What insane reality is this?
Marjorie Taylor Greene attacks AOC from the left
Marjorie Taylor Greene speaking at 2021 AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo by Gage Skidmore
A few years ago, when congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was occupying Nancy Pelosi’s office with the Sunrise Movement, I would have said it would be insane for her to be attacked from the left by the far right. But this is now the reality we live in - far right nut job Marjorie Taylor Greene, famous for her belief in Jewish space lasers, has out flanked AOC from the left.
This is a very good question. AOC joined the rest of the Democrats in the House in voting for the $40 billion dollar “relief package" for Ukraine. This primarily consists of lethal aid and is $7 billion higher than what Biden requested. The text of the bill includes phrase like:
For an additional amount for “Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide”, $15,256,824,000, to remain available until September 30, 2022, to respond to the situation in Ukraine and for related expenses
It is essentially a blank check to the military industrial complex. The squad all voted for it. It is a sad state of affairs that the only opposition to this absurd spending bill is coming from the far right.
In a sane world, it would be the progressive “left” that is anti-war and anti-sanctions. It is sheer insanity that the few people speaking up on this are coming from the craziest wing of the Republican party. Funding a proxy war with Russia does not help the working class of the United States, Ukraine, or Russia. It only helps feed corporate profits for the few.
Noam Chomsky recently came out and said that Donald Trump is the only statesman in the US and Europe recommending a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine:
Donald Trump should not be the only voice in the mainstream advocating for this, but apparently he is. What a shame.
The Senate has been no better than the House. The bill was poised to sail through with bipartisan support - both Schumer and McConnell supported fast tracking, until one senator stood up to delay its passage. That wasn’t Bernie Sanders, it was Rand Paul. According to the Guardian:
“This is the second spending bill for Ukraine in two months. And this bill is three times larger than the first,” Paul said before formally blocking the aid package. “Congress just wants to keep on spending, and spending.”
Here is what Bernie had to say at the start of the war:
“The United States and our allies must impose severe sanctions on Vladimir Putin and his fellow oligarchs. At a time when thousands may die as a result of his war, Putin, one of the richest people in the world, should not be allowed to enjoy the billions he stole from the Russian people. The United States must also work closely with international partners to provide humanitarian relief for the Ukrainian people.”
He would go on to host a video town hall featuring Ben Rhodes as one of the main guests. Ben Rhodes is the co-chair of National Security Action, a political NGO, with Jake Sullivan - longtime advisor of Biden and influential player in the 2014 US backed coup of Ukraine. He is in no way progressive and only feeds into the pro war propaganda.
When the last $13.6 billion dollar spending bill for aid to Ukraine came up in the Senate, Bernie voted yes along with all the Democratic senators. It will come as no surprise when he votes yes on the latest $40 billion dollar bill.
What happened to being antiwar? Bernie wrote an op-ed in July 2021 advising against starting another cold war with China, yet now he is full on supporting a proxy war in Ukraine. During the 2016 primary, he directly connected climate change and war:
Where is that line of thought now? How does spending billions on war in Ukraine contribute to fighting climate change? It doesn’t. It is an incredible state of affairs that there is no left leaning antiwar movement in Congress today. This just illustrates that electoral politics are a dead end. Congress is an empty vessel that only acts on bourgeois interests. The climate action of progressives yesterday has turned into pro western war propaganda today.
The solutions will not come from the top - they must come from the grassroots. The antiwar movement needs to come from the working class - those who are most hurt by every imperialist war. Politicians making $174,000 dollars per year to tweet and vote in line with the establishment are useless to us.
I am anti war, I think the US is wrong to push Russia to war with Ukraine, I think NATO should be ended, but the rich get richer from war, so the US is 100% encouraging this war, I blame us as much as I blame Russia. Ukraine should stop listening to the US and to NATO & save their lives.
Spot on.