LUMPENPROLETARIAT—[21 JAN 2021]  Some of us sensed that President Biden needed to take the threat of U.S. fascism more seriously.  As divided as the nation has been, the president will have to tour the reddest states and make the 74 million, who rejected him feel heard.  He needs to say:  I am your president, too.  I am here to listen.  Then, he needs to mindfully listen.  And, most importantly, he needs to respond to their concerns with sincerity.  And Biden needs to work to provide his political opponents what they need, such as jobs, economic assistance, anything, as long as it’s just.  That’s how he can win them over as constituents.  And, if what they need or want is unjust, Biden must show them why, making sure to convey humility, not superiority. 

Unfortunately, Biden’s language and tone have been judgmental.  Biden doesn’t seem interested in truth and reconciliation with the 74 million.  He seems only interested in satisfying the agenda of his political party, rather than the agenda of the American Family.  Some of us tend to side with the defenders in any contest of wills.  Right now, we need to side with all peaceful protestors, even if we disagree with their politics, even if we find them harmful to us because the value of free speech far outweighs the fears of gullible Americans being fooled by the unscrupulous pushers of misinformation and disinformation. We don’t need the state filtering news and information for us.  We don’t need a paternalistic state.  Moreover, promoting independent media is a powerful solution for the very serious problem of media consolidation, monopolization, and cartelization.  The capitalist modes of production tend toward the concentration of wealth and power in few hands.  So, we need the free flow of information to collectively establish truth for socioeconomic justice.  We need truth and reconciliation.  We can’t have one without the other and expect for meaningful change or stability.

Given Biden’s Inaugural Address, he seems bent on alienating the 74 million Americans, who feel cheated by his presidency, who feel Biden doesn’t care about their perspectives.  Obviously, our national culture during the last four years of the Trump administration, #45, became much more divisive and polarized.  White supremacy is baked into the cake, it’s a key ingredient, which was included at the beginning.  It has become a deeply ingrained mythology for at least 74 million Americans, who have drank from the cup of American exceptionalism and found themselves intoxicated with the  power of American supremacy.  “America first!” is the refrain of this selfish mentality. This evil disease of racism, this mental illness, which so much resembles narcissistic abuse, which so much resembles an abusive relationship, has transformed itself into a form of nationalism, which has adapted to America’s post-Reconstruction, new-Jim Crow reality.  The forces of white supremacy have figured out that they must begin to recruit people of color into their ranks in order to make their racist and fascist movements appear less racist, or even appear non-racist. Comedian Dave Chappelle’s comedy skit about a blind black guy, who joined the KKK, as he didn’t realize he himself was black, seems passé now.  It’s no longer far-fetched to imagine a right-wing person of color, even though it is contrary to the interests of people of color.  We would like to hear from you, if you’re a right-wing person of color.  Please leave a comment below.

Even without white supremacy being baked into the cake, as it were, our nation would still be growing increasingly polarized simply as a result of having a two-party system.

As people of color, we have meditated upon the meaning of the events of January 6th these last couple of weeks.  Some of us were very angry.  Some of us were very fearful.  Some of us were excessively giddy over the transfer of power from #45 to #46.  Some of us have faith in the Democrat Party, as a sincere opposition party.  Some of us don’t.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did not.  Malcolm X did not.  They saw through the good cop/bad cop routine of the Democrat and Republican parties.  Do you? 

