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“ How does it become a man to behave toward this American government today? I answer that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it.” Henry David Thoreau

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OMG, what a powerful quote reminding us that the current obscenities are nothing new. Thanks.

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Your cri de coeur evoked my thoughts on how the feeling of shame has been snuffed out ( by degrees, deliberately and diabolically, particularly, since the ‘60s). Transgression has been glorified, in fact. Thoreau’s ‘disgrace’ skewers the link between moral thought and action.

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Sep 24Liked by Mark Taylor

Thoreau went to jail. He refused to pay a tax because the Mexican war was immoral.

What of today.

Some are praying for the conversion of America.

In the past it was Russia,

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Sep 24·edited Sep 25Author

Yes, and Thoreau's stay in jail inspired his essay "On Civil Disobedience". He writes of watching friends and neighbors walking past his window in the jail, going about their business as their country was launching a war. Those of us opposed to the current horror of the US/Israel genocide can identify.

For anyone who hasn't read Thoreau's essay, now is a good time to do so for inspiration and a reminder that opposing US wars for profit and oppression is a long and honored tradition and those opposing the wars have proven to have been on the right side of history.

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He was a man for whom conscience mattered. The question is, how has the exercise of conscience been sidelined, belittled, shattered, now.

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And no sense of well-deserved shame.

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Those opposing the Wars may have been on the right side of history, Mark. But how many of America's Wars have been stopped because of opposition and resistance to them by the American Peoples?

Particularly any War since OPERATION DESERT STORM in 1991, the "Liberation of Kuwait"?

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Vietnam is the only one I can think of and even then, it came to a halt in slow motion. Americans grow dimly aware of the stupidity and criminality of our wars years or decades too late. And most unfortunately, the country never learns the needed lessons.

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Indeed it did come to a halt in slo-mo. Exactly how the same folks who started it got it started back after Dien Bien Phu fell in 1954, And the rest, as they say, is history.

A History about which most Americans are totally and completely ignorant. America's public school system of education had ~ and still ~ has a Great deal to do with that.

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Occupy Wall Street became television entertainment for the masses.

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Certainly, morality has been jettisoned. I hesitate to say how, but I think thoughtful people know...!

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Great recommendation. I will pass it on...

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Suffer the little children. Her crime is that her parents and the adults in her society dared to resist their sadistic and savage colonial occupiers. Worse, the US provided the bombs and American allies, the gutless cowardice to allow it to happen.

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Sep 24Liked by Mark Taylor

We don't even know that they dared to resist, though they may well have. Their crime is to born under an occupation.

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True, but she has suffered because adults in her society have dared to resist. You are right, her parents may not have resisted.

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In the context of this ongoing relentless, savage and terrorizing occupation and genocide of the completely trapped Gazans/Palestinians by the US/Israel, I would include the sheer effort to survive day after day after day with practically everything stripped from them, while trying to keep their families safe and alive in the face of Israel's stated goal of complete annihilation, to be among the most courageous, humble and compassionate acts of resistance possible. This is the resistance all parents are called to. I am in awe of the strength and courage and endurance the Palestinians have shown to the world.

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Absolutely. They are a beautiful and courageous people and we have MUCH to learn from them.

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The Palestinians after nearly 80 years of suffering one of the most sadistic, savage and bestial military colonial occupations in history stand as a testament to the nobility of spirit and human grace and courage in the face of pure evil and are an example to humanity.

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Yes, we have much to learn from them and the first thing is courage in the face of evil.

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The Palestinians demonstrate nobility of spirit, grace, courage and resilience in the face of Zionist, Israeli, Jewish evil. They have suffered for nearly a century and shame on those who do not support their just and legal cause.

