Re: [Marxism] Oregon Public Broadcasting: Federal Law Enforcement Use Unmarked Vehicles To Grab Protesters Off Portland Streets

2020-07-17 Thread Ralph Johansen via Marxism

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Alan Ginsberg wrote

Very scary

https://www.opb.org/news/article/federal-law-enforcement-unmarked-vehicles-portland-protesters/



I just sent this to a long-time friend in Manhattan, who had told me 
that his Black grandson, who has been at U of Oregon in Eugene and is 
now at home in Portland, was hit by a rubber bullet at a protest this 
week. That's all that my friend knows. He has told me that his two 
grandchildren of a "mixed marriage" have said they are now afraid to 
drive across country to visit him. I had just sent him the article by 
Hedges.


This may seem a little off topic, maybe not. I also just finished, this 
morning, Hazan's book A Peoples History of the French Revolution. There 
too there was confusion, hysteria around protection of property and 
seigniorial privilege against popular protest amidst starvation and 
hoarding and speculation, "public safety" commissions, guillotining 
unrestrained, extremism run rampant, at any cost. And worldwide 
reaction. Coincidentally, federal officers were first reported seen on 
the Portland streets on July 14.


Think I'm paranoid? So be it. Beats heedless. Unless we see effective, 
massive protest around this too, going over to permanent revolution. The 
fire this time.




Case in point. This is really frightening.

https://www.opb.org/news/article/federal-law-enforcement-unmarked-vehicles-portland-protesters/

I have to say that there's every reason to be afraid for your grandson 
if he's involved in this. Homeland Security, or its equivalents in the 
government, has been operating kind of in the shadows for at least the 
past 20 years and must have a sizeable dossier. It's chilling but it's 
what we can expect, and get out the way. Trump may even be planning a 
coup or its equivalent (even possibly with Democrats' collusion) if, 
despite current confusion and division, he and his cohorts think they 
can get enough middle class Americans to conclude in this fluid period 
that law and order are essential to prevent chaos.


The men in this video 
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/17/after-trump-deploys-secret-police-portland-imagine-what-happens-if-he-gets-four-more?cd-origin=rss_term=AO_campaign=Daily%20Newsletter_content=email_source=Daily%20Newsletter_medium=Email 
are wearing combat garb, drab-type masks concealing identity, the only 
identifying information is "police" on chests, no identifying names or 
badge numbers visible or readable, nothing showing that they are even 
federal marshals, could be private goons employed by Eric Prince (Trump 
would like that), in hired, unmarked private vans. We don't know. A shot 
across the bow?


I no longer think that this is hyperbole, although part of me would 
surely like to believe so. I think it's part and parcel of the 
developing breakdown of capitalist legitimacy worldwide.


I remember how cointelpro has operated to provoke incidents and 
demoralize protesters, from the Black Panthers, blackmailing Martin 
Luther King, forged documents, their liaison with local police 
department surveillance, you name it, I'm sure it's ongoing, and there's 
no limit to what they can do. Today we learn that Ruth Bader Ginsburg's 
liver cancer has recurred, prospect of a 6-3 rightwing Court; and we no 
longer have a Bill of Rights. The justification in Portland, of course, 
is protection of federal property and the inability of local authorities 
to contend with it. Federal property is everywhere; so is cointelpro.


Why should Americans think that we are somehow insulated from the most 
draconian measures to ensure capitalist "domestic tranquility," just 
because historically we have had a vibrant consensus on the part of a 
relatively prosperous middle class around "democratic values?" Why 
should we think that rabid US transnational corporate reaction only 
applies beyond our borders? Think "special forces," think Guantanamo, 
satellite surveillance, drones and destruction and the erosion of 
so-called national sovereignty among nation-states, when they can 
assassinate or permanently detain without charge or even acknowledgment 
anyone they please at will, anywhere.


The Corona virus pandemic, its follow-ons and unknown fortuitous 
happenings may give further impetus to the upending of our economy, as 
we can well imagine, and accelerate both protest and repression.

