A Note On American Imperialism, circa 1900

The war against the Moros.

W. E. B. Du Bois And The Jeff School

Read about it here.

China's New Silk Road

Vietnam Rising

al-Quds

Lies And Cover-Ups

Even St. Jimmy.

The Afghanistan Papers

When scandal is no longer scandalous, we have entered the Roman imperial zone. Americans understand on some level that they have no real say in what the military-industrial-complex does with our tax dollars and with the lives of those fellow citizens it uses as cannon fodder. The political class is just the civilian face of those un-elected men and women in the Pentagon who hold real political power. The mass media, which has betrayed our democracy, substitutes infotainment for news that might otherwise rekindle our insurrectionary desire.

No More War

It's our choice.

Henry Wallace

Once Upon A Time In America

You could be a politician--even the President--and have a conscience.

Once Upon A Time In America

You could be a politician--even Vice President--and tell the truth.

The Toxic Cocktail: Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Christian Zionism

Why have the Jews been vilified and persecuted in Christendom? The answer to that question lies in the 2,000 year history of a religious tradition that appropriated an ancient proto-Rabbinic figure (Jesus) and deified him, much to the astonishment of the main body of the Jews. The continuing existence of the Jews has been an affront to Christians throughout the history of the church because they (the Jews) are a reminder that Christian claims to being the “new Israel” are the result of a creative (Pauline) misreading of Jewish scripture—and not the only possible interpretation of that scripture, nor even the best interpretation.

And then, of course, there is Islam. Christians find themselves between a rock and a hard place: the Jews were supposed to recognize in Rabbi Jesus their awaited Messiah (which they have failed and refused to do) and Islam was never supposed to happen (the Messiah was supposed to return with the heavenly hosts to usher in his 1,000 year reign). For those who have bought into this eschatological vision, the credibility of the whole enterprise is at stake. Therefore, like Judaism, Islam is a problem for many Christians.

Fortunately, the embarrassment of unfulfilled prophecy has led the vast majority of Christians to conveniently forget that such eschatological hopes were ever entertained by the first generations in the church. But we find ourselves living in an era of increasing eschatological impatience on the part of a radical fringe that, unfortunately, has seized the levers of power in the United States (e.g., Pompeo and Pence). And the State of Israel is a (willing) pawn in their game: to instigate Armageddon and bring Christ to the Temple Mount. Of course, the Israelis don’t share the eschatological expectations of the Christian Zionist crowd, but they are happy to accept their financial contributions, military assistance (including nuclear weaponry), and political support. As for the Christian eschaton, they’ll take their chances...

But what strange bedfellows! After all, Christian Zionism and Antisemitism are two sides of the same coin. The Israelis must know this, but political expedience drives policy. And the policy, it seems, is to divest the indigenous people of Palestine (the majority of whom are Muslim) from their ancestral homeland. Why? So that Jews can have a safe haven from Christian Antisemitism...

If one were to write a novel with such a plot-line, it would never be published. Too implausible. But truth is stranger than fiction.

Islamophobia

O Syria!

The Task Of Politics Today

To scare the capitalists.

Hope

Paul Simon - Armistice Day

It's Not Rocket Science

Lenin At Work

Democracy Under Capitalism

Who Will Have The Last Laugh?

I'm betting on Karl.

Neglected Classics

In his 1961 masterpiece, Marx's Concept of Man, Erich Fromm did his best to dispel the abysmal ignorance and willful blindness that attend Marx's reception in the West, East, North, and South. Re-reading this book after many years, I marvel at its clarity and depth of--dare I say it? Religious feeling.

Fromm expounded the Ancient Near Eastern prophetic Messianism at the heart of Marx's philosophy--a cliche observation today, and yet one that appears never to have been adequately appreciated. For had it been adequately appreciated, those for whom the prophetic tradition remains a transcultural and transhistorical revolutionary movement would be reading, discussing, and attempting to apply Marx's teachings in an effort to turn back the fascistic tide of nativism and tribalism that have poisoned politics and religion throughout the world for at least the past half century.

