Biden in November?

No antifascist savior of democracy!

by Charles Pierce / March 29th, 2024

Joe Biden and other Democrat politicians portray the upcoming Presidential election as a choice between fascism and democracy.  But Genocide Joe and most Congressional Democrats, like most Congressional Republicans, operate with an unadmitted mindset: that democratic rights are only for some people, and that oppressive fascistic rule is appropriate for certain others.

Biden et al evade the facts of Israeli persecution of Palestinians.  For them: Israeli lives (seen as white) matter, Palestinian lives (seen as other) don’t.  In fact, the Zionist state entitles Jewish Israelis to liberal civil rights such that they generally cannot be jailed without a fair hearing in a court of law.  Meanwhile, although Biden et al will not acknowledge it, any Palestinian in the West Bank or Gaza can be imprisoned and routinely tortured by Israel (nearly 10,000 at last report): for any, or no, reason with no court hearing whatsoever; or, if they do receive a hearing, it is in a military court where the conviction rate is over 99%.  Israelis elect their government; Palestinians are not permitted to do likewise.  Zionist Israelis can and do rob Palestinians of their homes and properties and/or murder them with impunity.  The Zionist state expels Palestinians from their homeland and bars their return.  Biden, notwithstanding his lip-service concern for suffering Palestinians, vetoes UN Security Council resolutions condemning Israeli crimes against Palestinian humanity, crimes which include the current genocidal mass murder in Gaza.  As a staunch defender of the Jewish-supremacist state, Biden (along with most Congress people of both Parties) obviously believes that democracy and rule of law are good for some people and that fascist-like apartheid and genocidal mass murder (until it becomes an electoral liability) are acceptable for others.  (For relevant background facts regarding Zionism, Hamas, and the current war in Gaza, see here!)

Whereas Trump panders to xenophobic racism, “humanitarian” Biden pretends to oppose it.  But Biden summarily deported some 20,000 Haitians in his first year despite the horrific conditions in Haiti and his authority to grant “temporary protective status”.  That 20,000 is more than Trump and his 2 predecessors deported in their cumulative 20 years.  More recently, Biden has agreed to proposed immigration and asylum restrictions nearly as onerous as those demanded by MAGA Republicans, restrictions which violate international humanitarian law, notwithstanding that the migrants are fleeing the economic and political havoc wreaked by Western imperialism upon the countries from which they come.  Biden also continues Trump’s economic sieges which are designed to starve and otherwise punish the peoples of Cuba and Venezuela, actions which also violate international humanitarian law (as well as driving even more international migration).  Evidently, Biden’s humanitarian sympathies are no more than minimally, if at all, better than Trump’s when it comes to Cubans, Venezuelans, Haitians, and desperate immigrant people of color.

Trump panders openly to xenophobic racism and every other form of bigotry which will appeal to his MAGA base.  But let us not forget: that Biden, pandering to racist white constituents, joined with segregationists in opposition to court ordered bussing for school desegregation; and that he, finding that Reagan’s tough-on-crime policies were popular with many of his white voters, spent a decade pressing for legislation culminating in the 1994 crime bill which has given the US the world’s largest per capita prison population (which is disproportionately racial minority).

Biden pretends to be pro-environment, but he prioritizes those projects which create jobs with income for capitalists.  Meanwhile, he defied the environmental community by acquiesced to pressure from the fossil fuel industry with his approval of drilling on the Willow Project in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve.  Biden also demands massive military spending plus weapons deliveries to fuel ongoing wars, both of which add considerably to global warming as well as being extremely wasteful and destructive.

Biden pretends to be pro-labor, but he stopped the rail workers from exercising their right to strike over oppressive attendance requirements and safety violations.

