Reader Comments: Trump Betrays Workers; Bernie, Bloomberg, Labor, Nevada Outcome and Culinary Workers; Trump Torture of Immigrants; The Value of xxxxxx - Why So Few Contribute; Resources; Announcements; and more .....
Instead of listening to Bloomberg's 500 million dollar adds, let's look at the stats. Millions of jobs created, record low unemployment, manufacturing jobs returning, hundreds of restrictions on small businesses and Corp's lifted, stock market setting all time record highs over 100 times. Does that sound like he's turned his back on the workers of the US?
Ronald Overholt We can look at the stats. When comparing the last 3 years of Obama’s presidency to the first 3 years of Trumps, Trump has created less jobs. Around a 19% decline. In numbers, he’s actually slowed down an upwards trend. But the right won’t admit that.
The unemployment rate was ALREADY well below the norm when Trump took office, it has just continued. But you’re right. Under him that has gone down a little more.
Manufacturing jobs. Trumps Tariffs actually hurt those. To quote an actual statistic “The number of manufacturing jobs is still 891,000 below where it was in December 2007, at the start of the Great Recession.”
Over all. Economists predict, based on what’s actually happened and not your parroted rhetoric, trump is way behind the curve of what he’s promised and slowed down some of what was happening before he was even sworn in.
So, ignoring your bullshit and looking at the stats. Yeah, kinda.
I am frightened that Bernie’s run will be another McGovern campaign and we will lose everything, especially the Supreme Court. I’ve lived through one desperate campaign; I hate to see another one sink the Left forever. Of course, I’ll vote for Sanders if he is the candidate. And I hope this will not be a train wreck.
Did you watch any of the last debates? I saw some. msnbc has no impartiality coverage of Bernie. They want anyone but him as the candidate, even if he has the most delegates..bring in the superdelegates.
Joan Kosloff
=====
This is important. The only "electability" issue is how press and rich donors scare people into Not Voting their heart and mind and spirit.
That applies to when they ask if women can win , if Bernie or a "Social democrat" can win and so forth.
I am 101 years old and have been following the politics of our country for 80% of that time. It amazes me that Olney/Wilson believe that if a frontrunner political candidate like Bernie Sanders is denied the ballot even if he is the obvious selection of everyone except the Wall Street leadership of the Democratic Party, the voters will assuredly elect the Wall Streeters choice over D. Trump.
Hillary Clinton didn't lose because anyone thought she was a socialist. She lost because she promised not to rock the boat. She did get the majority vote, but lost because she didn't have enough to overcome a slippery track in the Constitution that allows the minority to upend the majority. Note, however, that if she hadn't promised not to rock the boat, she would likely have picked up enough voters in all the states to have been declared the winner.
The greatest possibility of a victory by D. Trump is a Democratic ticket led by a Biden or any of the billionaire candidates or moderates. The only possible exception to the last statement would be Elizabeth Warren if she stopped pledging allegiance to capitalism instead of allegiance to a tightly controlled capitalism that would not be permitted to buy elections with their billions.
David Alman
=====
Beware the Red Scare upon Bernie. I hope he deals with it great tonight.[written the day of the South Carolina debate]
Shelton Ivany
=====
"we must build a determined mass movement of progressive Democrats, independents (unenrolled voters) and the emerging socialist tendency to help Bernie win on the first ballot or find a consensus candidate who unites Americans of good will who want to save democracy and defeat Donald Trump. This is a not an election to allow self-righteous ideological purity to obfuscate the need for a huge political uprising to block Trump from securing a potentially disastrous second term."
Exactly right on both points!
Stan Nadel
=====
Max Elbaum's excellent article in xxxxxx describes very well the current state of Bernie Sanders' surging Campaign. But there are some areas that I disagree. The fact that Bernie only pulled in the 20s% of the votes in the first 2 states has more to do with there being multiple candidates, not to the need to expand the Campaign, although that, of course is necessary.
After the article was written, Bernie got 47% in Nevada, with a large share of the Latinx vote. A just published Reuter's poll shows Bernie is leading among Black voters. This growth in POC support as well as expanding the electorate among young voters bodes well for the general election against Trump. If Bernie does as well as it looks on Super Tuesday (March 3), our momentum could be hard to stop.
Lew Grupper,
Steering Committee, NY Labor for Bernie
(Organization listed for identification only. The views are my own.)
A compelling argument that "Vote Blue No Matter Who" must not include Bloomberg.
