I also thought it was an interesting book in terms of the family dynamics it
describes. The only negative or slightly negative words I heard about it were
from a woman who appears regularly on the Nation podcast, Start Making Sense. I
can't remember her name, but she has appeared periodically, telling sarcastic
stories about various members of the Trump family, usually his children. But
in this case, her criticism of the book was that Mary was too young, while her
father was alive and having his conflicts with his father, to know what was
really going on so she was reporting only heresay, not fact. My response, when
I heard this on the podcast, was to remind myself that it seems to be this
woman's job to say only negative things about anyone who is part of the family.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2020 12:37 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: [blind-democracy]Mary Trump's book; an
interesting read.
A little over 6 hours of well read text, available on BARD, and well worth
reading. This story would make a great Movie. But mostly it gives flesh to
the bones we already see. Beyond telling us much of what we already suspect,
Mary Trump exposes how the long term family dynamics impact the minds of those
caught up in them. We all are far more controlled by our social morays that we
want to admit. As she views her own father's struggle to escape the family,
Mary Trump paints a picture that we can all learn from. Our claim of being
"self made" or the "rugged individual", are simply not true. We all have been
controlled to one degree or another, by our own propaganda.
Anyway, the book gives flesh and breath to Donald Trump and to all of us, in a
sense.
Carl Jarvis
dn’t be on the sidewalk so walk on the street, then
as soon as we got on the street they ambushed us.”
One unnamed city official told the press that Mayor Bill de Blasio
approved of the attack, long planned by the NYPD.
That evening, dozens OCH supporters held a march downtown in the
driving rain to retake City Hall Park, but de Blasio’s cops blockaded entry.
In the process of the attack, cops threw away homeless people’s
possessions and camp supplies, which included food and books.
The camp’s homeless reflected the city’s homeless crisis under de
Blasio, a product of systemic racism. 80,000 are without a permanent
home, including 20,000 children.
Jawanza James Williams, the director of organizing for Vocal New York,
told BuzzFeed News that the city was “pressure-washing away the
messages of freedom, Black Lives, a world without police and prisons,
in the same ways that workers pressure-wash away the spilled blood of
Black people murdered by police for now hundreds of years.”
Williams said that even with the diminishing OCH population after the
June 30 budget vote, “The activities of political education continued,
direct actions outside of the camp continued, celebrations and
performances continued, art creation, and cultural production in general.”
OCH took inspiration from the 2011 anti-corporate movement, Occupy
Wall Street (OWS) in Zuccotti Park, aka “Liberty Plaza,” located a few
blocks from City Hall.
In 2011, the then-Public Advocate, Bill de Blasio, loudly defended the
free speech rights of OWS, under attack by billionaire Mayor Michael
Bloomberg. Also supporting Occupy Wall Street were several unions,
including TWU Local 100, NY’s subway and bus workers.
Soon however, Bloomberg teamed up with President Obama and the
national police departments to smash Occupy. Mayor Bloomberg used a
phony pretense for shutting down OWS, citing “health issues,” despite
the regular volunteer cleaning of Zuccotti Park. Bloomberg’s “health issues”
were trotted-out once again this past month, this time by de Blasio,
as reason to crush OCH.
Although denied by de Blasio, many pointed to the Mayor’s desire to
forestall President Trump’s threat to send in federal agents to NYC, a
la Portland, as part of the Mayor’s underlying reason to shut down OCH.
Trump’s threats were also a possible motive for his week-long curfew
in early June, beyond de Blasio’s defense of so-called “property
rights” of big chain stores. De Blasio now boasts that he will bring
court action against Trump’s federal agents invading NYC.
Whatever the reason, de Blasio boasts that he, “always respect[s] the
right to protest,” an assertion proven false by the NYPD’s early
morning storming of OCH on June 30 at 5 a.m., the day of the vote on
the NYPD budget.
As peaceful OCH protesters chanted, “Why the riot gear? There’s no
riot here!,” de Blasio’s goons descended on the park.
“We were dancing in the street one minute, and the next minute they
were beating the shit out of us,” Jet, 23, told Gothamist. “It wasn’t human.”
NYPD officers in riot gear rushed protestors, arresting two and
injuring several others.
One protester that morning told public radio that he witnessed a young
woman break her leg in a barrier, as cops pinned protesters. “They
were beating me every way they could, but all I could see was her leg
bent in a way it shouldn’t have been.”
But by linking arms and with tremendous bravery, OCH managed to
prevent a police rout and held their ground.
Occupy City Hall
Occupy City Hall or Abolition Plaza was located in a park immediately
adjacent to NY City Hall. It was founded on June 24 by hundreds of
anti-racist activists, including the non-profit VOCAL NY, which
demanded a $1 billion cut in next year’s NYPD budget. Some in OCH were
calling for abolishing the NYPD.
The NY City Council, dominated by Democrats, passed a $1 billion cut
on June 30. The so-called cut, with the backing of the mayor, a
self-described “Democratic Socialist,” was a sham, essentially
transferring $1 billion to the Education Department to oversee
policing in schools. City Comptroller Scott Stringer called the
changes in police spending “a bait-and-switch and a paper-thin excuse for
reform.”
The budgetary reform, plus police practice reforms recently enacted by
the City and State were the ruling class’s panicked reaction to the
size and militancy of mass mobilizations. But, in no way can some of
these necessary reforms (if ever properly enforced under capitalism!)
ever eliminate systemic cop racism, the product of a sick U.S.
capitalist system, or more fundamentally, change who has control of
the police: the capitalists or the working class and oppressed
communities? (“NY Cop Reforms? The Whole System Has to Go!” in July
SA)
Socialist Action says, “Disarm, disband and dismantle the racist cops!
Black community control of the police!”
Socialist Action News
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--
___
Carl Sagan
“Every aspect of Nature reveals a deep mystery and touches our sense
of wonder and awe. Those afraid of the universe as it really is, those
who pretend to nonexistent knowledge and envision a Cosmos centered on
human beings will prefer the fleeting comforts of superstition. They
avoid rather than confront the world. But those with the courage to
explore the weave and structure of the Cosmos, even where it differs
profoundly from their wishes and prejudices, will penetrate its deepest
mysteries.”
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos