December 19, 2022. On that day, the Congressional January 6 Committee finally held their last ”public meeting”. After eighteen months of questioning witnesses, concerning the ”January 6 Insurrection”, of 2020, they have finally come to the conclusion that Trump very likely broke the law! Imagine that! They went to all that time and trouble to figure out that which everyone else already knows!
Now they are ”recommending” to the Department of Justice that Trump, as well as his ”associates”, face ”criminal prosecution”.
In particular, they recommend that Trump be charged with four crimes:
1) Obstruction of an Official Proceeding of Congress
2) Assisting or Aiding An Insurrection
3 Conspiracy to Defraud the United States
4) Conspiracy to Make a False Statement
Citizens may well wonder the reason that a Congressional Committee would spend all that time and money, conduct a most thorough investigation, interview hundreds of people, gather mountains of documents, when there is nothing they can do with this! They do not have the authority to charge anyone! The best they can do is pass it off to a government agency, in this case the DOJ, whose job it is to investigate and prosecute possible crimes! Why bother? Why not just let the DOJ do the job they get paid to do?
The answer is contained in that most excellent article by Lenin, State and Revolution. As he points out, ”the actual work of the ‘state’ is done behind the scenes and is carried on by the departments, the government offices and the General Staffs. Parliament itself is given up to talk for the purpose of fooling the ‘common people”’. (May I suggest that my American Comrades substitute the word Congress for Parliament)
All of that ”talk”, concerning the actions of a former president, was merely for the purpose of ”fooling the common people”. In terms of entertainment, it was quite a bore, along the lines of a second rate ”soap opera”. Yet the press was focused on this, and that served to distract people from the true ”work of state”, which was being done ”behind the scenes’’.
In particular, the massive Omnibus Bill, which contains no less than 4,155 pages, was being prepared. This document, which involves funding the government for a year, at the expense of 1.7 Trillion, is several times bigger than the bible, and ”was a result of haggling among three lawmakers who oversee Congressional appropriations’’, according to a journalist.
It is significant that almost half of the money goes towards the military. Even though countless people are going hungry, with the food banks running out of food, ever increasing numbers of people becoming homeless, those who have homes cannot afford to heat them, the medical system is on the verge of collapse, and the roads and bridges, the infrastructure of the country, are in the process of collapse! Yet the government can afford to spend hundreds of billions on the military!
The journalists are reporting that the Omnibus Bill is really composed of twelve spending bills! The ”Party Bosses”, those who work ”behind the scenes”, have thoughtfully relieved the politicians of the burden of voting on those separate bills. After all, they could even ”get it wrong” and ”vote the wrong way”! Perish forbid! This way, by combining all the Bills, they are ”covering all the bases”.
Now the Members of Congress, both in the House and in the Senate, are being pressured to pass this Omnibus Bill within three days! At that time, on December 23, the government will ”hit the debt ceiling”, or ”run out of money”, to put it in simple terms. Unless the Congress ”raises the debt ceiling”, so that they can borrow more money, the country will shut down. The politicians are determined to drive the country ever deeper into debt!
Also on that day, the Congress is scheduled to shut down, for the Christmas break. Now the lawmakers are faced with the choice of passing this Omnibus Bill, of which they know nothing, into law, or of voting against it, which would result in a government shut down.
Incidentally, an Omnibus Bill is a reference to the government spending for the next year. On the other hand, a Continuing Resolution, or CR, is a reference to the approval of spending for a rather short time, usually several weeks. This is commonly referred to as ”kicking the can down the road”.
It is doubtful that any Member of Congress will have a chance to read even a small part of that Bill. For that matter, it is even more doubtful that any Member of Congress will make any attempt to read that Bill! All of them understand that it is their job to ”entertain” the common people, to make the appropriate speeches, while allowing the affairs of state to be tended to ”behind the scenes”. They also understand that it is now their ”job” to ”rubber stamp” this Omnibus Bill.
The divisions within the Republican Party, or GOP, Grand Old Party, as they refer to themselves, are now in the open. The Republican Members of the House are accusing the Senate Republicans of betraying them! They are even stooping to the childish behaviour of ‘’name calling’’!
The House Republicans want a short term Continuing Resolution, in order to keep the government going, at least until January 3. At that date, a new Congress will be sworn in, and the Republicans will have a majority in the House. That will give the House Republicans far more power. They are only too anxious to use that power!
Yet the Omnibus Bill passed the Senate, as a number of Senate Republicans voted in favour! As the Democrats control the House, the Bill is almost certain to pass.
