Day: August 29, 2023

Demobilizing The Left

I have been accused of being a contrarian….and like all people that are vocal and in opposition to any given subject…..just remember the 1st amendment…..

In the US, we proudly point to the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights that was adopted in 1791:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

We believe that our freedom of speech and of the press are two of the ways the US differs from more dictatorial nations such as Germany under the Nazis and the former Soviet Union.

Unfortunately, these freedoms are not as absolute as they sound. As Howard Zinn pointed out in an excellent piece that should be read by all, we cannot rely on this amendment to protect our freedoms of speech or press. For example, just seven years after the Bill of Rights was adopted, the John Adams administration thought that war with France was a strong possibility. Congress then passed the Alien and Sedition Acts that explicitly abridged these freedoms. The Sedition Act made it a crime for American citizens to “print, utter, or publish…any false, scandalous, and malicious writing” about the government. Fortunately, the Sedition Act expired in 1801.

Suppression of Contrarian Voices

I will be honest…..I have been a Left leaning voter since 1980……and since those days I have watched the Democratic Party using every effort to demobilize the Left….until we got candidates that were nothing more than sycophants of millionaires and billionaires…the likes of Bill Clinton onward.

The Dems are scared to death of the Left candidates and will pull no punches to get them out of nay running successfully.

And yet Dem candidates will running as a Left leaning Progressive and they are nothing of the sorts….and Dems have a long and checkered history of lying and back stabbing any challenge to their center leaning sycophants…..

Just two years ago, the sky was the limit for progressives: Medicare for All, a Green New Deal and a Sanders’ candidacy for president. There was serious talk of forgiving student debt, of free community college, paid parental leave, finally lowering the costs of essential medicines and more. Now, the best progressives can muster is primarying the treacherous, corporate, bought-and-paid for Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema. What a difference a couple of years make!

This was all entirely predictable. The Democratic party has mainly functioned since the 1930s to demobilize left movements, and these latest weren’t even movements. (Certainly thin soup compared to the militant communism FDR set out to dilute.) These were platforms in a candidacy. Platforms that the cautious, billionaire-sycophant likes of Barack Obama had no intention of ever seeing signed into law – so he coordinated the withdrawal of all other Dem presidential candidates at a critical juncture to boost Biden over Sanders.

Another reason for this repulsive electoral jujitsu was that Obama doubtless believed Biden not Sanders was the only one who could defeat Trump. But he did not take the long view. Obama didn’t look past 2020. Had Sanders won, and got a few executive orders like forgiving student debt under his belt, we wouldn’t be looking at a possible fascist catastrophe in 2024. These halcyon mid-election cycle days would not feel so much like a Weimar interregnum.

The Left Demobilized: the Usual Suspects Are To Blame

Recent events in this country have illustrated that there is a Far Right Party (GOP) and a conservative party (Dems)….the Left has been totally marginalized…..without the Left there is NO progress and our recent history has proven this point on so many levels (all of which I have covered endlessly…to no avail)….

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I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Let The Excuses Begin!

The news has slim pickings for a writer….so why not return to a reliable source of news for comment?

Meanwhile back in Ukraine the counteroffensive is not going well or even up to snuff…..and because of this situation the excuses have begun to try and keep semi-literate Americans in support.

After all the cash and equipment that has been thrown at Ukraine there has got to be a reason that they are not making better progress with their counteroffensive.

Cue the excuses…..

20Aug23

The New York Times reported on Friday that US officials “fear” Ukraine has become “casualty averse” as Ukrainian commanders have not been pushing as hard against Russia’s defenses as the US would like due to a high cost in Ukrainian lives.

The report reads: “American officials say they fear that Ukraine has become casualty averse, one reason it has been cautious about pressing ahead with the counteroffensive. Almost any big push against dug-in Russian defenders protected by minefields would result in huge numbers of losses.”

22Aug23

US and Western officials speaking to The New York Times blamed Ukraine’s struggling counteroffensive on Kyiv’s tactics, saying Ukrainian troops are too spread out.

