Challenge the Establishment: right wing

Showing posts with label right wing. Show all posts

Saturday, November 13, 2010

An Invitation

My next GDAE Podcast episode, Number 37, starts as follows:

On the previous episode of GDAE Podcast (36) I re-visited my original motivation for people on the political left to reach out to principled people on the political right... a concern that extreme right wing demagogues are stirring up potential violence among uninformed people who are suffering real economic hard times. My "original" motivation was to promote relationships between genuine conservatives and progressives that could either prevent right-wing populism from growing ugly or at least be a mitigating force, a buffer, if society devolves further into darkness as some economists predict is a real possibility in the coming years.

My original motivation grew in early 2010 culminating in my March 31, 2010 Episode 29, which has become the first in a series. In less than 30-minutes, before the audio program shifts to some unusual music, I initiated an exploration that has held my attention for the past eight months and promises to maintain its hold on me for a while.

We could see the dot-com bubble-burst coming. We saw the Iraq war and security state coming after 9/11. We saw the housing and financial economic bubble-bursts coming. Now we can see the potential for the predictably destructive outcomes of right-wing demagoguery coming. This is my small attempt to do something about it, if only to raise awareness. You are invited to join me by listening to the initial Episode 29 and seeing where it leads.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

GDAE Podcast - Episode 36

October 31, 2010 - Released

Left / Right Populism - Part VII

Can genuine conservatives and progressives clean up our democratic institutions?

Motivation for Reaching out to the Political Right on Issues of Common Concern: Preventing the Drift toward "Barbarism".

Right-Wing TV/Radio Incitement: The case of Byron Williams who attempted to murder eleven people in San Francisco after listening to Glenn Beck and others.

Walden Bello: A historical perspective on the Drift toward "Barbarism" and its relation to the Movtiation to reach out to genuine conservatives.

2006 Conservative Essay: "Now Is the Time for a Left-Right Alliance: A rebel alliance already exists that could stop Bush administration attacks on the Constitution."

Prosecution of Bush Officials: Beating the drum with the help of revelations from WikiLeaks of US complicity with abuse and torture.

Iraqi Blogger Raed Jarrar: Personal experience with WikiLeaks revelations.

Start with Episode 29 for Full Series on Left/Right Populist Alliance
or
Start with Episode 30 for Quick 20-minute Kickoff

Play Episode 36 from this page:

Click to Download Episode 36.

Play Episode 35 from this page:

Click to Download Episode 35.

Listen to Part V in the series, Episode 34:

Listen to Part IV in the series, Episode 33:

Listen to Part III in the series, Episode 32:

Listen to Part II in the series, Episode 31:

Listen to Part I in the series, Episode 30, (20-minute abridged version):

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Power of Principled People on the Left and Right

I continue to explore a subject that is summed up in the question,

"Do populists on the left and right have enough in common that they could join together and challenge the status quo establishment?"

I'm not talking about political party "bi-partisianship" in Washington. I'm referring to activists who advance positive change on the basis of promoting principled values and not necessarily through party politics.

The notion of "principled" seems to be a core concept that helps define what I'm talking about above. When I say "principled" I mean that they have consistent political views. Their ideology is consistent. Because, when somebody espouses what is supposed to be a core value, like saying that "freedom means minimal government intrusion in our lives," but then turns around and supports capital punishment at the hands of the same bumbling, corrupt, excessive government they want to limit.... I see it as inconsistent at best and perhaps even hypocritical.... they certainly aren't principled in their political views, because they are flip-flopping on their principles.

Since I come at this subject from the Left, my perspective is to ask the question,

"Which people on the right could be partners with people on the left?"

and up crops the answer,

"principled people who share common concerns about abuse of power in our country. People who are concerned that our democratic ideals are being subverted."

More on this:

Examples of Left/Right Collaboration to Secure Power for the People

Friday, June 4, 2010

More on the Left & Right Joining Forces

The following are talking points that I recently used when calling in to the radio show "WakeUp AM" on Portsmouth, NH Community Radio.

Fostering people on the left and right to work together on common interests....

It's a strategy of recognizing the power in numbers that is within grasp of "principled" people on the Left and on the right to challenge the power of the minority establishment to bring about a more perfect democracy.

This is NOT about political party politics, creating a third party, or seeking more "bi-partisanship" in Washington, which we know is hopeless. This is about populist-level advocacy, a true grass-roots demand for the ideals of democracy, ideal that are common to principled people the left and the right.

Tea Party is generally NOT where you find these principled people; they too often follow the lead of corporate-funded groups like American for Prosperity. They too often parrot the message of "government is bad," rather than the message of "Make the 'government of the people' work FOR the people" and not for the get-rich-quick crowd of Wall Street, and so-called "corporate America," with their corporate headquarters located off-shore in the Bahamas showing no allegiance to the Country.

There are exceptions in the Tea Party, of course, like the woman interviewed at a tea party rally who said she feels the government should help the less fortunate and not to cut the salaries of teachers.

There is common ground on Important subjects like protection of our privacy and civil liberties in general, solving the "too big to fail" problem that leads to tax payer bailouts of banks and insurance corporations... concerns about the excessive power of the Federal Reserve and the fiat money banking system in general... concerns about politicians and regulatory agencies that are effectively controlled by lobbyists who steer policies and campaign money while making big bucks as Washington lobbyists.

We can cite real examples of this union between populist left & right working:

- the 2003 push back against the Federal Communications Commission, the FCC, attempting to allow more consolidation of media ownership among the monolithic corporations.

- the recent Senate unanimous vote for Bernie Sanders' amendment to audit the Federal Reserve Bank.

- And recently, on your last show, you mentioned the conservative bloggers, military guys I think, who are supporting the repeal of don't ask, don't tell policies regarding gays in the military.

So, this isn't simply strategic theory...

Thursday, July 30, 2009

GDAE Podcast - Episode 16

Episode 15 - June 17, 2009

Taliban & US Right Wing

Briefly, Health Care Reform: Time for us to Make Noise!
A tid bit on Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining
Who are the Taliban?
A Mid-East 101 by Chris Hedges
Sarah Palin's Future Plans: Will she help incite right-wing violence? (Re-visiting a theme of Episode 11)

Challenge the Establishment