APHORISM: “On Veterans Day” / Madison S. Hughes ☮

By Madison S. Hughes (11.11.2011, revised 11.10.2013)

Veterans Day, like many if not most American holidays, is a paradoxical celebration at best, a fraud at worst, and intentionally so. Be it known to those who have not “served” in the military, that military personnel are not the heroes the media, and politicians make us out to be. We are simply economic conscripts trying to survive in an oligarchy of which most of us do not realize we are of part.

So, as one celebrates this Veterans Day, think less about the veterans themselves, and more about why we as country continue to have such an unquestioning demand for their inhumane services. For example, one may reflect upon the huge, tax evading, profit driven multinational corporations run by an oligarchy that rules the country that many mistake for a democracy.

POLITICAL COMMENTARY: “Who Should Lead the DNC Now?” / The Young Turks / Cenk Uygur ☮

The DNC is an abject failure in every way and needs a complete overhaul. Many progressives, including Bernie Sanders, want Rep. Keith Ellison to lead it going forward. Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, breaks it down.

POLITICAL COMMENTARY: “Racists Emboldened by Trump Victory” / The Young Turks / Cenk Uygur, and John Iadarola ☮

The racists are coming out of the woodwork. Cenk Uygur and John Iadarola, hosts of The Young Turks, break it down.

“Students at a western New York college are alarmed after they found a black doll hung in effigy on campus — and they wondered whether racial harassment will grow worse with the election of Donald Trump.

The doll hanging from a noose was discovered Wednesday in an elevator at Canisius College in Buffalo, where the student government has promised to address the incident, reported WKBW-TV.

A black student-athlete told the TV station he was considering leaving the campus, saying he’d experienced similar racist bullying since enrolling at Canisius, where 71.9 percent of students are white and 6.9 percent are black.”

POLITICAL COMMENTARY: “Chris Hedges: Trump Will Crush Dissent With Even Greater Violence and Savagery” / The Real News / Sharmini Peries ☮

The tools of state repression that will end up in the hands of a Trump administration were built by both Republicans and Democrats, says the Pulitzer prize-winning journalist.

POLITICAL COMMENTARY: ” The Blame Game Begins, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz Goes First” / Ring of Fire / Farron Cousins ☮

The Democrats put up a terribly flawed candidate instead of a true Progressive, and they were destroyed in the general election. There’s plenty of blame to go around, but Debbie Wasserman Schultz deserves most of it. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.

POLITICAL COMMENTARY: “No, Rachel Maddow, Third Party Voters Didn’t Cost Hillary the White House” / Ring of Fire / Farron Cousins ☮

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said that third party voters not only “don’t care who becomes president,” but that they cost Hillary Clinton the White House. But the numbers simply don’t add up, and Maddow is angry at the wrong group of people.