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As Trump’s Attempts to Undo Election Fail, Fears of “Coup” Prove Unfounded

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As Trump’s Attempts to Undo Election Fail, Fears of “Coup” Prove Unfounded

“Georgia and Michigan Deliver Blows to Trump’s Efforts to Undo the Election”

“Business and World Leaders Move On As Trump Fights to Reverse Election”

–New York Times online headline, 20 November 2020

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Donald Trump’s plans to overturn the 2020 election results hit a huge barrier today as legislators in Georgia and Michigan affirmed that they would designate Joe Biden’s electors as the official representatives to the Electoral College.

On Green and Red Podcast and elsewhere, Scott Parkin and Bob Buzzanco have been discussing this issue frequently over the past two months and, contrary to most media analyses, have made it clear that Trump was not going to stage a “coup” or otherwise remain in office. Continue reading “As Trump’s Attempts to Undo Election Fail, Fears of “Coup” Prove Unfounded”

Jimmy Carter is a Liberal Saint Now, Was a War Criminal Then…..

cross-posted from Afflict the Comfortable

by Professor Bob Buzzanco

Jimmy Carter as ex-President has built homes for the poor, brokered peace agreements, overseen elections, and engaged in humanitarian acts without fail. He never cashed in like most ex-Presidents do with huge media deals or constant P.R. appearances. And that’s good on him.

But in the interests of historical accuracy, and to understand why today’s political system has (d)evolved for the past four decades or so, looking at his time as president really tells us a lot about how we got to where we are today.

I’ve been tweaking some lectures in the past few days on the latter stages of the Cold War and was reminded of the turmoil and disorder Carter brought to the global scene.

Carter might be a secular saint to many in the 21^st Century, but when it came to engaging with the world during his one-term presidency, he was a war criminal. In Africa, in Asia, in Latin America, Carter created violent programs, aided terrorists, and contributed to death and destruction at a high level. His stewardship over the empire also is instructive in the ways of Liberal militarism and imperialism. Continue reading “Jimmy Carter is a Liberal Saint Now, Was a War Criminal Then…..”

From Clinton to Trump: America in Tatters.

The latest U.S. history lecture from Green and Red Podcast co-host, and University of Houston history professor, Bob Buzzanco.

From Clinton to Trump: America in Tatters. He begins with the roaring 90s: Clinton and the “New Democrats”; Welfare and Crime “reform”; Right-Wing Hardball; Globalization and Financialization.

And the goes into the George W. Bush and Barack Obama eras–Tax Cuts and Patriot Act; Obama and the Great Recession; saving Wall Street; Obamacare; Black Lives Matter. Continue reading “From Clinton to Trump: America in Tatters.”

Bob takes on Reagan’s America

The latest U.S. history lecture from Green and Red Podcast co-host, and University of Houston history professor, Bob Buzzanco.

We hear about the aftermath of Watergate. The 1980s–the Backlash Continues: Reagan and the Triumphant Right.

The Moral Majority and Phyllis Schlafly; Reagan’sEvil Empire Speech; Reverse Robin Hood Economics and De-Industrialization in placeslike Youngstown. The new New Cold War; SDI and slaughters in Central America. And then the cultural resistance of the period that includes Punk and Hip Hop. And ends with Rodney King and the LA Rebellion. Continue reading “Bob takes on Reagan’s America”

Hysteria about Fascism and Coups Hurt the Left

cross-posted from Afflict the Comfortable

by Prof. Robert Buzzanco

Since 1/20/2017 huge numbers of people, liberals and on the Left alike, have been adamant, and often apoplectic, that Trump was guiding the U.S. toward fascism, that he was the new American Hitler, and that his followers were Nazis. More recently, we’ve been inundated with increasingly-panicked warnings that a coup was imminent because he was unlikely to win the election fairly or he’d refuse to leave office if he lost.

