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Category Archives: Anti-Capitalism

Michael Slate Show | Carl Dix Speaks, On the Events of January 6th, 2021

08 Fri Jan 2021

Posted by ztnh in Anti-Capitalism, Anti-Fascism, Anti-Imperialism, Anti-Racism, Anti-Totalitarianism, Anti-War, Civic Engagement (Activism), COVID-19, Democratic Party (USA), Government, Memoirs, Police State, Political Science, Presidential Election 2020, Racism (phenotype), Republican Party (USA)

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Carl Dix, Events of January 6th, KPFK, Pacifica Radio Network, Revolutionary Communist Party, Robert Bruce "Bob" Avakian (b. 1943), The Michael Slate Show, Thorstein Bunde Veblen (1857-1929)

LUMPENPROLETARIAT—This week has been intense, politically, in the United States. Our nation’s two most powerful political parties seem to be crashing our economy, mishandling the government’s response to the pandemic, and destroying America’s hopes for true democracy by undermining the democratic process at every turn. The events of January 6, 2021 will definitely go down as a day of infamy in U.S. history. That is, if the people write the history books, not the gaslighting corporate media or corporate political parties.  If you review the reactions of Americans, it seems, the darker one’s skin, the higher the cortisol secretions, the higher the stress, horror, and anxiety levels.  White liberals seemed to be perturbed; blacks seemed to range from bemused to horrified, terrified, and/or disturbed.  Meanwhile, over half of Republican voters polled felt the tens of thousands of Trump loyalists were justified in protesting across America, especially in D.C., to halt what they perceived as a stolen election.  We seriously need an American Town Hall of some sort and some open public debate.

Already, the narrative this week has been distorted by the mass media. Pacifica Radio is still out there, although it has been infiltrated by pro-Democrat Party partisans, who stifle free speech and keep trying to NPR-ize or simply destroy the world’s oldest listener-sponsored radio network. [1]  For example, when some Pacifica Radio stations allowed leftists on the air this week, such as Carl Dix, the more centrist, NPR-ish Pacifica Radio stations, such as KPFA in Berkeley (CA), opted out of the emergency simulcast, which was being enthusiastically simulcast across the Pacifica Radio network and affiliates in smaller signal areas.  The national Pacifica broadcasts addressed breaking news and analysis regarding the events of January 6th, which featured frank discussion of the Capitol Police stand-down.  The special broadcasts were also hosted by Sunsara Taylor (RefuseFascism.org; Revolutionary Communist Party).  Ever since the internal KPFA controversies, or the colonization of KPFA by centrist Democrats, KPFA is slowly morphing into NPR, but with a lower budget.  Meanwhile, the real NPR is entertaining with slick production value, but also often politically-sedating. 

As Americans suss out the real narrative, NPR has basically helped MPD say nothing wrong was done. Maybe not on their part, but NPR doesn’t question the Capitol Police behavior, taking selfies with Trump loyalists, opening doors, helping the trespassers and vandals and whatnot. So, that’s deceptive, bad journalism, lying by omission. The liberal corporate media, for their part, are broadcasting elected Democrats tweeting that it’s time to move on already. That’s even more deceptive, straight up putting out lame ideas. The liberal mass media seems bad enough. But the mass right-wing media is outright evil, saying things like, What’s wrong with taking a guided tour of the Capitol?

Right-wing media is parroting Trump’s false claims of election fraud, whilst ignoring the real complaints of people, like investigative journalist Greg Palast, who have been exposing voter suppression for decades. And American voter suppression and disenfranchisement is usually perpetrated by the GOP, which primarily targets populations of color.  But the Democrat Party colludes with the Republican Party to block alternative political parties from ballot access in states across the nation with top-two primary laws and whatnot.  The presidential debates have also been captured and corrupted by the collusion between the Republican and Democrat Parties to prevent alternative political parties from challenging the corporate narratives being used to gaslight and manipulate the American people into supporting political parties, which do not represent their interests, only those of corporate, antidemocratic power.

