Tags
LUMPENPROLETARIAT—On Wednesday, American and other international fascists attempted to permanently subvert American democracy. Some did so wittingly, others unwittingly. Some died in battle, or protest, sacrificing their lives for what they believed in, putting their bodies way out there, in front of the American state. Some were innocent bystanders of the political violence on our American streets. We can safely say the great majority of the participants, or belligerents, the Trump loyalists would position themselves in the upper-right quadrant of a basic political compass test, which is where most American voters position themselves these days. This is America.
Various polls show a divided nation, with more than half of Republican voters approving of the loyalists’ so-called ‘storming‘ of Capitol Hill. Of course, the term storming, which is being widely used to describe the loyalists breach of the Capitol Building complex will likely prove hyperbolic, as video and eyewitness evidence comes to light about the various instances of Capitol Hill police providing comfort and aid to the antidemocratic loyalists attempting to invalidate the election through “trial by combat“, to quote fascist partisan Rudy Giuliani.
The right-wing character of our two-party system, or two-party dictatorship, provides indicators of what the mass demonstration of tens of thousands of Trump loyalists outside the Capitol Building complex represented. Additionally, we cannot deny the massive show of white privilege, which the events of January 6th represent, a powerful symbol to the nation’s psyche, a cause for celebration for some, a cause for terror for others. A line has been drawn in the sand, those Trump flags and “thin blue line” flags will take on a whole new meaning after this. Some Americans are joining the wave of defection from Trump’s fascist project, under cover of the fleeing herd, now that Trump has exposed himself as treasonous and seditious. The ones, who stay on Team Trump must be denounced as fascist partisans. Negotiation with fascists, racists, and other narcissistic abusers is futile. They only become more emboldened, until they seize totalitarian domination.
Sure, the motley alliance, which haunted the Capitol on Wednesday will tell you they want to save America or save democracy, not usher in fascism. Some will, but not all. Most have some misguided fears of socialism, as do far too many Americans to this day, as a result of the disinformation and misinformation campaigns of the Red Scares, McCarthyism, and the Cold War, all of which were just foils for anti-labor, pro-capitalist, pro-imperialist, pro-corporate agendas. Other loyalists seem to have internalized the deep-set fear, which the ruling class appropriately harbors, of losing their petit bourgeois economic privileges. How many Americans, who understand neoliberalism, racism, and imperialism are harmful, never speak out for fear of losing their comfortable little piece of the evil empire?
We heard soundbites of the loyalists’ rhetoric, but not unfiltered or un-sanitized. It’s very diverse. Most of the right-wing groups I’ve encountered online and via social media seem to be anti-Black Lives Matter, for some reason. Sometimes, there are thinly-veiled and not-so-thinly-veiled declarations of racist sentiments. We saw some of the slogans on the news, the white supremacist paraphernalia, the Confederate flags, and whatnot. The various elements of this fascist alliance pushing to keep Trump in power are diverse. Pacifica Radio broadcast undercover audio recorded of some loyalists speaking freely at the D.C. actions Wednesday. It was interesting because those individuals reflected disaffection with Democrat Party corruption. They sounded nothing like fascists. They just sounded like run-of-the-mill liberals with basic human values. Feeling they have no choice in the two-party system, and feeling disaffected by Democrat Party corruption, they’ve turned to “the other side of the aisle”. Former Obama voters switched parties to vote for Trump. Clearly, such voters were seeking solace in the Republican Party, evidently unaware they were hopping out of the frying pan and into the fryer. Many Americans, like the seemingly well-meaning loyalists recorded by Pacifica Radio, think they only have two political choices. We, Americans, forgot how to think outside the box, it seems.
The loose-knit antidemocratic alliance of January 6th only succeeded in temporarily subverting ‘democracy’, in the sense that the Trump loyalists obstructed the counting of the electoral college votes, or rather the ceremonial acceptance of the previously double-checked and verified vote counts. To be clear, however, we’re not defending the electoral college. In fact, we support the national popular vote interstate compact. [1] But, electoral politics is only one more lever of power, which citizens must leverage to further their collective interests. It cannot be the only lever of power the American working class relies on, however.
