Syria, Etc.

You feel flabbergasted at the rhetoric. The West says that they are fighting for freedom and democratic values, but they ally with royal, authoritarian tyrannies as found in the UAE, Saudi Arabia (with rules which legalizes the beheading of people), etc. The West refuses to end its repressive laws which violate the RIGHTS of its citizens. ISIS came after the Iraqi occupation. ISIS is a wicked, reactionary organization obviously. ISIS evolved from Al-Qaeda and the originators of Al-Qaeda have been funded by Western intelligence. Terrorists for a long time from the Nazis (You can look up Operation Paperclip) to Libyan terrorists have been aided by some members of Western intelligence. The Iraqi invasion and occupation exacerbated the tensions among Sunnis and Shias. The Shia leaders used an autocratic regime and that regime has resulted in the growth of ISIS. The U.S. also aided Syrian terrorists who try to overthrow Assad. Assad is not perfect, but it is hypocritical to aid overt terrorists in trying to oppose Bashar Al-Assad. The big monarchies who aid the West ally with big oil conglomerates too. As we see the 100th year anniversary of the start of WWI (which was an inter-imperialist war), we witness more militarism based on deception and hypocrisy.


Marquis Govan is an inspirational person. He made great points. What the people of Ferguson don’t need is unfair scapegoating and them being smeared with vile stereotypes. What they need is solidarity, respect, and support for them to carry out their own aspirations. The events in Ferguson are historic. The events there further document the militarization of the POLICE, but not only that. It confirms that police brutality and the repression of the rights of protesters are not isolated incidents. They are national and global epidemics. This problem can never be solved unless race, class, and poverty are discussed and real solutions are formulated. Racial discrimination is not the only problem in Ferguson and in communities nationwide. There is also the issue of class oppression where many workers suffer low wages, lax job opportunities, and a sense of despair. That must change. Many people are poor not because of laziness, but because of being laid off or by no fault of their own. Poor blaming is just as ignorant as ignoring economic inequality. Freedom deals with political independence and we have the subsequent RIGHT to be political independents. People’s elemental and essential RIGHT to protest should be maintained in any society. There are many legitimate organizations in Ferguson, who are doing the right thing. We have to reject selfish individualism and embrace altruistic actions. It is a shame that the Michael Brown memorial was burned. Now, justice is still elusive for Michael Brown's family and for freedom loving people in the world. The total truth should be known about the memorial situation. We should never lose hope though. Evil people want us to lose hope and to be permanently pessimistic, but I will not. Back centuries ago, our ancestors were in chains, but they had hope to be free. Not only were many slave revolts transpired, but black people in the Americas ended overt physical slavery. Some people believe that the Birmingham Boycott would not be successful, but it was. So, giving up should never be part of anyone's vocabulary. We ought to CONTINUE to fight for justice, oppose police brutality, and to continue to defend Michael Brown's family who is standing up courageous for justice.


I believe that people have the right to vote and that people should be registered to vote, but why would we want to do the same thing over and over again and get the same result. In my opinion, we should mostly focus on state and local elections, because they have a much more direct effect on us. I won't be a Republican (or a Tea Party person, because of my political views. People know my political views), but we should be more politically independent. These are great points that you have made. It is obviously true that the two corporate-funded parties have massive similarities than some would let on. There has been a more reactionary turn of the Democratic Party in the past three decades in my opinion. We know how the Republicans are. Enough said. You can see the foreign policy of both of the major parties as nearly identical for example. That is another great point about the Presidents being selected. The Electoral College (not the people using their votes directly) has the final say on who is selected as President of the United States. We should be educated on our local and state candidates, so voting can be truly effectively. Also, if you don’t vote, you surely won’t die. LOL. Therefore, voting is fine, but it is not enough. I have no issue with additional grassroots community organization including community based programs and other solutions to help Brothers and Sisters. Our black communities deserve respect and empowerment. Bill Clinton passed through the Crime Bill, expanded the War on Drugs, supported NAFTA, and has thrown Sistah Soujah under the bus. Therefore, no party is perfect nor is divine. Bush was worse than Clinton, but I don't worship mainstream parties. I know the origins of the Republican and the Democratic Party. Black people, etc. have the right to vote. Black people have the right to register to be Independents. I said that black people should promote strong accountability among both parties. The struggle continues, but I will never lose hope. When there was Democratic majorities in Congress along with the Presidency back in 2009-2010, nothing radical or revolutionary changed in America. Many of the current policies going on now are nearly identical to the status quo of other Presidents. Net Neutrality, the war on terror, NDAA, the Patriot Act, and the Wall Street bailouts have been supported by both corporate parties. There is no refutation of that. That is a fact. That is why it is wise for people to vote in their state and local elections. People have the right to vote on the Congressional level as well. People should be active, but people should not be played for fools. People have every right to have independent thinking on issues.


