thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-21--American Exceptionalism and the American Left’s China Double Standard

he threat that the American Left sees in China aligns with the white supremacist underpinnings of American exceptionalism .
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the contradictions of U.S. imperialism , including those that continue to render the American left politically isolated and ineffectual .
China has found itself at the center of this process .
U.S. imperialism has successfully convinced many of its so-called “ citizens ” to believe that the U.S. government is the principal arbiter of bourgeois freedoms such as the right to individual liberty and free speech .
China , on the other hand , has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ class as an “ authoritarian regime ” where the rights of individuals are crushed under the weight of a centralized state .
This Cold War era dichotomy persists into the present day .
A strong yet often unspoken belief in the ideology of American exceptionalism within the American Left has created a massive double standard when it comes to China .
First , a word of caution .
The term “ left ” is used in this article not to describe liberals , Democratic Party politicians , or even social democrats or followers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ traditionally side with the right wing and the CIA on questions of international politics .
The “ American left ” referenced in this article is more of a marker of class politics .
It includes socialists , Marxists , and liberation organizations and activists that claim to oppose capitalism and imperialism .
However , many of these forces have pledged loyalty to the tenets of American exceptionalism through an inconsistent application of the principle of self-determination toward China as opposed to the rest of the world .
“ Democratic Party loyalists traditionally side @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on questions of international politics.
” For as small and divided as the left remains in the United States , a lot of progress has been made in shifting public opinion of U.S. imperial aggression against smaller nations around the world .
The invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan sparked huge protests that helped sink John McCain and the Republican Party in 2008 .
American Left opposition to sanctions against Cuba played a small but significant role in the Obama administration ’ s decision to soften its stance toward the socialist nation beginning in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ majorities of Americans opposed the Obama administration when it drew a “ red line ” and contemplated a full-scale invasion of Syria .
In each case , the anti-imperialist left capitalized on a popular distaste for war to defend the self-determination of oppressed nations .
Fewer activists and organizations within the American Left have been willing to defend China from U.S. imperialist aggression .
Unlike Syria , Cuba , or Venezuela , China is rarely considered an oppressed nation .
China is viewed by most leftists more as an equal competitor to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ global domination .
This view makes it fashionable to wield slogans such as “ oppose the Chinese and American ruling class.
” There are a good number of American leftists who believe that workers in China and workers in the U.S. are united in their shared aim of bringing down two different forms of empire .
“ Unlike Syria , Cuba , or Venezuela , China is rarely considered an oppressed nation.
” American exceptionalism lies at the foundations of these assumptions .
American exceptionalism assumes that the U.S. is a force for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the right to decide which nations or peoples have the right to exist and which do not .
The American Left is not immune to the deep influence of ruling class ideology .
Syria , Cuba , and Venezuela pose no economic or political threat to U.S. hegemony and thus have a right to exist .
China , on the other hand , is understood as an immediate threat to U.S. interests and the right of the American Left to claim a monopoly on the political direction of the working class and oppressed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the fact that while U.S. corporate media slander against Venezuela and Syria has been rejected by a section of the American Left as part and parcel of a larger military intelligence plot to build the case for war , the same slander is generally accepted as fact when it is directed toward China .
Yet China has more in common with the Global South than it does differences .
China , Syria , Venezuela , and Cuba have all been characterized as “ authoritarian dictatorships ” and demonized for their supposedly undemocratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been accused by the most violent imperialist regime in world history , the U.S. , of placing a great deal of suffering on the citizens of their respective nations .
Despite impressive economic gains , China remains a developing country alongside its counterparts in Latin America and the Middle East .
Five hundred million people in China still lack basic services such as flushable toilets and per capita GDP in China is still but a sixth of the United States at 10,000 USD .
In many ways , China faces a similar struggle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Syrian , and Venezuelan counterparts yet is subject to the least solidarity from the American Left .
“ Five hundred million people in China still lack basic services such as flushable toilets and per capita GDP in China is still but a sixth of the United State.
” The ideology of American exceptionalism has complimented the U.S. military doctrine of Great Power Competition to render the American Left blind to imperialist aggression toward China .
Great Power Competition is just the latest strategy to maintain U.S. hegemony .
It builds on the Obama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Asia which shifted more than fifty percent of all military assets to the Pacific to “ contain ” China .
American exceptionalism feeds U.S. military aggression toward China by arming the American Left with an ideological basis for its anti-China orientation .
Just as the U.S. foreign policy establishment has labeled China an existential threat to the military and economic supremacy of U.S. capitalism , so too has the American Left adopted a worldview that positions China as an existential threat to their goal of a better world .
The American Left is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ China like a class enemy comparable to the United States while also believing that it has the right to dictate China ’ s economic and political system in the interests of “ Chinese workers.
” The threat that the American Left sees in China aligns with the white supremacist underpinnings of American exceptionalism .
White supremacy has been a key force in driving U.S. hostilities toward China for well over a century .
Fear of a “ Yellow Peril ” and a communist takeover of the United States has indeed played a role @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a concerted effort to understand China from the perspective of the Chinese people .
China is a non-white country .
The thought of such a country not only defying U.S. imperialism but also becoming a global superpower is an unacceptable outcome even for the most radical of leftists in the U.S. that claim to oppose war .
“ White supremacy has been a key force in driving U.S. hostilities toward China for well over a century.
” Still , the COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated China ’ s rise and the U.S. ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s rapid and effective response to the COVID-19 outbreak preserved countless lives and laid the basis for the extension of solidarity in the form of masks , test kits , and medical experts to 194 countries worldwide .
U.S. imperialism proved incapable of containing the virus and has treated the medical crisis as an opportunity to reap enormous profits for private banks and corporations .
Workers find themselves mired in an economic crisis that The Washington Post has admitted is worse than the Great Depression while the U.S. military continues to direct @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and China .
The U.S. has increased its military presence in contested waters surrounding China .
China ’ s central government has been briefed by its top intelligence ministry that the country should militarily prepare for the worst of what the U.S. has to offer .
China and the U.S. currently stand on the opposite end of the struggle against COVID-19 .
China has successfully contained COVID-19 and has shifted its focus toward providing solidarity to the world ’ s people in the fight against the pandemic .
In stark contrast , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and economic plunder .
The need to overcome the limitations of the American Left has become even more dire in this moment of crisis .
Adherence to American exceptionalism has ensured that workers and oppressed people are without the leadership necessary to become an organized force for peace in the fight against the virus .
Two thirds of the United States hold a negative view of China and more than half believe that China should pay reparations to the world for the COVID-19 pandemic .
“ U.S .
imperialism has offered nothing but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Left ’ s China double standard does nothing to reverse this trend .
In fact , by claiming superior insight into China ’ s development process , American Left organizations have reinforced CIA talking points about the dangers of Chinese “ expansionism ” and the consequences that China ’ s rise possesses for a Western-oriented “ human rights ” framework .
