Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Archive for the ‘USA’ Category

New “Foreceful” Anti-Immigrant Policy Issued by Sinn Féin Migration Spokesperson Matt Carthy TD

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One person who read this document wrote “shocking”.

Another observed “Galloway, Wagenknecht and now Sinn Féin. And at least one “Leftie” in Ireland moaning about the famous single unvetted male”.

The good news is that sincere anti-racist voters in Britain, Germany, and Ireland are realising that “Red-Brown” politics stink. In the Dublin Central  constituency, where one of the 4 Dáil Deputies is SF leader Mary-Lou McDonald TD, the party’s 1st preference vote went down 12.3 per cent. SF got a warning that it was losing support to its left and right.

Many SF members are anti-racists. They must speak out now, because evidence suggests that the party leadership is doubling down to promote a new suite of racist policies.


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Sinn Féin to challenge asylum centres in poor areas

See also :


Facebook link; Irish republicans opposed to SF anti-immigrant policy

The party is directing its members to take a more forceful approach to blocking accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees in deprived areas.

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There will be no peace without justice: Statement of Ukrainian civil society organizations on the US-Russia negotiations

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No Peace Without Justice – Statement of ukrainian Civil Society on the US-Russia Negotiations – ESSF


No Peace Without Justice – Statement of Ukrainian Civil Society On the US-Russia Negotiations – Zmina

We, representatives of [Ukrainian] civil society and human rights organizations, decisively condemn the negotiations between the delegations of the Russian Federation and the United States regarding Ukraine, which took place in Saudi Arabia, as well as the plans to create negotiating groups without the participation of Ukraine. Any agreements about Ukraine without its direct participation are not only unacceptable, but also contradict the fundamental principles of international law, the sovereignty of states, and the right of the people of Ukraine to independently determine their future.

Such agreements are fundamentally incapable of accomplishing sustainable peace and international security, creating additional security, economic, and other threats to states that will support them. This path repeats the fatal mistake the international community made during the Munich Agreement of 1938, which, as was discovered later, did not satisfy the encroachment of the aggressor state and led to an even more destructive war.

Ukraine is not an object, but a sovereign state affected by aggression

Russia continues waging a full-scale war against Ukraine in violation of the fundamental principles of international law, including the prohibition to use force against the territorial integrity and political independence of any state enshrined in the UN Charter. This has been recognized not only by numerous decisions of international organizations, but also supported by the majority of countries in the world. The aggression committed by the Russian Federation has already resulted in numerous war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the likely genocide of the Ukrainian people.

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Peace between neofascists and war on oppressed peoples – the Trump-Putin Anti-Ukraine Summit in the land of Saudi Arabian Bloodbaths

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Convicted Rapist-President Donald Trump (USA) and wanted international war criminal President Vladimir Putin (Russia) are knifing Ukraine Palestine and Syria, hosted by the Saudi Arabia bloodbath kingdom.

Three sociopathic assassins (Putin, Trump, and Mohammed bin Salman) have form. Barcelona journalist Cristina Mas notes : “This format would have been unthinkable just five years ago, after the murder of journalist and opposition leader Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, a crime that prompted condemnation around the world and the cooling of relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia”

From the pro-Ukraine left, useful interpretations are circulating.

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Understanding the Implications of US Vice President JD Vance’s Confrontational Speech at the Munich Security Conference – Daniel Tanuro

Extract :

In a highly confrontational speech delivered at the Munich Security Conference opening on 14 February, US Vice President JD Vance declared that the “internal threat” facing Europe was more serious than that posed by Russia and China. He criticised the annulment of a recent election in Romania, the prosecution of an anti-abortion protester in the United Kingdom, and the exclusion of far-right and far-left German politicians from the event itself.

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USA University of Notre Dame has an official nickname “Fighting Irish” – Reason : Irish-American Students Beat the Ku Klux Klan off their streets in 1924

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Not only a good story, but a true story.

Readers may like the explanation of how Irish-American students greeted gullible racists stepping off trains and buses in South Bend Indiana, brought Ku Klux Klan racist thugs down familiar dark alleys, and administered physical education which would never be forgotten.

Many Irish-Americans have a shameful history of collaborating with nativist racists, but counter-examples exist. We thank Dave Schubert for drawing our attention to this fascinating story.