Notably, we didn’t notice a single person of color siding with the Republican Party or Trump loyalists during call-ins or otherwise on Pacifica Radio these last couple of weeks.  Pacifica’s mission is mutual understanding and peace between nations, races, and creeds.  We know right-wing, pro-Republican Party people of color are out there.  But they do not subscribe to Pacifica’s mission of peace and understanding.  So, they are unlikely to be paying attention to Pacifica Radio to call in.  And, regrettably, virtually no Pacifica Radio programming has sought to interview Trump loyalists to hear from them directly.  Instead, we have heard pundits and experts speculate as to what their motivations and aspirations may be without ever bothering to simply ask them, without ever bothering to invite them on the air to discuss or debate the issues.  I remember ’80s shows, like Donahue, even Geraldo, didn’t shy about having so-called fringe groups to discuss or debate the issues.  Liberal Puerto Rican talk show host Geraldo Rivera even got his nose busted on air by some white supremacists during one broadcast, in which emotions escalated and chairs and fists were thrown.  Instead, corporate media and much of Pacifica Radio are othering the Trump loyalists, as if they were blame Pacifica programmers for not working to demystify the Trump loalists by letting them on air to speal for themselves.  If you are an exception, or if you are a right-wing person of color, please leave a comment, we would care to know how you came to position yourself on the right of the political spectrum, which is, to us on the left of the political spectrum, diametrically opposed to the interests of working Americans, their economic wellbeing, labor rights, and democracy, generally.

@LumpenProles, 07:43 PST

***

07:55 PST, Good morning, friends and enemies.  Let’s see what’s going on out there today.  We acknowledge our enemies as well as our friends because we aim to always be mindful of our reality.  We know very well there is a surveillance state, which Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, and others have paid great sacrifices for the benefit of us all; so, that we may know the crimes of state, which are daily committed in our name.  So, we emancipate ourselves from mental slavery, as Dr. Noam Chomsky said to a fearful student at one of his many talks, a student who was afraid to speak out for fear of risking his career or future.  Dr. Chomsky said to the student, if you do that, you will be censoring yourself. You will be doing the work of the oppressor for them, without them even having to lift a finger.  Now, that is intimidation.  We understand that on the streets, lamentably.  That’s how former heavyweight champ “Iron” Mike Tyson used to win boxing matches before the sound of the first bell.  Intimidation. Fear.  So, we reject fear-based decision-making and fear mongering.  We choose courage.  We choose humanity.

Today is Day Two of President Biden’s first 100 days in office.  Let us resist alienation.  Let us build bridges of understanding across ideologies and creeds.

00:00 PST, KPFK > Something’s A > Byrds 1941, Dave Emory [TP] 2. Prof. […]  (c. 10:00) on the history of biological warfare programs [TP]

Bai wpfw Simulcast C. 0545 AG: ‘new W house has mlk Chavez Eleanor Roosevelt 0549 youngest poet laureate, the “skinny black girl”, “d3mocracy cannot be defeated” sh3 said. I dunno. 74M voted for against democracy in 2020.

0500 – 0600 KPFK > tom h […] 0555, “Turn, Turn, Turn” by The Byrds

KPFA 0556, news, cal covid infection rate #s go down .  Biden sworn in on Jewish tora(?).  Is Biden a Zionist? […] “masked mandate for interstate travel’ […] dems get “narrow” lead in senate […] “firsts”, identity politics […] cabinet evil […] 1st pres to enter before key advisors […]  Trump’s narc abuse farewell, ‘have a nice life; we’ll be back in some form’ […] “oxygen shortages” […] US imperialism vs Venezuela continues […] immigration: Mediterranean Sea’s dangerous migration routes […] Biden exec order bans golden parachutes and lobbying, if Cabinet members bail before end of term […] whistle-blower Reality Winner has been imprisoned, abused, sexually assaulted by her jailers […]

