Staying Alive In The Land Of The Dead
Our zombie politics keeps dancing and twitching on the rubble.
By Mark Taylor
DeMOCKracy.ink (8/23/24)
The above headline was inspired by a brilliant AI-generated video clip done by my friend, Fanny B. It is a take-off of the AI-edited clip making the rounds last week of Donald Trump and his buddy bro Elon Musk dancing to the classic rock song “Staying Alive”. In celebration of her nomination, my friend’s updated version has Kamala Harris and Trump dancing along to the tune among shattered urban ruins of the US/Israel genocide in Gaza.
TikTok pulled down the video in less than two hours. But my friend has it up on YouTube. Let’s hope it survives.
Watch it quick.
You’ll love it. Unless, I s’pose you’re a Republican or Democrat
The ghost in the convention center
Given the disdainful refusal of the Democratic Party convention officials and Harris/Walz Campaign to approve a modest request by Palestinian and Muslim delegates to address the convention with a prepared five-minute, reviewed and approved statement on Gaza, the headline is grimly appropriate.
As Harris and the Democratic Party made repeatedly clear throughout the Chicago convention, there will be no change in the financial and military support to Israel and there will be no strings attached or red lines drawn in how those taxpayer-funded resources may be used to shred Palestinian families and children.
The Israel American Public Affairs Committee has spoken.
Bodily autonomy in a time of genocide
The convention speakers made much about women’s rights, access to contraception and abortion care and the right to bodily autonomy. A concept Harris and a parade of impassioned speakers repeatedly hit upon and echoed every day of the high-energy gathering.
But apparently bodily autonomy does not apply to…
Or her…
Or her…
Or her…
Meanwhile, women in Gaza are giving birth to babies — including c-section — without appropriate medications, even pain medication. But, be assured, Harris and the Democrats stand boldly for bodily autonomy of all women, at all times.
We’re not going back!
And then there’s the Israeli blockade of medical supplies and medications to address various disease outbreaks from the systematic Israeli-targeted destruction of civilian water and sewage facilities that has now resulted in the first documentation of polio, in a ten-month old girl, whose has lost mobility in her lower left leg.
But body autonomy is a central Harris/Walz value.
Such fighters.
There’s also the steady rollout of documented reports of Israeli ‘Defense’ Force rape of female — and male — detainees.
Children are frequently stripped and used as human shields by the IDF. In one such incident:
“Israeli soldiers forced three of these children, aged 11, 12 and 13, to strip, and, with their hands bound, stand in front of Israeli tanks and bulldozers in order to shield themselves from attacks.”
Thank heavens, the Harris/Walz ticket and the Democratic Party stand firm for bodily autonomy and personal rights for all.
Well, maybe most.
Um, some.
Recently, The Times of Israel reported the Israeli rights group B’Tselem alleged that under changes in policy since Oct. 7, the government is violating human rights in brutal fashion. The group’s report, “Welcome to Hell” described the policy changes:
“‘Among its main tenets are unrelenting physical and psychological violence, denial of medical treatment, starvation, withholding of water, sleep deprivation and confiscation of all personal belongings,” B’Tselem said in a summary of the report.
“Palestinian prisoners have been subjected to arbitrary beatings, degrading and humiliating treatment and sleep deprivation, as well as “the repeated use of sexual violence, in varying degrees of severity,” the group alleged.’”
But never mind, the joyful vibe of the Democratic Party convention hummed like a runaway nuclear reactor all week.
In light of the largely ignored Gaza genocide, Harris's cynical, empty rhetoric of empathy for the Palestinians rang hollow beside the Biden/Harris administration’s unconditional shipments of 2,000-lb 'baby buster' bombs.
The vibe was off.
It was the vibe of bombs and collapsing residential buildings.
Claims that Harris and Biden were working “around the clock” for a ceasefire were outright lies, as Biden could stop the flow of weapons now, with a phone call. Instead, such talk is about nothing more than running out the clock to win in November.
Demockracy
All of this is underscored by the fact that Harris is the nominee without winning a single vote in an aborted corrupt primary process and after a shady coup reportedly engineered by Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and billionaire party funders to get addled Joe on a greased ramp to sudden retirement.
It was like something out of the 2006 documentary “Idiocracy”.
What would a Harris/Walz administration look like? Even now, after the convention, there are no policy statements or platform positions on the official Harris/Walz Campaign website. None. You can find plenty of ways to donate money and lots of twitchy merch, but no idea of where the empty yacht may sail.
But not to worry, as journalist Chris Hedges notes, “The system is fixed. Fixed".
Hedges observes, that in America,
“We have one party it's the corporate party and you get to choose between the more stayed and controlled figure of an Obama or a Biden or a Harris or you get the cult leader demagogue Proto fascist Trump now the capitalist class would prefer the more measured and somber tones of the Democrats but they can live with Trump.”
Having covered various uprisings and successful revolutions while working as a foreign correspondent for The New York Times, Hedges also has good insights on what it takes to overthrow the kind of corrupt oligarchy that plays the Republican and Democratic party sock puppets comprising the corporate uniparty destroying the country. That part of the interview is important for activists to watch.
In the meantime, what about the election?
Forget about it. It’s time to get serious. Watch below…
1-hour video
Good Liberal DNC Attendees Prove They Are Just As Heartless & Big Jerks As The Worst Of MAGA
ATENDEES COVER THEIR EARS, MOCK PROTESTERS
Due Dissidence (8/23/24)
5-minute video
You got me thinking, the viability of a third party approaches 0.
The hypocrisy of the Dems is off the charts. It gets more and more disgusting by the day. It's depressing that so many people are drunk on the Kool Aid and are blind to it all.