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[Marxism] Adolph Reed Jr. And The Essence Of Class Essentialism: In Which We Essentially Examine This With Class - CounterPunch.org

2020-07-17 Thread Andrew Stewart via Marxism
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https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/07/17/adolph-reed-jr-and-the-essence-of-class-essentialism-in-which-we-essentially-examine-this-with-class/


Best regards,
Andrew Stewart 
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[Marxism] Feds Vowed to Quell Unrest in Portland. Local Leaders Are Telling Them to Leave.

2020-07-17 Thread Louis Proyect via Marxism

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NY Times, July 17, 2020
Feds Vowed to Quell Unrest in Portland. Local Leaders Are Telling Them 
to Leave.

By Sergio Olmos and Mike Baker

PORTLAND, Ore. — Federal agents dressed in camouflage and tactical gear 
have taken to the streets of Portland in unmarked vans, seizing and 
detaining protesters and unleashing tear gas in what Gov. Kate Brown of 
Oregon has called “a blatant abuse of power.”
Since their arrival with the goal of tamping down persistent unrest, 
federal officers have shot one protester in the head with an apparent 
impact munition, leaving the man with severe head injuries and producing 
the image of blood dripping on Portland’s streets.


One of the people detained, Mark Pettibone, said in an interview that an 
unmarked vehicle stopped right in front of him around 2 a.m. on 
Wednesday and four people in camouflage jumped out. Given the lack of 
markings or identification, he had no idea who they were.


“One of the officers said, ‘It’s OK, it’s OK,’ and just grabbed me and 
threw me into the van. Another officer pulled my beanie down, so I 
couldn’t see,” Mr. Pettibone said.


Mr. Pettibone said he was terrified and that at no point was he told why 
he was arrested or detained, or what agency the officers were with. He 
said he was ultimately held for about two hours before being released.


On Thursday night and into Friday morning — the 50th straight day of 
demonstrations — a line of federal officers in gas masks walked down 
Portland’s Third Avenue. They filled downtown corridors with tear gas, 
which a federal judge has barred the Portland police from using except 
in the case of a safety risk, and they also shot less-lethal munitions, 
which left people limping in pain.


The aggressive federal posture has complicated the mission of the 
Department of Homeland Security, an agency that has spent much of its 
history focused on foreign terrorism threats and is supposed to build 
collaborative relationships with local law enforcement partners. And it 
raises questions of whether it is appropriate for federal authorities to 
take up the policing of an American city against the wishes of local 
leaders.


Mayor Ted Wheeler of Portland, who is also police commissioner, said the 
federal response was “irresponsible” and asked for those deployed to 
stay inside federal buildings or leave the city. The Multnomah County 
sheriff, Mike Reese, called the federal response a “significant setback” 
in efforts to calm tensions.


Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon called it a “blatant abuse of power by the 
federal government.”


But federal officials, starting with President Trump, have continued to 
stake a claim to the city’s law and order. The acting Homeland Security 
secretary, Chad Wolf, arrived in the city on Thursday, calling the 
protesters a “violent mob” of anarchists emboldened by a lack of local 
enforcement.


Portland’s protests began in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in 
Minneapolis, drawing thousands of people to the streets to denounce 
police violence and racial injustice. On some nights, protesters would 
blanket the Burnside Bridge, each laying face down on the pavement for 8 
minutes and 46 seconds in remembrance of Mr. Floyd.


Those mass demonstrations have waned, but hundreds have continued on, 
clashing with the police almost nightly. They have set off fireworks, 
lit fires and attempted to create an autonomous zone similar to one that 
existed up Interstate 5 in Seattle.


The persistent unrest has frustrated city leaders, including Mr. 
Wheeler, who has often been a target of the ire. Some Black leaders in 
the community have also expressed disappointment, suggesting that the 
predominantly white protest crowd was seizing an opportunity and 
detracting from the vital efforts needed to reform policing.


City leaders have tried a variety of tactics to calm the tensions. Mayor 
Wheeler has pleaded for calm. The city’s police chief resigned, to be 
replaced with Chuck Lovell, who is Black. City commissioners have moved 
to cut some $16 million from the police budget.


But the protests have continued.

Mr. Trump has taken aggressive posture against demonstrations, vowing at 
one point to “dominate” protesters and mobilize federal agencies to 
operate in cities. Mr. Trump said last week that he had sent Homeland 
Security personnel to Portland because “the locals couldn’t handle it.”


