What a great concise essay!
We have been complacent and complicit for years. The chickens are now coming home to roost.
Yes, but not before they’ve been armed and trained in oppressive nastiness by Israel
Chris,I've followed your work for nearly ten years, and you've been warning us of this boomerang for most of that time. I guess that just as there are none so blind, there are none so deaf.
Case in point, the cease fire in Gaza that never ceased to fire
difficult to feel and say but Hedges is always refreshing for his clarity and fearless insight.....I've read/barely tolerated enough Taibbi lately/ugh to know how valued, crucial and rare these insights are and how much courage it takes to speak them .....
I've given a lot of thought to Taibbi and I also mostly just feel sad. Getting targeted by the FBI might make me feel chastened. Fearing for his wife, his kids? Just not quite willing to give up what comforts he has created? But yeah, his writing is very distorted. And you are right, Hedges--refreshing and fearless.
also Max Blumenthal/fearless and refreshing.....Taibbi told the Due Dissidence guys that he wasn't compromised but clearly he is no longer the journalist he once was.....I was sad, then I was angry...now I stopped subscribing as he has become irrelevant....also Walter is too annoying to watch.......
I rarely listen to him and Walter meander through their conversations. When I listen to Kirn's anecdotes, with often some name or location dropping, I just think, "Taibbi what are you doing with this self-aggrandizing dork?"
YES!.....Walter is so.....I have secret sources/I know people....so primitive and annoying.....and this in addition to their turn to the right (clearly now seen also in the kinds of commenters commenting)....UGH