Obama was only a populist during elections

GUEST: Chris Nineham, founder member of the Stop the War Coalition, a coordinator of the European Social Forum in Florence in 2002, and an organizer of the two million London demonstration against the Iraq war in 2003, talks about his latest book, How the Establishment Lost Control. (thanks to Sharon for help with the interview)




Chris Nineham has written a very encouraging book about social change in England. The resistance of hundreds of like minded groups has made it possible to overthrow Blair's corporatized Labour Party and replace it with something more to the liking of working people.

Like Bernie in the US, Jeremy Corbyn preaches a populism that restores the rights of the vast majority. Such a revolution has not happened in our own country, but the dynamics are similar. The billionaires and their bankers have achieved control over both major parties in the US, leaving little room for substantive change. Obama's "Change You Can Believe In" was a cruel publicity stunt, devoid of any actual passion. Like Bill Clinton before him, Obama understood his role as a populist during elections, who gave the corporations what they wanted once in office.

Creating a revolution in the Democratic Party is so much harder in an empire that is fighting wars of domination all over the planet. In fact, Bernie's inability to take on the endless wars and the immense military budget doesn't bode well for actual change. The new, leftist candidates winning elections, however, may force a confrontation with the sellout Democratic establishment.

Chris Nineham points out how all this was achieved in England. Thanks again to Sharon who helped on this interview.


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Feed the filthy rich

GUEST: Major Danny Sjursen, a U.S. Army strategist and former history instructor at West Point, who served with reconnaissance units in Iraq and Afghanistan and wrote a critical analysis of the Iraq War, Ghostriders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge, talks about the hidden costs of empire and the militarizing of US police forces.

Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and Myth of the Surge

The Hazards of Military Worship

Counterinsurgency, Policing and the Militarization of America’s Cities

Many of us have come to realize that the economic system we live under is basically unfair. The billionaires buy the politicians, and rig the system for their own benefit. In the process, wealth is concentrated at the very top, leaving most Americans disillusioned and angry.

What the American people have not as yet realized is the importance of endless war in transferring money to the rich elite. At war for the last decade and a half, the US has spent over 4 trillion dollars on killing people, mostly in the Middle East. That money creates huge profits for the weapons makers of course, but does nothing for those who don't own their stocks and bonds. Four trillion could have provided for universal healthcare, free college tuition, free daycare, and free nursing homes. It could have created millions of jobs rebuilding America's infrastructure, converting the nation to renewable energy, and combating global warming. The tragedy of lost opportunity.

Once citizens come to realize the true costs of America's empire, there will be great pressure to change the "military-industrial-congressional complex" (as it was described in Eisenhower's original speech). That is why the corporate media devotes so much time to glorifying war and cheerleading for our next conflict. War is as much a part of the system as cheating the poor and middle class to feed the filthy rich. 
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The American Empire

GUEST: Maria Höhn, Professor and Chair of History at Vassar College, author of GIs and Fräuleins, about American troops in Germany, coeditor of Over There: Living with The U.S. Military Empire from World War Two to the Present, and co-founder of The Civil Rights Struggle, African American GIs, and Germany, talks about our nation's military troops in foreign lands.

 Occupation isn't simple. It is a melding of two cultures, one victorious and the other subservient. But here is much more to it than that. 

 Black GIs felt a type of freedom in Germany that they never experienced back home. They were given the same respect as white GIs by a majority of the German population. And since the town of Baumholder, the geographical area of Maria's study, was as devastated as the rest of Germany after the war, its citizens were eager to earn enough money from the American troops as possible. 

 German women dated and married American GIs. There were few German men left, and the Americans treated them much better than the occupying French, English and Russians did. 

 Seventy years later, US soldiers are still in Germany. In fact, American troops have never really left any county they occupied during World War II. You can hear American radio stations all through Europe, from Germany down through Greece. Studying the US occupation of Germany slowly reveals something else that few of us talk about. The American Empire, built on 800 military bases around the world. 

