Critical Hour Discussion of Trump and Coronavirus Discourse (4/24/2020)

Iran Launches Military Satellite, Was Prepared to Hit US Targets in January

On this episode of The Critical Hour, Dr. Wilmer Leon is joined by Caleb Maupin, journalist and political analyst who focuses his coverage on US foreign policy and the global system of monopoly capitalism and imperialism.

It's Friday: that means it's panel time!

"After a presentation Thursday that touched on the disinfectants that can kill the novel coronavirus on surfaces and in the air, President Trump pondered whether those chemicals could be used to fight the virus inside the human body," the Washington Post reported Friday. “'I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute,' Trump said during Thursday's coronavirus press briefing. 'And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets inside the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.'” I would be laughing about this, but I am concerned that someone will hear that question and think it’s okay to drink Lysol or bleach or some other disinfectant. It is not. Do not. That is ridiculous and dangerous, if not deadly.

Loud & Clear DIscussion of Diversionary Personalization of Coronavirus Debate (4/22/2020)

Beyond Republican vs. Democrat: The need for systemic change in U.S. healthcare

The U.S. government at all levels is consumed by infighting over how to respond to the Coronavirus pandemic. A right wing mobilization supported by President Trump is demanding that the economy reopen against the guidance of public health experts, but is the Democratic Party’s single-minded focus on the personality of Donald Trump drawing attention away from the systemic changes needed to save lives? Jim Kavanagh, the editor of thepolemicist.net, whose latest article in The Polemicist and forthcoming on CounterPunch is “Joe or No,” joins the show.

Listen to "Beyond Republican vs. Democrat: The need for systemic change in U.S. healthcare" on Spreaker.

Loud & Clear is a daily program of news, commentary, and political analysis on Radio Sputnik, hosted by Brian Becker and John Kiriakou, featuring independent experts, activists, and political writers. (Introduction above is theirs, with related articles of mine referenced in brackets.)

Joe or No?

Elise Amendola / AP

Here we go again. Now that Bernie Sanders has completed his predictable circuit of loss and capitulation, leftists—those who stand for socialist and anti-imperialist, or even serious social-democratic and antiwar, politics—again confront the quadrennial quandary: Must one vote for the thoroughly neo-liberal and imperialist Democratic presidential nominee?

“The lesser evil is still evil.” “Don’t make the perfect the enemy of the good.” “Trump!“ The Supreme Court!”  ‘Round and ‘round we go. It is a frustrating, enervating, and, in the U.S. electoral duopoly, inescapable ritual.

Not just because Bernie—and, more importantly, Bernie’s agenda—is out of the picture, but because of the way he was taken out of the picture by the Democrats, the situation of extraordinary crisis in which it happened, and the horrible-on-every-level leading man the party settled on, 2020 has given us a gloriously clear version of a Hobson’s choice.

I won’t be voting for Joe Biden. Here’s why, and here’s what I make of the arguments why I should vote Biden no matter what, a corollary of Vote Blue No Matter Who (VBNMW).

What's Next for the Left? Interview with Charles Dunaway on Wider View Radio (4/18/2020)

What's next for the Left?

April 18, 2020

Half an hour of wide-ranging discussion with Charles Dunaway on his Wider View Radio Podcast about the reaction of the left to the end of the Bernie Sanders campaign and what options are left open for real change in the United States.

Mass Action Livestream (4/13//2020) Jails, Racism & Coronavirus; Bernie's Out, What Now?

Mass Action Livestream Forum: 
Jails, Racism & Coronavirus; Bernie's Out, What Now?; Venezuela Resists Imperialism and Coronavirus

Speakers
Lashawn Yvonne Littrice, BLM Women of Faith
Jesus Rodriguez Espinoza, Orinoco Tribune
Jim Kavanagh, The Polemicist
John Beacham, MASS ACTION
April 13, 2020

Critical Hour Discussion of Trump's Call for Payroll Tax Cut (4/8/2020)

The Bernie Train Stops, but Will the Senator Continue to Fight From Outside?

US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced Wednesday that he is dropping out of the Democratic race for the White House, following weeks of pursuing an increasingly unlikely path to defeating the moderate front-runner for the nomination, former US Vice President Joe Biden, in a race now overcome by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. What will be the impact of this on the race going forward? Also, will what took place in Wisconsin this week be the start of the 2020 election wars?

"President Donald Trump on Tuesday once again voiced his support for slashing the payroll tax — the primary funding mechanism for Social Security and Medicare — and said he would be calling for such a cut even if the US were not currently in the midst of a nationwide public health and economic emergency," Common Dreams reported Wednesday. Is this "code for gutting Social Security's dedicated funding," as progressive organization Social Security Works called it?
[Related articles: “Taxpayer Money” Threatens Medicare-for-All (And Every Other Social Program), Behind the Money Curtain: A Left Take on Taxes, Spending, and Modern Monetary Theory]

Loud & Clear DIscussion of Coronavirus in NYC and Wisconsin Elections (4/7/2020)

New York enduring hundreds of Coronavirus deaths per day

New York remains the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, with more than 130,000 confirmed cases in the state and more than 3,000 people dead there. But the disease is just now showing signs of leveling off. Are the lockdown and social distancing finally working? Brian and John speak with Jim Kavanagh, the editor of thepolemicist.net.

Listen to "New York enduring hundreds of Coronavirus deaths per day" on Spreaker.

Loud & Clear is a daily program of news, commentary, and political analysis on Radio Sputnik, hosted by Brian Becker and John Kiriakou, featuring independent experts, activists, and political writers. (Introduction above is theirs, with related articles of mine referenced in brackets.)

Loud & Clear Discussion After Mini-Super Tueday (3/18/2020)

Biden wins latest primaries as Ohio cancels vote over pandemic

Joe Biden swept yesterday’s races in Florida, Illinois, and Arizona, putting himself over 1,000 delegates. Biden won 62 percent in Florida and 59 percent in Illinois, and he beat Bernie Sanders in Arizona by 12 percentage points. The Sanders campaign now must win 60 percent of all remaining delegates to win the nomination. Meanwhile, Congressman Daniel Lipinski, one of the few remaining anti-abortion Democrats in the House, lost his primary race to a political upstart endorsed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Jim Kavanagh, the editor of thepolemicist.net, joins the show.

Listen to "Biden wins latest primaries as Ohio cancels vote over pandemic" on Spreaker.

Loud & Clear is a daily program of news, commentary, and political analysis on Radio Sputnik, hosted by Brian Becker and John Kiriakou, featuring independent experts, activists, and political writers. (Introduction above is theirs, with related articles of mine referenced in brackets.)