One of our nation’s keenest observers of such trends has been Carl Dix of the Revolutionary Communist Party. Yes, he’s a partisan; but so is everyone else. And he’s not trying to hide it. And what’s more important is that his analysis of the state of our nation, especially at a moment like this, is spot on. You don’t need to join his political party to listen to what he has to say, nor to see that it makes perfect sense.  We need more people, such as Carl Dix, to tell the people’s story in a way, which can draw upon our collective years of experience as American observers, workers, and, really, as American patriots. [2]  

Today, the esteemed Carl Dix was interviewed on The Michael Slate Show to help us all make sense of what the events of January 6th mean for America. What does this display of white privilege, white supremacy, disaffection with the Democrat Party, disaffection with Washington corruption, even disaffection with the Republican Party status quo teach us about America? Eyewitnesses on the ground have reported that the Trump loyalists were chanting, “Hang Pence!! Hang Pence!!” That is extremely dangerous. We can only wonder whether that was before, or after, Vice President Mike Pence called the National Guard, in defiance of the reluctant lame duck President Trump, to control the disturbances, vandalism, violence, and looting.  What does this all mean for white people? What does this mean for black people? What does this mean for yellow people?  What does this mean for brown people?  [3] Listen and/or download here. [4]

Messina

***

THE MICHAEL SLATE SHOW—[8 JAN 2021]  — transcription pending volunteer labor; please reach out to us, or leave a comment, if you would like to volunteer at Lumpenproletariat.org to help the American working class self-educate for correct political action.  Solidarity. —

Learn more at THE MICHAEL SLATE SHOW.

***

[1]  Just this week, I heard KPFK’s Ian Masters (Background Briefing) invite listeners to a Local Station Board (LSB) meeting to defend the station from NPR-ization, as station bosses, he reported are trying to ouster him and Sonali Kolhatkar (Rising Up). 

[2]  After all, as Chris Hedges has noted, a patriot is someone, who works to make his country better. And, over the years, we’ve noticed that whenever political tensions have flared in the United States, like when we had the Global Financial Crisis of 2007/2008 or war or imperialism flares up, Carl Dix has always provided sharp analysis to help us make sense of the political world around us.  Dix tends to defer to his party’s leader, Bob Avakian, which may sound strange to apolitical people outside of party politics.  But the point is not to feed into a cult of personality, but to gather relevant information and analysis about the world around us in the most honest and effective way for organizing working class people for self-defense against capitalist, fascist, racist, and imperialist forces of hostility and aggression.

[3] Anecdotally, I can report that numerous well-to-do immigrant Asian families in Silicon Valley, particularly from China, have been moving back to Asia. Contractors will tell you about the demographic shift of which Silicon Valley families have actually been spending money on services. Peninsula communities in Silicon Valley, such as Palo Alto, San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, but also the greater San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area, have seen episodes of gentrification, population relocations, and now economic stagnation, and decline.

When I was a kid, it seemed like white people ruled. Middle class and wealthy homes in the Bay Area would spend loads of money on seasonal color in their landscapes. Saratoga, for example, is a wealthy town on the eastern edges of Santa Clara County, towards the hills. Those homes used to abound in seasonal color, that’s what landscapers call installing flats, flowers, ground cover. These days, ground cover is merely dirt. Homes are unkempt, landscaping services have declined or been discontinued. The industry is in the dumps. And seasonal color isn’t installed anymore. Generally, the landscaping, even in wealthy areas, such as Saratoga and Atherton, reflects the economic depression in which our nation is mired. It’s only an anecdotal observation, but it’s a visually stark one.

As a kid, working as a landscaper around Saratoga, you would see crowds of people everywhere. The local nurseries would be crowded with people buying seasonal color. All of the homes would fill their flower beds with loads and loads of flats of impatiens, daisies, lavenders, chrysanthemums, and whatnot.  I mean this was some real Edith Wharton-House-of-Mirth–type stuff, where families buy fresh flowers for the table.  I mean, what can we say?  Admittedly, Thorstein Veblen lived in Menlo Park, smack dab in the heart of my childhood stomping grounds among the leisure class.  No wonder I’ve often felt such a strong connection with Veblen’s levity.  Each wealthy home seemed to try to outdo the next. And mom-and-pop landscapers and small businesses did alright for a while. The same would go for all the other rough trades, which built the homes and landscapes as well as serviced and maintained them.

