lewrockwell--2020-03-07--Social Justice and…Fried Chicken?

Social Justice and…Fried Chicken?

Since an infamous 2015 incident involving members of the SAE fraternity chanting racial epithets , the University of Oklahoma ( OU ) has been plagued by charges of racism .
Last year University president James Gallogly was driven out of office after two students posted a video to Instagram of themselves wearing blackface .
The latest controversy involves two professors using the forbidden “ N-word ” in the classroom .
In the first case , a journalism professor equated the N-word to the phrase “ OK , boomer ” by stating that “ calling someone a boomer is like calling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clearly did not intend his remark as a racial slur directed at an individual or group , the relevance to his pedagogy was marginal .
To his credit , OU interim President Joseph Harroz immediately released a statement that the professor ’ s language was protected by both the First Amendment and academic freedom .
This cleared the way for the professor to apologize .
Although apologies are almost always a mistake in free speech controversies , in this case the use of offensive language was gratuitous and showed poor judgment on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first such mistake by the professor in question over an academic career that spanned more than twenty years .
Most of us would consider that to be a creditable record .
The second incident occurred only a few days after the first .
A history professor read from an historical document that contained the offensive term .
Her purpose was to illustrate the prevalence of racism in US society in the 1920s .
The reading was an integral part of the professor ’ s teaching and one-hundred percent relevant to the curriculum @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Black & White : Politic ... Deming , David Best Price : $ 4.47 Buy New $ 12.58 A group of students calling themselves the “ Black Emergency Response Team ” ( BERT ) issued a list of demands .
They occupied Evans Hall , the chief administrative building on campus , and refused to leave until their demands were met .
First on the list of demands was the immediate resignation of OU Provost Kyle Harper .
Why ?
Because when Harper was an undergraduate student at OU in 1999 he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s demands included mandatory political indoctrination of both faculty and students .
Faculty had to be subjected to “ equity training , ” and students were to take a semester-length “ diversity ” class .
Anyone familiar with this sort of rhetoric immediately recognizes that terms such as “ equity ” and “ diversity ” are euphemisms for indoctrination in radical left-wing ideology .
The concepts of “ diversity ” and “ inclusivity ” never include conservative ideas or individuals who hold those ideas .
Just the opposite–which is why BERT ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fired .
Another demand was that the University create a “ multicultural center ” on campus , not for all students , but only for “ marginalized groups.
” BERT ’ s specifications for the multicultural center were quite detailed .
The facility had to occupy “ at least three floors with 24/7 student access and a computer lab , media/multimedia lab , dance studio , and free printing.
” The multicultural center also had to include a Popeyes fried chicken restaurant .
With the introduction of the classic racist trope of “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ probably thinking that this list of demands was a satire produced by a white supremacist group .
No , as is often the case , truth is stranger than fiction .
The demand for a “ Popeyes ” was real .
Who knew that social justice required friend chicken and a dance studio ?
We ’ re not done yet .
BERT ’ s further demands included “ space for healing and a significant increase in black therapists and counselors , ” because “ students do not have a place where they can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Apparently , black students can only receive treatment from blacks .
Imagine the reaction if a white person had rejected a medical professional because they were black and demanded a white therapist .
It seems we ’ re a long way from the idealized color-blind society envisaged by a previous generation of civil rights activists .
How can young people today can be so completely ignorant of all American history ?
In my lifetime , black Americans faced real racial barriers in education , housing , and employment .
During the Civil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , African-Americans were beaten , jailed , dowsed with high-pressure water hoses , and shocked with electric cattle prods .
Yet today the mere recitation of a single offensive word in a valid academic context is traumatic ?
About fifty students occupied Evans Hall , refusing to leave until BERT ’ s demands were met .
People in the US have a right to protest protected by the First Amendment .
But there is no right to occupy and take over a public building .
A sit-in is a subtle form of violence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but to impose through force .
The media systematically misrepresented the entire situation by presenting it as a “ student protest.
” Yes , it was .
But the most insidious and effective way of lying is to tell a half-truth .
While most of the people occupying Evans Hall were students , they were in no way representative of the student body at large .
The occupiers constituted a mere 50 individuals drawn from a total student enrollment of 24,088 .
Nor did anyone check to see if the people occupying were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ negative comments regarding the occupation were suppressed and omitted from media coverage .
Hysteria gripped the campus .
Every group and organization stumbled in a desperate rush to demonstrate their virtue in lockstep political correctness .
The undergraduate student congress released a statement “ condemning the use of the N-word in any context.
” But all words derive their meaning from context .
Context is everything .
If the forbidden word can not be used in “ any context , ” rational thought has been completely abandoned .
And the phrase “ any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the shelves of the University library .
It follows irresistibly that classic novels such as Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird must either be censored or summarily piled and burned on the campus green .
History itself must be erased .
Certainly , it can no longer be taught .
And what excuse may we attach to the Faculty Senate ?
That esteemed body of scholars issued a statement that they were committed to “ dismantling systemic racism across the university.
” They seemed oblivious to the irony in asserting that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state of Oklahoma , was afflicted by “ systemic racism.
” There will always be instances of individuals who hold racist beliefs .
But institutional racism at the University was eliminated seventy years ago when racial segregation ended in 1950 .
The occupation of Evans Hall ended after a few days when the University administration made marginal concessions .
They agreed to institute a “ 360 review process ” for administrators and require incoming students to take a semester-length “ diversity ” course .
Lost on everyone was that nothing significant or relevant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s list of demands was any requirement that the University put in place a new rule against using racial epithets in the classroom .
An end to racist behavior and acts on campus is the last thing BERT wanted .
Why ?
Because if it were successful , it would have removed all pretexts for future demands , concessions , and attention from the media .
The entire list of demands was in fact nothing less than a shakedown for preferential treatment on the basis of race .
The situation was handled in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They refused to even discuss the demand that Provost Kyle Harper be fired .
No concessions were made on the vital issues of academic freedom and free speech .
Yet the implementation of a semester-length “ diversity ” course is troubling .
No person attending a public university should be required to undergo political indoctrination .
If this takes place , there will be long-term consequences .
Conservative students–about two-thirds of the population in Oklahoma–will cease attending the University of Oklahoma .
As the University becomes more politicized , it ’ s inevitable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the institution of a mandatory new course in “ diversity ” means that a course in a fundamental subject such as science , language , or history will have to be dropped .
The University administration should not have entered into negotiations until the occupation of University buildings ended .
On social media , some commentators called for the protestors to be immediately arrested .
I was not in favor of that .
Patience is indicated when dealing with students .
The University in part functions in loco parentis .
Students deserve warnings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ listened to , at length if necessary .
But ultimately those who fail to vacate after several days must be arrested and expelled .
No intellectual community or free society should be held hostage by violent means .
Let everyone speak and be heard .
But it ’ s a mistake to let a small group of political extremists dictate the curriculum and allocation of resources at a public university .
The Best of David Deming