"...advertising itself plays another role: It demonstrates that Bloomberg will counteract Trump’s message with money, more than anyone else can muster. To some Democrats eager to grasp at any straw to see Trump’s reign ended, that notion is compelling.
I think it’s a tragic mistake. A plutocrat-on-plutocrat election will just further subvert our already fragile democracy. It will show that nothing matters in a democracy if you have enough money. It will take every comment that Democrats said about the GOP being seduced by Trump and boomerang it back in their faces. It is an act of pure desperation that will alienate giant swathes of the country and put a For Sale sign on democracy, perhaps permanently.
The "any blue will do" fallacy ignores that parties must stand for something to succeed. Over the years, losing touch with fundamental Democratic concerns has always weakened the party. Shacking up with a billionaire who undermines so many Democratic values because he might win in November? It reinforces the concept that everyone and everything associated with the Democratic Party can be bought.
Too many Democrats have spent the Trump era looking for a Republican "daddy" to rein in the toddler-in-chief and restore both Republican and American decency. From John Bolton and James Mattis to Jeff Flake and Mitt Romney, surely some conservative with courage and self-respect would step up and straighten things out. I think it would be a disaster to extend this delusion by actually nominating a Republican to lead the Democratic Party."
I am hearing rhetoric saying "Sanders is the Trump of the left." Totally nonsense. Idiotic, uneducated, moronic, garbage. Bloomberg on the other hand? That dude is just like Trump. So if you support him, just know that you really just need a Bloomberg version of a Maga Hat and you will be just fine.
For those who have not followed closely the sneering snarling contempt Bloomberg has for the rest us, Mayor Mike said, in 2016, he "could teach anybody to be a farmer" but information technology required "a lot more gray matter." (For those of you not familiar with NYC, he's depicted here milking the Wall Street Bull statute)
"...It calls to mind television networks’ unfiltered broadcasts of Trump’s speeches in 2016, only Bloomberg, unlike Trump, is paying for the time. And unsurprisingly it works; corporations use advertising for a reason. At the same time that he’s deluging the airwaves with his own dollars, he’s also leaning on his pals in the plutocracy to starve competitors seeking big-money dollars. He’s paying Instagram influencers to say nice things about him, and paying meme-makers to boost his image. Fake social-media content to cultivate support? Mike will get it done."
The negative comments by the other Democratic contenders are shameful. Bernie wants to introduce programs like medicare for all, which every other democratic country in the west has had for years. The idea is if citizens pay taxes they should receive benefits from the government like free health care and free public education. What is radical about that? Do you not want an educated and healthy people?
America is a rich country with a great economy but on political issues Americans have been brainwashed. Bernie is speaking truth to power. You should be proud of him. He has built a movement. He has gotten young people interested in politics. At this point in time why cling to neoliberal ideas that haven't worked well? And why look to billionaires who want to buy voters and keep the status quo, with which they are comfortable.
First of all, this is just one of UNITE HERE’s locals. The LA local gave a dual endorsement of Sanders and Warren. The reality is that the UNITE HERE health "plan" is unsustainable; it depends completely on convincing multiple employers to re-up their funding of the "plan" every few years. It’s also funded through, in simple terms, is a tax on each hour worked ... money that could otherwise go to wages if we had Medicare For All.
Complete disregard on the pat of the Trump administration for APA professional standards. The Clinical division must be especially outraged at this violation of professional standards. I hope they handle this so that no more notes are shared with the federal government.
The ramped up seizing of people calls to mind the slave-catching efforts in the "free" states in the period before the civil war. In that case, the people were refugees from slavery; in this case, many of them are refugees from U.S. government/corporate meddling, exploitation, and extortion in their home lands, and from encroaching climate disaster also brought on by the U.S. and other technologically advanced but morally underdeveloped lands.
The immigrants being sought now were first victims of the pressures that led them to migrate, and now of the laws of this land of commutation for some and persecution for others.
Joe Maizlish, Los Angeles
=====
Guess only purpose is to terrorize people and local administrations. It is a blatant lie that criminals are put on the streets by local governments. When anyone commits a crime, if identified, is arrested and processed through the system, wether citizen, immigrant, legal or illegal.
I'm pretty removed from any real expressions of agency regarding Assange, but this is a really meaningful expression of unified state repression of dissent.
All living beings have a right to be protected from physical and psychological abuse. This is why we need to immediately reform our criminal justice system by voting Yes on Measure R.
