James Connolly (Seamas O'Conghaile) (1868 - 1916) and the 1916 Irish Easter Uprising

James Connolly was born in Scotland to Irish parents who worked as laborers and lived in the extreme poverty of the Irish slums in Scotland. Connolly left school at 10 to begin working and eventually became a trade unionist, a socialist and a revolutionary in Ireland standing for the rights of the Irish people to be free and independent from England.

On Easter Week of 1916, in Dublin, 1500 Irish citizens seized certain key points within the city and declared Ireland to be a free republic, free from further British control. The British military, one of the most powerful in the world, quickly regrouped, counter-attacked, and overtook the Irish rebels. 2000 Irish men were imprisoned, hundreds were killed during the fighting, and the leaders were publicly executed by firing squads. James Connolly had been so badly wounded during the fighting that he could not stand or walk, so the British drug him out into an alley, tied him upright into a chair, and shot him dead.

Although the 1916 uprising was not successful immediately in overthrowing the British rule, the execution of the Irish leaders made them martyrs and provided inspiration for other citizens of Ireland to organize, rise up, and throw out the British. Following the 1916 uprising, there were years of essentially guerrilla warfare-tactics by the citizens against the British and eventually, in 1922, at least the southern part of Ireland became free of British rule.

The men who rose up against the British issued a Proclamation of Independence for Ireland. The Proclamation was signed by Padraig Pearse, James Connolly, Thomas Clarke, Thomas MacDonagh, Sean MacDermott, Joseph Plunkett and Earmonn Ceannt. Each of those men was executed by the British following the Easter Uprising, and each is considered a martyr for Irish freedom and independence.

James Connolly was a socialist, and understood that even if England could be militarily defeated, Ireland needed to overthrow the economic chains. The statute above has a Connolly saying inscribed on it: "The cause of labor is the cause of Ireland." He was not advocating simply a nationalistic independence, but a new form of government which would provide respect and a decent life for the working people of Ireland. That was ultimately the greater danger to England: losing the economic control of the Emerald Isle.

I had a (great) uncle, Tom, who came to the "States" right after the 1916 uprising. He told me that the English were trying to draft the Irish young men to go fight England's war with the Germans, but the Irish men had no interest in fighting England's wars. One of the photos in the video below shows a sign up that says "We serve neither Kaiser nor King." The Irish did not figure it was their war. My Uncle Tom and a group of other men raided a local British garrison and stole the weapons that the British had stockpiled there for war purposes, and turned those weapons against the English. Then they all were wanted and hunted men, and fled the country, their own country. Of course this story has been repeated millions of times by Irish people driven out of their own country by the English. Why shouldn't someone sue England, seize those bloody royal crown jewels, sell them off, and pay reparations to the Irish?

The Irish Proclamation, 1916

IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN: In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom.

Having organised and trained her manhood through her secret revolutionary organisation, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and through her open military organisations, the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army, having patiently perfected her discipline, having resolutely waited for the right moment to reveal itself, she now seizes that moment, and, supported by her exiled children in America and by gallant allies in Europe, but relying in the first on her own strength, she strikes in full confidence of victory.

We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible. The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the right, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people. In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty; six times during the last three hundred years they have asserted it to arms. Standing on that fundamental right and again asserting it in arms in the face of the world, we hereby proclaim the Irish Republic as a Sovereign Independent State, and we pledge our lives and the lives of our comrades-in-arms to the cause of its freedom, of its welfare, and of its exaltation among the nations.

The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and Irishwoman. The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and all of its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation equally and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.

Until our arms have brought the opportune moment for the establishment of a permanent National, representative of the whole people of Ireland and elected by the suffrages of all her men and women, the Provisional Government, hereby constituted, will administer the civil and military affairs of the Republic in trust for the people.

We place the cause of the Irish Republic under the protection of the Most High God. Whose blessing we invoke upon our arms, and we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonour it by cowardice, in humanity, or rapine. In this supreme hour the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline and by the readiness of its children to sacrifice themselves for the common good, prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which it is called.

Signed on Behalf of the Provisional Government. Thomas J. Clarke, Sean Mac Diarmada, Thomas MacDonagh, P. H. Pearse, Eamonn Ceannt, James Connolly, Joseph Plunkett.