U.S.-based organizations and activists are duty bound to defend the self-determination of all oppressed nations , including the People ’ s Republic of China , and should turn their attention to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Furthermore , a material basis exists for stronger relations between workers in the U.S. and China , but only if the wishes of the people of China and their rightful government are respected .
Over eighty percent of people in China report satisfaction with the direction of the central government while favorability ratings of U.S. Congress range in the low teens .
All too overlooked is the fact that working class and oppressed peoples in the United States seek the very changes that have contributed to the trust that the people of China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lifted 800 million people out of absolute poverty since 1990 .
In contrast , fifteen percent of the U.S. population is considered poor and this number is two to three times higher in majority Black cities such as Detroit .
China has expanded healthcare to 95 percent of people while the U.S. continues to lead the world in bankruptcies due to medical debt .
Wages for the bottom half of income earners in China have increased by 400 percent since 1978 but have declined by 1 percent for U.S.-based workers over the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issue of climate change , the U.S. leads the world in fossil fuel production while China leads the world in the production of renewable energy .
Climate change , living wages , and healthcare continue to be the most important issues on the minds of U.S.-based workers and China ’ s experience , while profoundly different from the U.S. context , offers important lessons into what is possible when private profits are not in command of society .
“ Over eighty percent of people in China report satisfaction with the direction of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the preservation of the natural environment have the potential to create a very lasting bond between the people of China and the working class in the United States .
However , what is critical to the future of humanity is viewed as anathema to the preservation of U.S. imperialism and the ruling class that profits from this system .
Much of the socialist-oriented American Left has sided with their ruling class ’ view of China despite claiming concern about the future of humanity .
Combatting the American Left ’ s China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ principles of solidarity and self-determination and the application of democratic centralism in all organizational work .
Democratic centralism in the case of China necessarily means that socialists focus on building strong unity within their organizations through democratic criticism and debate around critical questions such as how to approach China .
This must be coupled with a centralized public position that unequivocally defends China from U.S. imperialism and upholds the right to self-determination for oppressed nations .
COVID-19 has brought the crisis of U.S. imperialism to a breaking point .
Now is the time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our movement so that revolutionary possibilities can emerge from a present rife with economic and political devastation .
Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report 's Facebook page at http : //facebook.com/blackagendareport Or , you can comment by emailing us at comments @ blackagendareport.com

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he threat that the American Left sees in China aligns with the white supremacist underpinnings of American exceptionalism.
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the contradictions of U.S. imperialism, including those that continue to render the American left politically isolated and ineffectual. China has found itself at the center of this process. U.S. imperialism has successfully convinced many of its so-called “citizens” to believe that the U.S. government is the principal arbiter of bourgeois freedoms such as the right to individual liberty and free speech. China, on the other hand, has long been depicted by the U.S. ruling class as an “authoritarian regime” where the rights of individuals are crushed under the weight of a centralized state. This Cold War era dichotomy persists into the present day. A strong yet often unspoken belief in the ideology of American exceptionalism within the American Left has created a massive double standard when it comes to China.
First, a word of caution. The term “left” is used in this article not to describe liberals, Democratic Party politicians, or even social democrats or followers of Bernie Sanders. Democratic Party loyalists traditionally side with the right wing and the CIA on questions of international politics. The “American left” referenced in this article is more of a marker of class politics. It includes socialists, Marxists, and liberation organizations and activists that claim to oppose capitalism and imperialism. However, many of these forces have pledged loyalty to the tenets of American exceptionalism through an inconsistent application of the principle of self-determination toward China as opposed to the rest of the world.
“Democratic Party loyalists traditionally side with the right wing and the CIA on questions of international politics.”
For as small and divided as the left remains in the United States, a lot of progress has been made in shifting public opinion of U.S. imperial aggression against smaller nations around the world. The invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan sparked huge protests that helped sink John McCain and the Republican Party in 2008. American Left opposition to sanctions against Cuba played a small but significant role in the Obama administration’s decision to soften its stance toward the socialist nation beginning in 2014. In the year prior, majorities of Americans opposed the Obama administration when it drew a “red line” and contemplated a full-scale invasion of Syria. In each case, the anti-imperialist left capitalized on a popular distaste for war to defend the self-determination of oppressed nations.
Fewer activists and organizations within the American Left have been willing to defend China from U.S. imperialist aggression. Unlike Syria, Cuba, or Venezuela, China is rarely considered an oppressed nation. China is viewed by most leftists more as an equal competitor to the United States in a broad struggle for global domination. This view makes it fashionable to wield slogans such as “oppose the Chinese and American ruling class.” There are a good number of American leftists who believe that workers in China and workers in the U.S. are united in their shared aim of bringing down two different forms of empire.
“Unlike Syria, Cuba, or Venezuela, China is rarely considered an oppressed nation.”
American exceptionalism lies at the foundations of these assumptions. American exceptionalism assumes that the U.S. is a force for good in the world and thus has the right to decide which nations or peoples have the right to exist and which do not. The American Left is not immune to the deep influence of ruling class ideology. Syria, Cuba, and Venezuela pose no economic or political threat to U.S. hegemony and thus have a right to exist. China, on the other hand, is understood as an immediate threat to U.S. interests and the right of the American Left to claim a monopoly on the political direction of the working class and oppressed.
Hegemonic and exceptionalist impulses are evident in the fact that while U.S. corporate media slander against Venezuela and Syria has been rejected by a section of the American Left as part and parcel of a larger military intelligence plot to build the case for war, the same slander is generally accepted as fact when it is directed toward China. Yet China has more in common with the Global South than it does differences. China, Syria, Venezuela, and Cuba have all been characterized as “authoritarian dictatorships” and demonized for their supposedly undemocratic character. Each of these governments has been accused by the most violent imperialist regime in world history, the U.S., of placing a great deal of suffering on the citizens of their respective nations. Despite impressive economic gains, China remains a developing country alongside its counterparts in Latin America and the Middle East. Five hundred million people in China still lack basic services such as flushable toilets and per capita GDP in China is still but a sixth of the United States at 10,000 USD. In many ways, China faces a similar struggle against U.S. imperialism as its Cuban, Syrian, and Venezuelan counterparts yet is subject to the least solidarity from the American Left.
“Five hundred million people in China still lack basic services such as flushable toilets and per capita GDP in China is still but a sixth of the United State.”
The ideology of American exceptionalism has complimented the U.S. military doctrine of Great Power Competition to render the American Left blind to imperialist aggression toward China. Great Power Competition is just the latest strategy to maintain U.S. hegemony. It builds on the Obama administration’s “Pivot” to Asia which shifted more than fifty percent of all military assets to the Pacific to “contain” China. American exceptionalism feeds U.S. military aggression toward China by arming the American Left with an ideological basis for its anti-China orientation. Just as the U.S. foreign policy establishment has labeled China an existential threat to the military and economic supremacy of U.S. capitalism, so too has the American Left adopted a worldview that positions China as an existential threat to their goal of a better world.
