Adding section on obama.

2020-05-20 15:33:49 -04:00 · 2020-05-20 15:33:49 -04:00 · be0ebad4ac
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@ -71,6 +71,12 @@
    + [Biden](#biden)
    + [Greta Thunberg](#greta-thunberg)
    + [Slavoj Zizek](#slavoj-zizek)
    + [What's wrong with Barack Obama?](#whats-wrong-with-barack-obama)
      - [Imperialism](#imperialism)
      - [Empowering Finance Capital](#empowering-finance-capital)
      - [Mass Imprisonment](#mass-imprisonment)
      - [Mass surveillance](#mass-surveillance)
      - [More](#more)
    + [Others](#others)
  * [Other Topics](#other-topics)
    + [Why are socialists against bitcoin mining?](#why-are-socialists-against-bitcoin-mining)
@ -78,6 +84,7 @@
    + [What about overpopulation / unsustainability?](#what-about-overpopulation--unsustainability)
    + [Why don't socialists support a UBI / Universal Basic income?](#why-dont-socialists-support-a-ubi--universal-basic-income)
    + [DSA / Jacobin](#dsa--jacobin)
    + [VaushV](#vaushv)
    + [Buddhism](#buddhism)
    + [Others](#others-1)
@ -808,7 +815,6 @@
  - [AOC selling "law and order" and "family values" and not being "weak on crime" as socialist values. ](https://i.imgur.com/VRKjkXV.jpg)
  - [AOC wants abolish ICE, only to replace it with a resurrected INS, yet another agency whose goal was breaking up families. ](https://i.imgur.com/ficPkrO.jpg)
  - [As of 2020, replaces some of her more radical staff with political professionals, breaks with Sanders, calling his strategy too "conflict based", wants to start working more with establishment Dems.](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/30/new-aoc-divides-the-left-150767)
 - [Voted for Trump's 2020 War budget, allocating $738 Billion to military spending (a 3% increase over the previous year).](http://www.idcommunism.com/2019/07/ocasio-cortez-aoc-votes-in-favor-of-trumps-war-budget.html)
 - [She supports Israel, and its genocide of Palestineans.](https://i.imgur.com/K6QsYZo.jpg)
 - [Goes along with democrats and Republicans in backing US puppet Juan Guaido over Maduro in Venezuela.](https://twitter.com/telesurenglish/status/1124924184629583872?s=19) 
@ -860,6 +866,58 @@
 - [He's anti-USSR, anti bolivarian revolution, supported the coups in Ukraine and Libya](https://alphonsevanworden.tumblr.com/post/146430343445/the-protocols-of-the-learned-lacanian-of)
 - [More here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Marxism/comments/dlz8me/zizek_criticizes_european_leftists_who_reject/f4yl11f/)
 ### What's wrong with Barack Obama?
 #### Imperialism
 - After winning the Nobel peace prize, he dropped an [average of 30k bombs / year during his presidency, mostly on Muslim countries](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/09/america-dropped-26171-bombs-2016-obama-legacy), [2](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-bombed-iraq-syria-pakistan-afghanistan-libya-yemen-somalia-n704636), [3](https://twitter.com/wallacemick/status/1261744000396152842?s=20). In 2016 alone, dropped [26,171 bombs in the Middle East and North Africa](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-president-barack-obama-bomb-map-drone-wars-strikes-20000-pakistan-middle-east-afghanistan-a7534851.html), up 3000 from the previous year. The countries bombed include Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, and Somalia. 
 - Began a campaign of drone assassinations in the Middle East and Africa, in which **90% of those killed were not the intended targets, but [innocent civilian bystanders](https://theintercept.com/drone-papers)**,  including women, [children](https://theintercept.com/drone-papers/manhunting-in-the-hindu-kush/), and US citizens. [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_casualties_from_US_drone_strikes). Drone strikes are used by the military and the CIA to hunt down and kill people the [Obama administration](https://prod01-cdn07.cdn.firstlook.org/wp-uploads/sites/1/2015/10/KC_Heads01.png) has deemed — through secretive processes, without indictment or trial — worthy of execution. He authorized [10 times more drone strikes](https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2017/01/17/obamas-covert-drone-war-numbers-ten-times-strikes-bush/) than George W Bush, [2](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-president-barack-obama-bomb-map-drone-wars-strikes-20000-pakistan-middle-east-afghanistan-a7534851.html). The Obama asassination program is detailed in the [drone papers](https://theintercept.com/drone-papers).