Desperate People Audition For Humiliating Jobs.

There is nothing quite as lucrative to the Republicans, to the Mormons, and to the Catholics, as gay-bashing. They should thank the Gays because of all the money they collect telling people that "The Gays Are Coming."

The Republicans and the Morons plan a major national TV advertising campaign against gay marriage. They plan to have actors on-screen who will claim to be "real" people, then tell some hysterical story about how they are "afraid" of gay marriage. But the problem is that some of the auditions got out to the public, and it's one of the funniest videos on-line. See below.

It's Good Friday. According to Christian Belief, Jesus Was Crucified And Died On Good Friday.

("The Judas Kiss" by Gustave Dore, 1866)

It's Good Friday. According to Chrsitian Belief, Jesus was crucified and died on Good Friday. The New Testament says that Jesus was arrested because Judas betrayed him. When questioned, Jesus told a priest that he was the son of god, and was condemned to death for blasphemy. The death sentence was thereafter confirmed, and people have spent thousands of years arguing over who, ultimately, was responsible.

(Pontius Pilate and Jesus by Antonio Ciseri)

Jesus was flogged, had a crown of thorns put on his head to ridicule him, then carried the cross on which he would be crucified to Calvary where he was nailed to the cross and left to die.

("Christ Carrying The Cross" by El Greco, 1580)

Jesus suffered in agony for six hours before he finally died. During the last 3 hours that Jesus hung on the cross, the entire land became dark. Many churches today have a special service at 3:00 p.m. on Good Friday to commemorate the last three hours of Jesus’ suffering on the cross. In some countries, Christians stage processions known as the stations of the cross to commemorate Jesus’ last hours on earth.

A sword was thrust into Jesus’ side after he died to confirm that he was dead.

Some of the followers of Jesus were allowed to take his body after his death. They cleaned it, wrapped it in linen cloth, placed myrrh inside the linen, and put it in a tomb that had been carved into rock in a garden near Calvary. When Jesus’ followers returned to the tomb on Sunday [now called Easter Sunday], the heavy rock had been moved aside, and his body was gone. Jesus’ followers believed that Jesus had "risen" to be with God.

("Crucifixion" by Michelangelo, 1541)

J. S. Bach, "The Passion According to St. Matthew," The Munich Bach Orchestra and Choir, Karl Richter conducting. "The Passion" refers to the crucifixion and suffering of Jesus.

Don't Send Any More Money To The Red-Taffeta And Cheap Perfume Crowd In D.C. Make Them Start Working For Us For A Change. We Want Change.

I'm 100% behind President Obama. I'm desperately rooting for him, because I'm terrified that if he doesn't do something, it's all over for us.

But I'm getting a little discouraged in his positions. It's becoming harder every day to continue supporting him. His split-the-baby style seems designed mostly to keep the money rolling in, pacify the progressives and the left by promises that he "will" end the wars, he "will" close Guantanamo, he "will" help Americans but we just don't know when since all the money is going to Wall Street; reassure Wall Street and the elite by continuing to shovel money at them; suck up to the religious right by having the Bigoted Pastor Warren speak at his inauguration.

Some of the people from the Obama campaign have set up a new organization called Organizing for America. Same e-mail list. Same substance: SEND MONEY. NOW. AGAIN. CONTINUE. MORE. And they say they are going to protect Obama, protect our country and so on.

I didn't send any money. I replied as follows:

"I want all the wars over. I want the Wall Street and Financial Cartels, and the politicians they've bribed, prosecuted and imprisoned, and their assets seized and paid over to the citizens from whom the money was stolen. I want Obama to stop covering up the Bush administration violations of my constitutional right to 4th amendment and general privacy restrictions against widespread illegal wiretaps and intrusions into my rights. I want the Bush administration investigated, prosecuted, and imprisoned, for violation of international law, torture, murder, and international war crimes."

"So no, I won't be sending any money. Do something for me for a change. I'm waiting."

I don't think the president should be essentially continuing fund-raising for his next election. He just got into office. This looks like a permanent fund. Why not raise money for progressive media, for example? If Obama was worried about money, maybe he shouldn't have spent so much Wall Street money on his inauguration. In any event, he's gotten enough money from working people. When does he start doing something for us?

