What The Hell Is This?

With each week, Michigan looks more and more like a flip for Trump. That's a hole in the Blue Wall. If Biden loses Michigan and Pennsylvania, he loses the election (assuming he doesn't somehow take North Carolina). The lack of Democratic attention to college students and young people might finally cost them everything. It only takes a few upset defeats like this to ruin hundreds of millions of American lives. Assuming Trump squeaks out a victory, this would be the third time in 24 years that the winner of the popular vote -always a Democrat- loses the election. The sadness, despair and anger that we have felt since Trump took over the GOP in 2015 is going to become unbearable. How does everyone feel about the Democrats having a tiny majority in the House while Trump and the Senate pack our Federal courts to strengthen GOP minority rule? Won't it be fun? And all because the elders in the Democratic party thought it wasn't worth their time to listen to the needs to young people. Seriously. Leaders like Pelosi thought that young people would be a little upset about Gaza, but they'd get over it and vote in November. As unpopular as Biden is, I think young people would rescue him in November if there wasn't an invasion of Gaza. For now anyway, it appears Biden's embrace of Netanyahu's war crimes is the red line that causes millions of young people to abstain from voting this November. Biden barely had re-election in the bag! Now I am not sure.

Democracy In Israel Is Dying

[The following post is a draft I’ve had since March 2021. Given recent events, I decided to let the draft go up. Stale content, yo.]

Democracy in Israel has been slowly dying since Netanyahu’s first tenure as Prime Minister over 25 years ago. The demise accelerated in 2021.

Israel has an unusual, but not unprecedented, democracy. Millions of people, who live and work in the country, and are subject to its laws and courts, but not graced with civil rights or political equality, find themselves trapped in an anti-democracy. I say that's not unprecedented because there were two other democracies in the 20th century which operated in much the same way. The Republic of South Africa had a vibrant democracy for whites, and brutal oppression for the majority blacks, until the 1990's. And the United States, so proudly the Land of the Free, subjected millions of its citizens of color, to segregation and an American system of apartheid until the mid 1960's.

Because of the occupation, in effect since 1967, Israel has moved farther and farther right, trading its democratic principles for security. As the decades march on, the need to oppress the Palestinians has of course made Israel less and less faithful to its founding ideals. It proves the old cliche, that one cannot keep another enslaved without ultimately enslaving oneself.

So the Israelis have reduced themselves to a miserable choice. For all practical purposes, there is no political left in the country, since leftists inevitably demand justice and equality for the Palestinians. That would put the nation on the road to real democracy, but it would surely end the dream of Israel as a Jewish state. If Israel is to be a Jewish state and not a multi-ethnic nation, it cannot be a true democracy, since that would grant the Palestinians full political and social equality.

The result is the fiction of a two-state solution. No serious student of this question believes that such a "solution" has any chance of coming to fruition. Israel has annexed more and more of the land once thought to be essential to the creation of a viable Palestine. Increasingly, there simply is no there there. And it must be remembered that even if some poor bantustan of a Palestine were somehow to emerge, Israel would never permit it real sovereignty. Palestine would not be allowed to establish a small military, or conduct an independent foreign policy, because such a state could threaten Israeli security.

Israeli politics is now played out on a small and increasingly undemocratic field. It's voters must choose between a center right party, and an extreme right wing coalition. Netanyahu, always just one step ahead of the sheriff, has managed to survive by allying with small, crypto-fascist parties, some of whom want to annex all of the West Bank and expel all non-Jews from Israel. Anyway, that's the way I see it.

Uncle Tim wrote this post.

The Republic Is Doomed

This week has me convinced that Trump is going to win in 406 days. How do I know? Our news media. They reported a surge of migrants crossing the southern border, but didn't point out that the vast majority of them were captured by CBP. Today they are describing Trump's speech in a non-union parts factory as a visit to striking UAW workers. Trump's behavior and past rape is not being covered. His age is not being mentioned. Fascism is coming. There haven’t been moderate Republicans since the Obama administration. Anyone who votes for Donald Trump is a bloodthirsty fascist.

And if, by some miracle, Trump loses, we’re still doomed. 2024 will signal to the world that American democracy no longer functions.

We have already crossed the Rubicon on this. There was no peaceful transfer of power in 2021. There probably won’t be a peaceful transfer of power in 2025.

It’s amazing how some smart people have come around on this. In October 2020, Trump didn’t meet the definition of a fascist. Today he meets and exceeds them. As Trump calls for the executions of people, all he’s lacking now is a military uniform. It’s a good thing he despises the military. He’s just a fascist with a poorer fashion taste. Most fascist dictators put on the dress uniform and medals and call it a day. Trump is happy with his dumb fucking red tie down to his scrotum.

