The Democratic Party had one last chance to implement the kind of New Deal Reforms that could save us from another Trump presidency and Christian fascism. It failed.
Like so many blame Nader for Bush v Gore, Democrats use Trump/MAGA as an excuse. Gore and Clinton lost the election because of their policies. They drove working class people into the Republican's camp. Democrats had a window of opportunity to improve the situation in the past three years but. as usual, they fell well short. "Missed opportunity" should be the Democrat's campaign slogan.
Indeed, Biden's presidency has failed to rise to the historical moment. I generally agree with Hedges’ analysis, though I’d quibble over whether fascism is inevitable (as he suggests) or whether it has instead already been firmly established. As I wrote recently, bipartisan support for genocide indicates that fears of a fascist future charitably overlook the present, as well as the past. https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/fears-of-a-fascist-future-overlook
Disappointed in this piece ... but before I share my thoughts, may I say that I'm an independent progressive just as Hedges once was, and someone who believes that Trump is a complete horse's-ass of a human being ... Trump actually tried to cancel food stamp benefits for 700k recipients in the early stages of the pandemic ...
Hedges abandoned the U.S. working class and the Constitution in an AUG 27, 2021 interview with Jimmy Dore and he's now been brazenly hiding behind Gaza for the past 5 months ... So his half-hearted "return to America" here was very predictable, especially his trademark decision to leave us all hangin' with no hope ...
Recounting the failures of this administration doesn't do us a bit of good ... somebody please tell St. Chris he did not tell us anything here we didn't already know ... we are the people who bought his books, attended the his public signings, gave him a THUMBS UP and always commented accordingly ... and we deserve much, much more from this once good man ...
Chris Hedges is deliberately misdirecting our attention here ...
------------------
DIVISIVENESS
Hedges is deceptively divisive and he obviously has no problem with it ... rather than comment on the ominous threats posed to our freedoms by the WEF and the WHO, he would have us believe the problem is TRUMP-MAGA ... just listen to the extremely divisive, out-of-context comment he makes here in his otherwise terrific AMERICAN SADISM speech ... listen as he blames the MSM for splitting us into "warring factions" and then demeans those of us who question the motives and tactics of our elected officials as "members of the lunatic fringe and conspiracy theorists" ...
Start at the 43:10 mark and then listen very closely to him at the 44:32 mark:
Many times, Hedges has been quick to point out the problems of our binary reaction to political reporting but once again, he chooses to deftly demonize and conflate law-abiding Christians with fringe MAGA types ...
I happen to believe that 9/11 was an inside job ... so does that make me a member of his lunatic fringe? ... well guess what, Hedges has actually admitted as much ... after a 2014 speech he was asked to comment on 9/11 and insulted our collective intelligence by saying "I don't want to get into conspiracy theories, Bush was probably just asleep at the wheel" ...
Hedges' words do not empower us, his pessimism demoralizes us ...
Here's a few more head-scratching comments that have taken on new meaning since the March 2020 lock downs:
------------------
ON THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
He says all the right things here:
“We cannot be paralyzed by fear. We will be stripped, if we do not resist, of our few remaining rights. To resist, while there is still time, is not only the highest form of spirituality but the highest form of patriotism. It is, if you care about what is worth protecting in this country, a moral imperative."
And on another occasion: "The Constitution remains a sacred document."
------------------
ON THE MANDATES & PASSPORTS
But then, after the lock downs ...
He threw us AND the Constitution under the bus with COVID in an interview with Jimmy Dore ... just watch him dance to avoid a direct answer when asked about the illegal and unconstitutional mandates and passports before sheepishly blowing it off by saying: "that was a decision that I made."
Jimmy: “I’d like to get your thoughts on the vaccine mandates and passports”:
Hedges: “So I got the vaccine … the fact is these things were rolled out without proper vetting, that’s real … but I understand how people are weary about it, because they were turbo-charged … but that was a decision I made to get it … I am quite certain, in the history of pharmaceuticals that they work very hard to bury the negative consequences … that was a decision that I made”
And on USEFUL IDIOTS on SEP 21, 2021
Go to the 1:50 mark ...
Another less-than-passionate, half-hearted response ...
The FDA was compelled by a court ruling to release Phizer's vax trial data that revealed 1,223 post-jab deaths and 34,762 adverse events in the first 10 weeks of its trial ... The FDA attempted to delay the full release of this data for 75 years! ...
This proved that the COVID vax was not "safe & effective"!
"I don't think we're going to stop the pandemic and mutations until everybody gets vaccinated" ...
