Tag: Electoral Politics

The End Of Sanders, And Maybe The Beginning Of A Mass Independent Left

The COVID-19 epidemic has exposed the privatized US healthcare structure’s woeful incapacity to cope with a general health emergency, as well as the failings of Europe’s austerity-shrunken public health care systems. Although Donald Trump’s actions, inactions and idiotic blatherings have added immeasurably to the death toll, a major medical and economic catastrophe was inevitable once the virus was loosed on a defenseless U.S. public. Trump didn’t create the conditions that made the United States so vulnerable to a killer virus. That’s one of the many crimes of capitalism, which at its late stage is methodically starving what’s left of the public sphere and privatizing every conceivable human enterprise for the ultimate benefit of the Lords of Capital – the ruling oligarchy.

Pandemic, The Left And Workers’ Power

There are over 140,000 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., but the actual number of infected individuals is probably already in the millions. We don’t know the real incidence of infections because the Trump administration has intentionally restricted the availability of tests in order to keep numbers artificially low. For this reason, we missed a golden opportunity to detect cases early, trace their contacts and isolate before there was community circulation of the virus.

Now it’s too late. ICUs are overflowing in New York City, and we can expect similar situations in other cities as they reach their peak of infected individuals. We are on track to finding ourselves in a scenario like the one in Italy or in Spain, but with a population that’s five times larger and without universal health care. In New York State alone, there were 279 deaths in the 24 hours of Monday, March 30.

COVID-19 Electoral Politics Socialism Working Class

Media Silent As Poll Workers Contract Covid-19 At Primaries That DNC, Biden Campaign Claimed Were Safe

Donald Trump is the single individual in US society most responsible for spreading dangerous misinformation about Covid-19 in the midst of a global pandemic. Anyone who echoes him, or his administration’s entreaties to not take going out in public too seriously, is engaging in public endangerment. Anyone who actively encourages people to gather in mass, and in close proximity, is doing so at a mass scale.

2020 Elections COVID-19 Electoral Politics health

Who Wants a Revolution? No One Who Owns A Major Media Outlet

Just a few weeks ago, early Bernie Sanders primary victories had media scrambling to turn winning into losing (FAIR.org, 2/24/20) and to find ways to discredit his rise (FAIR.org, 2/28/20, 3/6/20; Slate, 3/6/20). With a sudden turnaround in the race after Super Tuesday that finds Joe Biden in the lead both in polls and delegates, media have been quick to spin the reversal as a rejection of progressive politics.

2020 Elections Electoral Politics Liberals

The Legacy Of White Liberals Exploiting The Black Vote

On March 3, 2020, former Vice President, Joe Biden, to the euphoric pleasure of Democratic Party elites, was brought back from near political death. After terrible showings in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, Biden was on the verge of receiving his “last rights” as a corporate politician.

Black Working Class Electoral Politics Voting

As Biden Racks Up Delegates The Crisis Among Black Folks And Democrat Party Deepens

Biden wins key state of Michigan and the Democrat Party establishment can barely contain its joy. I am happy also but for a different reason. No matter what happens with this twisted Democrat Party nomination drama, I welcome this period as a period of absolute political clarity. Why? Because for the internal debate and struggles among Black people…

Black Working Class Democratic Party Electoral Politics

You Can Be Free To Vote, Even Behind Bars

Birmingham, Alabama is a landmark city for the American civil rights movement. Even today, it’s ground zero for a vital fight over voting rights. I visited Jefferson County Jail in Birmingham recently to deliver inmates a simple message: you are free to vote, even if you don’t know it. And now is the time for you to claim and exercise this right. I was there with volunteers from The Ordinary People Society (TOPS), the League of Women Voters…

Electoral Politics Incarcerated workers Mass Incarceration Prisons Voting

Court Rules That Google Can Legally Manipulate Searches To Influence Political Results

A court has ruled that Google has the right to legally manipulate searches in order to cause electoral interference and influence political results, rebuking a legal challenge from Democrat Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard sued the tech giant after Google bottled up her campaign as it was rising following a strong performance in a presidential debate.

Courts Electoral Politics Google

Who Will Win Bolivia’s Elections?

At this point in the year, Bolivia should be announcing an election date other than the presidential election in May. According to last year’s schedule, the regional elections (departments and municipalities) were scheduled to take place in the second half of this month. However, the interruption of the democratic order altered absolutely everything that was planned…

Bolivia Electoral Politics Regime Change

Prejudential Is A Must-Read To Understand Current Presidential Election Debacle

Every four years, ruling elites aligned on either side of the two-party duopoly choose their most important political official, the president, to defend and protect their interests. Ordinary Americans are taught that the electoral process is a shining example of democracy at work.

Electoral Politics Regime Change Revisionism

The Washington Post Must Answer For Its False Bolivia Coverage

President Evo Morales won re-election in Bolivia’s presidential election last October 20, as pre-election polls predicted. He received 47% of the vote in an election with 88% turnout. He beat his nearest rival by just over 10 percentage points, which meant a second round was not required.

Bolivia Coups Electoral Politics Latin America Regime Change

Corporate Lobbyists Control The Rules At The DNC

Two-thirds of DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee members are corporate lobbyists or corporate consultants, including ten at-large DNC members appointed by DNC Chair Tom Perez. Democrats are looking ahead to the second nominating ballot at the July Democratic National Convention, when superdelegates will be allowed to cast votes if no presidential candidate receives a majority of pledged delegates on the first ballot.

Electoral Politics Lobbying

Fear Pervades Black Politics, And Makes Us Agents Of Our Own Oppression

Many Black voters recoiled in abject terror at the very thought that the Democratic Party – “our” party, in many Black folks’ minds – might fracture under the challenge of the Sandernistas.
“The screechingly raucous, out-of-control Democratic debate in Columbia just days before the South Carolina primary appears to have scared the hell out of Black voters.”
Black voters in South Carolina kicked off Joe Biden’s political resurrection last Saturday, and stuck with the worthless corporate hack through Super Tuesday’s primary contests.

Electoral Politics Identity Politics

Indigenous Youth Arrested At BC Legislature In Support Of Unist’ot’en

Powerful actions have continued through the week demanding that RCMP and CGL stand down.
Last night five Indigenous youth leaders we’re arrested inside the BC Legislature for occupying Scott Fraser’s office after he refused to meet any demands regarding the removal of the RCMP and CGL from Wet’suwet’en Territory.

Electoral Politics Indigenous Peoples Youth

Bernie Sanders Was Right About The Cuban Literacy Campaign

The corporate media have long been looking for ways to discredit Bernie Sanders, and they settled on a surprising statement he made in the 1980s during his tenure as mayor of Burlington when he said, “We have a lot to learn from Cuba.” Now, they have latched onto a statement he made about Cuba during an interview on “60 Minutes” after winning the Nevada caucuses: “We’re very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba but you know, it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad,” Sanders said.

Cuba Electoral Politics History Revisionism

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