| November 7, 2020 -
No. 43 Disputed
U.S. Presidential Election
November 4, 2020. March
in Portland, Oregon. (Top
Quality DF)
Significance
of the Results • Anarchy and Violence Prevails
-
Kathleen Chandler - •
Supreme
Court, Elections and Crisis of U.S. Democracy -
Voice of Revolution - •
Lawsuits as Means to Restructure
U.S. State for
Greater Federal Control • Equality
and Casting and Counting Votes
Readers' Views
• Chaotic
Elections Process Fails to Address All-Sided Crisis in U.S.
• Disinformation
to Hide Crisis of Political and Electoral Process • The
Peoples of the U.S. and the Americas Are Our Allies,
Not
U.S. Imperialism •
Paying
Attention to the U.S. Election • U.S.
Election Night and the Two Americas • Results
of U.S. Elections Do Not Reflect Consciousness
of the
Working Class
Statements
• Defend Our Rights! Into the Streets!
Shut It Down! -
United National Antiwar Coalition - • Defund
Hate: No Matter Election Outcome, Congress Must Defund Immigration and
Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection and Prioritize
Wellbeing of Our Communities - United We Dream -
Photo Review
• Actions Continue Across the Country in
Defence of Rights
Disputed
U.S. Presidential Election -
Kathleen Chandler
-
 November 4, 2020. Detroit,
Michigan.
On November, 7, the monopoly media
finally declared Joe
Biden the winner in the U.S. elections for president. But the
conflict is far from over. As anticipated, initially no winner
was declared. Even now, the rivalry within the ruling
factions is so intense -- with potential for open violent
conflict -- it is clear the election settled nothing, as yet more
disputes continue to unfold. This was evident as soon as Biden was
declared the winner. The news agencies announced both
Pennsylvania and Nevada for Biden, giving him 290 Electoral
College votes against Trump's 214, with 270 necessary to win.
Georgia, North Carolina and Alaska still remain. Biden
is expected to give a victory speech the evening of
November 7.  Donald Trump
responded as expected, refusing to concede and
saying the election is still far from over. On November 7 he
said, "Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any
states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for
mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and
legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate
victor." This echoed his comments made on election night. "All of
the recent Biden-claimed states will be legally challenged by us
for Voter Fraud and State Election Fraud," Trump declared.
The
Trump campaign is pursuing numerous lawsuits in
Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada and calling for a recount in
Wisconsin -- states where the vote tally is close. As Trump
reiterated November 7, "Beginning Monday [November 9] our
campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure
election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is
seated." The indication is that more lawsuits in
additional states may
be filed, including Michigan and Wisconsin where, like
Pennsylvania, mail-in ballots are being accepted after Election
Day. It would appear that the ruling factions backing
Biden
would still like to secure a decisive win, so as to more readily
secure a "peaceful transition." Biden is already indicating this,
saying "With the campaign over, it's time to put the anger and
the harsh rhetoric behind us and to come together as a nation."
He is also trying to say he has a mandate from the people: "I am
honoured and humbled by the trust that the American people have
placed in me and in Vice President-elect Harris." The fact is
that the vote in his favour represents less than 25 per cent of the
voting age population and furthermore, about 80,000,000 eligible voters
-- more than Biden's 75,000,000 -- expressed their views by not voting
at all. Generally
speaking, certification of the votes by the states is
not completed until the end of November. The electors to each
state's Electoral College then do not meet and certify the
electors until December 14. Lawsuits are to be settled by that
time. If not, states can potentially send two sets of electors to
Congress and then the House of Representatives would decide. All
of this confirms that the election remains disputed and the
potential for greater violence against the people hangs in the
air as well. Already the National Guard is deployed in several
states, including Oregon, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee and
Texas and police presence has been greatly increased in New
York City, Washington, DC and Chicago. Despite the
effort by the Republican and Democratic campaigns
and monopoly media to keep everyone focused on election results,
continued resistance in various cities and plans for more all
indicate that the election has not silenced or stopped the
people's demands for equality, justice and accountability.
Everywhere people are making clear that these issues will be
settled by the people and their fight for the rights of all. The
inequality and arbitrary nature of the election, including the
counting of votes and discounting of them, has only further
affirmed that a new electoral system is needed. The ongoing
disputes do nothing to address and solve this necessity. It
also shows, more profoundly than ever, the need for the
democratic renewal of the U.S. institutions at every level and of
the constitutional arrangements and definitions of rights. One
of the features of this election was the inability of the
rulers to predict the outcome. Their unending polls were again
wrong. The oligarchs refuse to see that in conditions of anarchy
and with the broad disinformation imposed, polls do not reflect
the public, its stands and demands. They do not reflect the broad
anger with the whole political set up and the drive among the
people to have a decision-making process that favours their
interests. It is in part because of this blindness that they
would pick Biden, an old, white, establishment man, as a standard
bearer. How better to show their exhaustion rather than any
semblance of the new direction people are demanding? The
selection of Kamala Harris, long-time representative of state
district attorneys, did not change this. Joe Biden,
like Hillary Clinton in 2016, also counted on
African Americans and youth to give him a more decisive win.
Clearly, the old calculus of the Democrats that African Americans
will vote in large numbers for them no longer applies, which is
also true for the youth. The consciousness that Democrats, Biden
included, have played a main role in the racist mass
incarceration, militarization of police, state-organized racist
attacks and genocide, is widespread. So too is the conviction
that strengthening the organized resistance is the way forward.
