Monday, November 9, 2020

Howie Hawkins

That's Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "2 Partisans Talking" went up Sunday. I love the comic.

I voted for Howie Hawkins in the election, I'm a Green. His campaign issued the following:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 7, 2020

For Further Information:
Virginia Rodino, virginia@howiehawkins.us
Robert Smith, robert@howiehawkins.us

Hawkins and Walker React To Trump’s Defeat

We are happy to see Trump go. Good riddance!

This election was a referendum on Trump. Biden was Not-Trump, nothing more. Biden has no solutions for the climate, poverty, racism, and nuclear war.

The Hawkins/Walker campaign thanks our supporters for their donations and campaign work in a difficult year for the Green Party and independent socialists. The media blanked us out. After the Democratic establishment closed ranks to defeat Bernie Sanders, most progressive leaders lined up behind Biden without making any policy demands on him. The Biden administration is now free to ignore them.

We will continue to fight for a Green New Deal, an Economic Bill of Rights including Medicare for All, and a reprioritization of federal spending from militarism to caring for the people and the planet. We will continue organizing toward a major party of the green and socialist left and supporting the election of thousands to local office and, on that foundation, to state legislatures and Congress as we go into the 2020s.

We are running out of time on the climate, declining working-class life expectancies, and the new nuclear arms race. Real solutions can’t wait.

We are determined, not defeated.

###

Howie ran a real campaign. And Howie stood for what mattered.

A few years back, it was Howie who came up with the Green New Deal. And it will be Hoeiw and people like him who introduce the important ideas that influence our future. People like Joe Biden are just reactionaries, they can't actually lead.

This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Monday, November 9, 2020. The press declares Joe Biden the winner of the US presidential election (electoral college will actually decide on December 14th), Donald Trump insists the vote is wrong but keeps begging for money while refusing to detail any wrongs, an Iraqi protester was killed in Basra on Friday and the US media finally discovers what we noted about the displacement camp closing in Iraq -- what we noted over a week ago.

It's a Battle of the Duopoly War Hawks at present. On Saturday, the press called the election for Joe Biden -- the Democratic Party's War Hawk. Donald Trump, the sitting president and the War Hawk for the Republican Party, has not taken the call well. At 7:22 am this morning, the Trump campaign sent out an e-mail entitled "Update on the vote" which is fundraising for the "OFFICIAL ELECTION DEFENSE FUND." "Fight back now," the e-mail advises, and to fight back, you can contribute $220, $165, $110, $55 or "CONTRIBUTE ANY AMOUNT." This follows their 6:21 e-mail this morning entitled "For Patriots ONLY" -- anytime caps are used in quotes, that is their use, FYI -- which informed:

The Radical Left is UNHINGED.

President Trump will easily WIN the Presidency of the United States with ONLY LEGAL votes cast, but Election observers are not being allowed to do their jobs. It’s madness.

Every single Patriot from across the Nation must step up RIGHT NOW if we’re going to successfully DEFEND the integrity of this Election. We need YOU to join the Election Defense Task Force.

That second e-mail followed the one entitled "You've never let me down before" which was sent out at 5:14 this morning -- an e-mail that followed the one sent out at 12:18 this morning entitled "Mysterious Ballots." Sadly, that e-mail just listed amounts to donate and nothing to do with the actual title of the e-mails. I'm being a little sarcastic here but when a friend told me they were forwarding all this stuff, I thought, "Okay, good. He's a sitting president, he's saying the count is wrong, let's present whatever his argument is." But, thus far, the argument boils down to: Send money. Lots and lots of money.

Among the many e-mails his campaign sent out on Sunday, there was one entitled "STOP COUNTING ILLEGAL BALLOTS" which stated:

We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: THEY DON’T WANT THE TRUTH TO BE EXPOSED.

Joe Biden has NOT been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or any states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor.

LEGAL VOTES DECIDE WHO IS PRESIDENT, NOT THE MEDIA.

The American People are entitled to an honest Election; that means counting all legal ballots, and not counting any illegal ballots. This is the only way to ensure the public has full confidence in our Election.