 This interview was somewhat of a coming home for me as well. My father was from Baumholder, and I spent some very enjoyable hours with my Uncle Gerhardt, the town mayor, talking about war and peace in Europe. Shortly after, I was drafted into the US Army myself and spent a year at a US base in Korea. 
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All together now, in the key of C

GUESTS: Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino, award winning recording artists, folk singers and activists who have made their group, Magpie, one of the seminal voices in labor and social justice music. Their new album is entitled, "When We Stand Together: Songs of Joe Hill, the IWW, and Fellow Workers."

 When We Stand Together
Magpie homepage
Magpie - Facebook

It was a nice story. Greg and Terry were passing though Poughkeepsie one Thursday and happened to listen to Activist Radio. They liked what they heard and contacted us about being on the show. We were so lucky to have them.

The history of Magpie goes back to the Kent State massacre, one of the times that US militarism has ended up shooting down its own citizens. Greg and Terry have been signing together pretty much since Kent State, and their vast repertoire is an education in the history of the American left.

Magpie is part of the movement for social justice, for economic fairness, for labor rights, and an end to Jim Crow discrimination. We talked about the other musicians who have chosen to advocate social change, sometimes at the expense of musical fame. Luckily for Magpie, the group is both well known for their musical talent, as well as effective in spreading the word. We the people can form a better world; all together now, in the key of C.
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Like fighting any malignant, tenacious disease

GUEST: Peter Heymann, member of The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond and the Anti-Racist Alliance, talks about his Undoing Racism Workshops and the anti-racist structural analysis of educational, corporate and community institutions.

 There are surprises to be had when studying racism. The book, "Sundown Towns" reveals how towns all across North America forced their Black populations out, starting in 1890. Another book, "The Color of Law" presents research on how this policy was augmented by local, state and national regulations. Segregation didn't just happen; Blacks were ethnically cleansed. 

 Recent studies of Islamophobia reveal the active hand of the Jewish Defense League in spreading hate. The JDL even produced movies equating Muslims with terrorists, and somehow one of these films was used to train police in New York City. 

 So racism is complex, with unexpected players. Fighting racism becomes a process of learning the hidden history of our country. And that's before we actually confronts the racism that our culture has implanted in us. Racism from fathers and mothers. Racism from TV shows we have grown up with. Fighting racism is a long term project, like fighting any malignant, tenacious disease.
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Palatable to a white majority

GUEST: James Kilgore, college professor, social justice activist, and author of three published novels while he was incarcerated, talks about his latest campaign, Challenging E-Carceration.

 It was great having James Kilgore back again, talking about prison reform and e-carceration. 

 James reminds us that prison reform won't come through technology, but through a rethinking of racism in America. Of course, we must be aware of the system before we have the moral courage to change it. Racism has long been used by our politicians. Trump is only the latest example. 

 Racism, combined with a global crisis of capitalism, puts us in a dangerous time. For the very wealthy to increase their gains, there has to be more and more surveillance and repression. The prison system is built to criminalize poverty and dissent, and racism is the hatred that will make such a system palatable to a white majority. 
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Determined to rule the rest of the world

GUEST: Laura Finley, associate professor of sociology and criminology and author of several books on social justice, talks about her current focus on the militarization of police forces in inner city communities.

The price we pay for empire. A society armed to the teeth with weapons and drenched in killing. Gun control is part of the problem. But a society that can somehow justify the killing of millions abroad for corporate profit, is already debased, its humanity already striped away. 

The characteristic that will bring down our species is most apparent in the American Empire and its murderous allies, Saudi Arabia and Israel. High tech combined with corporate greed and unrelenting violence brings about a unique form of fascism. Like the Third Reich, there are no norms, no boundaries for bloodshed. 

Americans are unequally unaware of the empire, even though we pay 700 billion a year to feed the cancer. We grieve our losses, but memories are short, and few see the overarching problem of a country determined to rule the rest of the world at any cost.


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