As it is, our electoral system is broken because it doesn’t reflect the will of the people. Most people reject the American two-party dictatorship and its corporate worship. We understand we must abolish the electoral college, get ranked-choice voting, and open televised, widely-distributed debates, which are open to more than just the political parties, who are funded by giant corporations. We know we must abolish the Senate, as it was never intended to help the American working class, only the ruling class. In the meantime, we can self-educate for correct political action. In the short-run, we can vote. In the long-run, we must find like-minded individuals, who share our collective values, and build solidarity, build relationships, and contribute to the movements for socioeconomic justice.
Democracy, as they say, is not a spectator sport. We, who dissent, must be out in the streets demonstrating our dissent. If that means respecting masking and social distancing norms during global pandemics, so be it. But we must exercise our Constitutional rights, especially our First Amendment rights in the streets to let the world know exactly what we’re thinking and feeling right now. We cannot let this lockdown become a permanent fascist state. We respect science. But we reject fascism.
Tell your own story. Control your own narrative. Don’t let the corporate media gaslight America. We expect that from corporate media, so we read critically, parsing through deceptive propaganda for clues of reality. But, we also have to be careful with independent and reader-supporter, listener-supported, and viewer-supported media. Institutions, such as NPR, Pacifica Radio, The Intercept are better than corporate media. But there boards of directors have been infiltrated by antidemocratic types, who censor diverse perspectives and funnel people into the two-party dictatorship via the Democrat or Republican Party.
Consider NPR’s reporting on the events of January 6, 2021 at the Capitol Building complex in D.C. NPR reported, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee held a news conference.
Contee said 56 officers were injured, describing “a lot of valiant fighting” to perform their duties despite facing tear gas and other hazards. One officer, he said, was “snatched into a crowd,” where he was beaten and tazed repeatedly.
Bowser blamed the violence on Trump, calling him an “unhinged president” who has peddled baseless conspiracy theories.
Bowser and other Democrats called for the top security officials at the Capitol to resign. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund handed in his resignation, effective next week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that he requested and received the immediate resignation of Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger.
When Bowser was asked about the breakdown of the Capitol Police’s security effort, she didn’t mince words.
“Obviously, it was a failure, or you would not have had police lines breached and people enter the Capitol building by breaking windows,” she said, “and terrorizing the people, the members of Congress who were doing a very sacred constitutional requirement of their jobs. So clearly, there was failure there.”
Wait, “she didn’t mince words”, NPR? Come on! Give us a break. We all know that’s bullshit. The Capitol Police enabled the loyalists. And we also know that almost 75% of cops endorsed Trump. NPR didn’t mention any of that. And, if NPR, doesn’t mention it in their analysis, we know the corporate spin will be even worse. This is evil gaslighting because on TV we all saw how Capitol Hill police enabled the vandals and trespassers to abuse the Capitol Building complex and disrupt the congressional proceedings. All over YouTube and social media there are videos and pictures of cops taking selfies with the loyalists, even opening doors, and guiding them through the labyrinth of hallways to find the Senators and Representatives, afraid of being attacked by the armed loyalists. As various observers and sources reported on Pacifica Radio (see below), the loyalists ultimately left out of sheer boredom, after milling around the Capitol building complex for hours. The loyalists were simply given a pass to run roughshod all over the place. Of course, this is a stark contrast to how antiwar protestors, such as Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin, and others are routinely arrested when they protest or disrupt Congress. If a gaslighting narrative is what we get from NPR, we already know the corporate narrative will be even more fallacious, insidious, and evil.
Trump boasted that his loyalists came “from around the world”. If we look closer, we find most of the Trump loyalists in D.C. on Wednesday were not from the D.C. area, which is known to have its predominantly black population. No, the Trump loyalists mostly came from out of state in expensive, lifted trucks, in rowdy caravans, or by plane, and staying in nice hotels, tailgating, having a blast. This all suggests, as at least one observer emphasized on Wednesday: This was not the poor and disaffected white America coming in to Washington on Wednesday, this was better-off petit bourgeois loyalists, imported from out of state and “from around the world.” YouTuber Lasse Burholt is one example of a right-wing Trump loyalist with links to right-wing Nordic politics, which we’ve discussed. He proudly boasts how he’s connecting American white nationalists to ‘the motherland’, as it were.