The American Left is caught within an inherent contradiction of treating China like a class enemy comparable to the United States while also believing that it has the right to dictate China’s economic and political system in the interests of “Chinese workers.” The threat that the American Left sees in China aligns with the white supremacist underpinnings of American exceptionalism. White supremacy has been a key force in driving U.S. hostilities toward China for well over a century. Fear of a “Yellow Peril” and a communist takeover of the United States has indeed played a role in preventing the American Left from making a concerted effort to understand China from the perspective of the Chinese people. China is a non-white country. The thought of such a country not only defying U.S. imperialism but also becoming a global superpower is an unacceptable outcome even for the most radical of leftists in the U.S. that claim to oppose war.
“White supremacy has been a key force in driving U.S. hostilities toward China for well over a century.”
Still, the COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated China’s rise and the U.S.’ decline on the world stage. China’s rapid and effective response to the COVID-19 outbreak preserved countless lives and laid the basis for the extension of solidarity in the form of masks, test kits, and medical experts to 194 countries worldwide. U.S. imperialism proved incapable of containing the virus and has treated the medical crisis as an opportunity to reap enormous profits for private banks and corporations. Workers find themselves mired in an economic crisis that The Washington Post has admitted is worse than the Great Depression while the U.S. military continues to direct aggressive war policies against Iran, Venezuela, and China. The U.S. has increased its military presence in contested waters surrounding China. China’s central government has been briefed by its top intelligence ministry that the country should militarily prepare for the worst of what the U.S. has to offer.
China and the U.S. currently stand on the opposite end of the struggle against COVID-19. China has successfully contained COVID-19 and has shifted its focus toward providing solidarity to the world’s people in the fight against the pandemic. In stark contrast, U.S. imperialism has offered nothing but war and economic plunder. The need to overcome the limitations of the American Left has become even more dire in this moment of crisis. Adherence to American exceptionalism has ensured that workers and oppressed people are without the leadership necessary to become an organized force for peace in the fight against the virus. Two thirds of the United States hold a negative view of China and more than half believe that China should pay reparations to the world for the COVID-19 pandemic.
“U.S. imperialism has offered nothing but war and economic plunder.”
The American Left’s China double standard does nothing to reverse this trend. In fact, by claiming superior insight into China’s development process, American Left organizations have reinforced CIA talking points about the dangers of Chinese “expansionism” and the consequences that China’s rise possesses for a Western-oriented “human rights” framework. U.S.-based organizations and activists are duty bound to defend the self-determination of all oppressed nations, including the People’s Republic of China, and should turn their attention to the war aims of their own government. Furthermore, a material basis exists for stronger relations between workers in the U.S. and China, but only if the wishes of the people of China and their rightful government are respected. Over eighty percent of people in China report satisfaction with the direction of the central government while favorability ratings of U.S. Congress range in the low teens.
All too overlooked is the fact that working class and oppressed peoples in the United States seek the very changes that have contributed to the trust that the people of China possess with their government. China has lifted 800 million people out of absolute poverty since 1990. In contrast, fifteen percent of the U.S. population is considered poor and this number is two to three times higher in majority Black cities such as Detroit. China has expanded healthcare to 95 percent of people while the U.S. continues to lead the world in bankruptcies due to medical debt. Wages for the bottom half of income earners in China have increased by 400 percent since 1978 but have declined by 1 percent for U.S.-based workers over the same period. Furthermore, on the critical issue of climate change, the U.S. leads the world in fossil fuel production while China leads the world in the production of renewable energy . Climate change, living wages, and healthcare continue to be the most important issues on the minds of U.S.-based workers and China’s experience, while profoundly different from the U.S. context, offers important lessons into what is possible when private profits are not in command of society.
“Over eighty percent of people in China report satisfaction with the direction of the central government.”
Peace, poverty reduction, and the preservation of the natural environment have the potential to create a very lasting bond between the people of China and the working class in the United States. However, what is critical to the future of humanity is viewed as anathema to the preservation of U.S. imperialism and the ruling class that profits from this system. Much of the socialist-oriented American Left has sided with their ruling class’ view of China despite claiming concern about the future of humanity. Combatting the American Left’s China double standard requires a reengagement with the principles of solidarity and self-determination and the application of democratic centralism in all organizational work.
Democratic centralism in the case of China necessarily means that socialists focus on building strong unity within their organizations through democratic criticism and debate around critical questions such as how to approach China. This must be coupled with a centralized public position that unequivocally defends China from U.S. imperialism and upholds the right to self-determination for oppressed nations. COVID-19 has brought the crisis of U.S. imperialism to a breaking point. Now is the time to correct ideological and organization errors in our movement so that revolutionary possibilities can emerge from a present rife with economic and political devastation.
COMMENTS?
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Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-21--Freedomrider: Obamagate is Real

Freedomrider: Obamagate is Real

“ Trump ’ s twitter rants about what he calls Obamagate are in fact accurate.
” Donald Trump is a vile racist and a con man .
He always hated Barack Obama and he led the “ birther ” effort in an attempt to prove that the president was not born in the United States .
Trump ’ s animus towards Obama is obviously racial .
But like the proverbial broken clock , Trump is sometimes right .
His twitter rants about what he calls Obamagate are in fact accurate .
During the 2016 presidential campaign and after his surprise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ associates were under surveillance by the FBI .
FBI Director James Comey set up National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to be prosecuted for lying to federal agents .
It is likely that Obama , vice president Joe Biden and other staff were involved in the plan to destabilize a new presidential administration .
Michael Flynn lies at the heart of the Obamagate scandal .
Flynn was an army lieutenant general who served in Afghanistan and Iraq and held positions in the Bush , Obama and Trump administrations .
He is among those defense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the deep state and the military industrial complex are quite bipartisan .
The Flynns of the world are in the Washington revolving door and appear in top positions whether Democrats or Republicans are in office .
“ FBI Director James Comey set up National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to be prosecuted for lying to federal agents.
” His exit from the Obama administration was not voluntary .
Flynn was pushed out of his position as Director of National Intelligence in 2014 when he dared to be truthful about intervention in Syria .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ narrative was a lie and that the U.S. proxies in Syria were jihadists from groups like ISIS and the al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra front .
Flynn was right of course but his candor got him into trouble and he retired from the army .
Like so many people in that line of work he then began consulting , that is to say lobbying , on behalf of corporations and foreign governments .
The investigation of Trump known as Crossfire Hurricane began in 2016 when the presidential campaign was still underway .
There was never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Russian government .
The only collusion was carried out by U.S. intelligence assets in the United Kingdom .
The cloak and dagger took place with allies , not the Russian bogeymen .
Known intelligence operatives in the U.K. , Stefan Halper and a mysterious professor known as Joseph Mifsud ensnared George Papadopoulos , a low level Trump campaign volunteer , into a trap .
They used another U.S. ally , an Australian diplomat , who claimed to have heard Papadopoulos speak of Russian connections .
“ The only collusion was carried out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kingdom.
” Meanwhile , the Democratic National Committee paid former British spy Christopher Steele for a dossier which was full of salacious information that was in all probability made up out of whole cloth .
The information was shopped around to journalists and to politicians like the late John McCain in an effort to discredit Trump before election day .
