Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Archive for the ‘USA’ Category

Donald Trump deposition: New York court releases video in civil rape trial – BBC News Story

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Evidence submitted to a New York City trial is described below – no comment is necessary. The accused man recently spent two days in an Irish town called Doonbeg in County Clare, where he owns a lavish hotel and golf course.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65504435

A video of a deposition given by former US president Donald Trump as part of his civil rape trial has been released by the court.

The roughly 48-minute video shows Mr Trump, 76, mistaking his accuser E Jean Carroll for his ex-wife Marla Maples in a photo.

It also shows him repeating his denial of Ms Carroll’s allegations by claiming she is “not my type”.

Lawyers for both sides rested their case on Thursday.

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A Russian Disinformation Empire in Oak Harbor, Washington – Donbas Devushka Sting takes campists and left-evasionists for a ride

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A Russian Disinformation Empire in Oak Harbor, Washington

James Doyle, an Irish correspondent based in Germany, describes a far-right pro Putin sting.

Donbass Devushka claims she’s from Luhansk, Ukraine. In reality she’s a Navy vet born in New Jersey.

Donbas Devushka Equals Sarah Bils : USA Navy Clerk and tropical fish fan.

The Donbas Devushka Sting : tankies and left-evasionists taken for a ride

James Doyle writes :

Just thought I’d share an interesting development arising from the recent “Pentagon Leaks” that seems to have escaped attention, or (as is more likely) has been ignored by large sections of the western left…

“Donbas Devushka”, one of the Campist/tankie/pro-Putinist “left”‘s favourite sources of “information” and Kremlinist propaganda from inside Ukraine, was a couple of days ago revealed to actually be an American ex-navy Servicewoman (discharged in 2021) and tropical fish shop owner from New Jersey named Sarah Bils. If you’ve been active at all in trying to combat disinformation over the course of this war you’ve no doubt come across this woman or at least people sharing her posts/podcasts and the claims she made on them.

She had been operating a major disinformation network – by her own admission with a staff of at least 15 – across various social media platforms since the Russian invasion began last February, becoming one of the top handful of pro Russian Propagandists across these platforms, all the while posing as a Russian-speaking pro-Palestinian Jewish woman (“Mila Medvedev”) from Lukhansk (she’s never been anywhere near Ukraine or Russia in reality).

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This International Women’s Day, Iranian Feminists Are at the Front Lines

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There is much that the global feminist movement can learn from the current women’s struggle in Iran and their vision.

About the author, Frieda Afary :

FRIEDA AFARY

Frieda Afary is an Iranian American public librarian, translator, writer, activist and author of Socialist Feminism: A New Approach (Pluto Press, 2022). She is also the producer of Iranian Progressives in Translation and socialistfeminism.org. Article Souce : https://truthout.org/articles/this-international-womens-day-iranian-feminists-are-at-the-front-lines/

Frieda Afary is an active supporter of the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU). https://ukraine-solidarity.eu/feminist-news-and-analysis

On International Women’s Day, the world is at a turning point. On the one hand, we are facing the global rise of authoritarianism and fascism. On the other hand, popular uprisings for a democratic existence against authoritarianism and imperialism have been emerging in various parts of the world, with popular resistance persisting from Myanmar to Sudan and from Ukraine to Iran.

Women and trans people in the U.S. have suffered a heavy blow with the U.S. Supreme Court’s repeal of the federal right to an abortion, and the intensifying effort of the Republican right wing to repeal or severely limit abortion rights in various states. At the same time, women in Latin America — specifically in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico — have made some important gains in decriminalizing abortion and expanding reproductive rights as part of a broader social justice movement that involves working-class women, including Indigenous women.

Iran has been on the front lines of active organizing by women who have been leading a popular and mostly youth uprising, which was set off by the September 16 Iranian state police murder of a young Kurdish woman, Zhina Mahsa Amini, for her “improper” hijab. This uprising continues to manifest itself in different ways and faces increasingly brutal state repression. It represents both courage and the effort to articulate specific feminist demands.

Iranian Feminists and Labor Activists Articulate Emancipatory Demands

The latest manifestation of the misogyny that seeks to hold Iranian women back has been the systematic and nationwide poisoning of school girls. Since early December 2022, over 1,000 schoolgirls in over 50 schools around the country have become sick with symptoms of nerve gas poisoning. In the lead-up to today, various teachers’ groups, student groups and women’s groups have issued calls to protest the poisoning and to honor International Women’s Day. Feminist and labor groups have also been issuing various statements of demands to articulate their perspectives for a future democratic Iran. These statements have called for free and equal quality education for women and men at all levels without any gender segregation; women’s equal participation in the social, political and economic sphere; reproductive and abortion rights; divorce and custody rights; banning female genital mutilation, child marriage and polygamy; criminalizing gender violence and sexual harassment; categorizing domestic work as onerous labor requiring better compensation; and legal and health services for incarcerated women.