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish Attack KKK


The author of this article, Brendan O’Shaughnessy, gives us a practical link between the past and the present :

Todd Tucker, the Klan story’s chronicler, lives and writes in Valparaiso, Indiana. He said the recent re-emergence of white supremacism and the Klan have clear parallels in the history he researched. Klan members even showed up during his book tour in 2004.
“The Klan is a very durable American institution,” Tucker said by phone. “One of the reasons it’s durable is because it’s adaptable. It doesn’t surprise me at all to find them at the front of the mob. Fear of immigrants, fear of change — that we’re changing for the worse. And an ability to capitalize on those fears — they’ve always been really effective at that.”


A Clash Over Catholicism

Notre Dame students confronted the Ku Klux Klan in 1924

Published August 2018

It was May 1924, and the Ku Klux Klan wanted to showcase its power and cement its sudden grip on Indiana politics by holding a picnic and parade in South Bend, the most Catholic area in the state.

About 500 University of Notre Dame students showed their objections by storming downtown and ripping the hoods and robes off surprised Klan members. As the Klan arrived in trains, buses and cars, the students roughed members up in alleys and stole their regalia for battle trophies. They chased the rest to the Klan headquarters downtown at the corner of Wayne and Michigan streets.

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Musk vs Maga on Immgration

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A war between vipers in the USA.

During Christmas 2024, writes Simon Hannah, the internet was a blaze with a fierce row on the far right in the USA. 

This useful story comes from the British website, Anti-Capitalist Resistance.

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Musk V Maga on Immigration

Key grassroots leaders of the recently triumphant MAGA movement went to war with Elon Musk on the question of immigration, in a spectacular argument that pointed to political divisions within their movement.

Tensions were already rising as Musk fanboys had started to promote their favourite capitalist as a co-president or ‘the real VP’ which angered the rampant egotism of Donald Trump who does not tolerate any competition. Musk made clear at a recent rally that Musk could never be president. Why? Because “He wasn’t born here”.  Musk, a South African who is now naturalised as a US citizen would always ultimately be an outsider for the MAGA people. 

This was the kindling for the wider explosion. Just before Christmas Day, Trump appointed US-Indian venture capitalist Siram Krishnan to be policy lead on AI. This was met with anger from some of the MAGA faithful – Krishnan had previously been a Democrat supporter so was seen as a suspect, but also crucially – not American. Well not fully ‘American’ in the way that they care about i.e. white. 

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Elon Musk, Nigel Farage, and the Gruesome Twosome of the British Tory Party

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On the western and eastern sides of the Atlantic Ocean a ferocious viper war has erupted.

US President-elect Donald Trump’s favourite attack-dog Elon Musk is trying to remote-control British politics.

Reform leader Nigel Farage’s typically British stiff upper-lip response is described below : it is like the Fawlty Towers episode when Basil Fawlty failed to produce a Waldorf Salad for a tyrannical American diner who had paid the bungling guest-house owner a generous bribe :

Financial Times, January 6 2025

Before long Trump will dispose of Musk, just as Russian strongman Putin bumped off Mr Prigozhin.

Musk might, at some point, jangle some of his loose change in the direction of far-right Irish political operators. The nearest Irish equivalent to Musk’s suggested Nigel Farage – Tommy Robinson marriage is a direct link between the beggar-gombeens of the Dublin Dáil and the convicted kick boxer/rapist Conor McGregor. The Independent Ireland (II) party had to dump a McGregor associate, Phil Sutcliffe, from its candidate list after Nikita Hand won a court victory over the kick-boxing rapist.

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Luigi Mangione killed a Chief Executive Officer in New York – Why do so many Americans blame the private health industry?

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Young, well educated Luigi Mangione is certainly learning that corporate America does not take kindly to the killing of one of their own. When he took the life of Brian Thompson, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of United Healthcare, one of the largest US health insurance providers, there was an immediate shocked reaction by corporations, the media, and politicians.

They saw it as a threat to all corporate leaders, who now feared for their lives. Bullet casings found at the scene had the words “delay,” “deny,” and “depose” scrawled on them. These are phrases used by health insurance companies in the US to avoid paying claims. The corporate heads were shocked. On the other hand, the media was inundated by people reporting their bad experiences with health insurance companies who denied their claims for needed treatments, surgeries and procedures.

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Nightmare News, New Orleans USA – Anti-abortion Louisiana governor Jeff Landry encourages terrorism

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Louisiana’s governor Jeff Landry issued a deadly threat to the people living in the city of New Orleans :

This story – dateline November 13 2023, did not hit international headlines.