I can't disagree that the count is not state certified, I can't disagree that Joe has media allies and I can't disagree about the need for "an honest Election"; however, though the e-mail makes plenty of space for you to choose an amount to donate, it fails to explain anything.

It's crass -- but certainly in keeping with Donald -- to just have his hand out trying to take your money. Where's the time being taken to explain his argument?

For all I know, there may be a valid legal argument regarding this election -- there may be several. But if there are, you make those in every e-mail. Donald's certainly willing to beg for cash in every e-mail. Is there a reason that, in the twelve e-mails I've looked over this morning, not one makes a legal argument? "Illegal ballots" where? What state? Why are they illegal?

I don't like Donald but I'm certainly willing to be fair and, if he's telling his side, we'll note it here. Out of fairness and also because if a sitting president argues that election results are wrong, that's news. But despite having read multiple ballots, I haven't seen his campaign offer one example of what they think is wrong/illegal/whatever about the vote count.

If he thinks it's wrong, say so. Say so loudly and publicly. Don't be a little bitch like John Kerry who went on and on insisting that the 2004 election was stolen but wouldn't say so publicly. Forgotten that? One example, Mark Cripsin Miller on the November 4, 2005 broadcast of DEMOCRACY NOW!:

Speaking of John Kerry, I have some news for you. On Friday, this last Friday night, I arranged to meet Senator Kerry at a fundraiser to give him a copy of my book. He told me he now thinks the election was stolen. He said he doesn’t believe that he is the person who can go out front on the issue, because of the sour grapes, you know, question. But he said he believes it was stolen. He says he argues about this with his Democratic colleagues on the Hill. He had just had a big fight with Christopher Dodd about it, because he said, you know, ’There’s this stuff about the voting machines; they’re really questionable.’ And Dodd was angry. 'I don't want to hear about it,’ you know, 'I looked into it. There's nothing there.’

John Kerry betrayed those who voted for him. If Donald thinks the election was stolen, he owes his voters a fight. But that requires more than begging for money over and over.

Let's switch topics. Last week, Cher decided to steal the old torch song "Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe" and try to whore the song for Joe Biden. Why? She long ago recorded her own Joe Biden song.

"Hey Joe" -- she recorded it for her 1967 album WITH LOVE, CHER. And it's a much more fitting song for Joe Biden. "Hey, Joe, where you going with that gun in your hand?"

That's the unasked question, right?

Elect Joe to better the lives of people of color!

That was the claim -- as long as we stuck with people of color in the US only. Joe's history is one of persecution and targeting people of color around the world. It was Joe and Barack who overthrew the leadership in Libya. The result? Among other things, open markets where slaves were sold -- in the 21st century. Sarah Abdallah Tweeted about Bully Boy Bush congratulating Joe:

Bush, the destroyer of Afghanistan and Iraq, offers up congratulations to Biden, the destroyer of Libya, Syria, Yemen and Ukraine. How adorable.

Solomon Comissiong (BLACK AGENDA REPORT) in December 2017:

Many of the people who are crying out for the ending of slavery in Libya are the same people that supported the lethal Obama/Clinton tag-team that orchestrated the destruction of what was once the African nation with the highest living standards -- Libya! Many of these folks unconditionally supported BarackObama and Hillary Clinton despite their nefarious actions. Many even made excuses for the bombing of Libya knowing that if George W. Bush or Donald Trump were doing the same, they would be crying bloody murder! The hypocrisy is quite pathetic and beyond reprehensible.

In 2011 the Obama administration bombed Libya into oblivion while using racist and terrorist rebel groups to do their dirty deeds on the ground. These terrorists often targeted Black Africans for rape, torture, and public lynchings, simply because they were seen as allies to Muammar Gaddafi -- who had provided a safe haven for those same Black Africans.

