Tulsi vs The Corporate Media Machine
Tulsi vs The Machine (3/31/19) While the mainstream media attempts to discredit her, independent media defends Tulsi’s message of anti-interventionism. Link to 5+-Minute Video
Saturday Night Live Serves Up The Perfect Trump Nickname!
Saturday Night Live Slammed Trump As The ‘White OJ’ After Mueller Did Not Press Charges: Link to Story SNL Needles Trump About Mueller Report: Link to Story SNL’s Robert Mueller Finishes His Report: 4-Minute Video SNL’s Cecily Strong’s Jeanine Pirro Gets Her Rocks Off Over Mueller Report On ‘Weekend Update’: 4-Minute Video (Commoner Call cartoon by Mark L. Taylor, 2019. Open source and free for non-derivative use with link to www.thecommonercall.org )
Rep. Adam Schiff Comments To Republicans On Trump-Russia: “You might think it is okay…”
Adam Schiff, speaking before the House Intelligence Committee meeting on March 28, 2019: My colleagues might think it’s okay that the Russians offered dirt on the Democratic candidate for president as part of what’s described as the Russian government’s effort to help the Trump campaign. You might think that’s okay. My colleagues might think it’s okay that when that was offered to the son of the president, who had a pivotal role in the campaign, that the president’s son did not call the FBI, he did not adamantly refuse that foreign help — no, instead that son said he would…
“Tell That To The Families In Flint”: AOC Demolishes Wisconsin’s Smarmy Trump Bot Rep. Sean Duffy
How nice to see a democrat with a spine! Democracy Now! (3/6/19) On Tuesday, Congressmember Sean Duffy of Wisconsin suggested the Green New Deal only served the wealthy. New York Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shot back with a passionate defense of the Green New Deal. We feature her full speech. “This is not an elitist issue; this is a quality-of-life issue. You want to tell people that their concern and their desire for clean air and clean water is elitist? Tell that to the kids in the South Bronx, which are suffering from the highest rates of childhood asthma in the…
For A Flooded Midwest, Climate Chaos Forecasts Warn Of Dramatic Changes
The U.S. Midwest is located in a convergence zone where prevailing winds blowing from the east and west meet. By Shuang-Ye Wu The Conversation (3/29/19) Flooding in the Midwest, triggered by an intense “bomb cyclone,” has devastated parts of the region, which has been plagued by flood events in recent decades. Floods are triggered by extreme rainfall events, often combined with ground conditions, such as saturated or frozen ground, that make it harder for water to percolate down into soil, which increases runoff. Global warming has the potential to intensify the Earth’s water cycle, which will alter the quantity, frequency, intensity and duration…
Threat To Our Free Speech: Attacks On The Right To Boycott For Human Rights
Reveal / Center for Investigative Reporting (3/30/19) Support for boycotts of Israel has been growing in recent years, along with an increase in legislation seeking to curb this kind of boycott. Our story is about a contractor in Texas who feels they have no choice but to turn down a job when they realize the state requires they agree not to boycott Israel. We look at where this Israel boycott clause in employment contracts comes from, and weigh it against the First Amendment right to free speech. Then we travel to the occupied Palestinian territories and meet a man…
Russia Monitor: In The Absence Of The Mueller Report Trump Crows “vindication and vindictiveness”
(1) “Our side, we go for the head wound. Your side, you have pillow fights.” (2) (Trump) “is going to go full animal”; (will) “come off the chains.” — Former Trump senior adviser Steve Bannon. ***** “Putin is publicly admitting, in the clearest form yet, that he wanted Trump to beat Hillary Clinton during the U.S. presidential campaign and that this preference stemmed from Trump’s conciliatory approach to Russia.” — Uri Friedman, Russian Speakers Explain What Putin Actually Said About Trump. ***** “…outlines the Russian effort to influence the election and documents crimes committed by persons associated with the Russian government…
