And I'd feel the same even if the timid Democrats had followed through on their campaign promises and delivered in essentials like healthcare for all, a livable minimum wage, addressing the homelessness crisis etc. They could do all those things, but if supporting, funding and running diplomatic cover for genocide was on their list I would refuse to vote for them. Hell, Adolf Hitler brought things like the Autobahn, more jobs, public projects, and an improved economy to Germany, but none of that outweighed the evil and depravity of the Holocaust. None of it. The same is true now with the US/Israel Gaza genocide because what the Americans and Israelis are doing now in Gaza and will be doing shortly in Lebanon is fascism. It is ZioNazism.
It amazes me that people don't consider genocide a red line.
Really?
Are they so bombarded with propaganda that they can't see that this is no different from what happened in Nazi Germany, except the players now have different names and slightly different circumstances.
Genocide is genocide and it is simply not okay.
Thanks for commenting, Mark, and I'm glad you agree.
It’s absolutely pathetic how spineless our elected officials are. They’re complete hypocrites. The fact that they can’t stand up to this obvious bullying on steroids with children being blown apart with our 2,000 pound bombs is making all of the other problems we’re facing that much more difficult to deal with. The answers are very simple. Unfortunately we’re engaging in a race to the bottom, moloch or the tragedy of the commons which will lead to what’s referred to as an evolutionary cul de sac. It doesn’t have to be that way but because of the fact that we have extremely poor leadership at the top and not enough motivation at the bottom we’re headed for trouble.
It's hard to believe isn't it? I've been working on a piece about this very issue. But I keep stumbling and delaying because I just can't get my head around it. All the evidence is there and I am trying to explain how this can be happening. But it's so hard to comprehend when the slaughter continues day after day. If you go onto Seymour Hersh's substack and read some of the lunatic Zionists who are trolling him, you realize what you're up against. Unbelievably hate-filled bile. Who are these people?
Couldn't agree more and, like you, seriously disappointed by The Squad. As for the election, Donald Trump is a vile human being and a narcissistic dictator wannabe, but Joe Biden is a genocidist. Neither deserves my vote and neither will get it. Both of the major parties suck; they're far more the same than different from one another. I will vote for Jill Stein if she is able to make it onto the ballot in my state, which is far from a given due to the two-party stranglehold on this nation's trash system.
Spot on Diana! The political class of the collective west has descended to the extreme depths of moral depravity, desperate to cling to wealth power and privilege and lying to themselves in an attempt to avoid facing their own moral cowardice.
You post was well timed - I'm on the train on my way to yet another protest (I've lost count). We must not let the fate of the Palestinians fade from the public eye.
In similar fashion to how Cool Hand Luke put it, “what we have here is really bad leadership”. And the higher you go up the ranks the worse it gets. And so now, in the upcoming US presidential election, what you have is a choice between horrendous and horrendously horrific.
Very well said, Diana. Here in the UK, I’m a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn. Lots of my soft-left acquaintances think I’m a “mad lefty” - as if!!! I simply believe in fairness and, like you, supporting a genocide is my absolute red line too. People who will still vote for, or be a member of, a party that supports genocide have lost any claim to be a functional member of the human race.
To me it seems like the horror of supporting genocide is being diminished by media and people in power, and we can't let it be. It's unacceptable period.
By the way, you're the first woman to comment on my post. Thank you!
My red lines were crossed far before this latest genocide started, this was more like the last nail in the coffin!
Re: the Labour Party in Britain, just like you pointed out with AOC and others, if you have any principles you'd leave the party. Not leaving is a very strong message and it's not the one of "I'm staying because I want to change things from the inside." That ship has sailed.
Corbyn should have left a long time ago. People are very quick to point out there are good and pro-Palestinian MPs in Labour, like Zarah Sultana, and my question is if they're so good and principled, wtf are they still doing in there? Why do we, the public - their electorate, have to BEG them and CALL them to leave 8 months into a genocide; why haven't they come to that conclusion themselves? What does it take for them, 5 years of genocide maybe? If that's their red line, they aren't good people. Good people wouldn't be in a party that is deeply embroiled in what they named "Labour Friends of Israel," full stop.