Chris Hedges DID NOT have to take sides on this issue ... He could have said it's a personal decision, but no ... most people would never tell another person to "walk the plank" if they knew better, but that's exactly what Hedges did here ... he knew the VAX was rushed to market after only one year (the average is 10 years), he knew about the explosive FDA FOIA release and he had to have seen the many videos of vax-injured people ... but he chose to push the "safe & effective" narrative on us anyway! ... and then about 2m after making that same comment during the interview above, Hedges rubbed our nose in it by openly admitting that he "does not trust Moderna or Phizer" ... livelihoods and lives can hang in the balance of reckless, irresponsible comments like this but clearly, this man did not give a hoot about the consequences.
Of course, Hedges is free to write about any topic he chooses ... but although the 2024 PRES election is 8 months away, we've only got 2 months to stop the WHO from implementing those scary amendments to the pandemic treaty ...
But Hedges won't go there ... ya see, it's just too risky, he's cutting too close to the bone ... this has become his post-pandemic trademark ...
Read about James Roguski and the WHO here on Substack ... Hedges should be front and center on this issue.
ummm...let me think...I can blame them! 50 years of REPUBLICAN economic policy that has harmed the electoral demographic that is the focus of this article, including tax cuts for corporations, corporate "personhood", deregulation...has seen as much as 50 trillion dollars flow upward to the uber wealthy and away from this aggrieved middle and working class. And how do they respond to this? By continuing to vote Republican. Now, not content to merely vote Republican, they have abandoned whatever moral compass they may have once had to support a rapist wanna-be dictator willin to collapse this country into chaos and violence. It is a disgrace. And your article blames the Democratic party because it has somehow "failed" to fully counteract Republican destruction. No mention of the fact that that Republicans vote 50-0 in the Senate AGAINST reforms that would help the working and middle class. The Democrats vote 50-0 (and suffered because of Manchin and Synema.) Mitch McConnell openly declared that he wanted to use the filibuster to block any and all legislation the Democratic party would try and put through during the Obama administration. But somehow this is all the Democrats fault. What a joke this article is so far off the mark.
Do we not want the deep state? Don’t many of us want a theocratic monoculture? A Harvard class full of Atheists is a theocratic monoculture. A legal system that changes hue entirely when you are rich is a deep state oasis. A culture that swears it is a vibrant democracy that generates wealth inequality that’d make Croesus blush did not happen by way of legislation. If the “government” is in thrall to corporations what are we? Not in thrall to corporations? Brave mavericks refusing big paychecks not related to what we produce, at all, but the number of people “under us” in the work place. How democratic would a real democracy be in a culture that fetishizes distrust of government? Skepticism sure, even dissent though the flies collect when one suggests the Genocide Joe has crossed my red line. 19% of wealth is compensation for the deeds performed that we call work. The wealthier the slimmer the percentage. Still it is the apex aspiration of most of us, the measure of success. Enough is not enough. If it were most of these problems would evaporate. “It is not in our czars, dear Brutus, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Same comment as I wrote on the written piece. Does Chris know any Trump voters? I know many and NONE are Christian fascists! On the contrary they want more freedom for themselves and everyone else. They dont want the government getting into peoples private lives. Yes, some of them are okay with abortion bans, although most that I know think 6 weeks is way too early. They would feel more comfortable with 15 weeks or later, which would be similar to what European countries have in practice. Most Trump voters I know dont care much about abortion either way. And speaking of bodily autonomy, most Trump voters thought that covid vaccine mandates were wrong and. authoritarian. Fascist, one might say.... And let me finish by saying is that I do not like Trump and would only vote for him with great reluctance if the only other viable choice is Joe Biden, who is truly authoritarian ( fascist, one might say).
Ronald Reagan, a Republican, gutted regulatory agencies and social services, not the Democrats, although by now the Democrats are completing his work on American society.
Confirmation. Every homeless person I see confirms this. I can not avoid seeing people begging on many street corners in Oklahoma City. It is a painful reality.
A “temporary” pear US is building in Gaza is -- to export intentionally starved and utterly desperate Palestinians to, perhaps St. Helena or northern Pakistan – but out of Palestine. A Nakba-2 horror.
The ones who remain will – die, according to Nazi-dominated Israeli government.
US-Israel cabal is implementing Hitler’s “Final Solution” – we are watching it in real time on TV.
GENOCIDE DEFINES THE BOTTOM OF ALL HUMAN POWER OR MONEY, WHILE TRILLIONAIRE'S DEFINE AND RULE BY THE ARROGANT AND SELF-APPOINTED "MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE"
FEB/MAR 2024 FORBES COVER STORY -- BLACKSTONE'S CROWN PRINCE BY JONATHAN GRAY:
"THIS WILL BE A GLOBAL
PHENOMENON.