The Obama administration knew all of this. They used the CIA to deliver arms, advice and even cash to terrorist rebels, in an effort to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi and the Libyan Jamahiriya. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton desperately wanted to halt the advancements of Gaddafi and his government.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama lied to the public regarding Muammar Gaddafi and Libya in order to create a “justification” to topple Gaddafi and his government. There was not a shred of credible evidence that he was planning to murder Libyan civilians. However, he was resistant to the United States’ neo-colonial machinations with Africom. And, knowing that the US dollar was rapidly dropping in value, he wanted the US to purchase oil from Libya in the form of gold. He called for a United States of Africa. He also wanted to rid his country of terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda. Muammar Gaddafi and the Libyan Jamahiriya was just the kind of leader (and government) the United States hates and historically loves to overthrow.

Under Gaddafi, Libya also had free education and free healthcare -- things US citizens don’t even have. The nationalized oil reserves, which helped Gaddafi pay for these social programs, has since been exploited by many of the same Western players (NATO) who assisted the US in the savage destruction of Libya.

As Ajamu Baraka noted last week at BLACK AGENDA REPORT:

What is this “new fascism” the latte-left talks about? What is this “existential threat”? For most of us, the threat has always been existential. When colonial Nazism that was inspired by the U.S. Jim Crow South was applied in Europe—with its violence and racism—it was only then that it took on a different moral and political characterization.

The racist French government launches a domestic terror campaign against Muslims in the country, while bombing Africans in Africa and overthrowing their governments. The European Union gives a human rights award to a political opposition in Venezuela that burns Black people alive because those people are seen as Maduro supporters. Meanwhile, NATO, the military wing of U.S. and European white supremacy, expands into South America to support the Monroe Doctrine that morally justifies U.S. regional domination. But fascism is coming to the U.S., they cry!

For those of us who reside in the colonized spaces of empire, leading with uncritical emotionalism as we confront and attempt to deal with the Trump phenomenon, is a self-indulgent diversion we cannot afford. That is because, for us, the consequences truly are life threatening.

In occupied Palestine, Venezuela, Yemen, the South-side of Chicago, Haiti, the concentration camps for Indigenous peoples called “reservations,” as well as “Cancer Alley” in Louisiana, our survival depends on seeing this violent, barbarian behemoth for what it is. We must have no sentimental delusions about the difference between the governance of either of the two ruling class-dominated parties.

For us, both parties are ongoing criminal enterprises that are committed to one thing and one thing only: Ultimately serving the interests of the capitalist ruling class—by any means necessary!

Caitlin Johnstone (ICH) notes, "Liberals are heaving a sigh of relief around the country, not because their actual lives have gotten much worse as a result of Trump’s presidency (they have not), but because it means at long last they’ll stop being psychologically abused by the mass media who’ve been screaming hysterical nonsense in their faces and making them feel crazy."

She also notes David Corn's Tweet that, for the last four years, he only wore black ties because he was in mourning. Golly, David, what color of tie did you were after you destroyed Gary Webb's career and he took his own life? You never want to talk about that, do you? Or get honest about it.

Let's drop back to October 31st:

It's amazing how the western press misreports. Earlier this week, it was 'concern' for the people in camps -- the displaced in Iraq. Supposedly, everyone, including the UN was concerned. I ignored the story because it felt false on the face of it. And it was. DAR ADDUSTOUR gives you the truth about this 'concern' that western media left out. The 'concern' is only that they exist. The 'concern' doesn't translate into finding homes for the displaced or meeting the needs of the displaced. What the 'concern' means, DAR ADDUSTOUR reports is that the camp in Baquba, the sole camp for the displaced, will be closed in five weeks. 150 families will be evicted from the camp. Where are they to go? No one cares. Certainly, no one in the western press cares because they couldn't take a moment from acting as a megaphone to tell you what was really going on. Again, just on the face of it, it was obvious that there was no 'concern' for the displaced.

This morning, Louisa Loveluck (WASHINGTON POST) Tweets:

The @NRC_MiddleEast
 is warning of the consequences of Iraq’s decision to close displacement camps for people unable to return home after the war against ISIS. Some 100,000 rendered homeless as winter draws in. Civilians vulnerable to security forces.

Iraq camp closures to leave 100,000 homeless amid coronavirus pandemic, warns aid group

Civilians displaced in Islamic State battles may not have a home to return to, the NRC said.

It was obvious when the western media was treating it as good news that it wasn't good news. Closing displacement camps while the displaced remain displaced? Only a fool couldn't have seen this would be a problem.