Trump and his MAGA Republicans oppose (for their partisan and ideological reasons) more billions for Biden’s proxy war (using Ukrainians as cannon fodder) against Russia.  Trump lacks any firm commitment to the imperial NATO alliance, whereas Biden acts to consolidate its hold upon Europe and to expand its purview to the Asia-Pacific.  But for overwhelming opposition within the bipartisan US foreign policy establishment, then-President Trump may well have negotiated a long overdue peace treaty with North Korea; Biden clearly would never do so.  For thoroughgoing imperialist militarist Biden, the US’ 38% share of all of the world’s military spending, compared to Russia’s 3.1%, is not enough.  Trump pursued a trade war with China, and so has Biden; but Biden (despite the longstanding US commitment to the one-China principle) threatens a real war, if the independence faction in Taiwan secedes (which Biden and many Congressional Democrats are actually encouraging), and if China then responds with military action to stop it.

If returned to the Presidency, Trump can be expected to openly abuse (within practical limits) the powers of that Office; whereas Biden’s abuses are mostly with Congressional acquiescence.  Trump may be an aspiring autocrat; but, narcissist and opportunist demagogue that he is, Trump is no Hitlerian fanatic.  In pursuit of voters, he panders to Zionist Jews and also to Judeophobe racists.  He panders to bigotry for political gain, not to create a thousand-year Reich.  Trump wants another 4 years in the Presidency so that he can: personally profit from it, boost his ego, and escape accountability for his many partisan political crimes.  Meanwhile, red-state Republicans have been imposing marginal infringements of democratic liberties in their states; while Biden and Congressional Democrats, even when they had both houses of Congress, lacked the will to take decisive action on crucial rights legislation (police accountability, gun regulation, abortion rights, labor rights, voting rights, removal of rogue Supreme Court Justices, et cetera).  If Biden and his centrist Democrats deliver some limited progressive reforms (when under sufficient pressure and they can obtain bipartisan agreement); it is, out of necessity, in order to get the usual Democratic Party constituencies to vote for them.  Essentially, both Biden and Trump are agents of the rule of capital.

Liberal Democrat assertion, that a Trump Presidency will impose full-blown fascism, is a dubious proposition, which they are using as a campaign scare tactic.  Their assertion, that Democrat control of Congress and the Oval Office will preserve civil and human rights in the US, is belied by their records.  Moreover, what Americans would experience under another 4 years of Trump in the Oval Office is nowhere nearly comparable to what Palestinians are experiencing under Biden-backed Israel.

What of Trump’s fascist-minded associates who would retain some political influence beyond a second Trump Presidential term?  Whether Trump again or another 4 years of Biden, the real answer is the same.  Reliance upon politicians of the centrist-dominated Democratic Party is a recipe for failure, one which enables said Dems to mislead and use social-justice voters while persisting with their policies of militarism, imperialism, supremacy of capital, and political perfidy, and yet remain largely ineffective against MAGA-Republican abuses and obstructions.  Our real need is to build a social-justice activist movement which is truly independent of both major US Parties:

• one which does not give its allegiance to the Democrats;
• one which backs their election only selectively and for sound tactical reasons (such as to deny Trump a Congressional Republican majority in the House);
• one which allies with them only when and insofar as they actually act for social justice, one which backs actual pro-social-justice challengers in primary elections;
• one which does not abandon anti-imperialism and international solidarity with the victims of Western imperialism in order to pursue limited domestic reforms;
• one with grassroots people-power capable of seriously challenging the abuses perpetrated by capital and its agents (whether business firms, neoliberal ideologues, populist demagogues, fascistic MAGA Republicans, or perfidious and unreliable Democrats).

Both Trump and Biden are racist promoters of mass murder.  Neither is capable of earning the votes of activists for comprehensive social justice.  Unless we (like Biden and most Congressional Democrats) devalue the humanity and lives of Palestinians, Haitians, et cetera; how can we accept liberal “left” assertions, that Biden is any savior of humanity and democracy and must therefore be reelected?

Charles Pierce is a social-justice activist (since his youth in the early 1960s), a former/retired labor activist (union steward & local officer), and currently a researcher and writer on history and politics. He can be reached at cpbolshi@gmail.com. Read other articles by Charles, or visit Charles's website.

Bomber Biden Doesn’t Wage Peace, Save Civilians or Listen to American Antiwar Crimes Advocates

BY RALPH NADER

 APRIL 1, 2024

Image by Jeff Kingma.

