Chris Hedges: Defying the Politics of Fear + Ralph Nader and Jesse Ventura: Two-Party Tyranny (no longer available)

Image by Jacki Gallagher via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

truthdig on Nov 8, 2016

Chris Hedges gave this talk on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016, at a rally in Philadelphia for Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and her running mate, Ajamu Baraka.

Video credit: Bert Schultz and Cominsane Press

Transcript

No social or revolutionary movement succeeds without a core of people who will not betray their vision and their principles. They are the building blocks of social change. They are our only hope for a viable socialism. They are willing to spend their lives as political outcasts. They are willing to endure repression. They will not sell out the oppressed and the poor. They know that you stand with all of the oppressed—people of color in our prisons and marginal communities, the poor, unemployed workers, our LGBT community, undocumented workers, the mentally ill and the Palestinians, Iraqis and Afghans whom we terrorize and murder—or you stand with none of the oppressed. They know when you fight for the oppressed you get treated like the oppressed. They know this is the cost of the moral life, a life that is not abandoned even if means you are destined to spend generations wandering in the wilderness, even if you are destined to fail.

[…]

The rise of Donald Trump is the product of the disenchantment, despair and anger caused by neoliberalism and the collapse of institutions that once offered a counterweight to the powerful. Trump gives vent to the legitimate rage and betrayal of the white underclass and working poor. His right-wing populism, which will grow in virulence and sophistication under a Clinton presidency, mirrors the right-wing populism rippling across much of Europe including Poland, Hungary, France and Great Britain. If Clinton wins, Trump becomes the dress rehearsal for fascism.

[…]

Hillary Clinton embodies the detested neoliberal establishment. She can barely fend off one of the most imbecilic and narcissistic candidates in American history. Matched against a demagogue with brains and political skill, she would lose. If we do not defy the neoliberal order, championed by Clinton and the Democratic Party elites, we ensure the conditions for a terrifying right-wing backlash, one that will use harsh and violent mechanisms to crush the little political space we have left.

[…]

via ICH

with Ralph Nader

‘Two-party tyranny specializes at getting corporate cash & excluding competition’ – Ralph Nader

RT America on Nov 8, 2016

To discuss the difficulty third parties have in political campaigns, former Green Party presidential nominee Ralph Nader joins RT America’s Lindsay France and Jesse Ventura and says “there is no country in the western world that creates more obstacles for third parties and independent candidates.”

‘Clinton & Democrats created phenomenon Trump is responding too’ – Chris Hedges

RT America on Nov 8, 2016

Chris Hedges, host of RT’s ‘On Contact,’ joins RT America’s Anya Parampil and Ed Schultz where he worries that a potential Clinton presidency may “remain as tone deaf as the Obama presidency.” Hedges also says that “Clinton and the Democrats created the phenomenon that Donald Trump is responding to.”

From the archives:

Chris Hedges: Vote For Jill Stein + Jill Stein Challenges Lesser Evilism and Safe-State Strategy

Jill Stein: Outrageous That We Have To Choose Between A Proto-Fascist and A Corruption Queen

Abby Martin: John Podesta Exposed

John Pilger and Julian Assange: Secret World of US Election

John Pilger: Hillary Clinton May Well Turn Out To Be One Of The More Dangerous Presidents

Michael Hudson: Hillary Clinton Will Be a Vindictive Dictator