“[…] the queer thing about society is that the people who regard it as an end are those who are in it, and not the critics on the fence. It’s just the other way with most shows—the audience may be under the illusion, but the actors know that real life is on the other side of the footlights. The people who take society as an escape from work are putting it to its proper use; but when it becomes the thing worked for it distorts all the relations of life.”

Lawrence Selden, quoted in The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

As a kid, working as a landscaper around Saratoga, you would see crowds of people everywhere. Shops and cafés were teeming with life.  Economic activity and frivolity spilled out everywhere.  And I was younger, so everything seemed all the more innocent.  (I had not yet heard of the Veblenian Dichotomy, conspicuous consumption, pecuniary prowess, invidious distinctions, or any of that.)  America just looked amazing, if I could someday make enough income to not be so broke all the time, I thought back then, feeling like a green Raskolnikov.  (My teenaged mind just wanted to fix up my ’63 Impala and make it clean, ese.)  The local nurseries would be crowded with people buying seasonal color. All of the homes would fill their flower beds with loads and loads of flats of impatiens, daisies, lavenders, chrysanthemums, etc. I mean this was some real Edith Wharton-type stuff. Each wealthy home seemed to try to outdo the next. And mom-and-pop landscapers did alright for a while. The same would go for all the other rough trades, which built the homes and landscapes as well as serviced and maintained them.

The peninsula would be teeming with construction and service providers, since the 1980s and into the 1990s.  I can only imagine the obscene levels of wealth Veblen must have seen in my hometown stomping grounds of San Mateo County and Santa Clara County back in his day, the Late Victorian Age, the Age of the Robber Barons.  Everywhere one looked in the peninsula, there was economic and social activity going on, tons of service providers, painters, roofers, construction workers, dog walkers, joggers, tour de france-looking bicyclists clogging up the shoulders of thoroughfares, carloads of teenagers playing loud music, whether preppies blasting modern rock or alternative or whatever, or working class kids blasting hip hop or punk or reggae or alternative and whatnot.

Today, you see virtually no youth culture on the streets anymore.  I mean we can recall the local Bay Area newspapers shriveling up, the nightlife was shut down.  In San Francisco, there was this whole political push against the nightclubs and music halls.  I remember when the Maritime Hall was closed.  Slim’s closed this year; but that was probably more to do with the coronavirus economic crash.  Since the Clinton administration 1990s, cops have swept the lumpenproletariat off the streets. 

All that was left by the late 1990s/early 2000s was conspicuous consumption and night life.  But, if you could still afford hedonism and distraction in places like the Bay Area, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, then the Global Financial Crisis of 2007/2008, made it that much more expensive.  So, nightlife and popular culture was further shut down by the time the 2010s rolled around.  And, if hedonists were still out there somewhere having fun, well, then, COVID-19 shut everyone down.  All we could afford by the mid-2010s was the occasional music festival.  But, now, post-COVID-19, everything was cancelled.  Mr. Olympia 2020 was postponed repeatedly, until, finally, a bizarre, semi-masked contest was held in front of a semi-empty audience.  All music festivals were cancelled.  A few comedians and musicians tried to hold concerts at drive-ins, or other outdoor areas.  Dave Chappelle organized his socially distanced Comedy Camp during the summer of 2020 out in his childhood stomping grounds around Yellow Springs, Ohio.  Chappelle’s Summer Comedy Camp was finally shut down due to “possible exposure within our inner circle” in September.

Society seems to have been slowly closed down…

Some say this is temporary.  Others are warning the state wants this to be permanent.  The concerning fact is that many indicators in the recent past, and not-so-recent past, point to an increasing police state society.  We must respect those among us, who have spent a great deal of time thinking about, and studying, these issues and gathering information and data. 

Going back to the Bay Area, and its colonization by big tech, gentrification, and now cultural stagnation.  It seems families aren’t owning the communities in the peninsula and in Silicon Valley anymore.  Banks, corporations, and venture capital seems to be owning the communities in the peninsula these days.  Over time, you didn’t really see white people spending money on their homes anymore, mostly Asian folks, newer immigrants. Many established white families in the wealthier enclaves seem to be fading away, their kids moving away, perhaps, unable to afford the same cost of living as their parents. These appear to be mostly aging baby boomers.  Mr. Russie(sp?), an 8th grade teacher predicted most of my cohort probably wouldn’t be able to afford living in San Mateo by the time we were adults. It was a harsh thing to say to a class of 8th graders; but it was true.  He was right.

