One year to election day 2024 and the field is set. It will incumbent Joe Biden as the Democrat nominee and Donald Trump for the Republicans. Biden is running unopposed because no opposition (particularly from the left) is allowed within the Democratic Party or its corporate media apparatus. Any criticism from the left is branded as racist, misogynist and/or anti-semetic by the philistine fake media.
The experiences of 2016 & 2020 have taught the Democrats that primaries can be dangerous to elite interests. Bernie Sanders undermined Hillary Clinton in 2016, and as Wikileaks reported, the Democrats rigged that primary to ensure her nomination over a fake left figure in Bernie. In 2020, Joe Biden got hammered in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada before the Democrats pulled the machinery in South Carolina and rigged the vote for him from then on. By Super Tuesday 2020, the path had been cleared for Biden to grab the nomination and Bernie had dropped out– again.
The Democratic Party last year approved the reordering of its 2024 presidential primary, replacing Iowa with South Carolina in the leadoff spot to ensure a smooth nomination process for Joe Biden. In 2020, Biden received only 14% of the caucus vote in Iowa, then 8% in New Hampshire, and 19% in Nevada, which allowed Bernie Sanders to take an early delegate lead. It’s those pesky voters who screw things up for the Democrats in the primaries and this is how they are brought under control by the ruling establishment.
On the Republican side, Donald Trump took over the Party in 2016 and has held it in a stranglehold since. Not even the events of 1/6/21 can dissuade his most emboldened supporters who are given platforms throughout the right-wing media. The rest of the Republicans are a combination of career bureaucrats & businessmen who have no appeal to grassroots Republican voters. Everyone from Mike Pence to Ron DeSantis to Vivek Ramaswamy is a stick figure. None of them can speak to voter frustrations with any degree of empathy or believability, and thus they have been left by the wayside despite attempts from conservative Republicans to prop them up as legitimate alternatives to Trump.
The fact is both parties aren’t happy with their presumed nominees. Roughly 70% of Democrat voters don’t want Joe Biden to run again, and over 60% of Republicans don’t want Donald Trump as their candidate– yet this political re-match is set in stone. Joe Biden is semi-senile & non-responsive to the problems facing most Americans such as rising living costs, declining wages, attacks on democratic rights & imperialist wars abroad. The truth is Joe Biden supports attacks on workers & more wars everywhere. It’s how he plans to stay in power.
As for Trump, the problem is a lack of political backbone anywhere in two-party politics. Neither major party has the courage or the will to fight fascism, so Trump is allowed to do whatever he wants, including an insurrection & coup attempt on 1/6, and is never held accountable for his actions. This is what makes him so dangerous. As much as he is criticized & vilified by the fake left, Trump is seen as an essential backstop for capitalism in its late-stage crisis. If democratic forms of rule are no longer able to contain & control the working population, then dictatorial forms of rule will become the law of the land and that’s where Donald Trump comes in, as he’s being protected by powerful elites who understand this dynamic.
So where does that leave ~85% of people, who see no choice in either party or its pre-selected candidates? It’s time to organize rank-and-file workers across all industries for an all-out political fight against the two-party system. This will take the forms of massive workers’ strikes in heavy industry, education, health care & the rest. This is the ONLY way the workers can make their voices heard. It must be collective & internationally coordinated action with the goal of overthrowing capitalist parasites who rule every industry & business, and establishing worker control over production in all sectors.
This is the only way to stop the madness in Israel/Gaza, Ukraine/Russia, Taiwan/China, etc. It is the US government that is the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism, inequality & violence against civilians. It is Wall Street that commands this, in order to extract ever greater profits for itself. It’s the CIA & US intelligence apparatus that coordinates with fascists in Kiev & Tel Aviv to silence dissidents & bomb hospitals. It’s been like this since the end of WW2, and we have now reached a point where if it isn’t stopped, we will be hurled into a Third World War by madmen with no ethics.
The only viable political option outside of the two-party system is the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and it’s daily organ the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS). All the other so-called “left” parties are frauds whose purpose is to funnel workers & youth back into the orbit of the Democrats. This includes the Green Party, the DSA’s, and the corrupt trade unions which are run by bureaucrats who sell out their rank-and-file constituents every time. The bottom line is that nothing is going to change for the better until workers & youth unite internationally and take matters into their own hands.
This piece finishes with a loud & clear US midterm election wrap-up on Wednesday November 7, 2018.