One Of The Greatest Indictments Ever Written

Jack Smith delivered. Was there any doubt he would? We have an incredible indictment. Know the case name: Case 1:23-cr-00257-TSC. The structure and elements of the case are frankly astonishing to a non-lawyer like me. It’s a beautiful document.

There is still so much to do. More conspirators to indict. Some lawmakers, too. But for now, enjoy 130 near-perfect paragraphs.

We don’t have Trump in our grasp. Not yet. But if this Republic is to survive a little longer, he must be convicted and live to see it happen. We’re very close. Don’t give up the fight for justice. Ruby Freeman isn’t.

The GOP Knows: It Is Easier To Destroy Than To Build

And apparently, the GOP voters love the destruction of our nation. They are here for it. They turnout and vote for it.

This blog, now in its 17th year, is run by a member of the Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati. And in this post, I am repeating what I have said before: that the GOP is burning down our republic and our society. It threatens to sink the entire North American continent as Mexico is already a failed state, overrun by instability and out of control violence. But I am going to approach my argument from a different lens - through history.

First up, we have three US states that have authorized the construction of memorials dedicated to the fetuses that were aborted between 1973 and 2022. The states are Tennessee, Missouri and now Arkansas.

Liberals in the US need to think of these memorials this way: Monuments to fetuses are not about the fetuses. They are memorials that celebrate the taking of liberties away from women. They enshrine dominance over women and their bodies. It’s as if a state had left the Union during the Civil War, kept slavery to this day, and decided to erect a monument to slavery.

What liberals should do is ask themselves this: do you want to live in a country in which women have no liberties in over 20 states? Or 30? Do you want to live in a nation where local governments gloat about taking those freedoms away? What would we call such a nation? I know what I would call it: a failed, autocratic state. Arkansas needs to be removed from the union, or we need to fight like hell to have freedoms restored. But sitting there and doing nothing is NOT an option.

But what just entered my mind reading these stories about the post-Dobbs power grab is that so-called liberals need to fight simply because many many people died winning civil rights over the centuries. And no, I don't mean we won rights fighting wars. Wars can only block the advance of tyranny, not expand freedoms. People died on US soil for these rights. And since the rise of Trump, rights and liberties are being taken away. Reproductive rights. Bodily autonomy. Free speech. The right to bloody live. We liberals are told not to fight - not to stoop to the GOP's level. "We go high" said Michelle Obama, which is a euphemism for "don't get into a street fight." Well if we can't get into a street fight when freedoms are being rolled back, then we can never fight to get them back. And there's no need to bring up Nazi analogies! Freedoms are just being taken away. It happens all over the world and now it is happening here. If we don't fight, we won't live long enough to see those freedoms restored. Simple as that. And by fight, I mean march through the state capitals of red states. Otherwise, we should tell these red states to leave the Union. We can't exist as a nation if women and queer people have rights in one state but are prosecuted in another. Fuck this.

We’re never going to see these rights return to us in our lifetimes. So we might as fight to make lives miserable for the people who took away our liberties. This is no longer a civil debate on what rights people should have is the USA. This is a war.

Frankly, people need to die for taking our rights away. Taking liberties from me and you justifies it. And if you are a registered Democrat and don’t feel the rage I do, then join the GOP, please. Get out my party. You suck, you spineless shits.

The GOP Is What It Says On The Tin

Autocracy. Fascism. Threats of violence. Lies. Xenophobia. Homophobia. Transphobia. Physical violence.

It is all on the tin. The GOP is what they say they are.

This nation is doomed, partly because liberals and progressives like me sit and say nothing when the GOP explicitly tells us what it wants to do: abolish queer people, strip rights from women, inflict more suffering on the poor, drain the public wealth (like cutting public school budgets and diverting local tax revenue to charter schools), and use outrage and violence to win votes.

The GOP relies on manufactured outrage, instability and conspiracy fanatics to stay alive. That includes QAnon, sovereign citizens, the people who will never get over the short pandemic lockdowns, and right wing militias (Boogaloo Boys, Three Percenters, Proud Boys, Oathkeepers).

And there are the abhorrent policies. Just last week, over 20 South Carolina legislators co-signed a bill to put women to death if they terminate their pregnancies. That’s one-sixth of their state legislature, putting forward something that the Taliban or Saudi Arabia would enforce. And I’m just supposed to fucking sit there silently, and listen to Michelle Obama’s new podcast? In 2016 and 2020, she told us to “go high,” but what she really meant is avoid confrontation. She might as well have told us to just sit there and take fascism and oppression from the red states.

Fuck that. I am fighting. Is anyone with me?