The way we administer “justice” in our current system is precisely through abuse. Take, for example, the Men's Central Jail in L.A.County, a temporary holding facility where individuals are locked up until they post bail or are scheduled to appear at their arraignment. Even though the facility has a maximum capacity of 6,750 inmates, in recent years the Men's Central Jail has had a daily inmate population of 17,000people. This extreme overcrowding is made worse by the fact that these “temporary” facilities are now housing inmates long-term, with the average inmate being locked up for over two months. The limited space and lack adequate resources is especially brutal for people with disabilities, chronic medical issues, and mental-health problems.
This inhumane environment is also affecting the women jailed at the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood.Over 30% of the women who are locked up in Lynwood are dealing with mental illnesses and many of them have history of domestic violence and trauma. The nature of the toxic power dynamics between inmates and jail staff has led to numerous incidents of sexual assault and rape. Formerly incarcerated individuals who have come forward with their stories report experiencing suicidal ideation for the first time in their lives while locked up in the L.A. County jails.This is an epidemic across California jails, which have highest number of jail suicides in the country.
The county sheriff departments, whose responsibility is to manage and run the jails, are at the heart of this problem. Not too long ago, the FBI investigated the L.A.County Sheriff’s Department and charged over a dozen deputy sheriffs for civil rights abuses, including brutal and illegal beatings of jail inmates. André Birotte, the US Attorney who oversaw the investigation, wrote that “these incidents did not take place in a vacuum —in fact, they demonstrated behavior that had become institutionalized.”
Attempts at reforming these institutions have been stonewalled by the sheriff departments. In 2016, after years of grassroots advocacy, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors created the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission to increase accountability and transparency of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. However, over the past 4 years, the sheriffs have refused to provide the commission with requested documents and have denied their calls for inspections.
After increased public pressure, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors recently strengthened the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission by giving them subpoena power to force the Sheriffs to comply with their requests. Although these are important steps in the right direction, there is nothing stopping future supervisors from undoing these reforms. After all, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has a powerful and well-funded political committee with a history of influencing elections and politicians.
It is up to L.A. County voters to codify these reforms into law by voting Yes on Measure R. If voters approve of this measure on March 3rd, it will allow the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission to hold the Sheriff’s Department accountable for their actions through the subpoena power. Furthermore, Measure R mandates that the Civilian Oversight Commission and county officials develop a plan to reduce jail populations while improving psychiatric care and drug treatment for those already in jail. These reforms will help protect the public, keep people out of jail, and give incarcerated individuals a real chance at rehabilitation.
The Sheriff’s Department is not above the law and basic human rights should not be forfeited the moment you are thrown behind bars. Vote Yes on Measure R.
Cesar Armendariz
[Cesar Armendariz is a Long Beach resident and Community Organizer at Our Revolution Long Beach.]
Only 440 people thought they benefited enough to send xxxxxx a contribution? Only 440 people understand the importance of xxxxxx for a stronger, more informed and focused Left? xxxxxx only reaches 440 people who are willing to make even a small contribution to keep it strong and make its voice stronger? I can’t believe that.
If you have not contributed think about the value of xxxxxx to you, to the movement, to the political revolution that is needed - and send in your contribution.
Think about this. I expect if readers do so, the number of those involved in supporting xxxxxx will grow substantially.
William Tabb
=====
Moderator's Note: xxxxxx appreciate our readership. We know that many of our readers share different xxxxxx posts with their friends, colleagues and relatives - by email, on Facebook, on Twitter, and other ways. We are constantly getting new subscribers and Friends and Likes on Facebook, and followers on Twitter. [share this link with others to subscribe to xxxxxx]
We greatly appreciate all that contribute to xxxxxx, with whatever amount, no matter how small (or large). In the past year more of our readers have become regular sustainers (mostly on a monthly basis, but also quarterly, semi-annual and annual). Readers can ALWAYS contribute to xxxxxx by clicking this link.
The Trump administration’s crackdown on asylum seekers has included the brutal intimidation tactics of family separation and family detention. These policies have profound health implications for migrant adults and children and violate basic human rights, including the right to be free from torture and enforced disappearance.
A new Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) investigation, based on psychological evaluations of asylum-seeking parents and children who were separated by the U.S. government in 2018, found pervasive symptoms and behaviors consistent with trauma; most met diagnostic criteria for at least one mental health condition, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder consistent with, and likely linked to, the trauma of family separation.