Joe Biden has long had a problem with PEACE – as in “ceasefires,” “serious peace negotiations,” and conditioning the transfer or sale of major weapons systems as required by five U.S. criminal statutes. From one side of his mouth, Biden urges futilely Israeli compliance with international law while on the other side he supports the daily shipment of weapons of mass destruction to the Israeli government. These weapons are being used in the genocidal killing of Palestinians in Gaza.

A majority in Congress is even more hawkish and lets Biden do whatever he wants in making war abroad. The cornerstone of our Constitution – the separation of powers – has been demolished in area after area. (See, our open letter of November 28, 2023, to the members of the U.S. Congress).

By contrast, American public opinion has turned against U.S. arms shipments to Israel and the annihilation of Palestinian civilians from infants to the elderly. Whole extended families are being wiped out by American-made bombs and missiles. The homeless survivors are injured, starving and suffering from untold illnesses.

The Israeli state terror is producing a Palestinian Holocaust. Netanyahu’s violent anti-semitism against the Arabs of Palestine is out of control. Many courageous Israeli human rights groups protest, to no avail, (See, the December 13, 2023, open letter to Biden that appeared in the New York Times) as Netanyahu and his extremist coalition reveal their long-time objective of driving millions of Palestinians out of what is left of their Palestine.

As for the Hamas raid on October 7th, and the total collapse of the highly touted Israeli border security, a World War II Holocaust survivor told the New York Times, “It should never have happened…” Yet, Netanyahu has blocked an official investigation of this unexplained multi-tiered technological and human intelligence debacle.

Meanwhile, public dissatisfaction with the dictatorial decision-making by the White House and the absence of Congressional action is growing rapidly. More and more labor unions are now opposing Biden’s bombings, Jewish Americans working with Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now are brilliantly organizing demonstrations. Veterans for Peace’s 27 chapters around the country are in the streets peacefully demanding a ceasefire, cessation of weapons shipments and major increases in humanitarian aid. They are mostly ignored by the corporate media, NPR and PBS.

Religious groups are beseechingly calling for peace. This week in the latest public letter, 140 Global Christian Leaders, organized by Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) called on President Biden “…to have the moral courage to end U.S. complicity in the ongoing violence and, instead, do everything in [his] power to…” stop the “death and destruction” in Palestine.

The CMEP receives little or no coverage by the mainstream media even though this organization represents millions of people.

But then look who is not taking a pro-peace stand, staying silent or actively backing the Israeli war machine. The American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars are on the sidelines. The AFL-CIO Labor Federation finally came out tepidly for a ceasefire but has exerted very little of its muscle on Capitol Hill.

AIPAC, the “pro-Israeli government can do no wrong lobby” has been cultivating relationships with these U.S. organizations and others like them for decades.

The worst abdications have come from the legal profession in the form of State Bar Associations and the American Bar Association (ABA) – the largest organization of lawyers in the world. These lawyers are all “officers of the court” instructed to stand for the rule of law. Except for a brief time in 2005-2006 (https://nader.org/2013/04/19/aba-white-papers/ ) the ABA has idled while Presidents regularly have violated our Constitution and all kinds of laws – domestic and international – with impunity, facilitated by a supine Congress.

Bruce Fein and I have asked 50 State Bar Associations to be first responders in challenging the ongoing breakdown of the rule of law due to their professional duties and knowledge. None have responded.

As for the healthcare professionals watching Israel raining death and destruction directly on Gaza’s hospitals and health clinics, inundated with desperate patients, their endangered physicians and assistants without the means to devote their care, the response is overwhelmingly silent. The American Public Health Association and the American Medical Student Association are among the few to have condemned Israel’s atrocities.

Yet, the desperate pleas by their wounded professional colleagues have failed to register with the likes of the American Medical Association, the American College of Surgeons, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma and many others. (See the letter of March 1, 2024, which has gone unanswered).

What can turn our country around? An organized citizenry of less than one percent of the voters in Congressional Districts, giving voice to the voiceless majority, can free Congress from its captivity imposed by the forces of greed, power and violent Empire, draining resources from our dire domestic needs.