Since an infamous 2015 incident involving members of the SAE fraternity chanting racial epithets, the University of Oklahoma (OU) has been plagued by charges of racism. Last year University president James Gallogly was driven out of office after two students posted a video to Instagram of themselves wearing blackface. The latest controversy involves two professors using the forbidden “N-word” in the classroom.
In the first case, a journalism professor equated the N-word to the phrase “OK, boomer” by stating that “calling someone a boomer is like calling someone a n—–.” Although the professor clearly did not intend his remark as a racial slur directed at an individual or group, the relevance to his pedagogy was marginal. To his credit, OU interim President Joseph Harroz immediately released a statement that the professor’s language was protected by both the First Amendment and academic freedom. This cleared the way for the professor to apologize. Although apologies are almost always a mistake in free speech controversies, in this case the use of offensive language was gratuitous and showed poor judgment on the part of the professor. It was the first such mistake by the professor in question over an academic career that spanned more than twenty years. Most of us would consider that to be a creditable record.
The second incident occurred only a few days after the first. A history professor read from an historical document that contained the offensive term. Her purpose was to illustrate the prevalence of racism in US society in the 1920s. The reading was an integral part of the professor’s teaching and one-hundred percent relevant to the curriculum. Yet the campus erupted in outrage. Black & White: Politic... Deming, David Best Price: $4.47 Buy New $12.58 (as of 01:22 UTC - Details)
A group of students calling themselves the “Black Emergency Response Team” (BERT) issued a list of demands. They occupied Evans Hall, the chief administrative building on campus, and refused to leave until their demands were met. First on the list of demands was the immediate resignation of OU Provost Kyle Harper. Why? Because when Harper was an undergraduate student at OU in 1999 he wrote some conservative editorials.
BERT’s demands included mandatory political indoctrination of both faculty and students. Faculty had to be subjected to “equity training,” and students were to take a semester-length “diversity” class. Anyone familiar with this sort of rhetoric immediately recognizes that terms such as “equity” and “diversity” are euphemisms for indoctrination in radical left-wing ideology. The concepts of “diversity” and “inclusivity” never include conservative ideas or individuals who hold those ideas. Just the opposite–which is why BERT’s foremost demand was that Provost Harper be fired.
Another demand was that the University create a “multicultural center” on campus, not for all students, but only for “marginalized groups.” BERT’s specifications for the multicultural center were quite detailed. The facility had to occupy “at least three floors with 24/7 student access and a computer lab, media/multimedia lab, dance studio, and free printing.” The multicultural center also had to include a Popeyes fried chicken restaurant.
With the introduction of the classic racist trope of “fried chicken,” you’re probably thinking that this list of demands was a satire produced by a white supremacist group. No, as is often the case, truth is stranger than fiction. The demand for a “Popeyes” was real. Who knew that social justice required friend chicken and a dance studio?
We’re not done yet. BERT’s further demands included “space for healing and a significant increase in black therapists and counselors,” because “students do not have a place where they can discuss their trauma in a healthy manner.” Apparently, black students can only receive treatment from blacks. Imagine the reaction if a white person had rejected a medical professional because they were black and demanded a white therapist. It seems we’re a long way from the idealized color-blind society envisaged by a previous generation of civil rights activists.
How can young people today can be so completely ignorant of all American history? In my lifetime, black Americans faced real racial barriers in education, housing, and employment. During the Civil Rights era of the 1950s and 1960s, African-Americans were beaten, jailed, dowsed with high-pressure water hoses, and shocked with electric cattle prods. Yet today the mere recitation of a single offensive word in a valid academic context is traumatic?
About fifty students occupied Evans Hall, refusing to leave until BERT’s demands were met. People in the US have a right to protest protected by the First Amendment. But there is no right to occupy and take over a public building. A sit-in is a subtle form of violence. The intention is not to convince but to impose through force.
The media systematically misrepresented the entire situation by presenting it as a “student protest.” Yes, it was. But the most insidious and effective way of lying is to tell a half-truth. While most of the people occupying Evans Hall were students, they were in no way representative of the student body at large. The occupiers constituted a mere 50 individuals drawn from a total student enrollment of 24,088. Nor did anyone check to see if the people occupying were in fact current university students. All negative comments regarding the occupation were suppressed and omitted from media coverage.
Hysteria gripped the campus. Every group and organization stumbled in a desperate rush to demonstrate their virtue in lockstep political correctness. The undergraduate student congress released a statement “condemning the use of the N-word in any context.” But all words derive their meaning from context. Context is everything. If the forbidden word cannot be used in “any context,” rational thought has been completely abandoned. And the phrase “any context” surely must include books on the shelves of the University library. It follows irresistibly that classic novels such as Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird must either be censored or summarily piled and burned on the campus green. History itself must be erased. Certainly, it can no longer be taught.
And what excuse may we attach to the Faculty Senate? That esteemed body of scholars issued a statement that they were committed to “dismantling systemic racism across the university.” They seemed oblivious to the irony in asserting that the most liberal, left-wing place in the state of Oklahoma, was afflicted by “systemic racism.” There will always be instances of individuals who hold racist beliefs. But institutional racism at the University was eliminated seventy years ago when racial segregation ended in 1950.
The occupation of Evans Hall ended after a few days when the University administration made marginal concessions. They agreed to institute a “360 review process” for administrators and require incoming students to take a semester-length “diversity” course. Lost on everyone was that nothing significant or relevant changed. Conspicuously absent from BERT’s list of demands was any requirement that the University put in place a new rule against using racial epithets in the classroom. An end to racist behavior and acts on campus is the last thing BERT wanted. Why? Because if it were successful, it would have removed all pretexts for future demands, concessions, and attention from the media. The entire list of demands was in fact nothing less than a shakedown for preferential treatment on the basis of race.
The situation was handled in part correctly by the University administration. They refused to even discuss the demand that Provost Kyle Harper be fired. No concessions were made on the vital issues of academic freedom and free speech. Yet the implementation of a semester-length “diversity” course is troubling. No person attending a public university should be required to undergo political indoctrination. If this takes place, there will be long-term consequences. Conservative students–about two-thirds of the population in Oklahoma–will cease attending the University of Oklahoma. As the University becomes more politicized, it’s inevitable that state funding will decline. And the institution of a mandatory new course in “diversity” means that a course in a fundamental subject such as science, language, or history will have to be dropped.
The University administration should not have entered into negotiations until the occupation of University buildings ended. On social media, some commentators called for the protestors to be immediately arrested. I was not in favor of that. Patience is indicated when dealing with students. The University in part functions in loco parentis. Students deserve warnings and admonitions. They deserve to be listened to, at length if necessary. But ultimately those who fail to vacate after several days must be arrested and expelled. No intellectual community or free society should be held hostage by violent means. Let everyone speak and be heard. But it’s a mistake to let a small group of political extremists dictate the curriculum and allocation of resources at a public university.
The Best of David Deming


lewrockwell--2020-03-07--Lift the US Embargo on Cuba

Lift the US Embargo on Cuba

The U.S. embargo on Cuba has been in effect for 60 years .
It ’ s time to end it .
The embargo makes it a criminal offense for any American to spend money in Cuba or to do business in Cuba .
If an American travels to Cuba and spends money there or does business there , he is subject to criminal prosecution , conviction , fine , and imprisonment by his own government upon his return to the United States .
The purpose of the embargo is regime change .
The idea is to squeeze the Cuban people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against Cuba ’ s communist regime .
If the discontent gets significant enough , U.S. officials believe , the population will revolt and re-install a pro-U.S. regime into power .
Where is the morality in targeting the civilian population with death and impoverishment with the aim of achieving a political goal ?
Isn ’ t that why we condemn terrorism ?
I say “ re-install ” because Cuba had a pro-U.S. dictator in power before the Cuban revolution installed Fidel Castro into power .
The country was ruled by a man named Fulgencio @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and corrupt dictators in the world .
U.S. officials didn ’ t care about his tyranny because he was a pro-U.S. dictator — that is , one who could be counted on to do the bidding of the U.S. government .
The CIA , Terrorism , an ... Hornberger , Jacob Best Price : null Buy New $ 0.99 But the Cuban people , who were suffering under Batista ’ s regime , revolted against it .
Successfully ousting Batista from power , new Cuban dictator Fidel Castro made it clear that he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the eyes of U.S. officials , that made him a threat to “ national security.
” What many Americans fail to realize is that the embargo is actually an infringement on their liberty .
Under principles of freedom , people have the natural , God-given right to travel anywhere they want and spend their money any way they want .
Freedom of travel and economic liberty are encompassed by the rights of life , liberty , and pursuit of happiness that the Declaration of Independence enumerates as rights that preexist government .
When @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infringement on their rights and liberty , it was at the height of the Cold War .
U.S. officials told them that there was a worldwide communist conspiracy based in Russia to take over the world , especially the United States .
Cuba , U.S. officials said , was a spearhead in that effort .
If a communist regime was permitted to remain in Cuba , which is only 90 miles away from U.S. shores , they said , there was no way to keep America from going Red .
The irony is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ without an invasion by Cuba .
That was reflected by the U.S. embrace of such socialist programs as Social Security , Medicare , public schooling , immigration controls , and a central bank , all of which are core elements of Cuba ’ s socialist economic system .
Terribly fearful of this supposed communist threat to conquer the United States , the American people traded away their rights and liberties for the sake of purported safety and security from communism .
The irony is that Cuba never attacked the United States and never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Cold War , it remained an impoverished Third World nation that never posed any military threat to the United States .
Instead , throughout the Cold War it was always the U.S. government that was the aggressor against Cuba .
Not only did the U.S. government target the Cuban people with its embargo , it also secretly partnered with the Mafia to assassinate Castro .
In fact , the reason that Castro invited the Soviet Union to install nuclear missiles in Cuba was not to attack the United States but rather to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a second time or to defend Cuba in the event of another U.S. invasion of the island .
The Kennedy Autopsy 2 : ... Hornberger , Jacob Best Price : null Buy New $ 2.99 The Cold War ended some 30 years ago , but not for the Cuban people .
When it comes to freedom and prosperity , they have been left behind , squeezed in a vise that consists of socialism on the one side and the U.S. embargo on the other .
Fidel Castro outlasted the embargo and the U.S.-Mafia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up dying four years ago .
Nonetheless , the embargo goes on .
It ’ s time to bring an end to this sordid , immoral behavior on the part of U.S. officials .
Leave the Cuban people alone , and restore freedom to the American people .
If Cubans want to end their socialist system , that ’ s up to them to do so .
The U.S. government has no legitimate business contributing to their suffering with its brutal economic embargo .
Moreover , the American people have the right to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of travel and economic liberty , which should never have been traded away in the first place .
The U.S. government has no legitimate authority to be prosecuting and punishing Americans for exercising what are natural , God-given rights .
Lift the embargo , now .
It ’ s the morally and economically sound thing to do .
Reprinted with permission from The Future of Freedom Foundation .
The Best of Jacob G. Hornberger