Local beat: Donald Trump isn’t as popular in Florida as most would lead you to believe.
This is the result of a shooting at Volusia Republican Party headquarters in Daytona, FL in the wee hours of Monday October 29.
Four bullets were fired into the empty building. Police are looking for this vehicle, but I don’t think they’re going to find it.
International news: The murder of Jamal Khashoggi inside a Saudi consulate in Turkey on October 2, 2018 was a black operation whose aim was to silence a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), ruler of Saudi Arabia.
All evidence points to the torture & murder of the journalist (also an intelligence asset) by a 15-member hit-team of Saudi agents who arrived on diplomatic passports and entered the consulate shortly before Khashoggi’s disappearance. Khashoggi was tortured, murdered, and then dismembered, apparently with a bone saw. After which, his remains were removed in pieces, with a doppelgänger (below) used as cover.
The Turkish government has all the audio & video, since it happened in an embassy on their soil. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has an axe to grind with the US, since a failed CIA-backed coup attempt in 2016. Turkish officials & media have slowly leaked this story into the media. By doing it piecemeal, the US government & House of Saud have been exposed at every step as shameless liars, apologizing repeatedly for this premeditated butchery of a political opponent. Jamal Khashoggi was employed by the Washington Post, which is another reason this story runs so deep.
US President Donald Trump first denied knowledge, then tried to deflect for the House of Saud, suggesting “rogue killers” murdered Khashoggi. But that gained little traction anywhere, and the fallout was increasing. Something needed to be done to remove this ugly incident from the headlines, as it was making both major parties in the US look bad. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was being referred to as “Mohammed Bone Saw” on the internet & social media. That’s a problem for the pseudo-left and the hard-liners of US imperialism.
National News: Luckily for both major political parties, the “pipe bomber attacks” came at the perfect time, and Jamal Khashoggi’s savage murder quickly became back-page news. It took an entire business week/media cycle (Monday October 22 to Friday October 26) for the pipe bomber drama to play out before our eyes. Cesar Sayoc (above), a homeless man living in a van plastered with right-wing stickers, was finally taken into custody in south Florida on Friday, presumably so we all could have a nice weekend.
The media reassured us that our leaders & country are safe, while the barbaric House of Saud is still a firm ally & valued business partner. It’s like they had this pipe-bomber patsy in their pocket the whole time, and waited until the moment they needed him most to bust him. The Democrats appear to be under terrorist attack, two weeks before the midterms. Who benefits?
The next day Saturday October 27, another hateful right-wing gun nut went into a synagogue in a Pittsburgh suburb, and screamed “All these Jews need to die,” before he started blasting. When it was over, eleven were dead, as the shooter surrender to police.
This atrocity was all-too real, and is to be condemned by anyone who thinks & feels. It is bipartisan capitalist rhetoric & nationalism that fuels this. People need to start organizing labor & neighborhood committees to protect themselves and their interests. The police & bourgeois politicians will only respond with more lies & violence directed at the working masses & discontented youth.
National-International News: Meanwhile, there’s a migrant caravan (above) that began in Central America, and is winding its way through Mexico, heading for the US border in Texas. Trump has made political hay of this by deploying 15,000 troops to “defend” the border. Refugees are fleeing violence sponsored by US puppet dictatorships & the drug cartels, which serve imperialism. Razor wire (below) is being placed at the US/Mexico border. Every bureaucrat is doing everything they can to inflame their “base.”
Political Op/Ed: My vote & political perspective in Florida is to abstain on November 6, 2018. Two rotten choices is no choice at all.
* The amendments (all 12 above) are meaningless, as whoever controls the machinery express their will over any that pass.
My political endorsement goes to Niles Niemuth & the Socialist Equality Party (SEP). Niles Niemuth is running for US Congress in Michigan’s 12th district, and represents the only socialist on the ballot in 2018. All information on his campaign and the SEP can be found at the World Socialist Web Site– wsws.org.
Niles Niemuth has also been endorsed by Christine Assange, the mother of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Marijuana legalization is now a political issue, so here are my thoughts. Marijuana is a weed, so anyone can grow it. Capitalists are trying to monopolize the burgeoning market where it’s legal, and soon-to-be legal. But this will never happen, because marijuana is a weed and anyone can grow it.
Marijuana is a highly useful medicinal, and needs to be legal everywhere. The pharmaceuticals, tobacco, distilleries & breweries all oppose legal weed, along with the moralists and those in power. Marijuana legalization will only occur though revolutionary socialism.