But, of course, those for whom the Ancient Near Eastern prophetic tradition has been a vital impetus for radical politics have always been few and far between.



One thinks, for example, of William Blake and of the Blakean Norman O. Brown.



And then one recalls the Archons at the helm.

Bernie On J Street

"Now, as many of you know, I have a connection to the State of Israel going back many years. In 1963, I lived on a kibbutz near Haifa. It was there that I saw and experienced for myself many of the progressive values upon which the State of Israel was founded. I think it is very important for everyone, but particularly for progressives, to acknowledge the enormous achievement of establishing a democratic homeland for the Jewish people after centuries of displacement and persecution, and particularly after the horror of the Holocaust.

But as you all know, there was another side to the story of Israel’s creation, a more painful side. Like our own country, the founding of Israel involved the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people already living there, the Palestinian people. Over 700,000 people were made refugees.

To acknowledge this painful historical fact does not “delegitimize” Israel, any more than acknowledging the Trail of Tears delegitimizes the United States of America.

But I didn’t come here today simply to revisit history, or to say one historical narrative is wrong and one is right. My question here today is: OK, what now? Where do Israelis and Palestinians go from here? What should be U.S. policy to end this conflict, to end this fifty-year long occupation, and enable a better, more secure and prosperous future for Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians alike?

This decades-long conflict has taken so much from so many. Nobody gains when Israel spends an enormous part of its budget on the military. Nobody gains when Gaza is obliterated and thousands are killed, wounded, or made homeless. Nobody gains when children are trained to be suicide bombers. Nobody gains when year after year, decade after decade, the talk is about war and hatred rather than peace and development. Think of the incredible potential that is being lost when Israelis and Palestinians are not coming together effectively to address the environmental and economic challenges of the region. Our vision, a vision we must never lose sight of, is creating a Middle East where people come together in peace and democracy to create a region in which all people have a decent life. I understand that, given the realities of today, that vision appears distant and maybe even far-fetched. But it is a vision and a dream that we cannot afford to give up on.

So what should we as progressives – American progressives, Israeli progressives and progressives globally -- demand of our governments in bringing this future about?"

--Senator Bernie Sanders at J Street

Among Bacevich's Best

High Crimes and Misdemeanors of the Fading American Century.

Torture

"As a political matter, a wrong that escapes condemnation is no wrong at all. Scandal unpunished is no scandal. If society never registers its collective disapproval, either in a court of law or the court of public opinion, the behavior embeds itself within the range of acceptable policy responses. This invites not merely repetition, but expansion."

Read the rest here.

Print and Post

The Latest Folly

Wag the dog?

A Message From JVP-NYC

The Jewish Communal Fund of NY, a donor-advised fund that contributes to many worthwhile organizations, also funds some of the most virulent Islamophobes in the country:

Pamela Geller, who writes that Islam “is an extreme ideology, the most radical and extreme ideology on the face of the earth”;
The Clarion Project, which funds virulently anti-Muslim films;
David Horowitz, whom the Southern Povery Law Center calls “the godfather of the modern anti-Muslim movement”;
Steven Emerson, who forged a “dossier” linking American Muslim groups with terrorism; and
Daniel Pipes, who claims Muslims wish to “impose Islamic law [in the United States].”

These players are key in what’s often called “the Islamophobia network in America.” They skew the media’s perceptions and fuel the kind of anti-Muslim racism that is a backdrop to the kind of terrifying violence Arabs and Muslims face every day.

Resist.

The View From Iran

Read it here.

International Notes From The CPUSA

Sudan, Chile, Ukraine, etc.

Call Me A Communist

Reflection by Rossana Cambron.

Cesspool On The Potomac

CPUSA Convention Resolutions

Read them here.

La Grande Illusion (1937) Trailer

In The Sudan: The Struggle Continues

CPUSA Centennial Meeting

What Complicity Sounds Like: The Silence Of The West On The Death Of Muhammad Morsi

Thank you, Robert Fisk, for a lifetime of courageous journalism.

