Rep. Jared Golden Steps In An Enormous Pile Of BS On Twitter

My representative, Jared Golden of Maine's 2nd District (we only have two) is pictured here with two of the other three members of our congressional delegation plus their party leader President Biden. (Senator Susan Collins is missing.) Collectively these people have sent $160 Billion to Ukraine.

Here's what he posted to Twitter yesterday, getting thoroughly roasted by his own party. It appears to be in response to this follow-the-money article: "Golden's Blue Dogs Get Money From Sallie Mae After Opposing Student Debt Relief" by Dan Neumann in the Maine Beacon.

The ratio on this (negative comments vs. supportive comments) was enormous. It sounds ignorant enough for me to believe that Golden actually wrote it himself, but such tasks are usually done by comms staffers.

Let's break down his arguments.

The phrase "radical leftist elites" caused equal parts of hilarity and pushback. In Maine??? Super old, super white, and, in the district he represents, super conservative demographics. Some comments waded into the oxymoron of "leftist elites" but I'm going to give Golden a pass on this one because of years of corporate media claiming that people like him and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-CD1) are "leftist" have deliberately confused many about the meaning of that word.

I am an actual leftist, and I don't believe in elites. Mostly because this is the kind of garbage government they produce.

Next point: "silence and destroy anyone who disagrees with your views and goals." This one is highly ironic coming from a person who takes big money from tech giants like Apple who are in the business of silencing dissenting speech at the behest of the federal government. But it's a dog whistle for his largely MAGA electorate.

He stands by his vote against a paltry $10k student loan forgiveness bill. It's not unusual for him to vote against the Democratic herd (unless it's on wars or military, that is). Maybe Golden plans to drop the D in 2024 and run as an "independent" since that's worked so well for Senator Angus King?

Here's where the comments really went nuts: "They [college loan recipients] were privileged to have the opportunity and many of them left college well-situated to make six figures for life."

 Bre Kidman, an attorney who doesn't live in Golden's district:

https://twitter.com/beekayesq/status/1692679705848111520

Okay here's where he really goes off the rails: "The Twitterati can keep bemoaning their privileged status and demanding handouts all they want..."

Some are opining that an intern wrote this but use of the absurd and laughable term Twitterati implies to me that an older conservative author was responsible. Also who "bemoans" their "privileged status"? 

The bemoaning I hear in Maine is from people living on the streets who've got nothing to eat, or are about to get evicted because their rent has skyrocketed, or can't believe their insanely high grocery bills. Or can't afford medical care they desperately need. (Golden abandoned his first campaign promise to support Medicare for All after taking money from the health "care" industry plus tech firms looking to expand into health "care".)

"...but as far as I'm concerned if they want free money for college, they can join the Marines like I, and so many others, have done in the past and many more will in the future." 

Now we arrive at the real point of this ungrammatical post (maybe he did write it himself): making college debt prohibitively high, with no escape route via bankruptcy, is a strategy to boost military recruitment. 

Was Golden supposed to say the quiet part out loud?

https://twitter.com/cokes311/status/1692610578139803660

In any case it's been an abject failure because currently only 9% of those in the right age band will even consider military enlistment, and the Pentagon is struggling to find enough recruits. Their own research found the reasons that so few want to follow Golden's example: they don't want to die or be injured, they don't want to leave friends and family, and they don't want to put their lives on hold (in that order).

Maybe the decades of U.S. wars where the only winners are the military-industrial complex are a factor? Either way, literate young people who qualify want nothing to do with the U.S. military.

Also, much of the pushback on this notion came from disabled Mainers.

https://twitter.com/tahjhebert/status/1692596498851131644

Meanwhile, over on reddit, even his fellow veterans weren't buying it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Maine/comments/15uto1q/jared_golden_twitter_statement_about_radical/

Finally, there was a lot of pushback on Golden voting to forgive PPP loans that corporate entities like (checks notes) the biggest law firm in Maine took out in 2020.

All in all, beating up on a generation shackled by predatory loans in an economy where most can't make a living wage, afford homeownership, or start a family is bully behavior. Way to punch down, forgetting (?) that you represent one of the lowest income areas in the nation. 

But not to worry, he's fundraising in the rich part of Maine.

https://twitter.com/CollinsWatch/status/1692646506103259203

Revolution Needed, So Our Corporate Overlords Are Fanning The Flames For Second Civil War

 One of President Obama's many rewards for enriching banksters at the taxpayers' expense was this summer "cottage" on Martha's Vineyard.

