Skip to content

Tag: Donald Trump

Life On The Precipice (Gonzo Notes)
The camera looks down a rocky precipice onto watery rapids far below. Sydney, Australia. February 27, 2002. (Flickr / AWiggert, CC NC ND license)
April 29, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

Life On The Precipice (Gonzo Notes)

Posted in Creative Commons, and Gonzo Notes

Here I am, writing to you from the edge. From many edges, really.

By the time you read this, I’ll have turned 39 years old. I’m on the edge of 40, on the edge, I guess, of middle age.

I recently found out that I have glaucoma in my right eye, meaning that I’ll spend the rest of my life on the verge of losing my vision, as long as the eyedrops keep working.

Right now, it also feels like the country and the world are on the precipice, too. The Oval Office is occupied by a giant crybaby seemingly intent on baiting foreign powers into nuclear war via Twitter.

Read moreLife On The Precipice (Gonzo Notes)
We Will Never Have A Legit Democracy Until We Change These 3 Things
The US Capital building at sunset, with the Ulysses Grant memorial in front. February 19, 2017. (Flickr / Craig Fildes CC NC ND license)
April 28, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

We Will Never Have A Legit Democracy Until We Change These 3 Things

Posted in Journalism, and Lee Camp

Decades of racist attacks on voting rights have given the far right a virtual stranglehold on American politics. (And this doesn’t mean the neoliberal left is blameless.)

Republicans control Congress, the Presidency, the majority of state legislatures, and the majority of state legislatures. You combine that with the fact that most Democrats only defend their corporate sugar daddies and the result is a heavily right-wing agenda sweeping America. Many are now looking to the mid-term elections in 2018 as an opportunity to turn things around.

Efforts such as Bernie Sanders’ “Unity Tour” are meant to lure voters back into the Democratic fold and also to the polls. They also hope to encourage new candidates to run for office. Unfortunately, they’re likely to fall far short of their goal, thanks to voter ID laws, gerrymandering of districts, and a system called Interstate Crosscheck, all blatantly racist moves by the GOP which purged millions of mostly minority voters from the rolls or otherwise kept them home on election day.

Read moreWe Will Never Have A Legit Democracy Until We Change These 3 Things
Fascism & The Harsh Lessons Of Failure (Gonzo Notes)
A protester dressed in a yellow raincoat holds a sign reading "Fascism is so 1930s." Protest against Trump travel ban, American embassy in London, February 4, 2017. (Flickr / Alisdare Hickson, CC SA license)
April 10, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

Fascism & The Harsh Lessons Of Failure (Gonzo Notes)

Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, and Gonzo Notes

I’m in a strange position this month as a gonzo journalist, because I can’t really write about the major action I attended last month.

The short version is that I attended a counterprotest against the Austin version of the national “March 4 Trump.” We were badly outnumbered, surrounded and attacked by fascist Trump supporters. I survived a serious assault and was hospitalized overnight. I now face a misdemeanor assault charge even though I was the victim, along with hospital bills, and this charge prevents me from writing much more.

Still, here’s the main lesson I learned — at least the one that’s safe to share:

We are not ready.

Read moreFascism & The Harsh Lessons Of Failure (Gonzo Notes)
The GOP Just Sold Your Internet Privacy To The Highest Bidder … Here’s How To Protect Yourself Online
A laptop, smartphone, pen and paper notebook sitting in a desk. (Morguefile)
March 30, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

The GOP Just Sold Your Internet Privacy To The Highest Bidder … Here’s How To Protect Yourself Online

Posted in Journalism, and Lee Camp

Republicans just voted to roll back FCC privacy protections that would have prevented your internet service provider from selling your private browsing history.

After passing the Senate earlier in the week, the House approved a measure on Tuesday which would allow broadband providers like AT&T, Spectrum or Comcast to sell your online data to marketers (as well as corporate and government spies).

The vote in both chambers was split along party lines, with the GOP voting in favor of selling your porn habits to just about anyone who cares to pay for them, including maybe future employers. Naturally, many of these legislators were also the recipient of large donations from the telecommunications industry.

Read moreThe GOP Just Sold Your Internet Privacy To The Highest Bidder … Here’s How To Protect Yourself Online
Capitalism’s Bad Seed: “Confronting Fascism” Urges Us To Re-Examine The Far Right’s Rise
Black Bloc activists and journalists in gas masks walk past a burning barricade in Rio de Janeiro. February 9, 2017. (Flickr / Mídia NINJA, CC SA license)
March 28, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

Capitalism’s Bad Seed: “Confronting Fascism” Urges Us To Re-Examine The Far Right’s Rise

Posted in Creative Commons, and Radical Media

“Fascism never appears in public as its secret parasitic self but alwais in some other grandioise guise.” — J. Sakai, “The Shock of Recognition” in “Confronting Fascism”

“Fascism” was the top word looked up last year in Merriam-Webster. The rise of Donald Trump and the violent, xenophobic nationalism he emboldens have provoked new fears among Americans, and among left-leaning white Americans in particular, many of whom are experiencing real anxiety about the direction of our country’s politics for the first time. One issue is simply definitional, with pundits and political analysts across the political spectrum seemingly unable to agree on what fascism is, and how we’ll know if and when our government turns in that direction.

Another segment of the population, including the growing numbers of black-clad radicals out in the streets confronting white supremacists and nationalists, are convinced this debate is coming decades late and that the current regime and the violent reactionaries attacking minorities in its name are self-evidently fascist. “Confronting Fascism: Discussion Documents For A Militant Movement” from Kersplebdeb and AK Press should appeal to people in both camps, and help those in the former make their way into the latter.

Read moreCapitalism’s Bad Seed: “Confronting Fascism” Urges Us To Re-Examine The Far Right’s Rise
Stay And Fight Fascism Where You Are (Gonzo Notes)
"Queer Dance Freakout" for Trans equality at the Texas Governor's Mansion, February 23, 2017. (Kit O'Connell, CC license)
March 1, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

Stay And Fight Fascism Where You Are (Gonzo Notes)

Posted in Creative Commons, Gonzo Notes, Journalism, MintPress News, and Occupy Wall Street

I wrote the last issue of Gonzo Notes, about creating resilience to both man-made and natural disasters, with a specific comrade in mind.

Just hours after the newsletter hit inboxes, I found out my comrade Liam Shea had died.

His death was devastating and unexpected to all his friends and allies, but most of all to his partner Luna. His loss robbed the world of a powerful activist; an old-school nazi-punching punk; someone who had, time and again, put himself at risk for the needs of others, to the point that he tattooed his knuckles with Y.N.W.A. (You’ll Never Walk Alone).

Read moreStay And Fight Fascism Where You Are (Gonzo Notes)