In other news, AP reports, "Iraqi security forces opened fire during clashes with hundreds of protesters in the southern city of Basra on Friday, killing one demonstrator and wounding several others as tensions flared once again, hospital officials said." ALJAZEERA identifies Omar Fadhel as the man shot dead for the 'crime' of protesting. Zeidon Alkinani Tweets:

Southern Iraq’s Basra protests are still active and loud. Influenced by the assassination of its prominent activist, Omar Fadhel. 
#عمر_فاضل 
#البصرة

11:55 PM · Nov 6, 2020

Amnesty International's Donatella Rovera Tweeted:

Omar Fadhel was killed today in demonstrations in #Basra in southern #Iraq. RIP. He is the latest of 600+ demonstrators killed in #iraqprotests in the past year with absolute impunity. PM @MAKadhimi
’s promises of accountability & justice have not materialised so far  #البصرة

11:42 AM · Nov 6, 2020

He was buried on Saturday. Azhar al-Rubaie Tweeted Saturday:

The funeral of the Martyr Omar Fadhel in Basra protest's Square, he was killed by security forces yesterday.

11:32 PM · Nov 6, 2020

ASHARQ AL-AWSAT notes, "Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi vowed on Saturday that the government will be unyielding in dealing with any member of the security forces found guilty of using live fire against the Iraqi people." Yes, he did. He 'vowed' in a Tweet:

The state will not tolerate any security personnel who disregard orders which explicitly forbid the use of bullets against demonstrators, as happened in Basra. Also, the security services are serious about not allowing offenders to tarnish their image. (1/2)

The alleged killer of Omar Fadhil has been arrested, and he will receive a fair trial. We trust the Iraqi people, the Iraqi Security Forces, and our heroic Army, and together we will overcome these types of challenges. (2/2)

I guess, for some, that passes for bravery. Equally true, he'd already said publicly -- twice since May, that he wouldn't tolerate security forces killing protesters. He 'vowed' then too. Of course, as Omar Fadhil's death demonstrates, that didn't stop the killings.

Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "2 Partisans Talking" went up Sunday.

Sunday, November 8, 2020

Marcia has a good question for Stevie Nicks

First up, be sure to check out Ava and C.I.'s "Media: The scream in our soul." Second, what Marcia said -- "So, Stevie Nicks, when you going to pay it back to the sisterhood?"

Yeah, Stevie Nicks, you were supposed to be pro-woman and about sisterhood so now that you whored for Joe Biden and he'll be going into the White House, think you can speak up for women?

Are you silent because of Don Henley, Stevie? Your buddy and former lover is known for assaulting women as well as for sleeping with girls under the age of consent -- also known as statutory rape.

You got your rapist in the White House, Stevie. Now why don't you work on making amends to women for what you've done. Or grasp that you'll be seen as a sellout and that will be your legacy.

I'm trying to be nice about the racism. I'm Black and it does matter to me. I'm also a survivor of rape and, if the rumors are true, Stevie, that a Black man tried to assault/rape you, I could understand you're being less than eager to hire anyone who reminded you of a potential rapist. But while that would excuse -- for me, anyway -- your failure to hire Black men as drivers or bodyguards, it does not address why you have only recorded with three Black artists and all three were imposed on you. Beyonce invited Stevie to participate in "Bootylicious" after she (Beyonce) built the song around the musical riff of Stevie's "Edge of Seventeen." Prince surprised everyone at the studio when Stevie was recording WILD HEART. He was apparently attracted to her and showed up for that reason. He laid down a synth on "Stand Back" and then left. Macy Gray sang on "Bombay Saphires" because Stevie's management insisted. It's on the same album that Sheryl Crow, Natalie Maines and Sarah McLachlan show up on. They were invited, the White women. Only Macy, the Black woman, was imposed on Stevie.

Don Henley, Tom Petty, Bruce Hornsby, Robbie Nevill, etc. All these white artists that Stevie's recorded with as a solo artist but only three Black artists and none were actually invited guests by Stevie.