Know Your Rights: Thugs & Monsters Like ICE Agents Are Everywhere & Acting Illegally
ICE only gets a legit, judge-authorized warrant in 2 of 12 arrests; the rest are illegal. By Abbey Zimet Common Dreams (3/28/19) In the last few days we’ve witnessed the sickening spectacle of hundreds of destitute, powerless, terrified migrants crammed into concentration camps, aka “transitional shelters,” corralled behind razor wire, and forced to sleep on the ground under a bridge in El Paso. This, while our so-called president, bloated with vengeance and hubris, chose to mock those same people for fleeing for their lives, thus confirming he is “genuinely one of the worst human beings in the history of US public life.” Because these are monsters who can…
A Caring Educator Harassed & Charged While Healthcare Industrial Complex Built On Casual Indifference & Premature Death Profits
The industry is an architecture of misery, extracting profits from needless suffering. By Roqayah Chamseddine In These Times (3/27/19) In Indiana, a school superintendent is facing three felony charges after using her son’s insurance in January to help a sick student access a doctor and prescription antibiotics. Dr. Casey Smitherman, who on February 1 resigned from Elwood Community School Corporation, has helped the 15-year-old student before, according to reports: She purchased his clothes, and even helped clean his house. This time, she had noticed his absence from school and took it upon herself to bring him to a medical center. In an apologetic public statement,…
We Have Spent $32 Million Per Hour On War Since 2001
The U.S. military is escalating a shadowy network of “anti-terror” operations all across the world — in at least 76 nations, or 40 percent of countries on the planet. The Mind Unleashed (3/25/19) This March marked the 16th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. In 2003, President George W. Bush and his advisers based their case for war on the idea that Saddam Hussein, then dictator of Iraq, possessed weapons of mass destruction — weapons that have never been found. Nevertheless, all these years later, Bush’s “Global War on Terror” continues — in Iraq and in many other countries. It’s a good…
Michigan Workers Not Buying Beto’s Tabletop Corporate-Friendly Bunk
During his time in the House, O’Rourke did not introduce or co-sponsor any sweeping labor legislation. By Valarie Vande Panne In These Times (3/25/19) Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke visited Michigan last week. Shirtsleeves carefully rolled up, he stood on tabletops across metro Detroit and delivered his stump speech. “He’s really good at his stump speech,” says local union activist Diana Hussein, who seemed unimpressed. “If Trump is the Twitter president, Beto is the Pinterest candidate.” Indeed, many of the rumblings from O’Rourke’s Michigan visit show voters skeptical of a presidential candidate who is on the cover of Vanity Fair, yet…
Russia Monitor: Barr Runs Onto The Field To Grab The Football & Blithely Exonerate Trump
“The Special Counsel therefore did not draw a conclusion – one way or the other – as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction. Instead, for each of the relevant actions investigated, the report sets out evidence on both sides…” “The Special Counsel states that “while this report does not include that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”” — Barr Memo By Dan Peak The Commoner Call (3/28/19) Dear Fellow Readers, Russia — if you’re listening — please find us the entire Mueller report. While reading this on Thursday it will be Day 5 of…
Has “Cover-Up General” William Barr Struck Again?