A courageous San Francisco 49ers cheerleader (above) took a knee during the National Anthem, this past Thursday vs. the Oakland Raiders. Cheerleaders are usually considered as Barbie-doll types, so when they start doing stuff like this, it’s a major red flag for widespread political dissent.
Midterm Aftermath: Wed 07 Nov 2018 09:33:50 AM EST
The Florida governor’s & senate races were stolen by the Republicans, again. Democrats Andrew Gillium for governor and incumbent Bill Nelson for Senate were leading their races by 4-5 percentage points in the latest pre-election polls (screenshots below), well outside the margin of error. Yet on November 6, they both lost by less than a percentage point, despite heavy voter turnout, where Florida voters said health care & immigration were the most important issues.
Almost 40% of registered voters in Florida voted early, which also leans strongly Democrat. But to no avail, as the Republicans control the voting machines. The mood, especially around the Ron DeSantis campaign was gloomy all day Tuesday, until just after the polls closed, when his fortunes then began to turn. Polling numbers which showed a significant lead for Gillum were soon reversed as DeSantis pressed on to victory. Florida Democrats have now lost three consecutive elections for governor by one percentage point, or so. So close, yet so far…
Watching the Florida numbers come in on Tuesday evening, was to witness complete manipulation. How else does one explain MSNBC (pro-Democrat) publishing a graphic (below) of an Andrew Gillum victory– on Monday night?! Polling and any other sophisticated political science isn’t a reliable indicator for elections in Florida (and elsewhere), because the manipulation of votes is so endemic, that nothing else matters.
Final Note on Florida: Amendments were the most progressive items of the 2018 Florida ballot, and 11 out of 12 passed by the necessary 60%, including: banning off-shore oil drilling, no new casinos without voter approval, and non-violent felon voter restoration. Unfortunately it means nothing, as progressive amendments have been approved in the past, including funding for a statewide light rail system and medical marijuana. None were implemented.
As the “% in” crept up* in the key races to 90+% on our TV screens, reporters staged all over the state of Florida began the narrative that the late vote in the “Panhandle region” would be strong. These are mostly rural Red districts, but they have also been in the news lately. Hurricane Michael struck the region on October 10, 2018. Trump visited, and consulted with Rick Scott, while keeping DeSantis at a distance (pic below). Trump & Rick Scott have the area under FEMA lockdown, so I therefore suspect these districts were highly manipulated in favor of Republican candidates in a way that is very hard to prove. Maybe some day historians will get a look at the black boxes which contain all the votes, and see what happened.
* With electronic voting. how is it that Amendment results kept coming in at a slower pace than the Senate & Governor’s races? For instance, with vote totals displayed as “98% in” on Gillum/DeSantis and Scott/Nelson, most Florida amendments were reporting “63% in,” or such. The %-in numbers for every Florida amendment varied all night. Why did the election computers add the totals of certain amendments quicker than others? One network nerd analyst actually explained how the “% in” could go over 100%.
Democrat Andrew Gillum conceded the gubernatorial race early, as he fell just short of a recount. Tough luck. Gillum has already been tabbed by liberal pundits as a “rising star” for 2020. Only the Democrats can turn a loser into a rising star. The Scott/Nelson Senate race is heading for a recount, which governor Rick Scott presides over. I expect more tough luck for the Dems there. This flaky vote counting has been going on out-in-the-open in Florida since Bush v Gore 2000.
None of these “elections” can be considered valid in any rational sense. Rick Scott & Ron DeSantis spent tens of millions of dollars, because they have it and they will do anything to win, which validates fixing the votes. That’s the political “logic.” New Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is a billionaire schmuck, who was carried to office by Rick Scott & Trump’s political fixers. CIA Democrat for US Congress Nancy Soderberg in district 6, was running ads in my area, which is WAY out of her district. Her right-wing campaign was repudiated by voters, and smashed by the Republican machinery. The only Democrat “victory” in Florida was Donna Shalala in winning a Florida Congressional seat in the Miami area.
Nationally, the Democrats took the House of Representatives as expected, but the Republicans seemingly won every key toss-up race for the Senate & state governor, including Missouri, North Dakota, Georgia, Indiana, Tennessee & Texas. Massive manipulation of voting on both sides, everywhere– especially online.
