February 26, 2016
Dayum!!!!! I'm a Tulsa expat, and I didn't know about the Woody Guthrie Museum. I guess it was built after I left.
This Land is Your Land
Bernie Sanders arrived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Wednesday and made an impromptu stop at The Woody Guthrie Center, a museum dedicated to the life and legacy of American folk musician and singer-songwriter
Woody Guthrie is one of the greatest musicians and songwriters in American history, Sanders said after touring the museum and archives. His songs spoke to the reality of working-class people and it is incredible how much his music lives on in this country and throughout the world. In fact, on a number of occasions we have used his iconic song This Land is Your Land as part of our campaign. I was excited to see this beautiful museum dedicated to a man who was raised in Oklahoma.
Oh, God! Do I love this image:
February 21, 2016
Donald Trump just keeps going lower and lower. Now, he's quoting an incident which apparently didn't happen as an example of how to deal with Muslim extremists:
In a bizarre 11th hour demand for attention before the crucial South Carolina presidential primaries, Republican front-runner Donald Trump attempted to proverbially jump the political shark for the umpteenth time, citing a horrifying hoax chain email myth as an apparent national security policy while doubling down on his support for reinstating the illegal torture program.
Trump regaled his audience with the tall tale of U.S. General John Joseph Black Jack Pershing, who served in Americas turn-of-the-century colonial wars in the Philippines and in particular, the repression of the Moro Rebellion by ethnic Filipino Muslims. He was a rough guy! said Trump, before telling the audience that:
He caught 50 terrorists who did tremendous damage
and he took the 50 terrorists and he took 50 men and dipped 50 bullets in pigs blood. You heard about that? He took 50 bullets and dipped them in pigs blood [which is considered haram]. And he has his men load up their rifles and he lined up the 50 people and they shot 49 of those people. And the 50th person, he said, you go back to your people and you tell them what happened. And for 25 years there wasnt a problem.
There are so many problems with this statement its hard to know where to begin. Firstly, they werent terrorists, the Moro were fighting for their independence against a colonial power who had won the islands as part of a settlement from a separate war. Secondly, the whole story is an utter myth that was widely circulated among the inboxes of terrified conservatives after the September 11th terrorist attacks but has been discounted as a ridiculous legend by
fact-checking website Snopes. Thirdly, a cursory look at a history book will tell you that far from 25 years of peace, the Moro Rebellion continued until the outbreak of the Second World War, when the islands were seized by Japan.
At the Nuremberg trials, murder of prisoners of war was labeled a
War Crime.
The constant right-wing dehumanization of Muslims is as appalling as it is short-sighted. The terrorist has become less than sub-human for the racial and religious supremacists in the Republican Party, an existential boogeyman that does nothing but plot against the United States, jealous of our freedoms and our prosperity. Trump and his cronies only see the people of the Middle East as tools to be exploited or vermin to be extinguished; they refuse to acknowledge our own role in provoking these conflicts and how much ignorant and hateful statements by our politicians exacerbate the divide and put our nation in further danger.
For those with strong stomachs, there's a video of Trump's horrible diatribe.
Read more:
http://www.occupydemocrats.com/2016/02/20/trump-we-should-kill-muslims-with-bullets-dipped-in-pigs-blood-video/