Steven Brust

Oppose the US imperialist war on Iran! The attack on Iran ordered by Donald Trump and his war-crazed cabal is a massive political crime, illegal under international law and in direct violation of the US Constitution.

The attack on Iran ordered by Donald Trump and his war-crazed cabal is a massive political crime, illegal under international law and in direct violation of the US Constitution.

#Iran #NoWar

www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

I dunno. I've run into people who are pretty sure Ireland IS the Holy Land.

That's nice to hear, thanks. And best of luck with your work.

I accept that, yes, there could be extreme circumstances like that.

Oh, speaking specifically of its limits--a time of insurrection, or of facing active counter-revolution. For example, to have denied Trump a platform on January 6 while he was actively engaged in an attempted coup would have been entirely justified.

Also, permit me to say that, while we differ on this, I respect that you are willing to carry on this discussion on a fraught and important issue without resorting to cheap shots or personal attacks. That is rare on this medium.

The principle that free speech, however hateful, is a human right, and short of extreme circumstances, we should not infringe human rights. Yes, there are exceptions; there are times when it is necessary to abrogate human rights, even the right to life. But they must be seen as rare exceptions.

Block your account? Yes. Fire the person? In a socialist society we attack such ignorance not with firing, but with education and social pressure. We do not use economic coercion to control speech--or, at least, that would be by my argument to my local soviet if the issue came up.

Yep. And we cannot rally support for our fight against that by saying, "Well, but it's okay to fire someone for speech in support of our enemy."

I disagree. It is not about our enemies--you are correct, they cannot be convinced. Rather it is about the working class. We must show we are worthy of trust by being worthy of trust, and that means maintaining our principles however unpleasant we might find it.

I strongly urge all of those who believe we should deny free speech rights to our enemies to google the Weimar Fallacy before you do any more damage to our fight against fascism.

There is no paradox of tolerance. It is a non-issue, because tolerance is not and never has been the central question. It is about using the weapons we have effectively. The oppressed battled long and hard for the right of free expression; this is the worst possible time to give it away.

I am not a free speech absolutist. However, it is not a question of what the right will do, nor is free speech a principle that stands above the class struggle. It is, however, an important weapon, and one we cannot effectively deploy while denying to our enemy.

I, like all other decent human beings, hate ICE with the passion of a thousand fiery suns. But I have to agree with Popehat on this. We cannot defend our right to free speech without also defending the rights of those who say things we find abhorrent.

Actually, that's pretty close.

It’s day 70 of the ICE occupation of MSP.

ICE continues to terrorize our neighbors, there are still 2,000 agents here, even as the attention of the world has moved on.

When we say ICE OUT, we mean ICE out everywhere.

Mark Twain, a strong supporter of the Russian Revolution of 1905. famously said of the Czarist regime, "If such a government cannot be overthrown otherwise than by dynamite, then thank God for dynamite."

I wonder what he would have said of the US Government today.

Well, everything hasn't quite worked. LIGHTNING RUNES has slipped to April 16 for ebook and April 28 for dead trees. But you can still preorder. You won't be charged till it's out.

The comfort is in the millions now coming into the struggle for the first time. The work is preparing them for the difficult tasks ahead.

Anyone remotely in touch with reality knows we're beyond that, not because people are polarized, but rather people are polarized because it is impossible to deny the depth of the crisis, the inability of capitalism to meet human needs.

Socialism, or barbarism. Which side are you on?

That "sane, middle ground" was never possible, never reasonable, never realistic except in the short run; and the crisis of capitalism has now made that apparent to anyone without self-imposed blinders.

When objective conditions have sharpened society's innate contradictions to the breaking point, no one is more insane than the one crying for a "sane, middle ground."

#Minnesota #GeneralStrike #Minneapolis #TwinCities #ShutDownICE #JusticeForReneeGood #JusticeForAlexPretti #ICEOutStrike #MinnesotaStrong #AbolishICE #ICEOutOfMN #MinneapolisProtests #NoMoreICE #ICEoffOurStreets #StPaul #NicolletAvenue #ICEOutOfMinnesota #StopICE

Sign up: wsws.org/generalstrike

ICE has kidnapped so many people from their cars that the city had to put out this statement. Let that sink in.

I am so very proud of my Minnesota people right now. I wish I could be there with you. We need a political general strike, and I believe such a thing is far more realistic than perhaps many of you realize.

My twitter account got hacked so I couldn't use it. Surprisingly, I eventually got it back.

The people of MN give me far more hope than the largely feckless “opposition” leaders of our country or the deeply compromised and ineffectual media both-sidesing white nationalist totalitarianism.

The most well paid and rewarded part of the media establishment relies on this faux knowing perspective that seeks to find middle ground in an extreme moment and to tell the powerful they are never wrong.

No, though I wish I were. I'd like to be there now.

There is a wonderful book by Adam Goodheart called _1861: The Civil War Awakening_. It describes in detail how a few incidents changed the general mood of the North from apathy to willingness to fight and die.

We are seeing that same process unfold before us.