The Mason Moment with John Oliver Mason, December 31, 2021

The Mason Missile, January 28, 2021

Greetings, Americans! Last month I went to the Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in West Philadelphia, to the ER. (I won’t mention why, too disgusting.) I received great care there, which is important since my health insurance from the time with the city has run out. Next year, I’ll be eligible for Medicare, and I’m active in the cause of a national health insurance system for ALL Americans, “Medicare for all.” Health, like education, is a necessity and not a luxury. Are you keeping track of all the strikes and other labor actions going on in the country? The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the US Department of Labor, workers, due to the pandemic, now realize their importance in the working of the company. Before, the inability of workers to change jobs has been one means of controlling them, to take away their power and autonomy; a submissive working class has always been the billionaire class’ goal. (https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021/10/19/1047032996/why-are-so-many-americans-quitting-their-jobs) (https://www.al.com/business/2021/11/the-great-resignation-2021-americans-leaving-jobs-in-record-numbers.html) (I’ve mentioned earlier the need for a national health insurance system, “Medicare for all.” Corporations use their health care plans to keep employees from leaving the job and going somewhere else; there would not be that kind of a problem with “Medicare for all.”) Are workers finally realizing their power through organizing? The workers at the Kellogg cereal facilities, members of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union-like the one in Lancaster, PA-have voted to ratify the new contract, which calls for no concessions or takeaways, no two-tier system, a path to full employment, a pause in plant shutdowns, cost of living raises, and improvements in the pension system. (https://bctgm.org/2021/12/21/kelloggs-strike-ends-bctgm-members-ratify-new-contract/) Plus, Amazon reached an agreement with the National Labor Relations Board; allowing union organizers to meet with workers after their shifts and to notify workers of their right to organize; and to not retaliate against workers for union activities. (https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/amazon-settles-nlrb-helping-pave-path-union-organization-rcna9834) (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/amazon-nlrb-settlement_n_61c4cd61e4b0d637ae8ba8f3) Workers in a Starbucks store in Buffalo, NY, also voted to form a union. (https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/amazon-settles-nlrb-helping-pave-path-union-organization-rcna9834) These low-income employees, such as store workers stocking shelves, truck drivers delivering goods, and hospital housekeepers cleaning rooms during COVID, are finding out how important they are in the community, and they value themselves enough to demand better, for themselves and their families. We cannot rely solely on elected officials, no matter how pro-worker or pro-people they are; after we finish our New-Year’s revels, we have to let them know, and each other know, that we can and will band together to protect our democracy. One way is the upcoming series of Days of Remembrance and Action for the January 6 riot, the trumpist effort to overturn the decision of the American people through violence and terror. The Republicans have tried to whitewash the memory of that terrible day, saying either it was “antifa,” or tourists on holiday. We must remember the real story of January 6, reminding ourselves of what trump and the Republicans tried to do-destroy our democracy-and rededicate ourselves to registering to vote, learning about the issues of the day, and actually voting, and no letting ANY thing stand in our say to the polls. The Republicans and their corporate pimps think we won’t stand up for ourselves; let’s give them ONE rude awakening. You can sign up for the Day of Remembrance at https://jan6unityday.org/. Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! America will be free! Happy New Year!

The Mason Moment, December 27, 2021 (Sequence 1)

I speak about starting now to make 2022 a great year, and of banding together for our rights.

The Mason Moment, December 12, 2021

I speak about resisting book banning, the need to discuss racial issues like adults, and organizing to vote.

The Mason Missile, November 24, 2021

Greetings, Americans! My novel, Soldier Of The Cross, is still on the market, on Amazon.com. (https://www.amazon.com/Soldier-Cross-John-Oliver-Mason/dp/0578988402/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=john+oliver+mason+soldier+of+the+cross&qid=1637014919&qsid=144-5381896-0671915&rnid=2941120011&s=books&sr=1-3&sres=0578988402%2CB01NBBUMIH&srpt=ABIS_BOOK) But I urge you to check first with your local neighborhood bookstore, which is where grassroots literary talent is fostered and is connected to the community. Alas! Kyle Rittenhouse, the little boy whose mommy drove him from Antioch, Illinois to Kenosha, Wisconsin, carrying an AR-15 assault rifle like he was acting out a Rambo fantasy, and killed two unarmed men and wounded another-was found “not guilty” in his murder trial. I had a sense Rittenhouse would walk, since the “judge,” Bruce Schroeder, told the jury to call Rittenhouse’s victims “rioters” and “looters.” (The prosecution did a sloppy job of preparing as well; did the state deliberately try to undermine the case against Rittenhouse?) Now Rittenhouse is a hero for the neo-fascist elements who will be emboldened to start shooting at progressives, LGBTQ+ people, and people of color, sensing they could get away with it. Rittenhouse himself has been offered congressional internships by Madison Cawthorn (North Carolina), Paul Gosar (Arizona) and Matt Gaetz (Florida). Cawthorn went so far as to say in a Twitter message, “Be armed, be dangerous, and be moral.” (https://www.complex.com/life/republican-lawmakers-are-giving-internship-offers-to-kyle-rittenhouse) Truly, the Republican Party is in a sunken place, and sinking deeper and deeper. The results of the 2021 election were pretty disappointing. The Democratic candidates constantly warned of the danger of trump-and he remains a danger-instead of concentrating on issues related to people and their communities. The republicans, however, talked the same trump themes, such as the evil Critical Race Theory (Do the even know what that is?), mask mandates, etc. That seems to be the new formula the Republicans are using, which I call “trumpism without trump,” hitting on the fears that trump evokes among his followers, without mentioning his name-but the Republicans have played on racial fears for decades, and now the mainstream republicans see that trump’s influence is a danger to the party, but they’ll take the votes of his followers. Now, Fox “News” and the other right-wing propaganda sites are talking about how they’ll win the House back in 2022 (while it’s still 2021) eleven months away, and they’ll use that to attack the Biden administration: and some of the mainstream news media are hinting at that idea. Excuse me, but the election is NEXT year, plenty of time for us progressives and pro-worker activists to analyze what went right and wrong this year, and to organize our grassroots campaigning to educate our neighbors and co-workers about the issues we’re facing-abuse of LGBTQ+ people and people of color, homelessness, the terrorizing of school board members and election officials this year, organizing unorganized workers, etc. t-p is not on the ballot so we don’t have to bring him up; rather, we discuss our opponent for whatever office, and provide a more viable alternative. We decide NOW how the election turns out. IT happens all the time in our elections; the media hints that our guy will lose, and the republican has it in the bag already-all the way through to the election. It’s like psychological warfare, to try to bring down the morale of progressives, trying to depress us and ready to give up before the poll are open. We must change our thinking on this-the Republicans DON”T have the elections in the bag, we CAN and WILL organize and educate our neighbors for the election, and we WILL increase our numbers in the House. (Doesn’t that sound better?) Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! America will be free! Bye!

The Mason Moment, Nov. 15, 2021

I speak about the need for voting, the need for organizing at the grass roots, The Kyle Rittenhouse case, and Steve Bannon.

The Mason Moment, November 1, 2021

I speak today about the terrorizing of election officials ansd school board members, and of the need to vote.