My parents’ former post-WWII tract home in the Shoreview neighborhood of San Mateo County was sold to them for about $245K circa 1989, which they sold probably for double that circa 9/11. Today, that same basic three-bedroom, two-bath home we lived in when I was in 8th grade in virtually the same condition now sells for $1.23 million.

Well, it has been interesting to hear reports of the rough trade clientele demographic shifting to predominantly Asian immigrants in the wealthy enclaves of Silicon Valley in recent years. But 2020, the year of the coronavirus, has seen something of an exodus back to China and Asia of many of those wealthy immigrant families. The first families of immigrants going back to China, was reported to your author, as precipitated by the floundering of the peninsula schools post-pandemic. The families I spoke to were very respectful, but had serious concerns with the way their kids were being taught since the lockdowns. They pulled their kids, and went back to China. This was during the summer of 2020.

Around the same time, we saw news reports of higher education taking hard hits because their enrollment of foreign students had dropped in the wake of the Trump administration’s belligerent stance toward China and Chinese people. Many Chinese students were feeling unsafe at American universities due to the racial tensions. Of course, fast forward to the second wave of 2020 coronavirus in the fall, and things got even worse. After the Thanksgiving break, even universities were trying to sell online learning for full-price tuition. Students began protesting; and foreign student enrollment dropped even further.

Today, between COVID-19 lockdowns, infection rates, suffering, and death rates soaring, a crippled economy, and racial tensions, cops killing unarmed innocents on the streets with impunity, citizens protesting said killings, other protestors protesting the protestors protesting the killer cops, it’s all a big clusterfuck, innit?

We can understand why hardworking, well-to-do Asian families are bailing out of Silicon Valley, those families, who seemed to be the only young and growing families in Silicon Valley.

But, again, this is only anecdotal. It’d be interesting to get into the serious statistics about these demographic and socioeconomic shifts we’re seeing anecdotally. But, on the ground, today, the peninsula and the Bay Area is looking very much like the Great Depression, especially when those were your stomping grounds since the ’80s and ’90s.

[4]  To access the audio archive narrow the program selection to “The Michael Slate Show”, then select the audio archive for the “Friday, January 8, 2021” broadcast archive.

***

[10 JAN 2021]

[Last modified on 10 JAN 2021 at 23:59 PST]

(c. 1:50) “Hello, Carl?”

“Yes.”

“Hi. Let me introduce you to everybody first. We’re operaring under difficult circumstances. But we really, really need to get this out. And I think it’s a very important show, that we have going. (c. 2:07)

“And, basically, what the run is: we’re gonna be talking to Carl Dix

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Day Two | American Armed Fascist Alliance ‘Insurrection’ and Capitol Police ‘Stand-Down’ Aftermath

08 Fri Jan 2021

Posted by ztnh in Anti-Capitalism, Anti-Fascism, Anti-Imperialism, Anti-Racism, Anti-Totalitarianism, Anti-War, Memoirs

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KPFA, KPFK, Pacifica Radio Network, WBAI, WPFW

Photograph courtesy of David Hoffman

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.”

NPR, https://www.npr.org/sections/congress-electoral-college-tally-live-updates/2021/01/07/954333542/police-confirm-death-of-officer-injured-during-attack-on-capitol

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.

Trump / Pence Out Now!

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 9 JAN 2021 at 22:11 PST

[TW = transcription pending volunteer labor; please reach out, if you can volunteer…  Solidarity.]

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White Supremacy Is Baked Into the Cake. Now What?