Why do we need a revolution, you say? 

In rough order of priority:

o Global climate crisis driven by capitalism is spiraling out of control and the window to walk us back from catastrophe is rapidly closing.

o Global pandemic has killed millions and appears headed to kill millions more with a system of medical apartheid and for-profit medicine in the U.S. and other non-socialist countries.

o Eviction crisis on top of already galloping homelessness not only creates trauma for millions but is a big factor in the spread of COVID.

o Military spending and weapons systems surging -- including building nuclear weapons, illegal under international law because they could easily end human life if used.

o Incarceration for profit in the U.S. and to impoverish and disenfranchise Black, indigenous, and people of color is growing worse and was already at crisis levels. Racist policing continues at crisis levels but is now more visible due to cell phone videos.

o Student debt continues to depress the prospects of entire generations.

o Minimum wage is now about 1/3 of what an actual living wage should be in 2021, especially because of rapid, ongoing inflation of the cost of housing.

o Child care and public education continue to be underfunded in the face of immense unmet needs.

How are our corporate overlords fanning the flames for a second Civil War?

Charlottesville, Virginia "Unite the Right" rally August, 2017 

In roughly chronological order:

o Propaganda rather than useful information sharing is the norm across the spectrum of corporate-owned "news" outlets, from Fox News to CNN. The steady erosion of reliability in sourcing information is the work of corporate media and corporate social media that censors on behalf of the ruling class.

Carlos Piccata, who says he is a combat vet, to the Shasta, CA county commission: “It’s not going to be peaceful much longer. We’re building, we’re organizing. You won’t stop us when the time comes. This is a warning for what’s coming. There’s a million people just like me.” pic.twitter.com/EF8fjqGb1z

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) August 14, 2021

o White supremacy is in a desperate fight to remain in control, and numerous militias and other types of organizations have responded to perceived and real threats including the removal of Confederate statues and flags. Also, attacks on Black Lives Matter protesters, including killing them by running them down with cars (a practice that a few states have legalized) and targeting them for assassination.

o Law enforcement complicit in white supremacist movement, and armed to the teeth with cast off military equipment shared by the Pentagon.

o Widespread misinformation about public health protocols including vaccines, masking, and distancing and robust media coverage of refuseniks.

o Absence of national leadership on ending the pandemic leaving states, towns, and school boards to fend for themselves in the face of angry mobs. We are entering the third school year in a row pitting neighbors against neighbors and parents against school administration.

What can we in the U.S. do to bring on revolution rather than a second civil war?

In no particular order:

o Don't fall for divisive tactics. For example, consider the possiblity that "Divided We Fall May Be COVID's Underlying Purpose."

o Look and listen beneath the surface of false dichotomies.

o Don't demonize each other just because we disagree. People with ideas that seem wrong and dangerous may have PTSD from traumas. They may be experiencing hunger, bankruptcy, or lack of medical care. They may only have access to really poor information or outright disinformation. Don't write human beings off even if you loathe their ideas. 

o Free your mind and the rest will follow. Do your own thinking, take in new information, and be willing to rethink your beliefs. Put another way, don't mistake narratives for truth. Even this one.

History Shows When Rich Get Richer, You Need A Reset Button

It's been interesting watching the decline of arguably the most racist, most violent society on the face of the planet. Interesting, and painful (cf "White on White Crime, And The Diseases Of Despair").

On the one hand you have elected officials falling all over themselves to give handouts to wealthy corporations, and on the other hand you have hard working young adults who fear they will never get out from under the burdens of their college debts. 

More than one thinker has posited that forgiving student loans would be not only humane but also an enormous boost to the economy.

Solvent 20 and 30-somethings could contemplate home ownership, or start a business.

Turns out this is not a particularly new idea.

New to me but probably not to many of my readers is the work of economic historian Michael Hudson. I read an interview with him on the subject of Bronze Age debt forgiveness that contained some of the most interesting Biblical exegesis I've yet encountered. Hudson sees this contested manuscript as being essentially a record of various debt forgiveness schemes in ancient times. And the struggle between the lords and the peons over the suspension of certain kinds of debts, especially unpaid taxes and agricultural liens.

