Posts Tagged ‘politics’
USA : “Ten National Unions Call for Anti-Trump Resistance” – Labor Notes, Natascha Elena Uhlmann, April 8, 2025
Mass resistance to the far-right USA Donald Trump régime is growing. This Labor Notes article highlights a number of disturbing cases : people are being illegally detained by racist state forces and deported. Similar authoritarian anti-democratic developments are occurring in other countries, including Ireland.
The situation is far more grim in Putin’s Russia – that is where we are headed unless resistance grows.
Link :
USA : Ten National Unions Call Anti-Trump Resistance
Ten national unions and dozens of locals representing more than 3 million members have issued a joint statement demanding the release of immigrant workers recently snatched by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The statement names farmworker union leader Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez, who was picked up in what appears to be blatant retaliation for his organizing; SEIU Local 925 member Lewelyn Dixon, a University of Washington lab technician detained on her way home from visiting family; SEIU Local 509 member Rumeysa Ozturk, a graduate student whose detention by federal agents was captured in chilling footage; sheet metal worker Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a SMART Local 100 apprentice who was sent to El Salvador’s notorious prison complex; and United Auto Workers Local 2710 member Mahmoud Khalil, abducted by federal agents in front of his eight-months-pregnant wife.
The unions are also calling on employers, university administrators, and local governments to refuse to cooperate—and demanding that elected officials “find their spines.”
Read the rest of this entry »“Our task is to do everything in our power to give Ukraine the best possible starting point for securing the fairest possible peace. This means putting pressure on our governments to give more aid to Ukraine. That is our main task.” – Søren Søndergaard MP, Red-Green Alliance, Denmark
Søren Søndergaard, a Red-Green Alliance member of the Danish parliament, delivered the following speech to a March 26 and 27 Brussels Solidarity With Ukraine Conference
1) Prerequisite for a just peace – more support for Ukraine
The latest developments, with Trump’s blatant betrayal, are putting enormous pressure on Ukraine. It will be forced to make very difficult choices with enormous consequences. But as friends of Ukraine, we must continue to insist that neither Trump, nor the EU leaders, nor indeed we, should decide the path forward for Ukraine.
This choice can only be made by Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Because they are the ones who are under attack, who are losing lives and suffering every day in the war.
Our task is to do everything in our power to give Ukraine the best possible starting point for securing the fairest possible peace. This means putting pressure on our governments to give more aid to Ukraine. That is our main task.
2) We are not giving enough = ‘rearmament of the EU’?
I have just returned from a security conference in Warsaw for representatives of the EU national parliaments and the European Parliament. Some speakers asked the following question: how is it that 500 [million] Europeans are begging 350 million Americans to stop 150 million Russians who are unable to win a war against 40 million Ukrainians?
I understand that some people are asking this question to argue in favour of a general militarisation of Europe. But the question itself contains an important point. If Putin’s Russia wins the war, it is not because Europe lacks the necessary resources. It is because of a lack of political will to support Ukraine.
Western countries have supported Ukraine sufficiently to enable it to continue the war, but not sufficiently to drive the invaders out of the occupied territories.
Instead, the war in Ukraine is now being used as an argument in favour of general rearmament throughout the EU. The European Commission’s grand plan – Rearm Europe – envisages spending 800 billion euros on strengthening military capabilities.
To sell it, the myth is being spread that the reason we have not been able to help Ukraine with the necessary military supplies is that the European arms industry is small and too weak.
Read the rest of this entry »Brussels conference lifts Ukraine solidarity to higher plane – Report by Dick Nichols, Green Left Weekly Australia
The March 26-27 Brussels Solidarity with Ukraine conference drew together about 200 activists from a score of countries, in support of the Ukrainian people’s national and social rights.
A main organizer was Dick Nichols, who wrote the comprehensive report below;
Link :
Brussels Conference Lifts Ukraine Solidarity to a Higher Plane – Dick Nichols, Green Left Weekly
The gathering was organised by the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU) and the Ukraine Solidarity Campaigns (USC) of England and Wales and Scotland. It was devoted to strengthening people-to-people solidarity, as the menace of Ukraine being partitioned and pillaged by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s and United States President Donald Trump’s governments looms ever larger.