IT'S GONNA HAPPEN
HERE. IT'S GONNA
HAPPEN EVERYWHERE"
BOLD TITLE:
REMASTERING
THE UNIVERSE
THE NEW ERA OF PRIVATE EQUITY IS HERE:
NEVER ENDING, INDIVIDUAL FRIENDLY FUNDS.
BLACKSTONE SEES AN $80 TRILLION OPPORTUNITY.
IMHO, if this shit is literally believed by such insane money megalomaniacs --- God save the World if they actually rule the coming Global EMPIRE!
I am not sure based on what exactly thinks that a Trump presidency would be worse than the disaster we are in, brought to you by Pfizer, Genocide Joe and the Deep State? How exactly could it get worse? The Dems did to Trump what they said that he would do to them, dragged him through courts and I am almost sure they will try to Epstein him...
How can a Trump second term be worse than the worst presidency in the history of US - period?
I am FAR MORE terrified of a Demented Joe second term; chances are it will go nuclear.
As many others, Mr. Hedges suffers from Trump derangement syndrome; please get over it...
It’s all about the deep state now
The parties are irrelevant except as a way to preen and put on a show
Tyrannical systems use parties either single or multi as a facade
It’s beautiful evil how America was captured by bureaucrats
And we have to pay for it as tax slaves and wage slaves
Cool
Like so many blame Nader for Bush v Gore, Democrats use Trump/MAGA as an excuse. Gore and Clinton lost the election because of their policies. They drove working class people into the Republican's camp. Democrats had a window of opportunity to improve the situation in the past three years but. as usual, they fell well short. "Missed opportunity" should be the Democrat's campaign slogan.
Indeed, Biden's presidency has failed to rise to the historical moment. I generally agree with Hedges’ analysis, though I’d quibble over whether fascism is inevitable (as he suggests) or whether it has instead already been firmly established. As I wrote recently, bipartisan support for genocide indicates that fears of a fascist future charitably overlook the present, as well as the past. https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/fears-of-a-fascist-future-overlook
HEDGES IS DIVISIVE! ...
Disappointed in this piece ... but before I share my thoughts, may I say that I'm an independent progressive just as Hedges once was, and someone who believes that Trump is a complete horse's-ass of a human being ... Trump actually tried to cancel food stamp benefits for 700k recipients in the early stages of the pandemic ...
Hedges abandoned the U.S. working class and the Constitution in an AUG 27, 2021 interview with Jimmy Dore and he's now been brazenly hiding behind Gaza for the past 5 months ... So his half-hearted "return to America" here was very predictable, especially his trademark decision to leave us all hangin' with no hope ...
Recounting the failures of this administration doesn't do us a bit of good ... somebody please tell St. Chris he did not tell us anything here we didn't already know ... we are the people who bought his books, attended the his public signings, gave him a THUMBS UP and always commented accordingly ... and we deserve much, much more from this once good man ...
Chris Hedges is deliberately misdirecting our attention here ...
------------------
DIVISIVENESS
Hedges is deceptively divisive and he obviously has no problem with it ... rather than comment on the ominous threats posed to our freedoms by the WEF and the WHO, he would have us believe the problem is TRUMP-MAGA ... just listen to the extremely divisive, out-of-context comment he makes here in his otherwise terrific AMERICAN SADISM speech ... listen as he blames the MSM for splitting us into "warring factions" and then demeans those of us who question the motives and tactics of our elected officials as "members of the lunatic fringe and conspiracy theorists" ...
Start at the 43:10 mark and then listen very closely to him at the 44:32 mark:
https://scheerpost.com/2021/06/29/chris-hedges-speaks-on-american-sadism/
Many times, Hedges has been quick to point out the problems of our binary reaction to political reporting but once again, he chooses to deftly demonize and conflate law-abiding Christians with fringe MAGA types ...
I happen to believe that 9/11 was an inside job ... so does that make me a member of his lunatic fringe? ... well guess what, Hedges has actually admitted as much ... after a 2014 speech he was asked to comment on 9/11 and insulted our collective intelligence by saying "I don't want to get into conspiracy theories, Bush was probably just asleep at the wheel" ...
Hedges' words do not empower us, his pessimism demoralizes us ...
Here's a few more head-scratching comments that have taken on new meaning since the March 2020 lock downs:
------------------
ON THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
He says all the right things here:
“We cannot be paralyzed by fear. We will be stripped, if we do not resist, of our few remaining rights. To resist, while there is still time, is not only the highest form of spirituality but the highest form of patriotism. It is, if you care about what is worth protecting in this country, a moral imperative."