Anyone?

It's The 2020s: Time For Progressives To Go On The Offensive

This is part two of a quick two-part post. It’s about the short term political future of the US in the turbulent, depressing 2020s.

I’m going to keep this brief, as books have been written about how the left should fight back against states pulling right. The solution is to go left. Pull back left. Do not ever surrender.

Okay, but how? While never easy, the strategy is to cut off Democrats that are furthest to the right. If progressives had their way. Democrats like Richie Torres, Henry Cuellar, Adriano Espaillat and Ed Case would be upset by progressives. The needle for the Democratic caucus would edge left, in-step with the culture. The Democratic policymakers who don’t care about women’s rights, or the environmental catastrophe or freedom-destroying red states would be purged from the party.

Locally, progressives need to pull left. Codify abortion rights. Get those marijuana decriminalization laws passed. Raise the state minimum wage. Tax the rich a little more. Make your good state better.

Run for office. Policies will not write themselves. We need progressives to win seats, no matter how minor. Get that school board chair. Get on the city council. Oust that cranky old mayor. Quit your job and run for office. You job sucks anyway and you can probably go back to the private workforce if you have a decent political career.

Policies will beat back the Right. Pointing out their hypocrisy does not work. Shaming them does not work. They don’t give a shit about your feelings, your opinions or your tweets. Get into office and get to work on policy.

Outsmart them. And out-policy them in the halls of government.

They are the minority party. We are the majority party. Let’s act like it.

It's The 2020s: It's Time To Prepare For Authoritarianism

This is part one of a quick two-part post. It’s about the short term political future of the US in the turbulent, depressing 2020s.

In the years ahead, I will always ask questions about why the Republicans chose to burn this republic down. I get their objective since 1980, which was to make this nation comfortable for the rich and miserable for everyone else. But why the autocracy? Why make it miserable for even the affluent?

What did we affluent, college educated liberals do to deserve a crushing autocracy? We went to a gay wedding a few times? We voted for Obama? We said repeatedly that minorities should be treated with respect? Holy shit we're being given the death sentence, here. What was the infraction? If the infraction can't be explained, then the GOP is more evil and destructive than even I ever imagined.

The GOP has long been the party of the rich. Their mission is still to make the rich richer. But now it is intertwined with winning votes over a fierce and angry backlash to a changing culture. No political party in any democracy can change culture. Human culture is always changing. As Professor Sut Jhally frequently lectures, “culture is always up for grabs.” Once something becomes commonplace in culture, it cannot be forcibly removed from a society.

There is one extreme way to suppress culture, however, and that is to suppress the society. A nation can transform from a democracy to an authoritarian state. An autocracy closes itself off from the rest of the world, while forcing propaganda and ideology onto the people in an effort to tame them and reduce dissent. We see it in North Korea, Belarus, Russia, China and Burma.

Now transforming the US into an autocracy would be a steep hill to climb. The GOP would have difficulty selling authoritarianism at the national level. Some people in this country are intelligent, and would not stand for it. But thanks to the multi-layered setup of our republic, the GOP is having much success taking away freedoms at the local level. States are pushing the boundaries of the 14th Amendment, to see how far they can restrict personal liberties in the name of “protecting children.” Leading a backlash against cultural change is also a tactic to motivate Republicans to vote. And they sure are furious, vocal and motivated.

Laws have been passed banning reproductive health clinics within a certain distance of schools. Tennessee will enact a law this July banning any public performance that includes a performer in drag that is vaguely close to children, which is technically everywhere. The next logical step would be for states or localities to ban public Pride events, because they always include men in drag and well as transgender people. This angle of attack -to force queer people out of public life under the boilerplate justification of preventing children from seeing them- is catching on like wildfire, and will eventually be brought before the Federal courts, which are packed with right-wing judges.

The US has been in a measurable state of decline since 1973. The empire is in decline. The prestige of the US is ruined. But most important is what’s happening at the granular, individual level. Liberty and freedom are now under attack by the minority political party. The GOP has decided that it would rather burn down what’s left of the republic than share it with everyone equally in a society that is based on freedom and respect.

The 14th Amendment is under attack. That means that authoritarianism is coming. How will you live with it in the coming decades? Will you fight back? Will you go underground? What is the plan?

Iranian Women Care About Their Futures

Iranian women give a damn about freedom and liberty. I can only conclude that the vast majority American women do not.

Pro Travel Tips For Idiots

Pro tips for Americans traveling abroad:

1. Don't go to authoritarian regimes (Belarus, Russia, North Korea, Hungary, Egypt, etc.)

2. If you must go to an authoritarian regime, respect the local laws. That means if there's a zero-tolerance narcotics policy, you don't have any THC or cannabis on your person or bags. This also applies to free nations with zero-tolerance narcotics policies, like Japan. Yeah. 420 + Japan = prison!

