Politics

"Berlusconi is there because others have failed." These words by Italian columnist Massimo Franco were made to the Washington Post in 2018, shortly before the Italian March elections. They sum up the story of Italy's modern politics.

 Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's adored but also loathed longest-serving prime minister died on June 12. His party, Forza Italia, is a partner in Italy's current government coalition, led by Giorgia Meloni. 

Berlusconi has not served as a prime minister since 2011. Despite his old age - he died at 86 - and his many scandals, he continued to cast a shadow over Italian politics, even when dying at Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital.

This author became a firm, unwavering supporter of Robert F Kennedy Jr.'s run for President of the United States of America after I learned he understands and opposes NATO's war against Russia, via Ukraine. The last President who advocated for peace was his Uncle, John F Kennedy, who's American University peace speech in June of 1963 likely resulted in his assassination at the hands of the National Security State. Although Jimmy Carter started no wars, he was not openly antiwar. Independent candidates, Jill Stein for example, have been antiwar but the system is stacked against independent candidates. Since my first vote for President, I have never had the opportunity to vote for a candidate who opposed war and had a chance to win.

Well, if you thought the American Civil War ended back in 1865, you are apparently wrong. No less an authority than President Joe Biden, in a May 13th commencement speech to historically black Howard University’s graduates, told the overwhelmingly black students and their families that “The most dangerous terrorist threat to our homeland is white supremacy. And I’m not saying this because I’m at a Black HBCU, I say it wherever I go.” Indeed, both Biden and his inert Attorney General Merrick Garland nee Garfinkel have delivered that same message on a number of occasions, but this was the first time it was employed in such a racially charged environment.

My fellow Americans:

I’ve changed my mind. With a heavy heart, I am announcing that I will not seek or accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for president in 2024.

The poll numbers indicate that I would be a burden on the party’s national ticket next year and would also have problematic effects on many down-ballot races. It’s time to face grim political realities -- however unfortunate they may be.

While I appreciate the loyalty of so many Democrats in Congress who would like to run for the 2024 presidential nomination but would not consider running against me, I now realize that my insistence on seeking re-election has had important negative effects. And the longer I delay in announcing a change of course, the less time they’ll have to build their own national campaigns.

The specter of a second Donald Trump presidency is just too cataclysmic to allow any personal political ambition on my part to serve as an enabler to that fascistic demagogue.

This author is all in on Robert F Kennedy Jr for President. After my first four months of retirement, I decided to pay more attention to Bobby Kennedy Jr., Glen Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, Catalyn Johnston, Scott Horton, Dennis Kucinich and others. Let me explain why I will support RFK Jr., while not discussing his candidacy for several paragraphs.

I still read the New York Times and Washington Post's official take on things, but mainstream media seems to be always moving in lockstep with the Oligarchy and the Military Industrial Complex. When I moved out of the country (to Thailand) I wanted to escape a dysfunctional country. Maybe America looks more dysfunctional from afar, but there are recent major stories to backup the view that America's descent into madness or fascism is accelerating.

Though it has been argued that the so-called American dream is long dead, Nikki Haley is proof that the dream is still alive. Unfortunately, the ‘dream’ is hers alone.

Until recently, a close confidante of former US President Donald Trump and his pro-Israel circle, Haley wants to be the next United States president. On February 14, she officially declared her candidacy and, starting February next year, she will be officially competing against her former bosses in the Republican primaries. 

For a whole year, Israel has struggled in its attempts to articulate a clear and decisive position regarding the Russia-Ukraine war. The reason behind the seemingly confused Israeli position is that it stands to lose, regardless of the outcome. But is Israel a neutral party?

Nobody with a sane perspective of reality can deny that the Republican Party has become a cesspool of nefarious qualities like white supremacy, Christian nationalism, homophobia, antisemitism, QAnon conspiracy theories and unbridled greed amongst other character deficiencies mixed together looking for a leader that will allow unbridled greed to properly use the other nefarious "qualities" to maintain itself in the leading role.

Florida’s sane people are in a deep quagmire. We not only have Donald Trump as resident of the State, but worst yet, we have Ron DeSantis as governor. DeSantis working in conjunction with an inept Democratic Party, (sometimes the Dems are so inept that it makes it difficult not to believe they are working in conjunction), has been able to convey the image that Florida is going to be in the Republican camp for a long haul. All because while DeSantis is busy implementing Fascism many of the Democratic leaders are more concerned about “encroaching socialism.”

Yesterday (1/19/23) I was reading the New York Times (arguably America’s most prestigious newspaper) and couldn’t find a single article about Peru while able to find several many about Ukraine. It surprised me because it was widely announced that there was going to be a march in Peru starting from different points in the interior of the country joined by a general strike to be called by the La Central General de Trabajadores del Peru (a conglomerate of different labor unions as it is our AFL-CIO). 

The march was going to conclude in Lima, the nation’s capital. The Peruvian government set up roadblocks in many of the different roads leading to the city trying to prevent entry to the city to no avail. The Miami Herald reported on it in today’s (1/20/23) Page 8. Gee, I get the feeling that some people don’t want us to know about the trials and tribulations that white supremacists, and its elitists cohort are going through.