Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, has thrown her hat into the presidential primary ring.
Thus far, her campaign has been distinguished by two important issues:
First, she is the only candidate with the wisdom and the bravery to condemn the US foreign policy of “regime change.” She is critical of the US military endeavors in places like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and, most recently, Venezuela.
Second, corporate, mainstream media outlets have very predictably shown nothing but disdain for her candidacy. When she is allowed airtime, she is consistently mocked and reviled, derided as a Russian stooge and propagandist for America’s “enemies.”
Ad hominem slander and name-calling are the vile tactics that pass for journalism nowadays.
Most recently, Rep. Gabbard demonstrated her decorum, wisdom, experience and extraordinary self-control during what can only be described as a hostile interview on the popular ABC program, “The View.”
If you haven’t seen it yet, you can watch the entire interview here on YouTube (9 minutes). If you have a bit more time, watch Mike Figueredo provide insightful commentary and analysis of the interview on his program, The Humanist Report (16 minutes).
I am strongly thinking of defecting from Bernie to Tulsi. We desperately need a leader like her in the White House.
I have posted an excerpt below. You can read the entire piece by clicking on
Caitlin Johnstone
the title above.
“All the biggest conflicts in the world can be described as unipolarism vs multipolarism: the unipolarists who support the global hegemony of the US-centralized empire at any cost, versus the multipolarists who oppose that dominance and support the existence of multiple power structures in the world…
“The nonstop propaganda campaign to keep the coals of Russia hysteria burning white hot at all times can therefore be looked at first and foremost as a psychological operation to kill support for multipolarism around the world. It can of course be used to manufacture consent for escalations against Russia, China, Syria, Venezuela, Iran etc as needed, but it can also be used to attack the ideology of anti-interventionism itself by smearing anyone who opposes unipolar oppression and aggression as an agent of a nefarious oppositional government.
“The social engineers have succeeded in constructing a narrative control device which encapsulates the entire agenda of the unipolar world order in a single bumper sticker-sized talking point: “Russia opposes Big Brother, therefore anyone who opposes Big Brother is Russian.” This device didn’t take an amazing intellectual feat to create; all they had to do was recreate the paranoid insanity of the original cold war, and they already had a blueprint for that. It was simply a matter of shepherding us back there.
“After the fall of the Soviet Union, there emerged a popular notion of a “peace dividend” in which defense spending could be reduced in the absence of America’s sole rival and the abundant excess funds used to take care of the American people instead. The only problem was that a lot of people had gotten very rich and powerful as a result of that cold war defense spending, and it wasn’t long before they started circulating the idea of using America’s newly uncontested might for a very expensive campaign to hammer down a liberal world order led by the beneficent guidance of the United States government. Soon the neoconservatives were pushing their unipolarist narratives in high levels of influence with great effect, and shortly thereafter they got their “new Pearl Harbor” in the form of the 9/11 attacks which justified an explosion in defense spending, interventionism and expansionism, just as the neoconservative Project for a New American Century had called for. And the rest is history.”
The current anti-Russian hysteria has become the new McCarthyism.
A destructive, mindless panic fueled by numerous narcissistic forces ranging from Hillary Clinton and Rachel Maddow to every living neo-con, both political parties, our entire national security apparatus, and every talking head who pronounces upon the evening news.
Newly elected Representative Ilhan Omar is being accused of Tweeting anti-Semitic slurs for speaking the truth: AIPAC (the American Israel Public
Rep. Ilhan Omar
Affairs Committee) is among the most powerful lobbying organizations in this country.
Working in coordination with the Israeli government, AIPAC deploys sizeable financial and public relations resources in order to destroy any and all congressional voices that are critical of Israel. They don’t hesitate to destroy the political careers and personal reputations of anyone with sufficient moral backbone to criticize Israel’s inhumane treatment of the Palestinian people.
Two recent articles also provide helpful information with some historical context to the campaign of public shaming Rep. Omar has suffered for speaking the truth. They are:
echelons of the Democratic Party specifically designed to stop politicians like Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from ever criticizing Israel.
The two excerpts below come from the two articles mentioned above. The first is from The Intercept, the second is from MPN News.
First excerpt: “A debate about the power in Washington of the pro-Israel lobby is underway, after Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., responded sharply to reports that Republican leader Kevin McCarthy was targeting both Omar and fellow Muslim Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan.
“Omar quoted rap lyrics — “It’s all about the Benjamins baby” — to suggest McCarthy’s move was driven by the lobby’s prolific spending. Asked specifically who she was referring to, Omar responded, “AIPAC!”
