Politics Monday: America We Hardly Knew You,

There was a time when one was proud to be an American.  I do not suppose many of you remember it. That’s because it is very hard to when you look at it now. What do we have to be proud of?  Certainly it is not because we are leading the world in Covid-19 deaths and cases. Nor perhaps that Trump is in total denial of the carnage being spread through the land as he spends another weekend golfing. What was it he said on Sunday about that? Oh, yes, he said at some day it will disappear. What comfort that gives to the families of those almost 150,000 Americans who have died and the estimated 75,000 more who will die by Labor Day.

Certainly we cannot be proud of our standing in the world. The people in only  two countries have a positive view of the United States: Russia and Israel. The rest? Sadly, it is pretty bad. An Irish Times Article summed it up this way: “Over more than two centuries, the United States has stirred a very wide range of feelings in the rest of the world: love and hatred, fear and hope, envy and contempt, awe and anger. But there is one emotion that has never been directed towards the US until now: pity.”

Pity,  The once great United States evokes a feeling of pity of all things.

With your drums and guns and guns and drums, hurroo, hurroo
With your drums and guns and guns and drums, hurroo, hurroo
With your drums and guns and guns and drums
The president nearly slew ye
Oh darling dear, Ye look so queer
America I hardly knew ye.

I think of the words to that song when I consider the plight of our country. What happened to the country that preserved the peace in Europe since WWII?

Would you in your longest and most dreadful day as an American who has always prided himself knowing that unlike what  we’ve seen in third world countries expect to hear a president say in response to a question whether he will leave the office peacefully if he is defeated the upcoming election “I have to see. Look … I have to see. No, I’m not going to just say yes. I’m not going to say no, and I didn’t last time either.” Of course the last time he wasn’t in the White House.

Why is it much more frightening this time? We know the Russians will assist  Trump like they did before and AG Barr has prohibited any attempts to investigate it without his consent. That’s scary enough.

But what about what we’ve seen in Portland. Federal (we think but they don’t carry IDs) troops dressed in combat gear driving unmarked vans and seizing civilians off the street. The mayor, governor asked them to be removed. Is this Trump’s Palace guard? Trump’s private army?

Has any American president had a private combat force before? Is this America familiar to you?

For I’ll go no more waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and free
To hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me.

27 thoughts on “Politics Monday: America We Hardly Knew You,

  1. Lenin declared that, “The revolution would not be a dinner party.” Hmmm…I wonder what he meant by that? Any ideas?

  2. https://rightsanddissent.org/live/trumps-secret-police/?page=register&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=2aca7d89-f64b-4e7b-80f9-974e4589a760

    7/21 – Join us for #LunchtimeLive on Trump’s Secret Police

    On Friday, July 17, Defending Rights & Dissent and the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) issued a joint statement condemning the use of unwanted federal forces against protesters and called for them to be removed from Portland. Furthermore, the letter urges Congress to investigate the pattern and practice of abuses against protesters. See the letter here.

    But what’s really going on in Portland? We’ll talk with Portland-based journalist Arun Gupta for a special lunchtime live on Tuesday, July 21 at 4pm (ET)/1pm (PT) titled Trump’s Secret Police, moderated by Chip Gibbons.

    Sign Up Now!
    Recent stories of unidentified federal officers arresting and locking up protesters in Portland have captivated the nation over the last few days and have raised serious constitutional alarms. Join moderator Chip Gibbons and Arun Gupta, founding editor of The Indypendent, in a #LunchtimeLive discussion about the recent developments in Portland and the role of President Donald Trump’s “secret police.” We’ll also have a deeper discussion about the historical conduct of the Portland police department and how the city came to be ground zero for this current debate about federalism.

    Arun Gupta is an independent journalist whose work can be found at Telesur, Alternet and Truthout. He is the founding editor of The Indypendent and the Occupied Wall Street Journal. He is also a standing board member for Defending Rights & Dissent.