06:00 KPFK Stephanie Miller Show [TP] Tom H pitches kpfk cross-promotion […] 06:30 PST, on the legal logic of Trump pardons.  Trump loyalists asking for a pardon. But 45 was advised that doing so would imply knowledge of crimes, knowledge of which would render him complicit and, thus, legally exposed.  […]  As we seek to avoid divisiveness, we strive to afford everyone, including our ideological opponents, the benefit of the doubt.  With our radar on high alert, Stephanie and side-kick’s name-calling against the “Red Hats” and “Trumpies” and whatnot smacks of divisiveness.  Even as I write this, I think of my own past where I have engaged in name-calling.  If mutual respect is the end, mutual respect must be the starting point.  Stable mutual respect across ideologies is much more difficult, if we begin with disrespect, or lack of respect for one another.  Violence does not require concern for the other; in that regard, violence is an easier path than peace.  But we are all Americans.  And we all do have concern for one another.  And that concern must inform how we interact with one another, as we seek to coexist.  Only then, will Americans be able to understand each other.  Now, when it comes to Neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and white nationalists, what more is there to understand?  Any ideology, which regards one “race”, or ethnicity, above any other, will only lead to dispossession and the abuse of power.  America must denounce racist and narcissistic ideologies because they are an impediment to a free and open society.  If Americans aren’t clear on this, we are headed for recurring and increasingly virulent crises. History teaches us how societies rise and fall.  […]  06:52 PST, speakers expressed their great pleasure with Biden’s political performance. “He really feels it,” said the co-host guy.  He doesn’t see what we see, that Biden is alienating the 74 million, who rejected him.  Biden is pushing his agenda before he is making any attempts to win over the 74 million, who correctly recognize he is nothing more than another establishment politician.  […]  One male black-sounding speaker just name-dropped being on the Bill Maher show.  Is he more interested in social name-climbing than social justice?  […]  06:58, local announcements

06:00 PST, WPFW > […] 06:58 PST, public service announcement [TP]

07:00 PST, WBAI > fund drive mode: please support free speech radio. Take Back the People’s Airwaves!  07:03 PST, Gary Null helped fundraise for WBAI.  Pacifica Radio is not, nor should it ever be, corporate-sponsored.

07:00 PST, KPFK > Sojourner Truth with Margaret Prescod > intro > KPFA News Headlines with Aileen Alfandary > [TP] […]  “pandemic assistance program” Biden fired extremely “anti-union” cabinet member?  This sounds like a patsy is being thrown under the bus, Trump loyalists will feel wronged without a concerted effort to dialogue so as to justify decisions and to take the opportunity to address the public beyond a soundbite with the necessary information to explain to all American people why unions and organized labor are important things. […]  07:12 PST, archive audio of Biden’s Inaugural Address.  Biden’s tone sounds, like he’s scolding his children.  It seems he’s trying to convey strength in his tone, maybe to avoid sounding like a “snowflake“.  But, instead, he only sounds entitled, or self-righteous.  And we’re not even invoking his many sins, which could surely fill many pages of writing, if we really started to put his political track record under the microscope. But we want to stay present in the moment.  So, we are giving the new president the benefit of the doubt, for now.  But Biden’s first 100 days are already raising red flags for many of us, who tuned in to Democracy Now! this morning and heard about Biden’s cabinet appointments and slew of executive orders. […]  07:19, Jill Cartwright (Southerners On New Ground), “We still have to address the insurrection” […]  Is there a “rural-urban divide”?  Are rural people more aligned with right-wing politics than urban people? [TP] […]  MP seemed to ask: ‘Can activists walk and chew gum at the same time?  Can they tell the difference between the political class and the activist class?  This is a long-standing MP talking point, which seems to serve to absolve the Democrat Party from their unholy alliance with corporations and the American ruling class.  […]  07:28 PST, guest Bill on Biden and the environment. […]  Biden:  “I’ll fire you on the spot.”  Like Obama, Biden is pushing the power of the state and the culture of government up, further away from libertariam principles and closer towards authoritarianism.  […]  “It’s a way to go.  And it’s a start,” said guest. “It’s hopeful.”  Evidently, our Stockholm Syndrome has severely lowered our standards.  Without a mass movement on the streets, how can the people “pressure” the Biden administration?  What choice do Democrat voters have? Many, who voted for Obama saw through the neoliberalism, then fell for the fake populism of Mr. Trump, thinking he was an outsider, who would oppose the neoliberal deep state agenda. Many uninformed followers still think so.  Well, as best we can tell, we’re not giving them many opportunities for free speech.