The conference also took place in the context of ongoing conflict between Ukraine’s trade union, feminist, environmental, civil rights and progressive political movements and the neoliberal domestic policies of Volodymyr Zelensky’s government.
Read the rest of this entry »French Far-Right Leader Marine Le Pen Sentenced to 5 Years jail (2 suspended) – banned from running for president for 4 years – a familiar story with many parallels
Currently a right wing Irish coalition government has a parliamentary majority because of a pact with a proven corrupt racist politician from Tipperary Michael Lowry (a former Fine Gael government minister). A number of high-profile Irish politicians have corruption black marks against their names besides Mr Lowry : Former Fianna Fáil heads of government (taoisigh) Charles Haughey and Bertie Ahern; former deputy leader of the right-wing Progressive Democrats Michael Keating; and so on.
The USA White House is run by a convicted rapist, Donald Trump, who promotes the political ambitions of a convicted Irish rapist, the kick-boxer Conor McGregor.
Readers may have noticed that wealthy powerful criminals like Lowry, Trump, McGregor and Marine Le Pen from France do not give up trying to get convictions overturned :
Here is an extract from a routine Irish Times report, May 8 2023 :
This is the factual position :
“Mr Lowry, a former Fine Gael minister, was previously found by a tribunal to have behaved in a manner that was “profoundly corrupt”. (Irish Examiner, April 2).
Donald Trump is actively trying to get his rapist conviction overturned on very dodgy grounds :
Read the rest of this entry »Support Ukrainian Resistance – Not Monstrous Rearmament Plans – Simon Pirani, People and Nature
An important left-wing conference in solidarity with Ukraine took place in Brussels on March 26 and 27 2025. We will present a number of reports from this conference in the next few days. Here is the first item – written by Simon Pirani who publishes a People and Nature blog.
Support Ukrainian Resistance – Not Monstrous Rearmament Plans – Simon Pirani, People and Nature
By Simon Pirani. Based on a talk given at a panel, “What peace?”, at the Solidarity with Ukraine event this week in Brussels
“What peace?” is a wide question. To narrow it down, we can ask: what sort of peace is being discussed among Ukrainians?
In an interview about the Trump-Putin talks, and the prospects for any agreement, our comrade Denis Pilash, a member of Sotsialnyi Rukh, said that “Ukrainians have two things in mind when thinking about any deal: the fate of people in the occupied territories, and how to prevent Russia from restarting the war.”
These points could frame areas for agreements, he argued. He pointed to the Ukrainian government’s position that it will not recognise illegal annexations, but would accept a ceasefire followed by negotiations.
Read the rest of this entry »Conor McGregor’s St. Patrick’s Day Spectacle – Two Rapists in the White House
Karim Zidan at SportsPolitika writes an excellent report on the appearance of Irish rapist-racist boxing superstar Conor McGregor at Donald Trump’s Washington DC White House on St Patrick’s Day 2025.
Link :
McGregor-Trump Rapist-Racist Summit – SportsPolitika
Zidan correctly observes that Irish government leaders Micheál Martin and Simon Harris distanced themselves from the Trump-McGregor Rapist-Racist summit. The socialist-feminist Dáil Deputy Ruth Coppinger (Solidarity-People Before Profit) points out that Martin voluntarily walked into the Trump-McGregor trap by lickspittling the American President at a March 12 White House event.
‘Two rapists in the White House’: TD tells Dáil McGregor’s visit to Trump was an insult to women
Link :
Two Rapists in the White House
Ahead of a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday to mark St. Patrick’s Day, former UFC champion Conor McGregor made an appearance at the White House briefing room, where he took questions from the baffled reporters in attendance.
As he stood at the podium alongside press secretary Karoline Leavitt, McGregor warned that “Ireland is at the cusp of potentially losing its Irishness” due to a so-called “illegal immigration racket.”
“It’s high time that America is made aware of what is going on in Ireland,” McGregor said, adding “What is going on in Ireland is a travesty.”
