Independent Progressive Media: Vital Resource for Dark Days Ahead

Revised 2/25/25 & pinned to the top of the blog. This Monday, January 20, will usher in what may prove to be America’s darkest period since the Civil War. We’ve known bad times before — the Depression, Vietnam War, and Watergate to name a few — but I don’t think the country has faced possible dissolution since the Civil War. I’m not suggesting the United …

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Eight Days… Then 4 Years

We are eight days away from the inauguration of the 47th President and the 1st Felon. I posted these comments on Facebook last week. 2025 promises to be a difficult and challenging year. Come January 20th, the government will be run by thugs, racists, and robber barons. Not altogether new, certainly, but more brazen this time around. Trump mainly wanted to stay out of jail. …

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Comment on The Closet is No Refuge by dillyd

… liked this!

Comment on The Election is Done. And so am I. by Bob Laycock

In reply to <a href="https://justsayinnow.com/2024/11/06/the-election-is-done-and-so-am-i/#comment-493">davidrichardrowlands</a>. They've raised the issue quite a few times more than two, but I haven't bothered to count. Regardless, the party as well as the Facebook socialists too often parrot right wing anti-trans tropes. Just one case in point, this from the June 12, 2023, <em>Militant</em>: “Teenagers in the throes of the sexual misery of adolescence are urged to undergo ‘gender reassignment’ surgery and hormone therapy.” No one is <em>urging</em> them to have hormone therapy or surgery, and certainly not against their will. This isn't as bad as Trump claiming little Johnny comes home one afternoon having had sex-reassignment surgery that day, but it's still a lie paraded as truth. I'll interject this last point about the <em>Militant</em> and truth. The September 16 issue this fall stated, “[There are] growing calls in the liberal press to scrap the Constitution altogether, along with its protections against government interference in political activity, including struggles of importance to the working class.” Sometimes I think the SWP is off its rocker. I listen to too much liberal media for my own good, and I can't think of a single instance — not one — where it's been advocated we should "scrap the Constitution altogether." Where did they come up this nonsense? It was Trump actually who "tweeted" in print on his Truth Social platform that the Constitution should be terminated. I guarantee there wasn't a peep of criticism from the party about that.

Comment on The Election is Done. And so am I. by Bob Laycock

In reply to <a href="https://justsayinnow.com/2024/11/06/the-election-is-done-and-so-am-i/#comment-496">davidrichardrowlands</a>. The <em>Militant</em> took a similar position more recently in the September 30 issue this Fall. They wrote: “Liberals are pushing amendments to 'enshrine' abortion in state constitutions in Arizona, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska and elsewhere in November. Their goal is to cut off the discussion and debate in the working class that is needed on this question in order to deepen support for the rights of women. They portray access to abortion as the main solution to the crisis facing women.” For the life of me I can’t figure out what discussion the party is insisting on and when they will consider it sufficiently done. What has to happen for the party to finally say, “Alright... NOW you can go ahead and protect abortion.”

Comment on The Election is Done. And so am I. by Bob Laycock

In reply to <a href="https://justsayinnow.com/2024/11/06/the-election-is-done-and-so-am-i/#comment-503">Bob Laycock</a>. https://youtu.be/XbriqWx0w7U?si=BeUT4pYOLUuHBxLY

Comment on The Election is Done. And so am I. by Bob Laycock

In reply to <a href="https://justsayinnow.com/2024/11/06/the-election-is-done-and-so-am-i/#comment-497">davidrichardrowlands</a>. I’ll note for the record that you gave the “Putin” comment a Like at the time. This exchange occurred in the course of a discussion after you had posted an article that I’ll simply call “anti-trans.” Without digging I don’t recall the item exactly. There was the usual conversation that wasn’t terribly sympathetic to trans people. Pretty much everyone was in agreement, just maybe debating nuances. I have doctor friends who work with transgender people and kids, and I suggested I would talk to them and share what they have to say on some of the points being made. I was accused of practicing confirmation bias like a Putin sycophant on Ukraine. To be precise and fair, I guess I wasn’t literally called a Putin sycophant in so many words, just thrown in with the same ilk. A distinction without a difference. Frankly, when it comes to confirmation bias I think my accusers themselves were the guilty ones. No one seemed to notice that I had read the anti-trans article and was commenting on it specifically. I see little evidence that any participants in these discussions have seriously listened to trans people to really hear and understand them, regardless whether they agree or not. And I’ll ask you: You’ve written about meeting trans kids through scouting. There might not have been much appropriate opportunity to do so, but by chance did you have any substantive conversation with these trans kids about their lives, their experience being trans, their challenges and issues? Did you ever watch the video I shared with you by email? (I’ll link it below in a follow-up reply momentarily.) I dropped out of that particular discussion but monitored it. Later someone asked where I was. Someone else answered saying I’d left because I couldn’t come up with anything to say to defend my position. Like she’d listen! If you’ve read my blog and other comments elsewhere, I freely acknowledge there are issues — some serious, like sports to name just one. My position has never been just anything goes. But on the other hand, with the socialists it’s “My way or the highway.” I find them rigid, judgmental, and frankly cruel. I don’t know their ages, but if they ever have a trans child that kid is in for a world of hurt.