The U.S. embargo on Cuba has been in effect for 60 years. It’s time to end it.
The embargo makes it a criminal offense for any American to spend money in Cuba or to do business in Cuba. If an American travels to Cuba and spends money there or does business there, he is subject to criminal prosecution, conviction, fine, and imprisonment by his own government upon his return to the United States.
The purpose of the embargo is regime change. The idea is to squeeze the Cuban people economically with the aim of causing discontent against Cuba’s communist regime. If the discontent gets significant enough, U.S. officials believe, the population will revolt and re-install a pro-U.S. regime into power.
Where is the morality in targeting the civilian population with death and impoverishment with the aim of achieving a political goal? Isn’t that why we condemn terrorism?
I say “re-install” because Cuba had a pro-U.S. dictator in power before the Cuban revolution installed Fidel Castro into power. The country was ruled by a man named Fulgencio Batista, one of the most brutal and corrupt dictators in the world. U.S. officials didn’t care about his tyranny because he was a pro-U.S. dictator — that is, one who could be counted on to do the bidding of the U.S. government.
The CIA, Terrorism, an... Hornberger, Jacob Buy New $0.99 (as of 08:15 UTC - Details) But the Cuban people, who were suffering under Batista’s regime, revolted against it. Successfully ousting Batista from power, new Cuban dictator Fidel Castro made it clear that he would be no such puppet. In the eyes of U.S. officials, that made him a threat to “national security.”
What many Americans fail to realize is that the embargo is actually an infringement on their liberty. Under principles of freedom, people have the natural, God-given right to travel anywhere they want and spend their money any way they want. Freedom of travel and economic liberty are encompassed by the rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness that the Declaration of Independence enumerates as rights that preexist government.
When the American people agreed to this fundamental infringement on their rights and liberty, it was at the height of the Cold War. U.S. officials told them that there was a worldwide communist conspiracy based in Russia to take over the world, especially the United States. Cuba, U.S. officials said, was a spearhead in that effort. If a communist regime was permitted to remain in Cuba, which is only 90 miles away from U.S. shores, they said, there was no way to keep America from going Red.
The irony is that America was already going socialist and without an invasion by Cuba. That was reflected by the U.S. embrace of such socialist programs as Social Security, Medicare, public schooling, immigration controls, and a central bank, all of which are core elements of Cuba’s socialist economic system.
Terribly fearful of this supposed communist threat to conquer the United States, the American people traded away their rights and liberties for the sake of purported safety and security from communism.
The irony is that Cuba never attacked the United States and never even threatened to do so. Throughout the Cold War, it remained an impoverished Third World nation that never posed any military threat to the United States.
Instead, throughout the Cold War it was always the U.S. government that was the aggressor against Cuba. Not only did the U.S. government target the Cuban people with its embargo, it also secretly partnered with the Mafia to assassinate Castro.
In fact, the reason that Castro invited the Soviet Union to install nuclear missiles in Cuba was not to attack the United States but rather to deter the U.S. government from invading Cuba a second time or to defend Cuba in the event of another U.S. invasion of the island. The Kennedy Autopsy 2:... Hornberger, Jacob Buy New $2.99 (as of 11:13 UTC - Details)
The Cold War ended some 30 years ago, but not for the Cuban people. When it comes to freedom and prosperity, they have been left behind, squeezed in a vise that consists of socialism on the one side and the U.S. embargo on the other.
Fidel Castro outlasted the embargo and the U.S.-Mafia murder attempts on his life and ended up dying four years ago. Nonetheless, the embargo goes on.
It’s time to bring an end to this sordid, immoral behavior on the part of U.S. officials. Leave the Cuban people alone, and restore freedom to the American people. If Cubans want to end their socialist system, that’s up to them to do so. The U.S. government has no legitimate business contributing to their suffering with its brutal economic embargo.
Moreover, the American people have the right to the restoration of their rights of freedom of travel and economic liberty, which should never have been traded away in the first place. The U.S. government has no legitimate authority to be prosecuting and punishing Americans for exercising what are natural, God-given rights.
Lift the embargo, now. It’s the morally and economically sound thing to do.
Reprinted with permission from The Future of Freedom Foundation.
The Best of Jacob G. Hornberger


What’s the FARC?