Drawing of a farmer suicide in India published with the caption "Do you care for us?" krishidesh.com

The demise of small farmers by way of excessive debt, and its common consequence suicide, is a global problem. I no longer have it in me to be out after dark on a school night, but if I did I'd love to protest the appearance by World Bank CEO Kristina Georgieva this Sunday night at Colby College. Maybe some of the young farmers who are revitalizing Maine's local economy will show up and picket. Naw, they're up at dawn too, and this is a very busy time of year for them. They really could not be working any harder than they already do.

But the corporate media, owned and operated by the very wealthy, will continue spreading the lie that poor people could become solvent by becoming more virtuous: diligent, thrifty, self-disciplined. It's their own fault they're sick but have no health insurance, broke but have no savings account, homeless and hungry. They should pull themselves up by their bootstraps, right?


Blaming poor people for being poor makes for effective propaganda but bad economic policy.

According to Hudson, ancient rulers would forgive the debts owed to the regime as each ascended to the throne. Business debts weren't cancelled, but unpaid bills and taxes were. The rulers did this, not out of compassion, but for a pragmatic reason: debt-burdened peasants weren't free to labor (for free) on royal fields or to go into the military. Hudson sees Jesus of Nazareth as a rabbi in the tradition of rebellion against the Roman empire's abandonment of debt Jubilees. Hudson describes how their predecessors the Spartans collapsed their economy with similarly wrong-headed policies on debt.

He may be wrong, and I don't know enough to dispute his claims. But it seems clear to me that the poor people around me keep getting poorer while the rich keep getting richer. And that this is has been a problem in many of the societies I've learned about being a student of history these many decades.

The U.S. empire has a hard time finding enough soldiers to carry out its wars for resources and colonies. The last draft was a disaster in terms of eroding public support for the military, and the all volunteer scheme struggles along. Some theorize that the reason post secondary education is kept out of reach except for the wealthy in the 21st century is that the number one motivator cited for enlistment in the military: pay for college.

Source: Occupy Wall Street

Ironically, student debt is now dragging the whole economy down. Hudson argues that we have never recovered from the crash of 2008, when banks got bailed out and the rest of us got sold out. Debt forgiveness could be a path forward.

"Free College Would Absolutely Crush Military Recruitment" -- David Swanson

So Bernie has thrashed Hillary in the New Hampshire primary, except among the very rich and/or very old. This is being seen as a triumph of hope and the desire of the Democratic Party electorate to get fooled yet again. 

One of Bernie's most alluring promises is that of free college education, like all the other wealthy countries have. Because entire generations are being shackled to crippling debt in a job-scarce economy that's teetering on the brink of collapse yet again. 

And, as Student Debt Crisis tweeted a couple of days ago:

Today, a student would need to work 991 hours for 1 year of #tuition. pic.twitter.com/IFgTKFGLQG

— StudentDebtCrisis (@DebtCrisisOrg) February 9, 2016

But as blogger and antiwar organizer David Swanson pointed out in a recent post How to Counter Recruitment and De-Militarize Schools, "Senator Bernie Sanders refuses to say he would pay for any of his plans by cutting the military." 

And the Pentagon budget is the trillion dollar elephant in all of our rooms.

Swanson's most interesting observation in his piece on the military presence in your public schools was this: "Free college would absolutely crush military recruitment." He's basing his claim on the most oft-repeated reason that young people enlist. Young people from predominately low-income families in economically depressed areas are the targets of the economic draft that replaced the wildly unpopular universal conscription.

How do recruiters with an already gargantuan budget use your public school resources to carry their message forward? Let Swanson count the ways:

U.S. military recruiters are teaching in public school classrooms, making presentations at school career days, coordinating with JROTC units in high schools and middle schools, volunteering as sports coaches and tutors and lunch buddies in high, middle, and elementary schools, showing up in humvees with $9,000 stereos, bringing fifth-graders to military bases for hands-on science instruction, and generally pursuing what they call "total market penetration" and "school ownership."

Even more shocking was news last week from Sarah Grey writing in Truthout that Kindergarteners are being subjected to military recruitment by their teachers, in their classrooms. 

Veteran's Day was morphed from Armistice Day, which celebrated the end of the industrial strength bloodbath of WWI, to the public relations opportunity for the Pentagon that is celebrated today. School children spend hours studying who to thank while never being taught about the high suicide rate of veterans (nearly one an hour), or the PTSD, the nightmares and chronic health problems that plague so many. 

Here's a bulletin board put up for Kindergarteners last Veteran's Day. See if you can find the unconstitutional claim:

I'll leave veteran Will Hopkins, director of Peace Action New Hampshire, with the last word here.