As I wrote in the Capitol Hill Citizen (February/March 2024 issue), Congress has become a weapon of mass destruction with multiple warheads. Only the people can recover their sovereign power, under the Constitution, now delegated to a Congress that sells out to the highest corporatist bidders.

On the Israeli slaughter of Gaza’s people, a small but growing number of Democrats in Congress are standing tall. They need your active backing to expand their numbers. (See, Ceasefire Tracker: https://workingfamilies.org/ceasefire-tracker/).

As for the cruel, vicious, genocidal, maniacal Republicans, they remain disgraced in their full-throttled support for Netanyahu, who is fighting for his job, trying to escape Israeli prosecutors and is hugely unpopular in Israel.

The GOP position was expressed by Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton – a lawyer no less – who said last October, for posterity’s eternal damnation: “As far as I’m concerned, Israel can bounce the rubble in Gaza.” This is exactly what the massacring Israeli juggernauts have done with the weapons, taxpayers’ money and diplomatic cover enabled by corrupt outlaws like Tom Cotton.

Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate, lawyer and author of Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us! 

US Meddles in Another Nation’s Elections, Once Again

BY MARIA PAEZ VICTOR

 APRIL 2, 2024
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“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

– Albert Einstein

The USA is stuck in the recurring folly of trying to dictate the political life of Venezuela, including by trying to discredit their elections. They cannot grasp the fact that Venezuela is a sovereign nation, that it has frequent, free, and fair elections, and that it will not bow to political blackmail, even in the face of crippling illegal sanctions.

For 22 years the foreign policy of the USA has aimed to destabilize and openly overthrow (under the euphemism of “regime change”) the legitimate government of Venezuela.  It has not been enough for the USA that Venezuela has always been willing to sell them oil, and to give USA oil companies a participating share in its production. No, Washington wants to utterly control and own the vast Venezuelan oil reserve. They have backed, financially and otherwise, coups d’etat, mercenary invasions, horrific street violence, assassination attempts, drone attacks, cyber-attacks, bribery, sabotage, and lethal economic sanctions – all have failed to bring down the ever-popular governments led by Hugo Chávez and now Nicolás Maduro. What a slow learning curve for Washington!

To undermine Maduro’s presidency, in 2019, Washington conjured up a scheme of promoting an obscure politician as an alternative president for Venezuela, one Juan Guaido. It failed miserably. Now they have come up with a plot to create an alternative leader of the opposition for Venezuela. This time they chose a very well-known woman politician, Maria Corina Machado: infamous for her involvement in attempted coups d’etat, and acts of public violence, for asking for more illegal sanctions for Venezuela and even – gasp!- for advocating USA military intervention in Venezuela.

The most outrageous folly was the posturing of an insignificant stooge,  Guaido, as the supposed “real” president of the country, without a presidential election or popular backing. He was the emperor without any clothes, a president without power, following or nation, yet was kowtowed to by those who wanted to deny the legitimacy of the government of Venezuela and its real president, Nicolás Maduro. The imaginary presidency would have been funny if it had not been tragic, because millions of dollars – Venezuelan assets- were given by the USA and its allies to this individual and his gang who advocated the economic sanctions against their own country.  They turned out to be no more than criminals as the funds ended up in their pockets, wasted on ill-conceived, even wacky “invasions”, and on drugs, orgies, and protection money to narcotraffic gangs. They can be accurately described as international thieves that pulled the wool over Uncle Sam’s eyes. But the Emperor cannot admit he has no clothes on.

The” new” but old US strategy is to cause as much conflict as possible in the well run, excellent Venezuelan electoral process, which former US president Jimmy Carter considered thus: “I would say the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world.” [1]  Washington seeks to discredit these coming elections of July 28 by promoting a completely fraudulent leader of the opposition.  They have trotted out the old reliable lackey, Machado, who enthusiastically backed the ridiculous Guaido. She has been around the block for 22 years spewing hate and coming up with no other policy but a mantra of: “Get rid of Chávez,” and today “Get rid of Maduro”.