    Stay Loud, Stay Strong,
    Sue

    Defending Rights & Dissent
    1325 G St. NW Suite 500 | Washington, District of Columbia 20005
    202.552.7408 | [email protected]

  3. wa-llahi! Here’s a fantasy: Oregon is replete with 30.06 (7.62) deer rifles. It’s a heavy slug that will go right through a vehicle. Set up firing positions in corner buildings overlooking a city square where the demonstrators are marching through. Make sure your shooters are positioned on the second, or, third floors, of the structures, so, they don’t shoot into the crowd, but, rather, through the tops of the blacked out G-vans. Mine the building with explosives. Chop holes through the walls, so, your shooters can quickly exit their positions. Only shoot twice. When the firing starts the pigs will rush into the buildings where the firing has come from. Detonate the structures. Have more shooters positioned at the next corner in the same fashion. Repeat the process, until, you get the desired effect. This is called the Fallujah method.

    I’m thinking about writing a socialist version of the Turner diaries.

    Glorious Leader is going to send his pigs to Chi-town. All right, we got something for them.

    1. I know what a 30.06 is. There is one about ten feet from me. The penetrating abilities of the rifle depend on the exact properties of the round. I have loaded them a dozen different ways. And the ballistics also vary greatly depending on what the bullet (not a slug. Slugs raid people’s lettuce crop) is composed of. If you shoot through the roof of a vehicle, and you only shoot twice, what are the percentages of kill shots delivered? Close to 0%. And while mining buildings and chopping holes in their walls, is there a pea soup fog about so swat teams don’t see your activities?

      This plan of yours is going to be quite effective if your assault is against a petting zoo. There are millions of Americans that have been handling firearms their whole life and will be more than willing to use them when the time is proper. Few things are more dangerous than an unskilled gun wielded. Mostly to themselves.

      1. Up on the gun porn, I see. The Falluja method is pre-dated by a similar, very effective, Provo tactic. The shooting is just to draw attention to the structure. British Army tactical doctrine called for troops under ambush to seek cover in the closest sturdy building. The Volunteers would pre-mine the structure knowing the Brits would run into the building.
        When the Revo gets roaring, gunmen will be cheap, and, plentiful. Organizers, the cadres, will be precious. Take a look at the recent demos in Grant Park, Chi-town. Everything was pre-planned. Ammo, in this case bottles of frozen water, were brought up to the line, and, dumped just behind the line for ready replenishment of the fighters. Umbrellas were carried by many, at a signal, they were opened, blinding pig surveillance, allowing the fighters to switch to black, and, gear up unobserved. Brilliant! Bravo alek young comrades.
        If there’s no money for the masses, and, the hungering millions are thrown into the streets., there’ll be no shortage of angry feet to march behind the red and black banners.

        All praise to the strugglers, both, young, and, old. All power to the dialectic.

      2. wa-llahi! Abe

        I was thinking 30.06 because it’s an ubiquitous round in Oregon. If 400 mag Winchester ammo was used, it would be too easy for ATF to trace the purchase. 30.06 is the correct choice. What do you plan to use, when, Trump’s Nazi storm-troops come to your neighborhood? I hope it ain’t love, sweet love.

  4. Norwood Born
    I have always preferred a heterogenous grouping of
    commentators as opposed to a homogenous grouping
    We are just walking each other home

    In other Tribal news….

    https://www.madcowprod.com/2019/07/12/jeffrey-epstein-the-cia-dyncorps-n-number-n474aw/

    Trump,Jeffrey Epstein, the CIA, Dyncorps, & N-number N474AW

    And don’t forget how Brett Kavanaugh was rewarded with a
    Supreme Court seat by Donald Trump for protecting Bill
    and Hillary Clinton …

    http://www.fbicover-up.com/justice-brett-kavanaugh.html

    Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh and his ongoing cover-up of the murder of Vince Foster

    Yes we brought attorney John Clarke to speak at Bates College in 2001

    In other the apple isn’t just bad the whole orchard is bad news….

    https://nypost.com/2020/07/16/former-honolulu-cop-sentenced-for-forcing-homeless-man-to-lick-urinal/