 - On 3 October 2015, he ordered a United States Air Force AC-130U gunship to attack the [Kunduz Trauma Centre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunduz_hospital_airstrike) operated by Doctors Without Borders, in northern Afghanistan. The attack killed 42 people and wounded 30 more. The airstrike constitutes a war crime (attacks on hospitals are considered war crimes), and is the first instance of one Nobel peace prize winner (Obama) bombing and killing another (Doctors without borders). CNN and the New York Times deliberately obscured the US's responsibility for the bombing, with the headline, "US is blamed after bomb hits afghan hospital". [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunduz_hospital_airstrike),[2](https://theintercept.com/2015/10/05/cnn-and-the-nyt-are-deliberately-obscuring-who-perpetrated-the-afghan-hospital-attack/)
 - In 2010, President Obama [directed the CIA](http://www.salon.com/2010/04/07/assassinations_2/) to [assassinate an US citizen](https://theintercept.com/2017/01/30/obama-killed-a-16-year-old-american-in-yemen-trump-just-killed-his-8-year-old-sister/) in Yemen, Anwar al-Awlaki, despite the fact that he had never been charged with any crime, killing him [with a September, 2011 drone strike](https://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2011/sep/30/anwar-al-awlaki-yemen-live). Two weeks later, a separate CIA drone strike in Yemen [killed his 16-year-old American-born son](http://www.salon.com/2011/10/20/the_killing_of_awlakis_16_year_old_son/), Abdulrahman, along with the boy’s 17-year-old cousin and several other innocent Yemenis. In a predictable display of bipartisanship, in January 2017, Trump ordered a SEAL strike, and reports from Yemen [quickly surfaced](http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-yemen-qaeda-idUKKBN15D094) that 30 people were killed, including 10 women and children. Among the dead: the 8-year-old daughter of Anwar Awlaki, sister of the 16 year old killed by Obama. [1](https://theintercept.com/2017/01/30/obama-killed-a-16-year-old-american-in-yemen-trump-just-killed-his-8-year-old-sister/)
 - [Supported and armed Neo-Nazis and other ultra-nationalist groups like the Azov battalion in Ukraine to overthrow it's former pro-Russia govt.](https://www.globalresearch.ca/washington-was-behind-ukraine-coup-obama-admits-that-us-brokered-a-deal-in-support-of-regime-change/5429142) Ukraine now has a [pro-US, nazi-glorifying government](https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2019/10/21/how-to-mainstream-neo-nazis-a-lesson-from-ukraines-new-government/) with [ultranationalism, anti-semitism, neo-nazi pogroms, and attacks on LGBT groups.](https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/)
 - [Obama and Hillary Clinton rigged Haiti's 2010 election, threatening the then-president with removing US financial aid, unless their OAS candidate, Michel Martelly, won the election, after he forced other popular candidates to drop out.](http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2046634,00.html) This is a continuation of ["Operation uphold democracy"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Uphold_Democracy), in which US troops invaded Haiti to overthrow democratically elected president Jean-Baptiste Aristide in 1991, who is still in exile.
 - Obama continued backing [Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president who helped the US fight Saddam, giving him $2B every year](https://theintercept.com/2014/10/02/feigned-american-support-egyptian-democracy-lasted-roughly-six-weeks/). After Mubarak became was exposed for corruption in the 2009 Arab Spring, the US entered talks with [Suleiman, a CIA collaborator and Mubarak's vice president intelligence chief known for torturing people on behalf of the US.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Suleiman) The US then granted him asylum and medical treatment.
 - Obama continued support for Israel and their genocide of Palestineans, leaving a parting gift of his presidency to Israel of [$38B in military aid over the next 10 years.](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-israel-statement-idUSKCN11K2CI) “Prime Minister Netanyahu and I are confident that the new MOU will make a significant contribution to Israel’s security in what remains a dangerous neighborhood,” Obama wrote.
