Public Comment

Trump Reveals New Campaign Promise: A Fascist Coup

At one of his ego-stroking political rallies, Mr. Twice-Impeached revealed a chilling new slogan that strikes at the heart of democracy and raises the odds of an authoritarian takeover.

The threat was revealed in the signage being waved by partisans in the crowd assembled before Trump's podium. In addition to large signs that read "SAVE AMERICA" there were several placards that bore a darker threat. They read: "TRUMP 24: OR BEFORE."

Hold Trump to Account

Common Cause is so steamed that the Department of Justice still hasn't announced plans to investigate Sir Trumpalot for his growing list of serious criminal charges that it's started a petition calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to crack down on the Big Nut for crimes before-during-and-after the January 6 coup attempt. I was happy to sign on, with the following comment:

We've recently seen that even Trump's accountants want to hold him accountable on account of his accounting not being something you can count on.

Walk the Chalk

Someone opposed to UC Berkeley's collaboration with the military wing of the Department of Energy has written the following message in chalk on the sidewalk before Berkeley's main Post Office: UC MAKES NUKES.

And chalk-up another only-in-Berkeley sidewalk salute: on the cement sidewalk alongside the MLK Jr. Middle School, one of the youngsters participating in a public art exercise to honor Rev. Martin Luther King, left behind the following note: "Marx Lenin MLK."

In the South that would be a note of contempt. In Berkeley, it's a righteous recognition of common purpose.

Fashion Plates

Recently spotted in downtown Berkeley: a red Ford sporting a plate that read: TUTNKMN. I'm guessing the driver might be an Egyptologist, specializing in the reign of Tutankhamun, the ancient pharaoh better known as "King Tut."

Also prompting a roadside double-take: a risible bumper sticker that encouraged one and all to: "Honk If You Love Relational Aesthetics."

Karmic Strips

On February 15, Darrin Bell's Candorville lived up to its name when a Trump-loving cartoon character quoted from one of Lemont Brown's published opinion pieces and accused him of being a "Terrorist-lover." The citation read:

"Just a little while ago, the general we just assassinated was leading the fight to crush ISIS. We were all praising him. When we get on our high horse about freedom and liberty, much of the world wants to gag because they notice how we love butchers until we no longer need them."

When Brown asks: "How does that make me a terrorist-lover?" the response was: "When we get introspective, the terrorists win."

It's Not a Typo: It's a New Word

In early February, the live online video-sharing platform known as Zoom, emailed a dispatch announcing the addition of "many exciting and useful features" to the Zoom experience. "Zoom recently became the first video communications client to attain Common Criteria Certification—an international security standard," the missive boasted. It then invited readers to "learn more about this distinguishment from our press release."

Distinguishment? Did they mean to write "distinction"? Nope. Turns out there is such a wordy word. It's from the Brits and the definition reads: "the quality or condition of being distinguished."

Ukraine, the US, the UN, and the Nazis

In the course of a long, televised February 24 address—and in the midst of a brutal act of aggression that included the bombing of targets in Ukraine's capitol city of Kyiv—Vladimir Putin raised a surprising complaint: "I would like to additionally emphasize the following. Focused on their own goals, the leading NATO countries are supporting the far-right nationalists and neo-Nazis in Ukraine."

It turns out that you can't debate Ukrainian politics without addressing the role of neo-Nazis,

In a largely unreported vote on December 16, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution titled "Combating Glorification of Nazism, Neo-Nazism and Other Practices that Contribute to Fuelling Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance."

The resolution passed resoundingly with 130 nations voting to condemn Nazism. There were only two countries that refused to sign—the US and Ukraine.

Another 49 countries (mostly US allies) abstained. They included NATO member nations joined by Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

The US defended its vote by arguing that condemning racial hatred would violate the First Amendment.

Nazism still thrives in some parts of Europe. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania still continue to honor Nazi leaders from WWII and, as Consortium News points out: "several European countries have right-wing governments or strong right-wing opposition sympathetic to neo-Nazi groups."

In 2014, the US relied on neo-Nazis to topple Ukraine's elected pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych. Senator John McCain and State Department rep Victoria Nuland were among those Americans who flocked to Kiev to pose alongside avowed Ukrainian neo-Nazis like Svobada leader Oleh Tyahnybok and Andriy Biletsky. Biletsky has written that Ukraine’s mission is to “lead the White Races of the world in a final crusade . . . against the Semite-led Untermenschen.”