When will the Democrats make real campaign finance reform? Everytime I see anyone from Congress being interviewed, with their red low-cut taffeta gowns, push-up bras, cheap perfume, alluring glances at every Wall Street John that passes them by, they always say: "Oh, it's the system, the system makes me whore for money, I really hate it." Yeah, not as much as I hate being sold out by a bunch of traitorous back-stabbing money-grubbing war-loving liars. They keep saying the Democratic party will stand up for the working people of this country. When? We're getting tired of waiting.

So now that the Democrats are in charge, they need to use this moment to end the corruption in politics, get money out of it. Raise your hand if you think they will. I think they'll use their dominant position to whore themselves at a furious pace, double-shifts, because now they're the "popular" girls on Wall Street. (With apologies to the real prostitutes who work hard for their money, and aren't betraying the citizens of this country when they peddle their asses for money. They're just earning a living, the hard way.) I'm really getting tired of the Democratic Party.

U.S. Out Of Somalia! Invade Wall Street Instead. Seize The Assets. Imprison the Wall Street Criminals And The Politicians They Own.

(U.S. Guided-Missile Warship Sent On Mission To Confronts 4 Somali Dudes On A Raft)

How many U.S. military destroyers, brigades, special forces, and FBI Agents does it take to apprehend four Somalis in a lifeboat? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/world/africa/10pirates.html?_r=1&hp

Apparently we're going all out on this one. We've sent a guided-missile U.S. destroyer ship. To fight four dudes in a raft? A lifeboat. Is it a rubber dinghey?

(Somali pirates)

Here's a question for inquiring minds: What's up with all the shipping in and around Somalia? Why is that suddenly a hotbed of activity? What's inside all those ships being "hijacked?" Think about it. Four guys from Somalia in a rowboat grab onto the side of a cargo ship, climb on board for what purpose? What could they take, in small packages, put into their rowboat, "flee" (how fast does a rowboat go) the scene, and make it worth their while? What "cargo" are these ships carrying?

It isn't like carjacking. You can't take control, then speed away from the area in a cargo/tanker ship, hide it in a garage till the siren fades. These are cargo ships. They don't go fast. The only reason to "hijack" them is if there is something on the ship that can be grabbed in small quantities, stuffed onto a rowboat, and be worth a lot of money when they row back to shore. What could that be?


My bet is opium. Being shipped out of the area under the control of the U.S. business and political interests who control much of the drug trade. But that's just a guess. An educated one. Because you have to wonder why the U.S. is so committed to not just staying in the poppy capital of Afghanistan, but increasing the number of troops in that country to allow complete U.S. control of the region. And the drug trade.

Of course when anyone ships massive quantities of illegal drugs from one place to the next, they don't describe the ship contents as "opium." It's like the truckers that come up from Mexico with the bags of oranges in the flatbed but bags of marijuana under that. When customs asks them if they have anything to declare, they say "Oranges." They don't say "Acapulco Gold."

Why is it that wherever there is a major center of drugs anywhere in the world, the U.S. military goes in to invade and occupy the country? Coincidence? Southeast Asia in the 60s and 70s. Central America and the U.S.-funded death squads in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and elsewhere, Ollie North's retirement slush fund, Reagan's memory lapse, weapons for drugs trades. And now Afghanistan. Hmmmm.

For example, the U.S. is militarily occupying much of Columbia to "stop" the drug trade, except it isn't stopped -- it's flourishing. So maybe the U.S. military is really occupying Columbia to provide weaponized patrols for the drug caravans bringing that stuff up to the U.S. where it can be processed, sold on the streets, and the profits taken by rich Americans and hidden away in private equity funds and secret off-shore accounts where all the rich people and the politicians keep their money. (Gasp! The U.S. government involved in drug running? Yes, actually, for decades. See The Politics Of Heroin In Southeast Asia by Alfred W. McCoy, updated version.) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/1556521251/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

(From Kirkus Reviews)