It is also the case that promoting that white workers all support
Trump was put to rest in part by the vote in Wisconsin, where
they are the majority. People vote, or do not vote,
for various reasons but it is not
the vote that reflects their overall stands and views as to how
to solve the problems society faces. That is evident in their
overwhelming support for the many demonstrations and strikes
organized to defend rights and planned now after the
elections.  What the rulers
fail to recognize is that their usual methods
for predicting, including polls and various old
calculations, are as obsolete as their electoral process. People
are rejecting the disinformation of the campaigns, which are
designed to deform the shape of the body politic, to eliminate
its cohesion, to fracture and splinter it rather than unite it in
solving the problems of the day. They are instead fighting to
take the country in a new direction, which includes an electoral
process where the public is informed, their concerns and
solutions are on the agenda, and their own candidates selected,
and that is structured to provide them equality as members of the
polity.
People are also remaining vigilant for more
potential violence
instigated by the government. Given the intense rivalry to
capture the presidency among the ruling factions, and Trump so
far refusing to concede, and large numbers of police and National
Guard already present in some areas, the threat remains. So too
does the possible use of armed racist militias against the people
so as to justify use of the military and widespread arrests and
detention. Unions and hundreds of organizations are
at the ready to
demonstrate and defend rights. Numerous demonstrations took place
November 6-7 and more are planned for next week and again in
December. Many are also angry and prepared for action, including
possible strikes, if the Supreme Court interferes. Together with
the organized resistance ongoing since May, people are ready for
rejecting use of the military and federal forces against the
people and advancing the fight for equality, justice and
accountability.
-
Voice of Revolution - 
October 15, 2020.
Protest in Washington DC against confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to
the Supreme Court. (C. King)
As
the disputed U.S. presidential election continues to unfold, the
likelihood of the Supreme Court intervening is coming to the fore. At
present at least one of the Pennsylvania lawsuits -- an appeal by the
state Republican Party and now joined by the Trump campaign -- is
likely to make it to the Supreme Court. It involves discounting votes
received after Election Day. Trump may hope to still win in
Pennsylvania, and with a favourable ruling, also win in Wisconsin and
Michigan, which extended the vote in a manner similar to Pennsylvania.
Whether or not a ruling determines the outcome of the vote, it is
likely that the push for the lawsuit is part of the effort of the
international financial oligarchy to eliminate any blocks to its
seizure of a centralized decision-making power and this includes
undermining state authority in elections, including that of the state
Supreme Courts. Initially Pennsylvania's Democratic
Party and the state's Secretary of State sued to have the date for
accepting mail-in ballots extended three days, from 5:00 pm November 3
to 5:00 pm November 6. These ballots are the main ones still being
counted. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in support of the
extension. Republicans appealed and asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an
expedited ruling before the elections, which the Court denied. However,
it left open the possibility of pursuing the case. Justice Alito wrote
that the ruling "does not mean, however, that the state court decision
must escape our review." The extended deadline "has national
importance, and there is a strong likelihood" that the ruling violates
the U.S. Constitution, he added. While Pennsylvania
is currently the only state where Trump is pursuing this case, a number
of other states also extended their deadlines, including those with
close vote counts: Michigan, where ballots postmarked by November 3
could be received up to two weeks after Election Day; North Carolina,
where they could be received within nine days after the election; and
Wisconsin, within six days after November 3. These states are also
possible arenas for similar lawsuits by Trump whose claim is the one he
uttered in a White House speech: "If you count the legal votes, I
easily win." And "If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal
the election from us." What emerges in all of this
is that the Supreme Court, not the state-level Supreme Courts and
legislatures -- is being put forward as the arbiter and decision-maker
of what is and is not legal for elections. Even if a ruling by the
Supreme Court does not decide the election itself, it provides a
precedent for overruling state Supreme Courts. In doing so it increases
the power of the executive office of the presidency to decide election
law. This removes it from the power of the states or, at the very
least, lessens the state power. This tells us something about the
general tendency in the restructuring of the U.S. state machinery. More
and more power is being concentrated in the Office of the
President for purposes of eliminating structures that stand in the way
of the narrow private interests which have usurped the decision-making
power. Authorities at the federal and state levels are contending for
everything -- evident in the many conflicts concerning policing,
immigration, COVID-19 and elections. The restructuring aims at federal
control all down the line. The complexity for the
rulers is that intervention by the Supreme Court in these matters is
already being questioned. The consciousness among the people is such
that unions and dozens of organizations are standing at the ready to
reject the Supreme Court playing a deciding role. More generally the
legitimacy of the Court is increasingly in doubt. With the rapid
confirmation of Trump's latest addition to the bench, Amy Coney
Barrett, the Court is seen as stacked in Trump's favour. In
2010, the Supreme Court also made the notorious Citizens United ruling
that opened the doors for massive funding of elections by the
monopolies and oligarchs, using superPACs (Political Action Committees)
to provide unlimited funding. From 2010 to 2018, superPACs provided
about $2.9 billion for federal elections, the bulk coming from just a
few individual donors. In the 2018 elections, for example, the top 100
donors to superPACs contributed nearly 78 per cent of all superPAC
funding. The ruling increased the undemocratic and corrupt character of
U.S. elections. It also facilitated the ability of the oligarchs to
more readily usurp the power of the U.S. state for their own private
narrow interests. The Supreme Court functions
mainly as an arm of the executive, with Supreme Court rulings generally
favouring whatever is needed by the executive at any point in time.