McGregor’s appearance comes less than six months after he was deemed liable for sexually assaulting a woman in a Dublin hotel in 2018. McGregor’s appeal against the jury’s findings is expected to come before the court this week.
Shortly following the verdict, McGregor was removed as the spokesperson for Proper No. Twelve, the Irish whiskey brand he helped create in 2018 before selling the brand three years later. Several retailers in the UK and Ireland have also removed Proper from its shelves, including Tesco.
Yet despite being liable for rape, McGregor was welcomed with open arms to the White House, with Leavitt claiming “we couldn’t think of a better guest to have with us on St Patrick’s Day.” The White House even shared a video of McGregor emerging from the West Wing before saying “Happy Paddy’s Day, America” to the camera.
McGregor’s White House welcome comes as no surprise, given President Donald Trump’s long-standing love for combat sports, particularly the UFC. No other sports organization aligned itself with Trump’s presidency as closely—or worked as hard to support his political rise—as the UFC.
During a meeting with Irish prime minister Micheal Martin last week, Trump said McGregor was his favourite Irish person partly because “he’s got the best tattoos I’ve ever seen”.
And yet, Trump’s fondness for McGregor extend beyond his taste for the fighter’s tattoos. McGregor has also voiced his support for Trump’s presidency and was in attendance at his inauguration in January. The two men also share a political vision marked by resurgent nationalism, isolationism, and a streak of anti-migrant hysteria.
McGregor’s views on migrants came to a head in November 2023, when he helped stoke anti-migrant sentiments that led to one of the most violent riots in Dublin’s history. The riot started after a man stabbed three young children and a care assistant in Dublin. Far-right activists quickly blamed immigration, stoking public rage after the suspect was identified as being originally from Algeria.
McGregor tweeted that Ireland was “at war” in the lead-up to the riots. In the aftermath of the chaos, he followed up by tweeting “you reap what you sow.” He had previously spent weeks stoking anti-migrant sentiments on social media, including endorsing a “task force” to monitor migrants.
McGregor’s anti-migrant stances quickly made him a symbol for the far right throughout Europe. Kampf der Nibelungen, a German neo-Nazi MMA league, shared several of McGregor’s tweets in their Telegram channel, including one where the fighter called for a “task force” for all entrants coming into Ireland and demanded that the Irish government “correct this or you are all finished.” AI generated illustrations of McGregor holding a shotgun and leading an army of angry gun-wielding men waving Irish flags also spread on platforms such as 4chan, Gab, and Twitter.
McGregor’s views also caught the attention of some of Trump’s inner circle, including Elon Musk, who showed interest in the idea of McGregor running for office in Ireland. The 36-year-old has repeatedly stated his intention to run for president of Ireland, calling himself the “only logical choice” to lead the nation. Ironically, the Irish presidency is predominantly a ceremonial role, serving as representative of the Irish state.
And yet, McGregor’s meeting with Trump speaks to the role that combat sports plays in modern politics, with UFC fighters serving as the conduits of conservative values and right-wing policy. It’s yet another example of how Trump’s MAGA ideology aligns with MMA’s ethos—one where success isn’t won through negotiation or diplomacy, but through sheer strength, power, and dominance.
Nevertheless, while McGregor has managed to secure a coveted meeting with Trump, there are few people in Ireland who believe he is speaking on their behalf. Ireland’s Taoiseach Michael Martin tweeted today that “Conor McGregor’s remarks are wrong, and do not reflect the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, or the views of the people of Ireland.” Meanwhile, Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Defence Simon Harris added that “McGregor doesn’t speak for Ireland.”
“He doesn’t speak for the people of Ireland,” Harris said. “He has no mandate to do such, and my views on him are very clear, well established, previously articulated, long standing and on the public record.”
