By Any Means Necessary Discussion of So. Carolina Debate (2/26/2020)

Establishment Dems Compete to Pander, Red-Bait Their Way to Nomination

On this episode of "By Any Means Necessary" hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Jim Kavanagh to talk about the latest debate in South Carolina, why Bloomberg may have too much political baggage for the Democratic establishment to give him the nomination at a brokered convention, how Elizabeth Warren may be portraying herself as the 'electable Bernie' to position herself to steal the show, which of the candidates truly believe what they're saying and which are in a constant state of 'triangulation,' what Pete Buttigieg's rejection of the "revolutionary politics of the '60s" reveals about his willingness to denigrate the civil rights movement, and how the generational gap among the Black constituency in South Carolina could shape the outcome of the primary there.
[Reblated article: Bloomberg's Game, The Party’s Over: Bernie’s Last Dance With The Dems]

In the second segment, Jacquie and Sean are joined by Taylor Hudak, a journalist, activist, and co-founder of Action 4 Assange, to talk about the latest in the UK extradition trial of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, the revelation that Assange was offered a pardon if he would provide the source of the DNC leaks and refused, how the myth that Wikileaks endangered American lives was exposed as fraudulent in today's court proceedings, whether Assange's defense will be able to convince the court that his trial is political in nature, and why his extradition to eastern Virginia would almost certainly mean life in prison for the journalist.

In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Brian Concannon, a human rights lawyer and executive director of Project Blueprint, to talk about his latest article in Salon, "It’s Time for Candidates to Address the Bipartisan Root Causes of Our Immigration Crisis," why U.S. foreign policy is ultimately responsible for the economic devastation which pushes Central Americans and Mexicans to migrate, how climate change continues to exacerbate the conditions causing immigration, why so many U.S.-backed coups throughout Latin America seem to operate according to the same playbook, what the interrogation of Bernie Sanders for his support for Cuban literacy initiatives (and subsequent refusal to question any other candidates' support for Saudi Arabia) says about the state of public discourse, how the ruling class works to reduce cost by suppressing wages not just here in the U.S. but all across the world, and whether Bolivian Pres. Evo Morales' support for unions factored into the U.S. government's decision to immediately recognize the military regime which overthrew him.

Later in the show, Jacquie and Sean are joined by Mondale Robinson, founder of the Black Male Voter Project, to talk about what differentiates the remaining contenders for the Democratic nomination, to what extent the divide between pro- and anti-establishment segments of the Black community is a generational issue, how the 'myth of time' has been used to perpetuate faith in the two-party system, what prompted last night's attempts by white candidates to pander to Black voters and why it seemed so patronizing, why conversations about the need to tweak the system tend to miss the forest for the trees, why marginalized communities experience the worst impacts of climate change, whether the disappearance of reparations from public discourse is linked to the disappearance of non-white candidates from the race, why the Democratic party elites might risk stealing the nomination from Sanders even if it means the destruction of the party, why so many working people seem to be falling for Mike Bloomberg's slick public relations campaign, whether Bacon's Rebellion in 1619 may provide some historical context for the cross-racial working-class movement arising alongside the Sanders campaign, what explains the resurgence of red-baiting in the past week, and why the fear of rebellion seems to undergird so much of resistance to the movement around Sanders.

[My segment starts at 10:30]
Listen to "Establishment Dems Compete to Pander, Red-Bait Their Way to Nomination" on Spreaker.

“By Any Means Necessary” on Radio Sputnik is hosted by Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman and aims to connect the political, social and economic movements shaping the world around us. With a sensibility informed by movements from Black Power to #BlackLivesMatter with a dash of Occupy, the show elevates the people and narratives that (while often ignored) are driving some of the most important changes in the world. Introduction above is theirs. Related articles of mine are in brackets.