Posts Tagged ‘politics’
Antisemitism in the Oval Office (The Trump-Vance Assault on Volodymyr Zelensky) – Timothy Snyder
Antisemitism in the Oval Office
A confrontation seen with a historian’s eye
There are many ways to analyse the Donald Trump / JD Vance ignorant thuggish assault on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House’s Oval Office on Friday February 28 2025.
The historian Timothy Snyder carefully shows us that the presidential rapist from New York orchestrated an antisemitic assault
Link :
Antisemitism in the Oval Office
The attempt to humiliate Volodymyr Zelens’kyi in the Oval Office a week ago was an American strategic collapse. It heralded a new constellation of disorderly powers, obsessed with resources, seizing what they can. Inside that new disaster is something old and familiar that we might prefer not to see: antisemitism. The encounter in the White House was antisemitic.
I am historian of the Holocaust. I was trained by a survivor. Jerzy Jedlicki was nine years old when the Germans invaded, and fourteen when he emerged from hiding in Warsaw, and a prominent Polish historian by the time we met. He talked to me about antisemitism for decades, from the time of the breakup of the Soviet Union until his death in 2018. The way that I reacted to the scene in the Oval Office, and how I have pondered and considered it since, have to do with my research, but also with him.
Jerzy survived the Holocaust because his mother Wanda, a literary translator, refused to go with her children to the Warsaw ghetto. Thanks to her courage and ingenuity, and to others who helped her, he and his brother survived. Jerzy’s father was murdered, like more than three million other Jews in Poland. The family history emerged bit by bit, as we became friends, as some of his own colleagues wrote memoirs of childhood survival, as my own interests turned towards the war. During my research, I found a recollection, by his mother, of their time in hiding in Warsaw. It turned out that he had helped her to write it.
Read the rest of this entry »“Horror and Disgust” over Donald Trump (convicted rapist) bullying Ukraine President Zelensky in White House – former Polish President Lech Wałesa speaks out – Paul LeBlanc responds
Former Polish President and Labour Leader Lech Wałesa has denounced a thuggish attack on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Washington DC White House on Friday February 28. The perpetrators were a convicted rapist – the US President Donald Trump – and the rapist’s sidekick, the US Vice President JD Vance. TV viewers all over the world were shocked by these scenes. One day afterwards, Vance was forced to abandon a skiing holiday by many pro-Ukraine protesters in the New England state of Vermont.
We thank Joan McKiernan for bringing us the Wałesa story, contained in a New York Times article (see below).
First, the historian Paul LeBlanc assesses the Wałesa statement.
Read the rest of this entry »‘Trump likes what Putin does,’ Bernie Sanders says in exclusive interview (Kyiv Independent)
All of the left needs to stand on the ground occupied by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the USA.
Get Involved :
Solidarity With Ukraine Conference Brussels March 26 and 27 2025
Solidarity With Ukraine Conference – Left MEPs – Brussels March 26 and 27 2025
Link to Bernie Sanders Interview :
Trump Likes What Putin Does – Senator Bernie Sanders
As Ukraine enters the fourth year of Russia’s full-scale invasion, shifting political dynamics in the U.S. threaten to influence the course of the war. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly misrepresented the war’s origins, excluded Ukraine from initial negotiations, and advocated for what many see as an exploitative deal that would force Ukraine to surrender national resources as “repayment” for U.S. aid.
Trump’s rhetoric raises urgent questions about America’s long-term commitment to aiding Ukraine.
Read the rest of this entry »UN General Assembly condemns Russia’s imperialist invasion of Ukraine; USA and Russia Vote No : Anti-imperialist left everywhere at a fork in the road – With Ukraine or Against Ukraine?
The Trump-Putin Imperialist and Ethnic-Cleansing attack on Ukraine is a major turning point.
The anti-imperialist left everywhere is at a fork in the road : Either With Ukraine or Against Ukraine
UN General Assembly passes resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
The Financial Times reported (February 24 2025) :
The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine co-sponsored by Kyiv and EU nations, despite the US voting against it and urging other states to do so.
The resolution passed with 93 votes in favour. The US and Russia were two of 18 votes against. China abstained, alongside 64 other countries.
The US had urged countries to vote against as it has its own resolution that calls for peace in the three-year long war, and does not condemn Russia’s invasion or its ongoing aggression against Ukraine.
