Media-disappeared progressive candidate Marianne Williamson suspended her campaign in the Democratic Party's presidential primary February 7th, but then unsuspended it on the 28th. The North Carolina Democratic Party and others denied voters a choice – the only options were Joe Biden and uncommitted (were they required by law to allow even an uncommitted option?). I think the Florida Democrats aren't even having a primary. In 2024 it becomes surprising that Bernie Sanders was even given a chance in past years. I've never experienced a Democratic Party presidential primary without even a longshot option to vote for, someone other than a Biden, Obama, or Clinton-type neoliberal warmonger, though there was that time NC had a "caucus" or something. I don't think it was like a real Iowa-type caucus, but I participated for Dennis J Kucinich, and when a warmonger won the nomination I voted for the Green Party candidate, which I anticipate doing again in 2024. Dean Phillips suspended his campaign and endorsed Biden March 6th.
Maybe I should have voted uncommitted (what are the uncommitted delegates going to vote for at the DNC this summer?), but I just didn't vote on the presidential candidate. There wasn't a write-in option in the NC primary. I supported the campaign to vote uncommitted in Michigan, etc., but on NPR it was portrayed as merely a way to send a message to the Biden administration, that it needs to shape up for the general election, to literally save the administration and people in Congress from voter anger, highlighting Arab-American, Muslim, and Black voters (the "suburban voters" are just so reactionary?). At least one campaigner in Michigan was even described as or claimed to be a longtime and continuing Biden supporter. Only a few people, maybe just regular citizens, came across as seriously angry, potential 'Dump Biden,' "Anyone But Biden," #NeverBiden voters. Trump might be more pro-Israel even than Biden, but Biden has presided over and abetted the killing of somewhere over 31,000 Palestinians (the number is being kept quiet now, and how does it compare to the war in Ukraine? The Ukraine figures are also rarely mentioned here.), the majority not combatants, with daily allegations of torture, execution of POWs or prisoners Israel takes for whatever reason (just working in a hospital, being a non-combatant nurse or doctor?), ethnic cleansing, targeting civilian property, assassinating journalists, blowing up ambulances (and their crews) and medical facilities, and other crimes; Biden bombs and threatens Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and other countries in the region, etc., and voters are supposed to reward this administration, so reminiscent now of Bush-Cheney, with a second term? And what further damage would Biden do if given another four years? Start or 'get into' a war in East Asia, Africa, or Latin America? Yemen? Haiti? Trump is bad, but Biden is the president who presided over all of this, and not as an international bystander; he does everything he can to funnel money and weapons to Israel (bloody, armed to the teeth Israel can't fight ragtag guerilla Hamas et al. on its own??? Really??); Biden whole-heartedly affirms and repeats Israel's propaganda about beheadings, etc.; he has his ambassador to the UN shield Israel; and no doubt he encourages the rest of the "West" to likewise back and abet Israel. Biden has the US military threatening and bombing the region so Israel can focus on making Palestine run red with mostly civilian blood. I think there was something about Aaron Bushnell alleging that US personnel are directly involved in the fighting in Palestine, and there are the increasing stories about NATO forces being directly involved in the fighting in Ukraine. The majority of the fighting and starvation in Palestine is in the Gaza Strip, but there isn't peace in the West Bank, where there are even airstrikes and mass raids by settlers going on, and both Jewish Israeli and Israeli-Arab peace actions are being repressed. Biden has also set the stage for a second Trump administration in the Middle East. No "two-state solution;" little or no easing of tensions with Iran and others; and there are still US bases in Iraq and an occupation force in Syria. The board is set if Trump decides to increase bombing or go to outright war with Syria or Iran. Maybe something could happen in the Horn of Africa, Haiti, or Latin America soon, and there was talk of invading Mexico, like "Western" governments often did 100-200 years ago. Trump is a heinous warmonger – but the Democrats have done all of this, and there is the bipartisan interest in a war over Taiwan and repressing free speech, though the targets vary somewhat between the two warmonger parties.
To me "defeat Trump" implies 'vote for Biden,' but on Palestine protest and direct action like blocking weapon shipments is the only option, barring something like a Green Jill Stein win or protest of such magnitude that it drives out the occupant of the White House. Do to Biden what he and Obama did in Ukraine and Honduras. And Trump probably had a hand in driving out Evo Morales in Bolivia and the attempted coups in Venezuela, etc. (and apparently Morales is in the running for 2025).
