Image by Debra Sweet via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
August 1, 2018
RT on Aug 1, 2018
On this edition of CrossTalk we consider only one question: Is Donald Trump’s “America First” policy in contradiction to the Washington Consensus idea of American Exceptionalism? The answer to this question will likely define Trump’s presidency and change the world in the process.
Image by Josh Bartok via Flickr
Dandelion Salad
Originally posted Sept. 6, 2015
with Abby Martin
Empire Files on Sep 5, 2015
Abby Martin debuts teleSUR’s The Empire Files exploring the U.S. Empire, its rise to world hegemony and its impact on people and the planet.
Image by rstrawser via Flickr
by William Blum
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published July 5, 2010
July 3, 2018
Some thoughts on “patriotism” written on July 4
Most important thought: I’m sick and tired of this thing called “patriotism”.
The Japanese pilots who bombed Pearl Harbor were being patriotic. The German people who supported Hitler and his conquests were being patriotic, fighting for the Fatherland. All the Latin American military dictators who overthrew democratically-elected governments and routinely tortured people were being patriotic — saving their beloved country from “communism”.
Image by Debra Sweet via Flickr
by William Blum
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Killing Hope
June 26, 2018
Why do they flee?
The current mass exodus of people from Central America to the United States, with the daily headline-grabbing stories of numerous children involuntarily separated from their parents, means it’s time to remind my readers once again of one of the primary causes of these periodic mass migrations.
Image by Danny Hammontree via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
June 25, 2018
There are three things that are almost always underestimated: the U.S. military budget, altruism, and sadism.
First, the military budget.
Image by Elvert Barnes via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, June 15, 2018
June 20, 2018
We should be very grateful to Francesco Duina for his new book, Broke and Patriotic: Why Poor Americans Love Their Country. He begins with the following dilemma. The poor in the United States are in many ways worse off than in other wealthy countries, but they are more patriotic than are the poor in those other countries and even more patriotic than are wealthier people in their own country. Their country is (among wealthy countries) tops in inequality, and bottoms in social support, and yet they overwhelmingly believe that the United States is “fundamentally better than other countries.” Why?
Image by Jagz Mario via Flickr
by Howard Zinn
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally posted June 9, 2010
June 11, 2018
Video Lectures
March 14, 2005
Running Time: 1:32:02
Americans have long embraced a notion of superiority, claims Howard Zinn. Governor Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony described establishing “a city on a hill,” to serve the world as a beacon of liberty. So far, so good. But driving this sense of destiny, says Zinn, was an assumption of divine agency—“an association between what the government does and what God approves of.” And too frequently, continues Zinn, Americans have invoked God to expand “into someone else’s territory, occupying and dealing harshly with people who resist occupation.”
Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
Watch the video below
RT Documentary on May 16, 2018
In March of 1951, Jacobo Arbenz came to power in Guatemala after having been resoundingly elected by the people. A little more than three years later, he was forced to resign in the midst of armed intervention. His reforms to redistribute unused land to poor peasants had fallen afoul of the United Fruit Company, which owned and warehoused vast tracts of Guatemalan land. The American corporation solicited the US government to overthrow the populist president and the Eisenhower administration delivered with the help of the Department of State and CIA, which happened to be led by the Dulles brothers, who had strong ties to the company. Arbenz’ ousting put an end to democracy in Guatemala for decades and replaced it by military rule. A civil war followed several years later, resulting in the deaths of over 200,000 people. The country remains one of Latin America’s most impoverished to this day.
Image by Elvert Barnes via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
May 30, 2018
“Memorial Day is a time to remember, appreciate, and honor the selfless patriots who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to freedom. At a time when our country seems so divided, we must not forget that it is because of their service and sacrifice that we live in the most free and prosperous nation on Earth.” —Congressman Tom Garrett
Image by Nico Paix via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
May 10, 2018
TheRealNews on May 9, 2018
Writer and activist David Swanson discusses his new book Curing Exceptionalism, with TRNN’s Ben Norton, exploring how American nationalism and the myth of US superiority is used to justify hyper-militarism and capitalist oppression.
Image by Cau Napoli Collettivo Autorganizzato Universitario di Napoli via Flickr
by Gregory Barrett
Guest Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aichtal, Germany
April 21, 2018
It feels as if world events are in overdrive, and sometimes it’s hard to escape the thought that that there is no longer much point in trying to analyse, or make sense of, a trajectory increasingly out of control.
Image by Jagz Mario via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
April 20, 2018
TheRealNews on Apr 19, 2018
Anti-war writer and activist David Swanson discusses his new book Curing Exceptionalism, and picks apart the chauvinistic idea that the United States of America is the greatest country on the planet.
Image by Josh Bartok via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
April 9, 2018
Back in the 1890s those who believed conquering a continent was killing enough (without taking over Hawaii, the Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, etc.) included Speaker of the House Thomas Reed. He clipped an article out of a newspaper about a lynching in South Carolina. He clipped a headline about “Another Outrage in Cuba.” He pasted the two together (fake news!) and gave them to a Congressman from South Carolina who was pushing for a war on Cuba. The Congressman eagerly read the article, then stopped, looked puzzled, and remarked “Why, this isn’t Cuba.”
Image by Danny Hammontree via Flickr
by Paul Street
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Official Website of Paul Street
March 7, 2018
There are good reasons for any good progressive to bemoan the presence of the childish, racist, sexist and ecocidal, right-wing plutocrat Donald Trump in the White House. One complaint about Trump that should be held at arm’s-length by anyone on the left, however, is the charge that Trump is contributing to the decline of U.S. global power—to the erosion of the United States’ superpower status and the emergence of a more multipolar world.
Image by Alisdare Hickson via Flickr
Dandelion Salad
Previously posted Feb. 24, 2012
This video may contain images depicting the reality and horror of war/violence and should only be viewed by a mature audience.
Let Your Life Be a Friction to Stop the Machine
ClassWarFilms on Feb 13, 2012
A brief and crucial history of the United States
