Welcome to The Now

 

 

 

 They can't bring themselves to defund a group that the product of 9/11 paranoia: 

 Via Scheerpost : For a nation of immigrants, the Trump administration’s attacks on immigration are nothing short of heartbreaking. Each day, we’re seeing neighbors kidnapped from our streets, detained in unsafe and inhumane conditions, and deported without due process to countries they’ve never known. If there’s one silver lining, it’s this: The more Americans see of this agenda, the less they like it. And the more immigrants tell their stories, the better people understand why they belong. Over 15 percent of Americans are immigrants. If you live here, there’s a good chance you know one. Since the late 1800s, we’ve called on immigrants to work in industry, health care, hospitality, agriculture, and other essential jobs. Immigration is a core to our story about who we are. Immigrants contribute greatly to our culture and economy. They work jobs, pay taxes, volunteer in churches and schools, support American sports teams, and eat American foods. In 2022, immigrants paid nearly $100 ...

  As Caitlin Johnstone stated, it's too late to "re-propagandize" the masses:

 

 

 Interesting : Most Republicans support the right to protest — unless it’s against Israel, according to new polling.  In the latest Economist/YouGov survey, a strong majority of GOP respondents, 73%, said they support Americans’ ability to protest against actions they view as unjust. Just 12% said they oppose this, and 14% said they weren’t sure. But, when asked if it should be legal or illegal to protest “against Israeli actions in Gaza,” less than half of Republicans, 42%, said it should be legal. Meanwhile, 23% said this kind of public demonstration should be illegal, and 35% said they were not sure.  The poll — conducted March 16-18 with 1,618 U.S. adults — found support for protests was more consistent among Democrats and independents.  Eighty-six percent of Democrats and 81% of independents said they backed the right to demonstrate against actions perceived as unjust, while less than 20% of both groups said they opposed this or were unsure.  When it came t...

Between Kamala Harris' staff acting completely vacant  and  Cenk Uygur doing a 180 on MAGA , from fear being used yet again as a prime motivator for the Black vote to some people taking another look at what Bernie Sanders was trying to tell people back in 2016 , it's become all to clear that "Democrats vs Republicans" is, to paraphrase Chris Hedges , really "Corporatists vs Oligarchs;" two factions of capitalists battling it out over who gets to absorb and abuse the wealth of the working class and poor.  Justice Democrats was a failure; the "Squad" - a loose collection of quasi-progressive Democrats spurned on by Kyle Kulinski and Cenk Uygur - was quickly co-opted. Movement for a People's Party fell under the weight of allegations against it's leader who - allegations aside - did nothing to built a state/local powerbase and eventually left to help Robert Kennedy Jr.'s campaign (and continues to support the latter's political caree...

 Did you know that pollsters use poll questions to influence news stories, and then the public? For example: Step One - Poll Question: "What crime would Country X half to do to convince you that the Us should get the military involved?' Step Two - Media Story: Mainstream news covers story that Country X may be guilty of committing the same crime, repeats story ad nauseum. Step Three - Politicians and pundits repeat claim as fact, rousing public sentiment.   

  It gets more interesting : The International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined to endorse a presidential candidate on Wednesday after releasing internal polling that showed a majority of its members supported former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris. It’s the first time in nearly three decades that the union has not endorsed a presidential candidate . “ Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business ,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said in a statement. “We sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries – and to honor our members’ right to strike – but were unable to secure those pledges.” Ahead of the decision, the Teamsters shared internal data showing that a majority of members supported Trump over Harris. According to an electronic member poll that was initiated ...

Why even bother with primaries if  so many  (from this sample) just want the party leadership (most who aren't elected themselves) to pick the nominee? There's still time for the people to make a decision, but no, they prefer that the choice be made in the shadows without so much as a debate. (Note: this is a "national sample of 1,071 registered voters" and about 33% of registered voters -a little over 53 million- are Democrats). 

 If flights leaving the Promised Land begin to pick up, you'll know why :  Nearly three-quarters of the Israeli public oppose a retaliatory strike on Iran for its massive missile attack on the country if such action would harm Israel’s security alliance with its allies, according to a poll published Tuesday. The Hebrew University survey also found that over half the public believes Israel “respond[s] positively” to the military and political demands of allies. Israel has vowed to retaliate after Iran overnight Saturday fired over 300 missiles and drones at the country. Almost all were intercepted before they reached the country as the United States led a coordinated air defense shield that involved Israeli, American, British, French and Jordanian forces, reportedly along with radar and intelligence input from some Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia. Maybe they should concentrate of getting back the hostages . For what it's worth, Iran is putting out a warning . 

 In particular, his most recent stances:

 The reality is this: "for any non-status quo candidate to have a chance, they should run outside the Democratic and Republican parties. Anyone running inside hoping to 'change the party from within' will either be absorbed or ousted."  Most of the American left learned this after two attempts by Bernie Sanders to run for president (some of us suspected even before the 2016 and 2020 Democratic primaries, but the elections confirmed it).  There is, however, a group that (for various reasons) can't let go. They simultaneously boost the insider strategy while turn away in disgust when offered third party solutions. They have declared Marianne Williamson the heir to Bernie Sanders (even when he has embraced Joe Biden). Now, some of them have put out videos saying that Williamson is being ignored . On the contrary, whatever the media's doing isn't making people ignore a person who ran for office in 2020; in fact, people know and they don't prefer her to B...

Combine racist policies with a lack of infrastructure needed to generate generational wealth and top it off with a recession, and you get financial trouble for minorities .

 Contrary to popular belief (and two-party dogma), 58% of voters would go for a "moderate, independent presidential candidate" as an alternative to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump. It's a step in the right direction, but it would be better if voters were more concerned about the policies than the people; voting on personalities (perceived or otherwise) has done more harm than good.

 Not good news considering he needed them to win his election: (CNN)Just 41% of young Americans approve of President Joe Biden's job performance, according to a new Harvard Institute of Politics poll of adults ages 18-29 released on Monday. That's down from 46% in fall 2021 and a 59% majority last spring -- a trend also seen in other recent surveys. By comparison, according to past Harvard IOP polling, only 25% of young Americans approved of then-President Donald Trump heading into the 2018 midterm cycle. Twelve years ago, however, 56% approved of then-President Barack Obama ahead of the first midterm cycle of his presidency, when Democrats went on to lose the House in 2010. "Overall, Biden voters who now disapprove of his performance rate him more harshly on the economy," John Della Volpe, Harvard IOP's polling director, writes in the survey's release. "(T)hey see the current political system as ineffectual; they view the President as putting the intere...

I say this for those who believe, like apparently 39% of Americans, that white people are "under attack" in America. Of course this is a stretch in logic . There are plenty of reasons (given in the link) why by any reasonable metric this feeling is unfounded. But I supposed that is the crux of the matter: something is making people feel this way. Because white people are not being rounded up, separated from their families or targeted by the authorities. If 9-11 happened, like, every month, in cities that were predominately white and the terrorists behind it were sending videos after each event claiming that this was because of white people, then that could be called an attack. The only thing that can be arguably in danger is white privilege. Not the ability to argue with a police officer without fear of getting shot. Not having to worry about someone placing bananas or nooses on the door to your children's dorm-room. Not being labeled lazy because you can't ...