3. As a general rule, you should know and respect the laws of wherever you are. This includes US states that aren't yours or nations that aren't yours.

4. If you are a guest worker in a nation that is about to go to war, check the US State Department guidelines on whether it's safe for you to keep guest working in that country. Remember, being an American makes you liked in some countries, and hated in others (more the latter). Check to see if being a US citizen makes you a target for political imprisonment and an unbalanced prisoner swap.

5. Related to # 4 - A note about American privilege. Being a US citizen is a birthright privilege. It is not a card that gets you out of trouble abroad. If a nation beats people to death who take down propaganda posters, that rule applies to Americans as much as anyone else. Perhaps even more so. Just ask Otto. Oh, Otto! Can you comment? Otto is not available to comment.

Roe Is Dead. And So Is The United States.

The mess that the overturn of Roe has caused will last decades. I'm reading opinions that states that ban abortion might sue New York and California for luring thier women to commit "criminal acts" (which we good people call accessing medicine). How can a nation function if medicine in one state is "homicide" in another (Louisiana)?

Texas is going to assemble a challenge to Plyer v. Doe (1982) which could end the requirement for states to provide free education to all children regardless of nationality in grades 1-12, effectively closing all public schools in some states.

States will challenge Loving, Griswold and Obergefell. And soon states will pass laws banning all sex reassignment medicine and procedures.

And then there's the misoprostol pills, the next abortion front. Will states try to ban medications? Will they try to create their own DEA-like agencies? Will they sue drug makers to stop making pills they want to ban? Will they sue the US Postal Service, UPS, FedEx and DHL for allowing banned medications to be sent into their state from outside states or overseas?

What other drugs will more than 20 states want to ban? Hormones? HIV treatments? How about vaccines?

This wouldn't happen, but what would stop this Roberts court from allowing a state to ban alcohol sales? It's a fair analogy because the Court just let states ban a major category of medical care. This isn't a mild difference in laws so some states allow gambling, fireworks and open alcohol containers. This is an extreme legal divide in which legitimate medicine obtained in New York is categorized as a felony by one or more states.

The civil suits will be endless. Lawyers are about to get decades of guaranteed extra cases that shouldn't exist in a functioning nation. We're a failed state. Any one of us could be entangled in a criminal or civil case involving us directly or indirectly. Plus, we're all going to fund our state's lawsuits and defenses. This nation is finished. Will 0.5% of our GDP be simply interstate civil suits clogging up our courts and our lives?

For the average American, the overturn of Roe should be a bigger story than Russia's invasion of Ukraine or even the investigation into Trump’s failed coup in late 2020 and early 2021. And given that Democrats would rather talk about fighting Russia in a proxy war than the looming loss of freedoms at home, it's quite telling how absolutely screwed we all are.

In fact, I think the overturn of Roe is the biggest development in the US since our invasion of Iraq. Easily, I think. One could even argue that the Dobbs decision is the most consequential bad Supreme Court decision since Ferguson (1896).

Red states are assembling agencies to spy on their citizens and to keep tabs on abortion providers in other states. Red states are putting together wish lists of what types of medicine they want to see banned. What's coming is horrifying. And no matter where you live, in any of our 50 states and 5 colonies, your life is going to become more difficult thanks to the overturn of Roe.

My argument is not an easy one to make, I admit. And I can't diminish other major US events in this century. We’ve had two stolen presidential elections (if we count George W. Bush’s 2001 inauguration as a completion of a steal that occurred at the end of the year 2000), a ruling that corporations have rights like people, and a US president who chose a violent transfer of power over a peaceful one. But one could make the case that the overturn of Roe and the failed Trump coup are directly linked. The tyranny of GOP minority rule is evident in both. The attempt to keep Trump in power failed, but the full assault of the 14th Amendment is now on. We're about to live in a nation in which legitimate medicine administered in one state is a felony homicide in another. A nation with that kind of split simply cannot stand. We're a failed state.

The GOP signaled, way back in 1994, that they were going to govern by dismantling our society and removing all liberties and protections for the poor. They were going to inflict pain and suffering for the sake of it. Reagan started it, but didn't say it out loud. Newt said it out loud. By the time we got to Ted Cruz and Trump, they weren't just saying it out loud, but they were using macho and violent marketing to motivate their voters to vote for the destruction of the US.