One thing is true about Attorney General Eric Holder. People have diverse opinions about him. There are legitimate critiques about him (on the issue of the assassination of American citizens without due process of law, on no major Wall Street banker being prosecuted, and other issues), but he is right on many issues. He is right to oppose many of the restrictive voter ID laws and he is right to disagree with the gutting of the Voting Rights Act. Holder was right to oppose Arizona's SB 1070. The Tea Party reactionaries hated on him and I reject their ideologies completely. The overarching theme is that we have work to do. The struggle is not over. We are still fighting not only against mass incarceration and the War on Drugs. We are also fighting against police brutality, poverty, and economic oppression. Therefore, we must not only discuss about these issues, but we have to be part of the solution as well. I don’t hate the man at all. I wish Eric Holder the best in his life. I wish the best for his family too. Experts have opposed the Wisconsin voter ID law for many reasons. For years, we have seen various laws (in numerous states) that seek to restrict voting rights, restrict the times in which people can vote, and they have other reactionary measures. The Supreme Court has delayed the implementation of a voting law until after the election before, because of voter confusion, and conflicting orders. The Wisconsin voter ID law restricts any veteran from voting if they only have a veteran’s administration ID card from voting. Wisconsin considers such identification unacceptable. Eddie Lee Holloway Jr. and others have difficulty voting now in Wisconsin. Therefore, the activists are right that such voter ID laws should be defeated. Not to mention that many black people use many government benefits for a temporary period of time. Even SNAP benefits can last for a few months to three years. These benefits are not even literal handouts since people have to sign documents and do other procedures in order for them to receive such benefits. Many people who have SNAP work. In fact, more than half of SNAP recipients are children or the elderly. For the remaining working-age individuals, many of them are currently employed. White racist lies are commonplace Sister. Yet, black people are resilient and we will persist onward. The truth is always better than fiction.


The elections of 2014 are comings in South Africa. We have seen 20 years since Nelson Mandela was elected as the first black President of South Africa. To this day, South African workers are fighting for a substantial wage increase. The bourgeois, nationalist, and reformist African National Congress had won the elections. We know about the massacre (by the police) of the South African striking workers at Marikana in 2012. Jacob Zuma is using the party’s 62 percent as a means to go ahead with the neo-liberal attacks as outlined in the National Development Plan or NDP. This is while secretary general Gwede Mantashe and other ANC leaders promptly convened a press conference to solemnly vow that they would “quickly restore investor confidence.” The police continue to resist the actions of the Associations of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) who want freedom. The mineworkers are fighting for a living wage of R12,500 [$1,143 per month]. The evil system of apartheid in South Africa was over and it has been replaced with bourgeois, neo-liberal government. The ANC, the SACP, and COSATU are allies. The August 2012 massacre of 34 black mineworkers should inspire anyone that more work has to be done in making South Africa a better nation. In e-mails to Lonmin’s chief commercial officer, Albert Jamieson, Ramaphosa reported on 15 August 2012 about the appeals he had made to mining minister Susan Shabangu and POLICE minister Nathi Mthethwa for government intervention against the wildcat strike. One outcome was that a meeting of Zuma’s cabinet was held the same day, where Ramaphosa had urged Shabangu to brief the president and “get [Mthethwa] to act in a more pointed way” (“Deja Vu and Dirty Tricks at Lonmin,” 25 May, bdlive.co.za). Less than 24 hours later, the Lonmin strikers were gunned down in cold blood by Zuma’s and Mthethwa’s cop thugs. Several months later, Ramaphosa was rewarded by the bourgeois ANC when he was elected deputy president of the party at its December 2012 congress in Mangaung; after the 2014 elections, he was also made deputy president of the country. The IMF and the World Bank has aided South African capitalism during the 1990’s. Now, there are numerous ANC, SACP, and COSATU members who are sincere and want justice for real. So, I want to make that perfectly clear. The only way for true change in South Africa is for a revolution to occur where the government is worker-centered and people-centered. South Africa is strong and Bless Africa too. 


By Timothy