07 Thu Jan 2021

Posted by ztnh in Anti-Capitalism, Anti-Fascism, Anti-Imperialism, Anti-Racism, Anti-Totalitarianism, Anti-War, Civic Engagement (Activism), COVID-19, Democratic Party (USA), Environmental Activism, Government, Memoirs, Neoliberalism, Police State, Political Prisoners, Political Science, Presidential Election 2020, Prison Abolition, Racism (phenotype), Republican Party (USA), U.S. Constitution

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Democracy Now!, KPFA, KPFA LSB, KPFA/Pacifica Radio internal conflict, KPFK, Pacifica Radio Network, Proud Boys, Revolutionary Communist Party (USA), Robert Bruce "Bob" Avakian (b. 1943), Sunsara Taylor, WBAI, WPFW

All of the Americans, who were shocked or surprised by Wednesday’s actions by Trump loyalists in Washington D.C. and in other locations across the nation, ought to read Dr. Peter Dale Scott’s deep history of the United States, particularly The Road to 9/11 and The American Deep State: Wall Street, Big Oil, and the Attack On American Democracy.  It’s important that Americans understand exactly who is in charge.  For a powerful summary of Trump’s presidency, cf. “American Mythology: The Presidency of Donald Trump”, a seven-part podcast series by the Intercepted podcast, narrated by Jeremy Scahill.

Here’s what free speech radio, as channeled by Pacifica Radio, are saying today, Thursday, 7 JAN 2021, in the aftermath of yesterday’s protest actions, disturbances, rebellion, putsch, insurrection, or terrorist actions, depending on one’s perspective.  Download the Pacifica Radio app for easy access to free speech radio stations across the nation:  KPFA (Berkeley, CA); WBAI (NYC); KPFK (L.A.); WPFW (D.C.); KPFT (Houston)

06:00 PST, KPFA > Democracy Now! [TW]  Basically, what they said…

STORYJAN 07, 2021

White Supremacy in Action: Police Stand Down as Trump Mob Storms Capitol to Disrupt Election Vote

*

STORYJAN 07, 2021

Historian: White Terrorist Groups Attacked Democracy During Reconstruction, They Are Doing It Again

*

STORYJAN 07, 2021

“Americans Are Now Getting a Mild Taste of Their Own Medicine” of Disrupting Democracy Elsewhere

*

07:00 PST, KPFA > UpFront [TW] explored some interesting questions:  “Violent white mob storms US Capitol, incited by Trump politics, social media, law enforcement; Plus: Crisis deepening at California’s unemployment office, we answer listener questions with Daniela Urban with the Center for Workers’ Rights.”

Jan 6 2021 President Trump Rally, Washington DC (Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal, FLICKR)

2-hour UpFront broadcast summary:

0:08 – Trump incites violent white mob at the US Capitol, one day after Georgia Democratic victory tips Senate to Democrat majority

Steve Phillips (@StevePtweets) is the founder of Democracy in Color, he’s host of the podcast “Democracy in Color with Steve Phillips,” and author of the book Brown Is the New White.

0:34 – Unemployment call-in

Daniela Urban is Executive Director of the Center for Workers’ Rights and special counsel to Legal Aid At Work (@LegalAidAtWork).

1:08 – Pro-Trump mob storms the Capitol – what were the signs?

Robert Evans (@IwriteOK) is an investigative journalist with the news website Bellingcat.

1:25 – Was the storming of the Capitol yesterday just a media stunt?

David Pierce (@pierce) is editor at large for the tech news site Protocol. 

1:34 – COVID outbreak at Chowchilla prison hits 25% of population

Aminah Elster (@AminahElster) is campaign and policy coordinator with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners.

1:46 – Continuing our series hearing from the family members of people who are incarcerated inside Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF). Our reporter Lucy Kang (@ThisIsLucyKang) spoke with a woman who only wanted to be identified as “Lisa” about her daughter who recently tested positive for COVID while incarcerated at CCWF. We’re not naming “Lisa” or her daughter’s identities to protect against potential retaliation.

The California Coalition for Women Prisoners is calling for better conditions inside CCWF, here’s more information on the call to action. 

1:52 – Federal prisons denying compassionate release, according to new reporting

Keri Blakinger (@keribla) is a reporter with the Marshall Project – Thousands of Sick Federal Prisoners Sought Compassionate Release. 98 Percent Were Denied, she reports.

07:00, KPFK > Sojourner Truth > sobering coverage of 6 JAN Trump Loyalist actions in DC and across the nation. News Headlines. Cops taking selfies with pro-Trump/anti-democracy protestors.  Expert panelists discuss on Sojourner Truth.

