You are hereBlogs / davidswanson's blog / Talk Nation Radio: Leah Bolger on the Upcoming National Convention of Veterans For Peace
Talk Nation Radio: Leah Bolger on the Upcoming National Convention of Veterans For Peace
Leah Bolger is the current, and the first female, president of Veterans For Peace, which is holding a national convention in Miami, Fla., August 8-12, 2012. The event is open to the public and speakers include Alice Walker, Phil Donahue, Roy Bourgeois, Marleine Bastien, and many others. Bolger explains the work of Veterans For Peace and its dedication to eliminating war. See http://veteransforpeace.org
Total run time: 29:00
Host: David Swanson.
Producer: David Swanson.
Engineer: Christiane Brown.
Music by Duke Ellington.
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Class systems do not allow social control over civil society, specifically control over wealth and labor, having usurped the social means of production into a parasitic, class system with its sychophantic, servile, blackmailed, partially developed middle layers subordinated into divisible, fearful, divisible, shock troops for totalitarianism, and War. Human Nature and Humanity has been deformed and enslaved for milleniums, since the rise of class history and Patriarchy, NOT because of "greed" and "original sin", which only describe outcomes, effects, not the cause, all class systems. This form of ideological manipulation is the essence of class deformed language propagated by class elites, themselves deformed by class hierarchies which are tied to the Patriarchal class mechanism that reproduces parasitic ruling classes. It does not matter whether a class system, with its class deformed language produces religious class myths or later, the more modern secular class myths, they all substitute deformed human nature, "original sin" in the Garden of Eden or the "Greed", instead of pointing to the deformed class systems, which hold monopoly control, parasitic control that producesclass deformed markets, mislabeled "Free markets". Their common goal, denominator, is to hide their class tyranny and to hide the historical usurpation of social control of civil society that once existed in the Social Matriarchy.
The deformation of the social historical mechanism and demise of the Social Matriarchy, led to the downfall of women and enslavement of humanity through the seizure, usurpation of wealth and labor produced by the milleniums of a Patriarchal class mechanism and its class history, deforming both Human Nature and enslaving Humanity. This Patriarchal, class process has continued right through today's Global Fascism, through the same class hierarchies, which deforms the social center, made divisible, subordinated, into corrupted class centers, class professionals. The failure of the Enlightenment started the proto fascist process, the very same degenerating class cycles, which the ancient Greek social thinkers observed when class republics, class democracies morphed into class tyrants and class empires. The crippled, class republic, Weimar, Germany, with its corrupt socialists, only in name, degenerated much like the liberal war hawks in the democratic party tha morphed into a bi partisan Fascism. Yesterday's first axis of Western Fascism, has been reproduced by setting up Late Capitalism after World War II, creating another round of proto fascists enabled by corrupt liberals, and its march, today towards global Fascism, the second Axis of Western Fascism. Beethoven and other revolutionary liberals knew the Enlightenment was lost, when it reproduced the same class hierarchies, new class tyrants in new Capitalist clothes, when Napoleon set up the same class laws, class empire of previous class systems and their class empires. The ideological whores in class sponsored universities produced the new class myth of free markets and the success of the Enlightenment, when these class ideologues, both class liberals and conservatives CONSERVED class centers, center right, class compromising processes which continued Patriarchy under new Capitalist clothes. Their class center moved through endless class compromise into the realm of Fascism, proving that class liberals are part of the proto fascist process that leads ultimately into totalitiariani by betraying the social patriotism of the Enlightenemnt for class patriotism, class nationalism. Class systems and class Empires promote betrayal, wars and global fascism:
Wall Street Be Damned: We're the Economy We’ve Been Waiting For
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/07/31-3
excerpt:
"That “voice,” as more and more Americans are beginning to understand, is further muffled by Washington political elites, aided and abetted by their water-carriers -- a puffed up pundit class, whose members dominate the corporate-owned airwaves with their circular and pointless election-year yammering and “intellectual masturbation.”
I am convinced that Tolstoy was referring to this self-enamored bunch in his novel War and Peace, when he wrote: “Whatever question arose, a swarm of these drones, without having finished their buzzing on a previous theme, flew over to the new one and by their hum drowned and obscured the voices of those who were disputing honestly.”
Yet, at this late date, agonizing over how the “swarm of drones” came -- and continue -- to drive the narrative (in the wrong direction) may not be nearly as important as “occupying” that narrative.