The GOP project to overturn Roe has been mainly a patient, focused 29 year project, starting with Bush 41’s appointment of Clarence Thomas to the Court in 1991, over objections that he was under-qualified and a serial abuser of power in the workplace. Then his son, Bush 43, appointed John Roberts in 2005 and Samuel Alito in 2006. It is notable that Alito’s confirmation vote was the closest and most controversial since Thomas. The late, great Robert Byrd was one of only two Democrat's to vote in favor of Alito, who went on to be the most bitter and mean spirited Justice in Supreme Court history. Then Donald Trump traded a solid right-wing justice, the late Anton Scalia, with three Justices selected by the Heritage Foundation. The Supreme Court transitioned from a 5-4 center-left majority in 1990 (White, Marshall, Blackmun, Stevens, Kennedy) to a 6-3 right wing supermajority (Thomas, Roberts, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett) by 2020. This took incredible effort, hundreds of millions of dollars, and some good fortune as both Bush 43 and Trump failed to win the popular vote in their first presidential elections.

When a minority party is aggressively attacking the majority, and taking their rights away, the majority needs to aggressively to fight back. And in my book, some violence is now justified.

I'm not saying that I am going to conspire to kill Republicans. But if say, an armed left-wing mob stormed the Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota, or Nebraska State House and killed every Republican lawmaker they could find, that would be justified at this point, because a small number of Republicans are threatening the lives of millions.

Too violent? Okay, how about long occupations of those statehouses, so legislative business could not be conducted? How about a national strike in which every labor union walked out for 14 days? The damage to the economy would be swift. Hit the old men in charge where it hurts - the markets and the GDP.

In my view, only a violent revolution can save the USA. And since that is not coming, I am casually preparing to flee the USA later in life. I don't want to die in an authoritarian or autocratic regime.

Uncle Tim contributed to this post.

The Biden Presidency Is Over

The original title of this post was “The last political cycle is repeating itself, only worse.” I wrote that in June 2021. Below is the aborted text of that post:

If Joe Biden was hoping for a bi-partisan epiphany from Moscow Mitch and Cowardly Kevin, he's delusional. The Republicans are replaying 2009 and 2010 when a Republican president left a hot mess for Obama and decided they would obstruct everything  Barack needed to do to avoid a depression and begin extracting us from two unnecessary wars. And their plan worked. The stimulus needed to begin a robust recovery was far too small, and Republicans ran in 2010 on the lie that the Democrats were taking over health care and exploding the national debt.

In the 2010 off-year elections, the Democrats were crushed, losing control of the House of Representatives  for the next 8 years, getting annihilated in state legislative races, allowing the Republicans to gerrymander dozens of Congressional seats, and giving Obama an obstructionist legislature for his final six years in office. Mitch and Kev intend to do it again. And this time, if they're  successful,  they stand ready to elect a right wing president in 2024, regardless of the outcome of the vote. A majority of House Republicans voted to overturn the presidential election in 2020. If they control the House and Senate in 2024, they will surely do it again. The Democrats had to have seen this coming. They did nothing to stop it.

Republicans want to win elections when they don't have enough voters. So logically, they want to take rights away. They want to make their rich friends richer. They want to destroy the regulation regime (EPA, CDC, FDA, IRS, Department of Education, OSHA, FEMA). They want to dismantle state gun regulations (as the Court will do to New York this summer). And when leftists complain, they say, "you're being hysterical. You're in power. You're exaggerating. That little rally in he Capitol was overblown. You're making it all up." Or in the case of overturning Roe, they say, "the Court is just sending the issue back to the states." That's what you call taking away liberty from women. That is gaslighting.

It is really happening. And while I might come across as a crazy person now, we shall see where the nation stands in 2025 when President Noem or DeSantis steals an election, and the next one. And then stacks the court 7-2 or even 9-0 to the right. Sotomayor looks ready to walk and Breyer won't live much longer.

Republicans are evil. Anyone who joins their side is in for some fun in online forums, "owning the libs," or encouraging their children to murder their classmates, but it will destroy the nation in the process. And that is the bottom line. Republicans would rather burn the nation down than share power with brown people and women. That is what we are seeing. The bros and their white supremacist allies are having their final stand. It's one last party for the bros who marked keggers in their calendars.

10 months after I wrote those words, it is clear this nation is is being destroyed. The decline is noticeably fast now.

Joe Biden got his single Supreme Court pick. Joe Manchin will ensure he gets nothing more accomplished. The Biden presidency is finished.

It's Who We've Always Been, Jack

Joe Biden likes to say that the US is a compassionate nation that isn’t cruel at baseline. Sure, Jack. I don’t think he believes it when he speaks of the US in positive terms. His optimistic flourishes seem like going through the motions. He knows it. We know it. It’s bullshit.

