Caitlin JOHNSTONE
– Well, shall we go?
VLADIMIR: Yes, let’s go.
[They do not move.]
Curtain.
So ends both acts of the Samuel Beckett play Waiting for Godot. One of the two main characters suggests leaving, the other agrees, followed by the stage direction that both remain motionless until curtain.
In a fractious election year that has already witnessed Russiagate, impeachment and a pandemic, Americans are now forced to contend with the malignant scourge of rioting and looting following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a white cop. Now, many Democrats seem content to the let the whole house burn down to achieve some sort of twisted justice .
Caitlin JOHNSTONE
As protests against police brutality are met with an unceasing barrage of police brutality, the obsequious bootlicking copologia in online discussion forums has been cranked up to eleven.
Lockdowns imposed in response to Covid-19 forced millions of people to stay at home, businesses closed and a widespread hush descended. The major beneficiary of the controls has been the natural environment; in particular there has been a dramatic reduction in air pollution everywhere. But as countries begin to lift restrictions, road traffic levels are once again increasing, air and noise pollution rising.
History has always treated harshly those tyrants and strongmen who have been gratuitously violent toward their subjects and citizens and believed in purposely creating misery for their charge. Donald John Trump, the third impeached president of the United States, decided to clear peaceful protesters gathered a full block from the White House, so he could have his photograph taken standing in front of a church. It was not any church, but St. John’s Episcopal Church, dubbed the “Church of the Presidents,” owing to the several chief executives who have worshiped there over the decades.
Feels like another power grab designed to humiliate white middle and working class ‘deplorables’ already hunkered down and defensive.
Robert MERRY
I shouted out,
Who Killed the Kennedys?
When after all
It was you and me.
— Mick Jagger & Keith Richards, “Sympathy for the Devil” from the 1968 album Beggar’s Banquet
What I am saying here is familiar to many people with a knowledge of actual history, rather than the fantasy version in the textbooks. But actual history is a hidden thing, and therefore frequent reminders are necessary. Here’s my effort in this regard for today. We can call it an editorial.
*****
Wafaa Aludaini is a witness to many of Gaza’s recent tragedies and also never-ending resistance. She experienced the violent Israeli occupation, the subsequent blockade on the impoverished Strip, and several wars that resulted in the death and wounding of tens of thousands of Palestinians.
But none of Israel’s wars impacted Aludaini’s life as much as the 2014 onslaught which Israel dubbed ‘Operation Protective Edge.’
A hot humid day, but a gentle, warm breeze is blowing. The smoke and tear gas swirl gently to and fro, hanging in the dense, sweaty air, as shafts of dazzling sunlight scythe through the smokiness at sharp angles. A mass protest is forming. Youths are chattering; people moving aimlessly. It still has not solidified into purpose, yet the raw tenseness of the coming conflict hangs, as palpably as does the smoke in the air. It is evident – there will be violence today.