The Latest Outrage

The Trump Administration is playing an unconscionable and deadly game of brinkmanship with Iran, but since Congress long ago ceded its war-making powers to the imperial Presidency, there is no institutional mechanism available to check such bizarre and irresponsible behavior. We must all hold our breath now and await the decision of Caesar as he weighs the advice of his war-mongering, apocalypticist Evangelical Christian advisors who actually imagine themselves God's instruments in bringing about the "rapture" and the "second coming" of Christ. Somehow, I doubt the framers of the Constitution foresaw this day. Or, if they did, they failed to draft an instrument adequate to the task of preventing it. In any case, we are the barbarians at the gate, confident that we have our bloody God of Battles on our side.

War Criminals

The list continues to grow as criminality is met with public indifference and legal immunity.

The Reigning Liberal Consensus

AKA, the Postmodern Left.

Capitalism Run Amok

Anti-Imperialist Republican

Mustafa Kemal

Was he perfect? By no means. He was, in fact, human, all too human. But he rescued Asia Minor from the threat of foreign occupation and, out of the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, founded a secular republic. Today, that republic continues the struggle to define itself and to forge a livable future for its 80 million inhabitants. It is remarkable to me how many Liberals in the so-called West wish to see that struggle fail.

Martial Rape

YANKEE GO HOME!

STOP!

The Tolstoy Commons

Tolstoy Studies.

Entering The Drone Age

The Republic of Turkey gets in on the action.

The U.S. Government Is A Criminal Conspiracy

US threatens Iran with war

Imperial Propaganda

Media lies in service of war for regime change in Venezuela

The On-Going American Nightmare

Twenty years since the Columbine High School massacre

The Situation In Sudan

Pre-emptive military coup ousts Bashir to protect Sudan’s elite

The Struggle Continues...

Free Julian Assange!

Free Julian Assange!

American Prisons

America the Barbaric

All The News That's Fit To Twist

New York Times laments stalled Venezuelan coup

Criticizing Israel

Not all Jews worship the golden calf of the nation state.

Students Of Conscience At Beloit College

Beloit College students protest speech by Blackwater founder Erik Prince, prompting cancellation - World Socialist Web Site

YES To Democracy = NO To The Military

Rise up great people of Algeria!

Gaza, Again

So, there it stands. The international community’s panel says that war crimes were committed, but the legal framework stops at the borders of Israel. Must be immediately investigated by Israel. But Israel will do no such thing. It has rejected the panel and its findings. There will be no investigation of the war crimes beyond what the panel has found. Instead, Israel has begun to bomb from the sky.

Read on.

Xi Jinping Tours Europe

Xi Jinping tours Europe amid growing divisions between America and EU - World Socialist Web Site

The Turkish Economy

Turkish economy falls into recession, amid fears of further US economic reprisals - World Socialist Web Site

Far Right Attacks On UK Muslims Following New Zealand Massacre

Far right attacks on UK Muslims following New Zealand massacre - World Socialist Web Site

Ilhan Speaks

LISTEN UP!

Fascist Terrorists Murder 49 In Christchurch, New Zealand

Fascist terrorists murder 49 in Christchurch, New Zealand - World Socialist Web Site

Cordoba House And Much, Much More

Imam Feisal on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time – Cordoba House

Christchurch Mosque Terror

No land is safe from Fascist White Supremacy.

Europe's Dark Underbelly

America's Biggest Industry

A US budget for worldwide war

Algeria!

Nationwide strike shakes Algerian regime

Fascist Priests

Jesus, what next?

Netanyahu's Troubles

Netanyahu to face charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust

India Bombs Pakistan

India bombs Pakistan, Islamabad vows military retaliation

Pence Threatens War In Venezuela

Pence threatens war in Venezuela at Colombia summit: “There is no turning back”

Answer Me This