The Mason Missile, October 29, 2021

The Mason Missile The E-Newsletter of John Oliver Mason October 29, 2021, 2021 1500 Walnut Street, Suite 700-21A Philadelphia, PA 19102 johnomason@johnomason.com https://johnomason.com amazon.com/author/masonjohn (Please forward to your friends) (Donations appreciated, advertising space available) https://www.paypal.me/jom57 Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. -Ralph Waldo Emerson Greetings, Americans! I’m continuing to promote my novel, Soldier Of The Cross; it’s available through Amazon. (https://www.amazon.com/Soldier-Cross-John-Oliver-Mason/dp/0578988402/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3VQ9PDCKAUKLK&dchild=1&keywords=soldier+of+the+cross+john+oliver+mason&qid=1635266248&rnid=2941120011&s=books&sprefix=soldier+of+the%2Caps%2C111&sr=1-1) But I encourage you to first order it through your local independent bookstore; there you find writing workshops, meet-the-author events, and poetry readings. It’s at the grassroots level, in these small indy bookstores, where new literary talent flourishes. And, please support all you other small businesses, like the small grocer and local diner; they’ve been particularly hit hard by the pandemic, and the billion-dollar mega-corporations don’t need the money as much as these small family businesses do. Amazon, in particular, is wealthy enough that Jeff Bezos can afford to have his own space program, Blue Origin. But the latest is that Amazon is in negotiations to purchase MGM Studios. Amazon is about to pay $8.45 billion for MGM, as they paid $13.7 billion for Whole Foods. (https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/26/amazon-to-buy-mgm-studios-for-8point45-billion.html) This has been possible through the series of tax breaks that corporations over the past 40 decades have attained from Congress, with the help of their lobbying firms; I’m thinking particularly about the 2017 tax cut, which created the federal deficit, and the Republicans have no problem with it. (But, to the Republicans, spending money on such socially beneficial things as infrastructure, schools, medical assistance, nursing mothers, and unemployment would be an economic catastrophe.) Workers have never benefitted from these corporate tax breaks; it’s only more money for more luxury items-such as Bezos’ brand-new, $500 million dollar yacht. ((https://www.geekwire.com/2021/see-worthy-first-look-jeff-bezos-reported-500m-superyacht-netherlands-shipyard/) (https://www.autoevolution.com/news/first-look-at-jeff-bezos-new-toy-record-breaking-oceanco-sailing-yacht-y721-launched-172333.html) Bezos’ acquisition of MGM, Whole Foods, and The Washington Post, shows the need for the mega-billionaire class-along with Elon Musk and Jeff Zuckerberg-have to be taxed at the appropriate rate. Elon Musk has been particularly vehement about his class being taxed, (https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-democrats-billionaires-tax-arguments-tesla-stock-net-worth-2021-10) proclaiming on Twitter, "Eventually, they run out of other people's money and then they come for you." All of the plutocrats in history try to make the lower classes identify with them, like they have the same thing in common; whereas the in reality, all of the tax cuts from Reagan to today have benefited billionaires and corporations, with no benefit to workers or consumers. Fortunately, workers are flexing their power; the pandemic has shown the importance of “essential workers,” works who had to work throughout the COVID crisis-store works, medical professionals, sanitation workers, etc. Another set of essential workers are the bus, trolley, and subway workers of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), who were prepared to go on strike on November 1, but they, through their union, Transport Workers Union Local 234 (TWU) settled it just before deadline. (https://www.inquirer.com/transportation/septa-strike-update-2021-contract-agreement-20211029.html?utm_source=browser_notification&utm_campaign=browser_notification&utm_medium=notification&utm_content=No-strike-SEPTA-and-its-largest-union-reach-a-contract-agreement-) The strike by the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (https://bctgm.org/) is continuing its strike against Kellogg, the cereal and food company. The issues for the workers have been of moving production to Mexico (leaving the workers stranded without a job), the taking away of health-care and retirement benefits, cost-of-living wage increases, holiday and vacation pay, and that the union label be on each box of Kellogg’s products. There are picket lines around all Kellogg facilities, including in Lancaster, PA; I hope soon to be able to get there, and celebrate the workers’ victory. The strike of John Deere by the United Auto Workers (https://uaw.org/) goes on. With the skilled assembly-line workers out on strike, the Deere company has resorted to bringing in scabs-in this care, salaried office workers for the company. This has resulted in accidents by the salary workers and orders from the company not to talk about what goes on in the plant. (https://theintercept.com/2021/10/26/john-deere-strike-accident/) I’m currently reading Philip Foner’s History of The Labor Movement In The United States. It’s a great history of the terrible conditions that working people endured as the nation developed into the capitalist powerhouse it is now: poor or no housing, meager pay a family couldn’t live on, dangerous working conditions for long hours; and any attempt to organize workers to resist this, so workers could live and work as full human beings, were put down by all the ruling corporate elite had at its disposal-courts, legislatures, company goons, police, sheriff’s deputies, militia, the regular army, the era’s news media, vigilantes (composed of some of the most respectable men in the community), and the clergy. But in the face of all that, workers persisted in their organizing, so that they can be the basis of the American middle class-which has been eroded for the past four decades by tax breaks for billion-dollar corporations, the transfer of manufacturing overseas (leaving American workers jobless), the weakening of unions and protections for workers, and the weakening of laws controlling the amount of money donated to political campaigns (I’m thinking now the Citizens United case). We have a history of Labor organizing and struggle in this country. Our ancestors fought and died so that workers live a decent life. We must NOT disappoint them, and allow the corporate elite to take away our rights. We must support our fellow workers, at John Deere, Kellogg, Nabisco, Frito-Lay, IATSE, and in our own shops and neighborhoods as they fight our fight, and fight alongside of them. The ballot is the mightiest weapon in the freedom-fighting arsenal, and on November 2, I want you all to use it, for your friends, your coworkers, your families, and your neighbors. Stay safe, stay strong, and Stay together! America will be free! Bye!

The Mason Moment, October 24, 2021

I speak about the ongoing Labor unrest in the country, the need to protect small businesses like bookstores, Trump's social media scam, and celebrating PhillyCAM.

The Mason Moment Oct. 18, 2021

I speak about the raving anti-vax, anti-mask maniacs in school board meetings, and the big money behind them.

The Mason Moment, October 14, 2021

I speak about the wave of Labor activism going on in the country, AT&T paying for OANN, and the need to vaccinate and vote.

The Mason Moment, October 4, 2021

I speak about the Pandora Papers, and of the "moderate Democrats" hampering the passage of meaningful legislation.

The Mason Missile, September 28, 2021

Greetings, Americans! After 39 years of work, my novel, Soldier Of The Cross, is completed. It’s available now on Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/Soldier-Cross-John-Oliver-Mason/dp/0578988402/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=soldier+of+the+cross+john+oliver+mason+fiction&qid=1632259383&rnid=2941120011&s=books&sr=1-1). I will place it on other platforms as I go along. I thank everybody for their support. I urge people to first try to attain a copy of the novel through their favorite independent local bookstores, they being close to the community and locations for poetry readings, writing classes, and other grassroots literary events. In Philadelphia, one of my favorites is A Novel Idea On Passyunk, on East Passyunk Avenue. (https://anovelideaphilly.com/) Please look them up, or any other independent bookstore in your locality. Being published on Amazon obligates me to support organizing efforts of Amazon employees, with reference to the organizing drive at the Amazon facility in Bessemer, Alabama. (https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2021/09/what-will-it-take-amazon-workers-unionize/185163/) It’s the old story: the company distributes memos and phone messages to employees, telling them what evil the union is, and forcing them to attend anti-union lectures and watch anti-union films. (https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/amazon-employee-testifies-about-grueling-working-conditions-amid-union-battle-63210649) Employees have complained about speedups among the line, dangerous safety conditions, constantly being monitored by supervisors (including about restroom breaks), and poor medical care for workers. (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/05/amazon-workers-protest-unsafe-grueling-conditions-warehouse) THIS is how Jeff Bezos became the world’s richest human being, worth $211 BILLION dollars, (https://time.com/6078311/jeff-bezos-net-worth-record/#:~:text=The%20world's%20richest%20man%20reached,to%20the%20Bloomberg%20Billionaires%20Index.) wealthy enough to have his own space program as a vanity project. The organizing of Amazon workers, and of workers in all other industries, is a serious and worthy fight; without the workers working, Bezos, Elon Musk, and all the cyber-robber-barons of the 21st Century—compatible to Rockefeller, Carnegie, Vanderbilt, and JP Morgan in the 19th Century—would be just talking to themselves, and be totally helpless. The nonsense around the 2020 election, with republicans, trying to appease the insatiable trump base, continues. The firm Cyber Ninjas, hired by the republicans in the state legislature to “audit” the ally of votes, has concluded that Joseph Robinette Biden is definitely the winner of the presidential election in Arizona, with more votes than were originally recorded. (https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2021/09/23/arizona-audit-draft-report-confirms-biden-beat-trump-2020/5835521001/) But alas, republicans in the Pennsylvania legislature, who observed the Arizona recount, plan to perform their own “audit” of the votes in Pennsylvania. (https://www.inquirer.com/news/arizona-audit-report-pennsylvania-republicans-20210924.html) When, Lord, will this stupidity ever end? By going through this bullshit of trying to undo a properly conducted election, in vain hopes of trying to reverse the results, for the benefit of a small minority of racists, medical quacks, and religious charlatans, the republican party—it’s no longer worthy of the respect of capital letters—has proven itself unfit to govern this country. The very fact that trump was nominated in 2016 over more experienced politicians must say something about the state of the party. But the republican party was headed this way for a long time, starting with the Barry Goldwater campaign in 1964, when white supremacists pinned their homes on him after he came out against Civil Rights legislation; when Richard Nixon latched on to “law and order” as a cover for repressing the African-America community’s Civil rights drive and anti-Viet Nam-war activists; when Ronald Reagan, notorious for his “welfare queen” speeches and beginning his 1980 campaign in the area of Mississippi when three Civil Rights activists were murdered, and where he proclaimed, “I believe is States’ Rights” (the south’s slogan before the Civil War); and when George HW Bush, that scion of American gentry, ran in 1998 with the “Willie Horton” ads with the theme of “the big scary Black Man is going to rape you!”—the other candidates weren’t so clean either. Racism, whether the subtle kind of Lee Atwater or the blatant ranting of trump and his crew, has long been their favorite propaganda tool. Let us all do our parts in resisting the neo-fascist thugs and bullies. I used the word “fascist” deliberately, there’s no other term suitable for trump and the republican party as it stands—physical force against political opponents and suppressing opposition activities. I’ll do my part; I have just had a class in Philadelphia as a member of my division’s election board, and I urge all of you to get out and vote, whether the contest is for President or township supervisor. All offices are important. Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! America will be free! Bye!