PHR clinicians chronicled that nearly everyone interviewed exhibited symptoms and behaviors consistent with trauma and its effects: being confused and upset, constantly worried, crying a lot, having sleeping difficulties, not eating well, having nightmares, being preoccupied, having severely depressed moods, overwhelming symptoms of anxiety, and physiological manifestations of panic and despair (racing heart, shortness of breath, and headaches), feeling “pure agony” and hopelessness, feeling emotional and mental anguish, and being “incredibly despondent.” The evaluating clinicians noted that the children exhibited reactions that included regression in age-appropriate behaviors, crying, not eating, having nightmares and other sleeping difficulties, loss of developmental milestones, as well as clinging to parents and feeling scared following reunification with their parents.
The U.S. government’s treatment of asylum seekers through its policy of family separation constitutes cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and, in all cases evaluated by PHR experts, constitutes torture.
Ten years ago I donated my collection of worldwide political protest memorabilia — posters, t-shirts, pinback buttons/badges, bumper stickers, arm bands, and other miscellany — to the Labor Archive in the Pattee/Paterno Library at The Pennsylvania State University in State College. The archivists have put up a display of many of the posters and buttons on the walls of Sidewater Commons, the hall of computer terminals near the information and checkout desk. The exhibit will continue until May.
A description and finding aid of the collection is here. Images of some items are here and here. An example of how scholars are using this collection is here.
Photo credit: Nurses of 15th Brigade. December 1937. Harry Randall: Fifteenth International Brigade Films and Photographs.
ALBA.PHOTO.011. Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive.
Lecture and Discussion: Memorializing in Movement, Generations of Struggle and Dissent
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
6:00–8:00pm
Hemispheric Institute
New York University
20 Cooper Square, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10003
*Live video broadcast will be available herestarting at 6:00 pm (EST).* RSVP on Facebook
We are pleased to invite you to a lecture and conversation with Katherine Hite, who will ask us to reflect on how we commemorate anti-fascist, anti-imperialist, and anti-racist struggles of the past as sites for mobilizing in the here and now. Drawing on the events surrounding the Franco dictatorship’s Valley of the Fallen memorial, as well as memorial movements across the Americas and Hite’s own family story of struggle and dissent, this talk will explore the ways in which memorializing can become a defiant political act, a form of reckoning with violent haunting, and a space to imagine otherwise. The event will feature Kate Doyle (ALBA/National Security Archive) as moderator and Marcial Godoy-Anativia (Hemispheric Institute) as discussant. A reception will follow.
Katherine Hite is a professor of Political Science on the Frederick Ferris Thompson Chair at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She is the author of Politics and the Art of Commemoration: Memorials to Struggle in Latin America and Spain (Routledge 2012), and When the Romance Ended: Leaders of the Chilean Left, 1968-1998 (Columbia 2000), as well as several publications on the politics of memory, memorials, and memorial museums. Her current research focuses on commemoration in the United States, particularly in her home state of Texas.
Kate Doyle is a Senior Analyst of U.S. policy in Latin America at the National Security Archive specializing in human rights and transitional justice. She was a recipient of the 2012 ALBA/Puffin Human Rights Activism Award, and in 2016 joined ALBA’s Board of Governors.
Marcial Godoy-Anativia is a sociocultural anthropologist and Managing Director of the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics at New York University (NYU).
Photo credit: Kee, Salaria [a.k.a. Salaria Kea, later O'Reill]. 1930s-1990s.
Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Photograph Collection Series. Harry Randall: Fifteenth International Brigade Films and Photographs. ALBA.PHOTO..011. Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive. Photo credit: Pat Reid (l.) and Harry Fisher. October 1937. Harry Randall: Fifteenth International Brigade Films and Photographs.
ALBA.PHOTO..011. Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive. Photo credit: Lillian Armstan, nurse, and Norman Dorland, 35th Division Sanidad [Health]. February 1938. Harry Randall: Fifteenth International Brigade Films and Photographs.
ALBA.PHOTO..011. Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive.
About Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA)
The Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) is an educational non-profit dedicated to promoting social activism and the defense of human rights. ALBA’s work is inspired by the American volunteers of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade who fought fascism in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Drawing on the ALBA collections in New York University’s Tamiment Library, and working to expand such collections, ALBA works to preserve the legacy of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade as an inspiration for present and future generations.
About the Hemispheric Institute
The Hemispheric Institute connects artists, scholars, and activists from across the Americas and creates new avenues for collaboration and action. Focusing on social justice, we research politically engaged performance and amplify it through gatherings, courses, publications, and archives. Our dynamic, multilingual network traverses disciplines and borders and is grounded in the fundamental belief that artistic practice and critical reflection can spark lasting cultural change.
The event is free and open to the public. A photo ID is required to enter NYU buildings and 20 Cooper Square is a wheelchair accessible venue.