History shows that when a Republican president is in serious legal trouble, Bill Barr is the go-to guy. By Thom Hartmann National Memo / Independent Media Institute (3/25/19) Back in 1992, the last time Bill Barr was U.S. attorney general, iconic New York Timeswriter William Safire referred to him as “Coverup-General Barr” because of his role in burying evidence of then-President George H.W. Bush’s involvement in “Iraqgate” and “Iron-Contra.” General Barr has struck again—this time, in similar fashion, burying Mueller’s report and cherry-picking fragments of sentences from it to justify Trump’s behavior. In his letter, he notes that Robert Mueller “leaves it to the…
Manufacturing Consent: Generating Apathy To Preserve The Status Quo
“Advertisers don’t like the public sphere, where audiences are relatively small, upsetting controversy takes place, and the settings are not ideal for selling goods. Their preference for entertainment underlies the gradual erosion of the public sphere under systems of commercial media, well exemplified in the history of broadcasting in the United States over the past seventy-five years. But entertainment has the merit not only of being better suited to helping sell goods; it is an effective vehicle for hidden ideological messages. Furthermore, in a system of high and growing inequality, entertainment is the contemporary equivalent of the Roman “games…
Heads Up, Progressives! Innovative AOC Voter Organizing App Goes Mainstream
“The app is out there and it works.” Bloomberg Markets & Finance (3/26/19) Mar.26 — The mobile app designed by the Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign that helped her win her seat in Congress is now going mainstream. Bloomberg’s Joshua Green reports on “Bloomberg Markets.” Link to 3-Minute Video
Bernie Isn’t Kidding About Medicare For All
By Jack Crosbie Splinter (3/27/19) One of the biggest arguments against Medicare for All or single-payer healthcare is that it would disrupt or destroy the current existing system of employer-provided private health insurance. This isn’t a good argument, of course, but it’s one that gets a lot of air time from the shrill handwringing crowd that wants to make sure the profits from private companies are safe. Kill the insurance companies. Replace them with a federal system. You don’t have to shop on the private market for firefighters when your house burns down, and there’s no reason you…
‘Electronic Bridge To Nowhere’ — How The Switch To Electronic Medical Records Went Wrong
With the federal government, so far, sinking $36 billion into the effort — America has little to show for its investment. By Fred Schulte, Kaiser Health News and Erika Fry, Fortune (3/18/19) The pain radiated from the top of Annette Monachelli’s head, and it got worse when she changed positions. It didn’t feel like her usual migraine. The 47-year-old Vermont attorney turned innkeeper visited her local doctor at the Stowe Family Practice twice about the problem in late November 2012, but got little relief. Two months later, Monachelli was dead of a brain aneurysm, a condition that, despite the symptoms and…
Women On Vatican Magazine Editorial Board Quit En Masse
Morning Edition / NPR (3/27/19) The founder and all-female editorial board of a women’s magazine for the Vatican have quit. They say they were being delegitimized. Link to 3-Minute Video ***** The Revolt At The Vatican Shows How The Church Stubbornly Fails Women ‘We are throwing in the towel because we feel surrounded by an atmosphere of distrust and progressive delegitimisation.’ By Tina Beattie The Guardian (3/27/19) he editor of the Vatican women’s magazine, Lucetta Scaraffia, has announced that she and her all-female editorial team are to suspend its publication. In a letter to Pope Francis, which she has also made…
‘Torture, Plain & Simple’: Chelsea Manning’s Supporters Demand Her Release From Solitary Confinement
By Julia Conley Common Dreams (3/25/19) Supporters of U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning are demanding she be released from solitary confinement, in which she has been held for 17 days since refusing to answer a grand jury’s questions. Chelsea Resists!, Manning’s support committee, released a statement over the weekend denouncing her treatment and invoking the United Nations’ own statements about the dangers and injustice of isolation in prisons. “The United States Government has already tortured Chelsea Manning for months. She attempted suicide twice while incarcerated. Now they’re torturing her again.” “We condemn the solitary confinement that Chelsea Manning has been subjected to…
Brazil’s Authoritarian Borrows From Trump’s Divisive & Hateful Playbook
Much of Bolsonaro’s political support comes from agribusiness, the arms industry, and the religious right, a nexus of power referred to as the Three “B”s—beef, bullets, and Bibles. By John Lee Anderson The New Yorker (4/1/19) The authoritarian leaders taking power around the world share a vocabulary of intolerance, insult, and menace. Jair Bolsonaro, who was elected President of Brazil on promises to end crime, right the economy, and “make Brazil great,” has spent his career gleefully offending women, black people, environmentalists, and gays. “I would be incapable of loving a homosexual son,” he has said. “I would prefer that my son…
As Climate Chaos Worsens: Recording Reveals Oil industry Execs Chortling Over Their Direct Access To Trump
The oil lobby has had ready access to top administration officials, both inside the Interior Department and out. By Lance Willims Center for Investigative Reporting / Reveal (3/22/19) Gathered for a private meeting at a beachside Ritz–Carlton in Southern California, the oil executives were celebrating a colleague’s sudden rise. David Bernhardt, their former lawyer, had been appointed by President Donald Trump to the powerful No. 2 spot at the Department of the Interior. Just five months into the Trump era, the energy developers who make up the Independent Petroleum Association of America, or IPAA, already had watched the new president…
‘Insidious’ — The Stunning Deadly Truth About Asbestos Use In The U.S.
