We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Bomber Bernie Can’t Take the Heat

Click here to access article by Jay Moore from CounterPunch.

I love it when someone reveals the true nature of a liberal as another clever supporter of the Empire. Here arch-liberal Sen. Bernie Sanders is exposed in all of his pro-Empire glory. 
Many on the Left outside of Vermont think Bernie is just wonderful. But they don’t know him as we radical activist in Vermont do. He may be pretty decent on domestic issues, at least relative to the other set of bad to horrible choices in the U.S. political spectrum. He can talk a good talk about income inequality and the need to fix it Yet, ever since he’s been in the U.S. Congress, he has been consistently atrocious on U.S.-launched and U.S.-supported wars, especially in the Middle East.
It is interesting to note that Sanders appears to be the direct opposite of someone like Ron Paul or his son Rand Paul, both are, or have been, members of Congress. The latter both espouse very conservative views (pro-rich policies) regarding domestic issues, but in contrast to Sanders they are opposed to many foreign adventures of the Empire directorate. Because these people do support half of the shadow government's policies and none ever challenge capitalism, they are allowed to serve in Congress. It helps to preserve the illusion of "democracy" to have a few such dissenters.