By contrast, on January 1 2025, we are in the middle of a breaking story about another mass shooter event in an American city : at least ten people are dead because an assassin opened fire into New Orleans citizens celebrating the new year.

The city of New Orleans uses the Mississippi River as drinking water. Our current governor (Louisiana’s Jeff Landry) begged the state to remove funding from the city of New Orleans to fix the pumps and the decaying sewage and water system UNTIL the District Attorney agrees to prosecute women for abortions.

Must read article by @geauxgabrielle.bsky.social.“IN A HORRIFYING INTERSECTION OF REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, JEFF LANDRY HAS URGED THE STATE TO WITHHOLD FUNDS BECAUSE OF HIS PERSONAL FEELINGS ABOUT REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS.”👇🏽

Lisa Reyna Loe (@lisaloe.bsky.social) 2024-12-31T22:28:01.068Z

On January 1 2025 conflicting explanations of the mass shooter event are offered :

One correspondent notes :

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European Parliament : International Migrants Day: The Left condemns Commission greenlight for pushbacks

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Freedom of movement has to be defended in the European Union.

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International Migrants Day – EU Left condemns commission greenlight for pushbacks

The Left marks International Migrants Day today, noting that the European Commission and Member states have significantly backtracked in recent days over commitments to basic human rights protections for migrants and refugees, to the point of endorsing the illegal practice of pushbacks on EU borders.

In a Communication announced last week by Executive President Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission shockingly gave the greenlight for Member States to conduct pushbacks on the EU’s borders and to adopt ‘exceptional measures’ that suspend or delay the registration of asylum applications.

Left MEP Estrella Galán (Sumar, Spain) said: “The Commission’s decision to grant Member States carte-blanche to suspend the right to asylum at borders under the pretext of ‘security’ threats reflects the growing influence of the far-right, which seeks to criminalise migrants and refugees, turning the right to asylum into a mere tool for control and exclusion.

Left MEP Li Andersson (Vasemmistoliitto, Finland)  said: “The most right-wing Commission in the history of the EU starts its mandate by trying to give the greenlight to Member States to legalise pushbacks. But it is important to note that the Commission Communication is a political statement. Pushbacks are contrary to international human rights law and the assessment of their legality will remain in the hands of the courts – not the Commission. Strengthening security must never mean compromising on fundamental and human rights.” 

This comes following the decision of a number of Member States such as Finland and Poland to suspend asylum processes, citing ‘the instrumentalisation of migration’ by Russia and Belarus. This course of action will only further endanger people seeking refuge at Europe’s external borders.

During this week’s plenary session in Strasbourg, The Left expressed deep concern about these flagrant attacks on human rights and the right to asylum. The Commission’s Communication comes as the European approach to asylum and migration deteriorates across the board. The EU’s policy of border externalisation continues apace, as does the criminalisation of humanitarian aid and search and rescue in Member States, all of which represent a pattern of crackdowns on the right to asylum in the EU since the adoption of the Asylum and Migration Pact.

Changing of the Mudguard

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Diana O’Dwyer presents a refreshingly honest and interesting analysis of the November 29 2024 Irish General Election result. No attempt is made to hide an obvious fact : this was a setback for the left.

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Changing of the Mudguard

People Before Profit’s (PBP) slogan during the election campaign was “End 100 years of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael”. But now we are facing into yet another Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael (FF-FG) government. Why has this happened? Are we stuck in a never-ending Groundhog Day or does hope for radical change remain?

After the last election in 2020, escape from a century of FF-FG rule seemed not just possible but probable. The cycle of alternation between the two frenemies had finally been broken with the identical twins of Irish capitalism forced into a grand coalition, propped up by the Green Party with external support from right-wing Independent TDs. [2] The 2008 economic crash and the decade of social upheaval and struggle that followed had enabled Sinn Féin (SF) to steal the mantle of the largest party in the Dáil for the first time and it looked certain to lead the next government.

But now, almost 5 years later, FF and FG have returned with an extra 13 seats and are only one seat short of a majority – compared to 7 short last time. They are not any more popular than they were in 2020 – their share of the vote actually fell slightly (by 0.4%). But in a situation with little in the way of class struggle and where no clear alternative was posed, they were able to maintain and even improve their position. FF topped the poll at 22%, followed by FG on 21% and SF on 19%.

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