After Donald Trump eased regulations on the use asbestos Russian exporters have decorated their shipping wrapping with an image of Trump. Seems an appropriate warning, should anyone pay attention. Poster child for a broken regulatory process. PBS News Hour (3/13/19) Asbestos is no longer ubiquitous in building materials, and since it’s proven to cause cancer, many Americans likely assumed the substance had been banned entirely. But not only is asbestos a naturally occurring mineral, it is also still used to make some household products. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports on “broken” U.S. regulation and why we continue to import the…
Progressives Refuse To Back Down As DCCC Moves To Kneecap Primary Challengers Of Old Guard Wall Street Dems
“The party shouldn’t be in the business of protecting Dems in safe blue districts who have lost touch with their constituents.” By Jake Johnson Common Dreams Progressives made clear they have no intention of backing down to the party establishment after the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Friday threatened to cut off funds to firms and strategists that support primary challengers against incumbents. “The DCCC can do anything it wants to try to prevent the next generation of Democrats from taking power. They will not succeed,” Sean McElwee—co-founder of Data for Progress, which is recruiting progressives to oust conservative Democrats—said in a statement….
Russia Monitor: Trump Lawyer Rudy Giuliani Says Mueller Report Was ‘better than I expected.’ So What Was He Expecting & Why All The Lies?
By Dan Peak The Commoner Call (3/25/19) Dear Fellow Readers, Special counsel Robert Mueller submitted his report to Attorney General William Barr on Friday. On Sunday Barr made a public release of a summary of the special counsel’s findings. You can access Barr’s four-page document here. While there will be an ongoing debate of what was said and what it means, Trump and his followers are declaring victory, and while more information to come may make this less than the resounding victory being claimed, the first wave of headlines benefit Trump. Keep in mind, very few people have seen…
A ‘Mole Among Trolls’ Went Undercover At A Russian Online Troll Factory & Found Hundreds Of Russians Working As Paid Trolls In Rotating Shifts
“Each worker has a quota to fill every day and every night. Because the factory works around the clock. It never stops. Not for a second.” Charles Maynes PRI’s The World (3/18/19) Slaying online trolls can be a lonely business. Just ask Russia’s Lyudmila Savchuk, who first exposed the story of Russia’s disinformation campaign back in 2014. The journalist and 33-year-old mother of two, Savchuk started noticing websites and social media accounts attacking local opposition activists in her hometown of Saint Petersburg with a frequency she hadn’t seen before. The posts were all too similar. The verbal assaults too…
Immigration Officials Snatch 9-Year-Old U.S. Citizen Heading To School, Hold Her For 2 Days
“I was scared. I was completely by myself,” says sobbing fourth-grader. By Mary Papenfuss HuffPost (3/23/19) A 9-year-old American citizen on her way to school was apprehended by U.S. immigration officials and detained for some 32 hours before she was released back to her family. Federal officials said later that the girl, who was carrying a U.S. passport card with her, gave “inconsistent information.” “I was scared. I didn’t have my mom or my brother. I was completely by myself,” Julia Isabel Amparo Medina told NBC-7 TV in San Diego. Medina, her 14-year-old brother and two friends were being driven to…
A Corporation Built On Immigrant Abuse & Anguish
There are reports of drug smuggling, suicides, and mixing asylum seekers with convicted criminals. By Richard N. Williams Sojourners Magazine (March 2019 Issue) AT 146 CCA ROAD in Lumpkin, Ga., sits the Stewart Detention Center, one of the nation’s largest immigrant holding facilities. It’s also a multimillion-dollar revenue-generating business. The nearly 2,000-bed facility, originally built as a medium-security prison, is owned and operated by CoreCivic (formerly known as the Corrections Corporation of America), the second largest private prison firm in the United States. Private detention centers, such as Stewart, are major sources of revenue for the private prison industry. CoreCivic is currently…