ISRAEL committing genocide & war crime against Palestinians didn't start in 2023. History didn't start on 7th october. There was violence everyday before that towards Palestinians. Israel can't be defending themselves while occupying a country

1) Haifa Massacre 1937

2) Jerusalem Massacre 1937

3) Haifa Massacre 1938

4) Balad al-Sheikh Massacre 1939

5) Haifa Massacre 1939

6) Haifa Massacre 1947

7) Abbasiya Massacre 1947

8 Al-Khisas Massacre 1947

9) Bab al-Amud Massacre 1947

10) Jerusalem Massacre 1947

11) Sheikh Bureik Massacre 1947

12) Jaffa Massacre 1948

13) Khan Yunis Massacre 1956

14) Jerusalem Massacre 1967

15) Sabra and Shatila Massacre 1982

16) Al-Aqsa Massacre 1990

17) Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre 1994

18) Jenin Refugee Camp April 2002

19) Gaza Massacre 2008-09

20) Gaza Massacre 2012

21) Gaza Massacre 2014

22) Gaza Massacre 2018-19

21) Gaza Massacre 2021

22) Gaza Genocide 2023 still ongoing

23) Palestine (West Bank) genocide, 2023 still ongoing'

NB: West Bank is the euphemism Israel uses for Occupied Palestine beyond the Gaza concentration camp.

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Very WELL said, Roslyn. Thankee for sharing that thought and conviction.

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"Brutal Hamas." How can you say this with a straight face?

Who would have supported the Palestinians if Hamas had not?

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The troll is back. It suddenly appeared in this series, and now masturbates profusely. I see its first 4 comments are copy and paste, and off topic. Freedom of speech isn't entertaining cowards behind fake names entering (not for debate but) for nefarious intent. The creature behind James Jenkins is a cheerleader for killing.

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Ah, I see - best ignored!

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There you go trolling again, pasting same comment - ha ha. Your 30 to 40 comments on the other episode were also fake debates. You're a funny coward, so you cannot rattle me. The world is fill of bloodthirsty idiots. You're just one in a sea, and I can see you from the river.

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Sep 24Liked by Mark Taylor

"Beyond brutal" - so what does that make the Zionists? Or are they "not quite as bad", the standard Western cop-out? You do realise that the "beheaded babies" were typical Israel/USA propaganda?

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Don't point out facts or try reason with a troll, as it will incellingly plays with itself some more.

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Thank you Mark. A beautiful and brilliant tribute to Aséel and all the children of this genocide. You speak my heart.

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It HURTS to look at this child. I should feel that!

It's possible that she is too young to accuse, but that glint in her eye is my GUILT as part of a world that does this again and again.

Those that bravely stare at the consequences of 'our humanity' must ask WHY.

Surely only the lazy would do nothing to help, and not even share the TRUTH. And only the most selfishly VILE would 'strategically' vote for a President supporting cruelty.

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Or immoral.

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Unbearable. I look at the face and think of my grandchildren -- no one is safe in this insane world. And now Beirut -- a poet I've published for the last 18 years and his family, including a young daughter, are there -- at the mercy of hatred and power-lust.

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I have a Facebook friend in Lebanon. I'm worried about her😢 I apologized for my country's complicity. I'm struggling to deal with it all😔

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The western powers will never live down the shame of their complicity.

And despite their best efforts they will never silence us.

The men they slaughter are our brothers,the women our sisters and the children our children.

And I will never forgive them.

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AGREED!

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Very Well said, Kevin. Thankee for sharing that conviction.

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21st-century American duopolist values: the spectrum's red half shamelessly outs themselves bloodthirsty shills for genociding brown people while the blue half treats the continuance of Angloimperialist "precedence" in its "liberal" incarnation as a necessary evil to preserve the very "American democracy" denying democratic freedom to Middle Eastern millions.

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Is this who we want to be? It's not what I want to be. And western governments that support Israel are supporting what you've described instead of stopping it.

Thanks for writing this, Mark.

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How much military aid has the US given Israel?

https://www.stephensemler.com/p/how-much-military-aid-has-the-us-568

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Cripes! That's a lot of money. And they say they're "working around the clock" for peace. Ya, right.