Harry Styles, Chrissie Hynde -- Stevie, I can easily list thirty more. But only three Black artists?

It doesn't reflect well on you.

This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:

Friday, November 6, 2020. And the count goes on -- yes, the count goes on.

"Here we go again" is how Kathleen Wallace opens her column that went up at COUNTERPUNCH on Thursday. Yeah, I know. Kind of familiar -- see Wednesday morning's "Here we go again (Ava and C.I.)" but we -- Ava and I -- were true to our own voices, so no one can really copy us though, goodness knows, many have tried and failed over the years. Hey, IN THESE TIMES, what happened to that entertainment media coverage? No, it's not as easy as it looks -- especially if you're trying to offer a feminist perspective but, hey, thanks for playing.

And playing's all Kathleen Wallace is doing. I planned to highlight her but I read and read and it just got worse and worse. 'COVID didn't register!'

Yeah, it did but your head's been up your ass so long that you never got what was going on. The center-left meme was that Covid-19 meant the country would turn away from Donald Trump collectively and now here comes Kathleen to tell us, "I also thought covid would be a gamechanger, but the Trump supporters view the shutdowns as the enemy, not the virus."

Why admit at the top of your column that you were wrong and just cling to your insulting beliefs that got you into this mess to begin with?

For months, the media and much of the left has lived in an artificial world that was far from reality-based. There are people on the right who just see the pandemic as something that's been overblown and/or some sort of plot but that's true of some on the left as well.

What no one seems to get about a number of Donald Trump supporters is that they're not as stupid as the MSNBC talking point crowd.

They know damn well that the hissy fits over what Donald did in February and Joe Biden's claims of what he would do are largely nonsense. Reality, in February and March, Joe and his campaign were telling people -- in the midst of the pandemic -- to go to the polls and vote. Joe presented no plan for a response to the pandemic.

Did Donald flounder? Yes, he did. But many people remember that so did the CDC. Many remember when we were told there was no point in wearing masks Then we were told to wear masks. People can look at those events and they can see that everyone was learning as they went along.

The Democratic Party leaders tried to weaponize Covid for the election. And you got a lot of childish and petty little brats -- who need to grow the hell up, quite frankly -- reinventing the narrative the same way they tried their neoliberal reinvention of government in the 90s (that was the Clintonesque destruction of the safety net and you can refer to the book REINVENTING GOVERNMENT if you're late to that party). It was disgusting to see people try to profit politically off the pandemic.

And maybe if you did something other than 'learn' about the world from MSNBC, you'd have known that. We spoke to group after group and heard this called out repeatedly. I'd be surprised if out of the hundreds in the last two months, more than 21 of them were Trump supporters. The bulk identified as Democrats (though many were clear that they would not be voting in the election due to Joe's position on fracking or his assault of Tara Reade or both). And they were appalled by the way the pandemic was being used as political football. Nancy Pelosi's refusal to provide a second stimulus also fell under that umbrella. People were outraged by that and saw that as yet another example of a party wanting your vote but refusing to do anything to get it. And then came Joe's I-promise-you-nothing campaign and you had a political party that stood for nothing other than trying to shape opinion.

I don't know why, in the face of the rebuke that is this election, you'd say, "I got is wrong but let me tell you about all the other things I believe without any basis in fact and let's pretend like they are right."

Throughout the last four years, opinions have been presented as facts and this from the 'neutral' media? It rained is a fact. What someone felt about the rain is an opinion -- that seems to confuse a number of so-called reporters at various corporate outlets.

Wallace really shouldn't write a word. She's a stupid and sexist fool. Doubt me? Note this passage:

This falls completely on Obama and the corrupt DNC machinery. As you all know, prior to Super Tuesday, Obama pulled the strings of the other primary candidates, creating a situation that unearthed a most inorganic Biden victory. He got them to pull out and support Biden en masse. Though Obama was reported to have said “don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to f**k things up”, he opted to intervene in the democratic process of a legitimate primary. Elizabeth Warren (oh don’t upset her with snake emojis) helped out too, making sure the progressive vote was splintered. It makes you wonder what was going on there. She sells her soul for no payout, it seems.