"[The author Alfred W. McCoy] shows that in the ``Golden Triangle'' of Laos, Thailand, and Burma, opium was big business and, often, the only viable form of currency. McCoy argues that, in their efforts to expand their own power in Southeast Asia, American intelligence agents permitted allies of the US ... to expand their lucrative drug trade. In the wake of the Vietnam War, McCoy contends, a similar relationship developed between American authorities and the contras of Central America. Drug-enforcement agencies sought the arrest of drug merchants often associated with the contras, while the CIA, viewing the contras as indispensable ideological allies in the war against Communism, did their best to thwart the vaunted ``war on drugs.'' The author produces considerable disturbing evidence that US authorities are guilty at least of complicity in the global drug trade, and argues convincingly that the drug problem at home will not end until a fundamental change is made in American policy. McCoy exposes basic hypocrisy in American policymaking, and demonstrates that, as long as powerful government bureaucracies work at cross-purposes, America's drug problem will not be easily solved. "

Does somebody really think that the criminals in our country, both business and government, would somehow stop at the thought of drug dealing? Why's that? They just killed one million Iraqis to grab the oil. How many people would they be willing to kill to get control of probably the most lucrative business in the whole world: drugs. If people weren't earning a living growing and selling drugs, they might riot, seize the assets that the wealthy have stolen from the rest of us, overthrow the corrupt politicians who do nothing but take bribes and lie. So the ruling class needs the drug trade. It gives them lots of money, and gives them an excuse to spread even more military occupational forces around the world.

And they need drugs to keep the population zombied out. What would happen if people stopped taking drugs, got off the booze, gave up TV and could no longer shop themselves to distraction because all their money was gone? Wouldn't people finally wake up and realize we need to take back the money that has been stolen from us and throw the politicians who have participated in this out of office? Isn't that what would happen?

U.S. Out Of Somalia.

We need the U.S. Military out of Afghanistan, out of Iraq, out of Somalia. Bring them home. We need our politicians to stop using our military as goons for the corporate elite who are taking over all the resources of the world -- from oil to heroin -- by using the U.S. military to invade, destroy, and occupy countries which have valuable resources.

Shut down the military global empire and associated involvement in the international drug trade.

We need the U.S. Navy to send destroyers, green red blue and purple berets, scary helicopters, submarines -- everything they've got -- to lower Manhattan. And send in the Marines. Take aim at Wall Street. Round up every person who worked on Wall Street above the level of receptionist for the last 10 years, bring them down to Fort Clinton for a little chat. Waterboard them. I don't think the public would object to waterboarding Wall Street Criminals. In fact, we could raffle off the job on e-bay and raise a bundle. I'd do it. In a heartbeat.

Screw the cargo ships off off of Somalia. Most of these ships have phony registrations in other countries anyway, so they can duck the law and avoid paying taxes, so why should I bail them out of their problems. Seize something back here, something that can help the people of the U.S. If we do not seize the money and assets stolen by these financial criminals, arrest them and throw them in prison, then we have lost. Everything else will be a stop-gap measure. Because the criminals have all the money, and they will use it to destroy what little is left of our democracy.

They already have most of our politicians on their payroll, doing exactly as instructed and betraying the people of this country. They have a consolidated control of the media to make sure all the public hears is non-stop lies, racism, sexism, hatred, hot air, and insanity from the people who work at Rupert Murdoch's Whorehouse. They've looted the U.S. Treasury so we have no money -- our country has no money because it's all been stolen.

They've stolen a good part of most people's pensions and savings accounts, sent many of our jobs overseas, manipulated our own money to create one after the next bubble in assets to allow them to steal everything from everybody. This isn't even disputed. It's a known and recognized fact, but the government will not do anything about it. These criminals through their multinational corporations, which are just mafia-style gangs for laundering money and conducting crime, already destroyed much of the world by predatory and murderous programs to steal all the assets, murder and enslave the people. Who really thinks they'll stop at our borders?

I guess anybody who spends much of their day taking drugs, drinking, watching TV, or shopping themselves to death still believes that "our" businesses, "our" politicians are patriots, they are looking out for us. But anyone lucid, sober, and not stupid, should realize by now that we've been hosed.

The U.S. Politicians are sending a military cruise-missile destroyer ship to Somalia to "confront" four dudes on a raft. Yet they refuse to do anything to help the American people who have been robbed, stripped of everything, left helpless in the streets of this country by the real pirates -- the ones in the banks and on Wall Street.