Ukraine even has a branch of the military—the Azov Battallion—that touts the Nazi line.

It's shocking that Putin—who has publicly condemned the Nazi movement—has resorted to the use of military force that will, in the minds of many, incriminate him as a war criminal in the bloody tradition of Adolf Hitler.

Speaking of Invasions, Who's the Bigger Bully?

In response to Vladimir Putin's shocking invasion of Ukraine, Joe Biden has imposed economic sanctions while proclaiming: "We're America and America stands up to bullies."

Well, that's not quite what our history shows. As Richard Sanborn, a resident of Humboldt County pointed out in a recent letter to the Chronicle:

President Biden says the Kremlin flagrantly violated international law.

Vietnam. Cambodia. Laos. Lebanon. Cuba. Grenada. Panama. Libya. Somalia. Bosnia. Kosovo. Afghanistan. Pakistan. Yemen. Syria. What hypocrisy!

Another Petition: Vote to Vote

America likes to justify its global empire by proclaiming its divine duty to use soldiers and tanks to spread "freedom and democracy" around the planet. But somehow, many residents of the global Empire's colonized territories have never been given the voting rights granted ordinary citizens. And, if they don't have the right to vote—in local and federal elections—they aren't citizens, they are captives.

Good news: A MoveOn member named Isabel Walker has posted a petition to correct this injustice. (If you've already signed a petition to grant voting rights to the disenfranchised citizens of Washington, DC, you might want to sign on to Walker's petition as well.) Walker writes:

"Many Americans often fail to recognize one of the most prominent examples of voter deprivation that continues to undermine the very ideals that our nation rests upon. Currently, millions of American citizens residing in the five US overseas territories (Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, US Virgin Islands, Guam) are denied voter participation in federal elections. The US government actively silences the voice of territorial residents and consistently ignores their desperate cries for full equality. The United States Constitution must adopt an amendment granting citizens of American territories the right to express their political beliefs via access to the ballot."  

This just-posted petition looks like a winner. When I started to sign on, there were only 15 signatures on display. By the time I finished typing a comment, the number of signatures had reached 128.  

Rest In Peace: Courtesy of the Government?  

With so many Americans being cut down by guns (more than 27,000 last year), thousands of families struggling with poverty are forced to pay for unexpected funeral costs—and for families of survivors, mounting hospital bills.  

In a better country, a government might be able to offer more than "thoughts and prayers" to the bereaved. In addition to Medicare for All, how about federally guaranteed Gun-Death Benefits for All? Imagine if the families of gun violence victims were guaranteed federal payments to cover the costs of a funeral and the loss of a loved one? The GDBA could also pay for the hospitalization of gun-violence survivors. And it needn't cost the taxpayers a cent. The victims' fund could be financed by a tax on gun manufacturers, gun sellers and gun owners.  

And, in a more perfect (gun-free) world, what if every US citizen were automatically guaranteed a $20,000 federal "gift of recognition" to cover burial costs?  

We may now have a precedent, with the Supreme Court ruling that the families of the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings can sue arms-maker Remington for $73 million.  

Paranoid Pastors: Tax-free and Toxic  

Online podcaster David Pakman recently offered a take-down of Rev. Greg Locke, the disaster pastor of the Global Visions Bible Church in Tennessee, Because Locke claims to run a religious mission, he doesn't have to pay property taxes and that frees him to devote more time to his sacred, demon-chasing duties. In a clip shared by Pakman, Rev. Locke rants about "witches" hiding in plain site within his congregation. (Hmmm, I wonder: Can a coven of witches apply for tax-free religious status?)  

After viewing Locke's unhinged performance, one might wonder if the IRS might want to apply some stricter standards to socially subsidized, untaxed property-owning preachers who promote fear and anger instead of compassion and forgiveness.  

Cat Burglars  

Why have the thefts of catalytic converters become a constant of modern life?  

Why haven't automakers installed simple devices like mercury-switch-triggered alarms that start screeching whenever thieves tip targeted cars to get at the catalytic prize below? If people who get cat-scammed have to pay as much as $2,000 to install a metal shield to prevent future thefts why aren't automakers automatically including these theft-preventing devices in the original design of their cars?  

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