Did Elizabeth help out? That's an opinion but if you think she helped out and you also think this falls completely on Barack -- your words -- then why is it that you seen to blame them equally? That's what you're doing in that paragraph. Four sentences calling out Barack and three calling out Elizabeth.

And note the sexism, Elizabeth is the one who "splintered" the progressive vote. Not Bernie. As a man, apparently, the progressive vote belonged to Bernie. As a woman, apparently, Elizabeth was supposed to sacrifice and step aside. Was this the election or post-WWII America? Go home, girls, the men are back!

What an offensive piece of trash Wallace is.

Again, there are facts and there are opinions. It's a fact that they both sought the nomination. It's an opinion that one should have dropped out (we never called for either to drop out -- we did note that people needed to back off and stop the sexism against Elizabeth and that failing to do so would only hurt Bernie). Elizabeth and/or her supporters could argue throughout the primary that Bernie lost last time and he'd lose again. They could have argued that Bernie had the nomination stolen from him last time and that he'd have it stolen again.

They could have pointed out the reality that Elizabeth stood up to Joe in the debates while Bernie undercut his own talking points and his own stands with 'my friend Joe' comments.

They could have pointed to the attacks during the primary from Bernie on women like Zephyr Teachout. What did Zephyr do? Oh, yeah, she wrote the truth about Joe Biden's record -- a record that Bernie was running against. And Zephyr was rewarded for that well researched and well thought out column by being attacked and disowned by Bernie and his campaign. Or the backstabbing of Briahna Joy Gray. If you were shocked by Bernie's dismissive attitude towards Briahna, so sorry that you didn't know s**t as usual.

It wasn't surprising in the least. I sat through those awful VA hearings the Senate Committee held under Bernie's leadership (I also sat through Daniel Akaka and Patty Murray's hearings which set the standards for any Senate hearings). I saw Bernie's patronizing attitudes towards women -- women on the committee, women testifying before the committee. A group of women veterans and I spent one post-hearing lunch together counting up all the sexist terms Bernie had used in the hearing and all the ways he'd been patronizing to women but never to men.

Did Bernie tell Elizabeth that he didn't think a woman could win?

We don't know. But those of us who have seen Bernie in action do know that it wouldn't be a surprise. And, when that rumor came up, we said here, check the archives, whether it was said or not, it shouldn't be the end of the world. The statement, as reported, was that someone didn't think the country would elect a woman. That's an opinion and it's an opinion of what others think. It wasn't a statement, as reported, that a woman shouldn't be president or that Bernie said he wouldn't vote for a woman. It was a politician looking at the landscape and trying to read it and coming to a conclusion.

Our advice was to leave it alone and that was partly because we knew Bernie's past very well. Just leave it alone and let it fade. But his supporters couldn't do that or wouldn't do that. And Bernie couldn't either and he had to give the story new life by confronting Elizabeth at the end of the debate. As she was heard saying, "You called me a liar." And that is what he did.

None of this is written as an Elizabeth lover. Had she gotten the nomination, I would've voted for her. I probably would've voted for anyone other than Joe. I certainly would've voted for Beto, Julian, Marianne . . .

But I am not an Elizabeth Warren fan nor am I even a supporter. I don't mean a supporter or her presidential campaign, I mean a supporter of her public work. I think she's done a very poor job on a lot of things. I would include that the time to let us know that a program isn't working is long before the money's all been distributed. I think she's been very dishonest about her past -- I'm referring to the Republican thing, not the Native American aspect. Trina was very familiar with Elizabeth Warren and her politics and the minute Elizabeth ran for the Senate, Trina was telling you she wasn't all that and that she had started out a Republican. Trina lives in Boston and knew exactly what Elizabeth was and wasn't.

And we called out Elizabeth through out the campaign including when she decided to use impeachment as a campaign booster. Didn't work for her.

So Elizabeth's not perfect and I'm not saying she is. I'm not a supporter of Elizabeth Warren. But, please note, Kathleen Wallace, when I'm writing about what happened and trying to explain it, I'm not just offering a one-sided version of a narrative that rescues all my beloveds and paints everyone else as the devil.