This is evident in rulings related to slavery, desegregation and
elections. With the rivalries among the factions of
the ruling class more intense than ever and their institutions
dysfunctional, as these elections reveal them to be, some rulings may
reflect the contention between the vying factions within the Executive
itself. At the same time, there has been a general weakening of the
role of the Court, just as there has been with Congress. Rulings are
simply ignored, as Obama did concerning the Guantánamo
torture camp and as Trump has largely done concerning immigration,
refugees and Muslim bans. For the 2020 elections,
use of the Supreme Court in deciding the election is fraught with
danger for the rulers. The anger with government failures over COVID-19
and the broad and unrelenting movement of the people is such that the
federal government and its policing agencies are losing the authority
to govern and use force against the people. The conditions are calling
out for a new arrangement of governance, one which empowers the people
to govern and decide. Any Supreme Court interference in the election
will only re-emphasize that the existing arrangements are not
accountable to the people.
Prior to the election, lawsuits brought by Trump forces in
Pennsylvania, Nevada, Virginia, New Jersey, Illinois, Montana, Hawaii,
Texas and elsewhere challenged state and county authorities attempting
to expand access to mail-in ballots and time for receiving them. They
argued that mail voting would increase the incidence of voter fraud.
Virginia, Nevada and Vermont have been settled but the rest are
pending. While there are almost no examples of ineligible voters
voting, there is ample evidence of the fraud of election officials
arbitrarily discounting mail-in ballots, saying signatures on ballot
envelopes do not match the voter's registration card, or that no
signature is present, etc. It is also the case that these lawsuits are
directed at state authorities. Court rulings against the states,
especially if they go to the Supreme Court, could significantly
strengthen federal control over election laws and regulations.
Since the
election, Trump has filed several lawsuits. In Nevada the claim is that
non-residents voted. In Georgia it is claimed that absentee ballots
received after the 7 pm deadline on Election Day were not separated and
held for several days as required but instead were counted. Both of
these were dismissed by local judges. However, Republicans in Nevada
have filed a lawsuit claiming, without evidence, irregularities
concerning the counting of votes and ineligible people voting. That
suit is still pending.  In Michigan, the
Trump
campaign is asking for counting to stop until it has "meaningful
access" to observe ballots being counted and "to review those ballots
which were opened and counted while we did not have meaningful access."
Detroit is one of the places named. The suit specifically targets the
Michigan Secretary of State claiming her actions "have undermined the
right of all Michigan voters -- including the voters bringing this
action -- to participate in fair and lawful elections." It is more
likely that the suit is in part a means for the campaign to challenge
mail-in ballots based on signatures and to discount votes, not count
them. A local Michigan judge dismissed the lawsuit November 5. The
Trump campaign has not said whether they will appeal.
In Pennsylvania, one Trump lawsuit involves an effort to keep
ballots received after Election Day from being counted, a case likely
to go to the U.S. Supreme Court. A second challenges the counting of
mailed and absentee votes in Philadelphia. For
Philadelphia, Trump's observers want to be close enough to see the
writing on the outside of the ballots, which is where signatures are. A
ruling by the Court of Common Pleas for Philadelphia County allowed for
observers to be closer, but also emphasized observers "are directed
only to observe and not to audit ballots." Trump's lawyers have
appealed that case to Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Court. This then is a
means for creating the basis, in future elections, for the campaigns
themselves, not local county officials, to have control over auditing
ballots -- potentially getting them thrown out, or counted, depending
on what serves the campaign. It is likely
that some of these cases, and perhaps additional ones Trump files as
the dispute continues, could go to the U.S. Supreme Court. Part of what
is occurring then is an effort to have election law determined by the
federal government, in this case the Supreme Court.
Currently, for elections, usually the Supreme Court of each
state has the final say on election law and usually the federal courts,
including the U.S. Supreme Court, lets stand their decisions. This is
because the Constitution gives states, not the federal government, the
power to decide how elections are run. This power was part of the
compromise that secured the forming of the Union at that time, despite
the strength of the colonies to be independent republics of their own.
Overall the existing structure still keeps power in the hands of the
states when it comes to elections. There have
been various times when the federal government has intervened, such as
with the Voting Rights Act. As well, the Help
America Vote Act (HAVA) after the 2000 Bush-Gore election
took steps to concentrate power for elections, giving state Secretaries
of State control over voter rolls and regulations which before that was
mainly at the county level. These current efforts take this further, by
now potentially removing this power from the state Secretaries of State
and concentrating it more in federal hands. A ruling from the U.S.
Supreme Court, for example, against Pennsylvania extending the deadline
for receiving ballots, would serve this. It would provide a mechanism
to put far greater power at the level of the federal government to say
various state election laws and regulations are unconstitutional --
something that could then be applied to other states. It
has been a major feature of the Trump administration to break the bonds
of the Constitution and provide conditions for the ruling oligarchs to
restructure all previous arrangements to directly seize hold of the
political power and eliminate any arrangements that stand in their way.
State-controlled elections, especially in conditions where the outcome
cannot be predicted, have become such an obstacle. However,
the rulers are perhaps underestimating the broad sentiment among the
people that the Supreme Court is now stacked in favour of Trump. The
rapid confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court was seen
as undemocratic. So unlike the Bush-Gore election, when the Supreme
Court deciding the election outcome was accepted, that is not likely to
be the case now. Among the people, the court is losing its legitimacy,
as is generally the case for government at all levels. A
danger to the people is to see such restructuring that favours the
rulers as something that favours the people. For elections it would no
doubt be justified in the name of eliminating the various inequalities
stemming from different state laws and regulations, eliminating the
Electoral College and so forth. The change needed
is not greater federal control. It is greater control by the people
themselves, their empowerment to decide health care, education, jobs,
elections -- all matters of concern. The problem is developing a
structure that ensures all are equal members of the polity, with equal
rights and duties.