Both Tories and Labour are populist, capitalist crooks here to maintain a colonial status quo. Only one says it openly and the other is hiding behind the name of "Labour." They're both anti-human by default, they can't be anything else within an anti-human system.
Ramona, that’s exactly right. I’m probably going to vote Green in July 4th, because of the Red Tory and Blue Tory stance. I’m also completely with you when you say that you had lost hope long before Kid Starver’s approval of the genocide. I’m suspicious of George Galloway, but his disruptive capability is unquestionable. I hope that a couple more Workers Party members are elected. A group of independent MPs in Parliament, including Jeremy Corbyn, will be a very useful group.
"[e]mpires are inherently politically unstable because subordinate units almost always prefer greater autonomy, and counter-elites in such units almost always act, upon opportunity, to obtain greater autonomy. In this sense, empires do not fall; rather, they fall apart, usually very slowly, though sometimes remarkably quickly."1-- Donald Puchala, historian,-- from...
Brzezinski, Zbigniew. The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives (pp. 9-10). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.
Governments of the West have fallen apart and the "counter elites" have taken over. Red lines are no longer honored or espoused.
I agree with everything you’ve had to say since I stumbled upon your substack postings a while ago, but I would disagree with the fact that empires have to fall apart. I think that if the US had had really good leadership during the unipolar moment we could have led by example and the world would be in a much better place than it is right now. I actually think that it’s not too late to turn the “aircraft carrier” around but we are quickly running out of time and things don’t look good at all. We continue to make one big mistake after another, (we continue to make bad situations a much worse here there and everywhere) and as I said in another remark the choices we have for president in the US this fall are horrendous or horrendously horrific. It’s all somewhat depressing but as they say pandora let everything out of the box but hope, so there’s still a sliver of hope. I personally think that the “course” I’ve developed would go a long way towards making that hope a reality, but that would require that we actually start using our noggins. And when it comes to the big picture things and the changes which will be required to avoid a continued race to the bottom on all fronts it doesn’t seem like that’s within our capacity.
'AOC, Bernie Sanders and the squad, where are your red lines?'
The sheer level of corruption as well as greed for profits within the whole Democrat Party has in turn corrupted these individuals; they're now essentially part of the very system they once were against.
At this point, any positive change can only happen outside the 2 mainstream parties, as in a 3rd force.
Here we part company, Diana. Trump is SO MUCH WORSE than Genocide Joe that it is a no-brainer, and the WORST thing people in swing states can do is vote for Stein or West. The 2024 election is not a "one-issue" event. One must also consider the environment, the courts, and the economy.
Trump's "Project 2025" plans will include shutting down the Environmental Protection Agency altogether. Trump's tax breaks for the wealthy contributed $8 trillion to the deficit, and the ReThuglicans plan to cut them even more -- while perhaps gutting Social Security and Medicare (and Medicaid, and plenty of other programs). Funding to education will be slashed. The Grand Canyon will be turned over for "development," as will much of the land held by the US government. The Dakota Pipeline will be rammed through; the drilling in Alaska will wreak havoc.
And since you are so gung-ho about the genocide (and here we DO agree, completely), you should realize that Trump & Co are far MORE in bed with Netanyahu's gang than Biden is; that Jared Kushner clearly feels the beach-front land in Gaza would be great for "development" (hotels?); and that Trump's and Kushner's ties to Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudis will create even more opportunities to sell the Palestinians down the river (or is it the toilet).
Under "normal" circumstances, I might agree with you. However, this time it is Trump. It might as well be Hitler. One way or the other, I must swallow my bile and hope/pray for a Biden victory. Thanks to all the people like you, who encourage the disgruntled voices to throw their votes away (e.g., vote for Stein or West, or even stay home and not vote at all) and this obscene "Electoral College," Trump is already an odds-on favorite.
Bottom line: Stay with your Canadian politics and Israel/Palestine, but kindly refrain from encouraging a Trump victory. If you think Biden is horrible, wait until you see what you are encouraging instead!