 - Finally acheived the US goal of overthrowing Gaddafi and destabilizing Libya. From 2011 onward, began conducting an extensive bombing campaign (>110 tomahawk cruise missiles) in the [Libyan Civil Wars of 2011 and 2014](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Civil_War_(2014%E2%80%93present)). This includes 7,700 air strikes, resulting in 30,000 -100,000 deaths. Loyalist towns were bombed to rubble and ethnically cleansed, and the country is in chaos as Western-trained and armed Islamist militias seize territory and oil facilities and vie for power. The Misrata militia, trained and armed by Western special forces, is one of the most violent and powerful in the world.[1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Civil_War_(2014%E2%80%93present)) The country has since collapsed into a chaos of child soldiers, slavery, and violence between extremist groups, a haunting repetition of what US imperialism has left in its wake in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. [An interview with Gaddafi's former spokesman about the US overthrow of Libya.](https://www.rt.com/news/470321-libya-gaddafi-spokesman-interview/) When pressured, Obama stated that "not managing the aftermath of overthrowing Gaddafi" was ["the greatest mistake of his presidency."](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/12/barack-obama-says-libya-was-worst-mistake-of-his-presidency)
 - In 2009, [Obama and Hillary Clinton assisted in the military coup of democratically elected leftist leader Zelaya of Honduras, who the US saw as a threat to US business interests.](https://theintercept.com/2015/07/06/clinton-honduras-coup/) [Leaked emails](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2157083-peanut-gallery.html) found that [Hillary was brokering a deal with the coup leaders, to ensure Zelaya would be prevented from returning to power](https://theintercept.com/2015/07/06/clinton-honduras-coup/), and Obama [blocked a proposed resolution requiring Zelaya's return](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-honduras/pressure-mounts-on-honduras-to-end-coup-crisis-idUSN287369520090929). After the coup, at least [116 anti-US environmental activists have been murdered by the pro-US regime.](https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/how-many-more/) [2](https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/the-clinton-backed-honduran-regime-is-picking-off-indigenous-leaders/) The US now faces [massive immigration from the very same countries it destabilized](https://theconversation.com/how-us-policy-in-honduras-set-the-stage-for-todays-migration-65935), then deports them in a never-ending cycle of oppression.
 - [Obama grants immunity to Bush Jr's CIA torturers.](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/aug/31/obama-justice-department-immunity-bush-cia-torturer)
 #### Empowering Finance Capital
 - [A leaked email revealed that the US bank Citigroup hand-picked Obama's cabinet](https://observer.com/2016/10/obama-makes-first-appearance-in-wikileaks-receives-admin-list-from-big-banker/) in 2008, at the beginning of the financial crisis. 
  - Refused to prosecute any bankers or executives responsible for the 2008 crisis.
  - [Gave an $85B bailout to automotive giants GM and Chrysler when they requested it in 2009.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_the_2008%E2%80%9310_automotive_industry_crisis_on_the_United_States)
  - [Injected money into the private sector to bailed out wall street](https://www.thebalance.com/obama-tax-cuts-3306330) with his [top-down 2009 ARRA stimulus package](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Recovery_and_Reinvestment_Act_of_2009).
  - [Extended Bush-Era corporate tax rates, 1% increased their share of US wealth immensely during his term.](https://itep.org/federal-tax-cuts-in-the-bush-obama-and-trump-years/)
  - At an elite gala for wealthy oil execs, [he tells them to "just say thank you"](https://therealnews.com/columns/obama-tells-wall-street-to-thank-him-for-making-so-much-money-at-elite-gala-with-top-bush-reagan-official), for turning the US into the world's largest oil producer and making them all richer.
 - Obama went back on his campaign promise for a single-payer health care system, and removed the public option from his ACA ( a proposal mostly taken from Mitt Romney, and written by health-care industry moguls), which granted massive subsidies to empower the parasitic health insurance industry ( [~1.2 Trillion USD](https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-industry-overview) ), forcing those unable to afford insurance to pay a $700 yearly fee for not having it ( called the ["shared responsibility provision"](https://www.healthinsurance.org/glossary/individual-shared-responsibility-provision/) ). His ACA is essentially a huge govt subsidy directly into the pockets of private health companies along with a mandate that forced people to pay these companies as well.  At least [1/4th of US workers are trapped in the gig economy](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/02/gig-economy-us-trump-uber-california-robert-reich), and many more are employed at less than full-time hours without insurance.