The various rules for
voting and
counting in the U.S., different in every state, coupled with possible
Supreme Court intervention, means the entire electoral process is rife
with anarchy and arbitrary actions. This includes the fact that large
numbers of eligible voters are not registered and thus not able to
vote. This is commonly due to various obstacles preventing
registration, especially targeting African Americans and students.
About 3 million prisoners cannot vote. Many immigrants -- despite
having lived in the U.S. for decades and being an integral part of the
working class -- have been deprived of citizenship and cannot
vote.  It
is estimated
that the current population of voting age (18 and over) is 257,605,088
while those considered eligible to vote number about 239,247,182, a
difference of about 18,000,000 (estimates from the Elections Project).
Turnout this year is estimated at 159,000,000 or about 66 per cent.
Taking the estimated number of eligible voters, that means about
80,000,000 are not counted -- more than the 74,500,000 votes Biden has
so far received. If voting age population is used it is closer to
100,000,000 excluded. While there is great promotion that turnout this
year was higher than usual, which is the case, it hides the fact that
the Biden win now projected is based on the votes of approximately 28
per cent of the voting age population.
While most
other
countries have a system where the federal government is responsible for
enrolling all those eligible, the U.S. does not. Many countries also
require the winner to secure 50 per cent of the eligible vote. The U.S.
does not. Some also provide a means to count votes of those who reject
the candidates, such as submitting a "spoiled" ballot. The U.S. does
not. A ballot line in every state saying "none of the above" likely
would have secured an actual majority in this election as many did not
want to vote for either candidate. The turn out more likely represents
not so much support for the candidates but rather a reflection of
people's desire to have a say in governance -- a drive that will
continue to have expression and be decisive in future developments as
the broad movement for rights continues to advance.
Arbitrary Elimination of Votes In addition to
the numerous mechanisms the obsolete U.S. system uses to make it more
difficult to vote, whether a vote is counted is also arbitrary, with
few established standards. There is no equal membership in the polity
and certainly no equal casting and counting of votes. So while there is
currently an appearance that Biden wants votes counted and Trump wants
to stop the counting, the reality is that neither campaign has been
concerned that, with the far larger numbers of mail-in ballots this
election, larger numbers of votes have likely been discarded on
arbitrary grounds. As various lawsuits brought to counter this
emphasize, lack of standards "forces election officials to make
subjective, arbitrary and standardless determinations as to whether to
count a voter's ballot." Before the election in
both Michigan and Pennsylvania, for example, groups from among the
people concerned about mail-in votes being excluded brought lawsuits
demanding a uniform standard for accepting them. These states, and
others, commonly require that the voter sign the envelope provided for
the mail-in ballot and that signature is then verified by election
officials, commonly using the voter's registration card. However, there
is no standard for saying the signatures do not match, nor training of
officials for making comparisons. Ballots may also be rejected because
the person forgot to sign the envelope. Or in some states did not have
it witnessed as required. Or it was not received in time. And many
states have no means for these voters to secure redress or even be
notified. In Michigan, the lawsuit said lack of
uniform standards concerning signatures allowed election officials
throughout the state to employ arbitrary and diverging criteria. The
state's Secretary of State issued guidelines that did not eliminate the
practice of signature verification, but did implement a statewide
standard designed to reduce false rejections. These included that if
the signature had “any redeeming qualities" the ballot should
be considered valid and only if the signature differs "in multiple,
significant and obvious respects," should the ballot be discarded. The
guidance also strengthened the mandate that election officials notify
voters of rejected ballots and provide cure procedures. But it did not
require that such remedies be timely enough for the election involved.
Similarly, in Pennsylvania, the lawsuit said the state failed
to require any handwriting training or to provide any standards or
guidelines that would aid election officials in their signature
analysis. Again, the state's Secretary of State issued guidance,
prohibiting all of the state's county boards of elections from
rejecting returned absentee or mail ballots "based solely on signature
analysis." The state Supreme Court upheld the guidance saying the
"county boards of elections are prohibited from rejecting absentee or
mail-in ballots based on signature comparison conducted by county
election officials or employees, or as the result of third-party
challenges based on signature analysis and comparisons." It
is possible that Trump will challenge both of these decisions.
Lawsuits in many other states have also challenged the lack of
notification and timely redress so voters can correct the problems and
still have their vote counted. These include actions in Maine, New
Jersey, North Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arizona and North Dakota.
These battles are all indications that voters want a fair and
equal basis for participation, which does not exist, while the
candidates are acting in a self-serving manner to best meet their own
needs. Neither are calling for, nor have called for, the minimal
reforms required to ensure all those eligible can vote and that there
are standards for equality in voting and running for office. The people
are demanding this and far more -- including a set-up where it is the
people who decide the candidates, the agenda, a public process that
informs and unifies and where the people themselves are empowered to
govern and decide.
Readers'
Views 
November 2, 2020. Vigil
in Buffalo, New York, organized by National Nurses United to honour
health care workers who have died of COVID-19 and to fight for their
rights and those of their patients.