The Mason Moment, September 19, 2021 (Sequence 1)

I speak about the need to stand up to anti-vaccine-anti-mask bullies who prevent the rest of us from resisting COVID.

The Mason Moment, Sept. 1, 2021

I speak of Labor Day and the role of American workers in our economy and society.

The Mason Missile, August 26, 2021

Greetings, Americans! We are currently in the month of Elul, the month preceding Rosh Ha’Shona, the Jewish New Year, the time of self-reflection, self-evaluation, and forgiveness, for yourself and others. I take this time now to say, if anyone out there has offended me, I forgive you; and if I had offended anyone out there, I ask for your forgiveness. We need these times for self-reflection, of analyzing our behavior and our thought patters. We are all human and thus subject to failures and errors, and Lord, I made more than a few in my day. That’s is one thing I’ve been working on, as a lot of people have, forgiving myself of my errors and negative traits, learning from them, and moving past it; this also comes under self-esteem, the reminder that you (and I) and worthy of all that is positive. That’s been an ongoing job for me, and it’s not over yet. In September, it will be 40 years living in Philadelphia; I’ve been through some experiences, some pretty rough, and have gone through some changes, but I’m pleased with how things have turned out for me. I’m glad for the opportunity to make a positive contribution to my community, and I continue to do so. I have zero tolerance for these fools who refuse to face the reality of COVID-19,, and who refuse to put masks on and/or take the vaccine; due to this willful ignorance, we’re facing the Delta Variant, as we hoped that we can finally put this behind us. The anti-vax-anti-mask people have been militant to the point of threatening to kill doctors and nurses who have been working constantly to cure people affected by the virus, along with throwing tantrums in school board meetings and tearing the masks off people, evoking the word “freedom.” (https://www.inquirer.com/wires/ap/mask-vaccine-conflicts-descend-into-violence-harassment-20210821.html) A lot of Republican hacks are playing up to this crowd, such as Governors Ron DeSantis (Florida) and Greg Abbott (Texas), along with Congress-idiot Jim Jordan of Ohio, they rant about “freedom” and “no government overreach” and “parents should control their kids and not the government,” giving no thought about the spread of the virus; so these people, and their kids who are told to go back to school while the virus is still floating in the atmosphere, are expendable. Several cities, including Philadelphia, are becoming stricter in demanding mask-wearing and proof of vaccination. I’m not an authoritarian, but the damn virus is STILL out there, noting to play around with, something to take seriously. I am definitely pleased with the increase in vaccinations over the last month. (https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/20/health/us-coronavirus-friday/index.html?utm_term=16294596046618e3d5769f7f1&utm_source=cnn_Five+Things+for+Friday%2C+August+20%2C+2021&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=ni5q19hDJ0hCyQtn0Mjaea8nV1lIvuI2fNRC4iUD6x2Ka8Dbn2qqdcNJU4Agudqu&bt_ts=1629459604664) Let’s not let the bullies and fools push us around; let’s take the vaccine (and the booster when it comes around), put he mask on if a facility requires it, wash our hands, and look out for each other. The results of the 2020 Census are in. There has been a decline in the birth rate of non-Hispanic whites, and the population of those over eighteen has increased; there have been significant increases in the Asian and Hispanic populations. (https://www.inquirer.com/wires/ap/census-data-us-is-diversifying-white-population-shrinking-20210813.html) (https://www.inquirer.com/wires/ap/explainer-5-takeaways-release-2020-census-data-20210812.html) This is what has white nationalists freaked out-the end of their numerical dominance. They realize this and now they’re playing defense, advocating these efforts to limit voting rights such as voter-ID laws and restrictions on where drop-off boxes are located. They can also double into the anti-vax-anti-mask crusade, since extremist movements tend to meld into each other. You can also throw in religious cranks and such conspiracy theories as Q-Anon. These are the elements have to stand up to, if we want to save the health of our bodies, and the health of our democracy. They are, alas, beyond reasoning with-like school bullies (I have my share of problems with them) they see reasoning and negotiation as weak, and they have so problem with attacking us. We MUST and CAN and WILL stand up to them, in the vaccination clinic and the voting booth. I know we’re up to the task; we have a whole history of freedom-fighting behind us. Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! America will be free! Bye!

The Mason Moment, August 24, 2021

I advocate for Medicare For All, the For The People Act, the John Lewis Voting Righst Act, and the PRO Act.

The Mason Moment Aug. 16, 2021

I speak about the need to vaccinate against COVID.

The Mason Moment, August 6, 2021

I speak of the passing of Rich Trumka, and of the need for workers to organize for their defense

The Mason Missile, July 23, 2021

Greetings, Americans! The assaults on our democracy go on, with the passage of restricting voting laws going through Republican-dominated state legislatures, including Pennsylvania. I commend the Democrats of the Texas legislature, who exiled themselves to Washington to prevent a quorum from voting on the voting-restriction bills. (https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/12/texas-democrats-voting-bill-quorum/) Governor Greg Abbot has threatened to arrest these legislators if they come back to the state; but they’re national heroes, and I commend them. This was a bold action, and we must take bold action to stand for the essential right to vote; take that vote away, and we lose all the others. This is what the late, great John Lewis, congress-member from Georgia and one of the heroes of the Civil-Rights struggle meant when he said, “Get into good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.” (https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/john-lewis-quotes/?template=next) The idea against popularly-based democracy in this nation has a long history-the idea that a minority must have veto power over the majority. During the drafting of the Constitution in 1797-in Philadelphia-southern states know that, as they were an agricultural society, and the northern states were more heavily populated, any popular vote would turn against them, and the northern states could end up voting against the slavery system, while-this was the real danger to the slave system-slaves could united with poor white and overturn the dominance of the planter class-and the planter class tried to model itself on the noble classes of Europe, which still dominated their societies-but their dominance was starting to slip away. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, one of the great statesmen of the period between the war of 1812 and just before the Civil War-one of the “Great Triumvirate” alongside of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. Calhoun, in his posthumous book Disquisition of Government, promoted the idea of “concurrent majorities.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concurrent_majority) This is the idea that a majority of interests groups in a nation, and not the majority of the population as a whole, vote on an issue to approve it. This idea was used during the Nullification Crisis of 1832-1833, when he was against the Tariff of 1828, the “Tariff of Abominations.” Calhoun used the idea of Concurrent Majorities to make any federal tariff not apply in South Carolina if the legislature did not approve of it. (https://www.ushistory.org/us/24c.asp) The opposition to democracy, once skimming around the fringe of our politics with lip service to “democracy,” is crawling out of the political woodwork and into the political mainstream. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) said of this country “We’re not a democracy,” and later, ““Democracy isn’t the objective; liberty, peace, and prospefity (sic) are. We want the human condition to flourish. Rank democracy can thwart that.” (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-lee-democracy/democracy-isnt-the-objective-republican-u-s-senator-draws-democrats-ire-idUSKBN26T2YX And again, from Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky): “The idea of democracy and majority rule really is what goes against our history and what the country stands for,” and “The Jim Crow laws came out of democracy. That’s what you get when the majority ignores the rights of others.” (https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/rand-paul-latest-gop-question-democracy-majority-rule-n1270697) (I’m dating myself here: I remember the administration of Richard Nixon, when, as he expanded the Viet Nam War into Cambodia, he asked for support from the “vast silent majority” of Americans. The Republicans right has always used the argument of “We’re the majority of Americans, and we don’t care about your issues” as a way of evading the problems of racial discrimination, LGBTQ oppression, the environment, etc. they’re for the majority when it’s convenient for them, but they know now they’re becoming less and less a majority.) Ruling elites have tried, and still try, to find some rationale for negating or vetoing any popular effort for social reform. This is the idea behind the shit-ass “fiction” and “philosophy” of Ayn Rand: The Superior Man-always a man to Rand-is a billionaire resisting his “inferiors” in telling him how he should run his business, no matter what damage he does to his workers, the local community, or the environment; and he, the Superior Man, presents himself as the person being oppressed. (It’s an old story, of a once-dominant group passing itself off as an “oppressed minority.”) Race and ethnicity enter into this mix, and further “scientific” excuse could be formulated to justify further social inequality affecting all of the lower classes, of all races and ethnicities. From what we have seen in the past several decades, from Reagan through the t---p takeover of the Republican Party, corporate moguls and their political serfs, left by themselves, do NOT have the interests of the American public at heart; by indulging them like a bratty kids they are (I have ZERO respect for them), they have turned the federal treasury into their own personal piggy bank to tap into when their “free market” turns sour on them, as with the S&L bailout of 1990 to the Federal reserve’s loans to the mortgage companies after the 2008 Crash-and the general public, us working and low-income people, and still struggling with food, mortgage payments, and medical bills. Let’s stop falling for the bullshit! We must and will come together and make our elected officials know our grievances are real and our cause is just. Along with that, we will continue to educate ourselves on the issues, formulate solutions, and communicate our beliefs. The ruling elites portray working and low-income people as racist, ignorant, and only interested in the hottest video games; let’s give them one rude awakening. Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! America will be free! Bye!