On January 3, the day a new Congress officially convenes, it is almost certain that Kevin McCarthy will be elected as the next Speaker of the House. The journalists are reporting that he previously warned the Senate Republicans that if they passed the Omnibus Bill, then any Bills from the Senate, after he becomes Speaker, will arrive in the House, ”DOA, Dead On Arrival”. To think that the leaders of the country would sink to such childish behaviour!
It was only rather recently that the GOP had a ”Golden Rule”, which they referred to as the ”Eleventh Commandment”: ‘’Thou shall not criticize a fellow Republican’’. In fact, they took that ”Commandment” quite seriously. Yet now that ‘’Commandment’’ has gone the way of the dodo bird!
It is clear that the class of people who are running the country, the capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, are having a difficult time ”holding it together”. Some of their devoted servants, within the confines of Washington, by whom I mean the elected officials, are showing signs of independence! The nerve of those people! Who do they think they are? Are they not aware that the Party Bosses arranged for their election?
It is also clear that the same class of billionaires has decided that Trump has to go. They have had enough of that boy! He was given the ”hint” in the 2020 presidential election, which was carefully ”fixed”, but now he is determined to once again, occupy the Oval Office. Sterner measures are required!
Hence the reason for the charges that will -hopefully!- be levelled against the former president! Not that they are focused on sending that man to jail. They just want to secure a conviction, one which will ensure that he cannot run for any office. Especially not for president! They have in mind the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
No doubt the capitalists were trying to ‘’kill two birds with one stone’’. On the one hand, to keep the common people occupied with the January 6 Investigation, so that they could prepare the Omnibus Bill, ‘’behind the scenes’’. On the other hand, and at the same time, to discredit Trump, and even have him convicted of crimes, so that he can never again run for office. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution provides for this. As it is so important, I have included the key section:
Section 3.
‘’No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.’’
The key part of this section is that which explicitly forbids anyone to ‘’hold any office …who has previously taken an oath…as an officer of the United States…to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof’’.
Trump was formerly the President of the United States. As such, he took an oath to ‘’preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States’’. Now if he is convicted of any or all of the charges that are being recommended by the Congressional Committee, then he will not be allowed to run for president. For that matter, he will not be allowed to run for any office.
As for those who scoff at the idea of a man, such as Trump, a billionaire, going to jail, I can only respond that you are right. That is not about to happen. Yet that is not the reason for the ‘’suggested’’ charges!
The class of capitalists who are running the country, technically referred to as the bourgeoisie, are determined to ‘’bench’’ Trump! If he is convicted of even one of these crimes, then he cannot run for president! One more ‘’loose cannon’’ secured!
No doubt, the lawyers who work for Trump, warned him of this. Those same lawyers are also well aware of the policy, of the law enforcement agencies, of not pressing any charges, against any candidate, who is running for the office of the presidency. Such a charge could ‘’bias the voters’’, having an influence on the election. Imagine that!
Bear in mind that Trump is not entirely stupid. For that reason, immediately before the Congressional Committee released its ‘’recommendations’’, that of charging Trump, he ‘’threw his hat into the ring’’. Trump is once again running for President!
Bear in mind that there is a big difference between ‘’policy’’ and ‘’the law’’! The ‘’policy’’ of not charging any presidential candidates, is a far cry from the law! Trump can still be charged, even though he is now officially running for president! Yet the decision to charge him is considered to be a ‘’hot potato’’! Any Prosecutor who chooses to charge Trump is risking ‘’career suicide’’!
No one within the Justice Department is stupid enough to take such a gamble! In the interests of that which they refer to as ‘’CYA’’, ‘’Cover Your Ass’’, they have appointed a ‘’Special Prosecutor’’. This is also referred to as ‘’passing the buck’’!
Now the decision, to charge Trump or not to charge Trump, ‘’To be or not to be’’, is in the hands of a supremely brave man, one who has accepted this appointment. Mind you, some would add that he is also supremely stupid!
That is a matter of opinion. That which is not a matter of opinion, is the fact that the Revolution, or perhaps more accurately, the Revolutionary Motion, is growing ever stronger, around the world, and not just in America.
The results of the ‘’midterm elections’’ are a clear indication of this. All of the ‘’political pundits’’ were convinced that the Republicans would gain a huge majority in the House, as well as possibly a majority in the Senate. We now know that they managed to get a ‘’razor thin’’ majority in the House. Nothing more. The Democrats still control the Senate.