07:00, WBAI & WPFW > common broadcast, speakers were describing details of a woman shot by Capitol Hill police and past history of their brutality.  By contrast, yesterday, said one speaker, Capitol Hill police were holding doors open for the protestors, some of whom were flying Confederate flags.  One woman earlier today (Thursday), perhaps a prof on DN, said not even during the Civil War, did the South manage to fly the Confederate flag in the White House.  But yesterday they did.

FBI is sending out tweets, asking for help in identifying yesterday’s protesters. One speaker questioned whether America can ever have a police force, which is not linked to white supremacist ideology. “There is no equal protection under the law.”

07:15 PST, KPFA:  One speaker reported that Capitol Hill police refused to hold a press conference to answer for enabling the disruption, disorder, and violence, as Trump loyalists marched into the Capitol building.

The KPFA guest was making interesting points. But UpFront host Brian Edwards-Tiekert changed the subject to the Georgia election.  Oh, well.  Georgia is an important topic, as the state has been flipped and has elected its first black senator. So, too, perhaps, is horse-race commentary about the rigged two-party system, or two-party dictatorship.  But, somehow, the broader issue of American fascism seems more urgent.  I dunno.  That’s just me.

07:22 PST, KPFK > Experts interviewed Maurice Cook(sp?) and Zahara Simmons(sp?) react to yesterday’s actions in DC. Then, host also wants to get their take on the Georgia Senate election.

07:25, KPFK > on two-tiered justice system  re: DC actions wedn.  Pre-planning?  Adelle Stan, et al yesterday commented that there’s no way the Trump loyalists could have navigated their way through the underground labyrinth of hallways without assistance or having been enabled.  KPFK guest also said she’d “been to the Capitol many times” and said “it’s very hard to get into the Capitol.”  She noted that members of Congress were considering siding with Trump to stop the electoral vote count yesterday.

KPFK > Sojourner Truth > mobs of Trump loyalists, even kids, on the streets with pro-Trump paraphernalia.  Personally, I saw the same thing, as I looked out my front window after dinner last night.  The kids were riding by taunting and calling out pro-Trump slogans, as they rode down the middle of the street on their bicycles.  That’s definitely Brown Shirt behavior, as various observers noted yesterday.

Many experts agree there is a double standard….  So, now what?  INTERPOL?  International Court?

07:35 PST, WBAI & WPFW:  An eye-witness recounted his experience observing the quasi-stand-down response by the Capitol Hill police.  “I don’t have no idea why they didn’t stop it, with the only exception that they didn’t care to stop it.”  On TV last night, I saw that the Trump loyalists did not “storm the Capitol”, as many have narrated.  The Trump loyalists were strolling in, sparse in number, in the halls of the Capitol building, as a single cop backed up some stairs, as the Trump loyalists advanced slowly, merrily.  The looks on the faces of most Trump loyalists was glee because they knew they were being enabled.  The video evidence basically shows the Capitol police led the Trump loyalists straight to the congressional floor.

07:40 PST, WBAI & WPFW, One speaker made salient points…

Protestors or terrorists?  Yesterday, Sunsara Taylor or a colleague made an excellent argument that there’s no moral equivalence between, say, the Proud Boys and the Black Panthers march on the Sacramento Capitol building.

0745, KPFK > ‘Dr. Pinel Joseph, ‘law enforcement is not the friend of black people.’  Then, one man called in and said that the calls for a bipartisan solution to the problem of the Trump loyalists’ antidemocratic attacks must involve concessions from the right, “not the left”, as the Dems “have been kowtowing all along.  The next man to call in said that America is “being set up for a race war.”  “You’re being gaslighted”, he urged.

Call congress switchboard…

08:00 PST, WBAI > Code Pink Radio: (1) [TW] On Congressional moves regarding the 2021 NDAA (2) Activist youth females speak… (3) [TW] On NDAA, guy from Code Pink, I think.  He mentioned his Substack blog, Rethinking Security, maybe…

09:00 PST, WBAI > Gary Null [TW] > interesting COVID-19 information

One vaccine has “nanoparticles”, Null discussed the details.  Null also discussed a bill in NY, which could mandate covid vaccines, to the point of coming to your house or apartment.  Also, the vaccines still require the vaccinated individuals to mask and social distance. Yet, many people think vaccines will free them from the masking and social distancing.