The UN Security Council, in which the US and four other permanent members have veto rights, is likely to vote on the issue later in the day.
The General Assembly vote, which came shortly after G7 leaders failed to agree on a joint statement condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine on the third anniversary of President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, has exposed the widening gulf between the US and Europe in the early months of Donald Trump’s second term.
Read the rest of this entry »Senator Bernie Sanders : Russia started the war, not Ukraine. Putin is the dictator, not Zelensky – A growing progressive Pro-Ukraine revolt is rocking the USA – One dude, Jeffrey Sachs, is not joining in
The good news is that progressive revolt seems to be starting in the United States of America.
A leading spokesperson is Bernie Sanders, an independent Senator from the New England state of Vermont.
The ignorant racist anti-Ukraine thug, Vice-President JD Vance, is not welcome in Vermont :
One man is not joining the growing progressive popular pro-Ukraine in the USA.
His name is Jeffrey Sachs, a right-wing economist whose hands are very dirty ; “Sachs’ methods for stabilizing economies became known as shock therapy and were similar to successful approaches used in Germany after the two world wars”
Link :
Jeffrey Sachs, Wikipedia
The anti-Ukraine views of Dr Sachs are endorsed and shared by the ignorant imperialist thugs running the Washington White House, the convicted rapist President Donald Trump and his sidekick JD Vance, who publicly ambushed Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on February 28 2025 in the White House.
Read the rest of this entry »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
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.
Link :
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.
Read the rest of this entry »Musk vs Maga on Immgration
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.
Link :
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.
Read the rest of this entry »Working for Rebel Verdicts – George Blake and Luigi Mangione
Political trials, on occasion, are not straight black-and-white events : Guilty or Not Guilty?
In the USA a shooter killed the Chief Executive of a private medical insurance company – a tsunami of mass opposition to a healthcare system which puts greed first, and healthcare second, has erupted.
On this blog Joan McKiernan reviewed this extraordinary political development, prompting Paul Hunter to send us this article
Why Most Americans Blame Insurers for UHC CEO’s Death – Paul Hunter
Hunter sings from Joan McKiernan’s hymn-sheet.
Murder is not to be taken lightly. It should be approached with extreme reverence and care. It means violating the sanctity of life, and it has the potential to cause severe heartache and trauma to those who have been left behind. For that reason, I will affirm that it is wrong. But I will not for one second shed a tear for United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and I’m not alone.
Thompson was gunned down by a masked assassin while on his way to a shareholder meeting in Midtown Manhattan on December 4. A man matching his description, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, was arrested in Pennsylvania five days later.
There can be little doubt as to how Thompson died. The murder was caught on camera. But according to a new poll from NORC at the University of Chicago, roughly 70% of Americans believe that healthcare coverage from insurance companies like UHC bears at least “a moderate amount” of responsibility for his death. It’s easy to see why.
The full article is below.
But what about the parallel to the case of George Blake? Two anti-war activists, Pat Pottle and Michael Randle, sprung Blake from a London jail in the 1960’s with the help of Seán Bourke, an Irish petty criminal who possessed a spark of pure genius.
Here is the connection with Luigi Mangione : Pottle and Randle stated openly they had organised the escape of George Blake and pleaded Not Guilty on the grounds that their action was justified. It remains to be seen if Luigi Mangione will mount a political and legal defence like this. It is a strategy that Luigi and his attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, should examine carefully.
John Meehan January 5 2025
Link : George Blake – Rebel Verdict
Ireland’s Closed Border at Dublin Airport – Two disgraceful incidents as 2025 begins
During the opening days of most new years important stories can pass us by, unnoticed. Hats off to two journalists, Conor Pope and Alexon Lacerda, who spotlighted disturbing incidents at Dublin Airport. These stories come from the Irish Times, January 3 2025. Are they isolated regrettable incidents, or are they typical examples of a “get tough” state anti-immigrant policy?
Brazilian Student Deported from Ireland over Christmas – He claims paperwork error left him “helpless”
A Brazilian student who says he was deported in error over Christmas by Irish immigration authorities has described feeling “helpless” and “abandoned” after a mini-trip away from Dublin turned into a nightmare.
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Tomás Ó Flatharta 