Seize the Assets. Arrest And Imprison The Criminals From Wall Street, the Banks, and The Politicians They Own. U.S. Into Wall Street!! Save America.

Pirates Attack United States!

Have you heard the news? It's a Pirate Attack!! Pirates have attacked the United States, taken control of our wealth, struck down our nation in its infancy, will leave our children hungry and our people without crops or shelter. But don't despair. The United States Government has sent a massive response to the area, and they are now .... partying with the Pirates. Oh well.


We hear a lot about some of the poorest people in the world, in and around Somalia, who go out in rowboats and hijack ships. What a way to make a living. But it's all over the news: they've got one of ours. Honestly, how can some poor people in a rowboat hijack some huge vessel? Anyway, they do it, every day. And the reason they do it is because there is no other way for them to make a living or for their families to survive. Which is pretty much the reason for chaos, war, conflict everywhere in the world. If those ships are so full of valuable cargo, why is it being taken away from those poor people, and why isn't there enough money to feed these people? All the bounty of those lands is being stolen by people from other nations. That's the real crime here.


Now the U.S. Navy has sent some huge ship to the area to "defend" our interests against some poor guys in a rowboat who have captured the captain and are demanding what? A meal? A couple of dollars, maybe? I wonder if our government will nuke the guys in the rowboat, or maybe drop a bunker-buster on them. You know, get those terrorists.

But back here in the United States, the real pirates, the ones on Wall Street, have hijacked the entire world and all the vessels in it. Stolen everything from everyone. What does our government do to these pirates? The white ones, the rich ones, the ones in nice suits with private jets? Our politicians party with them, share the loot. Ho Ho Ho and a Bottle of Cristal.

The Right-Wing Keeps Stealing All The Money That Working Americans Pay Into The Social Security Retirement Fund.

(Grover Norquist, Enemy of the People)

Grover Norquist is a right-wing propagandist, spokesperson for the rich and evil, hater of America and Americans, selfish, greedy, lying, deceitful, despicable, corrupt sack of trash. He once said that he wants to shrink the American government down to the size that it could be drowned in a bathtub. I wish someone would cut Grover Norquist down to size so he could be drowned in a bathtub. Or better yet, maybe he'll have an attack of conscience and drown himself. He is the main spokesperson (before the deaf, dumb, fat guy on the radio) promoting the destruction of the United States government. He wraps himself in a cloak of "conservative," but he's really a hit man -- and he's got a contract on all the working people of America. Grover Norquist is an enemy of the people.

Why does he want the U.S. government to be destroyed? So the rich people he represents, the multinational corporations and foreign corporations, can control everything in the world, and the people of the world will have no rights, no power, no money, no hope. It's just that simple.

People work their entire lives and often end up with very little money. Too old, tired, feeble, sick to keep working, or maybe there are no jobs available, they are fired from their long-term jobs because of age discrimination, and they cannot get a job anywhere else for the same reason. Or maybe they get sick. And now we have an official government policy of paying people almost no interest, no return on any money they put into a secure investment such as a savings account or CD. So even when old people saved some money, assuming they could preserve the principal and get at least 5% interest, now even that has been taken away by the bankers, the Wall Street Criminals, and the federal government's monetary policy intended to help the multinational corporations while crushing American citizens.

But every single paycheck, every payday, no matter how small anyone's wages, working Americans pay money into a special fund called the Social Security and Medicare Fund. That is the only national pension and old-age fund that we have in this country. People pay into it their entire working lives knowing that when they are too old to work, they will be entitled to receive a monthly pension and to have their medical expenses paid by the government. Without that, many old people would not be able to live. It is just that simple. Social Security and Medicare represent the difference between having a place to live or sleeping on the street. It represents the difference between being able to get medical treatment for cancer or simply being told to go home to die.