However , Trump won and created a problem .
The elaborate plot came to naught until Flynn , by then a Trump adviser slated to become National Security Adviser , spoke to Russian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Again , it was a U.S. ally , this time Israel , which involved itself in domestic politics .
The United Nations security council was scheduled to vote on a resolution condemning Israel for expanding its settlements .
Obama was on the way out , and as such was ready to let the resolution pass .
But the Israelis reached out to the Trump team and asked for a conversation with Russia in an effort to get a security council veto .
Flynn spoke to Kislyak on Israel ’ s behalf , his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that is how the set up began .
Just four days after Trump ’ s inauguration James Comey sent two agents to talk to Flynn , who should have known better than to do so .
But they were aided in the subterfuge when they leaked a story to the Washington Post , which claimed that Flynn was not a target in any investigation .
The ruse worked , Flynn let his guard down and spoke when he shouldn ’ t have .
“ The elaborate plot came to naught until Flynn spoke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ addition to talking about the U.N. resolution , Flynn and Kislyak discussed the sanctions that Obama had ordered against Russia .
Flynn advised the Russians not to retaliate because the Obama team would soon be gone .
We know they discussed these matters because the entire conversation was recorded by the FBI .
When Flynn ’ s fate was being determined by Comey ’ s team one wrote in his notes , “ What is our goal ?
Truth/admission or get him to lie so we can prosecute him or get him fired @ @ @ @ @ @ @ House and was also prosecuted for lying to federal agents when he said he couldn ’ t recall parts of his conversation .
The feds went after Flynn with a vengeance .
He pleaded guilty to lying after the FBI threatened to prosecute his son because their firm didn ’ t properly disclose its relationship with the Turkish government .
That case eventually fell apart but they already had what they wanted .
Like dirty law enforcement all over the country they forced a guilty plea .
But Flynn is now suing his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ counsel is aggressively seeking and getting all of the evidence which was withheld from him .
“ Flynn pleaded guilty to lying after the FBI threatened to prosecute his son.
” The term Obamagate has credence because of a January 5 , 2017 White House meeting attended by Obama , Comey , National Security Adviser Susan Rice , U.N. ambassador Samantha Power , Joe Biden , CIA director John Brenner and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper .
Obama spoke of Flynn ’ s conversations with Kislyak and mentioned prosecuting him under the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments .
It is seldom used and is widely considered to be unconstitutional .
But the main issue is that Obama discussed Flynn with others and began to talk about prosecuting him .
The FBI set up took place a few weeks later .
In 2016 and 2017 the Obama White House and/or its agencies used selective leaks against Trump , set a perjury trap for one of his associates and began an effort to unmask Flynn , that is to say reveal his name in classified @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the latest Trumpian joke .
Unfortunately it will probably never be addressed .
For one thing the corporate media are a party to the scandal and won ’ t reveal their role in being happily used against Trump and in pushing the Russiagate fraud for the past four years .
“ Obamagate is not the latest Trumpian joke.
” Trump himself is problematic in this regard .
The Russiagaters were too clever for their own good when they insisted that Robert Mueller testify to Congress following the release of his long awaited report @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and put Russiagate to bed .
But Trump resurrected the issue himself when he discussed Joe Biden in a phone call with the Ukrainian president .
He also repeated a bizarre theory about DNC servers being in Ukraine .
Trump begat Ukrainegate and got himself impeached thanks to his own stupidity .
He can ’ t be trusted to behave any differently this time around .
He brought Obamagate to public attention but if his past behavior is an indicator , he may manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory Obama @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discredited information and invent new charges .
They will cover up their own role and cover for him too .
We can expect the dead horse to be beaten all over again .
Unfortunately the word Obamagate will be relegated to the litany of Trump ’ s bizarro statements and to his overall hatefulness .
That doesn ’ t mean that this issue should be forgotten .
In fact it is imperative that all the truth come out .
Democratic Party spy craft couldn ’ t prevent an election debacle and Trump may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Obamagate is real and the fact that Trump brought it to public attention should not dissuade anyone from telling the truth .
Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report 's Facebook page at http : //facebook.com/blackagendareport Or , you can comment by emailing us at comments @ blackagendareport.com

“Trump’s twitter rants about what he calls Obamagate are in fact accurate.”
Donald Trump is a vile racist and a con man. He always hated Barack Obama and he led the “birther” effort in an attempt to prove that the president was not born in the United States. Trump’s animus towards Obama is obviously racial.
But like the proverbial broken clock, Trump is sometimes right. His twitter rants about what he calls Obamagate are in fact accurate. During the 2016 presidential campaign and after his surprise Electoral College victory, he and his associates were under surveillance by the FBI. FBI Director James Comey set up National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to be prosecuted for lying to federal agents. It is likely that Obama, vice president Joe Biden and other staff were involved in the plan to destabilize a new presidential administration.
Michael Flynn lies at the heart of the Obamagate scandal. Flynn was an army lieutenant general who served in Afghanistan and Iraq and held positions in the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations. He is among those defense and intelligence agency operatives who prove that the deep state and the military industrial complex are quite bipartisan. The Flynns of the world are in the Washington revolving door and appear in top positions whether Democrats or Republicans are in office.
“FBI Director James Comey set up National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to be prosecuted for lying to federal agents.”
His exit from the Obama administration was not voluntary. Flynn was pushed out of his position as Director of National Intelligence in 2014 when he dared to be truthful about intervention in Syria. He knew that the “moderate rebels” narrative was a lie and that the U.S. proxies in Syria were jihadists from groups like ISIS and the al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra front. Flynn was right of course but his candor got him into trouble and he retired from the army. Like so many people in that line of work he then began consulting, that is to say lobbying, on behalf of corporations and foreign governments.
The investigation of Trump known as Crossfire Hurricane began in 2016 when the presidential campaign was still underway. There was never any evidence of Trump campaign involvement with the Russian government. The only collusion was carried out by U.S. intelligence assets in the United Kingdom. The cloak and dagger took place with allies, not the Russian bogeymen.
Known intelligence operatives in the U.K., Stefan Halper and a mysterious professor known as Joseph Mifsud ensnared George Papadopoulos, a low level Trump campaign volunteer, into a trap. They used another U.S. ally, an Australian diplomat, who claimed to have heard Papadopoulos speak of Russian connections.
“The only collusion was carried out by U.S. intelligence assets in the United Kingdom.”
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee paid former British spy Christopher Steele for a dossier which was full of salacious information that was in all probability made up out of whole cloth. The information was shopped around to journalists and to politicians like the late John McCain in an effort to discredit Trump before election day.
However, Trump won and created a problem. The elaborate plot came to naught until Flynn, by then a Trump adviser slated to become National Security Adviser, spoke to Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak in December 2016. Again, it was a U.S. ally, this time Israel, which involved itself in domestic politics. The United Nations security council was scheduled to vote on a resolution condemning Israel for expanding its settlements. Obama was on the way out, and as such was ready to let the resolution pass. But the Israelis reached out to the Trump team and asked for a conversation with Russia in an effort to get a security council veto. Flynn spoke to Kislyak on Israel’s behalf, his conversation was intercepted and recorded, and that is how the set up began.