The Billionaire Space Race

Another billionaire-Jeff Bezos, formerly of Amazon-has launched himself into space, with his own personal space program, Blue Origin. This is what he has stent his billions on, rather than paying his workers a decent salary or improved their oppressive working conditions. He followed Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines, whose missile-plane by his space program Virgin Galactic just skimmed the Atmosphere bordering the Stratosphere. Following him will be Elon Musk of Tesla, with his program, SpaceX. The whole premise of “supply-side economics,” a reboot of the historically discredited laissez faire, is that if we, the American people through our government, give corporations and wealthy people everything they want-grants, tax breaks, the “relaxation” of rules for environmental protection, consumer protection, and workers’ safety (read, total elimination), among others- and the profits these corporations will-somehow-seep down to the lower classes; and we are expected to have faith in our capitalist class that they would take care of the rest of us. (https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax) We see the results now of this faith-based economic scheme: the wealthiest Americans sock their savings away in off-shore tax havens and continue to purchase the most outrageously expensive luxury goods-such as their own space programs-and corporations, instead of hiring more workers and investing in new equipment, move their manufacturing to impoverished countries that have scant protections for workers, and governments that are willing to repress their own citizens. Instead of trickling down, the money is going up into space, and remaining with the dominant one percent. No more, please, of this adulation of billionaires who attained their billions from gouging workers and consumers. We must continue to organize, in our workplaces and our neighborhoods, for our lives and our rights; our consciousness and our numbers are our superpower.

The Mason Moment, July 12, 2021

I speak about the upcoming Delta variant of the COVID virus, the appeasement by Republicans of the virus denialists, neo-fascists, and religious cranks, the voter-restriction laws in legislatures, and billionaires going into space.

Stand Up For Voting!

During the audit of the voting machines in Maricopa County, Arizona-to hunt for non-existent voting fraud, and to find more votes for t---p that weren’t there-a delegation of Republican legislators from Pennsylvania went to observe the whole silly (but dangerous) business of the audit, which ruined the voting machines and the county would have to get new ones. (Genius move, NOT.) State Senator Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin County) has demanded from three Pennsylvania counties-Philadelphia, Tioga, and York-to submit to a similar “audit” of their votes, which would cost millions of dollars and raise questions as to who would do the “audit.” Attorney-General Josh Shapiro called it a “partisan fishing expedition” and urged the counties not to go along with it. (https://apnews.com/article/pa-state-wire-pennsylvania-elections-election-2020-government-and-politics-cf7cfe0566c9ef47489d7ecef88165f5?mc_cid=f8e3240d9c&mc_eid=1a031a046f) (https://www.alternet.org/2021/07/a-sham-pennsylvania-ag-torches-state-gop-s-push-for-arizona-style-election-audit/) Mastiano, by the way, is an ally of t---p, and intends to run in the republican primary in 2022 for Pennsylvania Governor, seeking the votes of t---pist MAGA crowd. This is the crowd that participated in and supported the raid on January 6 into the Capitol, with the idea of-somehow- overturning the will of the people who voted for Joe Biden. That disqualifies Mastriano right there: he believes that the MAGA freaks are the REAL American people and he must go after their votes, therefore, he’s feeding into the “voter-fraud” myth, utilizing such far-right media as Steve Bannon’s podcast and OANN. Americans, it’s past high time for us to educate ourselves on the real issues the country faces, like gun violence, workers working for poverty wages (and still requiring public assistance), universal health care (especially with the COVID still out there), and infrastructure needing serious upgrades. Then, we organize, and we get out there and vote, and never allow some gang of punks and thugs-be they armed MAGA-heads or state legislators-to intimidate us. The future of our country demands we do so.

The Mason Missile, June 28, 2021

Greetings, Americans! On Saturday, June 26, I took part in a bus ride, sponsored by UNITE/HERE in Philadelphia, to join in the Freedom Ride For Voting Rights, sponsored by Black Voters Matter. We were all reminded of the work and sacrifice brave activists-like John Lewis-undertook so that ALL Americans can vote. the rally at the north side of the Capitol Mall to advocate specifically for the For The People Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and statehood for the District of Columbia-a district of about 700,000 American citizens who have no say in their federal government. we’re the only nation that doesn’t allow representation from people in its own capitol. This past month, we recognized and commemorated the Tulsa Race Massacre, in May 31-June 1, 1921, when a white mob descended upon and destroyed the predominantly Black business district of Greenwood-a thriving neighborhood of stores known as “the Black Wall Street.” Triggered by rumors of a Black man sexually assaulting a white woman, a gang of white men went to the county courthouse demanding the Black man be surrendered to them-and a group of armed Black men, some of them veterans of World War I, confronted them. Later, a white mob rampaged through Greenwood, some of them deputized; at the end of the massacre, an estimated 300 people were killed, and a thriving community was demolished. (https://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/tulsa-race-massacre) (https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/31/black-wall-street-was-shattered-100-years-ago-how-tulsa-race-massacre-was-covered-up.html) This May 31, President Joe Biden signed a proclamation recognizing the massacre, and recommitting the administration to addressing the racial problems we face today. (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/05/31/a-proclamation-on-day-of-remembrance-100-years-after-the-1921-tulsa-race-massacre/) This begs the question-who writes history, and who decides what “history” is? For a century, the story of the Tulsa Massacre was never fully discussed, either in high school or college history classes; it was swept under the rug, and serious scholars worked to unearth the truth. The true study of history goes beyond the classroom and the official textbooks; just as we must come together to study our problems today, and deal with them, so must we also band together to study our history. The Tulsa Massacre is another example of the racism that permeates our society, and our need to deal with it to this day. Over the course of the year, Republican-dominated state legislatures are passed, or are trying to pass (like in Pennsylvania), a series of laws that world hamper the ability of certain demographic groups-seniors, students, people of color-to vote, which is the basic pillar of democracy. Just like with the original Jim Crow laws after Reconstruction, the trick is to not phrase these bills to prevent specific people from voting, and to continuously call them “voter integrity bills.” (https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/state-voting-bills-tracker-2021) Voter integrity? Do they think we’re buying that bullshit line? Or is it a line they put out through their favorite media, to the people who still vote for them? The Republicans don’t’ give a damn about their voters; they just want to infuriate them with the latest scary thing, such as “urban crime” and “Willie Horton,” feeding into the racism lurking in the subconscious of America. Also, we must remember that June is LGBTQ Pride Month, the month commemorating the Stonewall Riots, when in June 1969, patrons in a crappy mob-owned bar faced a raid by police, and all of a sudden they felt like “Enough is enough!”, and battled riot cops for three days, thus jumpstarting the contemporary Gay rights movement. At the head of the riots were two transgender women of color-Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. The legend was that Johnson, who like Rivera was a sex worker, was the first to throw a brick at a cop during the riots. Together they formed the activist group Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) as a support system for young trans-people. But alas! The leading Gay Rights groups didn’t want to be associated with trans-people, sex workers, or drag queens, and Johnson and Rivera were all but written out of the history of Stonewall, and LGBTQ history in general. Johnson was found dead in the Hudson River, and the police called it a “suicide;” and Rivera died in 2002. (https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/who-was-sylvia-rivera) (https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/who-was-marsha-p-johnson) In June 2019, the City of New York dedicated two statues to Johnson and Rivera, commemorating their efforts as LGBTQ rights-after their passing. (https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/marsha-p-johnson-sylvia-rivera.htm) It’s again the question, “Who decides what is history?” The role Johnson and Rivera, and other marginalized people in our country, must be more full told. That’s our job-to study our nation’s REAL history, and not the coloring–book versions we were fed as kids. We must especially look at the contributions of working-people, low-income people, and people on the edge of society-like the drag queens and sex workers at Stonewall in June 1969. And when we do, we can realize the power they acquired by banding together in solidarity, and we, in this portion of the 21st century, can therefore learn our own power. We have a long, strong legacy of freedom fighting in this country-think about John Lewis getting beat up at the Edmund Pettis Bridge during the March on Selma in 1965 for voting rights. Let’s follow their examples, and pick up where they left off in the struggle. Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! America will be free! Bye!