Social Security and Medicare are necessary programs, set up during the Great Depression (as opposed to the current Bush-Cheney Depression). Originally, the total "tax" assessed on working people's paychecks was just 1%. Just 1% of the paycheck was paid into this special old-age fund. But the government keeps raising the Social Security tax and cutting taxes for rich people and businesses. Then they turn around and steal the money from the Social Security fund, and give it away to the rich people and the businesses. http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/taxRates.html

It is a crime the way that people's retirement money has been looted by successive administrations. Let's stop it now. Let's stop the fraud on the American public. Let's make the government pay back to Social Security all the money they've looted over the years. Instead of giving money to the criminals in the banks and on Wall Street, let's repay the money that is owed to our senior citizens.

We keep hearing that Social Security is broke, but that's not true. Social Security keeps being looted by politicians, the money stolen and squandered, given to bankers and Wall Street Criminals, used to buy cocaine and whores and private yachts and jets and villas on Lake Como. But the system itself should be overflowing with wealth, if not for the continued theft of the money by politicians.

For example, a person approaching retirement today easily can have paid in as much as $500,000 during their working life, assuming interest accrues on the deposits. If the retiree is only paid 5% of the amount they paid in -- $25,000/year (which would be about the right benefit under the current schedules), they would receive that money their entire life until they die. But when they die, the money, the principal, would still be sitting there, part of a fund, available to help other workers.

The right-wing, represented by Grover Norquist, Enemy of the People, wants to destroy Social Security. They always have. They think that when people get old, they should either keep working or die. The right-wing does not want the citizens of the U.S. to have a cushion, or a safety net. They want us as desperate and pathetic and hopeless as any poor third world person, because a desperate, pathetic and hopeless population can be easily controlled.

All the morons who are stocking up on ammunition and hand-guns because they're going to "protect" themselves are ignoring the obvious: their jobs, job security, living wage, medical care, pensions, it has all already been taken away. They already lost without a shot being fired. And who are they going to shoot anyway? The unseen multinational corporations who are running everything? No, more likely they'll shoot their neighbor, who never did a thing to hurt them or anyone else.

Social Security is supposedly the third rail -- like nobody dare harm the old people. But that's a lie. Social Security is the right-wing's favorite victim, and they come back again and again to steal all the money that working people pay into it.

For example, when that senile old coot Ronald Reagan took office, he slashed taxes for the rich and for businesses. The problem was that once he did that, there was not enough money to fund the government, keep it going. So what Reagan did, with the assistance of Greenspan, was to come up with some phoney "crisis" in Social Security which led to the Social Security (payroll) taxes being increased, and that money was looted from Social Security and used to give tax cuts to the wealthy. A radical increase in taxes on working people, all done under the fraudulent claim that Social Security was broke.

(Grover Norquist, Enemy of the People, with one of his bosses)

So instead of this increase in Social Security taxes being used to protect Social Security, being held for the old people, it was stolen by Reagan and given to his wealthy and powerful friends. For a thorough discussion of Reagan, Greenspan, Social Security, see Ravi Batra's book Greenspan's Fraud, and this 1999 interview with Rabi Batra in which he predicted a crash of the U.S. Economy: http://www.usagold.com/taylorbatracrash.html

That's what Al Gore was talking about when he said we need a lock-box on Social Security. The federal government keeps stealing all that money and looting the system, simply waiting for it to collapse at which point they will say: Oh well, I guess there's no more social security.

Or maybe they'll say Oh well, I guess we have to cut benefits. See article below in which Dean Baker discusses the fact that once again, some people are calling for a cut in Social Security benefits. But the truth is that those benefits should be increased. The government should repay the money that has been stolen from Social Security. Old people, and all of our country's future retirement money, should be protected instead of giving more money to the criminals in the banks and on wall street.
http://www.truthout.org/040809J

I've heard in recent days that some heads of government are cautioning that we should not revert to "protectionism," in response to the Bush-Cheney Depression. But that's such a con job. We already have an entire world economic system premised on the idea of protectionism. It's just that the rich people are being protected, and the rest of us are being crushed.

What we need is protectionism. We need to protect our jobs, our living wages, pensions, healthcare (which should be provided, along with dental, to all citizens, free of charge), education, the right to such basics as affordable housing and unemployment compensation that pays enough for people to live until they can get another job. We need to protect our Social Security and Medicare program. We need a government to start standing up for us, the people, to protect us. Instead of just protecting the rights of rich people to plunder, loot, steal, lie, cheat, pollute, poison, and murder working people the world over.