by JEFFREY ST. CLAIR
“The politics of the lesser evil has always had a nasty tendency to hold to the great old evil and thus to prepare the way for even greater new evils.”
– Hannah Arendt
Day One
+ Quite a symbolic way to kick off the DNC convention: The DNC quietly excised a call to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies from its platform, saying including the language in the first place was an “error.”
+ This news was swiftly followed by an announcement that the Pipe Fitters Union was endorsing Biden, despite his pledge to stop the completion of the KXL Pipeline. Pretty sure the pipe fitters union knows something about Biden’s real intentions that the Sierra Club refuses to believe…
+ Last month, a new study found that flaring of natural gas wells, from the fracking operations Biden has vowed not to end, was directly linked to an increase in preterm births in South Texas. Pregnant Latina women were more likely than white women to give birth prematurely.
+ The backlash to Trump’s flirtation with pardoning Edward Snowden has been swift and rabid, with Democrats like Susan Rice leading the assault. There are certain people the State will never forgive and will persecute to their last days and beyond: Malcolm, the late Philip Agee, Daniel Ellsberg, Leonard Peltier, Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, among them.
+ What would a Democratic Convention be without an altercation involving Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was accused of shoving a high school student volunteer for her Democratic primary challenger Jen Perelman, outside of a polling place in Broward County.
+ It was revealed earlier today that Bernie Sanders’ personal favorite for Biden’s VP was … not Liz Warren. Not Barbara Lee. Not Karen Bass. Not But…Kamala Harris.
+ Michael Bloomberg dropped $18 million into the DNC’s coffers and was rewarded with a speaking slot, an echo of Ronald Reagan’s quip, “I’m paying for this microphone!”
+ In a bid to win the desperate housewives of suburbia, the opening night of the DNC Zoom Convention is being hosted by the people’s tribune… Eva Longoria, who could have held the entire event inside her $15 million Beverly Hills palazzo…
Counterpunch for more