 - [Did nothing about ballooning student loan debt ( now > $1T, an 86% increase during his tenure ), refusing to institute forgiveness programs, or allowing student loans to be discharged through bankruptcy.](https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/education/279512-president-obamas-horrible-terrible-legacy-on-student-loans) Obama federalized the system to where the government now profits immensely from both interest on loans it makes directly to students, and defaults. [Outsourced federal student loan debt collections to private loan firms for a huge profit.](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/08/debt-student-loan-forgiveness-betsy-devos-education-department-fedloan/) [2](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/business/once-a-student-now-dogged-by-collection-agencies.html)
 - Presided over the [largest foreclosure crisis in US history](https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Foreclosed.pdf), did nothing about it.
 - The Obama era was one of the greatest decreases in working class and [black wealth](https://jacobinmag.com/2017/12/obama-foreclosure-crisis-wealth-inequality), [2](https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Foreclosed.pdf) in history: home equity decreased by ~$17k between 2007 and 2016. His housing policies led to millions losing their homes. While Wall street banks recieved $29 Trillion in bailouts, $75 Billion in relief was set aside for housing foreclosures and mortgage assistance. Instead of being paid to families, this was paid to mortgage servicers, and the services found ways to pocket the money and continue foreclosures: by the end of the program, less than 20% of the funds were used, and most had dropped out of the program due to foreclosures. The Obama administration refused to prosecute the fraud, or any of those responsible for the 2008 financial crisis.
 - [Visited Flint Michigan during their lead-water poisoning crisis, to support the governor's non-response, and do damage control for the democratic party, outraging citizens.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GVv3n18_TGs) Refused to give federal aid to the city, or call a state of emergency. In a highly offensive gesture during a town hall meeting, he made light of the situation by pretending to drink the poisoned tap water. Eventually authorized FEMA to give a pithy $5M to the city, while estimates suggested that at least $100M is needed. 100k citizens, including 8-10k children have lead poisoning as a result of the state's negligence.
 - Spends his post-presidency jet-skiing with billionaires, [making ~400k for every wall street speaking engagement](https://www.thestreet.com/investing/highest-paid-public-speakers-14315669), buying a massive multi-million dollar estate, and doing [anti-China netflix documentaries](https://www.standard.co.uk/insider/alist/barack-and-michelle-obama-net-worth-2020-how-much-is-the-former-us-president-worth-along-with-his-a4178561.html). [His net-worth increased 3000% post-presidency.](https://www.businessinsider.com/barack-obama-michelle-obama-net-worth-2018-7) 
 #### Mass Imprisonment
 - [Deported over 3M immigrants during his presidency](https://www.axios.com/immigration-ice-deportation-trump-obama-a72a0a44-540d-46bc-a671-cd65cf72f4b1.html), [2](https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/12/biden-immigration-2020-1411691) [Deported over 400k people in 2012 alone.](https://i.imgur.com/mko2Hm6.png) Helped grow ICE, and the US mass immigrant detention system. 
  - In the present day, [ICE (U.S._Immigration_and_Customs_Enforcement)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Immigration_and_Customs_Enforcement#Case_samples), the police tasked with immigration enforcement, operates over 500 prison camps, holding over 34,000 undocumented people deemed "aliens", 20,000 of which have no criminal convictions, in the US [system of immigration detention](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_detention_in_the_United_States#Criticisms). [The camps](http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/23/opinions/reyes-immigration-detention/) include forced labor (often with [contracts from private companies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Immigration_and_Customs_Enforcement#Corporate_contracts)), poor conditions, lack of rights (since the undocumented aren't considered citizens), and forced deportations, often splitting up families. Detainees are often held for a year without trial, with antiquated court procedures pushing back court dates for months, encouraging many to accept immediate deportation in the hopes of being able to return faster than the court can reach a decision, but forfeiting legal status, in a cruel system of coercion. After the creation of DHS and ICE, the budget for immigration enforcement doubled from [$6.2 billion in 2002 to $12.5 billion in 2006 under Obama.](https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/immigration-enforcement-united-states-rise-formidable-machinery) [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_detention_in_the_United_States#Criticisms), [2](http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/23/opinions/reyes-immigration-detention/),[3](https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/immigration-enforcement-united-states-rise-formidable-machinery)
 - Scaled up the war on drugs, imprisoning minorities at far greater rates than ever historically. Gave no support to Black lives matter, the Ferguson protests, or the dakota access pipeline protests, allowing local authorities to brutally repress these movements.
