I don’t see Israel mentioned anywhere in your article! What we have been witnessing in this nation for DECADES is a slow, steady coup by the obviously criminal Zionist state. JFK warned about it in the mid 50’s and was assassinated less than a decade later. Coincidence?
Now we have the deranged Agent Orange twisting himself into a hideous pretzel to follow Satanyahu’s bidding.
Dig a little deeper, Mr. Harwood. There are more dots to connect.
I’m not even sure if it’s worth correcting this narrative that Israel is “couping” the United States.
On the one hand, it’s obviously wrong. The Israel lobby is just one of the many ruling-class influences that control the US government, and they have their own imperialist ambitions. The US doesn’t need Israel to be violent criminals, it is a violent criminal state by default. Israel could disappear tomorrow and the US would still be making excuses to go to war in the Middle-East. It’d be replaced by a dozen US military bases and nothing would change.
On the other hand, I don’t think Americans will ever care enough to actually do anything about their government without some kind of victimhood narrative being attached to it, so maybe it’s worth it to just let it ride and pretend we’ve been “taken over.”
I don't think this is the case. There are echelons in difference in criminality between the US and Israel. That is perfectly demonstrated in their war on Iran. When the US murdered the children in Minab school, there was uproar and the army did not commit another crime on this level since. But in Israel, when such crimes happen, after the uproar, they do it again and again until it becomes normalized. The US never did a Gaza level destruction operation since world war two.
You are heavily overestimating the amount of Americans who cared about that Iranian school getting blown up. And you’re incorrect about the military not doing anything as bad afterward. Just one example would be bombing Tehran’s oil infrastructure, which filled the streets of a major population center with choking, carcinogenic smoke and caused it to literally rain fire. It is the largest civilian population to ever be the victim of a chemical weapon attack.
And no, in fact, the US has been destroying countries regularly since WW2. That has become so normalized you apparently don’t even know about it. They don’t usually do it by literally demolishing entire cities with bombs, but that’s not a virtue, it just doesn’t suit their desires. Gaza isn’t actually unique, except that they had phones to film the crimes on and Tiktok to post them to. The Vietnamese, the Iraqis, the Afghans, the Libyans, and so on and on and on, did not.
Bottom line is: I'm tired of watching our hard-earned tax dollars go to fund IsRaHell's ability to drop bunker-busting bombs on the homes (and even TENTS) of innocent civilians (all over the Middle East). Let's use the word "terrorist" accurately, shall we? I'm a "fighter" by nature, so resistance & activism are my happy place. If you (or anyone else reading this) are also tired of what our tax dollars fund, check out Taxpayers Against Genocide, a growing movement in the U.S.: taxpayersagainstgenocide.org
The only way you, as an American, could prevent your taxes from going towards the slaughter of innocent civilians is to entirely overthrow the government. Our whole economy is propped up on violence. Our wealth is all stolen. We’re rich because they’re poor, and they’re poor because we attack them and take their stuff. No electable candidates meaningfully oppose this status quo, because changing it would be bad for the average American and therefore unelectable. Israel could disappear tomorrow and you’d still be complicit in new crimes every day.
The US is the head of the snake. The US military is the most prolific “terrorist” organization on Earth. Israel is a particularly malignant tumor, but the US is the cancer.
Seems to me that the Democratic Party could morph into a democratic socialist party. Certainly Democratic Socialists have shown themselves to be popular of late. We need to
push out the corporate Dems and change the party. Much like MAGA overtook the Republican Party. The idea that a third party has a viable chance in the U.S. is kinda silly and we don’t have time to wait to grow it. Meaningful change will have to happen from within. That will come from the electorate demanding it. More Mamdani and less Schumer.
It’s working. My friend in NJ just sent me a fund raising letter she got from Cory Booker where he denies taking money from PACs or pro-Israel lobbyists. It took me 2 seconds to show her he was lying. She asked if she shouldn’t vote for him. I told to vote for him , but to also call him out on his bullshit-that it’s clear he understands it’s a problem and needs to know that constituents are watching him.
I'm sorry, I grew up there, and as a child went to Democratic events, attended local Democratic clubs, and saw what happened to the CDC in the 1960s when the mainstream of the party destroyed it. So for, me, its very hard to believe. Would you mind showing me some credible sources for this remarkable change in the Democratic Party in CA?
I'm speaking of Congressional reps Jared Huffman & Mike Thompson (particularly Huffman) who is now voting against sending arms to Israel. We worked hard for that change.