Doug Casey ’ s Note : What you ’ re about to read is something that makes me envious .
My friend Kolja invited me on this expedition , but I got caught up in things that were urgent and dropped the ball on something important .
I rationalized missing the adventure because I ’ d been to the boonies in Colombia a half-dozen times over the years , when FARC was still quite active , and had my picture taken while I was holding an FAL surrounded by cammy-clad soldiers , but this is way better .
Kolja ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ long read ” in today ’ s ADD world .
It will probably take you 10 minutes or so .
But how could it be shorter and still give you a flavor of a trek to a rebel republic in the middle of nowhere and of people like the Communist Lara Croft and a warrior who personally took out perhaps 800 of the enemy ?
Let us know what you think… My diary of the first foreign tourist trip to the former rebel Republic of Marquetalia , Colombia Had someone told me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all the leaders of FARC , the Latin American guerrilla fighters , in their hidden founding place deep in the Colombian jungle , I would have thought I had been caught in a daydream .
Or perhaps it ’ s a nightmare , because over the last half-century , the FARC have gained worldwide notoriety for their never-ending kidnappings of civilians , their extortion of businessmen , and their endorsement of Marxism-Leninism .
The latter constituted the biggest crime , in my book , as I am a thoroughbred Austrian School libertarian .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Llewellyn H Rockwell Jr Best Price : $ 13.57 Buy New $ 8.00 Here is a quick overview of the situation in Colombia .
During the years of “ La Violencia , ” following the murder of left-wing presidential candidate Jose Gaitan in 1948 , armed opposition groups hid in the remote highland jungles , founding no less than eight quasi-independent republics south-west of Bogota with their resistance center known as the “ Republic of Marquetalia.
” When the government raided the lonely mountain hut of rebel leader Manuel Marulanda in 1964 during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guerrillas managed to miraculously escape the 1,600 government troops and even shot down 2 government helicopters .
This founding myth created the communist “ Bloque Sur , ” the precursor of FARC , that swelled from those 48 fighters to more than 20,000 members in the end .
In 1966 , Manuel Marulanda officially founded FARC , the “ Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios de Colombia , ” together with his comrade Jacobo Arenas , who later published the influential “ Marquetalia Diaries.
” Their main objective was to free the indigenous people from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unequal distribution of agricultural land , ever since European conquistadores like Columbus , Ehinger , Belalcazar , and Balboa grabbed control of the continent half a millennium ago .
Fast forward .
After 50 years of fighting for their “ good cause ” without any tangible results , FARC signed the Havanna ceasefire agreement with the Colombian government in June 2016 , signed a revised peace agreement ( after a failed referendum against them ) in November 2016 , laid down their arms to the United Nations by June 2017 , and have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Fuerza Alternativa Revolucionaria del Comun ” since September 2017 , with 5 seats guaranteed in the House of Representatives and 5 seats guaranteed in the Senate .
Over those 50 years , according to Wikipedia , the Colombian civil war caused about 220.000 casualties , three-quarters civilians , and more than 5 million internal refugees !
Official UN statistics attribute the vast majority of the killings , 80 % , to right-wing paramilitaries , 8 % to official government forces , and 12 % to left-wing fighters , here mainly FARC ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ local contacts tell me that the UN numbers are heavily skewed in favor of FARC , and it presents them as lame ducks .
However , the paramilitaries only came into the picture after 1984 , while FARC was already killing 20 years prior to that .
At the moment , despite the formal peace , there remain renegades on both sides : about 10 to 20 % of former FARC members chose to continue their armed fight , mainly led from Venezuela .
On the other hand , the paramilitaries and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ killing almost 200 peaceful FARC members clandestinely ( some may have been victims of FARC dissidents or standard crimes ) .
An intelligent question to ask is why there have been no faces , heroes , diaries , or history books ever published about the right-wing paramilitaries in the Western media .
One of the answers is that the Colombian conflict is a triangulated conflict that is orchestrated by outsiders with geopolitical interests way above the Colombians ’ heads .
During the Cold War , the government and paramilitaries were openly supported by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ visibly sponsored by the Soviet Union .
To date , the internal conflict is still kept alive because the reasons for popular discontent remain : cocaine money has replaced secret American or Soviet funding , and the paramilitaries don ’ t have to reveal their faces or disarm themselves ( some are simple drug dealers , while others are influential farmers ) .
The left and right are usually agitated all over the world in a Hegelian dialectic fashion , or “ strategy of tension.
” In the case of Colombia , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Panama Canal .
This neuralgic choking point for world trade and naval military transport has to be safeguarded at any cost , by the powers-to-be .
The cost of human life in their constructed conflicts is obviously considered cheap .
The US even built their School of the Americas for the training of conflict parties , paramilitaries , subversives , interrogators , drug barons , and so on , right on the Panama Canal .
The former house of horrors nowadays hosts the recommendable Melia Hotel Colon .
The same techniques continue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in Fort Benning , Columbus , Ohio .
Few scholars will remember that the Panama Canal project was taken over by the US in a questionable deal with the corrupt Frenchman Philippe Bunau-Varilla around the turn of last century .
Panama was then separated from Colombia in a covert operation by the US prior to World War I , similar to the current US-sponsored regime changes in South Sudan , Kosovo or Ukraine .
Of course , they were taking advantage of the 1000-day war being fought between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1901 .
After the illegal cessation and occupation of Panama was officially acknowledged by the US in the Carter-Torrijos Treaty in 1977 , it became necessary to quasi-annex the small country once again through the US invasion in 1989 , leaving Panama without an army of its own .
And , of course , leaving control of the Panama Canal to the US .
To ensure that no one attacks the Canal from the South , all access has been blocked by the US , not only through apparently dangerous “ guerrilla groups @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but also by “ forces of nature , ” allowing the previous road path connection between Panama and Colombia to be grown over by jungle , in the so-called “ Darien Gap , ” the missing link of 70 kilometers , within the 22.500 kilometers of the “ Panamericana Highway , ” which otherwise leads all the way north-south across the continent , from Dead Horse in Alaska to Ushuaia in Patagonia .
These missing 70 kilometers of asphalt are a pain for trans-continental overlanders who have to forward their vehicles or freight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which costs a lot more money than building a road .
Don ’ t ask yourself , “ Who builds the roads ?
” It is usually a private economic initiative ; rather , ask yourself , “ Who blocks the roads ?
” It is usually state actors , sometimes hiding behind false flags .
( Why the US clandestinely leads the current refugee trek , more than 60.000 on foot through the Darien Gap since 2012 , is a topic for another day . )
My trip to Colombia , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” under the supervision of the United Nations , together with FARC , police , military , and other Colombian government agencies , was a proverbial “ road ” built entirely by private initiative—and yet we operated not-for-profit .
That must be hard to understand for friends of statism or other forms of non-voluntaryism .
Before I sound like a virtue signaller , here is the background .
I have been organizing the annual get-together of the world ’ s most traveled people , the ETIC , Extreme Traveler International Congress , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and always in hard-to-get-to locations .
Most of us have been to all of the 193 UN member countries in the world .
One of our extreme travelers , Jack Goldstein , owner of the Lancaster House Hotel in Bogota , came up with the idea to host one such congress in his home country of Colombia , in one of the completely off-limit FARC areas .
Through an old business acquaintance who now works for the UN Verification Mission in Colombia , Jack got the trust of the United Nations , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the FARC operative who was responsible for laying down their arms to the UN , a former fighter known as Rubin Morro , now the Director of Communications for the political party FARC , author and poet , using his real name , Martin Cruz Vega .
Jack and Martin slowly but surely got the support of other FARC leaders for a foreign tourist group to become the first visitors to Marquetalia .
This demonstrated to the outside world that the new FARC is now committed to peace and is capable of conducting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ permanent road to peace , which will also generate tourism money in the future for small traders , mule herders , tent builders , cooks , and other helpers in the remote rural area , but in particular to shine a bright road sign for Colombia ’ s future .
Once the UN and FARC had endorsed the undertaking , the local communities and the ministry of tourism also came along .
Finally , both the military and the police had to cooperate officially , and they did so in a surprisingly efficient @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In the end , even the Presidential Palace called Jack Goldstein to signal Ivan Duque ’ s support , although he is not known as a friend of the peace process , unlike his predecessor Juan Manuel Santos , who had enabled the Havana Accord .
After more than one year of intense communication and coordination with Jack Goldstein , I found myself in Bogotá , together with thirty-six of the world ’ s most extreme travelers who had flown in from as far as Hong Kong , Singapore , Azerbaijan , Siberian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ countries .
For the opening dinner at the Lancaster House Hotel , we were joined by the heads of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia , the Agency for Reincorporation & Normalisation , the Tourism Ministry , small FARC producers presenting their coffee and beer brands , and the leaders of FARC , such as their current number one , Rodrigo Londono Echeverri , aka “ Timochenko ; ” their “ Foreign Minister ” Rodrigo Granda ; their Senator , Victoria Sandino ; their Director of Communications , Martin Cruz Vega ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ members , 79-year-old Miguel Angel Pascuas , aka “ Sergeant Pascuas ” or “ Black Death , ” who is said to have killed more than 800 government fighters in the battle for one city .
Seated next to Jack Goldstein ’ s wonderful girlfriend Sandy , she told me in a touching , emotional way how impressed she was by her boyfriend being able to unite those former warring parties , and now to sit with those famous or rather infamous names in the same room , all hopeful for a better @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it would have been as unthinkable for her as it was for me to ever meet a FARC member in flesh and blood .
They were names as distant as Pluto or Mars .
Well , I think it must have been more terrifying for her as a Latin American than for me from my safe distance in Europe .
On the other hand , nowadays , the rehabilitated FARC leaders still have to fear for their safety , not only because of potential spontaneous encounters with revenge-seeking victims but also because of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some probably conducted by right-wing paramilitaries and possibly with secret government endorsement .
Therefore , the current FARC leaders each have at least 3 bodyguards , made up of 1 former FARC , 1 police , and 1 private contractor , plus bulletproof SUVs , all paid for by the government ( or rather the Colombian taxpayers ) .
Early next morning , our convoy of bulletproof cars , UN Land Cruisers , and tourist minivans set itself in motion for a slow 14-hour drive to the village of El Oso , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provisional FARC reconciliation center has been set up by the government .
We were constantly escorted by a dozen heavily armed policemen on the back of police pickups , plus several policemen on motorbikes .
In addition , the Military Bataillons 18 and 19 had secured all surrounding areas for us with several hundred soldiers .
We had to pre-communicate our blood groups , and there was a military helicopter on standby for us , just in case .
After the event , we were told that there had been some clashes only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us , but it was unclear to me if it was with FARC renegades or other conflicting parties .
At one point , when a damaged car tire had to be repaired , I had the opportunity to speak with a high-ranking police officer of GAULA , the special forces against kidnappings and extortions .
Although his team was providing perfect protection in the most professional way , not only for us but also for his former enemies from the FARC side , he indicated to me that privately he still thought that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , meaning he sees no good in FARC , now or in the future , just like the majority of his countrymen ( the peace accord was rejected by a small margin in a referendum ) .
Admittedly , I am pretty sure that because of my upbringing , I also would have become a right-wing person in Colombia , but I completely understand that a rural indigenous Colombian will be more inclined to fight for the left .
In any case , after the joint hardship of this adventure , I consider @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Martin Cruz Vega , no matter the differences in our curricula vitae .
And I have a hunch that this charismatic and hardworking leadership personality will quickly find the road to success as a businessman , now that he has officially left the armed fight for Marxism-Leninism .
Abrazo y mucha suerte , Martin !
A hug and good luck to you !
In El Oso , our group also met , for the first time , the most famous face of FARC : the Dutch revolutionary Tanja Nijmeijer , who came to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years ago and then stayed on to fight in the jungle .
Tanja comes across as the live Lara Croft , with a captivating charisma that has undoubtedly enabled her to lead whole fighter battalions , sometimes in the wrong direction , with just a flirtatious gaze and a coquettish brush of her hair .
She certainly knows and enjoys her effect on men .
What she doesn ’ t seem to acknowledge is that the world is not driven exclusively by workers and peasants .
When my German travel mate Thorsten introduced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she looked at him as if he were an unknown insect , countering with , “ So you are a businessman ?
” in the way I would say , “ So you are a voodoo priest ?
” or , “ You are a social justice worker ?
” Along similar lines , Tanja described her new hometown Cali as “ a sea of highrise buildings entirely built by drug money , ” as if there were no legitimate economic activity and property development in this world besides agri-barons or the illicit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then announced her resignation from FARC , via international news agencies , on the day after our encounter .
There are several manly foreign travelers among us who still argue about who had that final impact on her decision .
In any case , from my point of view , I say , “ Congratulations , Tanja !
A wise decision !
” She is definitely the most charismatic female I ever met , with the male contender being Alexander Saldostanov , aka Chirurg , who is the chief of the Russian Night @ @ @ @ @ @ @ After a short night in a provisional tent camp in El Oso , we had to swap vehicles because of the terrible onward road .
It took us another two hours to reach the village of Villanueva in a convoy of a dozen UAZ jeeps , mostly from Soviet times .
Go figure !
Yes , the rebel areas somehow have Russian cars ; in the coffee areas , there are mostly Willys jeeps from the Korean War , where Colombia fought alongside the US ; the government security forces still use a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Colombians privately prefer German cars ( or Japanese ) just like everywhere else—the big conflict explained in one small market distortion .
At the road end in Villanueva , participants had to leave the relative comfort of their 4x4s and choose between horseback , mule , or trekking on foot .
The next five hours on the narrow mountain path were grueling .
Occasional rain made the rocks slippery and the trail muddy .
My horse seemed to have a death wish and continuously let its head hang over the edge of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It was a miracle that there were no casualties or missing persons on the last kilometers of our Peace Road to Marquetalia .
In all fairness , FARC did the best possible job in such conditions , no doubt aided by their many years of experience in mountain and jungle terrain .
We finally reached Manuel Marulanda ’ s hut on the top of the Marquetalia plateau in torrential rainfalls .
Our tents were not completely dry in the rain , but who wants to complain about a brand new rebel hotel that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
The atmosphere around the campfire , listening to anecdotes from Martin Cruz Vega , Tanja Nijmeijer , and other rebel leaders , captured all of us , even those who got lost in the translations from Spanish to English .
The field kitchen was excellent , serving mostly rice and lamb , or chicken stew , prepared over the open fire in huge cauldrons .
The muscle aches ensured a quick sleep .
Only a few of us used the optional “ shower ” in the cold mountain stream in the morning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Finn and the others were Russian .
Secret Empires : How th ... Schweizer , Peter Best Price : $ 5.99 Buy New $ 11.07 Just like FARC , our travel group was comprised of almost one-half men and one-half women .
The second-most-famous FARC lady , the Afro-Colombian Mulato senator Victoria Sandino , left a lasting impression on me .
In a TV interview with private news channel Red+ Noticias , who had accompanied us all the way to Marquetalia , the senadora was asked by reporter Gabriel Romero , “ What @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the future ?
” to which she replied , “ El Socialismo !
It is Socialism , of course !
” Then she suddenly put her hand over the reporter ’ s microphone , asked him to stop filming and cut the sequence , and then she shouted at the top of her voice toward someone in the tent camp : “ Hey you !
Back off !
This is my plastic bag !
” What a laugh .
All the self-contradictions of the left were packed into one small phrase—into a plastic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this is sustainably conserved on the Red+ YouTube feed and on my Twitter .
The otherwise perfectly neutral reporter had left that sequence in the movie , and it was simply too good to be cut .
Yes , we did all make it back home in one piece , although the trip changed some of us forever—not necessarily in a political way , but in a deeply human way of looking at how we interact with perceived opponents .
Libertarians , especially , know that the current powers that be try to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the objective historical truth a lie or merely one of many opinions , whereas their reality design ( manmade climate change , gender ambiguity , white guilt , etc . )
has become the official party line , the sacrosanct truth .
This is all a result of highly professional propaganda and agitation .
The challenge ( and the opportunity ) for today ’ s bona fide freedom fighters is that we live in the times of smartphones and social media , not Kalashnikovs and kidnappings .
Fake heroes like Greta become manufactured @ @ @ @ @ @ @ censored , de-monetized and shadowbanned .
Interestingly , and against their founders ’ and inventor ’ s intentions , Facebook , WhatsApp , and emoticons may also have a healing effect on us .
Back home in Europe , the four German participants of the Peace Road to Marquetalia delivered a trip report in the member lounge of their cigar club in the city of Munich , with live support from Tanja Nijmeijer coming directly from Colombia via Whatsapp .
The whole audience , including several German princes , businessmen , and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with thumbs up , smiles , and victory signs .
And Tanja answered back with her trademark air kisses .
Connecting people instead of kidnapping people—imagine what WhatsApp would have done to the myth of Che Guevara ?
!