“It’s a pretty wild group, but you have it in very good control,” he 
told Mr. Wolf.


The next day, video appeared to show one protester, Donavan La Bella, 
holding a sign across the street from the federal courthouse being 
struck in the head by an impact munition, leading 

[Marxism] Fwd: Dark days

2020-07-17 Thread Andrew Stewart via Marxism
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Subject: Dark days
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[Marxism] [SUSPICIOUS MESSAGE] Adolph Reed Jr. And The Essence Of Class Essentialism: In Which We Essentially Examine This With Class - CounterPunch.org

2020-07-17 Thread Andrew Stewart via Marxism
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[Marxism] Thoughts on Bayard Rustin nostalgia | Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist

2020-07-17 Thread Louis Proyect via Marxism

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A Dustin Guastella article on Nonsite dated July 9th generated 
controversy because it opposed defunding the cops. Like Bernie Sanders, 
another opponent of defunding, Guastella proposed reforms that would 
satisfy everybody since they would lead to less crime. If there were 
massive increases in federal social spending, there would be more jobs 
and hence less desperation leading to crime. Such “class-based” measures 
might have made it possible for George Floyd to avoid being killed as 
Cedric Johnson argued in Jacobin: “His alleged use of counterfeit money 
reflects the criminally inadequate provision of income support.”


What caught my eye in Guastella’s article was his reference to Bayard 
Rustin, who warned about activists’ “psychic inability to fend off 
leftwing slogans which result in right-wing policy.” One of those 
slogans is defunding the cops. Since polls indicate that defunding is 
unpopular with Blacks and whites alike, we are cutting off support. Of 
course, black lives matter wasn’t very popular a few years ago as well. 
For Guastella, the need is to rebuild the alliance between the Black 
movement and labor of the early to mid-1960s when Rustin was a key 
organizer of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 
1963. This march concluded in a rally where Martin Luther King Jr. 
delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech. Just as importantly, 
Rustin helped pull together the conference that met in the fall to adopt 
a Freedom Budget. In many ways, the Freedom Budget was the Green New 
Deal of its day. Just as the Green New Deal would abolish climate 
change, so would the Freedom Budget abolish poverty—both Black and 
white. To move forward with such ambitious projects, it was necessary to 
elect politicians who understood their needs.


full: 
https://louisproyect.org/2020/07/17/thoughts-on-bayard-rustin-nostalgia/


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[Marxism] Oregon Public Broadcasting: Federal Law Enforcement Use Unmarked Vehicles To Grab Protesters Off Portland Streets

2020-07-17 Thread Alan Ginsberg via Marxism
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Very scary

https://www.opb.org/news/article/federal-law-enforcement-unmarked-vehicles-portland-protesters/
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[Marxism] Green New Deal(s): A Resource List for Political Ecologists – Undisciplined Environments

2020-07-17 Thread Louis Proyect via Marxism

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https://undisciplinedenvironments.org/2020/07/16/green-new-deals-a-resource-list-for-political-ecologists/

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[Marxism] Brace yourself for the latest COVID-19 predictions: You’re not going to like them – Alternet.org

2020-07-17 Thread Louis Proyect via Marxism

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On Wednesday evening, county commissioners in Provo, Utah convened a 
meeting for the purposes of discussing a proposed mandate to wear a face 
mask when schools convene in the fall. That meeting ended up being 
almost immediately adjourned because more than 100 non-mask-wearing 
people crammed into the small meeting room, refusing to keep their 
distance from each other or commissioners. Even more people turned up 
for an anti-mask rally before the meeting. Comments from those who came 
to give the commissioners a face full of unfiltered breath included 
statements that wearing a mask would “break the mind” of children, 
claims that allowing kids to play in the dirt would boost their immune 
systems to fight off the disease, and at least one claim that “COVID is 
a hoax. It’s a lie. It’s a political stunt.”


https://www.alternet.org/2020/07/brace-yourself-for-the-latest-covid-19-predictions-youre-not-going-to-like-them/

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[Marxism] Test

2020-07-17 Thread Hans G Ehrbar via Marxism
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Please ignore.
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