IDENTITY POLITICS

CALEB MAUPIN—Caleb’s discussion in this episode focuses on the evilness of imperialism, the natural spawn of capitalism; the rise of the Sino-Russian alliance in Eurasia, the ugliness of Jim Crow, and the importance of doing the right thing at all times. And much more.

SHANNON KEATING—Sometimes — a lot of the time, really — these performances work. For most (white) Americans, or at least those who aren’t activists or organizers or obsessive politicos, it’s often enough for leaders to at least look like they’re doing or saying the right things. Democrats and Republicans alike who find themselves longing for the guidance of presidents past — who still think there’s a world in which we could conceivably “go back to normal” — aren’t so much hungering for better policies, but for better optics. Trump, though he’s finally lost the support of some Republican leaders who say they won’t back his reelection, has nonetheless faithfully (if oafishly) executed much of the Republican agenda, from rollbacks of LGBTQ rights and environmental protections to flooding the courts with conservatives.

CAITLIN JOHNSTONE—The people pretending to care about these allegations do not care about rape, and they do not care about women. I recently had my Twitter privileges suspended by someone who called me a “rape apologist” for not automatically subscribing to the “believe all women” meme in the case of a known CIA target, and, when I informed him that I myself am a rape victim, this man called me a liar. I went off on him, and he reported me. This man has never cared about rape or women, and it’s entirely likely that he’s done things to women that push the same boundaries on sexual consent he’s accusing Assange of doing, or worse.

CJ HOPKINS—Back in November of 2016, the American people were so fed up with the neoliberal oligarchy that everyone knows really runs the country that they actually elected Donald Trump president. They did this fully aware that Trump was a repulsive, narcissistic ass clown who bragged about “grabbing women by the pussy” and jabbered about building “a big, beautiful wall” and making the Mexican government pay for it. They did this fully aware of the fact that Donald Trump had zero experience in any political office whatsoever, was a loudmouth bigot, and was possibly out of his gourd on amphetamines half the time. The American people did not care. They were so disgusted with being conned by arrogant, two-faced, establishment stooges like the Clintons, the Bushes, and Barack Obama that they chose to put Donald Trump in office, because, fuck it, what did they have to lose?

PHILIP A. FARRUGGIO—Another interesting fact mentioned in the Goebbels biography is that the Nazis did not need to play the ‘ God card ‘ in order to get the masses to follow. Hitler and his cronies, Goebbels included, had a deep revulsion towards any form of Christianity. They despised it because their goal was to make the Fuehrer the new ‘Christ’ , or messiah, for Germany’s resurrection as a European power once again. Christianity also was a faith (that at least formally) preached peace and forgiveness, seen as “weak” values by the militarist Nazis. This anomaly was not what we here in this Amerikan empire have ever experienced. The great and insightful American author Sinclair Lewis said it best 79 years ago with: ” When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.” Sadly, we are on our way to seeing it happen here soon.