The "genocide" to which you allude refers to less than 5 million Palestinians between the West Bank and Gaza. The "global warming" to which I allude will potentially affect 8 billion people on the earth.
Trump continues to deny that global warming is anything more than a "Chinese hoax," save when his meds wear off, at which point he claims it may be real, but there's nothing we can do about it anyway. [https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/09/china-climate-change/] Again: read the "Project 2025" manifesto: do away with the EPA and "drill, baby, drill." What he'll do to the environment in all respects, to the wealth disparities, to education, to the judiciary...the composite incomparable harm he will do: THESE are much bigger and thicker red lines.
Biden's environmental policies are far from scintillating, but at least environmentalists can speak with him and his people. With Trump, they'll never get the chance.
Again: genocide is a red line under NORMAL circumstances. With Trump involved, circumstances are NOT normal at all. A vote for Jill Stein or Cornel West may be forgiven in a solid "Blue" state, but in a "swing" state, such a vote is a crime against humanity -- and one with far graver consequences than those faced by Palestinians because of Israeli war crimes.
Thank you for your reasoned comment on the collapse of political integrity in the US ....the Democratic Party and indeed the entire Washington DC political class walks in lockstep with the foreign government that controls their actions...the US Congress is now an agent of a foreign government...they should register as such bu t since they have already broken that barrier to represent their consituents they no longer feel any obligation to the people who elected them...
Education, housing and healthcare are still the basic issues for a human based government...but this is no longer the case in the US...its fascism ....where University Chancellors feel obligated to call on hundreds of overweight robocops to arrest and brutalise peaceful student and faculty protestors exercising their right to dissent to a barbaric industrial slaughter of civilians with their tax dollars.
Weapons manufacturers are the real red line in Washington DC..
I don't think people like AOC have a red line. They're in politics for the money and fame. What do they care about the lives of 100,000+ injured or killed Palestinians? As long as she gets to wear designer gowns to the Met Gala and get her picture on the cover of fashion magazines, she's fine without a red line.
Here's hoping you can find someone with a red line worth voting for in Canada... Or run for office yourself. I'm sure there are many others who would appreciate it.
Hey, thanks -- I'm glad you like the artwork. I'm going to have to do more to stay sane.
I hope we can find someone with a red line here in Canada to vote for too.
Believe me, I'm a much better writer than public figure. I have some hopes for Canadian politics, believe it or not. I think there are some pretty important influencers working behind the scenes.
I thought AOC was better than that, and the rest of the squad too. Genocide should be a red line for absolutely everyone.
Nah, I never believed in AOC or any of the "Fraud Squad." They're Dirty Dems and they have to do as they're told by the party leaders or risk losing their seats. They don't have their own ideas or at least they won't let them ever get in the way of rising up in the ranks of the party. Having worked in the Bernie 2016 campaign I met and saw the Dirty Dems at work up-close and personal. They don't have a conscience. Just a bank account that's open to every lobbyist dollar they can get their hands on. Never idolize politicians. They're sure to disappoint you.
For one is bad and the other is worse - does not matter what order you put them in they are both under their thump of the deepstate. If an aspiring politician looks even remotely like the will get to sit in the big seat in parliament, the deep state either finds dirt on them to control them or compromises them.
We need to get away from voting for the cult of the leader and vote for the individual in each riding that best represents your views - that is how are parliament was designed and we should return to that pattern. For me even a mildly competent independent is my choice. I am through with politicians that represent the deep state/government mandates to me. We need true representative politicians presenting the peoples views to parliament +
But upon reread I really don’t think I agree at all with what Hudson E. Baldwin 3 is saying. But have to spend more time before I try to say just what and why?
I agree with you 100%!
And I'd feel the same even if the timid Democrats had followed through on their campaign promises and delivered in essentials like healthcare for all, a livable minimum wage, addressing the homelessness crisis etc. They could do all those things, but if supporting, funding and running diplomatic cover for genocide was on their list I would refuse to vote for them. Hell, Adolf Hitler brought things like the Autobahn, more jobs, public projects, and an improved economy to Germany, but none of that outweighed the evil and depravity of the Holocaust. None of it. The same is true now with the US/Israel Gaza genocide because what the Americans and Israelis are doing now in Gaza and will be doing shortly in Lebanon is fascism. It is ZioNazism.