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Diana, please, they are working hard around the clock ... to bomb more neighborhoods and kill more kids.

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That's about it.

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It requires a lot of patriotic sweating to create or borrow so much money, and then the extraordinary effort one finger takes to transfer it across the Atlantic and Africa to Israel… and then another finger to send the profits back to corporate nationalism.

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Sep 24Liked by Mark Taylor

As you said, unspeakable.

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America is the defacto murderer of every man woman and child on both sides of this conflict. Israel simply could not wage these atrocities without American backing. Both sides should be bought to the table and a solution found. It's simply not credible for the Jewish state to claim a biblical right to these lands. Whatever wrongs have been visited on the Jewish people across the ages nothing condones this utter brutality being visited on innocents.

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Sep 24·edited Sep 24Author

I agree with US complicity/guilt!!!

You may know this already, but I would just clarify, this not a "Jewish" question. It is a Zionist question.

During WW II, the Zionist collaborated with the Nazis to trade off poor Jews for protection of their wealth, privilege and eventual passage to Palestine where they quickly began to gear up their own holocaust. Zionism itself runs contrary to Judaism and Israel is now and has always been a racist ethno-state. If you haven't read it already, check out Jewish scholar Tony Greenstein's amazing book "Zionism During The Holocaust". If you scroll down through my Substack you'll find a piece I wrote on his book that also has a 2-hour video interview with him.

There's a reason so many of the most astute critics of the US/Israel genocide are Jewish scholars and journalists, like Norm Finkelstein, Gabor (a Holocaust survivor) and Aaron Mate, Max Blumenthal, Katy Halper etc.

Given all the lies and deception on this issue, we just need to be careful/accurate with our language.

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Well said, Mark. Given the lies and deception of virtually Everything involving American Foreign Policy, the distinction between "Jewish" and "Zionist" is just one careful distinction that needs to be made.

"Muslim" or "Islamic" and "Terrorist" is one immediate example that comes to mind.

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Thanks for this. I will follow your advice

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In solidarity, Brother.

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Sep 24Liked by Mark Taylor

Haven‘t we seen this before? Can never forget the face (figure) of the naked Vietnamese girl running and screaming on a road. It is always the same. Those who perpetrate such atrocities sit in offices and spout military and political bullshit.

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Sep 24·edited Sep 28Author

YES, you are absolutely right!

This nation is the biggest child killer and abuser in the world, and all done with our tax $$$.

Our war-mongering-paid-off-by-war-industry "leaders" are war criminals and need to be in prison.

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The key point You made, Mark, is that all that Child Killing and Abusing is "all done without tax $$$."

That's what the magic of Deficit Spending is all about. Americans don't have to pay a dime for all the Wars it perpetrates and perpetuates. It all goes on Uncle Sam's credit card and National, Sovereign Debt.

Which now stands at of $35.4 TRILLION. And that doesn't include the $219.4 TRILLION in UnFunded Federal Government Liabilities [see https://www.usdebtclock.org/ for details].

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And that kills the future of American kids too, through malnutrition, bad education, absentee fathers, gangs, drugs and, eventually, homelessness.

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It also kills all the Future Kids who survive all that and are then tasked with figuring out how to pay that the Bill that Mommy, Daddy, Grannie n Granpa, Auntie n Unca, Etc ran up

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Yeah, but they will milk us dry to help goose along the corporate killing machine.

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i had the exact same thought, Karl. And the exact same Image,,, ,

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My heart is saddened by this little girl

Worst genocide ethnic cleansing apartheid against Palestinians by zionist terrorists zionist in occupied Palestin keeps elevates to a new level of terror never seen before pagers waki talki worst act of terrorism in history that will destroy western teck companies who could ever trust anything coming from the west again. And now zionist attack on Lebanon what next Iran. Wake up world not only boycott isreal but USA and show up at a protest support the victims of zionist genocide.

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Agreed. The blow back from the pager terrorist attack will be devastating and open a new crypt of war that will in time come home.