As various observers have noted, the Trump loyalists and would-be fascist types, “want a civil war.” People of color and other people of conscience will have to demonstrate a clear rejection of such toxic politics and, yet, show great restraint and discipline to not be provoked by racists and fascists. When dealing with pathological narcissistic abuse, dialogue is simply not possible, not even in the public square. At that point, the grey rock method is advisable. Thus, it was ideal, as Antifa members reported, that antifascists and antiracists felt it was too dangerous to attend the events of January 6, 2021 to attempt any kind of counter demonstrations. That only provides narcissistic supply to narcissistic abusers. So, the antifascists and antiracists decided to sit this one out, to not confront the loyalists on Wednesday. Also, various Black Lives Matter advocates and others sympathetic to their cause, simply shook their heads, laughing, saying this wasn’t their fight.
This correct reading of the political moment by the antifascists and antiracists was a blessing. If the loyalists were looking for a street fight to provoke BLM and Antifa, knowing they have the state on their side, as right-wingers, it would have been a bloody disaster for antifascists and BLM activists. It seems the loyalists miscalculated. They showed up to the ‘street fight’, but had to go it alone. It seems this was a failed set-up. The loyalists, it seems, are being manipulated by their various figureheads, such as the Q-Anon Shaman and sundry YouTubers, such as Lasse Burholt. There are tons of right-wing media influencers, many of whom are stark-raving mad. We must listen to them. Many of the loyalists are reasonable with valid complaints about corruption in the Democrat Party. Unfortunately, their faith in Trump will leave them disappointed because the evidence shows Trump is antidemocratic, anti-working class, and has insulted our troops on dozens of occasions. Sadly, Trump is a narcissistic abuser to his codependent loyalists. Reality is not what it seems when gaslighting and narcissistic abuse is involved, as it always is in Trump’s World.
On their way out, Trump loyalists said this was only a dress rehearsal for the 20th, according to eyewitnesses. One is reminded of the German Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler failed, but wasn’t taken seriously. Then, he wrote Mein Kampf in prison and became more influential. The rest is history, or infamy, as one observer noted today. We must not repeat such mistakes of the past. Let us self-educate for correct political action.
Here’s what other people are saying today on free speech radio, as channeled by Pacifica Radio (what’s left of it, after being captured by despotic liberal bosses). Download the Pacifica Radio app for easy access to livestream audio feeds.
05:00 PST, KPFA > Rising Up with Sonali >
05:00 PST, WBAI > Democracy Now! [TW] “DC needs to be a state.” (c. 21:00) [TW] This guy says what I was thinking yesterday.
Corey Bush called it “terrorist” attack. She sounds righteously indignant. Let’s hope she doesn’t become a sad inversion of Joseph McCarthy. Recall Alan Nairn’s warnings to liberals on Democracy Now! yesterday.
05:39 PST, KPFA > Rising Up with Sonali [TW]
05:00 PST, kpfk, bai, wpfw > dn sumulcast
0550, DN!, [TW] police state smashes on covid data whistle-blower. Boss Desantis forged/changed data to show lower than actual covid stats! Bujacek was right, but inversely. Stats were being deflated, not inflated.
0600 wpfw Climate Friday
0600 WBAI > a health testimonial
06:00 PST, KPFK > [TW] wacky liberal lady rants about impeaching Trump. “He is a national security threat.”
0743, KPFA tw
0800 tw all. KPFK > Democracy Now!KPFA > Sabrina Jacobs. WPFW [TW] Community Watch(?).
08:00 PST, WBAI > Driving Forces > [TW] Synopsis: COVID-19 & incarceration, for-profit prisons. Topics: “On the January 7, 2021 episode of Driving Forces on WBAI 99.5 FM, hosts Celeste Katz Marston and Jeff Simmons discussed the pandemic and the latest news on how COVID – 19 continues to impact incarcerated people.”
08:53 PST, WBAI, meditation tutorial
c. 08:00 – 09:00 PST, WPFW [TW] “They want civil war,” said host. “This us the puss coming out,” said woman caller, (c. 0:40) [TW]
09:00 PST, KPFA > Democracy Now! WPFW, jazz segue. 0956, still jazz music
09:00 PST, KPFK > The Michael Slate Show > [TW] Carl Dix, Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) on the events of January 6th.