Definitely, there are individual representatives that may be susceptible to reason, or morality, but they are exceptions and do not represent the party leadership.
You can’t excuse the major role that the Democratic part of has played in empowering, and all too often agreeing with, both Donald Trump and the GOP. To pretend that the Republicans stand alone as responsible for this debacle only helps to ensure that the current Democratic leadership will never actually rise in true opposition to any of it. They remain far more intent on fighting members of their own party who try to do so.
The disaster we are in is bipartisan. Be honest about it or be useless.
You can’t do what you don’t try to do. And you can’t condemn what you endorse. So both parties bear responsibility and excusing one is excusing the result.
If you want better, you have to demand better. And saying “but they’re worse” is doing the opposite.
The same with ignoring how many voters are voting against the Democrats, and why.
The failure of the Democratic Party to actually oppose Trump and/or finally present the public with an alternative they can trust or support got us Trump both times. And responding to something that wasn’t even said (“they’re all alike”) won’t even win an argument. Noting that most voters dislike establishment Democrats even more than they dislike the Republicans is something else entirely. How about asking ’why?’ and then doing something about it instead of endorsing failure?
Everything that this Republican junta has done has been unconstitutional and thus illegal. For example, the entire DOGE debacle was illegal as according to Article II, Section 2 his authority over federal employees and departments is:
"he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices"
That's it! Therefore, the Republicans have chosen to replace our constitution with their unitary executive that they've been trying to do since Reagan's "line item veto" attempt. Everyone needs to READ Article II to see that the president is a weak executive, dependent on congress' approval for many actions, and thus why they should hang with Trump for this insurrection.
This is a comment typical of comfortable liberals in the USA. The blame and responsibility always lie with others. And they still cannot see how totally broken their entire system of government really is.
John, you are always worth reading, and I have read your words for decades. This particular piece is extraordinarily excellent, definitive and worthwhile. I thank you.
The Democratic Party is complicit. So called moderate Democrats do not offer an alternative to MAGA, America's current insanity will not subside until Progressives control the Democratic party.
The Uniparty has two names, finding fault with just one of the parts is meaningless. Listen to the comments the so-called opposition party is saying about the reported Iran ceasefire framework. They are outraged that the war might be stopped before destroying Iran. War on Iran is part of the Democrats DNA; and DNC. Zeteo is more and more a mouthpiece for the Democrats. It's getting harder to want to keep reading it, but there are some outstanding exceptions, so, for now...
John, I would not let the Democrats off the hook as well. He was empowered by both. Chuck is not better than the others in providing Trump with too much power. They did not fight back. They probably did not fight back properly because they fall inline when it is an issue for Israel.
The shortcomings of the Democratic Party were not trivial. Had they not had them, Trump would have lost the election obviously. That is clear but 'moderates' have suppressed studies showing that even internally. Jim Crow survived a century after Lincoln anyway, for decades slavery in all but name. That was due to both parties really to be fair. Including letting supremacists destroy and kill rather than allow local 'mixed' Government in North Carolina as late as 1898. Wilmington if you want to look it up John.
It was almost, at times as if the Democrats were giving it away. Including slow walking the only prosecution of Trump making any sense to most of the public, me included, that was for Jan 6.
They allowed welfare payments to lapse at times almost calculated to lose. Allowed The Supreme Court of the United States to veto several things and just 'rolled over' at every chance to 'reach across the aisle' and allowed procedure and hand shakes to rule them. Kamala, after a good start ignored Tim Walsh's effective and pointed rhetoric and totally dropped all progressive ideas actually DURING the campaign itself, after a late start. Looking like a weak vacillator in doing so and gaining nothing. Biden's problem was not his infirmity really either. Neither is Trump's. Both were clearly aging. Trump is probably bonkers I admit.
Sinema and Manchin were allowed, or able to sabotage the whole initial Build Back Better strategy really.
Basically we have a one party State with two wings. Indeed one has, even now, to vote for the least lunatic one. Close call especially given the unanimity regarding foreign policy regarding Israel. One hopes against hope that that might change.
I don’t see Israel mentioned anywhere in your article! What we have been witnessing in this nation for DECADES is a slow, steady coup by the obviously criminal Zionist state. JFK warned about it in the mid 50’s and was assassinated less than a decade later. Coincidence?
Now we have the deranged Agent Orange twisting himself into a hideous pretzel to follow Satanyahu’s bidding.
Dig a little deeper, Mr. Harwood. There are more dots to connect.
Great point.
I’m not even sure if it’s worth correcting this narrative that Israel is “couping” the United States.