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It is US bipartisan genocide in Gaza:

Sep 23 -- "Israel Is A Crazy State:" Prof. Norman Finkelstein on Israel's Destruction of Gaza and War Goals - https://rumble.com/v5g6zvd-gaza-is-gone-prof.-norman-finkelstein-on-israels-destruction-and-war-goals.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp

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Yup, absolutely: funded, armed and diplomatically covered.

The end result will be our last act.

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Terms like "unconscionable horror" are so inadequate to describe these atrocities. Nevertheless, Biden will not lift a finger to stop them; neither will Harris, and Trump will actually make them even worse.

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Yep. I think Harris would be just as bad as Trump. There is no such thing as a "good", or "nice", or "joyful" genocider withe good "vibes". The only vibes she has are from 2,000-lb American bombs decimating refugee camps.

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Thank You, Mark, for once again nailing it.

This needs to be sent to every American government politician and bureaucrat ~ and every MSM/CON propagandist ~ who supports the US/Israel Genocide in Gaza, the West Bank, and now Lebanon.. With copies furnished to their Children and Grandchildren.

Especially the photograph. Of THE FACE,

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Sep 24·edited Sep 24Author

Thank you, jg, I appreciate the supportive words. Feel free to repost and pass along.

I still contact the offices of politicians, even though I know they are bought off and won't change, but I am now stressing to staffers who answer the phone and read the emails that -- like the office clerks at Auschwitz -- they are enabling the genocide by helping the politicians.

I keep it firm, but polite.

I'm going to do something on this approach soon.

In case you missed it, here is one small act of resistance I recently wrote about: "A SMALL ACT OF RESISTANCE: Have Some Fun & Screw The Duopoly" .... https://mark192.substack.com/p/a-small-act-of-resistance-have-some

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Sep 24·edited Sep 24Liked by Mark Taylor

Heh. What kind of reaction do You get from the staffers when You equate them with their counterparts at Auschwitz?

What do You think, Mark, it is going to take to stop the Genocide in Palestine, the Proxy War in Ukraine, and the pending War with China over Taiwan?

Or is it too late for that?

And then, may i ask another question? Will the United States survive to celebrate it's 250th birthday on July 4, 2026, 648 days from today? And if it does, will the American Peoples be in any condition or mood to celebrate anything?

And the follow-up question is: SHOULD it survive?

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Hey, jg, the staffers are strictly told not to get in arguments with constituents. They are pretty stoic. I usually do hear tapping away on a keyboard so they are taking notes. All information from calls and email is tallied up every day and sent on to some senior staffer who summarizes some level of the info to the representative.

But an interesting thing has happened. Now nearly all calls -- even to local regional offices -- go automatically to voicemail. In the past when I called humans would pick up 75% of the time. I think that is because they are getting lots of calls -- probably heated calls -- from constituents.

I always provide my full name, city and phone number, stating I would like to speak with a staffer and I NEVER get a reply.

The state of our walking skeleton of a "representative" democracy. What I call "DeMOCKracy".

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And Well You name it, for sure.

Any thoughts about July 4, 2026?

And any thoughts on how to end the Wars in Palestine and Ukraine, let alone preventing War over Taiwan?

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2026?

Oh, we won't last that long. It will be civil war and massive police stare crackdown and censorship. We are in a fascist state already and a crisis will tip the scales.

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Do You see any way whatsoever that that can be prevented and avoided, Mark?

Can that Fascist State be confronted, combatted, conquered, and rendered inert before those scales are tipped?

ANY Way whatsoever?

Or is it better to simply accept the Reality-TV Soap Opera as "Reality," and go into what's termed in the parlance as "hull defilade"

[ https://www.definitions.net/definition/hull+defilade ] ?

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Your contribution to Big Data?

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ps: Your piece has been cross-posted to Bill Astore's BRACING VIEWS at https://bracingviews.substack.com/cp/149352489 .

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I was glad to see Bill sharing it.

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