Someone suggests that when I run as an independent socialist candidate for president in 2020 that I not “get all bogged down in international issues.” It isn’t that we’re “all bogged down” with Palestine, Kashmir, Burma, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, Libya, the Philippines, or anywhere else. It’s the US government, whether run by a Democrat or Republican, & the very nature of neoliberal capitalism that involves us in international politics through its military-industrial complex & arms deals, its wars, occupations, & support for genocide.

The stagnation of American working class politics is that many are provincial, even nationalist, & don’t recognize their affinities with working people in other countries & are, quite frankly, racist up to their eyeballs. The way to address that political failing is not to create false harmony by compromising with it but to work tirelessly to elaborate the affinities we share with other human beings & the commitment we have to end US aggressions of every kind against other peoples. Solidarity is the iron law of social transformation & American workers are not exempted from that reality. It would be a concession to white supremacy & American exceptionalism & that is absolutely excluded in principled politics.

There are no transformational politics possible in the US or anywhere else without being rooted in a commitment to justice & equality everywhere in this world. Nationalism is not our schtick. No human being is alien to us. Palestinians, Rohingyas, Syrians, Kashmiris, & others are not “international issues” to us. They are our brothers & sisters working with us to make this world suitable for children to come of age in, for human beings to live & love in. Amen.

Can we tone down the alarmism about the US elections? Fascism is not on the threshold & if it were, Democrats would not be the ones to stop it.

Referring to the massacre at Kulgam, Kashmir last Sunday, Rajnath Singh, the Home Minister of India, said: “Kulgam incident is unfortunate, people lost their lives in a blast, heartfelt condolences to the families, we will give 5 lakh rupees compensation to each family.” So expressive of contempt & indifference, that would be called adding insult to injury writ large.

He also tweeted today: “Jammu & Kashmir could not become a developed state due to corruption at several levels. The state government has chalked out an ‘Action Plan’ to take strong action against corruption. It will soon announce certain measures to curb corruption in J&K.” That action plan probably involves the deployment of more troops & more aggressive & frequent hunt to kill operations.

End the occupation. Self-determination for Kashmir. Support Kashmiris in getting rid of these amoral oppressors.

(Photo is Singh)

So Ben Norton, an Assadist sidekick to Max Blumenthal & Rania Khalek, thinks the CIA is engineering a coup against Mohammed Bin Salman, the Saudi guy behind the gruesome beheading & dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi. He bases this bizarre & kooky speculation on the same kind of evidence Assadists use for a US regime-change scenario in Syria. What’s really interesting about this assessment is that they whipped up support for Assad using the specter of “Saudi-backed Wahhabi/Salafi jihadi terrorism.” So are they against Wahhabism in Syria but for it in Saudi Arabia? And do they even know their ass from their elbows? Norton also tries to cover for his corruption by railing against Saudi bombing of Yemen. So is he against Wahhabi carpet bombing of Yemen but for Wahhabi rule in Saudi Arabia? Lacking principles or coherence, he is unable to clarify.

Does it surprise anyone that all three of these corrupt confusionists are public supporters of Tulsi Gabbard despite her arrant & vulgar Islamophobia, HIndutva nationalism & support for Modi, & support for General Sisi who usurped the Arab Spring uprising in Egypt? It’s all of a piece with Assadist support for Duterte, Suu Kyi, Ortega, Maduro, Modi. These three represent not just opportunism & social climbing to advance their careers but mostly a deeply reactionary & Islamophobic political current that supports state power against the just demands of popular movements for democracy. It’s only a matter of time before history catches up with these jokers & they are consigned to the oblivion where they belong.

(Photo is Norton looking like he’s seen a Wahhabi ghost)

If eyes are the window to the soul, in this Palestinian freedom fighter we see grief, fatigue, fear. But mostly we see a ferocious commitment to freedom. We salute them for never backing down against vilification as terrorists & the most vicious & powerful militaries in the world.

(Photo via Mohammed Matter)

This is an interview with a young Kashmiri man who on October 22, 1993 at the age of 13 was shot during the Bijbehara massacre & ran to the hospital with his intestines in his hands. The reason the memory of this bloodbath remains so powerful 25 years later is not just the personal horrors for so many but that there has not been justice & retribution; impunity for military crimes against civilians still prevails. The same is true for Palestinians, Rohingyas, & all whose humanity & rights are so violated. Remembrance is part of the struggle for justice.

https://www.facebook.com/Makemeknow.in/videos/vb.380815938765371/2359638634052844/?type=2&theater

People keep asking me to change my profile picture to make it more in keeping with the things I write about. You have to keep your bearings even in a hard-scrabble world & for me being morose & dour wouldn’t work. I write about the oppressed because I love people, hate the suffering of children, & think everyone has the right to a rich & peaceful life. I love being around people, love my book club mates where this photo was taken, & love laughter. I only wish I had put on some earrings & a little more lipstick when this picture was taken so that young guy from Kashmir who said I looked hot a few years back would still pony up with the compliments.

Had to unfriend someone for posting non-stop rubbish about Jews & their alleged conspiracies to take over the world. That stuff is personally odious to me & quite frankly, completely stupid. Politically I wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole since it’s a debasement of politics. If you think Jews are the problem rather than exploitation, inequality, racism, nationalism, war, occupation, genocide, capitalism, we’re really not meant to be social media pals because we’re working at odds with each other. Every social group has its schmucks; Jews don’t have more than the rest of us. To my mind, most of the human race is pretty damn cool.

What does it say that the gruesome murder of Jamal Khashoggi has brought more condemnation of Saudi Arabia than almost four years of carpet bombing Yemen?