CARTOON: The Crises Tonight's 'Debate' Will Not Address

Matthew Hoh & Ralph Nader lay out the reality of the crumbling cliff edge we are all on. Will tonight's debate address any of them in a meaningful way?

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Cartoon by Mark Taylor / DeMOCKracy.ink

By Mark Taylor
DeMOCKracy.ink (9/10/24)

Before getting into tonight’s carnival sideshow presidential ‘debate’, let’s take a moment for a dose of American reality; a snapshot from a friend’s post to properly frame who we have become and what this ‘government’ is really about…

Yet another dead infant in Gaza, killed by our weapons, callous indifference and bow-down-obedience to Israel and the Zionist lobby.

That’s us, folks, embodied in one small, shattered body.

Now, with that reality out of the way, let’s consider tonight’s ‘debate’…

First thing we know is the reality of what has led to the image above will not be addressed. The sabotage by the US and Israel of a needed ceasefire agreement with Hamas will not come up. The cut-off of American weapons that makes all the killing possible will not really be addressed. There will be the obligatory ticking off of purchased American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC) talking points and nothing to address the reality of who — and what — we and Israel are about: Wholesale slaughter.

I would encourage you to watch at least the first half of the Matt Hoh interview below, where he talks about the reality of likely nuclear war and what happens diplomatically in January 2026 that will completely upend the world. Watch it and — I’m gonna make a prediction here — how it won’t even come up tonight. Hoh’s entire interview gives a long list of grim life-altering/ending realities tonight’s corporate-guided Trump/Harris tongue wagging will ignore.

The Ralph Nader interview provides excellent historical context of the US/Israel genocide and the Israeli tradition of murdering civilians. Caitlin Johnstone’s short commentary at the end frames up the irrelevance of the debate and the entire election. As she notes:

“There are no solutions to these problems in electoral politics. Other solutions are needed.”

That’s the real debate we all need to be having.

[Editor’s Note: Full disclosure, I did some freelance illustration work for a few of Ralph Nader’s publications a number of years ago. — Mark Taylor]

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Capt. Matthew Hoh: Teetering On The Edge Of Nuclear War / Shocking Truth Of Gaza Carnage / Zelensky's Epic Failure

Dialogue Works (9/9/24)

Capt. Matthew Hoh had nearly twelve years experience with the US military and the wars overseas with the United States Marine Corps, Department of Defense and State Department. He has been a Senior Fellow with the Center for International Policy since 2010. In 2009, Matthew Hoh resigned in protest from his post in Afghanistan with the State Department over the American escalation of the war.

Prior to his assignment in Afghanistan, Matthew took part in the American occupation of Iraq; first in 2004-2005 in Salah ad Din Province with a State Department reconstruction and governance team and then in 2006-2007 in Anbar Province as a Marine Corps company commander.

When not deployed, Matthew worked on Afghanistan and Iraq war policy and operations issues at the Pentagon and State Department from 2002-2008.

54-minute video

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RALPH NADER: Israeli’s Long Time Policy Of “Purposely” Targeting Civilians Feeds The Slaughter In Gaza

Judging Freedom (9/9/24)

31-minute video

AN INFORMED CITIZEN IS AN EMPOWERED CITIZEN: Order Your Copy Of Ralph Nader’s ‘Capitol Hill Citizen’

For more information to order current issue

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WAKE UP, PEOPLE! Democrats Don't Care If You Vote For Them And Don't Care If They Lose

If real change comes to the United States, it won’t be because of how any Americans chose to vote or not vote in any of their fake elections. There are no solutions to these problems in electoral politics. Other solutions are needed.

By Caitlin Johnstone
Caitlin’s Newsletter (9/10/24)

Now that the election is closer and the Democrats have switched out Biden for Harris, I feel like I should reiterate my position that you’re not actually punishing the Democrats if you refuse to vote for them in November. I often see people talking about making the Democratic Party pay a price for Gaza and for ignoring calls from progressives to end the genocide, but it doesn’t actually work that way. They don’t care.

They don’t care if you don’t vote for them. They don’t care if they lose. Their political careers will be fine either way.

It’s entirely okay and legitimate to not vote for Democrats, but don’t let that act dupe you into thinking your vote matters. It doesn’t matter how you vote, and it doesn’t matter how you don’t vote. The US power structure is set up to be completely unaffected by voters. Acting like you could teach the Democrats a lesson by refusing to vote for them only feeds into the illusion that voting matters inside a power structure that has been deemed too important to be left to the hands of the voters.

There’s a viral tweet from Glenn Greenwald going around that says “The US has no functional president and has not had one for months, and it’s barely noticeable and barely matters because there’s a permanent unelected machine that runs the government.”

Greenwald is correct. Nobody with any real power cares all that much who the president is. The president doesn’t even need to have a functioning brain. This whole show is being run by people who don’t ultimately care all that much whether Democrats or Republicans are in office, including the party leadership of the Democrats and the Republicans.

You think Democrats have enjoyed playing the face of the evil empire these last few years? You think they’ve enjoyed having their political rallies interrupted by anti-genocide protesters and having their feel-good progressive image completely discredited in front of everyone? They’d all be having a lot more fun if the terrible things being perpetrated by the Biden administration were being done by Trump instead, so they could go back to playing the good guys.

Democrats are happy to lose

They’re happy to lose, which is why they’re acting like they’re happy to lose. They’re doing absolutely nothing to appeal to progressives or energize their base. They’re not articulating any real policies besides more of the same. They’re not changing anything about any of the stuff that makes normal people hate Democrats in the year 2024, and if they lose again in November they will continue to not change anything.

Americans don’t live in the kind of country where votes matter. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is. Vote or don’t vote however you want, but don’t make the mistake of believing you’ll be teaching the Democrats any kind of lesson that they will actually learn by doing so.

If real change comes to the United States, it won’t be because of how any Americans chose to vote or not vote in any of their fake elections. There are no solutions to these problems in electoral politics. Other solutions are needed.

Link to story 4-minute audio