Kathleen is unhappy with Bernie's loss. But she's not going to blame him apparently. So she'll blame Barack (who does deserve a portion of the blame, he clearly pulled strings behind the scenes) and she'll blame Elizabeth but she won't blame Bernie.

Here's what Kathleen thinks is a critique of Bernie:

This is all not to say that Sanders isn’t clearly at fault in this situation as well. He embraced the sheepdog role and after the first Lucy football incident, he should have run as an Independent if he was serious about truly winning the presidency. How many people who couldn’t afford it plunged what assistance they could into his campaign? It’s a pretty craven and bitter move to do to those young idealists. At some point, you have to hold to your convictions. Say what you will, but these scary Trumpers do hold to their (often toxic convictions) and it’s powerful. They win that way. Bernie has done much to push progressive ideals and has done well introducing them to a large audience, but he also has been instrumental in ripping the hearts out of those who truly believed in his platform. How can you be for the ideas that he offered and still hit the campaign trail for a Biden? Sure, sure the bigger threat thing is what is always given as the excuse— but he likely knew exactly what would happen this second time around. He coalesced progressive support around him during the primary, keeping a trend towards any third party leanings down. He was an instrumental cog in all of this….again.

So his portion of the blame, per Kathleen, is the sheepdog role -- a role he played after he dropped out. And his other one was refusing to run as an independent. Again, that would happen after he dropped out.

Bernie, in her mind, made no mistakes until then. And the mistakes she attributes to him feed into her belief that he's a good guy. He may very well be a good person but she doesn't offer that possibility for Donald Trump or Barack Obama or Elizabeth Warren or anyone she disagrees with. Are we not supposed to notice that?

As the pandemic was making clear the need for Medicare For All, who dropped out?

Bernie. It was the perfect time to speak out about his platform and how, look around at the people in need in this crisis, this is why we need Medicare For All.

But he didn't do that. He grumbled about David Sirota and Nina Turner when they were busting their asses for him. He called out Zephyr and, after the election, Briahna. This is leadership?

It's whoring.

And you could float the idea that it's another reason Elizabeth didn't drop out. She was running against a man who did nothing. Naming post offices, that was Bernie's Congressional accomplishment. Yes, I started that talking point but I didn't do it to help Hillary (I actually favored Martin in 2016) and I didn't realize the campaign would run with his lack of accomplishments in Congress -- both the House and the Senate. I was just applying the same standard to all. It's not my job to fluff and flatter.

And Elizabeth does have some accomplishments in the Senate and she might have stayed in the campaign for that reason.

More to the point, she doesn't need a reason to stay in other than she wants to. She's not stealing anything from anyone by making a forceful case for herself.

I'm raking my brain for when we hear this sort of talk about a man. Other than the lunatic ravings of Al Gore's self-appointed online defender/mistress Bob Somerby (in his attacks on Bill Bradley), I'm not remembering it.

If Bernie's campaign was so weak that it couldn't survive another person campaigning openly, then it wasn't strong at all.

Now it's another thing to suffer through what the DNC did to him in 2016 and the strings Barack pulled this go round. Those were not done publicly, they were largely hidden.

But Elizabeth wanted the nomination and she sought it publicly. If Bernie couldn't handle that, I don't know that he could have handled the nomination.

Wallace is worried about Pete Buttigieg and that made me laugh the most at her column. Barack was the shiny, new toy in 2008. Pete can't be that. He tried to be it in 2019 and 2020 but it didn't happen. And in 2024 or 2028, he's not going to be anything but another fat assed male politician. Am I the only one whose noticed how much weight he's put on? Or how fat his face is? Barack was shiny and new with his thin trim self -- to the point that people spoke of anorexia. True or not, he did look lean and hungry and it gave his words an impact that a soft and fat politician just wouldn't have. Barack looked lean and hungry and that amplified his message of change. When roly-poly Pete lumbers out on stage in four years or eight years, a call to change from a fat cat politician will ring as hollow as it always does.