Long Before Bernie & AOC, Eugene V. Debs Was The Face Of American Socialism
By Paul Buhle & Mari Jo Buhle The Guardian (3/2/19) Socialism is in vogue in America. Radical left politics, embodied by the likes of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is gaining traction among millennials who came of age during the Great Recession. And conservatives, in turn, have reverted to using decades-old Red Scare tactics in response. With the hype around a resurgent American left, it might feel like socialism is a newcomer to political discourse in the United States. But only if you don’t know your US history. Long before Bernie Sanders came along, there was Eugene Debs. It is impossible to understand the…
Anand Giridharadas: The College Bribery Scandal Is Just A Glimpse Of The Many Ways The Wealthy Rig Society To Their Benefit
When a scandal like this breaks, it’s really important for us to understand that we’ve gone from seeing 0 percent of a system to 0.003 percent of a system, right? There’s so much more here. This is a little biopsy of a world that we happen to get. Democracy Now! (3/15/19) As the fallout continues over the elite college admissions scandal that investigators nicknamed “Operation Varsity Blues,” we speak with journalist Anand Giridharadas, author of “Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World.” His book examines how the so-called elite class of America have worked the system to…
Our Great Lakes Feeling The Burn From Growing Effects Of Deadly Climate Chaos
By Dan Kraker MPR (3/21/19) People living around the Great Lakes can expect to see more harmful algae blooms, warmer water temperatures and declining ice cover, more huge rain storms flushing runoff from farm fields and parking lots, and more coastal erosion and beach closures. That’s the assessment of a new study commissioned by an environmental advocacy group analyzing the impacts of climate change on the world’s largest supply of fresh water. Taking decisive steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change could have profound impacts on the health of the Great Lakes. Many…
Review / ‘Kushner, Inc’ — Jared, Ivanka Trump And The Rise & Rule Of The American Kakistocracy
If nothing else, Kushner, Inc reinforces the well-founded conviction that we are governed by a kakistocracy, from the president on down. By Lloyd Green Guardian (3/24/19) Like Donald Trump, Americans are displeased with Jared Kushner, the president’s squeaky sounding son-in-law. As the reality that Kushner received his White House security clearance the same way he got into Harvard sinks in – “Daddy” pulled some very expensive strings – his popularity will not be rebounding anytime soon. Vicky Ward’s book is subtitled: “Greed. Ambition. Corruption. The Extraordinary Story of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.” It is a damning depiction of the Kushner clan and “Javanka”. Kushner, Inc is an amalgam…
On The 16th Anniversary Of Disastrous Iraq War, Matt Taibbi Asks ‘Where Were The Reporters?
In this March 23rd episode of The Zero Hour Richard ‘RJ’ Eskow and Rolling Stone journalist and book author Matt Tiabbi mark the 16th anniversary of the disastrous Cheney/Bush Iraq by reviewing the many mistakes, errors and missed opportunities and close cooperation of most of the American media in leading the nation to war and the Middle East to multiple senseless tragedies. Link to 34-Minute Video ****** 16 Years Later, How The Press That Sold The Iraq War Got Away With It How the media built new lies to cover their early ones. By Matt Taibbi Rolling Stone (3/22/19) Sixteen…
Notably Quotable: “The great enemy of freedom is the alignment of political power with wealth.”