US officials said that Ukraine’s primary goal is to sever Russia’s land bridge to Crimea but that Ukraine has placed its troops and firepower equally along the entire front, in the south and the east.

The report, published on Tuesday, is the latest example of the West trying to pin the blame for Ukraine’s failures solely on Kyiv, even though it was clear that the US and NATO did not believe Ukraine would have much success but pushed for the counteroffensive anyway. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Western officials did not think Ukraine had enough training or equipment for the assault but hoped they would be able to break through.

The Times report said that as a result of Ukraine’s tactics, there are more Ukrainian troops near Bakhmut and other eastern cities than in the south near Melitopol and Zaporizhzhia. The report said the US had advised Ukraine to focus on pushing toward Melitopol.

(antiwar.com)

The US has also been pushing Ukraine to go harder in its counteroffensive despite Russia’s vast minefields and high Ukrainian casualty rate. The Times reported this past Friday that US officials “fear” Ukraine has become “casualty averse.”

That sounds like the US will continue the fight until the last Ukrainian is dead.

Right on cue the White House had to put a positive spend on the failing counteroffensive…..

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan claims that the war in Ukraine has not reached a stalemate and Kiev’s forces were methodically capturing territory. The statement comes as other American officials say the Ukrainian offensive is struggling and Kiev should have negotiated with Moscow last year. 

At a press conference on Tuesday, Sullivan told reporters, “There is attacking and defending taking place on both sides at multiple points along a very extended front line of trace,” he said. Ukraine is taking territory on a “methodical, systematic basis…We do not assess that the conflict is a stalemate.”

https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/top-biden-official-attempts-to-put-positive-spin-on-ukraines-failing-counteroffensive/

I am sure there will be more excuses on the horizon….and more death and destruction…..

But first explain this to me…..

A recent journalistic report revealed that the Ukrainian president bought a luxury villa in Egypt in the region of El Gouna, also known as the “city of millionaires”. More than that, evidence indicates that Zelensky used Western money for the purchase, spending in personal luxury a significant part of the amounts he receives from NATO countries.

The data were published by Egyptian investigative journalist Mohammed-Al-Alawi. After in-depth research involving sources familiar with the topic, Mohammed discovered that the Zelensky family acquired a luxury property in Egypt valued at around five million dollars. The place is located in the coastal zone of Egypt, next to the Red Sea, an area famous for having many opulent properties. Not by chance, El Gouna is home to many millionaires interested in having a comfortable place to stay during their non-working time. For example, it is said that next to Zelensky’s villa there is an “estate that belongs to the world-famous Hollywood actress and public figure Angelina Jolie”.

The Egyptian journalist published the documents that prove the purchase of the villa, its price and the contracting parties. Zelensky bought the property through his mother-in-law, Olga Kiyashko, who signed a contract with the Egyptian sellers on May 16, 2023. Analysts who have commented on the case say that the source of the money appears to be none other than the Western financial aid packages that arrive in Kiev, considering the high price of the villa.

If this report is accurate where did the cash come from to buy this estate?  Did the West subsidize his ‘retreat’ from the war?

Speaking of case….Z Man has proved that democracy is for sale…..

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that Ukrainian elections could happen in wartime if Kyiv receives funding from its Western backers and Ukraine’s legislators are willing to hold a vote.

Zelensky previously said elections can’t happen because they’re forbidden by Ukraine’s constitution during martial law, which was recently extended until November 15. Ukraine’s next parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 2023, and the next presidential election is due to be held in March 2024.

Martial law is expected to be extended into 2024 as there’s no sign the war will end anytime soon. Ukraine’s martial law prohibits men ages 18-60 from leaving the country. In March 2022, Zelensky used his martial law powers to ban 11 opposition parties and nationalize TV media. 

Zelensky made the comments on Sunday in response to calls from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for Ukraine to hold elections in 2024. The Ukrainian leader acknowledged that his country could lose some Western support for not holding elections as the war is being sold as a battle to uphold democracy.

(antiwar.com)

What else does this guy want from the US we have done everything for hi8m exce[t wipe his ass.

Is this what our economic aid is going for?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”