By Any Means Necessary Discussion of Upcoming Bernie-Biden Debate (3/13/2020)

Sunday Debate Crucial for Sanders as National COVID-19 Outbreak Looms

In this segment of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Jim Kavanagh, a political analyst and contributor to Counterpunch and ThePolemicist.net, where you can read his piece “The Party’s Over: Bernie’s Last Dance With the Dems," to talk about the upcoming Democratic debate between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, whether Sanders has to go on the offensive and point out Biden's habit of taking liberties with the truth if he wants to stay in the race, why the COVID-19 outbreak represents a key opportunity for Sanders to highlight the need for Medicare for All, why Sanders' reluctance to hit back at other Democrats may represent one of his greatest weaknesses, why recent exhortations by establishment types to maintain Democratic 'party unity' seem to ring so hollow, whether the momentum in the race could turn once more if Biden commits another of his signature gaffes in the debate, and why many media personalities are now using fear of the national Coronavirus crisis to call for the debate to scrapped altogether.
[Related article: The Party’s Over: Bernie’s Last Dance With The Dems]

Listen to "Sunday Debate Crucial for Sanders as National COVID-19 Outbreak Looms" on Spreaker.

“By Any Means Necessary” on Radio Sputnik is hosted by Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman and aims to connect the political, social and economic movements shaping the world around us. With a sensibility informed by movements from Black Power to #BlackLivesMatter with a dash of Occupy, the show elevates the people and narratives that (while often ignored) are driving some of the most important changes in the world.

Loud & Clear Discussion of Warren Dropping Out (3/6/2020)

Warren Drops Out: Why Hasn’t She Endorsed Sanders?

Elizabeth Warren dropped out of the presidential race yesterday, leaving Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and, many people forget, Tulsi Gabbard as the only remaining candidates. Warren declined yesterday to endorse anybody else, but in an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow last night, she didn’t miss an opportunity to attack Sanders and his supporters. Brian and John speak with Jim Kavanagh, editor of thepolemicist.net.
[Related article: The Party’s Over: Bernie’s Last Dance With The Dems]

Listen to "Warren Drops Out: Why Hasn’t She Endorsed Sanders?" on Spreaker.

Loud & Clear is a daily program of news, commentary, and political analysis on Radio Sputnik, hosted by Brian Becker and John Kiriakou, featuring independent experts, activists, and political writers. (Introduction above is theirs, with related articles of mine referenced in brackets.)

Critical Hour Discussion of So. Carolina Primary (2/28/2020)

Can Pence Manage Coronavirus Better Than His Failed Leadership on HIV in Indiana?

It’s Friday, so that means it's panel time.

The COVID-19 coronavirus has spread to at least 56 countries, and the case numbers continue to rise, fueling fears of a worldwide pandemic. "From eastern Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Africa, a steady stream of new cases Friday fueled the sense that the new coronavirus epidemic may be turning into a global pandemic, with some health officials saying it may be inevitable," the New York Times reported Friday. "The WHO [World Health Organization] has raised the global threat level to 'very high,' its most extreme assessment, as new outbreaks appear," the Times also reported. This comes the day after the first US coronavirus diagnosis in a person who had no known link to foreign travel. "A Northern California woman has contracted the coronavirus without traveling to regions hit by the outbreak or coming into contact with anyone known to have the infection, the first sign the disease may be spreading within a US community, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday night," the Washington Post reported Thursday. That same day, the Wall Street Journal reported: "US Coronavirus Outbreak Would Pose Risk to Record Expansion."

By Any Means Necessary Discussion of So. Carolina Debate (2/26/2020)

Establishment Dems Compete to Pander, Red-Bait Their Way to Nomination

On this episode of "By Any Means Necessary" hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Jim Kavanagh to talk about the latest debate in South Carolina, why Bloomberg may have too much political baggage for the Democratic establishment to give him the nomination at a brokered convention, how Elizabeth Warren may be portraying herself as the 'electable Bernie' to position herself to steal the show, which of the candidates truly believe what they're saying and which are in a constant state of 'triangulation,' what Pete Buttigieg's rejection of the "revolutionary politics of the '60s" reveals about his willingness to denigrate the civil rights movement, and how the generational gap among the Black constituency in South Carolina could shape the outcome of the primary there.
[Reblated article: Bloomberg's Game, The Party’s Over: Bernie’s Last Dance With The Dems]

Bloomberg's Game

MSNBC

There are two things I feel compelled to say about Mike Bloomberg and his candidacy.

Thing One: Thank you, Mike!

In a few weeks, Mike Bloomberg—along with the Democratic Party and its allied media—has demonstrated the reality of class rule more clearly than reams of marxist analysis could.

Let’s see:

The Democratic Party, the one political instrument that purports to represent working people and the only one through which they are effectively allowed to pursue their interests politically, defined a set of rules for participation in debates that were designed to ensure that only candidates with a certain depth and breadth of support among voters and donors could participate. On the basis of strict (and some would say arbitrary) enforcement of those rules, the party serially winnowed out a number of candidates, including women and persons of color, with particular attention to excluding an antiwar woman of color (Tulsi Gabbard). Then, after it was clear that the candidate with the strongest working-class agenda was taking the lead, and after receiving an $800,000 donation from Mike Bloomberg, the party changed its rules to allow Bloomberg to participate in the debates.