And, while the concept of occupying the political discourse may have been tapped, it has not yet come close to being fully exploited, notwithstanding the presence of various “alternative” media sources.
That discourse continues to be monopolized by the same swarm of corporate drones who have for decades dominated the political space with their endless hum of white noise, and whose job it is to perpetuate the themes and myths that serve the interests of a few (“one-percenters”). These shameless pimps justify their inflated salaries by drowning out the “rest of us” – and any meaningful conversation -- with partisan pontificating that serves no more useful purpose than to clutter the already crowded airwaves, while selling consumers illusory “salvation” -- currently packaged in election-year politics.
It speaks sad volumes about what we have become – and where we are going -- that so many Americans remain so enamored, and thus easily seduced, by this clueless cadre of pundits who have grown so full of themselves, they can no longer hear any voices but their own.
Meanwhile, as the working and middle classes are plunged into poverty in record-breaking numbers, and more and more of us join the ranks of those "poor people" to which Moyers refers, we are also beginning to understand that we are losing far more than just "our voices." We are losing our homes, paychecks and/or our ability to properly care for our families...."
Glenn Greenwald and others have examined these class whores, class shills, Empire warmongering thugs to show that their logic, and their morality are corrupt and totalitarian, whether it was Feinstein, a Zionist, fascist democrat, promoting a fascist agenda for both Amerika and Israel, or the ideological whore, Thomas Friedman, who glorifies the secular class myths of non existing free markets, and warmongers for Israel and Amerika. This official class ideology, class deformed language holds true for all class parties around the world, whether religious or secular, promoted class myths that serve parasitical ruling classes with their "water carriers", class whores. The central class myth which hold true for all class systems, from Patriarchy to Late Capitalism and its global Fascism, is the class myth that their inversion of reality, their totalitarianism reflects social principles, social control of civil society and freedom, which are self induced through a willing ignorance by the social masses who think class systems , class parties, produce social justice, social control over civil society, that was lost MILLENIUMS AGO, THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO. They vote for class parties which throws away their vote, in these false class myths, false beliefs. that social demands will be reflected, when it only betrays them through a class, divisibile, Zero sum game, degeneration of wealth and human rights. An Elephant cannot produce kittens any more than class systems can produce social control over wealth, labor, and universal rights. IT IS SELF DELUSION:
March of Folly: The Debate We’re Not Having and What it Costs Us
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/07/31-2
EXCERPT:
"There are times when the march of history is marked by fundamental choices that shape forever what follows.
This nation – indeed the world – is in such a time. Two clear and stark choices face us. At issue are two competing perspectives about: 1) what we do about a stagnant economy; and 2) how we deal with global warming. More broadly, we face competing views about the role of government in society.
One perspective -- the prevailing viewpoint these days -- is the conservative ideology. This notion sees government as “the problem” and the free and unfettered market as the solution. When it comes to global warming … well … it just doesn’t see at all. It’s in the business of manufacturing denial.
We have seen the fruits of this belief system. The conservative economic approach has dominated US politics three times now. First in the late 19th Century, again in the 1920’s, and finally, for the last 30 years. In each case it led to extreme income inequality, and this in turn caused the three biggest economic crises in out nation's history. In each case poverty and want increased. Bottom line: we have clear empirical evidence that this economic philosophy is self-limiting and destructive. It is lemming-like in its inevitable rush to the cliff.
The fruits of the conservative’s denial of global warming are also evident. Each decade of denial adds to the costs of energy and the costs of mitigating global warming; fosters heat waves, draughts, floods and fires; and brings us closer to irrevocable global catastrophe.
The other alternative is the progressive perspective which believes that government has a role in how we run our economy, and believes that global warming is real, and solvable with the right energy policies. In fact, progressives advocate government investment in clean energy infrastructure as a means of creating jobs and prosperity while cutting emissions of greenhouse gasses.
We have seen this in action, too. The New Deal rescued us from the vagaries of the market uber-alles policies that destroyed the economy in the 1920’s and launched more than 30 years of broadly shared prosperity...."