  - The [War On Drugs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs), a policy of arrest and imprisonment targeting minorities, first initiated by Nixon, has over the years created a monstrous system of mass incarceration, resulting in the imprisonment of 1.5 million people each year, with the US having the most prisoners per capita of any nation. One in five black Americans will spend time behind bars due to drug laws. The war has created a permanent underclass of impoverished people who have few educational or job opportunities as a result of being punished for drug offenses, in a vicious cycle of oppression. [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs#cite_note-59), [2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs)
  - Massively grew the US [prison–industrial complex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison%E2%80%93industrial_complex), and the [rapid expansion of the US inmate population](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_incarceration_rate#Growth) to the political influence of [private prison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prison) companies and businesses that supply goods and services to government prison agencies. Such groups include corporations that contract [prison labor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_labor), construction companies, [surveillance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveillance) technology vendors, companies that operate prison food services and medical facilities, [private probation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_probation) companies, lawyers, and [lobby groups](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobby_groups) that represent them. Activist groups such as the [National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Organization_for_the_Reform_of_Marijuana_Laws) (NORML) have argued that the prison-industrial complex is perpetuating a flawed belief that imprisonment is an effective solution to social problems such as [homelessness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness), [unemployment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unemployment), [drug addiction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_addiction), [mental illness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_illness), and [illiteracy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illiteracy). [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison%E2%80%93industrial_complex)
  - On April 12, 2015, [Freddie Carlos Gray, Jr.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Freddie_Gray), a 25-year-old [Black man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_American), was [arrested](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrested) by the [Baltimore Police Department](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_Police_Department) for possessing what the police alleged was an illegal [switchblade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switchblade) under Baltimore law. While being transported in a [police van](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_van), several cops held him down, putting pressure on his spinal cord, after which he fell into a [coma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coma) and died, sparking a series of [protests in Baltimore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Baltimore_protests); riot police responded violently, and called in the national guard to aid against the "thugs", as they were labeled by [Obama in a press conference](https://youtu.be/ml1LzRenH_Q). After the protests were put down, the police officers were given separate trials, and all of them were found innocent. [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Freddie_Gray)
 #### Mass surveillance
 - [Obama authorized the massive, behind-closed-doors growth of the worldwide US surveillance system.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_surveillance_disclosures_(2013%E2%80%93present))
  - Since 2012, the US military has a [state-run and funded astroturfing campaign](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks) to manipulate public opinion online, and spread pro-US propaganda through government funded sockpuppets, called [Operation Earnest Voice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Earnest_Voice).
  - The 2010 [US diplomatic cables leak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_diplomatic_cables_leak) by Chelsea Manning revealed a pervasive policy of using US ambassadors as spies, supporting dictatorships, spying on the UN, strong-arming for US companies abroad, and disrupting nuclear disarmament talks. The scope of these leaks touches every country the US has a relationship with, and they are better detailed [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contents_of_the_United_States_diplomatic_cables_leak). [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contents_of_the_United_States_diplomatic_cables_leak), [2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_diplomatic_cables_leak)
