This is the sixth set of notes for a reading group on Marx’s Capital, and includes a Volume I refresher for further reading of Volume II. There are links to earlier posts and texts that may be useful. Marx is probably too taken with a kind of scientism by proposing...
Losing
Paraphrasing Pvt. Sam Watkins, 1st Tennessee, Co. H. ‘America has no north, no south, no east, no west,’ those words could apply to the pandemic. Watkins was lamenting brother against brother killing each other in the American Civil War. All of America is watching the unvaccinated kill each other and...
For the past few weeks, I have heard from friends, colleagues, and enemies who say, ‘I never heard of ‘ Black Wall Street.’ Statements like that are why America needs Critical Race Theory in its’ school curriculum. I have spent my life, first as a child of public education and...
There is no doubt that the year 2020 has been tumultuous, to say the least. With a global pandemic, nationwide protests against police brutality, and a presidential election to top it all off, the year will definitely go down in history. But the history making did not end with 2020....
Former President Trump ordered the Pentagon to release all of its information on “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAP) within 18 days in his last coronavirus relief bill in December 2020. More inexplicable sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) will be released for public scrutiny in June — including a UFO that broke...
Arizona still is a paradigm case in attempts to overthrow governments. Apparently elections are now auctions and any idiot with money and a legislature in their pocket can demand election audits. Lawfare will ensue as democracy and information will become more rather than less opaque. The politicized “audit” of Maricopa County, Arizona’s...
Let’s face it, nothing gets through the Senate if Moscow Mitch McConnell doesn’t want it to pass. (Almost nothing: we did get the Covid-19 relief package through, and a few other things, using reconciliation.) And it’s been clear to everyone (even Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema!) that there aren’t 10...
Pure propaganda with more Big Lies for the Big Liar. The Trumpian alternative universe is touted in Elise Stefanik’s opening speech as the new GOP Conference Chair. LOL about “the far left, radical socialist policies of President Joe Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.” In comparison with Liz Cheney, she’s an...
So this happened yesterday: Glenn Youngkin, a wealthy first-time candidate who walked a line between his party’s Trump-centric base and appeals to business interests, won the Republican nomination for governor of Virginia on Monday. He heads into a general election in one of only two states choosing their governors in...
He’s got a new book, so a conservative Niall Ferguson appeared on TV this morning whitewashing the Trump administration’s competence, or lack thereof, as if the fault lies with more systemic faults, despite the deliberate Trump sabotage of Obama-era pandemic planning. Catastrophes of politics, in pricey Ted-like talks. As if there no...
Who could believe that Republicans would actually use a provable voter fraud fallacy to distract from institutional interventions that suppress votes. Why would they divert attention to voter suppression efforts and conspiracy theories as absurd as ballots shipped from abroad. And there’s no shortage of cynical extremists in the GOP. But...
Have you ever asked yourself, why are so many GOP political theories race and gender-based? The latest is that voter ballots in Arizona were smuggled in from China. The GOP has decided the best way to expose this absurd idea is to exploit a silly stereotype and check the ballots...
Like any good con artist Trump now tries to call his losing a “big lie”, because he’s all about the disinformation as he does his lounge act in Florida and now New Jersey. Trump or his media image is the kind of synthetic construction that combines the GQP lie affirmed by...
Dr. Anthony Fauci is on a roll. First, he went after this clown: x “You can get infected, and will get infected, if you put yourself at risk.” -Dr. Anthony Fauci responding to podcast host Joe Rogan’s suggestion that young people not get the COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/6E02GI31VV— TODAY (@TODAYshow) April...
Whether it’s soccer teams or sandwich shops, financialization was there before the pandemic, only making some of its supply-chain hijacking yet another example of an impending capitalist disaster. Re-regulation must remain important as crises loom in the post-pandemic recovery. A 2017 interview with UMass’s Gerald Epstein points to the need to...
The usual Cruz hypocrisy, the pot calling the kettle violent. Because the final term of Ted Cruz will feature more nonsense serving corporate energy interests among other contradictions. He’s flailing about today with the latest nominees for DoJ, among other fake outrage. It’s an old tactic, because Cruz loves stirring...
Yesterday I was so depressed. Could not figure out why. Vet came and sat out on the patio and said, “You know, I am depressed really bad”. I shook my head and said, “Not a good sign you know if we both are”. I felt like a cloud was hanging...
Anand Giridharadas wrote a piece for The Atlantic asserting that Biden has been moving leftward. This may only be a short term impression only because the GOP is trying to find its way after the previous guy is gone and before he may be indicted. The real problem lies with...
During last year’s second presidential debate, Donald Trump made certain to note how horribly things were going on his watch: “We have to open our country,” the big, dumb adobe mud hut brayed. “We’re not going to have a country. You can’t do this, we can’t keep this country closed. It is a...
Some big news today out of North Carolina: Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory’s career in politics is not over. McCrory, a Republican who served one term as the state’s chief executive and 14 years as Charlotte’s mayor, has launched a campaign website announcing his run for North Carolina’s open U.S. Senate...
