Making Matters Worse. Steve Benen, over at Corporate Media Dissemblers, is telling readers that Devon Archer's testimony clears Joe Biden of having anything to do with his son, Hunter's, businesses, and he accuses Jim Jordan and James Comer of lying about that testimony. Remember, for the last two years, the White House, Democratic leaders and their stenographers in the press (like Mr Benen) have been pushing back on the idea that Joe Biden was involved as "Russian disinformation," and they angrily point to the infamous Spring 2015 dinner as proof. The then-Vice-President wasn't there, they declared over and over, and his travel schedule proves it. Enter Mr Archer's testimony. Read it yourself. Not only was Joe Biden at the dinner, but, according to an email sent to his son the next day, Biden "spent some time" with Vadym Pozharsky, one of Hunter's Ukrainian business partners. Archer's testimony does not absolve Joe Biden. It places him at the very center of the con. No word yet on whether Mr Benen will resign for betraying the public trust.
Mislead By Committee. The disease is spreading and it's not just Adam Schiff and Jamie Raskin lying out their rear ends to protect Joe Biden from charges of corruption and a potential impeachment trial down the line. This time the fake headline comes to us courtesy of Congressman Dan Goldman, a former Justice Dept. official who currently represents New York's 10th district. Directly after Devon Archer concluded his testimony, Mr Goldman ran to the press to announce that Mr Archer told the committee Biden had nothing to do with his son's business ventures. Except that's not what Archer said. He said the opposite. He told the committee Joe Biden was directly involved. Ah, so what if another Democratic member of Congress misleads the public on a crucial issue? It's pretty much expected now. Isn't it?
Sounds of Hypocrisy. Another right-wing, totally not-made-up bluster bust about Neo-Catholic fanatics pretending to save the world. How appropriate one of the major financiers of the film got caught doing the thing the film portrays as evil. Not to mention the entire enterprise is an insulting distortion of history. Saving children? The Neo-Catholic church? Lest we forget, this is an institution whose members raped children in every country on the planet. In England, France, Germany, Poland, the DRC, everywhere one looks, the abuse was "endemic." When church officials were informed of the crimes, they protected the rapists, moving them from one diocese to another. They kept the abuse hidden from secular authorities and did everything in their power to silence survivors, including smearing their families. To this day, they act as if they have the moral authority to determine what's right and what's wrong for the youngest among us, and they charade their phony piousness in films like this one. Will the perps be allowed to dress up in a savior's role? Only Jesus knows.
Corruption Alert. Resign? Jeepers, what's the problem? Senator Diane Feinstein has been a dedicated corporate player from the very beginning. (Ok, a dedicated corporate player who's also senile.) Who can forget her sleezy back-door dealing when she "lobbied the Post Master General" on behalf of her husband, Richard Blum's, company? You know, the one where she helped her hubby get control of US Post Office properties, so he could then sell those properties at crazy discounts to a handful of corporate entities he either owned or ran? Boo ya! She and her hubby get rich while the public gets cheated out of millions. Of course Feinstein greased the skid. She's a standard-bearer for sleazy politics. The woman was doing shady long before Ginni Thomas, Jane Roberts or Amy "Offred" Barrett. All of which proves, when it comes to wielding power, women can be equally as rotten as men. Something to keep in mind the next time you hear someone say we need more of them in gov't.
Ageism? What do Democratic party elites want voters to think about as the 2024 election approaches? Joe Biden's age? Poppycock! Questions about his age are a distraction. They don't matter. Neither does his height or his weight or his ability to stand on one leg. It's his POLICIES, STUPID! And his policies are a neo-con's wet dream. Ask railroad workers. Joe Biden isn't just corrupt; he's a tried-and-true corporate mud diver, a boot-licking grocery clerk selling eternal war abroad and mind-control at home. Take a moment. Imagine if Biden had turned off the war machine. Or cleaned house at the DOJ. Or passed Medicare-for-All. Or reformed the most corrupt Supreme Court since Taney. Would concerned voters complain about his age?
Black Faces in High Places. While we're at it, time to get past this whole "identity politics" racket. Woman, minority, someone from the LGBTQ community: it matters not a whit who is next to grab the political spotlight. It's not their gender or their age that should concern voters. It's their priorities. Where does she / he / they stand on abortion, immigration, human rights, education, eternal war, state-sponsored surveillance and the separation of church and state? No serious voter should cast a ballot based on whether the president is gay or straight or left-handed. Is the president guiding the machinery of gov't according to the will of the electorate, or at the behest of Wall Street bankers? The difference is not hard to discern. Right, Barry?
Catapult the Polling. They're at it again. Take this poll. Take that poll. Tell us how you feel about the Biden administration. Hoo boy. Polls are like snap shots in the dark: you can read them any way you want. As a political tool, they should be understood primarily as a form of propaganda. The issue or the individual being polled is irrelevant. The trick is getting voters to participate, to buy into the idea that their concerns matter, that they will actually have an effect. They won't, but that's the trick. Look around. The never-ending wars in the Middle East, in Eastern Europe and now on the African continent? Billions to arm Ukraine? Blowing up the Nord stream pipeline? Saber-rattling with nuclear powers? The latest polling indicates a huge majority of voters consider Biden and his people untrustworthy. That and a buck will get you a cup of coffee. The man is doing exactly what his Wall Street handlers want him to do, what he, in fact, has always done. Let the wobbly old crank lie and cheat to his heart's content. He will be the Democratic nominee in 2024. Poll that.