The Mason Moment, June 25, 2021

I speak about the latest bill in Florida demanding that teachers and students register their political beliefs, and about the Freedom Ride for Voting Rights.

The Mason Moment, June 20, 2021

I speak about Father’s Day, and of the importance of healing from childhood trauma.

Happy Juneteenth

On Saturday, June 19, we will celebrate Juneteenth, when we commemorate the day of June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger informed former slaves in Galveston, Texas, of their emancipation from slavery, over two months after Lee surrendered in Appomattox, and over two years after Lincoln issued the emancipation Proclamation. (News of the end of the war traveled slowly through Texas; and several confederate divisions did not surrender until June 1865.) (https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/what-is-juneteenth/) There has been a movement to commemorate this event as the final end to chattel slavery in America, and to honestly discuss the history of slavery as a terrible historic fact. This week, President Joe Biden signed the act, passed by both houses of Congress, declaring Juneteenth a federal holiday. (https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/biden-signs-juneteenth-bill/index.html) This comes amid the new Republican-conservative hysteria over Critical Race Theory (CRT), a concept, developed in the 1970s and 1980s, that looks into how race and racism affect every aspect of American society, be it education, municipal government, medical care, law and law enforcement, employment, etc., to how thoroughly racism has permeated our society and public discourse. (https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/literary_theory_and_schools_of_criticism/critical_race_theory.html) Republican legislators and media talkers have told their followers that CRT is too divisive for our society, it makes people feel bad, and it causes white people to hate themselves. Several state legislatures dominated by Republicans have introduced bills banning or limiting the teaching of CRT in public schools, even though it’s a discussion mainly in university circles. (https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/551977-gop-legislatures-target-critical-race-theory) There are people who would not face the reality of racism in this country, and would not learn about or confront slavery in America and how it affected our economy and society. This meshes with another new Republican-conservative bogie, the 1619 Project of the New York Times, named after the date in August 1619 when the first people from Africa came to Virginia as slaves. (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html) Just like with CRT, Republican-dominated legislatures have introduced laws attempting to prohibit the use of the 1619 Project in classrooms as part of discussions about racism in this country. trump, in an attempt to please his base, had organized a “1776 Commission,” to call for “patriotic education” in schools and to minimize the effect and reality of slavery. (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/22/1776-commission-report-trump-administration-historians) Of course the Republicans whine about kids being “brainwashed” and “indoctrinated” in schools by “leftist professors;” they’re projecting their own effort to turn schools and education into propaganda tools onto people who want an honest discussion about racism in this country. They don’t want any serious intellectual discussions, which would destroy their political power and their worldview. Let’s not take their “arguments” too seriously; all they want to do is hang on to their waning power. Let us continue to learn on our own, in and outside the classroom, and discuss our learning with others. Our brains, and our votes, are our mightiest weapons.

The Mason Moment June 11, 2021

The Internet IS Infrastructure

https://johnomason.com/2021/06/07/the-internet-is-infrastructure/

The Praxis with John Mason, June 7, 2021

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1LOFTuIlZfdJ76CS1Ps5T7?si=1d1f004778a64e75

The Mason Missile, May 29, 2021

Greetings, Americans! I hope you all voted; I took part in my division’s election board, setting up the voting machines, showing people how to work them, and taking them down, along with helping people sign in the book to vote. I encourage all of you to try to take part in the election system in your jurisdiction; it’s supposed to be OUR electoral system and OUR government. The Republican Party, in an effort to appease the trumpist base (in every sense of the word), continue the count of the votes in Maricopa Country, Arizona (where Phoenix is located), in the hunt for anything wrong with the vote count during the 2020 elections; (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57089359) to the Republicans, the problem was the election of Biden, not trump, and they continue their state of denial about the election results. How can we deal with the Republicans if they’re descended into such madness? The ideal of American politics was to have both parties come together over a bill or an issue, negotiating in the smoke-filled rooms of legend, and finally, for the good of the country, come to a deal that benefits both sides. But we can’t do that anymore, when you see the willful stubbornness of Senate MINORITY Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who blocks Democratic proposals because he can; and the new grassroots of the Republican Party which carries the noxious weeds of racism, anti-Semitism, conspiracy theorizing, religious charlatanism, plutocracy/oligarchy, and authoritarianism-all of which was known in an earlier time, and it applies today as FASCISM. This slide to nowhere is even more evident in how the Senate failed to attain the two-thirds majority to allow on the floor the vote on the bill the House passed to create a bi-partisan commission to investigate the ransacking by rabid trump loyalists of the Capitol-which could have killed some of the members, and did kill a Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick. This psychotic mob could have killed them, but they didn’t have the guts to stand up to trump and all the racism and bullying he stands for. (https://apnews.com/article/michael-pence-donald-trump-capitol-siege-government-and-politics-4798a8617bacf27bbb576a4b805b85d9?utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&fbclid=IwAR35AQdrvjaIPQZ0nt8TEGbxdIwf80TAsE_3RVtiB3tkreb6-INT7JKw7ds) There has been talk about more mainstream conservative Republicans trying to retake the party to save it from the trumpist elements; the Lincoln Project, which their terrific videos hitting at trump and his brood of vipers, comes to mind, and they’ve done great work at it. But Charlie Sykes, a longtime conservative columnist, argues that the party is beyond redemption, and must come to an end (https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/republican-former-officials-anti-trump-manifesto-may-be-tilting-windmills-n1267523). Part of the descent into madness is the Republicans’ denial of any problems with the pandemic, as if it doesn’t exist, and they’re trying to punish Democrats for doing something about the pandemic. In Pennsylvania, the Republican-dominated state legislature pushed for two amendments to the state constitution that would take away from the governor the power to declare emergencies-which is what Governor Tom Wolf did at the start of the pandemic, shutting down businesses and mandating mask-wearing throughout the state, in an effort to word off the COVID; the two amendments passed, since people don’t usually pay attention to them (which was what the Republicans counted on). (https://www.penncapital-star.com/government-politics/those-constitutional-amendments-were-aimed-at-the-pa-supreme-court-as-much-as-they-were-at-wolf-bruce-ledewitz/) Another sign of this was when in April, at a Congressional hearing, Jim Jordan of Ohio, kept raving at Dr. Anthony Fauci about restriction on assemblies due to COVID, constantly demanding like, “When are we going to get our freedom and liberty?” (I’m paraphrasing) Fauci, a man of science who follows CDC guidelines and pays attention to scientific data as it is updated at the moment, kept telling Jordan that the rate of infections have to go down so we can live our lives, but Jordan acted like we were under a dictatorship where we can’t assemble to worship. It was all hysteria and hyperbole to play to the party base, i.e., trump, and it was not at all reasoned debate over ideas and facts. (https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/15/politics/jim-jordan-anthony-fauci-hearing/index.html) And we certainly can’t forget Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Jewish-space-laser lady from Georgia, who compared mask mandates for combating COVID to Jews in nazi Germany being forced to wear the yellow star. (https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/05/marjorie-taylor-greene-masks-holocaust) All through the pandemic, the Republican Party failed to call out the trump regime for failing to take action about the spread of the virus that killed over 560,000 Americans, and has enabled him in his denial of its reality. You can’t take seriously these calls for “freedom” from a party whose legislatures pass laws restricting the availability of voting facilities, aimed at prohibiting communities of color and college students from exercising the right to vote for which people have suffered and died; and certainly not after these legislatures pass laws that criminalize peaceful protests, including allowing drivers to run their vehicles over them. Another threat to our freedoms is the weakening of our news organizations due to media companies cutting back on reporting staffs for their outlets, so they can’t do their job of informing the public about what’s going on in their communities. The latest example is Alden Global Capital, which has recently purchased the Tribune Publishing group, which owns the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, New York Daily News, Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant, and several other newspapers. Alden’s motus operandi is to purchase a newspaper and cut back on its staff and sell its real estate assets to maximize profit, at the cost of keeping the public informed about their communities. (https://www.npr.org/2021/05/21/998730863/vulture-fund-alden-global-known-for-slashing-newsrooms-buys-tribune-papers?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20210521&utm_term=5405403&utm_campaign=breaking-news&utm_id=53850579&orgid=433&utm_att1=) But phrases like “serving the public” and “benefitting the community” are obscenities to republicans, who compare them to Stalinism and the Gulag; the “writings” of Ayn Rand are a peak into that mindset. Do they think we’re going to sit back and take it? It seems like it, and so, alas, does the corporate media-but we’ll prove them wrong. We’re continuing to organize, to educate ourselves on the issues, and preparing for the next time we vote, along with continuing to be public about our opinions. Our ancestors fought fascism abroad and beat it; we can and will beat fascism here at home. And as we enjoy this three-day weekend, please remember those of our armed forces who gave their lives in the service of our country. Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! America will be free! Bye!