We’re the nation that beats the shit out of Haitian refugees on our southern border.

And we’re the nation that tells asylum seekers from central America to get lost, but it appears we’re going to let a few Ukrainians and a few Russians cut to the front of the line.

And of course we never offered visas to Syrians, Libyans, Yemeni and other middle eastern refugees desperately trying to escape war. This nation has part time jobs to fill. And we need more people to grow our GDP. But we’re telling the rest of the world to fuck off as we sink into irrelevance. For the most part, we don’t want any refugees.

We're Getting Closer To Irish Unification

With St. Patrick’s Day festivities wrapping up this weekend, I thought it’s a good time to re-post this outstanding article by Paul Maskey, MP for West Belfast, from Jacobin Magazine, July 2021:

Momentum toward Irish unity and self-determination for the people of Ireland is continuing to grow.

The party I represent, Sinn Féin, believes that Irish unity is the only platform on which we can build an Ireland of equals.

In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) was overwhelmingly endorsed by the people of Ireland, north and south. This internationally recognized accord was fully supported by successive US administrations and houses of Congress, Canadian governments, and the European Union, and it was registered at the United Nations. It provides a democratic and peaceful path toward Irish reunification — a pathway denied to previous generations of Irish republicans.

For the first time, Britain’s control of the North of Ireland was conditional on the will of the majority of citizens there.

International support for the peace process has been significant. Irish society has also changed dramatically as a result of that same peace process. In the north of Ireland, Sinn Féin will contest the upcoming Assembly election in May 2022 to return our largest-ever team of representatives.

The significance of this cannot be overstated. On the opening of the northern parliament after the partition of Ireland in 1921, the statelet’s first prime minister declared it “a Protestant parliament for a Protestant people.” The monopoly of power held by political unionism at the time of partition is no longer. The Executive that governs in the north now consists of Sinn Féin, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), and the Alliance Party.

Similarly, a significant realignment has taken place in the twenty-six-county southern state. Sinn Féin has consistently built support and, at the time of writing, is the biggest party south of the border, with thirty-seven TDs (teachta dála, members of the 160-member parliament), five seanadóirí (senators), and an all-Ireland vote tally of nearly 800,000.

Despite this result, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the Green Party have coalesced to form a government that omits Sinn Féin. Since this watershed election in February 2020, Sinn Féin, led by Mary Lou McDonald, has provided the most formidable opposition in the history of the State. In fact, Mary Lou is the first woman in the history of the state to lead the official opposition. We are confident that Sinn Féin can lead the next government in Ireland.

Brexit, coupled with the ongoing realignment of politics in Ireland, has resulted in a renewed sense of urgency and optimism around the national question.

The ongoing and developing conversation around Irish unity now needs to move to the next stage: preparation and planning.

For a referendum, there are some key actions that the Irish government needs to progress. Sinn Féin has called on the Dublin government to deliver the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, including guaranteeing the functioning of North-South institutions; the establishment of a joint Oireachtas committee on Irish unity, the setting up of an all-island-inclusive citizens’ assembly to discuss and plan for unity, and the publication of a “White Paper” road map to Irish unity.

We have witnessed the chaos and confusion Brexit has created — and this cannot be countenanced in the Irish unity campaign. We want a referendum in which people know what they are voting for, where they are well informed about what the new constitutional arrangements and the new Ireland might look like. The Irish government must start the process of planning and setting out new arrangements urgently.

The Irish government must become a persuader for a united Ireland. It must honor its constitutional obligation to work toward national reunification, and it must bring the focus of the international community to the unity campaign. The government must secure the referendum on unity in line the commitments of the Good Friday Agreement and let the people have their say.

The British government cannot deny the right of the people to self-determination. The British secretary of state has the discretion to call a unity referendum at any time — and, under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, they are compelled to call one when it appears likely that the majority in the North of Ireland would vote for change.

Sinn Féin believe that time has come and that a date should now be set for the referendum.

A new and united Ireland must be a more prosperous, inclusive, and equal island. The economic outworkings of reunification would have a positive impact on the Irish economy as a whole. The outdated arguments that “we can’t afford it” do not have any basis in reality.

The demand for unity among the Irish people is growing. It is time to plan and allow all of the people to have a say in their constitutional future. It is important, too, that we respect the legitimate concerns of our unionist neighbors and work toward a new constitutional arrangement where everyone’s culture and traditions are respected. We can do it.

The American political system, the Irish American diaspora, and all American citizens supported the Irish peace process, as did the European Union and Canada. A referendum on Irish unity is a core part of the Good Friday Agreement, and it is welcome that the agreement is supported in all its parts by those who strive for peace the world over. I am confident that the international community will continue to support our quest for independence and reunification.