Disaster results for the Democrats, with what happened in Florida alone. Their #MeToo approach to the Kavanaugh Hearings was a calculated turn to the right, suppressing progressive momentum & energy for their party. Controlling the masses is more important than winning key races for the Democratic leadership. That’s the only rational explanation as to why they blunted their own victory. That’s the key political lesson.
Less than a week before Election Day, and a New Times/CBS poll reveals 82% of voters primarily feel disgusted about the 2016 campaign, while only 13% claimed to be excited.[1]
The primary vehicle for Hillary Clinton securing this election was hitching her campaign to Wall Street & the Pentagon, along with the vast intelligence apparatus including the NSA & CIA. In “Election 2016” (it was a TV show), the Democratic candidate attacked a fascist Republican billionaire from the right [!].
The red-baiting of Donald Trump (through unsubstantiated Russian connections meant to deflect damaging Wikileaks dumps) was their most-successful strategy, as Hillary Clinton has held her lead, despite all the content (which is never actually discussed in mainstream media) exposing her criminality in everything from rigging the Democratic primary against Bernie Sanders, to war crimes as Barack Obama’s Secretary of State from 2009-13.
Facts are stubborn things (Lenin), but during “Election 2016” they are merely whisked away by a servile corporate-controlled mass media and its partners all the way down to PBS. Even Facebook (arguably the most influential social media tool) manipulated its trending, in order to help Hillary Clinton. [2]
The most important issue of this political period is the escalating crisis of unending U.S. wars in the Middle East, which has now dragged Russia into Syria. Top Pentagon brass are openly discussing war scenarios with Russia (which all end in mutually assured destruction), and neither candidate (or anyone else!) is ever pressed to discuss a peace option– which is what most people want.
The issue domestically is the Great Recession, which continues to get worse for 90+% of the people. Polls show at least 82% have it on their minds, yet we never hear any believable, concrete proposals that will make anything better. What’s assured is more unemployment & job insecurity, less healthcare with higher premiums & deductibles, more student loan & credit card debt, with a lower quality-of-life, etc…
Not a single serious discussion occurred on global warming during the entire (~18 months) of this presidential campaign. It’s still here, and only getting worse. Only complete human madness would allow this rule of ignorance to continue.
Hillary Clinton will surely ‘win’ on November 8th. This was decided long ago, behind closed doors, where the ‘deep state’ decides what’s best for everyone.
The ‘deep state’ is the Black Hand, the hidden puppet-master, which must be ultimately addressed after “Election 2016.” They control both political parties, the military & intelligence apparatus, finance capital, the police, organized labor, crime & religion. They are the Godfathers, and they are ruthlessly determined to maintain the status quo. They will have to be defeated ideologically, spiritually, then physically.
This means it’s now time for workers & young people everywhere to begin their own political dialogue. Socialism means workers own the means-of-production, which necessitates taking control of the workplace from the capitalists. In revolution, this occurs by any means necessary. Peaceful methods are always best and those options should be explored & exhausted before before moving in force. The ruling class fears this above all else, as the working masses outnumber them decisively.
It doesn’t take much insight to realize the police & military are mostly composed of working-class soldiers. This is where socialist propaganda should be intensified, with the goal of united the working class and the best elements of a disenfranchised military/police force, into a fighting militia of the working people.
Trotsky’s Theory of Permanent Revolution means society is constantly revolutionizing & harmonizing itself, to the fulfillment & benefit of all. Young people must become more aware of worker struggles & strike activity around them, for if they don’t the reality of wage concessions & give-backs to corporate shall become the only job market they will ever face.
This is the only program for youth & workers to defeat capitalism.
The World Socialist Web Site has been linked many times in these writings. The WSWS has provided daily political analysis (6 days/week) since 1998, and is the most actively revolutionary website on the Internet. Its archives are rich in classical Marxist analysis of issues ranging from the Bill Clinton impeachment, right up to the present. Their coverage is global, with a daily readership of 50K+. [1]
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is the U.S. political branch of the WSWS. The SEP is running Jerry White & Nile Niemuth as their presidential and vice-presidential candidates. [2]
If you vote this November, I encourage you to write them in. Be sure to then photograph your ballot, before submitting it. Who knows how it will be counted?
There are other bourgeois alternatives to Democrat Hillary Clinton & Republican Donald Trump. Here’s a quick update on the two major players– the Greens & Libertarians.
The Greens are arm-chair activists, phony environmentalists, and cowardly middle-class ex-radicals, who insist that government can be reformed & must be part of the solution. The Greens funnel directly to the Democrats in everything.