The Mason Moment, May 223, 2021

I speak about the necessity of voting, the efforts to repress people's voting rights and ability to protest, and the state of the Republican Party.

The Mason Moment, May 7, 2021

I speak about the self-destruction of the Republican Party, the passing of voter suppression bills, and the need for people to vote and stay engaged.

Health Care Scam Alert

https://johnomason.com/2021/05/05/health-care-scam-alert/

The Mason Missile, April 27, 2021

Greetings, Americans! Derek Chauvan, the Minneapolis police officer who, right in public view, killed George Floyd by landing his knee on his neck, was found guilty on all three counts. Still, the rash of police abuse cases against communities of color continues. (Please let me be clear: I am not a cop-hater, I have known many great people in the law-enforcement field, and “defund the police” may not be a good slogan to use; but still, police abuse is a reality in minority communities, and people there don’t trust the police, and that hampers their ability to stop and prevent crimes.) Ruling elites tend not to learn any lessons from when the classes successfully challenge their power over them, be it a racial minority (such as African-Americans or Hispanic-Americans) or a social-economic class (workers, LGBTQs), or when it loses an unpopular war we shouldn’t have gotten into (Viet Nam). Instead of acknowledging the rightness of the formerly put-down grounds of the wrongness of the war, formerly dominant economic or social elites, and their political and media allies, rewrite the history of the previous decade to show the reform efforts were either wasteful or silly or criminal. The post-Civil-War Reconstruction period was like this. It was an attempt to help newly-freed Black slaves, freed from physical slavery but without resources, to advance in the new society that was to develop after the war; resisting this were all-white state legislatures imposing “black codes” on the former slaves to bring them back under their control, and the Ku Klux Klan stared in this era. After the disputed presidential election of 1876, the Republican Party, the party of Lincoln-fearful or the growing rise of Labor agitation-abandoned the former slaves to the whims of their former masters by removing Union troops, which enforced the reconstruction laws, from the southern states to help put down strikes of workers. Over the decades, with the rise of state Jim Crow laws and the Plessy v. Ferguson decision legalizing “separate but equal,” the historic memory of the Reconstruction era was rewritten to say that Reconstruction was a series of corrupt state governments by “Yankee carpetbaggers” misleading the poor ignorant former slaves, and of the period of “Redemption,” when “white men protected the purity of white womanhood;” the scholarly history books after the war, and the movies Birth Of A Nation and Gone With The Wind, were based on these premises. The same is true with the period of the New Deal, the Civil Rights movement, the War on Poverty, the consumer rights movement, and the emergence of feminism and LGBTQ rights. All through the ‘seventies, the media has bombarded us with talk about “welfare bums,” excessive government spending,” “too much government control over our lives,” “regulation of business is hurting our economy,” all that. Since the formerly oppressed sectors of society-workers, African-Americans, women, gay men and lesbians-have been entering the political process and used it to their advantage, the corporate elite, with their white-racist allies, have sought to undermine the capacity of their political organizing, and of the government’s ability to prevent abuses by corporations and racists. You see this in state legislatures’ attempts to prevent people of color from voting, or even helping people to vote. You see this in other laws passed in legislatures trying to criminalize protests, calling any demonstration they don’t like-such as those against the Keystone XL pipeline-a “riot,” going so far as to allow drivers to ram their vehicles into crowds of protestors-and let’s remember the Charlottesville neo-Nazi march in 2012, after which a Nazi drove his car into a crowd of counter-demonstrators, killing Heather Heyer. In other words, they learn nothing, and are thus out of touch with the reality of the world we’re in, and they don’t know or care how it affects us. Is THIS what they have in mind for us? I believe so. Do they even think of us as human beings and their fellow citizens? Not at all; at the bottom of all this is the desire to retain and expand their power and repress anyone who stands up to them, and they expect us to be docile and just put up with it, formulating a public philosophy that glorifies suffering and submission to your rulers as virtue. NO way! At least we have in Washington an administration taking on such injustices, as opposed to the reign of whatshisface talking all big and bad but not doing any of the dirty work himself. That’s great Biden is at least sensitive about this; but ultimately, it falls on US, the American people, to educate ourselves about our history, our economy, and our political system to learn the facts, and to organize for our rights. We’ve done it before in our history, American-most recently in coming together for each other during the pandemic-and we can keep on doing it. Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! America will be free! Bye!

The Mason Moment Apr. 25, 2021

I speak of the tendency of formerly ruling elites to learn no good lesson from the rising of formerly oppressed people, and their drive to retain their power.