It amazes me that people don't consider genocide a red line.
Really?
Are they so bombarded with propaganda that they can't see that this is no different from what happened in Nazi Germany, except the players now have different names and slightly different circumstances.
Genocide is genocide and it is simply not okay.
Thanks for commenting, Mark, and I'm glad you agree.
It’s absolutely pathetic how spineless our elected officials are. They’re complete hypocrites. The fact that they can’t stand up to this obvious bullying on steroids with children being blown apart with our 2,000 pound bombs is making all of the other problems we’re facing that much more difficult to deal with. The answers are very simple. Unfortunately we’re engaging in a race to the bottom, moloch or the tragedy of the commons which will lead to what’s referred to as an evolutionary cul de sac. It doesn’t have to be that way but because of the fact that we have extremely poor leadership at the top and not enough motivation at the bottom we’re headed for trouble.
Oh yeah, you got ALL of that right…!
A good conversation between Glenn Greenwald and comedian Dave Smith -- both Jewish -- on the issue of Gaza and the supposed rise of antisemitism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QBzMQSx3cM
It's hard to believe isn't it? I've been working on a piece about this very issue. But I keep stumbling and delaying because I just can't get my head around it. All the evidence is there and I am trying to explain how this can be happening. But it's so hard to comprehend when the slaughter continues day after day. If you go onto Seymour Hersh's substack and read some of the lunatic Zionists who are trolling him, you realize what you're up against. Unbelievably hate-filled bile. Who are these people?
Couldn't agree more and, like you, seriously disappointed by The Squad. As for the election, Donald Trump is a vile human being and a narcissistic dictator wannabe, but Joe Biden is a genocidist. Neither deserves my vote and neither will get it. Both of the major parties suck; they're far more the same than different from one another. I will vote for Jill Stein if she is able to make it onto the ballot in my state, which is far from a given due to the two-party stranglehold on this nation's trash system.
Spot on Diana! The political class of the collective west has descended to the extreme depths of moral depravity, desperate to cling to wealth power and privilege and lying to themselves in an attempt to avoid facing their own moral cowardice.
You post was well timed - I'm on the train on my way to yet another protest (I've lost count). We must not let the fate of the Palestinians fade from the public eye.
Hey, thanks, John.
It was a little scary to be this strident, but thought it important to put it out there.
In similar fashion to how Cool Hand Luke put it, “what we have here is really bad leadership”. And the higher you go up the ranks the worse it gets. And so now, in the upcoming US presidential election, what you have is a choice between horrendous and horrendously horrific.
Very well said, Diana. Here in the UK, I’m a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn. Lots of my soft-left acquaintances think I’m a “mad lefty” - as if!!! I simply believe in fairness and, like you, supporting a genocide is my absolute red line too. People who will still vote for, or be a member of, a party that supports genocide have lost any claim to be a functional member of the human race.
I'm glad you feel that way too, Jacqueline.
To me it seems like the horror of supporting genocide is being diminished by media and people in power, and we can't let it be. It's unacceptable period.
By the way, you're the first woman to comment on my post. Thank you!
I’m American and I share your sentiments. Bernie Sanders may caucus with the Democrats, but technically however, he is an Independent.
My red lines were crossed far before this latest genocide started, this was more like the last nail in the coffin!
Re: the Labour Party in Britain, just like you pointed out with AOC and others, if you have any principles you'd leave the party. Not leaving is a very strong message and it's not the one of "I'm staying because I want to change things from the inside." That ship has sailed.
Corbyn should have left a long time ago. People are very quick to point out there are good and pro-Palestinian MPs in Labour, like Zarah Sultana, and my question is if they're so good and principled, wtf are they still doing in there? Why do we, the public - their electorate, have to BEG them and CALL them to leave 8 months into a genocide; why haven't they come to that conclusion themselves? What does it take for them, 5 years of genocide maybe? If that's their red line, they aren't good people. Good people wouldn't be in a party that is deeply embroiled in what they named "Labour Friends of Israel," full stop.
