Theories of democracy rather than practice of democracy seems the bait-and-switch of hierarchy.  Hierarchy, please recall, would naturally oppose democratic practice.

C-Span hosted a conversation about immigration this morning, focusing on those who have actually done so.  

7:10AM–caller–paraphrase–Immigrated from Albania in 1969 and had the wherewhithal to open a restaurant in ’76.  Communism was the system fled.  I’m very saddened about what has happened to the US.    (One will make the point that the communism from which many people flee is the opposite side of the coin from capitalism, which is the cynical system superimposed in the USA over democracy).  (One was amused and not surprised to watch the host listen to this story up to the point of mention of disappointment of the transformation since ’69, in the USA, away from democracy.  So are many of us disappointed, and so are many of us censored when mentioning this FACT, by hierarchical Establishment characters.)

That many of the core supporters of the Democratic political Party have self-defined as the “backbone of democracy” is the sad indication of the level of indoctrination into capitalism.

7:10AM–caller–paraphrase–Family arrived from Jamaica in the ’70’s and are sad to see what America has become.  (Those of us old enough to remember the ’60’s and ’70’s are also sad with the move away from democracy and toward capitalism.  The 2 systems are not similar.)

The Frontline presentation is worthy of note.  It tells more about us than about the Supreme Court.  

9:15AM–guest–paraphrase–Clarence and Ginni met at an anti- Affirmative Action Conference.  

https://www.c-span.org/video/?528082-5/michael-kirk-justice-clarence-thomas-amd-ginni-thomas  —
MAY 14, 2023  | PART OF WASHINGTON JOURNAL 05/14/2023

Washington Journal

Michael Kirk on Justice Clarence Thomas amd Ginni Thomas

Documentary filmmaker Michael Kirk discussed his new PBS “Frontline” film examining the rise and influence of Justice Clarence Thomas and his relationship with his wife, Ginni.–end of c-span info–

Personally I benefited from affirmative action in the ’70’s and have never apologized for it.   Having needed to field the questions from co-workers in a financial services office as to whether it bothered me that “you were hired because you are a woman”, one was absolutely unconcerned and so answered that he was hired because he was a man.  At the same time, the personal responsibility of succeeding in order that others could also have the opportunity, was consistent and relentless.  FACTually speaking, one ensured that out of 40 co-workers, one always ranked in the top 15…….Affirmative Action me now, slick……

That Clarence Thomas eschews affirmative action as a reason for his success has a dark side called meritocracy.  It’s about the money.

That a model for Ginni Thomas is Phyllis Schlafly tells it all.  –https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/phyllis-schlafly       —

Phyllis Schlafly, a conservative activist, commentator, and author, led a successful campaign against the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. She was an influential figure in conservative American politics and policymaking, arguing against feminism, abortion, and gay rights, and was one of the first to tap into the conservative religious sentiment based on what she termed “family values.” Schlafly’s influence on the Republican Party and American politics reverberates strongly today.

–end of women’smuseum info–

One also heard from co-workers about the so-called backlash to the rights of women in the ’70’s, thanks to Phyllis Schlafly.  One wonders why there would be a backlash to rights, but so it goes.

It’s about the money.  

Many Americans are aware of the class struggle in the USA.  —  https://popularresistance.org/first-public-comments-after-african-peoples-socialist-party-members-indicted/   —

Nevel then said that despite the U.S. government’s best efforts to scare white people away from liberation movements, “More and more of us are becoming co-conspirators, too.”–end of popularresistance info–One is interested in inclusion of 2 ideas such as “liberation movement” and co-conspirators” in the same sentence, as though one must conspire to liberation in the USA.

Liberation is not a conspiracy, some business practices may be.  —  https://popularresistance.org/health-insurance-claim-denied/            –“It’s a treasure trove of information,” said Juliette Forstenzer Espinosa, a health lawyer and senior lecturer of health policy at George Washington University. “But most people have no idea how to get it.”

Health insurers rarely advertise that people can access their claim files, Espinosa said. Where guidance exists, it is often embedded deep in denial letters. Few offer templates or even give instructions on their websites.

–end of popularresistance info–

https://portside.org/2023-05-13/medicare-all-legislation?utm_source=portside-general&utm_medium=email     –WASHINGTON, May 12 – In the midst of a pandemic that has claimed nearly one million American lives – more than one third of which have been linked to a lack of health insurance –Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and fourteen of his colleagues in the Senate on Thursday introduced the Medicare for All Act of 2022 to guarantee health care in the United States as a fundamental human right to all.Sanders is joined on the 2022 legislation by all original cosponsors, including Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). The Medicare for All of 2022 has also been endorsed by more than 60 major organizations, including National Nurses United, American Medical Student Association, Nation Union of Health Care Workers, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), Indivisible, Public Citizen, People’s Action, National Immigration Law Center, Center for Popular Democracy, and Working Families Party.

–end of portside info–

One thinks that we have a President Biden instead of a President Sanders is due to indoctrination of a deluded electorate.  But that’s open to discussion, about which we haven’t as yet enjoyed.