Racism Doesn't Exist. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, said he led the charge to gut Section Five of the Voting Rights Act because racism doesn't exist in America. We're a diverse country, he declared, a race-neutral country. We don't discriminate on the basis of skin color. Just because, in the ten years since the Court's decision, 29 states have passed 94 laws restricting voting rights for minorities, don't blame it on racism. John Roberts says it doesn't exist. When Tennessee re-districts the entire state in order to "fracture the power of Black voters," it's not about racial discrimination. It can't be. John Roberts says it doesn't exist. When a white cop in Michigan is looking for a "suspect in a string of car thefts" and instead handcuffs a 12-year-old boy who happens to be Black, don't think racism. John Roberts wants to assure you. It doesn't exist. When a "goon squad" (their term) of six white cops from the Jackson, Mississippi Police Dept. is sent to "torture" two Black guys because they're "staying with a white woman," don't jump to any conclusions about institutional racism. John Roberts says it doesn't exist. When researchers document that "Black people are killed by police" at a higher rate than any other group, they're not talking about racism. How could they? John Roberts says it doesn't exist. When a UN study concludes that "racial discrimination permeates" US law enforcement, it's not really saying cops discriminate based on race. Not really. John Roberts says it doesn't exist. When the US Military admits that "white supremacy" is a persistent problem throughout its branches, rest assured, it's not about racism. Just ask Chief Justice John Roberts. He says it doesn't exist and, as a privileged white man, he would know.
Return To (Racist) Glory. A professional football team based in DC had a nickname that was dictionary-defined as a "racial slur." For the longest time, however, it didn't seem to matter. When asked about the controversy in 2020, team owner Dan Snyder said he loved the nickname and swore it would "NEVER" change (caps in original). That was before Mr Snyder was credibly accused of engaging in all kinds of tawdry behavior, which eventually forced him to sell. As a result, the offensive word was dropped and the team was simply referred to as the "Washington Football Team." Then a new nickname, the "Commanders," was rolled out, and it seemed a new era for the franchise was about to begin. Oops, not so fast. After the sale of the team was finalized, it was reported that Josh Harris and his ownership group were laser focused on "bringing back the glory." Crazy as it sounds, to these men, these new owners, that past "glory" is best signified by the previous racist nickname. They like it, and they're using it again. A lot. Nothing official, mind you. Nudge nudge, wink wink. But their idea of a returning to a glorious past embedded in a racist slur sounds very much like a dog-whistle for those who wish to make the country "great again," which is straight-up code for white supremacy. Next thing you know, these clowns will start telling people it isn't about race at all. It's about the "historical record." (By the bye, since Magic Johnson enjoys racist monikers, he might want to consider these historical examples as well.)
Speaking of Not-Racism. Every day a different story, every day the same horror. This time it's three white guys docking their boat illegally and giving the Black security guard sass when he asks them to move it. They just happened to have docked in a space that's reserved for a 200-passenger riverboat, which means the riverboat can't dock until they move. Which they refused to do. When the security guard is finally forced to move the boat himself, the three white guys viciously attack him. I know, I know. It's a perfect example of racist behavior, right? White boat owners beating up a Black security guard? In Montgomery, Alabama, no less, a former slave port where steamboats used to deliver Black people in chains? Except, it can't be racism. Not here. Not there. Not anywhere. Chief Justice John Roberts has already told you. Racism doesn't exist in America. So there.
"Elephant In The Room." According to a letter signed by 1,500 academics, the "Elephant" in the title refers to the systematic torture and murder of Palestinians and the theft of their possessions and their land orchestrated by the Israeli gov't. It's official, they write. Israel is an apartheid state. Even a former Israeli General, Amiram Levin, admits as much, recently describing the treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank as "total apartheid," while the Israeli army is "beginning to be a partner to war crimes." News flash: Israel under Netanyahu passed the war crimes threshold a long time ago. And the world is starting to pay attention. It can no longer hide its ruthless system of subjugation. The abuses are out in the open, which is why support for Palestinian rights among US voters is at an all-time high. "The mills of the gods grind slowly," writes a Roman philosopher, "but they grind small." A reckoning is coming.
Hope and [Spare] Change. No "Reflection" would be complete without directing your attention to the continuing corruption of Barack Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize winning president who bragged about being "pretty good at killing folks." Ironic, no? Obama was good for Wall Street and oh boy has Wall Street been good to Obama. There's the million-dollar mansion in Martha's Vineyard, the million-dollar presidential "library" in Chicago, the million-dollar mansion in DC and all those luxury vacations in between. Think the grift ends there? Not on your working-class life! The ex-president also has a million-dollar mansion in Hawaii. Notice the sub-title of the article. The "his" in the phrase, "his million-dollar Hawaii mansion," infers Obama owns the place. On a president's salary? How many is that? Ah, read further. Obama doesn't actually own the property. Much like the deal he made in Massachusetts, the Oahu property was purchased for him by his "friend," billionaire investor Marty Nesbitt. (Think Harlan Crow.) Fun fact: Nesbit bought the property with the express purpose of turning it over to Obama for his "retirement." In 2015. While Obama was still in office. And you thought Biden was corrupt! Or maybe it was Trump? How about Clarence Thomas? Or W? Dick Cheney? The Clintons? Damn! This s**t gets confusing, don't it?
Yes, it does. That's the point. Now, repeat after me: "Racism does not exist in America. Racism does not exist in America . . . . "