Days to Honor Workers

https://johnomason.com/2021/04/24/days-to-honor-workers/

The Mason Moment, April 18, 2021

The Mason Moment, Apr. 13, 2021

The Mason Moment, April 3, 2021

The Freedom Seder

https://johnomason.com/2021/03/29/the-freedom-seder/

The Mason Moment March 27, 2021

The Mason Missile, March 26, 2021

Greetings, Americans! The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) has come and gone. Traditionally, it has been a place for conservative activists and politicians to network, and for presidential candidates to present themselves, and display their conservative bona fides. But this year, it has been a moment of trump-worship, including a gilded fiberglass statue of the Donald (made in Mexico) and there are photos of a man bowing to it and worshiping it-the new Golden Calf! (https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/02/golden-trump-statue-cpac-mexico.html) Another controversy was around the design of the stage, which was not at all like a regular stage, but one that resembled the “Odal Rune,” a letter in the ancient Nordic alphabet, which is popular among neo-fascists and white nationalists. How did that design come about? What were they thinking? Of course blatant neo-Nazis and racists have entered the “mainstream” conservative movement. Then there was the standup routine of Ted Cruz, Senator supposedly of Texas-but during the huge snowstorm, which wrecked the state’s antiquated electric-power system (leaving people without power, without water, without heat, and some literally freezing to death)-ol’ Teddy thought it would be a great time to vacation in Cancun. Later, when his copping out on his constituents made the news, Cruz headed back, and in his explanations, he said he was escorting his daughters to Cancun, making his OWN DAUGHTERS the scapegoat for his failure in leadership. You can’t’ expect anything else from a “man” who bootlicks the person who slandered his father and insulted his wife. To top it off, Cruz went to CPAC and made a big joke about it. (https://www.businessinsider.com/watch-ted-cruz-cpac-speech-cancun-trump-2021-2) This is the state of the conservative movement in America—treating the problems of marginalized people as a joke, and appealing to the worst racist elements. It has been a long ride for the Republican party, and the conservative movement, into the racist gutter, from the Goldwater campaign in 1964 which was hostile to Civil Rights legislation; to Nixon’s Southern Strategy and the “tough on crime” rhetoric; to the Reagan campaign beginning at the site where three Civil Rights workers were killed in Mississippi; to the Willie Horton propaganda campaign of George Bush I; to the mockery and slander of Barrack Obama, at Tea Party rallies, for being of African descent; and now we have Donald trump’s campaign vilifying Mexican immigrants as rapist and murderers. How much further can they sink? Helping the Republican Party along this road to nowhere has recently passed-Rush Limbaugh. For over thirty years as a national radio personality, Limbaugh has played into the racism, sexism, xenophobia, and homophobia among the American people, and using them as a basis for his idea of entertainment, making racist and sexist wisecracks about “feminazis” and “Barack the Magic Negro”, just like a school bully mocking the suffering of the child he terrorizes; and there are people in the country who applauded his act-people who are having difficult times with their finances and their lives, and Limbaugh gave them a target for them to aim their hate deflecting from the corporate elite, and their subservient politicians rewriting laws for their benefit. For this act, Limbaugh was well paid; in 2008, Limbaugh signed a contract with Clear Channel Communications to have his show broadcast over their Premier Radio Network, for $400 million (https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121504302144124805). Limbaugh was paid millions to tell working and low-income people, who happen to be white, that their problems stem from THOSE people, who happen to be of color, taking their jobs and their college admissions as they leach off the welfare system. The corporate rulers will pay ANY one ANY amount of money to turn the public against someone else, a soft target, a traditionally marginalized racial or cultural group. Contradictory, I know-living off welfare AND taking jobs?-but racism and other prejudices aren’t logical, and Limbaugh made jokes about racial problems in this country, so when he ever got called out on it, he could say, “Hey, I’m an entertainer, I’m making a joke!” In Georgia, Republicans ruling the state legislature have unleashed an old weapon on communities of color—drawing up new and more restrictive voting laws that would make it difficult for them to vote, with such items as fewer drop-off boxes, tighter identification requirements, the state taking over county election boards, and penalties for anyone giving food or water to people standing in line to vote. (https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/25/politics/georgia-state-house-voting-bill-passage/index.html) When Governor Brian Kemp signed the bill-with no witnesses-Park Cannon, an African-American woman State Representative, tried to get into the room to witness the signing, but was arrested, put in handcuffs, and was jailed. (https://www.rawstory.com/outraged-voters-blast-georgia-law-enforcement-following-park-cannons-arrest/?xrs=RebelMouse_fb&ts=1616766462&fbclid=IwAR0NN6ARZa9Ycf9iAE0paWGBpu5OnuSdN0NNx4eCBkBaDIBQwgKMk0Tk98o) The Republicans must thin African-American people, and descent people throughout the state and the nation, are going to just put up with it passively, we can’t do anything about it. No way! We have a long and honorable history in this of fighting for freedom, for African-Americans, women, workers, LGBTQs, and other minorities. We know the struggle they went through-are we going to let them down? Are we going to let them take away all our predecessors worked for? Died for? I know we won’t. We’ll take to the streets, to our online chat rooms, to our news media, and to the polls. We defeated them once we can and will defeat them again. Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! America will be free! Bye!

The Mason Moment, March 21, 2021

The Mason Moment March 14, 2021 (Sequence 1)

The Mason Moment, March 6, 2021

The Mason Missile, February 23, 2021

Greetings, Americans! I have just received my first COVID-19 vaccine injection (Pfizer) at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in West Philadelphia (https://www.philadelphia.va.gov/). I get my next one in the middle of March. When your turn come, please get it, and we can beat this plague that has killed now over 5000,000 of our fellow Americans-our friends and loved ones. The deterioration of the Republican Party is going on; Pat Toomey, of my home state Pennsylvania, is facing censure for voting to impeach trump-Toomey, for had voted 85 percent for trump’s actions. Dave Ball, Chair of the Washington County Republican Party, said it all when he said, “We did not send (Toomey) there to vote his conscience, we did not send him there to do the right thing…we sent him there to represent us.” (https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2021/02/15/western-pa-republican-county-chairs-oppose-sen-toomeys-vote-to-convict-trump-but-disagree-on-censure-resolutions/) This is the same Pat Toomey who was poised to run against Arlen Spector in the 2010 Republican primary for the Senate from Pennsylvania. This caused Spector to move to the Democratic Party, but he was defeated in the Democratic primaries by Joe Sestak; Toomey run the general election, as part of the shift of the Republican Party further to the right. (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Retirement/sen-arlen-specter-loss-joe-sestak-pennsylvania-senate/story?id=10669683) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_United_States_Senate_election_in_Pennsylvania) Thus, the Republican Party is now the party of Donald trump, white supremacists, religious bigots, science deniers, and conspiracy-theory devotees, and Toomey isn’t right-wing enough for them. Other senators voting for impeachment of trump include Mitt Romney of Utah, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, and Susan Collins of Maine; they have all faced censure resolutions from their states’ stae and county Republican organizations. ( https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/16/republicans-who-voted-to-convict-trump-face-censure-at-home) (https://www.voanews.com/usa/us-politics/republican-groups-censure-party-lawmakers-who-voted-impeach-convict-trump) The old idea has popped up again: third party! The idea is popular among some pro-trump Republicans. (https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/02/support-third-party-republicans-record-high-gallup.html) There is also talk among more main-stream conservative Republicans, people who worked in past Republican administrations, of forming their own third party. (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-party-exclusive/exclusive-dozens-of-former-republican-officials-in-talks-to-form-anti-trump-third-party-idUSKBN2AB07P) The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Pennsylvania Republicans to invalidate vote cast during the 2020 elections. (https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/22/politics/election-pennsylvania-republicans-supreme-court/index.html) The Republicans continue their efforts to deny the ability to vote to those of us opposed to their anti-worker policies; state legislatures have been inundated with new bills trying to either limit voting by mail, purging voter lists, or more voter ID laws aimed at people who usually don’t have the “required” ID, such as minorities, seniors, and college students-Jim Crow redux. (https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/02/politics/voting-rights-state-legislation/index.html). This is not the work of a party confident in mass appeal, and popularity, but one clinging to power by whatever means. And of course there’s the old reliable, gerrymandering, redrawing legislative districts for the party’s benefit, to keep their members in power for nearly eternity. With Donald trump as its spiritual leader, can you imagine the kids of bills emanating from such legislatures, becoming THE LAW? More deregulations of environmental controls on corporations, to allow them to pollute the air and water; more starving financially of schools, so that kids can’t learn and improve their lives; more discriminations permitted against LGBTQ people, in the name of “religious freedom”; more deterioration of our infrastructure, such as our highways, electric power grids, our railways, our water and sewage, and our bridges, for the sake of the almighty “free enterprise.” The list is endless. As enjoyable as the collapse of the Republican Party, and of the trump empire is- like the implosion of the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City (https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2021/02/17/trump-plaza-demolition-atlantic-city-implosion-orig.cnn-business/video/playlists/business-originals-counterprogramming/)- we progressives have a responsibility to work at the grassroots to advocate for our policies, and elect candidates who will act on them. They are: A $15.00 an hour minimum wage (for a start); A national health care system for every citizen in this country, “Medicare For All”: Ending limitations on workers organizing into unions: Resisting Republican efforts to gerrymander legislative districts for their benefit, to the exclusion of minorities, women, working and low-income people, and seniors; Upgrading our infrastructure so we can truly enter the 21st century, economically; and Upgrading our educational system and restoring respect for learning, as a way for personal advancement, and as a great thing for its own sake. I might be missing some things, but this is a start, and knowing American history like I do, we CAN and WILL organize to bring these things about, for ourselves and our future generations. So let’s get busy on this. Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! America will be free! Bye!

