The Mason Missile, July 30, 2018

Greetings! August 1 is my birthday-I won’t say which one. I’ll just say I have plenty of miles ahead of me, many goals I’m going to fulfill. I continue to be disgusted at how our alleged Commander-In-Chief, supposedly a big strong Alpha Male, capitulated to Putin in Helsinki; the vast array of intelligence agencies-including the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency, the House and Senate Intelligence Committees-agree that computer hackers, commanded by Russian military intelligence agents, entered into the computer system of the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and stole information; which, the reports say, were passed on to WikiLeaks. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/07/16/us/elections/russian-interference-statements-comments.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/06/us/politics/russia-hack-report.html https://www.vox.com/2018/7/13/17568710/mueller-russia-gru-email-hacking-indictment-trump https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/7/16/17575940/russian-election-hack-democrats-trump-putin-diagram The US intelligence agencies are certain the Russian agencies will work on hacking into the nation’s electric power system, just to show they could do this, as was done in the Ukraine. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/27/us/politics/russian-hackers-electric-grid-elections-.html. This is another area where the security of the country is in jeopardy. Still, trump (I’ll never treat him with any less than the greatest contempt!) chose to accept the word of Putin, the former KGB officer, over the professionals of his intelligence agencies with their vast resources. Plus, I do believe the Russians have stuff on him, not discounting the alleged pee-pee tape with the sex workers in Moscow. trump, having been declared bankrupt, could not attain financing for his projects, so he turned to Russian oligarchs and mafia dons, particularly those close to Putin, for financing. Plus, trump, having such a fragile ego, needs to have it flattered constantly-recall if you will the cabinet meeting, as shown by Huffington Post. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLZNj_9sPgI . The worst part is, several of trump’s supporters act as if the Russian intervention was either a wonderful thing-keeping the evil Hillary away from the Presidency-or else it was no big deal, on the vein of “Everyone does it.” https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/07/trump-voters-putin-russia/565592/ (These are about the same ones who are so morally absolutist when opposing same-sex marriage or birth control.) The neo-Nazi-white-nationalist movement, in particular (one of the main pro-trump movements), have boasted of their connections to Russia and its own neo-Nazi movement, as documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center (https://www.splcenter.org/news/2018/07/19/weekend-read-white-nationalists-who-shouted-%E2%80%9Crussia-our-friend%E2%80%9D-weren%E2%80%99t-just-whistling ) (https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/10/10/when-white-nationalists-chant-their-weird-slogans-what-do-they-mean) . It’s all about protecting trump as he implements policies that the supporters hope are harmful to people of color, not thinking about how his policies, like the bungled tariff or the corporate tax cut, could also harm them. I have been reading Isaac Deutscher’s biography of Leon Trotsky, who along with Lenin was one of the leading live wires of the Bolshevik phase of the Russian Revolution. After the downfall of the Tsar-urged on by the generals after the disasters of the First World War and the bread riots in Petrograd-which developed into mutinies in the Army and among the elite Cossack regiments-there existed alongside the Provisional Government the Soviets (councils) of Workers, Soldiers, and Peasants, challenging the established government from the tsarist regime, presenting a revolutionary alternative to the government. The leaders of the old regime and the elite of Russia, fearful of loss of privilege after the failure of the coup attempt by the Cossack general Lavr Georgiyevich Kornilov, the same elite looked forward to occupation by their German enemies to repress the Revolution-after accusing Lenin of accepting German financial support for the Bolshevik movement and to reenter Russia. I sense something like this among elements of the supposedly “patriotic” far right in this country with trump-accepting interference by a foreign power-Russia attacking our election system-so as to “protect” whatever illusory privilege of white skin they feel they need. In their view-like with the pre-revolutionary Russian elite-“Patriotism” is whatever benefits them and their illusions of privilege. That is as dangerous a narcotic as any opioid. You can bet I’ll play my role in fighting the Tangerine Tumor as I call him, and I urge you to do the same. In August 10-12 I’m going to the Delegates’ Assembly of the National Writers Union/UAW Local 1981, in New York joining other freelance writers in working for each other’s interests and the interests of other Americans. Also, as a committee-person in my ward, I’m going around urging people to register to vote, and then go out TO vote. Use your vote, or lose it-it’s the weapon of the conscious American worker. Bye!