07:00 – 09:00 PST, KPFA > UpFront > […] [TP] A prisoner speaks out on the inhumane conditions in ICE detainment. They even sleep masked for fear of covid infection. [TP]  […]  advocating for reparations for Oakland’s black students.  Where’s the advocacy for brown students? Where’s the advocacy for poor white students?  Where’s the advocacy for poor students?  Do we really need reparations for wealthy black students?  Is the core issue race, or poverty, or capitalist exploitation, which creates hierarchies, and divides us, and pits us against each other?  […]  “school closures” “pushout” > 08:40 PST, On Biden’s first 100 days, ‘they will smash on white supremacists’ […]

09:00 – 10:00 PST, WBAI > Gary Null TP … 0938 tp.  Excellent, Gary.  Thank you for saying what many of us have been thinking.  It’s interesting that a health show has provided the most honest assessment of the state of the nation, putting liberals to shame.

10:00 PST, WBAI > Leonard Lopate At Large

09:00 PST, KPFK > The Tom Hartman Show [TP]

1030 bai labor

11:00 PST, KPFA > The Talkies > (see voice notes) [TP].  This broadcast was very disappointing. I will transcribe my voice notes, if time constraints allow.  Our family duties always come first.  After our families are cared for and safe, and we have spare time, then, we can turn our attentions to the ills of society as well as the sources of hope and possibility.  Until then, we implore those people of conscience, people of means, to not squander your free time.  Be sincere, and sincerely work for socioeconomic justice.  Please do not lie by omission.

1200 kpfa tp debunking the myths of the south

1300 Bookwaves/Cover to Cover with Richard Wokinsky, kpfa TP chris hedges (5 May 2015, circa Wages of Rebellion) and ralph steadman, artist for hunter thompson.  Nice, topics, Richard! Yes, I remember this talk!  This is apros pros.  We remember critiquing C Hedges back during Obama’s first presidential campaign.  So glad Hedges eventually saw the light and had the courage to speak honestly. […] “proto-fascist”, more accurate than RCP’s language. Hedges proved himself quite prophetic with this talk.  13:30 PST, Interesting.  Ralph Steadman sounds like a Brit.  It makes sense that he says he wasn’t cut out for factory work.  Who is? […]

13:00 PST, WPFW > jazz: female vocal version of Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called (To Say I Love You)” with piano, drums, and double bass accompaniment.

13:00 PST, WBAI > Democracy Now! > […] 13:43 PST, music break

14:00 PST, WBAI > Driving Forces > talk (liberal, bourgeois; see voice notes), topic, liberal/bourgeois summary of yesterday’s inauguration.

14:00 PST, WPFW > […] Reclaiming the real MLK.  One black-sounding man on the panel, maybe Jasiri X, said, he never knew before today’s broadcast that Dr. King, like Malcolm X, saw through the falseness of the Democrat Party. TP] 1432, ‘cops are attacked by other cops and the status quo for trying to do good’ all we need is to discuss the book, An Act of State[…] 1435, kat Brooks [TP]  14:55, kB, ‘a journalist recently got snatched up by cops and detained until they looked at all of the pictures he took.  This reminds me of the recent DN! news reports about a whistle-blower, who faced a police state night-raid for contradicting covid statistics. No, inflation rates weren’t being inflated, but deflated!  That’s the opposite of what I had suspected.  I had suspected, if this whole COVID-1984 scenario we’re all living through was a deep state inside job, then those forces would want to inflate the covid numbers to justify a ratcheting up of the American police state.  I was wrong. […]  15:00, “Oscar Grant”, KB:  ‘we gotta unite across this country, if we’re gonna succeed’  again, that’s what one caller said the other morning, Tuesday, I think, to Brian Edward-Tiekert.  He refused to engage with the question.  Oftentimes, his behavior on-air, and that of his liberal political faction within KPFA is very concerning because it often functions counter to the interests of grassroots social justice activists. One speaker talked of unity….I said the same to BET circa 2007

15:00 PST, WPFW > [TP] “pedagogy of the oppressed”.   What an excellent discussion.  Please listen to this, audio archives are available online. (I’ll add links, as time constraints allow.)