On the one hand, it’s obviously wrong. The Israel lobby is just one of the many ruling-class influences that control the US government, and they have their own imperialist ambitions. The US doesn’t need Israel to be violent criminals, it is a violent criminal state by default. Israel could disappear tomorrow and the US would still be making excuses to go to war in the Middle-East. It’d be replaced by a dozen US military bases and nothing would change.
On the other hand, I don’t think Americans will ever care enough to actually do anything about their government without some kind of victimhood narrative being attached to it, so maybe it’s worth it to just let it ride and pretend we’ve been “taken over.”
I don't think this is the case. There are echelons in difference in criminality between the US and Israel. That is perfectly demonstrated in their war on Iran. When the US murdered the children in Minab school, there was uproar and the army did not commit another crime on this level since. But in Israel, when such crimes happen, after the uproar, they do it again and again until it becomes normalized. The US never did a Gaza level destruction operation since world war two.
You are heavily overestimating the amount of Americans who cared about that Iranian school getting blown up. And you’re incorrect about the military not doing anything as bad afterward. Just one example would be bombing Tehran’s oil infrastructure, which filled the streets of a major population center with choking, carcinogenic smoke and caused it to literally rain fire. It is the largest civilian population to ever be the victim of a chemical weapon attack.
And no, in fact, the US has been destroying countries regularly since WW2. That has become so normalized you apparently don’t even know about it. They don’t usually do it by literally demolishing entire cities with bombs, but that’s not a virtue, it just doesn’t suit their desires. Gaza isn’t actually unique, except that they had phones to film the crimes on and Tiktok to post them to. The Vietnamese, the Iraqis, the Afghans, the Libyans, and so on and on and on, did not.
Bottom line is: I'm tired of watching our hard-earned tax dollars go to fund IsRaHell's ability to drop bunker-busting bombs on the homes (and even TENTS) of innocent civilians (all over the Middle East). Let's use the word "terrorist" accurately, shall we? I'm a "fighter" by nature, so resistance & activism are my happy place. If you (or anyone else reading this) are also tired of what our tax dollars fund, check out Taxpayers Against Genocide, a growing movement in the U.S.: taxpayersagainstgenocide.org
The only way you, as an American, could prevent your taxes from going towards the slaughter of innocent civilians is to entirely overthrow the government. Our whole economy is propped up on violence. Our wealth is all stolen. We’re rich because they’re poor, and they’re poor because we attack them and take their stuff. No electable candidates meaningfully oppose this status quo, because changing it would be bad for the average American and therefore unelectable. Israel could disappear tomorrow and you’d still be complicit in new crimes every day.
The US is the head of the snake. The US military is the most prolific “terrorist” organization on Earth. Israel is a particularly malignant tumor, but the US is the cancer.
"Make Israel great again."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0u_BNPOsMw&t=3s
The GOP is empowering Netanyahu as well.
As are many Democrats… Chuck Schumer is a good example.
Seems to me that the Democratic Party could morph into a democratic socialist party. Certainly Democratic Socialists have shown themselves to be popular of late. We need to
push out the corporate Dems and change the party. Much like MAGA overtook the Republican Party. The idea that a third party has a viable chance in the U.S. is kinda silly and we don’t have time to wait to grow it. Meaningful change will have to happen from within. That will come from the electorate demanding it. More Mamdani and less Schumer.
It’s working. My friend in NJ just sent me a fund raising letter she got from Cory Booker where he denies taking money from PACs or pro-Israel lobbyists. It took me 2 seconds to show her he was lying. She asked if she shouldn’t vote for him. I told to vote for him , but to also call him out on his bullshit-that it’s clear he understands it’s a problem and needs to know that constituents are watching him.
Yea, we have called out our House Dem reps here (in CA) for years and they have finally "seen the light". . . it can be done!!
I'm sorry, I grew up there, and as a child went to Democratic events, attended local Democratic clubs, and saw what happened to the CDC in the 1960s when the mainstream of the party destroyed it. So for, me, its very hard to believe. Would you mind showing me some credible sources for this remarkable change in the Democratic Party in CA?
I'm speaking of Congressional reps Jared Huffman & Mike Thompson (particularly Huffman) who is now voting against sending arms to Israel. We worked hard for that change.
Definitely, there are individual representatives that may be susceptible to reason, or morality, but they are exceptions and do not represent the party leadership.
Certainly Newsom isn’t indicative of profound party change.
I'm not disputing that. AIPAC scourge. I'm and Independent Progressive.
Just comes to show us: most politicians are COWARDS!