Someone connected to the Israeli government (advising the Ministry of Security – on what?) was on the BBC just now, saying that the al-Shifa Hospital is something along the lines of a 'terrorist compound during this war, full of hundreds of terrorists who beheaded babies, and the war will end sooner if the international media gets in line and uses this language.' I'm surprised he didn't just say 'terror hospital.' Is the al-Shifa Hospital still in use as a hospital? I don't know what international law would say about military use of a ruined hospital, left by Israel after earlier attacks on a medical facility. This is what Biden can't seem to even distance himself from, and he is directly involved in what Israel does, and therefore all Americans are pulled into it. Even Republican presidents didn't give Israel everything it wanted in the 20th century.
Speaking of international law, what about the stationing of Ukrainian soldiers in apartment blocks inhabited by civilians, openly talked about recently? I don't know, is that permitted? And then if Russia were to target the soldiers it might also harm the civilians. Americans are allowed to be anti-war on Palestine, and NPR covers and even advertises protests here, but opposition to the other war Biden promotes has to be covered up in the mainstream media. For whatever reason there seems to be less opposition to the US role in Ukraine, though the media still promotes it heavily. There was supposed to have been a protest in February in DC, for the second year in a row. The media focuses on the stiffling of anti-war sentiment in Russia, when they are doing the same thing here, and back in the "War on Terror," now being copied by Israel.
I think Marianne Williamson voiced a soft line on the war in Palestine, but it would probably be an improvement over what Biden and Trump are offering. RFK Jr seems to be following Biden regarding the war, really putting a gaping hole in his status on the left. Regular citizen war opponents seemed soft on a recent NPR call-in show – and are there fewer of those in recent years, because people might argue for prohibited viewpoints? Williamson is still running and seeking donations (see her campaign store), but 2024 is now set as a repeat of Biden versus Trump, though they are both old and maybe something will happen to remove one or both of them by January. I think Biden represents bad policy regardless of age. I thought Biden wanted to avoid more regime change wars, and "pivot" to a great East Asian cold or hot conflict, but now his administration is beset by wars, and would Trump focus on domestic repression, as before?
I'm surprised that the media coverage isn't as lurid as it was regarding January 6, 2021, but now the lurid news reminiscent of fascism is coming out of the war in Palestine. I missed most of the State of the Union speech and found a previous one by Biden unseemly, besides the warmongering. Vote for Biden for abortion, "Bidenomics," and because the Republicans are so awful and 'icky,' even fascistic – but the Middle East and Europe will bleed and free speech here will be targeted, etc. Climate change, surging immigration (related to US economic warfare), and the wealth gap continue as well. I ended up overshadowing:
In 2020 Williamson ended her campaign January 10th and endorsed Sanders February 23rd that year.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne_Williamson_2024_presidential_campaign
There are also videos associated with these emails:
February 28th – UNSUSPENDING
Dear [ ],
As of today, I am unsuspending my Presidential campaign.
All of us have noticed America’s political dynamics are moving in a disturbing direction. Donald Trump’s power is on the incline, and President Biden’s is on the decline. More and more people are saying the quiet part out loud: that despite the fact that the President deserves credit for many of his accomplishments, he is clearly a weak candidate to defeat Donald Trump in 2024.
I, however, am not. My ability to arouse in Americans the angels of our better nature is the most powerful antidote to Trump’s dark and authoritarian vision.
I suspended my campaign because we were losing the horse race. But there is something much bigger than the horse race that’s at stake here. In the words of Mohammed Ali, ‘When the mission is right, the odds don’t matter.”
We cannot sit idly by while the D.C. political class sleepwalks this country into disaster. Too many have followed the directives of the status quo for too long, but we are awakening now. We are ready to act, to take the wheel of history into our hands and turn it in another direction.
We need a President who stands for a new beginning in America, and whether I can help do that as President or in some other way, unsuspending the campaign is a necessary next step.
We will win on the promise of restoring America’s middle class and waging peace both domestically and internationally. From #MedicareForAll to #CeasefireNow in exchange for the hostages, from tuition free college and tech school to a guaranteed living wage, from waging peace to repudiating America’s forever war machine, from subsidized child care to ending America’s War on Drugs, our platform is the winning one.
I will respond to the cult-like personality of Donald Trump with a light-filled vision of hope and possibility. We will become once again a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people” at a time when corporate interests have taken Washington hostage.
I hope you are as moved by this vision as I am. You have supported the campaign before, and I hope you feel moved to support it again.
We must rise to the occasion like never before; so much is riding on what we do now. Even if the most I can do is influence the President, that in itself is a goal worth striving for. For those of us who are deeply committed to Trump not returning to the White House, it’s imperative that we do everything possible to help mount a winning campaign in 2024.
With gratitude and conviction, |
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