C-Span–9:46AM–guest–paraphrase–Ginni Thomas was a “Goldwater girl”.  (So was Hillary Clinton.  This sounds logical.)

The more you know—–

https://ugapress.org/book/9780820360690/goldwater-girls-to-reagan-women/  —Goldwater Girls to Reagan Women is a statewide study of women’s part in the history of conservatism, the New Right, and the Republican Party in the state of Georgia. Robin M. Morris examines how the growth of the Republican Party in the 1960s and 1970s was due in large part to the political activism of white women. The book begins with the African American women who established the Georgia Federation of Republican Women and follows how they lost the organization and the party to white women moving to the Sunbelt South. Conservative white women developed a language and strategy of family values that they deployed to battle school busing, defeat the Equal Rights Amendment, and elect Republican leaders even in Jimmy Carter’s home state.

–end of ugapress info–

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27He14N1vPA    —

#GreenSocialist Notes, Episode 125

–end of howiehawkins info–

But we can’t forget that spring has sprung.  —

Crabapple trees are blossoming now, and they are breathtaking.  —  https://wildhunt.org/2023/05/crabapple.html     –But I have a strong sense of looking up and trying to make sense of the colors of them in those earliest parts of spring, the deep, violent pink of the buds stark against the almost-brown leaves, studded and green-grey. From a distance they made no sense, blending into a color I couldn’t name or duplicate. Up close they were too complicated, too nuanced, for me to pick out the pieces that made up the whole. I imagined that this was what the lady of Spring’s dress must look like, strange and shifting and impossible.

–end of wildhunt info–****

As one who would be perfectly contented to retain the Senate if they adhered to Oaths of Office more than to Citizens United campaign donations, one is interested in a topic raised as to the reason we maintain the US Senate—-

 This is a reminder of how much we don’t know.  This brings one around to Howie Hawkins, who continues to impress with original thought.  We also could acknowledge Hawkins often speaks to censored information.
One such topic about which one would never have even considered, is whether the USA needs The Senate.  Apparently The Senate is little other than expensive window dressing, promoting hierarchical interests, and too often placed in positions of power by big-money via Citizens United.  But the public gets to fund this curiosity of pompous supremacy.  Who knew?
The Democratic Branch of the Republican/Democratic Duopoly are especially functional in voter suppression—–https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNbdkuU1edw          —#GreenSocialist Notes #76
Howie Hawkins brings up the concept of whether the USA needs the Senate.  Apparently according to some people, the Senate isn’t necessary.  This brings up the blockage from the Senate of many bills that would benefit We The People.  Combined with Citizens United that promotes big-money interest choice of Senators, in which laws are passed that benefit big-money interest rather than We The People, and that We The People support economically, the members of the Senate, this seems a good topic for discussion.
The US Constitution doesn’t seem to sanction elections run by political Parties, and to permit control of political debates by political Parties seems equally corrupt.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ7kn2-GEmM       —

Ross Perot in 1992 on NAFTA and the “Giant Sucking Sound”

Centralization is the lifeblood of the R&D duopoly.  It’s the way to enforce capitalism onto workers in 2022.———————–We can do better———-

That “we are a 2-Party system” is a fabrication of the Republican/Democratic duopoly and spread by MSM.  In FACT the majority of voters aren’t either registered Democratic or Republican.  The censorship about this info must be envied by bureaucrats of the Former USSR and their simplistic style of 1-Party elections.  

Regardless of which character sits in the Oval Office, We The People have work to do to maintain principles of our democratic (small d) Constitutional republic.  Several items to challenge—*We need the integrity of ranked-choice voting so voters won’t feel compelled to “hold your nose and vote”*Censored debates must be stopped.  The Democratic/Republican duopoly pretends to legitimate debates in what is nothing other than another campaign show.  Independent debates run by uninterested sponsors such as The League of Women Voters, must be restored.  (Access www.debates.org to understand the extent of duopoly control).  The so-called Debate Commission is a corporation to promote the Democratic corporation and Republican corporation, not to inform We The People*Challenge and stop gerrymandering that is a trick especially of the Republican branch of the duopoly.*Stop voter suppression by political Parties, and especially confront and stop Party suppression, which is the over-arching approach to voter suppression.  Party suppression seems to have been the responsibility of the Democratic corporation*Promote by law ranked-choice voting, so we won’t be told again, by D&R duopoly, to “hold your nose and vote”
If these issues are handled, our next elections can be honorable. 
*******************************************************************https://news.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx—-Political Party affiliation of voters.
    https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/league-refuses-help-perpetrate-fraud–LEAGUE REFUSES TO “HELP PERPETRATE A FRAUD”

WITHDRAWS SUPPORT FROM FINAL PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE–end of lwv info–Murray Bookchin, who founded social ecology, a theory that strongly influenced early Green Socialist thought, strongly advocated the discussion and study group as the first step of any revolutionary movement. A group of individuals meets to expand their knowledge of radical thought and form a radical intellectual community; through the give and take of discussion, can eventually form ideas for next steps in organizing and political activity. According to Bookchin, study groups help create solidarity and a shared language — with a shared coherent vision — for building a mass, organizing, political movement!