I’m Sick and Tired of This Thing Called “Patriotism” by William Blum

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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”.

Our Identity is Found in Christ, Not Dead Presidents by Shawn S. Grandstaff

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by Shawn S. Grandstaff
Writer, Dandelion Salad
June 26, 2018

David Swanson: How American Exceptionalism Is Exploited to Justify War + How Suzy Hansen Lost Her U.S. Exceptionalism

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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.

David Swanson: Debunking the Myth of American Exceptionalism + The Day DC Was Bombed

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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.

The Behavior of a Rogue Nation by David Swanson

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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.”

Chris Hedges: The Fight Against Fascism

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Dandelion Salad

“In Fascism, the proletariat is confronted by an extraordinarily dangerous enemy. Fascism is the concentrated expression of the general offensive undertaken by the world bourgeoisie against the proletariat. Its overthrow is therefore an absolute necessity, nay, it is even a question of the every-day existence and of the bread and butter of every ordinary worker. On these grounds the whole of the proletariat must concentrate on the fight against Fascism. It will be much easier for us to defeat Fascism if we clearly and distinctly study its nature.” — Clara Zetkin, Labour Monthly, August 1923

Chris Hedges: The Rise of Fascism in India

Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
Watch the video below

Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Feb 19, 2018

Shehla Rashid Shora, Indian Activist, discusses Hindu fascism through religious and political unrest and classism in India.

David Swanson: The More The US Spends On Weapons, The Less Safe We Are

Image by Melbourne Streets Avant-garde via Flickr

with David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Jan. 23, 2018
January 29, 2018

RvTHEORY6 on Jan 22, 2018

David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson’s books include War Is A Lie and When the World Outlawed War. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio. He is a 2015, 2016, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee.

Chris Hedges and Pankaj Mishra: The Only Antidote To This Culture Of Cruelty Is Socialism

Image by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Nov 6, 2017

Pankaj Mishra, author of Age of Anger: A History of the Present, discusses the poisoning of civil society and undermining of political liberty that is fueling “a global turn to authoritarianism and toxic forms of chauvinism.” RT Correspondent Anya Parampil looks at how the New Deal saved the U.S. from political anarchy.

Cold War Then. Cold War Now. by William Blum

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by William Blum
Writer, Dandelion Salad
www.killinghope.org
September 26, 2017

Cold War then. Cold War now.

The anti-Russian/anti-Soviet bias in the American media appears to have no limit. You would think that they would have enough self-awareness and enough journalistic integrity -– just enough -– to be concerned about their image. But it keeps on coming, piled higher and deeper.

Put Away The Flags by Howard Zinn

Image by Jagz Mario via Flickr

by Howard Zinn
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Repost from July 3, 2010
crossposted at The Progressive (2006)
July 4, 2017

On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.

Strutting Fascism And Swaggering Militarism By Gaither Stewart

Image by Henrik Ström via Flickr

by Gaither Stewart
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rome, Italy
Originally posted June 12, 2008
May 20, 2017

“We work for the moral and traditional values which Socialists neglect and despise….”

–Benito Mussolini

It’s their strutting. That detestable image of the strutting that links them, the strutting and prancing Fascists and their swaggering and parading military cousins, up front for their conveniently concealed corporatist controllers. A strutting and swaggering couple they are, Fascism and the entrenched class of war. Their distorted visions of gallantry and nation come so naturally to both. The spick and span generals, employers of mercenaries and killers, chin in, chest out, and their majors and their colonels (especially the generals in the offices and the majors in the tents), thick chests covered with ribbons and medals and rows of multicolored decorations—awarded for killing. And the political Fascists! Defiant chins thrust forward, hard fists clinched, swaggering and prancing and strutting across the stages of piazzas nations and continents—in support of the killing.

Fascism: A False Revolution by Michael Parenti

Image by Mayu Shimizu via Flickr

Originally published Sept. 27, 2007

by Michael Parenti
Writer, Dandelion Salad
michaelparenti.org, 1996
January 26, 2017

Fascism is a false revolution. It makes a revolutionary appeal without making an actual revolution. It propagates the widely proclaimed New Order while serving the same old moneyed interests.

Put Away The Flags by Howard Zinn

Image by Jagz Mario via Flickr

Repost from July 3, 2010

by Howard Zinn
Writer, Dandelion Salad
crossposted at The Progressive (2006)
July 4, 2015

On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.

Put Away The Flags by Howard Zinn (repost; 2006)

Image by Jagz Mario via Flickr

Repost from July 3, 2010

by Howard Zinn
Writer, Dandelion Salad
crossposted at The Progressive (2006)
July 4, 2014

On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.