“The debate over the influence of pro-Israel groups could be informed by an investigation by Al Jazeera, in which an undercover reporter infiltrated The Israel Project, a Washington-based group, and secretly recorded conversations about political strategy and influence over a six-month period in 2016. That investigation, however, was never aired by the network — suppressed by pressure from the pro-Israel lobby.
“In November, Electronic Intifada obtained and published the four-part series, but it did so during the week of the midterm elections, and the documentary did not get a lot of attention then.
“In it, leaders of the pro-Israel lobby speak openly about how they use money to influence the political process, in ways so blunt that if the comments were made by critics, they’d be charged with anti-Semitism…
“…Without spending money, Ochs argues, the pro-Israel lobby isn’t able to enact its agenda. “Congressmen and senators don’t do anything unless you pressure them. They kick the can down the road, unless you pressure them, and the only way to do that is with money,” he explains.”
Second excerpt: “Some Democratic heavy hitters have formed a new pro-Israel organization focused on progressive Democrats. The new group, “Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI),” is the latest in a long line of groups working for Israel in the United States.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)
— if not dive — away from support for Israel within the party.” Israel partisans are concerned at the growing support among Democrats for Palestinian human rights, as awareness of the situation has grown in recent years.
“For many years surveys showed that more Americans sympathized with Israel than with Palestinians. But growing knowledge of the region among progressive Democrats has now reversed the numbers within that group. A 2018 Pew survey found that “nearly twice as many liberal Democrats say they sympathize more with the Palestinians than with Israel.”
“In addition, the New York Times reports, Israel partisans were jolted by the election of Representatives Ilhan Omar (MN) and Rashida Tlaib (MI), who support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) who has called the occupation of Palestine a humanitarian crisis.”
History tells us that AIPAC, with the covert support of the Israeli government, will do everything it possibly can to defeat these brave, new congresswomen when they run for reelection. The current character assassination of Rep. Omar is only the first volley of pro-Zionist dirty tricks.
I can’t vote for any of these women, but I have written them letters of support, thanking them for their honesty and encouraging them not to give up. I hope that you may take similar steps yourself.
A few days ago The Wall Street Journal published an expose revealing the Trump administration’s intention to remake Latin America in its own image, continuing to use the well-worn strategies of assassination, economic sanctions — which commonly lead to widespread starvation — and military intervention.
“The Trump administration’s attempt to force out the president of Venezuela marked the opening of a new strategy to exert greater U.S. influence over Latin America, according to administration officials.”
Hence, I offer the following New Testament pesher (a contemporary interpretation) from John’s Apocalypse, chapter 18:
After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor.With a mighty voice he shouted:
The harvest of a US trained Salvadoran death squad
“‘Fallen! Fallen is America the Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”
Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“‘Come out of her, my people,’ so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for America’s sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered the crimes of the United States. Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done.
Pour her a double portion from her own cup. Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit enthroned as queen; I am the sole Super Power. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.’ Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her…
..Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said:
“With such violence the great nation of America will be thrown down, never to be found again. The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No worker of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again. The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s important people. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. In America was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people — who stood to warn you but were few and far between — of ALL who have been slaughtered on the earth by your drones, your assassinations, atomic bombs, cruise missiles, special forces, cluster bombs, stealth fighters, torture programs, death squads, economic sanctions and regime changes.”
The war in Afghanistan is the longest military action in American history, with no end in sight.
Not long ago president Trump announced his intent to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria, sparking immediate criticism from both Republicans and
US troops in Afghanistan
Democrats.
More recently Trump has discussed a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, as well.
Against this background, it is downright chilling to learn that Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (together with the bipartisan support of senators Graham, Blunt, Burr, Romney, Ernst, Inhofe, Rubio, Sasse, Fischer, Grassley, Johnson, Shelby, Tillis, Cornyn, Sullivan, Wicker, Lankford, Young, and Boozman) has inserted amendment (#65) into the recently approved Senate bill 1.
McConnell’s amendment, in effect, makes it nearly impossible for any president, now or in the future, to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and just about anywhere else in the Middle East.
Among other things, the bill:
“calls upon the Administration to certify that conditions have been met for the enduring defeat of al Qaeda and ISIS before initiating any significant withdrawal of United States forces from Syria or Afghanistan.” (emphasis mine)
In other words, we will never leave these places.
Exactly what is required for such conditions to be met? How does one “certify” that al Qaeda and ISIS have met their “enduring defeat”?