This analysis moves us in the right direction but is itself restrictive, arguing for a reformed class systems, FDR, who saved capitalism from itself, but like all class systems, since the dawn of crippled class republics, crippled class democracies, in ancient Greece, still was a class form, that over time degenerated into class tyrants, class Empires and tyranny. We must reclaim the social objective of all social theorists, to reclaim social control, reclaim the social historical mechanism that existed before Patriarchy, in the Social Matriarchy, and was the basis of the Social Enlightenment which proposed a similar independent, inivisible, social agency, like the Social Matriarchy, a social middle class, universal middle layers, that had social control over labor, wealth, and was the basis of Adam Smith's social wealth theory, which opposed monopoly, class states, opposing their totalitarianism, tyrannical alliance of the class state with corporations. In Adam Smith's time, it was the Feudal state with trading corporations, called Mercantilism. Today that same tyrannical alliance of the Capitalist , class state with mulitnational corporations is producing GLOBAL FASCISM AND WAR:
Iran Diplomacy Runs into Sanctions-Happy US Congress
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/07/30-6
EXCERPT:
WASHINGTON - Congress’s rush to pass new sanctions against Iran ahead of the August recess comes amidst an intensified drive to pin the Iranian government to deadly acts of international terrorism and amplified moves by U.S. politicians to demonstrate their support for Mideast ally Israel ahead of the November presidential election.
The push to implement more punitive measures against an increasingly demonized Iran could undermine efforts to resolve the longstanding impasse over Iran’s nuclear program peacefully. The push to implement more punitive measures against an increasingly demonized Iran could undermine efforts to resolve the longstanding impasse over Iran’s nuclear program peacefully.
Jamal Abdi, policy director for the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), told IPS that even the mere “threat” of the new sanctions, which will be a combination of two bills passed in December and May by the House of Representatives and the Senate that target Iran’s energy sector and its ability to conduct financial transactions electronically, “have had a negative effect on the Iran nuclear talks and limited the president’s ability to use sanctions as a tool for leverage”.
"When this bill passes, it will further aggravate the chain of escalation between Iran and the U.S., and if it includes ‘economic warfare’ measures on top of those already in place, the Iranians will be inclined to respond with equal escalation,” he said.
A Jul. 25 hearing on Iran’s alleged support for international terrorism saw testimony from expert witnesses recommending that U.S. policy should be focused on gathering international support for holding Iran responsible and weakening its influence in the region.
According to the written testimony of Matthew Levitt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP or the Washington Institute), “…Iran cannot win a conventional war against the West, but it can exact a high price through asymmetric warfare.”
“Exposing Iran’s involvement in international terrorism is now more important than ever, both to deny the group its coveted ‘reasonable deniability’ and to build an international consensus for action against Iran’s support for terrorism,” he wrote.
Danielle Pletka, vice president for foreign policy programming at the neoconservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI), wrote in her testimony that “the fall of the house of Assad would be devastating to Iran. So we clearly have an interest in Syria’s future.”......"
These class whores, Western corporate, Empire thugs have always been SOCIOPATHS, the defintion of all class politicians who are anti social, do not represent social classes, but enable generic class corruption, through class compromises. Their class centers, always shift through class degenerating cycles towards totalitaranism, class Empires, today's global Fascism. These SOCIOPATHS, class politicians in both class parties, and throughout the world have formed a second axis of Western Fascism, through fascist NATO, with its endless threats, coercive diplomacy, blackmail, corruption, that has moved the democratic party and Obama, the two party systems into Fascists producing Warmongers, war criminals, PSYCHOPATHS, who are out of touch wih reality. They are mentally ill in their risk promotion of global nuclear war and promotion of Fascist Zionism, Fascist ISRAEL, WESTER FASCISM, becoming a global Fascist Matrix. Here is but one such PSYCHOPATH, running for President, promoting Western NAZISM:
Top 10 Most Distasteful Things About Romney Trip to Israel
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/12700-top-10-most-distasteful-things-about-romney-trip-to-israel
EXCERPT:
he trip of Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney to Israel is in bad taste for lots of reasons.
He is holding a fundraiser at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. It is distasteful for an American political candidate to hold a high profile fundraiser abroad, implying a commitment to a foreign country as a means of reaching out to American interest groups (in Romney’s case, Christian Zionists among the evangelicals and the minority of American Jews who would be willing to vote Republican).
It is distasteful that Romney has broken his pledge of transparency and declared the fundraiser off limits to the US press.
It is distasteful that Romney won’t explain why he has abruptly gone back on his word, and closed the Jerusalem event to the press.
