Curt Wechsler, The World Can't Wait: June 2018 Archives

It will take more than a "moderate" on the Supreme Court Bench to reverse the reactionary direction of American society under Donald Trump's authoritarian rule - not that such appointment is practicable. The ideological chemistry of the court will not change with Justice Kennedy's replacement; Trump's selection is expected to render dissenting opinion null and void. We can't rely on remedy from within the system that codified Islamophobia into law. 

The "good old days" of the Reagan administration that fostered a program of white supremacy, misogyny, and xenophobia were anything but; it was the court of public opinion that stymied some of the grossest threats to women's autonomy and gay rights. And we can learn much from civil disobedience tactics employed in the historic struggle for racial justice. But social advancements of the period prove tenuous at best.

Old forms of discrimination have been recast. Barack Obama's election was celebrated as a "triumph over race." President Trump's first Supreme Court appointee (Neil Gorsuch) wasted no time in challenging the benefits associated with same-sex marriage, and joined Justice Kennedy's recent ruling in favor of the Colorado baker who refused to create a wedding cake for a gay couple.

Families seeking asylum from the ravages of U.S. imperialism are torn asunder in the home of The New Colossus ("Give me your tired, your poor / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"). Asian Americans know instinctively what is at stake, says independent journalist Emil Guillermo, and how Trump's travel ban "went right to the core of the basic freedoms we hold dear in a democracy, like the freedom of speech and religion. The travel ban prejudges groups of innocent people from specific countries and makes them enemies of America.... It's the same way that America justified the incarceration of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II."

"Millions of us hate what is being done," writes Revolution Newspaper contributor Sunsara Taylor. "We must stop squandering our power, our voices, and our ability to change history - we must get out of our comfort zones, out of dead-ends of official politics, and into the streets." 

On July 7th: Join with Refuse Fascism, mobilize your organization or your friends and neighbors and take to the streets across the country to raise the demand:  This Nightmare Must End: The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go!

World Can't Wait is happy to forward an important endorsement of RefuseFascism.org by research scientist Curtis Johnson, who can't wait to drive out the Trump/Pence regime: 

"Time is short and fascism is gaining ground. Millions deeply hate what is going on. Many more could be swung to more active opposition if those who do recognize the dangers and refuse to accept them join with each other and generate a movement to force Trump and Pence from power."

Coming off the enthusiastic reception to the "In the Name of Humanity, We Refuse to Accept a Fascist America," message in the SF Pride Resistance Contingent yesterday,  we urge all of you to contribute to the campaign (Refuse Fascism) in the forefront of World Can't Wait's mission to Stop the Crimes of Your Government. 

Sign & spread the 2018 Call to Action from RefuseFascism.org and donate to fund this movement.

Join us for the Day of Action at West County Detention Facility, Tuesday June 26:

5555 Giant Hwy, Richmond. Action begins at 7:00AM. Vigil until 7:00PM. Press conference/rally at 12NOON with members of the Richmond City Council and representatives of local organizations.

Van shuttle from the Richmond BART Station (east side) begins at approximately 8:30AM and will continue throughout the day, twice an hour. Note that AC Transit #71 also runs from BART to the jail about every 30 minutes.

El Cerrito Shows Up to Abolish ICE - End Detention, Thursday June 28:

7000 El Cerrito Plaza, El Cerrito. Action starts at 6:00PM. 

BRING YOUR SIGN - BRING A NOISE MAKER - BRING A FRIEND
BE PART OF A HUMAN BILLBOARD ... BE PART OF HISTORY
We CAN abolish ICE! say organizers.

Be a part of Bay Area Sister Protests to the Families Belong Together March on Washington DC, Saturday June 30:

Multiple venues include Kids Standing Up for Kids! Rally in Oakland, Let Our People Go! in Richmond, and a Rally & March for Immigrant Rights in San Francisco. Refuse Fascism will participate in some or all of these protests. Help us plan for these events tomorrow, Tuesday June 26. Click on links for details.

We find ourselves in a moment ripe with potential to End the Nightmare of the Trump/Pence Regime; we must not dawdle with misapprehension of party agenda. "The Democrats -- who refuse to call out the fascist threat and mainly still advise people to channel their outrage into voting in the midterms -- have neither the will nor the audacity to lead people to stop the direction the U.S. is headed in," warns Johnson. "They are a ruling-class party more fearful of upheaval by millions of people than of fascism." Without "significant and massive mobilization in the streets, this regime would recoup and roll on."