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The Irish Left’s response to Russia’s war on Ukraine – Debate on the letters page of the Irish Times – Part Two

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We published a post covering the Irish left’s response to Russia’s imperialist invasion of Ukraine on February 25 :

https://tomasoflatharta.com/2023/02/25/russias-imperialist-genocidal-and-ethnic-cleansing-invasion-appeasing-putins-aggression-will-not-bring-peace/

We included references to an Irish Times letter signed by 12 Oireachtas public representatives ((TD’s and Senators) – which prompted several critical replies. One of the original Oireachtas 12, Senator Tom Clonan, responded positively to the critics.

On Wednesday March Ivana Bacik TD (Labour Party Leader) joined the discussion – robustly stating

We believe that it is misguided for anyone on the left in Ireland to call for a ceasefire, without making any reference to the need for Russian withdrawal from this illegal and barbaric occupation

Ivana Bacik TD, Irish Labour Party Leader
Ivana Bacik TD (Irish Labour Party Leader) and others discuss the Irish left’s response to Russia’s imperialist invasion of Ukraine

Ivana Bacik’s letter is below, along with a number of other letters.

Left’s response to Russia’s war on Ukraine

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Chaos in the United States of America Congress – We Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet

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2023 international news coverage began with banana republic scenes from Washington DC, capital city of the United States of America. Establishment Irish media outlets usually look for an excuse to tug the forelock in the direction of prominent North American politicians. Irish broadcaster RTÉ and newspapers such as the Irish Times were presented with a perfect opportunity to roll out the sleeveen carpet – the new Republican Congress Boss is called Kevin McCarthy. For now, the paddywhackery shamrock wavers in Dublin have decided that the Kevin Mccarthy card may not be an attractive PR option.

The “Irish News” of Belfast failed to restrain the natural instincts of Ireland’s forelock-tuggers :

Mr McCarthy has highlighted his Irish roots previously on St Patrick’s Days. In 2015, during the Obama administration, he shared an Irish blessing his father used to recite. In a 2021 St Patrick’s Day message, McCarthy reflected: “My great-grandfather came to America from Ireland back in the 1800s.”

Irish News January 7 2023
Marjorie Taylor Greene is a far-right member of the USA Congress

A North American correspondent, John Reimann, reviews the dark side of Washington DC politics.

Republicans step back from abyss…. for now

Source oaklandsocialist on

Representative Mike Rogers (R-Ala) is restrained from assaulting Matt Gaetz. Chaos ruled the day. That chaos will return in even greater form.

The Republicans stared into the abyss and stepped back…. for now. They watched Matt Gaetz apparently renege on a deal. They watched fellow Representative Mike Rogers (R, Alabama) have to be restrained from assaulting Gaetz. They watched vote after vote with no end in sight. They watched the Democrats thoroughly enjoying themselves. And they convinced Gaetz “not now. Not this time.” Unspoken (amongst themselves) was, “we’ll save the rest for later.”

Republican Party fragmentation
And just as night follows day, “later” will certainly come. Consider what former Republican bomb-thrower Newt Gingrich (of all people) said about Gaetz: “He’s essentially bringing ‘Lord of the Flies’ to the House of Representatives” As far as the Freedom Caucus rebels in general, Gingrich said they’re not interested in “anything that takes longer than waiting for their cappuccino.” The same could be said about those people’s supporters.

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Christmas Subversion 2022 – by Sarah Springer

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Trotskyist Subversion Again – “By far the favorite of all the miniatures I’ve made: my Merry Marxmas house!”. – Sarah Springer.

Readers might like to see and read more articles written by Sarah Springer. I recommend this short essay “Literature from a Marxist Perspective”.

The War in Ukraine – How Should Socialists Respond?

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Jill Stein : Fake Anti-War Activist, Apologist for Russia’s Imperialist Invasion of Russia – Green Party (USA) Split Down the Middle

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Jill Stein has form. Mary Scully, an Irish-American activist and blogger, explains below.

The Green Party (USA) is split down the middle on this issue.

This party’s 2020 Presidential candidate, Howie Hawkins, endorses the policy of the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU) and its Irish supporter Irish Left With Ukraine (ILWU).

Here is an extract from a Howie Hawkins post dated March 2022 :

People are not going to respond to a call for no US war with Russia when they plainly can see that the shooting war is Russia’s assault on Ukraine. If we are not clear that we oppose Russia’s aggressive war in Ukraine, we won’t be able to get a public hearing about opposing the expansion of NATO to Russia’s doorstep as a precipitating factor in this war, as well as opposing the many “low-intensity” and economic wars that the US and NATO are fighting around the world.

