Category: Politics

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WAS BUILT ON A LIE. “Liberty and justice for all” does not apply to all of us. Even the name “United” States is a fallacy. Quite literally, we are a nation divided and we always have been. Although Civil Rights progress appears to have been made on the surface, in reality, America continues to enslave African Americans through the prison industrial complex. America continues to oppress African Americans in ways that we all allow. It’s still more difficult for Blacks to get jobs, business loans and flat out fair treatment in all areas of American life. Some people are true believers in the American ethos, brainwashed by corporate sponsored media and sold out politicians. America is the land of capitalism and is motivated by the dollar, a mere currency representation that has garnered far too much power. Old rich racist White men, who maintain their power as a legacy of slavery, will resort to anything to keep that power. Lying, cheating and stealing are all fair game. So is killing, as we’ve seen in all the recent police shooting videos. Black lives do not matter to racists and Blacks are not safe. Blacks continue to have the highest poverty rate. The question is “how do we fix this?” The answer is not easy or simple because NO ONE IS GOING TO FIX IT EXCEPT YOU. Unplugging those of us that are lost from the Matrix is going to take a concerted effort by all of us. There is tyranny by the majority in the US and it will take every single good soul to fight back. At this point tacit approval, sitting idly by or apathy is tantamount to tyranny. Upending this unjust American system and exposing it for the lie it truly is will take a revolution, thus my radio show POP CULTURE REVOLUTION, our small contribution to the movement. We aim to at least start discussions and raise awareness. Hopefully, with your help, we can build on this show and help create an America that finally lives up to its ideals, in reality.

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After President Trump attempted to equalize the White supremacist protesters and counter protestors with his words in the now famous vehicular homicide at the protests in Charlottesville, VA, I was perplexed and somewhat amused by different people’s reactions.  

I was disappointed by Trump’s comments that he made from the lobby of Trump Tower but not shocked.  It’s as if some people forgot that America was founded on racism and that racism is still very strong in America institutionally and socially.  

Racism was written into the constitution (Blacks were 3/5 a person) and the brutal chattel slavery of Blacks was legal.  The first President George Washington was a racist and upheld slavery and so did President Thomas Jefferson.  So, Trump was right about one thing; If we took down the Robert E. Lee statue, we would have to take theirs down too.  

As a matter of fact I would argue that all presidents were racist, even up to recent times.  President Reagan was a raging racist who introduced drugs into inner cities to destroy the Black community.  President Clinton locked up more Black men than anyone with his legislation with laws like “3 Strikes.”  We saw how President Bush Jr. handled the Hurricane Katrina situation.  President Obama might be the only exception.  But, after all, he’s Black.  But even he could have done more for the African-American community.  And, yes, I understand he faced considerable resistance, but, I digress.  

People are acting so shocked that there is a White supremacist leading the White House when there has ALWAYS been one there.  Our public leaders and some of our citizens just know how to hide their racism for fear of condemnation due to our hard fought civil rights progress.  

America is a racist country.  There’s no two ways about it.  This country was founded and built on racism.  It’s about time we began dismantling this physical abstraction.  It is long overdue that we build a new America that lives up to its credo of liberty and justice for all.  We should be living up to morals of loving one’s neighbor as we love ourselves.  We should be a land where a man is “not judged by the color of his skin but by the content of his character,” as the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said.  These racist monuments are not just an eyesore, to some.  To many, they are a painful reminder of promises unfulfilled and so much wrong done.  As long as these monuments stand, people will stand for racism in America.  So, when it comes to tearing down statues of racist confederate leaders like Robert E. Lee and racist presidents like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, I say tear them down.  Tear them all down.  And let’s build a new America where there is true equality.

President Trump seems to be following the tyrant’s playbook to a T.  I always thought it was interesting how people voted for him against their own self interests.  It’s mind boggling.  But, after reading up on it a lot and having many conversations about it, I think I understand why.  And the reasons might surprise you.

The reasons are multifaceted and multidimensional.  It comes down to his base, which constitutes a huge portion of the population of America.  And, his base exists far away from Hollywood, New York, Washington and big cities like them, which are highly represented in the media, who told us Hilary was going to win and Trump didn’t have a shot.

Outside of the big cities, in the rural areas in America’s heartland, people were suffering. People were losing jobs in their factories due to outsourcing and other factors. People were living in poverty and losing hope due to the recession.

Then, along came then Presidential candidate Trump, who gave them hope. He promised them he would get their jobs back and improve the economy. He capitalized on their racism and made them feel like they would regain their position of White supremacy. “Make America Great Again” was his slogan, which really meant restore White power. Trump’s supporters were angry and frustrated with their position in America’s apparent hierarchy and representation in the media. Trump gave a figurative middle finger to Washington and all its stuck up politicians.  His base was tired of the status quo and its bullshit and with his off the cuff simple remarks, Trump seemed like a breath of fresh air.

All of that would seem great to a Trump supporter except for a few things, the most glaring one being TRUMP IS A LIAR.  He didn’t plan on doing anything he promised, except maybe restoring White supremacy.  There will be no jobs.  There will be no wall between the USA and Mexico.  In fact, he is currently trying to take away healthcare that a lot of his supporters need.  He’s going to take away some of their social services too and give tax breaks to the rich.  He doesn’t even care about the very people who got him into the highest office in the World.  He didn’t outline any of these policies on his campaign.  In fact he didn’t outline any policies at all.  Yet, he still won.

The majority of Trump’s voters didn’t use logic in their decision making process for voting for him.  They responded to him on a visceral level.  And, that is a sad commentary on a lot of America’s citizens.  And, even worse, a sobering reminder of humanity’s level of ignorance.

He are Robert Reich’s “15 Warning Signs of Impending Tyranny.”

As tyrants take control of democracies, they typically:

1. Exaggerate their mandate to govern – claiming, for example, that they won an election by a landslide even after losing the popular vote.

2. Repeatedly claim massive voter fraud in the absence of any evidence, in order to restrict voting in subsequent elections.

3. Call anyone who opposes them “enemies.”

4. Turn the public against journalists or media outlets that criticize them, calling them “deceitful” and “scum.”

5. Hold few if any press conferences, preferring to communicate with the public directly through mass rallies and unfiltered statements.

6. Tell the public big lies, causing them to doubt the truth and to believe fictions that support the tyrants’ goals.

7. Blame economic stresses on immigrants or racial or religious minorities, and foment public bias and even violence against them.

8. Attribute acts of domestic violence to “enemies within,” and use such events as excuses to beef up internal security and limit civil liberties.

9. Threaten mass deportations, registries of religious minorities, and the banning of refugees.

10. Seek to eliminate or reduce the influence of competing centers of power, such as labor unions and opposition parties.

11. Appoint family members to high positions of authority

12. Surround themselves with their own personal security force rather than a security detail accountable to the public.

13. Put generals into top civilian posts

14. Make personal alliances with foreign dictators.

15. Draw no distinction between personal property and public property, profiteering from their public office.

Consider yourself warned.

 

President Trump is sticking to the tyrant’s script.  I like freedom and democracy.  We need to get this guy out of office before we become the UST– United States of Trump.