15:18 bai [TP] ‘nuclear issues study group, action coming up on Friday

15:00 – 16:00 [TP] RISING Up disappointing, Sonali advocated Biden working with “corporations”, like Republicans, as if Clinton didn’t alteady start that […] like kris welch, no mention of “stand down” on 6th. Even this chat on psychology of Trump obfuscates more accurate analysis previously aired on wpfw citing a study of 70K physicians who warned Trump was a “reactive narcissist”.  See Inner Integration, Dr. George Simon, Ross Rosenberg, et al.  This RU chat lies by omission […]  15:50, disappointing, psych lady just condoned cancel culture (ie, banning Trump from social media) on free speech radio.  Shame on Sonali for not calling out that bullshit (cf. Philosopher harry Frankfurt)

19:00 PST, WPFW [DC] > real jazz, what Nina Simone called “black classical”, as “jazz” was originally a derogatory term with racist connotations.  This music takes me back to my time studying harmony and musicianship at the College of San Mateo with the late, great Charles “Chas” Gustavson.  His wife worked with the Tilson Orchestra in San Francisco. And “Gus”, as we called him could play just about anything. He played the thickest chords on the piano in our classroom, stacking 7ths, 9ths, 11ths!  And chord inversions, relative keys.  He was truly a master of his craft.  Musicianship seems to have gone out of fashion. But it’s amazing to experience. I’ll never forget when Gus played Monk for us, after he learned my brother and I were fans.

19:22 WBAI > music, Americana

19:24 kpfk > talk, politics “eviction moratorium”,  ‘American Indians/Native Americans’, “equity”, “the crisis”

1927 KPFA > Apex Express > Woman discussed her family’s history of Japanese internment camps, US history

*

*

“Sacked Eton teacher: I stand by my patriarchy lecture by UnHerd, 21 JAN 2021.

We contend the barrel-chested patriarchy advocate is misled, or misguided. The interviewer’s dignified decorum, perhaps, precluded him from intellectually pinning the patriarch down.  But the interviewer’s intellectual gentleness was diplomatic. It allowed the patriarchy advocate to save some face, whilst, nevertheless, exposing the sacked teacher’s moral, ethical, and intellectual failings enough for any discerning audience member to appreciate.  We also contend that the patriarchy advocate mischaracterized Stoicism. Marcus Aurelius wrote that it is courtesy and kindness, which are the true qualities of a man.  Having acknowledged all of that, we oppose any and all forms of poltical persecution.  If the teacher is to be fired, or sacked, it should be for dereliction of his duties, not for his political views.  That is akin to McCarthyism, which is proto-fascist or outright fascist.  Your author has experienced something similar. We content the nail in the coffin came when he decided to use (age-appropriate) Democracy Now! news headlines, instead of the less critical Newsella. for current events activities. One institution forced out almost half the teachers, your author stayed until the end of the year, before getting squeezed out of the toxic environment. Your author, a person of color, was hired by a beloved principal, a person of color. Unfortunately, he moved on, and was replaced by a kindhearted white liberal, who canned half the teachers, mostly people of color, your author included. This type of shit happens every day. We demand academic freedom, even for minority views, even for views we detest. We don’t presume ugly, immoral views ought to be forced upon students. But we contend that one’s personal and professional lives are separate.  Basically, if any student disagrees with a teacher’s perspective, which all teachers have, and if a parent also agrees, the principal will usually take the easy way out and throw the teacher under the bus, rather than defend the First Amendment or academic freedom. We demand academic freedom for all. We demand an end to political persecution. We demand freedom for all political prisoners. What’s the call?  Free ’em all!

***

[These are my raw notes. I will expand and edit, as time constraints allow. TP = transcript pending volunteer labor. Please help transcribe breaking news and information. It’s urgent that we document the people’s narrative of the events of January 6th and President Biden’s response in his administration’s first 100 days, which have been situated historically in the aftermath of American social relations left in the wake of the 6th.  We seek diversity of perspectives; so, we seek perspectives not often found on corporate media. But we must not get corralled into narrow silos of thought, theory, or action. Please, also monitor corporate media and right-wing media, too, lest we get caught off guard again. Solidarity.]

“Solidarity” by Black Uhuru

***

[21 JAN 2021]

[Last modified on 4 FEB 2021 at 17:57 PST]