You can’t excuse the major role that the Democratic part of has played in empowering, and all too often agreeing with, both Donald Trump and the GOP. To pretend that the Republicans stand alone as responsible for this debacle only helps to ensure that the current Democratic leadership will never actually rise in true opposition to any of it. They remain far more intent on fighting members of their own party who try to do so.
The disaster we are in is bipartisan. Be honest about it or be useless.
The difference is that Republicans could unilaterally stop this. Democrats can't, for now.
You can’t do what you don’t try to do. And you can’t condemn what you endorse. So both parties bear responsibility and excusing one is excusing the result.
If you want better, you have to demand better. And saying “but they’re worse” is doing the opposite.
The same with ignoring how many voters are voting against the Democrats, and why.
And saying they're all alike got us Donald Trump. Democrats need to change, GOP needs to be destroyed.
The failure of the Democratic Party to actually oppose Trump and/or finally present the public with an alternative they can trust or support got us Trump both times. And responding to something that wasn’t even said (“they’re all alike”) won’t even win an argument. Noting that most voters dislike establishment Democrats even more than they dislike the Republicans is something else entirely. How about asking ’why?’ and then doing something about it instead of endorsing failure?
And then blaming everyone else.
Everything that this Republican junta has done has been unconstitutional and thus illegal. For example, the entire DOGE debacle was illegal as according to Article II, Section 2 his authority over federal employees and departments is:
"he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices"
That's it! Therefore, the Republicans have chosen to replace our constitution with their unitary executive that they've been trying to do since Reagan's "line item veto" attempt. Everyone needs to READ Article II to see that the president is a weak executive, dependent on congress' approval for many actions, and thus why they should hang with Trump for this insurrection.
Elected Republicans must step up now, or be voted into political oblivion.
Over the decades, Republicans have gotten better and better at creating disasters.
This is a comment typical of comfortable liberals in the USA. The blame and responsibility always lie with others. And they still cannot see how totally broken their entire system of government really is.
John, you are always worth reading, and I have read your words for decades. This particular piece is extraordinarily excellent, definitive and worthwhile. I thank you.
Totally Republican made destruction of America on the world stage...and working on it domestically as well.
The Democratic Party is complicit. So called moderate Democrats do not offer an alternative to MAGA, America's current insanity will not subside until Progressives control the Democratic party.
The Uniparty has two names, finding fault with just one of the parts is meaningless. Listen to the comments the so-called opposition party is saying about the reported Iran ceasefire framework. They are outraged that the war might be stopped before destroying Iran. War on Iran is part of the Democrats DNA; and DNC. Zeteo is more and more a mouthpiece for the Democrats. It's getting harder to want to keep reading it, but there are some outstanding exceptions, so, for now...
GOP: Profiles in Cowardice.
John, I would not let the Democrats off the hook as well. He was empowered by both. Chuck is not better than the others in providing Trump with too much power. They did not fight back. They probably did not fight back properly because they fall inline when it is an issue for Israel.
Nah, this is a "capitalism" made disaster. Keep trying to squeeze this dying capitalist planet for the rich or figure out how to grow it for everyone.
The shortcomings of the Democratic Party were not trivial. Had they not had them, Trump would have lost the election obviously. That is clear but 'moderates' have suppressed studies showing that even internally. Jim Crow survived a century after Lincoln anyway, for decades slavery in all but name. That was due to both parties really to be fair. Including letting supremacists destroy and kill rather than allow local 'mixed' Government in North Carolina as late as 1898. Wilmington if you want to look it up John.
It was almost, at times as if the Democrats were giving it away. Including slow walking the only prosecution of Trump making any sense to most of the public, me included, that was for Jan 6.
They allowed welfare payments to lapse at times almost calculated to lose. Allowed The Supreme Court of the United States to veto several things and just 'rolled over' at every chance to 'reach across the aisle' and allowed procedure and hand shakes to rule them. Kamala, after a good start ignored Tim Walsh's effective and pointed rhetoric and totally dropped all progressive ideas actually DURING the campaign itself, after a late start. Looking like a weak vacillator in doing so and gaining nothing. Biden's problem was not his infirmity really either. Neither is Trump's. Both were clearly aging. Trump is probably bonkers I admit.
Sinema and Manchin were allowed, or able to sabotage the whole initial Build Back Better strategy really.
Basically we have a one party State with two wings. Indeed one has, even now, to vote for the least lunatic one. Close call especially given the unanimity regarding foreign policy regarding Israel. One hopes against hope that that might change.