Both Tories and Labour are populist, capitalist crooks here to maintain a colonial status quo. Only one says it openly and the other is hiding behind the name of "Labour." They're both anti-human by default, they can't be anything else within an anti-human system.
Ramona, that’s exactly right. I’m probably going to vote Green in July 4th, because of the Red Tory and Blue Tory stance. I’m also completely with you when you say that you had lost hope long before Kid Starver’s approval of the genocide. I’m suspicious of George Galloway, but his disruptive capability is unquestionable. I hope that a couple more Workers Party members are elected. A group of independent MPs in Parliament, including Jeremy Corbyn, will be a very useful group.
P.S. The George Galloway comment I particularly liked was about Labour and the Tories being different cheeks of the same arse!
"[e]mpires are inherently politically unstable because subordinate units almost always prefer greater autonomy, and counter-elites in such units almost always act, upon opportunity, to obtain greater autonomy. In this sense, empires do not fall; rather, they fall apart, usually very slowly, though sometimes remarkably quickly."1-- Donald Puchala, historian,-- from...
Brzezinski, Zbigniew. The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives (pp. 9-10). Basic Books. Kindle Edition.
Governments of the West have fallen apart and the "counter elites" have taken over. Red lines are no longer honored or espoused.
I agree with everything you’ve had to say since I stumbled upon your substack postings a while ago, but I would disagree with the fact that empires have to fall apart. I think that if the US had had really good leadership during the unipolar moment we could have led by example and the world would be in a much better place than it is right now. I actually think that it’s not too late to turn the “aircraft carrier” around but we are quickly running out of time and things don’t look good at all. We continue to make one big mistake after another, (we continue to make bad situations a much worse here there and everywhere) and as I said in another remark the choices we have for president in the US this fall are horrendous or horrendously horrific. It’s all somewhat depressing but as they say pandora let everything out of the box but hope, so there’s still a sliver of hope. I personally think that the “course” I’ve developed would go a long way towards making that hope a reality, but that would require that we actually start using our noggins. And when it comes to the big picture things and the changes which will be required to avoid a continued race to the bottom on all fronts it doesn’t seem like that’s within our capacity.
'AOC, Bernie Sanders and the squad, where are your red lines?'
The sheer level of corruption as well as greed for profits within the whole Democrat Party has in turn corrupted these individuals; they're now essentially part of the very system they once were against.
At this point, any positive change can only happen outside the 2 mainstream parties, as in a 3rd force.
Here we part company, Diana. Trump is SO MUCH WORSE than Genocide Joe that it is a no-brainer, and the WORST thing people in swing states can do is vote for Stein or West. The 2024 election is not a "one-issue" event. One must also consider the environment, the courts, and the economy.
Trump's "Project 2025" plans will include shutting down the Environmental Protection Agency altogether. Trump's tax breaks for the wealthy contributed $8 trillion to the deficit, and the ReThuglicans plan to cut them even more -- while perhaps gutting Social Security and Medicare (and Medicaid, and plenty of other programs). Funding to education will be slashed. The Grand Canyon will be turned over for "development," as will much of the land held by the US government. The Dakota Pipeline will be rammed through; the drilling in Alaska will wreak havoc.
And since you are so gung-ho about the genocide (and here we DO agree, completely), you should realize that Trump & Co are far MORE in bed with Netanyahu's gang than Biden is; that Jared Kushner clearly feels the beach-front land in Gaza would be great for "development" (hotels?); and that Trump's and Kushner's ties to Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudis will create even more opportunities to sell the Palestinians down the river (or is it the toilet).
Under "normal" circumstances, I might agree with you. However, this time it is Trump. It might as well be Hitler. One way or the other, I must swallow my bile and hope/pray for a Biden victory. Thanks to all the people like you, who encourage the disgruntled voices to throw their votes away (e.g., vote for Stein or West, or even stay home and not vote at all) and this obscene "Electoral College," Trump is already an odds-on favorite.
Bottom line: Stay with your Canadian politics and Israel/Palestine, but kindly refrain from encouraging a Trump victory. If you think Biden is horrible, wait until you see what you are encouraging instead!