Just four days after Trump’s inauguration James Comey sent two agents to talk to Flynn, who should have known better than to do so. But they were aided in the subterfuge when they leaked a story to the Washington Post, which claimed that Flynn was not a target in any investigation. The ruse worked, Flynn let his guard down and spoke when he shouldn’t have.
“The elaborate plot came to naught until Flynn spoke to Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak.”
In addition to talking about the U.N. resolution, Flynn and Kislyak discussed the sanctions that Obama had ordered against Russia. Flynn advised the Russians not to retaliate because the Obama team would soon be gone. We know they discussed these matters because the entire conversation was recorded by the FBI.
When Flynn’s fate was being determined by Comey’s team one wrote in his notes, “What is our goal? Truth/admission or get him to lie so we can prosecute him or get him fired?” Flynn did leave the White House and was also prosecuted for lying to federal agents when he said he couldn’t recall parts of his conversation.
The feds went after Flynn with a vengeance. He pleaded guilty to lying after the FBI threatened to prosecute his son because their firm didn’t properly disclose its relationship with the Turkish government. That case eventually fell apart but they already had what they wanted. Like dirty law enforcement all over the country they forced a guilty plea. But Flynn is now suing his original attorneys for malpractice and his new counsel is aggressively seeking and getting all of the evidence which was withheld from him.
“Flynn pleaded guilty to lying after the FBI threatened to prosecute his son.”
The term Obamagate has credence because of a January 5, 2017 White House meeting attended by Obama, Comey, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, U.N. ambassador Samantha Power, Joe Biden, CIA director John Brenner and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Obama spoke of Flynn’s conversations with Kislyak and mentioned prosecuting him under the Logan Act. The Logan Act prohibits private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments. It is seldom used and is widely considered to be unconstitutional. But the main issue is that Obama discussed Flynn with others and began to talk about prosecuting him. The FBI set up took place a few weeks later. In 2016 and 2017 the Obama White House and/or its agencies used selective leaks against Trump, set a perjury trap for one of his associates and began an effort to unmask Flynn, that is to say reveal his name in classified intelligence reports.
So Obamagate is not the latest Trumpian joke. Unfortunately it will probably never be addressed. For one thing the corporate media are a party to the scandal and won’t reveal their role in being happily used against Trump and in pushing the Russiagate fraud for the past four years.
“Obamagate is not the latest Trumpian joke.”
Trump himself is problematic in this regard. The Russiagaters were too clever for their own good when they insisted that Robert Mueller testify to Congress following the release of his long awaited report. But his testimony was a disaster and put Russiagate to bed. But Trump resurrected the issue himself when he discussed Joe Biden in a phone call with the Ukrainian president. He also repeated a bizarre theory about DNC servers being in Ukraine. Trump begat Ukrainegate and got himself impeached thanks to his own stupidity. He can’t be trusted to behave any differently this time around. He brought Obamagate to public attention but if his past behavior is an indicator, he may manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory
Obama still has media friends who repeat old discredited information and invent new charges. They will cover up their own role and cover for him too. We can expect the dead horse to be beaten all over again. Unfortunately the word Obamagate will be relegated to the litany of Trump’s bizarro statements and to his overall hatefulness.
That doesn’t mean that this issue should be forgotten. In fact it is imperative that all the truth come out. Democratic Party spy craft couldn’t prevent an election debacle and Trump may win again in spite of their efforts. Obamagate is real and the fact that Trump brought it to public attention should not dissuade anyone from telling the truth.
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thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-20--Indict and Punish the Perpetrators of Covid Mass Death

Not just Trump , but the whole US ruling class must pay for the mass Covid death toll among Blacks , because only the ruling class has the power to systematically allocate life-death chances for whole populations over generations .
“ To limit the indictment to Donald Trump and his administration would be an insult to today ’ s dead and dying.
” he United States finds myriad ways of killing Black people – of negating the term “ Black lives matter.
” The novel , or new , coronavirus is ending the lives of African Americans at a nationwide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whites , 2.3 times the death toll among Asian Americans and 2.2. times that of Latinos , according to the APM Research Lab ’ s breakdown of mortality by race .
Collectively Blacks have suffered 27 percent of all Covid-19 deaths in the United States , which would mean that 24 , 930 of the 92 , 333 total U.S. deaths from the virus as of this week , were African Americas , who make up only 13 percent of the population .
Researchers at Yale University and the University of Pittsburgh put @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with Blacks 3.5 times more likely to die than whites , and Latinos twice as likely to succumb to the virus .
The actual ratios of death may never be known since , according to the Yale study , “ almost half the states do not track the race and ethnicity of those who have died in the pandemic , and states that are tracking racial and ethnic data do not account for age differences among population groups .
The COVID Racial Data Tracker , a collaboration of The Atlantic ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ & Policy Center , updates the toll by ethnicity on a daily basis , with about a three-day lag in reporting of deaths by state .
“ Researchers at Yale University and the University of Pittsburgh put the proportionate Black death toll considerably higher , with Blacks 3.5 times more likely to die than whites.
” If the Yale/Pittsburgh finding that Blacks are 3.5 times more like to die from Covid-19 than whites is correct , then Blacks make up considerably more than 27 percent of deaths .
But , even at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ America is horrific .
If projections of 143,360 total U.S. deaths from coronavirus by August 4 hold true , that would result in a Black death toll of 38,707 – with no end in sight .
By comparison , 1,008 people of all races were killed by police gunfire in 2019 , according to the Washington Post tally .
What will be the Black political response to such gruesome numbers ?
Who will be made accountable for a slaughter that was pre-programmed by the very nature of a society birthed in genocide , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plunder ?
Just as infant mortality is the best measure of a society ’ s general health , so does the Covid-19 death toll indict the United States for systematically undermining the life chances of all of its constituent peoples ( 143,360 dead by August 4 ) , and for the aggravated crime of setting a death trap for African Americans , every aspect of whose lives has been methodically weighted towards early death .
These are crimes that only the ruling class can commit , because only the ruling class has the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whole populations over generations .
The indictment must be initiated by Black America , the most deeply harmed victims of preventable mass death at the hands of a morally depraved white ruling class .
The very nature of mass slaughter by Covid-19 demands that the entire system of political economy – of racial capitalism -- in the United States be put on trial , and that the humans that have profited from , bolstered and defended that murderous system be removed from power and punished .
To limit the indictment to Donald Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to today ’ s dead and dying , and to all past victims of racial capitalism ’ s carnage around the world .
Every Democrat that has joined with the Lords of Capital in preventing the United States from establishing a universal health care system , is guilty of depraved indifference to the lives of his and her constituents , as is virtually every member of the Republican Party , whose organizing principle is white supremacy , an ideology of mass murder .
