Chris Hedges and Ralph Nader: A Postmortem on the 2022 Midterm Elections

The End Of The Government Shutdown 2013

Image by Stephen Melkisethian via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

TheRealNews on Nov 25, 2022

The midterm elections are over, and two more years of Congressional gridlock are likely in store. Republicans have taken a narrow majority in the House, while Democrats have held the Senate. What do we make of the current political landscape, where rhetoric runs so hot but so little gets done? And what can we expect from the 2024 presidential elections?

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If We Can Find Just 238 More Congress Members Who Don’t Want Us All to Die…, by David Swanson

22-02-05 08 Say No War

Image by Felton Davis via Flickr

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Oct. 24, 2022
October 25, 2022

When an election has been very close, many factors can be pointed to as each having been enough to make the difference. One of those in 2016 was very suggestive and very much ignored by, as far as I know, every single major media outlet except this one. I mean the phenomenon of military families voting against Hillary Clinton, believing her more likely than Donald Trump to get their loved ones killed. It seems this factor decided the election.

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Ralph Nader: How to Fix Democracy

Democracy Is For People, Not Corporations

Image by Backbone Campaign via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

With Ralph Nader

Bertelsmann Foundation on Oct 25, 2019

Consumer advocate, lawyer, and former U.S. presidential candidate Ralph Nader believes that democracy is about civic organization, not just public opinion.

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PSL Statement: Victory in Defense of Abortion Rights: Kansas Votes NO

Keep Your Theology Off My Biology and other abortion rights signs at a Stop Abortion Bans Rally in St Paul, Minnesota, May 22, 2019

Image by Lorie Shaull via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

by Liberation Staff
LiberationNews.org, Aug. 2, 2022
August 3, 2022

In the first referendum since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and eviscerated abortion rights nationwide, Kansas voters have turned out to emphatically defend abortion rights.

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Chris Hedges: Inverted Totalitarianism

Fascism is not an economic policy

Image by Peg Hunter via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

Originally on RT America on Sep 11, 2021

The Chris Hedges YouTube Channel on Jul 5, 2022

On the show Chris Hedges discusses the work of political philosopher Sheldon Wolin with Professor Wendy Brown, University of California, Berkeley, a student of Wolin’s.

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Abby Martin and Miko Peled: Disturbing Truth About Israel’s New Government

Free Palestine Rally - Melbourne May 22, 2021

Image by Matt Hrkac via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Abby Martin

Empire Files on Jun 11, 2021

Netanyahu could be out. A more extreme right-winger is set to take his place. But the new ruling coalition is being heralded as a “progressive step” and “an opportunity for change.” Learn the shocking details about what is happening, and what it means for Palestine with prominent Israeli dissident Miko Peled.

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Abby Martin: Why has Venezuela been in the Crosshairs of the US Empire for the Last 20 Years?

Abby Martin: Why has Venezuela been in the Crosshairs of the Empire for the Last 20 Years?

Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
Watch the video below

Dandelion Salad

with Abby Martin

Empire Files on Dec 10, 2020

Was the Venezuelan election rigged? Abby Martin speaks with an election observer.

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Chris Hedges: America’s Problem is not Russia nor China — It’s Us!

with Chris Hedges

Dandelion Salad

RT America on Nov 25, 2020

Pulitzer-winning journalist Chris Hedges weighs in on the “ludicrous” finger-pointing as Republican leaders seek to blame President Trump’s failure to secure re-election on anyone but themselves and their candidate.

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Everything Will Fundamentally Change, by David Swanson

Protest against US wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.

Image by Fibonacci Blue via Flickr

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Nov. 8, 2020
November 9, 2020

In June 2019, Joe Biden promised wealthy so-called donors that nothing would fundamentally change. At this moment hundreds of millions of people — from those shooting off fireworks to those ranting as though they will soon shoot up public places in their MAGA hats — seem convinced that everything will fundamentally change. Biden was wrong. Everybody else is right. Either everything will change for the better or one or both of the twin dangers of environmental and nuclear apocalypse will change everything for the worse.

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Before the Champagne is Popped… by Kenn Orphan

Democracy

Image by Ville Miettinen via Flickr

by Kenn Orphan
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Halifax, Nova Scotia
November 8, 2020

Biden won. Trump lost. I am pleased the orange proto-fascist lost. But before the champagne bottles start popping there are a few things we should remember.

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Don’t Let Up: Fascism Isn’t Dead Yet, by Pete Dolack

smash fascism

Image by tobika via Flickr

by Pete Dolack
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Systemic Disorder
November 5, 2020

Even if Joe Biden had won the U.S. presidency by the expected landslide, the threat of fascism would remain. And not simply because Trumpites are not going away anytime soon.

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Beyond Voting by Howard Zinn + What Else You Can Do: 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action by David Swanson

gandhi's pavement

Image by Tom Donald via Flickr

by Howard Zinn
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published Nov. 6, 2018, written in 1976
November 3, 2020

Gossip is the opium of the American public. We lie back, close our eyes and happily inhale the stories about Roosevelt’s and Kennedy’s affairs, Lyndon Johnson’s nude swims with unnamed partners and, now, Nixon’s pathetic “final days” in office.

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Resurgence of Socialism in Bolivia, by Yanis Iqbal

Evo Morales

Image by Samuel Auguste via Flickr

by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
October 29, 2020

In Bolivia, the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) – a major leftist political force – has returned to power following a thumping victory in the 2020 elections. The MAS presidential candidate Luis Arce obtained 55.09% of the votes, decisively ahead of the neoliberal candidate Carlos Mesa and the right-wing extremist Luis Fernando Camacho who garnered 28.83% and 14% of the votes, respectively. The triumph of MAS in Bolivia is highly significant since it follows hard on the heels of the 2019 US-backed coup which violently overthrew the MAS president Evo Morales and attempted to re-institute neoliberalism through blood and bullets. Headed by the de facto president Jeanine Áñez (a religious bigot), the fascist coup government genuflected to the American empire, joined the conservative Lima Bloc — a group of 12 Latin American nations determined to subvert the Bolivarian Revolution — exited leftist regional forums, kicked out Cuban doctors and re-established ties with Israel. With the re-election of the MAS, it has been demonstrably shown that Bolivians don’t have any liking for the barbaric blueprint of imperialism and socialism still throbs through the nation’s body.

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We Can Do Better Than Capitalist Formal “Democracy” by Pete Dolack

Vote

Image by H2Woah! via Flickr

by Pete Dolack
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Systemic Disorder
October 22, 2020

An article I read shortly after Jacinda Ardern’s re-election in New Zealand noted, with a touch of weariness, that Labour’s victory came after a campaign measured in “weeks.” Folks there ought to count themselves lucky — the United States has endured years of campaigning in what has proved, to the surprise of no one, its nastiest presidential contest in memory.

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