The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it’s trying to defuse tensions between Dakota Access pipeline protesters and law enforcement in North Dakota, but the pipeline’s developer isn’t cooperating.
G Meister
Naomi Klein nails it as usual, this is everything:
They will blame James Comey and the FBI. They will blame voter suppression and racism. They will blame Bernie or bust and misogyny. They will blame third parties and independent candidates. They will blame the corporate media for giving him the platform, social media for being a bullhorn, and WikiLeaks for airing the laundry.
But this leaves out the force most responsible for creating the nightmare in which we now find ourselves wide awake: neoliberalism. That worldview – fully embodied by Hillary Clinton and her machine – is no match for Trump-style extremism. The decision to run one against the other is what sealed our fate. If we learn nothing else, can we please learn from that mistake?
Here is what we need to understand: a hell of a lot of people are in pain. Under neoliberal policies of deregulation, privatisation, austerity and corporate trade, their living standards have declined precipitously. They have lost jobs. They have lost pensions. They have lost much of the safety net that used to make these losses less frightening. They see a future for their kids even worse than their precarious present.
At the same time, they have witnessed the rise of the Davos class, a hyper-connected network of banking and tech billionaires, elected leaders who are awfully cosy with those interests, and Hollywood celebrities who make the whole thing seem unbearably glamorous. Success is a party to which they were not invited, and they know in their hearts that this rising wealth and power is somehow directly connected to their growing debts and powerlessness.
For the people who saw security and status as their birthright – and that means white men most of all – these losses are unbearable.
Donald Trump speaks directly to that pain. The Brexit campaign spoke to that pain. So do all of the rising far-right parties in Europe. They answer it with nostalgic nationalism and anger at remote economic bureaucracies – whether Washington, the North American free trade agreement the World Trade Organisation or the EU. And of course, they answer it by bashing immigrants and people of colour, vilifying Muslims, and degrading women. Elite neoliberalism has nothing to offer that pain, because neoliberalism unleashed the Davos class. People such as Hillary and Bill Clinton are the toast of the Davos party. In truth, they threw the party.
Trump’s message was: “All is hell.” Clinton answered: “All is well.” But it’s not well – far from it.
Neo-fascist responses to rampant insecurity and inequality are not going to go away. But what we know from the 1930s is that what it takes to do battle with fascism is a real left. A good chunk of Trump’s support could be peeled away if there were a genuine redistributive agenda on the table. An agenda to take on the billionaire class with more than rhetoric, and use the money for a green new deal. Such a plan could create a tidal wave of well-paying unionised jobs, bring badly needed resources and opportunities to communities of colour, and insist that polluters should pay for workers to be retrained and fully included in this future.
It could fashion policies that fight institutionalised racism, economic inequality and climate change at the same time. It could take on bad trade deals and police violence, and honour indigenous people as the original protectors of the land, water and air.
People have a right to be angry, and a powerful, intersectional left agenda can direct that anger where it belongs, while fighting for holistic solutions that will bring a frayed society together.
Such a coalition is possible. In Canada, we have begun to cobble it together under the banner of a people’s agenda called The Leap Manifesto, endorsed by more than 220 organisations from Greenpeace Canada to Black Lives Matter Toronto, and some of our largest trade unions.
Bernie Sanders’ amazing campaign went a long way towards building this sort of coalition, and demonstrated that the appetite for democratic socialism is out there. But early on, there was a failure in the campaign to connect with older black and Latino voters who are the demographic most abused by our current economic model. That failure prevented the campaign from reaching its full potential. Those mistakes can be corrected and a bold, transformative coalition is there to be built on.
That is the task ahead. The Democratic party needs to be either decisively wrested from pro-corporate neoliberals, or it needs to be abandoned. From Elizabeth Warren to Nina Turner, to the Occupy alumni who took the Bernie campaign supernova, there is a stronger field of coalition-inspiring progressive leaders out there than at any point in my lifetime. We are “leaderful”, as many in the Movement for Black Lives say.
So let’s get out of shock as fast as we can and build the kind of radical movement that has a genuine answer to the hate and fear represented by the Trumps of this world. Let’s set aside whatever is keeping us apart and start right now.
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1:33 PM (1 hour ago)
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Dear John,
I don’t know about you, but I’m still coming to terms with the reality of President-elect Trump.
I’m deeply concerned about what this means for our American friends and allies who have made such important progress in the struggle for social and environmental justice. All their hard work may now come undone.
I’m also concerned about how the far right movement in the U.S. is creeping into Canada. Yesterday one of the top candidates for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada celebrated Donald Trump’s election as “an exciting message and one that we need to deliver here in Canada.”
So if you’re feeling concerned too – or angry or frustrated – know that you’re not alone.
You’re part of a vibrant social movement in the Council of Canadians that works to bring progressive change here at home, in the U.S., and around the world. And it’s at times like these that we can lean on each other and find comfort in our shared commitment to fighting back against everything that Donald Trump and his followers represent.
Last night Prime Minister Trudeau called the President-elect to congratulate and invite him to visit Canada “at his earliest opportunity” to discuss “various areas of mutual interest.”
It will be weeks and maybe months before we begin to see the true implications of what a Trump government will mean for Canada, but we already know we have our work cut out for us.
Trump’s transition team is likely filled with corporate lobbyists from Big Oil and Big Pharma. He has vowed to renegotiate NAFTA – certainly not in the best interest of people and the planet – or rip it up. He also believes climate change is a hoax, has promised to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement, and said he would approve the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
And that’s just for starters.