    Former Hawaii cop sentenced to prison for forcing homeless man to lick urinal
    By Kenneth Garger
    July 16, 2020 | 2:42am

  5. Matt, You can see the USA of July 2020 on this blog. Your blog began by explaining to people like me what was media hype about Jimmy and Billy Bulger and what people who just read the Globe, Herald and a couple of books might not understand behind the scenes so to speak. Your blog has evolved however into the modern day USA where people want to not just read the story but become part of it though long winded bizarre comments about topics which make no sense. I have enough for a while, good luck to you and I hope your heath stays strong. Regards,

  6. Blogging is not truth

    Behaviour is truth

    For the uneducated
    and the uneducable

    https://www.rt.com/usa/495254-federal-judge-home-invasion/

    Disguised gunman shoots husband and son of federal judge investigating Deutsche Bank-Jeffrey Epstein case
    20 Jul, 2020 07:54

    In other lyrics….

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfcfdt0jcWs

    In the spring of 2001 we brought former LAPD cop
    Mike Ruppert to speak at Bates College.

    He would go on to fame and misfortune when talking about
    911 and Deutsche Bank shortly afterwards
    The FBI suicided him and reporter Gary Webb.

    You do know what to do………….

  7. Very proud to be an American. Who supplies the foreign aid and medicines to the poor countries in Africa? America has saved tens of millions of lives there. Who liberated all of Eastern Europe from Soviet bondage? Ronald Reagan and America. Who has the most powerful military and economy in the world? Who protects the sea lanes around the world? The American navy. The article in the Irish Times is two months old. If the U S stopped trading with Ireland they would starve. Don’t rely on foreign liberal newspapers for your facts or opinions. 2. Tip O’Neil during the Watergate matter was quoted as saying ” follow the money”. Russia gave Bill Clinton a half a million for a speech. Russia through Canada gave the Clinton Foundation $150 million in the Uranium One deal. Who has been paid off by Russia? The Biden family has been paid off by China and Ukraine. 3. Every citizen of Portland is entitled to Constitutional Rights. No American can be deprived of Life Liberty or Property without Due Process of Law. If the local officials won’t vindicate the citizens Rights the Feds have to step in. Just like the St Pats parade case.

  8. Matt, you echo and promote leftist cant.

    I love America. I am proud of American and its history, with all its faults, as since my birth until today, the America I know proudly has striven to form a more perfect union and striven to spread peace and prosperity and medicines throughout the world. And of course, I am aware of our failings in Vietnam, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and Iraq, and our historical failings on the home front. Even so, I still say proudly, “My country right or wrong; when my country is wrong, help make it right.” Making it right means reelecting Trump and Pence, and strongly defeating the malleable, pliable, stand for nothing, except codifying Roe v. Wade and repealing tax cuts, Joe Biden and his leftist allies.

    With both feet on the ground, I oppose with all my heart and soul, today’s leftists, Know–Nothings, Socialists, Bolsheviks, Historical-Revisionists, including many in the MSM, Academia and Democratic Party who do nothing but throw stones at and vilify America.

    Pity America? The envy of the world? America, where immigrants throughout the world seek a new home and refuge?

    And please share, Matt, when was the last time you were proud of America? On election day 2016 when you thought Hillary would win?

    1. Apparently the squads preying on the rioters are not very proud of their service…no unit patches, no service markers? Shame.

      These anonymous forces are working for someone, I guess. Who knows? The Governor and the Mayor did not invite them. Is this a violation of Posse Comitatus? I know there are a few lawyers out there. What would happen if a policeman shot one of them?

      1. wa-llahi! Hutch, I noticed a SRT patch on one pig’s shoulder. SRT is the BOP head cracking squad that does all the cell extractions. They are an in-house first response tactical unit used to put down uprisings in the Federal Gulag. Whacking folks with clubs, and, blasting them with pepper spray, is what they do. Repression is their calling. They won’t be beating down helpless convicts in the upcoming contest. Hopefully, they’ll be facing armed militants. The hunter doesn’t like it when the rabbit gets the gun.