Null cited Catherine Austin Fitts about “the Great Reset”. (Cf. Unpacking Mr. Global.)  Small businesses will be decimated, smashed.  Big business will further consolidate.  Someone yesterday commented that many prisoners are being released, which is good for them and the families waiting at home.  But it will also mean an even more depressed job market.  Where’s Dr. Kelton’s, and MMT”s job guarantee programme when you need it, right?

10:15 PST, WBAI > Caller “Sanaan”, a man, boldly raised the obvious historical parallel, which many of us are afraid to mention.  The storming of the Reichstag in Germany and also the Proud Boys being reminiscent of the Brown Shirts.  Gary Null minced no words earlier during his broadcast.  But, of course, Pacifica, et al have “banned” him.

10:00 PST, KPFA > Letters and Politics > Sasha Abramsky [TW]

KPFA > Letters and Politics [TW]

11:00 PST, KPFA > The Talkies [TW]. Kristina Aanestad spoke with s doctor about the science of the new covid variant and the realities our medical system and society can expect in the near future, and what to do about it.

11:35 PST, WBAI > Gary Null > interesting health and science info, building the immune system, a very relevant topic in a time of covid.

11:40 PST, WPFW [TW]

12:00 PST, [TW]  KPFA News Headlines.  Then, Behind the News with Doug Henwood. Viju Krishnan on farmer’s strikes. 2. Unionizing Google

12:10 PST, KPFK is playing interesting music, a bit new agey-sounding. This is typical of KPFK and the stressed out nature of life in SoCal or something. That’s the impression I get.

12:19 WPFW (DC):  sultry jazz music; they must be really stressed out over there, too

12:20 PST, WBAI, [TW] Resistance Radio:  relevant analysis on Trump loyalists… John Mouse(sp?) and Ariel Pink joined Trump loyalists. “It was an alliance…”

13:00 PST, Meanwhile, KPFA was broadcasting their usual sleepy edition of Cover to Cover with Richard Wolinsky.  Well, I can’t lie some episodes of CTC do hook me in.  Today’s topic seems to be about Italian films, John Houseman’s play of Native Son.  And they did mention the CIA and film noir.  So, that’s cool.

13:00 PST, WBAI > DN! News Headlines > 13:18 PST, up next > Sunsara Taylor, “Insurrection Response Special”, ‘a fascism mob broke through and raided […] and it was spearheaded by the man in the White House. There’s no way around it.’

Antisemitism was also represented among the Trump loyalists, as some were wearing shirts with 6MNE or something, which is a slogan saying the ‘six million Jews killed by Nazis was not enough’.  Also, one elected rep in the U.S. House of Representatives joined the Trump loyalists, got on mic, and quoted Hitler. The congresswoman said Hitler was right about one thing: If you get the youth, you can be victorious.

13:25 PST, meanwhile WPFW must be super-stressed out over here.  They playin’ a whack ass soft jazzy version of The Delfonics’ classic, “La La Means I Love You”.  I dunno.  I can’t lie.  They played some good jazz after that.  But WBAI has their finger on the pulse. Let’s go back to Sunsara Taylor.

13:27 PST, WBAI > Sunsara Taylor takes live call ins [TW]

13:55 PST, WBAI > News Headlines:  only about a dozen arrests. [Sunsara Taylor, et al reported earlier on Pacifica Radio that, by contrast, about 14,000 anti-Trump, pro-BLM protestors in the summer of 2020.]

14:00 PST/17:00 EST, Driving Forces, relevant analysis

14:00 PST, WPFW > relevant analysis (health care)

14:00, KPFA > Caroline Casey(?), coyote lady(?) > environmental focus, testimony from Native Americans on destruction of arctic by oil profiteers

c. 14:20 PST, interesting interview with Casey Layman, author of How To Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America

14:27, KPFA > Caroline Casey(?), coyote lady(?) > environmental focus, testimony from Native Americans on destruction of arctic by oil profiteers

1427,WBAI, covid, vaccines, and prison populations

15:00 PST, WBAI > News Headlines [TW]  Rep. Lindsey Graham, “Yesterday, they could have killed us all.” But no mention of police opening doors and ‘standing down’.