Doug Casey’s Note: What you’re about to read is something that makes me envious. My friend Kolja invited me on this expedition, but I got caught up in things that were urgent and dropped the ball on something important.
I rationalized missing the adventure because I’d been to the boonies in Colombia a half-dozen times over the years, when FARC was still quite active, and had my picture taken while I was holding an FAL surrounded by cammy-clad soldiers, but this is way better.
Kolja’s article is what we call a “long read” in today’s ADD world. It will probably take you 10 minutes or so. But how could it be shorter and still give you a flavor of a trek to a rebel republic in the middle of nowhere and of people like the Communist Lara Croft and a warrior who personally took out perhaps 800 of the enemy?
Let us know what you think…
My diary of the first foreign tourist trip to the former rebel Republic of Marquetalia, Colombia
Had someone told me a while ago that I would meet all the leaders of FARC, the Latin American guerrilla fighters, in their hidden founding place deep in the Colombian jungle, I would have thought I had been caught in a daydream. Or perhaps it’s a nightmare, because over the last half-century, the FARC have gained worldwide notoriety for their never-ending kidnappings of civilians, their extortion of businessmen, and their endorsement of Marxism-Leninism. The latter constituted the biggest crime, in my book, as I am a thoroughbred Austrian School libertarian. Against the Left: A Ro... Rockwell Jr, Llewellyn H Best Price: $2.85 Buy New $8.00 (as of 07:59 UTC - Details)
Here is a quick overview of the situation in Colombia. During the years of “La Violencia,” following the murder of left-wing presidential candidate Jose Gaitan in 1948, armed opposition groups hid in the remote highland jungles, founding no less than eight quasi-independent republics south-west of Bogota with their resistance center known as the “Republic of Marquetalia.”
When the government raided the lonely mountain hut of rebel leader Manuel Marulanda in 1964 during the epic Battle of Marquetalia, 48 guerrillas managed to miraculously escape the 1,600 government troops and even shot down 2 government helicopters. This founding myth created the communist “Bloque Sur,” the precursor of FARC, that swelled from those 48 fighters to more than 20,000 members in the end.
In 1966, Manuel Marulanda officially founded FARC, the “Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios de Colombia,” together with his comrade Jacobo Arenas, who later published the influential “Marquetalia Diaries.” Their main objective was to free the indigenous people from the foreign imperialists and to fight the notorious unequal distribution of agricultural land, ever since European conquistadores like Columbus, Ehinger, Belalcazar, and Balboa grabbed control of the continent half a millennium ago.
Fast forward. After 50 years of fighting for their “good cause” without any tangible results, FARC signed the Havanna ceasefire agreement with the Colombian government in June 2016, signed a revised peace agreement (after a failed referendum against them) in November 2016, laid down their arms to the United Nations by June 2017, and have officially been a legal political party called “Fuerza Alternativa Revolucionaria del Comun” since September 2017, with 5 seats guaranteed in the House of Representatives and 5 seats guaranteed in the Senate.
Over those 50 years, according to Wikipedia, the Colombian civil war caused about 220.000 casualties, three-quarters civilians, and more than 5 million internal refugees! Official UN statistics attribute the vast majority of the killings, 80%, to right-wing paramilitaries, 8% to official government forces, and 12% to left-wing fighters, here mainly FARC (plus ELN and M19).
My local contacts tell me that the UN numbers are heavily skewed in favor of FARC, and it presents them as lame ducks. However, the paramilitaries only came into the picture after 1984, while FARC was already killing 20 years prior to that.
At the moment, despite the formal peace, there remain renegades on both sides: about 10 to 20% of former FARC members chose to continue their armed fight, mainly led from Venezuela.
On the other hand, the paramilitaries and the government have been accused by FARC of killing almost 200 peaceful FARC members clandestinely (some may have been victims of FARC dissidents or standard crimes). An intelligent question to ask is why there have been no faces, heroes, diaries, or history books ever published about the right-wing paramilitaries in the Western media.
One of the answers is that the Colombian conflict is a triangulated conflict that is orchestrated by outsiders with geopolitical interests way above the Colombians’ heads. During the Cold War, the government and paramilitaries were openly supported by the US, and the FARC was visibly sponsored by the Soviet Union.
To date, the internal conflict is still kept alive because the reasons for popular discontent remain: cocaine money has replaced secret American or Soviet funding, and the paramilitaries don’t have to reveal their faces or disarm themselves (some are simple drug dealers, while others are influential farmers).
The left and right are usually agitated all over the world in a Hegelian dialectic fashion, or “strategy of tension.” In the case of Colombia, the geostrategic reason behind the artificial tension is the Panama Canal. This neuralgic choking point for world trade and naval military transport has to be safeguarded at any cost, by the powers-to-be. The cost of human life in their constructed conflicts is obviously considered cheap.
The US even built their School of the Americas for the training of conflict parties, paramilitaries, subversives, interrogators, drug barons, and so on, right on the Panama Canal. The former house of horrors nowadays hosts the recommendable Melia Hotel Colon. The same techniques continue to be taught at the so-called Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in Fort Benning, Columbus, Ohio.
Few scholars will remember that the Panama Canal project was taken over by the US in a questionable deal with the corrupt Frenchman Philippe Bunau-Varilla around the turn of last century. Panama was then separated from Colombia in a covert operation by the US prior to World War I, similar to the current US-sponsored regime changes in South Sudan, Kosovo or Ukraine. Of course, they were taking advantage of the 1000-day war being fought between Colombian liberals and conservatives from 1898 to 1901.
After the illegal cessation and occupation of Panama was officially acknowledged by the US in the Carter-Torrijos Treaty in 1977, it became necessary to quasi-annex the small country once again through the US invasion in 1989, leaving Panama without an army of its own. And, of course, leaving control of the Panama Canal to the US.
To ensure that no one attacks the Canal from the South, all access has been blocked by the US, not only through apparently dangerous “guerrilla groups” or “drug cartels,” but also by “forces of nature,” allowing the previous road path connection between Panama and Colombia to be grown over by jungle, in the so-called “Darien Gap,” the missing link of 70 kilometers, within the 22.500 kilometers of the “Panamericana Highway,” which otherwise leads all the way north-south across the continent, from Dead Horse in Alaska to Ushuaia in Patagonia.
These missing 70 kilometers of asphalt are a pain for trans-continental overlanders who have to forward their vehicles or freight by container ship or by cargo plane, which costs a lot more money than building a road. Don’t ask yourself, “Who builds the roads?” It is usually a private economic initiative; rather, ask yourself, “Who blocks the roads?” It is usually state actors, sometimes hiding behind false flags. (Why the US clandestinely leads the current refugee trek, more than 60.000 on foot through the Darien Gap since 2012, is a topic for another day.)
My trip to Colombia, on the “Peace Road to Marquetalia,” under the supervision of the United Nations, together with FARC, police, military, and other Colombian government agencies, was a proverbial “road” built entirely by private initiative—and yet we operated not-for-profit. That must be hard to understand for friends of statism or other forms of non-voluntaryism.
Before I sound like a virtue signaller, here is the background. I have been organizing the annual get-together of the world’s most traveled people, the ETIC, Extreme Traveler International Congress, for about 10 years, pro bono, and always in hard-to-get-to locations. Most of us have been to all of the 193 UN member countries in the world. One of our extreme travelers, Jack Goldstein, owner of the Lancaster House Hotel in Bogota, came up with the idea to host one such congress in his home country of Colombia, in one of the completely off-limit FARC areas.
Through an old business acquaintance who now works for the UN Verification Mission in Colombia, Jack got the trust of the United Nations, who then decided to introduce him to the FARC operative who was responsible for laying down their arms to the UN, a former fighter known as Rubin Morro, now the Director of Communications for the political party FARC, author and poet, using his real name, Martin Cruz Vega.
Jack and Martin slowly but surely got the support of other FARC leaders for a foreign tourist group to become the first visitors to Marquetalia. This demonstrated to the outside world that the new FARC is now committed to peace and is capable of conducting a major commercial operation, building a permanent road to peace, which will also generate tourism money in the future for small traders, mule herders, tent builders, cooks, and other helpers in the remote rural area, but in particular to shine a bright road sign for Colombia’s future.
Once the UN and FARC had endorsed the undertaking, the local communities and the ministry of tourism also came along. Finally, both the military and the police had to cooperate officially, and they did so in a surprisingly efficient, friendly, and non-obstructive way. In the end, even the Presidential Palace called Jack Goldstein to signal Ivan Duque’s support, although he is not known as a friend of the peace process, unlike his predecessor Juan Manuel Santos, who had enabled the Havana Accord.
After more than one year of intense communication and coordination with Jack Goldstein, I found myself in Bogotá, together with thirty-six of the world’s most extreme travelers who had flown in from as far as Hong Kong, Singapore, Azerbaijan, Siberian Russia, Finland, and many other countries.