However, in 2015, Machado was disqualified from running for public office for 15 years, for corruption and for representing a foreign country (Panama) while being a Parliamentary deputy, which is forbidden by the Constitution.  This disqualification his has been ratified by the highest court, TSJ, Venezuela’s Supreme Court.

In view of the impossibility of Machado winning any election, her role specified by Washington, is to create chaos. This she has done by organizing bogus “primaries” where she banned other credible opposition leaders from participation, had no observers, some voting stations were situated in private homes, and in the end, all ballots were burned, not certified by any independent entity. Machado claimed 2 million people voted, utterly unverifiable, and quite frankly, unbelievable.  This charade was enough for her to tell the world media that she was now the “leader” of the Venezuelan opposition, and actually threatened the Venezuelan government with further sanctions if it did not suspend her disqualification.  This has caused no small amount of disdain and resentment among the dozen or so bona-fide opposition parties in the country. Machado is the leader in her own mind only.

This woman from a racist, fascist, and corrupt elite of the country, has failed for 22 years to obtain any substantial popular following in any election she has entered. In other nations Machado would be behind bars for publicly siding with US led coups d’etat and for openly asking for the US to invade Venezuela. Machado signed the 2002 decree that violently kidnapped President Chavez for 48 hours and annulled the Constitution. Machado supported the vicious street violence of 2014 that left 43 people dead and called for people to boycott elections instead of exercising their democratic rights. Astonishingly she asked for more sanctions on Venezuela! Socially, she is quite disliked for her outrageous narcissism even among people who are no friends of the government.

Machado’s popularity has taken another hit with the arrest of her party’s inner circle who were involved in a very recent plot to violently overturn the government, called by them Operation White Bracelet, (note: the adjective “white”). It included plans to assassinate the president. This casts a shadow on Machado’s political future if enough direct evidence emerges about her leadership of this plot.  No doubt she is already preparing the “victim statement” she will issue to the world media where she will allege “despotism” of the government.

This so-called leader of the opposition has no popular following; people will not vote for one who supported the vile sanctions that have so diminished their quality of life. The US has issued 929 illegal sanctions against Venezuela which were a devastating blow to its economy. The US stole Venezuela’s oil company CITGO and the Venezuelan funds in US and other foreign banks worth US$24 billion have been seized. The sanctions caused losses of $232 billion in the oil industry. Venezuela was prevented from selling its oil, carrying out international financial transactions and could not buy food or medicines.  The State lost 90% of its revenue. The illegal sanctions have been responsible for the death of at least 100,000 people in Venezuela mainly because it became impossible to buy medicines and medical supplies.[2] And yet Machado wished for more sanctions for the people of Venezuela.

When constitutional reality finally hit her over the head and she realized that truly she could not run for office, Machado touted a substitute: a complete political unknown, an 80 year old retired academic whose sole advantage was that her first name is Corina.  They however failed to meet the registration date but anyway it was doubtful that this person would be eligible because of her dual citizenship with Uruguay. The Venezuelan Constitution categorically prohibits anyone with dual citizenship to run for the presidency.[3] Because of Machado’s arrogance, she would not “play ball” with the leaders of the other opposition parties.  She refused to accept another leader as the single candidate to unify the opposition against President Maduro’s candidacy. So the opposition will go to the polls fragmented because of her.

Washington is caught in a loop, failing yet unable to admit its failure because at the root of its failure is the centuries old Monroe Doctrine that continues to poison relationship between Washington and Latin America. It is a declaration of war, a testament to the racist regard that the northern nation has towards its southern neighbors. In the long run, however, any standing of respect the USA may have aspired to lies in the gutter of Latin American disdain. Today, when nations like Venezuela stand up to Washington and refuse to accept its tutelage and the looting of its resources, Washington becomes an even more dangerous enemy as it may rely more on military power.  It is now evident that main instrument of US diplomacy in the region is not the State Department but the US Southern Command.