(NNU)
At this
point (as of the morning of November 4), the U.S.
elections are being turned into theatre of the absurd as
Donald Trump is claiming victory even though millions of ballots are
yet to be counted. This chaotic situation facing the people of the U.S.
could not have turned out any other way because during the lead-up to
the elections every aspect of the elections process was in dispute
between the two parties which dominate elections in the U.S. on behalf
of the ruling elite. The ongoing accusations of fraud, cheating and
lies during the run-up to Election Day exposed that the antagonistic
divisions among the ruling elite are so deep that even the elections
process, which they have always controlled, is in such severe crisis
that it can no longer be used to determine which of the two dominant
parties will rule for the next four years. With
134.5 million votes
counted, Biden has 258 Electoral College votes with 50 per cent of the
popular vote, while Trump stands at 213 Electoral Votes with 48.4 per
cent of the popular vote (270 Electoral College votes are needed to win
the presidential race). These numbers are based on the vote in states
where one of the candidates has either been declared the winner or is
leading. Votes are still being counted in Pennsylvania, Michigan,
Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. It
is important to remember that these elections are taking place at a
time when the U.S. is facing serious dangers due to the increasing
levels of COVID-19 infections. The latest statements by Public Health
officials warn that this is a period of the "most concerning and most
deadly phase of the pandemic."[1]
With the vicious infighting over the result of the elections, the
dangers faced by the people continue to be ignored. This has further
exposed a broken system which is incapable of looking after the needs
of the people. The deep crisis in which the ruling
elite are mired is in sharp contrast to the growing movement of the
working class and people across the U.S. who have been in action
demanding fundamental changes to the existing broken system. Workers
from many sectors of the economy continue to demand protections from
COVID-19 in workplaces and communities and have also gone into action
to oppose racism which they have identified as another deadly disease
ravaging the U.S. that must be eradicated. Police killings, decades of
racial discrimination in health care, housing, unemployment, education,
criminal justice and an unending list of injustices are inspiring the
movement of the people in the U.S. for change and to build a modern
society which is capable of defending the rights of all. At
this time as the U.S. working class and people face the perilous
situation created by the ruling elite in their contention for control
of the U.S. economy, the Canadian working class stands as one with the
movement of the workers and people who are putting forward their own
demands for a modern society which upholds the rights of all. Note
1. From
an internal memo by Dr. Deborah Birx, member of the White House
Coronavirus Task Force.
Within the anarchy and chaos which is prevailing in the U.S. election,
there is widespread disinformation from various quarters to interpret
the vote in a way that distorts what the U.S. working class and people
are fighting for so as to divert their struggle for their rights and
democratic renewal. Imperialist
media are interpreting what they call the unexpected strong vote for
Trump -- unexpected in terms of what the polls predicted -- as showing
that millions of U.S. workers are indifferent to the COVID-19 pandemic
and how the federal government has handled it and voted for "the
economy." The mass struggle of workers of many sectors to protect
themselves and the people, especially the most vulnerable, from the
spread of the pandemic is denied and hidden behind a wall of silence
and treated as taboo by the monopoly media. The media speak of "two
Americas," portrayed as the Trump version versus the Biden version, in
which a vote for Trump is said to show indifference to the pandemic
while a vote for Biden shows concern. The two Americas in contention
are not Biden's and Trump's but the ruling elite and its worn out
unrepresentative democracy versus the people's fight for rights and a
new democracy of their own making.  The U.S. workers
and people do not decide the issues in these elections. They do not
control the process. Those with immense privilege and power and their
political representatives, known for their anti-social offensive
against the people -- including racist attacks, deportation of
migrants, foreign wars and interference to achieve regime change abroad
-- control the process. The will and the consciousness of workers and
people is not reflected or expressed in this electoral process. The
only way workers can express their will and consciousness is through
their own work, discussion and deliberation on the problems the class
and the society are facing and working out pro-social solutions to
these problems so that the crises that are tearing society apart are
resolved in a way that benefits the people.
A
suggestion is made that when the workers and people stand up to the
provocations of the Trump side -- including the call for political
strikes if Trump refuses to leave if he is defeated -- they are
defending the status quo of the U.S. electoral process and institutions.
This is not the case. Workers are ready to go into action to
make sure that a coup is not organized on the basis of what Trump calls
opposing "illegal votes" and the Democrats' "stealing the elections"
but the content of this action goes far beyond the confines of the
current electoral process and the U.S. democracy. It is a fight to
oppose further descent into anarchy and chaos, which means further
disempowerment of the people through violence. It is a fight for the
rights and well-being of all, against their disempowerment which is a
feature of the nation-wrecking anti-social offensive and increased
warmongering that has been going on for decades. It is a fight for the
renewal of democracy so that people can affect changes in the direction
of the economy and politics and exercise control. The
U.S. workers and people are facing serious challenges and Canadian
workers must vigorously support them, which includes making sure that
Canada does not line up behind the warring factions of the U.S. ruling
elite, and stepping up the fight against Canada's integration into the
U.S. war economy.
My
neighbour is rich
He can buy
the earth
He wants to
buy the earth
But the
earth belongs to everybody and is not for sale.