 - [Obama ruthlessly went after and jailed whistleblowers](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/the-conversation/sd-before-trump-obama-prosecuted-leaks-20170804-htmlstory.html), indicting [more than all previous presidents combined.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-iT51XSTgE) [2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS9TXJqxkSQ), [3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIWjon88lWc)
  - In 2010, [Chelsea Manning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Manning) was imprisoned under the espionage act for a series of leaks which embarrassed the US government, including the [July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_12,_2007_Baghdad_airstrike), [Afghan War documents](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_War_documents_leak), [Iraq War documents leak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War_documents_leak), [US diplomatic cables leak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_diplomatic_cables_leak), and the [Guantanamo Bay files leak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_files_leak). The leak was, in Manning's Words: "possibly one of the most significant documents of our time, removing the fog of war and revealing the true nature of 21st century asymmetric warfare". [1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Manning)
 #### More
 - Search for Obama on this [List of US Atrocities](https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/master/us_atrocities.md). [More here](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/galon6/anyone_know_of_any_good_resources_on_obamas/fp2nfrx/), [2](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/cdamsp/what_are_your_opinions_on_obama/etswenc/), [3](https://twitter.com/wallacemick/status/1261744000396152842?s=20) 
 ### Others
 - [What's so bad about Winston Churchill?](http://www.reddit.com/r/ShitLiberalsSay/comments/80sxhj/-/duy08zm) , [2](https://crimesofbritain.com/2016/09/13/the-trial-of-winston-churchill/), [3](https://www.rbth.com/blogs/2013/06/13/operation_unthinkable_churchills_plan_to_start_world_war_iii_26091)
@ -867,7 +925,6 @@
 - [Is Christianity / the Bible Communist?](https://www.reddit.com/r/LateStageCapitalism/comments/9b7gsw/joel_osteen/e515qdb/)
 - [Was Mark Twain a socialist?](https://socialistworker.org/2010/04/21/the-twain-they-didnt-teach)
 - [What's so bad about Ronald Reagan?](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShitLiberalsSay/comments/ce2v7l/rpolitics_straight_up_creaming_their_pants_over/etydg3l/)
 - What's so bad about [Barack Obama?](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/galon6/anyone_know_of_any_good_resources_on_obamas/fp2nfrx/), [2](https://www.reddit.com/r/communism101/comments/cdamsp/what_are_your_opinions_on_obama/etswenc/), [3](https://twitter.com/wallacemick/status/1261744000396152842?s=20) Also this [List of US Atrocities](https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/master/us_atrocities.md). Obama 80%
 - [What about Tulsi Gabbard?](https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/05/tulsi-gabbard-president-sanders-democratic-party),[2](https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/factsheet-tulsi-gabbard/)
 - [What's going on with the finnish bolshevik being accused of a rape fantasy with a minor?](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShitLiberalsSay/comments/8aobas/this_is_the_finnish_bolshevik_with_a_minor/dx09v07/) [Chat log, Major NSFW](https://external-preview.redd.it/X8qdMN5yw_5Y_geBfDDsdJtUZrpDRhUBKPMiEhdBc4g.jpg?auto=webp&s=c68e810f21a1b643b0ccc0c243bbed11ac80a1fa).
@ -910,11 +967,11 @@
 ### VaushV
- Vaush on LGBT and Trans people: ["The left community online, **particularly the LGBT community**, is cancerous as fuck"](https://twitter.com/lporiginalg/status/1230667829537427462?s=20) "You don't have to be a psychologist to see that a large portion of the broader woket--d cancel-culture idpol left, is predicated on **shared mental illness**. This is **particularly prevalent in the trans community.** If you disagree with me on this, you're wrong. ... These people are sub-human."
+- Vaush on LGBT and Trans people: ["The left community online, **particularly the LGBT community**, is cancerous as fuck"](https://twitter.com/lporiginalg/status/1230667829537427462?s=20) "You don't have to be a psychologist to see that a large portion of the broader woket--d cancel-culture idpol left, is predicated on **shared mental illness**. This is **particularly prevalent in the trans community.** If you disagree with me on this, you're wrong. [...] These people are sub-human."
 - [Compares the purchase of a computer to the purchase of child-porn.](https://www.reddit.com/r/ShitLiberalsSay/comments/g7bwgd/famous_breadtuber_vaush_i_cant_blame_people_for/)
 - [Defends using the N-word as a "power-move" which he is unashamed of.](https://i.imgur.com/ExE1sFZ.jpg)
 - Calls people ["Mentally ill crybabies"](https://i.imgur.com/T0RnOCC.jpg), "Woke-Scolds", and "Simps".
- [Vaush - "US geopolitical power is important to me personally, because I'm not ready to lose that to China"](https://twitter.com/AlMuntherO_O/status/1260679840698634242?s=20).
+- ["US geopolitical power is important to me personally, because I'm not ready to lose that to China"](https://twitter.com/AlMuntherO_O/status/1260679840698634242?s=20).