And we’re not just being told that Trump is a fascist. Some people on the Left have gone further and insisted that nobody should even question that perspective, that fact–as they see it. The most extreme, unhinged example of attacking coup skeptics was probably Counterpoint’s feature write Paul Street, who shrieked that “any asshole ‘radical left’ douchebag who goes around posting and publishing denialist bullshit based on the absence of full on parallels with the Third Reich disgraces themselves and pollutes the discourse with ahistorical drivel.” I guess then I’ll cop to being a disgraceful polluter. Continue reading “Hysteria about Fascism and Coups Hurt the Left”

Ruling Class 101 and the Coup That Wasn’t

We’re not ones to subscribe to popular world views, even those held on the left. So, in our latest episode, Green and Red dive deep into the history and politics of the American Ruling Class, coups at other points in history, and the great coup of 2020 (that wasn’t).

Listen here: https://bit.ly/RulingClassGandR

We start off with a conversation about what is a coup and not a coup. We talk about coups in places like Indonesia in 1965, Chile in 1973, and in other points of history; and how the end of the Trump regime has yet to constitute what is considered “coup.” Continue reading “Ruling Class 101 and the Coup That Wasn’t”

Bob Talks About the Fun Part of the Sixties! (and the Right-Wing Backlash to It)

The latest U.S. history lecture from Green and Red Podcast co-host, and University of Houston history professor, Bob Buzzanco.

He starts with the fun part, the Counterculture, which includes protest music; Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll; the riots at Stonewall and gay liberation; plus the real counterculture stuff like LSD, Age of Aquarius and Woodstock.

And then gets into the right wing backlash: that includes Nixon and Law and Order, the southern strategy. The New Right. Nixon and Detente and Vietnamization. Continue reading “Bob Talks About the Fun Part of the Sixties! (and the Right-Wing Backlash to It)”

Buzzanco: New Left, the Anti-War Movement and Participatory Democracy

The latest U.S. history lecture from Green and Red Podcast co-host, and University of Houston history professor, Bob Buzzanco.

In this lecture he talks about the New Left and Participatory Democracy. It’s origins with C. Wright Mills, SDS, Port Huron Statement. The eruption of the Free Speech Movement, Mario Savio. The emergence of a mass Antiwar Movement.

As well as Chicano Movement–Cesar Chavez, Reies Tijerina, Brown Berets. And the Women’s Liberation–Friedan, Miss America Protest, Abortion Rights. Protest Music–Dylan, Rolling Stones.

Continue reading “Buzzanco: New Left, the Anti-War Movement and Participatory Democracy”

Is Your Outrage Pure?

cross-posted from Afflict the Comfortable

by Prof. Bob Buzzanco

Planned Election Protests Shouldn’t Have Been Postponed

First, there’s not going to be a “coup” or any other type of stolen election. The hysterics surrounding this issue have frankly become embarrassing on the Left. No reason to go into the particulars here (though I did in a lengthy piece a few weeks ago), but it’s not going to happen. Trump won’t be president after January 20^th, 2021.

But coup-or-no-coup is a pretty weak line on gauging political success. The standard for Pass/Fail shouldn’t be the worst possible outcome—the actual theft of government power. The way some people are sizing this up, anything short of tanks rolling down Pennsylvania Avenue flying Confederate flags with the Proud Boys and Q him- or her-self leading the attack with Kid Rock providing the marching music would be a victory. Continue reading “Is Your Outrage Pure?”

The Big Five-Oh Pt 2. “Where Does the Left Go From Here?”

Our fiftieth episode was such a BFD, that we made it a two parter.

Listen here: https://apple.co/3krciyK

In part two, we get into the aftermath of the election and discuss where do we go from here when 70 million Americans voted for the racist and right-wing policies of Donald Trump, the Democrats’ “Misleadership Class” that continues to fail masses of people, the Coup That Wasn’t and how grassroots organizers saved the day.

Continue reading “The Big Five-Oh Pt 2. “Where Does the Left Go From Here?””