I would like to suggest some more particular demands we should make and actions we should take under these two slogans of Russian Troops Out and No NATO expansion.

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Two tweets, a ‘Phoenix’ fable and a hatchet to the bud of left solidarity with Ukraine.

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Guest post by Des Derwin

The Phoenix piece (below) from 5th May 2022- re-posted in the ‘Left Links’ Facebook group on 3rd October 2022 – is a case of accusation through association, and association through juxtaposition, seeking to identify Ukrainian activist and academic Nadia Dobrianska with the far right.

In the Facebook group ‘Left Links’ the Phoenix piece was re-posted (3rd October 2022) with the demand for “some kind of explanation why socialists in Dublin would be hosting an event with Nadia Dobrianska who, if not a fascist, would certainly appear to be aligned with them”. There is no evidence provided for these innuendos and claims. There is possibly ground for a case of defamation from Nadia Dobrianska.

The flyer for the public meeting organised by Irish Left With Ukraine  (with additional speakers’ names covered to keep them out of the present controversy).

Two tweets referring to Russian refugees from Nadia Dobrianska were also posted on ‘Left Links’ (29th September). If these tweets are genuine they – or one in particular – are problematic for her and for a speaker at a left public meeting on Ukraine. These will be discussed later but for now it should be noted that they do not offer evidence that she is fascist, or far right or even has an anti-immigrant position in general.

The general political background to a piece on Ukraine in the Phoenix is that the magazine tends, like much ‘left-leaning’ commentary in Ireland on Ukraine, to blame the US and NATO for the invasion and to portray the Zelensky government as oppressive, right wing and particularly objectionable.  

The Phoenix piece is headed “Azov Human Rights”.  Azov is a sea to the South of Ukraine. It is also a signal for the imputation of fascist politics to Ukraine’s resistance to the invasion, extrapolated from the common propaganda claim that the far right Azov paramilitary organisation reflects the viewpoint of the Ukrainian government. The claim usually denies that Azov has been depoliticised and incorporated into the Ukrainian National Guard engendering the departure of its leaders to found new independent political organisations. Indeed the claim is exactly repeated later in this Phoenix article where it says: “The Azov Battalion is a unit of the National Guard of Ukraine which has as its core white supremacist and neo-Nazi members and ideology.”

The first sentence in ‘Azov Human Rights’ contains a gratuitous claim that Nadia Dobrianska “has become quite the Irish media darling”. This is another signal to those who object to the mainstream media’s support for Ukrainian defence and who would see it as the same as the usual media bias and misrepresentation in favour of the West on Palestine, Iraq, Julian Assagne, etc.

The Phoenix article begins:

Irish-speaking Nadia Dobrianska works for a human rights organisation in her native Kyiv and has become quite the Irish media darling. Dobrianska works for ZMINA, which ‘aims to promote human rights, the rule of law and the ideas of civil society in Ukraine’ … one of the high profile cases is that of Serhiy Sternenko… “former head of the regional branch of the Right Sector’ [which] has been widely described as neo-fascist [and] has been linked to attacks on journalists, left-wing party members and offices.

A second case of ZMINA support for a rightest is then offered. Note she works for ZMINA. That is, she does some of the work that ZMINA does and would not presumably be involved at all in every case that ZMINA takes up, such as for instance the two cases cited by Phoenix.

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“Putin is talking about the desire for peace again? Amazingly. Because ‘conflict resolution’ is extremely simple. Immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from the entire territory of Ukraine.” – Mykhailo Podolyak, Senior Adviser to Ukraine’s President Zelensky

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Allowing for the fog of war and incomplete exaggerated or inaccurate media reports – convincing evidence suggests that the invading Russian army is losing the war in Ukraine :

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Mr Zelenskiy, said in response: “Putin is talking about the desire for peace again? Amazingly. Because ‘conflict resolution’ is extremely simple. Immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from the entire territory of Ukraine.”

The astute analyst Mary Scully notes that Russia’s few powerful allies, Modi and Xi Jinping – leaders of India and China, are offering grim advice to Kremlin boss Putin :

“Supporters of Putin’s war are looking pretty damn foolish now that no less a war criminal than Modi publicly confronted Putin telling him to end the war against Ukraine & Putin acknowledged that China’s Xi Jinping privately expressed the same position. Russia has been able to sustain western sanctions only because India & China provided a financial lifeline by increasing trade, especially the purchase of oil & natural gas, from Russia.

It will be interesting to watch the song & dance of the war mongering progressives as they try to coordinate their apologetics with China & India’s realpolitik.”

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