Partition has hampered Ireland’s ability to take its rightful place among the small nations of the earth — and it has been a destructive force in terms of building the nation that the people of Ireland, its diaspora, and its many international supporters wish for it to be.

Unity is the basis on which Ireland can thrive as a country, upon which a new nation can be built — a real republic that is outward-looking, forward-thinking, inclusive of all, and a global leader. The call from Ireland is that it is time for Irish reunification, it is time to plan, and it is time to deliver. Onward to the republic,

An Phoblacht Abú.

This Is The Final Year Of The USA As A Barely-Functioning State

2022. This is the final year of my nation as a functioning state. Once the Republicans take over the House in 2023, we’re an autocracy.

Neil H. Buchannan is one of the best scholars to make this consistent argument. He says the US is a “dead democracy walking.”

I have no idea if New York City will become a center of resistance to the GOP, or will fall in-line with the GOP as it did after 9/11. I want the former. I fear the latter. American cable news will carry on, because all it really cares about is ratings.

But while we wait for the GOP autocracy to rise, let’s enjoy this final year of freedom and relative stability. And yeah, I say “stability” knowing that we are stuck in the middle of a pandemic that is currently killing 1,700 Americans each day. That’s what I consider to be “stability” these days.

I haven’t really felt national stability since Bill Clinton was acquitted by the Senate in February 1999. While I hate the Senate, it was rational 23 years ago. Now we brace for another impeachment trial in 2023, which will be the GOPs irrational retaliation for two very legitimate impeachments of Donald J. Trump.

Be safe. Halve a plan to adapt if things become seriously unstable. Don’t stop paying attention to what’s happening locally and in DC.

And don’t stop wearing masks. We’re still living in a pandemic.

Now The Democratic Party's Failure Is Complete

All I have done since 1992 is vote for Democrats, and yet the nation is becoming unstable and liberties are being taken away.

"Roe is under attack. The DNC needs your cash before midnight to meet its fundraising goal and protect our liberties!" That’s not an exact quote, but that's the shit I have seen in my USPS inbox and email inbox for the last 30 years.

My response has always been: “I voted for you. Now shut the fuck up and deliver while there’s time.”

The last best chance the Democrats had to delivering came in 2009. And we know how that went.

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For the last five years, one of the constant things i have heard from the Democrats is that they are the decent party. They are respectful. They are polite. They go high. They are grammatically correct. They are so intimidated and threatened by the violent right wing, that they stopped writing policy and protecting fundamental liberties.

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The Democrats have been successfully bullied by the GOP minority. And here we are.

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The Democrats have had the White House and Congress twice since Roe (also the year of my birth) and they failed to codify it into Federal law. Simply asking the Democrats to have a unified platform was just being unfair and demanding. Shame on those New York City Democrats who could see the overturn of Roe coming from 30 years away.

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Simply put, as is the theme of this blog, we are fucked. We have entered the late phase of the republic in which rights are being taken away. The right wing will be coming for our birth control, same sex marriage and freedom to travel out of state next. The 14th Amendment has been broken and the liberties made possibly by that amendment are now under attack.

Thanks Bill. Thanks Barack. Thanks Joe and Joe. Thank you. For nothing.

Newcastle Are Finally Going To Be Relegated, For Real This Time

After years of close calls, season after season, Newcastle are finally on their way down.

There's actually no shame in going down, considering how much time we’ve had to prepare. This club has been warned repeatedly that this was going to happen. Newcastle has been skirting the relegation zone throughout Steve Bruce's tenure. Now it's unavoidable. Amazingly, this collapse has come just as the sale of the club was finalized. If the sale had to wait until January, would it still be on at this point?

In a way, this is fair to all parties. Previous owner Mike Ashley got his asking price. The new ownership still got a good deal. They thought they were buying into the EPL at a low price. They were mistaken. They were buying into the Championship at a low price. But they will still get richer. Worry not.

This club is going down. I have accepted this already. I suggest we all do. If Newcastle were to earn 35 points starting after the November international break, it would be a historic season save. A surge in points that would be remembered for years. But that's not happening.

What we should be passionate about is the rebuilding of the club and the plan to get it back into the EPL as a strong contender for cups. We won't just come back. We will dominate the lower half of the table and get back into the Europa League.

The next 20 months and beyond are going to be entertaining and very enjoyable compared to the Ashley era. Enjoy it, Lads. We will fall and rise together. Enjoy the ride. Alan Shearer will, despite his slightly intoxicated gaffe, below:.

