Politics
Donald Trump has initiated the destruction of the American democracy in breathtaking speed. In less that two months, the world has changed as America has changed from a Republic with the promise of justice, civil rights, and a government “by the people and for the people” to a budding fascist dictatorship. Now, authoritarian rule has landed squarely on the heads of all Americans so quickly that people have not been able to process the change.
Americans have been conditioned to believe that living under an authoritarian rule is worse than death, thus Russia and China need to be labeled as enemies, and citizens are expected to support wars against them. But the enemy has emerged from within.
Ukraine once possessed the world’s third-largest stash of nuclear weapons. Many Ukrainians wish they still had them.
In 1994, through what became known as the “Trilateral Process,” Kiev traded those warheads for clear assurances of what it assumed would be permanent peace and security.
Today, Putin’s Russia possesses the warheads Ukraine once owned. And there is no peace.
The original deal was cut with Russia and the US. Great Britain was a party to the negotiations. France and China signaled their approval.
Here’s the back story:
When the Soviet Union fell in 1991, a substantial chunk of its nuclear weapons arsenal was parked in Ukraine.
Convicted felon Trump and, in practice, his co-president Elon Musk are engaging in efforts to radically transform the federal government, with the support of billionaires, the Republican Party, and his increasingly shaky “base” of millions of right-wing citizens. The Supreme Court gave him “immunity” while he is president. He thus has been given a judicial “mandate” to say and do just about anything while in office without any fear of punishment. So, he stretches the truth and lies.
The Lies
For example, here’s what Linda Qui reported for the New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/17/us/politics/trump-election-lies-fact-check.html).
“Before the 2020 election had even concluded, President Donald J. Trump laid the groundwork for an alternate reality in which he was declared the victor, falsely assailing the integrity of the race at nearly every turn.
You voted for Trump and are being deported, or losing your job, or paying more for eggs. Now you’re the subject of so-called journalism about your “buyer’s remorse.” This is an extremely weak version of the sort of transformation that is needed — the sort of Saul-to-Paul awakening, forehead-slapping, I’ve-been-an-idiot, redemption-seeking metamorphosizing needed from millions of people, Trump voters and otherwise. For one thing it’s all still selfish and short-sighted. For another thing, you weren’t offered a decent alternative. You picked the sociopath who was worse in many ways than the other sociopath. You didn’t fail to pick someone good, as that option wasn’t offered — not on many ballots, not in the corporate media that you rely on probably far more than you realize. Plus you were right to pick the person proposing to change things. Unfortunately, he wanted to change most things for the worse. Regretting your Trump vote is like the captain of the Titanic regretting he’s put on dirty underwear and socks. It’s gross, but it misses the point.
Vladimir Putin right now has in his sights nearly 300 pre-deployed atomic weapons set to easily launch a radioactive apocalypse with a single drone strike.
He may already have crashed an early warning into the sarcophagus at Chernobyl.
And taken as a whole, the “Peaceful Atom” lends a terrifying reality to Donald Trump’s Oval Office threat of an impending World War 3.
Some 180 operational “Peaceful Atom” reactors now operate throughout Europe. There are 93 more in the US, 19 in Canada, two in Mexico.
Putin, or anyone else of his ilk, would need precisely one technician with one weaponized drone to turn any “peaceful” nuke into a radioactive apocalypse.
When Donald Trump brought Ukraine’s Volodymir Zelensky into the Oval Office to accuse him of flirting with “World War 3,” atomic reactors were among the specifics he failed to cite.
As a young person, I was always enthralled by art, history, religion, philosophy, and psychology. While I was born a reformer—driven by a deep instinct and hunger to understand how systems, policies, and the social mechanics of society worked—I also ventured deeply into humanity, culture, and the fundamental questions of what makes people tick and how. Instead of winning my school’s annual academic excellence prize, I was awarded prizes for service to the community. In 1995, at the age of eighteen, I was named my county’s Young Citizen of the Year for my contributions to both local and international volunteer work. A moral code of service and compassion guided me, balancing heart with action.
The Capitol’s phone lines have been overwhelmed this month, and some Democrats are complaining about the deluge of calls from voters who implore them to fight the Trump administration. Too often the responses to the calls have amounted to passing the buck rightward.
We launch GREEP Zoom #212 with a lovely poem from our Laureate MIMI GERMAN, who tells us about the feminist community of Rohava in northern Syria.
Co-convenor MIKE HERSH introduces Prof. ERIC KINGSON takes us on a long journey for saving Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid, which he says have deep popular support.
MARGARET VILLANI expresses her concern about the lethal swoop now trashing Medicare & Medicaid.
ELLEN GOTTLIEB from Save Social Security & Medicare Now.com tells us of upcoming Florida events.
Longtime organizer DANIELA GIOSEFFI warns that the dispersal of personal from Social Security & Medicare comprise an urgent threat.
We hear from ROBERT COPLIN on California’s SSI shortcomings.
KEVIN EISENSTADT seeks guidance on the best time to take SSI benefits.
DONALD SMITH and MICKI LEADER warn about the need to sustain public support for these public institutions.
Grassroots organizing questions come from BRYAN BLAKELY.
Environmental broadcaster KEN GALE checks in from WBAI with vital green info about ECO-RADIO.