For the opening dinner at the Lancaster House Hotel, we were joined by the heads of the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia, the Agency for Reincorporation & Normalisation, the Tourism Ministry, small FARC producers presenting their coffee and beer brands, and the leaders of FARC, such as their current number one, Rodrigo Londono Echeverri, aka “Timochenko;” their “Foreign Minister” Rodrigo Granda; their Senator, Victoria Sandino; their Director of Communications, Martin Cruz Vega; and one of only two surviving founding members, 79-year-old Miguel Angel Pascuas, aka “Sergeant Pascuas” or “Black Death,” who is said to have killed more than 800 government fighters in the battle for one city.
Seated next to Jack Goldstein’s wonderful girlfriend Sandy, she told me in a touching, emotional way how impressed she was by her boyfriend being able to unite those former warring parties, and now to sit with those famous or rather infamous names in the same room, all hopeful for a better future. Just a while ago, it would have been as unthinkable for her as it was for me to ever meet a FARC member in flesh and blood. They were names as distant as Pluto or Mars.
Well, I think it must have been more terrifying for her as a Latin American than for me from my safe distance in Europe. On the other hand, nowadays, the rehabilitated FARC leaders still have to fear for their safety, not only because of potential spontaneous encounters with revenge-seeking victims but also because of the clandestine killings within their ranks, some probably conducted by right-wing paramilitaries and possibly with secret government endorsement. Therefore, the current FARC leaders each have at least 3 bodyguards, made up of 1 former FARC, 1 police, and 1 private contractor, plus bulletproof SUVs, all paid for by the government (or rather the Colombian taxpayers).
Early next morning, our convoy of bulletproof cars, UN Land Cruisers, and tourist minivans set itself in motion for a slow 14-hour drive to the village of El Oso, in the department of Tolima, where a provisional FARC reconciliation center has been set up by the government.
We were constantly escorted by a dozen heavily armed policemen on the back of police pickups, plus several policemen on motorbikes. In addition, the Military Bataillons 18 and 19 had secured all surrounding areas for us with several hundred soldiers. We had to pre-communicate our blood groups, and there was a military helicopter on standby for us, just in case. After the event, we were told that there had been some clashes only about 20 to 30 kilometers away from us, but it was unclear to me if it was with FARC renegades or other conflicting parties.
At one point, when a damaged car tire had to be repaired, I had the opportunity to speak with a high-ranking police officer of GAULA, the special forces against kidnappings and extortions. Although his team was providing perfect protection in the most professional way, not only for us but also for his former enemies from the FARC side, he indicated to me that privately he still thought that “Marquetalia is the problem!”, meaning he sees no good in FARC, now or in the future, just like the majority of his countrymen (the peace accord was rejected by a small margin in a referendum).
Admittedly, I am pretty sure that because of my upbringing, I also would have become a right-wing person in Colombia, but I completely understand that a rural indigenous Colombian will be more inclined to fight for the left. In any case, after the joint hardship of this adventure, I consider myself a personal friend of FARC leader Martin Cruz Vega, no matter the differences in our curricula vitae. And I have a hunch that this charismatic and hardworking leadership personality will quickly find the road to success as a businessman, now that he has officially left the armed fight for Marxism-Leninism. Abrazo y mucha suerte, Martin! A hug and good luck to you!
In El Oso, our group also met, for the first time, the most famous face of FARC: the Dutch revolutionary Tanja Nijmeijer, who came to Colombia as a 19-year-old language teacher 20-some years ago and then stayed on to fight in the jungle. Tanja comes across as the live Lara Croft, with a captivating charisma that has undoubtedly enabled her to lead whole fighter battalions, sometimes in the wrong direction, with just a flirtatious gaze and a coquettish brush of her hair.
She certainly knows and enjoys her effect on men. What she doesn’t seem to acknowledge is that the world is not driven exclusively by workers and peasants. When my German travel mate Thorsten introduced himself to her as a businessman, she looked at him as if he were an unknown insect, countering with, “So you are a businessman?” in the way I would say, “So you are a voodoo priest?” or, “You are a social justice worker?”
Along similar lines, Tanja described her new hometown Cali as “a sea of highrise buildings entirely built by drug money,” as if there were no legitimate economic activity and property development in this world besides agri-barons or the illicit drug trade. Funnily, Tanja Nijmeijer then announced her resignation from FARC, via international news agencies, on the day after our encounter. There are several manly foreign travelers among us who still argue about who had that final impact on her decision. In any case, from my point of view, I say, “Congratulations, Tanja! A wise decision!” She is definitely the most charismatic female I ever met, with the male contender being Alexander Saldostanov, aka Chirurg, who is the chief of the Russian Night Wolves.
Back to our trip. After a short night in a provisional tent camp in El Oso, we had to swap vehicles because of the terrible onward road. It took us another two hours to reach the village of Villanueva in a convoy of a dozen UAZ jeeps, mostly from Soviet times. Go figure! Yes, the rebel areas somehow have Russian cars; in the coffee areas, there are mostly Willys jeeps from the Korean War, where Colombia fought alongside the US; the government security forces still use a lot of US vehicles; and normal Colombians privately prefer German cars (or Japanese) just like everywhere else—the big conflict explained in one small market distortion.
At the road end in Villanueva, participants had to leave the relative comfort of their 4x4s and choose between horseback, mule, or trekking on foot. The next five hours on the narrow mountain path were grueling. Occasional rain made the rocks slippery and the trail muddy.
My horse seemed to have a death wish and continuously let its head hang over the edge of the 300-meter-high ridge on the valley side. It was a miracle that there were no casualties or missing persons on the last kilometers of our Peace Road to Marquetalia. In all fairness, FARC did the best possible job in such conditions, no doubt aided by their many years of experience in mountain and jungle terrain.
We finally reached Manuel Marulanda’s hut on the top of the Marquetalia plateau in torrential rainfalls. Our tents were not completely dry in the rain, but who wants to complain about a brand new rebel hotel that is not even listed on TripAdvisor yet? The atmosphere around the campfire, listening to anecdotes from Martin Cruz Vega, Tanja Nijmeijer, and other rebel leaders, captured all of us, even those who got lost in the translations from Spanish to English.
The field kitchen was excellent, serving mostly rice and lamb, or chicken stew, prepared over the open fire in huge cauldrons. The muscle aches ensured a quick sleep. Only a few of us used the optional “shower” in the cold mountain stream in the morning. I think one was a brave Finn and the others were Russian. Secret Empires: How th... Schweizer, Peter Best Price: $5.99 Buy New $11.07 (as of 07:25 UTC - Details)
Just like FARC, our travel group was comprised of almost one-half men and one-half women. The second-most-famous FARC lady, the Afro-Colombian Mulato senator Victoria Sandino, left a lasting impression on me. In a TV interview with private news channel Red+ Noticias, who had accompanied us all the way to Marquetalia, the senadora was asked by reporter Gabriel Romero, “What is the best system for Colombia in the future?” to which she replied, “El Socialismo! It is Socialism, of course!” Then she suddenly put her hand over the reporter’s microphone, asked him to stop filming and cut the sequence, and then she shouted at the top of her voice toward someone in the tent camp: “Hey you! Back off! This is my plastic bag!” What a laugh. All the self-contradictions of the left were packed into one small phrase—into a plastic bag, of all places.
Now this is sustainably conserved on the Red+ YouTube feed and on my Twitter. The otherwise perfectly neutral reporter had left that sequence in the movie, and it was simply too good to be cut.
Yes, we did all make it back home in one piece, although the trip changed some of us forever—not necessarily in a political way, but in a deeply human way of looking at how we interact with perceived opponents. Libertarians, especially, know that the current powers that be try to divide us from our neighbors by calling the objective historical truth a lie or merely one of many opinions, whereas their reality design (manmade climate change, gender ambiguity, white guilt, etc.) has become the official party line, the sacrosanct truth.
This is all a result of highly professional propaganda and agitation. The challenge (and the opportunity) for today’s bona fide freedom fighters is that we live in the times of smartphones and social media, not Kalashnikovs and kidnappings. Fake heroes like Greta become manufactured household names, whereas real heroes are censored, de-monetized and shadowbanned.
Interestingly, and against their founders’ and inventor’s intentions, Facebook, WhatsApp, and emoticons may also have a healing effect on us. Back home in Europe, the four German participants of the Peace Road to Marquetalia delivered a trip report in the member lounge of their cigar club in the city of Munich, with live support from Tanja Nijmeijer coming directly from Colombia via Whatsapp.
The whole audience, including several German princes, businessmen, and other bourgeois elements, saluted the Marxist rebel with thumbs up, smiles, and victory signs. And Tanja answered back with her trademark air kisses. Connecting people instead of kidnapping people—imagine what WhatsApp would have done to the myth of Che Guevara?!
Reprinted with permission from International Man.