An Irish Times Report (May 21 2025) carries an “inside story” on the Trump-McGregor White House Rapist-Racist Summit. McGregor’s visiting team included a Dublin City Councillor Philip Sutcliffe, who discussed the chance that the racist-rapist boxer may run for the office of Irish President :
“Many believe all of this is a prelude to McGregor formally entering the race for the Irish presidential election which is due to take place after the summer. McGregor has repeatedly indicated he intends to run, although it is not at all clear if he would obtain the required support to get on the ballot paper.
Sutcliffe says he hopes McGregor will run and that he will have Washington’s full support if he does.
“Not only Washington, he’ll have the backing of Putin. He’s another fan of Conor’s,” he added.
Conspiracy, Proxy War and the Ghost of Stalinism
We wish to thank Ashley Smith for drawing our attention to this article by Tony McKenna, Counterpunch, March 11 2025.
Link :
Conspiracy Proxy War and the Ghost of Stalinism
In the conflict between Soviet Russia with Joseph Stalin at its head and Nazi Germany, I would have supported Soviet Russia. I suppose you could argue that might make me some kind of Stalinist. After all, I would have been supporting the Stalinist government. Not only that, I may even have hoped the US might provide it with funding to continue to organise its military effort, so you could probably label me an American stooge too. (in fact, the US did supply Soviet Russia with millions of tonnes of food, weapons and equipment during the Second World War).
But a distinction should be made. What one is supporting most fundamentally in this case is not Stalinism but rather the struggles of the Russian people themselves,[1] their imperilled freedoms at the hands of a brutal, barbaric foreign invasion. People fighting and dying – not because they had some great love for Stalin – but because they didn’t want to be bombed and maimed and killed at the hands of a foreign power. Because they didn’t want to live their day-to-day lives under the shadow of foreign occupation.
Of course, one could ignore all this. One could assert, for instance, that the Russian population were simply being manipulated in the interests of the Stalinist government (and vicariously the US itself) and, therefore, it was Stalinism and the US government who were the true objects of international support. Certainly, the defeat of Germany did bolster the imperial power of the US and Russia. But were the millions of Russians who fought and died against fascism – were those lives merely the ‘proxies’ of the interests of Stalin and the United States government who supported him?
Such an assertion most would find obscene. It is obscene because it involves the annihilation of a living content – the struggles and sacrifice of millions of people fighting for their concrete freedoms – in favour of the interests and relationships of a set of given states and governments considered in empty and schematic isolation.
For similar reasons, I support the right of the Ukrainian people to resist foreign occupation. As a necessary corollary, I also support the means by which they might do so – even if that means receiving funding and ammunition from the US and NATO (though if you can suggest some other alternative beyond capitulation at the point of a Russian gun, I really am all ears).
But none of this is the same as saying I support Zelensky, or that I support the US and NATO. At the most basic philosophical level, it simply means to recognise that freedom – as Kant put it – is ‘an end in itself’. It has an objective and social reality whether or not the arms the freedom fighters take up are provided by this particular imperial power or that one. Likewise, freedom has an objective reality whether or not it is being menaced by Russian bombs or Israeli bombs or Nazi bombs.
Read the rest of this entry »Fourth International 2025 World Congress backs Ukraine Against Russian Imperialist Invasion
The 18th World Congress of the Fourth International took place in Belgium from 23 to 28th February. The wide-ranging discussion covered the international situation in all its aspects from the structural polycrisis in its environmental, economic, social and political aspects to the movements of resistance, and the need to build and strengthen our own International. One particular point of debate was how as internationalist revolutionary Marxists we express our opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and our solidarity with the resistance of the Ukrainian people to this invasion, to the neoliberal policies of the Zelensky government and to neoliberal militarization.
We publish here the resolution presented by the majority of the outgoing IC, approved by the congress by 95 votes in favour, 23 against, 3 abstentions and 5 no votes, and the alternative resolution presented by a number of delegations rejected 31 for, 80 against, 9 abstentions.
Link ; Resolution on Ukraine: Fourth International World Congress
Duncan Chapel has complied a table comparing both resolutions, indicating areas of agreement and disagreement.
