There has been a huge media blackout about this, and Bernie Sanders is the only prominent politician (along with Jill Stein and Winonna LaDuke) who is talking about it. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota has been peacefully but fiercely protesting a proposed oil pipeline, the Dakota Access Pipeline, that would run very close to their reservation and dangerously close to their water supply, nevermind though their sacred burial ground as well. All to carry fracked oil from North Dakota to Illinois. And the increasingly militarized police have been violently suppressing their protests. The irony of Thanksgiving (or is it Thankstaking or Thankskilling?) notwithstanding.
The TSAP supports Standing Rock and opposes the construction of this dangerous and treaty-violating (and therefore illegal) pipeline in or anywhere near their reservation, water supply, and/or sacred lands. We call upon President Obama to pass an executive order to halt immediately and indefinitely any further construction on the pipeline, at least until the controversial section can be re-routed to a safe distance far away from the area in question. And while we're at it, we need to put a moratorium on fracking and promote renewable energy sources. Our lives, and indeed the entire biosphere, literally depend on it.
Native Americans / First Nations have, along with other Indigenous peoples worldwide, been royally screwed over and brutally genocided by white folks for centuries. It needs to end yesterday. Full stop. The song "Beds Are Burning" by Midnight Oil comes to mind. Same problem, different continent.
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Saturday, November 12, 2016
Trump Won. So What Do We Do Now?
Much to our chagrin, Donald J. Trump won the 2016 election, and will
become President on January 20, 2017. I and so many others thought that
Hillary Clinton would have won for sure. And she did, in fact, win the
popular vote. But unfortunately, Trump won the Electoral College,
crossing the finish line of 270 with likely over 300 electoral votes.
As he himself said, the game is "rigged" alright, just not in the way he
said.
So how did he manage to pull off such an unlikely victory? Well the key "swing" states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin were all part of the Rust Belt, and he managed to tap into the frustrations of disaffected white working-class men--nationwide, but especially in those states. That was literally all it took. Combining the legitimate grievances of the working class (who have been practically eaten alive by our oligarchy, plutocracy, kleptocracy, and kyriarchy for decades now) with thinly-veiled racism, misogyny, and xenophobia turned out to be a winning formula. And as we are seeing now, he is already backpedaling on many of the lies he has told to his base. All of this will eventually backfire on those who voted for him.
A Trump presidency is clear and present danger to America, no doubt about that. But ultimately We the People will prevail, and this should be the ultimate wake-up call. Now is NOT the time to abandon our efforts!
The Electoral College is an antiquated 18th century relic that really has no place in the 21st century. Even the Donald himself went on the record in 2012 and said it was "a disaster for democracy". Until it benefited him this time around, of course. For once, we agree with him. And while abolishing it completely would require a Constitutional amendment, and would thus be quite a long shot, there is a way to make it irrelevant by 2020. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is the way to do it. Sign and share!
As for the anti-Trump protests in the days following the election, they seem to be working in that they are sending the Donald into Twitter rages and are likely raising his blood pressure dramatically. The TSAP supports any such non-violent protests, and most (with few exceptions) have been peaceful to date. But please don't burn the American Flag. As we have repeatedly noted before in our perennial "Take Back the Flag" campaign, burning the American Flag is stupid, counterproductive, and disrespectful to all who have fought and died for our country. If you must burn something, burn the Confederate Flag (or as we like to call it, the COUNTERFEIT Flag) and/or Trump signs and paraphernalia. But not the Stars and Stripes. LIVE FREE OR DIE!
So how did he manage to pull off such an unlikely victory? Well the key "swing" states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin were all part of the Rust Belt, and he managed to tap into the frustrations of disaffected white working-class men--nationwide, but especially in those states. That was literally all it took. Combining the legitimate grievances of the working class (who have been practically eaten alive by our oligarchy, plutocracy, kleptocracy, and kyriarchy for decades now) with thinly-veiled racism, misogyny, and xenophobia turned out to be a winning formula. And as we are seeing now, he is already backpedaling on many of the lies he has told to his base. All of this will eventually backfire on those who voted for him.
A Trump presidency is clear and present danger to America, no doubt about that. But ultimately We the People will prevail, and this should be the ultimate wake-up call. Now is NOT the time to abandon our efforts!
The Electoral College is an antiquated 18th century relic that really has no place in the 21st century. Even the Donald himself went on the record in 2012 and said it was "a disaster for democracy". Until it benefited him this time around, of course. For once, we agree with him. And while abolishing it completely would require a Constitutional amendment, and would thus be quite a long shot, there is a way to make it irrelevant by 2020. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is the way to do it. Sign and share!
As for the anti-Trump protests in the days following the election, they seem to be working in that they are sending the Donald into Twitter rages and are likely raising his blood pressure dramatically. The TSAP supports any such non-violent protests, and most (with few exceptions) have been peaceful to date. But please don't burn the American Flag. As we have repeatedly noted before in our perennial "Take Back the Flag" campaign, burning the American Flag is stupid, counterproductive, and disrespectful to all who have fought and died for our country. If you must burn something, burn the Confederate Flag (or as we like to call it, the COUNTERFEIT Flag) and/or Trump signs and paraphernalia. But not the Stars and Stripes. LIVE FREE OR DIE!
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