The U.S. electoral duopoly system has acted as a criminal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wealth , with both parties colluding to deny most of the population – and especially Black people – the right to healthy and safe lives and protection from contagious disease , as well as the closely related rights to meaningful and fairly compensated employment , adequate shelter from the elements , and an education that provides the people with the knowledge and skills to shape , and contribute to , society .
“ Every Democrat that has joined with the Lords of Capital in preventing the United States from establishing a universal health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ takes a whole class of criminals to create the conditions to kill nearly one hundred thousand people – 27 percent of them Black -- in just three months .
However , politicians representing Black America , the most victimized constituency , are co-conspirators in the great crime , both by their collaboration with Democrats that have systematically weakened the U.S. social safety net ( most notably , President Obama ’ s partially consummated Grand Bargain with Republicans ) , and by their management of Black population centers that have been methodically stripped of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ These Black auxiliaries to ruling class criminals put personal profit above the welfare of Black people , and must be indicted along with their masters .
The Black political class should have been our antibodies against the plagues of racial , political and economic repression , but made common cause with the oppressor .
The Black misleaders must be the first to be indicted , because they weaken our ability to resist the greater evils : the Lords of Capital .
The proof of their culpability lies in cemeteries all across Black America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to indict the perpetrators of mass death , including the Black collaborators in the lower ranks of capitalist crime .
Why were Blacks seven times more likely to die of Covid-19 in Kansas City , than whites ?
What factors ( crimes ) made Missouri , Wisconsin and Washington D.C six times as lethal for Blacks as whites , and Michigan five times more deadly for Blacks ?
How is it that the Grim Reaper came for Black people three times more often than for whites in Arkansas , Illinois , Louisiana , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
And what should be the penalty for locking up millions of human beings in virus-infested cages without provision for basic hygiene , much less protection from disease .
Isn ’ t every Covid-19 death in prison -- where captives are totally dependent on their captors – a case of murder ?
The people must convene , learn the truth , and make their verdicts .
The only fitting punishment is overthrow of the criminal racial capitalist regime , whose crimes are multitudinous and manifest .
I ’ ll be asking the organization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Coalition , to initiate Black Covid-19 tribunals in cities across the nation .
Activists of all races should do the same .
Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report 's Facebook page at http : //facebook.com/blackagendareport Or , you can comment by emailing us at comments @ blackagendareport.com

Not just Trump, but the whole US ruling class must pay for the mass Covid death toll among Blacks, because only the ruling class has the power to systematically allocate life-death chances for whole populations over generations.
“To limit the indictment to Donald Trump and his administration would be an insult to today’s dead and dying.”
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he United States finds myriad ways of killing Black people – of negating the term “Black lives matter.” The novel, or new, coronavirus is ending the lives of African Americans at a nationwide rate that is 2.6 times that of whites, 2.3 times the death toll among Asian Americans and 2.2. times that of Latinos, according to the APM Research Lab’s breakdown of mortality by race. Collectively Blacks have suffered 27 percent of all Covid-19 deaths in the United States, which would mean that 24, 930 of the 92, 333 total U.S. deaths from the virus as of this week, were African Americas, who make up only 13 percent of the population.
Researchers at Yale University and the University of Pittsburgh put the proportionate Black death toll considerably higher , with Blacks 3.5 times more likely to die than whites, and Latinos twice as likely to succumb to the virus. The actual ratios of death may never be known since, according to the Yale study, “almost half the states do not track the race and ethnicity of those who have died in the pandemic, and states that are tracking racial and ethnic data do not account for age differences among population groups.
The COVID Racial Data Tracker , a collaboration of The Atlantic’s COVID Tracking Project and The Antiracist Research & Policy Center,updates the toll by ethnicity on a daily basis, with about a three-day lag in reporting of deaths by state.
“Researchers at Yale University and the University of Pittsburgh put the proportionate Black death toll considerably higher, with Blacks 3.5 times more likely to die than whites.”
If the Yale/Pittsburgh finding that Blacks are 3.5 times more like to die from Covid-19 than whites is correct, then Blacks make up considerably more than 27 percent of deaths. But, even at the lower rate, the carnage in Black America is horrific. If projections of 143,360 total U.S. deaths from coronavirus by August 4 hold true, that would result in a Black death toll of 38,707 – with no end in sight. By comparison, 1,008 people of all races were killed by police gunfire in 2019, according to the Washington Post tally .
What will be the Black political response to such gruesome numbers? Who will be made accountable for a slaughter that was pre-programmed by the very nature of a society birthed in genocide, slavery and the glorification of conquest and plunder?
Just as infant mortality is the best measure of a society’s general health, so does the Covid-19 death toll indict the United States for systematically undermining the life chances of all of its constituent peoples (143,360 dead by August 4), and for the aggravated crime of setting a death trap for African Americans, every aspect of whose lives has been methodically weighted towards early death. These are crimes that only the ruling class can commit, because only the ruling class has the power to systematically allocate life-death chances for whole populations over generations.
“Who will be made accountable?”
The indictment must be initiated by Black America, the most deeply harmed victims of preventable mass death at the hands of a morally depraved white ruling class. The very nature of mass slaughter by Covid-19 demands that the entire system of political economy – of racial capitalism -- in the United States be put on trial, and that the humans that have profited from, bolstered and defended that murderous system be removed from power and punished.
To limit the indictment to Donald Trump and his administration would be an insult to today’s dead and dying, and to all past victims of racial capitalism’s carnage around the world. Every Democrat that has joined with the Lords of Capital in preventing the United States from establishing a universal health care system, is guilty of depraved indifference to the lives of his and her constituents, as is virtually every member of the Republican Party, whose organizing principle is white supremacy, an ideology of mass murder. The U.S. electoral duopoly system has acted as a criminal enterprise, answering to an oligarchy of wealth, with both parties colluding to deny most of the population – and especially Black people – the right to healthy and safe lives and protection from contagious disease, as well as the closely related rights to meaningful and fairly compensated employment, adequate shelter from the elements, and an education that provides the people with the knowledge and skills to shape, and contribute to, society.
“Every Democrat that has joined with the Lords of Capital in preventing the United States from establishing a universal health care system, is guilty.”
It takes a whole class of criminals to create the conditions to kill nearly one hundred thousand people – 27 percent of them Black -- in just three months. However, politicians representing Black America, the most victimized constituency, are co-conspirators in the great crime, both by their collaboration with Democrats that have systematically weakened the U.S. social safety net (most notably, President Obama’s partially consummated Grand Bargain with Republicans), and by their management of Black population centers that have been methodically stripped of defenses against debilitating poverty and disease.
These Black auxiliaries to ruling class criminals put personal profit above the welfare of Black people, and must be indicted along with their masters. The Black political class should have been our antibodies against the plagues of racial, political and economic repression, but made common cause with the oppressor. The Black misleaders must be the first to be indicted, because they weaken our ability to resist the greater evils: the Lords of Capital.