How can anyone ever guarantee the final, permanent defeat of a revolutionary movement fueled by religious commitments?
The answer is simple. You can’t. As all those Senators well know.
Mitch and his war-mongering cronies have passed a bill that opens a permanent line of protest for the Joint Chiefs, generals, admirals, arms manufacturers, intelligence agencies and every politician with a weapons company in their district to effectively object any time a future president tries to withdraw our troops from the quagmire of America’s wars around the world.
But cheer up. U.S. weapons companies and civilian death rates, known as collateral damage, around the world will thrive.
National Security Adviser John Bolton came clean during a Fox Business interview, admitting that the first objective of the US coup attempt in Venezuela is getting control of that country’s oil industry.
All the talk about freedom and democracy is simply the standard, rhetorical window-dressing that US officials always pull out of the closet when justifying America’s latest illegal, imperial, typically bloody action.
Here is a clip from Democracy Now, including Bolton’s interview and a commentary from Alan Nairn, veteran investigative journalist.
Remember that Juan Guaido is the young man selected by the Trump administration to be designed the real president of Venezuela, rather than the actually elected president, Nicolas Madura.
The article’s headline reads:
“Juan Guaidó is the product of a decade-long project overseen by Washington’s elite regime change trainers. While posing as a champion of democracy, he has spent years at the forefront of a violent campaign of destabilization.”
Blumenthal and Cohen have done their homework thoroughly, as always. They detail the long history of U.S./CIA backed rebel training organizations in various parts of the world equipping people like Guaido — he an upper-crust graduate of such a program — to subvert governments that refuse to submit to U.S. foreign policy objectives.
An excerpt of the article is printed below. I urge you to read the entire piece here.
“Guaidó is more popular outside Venezuela than inside, especially in the elite Ivy League and Washington circles,” Sequera remarked to The Grayzone, “He’s a known character there, is predictably right-wing, and is considered loyal to the program.”
While Guaidó is today sold as the face of democratic restoration, he spent his career in the most violent faction of Venezuela’s most radical opposition party, positioning himself at the forefront of one destabilization campaign after another. His party has been widely discredited inside Venezuela, and is held partly responsible for fragmenting a badly weakened opposition.
“‘These radical leaders have no more than 20 percent in opinion polls,” wrote Luis Vicente León, Venezuela’s leading pollster. According to León, Guaidó’s party remains isolated because the majority of the population “does not want war. ‘What they want is a solution.’”
But this is precisely why Guaidó was selected by Washington: He is not expected to lead Venezuela toward democracy, but to collapse a country that for the past two decades has been a bulwark of resistance to US hegemony. His unlikely rise signals the culmination of a two decades-long project to destroy a robust socialist experiment.” (emphasis mine)
President Trump recently appointed Elliott Abrams as his Special Envoy to Venezuela.
Abrams is an old hand in the machinations and bloody, dark-arts of
Elliott Abrams with the “exiled” Venezuelan opposition leader David Smolansky
overthrowing South and Central American governments, installing brutal, right-wing dictatorships and training death squads in mass murder, otherwise known as genocide.
I fear this does not bode well for the Venezuelan people.
Below is a clip of Robert Parry sparring with Abrams on Charlie Rose about his responsibility for genocide:
Abram’s U.S. trained death squads killed some 80,000 people in El Salvador, 200 – 250,000 in Guatemala and untold thousands in Nicaragua, most of them innocent civilians.
Journalist Robert Lovato tells about his own first-hand experiences with the
U.S.-led Salvadoran coup and Abrams himself. Find his autobiographical article, “Elliott Abrams: An Unequivocal Sign Trump Is Preparing a Baptism in Venezuelan Blood,” here.
Here is my question:
The U.S. Secretary of State recently returned from Egypt where he proudly wore his Christianity on his sleeve, assuring his listeners that American foreign policy was safely cradled in the ever-lovin’ hands of a born-again Christian whose decisions were directed by his daily Bible reading and prayer.
How in the blazes can those same Bible-clutching fingers embrace a butcher like Elliott Abrams?
Where are all the supposed Christian advisers the Religious Right boasts about, giving Trump their wisdom and righteous advice?
Are we to understand that Jesus approves of mass murder, as long as it’s America leading the way in slaughtering hundreds of thousands of innocent, unarmed Central American peasants?
What we are witnessing in Venezuela today is a classic demonstration of the most extreme expression of class warfare. (See my recent series on the class war in America here, here and here).