There is a convention in US politics that you don’t criticize the sitting president, even if you are an opposition politician, while on foreign soil. Romney clearly intends to slam President Obama while in Israel.
It is distasteful that Romney is clearly holding the event in some large part to please casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who first bankrolled Newt Gingrich and now is talking about giving $100 million to elect Romney. Adelson is a huge supporter of far rightwing Likud Party Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and published a free newspaper in Israel to support all things Bibi all the time. Adelson is under investigation for allegedly bribing Chinese officials in Macau in reference to his casino empire there. Since Adelson is potentially an agent of Chinese influence and is a partisan of one of Israel’s most rightwing parties, Romney’s indebtedness to him is disturbing.
It is distasteful to have Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu interfering in an American domestic election by openly favoring Romney over Obama.
It is distasteful that Romney is promising his donors in Jerusalem a war on Iran. When George W. Bush promised his pro-Israel supporters a war on Iraq, it cost the US at least $3 trillion, got hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed, destabilized the Gulf for some time, cost over 4,000 American soldiers’ lives, and damaged American power, credibility and the economy. As Nancy Reagan said of drugs, so US politicians must say to constant Israeli entreaties that the United States of America continually fight new wars in the Middle East on their behalf: “Just say no.” Instead, Romney is playing war enabler, and that abroad!.....
OBAMA HIMSELF, OPENLY EMBRACES THIS FASCISM, FASCIST ZIONISM, WESTERN FASCISM, THREATS OF WAR AGAINST MUSLIM NATIONS, THAT HE LOOKS LIKE THE PROTO FASCISTS OF THE WEIMAR REGME WHICH BROUGHT IN WAR AND FASCISM AND FASCIST DICTATORSHIP. THERE IS NO CRIME, NO AMOUNT OF WAR CRIMINALITY BY ISRAEL THAT OBAMA PROUDLY PROCLAIMS THAT HE PROTECTS ISRAEL FROM THESE INTERNATIONAL WAR CRIMES, LIKE THE BUSH OFFICALS HE PROTECTS. THE WHOLE CLASS SYSTEM MUST GO TAKING INTO ACCOUNT PREVIOUS MILLENIUMS OF HUMAN ENSLAVEMENT, BY ENDING , BREAKING THE PATRIARCHAL CLASS MECHANISM, BY DISSOLVING ALL CLASS HIERARCHIES, ALL CLASS PARTIES, ALL CLASS POLITICIANS, AND VOTING FOR SOCIAL PARTIES, WITH THE SOCIAL GOAL OF ESTABLISHNG INDEPENDENT, INDIVISBLE SOCIAL CLASSES, KICK STARTING THE SOCIAL, HISTORICAL MECHANISM, THAT ALLOWS SOCIAL CONTROL OVER WEALTH AND LABOR , OVER HUMAN NATURE, CLIMATE AND NATURE, TO END THIS INSANTIY.....THREAT OF GLOBAL FASCISM.....NUCLEAR DESTRUCTION.
...
I understand that Phil Donahue is doing a documentary on his show.....before the invasion of IRAQ. I was an avid fan of Phil who at least was raising the criminality of such an illegal aggression. I decided in the latter part of his show, to call in and ask a question. To my surprise I got through and asked the rather embarrasing question and parallel analogy to the War crminals of Nazi Germany. I said that Nazi officials were prosecuted for the War crime of aggression by the NUREMBURG NAZI TRIALS, and were hung by American officials for this crime. I then proceeded to ask the question why Amerikan officials who were promoting the same criminal enterpise should not be prosecuted and hung for their crime, which the NUREMBERG PROSECUTOR SAID WOULD APPLY TO US. itself. If I recall, Phill was taken aback at such a direct question....but I do remember then that the program did disappear. If Phil includes a clip on his documentary and the censorship of his show, MY QUESTION MAY HAVE BEEN CENTRAL TO his program censored, disappeared, to please Western Fascism. I wonder if Phil has this clip in his documentary, this question, because this international, legal view against aggression by any Western totaltarian class state challanged the Fascism of the West and even MSNBC fascist capitulation. The phone call raised fundamental legal , moral questions, comparing the first axis of Fascism, Hitler, Franco, Mussolini, with the Second Axis of Fascism, "the COALITION OF THE WILLING FASCISTS"= WESTERN FASCISM.