In all fairness to those ‘’political forecasters’’, they were not ‘’reading tea leaves’’. The journalists especially, were spending a great deal of time talking to common people, the members of the public. To their surprise, they found that within a rather short period of time, the ‘’mood’’ of those people has changed dramatically. In fact, those who were formerly rather strong supporters of Trump, as well as other ‘’Right Wing’’ candidates for office, are now not so enthusiastic.
To put this in scientific terms, we can say that the ‘’masses’’ -a term I hate!, as I prefer the expression ‘’common people’’-, have moved to the ‘’Left’’. As the journalists have documented, those who are considered to be less advanced, have made ‘’great strides’’.
These journalists are very thorough, as they have carefully made an investigation, in various states. In certain states, they expected a ‘’Right Wing’’ candidate, someone who was a supporter of Trump, to be elected. Yet in many cases, this did not happen.
Those same journalists then conducted interviews, after the ‘’midterms’’, within those certain states, in which they expected a Trump supporter to be elected. They have now concluded that ‘’voters do not want extremists in office’’. They consider the ‘’midterms’’ to be a ‘’repudiation of Trumpism’’. A happy thought!
I take a different view of the midterm elections. I regard it as an indication that the level of awareness of the common people, the working class, the proletariat, has just risen. Considerably, in fact.
As Lenin stated, quite clearly, in his excellent article, Left Wing Communism, An Infantile Disorder, ‘’symptomatic of any genuine Revolution is a rapid, tenfold and even hundredfold increase in the size of the working and oppressed masses -hitherto apathetic- who are capable of waging the political struggle’’.
Without doubt, we are in the midst of a ‘’genuine Revolution’’, as countless ‘’working and oppressed’’ people, those who were ‘’hitherto apathetic’’, are now becoming politically aware, prepared to take part in the ‘’political struggle’’. Welcome, my Brothers and Sisters, my Comrades!
Now it is up to scientific socialists, by whom I of course mean Marxists, to bring to these people the awareness of the Revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin.
The working class must be made aware of itself as a class, that of proletarians, with its own class interests. The proletarians have nothing to sell but their labour power. It is in their interests to sell themselves at the highest possible price. It is in the interests of the capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, to pay their workers as little as possible. That which is in the best interests of one class, is in the worst interests of the other class. In scientific jargon, we say that the interests of the two classes is ‘’diametrically opposed’’.
No one has ever accused the capitalists, the billionaires, of being ‘’sweetly reasonable’’. Any worker who has ever asked for a raise can testify to that! On the contrary, they are strictly ‘’one way’’. Their way! Whatever it takes to ‘’make a buck’’! Further, they are interested only in making ever more money! Those who have billions want more billions, and those who have hundreds of billions, want Trillions!
These billionaires, monopoly capitalists, are technically referred to as imperialists. They are completely devoid of any progressive characteristics. This is to say that they are reactionary. They are fully prepared to stoop to any depth, in order to maintain their wealth and power. They must be overthrown. That can only be done through Revolution.
Lenin goes into this quite well in another excellent work, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. That book too, I highly recommend.
The working class must also be made aware that it is not enough to simply overthrow the government. The existing state apparatus, which has been set up to crush and exploit the working class, must be smashed! Otherwise, the leaders of the Revolution will merely take over that state apparatus, and use it for their own purposes! In other words, they will set themselves up as the new rulers! Out of the frying pan, into the fire!
The existing state apparatus must be replaced with a new state apparatus, in the form of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. This new state apparatus is absolutely necessary, as the capitalists will not resign themselves to their new lot in life! On the contrary, they will make every effort to restore their ‘’paradise lost’’. They will plot and scheme endlessly! They must be crushed! Thoroughly! They must not be allowed to return to power, as they did in Russia and China!
Lenin went into this, in great detail, in another one his masterpieces, State and Revolution. That is especially relevant today!
We currently do not have any true Communist Party, by which I mean a Party which calls for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. The touchstone of a true Communist!
But we do have the Internet! We also have a working class that is cultured, in the sense that most working people know how to read. With that in mind, may I suggest that all working people order, perhaps through the Internet, the articles by Lenin, I previously mentioned, as well as What Is To Be Done? An understanding of those articles will give workers a fine grounding in the basics of Marxism.
May I also suggest the Communist Manifesto, by Marx and Engels. They explain the growth and development of capitalism, as well as the ruin of all other classes, aside from the proletariat. They also mention one other detail, which is supremely relevant. At a time of Revolution, something interesting happens:
‘’entire sections of the ruling class are, by the advance of industry, precipitated into the proletariat, or are at least threatened in their conditions of existence. These also supply the proletariat with fresh elements of enlightenment and progress.’’