Can’t wait to see this asshole go: 📹On @FOX43, Sen. Toomey says he wants PA to adopt Georgia's new election laws. I ask what he says to BPOC who say those policies make it harder to vote? He said it's a "ridiculous argument." "Are we really supposed to believe African...
While the Republican Party continues to devolve into the party of white supremacists, authoritarian fascists, and conspiracy theorists, they are losing their grip on many of the voting blocs they have always counted on to keep them in power. Several demographic groups are moving away from the Republicans, such as...
Actually, had Spielberg reduced the running time, the film 1941 might have been a classic. The classic film history teaching exercise would be to edit it down to 2 hours. Craig Lindsey’s article argues for the Pogo conclusion that the enemy is us when we allow fear to take over. 2020 did that...
Received this e-mail today from Parkland father and activist, Fred Guttenberg, in support of Rep. Tim Ryan’s (D. OH) potential U.S. Senate campaign: Rep. Tim Ryan (D. OH) You may not recognize my name, but you may remember my daughter. Jaime was just 14 years old when she walked into...
Here’s the latest news on the recall effort in California: The effort to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has gathered over 2 million signatures — a number of signatures, if validated, that could force a measure on a ballot. The leaders of RecallGavin2020 announced this week that their effort reached over 2,060,000 signatures...
“The universe has been to them.” (Resident Alien) Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what...
Plenty of dimwittedness to share as Trump demands via a cease and desist order that the GOP not use his likeness or name unless they pay for it. Also, Trump threatens to negative campaign against Lisa Murkowski in yet another empty threat. And finally Trump returns to NYC, the reasons for...
OMG, this was brilliant! https://twitter.com/AnitaM86/status/1367911317491834888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw If you can’t see it, a reporter (I don’t know which outlet) asked, “A lot of Americans are saying that, you know, the surges are happening under President Biden’s watch, after he reversed some previous policies. Does the administration take any accountability for what’s happening?” Jen...
OMG, this was brilliant! x Jen Psaki not taking any nonsense, immigration edition. pic.twitter.com/7Z75x4jpEO — Anita (@AnitaM86) March 5, 2021 If you can’t see it, a reporter (I don’t know which outlet) asked, “A lot of Americans are saying that, you know, the surges are happening under President Biden's watch,...
Darn those class commitments, aligning us to our political choices in a democracy, made worse by all those folks who knew they were in that Gilded Age. “If the future of the Democratic Party is in the rich suburbs, the future of American politics is another long Gilded Age.” Matt...
Received this e-mail today from U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D. NM) in support of U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto’s (D. NV) re-election campaign: Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D. NV) My good friend and Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto just announced she’s running for re-election. Let me tell you a...
Speechless. Just speechless. According to CNN, Mike Pence is starting a PAC to defend Donald Trump’s record and they remain close friends. What in the world? Some man incites a mob, a former boss, hunts me and not just me but my family, screaming down the halls of congress, Hang...
An initial note — I’ve always thought that the most effective tool by far against Trump is to mock him. That weakness has been central to this rube from Queens who spent a lifetime craving Manhattan’s (unavailable) approval. With that in mind, I need to point out one of the weirdest (although typical)...
Texas really is full of dumb GOP fuckers: x NEW: Texas AG Ken Paxton left the state during the deadly power outages last week to meet with his counterpart in Utah. Paxton's spox did not answer Qs about when he left or returned and why the trip was not postponed....
Oh barf: Former U.S. Sen. David Perdue took the first steps toward a potential comeback bid by filing campaign paperwork on Monday to explore a challenge against Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock. The Republican’s aides say he still hasn’t decided whether to challenge Warnock next year, though the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported...
Riding with the cops and rooting for the robbers, many members of the Senate GQP have made their decisions, siding with technical arguments as the Republic was threatened. Criming will happen again, even if violating a Constitutional oath while in office, and now further as the potential of returning to...
The Washington Post did a version of the NY Times profiles of Trumpists, albeit those who were involved in the 6 January insurrection, and there does seem to be a class struggle, not quite like one would expect. The participation of people with middle- and upper-middle-class positions fits with research...
Trump’s lawyers argued that the Senate lacked jurisdiction to try the impeachment of a former president, and today that argument failed by a 56-44 vote. The issue was resolved: the Senate has jurisdiction to try and convict Trump. A question: isn’t this now the “law of the case,” and, thus, a...
Well, I will send one to old Rubio as well. Senator Scott, You are an embarrassment to the people of Florida and have been for a long time. I must congratulate you however, for being in the presence of likeminded company such as yourself in the Senate with bootlicking...
Received this e-mail yesterday from former Governor Terry McAuliffe’s (D. VA) gubernatorial campaign: One month ago we watched in horror as violent insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol. All told, five people died, and with reports of bomb threats and threats on the lives of the Vice President and the Speaker...