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

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Regime Change Comes Home: The CIA’s Overt Threats against Trump

Click here to access article by James Petras from his blog.

It's clear that the faction that aligns itself behind the CIA, other secret, unaccountable "intelligence" services, and corporate media have been trying their best to undermine President-Elect Trump from becoming president. But it should not surprise because the CIA has been manipulating elections, and other criminal acts such as assassinating leaders in other countries since WWII. 

This is the fascist element is often present in what is known as bourgeois (or capitalist) democracy in most of the world. Fascism is always latent in most capitalist democracies simply because a system that favors one (tiny) class is always exploitative and thus unstable. When that instability becomes marked, then the capitalists will resort to lawless and/or violent means to secure their rule.
The norms of US capitalist democracy include the election of presidential candidates through competitive elections, unimpeded by force and violence by the permanent institutions of the state. Voter manipulation has occurred during the recent elections, as in the case of the John F. Kennedy victory in 1960 and the George W. Bush victory over ‘Al’ Gore in 2000.

But despite the dubious electoral outcomes in these cases, the ‘defeated’ candidate conceded and sought via legislation, judicial rulings, lobbying and peaceful protests to register their opposition.

These norms are no longer operative.