Trolling the Left -- Stopping Hillary using the Left

American Crossroads GPS and America Rising devote their pages to providing materials for Social Media to use to bash Hillary Clinton. In addition groups like "Project Veritas" (James O'Keefe) and The American Mirror devote time and effort to creating bogus allegations to convince people that folks are doing dirty Business. And huge sums were invested into trolling the left, baiting the left and "coming at them from the left". They had already spent nearly a million on attacking her by the beginning of 2014. For the right wing it's just "business" as usual. For the left, once they get the scent from Right Wing supplied opposition research, it becomes a cause. Both are getting their funding (unwittingly for Bernie Sanders followers, whose campaign admitted they weren't doing their own Opposition research) from the Right.

This continues the subject of the Stop Hillary Movement that follows on other "attack from the left" designed to spin Democrats into not voting for their own people.

Stabbed with our Own Sword - "Hoisted with our own Petard."

Or how the New Left Movement became the Establishment

The Generation that wouldn't trust anyone over thirty de-evolved into the generation that didn't trust anyone under 30. They (we) invented the "New Left", "Third Way," "New Democrats" and attacked our parents generation of politicians as "establishment", as "out of touch" and in return many of our parents generation turned on us. The New Left abandoned interest in economic progress for working people and focused on gay rights, pacifism and "fighting the establishment."

What happened to the New Left?

The New left fractured over new issues. These issues included:

• The Anti War Movement
• Women's Movement, Gay Rights and Radicalized Civil Rights
• The Values Movement

Who is Merrick Garland?

Someone on Facebook was attacking Merrick Garland this morning. I hadn't been paying attention. I'd basically assumed that anyone that President Obama nominated would be a decent choice for the SCOTUS and dead in the water to the Right Wing. But this was an attack from the left and the person was claiming that he'd be a vote against overturning Citizens United. So I started checking; "who he is, how did he get there, and what decisions has he made up til now?". To get there I had to do some digging. What I find is a man who is fairly liberal on most issues, pro the environment, against corruption and monopoly; but conservative on policing and some civil liberties issues. I'm borrowing this image from Milt Priggee:

More Cartoons by Milt Priggee

A World Gone Mad

Oh how sad.

More evidence that the world is mad.

 

Enraged at what I ask?

 

Enraged with delusion and illusion and fear.

And what is it I fear? I fear fear.

And the rage of persons who have shed too many tears.

The cycle of violence just seems to perpetuate through the years.

And we burn the flowers in our garden.

Christopher H. Holte March 22, 2016, thinking of Belgian Attacks.

The Stop Hillary Movement

There really is (or was) a "STOP HILLARY" SuperPAC funded by the Right wing and it really is devoted to:

"Make sure Hillary Clinton never becomes president! America can't survive another term of Obama-era radical liberalist policies implemented by a Bill and Hillary Clinton team back in the White House." [from www.stophillary2016.org taken last month]

Home is the Wanderer

Home is the wanderer No further places to go Home is the sojourn Peaceful and slow   While the seasons change Clouds and rains come and go You Sleep in peace, a once restless soul   Only the whispering leaves can know That you are remembered.

Written 3/15/2016 by Christopher H. Holte. Photo from about October 2015

Safe Houses -- Institutionalizing a Movement

This is part of a series on how to build a successful movement, based on readings and observations, where I want to express my critique of what has been happening in activist land, and present a way forward. I've decided not to use this version of this post because it is too "political" in my series. But I'm keeping it for reference.

Building Safe Houses and Alliances

Whenever I hear Bernie say "revolution", the music from the Beatles (or The Who) passes through my head. Most revolutions fail to achieve their goals because most revolutions are simply one fearless leader's efforts to create change top down. But anyone involved in changing things knows that that rarely happens. Some of the reasons for this are are;

• The cream rises to the top and curdles.
• Movements attract ambitious and/or conflictive people.
• Movements rarely are institutionalized well.

In this post I'm going to talk about institutionalization (and how to do it right to avoid those pitfalls).

Image of Martin Luther King