09:32 PST, WPFW > music chat
10:43 PST, WPFW > Africa
10:44 PST, WBAI > [TW] > On the loyalists, racists, et al, Talia Lavin [TW] my journey into white supremacist
11:00 PST, wbai > neurodiversity speaks
WPFW > jazz
11:24 PST, WBAI > [Tw] (rerun from yesterday) “6 million was not enough” 11:26 PST
11:28 PST, KPFA [Berkeley, CA] Voices of the Middle East
11:33 PST, WBAI > EcoLogic, nuclear waste, dangers
11:49 PST, WPFW > Elected House Rep. Mary Miller quoted Hitler [TW]
12:00 PST, WPFW > music
12:12 PST, KPFA > [TW] “It’sGoingDown.org” > loyalists “disturbing” “massive over reach” on the part of the right. 12:32, “the culture wars”
12:43 PST, Margaret Prescott(sp?), woman on the loyalists
1244, wpfw > music DJ commentary on social media, “we’re commenting, but not doing” “Don’t trade commenting and posting for…” real work cf diane macavey
1249, bai TW
1300, tw Project Censored peter dale Scott 9/11 historiography 2. Going Remote: Flattening Education (?)
1301, kpfk the window of tolerance of arousal socal new agey stuff
1303, bai tw audio of loyalists!!
13:55 PST, WBAI > News Headlines [TW]
13:58 PST, KPFK > Inner Vision(?), health show?
Wbai > On The Ground
1359, wbai > next sat., working class heroes radio > marsial morales[sp?) and detainees fighting for their rights
1400, wbai > Women Fight Back with Rachel…
14:01 PST, WPFW > weird music
14:03 PST, KPFA > Terra Verde, environmental justice program; community radio announcement. Dr. Robert H. from Santa Barbara is the interview guest, who uses econometrics to explore the relationships between humans and the environment. He discussed his work in Chile, Indonesia (oil sector), Brazil (soy sector), and around the world. On the “convergence of neoliberal economics”, “monoculture plantations”, and more.
14:07 PST, KPFK [L.A.] > music, theater, and arts
14:09 PST, [TW] WBAI > So much of this is “theater.” On NPR, some cop was gaslighting the public saying the police did nothing wrong… nPR podcast, The Take-Away, one speaker said… 14:25, cops ‘they were monitoring right-wing chats, like Gab? and (?), said A.N.S.W.E.R. anti-war activist veteran, who contrasted how antiwar activists were corralled and abused. “What happened was by design.”
14:28 PST, WPFW > artist profile/interview about arts, music, culture chat… “What I was searching for was myself.”
14:30 PST, KPFA > Education Today > Betsy Davos has resigned, replaced by a “centrist”… “However, I am concerned…” because of “standardized testing”… Mr. Cardona needs to hear kids are being set up to fail, if they expect to manage all the proposed standardized testing… Guest discussed “teaching dialectics”… [TW]
14:34 PST, KPFK > interview, woman host interviewed a woman about child care and day care…
14:35 PST, WBAI > audio of Netanyahu. On Trump and his loyalists, plus attempts by loyalists to enter the Georgia capitol. [TW] “To say, ‘This is not who we are’ is wishful thinking, at best, and complicit, at worst.” Anna Dickinson, guest.
15:00 – 15:30 PST, WBAI > News [TW]
c. 15:00 – 15:30 PST, WPFW > [TW] imperialism, Iran-Contra history, William Barr, Elliot Abrams, Trump, coup attempt in Venezuela, Iran may be next…
c. 15:00 – 15:30 PST, KPFA > relevant analysis on Trump and his loyalists. N.B.: Per terrestrial radio. Pacifica Radio app feed not streaming KPFA, just as KPFT and WORT haven’t been working for works, either.
15:18 PST, KPFK > relevant analysis on Trump and his loyalists
15:45 PST, KPFK > [TW] Gary “G-Spot” Baca interview with a veterano…
c. 15:30 PST, WBAI > 15:50 PST, music. 15:55 PST, cheesy, easy-listening jazz interpretation of “My Funny Valentine”. Why not play the Chet Baker version? Or Miles Davis? This aesthetically offends me, I shouldn’t say.
16:00 – 17:00 PST, KPFA > 1. News Headlines 2. Hard Knock Radio: Carl Dix (RCP) 16:15 PST, woman gives eyewitness testimony of Trump loyalists’ flag-burning, experiencing abuses at the hands of cops. (c. 0:40) Anita Johnson interviewed guest on urban economics, microeconomics, and providing available grant money to small businesses, started by San Mateo County.