The USA covets Venezuela’s prodigious oil, gas, and gold, and despises its independence but it can no longer send in its gunboats at will to browbeat the country. Venezuela is not alone and is not helpless. It has the power of its own determined, united, people, and the international solidarity of countries – also sanctioned- such as Russia, China, Iran- and the many unaligned countries of the region and the world who are not blind to Washington’s despotism.

Recent polls indicate Nicolás Maduro has a clear lead and will very likely win the presidential elections. [4]Even a recent CIA report says the same.[5] It is hard to beat a leader that has successfully steered his nation through a fearful world pandemic, found ways around the economic sanctions, has lifted the economy out of hyperinflation and raised economic growth to an estimated 8%.[6]  Maduro has succeeded in making Venezuela self-sufficient in food as 98% of food is produced domestically.  But most especially, Maduro has faced down vile US attacks and defended his people with courage and hope. Maduro has no equal in this contest.

Meanwhile, USA politicians have been accusing Russia and China – with little if any evidence – of meddling in their own “sacred” elections. Hypocritically, Washington wants to be the judge of Venezuelan elections, while being itself entangled in the most appalling electoral disorder, political dirt, and manipulation. The USA elections are an embarrassment to any modern country that considers itself a democracy. Yet they believe they can with impunity dictate to the elections and political life of Venezuelans.

In the end it does not matter that Washington keeps on maligning Venezuela’s coming presidential elections. Only the votes and voice of Venezuelans are relevant here. Twelve opposition leaders have duly registered to run for election. These are the genuine politicians who accept the rules of democracy, have sound hopes of obtaining votes and believe that the electoral process will be free and fair.  Venezuela will have free and fair elections no matter who rants to the contrary. And Nicolás Maduro is a sure winner.

Years ago, the renowned USA historian, Barbara Tuchman, explained how powerful nations, acting contrary to common sense, often make fateful decisions that do not correspond to their true interests. Drunk with power, heeding no other voices but their own, they stubbornly refuse to amend their errors believing in the invincibility of their power and status. History proves this hubris leads to disaster. [7]  Washington is courting its own disaster: it talks to itself and its lackeys within imaginary scenarios.  Its efforts to overturn the Venezuelan government will continue to erode its international standing as well as international law. Going by the unsavory saber-rattling of the US Southern Command, the thought that it may be foolish enough to try a military invasion comes to mind. If so, it would be pyrrhic indeed similar to Vietnam. Venezuela has in the past heroically defeated a powerful empire. It could do so again.

Notes.

[1] Former USA President Jimmy Carter, The Real News, 9 October 2012; also quoted by M. Weisbrot on 30 October 2012 in The Guardian, UK

[2] Resumen Latinoamericano, “Venezuela. La estela de la Muerte y destruccion que dejan las sanciones”, 18 June 2023, quotes UN human rights raconteurs Alfred de Zayas and Alena Douhan, both who denounced the Venezuelan sanctions as crimes against humanity

[3] Article 227 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republico of Venezuela clearly states that “para ser elegido o para ser elegida Presidente o Presidenta de la República, se requiere ser venezolano o venezolana por nacimiento, no poseer otra nacionalidad..” to be elected presidente of the Republic it is necessary to be a native born Venezuelan and have no other nationality…”

[4] Hinterlaces poll report  of 8 March 2024, reported by  Orinoco Tribune, 9 March 2024, “Venezuelans Overwhelmingly Support Chavismo in Upcoming Presidential Elections: Hinterlaces Poll”.

[5] CIA Annual Threat Assessment Report, 12 March 2024: https://www.telesurtv.net/news/informe-agencia-eeuu-afirma-presidente-nicolas-maduro-volvera-ganar-elecciones-20240312-0031.html

[6] Nicolás Maduro, in his Annual Report to the National Assembly, reported in Barrons: https://www.barrons.com/news/spanish/maduro-asegura-que-venezuela-crecio-5-en-2023-por-encima-de-estimaciones-privadas-695bae20

[7] Barbara Tuchman, “The March of Folly”, Random House, 1984

María Páez Victor, Ph.D. is a Venezuelan born sociologist living in Canada.