The proof of their culpability lies in cemeteries all across Black America. People’s tribunals must convene to indict the perpetrators of mass death, including the Black collaborators in the lower ranks of capitalist crime. Why were Blacks seven times more likely to die of Covid-19 in Kansas City, than whites? What factors (crimes) made Missouri, Wisconsin and Washington D.C six times as lethal for Blacks as whites, and Michigan five times more deadly for Blacks? How is it that the Grim Reaper came for Black people three times more often than for whites in Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, Oregon and South Carolina? And what should be the penalty for locking up millions of human beings in virus-infested cages without provision for basic hygiene, much less protection from disease. Isn’t every Covid-19 death in prison -- where captives are totally dependent on their captors – a case of murder?
The people must convene, learn the truth, and make their verdicts. The only fitting punishment is overthrow of the criminal racial capitalist regime, whose crimes are multitudinous and manifest. I’ll be asking the organization I co-founded, the Black Is Back Coalition , to initiate Black Covid-19 tribunals in cities across the nation. Activists of all races should do the same.
COMMENTS?
Please join the conversation on Black Agenda Report's Facebook page at http://facebook.com/blackagendareport
Or, you can comment by emailing us at comments@blackagendareport.com


thegreanvillepostbiasrating--2020-05-20--LEFT GATEKEEPERS THROUGH THE NEW LEFT: MONITORED REBELLION – PART I

The Cultural Cold War : The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters Frances Stonor Saunders Cultural containment meant “ ring around the pinkos ” hat do the following people have in common : Noam Chomsky , Cornel West , Naomi Klein , Robert Reich , Michael Albert , Howard Zinn , Amy Goodman , Media Benjamin , Norman Solomon , Chris Hedges , Michael Moore , Greg Palast , and Chip Berlet ?
With the exception of Norman Solomon and Chip Berlet , these are household names among “ progressives ” .
What they appear to have in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” How far left ?
On the surface , they appear to run the full spectrum .
After all , Chomsky and Michael Albert are anarchists .
Most , if not all of the rest are advocating some kind of social democracy .
Robert Reich and possibly Amy Goodman are New Deal liberals .
Have we missed any tendency ?
Is that it ?
Yes , we are missing a tendency .
The Leninist tradition , whether Trotskyist , Stalinist or Maoist .
Are there reasons they are not included ?
Why would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the anarchists , get airtime on a show like Democracy Now , while Leninists such as Michael Parenti or Gloria La Riva are rarely , if ever , invited .
A crucial key to understanding why this is the case is to clarify the differences between the Old and the New Left .
The Old vs the New Left What all these patron saints have in common is that they are members of the New Left in the U.S. as opposed to the Old Left .
The New left grew up in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ basis of rejecting the Soviet Union as a model for socialism .
For the New Left , some form of social democracy or participatory democracy ( anarchist ) was the best model .
Additionally , the old left emphasized that social class – specifically the working class – was the agent of revolutionary change .
The New Left rejected this .
For them , the working class has been bought off by capitalism and was no longer a revolutionary class .
The New Left turned to philosophers like Herbert Marcuse who claimed that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
At the same time , some sections of the middle-class civil rights movement organized around Martin Luther King ( a social democrat ) .
The women ’ s movement had two wings , the liberal Betty Friedan wing and the radical lesbians .
But what both these New Left systems of stratification had in common was that race and gender were more important than social class .
There were exceptions to the rule .
For example , while the Weatherman were anti-working class , they were secretive ( Leninist ) , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ armed force in order to fight .
They tended to idolize third world countries and blindly accept their leadership .
Malcolm X had clear roots in the Black working class and poor and maintained a class perspective .
He was murdered before he settled within a leftist tendency , but he seemed to be on the way to Trotskyism when he died .
So , in the New left , there were some Leninist tendencies but mostly the social democratic and anarchist orientations won out .
A fourth major difference between the Old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
For the Old left of the Communist Party of Russia , China and Cuba , capitalism by its very nature has contradictions that will drive it to destruction .
All Leninists agreed that capitalism was doomed .
For the New Left , capitalism seems to have survived its crisis of the Great Depression and the World Wars and was expanding production .
It was thought that capitalism could go on forever .
The New Left became increasingly cynical that capitalism could be stopped due to any inherent contradictions .
Only by revolutionary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be overthrown .
Who developed revolutionary theory ?
For the Old Left , revolutionary theory was developed by professional revolutionaries inside the Communist Party or by members of trade unions .
At least hypothetically if not actually , Leninist theory should be informed by political practice in organizing the working class and its struggles .
On the other hand , led by the Frankfurt school , New Leftist theory was developed not within a party or a union but within the academy .
Most New Leftist theory after 1970 came out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ post-structuralist or postmodernist .
These theories were not informed by any connection to practice .
They built on each other and increasingly lost touch with any kind of practical tests .
One exception to this academic trend was Murray Bookchin and his anarchist followers .
The attitude towards the arts between the New Left and the Old Left were at opposite ends of the spectrum .
The Leninist left thought the responsibility of the artist was to represent reality as it really was from a working-class viewpoint ( socialist realism ) .
For @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rejection of the life of the working class .
Beat poetry and abstract expressionism moved away from reality and expressed the psychological idiosyncrasies of the artist .
What was revolutionary was individual expression .
As for appearance , Leninists tried to emulate the dress of the working-class so that short hair and jeans were a sign of solidarity .
For the New Left appearances were determined by the countercultural tastes which included beads , long skirts , bell bottoms and tie-dyed clothes .
Among the Leninist Black New Left , dressing in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ originally from was an option .
In terms of social evolution , the Old Left embraced Marx ’ s linear model of primitive communism through three forms of class society before reaching communism .
Like the bourgeoisie of their country , they championed the notion of progress through science and technology .
The New Left was having none of this .
They questioned whether capitalist society was more evolved than what went before and they were skeptical of science in delivering us to the promised land .
They were much closer to romantics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whether in the United States or around the world .
For the Old Left , one ’ s personal life had little to do with the political world .
It was possible to be withdrawn , apathetic or abusive in personal life and that had nothing to do with the revolution .
For the New Left , specifically the women ’ s movement , “ the personal was political ” .
What this meant was that your personal life needed to be a microcosm of the world you wanted to build .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ marriage and a good revolution .
You had to “ be the change you wanted to have happen ” .
This was enhanced by pot and LSD trips .
Where does psychology fit into the picture ?
For the Old Left , personal psychological problems were just “ nerves ” not worth taking seriously .
It is understandable that the Old Left was skeptical or cynical of psychology and dismissed it as “ bourgeois ” .
The work of Vygotsky , Luria and Leontiev in Russia remained untranslated , so they had no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The New Left was much more interested in psychology .
It was very sympathetic to the Freudian left of Wilhelm Reich and Erich Fromm .
For the socialist women ’ s movement Karen Horney was a heroine .
Reich ’ s work The Mass Psychology of Fascism helped explain not only the rise of fascism but the failure of the working class to rise up .
For the Black Leninist left , Frantz Fanon was the best at explaining self-hatred among colonial people .
For the Old Left ecology was not an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a backdrop for social evolution which was understood as a higher form of nature .
In terms of scale , the Old Left took for granted the nation-state as the smallest , most realistic political body to organize around .