        All praise to the John Brown Gun Clubs. All power to the dialectic.

    2. Wa-llahi! Bill, why are you down on the Know Nothings? It seems counter-intuitive. I’d have thought they were right up your alley.

  9. Too bad you don’t post about fly fishing or bird watching. Then I could go on and on and on about how you know nothing about nymph fishing or shorebird identification. I could drag out endless scraps of data and throw them in your face to prove my points. My endless points. :0 But, alas. I know only what I know and my expertise in those areas can be viewed on other blogs and forums. I try to deliver it with a good deal of benevolence, as my mentors did with me. Here I just watch and listen and try to learn.

    I know a lot about Bobby Burns, too.

    “Ye Pow’rs wha mak mankind your care,
    And dish them out their bill o’ fare,
    Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
    That jaups in luggies;
    But if you wish Her gratefu’ pray’r,
    Gie her a Haggis!”

  10. wa-llahi! How long before the demonstrators toss a Molotov into one of those blacked out vans? How will Glorious Leader react, when, a car load of his minions are roasted alive? The gloves will come off, and, the Revo will be on. Get ready. It’s coming.

    1. Hi, Khalid. How’s Monday treating you?

      Why does the thought of innocent people dying make you so cheerful? Just wondering.

      1. Abe, they are not innocent, they are fascist pigs (LEO) who support Trump. There’s nothing innocent about Gestapo tactics. Serve the dictator, die for the dictator, it’s just that simple. Wild in the streets! I can hardly wait. Back to the future. All praise to the streetfighters. All power to the dialectic.

        Weren’t you talking about driving over demonstrators with your vehicle? Something about your grill? Or, was it about your gun?

        1. I’m killing anyone that tries to kill me. Left, right, white, black, straight, or first cousin. Makes no difference. I am within the law. If you want to fight fire with fire, good luck. There are other ways that work. Just burning down something is half the job. You have to be able to build something good in its place. The street fighters will be eating each other before the sun sets. No plan except to destroy. Its pure fantasy.
          As Eddie Murphy said in 48 Hours, “You’re gonna lose, Billy.”

            1. Well, I have heard it many times before. I have hung with so many right and left wingers on the extreme ends of the spectrum and I have heard many predictions of political tsunamis. Its not like the old man on the dock, warning Ishmael about the demise of the Pequod. That was more believable. I hope you are wrong, Khalid, for your own sake. I hope you are just trolling for sharks.

              1. Abe, I found this bon mot with my google machine:

                Weathermen leader Bernardine Dohrn argued for violence, saying: “We’ve known that our job is to lead white kids into armed revolution. We never intended to spend the next five to twenty-five years of our lives in jail. Ever since SDS became revolutionary, we’ve been trying to show how it is possible to overcome frustration and impotence that comes from trying to reform this system. Kids know the lines are drawn: revolution is touching all of our lives. Tens of thousands have learned that protest and marches don’t do it. Revolutionary violence is the only way.”

                She’s the Berny, I dig. Instead of rage at the VN War, disgust with Trump’s handling of the Covid crisis, economic collapse, and the niggardly (pinche)economic response of Republicans in the Senate to that collapse, will take us into revolution. The social pressure Covid exerts, intensifies, and, makes clearly evident, the contradictions of bourgeois capitalist society. The masses are beginning to wake. The Proletariat is wiping sleep from it’s eyes. A revolutionary consciousness is being born.
                All praise to the comrades of ’68. All power to the dialectic.

              2. wa-llahi! Abe: Don’t worry about me. Chaos is my element. Stability is my enemy. The steering committee is organizing a march in Madtown. I’m looking on the INTERNET for two flagstaffs from which to fly the red, and, the black, flags. We’ll need some kettle drums, and, bugles, too. I’m looking for a musician who can sound “no quarter” on the stoop of the state capital. It’ll be a grand show. The crowd of demonstrators will circle the capital building singing the “Internationale.” After that, the real fun will start.

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