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Parting shot—a word from the editors
The Best Definition of Donald Trump We Have Found
In his zeal to prove to his antagonists in the War Party that he is as bloodthirsty as their champion, Hillary Clinton, and more manly than Barack Obama, Trump seems to have gone “play-crazy” — acting like an unpredictable maniac in order to terrorize the Russians into forcing some kind of dramatic concessions from their Syrian allies, or risk Armageddon.However, the “play-crazy” gambit can only work when the leader is, in real life, a disciplined and intelligent actor, who knows precisely what actual boundaries must not be crossed. That ain’t Donald Trump — a pitifully shallow and ill-disciplined man, emotionally handicapped by obscene privilege and cognitively crippled by white American chauvinism. By pushing Trump into a corner and demanding that he display his most bellicose self, or be ceaselessly mocked as a “puppet” and minion of Russia, a lesser power, the War Party and its media and clandestine services have created a perfect storm of mayhem that may consume us all.— Glen Ford, Editor in Chief, Black Agenda Report
I think it’s important to understand how deeply we — those who aren’t on the right — have been split apart, by class and race, since the 1990s. In a nutshell, the Clinton wing successfully pulled many (middle class) liberals well to the right, especially on core economic issues. Their voices have, not surprisingly, dominated the media marketed to liberals. The Clinton wing get full credit for dividing and conquering those who are not on the right wing. The first I noticed the Russian Tale was shortly after the election. Democrats (perhaps out of habit) promptly shouted, “Republicans stole the… Read more »
The country is collapsing under the rule of the two Evils, yet still cowardly Democrats try to cajole their friends into cosigning the lesser evil party, calling a vision of reform “idealistic”. But any review of the major metrics of the civic health of the country points to a momentous slow-motion collapse in progress. So not only is the support for Democratic neoliberal neocons not “pragmatic” in the long run, it is also immoral. Our grandchildren who have to live with the aftermath will not be grateful that our political support for Democrats caused the country to fall apart slower… Read more »
I wonder if Democrats will someday remember the “First they came…” poem and what the ultimate result of doing nothing when innocent people were denounced. For reference, here it is:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.