Let’s begin with two observations:
One, starting with the election of Hugo Chavez in 1999, the Venezuelan government has put an extraordinary amount of energy into improving the quality of life for its poorest members. International capitalists haven’t approved of their methods, but then, they weren’t elected by the Venezuelan people.
Check out this article from The Guardian to see statistics on the dramatic improvements brought about by the Chavez-Maduro party in Venezuela’s levels of education, health care, poverty, infant mortality and unemployment.
Two, Americans in general, and Christians in particular, need to break out of our simple-minded binary (either this or that) way of thinking. The world is more complicated. It rarely offers only two possibilities, e.g. it’s either this way or the highway; it’s always America against the world; vote either Republican or Democrat; you either support another American coup in Venezuela or you are a communist who thinks there is nothing wrong with Maduro.
Christians must think differently!
As citizens of God’s kingdom, we know that there is always another alternative. We are obligated to look at this world through the radically alternative lens of Jesus Christ and his gospel. This requires nuance, an understanding of alternatives, and stepping outside of the conventional “wisdom.”
So, an alternative optionin this current situation is opposition to any and every U.S. attempt to manipulate and control the internal politics of a foreign country.
It doesn’t mean that we are blessing everything that the Bolivarian Revolution has done in Venezuela, but it must mean that as followers of Jesus (a) we applaud the government’s attempts to prioritize the needs of the poorest members of Venezuelan society, and (b) we oppose any actions intended to reestablish domination by wealthy elites inside the country and/or foreign, corporate powers like the U.S.A.
Jesus Christ never bludgeoned anyone into following him. HE is our one and only model in life, not the realpolitik of American “strategic interests.” Using force, deception, or cheating to get our way is not the way of Jesus Christ.
Anyone who wants to understand this world with the mind of Christ; to embrace his/her role as a citizen of God’s kingdom, now living in America; to grasp Jesus’ call to live lives of peaceableness and non-violence, will always oppose, in words and actions, any American attempt to spread more violence, war and social unrest by forcing its will onto other people in the world for its own selfish purpose.
Below are several brief videos offering a picture of the widespread, popular support Maduro has among the poor of Venezuela.
Here and here are two longer videos (about 30 minutes each) offering more detailed discussion of what is happening in Venezuela from long-time students of Venezuelan politics at The Real News.
Trump has publicly “recognized” an opposition leader, Juan Guaido, as Venezuela’s real president. Guaida unilaterally declared himself presidentwith American support, despite the fact that he has never run for president and has never been elected president. (Wow, is that how it works? Maybe I should declare myself president?)
Maduro, on the other hand, has achieved both of these things, with a significant majority of the Venezuelan vote.
John Bolton, the current National Security Advisor, recently called Maduro “an illegitimate” leader who needed to be removed from office.
President Trump has imposed crippling sanctions against Venezuela which have helped to devastate its economy. Check out the State Department’s website listing U.S. sanctions against Venezuela going back to 2014.
Economic sanctions can be seen as an act of war.
Listen to Maduro supporters reject America’s anti-democratic shenanigans:
What is happening now is the culmination of a long-standing American attack against a country that (a) elected to install a leftist government by a popular vote, (b) to nationalize its biggest industries rather than watch its natural resources continue to be exploited for American corporate profits, and (c) to shake itself free of the American Empire.
But as any good slave should know, shaking your fist at “the master” is always a no-no. And the America master will not stand for such disrespect.
If you have not been following recent events in Venezuela or know only the things repeated by American-based media, then a good way to catch up and become properly informed is to watchthis video by the journalist Mike Prysner.
Mr. Prysner, who has spent considerable time in Venezuela, unlike the
Mike Prysner attending a Venezuelan political meeting
typical U.S. reporter, thoroughly addresses and debunks the most common pieces of misinformation, aka propaganda, being spread about Venezuela’s current problems.
If you are as disturbed as I am by America’s oppression of innocent people around the world, and the the rank hypocrisyof our government’s claims to “defend freedom” around the world, then please watch the video above and call your elected representatives.
her hat into the presidential primary ring.
experience and extraordinary self-control during what can only be described as a hostile interview on the popular ABC program, “The View.”
very rich and powerful as a result of that cold war defense spending, and it wasn’t long before they started circulating the idea of using America’s newly uncontested might for a very expensive campaign to hammer down a liberal world order led by the beneficent guidance of the United States government. Soon the neoconservatives were pushing their 
Give back to her as she has given;
Venezuela is getting control of that country’s oil industry.
administration to be designed the real president of Venezuela, rather than the actually elected president, Nicolas Madura.
and (c) to shake itself free of the American Empire.