-
Félix Leclerc
On
November 4, as the U.S. presidential elections had not been finalized,
the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, stated concerning
the elections: "We will continue to work hard to build our
relationship, regardless of the president the Americans choose. I would
not like other states or countries to interfere in our elections. So,
it will be up to Americans to decide." The Deputy Premier of Quebec,
Geneviève Guilbeault, also stated: "We will work with
whoever is elected and respect the choice of the Americans." Finally,
the Minister of International Relations, Nadine Girault, said: "Our
ties are strong and we are essential trading allies. We will continue
to support the relationship we have always had with our neighbour to
the South."  To find a period
in the past when the Quebec people considered the U.S. an ally, we must
go back to the 19th century, when the Patriots considered the U.S. an
ally in the anti-colonial struggle against the British Empire, which
came to a head with the Great Assemblies of the people in 1837-38 and
the need to put an end to the control the British Empire had over their
lives.
But with the direct experience of the Quebec
people, especially of the expansion of U.S. capital in Quebec and
Canada in the 1960s and the all-out U.S. wars of aggression, their
brutal and criminal overthrow of governments and their war alliances,
the Quebec people sided with the peoples of the world, including the
U.S. youth opposed to the Vietnam War. Among many expressions of this,
following the coup in Chile in 1973, Quebec communities wholeheartedly
welcomed the Chilean people who had been forced into exile by the
murderous U.S.-led Pinochet coup. During that
period, Quebec workers and people also felt the brunt of the expansion
of U.S. capital in Quebec. They became keenly aware that the official
policy of successive governments, irrespective of their political
colours, was "Quebec is open for business." This meant that the human
and natural resources of Quebec were to be put at the disposal of
foreign corporations, especially U.S. ones, a situation which comes to
the fore again and again, as the Quebec government openly sides with
these monopolies against striking workers and their communities, as was
the case in Alma in 2012 when it sided with Rio Tinto Alcan. This also
meant, as in the case of the lumber and mining industries as well as of
U.S.-financed hydro-power mega-projects, that governments would side
with the owners of these industries against the hereditary and treaty
rights of the Innu, Anishinaabe and other Indigenous peoples.
As for interfering in our own affairs here, U.S. agencies were
particularly active in Quebec in the 1960s and 1970s, as part of their
worldwide Operation Chaos, to subvert and suppress the struggle of the
Quebec working class and youth in defence of their rights, including
their right to decide their own future and to oppose U.S. imperialist
wars of aggression and "alliances," such as U.S.-led NATO and all of
its consequences for Quebec and Canada, such as the militarization of
the economy and a foreign policy in the service of U.S. global
ambitions. This is seen today in the hostile U.S. policy against Cuba
and Venezuela, for example, while the Quebec people oppose the brutal
and criminal sanctions being imposed on these countries and stand for
the right of the people to decide and for relations between countries
based on peaceful relations and mutual assistance. This
is what makes statements about respecting what the U.S. people decide
so deceptive and so out of touch. To lend any credibility to such a
brutal and anti-conscious process which can no longer even be called
"political" is precisely aimed at defending a political process that no
longer serves the interests of the people and society, and subverting
the struggles of the peoples for change. It is to promote an outdated,
corrupt and unjust political process in which millions of people cannot
even register to vote, in which the campaigns of both parties imposed
upon the people as a "choice" are financed by the largest corporations
in the world, and in which the very notion of public authority, of
public good and of the polity have been replaced by narrow private
interests. The struggle of
the people of the U.S. to decide is being waged in all earnest in all
the workers' and peoples' movements which have been ongoing even during
election months and are willfully being ignored by those who want to
perpetuate the myth of the "greatest democracy in the world." It is
being expressed in the active participation -- in the face of the most
brutal suppression -- of more than 20 million people from all walks of
life against racist police killings and violence, demanding equality,
justice and accountability. As part of this movement, discussions are
taking place about the existing political set-up and that its
constitution and election fraud do not serve the interests of the
people and block the development of a society that can and should serve
these interests. 
If
Trump Wins/If Biden Wins
|
This
struggle is being waged by
the U.S. workers who have waged thousands of strikes in recent months
in defence of their rights and their security, especially in these
times of pandemic. In this respect, nurses -- over 2,000 health care
workers have died in the U.S. due to COVID-19 -- have been particularly
active as they courageously held vigils throughout the election to
honour the dead and fight for the living, demanding better protection
and for national public safety standards for which all private and
public institutions must be held accountable. There
is a lot at stake behind seemingly innocuous statements such as those
cited above, especially as concerns our relationship with the U.S. and
the life-and-death struggle for change that is taking place in the
Americas, including Quebec and Canada, at this time. As
for the Quebec working class and people, our relationship is above all
with the working class and people of the U.S. and of the Americas in
this period when, indeed, the effects of all the past injustices have
caught up with those who form the ruling classes and have benefited
from them. One humanity, one struggle -- the
struggle for democracy based on the defence of the rights of all, and,
foremost, the right of the people to decide, to develop and choose the
forms of democracy which suit their needs, without any foreign
interference.
July 20, 2020. Strike
for Black Lives in Seattle, Washington, part of nationwide day of
action.
If it were not for the reports in the
Party press, including reports from the U.S. Marxist-Leninist
Organization's Voice of
Revolution and other U.S. fighting organizations, and
information that people can glean on social media of the resistance
movement in the U.S., one could fall into the trap of despair that the
media paints of hopelessness and chaos, of a United States divided between
"progressives" who voted for Biden and "reactionaries" who voted for
Trump. According to this rendering it is the aims and manoeuvres of the
ruling elite that matter and the people are nothing but voting cattle.