lewrockwell--2020-03-07--Stop Calling It A ‘Stutter’:  Here Are Dozens of Examples of Biden’s Dementia Symptoms

It ’ s very bizarre and dissonant how there are currently two separate and non-overlapping lines of criticism going on against the campaign of establishment-anointed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden .
There are the perfectly accurate criticisms regarding the right-wing , militaristic policy positions of the politician Joe Biden used to be , and then there are the equally accurate criticisms of Biden ’ s handlers and Democratic Party leadership for wheeling out the dementia-addled husk of a man he currently is to run for the world ’ s most powerful elected office .
These two debates do not interweave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one another .
It doesn ’ t matter what political positions a dementia victim once had ; what matters is taking care of him and keeping him away from hazards , like sharp objects and nuclear launch codes .
It ’ s impossible to know what actual political convictions still remain held within a mind that can no longer lucidly string thoughts together anyway .
I hate doing this .
I hate repeatedly writing about the obvious and undeniable fact that an old man is exhibiting obvious and undeniable symptoms of incipient dementia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and it doesn ’ t feel good .
But the alternative is laying down and allowing the Democratic party and its allied media to gaslight people into believing it ’ s not a thing , as they are doing currently .
If you do a live Twitter search for the word “ stutter ” , you will as of this writing see that word being tweeted multiple times per minute on the social media platform as Democrats scramble to defend Biden from people who are accurately highlighting the indisputable fact that the former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decline .
In my interactions with Biden supporters over the last 24 hours I ’ ve had this irrelevant word suddenly start getting thrown at me , because narrative managers in the mainstream media and the Biden campaign have been aggressively promoting the talking point that Biden ’ s increasingly frequent neurological misfirings on the campaign trail are actually the result of a longstanding speech impediment .
This is false .
While it is true that Biden has periodically exhibited signs of a stutter , the inability to hold on to his own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is and who he ’ s with , grossly incorrect use of language , and inappropriate behavior are not symptoms of a stutter .
Here is the Mayo Clinic ’ s list of symptoms for a stutter , also known as a stammer : • Brief silence for certain syllables or words , or pauses within a word ( broken word ) • Addition of extra words such as “ um ” if difficulty moving to the next word is anticipated • Excess tension , tightness , or movement of the face or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the Mayo Clinic ’ s list of dementia symptoms : • Memory loss , which is usually noticed by a spouse or someone else • Difficulty with visual and spatial abilities , such as getting lost while driving Clearly , the symptoms of the speech impediment are very distinct from the symptoms of a degenerative neurological disorder .
What follows are dozens of examples suggesting the latter , most of which were compiled by the Twitter user @ KoenSwinkels .
You may be absolutely certain that Trump will not hesitate to highlight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Party leadership successfully install Biden as the nominee ; in fact both Trump and his Fox News cheerleaders are doing so already .
Joe Biden is Jeb Bush plus dementia .
Trump will be far less charitable with his symptoms than I am here , and if he ’ s nominated the president will make certain this story dominates news headlines from the convention until November .
Anyone who wants Trump out of office should fiercely oppose Biden ’ s nomination .
1 .
“ Make sure you have the record player on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ words.
” Everyone talked about Biden ’ s bizarre call for families to make use of an archaic audio technology in response to a debate question about slavery , and some criticized his paternalistic suggestion that black Americans need to be taught how to raise their children correctly , but hardly anyone made a fuss about the fact that his entire answer was also a rambling , incoherent word salad .
It ’ s easy to overlook linguistic peculiarities when they ’ re spoken , so I made a verbatim transcript of Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he spoke it .
There are no typos .
Read it carefully , resisting the urge to mentally re-word it in order to make it make sense : “ Well they have to deal with the — Look , there is institutional segregation in this country .
And from the time I got involved I started dealing with that .
Redlining .
Banks .
Making sure that we ’ re in a position where — Look , talk about education .
I propose that what we take is those very poor schools , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ amount of money we spend from 15 to 45 billion a year .
Give every single teacher a raise that equal raise to getting out — the sixty-thousand dollar level .
“ Number two : make sure that we bring into the help the — the student , the , the teachers deal with the problems that come from home .
The problems that come from home .
We need — We have one school psychologist for every fifteen hundred kids in America today .
It ’ s crazy .
The teachers are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ married to a teacher .
My deceased wife is a teacher .
They have every problem coming to them .
We have make sure that every single child does in fact have three , four , and five year-olds go to school — school , not daycare .
School .
We bring social workers into homes of parents to help them deal with how to raise their children .
It ’ s not that they don ’ t wan na help , they don ’ t want — they don ’ t know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ radio , make sure the television , the — ‘ scuse me , make sure you have the record player on at night , the-the-the-the phone , make sure the kids hear words .
A kid coming from a very poor school , a very poor background , will hear four million words fewer spoken by the time they get there.
” Compare this muddle-headed mess , and all the following subsequent examples , to the crisp , forceful way Biden used to speak : Or even just a few years ago : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be self-evident .
All men and women created by the , go , you know the , you know the thing.
” 4 .
“ I ’ m a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate .
Look me over , if you like what you see help out , if not vote for the other Bi- gim me a look though okay ?
” Fact check : Biden has not been a candidate for the United States Senate in a great many years , and is in fact running for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the state of North South Carolina.
” 8 .
Worked with Deng Xiaoping , who died 23 years ago , on the Paris Climate Accord during the Obama administration .
9 .
“ Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.
” 10 .
Whatever the hell this is .
11 .
We ’ ll increase healthcare premiums and make sure care is not quality , only affordable .
13 .
“ My deceased son was the Attorney General of the United States.
” Beau Biden was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 14 .
Being aggressive and inappropriate with Iraq war veterans , wrongly insinuating that his son died in the war .
US veterans recently confronted Biden over his support for the Iraq invasion , one saying “ My friends are dead because of your policies.
” “ So ’ s my son , ” Biden replied .
“ He was in Iraq , okay ?
For a year .
Not that it matters , right ?
” “ I ’ m not going after your son , ” the veteran said .
Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2008 to 2009 .
He died in 2015 , of cancer .
Here ’ s a transcript of an answer Biden gave to a question at a town hall .
Read through it , resisting the urge to mentally revise it into something more coherent : “ And so I was saying that , and what they turned around and said , Joe Biden said , in effect , they said , that Joe Biden said that what he was told , that what , that what the white supremacists argue , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , our , our basic English jurisprudential system is not the problem .
The problem is those countries like Africa and Asia and those places , they ’ re the reason why we have all these problems .
So they turn it around to make it sound like that , and by the way , the title of the article is , was , is the Washington Post ‘ The Deceptively ( indecipherable ) of Joe Biden Singles , Signals What Is Coming ’ and that is that ’ s a whole bunch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ m making here is that , what has happened is that , I know we ’ re going to get in to , whomever the nominee is of the Democratic Party , is going to have a plethora of lies told about him or her , and misrepresentations and this went on the internet , this edited article , it got retweeted by some press people and then they realized it was edited to make it look like something not… white supremacists , see , Biden ’ s acknowledging that the problem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , all those minority folks are the problem .
And so , in essence .
And so they corrected , they corrected .
You ’ re going to see a lot more of it .
You ’ re going to see a lot more of not only my statements being taken out of context , and lied about , or altered , you ’ re going to see whomever the Democratic nominee is because that ’ s how this guy operates .
Now .
Whether or not I can win ?
”