Comment on The Election is Done. And so am I. by davidrichardrowlands

I also had a question about the "Putin" comments. I must've missed it when it originally appeared. what was the context?

Comment on The Election is Done. And so am I. by davidrichardrowlands

I agree the SWP's position on abortion rights needs to be fine-tuned in the way they explain it to the populace. I didn't agree with the Militant's article on Proposition 1, although I understand what they're trying to get at.

Comment on The Election is Done. And so am I. by Bob Laycock

In reply to <a href="https://justsayinnow.com/2024/11/06/the-election-is-done-and-so-am-i/#comment-491">davidrichardrowlands</a>. An article published in <em>Militant</em> issue dated November 14, 2022, stated, "They claim that the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade struck down a woman’s right to choose. But Dobbs didn’t ban a single abortion. In accordance with the U.S. Constitution, the high court turned the issue over to the people and their state representatives. It is in the interest of working people to oppose legislation by the courts, as was the case with Roe v. Wade." And yet, in that same article, the SWP urged a No vote to California's Proposition 1 ballot initiative that year, titled "Constitutional Right to Reproductive Freedom. Legislative Constitutional Amendment." The party claimed this ballot initiative "is an obstacle to this fight" ... "to advance the rights, interests, and fighting capacity of women and working people as a whole." Proposition 1 ultimately passed with 67% of the statewide vote. The ballot proposition amended California's state Constitution to guarantee the “fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.” Under the amendment, abortions would not be arbitrarily limited by state law to 24 weeks regardless of circumstances. The SWP's opposition was nonsensical. If the SWP believed that abortion rights and reproductive freedom should be turned over to the people, wouldn't Proposition 1 accomplish this? The party's opposition was based partly on the possibility the ballot initiative might lose. OK, so then what are the people and their state representatives supposed to do? There are no guarantees in life.

The Election is Done. And so am I.

The election is done. I have to admit that Trump’s victory blindsided me. I always knew he had a chance in the Electoral College, but as I write this he’s also winning the popular vote. Now we’ll see what happens. Trump seethes and oozes grievance. He resorts frequently to provocative and violent imagery. He’s threatened to prosecute all who oppose him, shut down media he …

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Stocks Soaring. Inflation Tamed. Unemployment Low. So Why Do Things Seem So Bad?

Trump paints a picture of America as a hellscape. He says we’re suffering the worst inflation in history. Illegal immigrants are either eating our pets, stealing our jobs, or invading our kitchens and slitting our throats. Meanwhile, Biden and Harris are boasting an economy that has rebounded from the depths of the worldwide pandemic and is thriving by every measure: Wow. That’s good stuff — …

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National Coming Out Day 2024

Today is National Coming Out Day — created in 1988 by Jean O’Leary and Dr. Robert Eichberg to celebrate the courage of coming out and to raise awareness of the LGBTQ+ community. It marked the first anniversary of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights held in Washington, DC, on October 11, 1987.  This is a sampling of Coming Out Day videos, …

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A Gift & A Nod from the Gods

Today is David’s and my 10th wedding anniversary. We married in a small, intimate ceremony in New York City’s Central Park. It was glorious! A beautiful event on a perfect sunny day in one of our favorite places on the planet. Check out the pictures and our story here. The wedding was the highlight of my life, but what followed a few years later is …

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Excerpts from Project 2025

Project 2025 is a proposed presidential transition project that is composed of four pillars: a policy guide for the next presidential administration; a LinkedIn-style database of personnel who could serve in the next administration; training for that pool of candidates dubbed the “Presidential Administration Academy;” and a playbook of actions to be taken within the first 180 days in office. It is led by two …

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On the Campus Protests Supporting Hamas

I’m a veteran of many protests and marches including a building occupation and summer-long encampment while a student at Kent State University. What we did then and what’s going on now are very different in important ways. We weren’t perfect by any means, but we were non-violent. We didn’t destroy property and we didn’t foment hate against any group. Very importantly, we knew history and …

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