And on another occasion: "The Constitution remains a sacred document."
------------------
ON THE MANDATES & PASSPORTS
But then, after the lock downs ...
He threw us AND the Constitution under the bus with COVID in an interview with Jimmy Dore ... just watch him dance to avoid a direct answer when asked about the illegal and unconstitutional mandates and passports before sheepishly blowing it off by saying: "that was a decision that I made."
AUG 27, 2021 ...
Go to the 8:12 mark ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NusQH0pnX7Y&t=509s
Jimmy: “I’d like to get your thoughts on the vaccine mandates and passports”:
Hedges: “So I got the vaccine … the fact is these things were rolled out without proper vetting, that’s real … but I understand how people are weary about it, because they were turbo-charged … but that was a decision I made to get it … I am quite certain, in the history of pharmaceuticals that they work very hard to bury the negative consequences … that was a decision that I made”
And on USEFUL IDIOTS on SEP 21, 2021
Go to the 1:50 mark ...
Another less-than-passionate, half-hearted response ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7ZGT8raQS8
“It’s a hard question, I guess”
------------------
ON THE COVID VAX
On DEC 2, 2021 ...
The FDA was compelled by a court ruling to release Phizer's vax trial data that revealed 1,223 post-jab deaths and 34,762 adverse events in the first 10 weeks of its trial ... The FDA attempted to delay the full release of this data for 75 years! ...
This proved that the COVID vax was not "safe & effective"!
https://yandex.com/search/?text=FDA+FOIA+release+1223+deaths+phizer+covid+vaccine+december+2%2C+2021&lr=21504&search_source=yacom_desktop_common
But then, just 30 days later ...
On JAN 1, 2022 ...
Chris Hedges made this comment on the Krystal Kyle & Friends Podcast (Episode #54):
Go to the 1:08:47 mark:
https://krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/p/episode-54-audio-chris-hedges#details
"I don't think we're going to stop the pandemic and mutations until everybody gets vaccinated" ...
Chris Hedges DID NOT have to take sides on this issue ... He could have said it's a personal decision, but no ... most people would never tell another person to "walk the plank" if they knew better, but that's exactly what Hedges did here ... he knew the VAX was rushed to market after only one year (the average is 10 years), he knew about the explosive FDA FOIA release and he had to have seen the many videos of vax-injured people ... but he chose to push the "safe & effective" narrative on us anyway! ... and then about 2m after making that same comment during the interview above, Hedges rubbed our nose in it by openly admitting that he "does not trust Moderna or Phizer" ... livelihoods and lives can hang in the balance of reckless, irresponsible comments like this but clearly, this man did not give a hoot about the consequences.
Of course, Hedges is free to write about any topic he chooses ... but although the 2024 PRES election is 8 months away, we've only got 2 months to stop the WHO from implementing those scary amendments to the pandemic treaty ...
But Hedges won't go there ... ya see, it's just too risky, he's cutting too close to the bone ... this has become his post-pandemic trademark ...
Read about James Roguski and the WHO here on Substack ... Hedges should be front and center on this issue.
Thank you for a neutral perspective trajectory displaying variables from the past..that impacted today… and what dictatorial dystopia will be.
This is very thought provoking and what big corporations bully intent is.
I fear the Canadian government will skip merrily along behind them. Canada stands for nothing now.
ummm...let me think...I can blame them! 50 years of REPUBLICAN economic policy that has harmed the electoral demographic that is the focus of this article, including tax cuts for corporations, corporate "personhood", deregulation...has seen as much as 50 trillion dollars flow upward to the uber wealthy and away from this aggrieved middle and working class. And how do they respond to this? By continuing to vote Republican. Now, not content to merely vote Republican, they have abandoned whatever moral compass they may have once had to support a rapist wanna-be dictator willin to collapse this country into chaos and violence. It is a disgrace. And your article blames the Democratic party because it has somehow "failed" to fully counteract Republican destruction. No mention of the fact that that Republicans vote 50-0 in the Senate AGAINST reforms that would help the working and middle class. The Democrats vote 50-0 (and suffered because of Manchin and Synema.) Mitch McConnell openly declared that he wanted to use the filibuster to block any and all legislation the Democratic party would try and put through during the Obama administration. But somehow this is all the Democrats fault. What a joke this article is so far off the mark.