“The great enemy of freedom is the alignment of political power with wealth. This alignment destroys the commonwealth – that is, the natural wealth of localities and the local economies of household, neighborhood, and community – and so destroys democracy, of which the commonwealth is the foundation and practical means.” ― Wendell Berry ***** “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” ― Eric Hoffer, The Temper of Our Time ***** “In October 1964 in the state of Mississippi, the civil rights movement suffered fifteen killings, four woundings, thirty-seven churches bombed or burned, and…
Beto Bunk: Reinventing Beto: How A GOP Accessory Became A Top Democratic Contender for 2020
There’s a good reason why O’Rourke declines to call himself “progressive.” He isn’t. His alliances and sensibilities are bedrock corporate. By Norman Solomon Common Dreams (3/21/19) To understand Beto O’Rourke as a candidate, it’s vital to go beneath the surface of his political backstory. News watchers are already well aware of the former Texas congressman’s good looks, charisma, youthful energy and fundraising prowess. But most remain unaware of an inconvenient truth that could undermine the O’Rourke campaign among the people who matter most—the ones who’ll be voting to choose the Democratic presidential nominee next year. O’Rourke is hardly eager for…
‘A perfect platform’: Internet’s Abyss Has Becomes A Far-Right Breeding Pit
Studies, time and again, have shown the algorithms employed by YouTube and Facebook push conspiracy theories and far-right propaganda into the feeds of users. By Christopher Knaus The Guardian (3/18/19) No depth goes unplumbed on the far-right forum 8chan. Its threads reveal a seething, toxic mass of rabid antisemitism, neo-Nazism, Islamophobia, gratuitous violence, coded inside jokes and conspiratorial ravings published by anonymous users. Nothing has changed in the days after the Australian alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant, 28, came to 8chan boasting of the imminent massacre in Christchurch. Posts have since praised Tarrant as a “hero” and called for copycat attacks, or, alternatively, denounced…
Neo-Nazi Hipsters Group ‘Identity Evropa’ Exposed In Discord Chat Leak
By Chris Schiano & Freddy Martinez Unicorn Riot (3/6/19) Newly leaked chat logs from the alt-right group Identity Evropa show a continuing dynamic of racism and fascism, despite ongoing attempts to reform their public image following the deadly 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville. Since the violence in Charlottesville turned much of society against the alt-right, Identity Evropa (IE for short) has changed their strategy, focusing on presenting clean “optics” to the exclusion of most other considerations. The group today tries to present itself as entirely nonviolent, with its public appearances carefully groomed by its young leader, Patrick Casey, a…
A Question For Rep. Ron Kind & Any Other Incumbent Members Of Congress Opposed To Medicare For All
A Group Of Wisconsin Physicians Speak: What Is Medicare For All — And Why Is It Essential
“And lack of health insurance is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy, a uniquely American problem.” [Editor’s Note: This column does an excellent job of concisely laying out the case for Medicare 4 All and the broken reality of the costly and ineffective corporate medical system. Forward on to your contacts. — Mark L. Taylor] By Steven Weis MD The La Crosse Tribune (3/17/19) In 2009, before Obamacare, a Harvard study estimated that 45,000 Americans died annually because they didn’t have health insurance. Obamacare has shrunk the ranks of the uninsured from 50 million then to less than 29 million…
A Retiring La Crosse Physician Is Now Turning His Attention To The Healing Of Our Politics
“A cherished memory from medical school was the day that I held in my hands a just newly born little girl as she took her first breath. I was blown away by that experience and to this day remain convinced that she was born to thrive.” [Editor’s Note: On Wednesday Mark Neumann MD sent the following letter out to his colleagues at Gundersen Health System announcing his retirement and plans to become involved in the political work of bringing health care to the many in need. In addition to his work at Gundersen, he began his medical career providing healthcare…
David Hogg: Putting Kids, Communities & Our Nation’s Future Over The Selfish Interests Of The NRA
Parkland, Florida school shooting survivor David Hogg. Make sure the young people in your life hear this amazingly courageous and eloquent teen speak out about gun violence, white power and the need to bring about a humane society. Westminster Town Hall Forum / MPR (3/19/19) David Hogg is a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He is among twenty Parkland students who founded Never Again MSD, a gun control advocacy group, and he is a founding member of March for Our Lives, one of the largest youth-led movements in the world….