I get it, Lenny. And I'm no fan of Trump either.
If genocide isn't a red line, what is? It's something I just can't get past.
The "genocide" to which you allude refers to less than 5 million Palestinians between the West Bank and Gaza. The "global warming" to which I allude will potentially affect 8 billion people on the earth.
Trump continues to deny that global warming is anything more than a "Chinese hoax," save when his meds wear off, at which point he claims it may be real, but there's nothing we can do about it anyway. [https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/09/china-climate-change/] Again: read the "Project 2025" manifesto: do away with the EPA and "drill, baby, drill." What he'll do to the environment in all respects, to the wealth disparities, to education, to the judiciary...the composite incomparable harm he will do: THESE are much bigger and thicker red lines.
Biden's environmental policies are far from scintillating, but at least environmentalists can speak with him and his people. With Trump, they'll never get the chance.
Again: genocide is a red line under NORMAL circumstances. With Trump involved, circumstances are NOT normal at all. A vote for Jill Stein or Cornel West may be forgiven in a solid "Blue" state, but in a "swing" state, such a vote is a crime against humanity -- and one with far graver consequences than those faced by Palestinians because of Israeli war crimes.
Mine too. I will not be voting for either of the corrupt, disgusting narcissists running for president in the major parties.
Thank you for your reasoned comment on the collapse of political integrity in the US ....the Democratic Party and indeed the entire Washington DC political class walks in lockstep with the foreign government that controls their actions...the US Congress is now an agent of a foreign government...they should register as such bu t since they have already broken that barrier to represent their consituents they no longer feel any obligation to the people who elected them...
Education, housing and healthcare are still the basic issues for a human based government...but this is no longer the case in the US...its fascism ....where University Chancellors feel obligated to call on hundreds of overweight robocops to arrest and brutalise peaceful student and faculty protestors exercising their right to dissent to a barbaric industrial slaughter of civilians with their tax dollars.
Weapons manufacturers are the real red line in Washington DC..
Just ask the Pentagon.
Love the artwork!
I don't think people like AOC have a red line. They're in politics for the money and fame. What do they care about the lives of 100,000+ injured or killed Palestinians? As long as she gets to wear designer gowns to the Met Gala and get her picture on the cover of fashion magazines, she's fine without a red line.
Here's hoping you can find someone with a red line worth voting for in Canada... Or run for office yourself. I'm sure there are many others who would appreciate it.
Hey, thanks -- I'm glad you like the artwork. I'm going to have to do more to stay sane.
I hope we can find someone with a red line here in Canada to vote for too.
Believe me, I'm a much better writer than public figure. I have some hopes for Canadian politics, believe it or not. I think there are some pretty important influencers working behind the scenes.
I thought AOC was better than that, and the rest of the squad too. Genocide should be a red line for absolutely everyone.
Nah, I never believed in AOC or any of the "Fraud Squad." They're Dirty Dems and they have to do as they're told by the party leaders or risk losing their seats. They don't have their own ideas or at least they won't let them ever get in the way of rising up in the ranks of the party. Having worked in the Bernie 2016 campaign I met and saw the Dirty Dems at work up-close and personal. They don't have a conscience. Just a bank account that's open to every lobbyist dollar they can get their hands on. Never idolize politicians. They're sure to disappoint you.
For one is bad and the other is worse - does not matter what order you put them in they are both under their thump of the deepstate. If an aspiring politician looks even remotely like the will get to sit in the big seat in parliament, the deep state either finds dirt on them to control them or compromises them.
We need to get away from voting for the cult of the leader and vote for the individual in each riding that best represents your views - that is how are parliament was designed and we should return to that pattern. For me even a mildly competent independent is my choice. I am through with politicians that represent the deep state/government mandates to me. We need true representative politicians presenting the peoples views to parliament +
VOTE INDEPENDENT
I'd like to see a more sane and democratic system, like proportional representation.
Absolutely, yes.
But upon reread I really don’t think I agree at all with what Hudson E. Baldwin 3 is saying. But have to spend more time before I try to say just what and why?