15:00 PST, Rising Up

16:00 PST, KPFA > Hard Knock Radio > on Georgia (USA) politics

16:30 PST, WBAI > The Jimmy Dore Show > [TW] relevant analysis, cites Greenwald.  Dore said, a more competent dictator will lead the fascist mob next time’.

16:40 PST, WPFW [DC] > jazz music, straight ahead jazz

16:45 PST, KPFA [Berkeley, CA] > Hard Knock Radio > [TW] a chilling audio collage of news footage clips, corporate news reporting, and violent mayhem in the streets.  Chilling chanting, “USA!! USA!! USA!!”, nationalism, white nationalism, and white supremacist vibes.  16:48 PST, “This Is America” by Childish Gambino, very apros po.

“This Is America” by Childish Gambino

KPFA > Hard Knock Radio > upon closer listen, maybe it was an updated remix version of “This Is America”.  16:52 PST, from death row, a communique from political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal addressed the plight of prisoners, such as “Maroon”, who are at risk of “death by incarceration.”  Mumia’s call was recorded by Noelle Hanrahan for Prison Radio.  16:56 PST, another very apros po musical selection, “My Petition” by Jill Scott.

“My Petition” by Jill Scott

17:00 PST, WPFW [DC] > more jazz music, slow tempo (sax, vihes, horns, upright bass, drums, piano)

17:00 PST, KPFA > [TW] Flashpoints > audio of Trump speech, “My only goal was to defend the integrity of the vote.”  Sorry, but that’s bullshit because the entire electoral vote recount was baseless, and should never have even taken place, as many expert observers commented yesterday.  Trump closed with, ‘Our journey is only beginning.’

17:05 PST, Flashpoints > Host, Dennis Bernstein spoke with Prof. Francis Boyle (Univ. of Chicago Law), a noted human rights lawyer.  “We have a seditious conspiracy going on here. […] And, so, we have to take this very seriously.”  Boyle said, ‘Congress should have been in emergency session all day. Instead, they went on recess until January 20th.’  Wow.

Prof. Boyle: ‘We have a prima facia case for sedition by Trump, et al,, coordinated by Holly and Cruz, et al. But we need more investigation on that to confirm the co-conspirators. But there was no security at all. It was like a 9/11 stand-down scenario. Democrats are just as feckless as the liberal Germans after the burning of the Reichstag.’

Next Flashpoints guest addressed the ongoing prison hunger strikes in America.  He also described various abuses and inhumane conditions in Alabama prisons, citing a letter of plea from a prisoner published on the SF Bayview Newspaper recently. “We have historical dialectical materialism.  There is no rule of law.”  ‘The evidence on the ground,’ he said,’is telling us we’re in trouble.’

17:50 PST, KPFK > [TW] Background Briefing. At the end, Ian Masters reported an upcoming LSB meeting. Pacifica Radio bosses, said Masters, have been running roughshod over KPFK and are trying to ouster or “fire” Sonali Kolhatkar (Rising Up) and him.

18:00 PST, KPFA Evening News [TW]

18:15 PST, WBAI > music, theater, and the arts in a time of covid, white supremacy, and fascism.

18:19 PST, WPFW [DC] > more jazz; no breaking special programming on fascism in DC

18:25 PST, KPFA Evening News [TW], BET clip on Trump loyalists, “Bellingcat” (cf. Grayzone coverage of Bellingcat)

19:00 PST, KPFA > Apex Express > on “the racist internment policy” against the Japanese in the USA during WWII.

19:00 PST, KPFK [L.A.] > retrospective focusing on indigenous activist Carey Dan, Mary Dan, et al., Western Shoshone Project, nuclear waste on Yucca Mountain.

19:00 PST, WBAI [NYC] > on the tradition of folk music and Joan Baez

***

COLUMNJAN 07, 2021

Trump’s Insurrection Requires His Immediate Removal

By Amy Goodman & Denis Moynihan

Throughout his life, Trump has fanned the flames of white supremacy. He owes his one-term presidency in large part to his cynical exploitation of racism and fear.

Learn more at DEMOCRACY NOW!

***

[Raw notes will be expanded as time constraints allow.  Please consider alternative sources of media, and monitor right-wing media…]

***

[7 JAN 2021]

[Last modified on 7 JAN 2021 at 21:55 PST]

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