 ### Buddhism
@ -922,6 +979,7 @@
 - https://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/mcmindfulness-and-the-case-for-small-talk-1.5369984/mcmindfulness-how-capitalism-hijacked-the-buddhist-teaching-of-mindfulness-1.5369991
 ### Others
 - [What is Antifa? (Olly)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgwS_FMZ3nQ)
 - [Whats so bad about UBI (universal basic income)?](https://thenewinquiry.com/universal-basic-bullshit/),[2](https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/false-promise-universal-basic-income-andy-stern-ruger-bregman),[3](https://youtu.be/J10jKdPRN9A)
 - [Why are socialists against Israel / Zionism?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT5L4YU_Fl4&feature=youtu.be)
--- a/us_atrocities.md
+++ b/us_atrocities.md
@ -242,6 +242,7 @@ Notes :
 - The origins of US police lie in the [slave-catching patrols](https://medium.com/s/story/slavery-and-the-origins-of-the-american-police-state-ec318f5ff05b) of the 1700s.
 - The Obama era was one of the greatest decreases in working class and [black wealth](https://jacobinmag.com/2017/12/obama-foreclosure-crisis-wealth-inequality) in history: home equity decreased by ~$17k between 2007 and 2016. His housing policies led to millions losing their homes. While Wall street banks recieved $29 Trillion in bailouts, $75 Billion in relief was set aside for housing foreclosures and mortgage assistance. Instead of being paid to families, this was paid to mortgage servicers, and the services found ways to pocket the money and continue foreclosures: by the end of the program, less than 20% of the funds were used, and most had dropped out of the program due to foreclosures. The Obama administration refused to prosecute the fraud, or any of those responsible for the 2008 financial crisis.
 ---
 - During the 2020 coravirus pandemic, it was found that a law that empowered police to arrest those for not social distancing, lead to [80% of those arrested being black and latino](https://www.bakersfield.com/ap/national/nyc-politicians-outraged-after-nypd-reveals-80-of-social-distancing-arrests-have-been-minorities/article_d7c6ff24-d527-50ca-9a52-643957422b32.html).
 - On October 12th, 2019, yet another police officer went into a home, and [shot and killed the inhabitant, 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson, in Fort Worth, TX.](https://www.fox4news.com/news/woman-fatally-shot-inside-her-home-by-fort-worth-officer) It began with a neighbor who called 911, after seeing a house with the door open - “When I made that non-emergency call, I didn’t say it was a burglary. I didn’t say it was people fighting. I didn’t say anything to make them have a gun. All they needed to do is ring the doorbell,” neighbor James Smith said. The officer has been placed on paid leave.
 - On June 12th, 2019, [US marshalls shot and killed 20 year old Brandon Webber](https://dailymemphian.com/section/metro/article/5619/Chaos-erupts-following-officer-involved-shooting-in-Frayser-area), as he was getting into his vehicle outside his home. The police have alternately claimed that he rammed them with his car, and that he was carrying a weapon, but aren't releasing details or dashcams. The killing provoked a [strong protest from the community](https://apnews.com/c290fd44dace4fe7b836110de77c1894), police used tear gas to disperse the crowd, and arrested three people. 36 cops were injured from flying rocks and bricks thrown by protestors. Mayor Strickland stated: "Let me be clear, the aggression shown towards our officers and deputies (Wednesday night) was unwarranted." Memphis police have a history of killings of young black men, including Darrius Stewart, an unarmed 19 year old shot and killed in 2015.
 - In March, 2019, an [Oklahoma City cop shot 14-year-old Lorenzo Clerkley Jr. twice](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/05/07/i-think-its-cap-gun-police-officer-said-he-opened-fire-an-eighth-grader-moments-later/?utm_term=.834e837faea9) through a crack in a wooden fence, only giving him a 0.6 second warning, while him and his friends were playing with BB guns in their backyard. [The horrific scene showed that the cop knew they were BB guns before shooting.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVP2xmahm70) It also shows Lorenzo telling him he was shot in the right side, then the cop rolling him on that side, as well as being dragged over broken glass. The family does not have health insurance and can’t afford the medical bills, including a $1,300 ambulance ride. Oklahoma County District Attorney determined the shooting was justified, and the Officer is currently on paid leave. A review of all of the department’s police shootings between 2004 and 2013 found that [none of the 78 police shootings investigated by the homicide unit ever resulted in criminal charges, firing, demotion, or unpaid time off.](https://newsok.com/special/article/4747453/deadly-force-a-decade-of-oklahoma-city-police-department-shootings)