The Old Left thought of nature as infinitely fecund and able to carry a growing population without limits .
But for the New Left , the ecology movement in the 60 ’ s saw nature as under attack and should be defended and appreciated .
The romantic tendency of the New Left @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This was later accompanied by the “ small is beautiful ” movement which fit well with anarchist decentralization concepts .
Furthermore , in 1972 the Club of Rome issued its first report stating that the carrying capacity of the planet was limited .
This meant that unlimited growth could no longer be sustainable .
People had to learn to do with less .
For the first time since the eugenics movement , the question of too many people on the planet was broached , however tentatively .
[ Infinite growth in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an absurdity , even if it remains an unquestioned mantra and politically popular slogan symbolising `` the good life '' and secure employment , among capitalists , many workers , and even people supposedly opposed to amoral industrialism 's central tenets .
The constant growth imperative is one of the reasons social ecologists regard capitalism as irrational and on a collision course with nature .
See , Joel Kovel , The Enemy of Nature —Eds . ]
The last categorical difference has to do with the differences in religion and spirituality .
For @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ideal and organized religion and spirituality were all part of the same superstition .
The New Left was more open to institutionalized religion ( as in following Martin Luther King ) , while making a distinction between institutionalized religion and spirituality ( which was separate from organized religion ) .
By the early 1970 ’ s , the New Left became susceptible to Eastern mysticism ( TM , yoga ) and the Gurus who came with it .
Women especially were leaving institutionalized religion for wicca and other neo-pagan traditions .
Some New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ education and Gurdjieff movement .
Anarchists were more likely to gravitate to the magical work of Aleister Crowley .
See table 1 for a summary .
But why does this matter ?
If the Old Left is marginalized and excluded in the press , magazines and on radio waves today and the New Left – social democrats and anarchists – are welcomed , what does this have to do with Left Gatekeeping ?
After all , maybe the Old Left is not paid attention to because they are “ out of date ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` mindless '' ] defense of the Soviet Union .
To some extent this may be so , but that is far from the whole picture .
Old Left vs New Left – Table I In his book The Mighty Wurlitzer Hugh Wilford describes the events that led to the founding of the Congress for Cultural Freedom ( CCF ) : What it did In her book The Cultural Cold War : The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters , Frances Stonor Saunders traces the activity of an organization called the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1950 to 1967 .
The secret mission of the organization was to promote cultural propaganda in Western Europe to keep it from going communist .
The idea was to make it seem that the cultural criticism of communism coming from the West about the Soviet Union was a spontaneous irruption , rather than stage-managed .
The CIA poured tens of millions of dollars into this project .
As it turns out , groups of ex-communists for the most part inadvertently , helped to invent the weapons with which the CIA fought communism .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the spies attempted to professionalize their front operations with their Ivy League recruits .
As Stonor Sanders tells it , the congress : Suitable texts were easily available from the CCF such as Andre Gide ’ s account of his disillusionment in Russia , Koestler ’ s Darkness at Noon and Yogi and the Commissar and Ignazio Silone ’ s Bread and Wine .
Further , the CIA subsidized The New Class by Milovan Djilas about the class system in the USSR .
Books with titles like Life and Death in the USSR @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a book widely translated and distributed with CIA assistance .
The compilation of articles made into the book The God That Failed was distributed all over Europe .
On the surface it may seem that the purpose of the CIA front groups was to destroy communism .
However , Stoner Saunders denies this .
Besides publishing , the CIA set up front groups for disseminating their ideas .
In 1952 it began setting up dummy organizations for laundering subsidies .
The formula was : Go to a well-known rich person and tell them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the name of the government : • None Publish a letterhead with the would-be name of the donor .
When it came to the arts : According to Stoner Saunders the animated cartoon of Orwell ’ s Animal Farm was financed by the CIA and distributed throughout the world .
But the CIA did more than distribute .
They actually changed the story .
In the original text , communist pigs and capitalist man are indistinguishable , merging into a common pool of rottenness .
When it came to his novel , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ idea of it came from Orwell ’ s Trotskyist criticism of Stalinism .
However , Trotsky ’ s biographer , Isaac Deutscher , claimed that Orwell got the symbols , plot and chief characters from Yevgeny Zamyatin ’ s book We .
What leftists or former leftists were involved in the Congress for Cultural Freedom ?
Sidney Hook ( former Marxist ) , Arthur Koestler ( former communist ) , James Burnham ( former Trotskyist ) , Raymond Aron , Harold Laski , Isaiah Berlin , Daniel Bell ( The End of Ideology @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ) Franz Borkenau ( former communist ) , and Lionel Trilling to name just a few .
For the most part , without knowing exactly who they were dealing with , these former communists like Burnham , Koestler and Louis Fischer wanted to directly confront Stalinism politically .
They felt no one knew better how to fight communism than they did .
Burnham went so far as to say that CCF should form a true anti-communist front embracing the non-socialists right as well .
Koestler , Burnham , Hook , Lasky and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unofficial steering committee .
But cooler heads prevailed .
Michael Josselson , one of the founders of the organization , believed in the soft-sell strategy , which is winning intellectual support for the western cause in the Cold War by fostering a cultural community between America and Europe .
Did these ex-communists know they were working for the CIA ?
The parameters of knowing ranges from who knew and who didn ’ t .
But these extremes are too easy .
Better to separate points of gradation into : • None Those who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ • None those who knew some things and not others and did not want to find out ; • None those who thought some things were fishy but didn ’ t inquire further , and ; • None those who were completely naïve and didn ’ t know .
One who knew was Sidney Hook , who was in contact with the CIA .
He was a regular consultant to the CIA on matters of mutual interest .
In 1955 Hook was directly involved in negotiations with Allen Dulles .
Another who knew @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Diana Trilling who said , “ I did not believe that to take the support of my government was a dishonorable act ” .
Late in his life Orwell knew the CIA was involved and actively supported them .
He had handed over a list of suspected fellow travelers to the Information Research Department in 1949 .
It would seem that most leftists fell into categories two and three .
It is highly unlikely that those involved in radical politics both internationally and domestically , and those subjected to the intrigues of Stalin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of any other large political organizations that were involved .
Furthermore , as Primo Levi points out insightfully in The Drowned and the Saved , those who consciously lie to others as well as themselves are in the minority : How successful was the CIA ?
It is tempting to think that an organization as powerful as the CIA would overwhelm and turn to mush another group that stood in its way .
But that is not what happened .
Ex-communists fought among themselves and twisted the intention of the CIA and took @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to answer Stoner Saunders ’ excessive attribution of power to the CIA , Hugh Wilford says that the CIA might have called the tune , but the piper didn ’ t always play it , nor did the audience dance to it .
Did This Left Gatekeeping End with the Ending of the Congress for Cultural Freedom ?

Up to You.
^3000US citizens have no real political representation.
We don't live in a democracy. And our freedom is disappearing fast.
I don't want to be ruled by hypocrites, whores, and war criminals.
What about you? Time to push back against the corporate oligarchy.
And its multitude of minions and lackeys.