The Mason Moment, February 20, 2021

The Mason Moment, February 14, 2021

The Mason Moment with John Oliver Mason, February 7, 2021

The Mason Moment, Feb. 1, 2021 (Sequence 3)

The Mason Moment with John Oliver Mason, Jan. 24, 2021

The Mason Missile, January 21, 2021

Greetings, Americans! The moment we’ve waited for has come-Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is now the 46th President of the United States. Kamala Devi Harris is the first female, the first African-American, and the first Asian-descended Vice-President of the United States. We have hope once more for America. I was appalled, disgusted, angry, over the raid of trump worshipers stampeding into the Capitol building as the members of both Houses were voting to formally confirm Joseph Biden and Kamal Harris as, respectively, President and Vice-President of the United States. For weeks ever since he DID INDEED lose the election, trump and his minions, in Congress, in state legislatures, and in the right-wing media apparatus (Newsmax and One America), kept harping on the “rigged election” myth. (Doesn’t the party in power have the power to rig the system? Anyway…) Giuliani and the trump legal team kept going to the federal courts to somehow overturn the election results, complaining about the voting machines and blaming China for trump’s loss, as if the 81 million votes for Biden had nothing to do with it. From the election to today, gangs of pro-trump mobs, some of them armed with assault rifles, have tried and nearly succeeded in raiding locations where votes were being tallied. The Oregon state capitol building in Salem was attacked by such a mob-there are pictures of a pro-trump legislator opening a back door for them to enter. The mob that stampeded through the Capitol in Washington on January 6-I’m not trying to be nice about it here-threatened to kill Speaker Nancy Pelosi and hang Vice-President Mike Pence, over the count of the Electoral College vote; a crew of Senate clerks, God bless them, carried with them the leather box the Electoral College votes were stored with them to the secure location-true heroes in this tragedy. The mob urinated and defecated on the floor of the Capitol, and one genius stole a podium with the Speaker’s seal on it, smiling like he won a prize. One Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick of South River New Jersey, was beaten to death by the mob-the same “Back the Blue” crowd who wanted the protests against police violence in minority communities repressed; this crew was dong the rioting, and they didn’t want “law and order” applied to them. Sicknick, may your memory be a blessing. (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/01/12/brian-sicknick-new-jersey-hometown-us-capitol-police-officer/6647020002/) Ashlii Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, was deeply involved in the “stop the steal” movement and the QAnon cult; she was in on the raid, trying to break down the doors into the Capitol, before she was shot fatally. (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/09/ashli-babbitt-capitol-mob-trump-qanon-conspiracy-theory) Another hero in this episode is Eugene Goodman, an African-American Capitol Police officer who, when facing a herd of trump rioters, pushed one of them and they chased him, luring them away from the hall leading to the Senate chambers, saving their lives. He has since been appointed to the position of Deputy Sergeant-At-Arms for the Senate, and had the honor of escorting Kamala Harris during the inauguration. Bravo, Goodman! (https://www.newsweek.com/eugene-goodman-hailed-former-airborne-corps-1561455) The raid was a serious threat to our democracy, an attempt to stop the peaceful, lawful transfer of power from one party to another in this country, which has been the admiration of the world; the loss of life was real and tragic, yet so many of them acted like it was some big party. I saw the clip of Elizabeth, from Knoxville Tennessee, walked away crying “I got maced!”, and her reason for being there was, “We’re storming the Capitol! It’s a revolution!” (https://www.wbir.com/article/news/twitter-reacts-to-elizabeth-from-knoxville-who-says-she-got-inside-capitol-in-viral-video/51-cda4bc47-66a2-4559-8caf-0dd872fb1c27) She was just so shocked-shocked I tell you! that the Capitol Police did their job-protect themselves and the building, and the people in it; she thought it was, like I said, some big party, not thinking of the consequences to themselves or to the nation. We have to comment on the security preparations prior the rally and raid; there is no doubt that if this mob was comprised of people of color, the response from the police and security forces would have been violent, as with the police assaults on the Black Lives mater protests throughout the country last year. But these were white people, and the response initially was pretty mild; there was the shot of the police opening the gates to allow the mob through, and of one Capitol cop taking a selfie with them. And, instead of herding the rioters into the patty wagons and into the lockup, they just let them walk out, like they were tourists at closing time. The rioters had a great time in all this, posting themselves all over social media with their antics. But the consequences were real, as real as the injuries and deaths at that time. Several of the people in the mob were identified, and have since lost their jobs and were arrested. In the lead-up to the rally and raid, the participants communicated their positions all over Parler and Gab, social media sites favored by the farthermost right-wing. For its role in the raid, Parler was removed from the web-hosting systems of Amazon, Google, and Apple (https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/09/tech/parler-suspended-apple-app-store/index.html)- but not before Parler’s data, including the locations of the Capitol raiders, was “scraped” out of the site, (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/12/cybersecurity-202-parler-scrape-puts-some-capitol-rioters-legal-jeopardy/, https://techbeacon.com/security/scraped-parler-data-reveals-countless-capitol-perps) , thus providing a goldmine of information to law-enforcement agencies to track them down. And trump himself? He spoke at the Save America” rally prior to the riot, still denying to the crowd and himself that he lost, with the slogan “Stop The Steal,” complaining about “weak Republicans” (the ones who kept telling his Biden won, and there was still no voter fraud) and threatening to “primary” them in two years; demanding that Vice-President Mike Pence “come through for us” and invalidate the Electoral vote count (he has no such authority, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-insists-that-pence-can-decertify-results); cursing his favorite scapegoat, the news media, “the enemy of the people”; saying “We’re gonna walk down to the capitol” (he didn’t join them; we watched the whole disaster on TV) and adding, “You’ll never take back your country with weakness, you have to show strength.” (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-speaks-as-congress-prepares-to-certify-electoral-college-votes-for-biden) After the rampage he instigated, trump nicely tells the crowd, after repeating the “stolen election” myth, “But you have to go home now. We have to have peace, we have to have law and order” (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-06/trump-says-stay-peaceful-after-urging-supporters-to-protest), denying any responsibility for the disaster. Trump had his enablers, such as Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who kept perpetrating the “voter fraud” story and demanded an investigation to unfounded and unspecified instances of such fraud, and scapegoating Facebook and Twitter. (https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-michael-brown-josh-hawley-8d868c985792e932f9bc527ec2f2ab30) Another lackey is Ted Cruz of Texas-you remember, trump insulted Cruz’s wife’s looks, and slandered his father as an accomplice the JFK assassination; he also joined Hawley in the chorus of lies and willful misinformation. (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/cruz-leads-11-gop-senators-challenging-biden-win-over-trump) There are demands that these two, along with House Republicans who pushed this fraud, thus undermining confidence in the electoral system and encouraging the raging mob that could have killed them and their colleagues, to resign, and I’m for this. Now, the trump rioters are being identified, thanks to their social media postings showing them having fun trying to wreck the democratic process; and Biden and Harris are now sworn in to their offices. Now, Republicans, including such trump enablers as Congress-mess Jim Jordan of Ohio, have been pleading for all of us to forget the raid, with its deaths and damage, forget the lies and slanders leading up to the raid, and put it aside for the sake of national unity, and not impeach trump. (https://www.rawstory.com/jim-jordan-impeachment/). The tough-on-crime, law-and-order party can be pretty flexible when people in their administration’s get into legal trouble. Not at all! True healing can’t happen if the perpetrators of these crimes are running loose, getting ready for another assault on our democracy (such as it is). Conservatives and Republicans have always felt themselves privileged to get away with any crime against democracy, from Gerald Ford pardoning Richard Nixon after Watergate, through George Bush the First pardoning the masterminds of the Iran-Contra affair, to the Bundy family raiding federal facilities, to the “militias” raiding state capitols in attempts to stop the count of Electoral College ballots. The end of this nonsense starts NOW. We, the American people, have made the democratic system work in this country; and so people who have been on the margins of our society-African-Americans, Native-Americans, women, LGBTQ people-and taking their place in the political process. Real and serious issues can now be addressed; but we must keep on Biden, Harris, and their team to make the change we need, for the good of the people. We have shown we can do it, and we’ll keep on doing it. Stay safe, stay strong, and stay together! America will be free! Bye!

The Mason Moment with John Oliver Mason, January 16, 2021

The Mason Moment, Jan 8, 2021

Republicans' Feelings Are Hurt

https://johnomason.com/2021/01/05/republicans-feelings-are-hurt/

The Mason Moment, Jan. 3, 2021

Book review: The Black Panthers Speak, edited by Philip Foner