The two Americas in contention, as pointed out by Kathleen
Chandler in TML Weekly
November 1, are the vision of the people versus the vision of the
rulers. Pundits are wringing their hands and wondering why four years
of Trump did not result in a landslide vote for Biden. What is striking
is the consciousness of the U.S. working class and people that the
problems that they are facing are not going to be sorted out by the
election but on the basis of the ongoing fight that is being
waged.  The U.S. working
class is not passive and disengaged, which the media would have us
believe, as shown in the many many actions of organized and unorganized
workers over the past several months, addressing issues of police
violence and repression as part of the resistance spearheaded by the
African American community, putting forward the demands of health care
workers, teachers and other frontline workers for adequate protection
for themselves, those they serve and the public in the face of the
COVID-19 pandemic, and with regard to the election itself.
The resolution of the 70,000 member Rochester labour council
calling for a general strike if Trump does not respect the outcome of
the election, which also spoke of the diminished quality of existing
institutions, and the council's intent that their stand spark a
national conversation is a reflection of the growing consciousness of
the working class that it, and not the 'leaders' and 'authorities' are
upholding their social responsibility, as workers and as electors. The
Juneteenth actions of workers in 30 U.S. ports in solidarity with Black
Lives Matter, the walkouts of workers in fast food places, nursing
homes, rideshare businesses, farms, airports and other workplaces on
July 20, along with thousands more who walked off their jobs for 8
minutes and 46 seconds to remember George Floyd and others killed by
police, and the continuing organizing of nurses and teachers to demand
action to protect themselves, patients and students from COVID-19 all
show what the U.S. working class is made of. In the
aftermath of the 2016 U.S. election, the media and politicians of the
main U.S. cartel parties and their counterparts in Canada "analyzed"
that the U.S. working class was divided between those who supported the
Republican Party and Trump in particular, and those who supported the
Democrats and Hillary Clinton in particular. Four years later, in
reporting on the initial results of the 2020 presidential election, the
same nonsense is being spouted. That shows that the media and the
politicians of the cartel parties have only one aim in mind and that is
to keep the working class and people of the U.S., Canada and the world
disenfranchised and out of the picture. What the ruling elite fear more
than anything is the participation of the workers, youth, people from
national minority communities, African Americans and people
from all walks of life, who have taken to the streets since May to
demand an end to police violence and uphold the rights of all,
including,
most importantly, the right of the people to participate in making the
decisions that affect their lives. It is in that fight for the New that
the future lies.
Listening to U.S. election
night on
Radio-Canada, or on any other radio or television station for that
matter, was a bitter and suffocating experience, what with all the
comments and interviews on how it unfolded. As captives, our eyes
remained riveted on Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The issues were reduced
to an analysis of pros and cons, of fights between Republicans and
Democrats, of predictions based on polls, algorithms and statistics
that will eventually let us know the outcome. During
the entire evening all that was talked about was the two Americas, the
America of Biden and that of Trump, as if the people of the U.S. do not
exist, nor their history, their current struggles for justice, for an
end to police powers, their demands and claims for peace, for new
arrangements. All that was presented were two individuals, one of them
supposedly crazier than the other, and that in the end the people of
the U.S. would have to choose the better of the two, between the two
Americas that, in the end, pursue the same agenda of excluding the
people from any power over the destiny of the United States.  The reality,
however is that both these Americas, are of the most reactionary ruling
elite and are on the same side against the people of the U.S., who are
fighting for a new, just, peaceful, anti-war, humane America, without
any discrimination, targeting and labelling, and where everyone's life
matters. The people of the U.S. are trying to bring in the New,
rejecting the Old that the elite is trying to impose upon their
conscience and their lives, to prevent them from moving forward. But
the people of the U.S. are on the march to have a modern, democratic
personality emerge, one which demands the recognition of the rights of
all. There is nothing more liberating.
Whatever the
election result, it will not change the current challenge facing the
people of the U.S. They are in action to change the direction of the
United States and they must stay the course and remain focused on what
they are in the process of achieving. They are speaking with their
deeds and actions from their own experience and rejecting the rhetoric,
empty words and pressure of all kinds in the name of the Union,
anti-people patriotism, and an outdated and bankrupt constitution.
Courage to the people of the U.S. and full support for their struggle
to decide!
The ruling circles of U.S. imperialism and their mass media have
flooded the airwaves with the famous red and blue board representing
the electoral map of the United States. Television, internet,
newspapers, radio and so on point to the acute division in the country
that their picture shows. This division between blue and red allegedly
reflects the will of the people of the U.S. Worse, it is said to
represent the consciousness of the U.S. working class. All evening on
election night we were told again and again that the blue collar
workers and the people in the rural U.S. were supporting Donald Trump.
It was also said that many unionized workers in the major industrial
states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan voted for Trump. All sorts of
nonsense is said to explain why U.S. workers prefer Trump to Biden --
that they like his frankness in saying what he thinks without a
politician's filter, that he denounces the establishment, that he works
for his country, that he does not impose "extreme sanitary measures,"
etc. From the other side, it is said that U.S.