I’ll be calling on you in the coming days to ask for your thoughts on how we can best prepare and respond to the serious challenges that lie ahead, and support our U.S. friends and allies in the process.
In the meantime, I want to tell you again how thankful I am that you have chosen to be part of the Council of Canadians. Social movements like ours are increasingly the last line of defence against dark forces like Donald Trump.
I draw tremendous hope from the good work that you and I continue to accomplish by working together – and I hope you do too in this difficult time.
As a dear American friend said to me last night, “Onward together!”
With hope and resolve,
Maude Barlow
National Chairperson
The Council of Canadians
300-251 Bank Street, Ottawa, ON, K2P 1X3
Tel.: 613-233-2773, 1-800-387-7177
inquiries@canadians.org
http://canadians.org
Facebook Page | @CouncilofCDNS
I don’t know about you, but I’m still coming to terms with the reality of President-elect Trump.
I’m deeply concerned about what this means for our American friends and allies who have made such important progress in the struggle for social and environmental justice. All their hard work may now come undone.
I’m also concerned about how the far right movement in the U.S. is creeping into Canada. Yesterday one of the top candidates for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada celebrated Donald Trump’s election as “an exciting message and one that we need to deliver here in Canada.”
So if you’re feeling concerned too – or angry or frustrated – know that you’re not alone.
You’re part of a vibrant social movement in the Council of Canadians that works to bring progressive change here at home, in the U.S., and around the world. And it’s at times like these that we can lean on each other and find comfort in our shared commitment to fighting back against everything that Donald Trump and his followers represent.
Last night Prime Minister Trudeau called the President-elect to congratulate and invite him to visit Canada “at his earliest opportunity” to discuss “various areas of mutual interest.”
It will be weeks and maybe months before we begin to see the true implications of what a Trump government will mean for Canada, but we already know we have our work cut out for us.
Trump’s transition team is likely filled with corporate lobbyists from Big Oil and Big Pharma. He has vowed to renegotiate NAFTA – certainly not in the best interest of people and the planet – or rip it up. He also believes climate change is a hoax, has promised to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement, and said he would approve the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
And that’s just for starters.
I’ll be calling on you in the coming days to ask for your thoughts on how we can best prepare and respond to the serious challenges that lie ahead, and support our U.S. friends and allies in the process.
In the meantime, I want to tell you again how thankful I am that you have chosen to be part of the Council of Canadians. Social movements like ours are increasingly the last line of defence against dark forces like Donald Trump.
I draw tremendous hope from the good work that you and I continue to accomplish by working together – and I hope you do too in this difficult time.
As a dear American friend said to me last night, “Onward together!”
With hope and resolve,
Maude Barlow
National Chairperson
The Council of Canadians
300-251 Bank Street, Ottawa, ON, K2P 1X3
Tel.: 613-233-2773, 1-800-387-7177
inquiries@canadians.org
http://canadians.org
Facebook Page | @CouncilofCDNS
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2:40 PM (3 minutes ago)
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I noticed that when Trump went to Mexico, the dialogue was a lot more warmly received than one would have thought possible.
The atmosphere at Trump rallies may well have been deceptive, as the DNC was known to have paid for fascist style disruption.
I am one of many people who are both concerned with despoilation of waterways and cavalier about the UN fearmongering about the weather ( IPCC ), noting both that forecasting the future without a crystal ball or chicken entrails does not even appeal to even the most superstitious. Using a culturally appropriate model is no guarantee of superior accuracy.
Which is not to say I am unaware that unrest follows the announcement. Here is an interesting 'take'
Divided States of Trump: Bearing witness to a new axis of evil
I could not understand it. At that event and at another rally addressed by Trump’s running mate Mike Pence a few days earlier, I realised that this movement was at war with everything that I am.
A black person. A woman. A journalist. A foreigner.
From the moment I arrived at the Trump rally, their hatred was palpable.
What Trump means for Africa
Trump doesn’t like trade deals, especially ones that he thinks are weighted against America. The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a prime example: it’s designed to give African countries easier access to US markets by scrapping import duties on certain goods. Non-oil exports from Africa to the US, under the auspices of AGOA, have now reached $4.1 billion, which makes it a vital economic lifeline for the continent.
Under Barack Obama, Africa has become a major frontline in the war on terror. The US military has invested significant resources in both propping up African militaries and establishing a series of military bases across the continent. At the same time, it has expanded its drone program.
This is all in the name of fighting terror, and has been accompanied by the kinds of abuses that we have been accustomed to in the name of the War on Terror: collateral damage, widespread torture, summary executions, unaccountable drone strikes.
Trump is a candidate who has said he will encourage torture, and wants to keep Guantanamo Bay open, so expect these abuses to be intensify under Trump’s administration, with even less thought given to the protection of civilians or human rights.
“If Donald Trump were elected and implemented the foreign policy he campaigned on, he could become the single most effective recruiting tool for terrorist organisations across the globe,” commented the Institute for Security Studies Zachary Donnenfeld. That’s because Trump’s belligerent, hardline stance – coupled with his rhetorical attacks on Muslims, and pledges to ban Muslims from entering America – plays into the propaganda espoused by terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. He is doing their work for them.
His promise of hardline tactics in the War on Terror won’t help, either – studies have repeatedly showed that abuses committed against civilians are likely to push people towards terrorist organisations.
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