It’s very bizarre and dissonant how there are currently two separate and non-overlapping lines of criticism going on against the campaign of establishment-anointed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. There are the perfectly accurate criticisms regarding the right-wing, militaristic policy positions of the politician Joe Biden used to be, and then there are the equally accurate criticisms of Biden’s handlers and Democratic Party leadership for wheeling out the dementia-addled husk of a man he currently is to run for the world’s most powerful elected office.
These two debates do not interweave, because they are not relevant to one another. It doesn’t matter what political positions a dementia victim once had; what matters is taking care of him and keeping him away from hazards, like sharp objects and nuclear launch codes. It’s impossible to know what actual political convictions still remain held within a mind that can no longer lucidly string thoughts together anyway.
I hate doing this. I hate repeatedly writing about the obvious and undeniable fact that an old man is exhibiting obvious and undeniable symptoms of incipient dementia. It isn’t fun, and it doesn’t feel good. But the alternative is laying down and allowing the Democratic party and its allied media to gaslight people into believing it’s not a thing, as they are doing currently.
At a certain point there needs to be a serious and empathetic conversation about Biden’s relatively frequent, confused, irritable inability to complete coherent thoughts. It’s not about a stutter. Watching him speak a mere four years ago makes that clear. Hope this happens soon! — Cody Johnston (@drmistercody) March 5, 2020
If you do a live Twitter search for the word “stutter”, you will as of this writing see that word being tweeted multiple times per minute on the social media platform as Democrats scramble to defend Biden from people who are accurately highlighting the indisputable fact that the former vice president is showing signs of cognitive decline. In my interactions with Biden supporters over the last 24 hours I’ve had this irrelevant word suddenly start getting thrown at me, because narrative managers in the mainstream media and the Biden campaign have been aggressively promoting the talking point that Biden’s increasingly frequent neurological misfirings on the campaign trail are actually the result of a longstanding speech impediment.
This is false. While it is true that Biden has periodically exhibited signs of a stutter, the inability to hold on to his own train of thought, forgetting where he is and who he’s with, grossly incorrect use of language, and inappropriate behavior are not symptoms of a stutter.
Here is the Mayo Clinic’s list of symptoms for a stutter, also known as a stammer:
Difficulty starting a word, phrase or sentence
Prolonging a word or sounds within a word
Repetition of a sound, syllable or word
Brief silence for certain syllables or words, or pauses within a word (broken word)
Addition of extra words such as “um” if difficulty moving to the next word is anticipated
Excess tension, tightness, or movement of the face or upper body to produce a word
Anxiety about talking
Limited ability to effectively communicate
Here is the Mayo Clinic’s list of dementia symptoms:
Memory loss, which is usually noticed by a spouse or someone else
Difficulty communicating or finding words
Difficulty with visual and spatial abilities, such as getting lost while driving
Difficulty reasoning or problem-solving
Difficulty handling complex tasks
Difficulty with planning and organizing
Difficulty with coordination and motor functions
Confusion and disorientation

Clearly, the symptoms of the speech impediment are very distinct from the symptoms of a degenerative neurological disorder. What follows are dozens of examples suggesting the latter, most of which were compiled by the Twitter user @KoenSwinkels. You may be absolutely certain that Trump will not hesitate to highlight this growing mountain of evidence should Democratic Party leadership successfully install Biden as the nominee; in fact both Trump and his Fox News cheerleaders are doing so already.
Joe Biden is Jeb Bush plus dementia. Trump will be far less charitable with his symptoms than I am here, and if he’s nominated the president will make certain this story dominates news headlines from the convention until November. Anyone who wants Trump out of office should fiercely oppose Biden’s nomination.
1. “Make sure you have the record player on at night… make sure the kids hear words.”

Everyone talked about Biden’s bizarre call for families to make use of an archaic audio technology in response to a debate question about slavery, and some criticized his paternalistic suggestion that black Americans need to be taught how to raise their children correctly, but hardly anyone made a fuss about the fact that his entire answer was also a rambling, incoherent word salad.
It’s easy to overlook linguistic peculiarities when they’re spoken, so I made a verbatim transcript of Biden’s complete answer, exactly as he spoke it. There are no typos. Read it carefully, resisting the urge to mentally re-word it in order to make it make sense:
“Well they have to deal with the — Look, there is institutional segregation in this country. And from the time I got involved I started dealing with that. Redlining. Banks. Making sure that we’re in a position where — Look, talk about education. I propose that what we take is those very poor schools, the Title 1 schools, triple the amount of money we spend from 15 to 45 billion a year. Give every single teacher a raise that equal raise to getting out — the sixty-thousand dollar level.
“Number two: make sure that we bring into the help the — the student, the, the teachers deal with the problems that come from home. The problems that come from home. We need — We have one school psychologist for every fifteen hundred kids in America today. It’s crazy. The teachers are reca — Now, I’m married to a teacher. My deceased wife is a teacher. They have every problem coming to them. We have make sure that every single child does in fact have three, four, and five year-olds go to school — school, not daycare. School. We bring social workers into homes of parents to help them deal with how to raise their children. It’s not that they don’t wanna help, they don’t want — they don’t know quite what to do. Play the radio, make sure the television, the — ‘scuse me, make sure you have the record player on at night, the-the-the-the phone, make sure the kids hear words. A kid coming from a very poor school, a very poor background, will hear four million words fewer spoken by the time they get there.”
Compare this muddle-headed mess, and all the following subsequent examples, to the crisp, forceful way Biden used to speak:

Or even just a few years ago:
Joe Biden explains why Bernie Sanders is the best to beat Trump. (Yes, this is Joe 4 years ago.. I know it’s strange watching him talk in full sentences.) pic.twitter.com/5zhs1eYvFu — Aisha Sharna (@SharnaAisha) March 4, 2020
2. “We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women created by the, go, you know the, you know the thing.”
3. “Super Thursday”

4. “I’m a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. Look me over, if you like what you see help out, if not vote for the other Bi- gimme a look though okay?”
This is so sad. Here @JoeBiden says to the crowd in South Carolina that he is “running for the United States Senate” and that if they don’t like him they can “vote for the other Biden.” I honestly wish he would’ve retired & not subjected himself to the rigors of this campaign. pic.twitter.com/mygFnsrdjC — Shaun King (@shaunking) February 25, 2020
Fact check: Biden has not been a candidate for the United States Senate in a great many years, and is in fact running for the presidency.
5. “Alright Chuck!”
BIDEN: “Alright Chuck” WALLACE: “It’s Chris but anyway..” How many Biden Gaffes have there been this week? pic.twitter.com/0itD8OWfzm — Benny (@bennyjohnson) March 1, 2020
Fact check: Chris. Chris Wallace.
6. “Right here in the state of North South Carolina.”

Fact check: Not a state.
7. Randomly biting his wife’s finger.

Fact check: Don’t do that, Joe.
8. Worked with Deng Xiaoping, who died 23 years ago, on the Paris Climate Accord during the Obama administration.

9. “Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.”

10. Whatever the hell this is.

11. We’ll increase healthcare premiums and make sure care is not quality, only affordable.

12. “Look, fat, look, here’s the deal.”

13. “My deceased son was the Attorney General of the United States.”
https://twitter.com/Becca4Bernie/status/1234166302354354176?s=20
Beau Biden was only the Attorney General of Delaware.
14. Being aggressive and inappropriate with Iraq war veterans, wrongly insinuating that his son died in the war.

US veterans recently confronted Biden over his support for the Iraq invasion, one saying “My friends are dead because of your policies.”
“So’s my son,” Biden replied. “He was in Iraq, okay? For a year. Not that it matters, right?”
“I’m not going after your son,” the veteran said.
“You better not,” Biden replied.
Biden’s son was in Iraq from 2008 to 2009. He died in 2015, of cancer.
15. This incoherent word salad.
Anyway, good time to remind everyone that Joe Biden has dementia. pic.twitter.com/xETlMd46Qc — 29 U.S.C. § 157 (@OrganizingPower) March 1, 2020
Here’s a transcript of an answer Biden gave to a question at a town hall. Read through it, resisting the urge to mentally revise it into something more coherent:
“And so I was saying that, and what they turned around and said, Joe Biden said, in effect, they said, that Joe Biden said that what he was told, that what, that what the white supremacists argue, that we have no problem, that our, our, our basic English jurisprudential system is not the problem. The problem is those countries like Africa and Asia and those places, they’re the reason why we have all these problems. So they turn it around to make it sound like that, and by the way, the title of the article is, was, is the Washington Post ‘The Deceptively (indecipherable) of Joe Biden Singles, Signals What Is Coming’ and that is that’s a whole bunch of lies. The generic point I’m making here is that, what has happened is that, I know we’re going to get in to, whomever the nominee is of the Democratic Party, is going to have a plethora of lies told about him or her, and misrepresentations and this went on the internet, this edited article, it got retweeted by some press people and then they realized it was edited to make it look like something not… white supremacists, see, Biden’s acknowledging that the problem here is that that all those folks, all those minority folks are the problem. And so, in essence. And so they corrected, they corrected. You’re going to see a lot more of it. You’re going to see a lot more of not only my statements being taken out of context, and lied about, or altered, you’re going to see whomever the Democratic nominee is because that’s how this guy operates. Now. Whether or not I can win?”
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