Here’s “An Open Letter to Bernie Sanders” published on their site:
“We want to congratulate you on the work that you have done to support Bernie Sanders’ campaign for president. You self-organized to phone bank and reached 75 million voters. You created a social media machine that overcame the commercial media’s attempts to ignore the campaign. You created cool swag, wrote songs and cooked ‘Feel the Bern’ hot sauce. You painted your cars, your houses and giant murals with the words and likeness of Bernie. It was amazing.” [3]
Not a word on Bernie Sanders’ capitulation to Hillary Clinton’s right-wing machinery, nor any serious discussion of the U.S.-led wars raging in the Middle East, and beyond. Their mailing address proves them as Beltway-influenced as the Democrats:
Green Party of the United States PO Box 75075 Washington, DC 20013 202.319.7191
How many people knew the Greens just held their convention in Houston, Texas– August 4-7? This is noteworthy in the lack of media coverage. Political alternatives to the Democrats & Republicans are strictly censured by capitalism.
The Libs are to the Reps, as the Greens are to the Dems. Both act as safety valves when these major parties fail to adequately capture their constituency. The Libertarians are a complete mess at this point, which is not surprising considering the state of the Republican party. [4]
Libertarians are ‘loonies’ in mainstream political terms, meaning they are crazy– but considered harmless. Libertarians are never taken seriously, and are only used as pawns by right-wing power brokers. This video below actually happened on 5-29-16 in Orlando, FL at their convention:
Libertarian candidate for president is Gary Johnson:
“My charitable contributions would be negligible — I mean just, really almost non-existent,” the former New Mexico governor told CNN. [5]
The other most-memorable moment in Libertarian party history (founded 1971) happened in 1994, when radio shock-jock Howard Stern bum-rushed the Libertarian convention and secured their nomination for governor of New York.
Stern only withdrew his candidacy in an on-air press conference months later, because he refused to disclose his financial records saying: “I spend 25 hours a week telling you all the most intimate details of my life … One fact I’ve never revealed is how much I make and how much money I have … it’s none of your business.” [6]
The Libertarian Party’s vision is for a world in which individuals can freely exercise the right of sole dominion over their own lives and property. [7]
The theoretical founder of socialism was Karl Marx (1818-1883).
The most brilliant expression of 20th-century Marxism was Leon Trotsky (1879-1940).
True socialists have read & absorbed these books. Pseudo-socialists don’t read anything serious.
Socialists understand the USSR was Stalinism, which is collectivist property relations controlled by a fascist bureaucracy. Trotsky fought ceaselessly against Stalinism, and was historically vindicated in December 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed back into capitalist Russia.
If Russia hadn’t had a workers’ revolution led by Lenin & Trotsky in 1917, it would be completely dismembered (balkanized) today.
Instead, modern Russia retains much of it’s size, and possesses the second-largest nuclear arsenal in the world.
A third world war would end human civilization. Today’s thermonuclear devices are orders-of-magnitude greater than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki at the end of World War 2.
Human society can only be preserved (meaning a world war can only be prevented), by a permanent socialist revolution led by the workers & youth of the U.S. The epicentre of global capitalism (culturally, economically & militarily) is the United States; a socialist revolution here leads the way for the rest of the world.
Marxist analysis in the 21st century is found at the World Socialist Web Site— wsws.org. The WSWS is published (6 days a week, since 1998) by the International Committee for the Fourth International (ICFI), the party founded by Trotsky in 1938.
The U.S. branch of the ICFI is the Socialist Equality Party (SEP). The SEP announced its candidates for U.S. president & vice-president on April 22– Earth day. Ric Size officially endorses the Socialist Equality Party’s presidential campaign. [1]
Niles Niemuth & Jerry White SEP: US president & VP candidates
To those interested in actual socialism, this is the only choice. If you would like to be a socialist, you must put in the work. Every other leftist political party, from the Democrats & Greens to the anarchists, are opportunist– meaning they are capitalist to the core. Marxists always spot them quickly, and easily dispatch them when engaged in polemics. That’s why Trotskyists are always blacklisted from ‘official’ discourse.
Those who are politically naive, but well-meaning, need to work through this as quickly as possible. Read the books shown, along with the WSWS on a daily basis to arm yourself politically.
![[7]](https://ricsize.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Howard_Stern_For_Governor_Button.jpg){kind=link}