"We Pledge that we will not stand aside while there is still a chance to stop a regime that imperils humanity and the earth itself," says RefuseFascism.org. "Join us. Let's stand together with conviction and courage, overcoming fear and uncertainty, to struggle with all we've got to demand: The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go." 

"I wanted my story to serve as a cautionary tale of what our country could devolve into if Mr. Trump's immigration policies were fully realized," comments Daniel Olivas.  "But now this is our reality: Sons and daughters are being ripped from their parents' arms -- in some cases, literally -- and detention centers are filled with frightened children. In immigrant communities, the fear is palpable, with parents asking themselves if they should risk taking their children to school, or going to work or reporting a crime, lest they become vulnerable to a sweep by immigration agents."

The President retreated, somewhat, from his "zero-tolerance" policy today due to mass public outrage over family separation blackmail to force funding for his Great Wall. "The thought that any state would seek to deter parents by inflicting such abuse on children is unconscionable," said a top UN human rights official. But Trump's executive order to end child kidnapping will do little to alleviate the terror of migrant familes over the last few weeks. Allowing children to suffer in their parents' arms is no antidote to the depraved indifference to human rights asylum seekers face. 

Disdain for human rights is one of the defining characteristics of fascist regimes. But human rights law alone is unlikely to protect democratic institutions from a fascist take-over, says Lecturer in Law Eva Nanopoulos; "we are far from immune from the atrocities of the early twentieth century." She urges the necessity to build alternative strategies of resistance. 

RefuseFascism.org  recognizes that the Trump/Pence Nightmare Must End and invites you to join with thousands of people who have left the confines of their comfort zones to stand together in an unprecedented, sustained resistance to a regime that imperils humanity and the earth itself.

In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE to Accept a Fascist America!

The rapidly growing number of children forcibly separated from their migrant families under U.S. "zero tolerance" border crossing policy includes 1,469 children imprisoned in an old Walmart outside of Brownsville, Texas. The Trump/Pence administration has begun moving them to a tent city in the desert outside El Paso.

Photo of first thing children see entering Casa Padre> 

Targeted kidnapping of children by state agents is nothing short of torture, with potentially long-term consequences. American Academy of Pediatrics president Colleen Kraft says the toxic stress of separation from trusted caregivers or parents inflicts serious damage to children, especially those under 5 years old, disrupting brain development and raising levels of flight-or-fight hormones, and increasing the potential for future health problems like chronic heart disease and substance abuse.

"Every great fascist catastrophe in history has seen a moment on the eve of the final calamity when it could have all been thwarted," writes Truthout columnist William Rivers Pitt. "This is that moment, right now, on Father's Day. Here, now, they must be stopped, or there will be no stopping them." 

Last week's unanimous vote against war with Iran was good news, largely ignored by the press. Many questioned the veracity of the story. It's up to us to substantiate Congressional admonition for peace with demonstrations of resistance to U.S. military intervention. Let's work to create the kind of political situation that forces an end to the Trump/Pence war on humanity. 

The House amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 (H.R. 5515) revokes statutory authorization to go to war with Iran, reports Truthout contributor Marjorie Cohn. Passage represents an important move by Congress to reassert its authority to declare war. But it fails to address War Powers Resolution loopholes contained in the 1973 Act; the president can still launch an attack under ambiguous circumstances: "a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces," or when there is "specific statutory authorization," like Trump's targeted killing rules for hunting suspected terrorists.

"Although the Ellison amendment states that no statute authorizes the use of U.S. armed forces in Iran, it does not prohibit the expenditure of money to attack Iran," adds Cohn. "Nor does it proscribe the use of sanctions against Iran (Journalist Fariba Pajooh testifies to the human cost here)."  We must remain vigilant against backdoors to war such policies provide, warns National Iranian American Council (NIAC) Action director Jamal Abdi. 

"This amendment sends a powerful message that the American people and Members of Congress do not want a war with Iran. Today, Congress acted to reclaim its authority over the use of military force," said amendment author Keith Ellison in a press release. Whether the message from American people gets heard depends on you.