When America Was “Great”… by Paul Street + Indigenous Peoples’ History is More Complicated Than a Holiday Myth

Edgewood

Image by Daniel Lobo via Flickr

by Paul Street
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published November 21, 2018
November 22, 2023

“Your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings… are… a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States, at this very hour.” – Frederick Douglass, July 4th, 1852

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When America Was “Great”… by Paul Street + Indigenous Peoples’ History is More Complicated Than a Holiday Myth

Edgewood

Image by Daniel Lobo via Flickr

by Paul Street
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Official Website of Paul Street
Originally published November 21, 2018
November 23, 2022

“Your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings… are… a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States, at this very hour.” – Frederick Douglass, July 4th, 1852

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Smedley Butler Wasn’t Kidding, by David Swanson

War is a racket - Smedley Butler

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
February 4, 2022

Smedley Butler is generally left out of U.S. history. If you bring up a guy who prevented a Wall Street coup against FDR, you do real damage to the tale of peaceful respect for government from the beginning of time up through January 6, 2021. If you mention the scandal that erupted when he recounted how Mussolini had run over a little girl with his car, it’s hard to leave out the U.S. government’s friendly relations with Mussolini.

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A Scream Against the Madness, by Kenn Orphan

Names Unforgotten

Image by Jean-Paul Navarro via Flickr

by Kenn Orphan
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Halifax, Nova Scotia
January 28, 2022

One of the most powerful moments on any trip I have taken in my life was at the Pinkas Synagogue in Prague. It was built at least 500 years ago, and now holds a museum.

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Sheldon Wolin: Can Capitalism and Democracy Coexist? Interviewed by Chris Hedges

Capitalism killed democracy

Image by ecolabs via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

Posted previously Oct 22, 2014

Journalist Chris Hedges interviews political philosopher Sheldon Wolin, who says democracy cannot exist without continuous opposition and vigilance on the part of the citizenry.

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Introduction to Gaither Stewart’s Trails of Memory: A Century of Nazism, by Rowan Wolf

Charlottesville "Unite the Right" Rally

Image by Anthony Crider via Flickr

Sent to Dandelion Salad by Gaither Stewart

by Rowan Wolf
November 30, 2021

I did not realize until I read Trails of Memory – A Century of Nazism how much that time and political movement has harmonics in this time. I am in the U.S., where decades of effort on the part of one of the major political parties – Republicans – moved them, and perhaps the nation, deeper and deeper to the right. At the same time, the efforts of capitalists continued to break the bonds of community and the treads of continuity, while the broader efforts of Republicans created a more jaded and less informed public. I did know from my studies of white nationalism that it was an ideology that actively spanned continents and was not just contained to North America. Likewise, this movement towards right-wing populism is not confined to the United States, and it is not the only nation experiencing the awful allure of strongman leaders with dreams of dictatorial rule.

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When America Was “Great”… by Paul Street + Indigenous Peoples’ History is More Complicated Than a Holiday Myth

Edgewood

Image by Daniel Lobo via Flickr

by Paul Street
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Official Website of Paul Street
Originally published November 21, 2018
November 24, 2021

“Your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings… are… a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States, at this very hour.” – Frederick Douglass, July 4th, 1852

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Chris Hedges and Danny Sjursen: The Historical Myths About World War II

24th Panzer Division in Stalingrad

Image by Cassowary Colorizations via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Aug 14, 2021

On the show this week, Chris Hedges discusses the historical myths about World War II with Danny Sjursen, Retired US Army Major, author and historian.

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Hiroshima Is A Lie, by David Swanson

"XX-34 BADGER" atmospheric nuclear test - April 1953

Image by The Official CTBTO Photostream via Flickr

with David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
August 5, 2021

In 2015, Alice Sabatini was an 18-year-old contestant in the Miss Italia contest in Italy. She was asked what epoch of the past she would have liked to live in. She replied: WWII. Her explanation was that her text books go on and on about it, so she’d like to actually see it, and she wouldn’t have to fight in it, because only men did that. This led to a great deal of mockery. Did she want to be bombed or starved or sent to a concentration camp? What was she, stupid? Somebody photoshopped her into a picture with Mussolini and Hitler. Somebody made an image of a sunbather viewing troops rushing onto a beach.[i]

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Michael Parenti: When you had the Crisis of Capitalism, Fascism is an Attempt at a Final Solution to the Class Struggle

Fascism

Image by Henrik Ström via Flickr

with Michael Parenti
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Previously posted October 5, 2018
July 20, 2021

Our Hidden History on Oct 11, 2017

Michael Parenti interviewed by Dave Emory on the synergies between fascism and capitalism. [Interview in 1993]

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Vijay Prashad: The Democratic Party and the War Machine

end u.s. imperialism

Image by d mw via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

theAnalysis-news on Dec 18, 2020

The roots of the Democratic Party’s foreign policy are found in WWII, the atomic bombing of Japan and militarization during the Cold War. Biden supported the Iraq War but fought for the nuclear agreement with Iran. What should we expect from his administration? Vijay Prashad joins Paul Jay on theAnalysis.news podcast.

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Chris Hedges: The Undercurrents of Fascism in America’s DNA

smash fascism

Image by tobika via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

Originally on RT America on Nov 28, 2020

The Chris Hedges YouTube Channel on Jul 5, 2022

On the show this week, Chris Hedges talks to Gabriel Rockhill about the undercurrents of fascism in America’s DNA, and the US role in internationalizing fascism after World War II through clandestine activities such as Operation Paperclip and Operation Gladio.

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When America Was “Great”… by Paul Street + Indigenous Peoples’ History is More Complicated Than a Holiday Myth

Edgewood

Image by Daniel Lobo via Flickr

by Paul Street
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Official Website of Paul Street
Originally published November 21, 2018
November 25, 2020

“Your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings… are… a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States, at this very hour.” – Frederick Douglass, July 4th, 1852

Continue reading