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My friend is not an elitist. To the contrary, he has spent decades of his life fighting social inequality, racism and championing the rights of disadvantaged groups. Therefore, I was taken aback when he surmised that “football is the opium of the people”. 

 The reference, which summons a famous Marxist maxim about religion written in a specific historical context, suggested that governments use mass sports events to distract from political problems or social conflicts. 

 He is partly right. Not only do governments invest in sports as a form of distraction, but they also often turn sports into a form of political legitimization. While all governments play this game, the US excels in it.  

By Ramzy Baroud

My friend is not an elitist. To the contrary, he has spent decades of his life fighting social inequality, racism and championing the rights of disadvantaged groups. Therefore, I was taken aback when he surmised that “football is the opium of the people”. 

The reference, which summons a famous Marxist maxim about religion written in a specific historical context, suggested that governments use mass sports events to distract from political problems or social conflicts. 

He is partly right. Not only do governments invest in sports as a form of distraction, but they also often turn sports into a form of political legitimization. While all governments play this game, the US excels in it.  

These days, conventional media wisdom says that President Biden will have a smooth path to renomination if he wants it.

Don’t be so sure.

Fifty-five years ago, pundits scoffed when a Democratic senator announced that he was running against incumbent Lyndon Johnson for their party’s presidential nomination. Eugene McCarthy launched his campaign to challenge Johnson’s continual escalation of the war in Vietnam.

Joe Biden’s public approval rating is now at 42 percent, virtually identical to what it was for President Johnson when the McCarthy campaign began in November 1967. A few months later, on March 12, 1968, McCarthy received 42 percent of the votes -- a stunning result, just 7 percent behind Johnson -- in the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary. Senator Robert Kennedy jumped into the race four days later. And two weeks after that, Johnson shocked the country by declaring that he would not seek re-election.

 Unlike the group’s first appearance on September 2, the number of fighters who took part in the rally in the Old City of Nablus on December 9 was significantly larger, better equipped, with unified military fatigues and greater security precautions. 

FacebookTwitter"How exactly is ‘diversity’ our ‘strength’?”

Oh, the smug ignorance of Tucker Carlson! Sometimes, in his certainty of rectitude, he asks questions that actually matter — or would matter if they were asked with any sort of honesty. The above quote, blathered on his news show, recently started flickering again in my brain, when I read about a Florida teacher who was fired after sarcastically interrupting the prayer session of some Muslim students at their school, declaring (as per a Tik Tok video): “I believe in Jesus, so I’m interrupting the floor.”

Uh, how exactly is diversity our strength? Or is it just an infuriating nuisance?

Our elections need to be protected and our progressive campaigns need grassroots support, exclusive of the party system.

In this GREEGREE zoom #121 we lay out a template for our work through November, 2024 (and maybe beyond).

We look first at a list of 20+ core issues dealing with election protection that will be in varying degrees the upcoming focus of our work.  They are listed below.

We are then joined by RAY MCCLENDON of the Georgia NAACP, who explains the nitty-gritty importance of grassroots “relational” campaigning with “democracy centers” for progressive candidates everywhere.

Ray focusses in particular on Georgia, where the recent GEORGIA MIRACLE has helped swing control of the United States Senate, among much more.

At San Francisco Airport I enjoy a filling lunch at the comfy United Club lounge. Relaxed, I then board a United Airlines nonstop direct flight for my 15th visit to Tahiti since the 1970s. I luckily have an entire aisle to myself and pass the time watching a recruiting poster masquerading as a movie called Top Gun: Maverick and the far better genre-bending Everything Everywhere All at Once. Upon arriving at Tahiti International Airport in Fa’a’ā, I am greeted by Tahiti Tourisme and Mana Tang and Vanessa Alvarez, co-owners of Tiurai Tours, and driven to my hotel in French Polynesia’s capital.

Many consider contemporary Tahiti to be a paradise lost. Candidly speaking, the urban/ suburban sprawl of this French colony, stretching roughly northeast from Papeete to Mahina and northwest to Punaauia, does have many of the ailments of “modern times.”

Dec. 18, 2022, Tucson, AZ - A hearing has been set for Monday December 19, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. for thirty (30) minutes in Division 18 Pima County Superior Court. The court will hear the DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT against John Brakey & AUDIT Elections USA. 

Monday’s hearing should be interesting according to attorney Bill Risner and could have a chilling effect on Arizona citizens. Santa Cruz County filed a lawsuit against AUDIT USA and its Director and co-founder, John Brakey, simply because Mr. Brakey requested a public record from the county’s election department. 

AUDIT USA, founded in 2004, is a well-respected 501(c)3 nonpartisan, non-profit organization dedicated to working towards elections that are transparent, trackable, and publicly verified: www.AUDITelectionsUSA.org 

Meanwhile within the last 10 days the Santa Cruz County recorder who made false allegations against Mr. Brakey has resigned her elected post. 

We are joined on GreeGree #120 by ANDREA MILLER of the Center for Common Ground and RAY MCCLENDON of the Georgia NAACP.
They are chief architects of the astounding grassroots victories in Georgia 2020-2 for the US Senate seat now held by RAPHAEL WARNOCK.
These electoral landmarks turned on turnouts organized without help from the Democratic Party, which spent some $50 million on media advertising.
Much of that money lines the pockets of party consultants who are highly paid and often make kick-backs on the ads they place.
Yet as we hear from SUE DORFMAN, on-the-ground campaigns were forced to beg even for simple yard signs and door hangers.
We further hear from reporter STEVE ROSENFELD with various reports from around the US on the complexities of our tortured democracy.

Next week we’ll get a full report on our two-year plan to protect American democracy in the lead-up to 2024. 

Part 1:

Part 2:
 

The next Nakba Day will be officially commemorated by the United Nations General Assembly on May 15, 2023. The decision by the world’s largest democratic institution is significant, if not a game changer. 

 For nearly 75 years, the Palestinian Nakba, the 'Catastrophe' wrought by the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Zionist militias in 1947-48, has served as the epicenter of the Palestinian tragedy as well as the collective Palestinian struggle for freedom.