Opinion

President Trump and two of his former officials (AT Jeff Session and senior advisor Jared Kushner) all lied under oath and get off scot-free. Meanwhile, it is public knowledge that many convicts in the US —and I'm not exaggerating—are innocent or receive unjust and harsh sentences. That makes a mockery of the US justice system. Having lived in the good old' USA for nearly half a century, I can tell you without a doubt that justice in America is not colorblind.

Let me explain why: 

* On October 19, 2022, a federal judge said that Trump lied under oath about voter fraud claims in the 2020 election. Add to that his involvement on Jan. 6 assault on the US Capitol was "a terror attack” that resulted in five people dead.

Lying under oath, know as perjury, can result in serious penalties, including fines and imprisonment for up to five years.

* On August 23, 2022, the FBI raided former president Trump's Florida home and discover more than 700 pages of stolen top-secret U.S. documents that were illegally stored.

President Donald Trump has announced that a massive new homeless shelter and soup kitchen will replace the East Wing of the White House, which he has demolished.

“This 90,000 square foot structure which I am building without any process or approval from the American people or Congress will stand as human history’s greatest single monument to kindness and charity. 

“This kingly project will certainly win me the Nobel Prize, whose proceeds I will donate toward the expense of housing and feeding hundreds of humans suffering under the weight of the billionaire bonanza that is my regime.”

Trump explains that “throughout history, great men like myself have devoted ourselves to empathy, compassion, kindness and charity.  

“Thus the re-made White House will cement my status as the best American Dictator ever.”

Trump says he and his fellow oligarchs promise (without putting up any actual collateral) to fund the structure, now projected to cost about one-third of a billion dollars, roughly what he’s suing the federal government for as compensation for his having been investigated for his 2021 attempt to seize the federal government.

This article firrst appeared on World Beyond War. 

For the last two years, my social media algorithm has been relentlessly dominated by Gaza, particularly by the voices of ordinary Gazans, displaying a blend of emotions that centers on two core principles: grief and defiance.

 Grief has characterized life in Gaza for many years, a consequence of successive Israeli wars, the unrelenting siege, and habitual bombardment. The last two years, marked by genocide and famine, however, have redefined that grief in a way almost incomprehensible to the Palestinians themselves.

Dr. Bob Fitrakis and Dan-o Dougan talk about how freedom is in peril and play some songs that celebrate freedom, from Free at Last by Sam Cooke to Freedom by Beyonce and many more!

Listen here

Listen live at 11pm Fridays, October 24 and 31 streaming at wgrn.org or on the radio at 91.9FM
and
Mondays at 2pm streaming October 27 and November 3 at wcrsfm.org or on the radio at 92.7 or 98.3FM

Yes, I admit that on Oct 21 I drove to the downtown Main Library for a debate with five of the six candidates for Columbus City Schools. And, no; I haven’t been this disappointed since seeing Star Wars ATTACK OF THE CLONES at the movies.

Like you, I also love the Columbus Dispatch.

Unfortunately, the questions that they chose for the candidates reminded me more of middle school student government. On behalf of Western Civilization, I beg forgiveness to the candidates who wasted their time.

Normally the phrase used is that there is an “Elephant in the Room,” but since half of the candidates have been “Officially Endorsed” by the Franklin County Democratic Party it has to be a donkey. Their three candidates represent the STATUS QUO of COLUMBUS; swimming in thousands of dollars in donations from big business and a guaranteed spot on the MAGICAL “Sample Ballot” that will be forced into your hands if you choose to vote.

The important questions that were IGNORED?

As much as conservatives have tried to make the rest of America believe they’ve shed their white supremacist bigoted spectacles, a group of Young Republican national leaders hoodwinked us once again.

On a local level, will Ohio State’s new “intellectual diversity center” – the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society – make its students and devoted alumni also one day look like absolute fools for supporting Thee?

Not in leaked texts mind you, but through veiled far right and pro-white tendencies. No doubt –  and this is for all left and left-leaning OSU alumni – your beloved alma mater is making a hard pivot to the right. Trump investigations, Ohio Senate Bill 1, the closing of all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) offices, and Anduril (killer robots) have laid the groundwork. But when it comes to actual boots-on-the-Oval, the Chase Center could become the command center as its first academic year began this semester.

Shouts and honking horns . . . and a country being born?

Hey, hey, ho, ho . . . I don’t know. it’s been four days ago, as I write, that the second No Kings rally was held across the country – across the world. I can still hear the blaring horns; they sounded like music. Something fused and bubbled in the blare, a sense of connection and shared values, that isn’t going away. That was the uniqueness of this rally, or so I hope and feel at some deep place in my heart.

I attended the rally, with my sister and two friends, in Appleton, Wisconsin, where I now live – one of about 2,700 such rallies across the country. The several thousand people packing the streets of downtown Appleton were part of the 7 million people throughout the country who felt called upon to – shall we say? – join the future. This is my takeaway. This is why I’m writing about the rally today. Yeah, it’s over. But it’s not “done.”

No faux king way!

As our we open GREEP #243, our Poet Laureate MIMI GERMAN celebrates the ability of America’s Air Traffic Controllers’ ability to shut the nation down.

Activist-advocate JAY PONTI introduces us to STOPTHECAMPS.COM to fight the Alligator Alcatraz/Auschwitz nightmare while arguing that the MAGA movement is not a monolith.

In the wake of NoKings 2.0, MARISOL BIELMAN reminds us that Albert Speer used Jewish slave warriors to build Hitler’s war machine.

After discussing Donald Trump’s AI insane images showing dropping feces on a reporter, the great PAUL NEWMAN calls the alarm on ES&S voting machines.

From Arizona, the great JOHN BRAKEY highlights his 3-year defiance in pursuing citizen demands for critical public voting records.

Our engineer STEVE CARUSO warns us that election theft cuts both ways as Hillary & Kamela both walked away from electoral integrity.

Co-Convenor MIKE HERSH introduces MAGA escapees ANDRA WATKINS and JENNIE GAGE who discuss their astounding backgrounds in Christian nationalism.

In case you have never heard the name "Valetina Gomez" before, she is a 26 y/o Columbian immigrant and a right-wing extremist Republican candidate for Secretary of State in Missouri who faced a resounding defeat in the primary election last year. One day after her brother's support for her campaign, he was fired from the office of New Jersey mayor.

She came to public attention when she burnt a copy of the Qur'an during her election campaign to attract media attention and generate votes. But the self-confessed “biggest bitch in America” uses the verbal equivalent of "shock and awe" against Muslims, Blacks, immigrants, and gay people to make a name for himself. 

Here are some samples of her recent obnoxious remarks:

* She recently burned a copy of the Qur'an.

* Muslims should never be able to hold public office in the US.

* Muslims want to kill every Jew, Christian, and Hindu.

* She cheers the slaughter of innocent children in Gaza. 

* She is banned on Instagram, Facebook, and Wikipedia due to her incendiary remarks and call for violence.