Philadelphia Might Be Alright Now

Way back on July 3 of this year, members of the white nationalist group, Patriot Front marched through downtown Philadelphia. They were chased out. I am thrilled this happened. Finally. Everyone who considers themselves to be anti-racist needs to chase white nationalists out of town.

Having said that, we should acknowledge that Philadelphia has a terrible history of being an unjust town for its majority black population. You can’t get in line at Geno’s without seeing a message that black people are cop killing animals (and, I presume, that Italian-Americans are good, wholesome, superior people). Philadelphia and my New York both have the distinction of responding to the crime wave of the 70s and 80s by electing a white supremacist Italian American mayor, who was a disaster for the city and a menace to black residents.

Take These Monuments Down

Christopher Columbus was no Italian-American. In fact, he never set foot on the North American continent. But somehow he became an icon for Italian-Americans in the early 20th Century, as Italian immigrants fought for legitimacy and acceptance in the United States.

That was wrong and misguided. We must stop honoring him. He was a privateer, for the Spanish empire, no less. Enough.

And so, his monuments must come down. I chuckle at both New York mayor Bill de Blasio and former governor Andrew Cuomo who argued that it is possible to “honor” both Columbus and indigenous peoples. No it isn’t.

Soon, the monument at Columbus Circle will come down. It’s just a matter of time. The fact that the topic of taking it down is brought up each year is proof. It’s like same sex marriage or legal weed. When we all start talking about it, it’s inevitable.

Back in 1992, the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ first voyage to the Caribbean, kids like me at the University of Massachusetts were demanding that the name and the monuments be taken down. Back then, refusing to honor Columbus was seen as radical. Now, nearly two generations later, we’re finally going to make some progress. Take the monuments and the name down. Rename Columbus, Ohio. Reject his name and colonialist legacy.

The Park Is Fine

Washington Square Park is fine. There is no out of control noise, drugs, violent crime, nudity or sex problem in the park. A minority of residents near the NYU campus, who are mostly white and wealthy, seem to have a problem with young people - particularly brown young people - having some fun in a public park.

Yes, there are lots of young people. Yes, there are artists. Yeah, there are people putting on dancing and music performances. There are tons of sunbathers. Some people play chess. Others smoke pot. A tiny minority of people shoot up. None of this is a reason to shut the park down at 22:00 with the iron fist of the NYPD.

The park is fine.

Know what isn’t fine? The wealthy people who claim to live near Washington Square Park and want it cleared out. Let’s take this resident as a prime example:

Alan Silverstein, a 59-year-old who lives near Union Square, told Gothamist that police were right to exclude dissenting voices from the “Build the Block” meeting.

He lives “near Union Square.” So at minimum, he lives four street blocks up University place, some 0.2 miles away, and out of earshot of Washing Square Park. And he thinks that the police were right to commandeer a community meeting on June 16, and keep defenders of public space out.

People who say that Washington Square Park is "unsafe" with a straight face are either arguing in very bad faith, or they weren't alive in the 1980s. They also equate 'dirty' with 'unsafe.' I moved to NYC 26 years ago, just after Kids was filmed in the park. While I, like anyone, was approached by a weed seller ("smoke, smoke"), I was never not safe. It is ridiculously safe today. I repeat: it is safe.

I am not surprised but still disgusted by the comments from most of the local, millionaire residents. They drop the word "skateboards," as a code for brown people. Also they speak of skateboards as if they are a new phenomenon- as if there hasn't been a skate culture since the late 1960s. No one has been killed in the park. The park is one of the safest places to be in the city. I prefer a city that has people outdoors into the night hours. Washington Square Park is world famous. It's up there with the best public outdoor spaces in Paris (the French love Washington Square Park, by the way). Leave our young people alone. They are keeping the neighborhood safe simply by being there. I've seen sunbathers, not "crack" (Crack!!! What a lie). And if you are so sensitive to the noise, please move to another ZIP code.

Some light Google searches shows that the battle against young people and their skateboards in the park made the news in 2019. This is not news, nor is it a big problem.

Now if the noise and drugs are a real problem, I'd have officers handing out noise citations, and make sure the 8th Street area has a safe injection site. The overall problem of noise in the park, which isn’t a big deal, will simmer down, as it does with each NYU semester cycle. The park is both public and is a part of the small NYU campus. In terms of wealth to campus acreage, NYU has to have one the highest ratios in the world.

Do none of the olds complaining about drug use remember Needle Park? Or even Washington Square Park in the 1980s? What's happening now is cheerful and positive in comparison. In the objectors’ alternative reality, attractive young sunbathers are described as naked hooligans having public sex. Pot smokers are crack addicts. Skateboards are tools of menace and intimidation. These NIMBYs are exaggerating, embellishing, and making stuff up.