Do we not want the deep state? Don’t many of us want a theocratic monoculture? A Harvard class full of Atheists is a theocratic monoculture. A legal system that changes hue entirely when you are rich is a deep state oasis. A culture that swears it is a vibrant democracy that generates wealth inequality that’d make Croesus blush did not happen by way of legislation. If the “government” is in thrall to corporations what are we? Not in thrall to corporations? Brave mavericks refusing big paychecks not related to what we produce, at all, but the number of people “under us” in the work place. How democratic would a real democracy be in a culture that fetishizes distrust of government? Skepticism sure, even dissent though the flies collect when one suggests the Genocide Joe has crossed my red line. 19% of wealth is compensation for the deeds performed that we call work. The wealthier the slimmer the percentage. Still it is the apex aspiration of most of us, the measure of success. Enough is not enough. If it were most of these problems would evaporate. “It is not in our czars, dear Brutus, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Same comment as I wrote on the written piece. Does Chris know any Trump voters? I know many and NONE are Christian fascists! On the contrary they want more freedom for themselves and everyone else. They dont want the government getting into peoples private lives. Yes, some of them are okay with abortion bans, although most that I know think 6 weeks is way too early. They would feel more comfortable with 15 weeks or later, which would be similar to what European countries have in practice. Most Trump voters I know dont care much about abortion either way. And speaking of bodily autonomy, most Trump voters thought that covid vaccine mandates were wrong and. authoritarian. Fascist, one might say.... And let me finish by saying is that I do not like Trump and would only vote for him with great reluctance if the only other viable choice is Joe Biden, who is truly authoritarian ( fascist, one might say).
Ronald Reagan, a Republican, gutted regulatory agencies and social services, not the Democrats, although by now the Democrats are completing his work on American society.
Confirmation. Every homeless person I see confirms this. I can not avoid seeing people begging on many street corners in Oklahoma City. It is a painful reality.
I think eventually everyone should learn that for years Americans lived 'the life' and didn't know anything about politics and didn't vote.
For a Democracy to have such a dismal voting record is egregious.
Think about it – A Genocide in YOUR Name !!
A “temporary” pear US is building in Gaza is -- to export intentionally starved and utterly desperate Palestinians to, perhaps St. Helena or northern Pakistan – but out of Palestine. A Nakba-2 horror.
The ones who remain will – die, according to Nazi-dominated Israeli government.
US-Israel cabal is implementing Hitler’s “Final Solution” – we are watching it in real time on TV.
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/israels-trojan-horse-read-by-eunice?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
TRILLIONAIRE'S
LIES & LOOTING
GLOBAL EMPIRE
INEQUALITY
GENOCIDE DEFINES THE BOTTOM OF ALL HUMAN POWER OR MONEY, WHILE TRILLIONAIRE'S DEFINE AND RULE BY THE ARROGANT AND SELF-APPOINTED "MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE"
FEB/MAR 2024 FORBES COVER STORY -- BLACKSTONE'S CROWN PRINCE BY JONATHAN GRAY:
"THIS WILL BE A GLOBAL
PHENOMENON.
IT'S GONNA HAPPEN
HERE. IT'S GONNA
HAPPEN EVERYWHERE"
BOLD TITLE:
REMASTERING
THE UNIVERSE
THE NEW ERA OF PRIVATE EQUITY IS HERE:
NEVER ENDING, INDIVIDUAL FRIENDLY FUNDS.
BLACKSTONE SEES AN $80 TRILLION OPPORTUNITY.
IMHO, if this shit is literally believed by such insane money megalomaniacs --- God save the World if they actually rule the coming Global EMPIRE!
I am not sure based on what exactly thinks that a Trump presidency would be worse than the disaster we are in, brought to you by Pfizer, Genocide Joe and the Deep State? How exactly could it get worse? The Dems did to Trump what they said that he would do to them, dragged him through courts and I am almost sure they will try to Epstein him...
How can a Trump second term be worse than the worst presidency in the history of US - period?
I am FAR MORE terrified of a Demented Joe second term; chances are it will go nuclear.
As many others, Mr. Hedges suffers from Trump derangement syndrome; please get over it...
INEQUALITY
CAUSED BY
BILLIONAIRE
BASTARDS
LOVE
OVER
VIOLENT
EMPIRE
AMUSING
OURSELVES
TO DEATH
N. Postman
LIVE FREE
FROM EMPIRE
OR DIE
A. MacDonald
DEMOCRATIC
SOCIALISM
vs. CAPITALIST
CANCER
IT’S THE ECONOMY
STUPID
NO, IT’S THE
EMPIRE STUPID
NO, IT’S REALY THE
INEQUALITY STUPID
GLOBAL EMPIRE
AND THE CRISIS
OF HUMANITY
W. Robinson
WE CAN HAVE
WEALTH OR
DEMOCRACY
BUT NOT BOTH
VOTE FOR THE
ANTI-EMPIRE
LOVE PARTY
A. Mac Donald