I kept searching her column -- which was sent into the public account by fifteen different people -- or at least fifteen different e-mail accounts -- for something to praise and include. I thought I was going to from the byline. But it's a really bad column. And don't think you're brave by noting Joe grabbing a woman's ass and including a mention of #MeToo if you can't mention Tara Reade. Tara told the truth. Kathleen did mention Anita Hill. It's safe to do that, isn't it?

Thing is, I was around back then and it wasn't safe. But people -- women and men -- wouldn't let it die. We didn't walk away from it. And these same people today, we're not walking away from Tara Reade. Joe will never live Tara down. It's the sort of thing the media can dismiss for a year or so but it's the sort of thing that festers and grows and that becomes so firm that even the cowardly -- Kathleen, for example -- finally feel that they can speak out about it -- the way she feels she can support Anita all these decades later.

I wanted to praise Kathleen. But she wrote a sexist article which opens with her admitting she was wrong but never goes on to try to attempt to re-evaluate any of the prejudices and mistaken beliefs that led to her being so wrong.

Most of all, I'll never support any argument -- made by a man or a woman -- that a woman's role is to sacrifice her goals and dreams so that a man can get ahead. I will always stand against that sort of nonsense.

In Iraq, Dilan S. Hussein (RUDAW) reports:

Iraqi President Barham Salih on Thursday officially signed recent electoral reforms into law, dividing provinces into smaller voting constituencies for the 2021 election.

"The law was passed after a long debate. The reform of the electoral law was a national demand to secure Iraqis' right to choose their representatives without fear of forgery, manipulation and the exertion of pressure on voters," said Salih.

"I call upon all state institutions to swiftly fulfill the required conditions for conducting early fair and free elections," he added. "Electoral corruption is a serious scourge that threatens the peace and stability of our community as well as the country's economic viability."

This would appear to mean that elections are moving forward (June 6, 2021). THE MEDIA LINE notes a possible snag, "Yet a dispute about how to replace retiring judges of the Federal Supreme Court, which rules on constitutional challenges, needs to be settled prior to elections." Of the new law, AP explains, "The new law changes each of the country’s 18 provinces into several electoral districts and prevents parties from running on unified lists, which has in the past helped them easily sweep all the seats in a specific province. Instead, the seats would go to whoever gets the most votes in the electoral districts."

Karen Steele has a letter to the editors of THE BALTIMORE SUN which includes:

Oct. 22 was the tenth anniversary of the publication of the Iraq War Logs (“Julian Assange is no hero,” May 15, 2019). The documents revealed war crimes, more than 15,000 previously undocumented civilian casualties and evidence that the military killed innocent people and mislabeled them as enemies for statistical purposes.

These revelations were only possible because Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning acted out of conscience, and WikiLeaks bravely published them after the Washington Post and New York Times hesitated. The coverage won countless awards, but also led to Ms. Manning spending years in prison and WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange facing an unprecedented 175-year sentence.

Two more things. Time permitting, I'd like to explore the good and the bad about Brad Bannon's HILL column -- explore it this weekend. Second, this weekend, NOW and The Feminist Majority have a virtual conference:

You won’t want to miss an up-to-the-minute feminist analysis of the 2020 election. Join the Feminist Majority and the National Organization for Women (NOW) for the last in a series of free virtual conferences this Saturday November 7^th at 12:30pm ET on the power of the feminist vote and what is at stake as a result of the 2020 election.

REGISTER TODAY!

Our exciting plenary session will feature an election analysis panel led by Feminist Majority president Eleanor Smeal, featuring feminist pollster Celinda Lake of Lake Research and Barbara Arnwine, president and founder of Transformative Justice and its national voter protection project.

The second panel discussion will feature feminist political action committees that propelled feminist candidates to victory chaired by Bear Atwood, vice president of NOW. The keynote address will be delivered by Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California. The conference will close with a discussion with NOW president Christian Nunes on where we go from here.

You won’t want to miss this opportunity to engage with important feminist leaders and organizers who are working to protect the decades of progress made and are paving the way for even more feminist victories ahead. Register now!

If you have already registered please look for an email from NOW Conference 2020 that contains a link to join and if you haven’t registered, please do so now! If you have any issues registering or joining the conference please email NOW@scottcircle.com.

For equality,