16:00 – 17:00 PST, WBAI > On attorney Michael…; standing up to power; movement for justice for Puerto Rico, “on the grounds of violations of the Geneva Accords”, “the U.N. Charter”, and “the Constitution”… 16:29 PST, “Bill Kunstler”, “Tom Wicker, New York Times”, Attaca prison…
16:00 PST, WPFW > jazz music
16:00- 17:00 PST, KPFK > Rising Up with Sonali [TW] > On the events of January 6th… Jennifer Howard, author of Clutter
17:00 PST, KPFK > The Jimmy Dore Show > Interview with “Nome Chumsky”
17:00 PST, WBAI > talk radio >
17:00 PST, WPFW > Robin’s Place > female jazz music DJ played music artists “to entertain you”; female jazz singer, classic recording.
17:07 PST, KPFA > [TW] Flashpoints > 1. Greg Palast 2. On the events of January 6th, 2021Kevin Pena hosts panel, Medea Benjamin; Panel begins by defining the left, what it means to each of the panelists. Ajamu Baraka; Dr. Buhttar(sp?), et al [TW]. 17:17 PST, Ajamu Baraka; 17:18 PST, Dr. Shahid Bhutar(sp?) 17:32 PST, Medea Benjamin, “I’m not particularly interested in defining ‘the left’.” 17:40 PST, short break, then talk about: What does “real democracy” mean anymore, when big corporations are calling the shots?
18:00 PST, KPFA > KPFA Evening News [TW]
18:50 PST, WBAI > music
18:55 PST, WPFW > music, blues
19:00 PST, KPFK > Soul Rebel Radio > culture, East L.A.
19:00 – 19:30 PST, WBAI > good music
18:55 PST, WPFW > music, female jazz singer, Karen Francis(sp?) – “Better Days”
19:00 PST, KPFA > La Raza Chronicles
***
ADDENDUM—Saturday, 9 JAN 2021
Facebook user Miri Jara shared the following image:
My reply to Mia Jara (09 JAN 2021, 05:06 PST:
Miri Jana, you highlight a very important part of his rhetoric of incitement and building up his Brownshirts base (i.e., Sturmabteilung).
The words “You’re very special” may seem silly to passive observers or his political opponents. But beware.
The “special” rhetoric is insidiously designed to speak to the alienated mentality of disaffected Trump loyalists.
Also, Trump’s dialectical dance with his racist, chauvinist, and fascist base is changing him just as much as it’s changing them. The mob he has unleashed is becoming more emboldened.
But, at the level of individual psychology, each Trump loyalist has to have bought into the cult of personality, or at least become complicit. With Trump, though, you get narcissistic abuse.
Meredith Miller (Inner Integration), an expert in recovery and healing from narc abuse, describes narc abuse as a cycle of love-bombing (idealization phase) and narcissistic discard (devaluation phase).
The narc abuser preys on low self-esteem, self-love deficiency, and codependence. Trump loyalists are, for the moment, codependent with Trump. They got a fix of Trump’s external validation. But they also got the narcissistic discard in Trump’s “hostage video” asking his loyalists to go home.
So, now, the codependents will be back for more. They even said this was only a dress rehearsal for the 20th, and that they’ll be back more heavily armed.
Cf. Inner Integration, “Why Is Love-Bombing So Dangerous?” https://youtu.be/swNdG2AV2tY
***
“The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact will guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Compact ensures that every vote, in every state, will matter in every presidential election. The Compact is a state-based approach that preserves the Electoral College, state control of elections, and the power of the states to control how the President is elected.
The National Popular Vote bill has been enacted by 16 jurisdictions possessing 196 electoral votes, including 4 small states (DE, HI, RI, VT), 8 medium-sized states (CO, CT, MD, MA, NJ, NM, OR, WA), 3 big states (CA, IL, NY), and the District of Columbia. The bill will take effect when enacted by states with 74 more electoral votes. The bill has passed at least one chamber in 9 additional states with 88 more electoral votes (AR, AZ, ME, MI, MN, NC, NV, OK, VA). A total of 3,408 state legislators from all 50 states have endorsed it.”
cf. https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/written-explanation
Thank you for reading Lumpenproletariat.
[Raw notes will be expanded as time constraints allow. Please help connect the dots, and document what we observe, including critical analysis of leftist, centrist, and right-wing media, ideally the whole political spectrum. Please leave your comments below.]
***
[8 JAN 2021]
[Last modified on 6 MAR 2023 at 18:36 PST]
[TW = transcription pending volunteer labor; please reach out, if you can volunteer… Solidarity.]
Lumpenproletariat 