That is a rather accurate description of our current situation! Those who are current or former members of the ‘’ruling class’’’, the bourgeoisie, are those who can ‘’supply the proletariat with fresh elements of enlightenment and progress’’. In other words, bring to the proletariat -your new Comrades!- the awareness of the Revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin. Feel free to put aside your feelings of bitterness and frustration -which is completely understandable!- and get on with your life. We are prepared to offer you a bright future!
I mean that sincerely! Think of us as your new friends, if only because that is precisely the case! True friends! Proletarian friends! Not bourgeois ‘’friends’’, those who stab each other in the back! We will never betray you, our new friends!
Your services are urgently required. As almost all of the bourgeois go to university, no doubt you are aware of the Revolutionary theories of Marx and Lenin. Not that those theories are ‘’taught’’ in university, as they are distorted. Even so, that makes the bourgeois aware of those theories.
Now is your chance to ‘’make a difference’’, to ‘’change the world’’. In the process, you can practically guarantee yourself a brighter future! Your past will not be held against you.
You can be involved in raising the level of awareness of the working class. Feel free to share your own experience, that of formerly working in the service of the capitalists, as an example. No doubt the reward for those years of service was nil!
Help to make working people aware of the Marxist Revolutionary theories, especially that of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Spread the message through social media. No doubt Councils, otherwise known as Soviets, have taken shape, as all Revolutions give rise to such organizations. Become involved with those Councils. Above all else, get together with other -former- middle class intellectuals, and take part in the formation of a true Communist Party, Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Discreetly, as otherwise the government agents will be sure to incarcerate you!
After the Revolution, those who are highly skilled, in various fields, will be paid accordingly. Professional people, such as doctors, nurses, engineers and managers, will be rewarded. The only difference is that under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, there will be no back stabbing. We will make sure of that! People will work together! Teamwork! The atmosphere will be far more relaxed.
Yet first the capitalists have to be overthrown. In addition to that which I just mentioned, an Insurrection must be organized. Hopefully, it will be swift and accurate, as was the Russian October Revolution of 1917. That Insurrection was almost bloodless!
As I have covered that in a different article, there is no need to repeat it here.
There are more indications that the Revolution is gaining strength, here in North America. The press is reporting that the new Chief of Police, for the city of Ottawa, is making preparations for an ‘’anticipated’’ second Freedom Convoy. The politicians are determined that the city of Ottawa will not be occupied again! We will see about that!
It is very likely that the government spy agencies have picked up some ‘’chatter’’ on the Internet. The Truckers Protest has not been ‘’killed’’. It was merely diverted, and then only temporarily.
It is significant that most Revolutions start with a strike in the transportation industry. From there they tend to spread, and spread quickly. At the moment, there are Revolutions that are raging in other countries. Soon, they will all ‘’touch down’’ on the shores of North America. There is no time to waste.
As I write this, the news outlets just announced that the Democratic controlled House just passed the Omnibus Bill. No doubt, in two weeks, when the Republicans take control of the House, the ‘’fur will fly’’. It is likely that nothing will be done in Washington. That could well be an improvement!
For the moment, it is clear that Revolutions, as well as ‘’mass movements’’, which will lead to Revolutions, are raging around the world. Even the press admits that Iran is now experiencing a Revolution. It has spread to the neighbouring countries of Russia and China. Even the country of Afghanistan is now in turmoil, as women are protesting, burning their head scarfs and cutting their hair.
In the United Kingdom, the nurses are joining the paramedics, by going on strike. The postal workers and the railroad workers may soon join them. Further, it would appear that there is also a Revolution raging in Peru, as well as Chile. And this is just the beginning!
In the interests of raising the level of awareness of the working class, may I suggest singing the International, in locations and at times which most irritate the capitalists. Hopefully, this will attract the attention of the press, so that it will be broadcast on the evening news. If nothing else, be sure to record it and post it on social media. With a little luck, it could even go viral!
Further, if there is one slogan that can best be used to raise the level of awareness of the working class, then that one slogan is the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Lenin refers to this as the ‘’touchstone’’ of a true Marxist! It is also the very slogan which the capitalists most hate. With good reason, I might add! All the more reason to make that term a household expression.
May I suggest that in all propaganda, all messages to Comrades on social media, all greetings, all posters and banners, that the slogan must be:
Dictatorship of the Proletariat!
Gerald McIsaac Science Project 