Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Rep. Keith Ellison, the Personification of the Phony, Pro-War “Progressive”
01 May 2013
🖨️ Print Article

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by executive editor Glen Ford

Hard right Republican Senator John McCain and Progressive Caucus co-chair Rep. Keith Ellison both support no-fly zones over Syria. That's because, on U.S. imperial policy, there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between between the pro-war Left and the Right.

 

Rep. Keith Ellison, the Personification of the Phony, Pro-War “Progressive”

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by executive editor Glen Ford

“Ellison is part of the pro-war Left, whose primary mission is make self-described liberals and leftists comfortable supporting imperial wars.”

Keith Ellison, the Black U.S. House member from Minneapolis who is co-chair of the Progressive Caucus, says the U.S. should push for a no-fly zone over rebel-held areas in Syria. Ellison, who is also one of only two Muslim members of Congress, appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, as did Republican Arizona Senator John McCain. It is a measure of how far to the right the Democratic Party has come under President Obama, that McCain, the war monger who likes to sing about bombing Iran, and Ellison, who claims to be a progressive, are in basic agreement over Syria. Both McCain and Ellison want no-fly zones, and both claim to prefer that there be no U.S. “boots on the ground” in country. Both are raving American imperialists who believe that the U.S. has not merely the right, but the obligation to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries. As Ellison, the phony progressive, puts it, “I don’t think the world’s greatest superpower, the United States, can stand by and do nothing” – which is, essentially, John McCain’s position.

Ellison has been advocating a no-fly zone for Syria for at least a year. Last May, he told U.S. News and World Report that so-called “safe zones” should be set up by the U.S. and its allies around the borders of Syria. Ellison made it quite clear that he sees such zones as a prelude to regime change. “I think the Libyan action was a good example of that,” he said.

“Both are raving American imperialists.”

On U.S. imperial policy, there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between McCain, the hard-right Republican, and Ellison, who purports to be a progressive Democrat. Neither gives a damn about international law or the rights of smaller people’s to shape their own destinies. Ellison went to Saudi Arabia, the most socially backward rich country on the planet, and described the King as a “visionary leader.” He rejected George Bush’s troop “surge in 2007, by calling it “too little, too late.” Like Obama, he quibbles about whether U.S. wars are smart or dumb, too late or right on time, but never about the inherent right of the United States to wage war against the weaker nations of the world.

Ellison is part of the pro-war Left, which includes Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, whose primary mission is make self-described liberals and leftists comfortable supporting imperial wars. McCain can’t do that, but Ellison can. Amnesty International is shameless enough to use women’s rights as an excuse to support continued occupation of Afghanistan.

Much of the pro-war left has been forced by events to recognize that the U.S. and its allies are backing jihadist Islamic fundamentalist terrorists in Syria – people they wouldn’t like to have brunch with. Therefore, they now demand that the U.S. intervene to make sure that the jihadists don’t get their hands on chemical weapons. Thus, the pro-war left starts off by advocating U.S. intervention to facilitate the coming to power of the rebels, but in the end winds up demanding that the U.S. do whatever it can to stop these guys from taking power. Either way, it ends with U.S. intervention. John McCain and Keith Ellison pretend to be on opposite ideological ends, but they are like Jack and Jill walking up the same hill when it comes to the obligations and privileges of U.S. imperialism.

For Black Agenda Radio, I’m Glen Ford. On the web, go to BlackAgendaReport.com.

BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.

 



Your browser does not support the audio element.

listen
http://traffic.libsyn.com/blackagendareport/20130501_gf_EllisonProWar.mp3

More Stories


  • black agenda report
    Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio, Week of April 17, 2019
    16 Apr 2019
    Frank
  •  South Carolina “Bears Responsibility” for Prison Deaths
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    South Carolina “Bears Responsibility” for Prison Deaths
    15 Apr 2019
    The deaths of seven inmates during disturbances at the Lee County state prison, a year ago, “was the state’s responsibility, that has not been acknowledged,” said veteran anti-mass Black incarcerat
  • The Role of Electoral Politics in Revolutionary Change
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    The Role of Electoral Politics in Revolutionary Change
    15 Apr 2019
    Participants in the Black Is Back Coalition’s 3rd Electoral Politics School agreed with chairman Omali Yeshitela that “massive political change is in the wind.” “The worl
  • Green Party Necessary to Pass Green New Deal
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Green Party Necessary to Pass Green New Deal
    15 Apr 2019
    “The problem for the Green New Deal” is that the Democratic leadership in Congress “won’t let it happen,” said Howie Hawkins, a possible Green Party candidate for president.
  • Progressive “Bloc” Emerges in Chicago City Council
    Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
    Progressive “Bloc” Emerges in Chicago City Council
    15 Apr 2019
    The 17 pro-community control of police candidates elected to the 50-member Chicago Board of Aldermen can also be expected to support “community control of the board of education” and “a progressive
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us