1. In February 2022, Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in an attempt to turn the country into a Russian satellite. This attempt has caused hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded already. But the regime in Moscow has long been characterised by expansionist Greater Russian imperialist ideology, which sees superpowers as endowed with the right to extend their zone of influence by all means possible, challenging established norms of international law and legitimising a new era of imperialist redistribution. Thus, for the Kremlin, the daily increasing human cost of this aggression is no reason to cease it, and further intensification is instrumental to terrorise the Ukrainian people into submission.
2. What was supposed to be a “special military operation” to bring down the Kyiv government in a matter of days has turned into a three-year entanglement in full-scale war. This development was unexpected not only for Putin but also for the Western powers—Biden even offered to help Zelensky evacuate. It is precisely the determination and resilience of the Ukrainian resistance that has thwarted Putin’s plans to this day.
3. The invasion of Ukraine was not only an attempt to reassert the role of Russia in the capitalist competition but also a deliberate attempt to tighten control over Russian society and crush all dissent. Anti-war activists have been prosecuted and sentenced to long prison terms on trumped charges. Socialist organisations, such as that of our comrades in the Russian Socialist Movement, have been forced to disband, and their members have had to flee. While feminists continue to mobilise, they do it under constant pressure with threats of imprisonment for even uttering the word “war”.
4. As internationalists, we defend Ukraine’s right to self-determination and their right to resist the invasion. People’s movements are an integral part of this resistance, waging a struggle on two fronts: against the occupants and against the Zelensky government. In this unequal fight, we stand together with other progressive forces in the country. We urge all internationalist left to develop political and material solidarity with trade unionists, feminists, and social and democratic activists in Ukraine. Just as the Fourth International has been doing this since the beginning of the aggression within the framework of the “European Network of Solidarity with Ukraine” (ENSU/RESU) and together with the Ukrainian left-wing organisation, Sotsialnyi Rukh.
5. Once again, we underline that we have no illusions about the nature of Ukraine’s regime. Their government is right-wing and neo-liberal, not shying away from mobilising fear to stay in power. It is just as keen to satisfy domestic capitalists as to reassure the Western powers of its ability to adapt to their demands. Its anti-social and anti-democratic policies are counter-productive in terms of defending Ukraine. They oppose the needs of its working classes, provoke their resentment, undermine social trust, and, as a result, the government relies on increasingly authoritarian measures. This makes standing with the Ukrainian wage earners and their organisations all the more important. We cannot abandon them when they desperately need solidarity, especially if our vision of emancipation is that of a struggle from below, where the people rise to fight, independant from the government and the great powers.
How to Handle Dilemmas – Chris Zeller responds to Hanna Perekhoda – European States must guarantee Ukraine can defend itself – but the call for general re-armament is wrong
This is an important discussion because a Trump-Putin alliance threatens Ukraine.
What are the implications in Ireland?
A very simple policy should be supported by the left in Ireland :
We do not have a policy of “Neutrality” in the conflict between Israel and Palestine – we are for Palestine. We must not have a policy of “Neutrality” in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine – we must be for Ukraine. Trump-Putin are promoting genocide in Palestine and Ukraine.
Concretely, the Irish state helps Ukraine to clear mines planted by the Russian genocidal invaders.
The Irish left must support this measure.
Moving things forward :
Expand mine clearing and related non lethal military support.
That has to be the policy of the Irish left – no ifs and buts.
Alongside that, we must oppose any Irish state attempt to to join imperialist military alliances such as NATO – a firm policy of Non-Alignment is required.
John Meehan March 22 2025
Chris Zeller’s note, published on facebook, is addressed to Hanna Perekhoda, whose article is included in this blog post :
How to Finance European Defence and how not to – and how the Irish Left can assist Ukraine by all means necessary (TÓF)
How to handle dilemmas?
I understand your arguments. I share your argument that we need a perspective of solidarity for the whole continent of Europe. This perspective includes massive support for the Ukrainian resistance. However, the fact that the countries of Europe and the USA have so far given too little support to Ukraine is not due to military inferiority vis-à-vis Russia but has political and economic reasons. At least some important sectors of capital have always focused on resuming “reasonable economic relations” with Russia.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tomás Ó Flatharta 