leftbankman.bsky.social
Bohemian lover of books, music, cinema and Nature. Leery of politics unless it infringes on the Bill of Rights. A radical only if the times demand radical action, which they now do. I am the alter ego of another person on Bluesky.
21 posts
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The man/child doesn’t know the meaning of the word “landslide.” FDR in 1936, LBJ in 1964, Nixon in 1972, and Reagan in 1984, his re-election occurring forty years ago. I hope that low-information voters don’t fall again for DJT’s over exaggeration, as they have for all his other lies.
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Civil rights in retrograde. Must we fight educational apartheid in the Deep South once again?
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Douglas Rushkoff exposes the sheer delusion of the superrich.
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Reminds me very much of the dystopian novel, The Wall, by John Lanchester.
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Her and Murkowski vote “No” with the political calculation that their two votes won’t make a damn bit of difference to the final tally. (And it didn’t.) It’s not only virtue signaling, but it’s nakedly cynical as well.
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These two questions—albeit rhetorical, for now—are posed preemptively. If on some flimsy pretext the president declares martial law and orders federal troops into the streets, how do you think that might play out?
For a terrifying answer to this speculation, read The Deluge
by Stephen Markley.
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Which is the higher fealty owed by our top military brass? To an unlawful order of the tyrannical commander-in-chief, or to the Constitution?
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Withdrawal is just another form of resistance to fascism. It should not be conflated with cowardice. Eminent intellectuals, scientists and artists fled Nazi Germany rather than ply their talents in a brutal state. America is flirting with a similar “brain drain” that will sap it of vital innovation.
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…. that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
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And by way of followup to your thoughtful questions, consider the oath of commissioned U.S. Army officers:
“I ___, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; and….
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….Our noblest aspirations and ideals are now under assault. They are all worth preserving
and defending, even unto death.
So now I turn over and over in my mind: What can I do?
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….I take heart only in my fellow Americans who still believe in goodness and generosity, compassion and mercy, whatever the source that inspires such qualities— the Sermon on the Mount or Declaration of Independence or anything that calls forth the better angels of our nature….
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…...and succor for the least among us. But above all, the universal desire for Freedom, its true essence so perverted by those bent only on their insatiable greed and power that I scarcely recognize my country anymore….
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We need a viable third party. The Republicans are heartless, and the Democrats are feckless. The country is in dire need of a bold young leader. Billionaires and celebrities need not apply. We need a man or woman of the people, not someone beholden to the donor class, or who hobnobs with A-listers.
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The fangs of fascism are now poised at the jugular of the American experiment, ready to drain the very lifeblood of our democracy. And climate change—call it global heating, really—threatens to wreak havoc here and everywhere.
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I take heart only in the fact that great leaders—whatever their cause— have seemingly come out of nowhere before. But wherever that leader-in- waiting may be, our country cannot wait much longer for him or her to emerge…
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It may well take a political outsider to take up the fight against fascism on the one hand and climate change on the other. And if both taken together precipitate another financial crash, then the next president may face a crisis on a scale and of a scope like no other beforehand.
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As for Democrats, they are a muddled mess of ineffectual opposition. I see none among their number to assume the mantle of Bernie Sanders. He twice embraced the challenge of taking on the Democratic establishment as an “insider,” only to be thwarted by the DNC, primary rivals, and the legacy media.