workers prefer Biden because he has the support of the big central
labour bodies and Trump is the enemy of the unions. Biden represents
social-democracy, which is said to be more pro-working class, as well
as supporting state arrangements that enable the large trade union
organizations to have a say. According to this, the Democratic Party is
the natural party of U.S. workers. The
imperialist
ruling circles and their factions are not just trying to impose their
backward outlook on the working class. They are also trying to impose a
false consciousness on the working class to serve their own narrow
interests. This will not work forever. The U.S. working class is
working to solve this problem once and for all and to define democracy
in its own interests, and not be defined by an alien social class which
is antagonistic to its interests. The
U.S. elections have shown how bankrupt the political institutions of
the rich have become, how they serve the rich and represent only the
rich. The hundreds of millions of dollars that was spent by both sides
to gain recognition and get elected are like a caricature of what U.S. democracy has become. U.S. institutions have lost so much
credibility and legitimacy that serious political discussion is
destroyed before it can even begin. It can be seen that these
institutions are used to block efforts to be independent of the big
imperialist cartel parties. The broad resistance movement and the
increasing role of the workers in it however is developing independent
actions, as seen in the refusal to be diverted by elections and the
strengthening of the fight for rights. A problem being taken
up
for solution is the need for the people's own institutions that allow
for discussion and decision-making and further development of the
political working class consciousness needed. The
big
imperialist bourgeoisie wants to invent a fake and artificial
consciousness of the working class based on its crisis-ridden
institutions. It can't work. The big media can repeat ad nauseam that the
working class voted for this or that person or this or that party, but
they forget that the consciousness of the working class is transformed
every day in its struggle for its rights and the right to be. All the
bourgeoisie can do is to imprison the vote for its narrow interests
within the framework of its political system which is in crisis. But
that is all. In any case, that's all it seeks because its only goal is
to monopolize supreme power. The
only real thing that can be seen in the red and blue picture is the
rotting consciousness of the imperialist big bourgeoisie. The true
consciousness of the working class is being formed by the resistance
struggle that is taking place throughout the United States. It is this
new consciousness that represents change and the future for the people of the U.S.
Statements
- United National Antiwar Coalition -
November 4, 2020.
Chicago, Illinois.
We, the undersigned social
justice activists, peace and justice organizations, defenders of
fundamental democratic rights, defenders of Black Lives, of Migrant
workers, defenders of healthcare for all and in opposition to endless
war, recognize that no matter who is elected president on November 3,
the attack on our democratic and human rights will continue. However,
we reject President Trump's threats to ignore the November 3 election
results and declare himself president. Clearly the
system itself is in crisis. Corporate controlled elections are used as
a distraction to their failures to protect and defend the people. Tens
of millions of people have been in the streets against racist police
violence. Their voices are ignored. Both parties want more police
funding and ignore healthcare for all. On
Wednesday, September 23 President Trump, in response to a reporter's
question declared: "We want to get rid of the [mail-in] ballots, and
we'll have a very peaceful -- there won't be a transfer, frankly.
There'll be a continuation." We can only consider
President Trump's November 3 assertions as the attack on fundamental
democratic rights and an effort to establish an open U.S. dictatorship.
Democratic rights have been under attack for a long time. The
will of the people is denied in a system so dominated by money and
corruption that neither of the major party candidates represent our
needs or interests.  The defunding of
the Post Office and aggressive voter suppression measures, threats to
reject mail-in ballots, plans to use Republican controlled state
legislatures, state courts and the U.S. Supreme Court are
overwhelmingly aimed at suppressing Black, Latinx and Native American
representation.
President Trump threatens to void
the entire process by massive disenfranchisement of tens of millions of
voters and to call in the U.S. military to suppress massive protests.
The fact that U.S. elections are largely limited to the
parties of the corporate elite, that ballot access and access to the
corporate media is similarly restricted, further confirms the system's
basic failings. In this period of economic
collapse, escalating pandemic, climate crisis, racist police violence
and armed militias the only way forward is determined people's
mobilization to secure our rights. The corporate elite and their
political parties can't be relied on. As collective
signers of this statement we take no position on any of the 2020
presidential candidates. We are united in defense of the right of the
people to freely cast their votes and that their votes will be counted.
In a November crisis of the entire system and all its
institutions we see no alternative but a full national mobilization in
the streets to shut down the nation entirely, including the closure of
all government and corporate institutions via united and coordinated
strike actions and related mass protests. Deploying the mass power of
the people is the only way forward. Prepare
to Shut It Down!
Into the Streets!
-
United We Dream - 
November 3, 2020. Youth
from United We Dream in Houston, Texas provide food and other supplies
to those forced to spend long hours in line to vote.
As the people of the United States await the election results, the Defund Hate campaign
issued the following statement: "In January, the
next president of the United States and members of the 117th Congress
will assume responsibility for the health and wellbeing of U.S.
communities and families still fighting for survival in a global
pandemic. This includes immigrants who are detained or who are at risk
of having their families and communities torn apart by Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Regardless of the outcome of the election, the Defund Hate campaign
will continue to fight to dismantle these racist and militaristic
agencies which endanger our families and neighbors, and drain resources
from our communities.  "Twenty-one
people died in ICE custody in fiscal year 2020, the highest number of
deaths in 15 years, even as the number of people in custody decreased
significantly because of Trump administration policies sealing off the
southern border to people seeking asylum. Adding to the tragic loss of
life in ICE custody, CBP officers have killed two people in Texas and
California in the past two weeks. The death toll in ICE and CBP custody
underscores that these agencies operate within a culture of violence
that results in sexual assault, violent abuse, medical neglect, and
unsanitary conditions. Yet ICE and CBP suffer no consequences for
endangering the health and safety of hundreds of thousands of people.
"This system of abuse and neglect has cost U.S. taxpayers more
than $25 billion -- an unacceptable waste of resources at any time, but
especially during a global pandemic that has cost the lives of more
than 225,000 Americans, shuttered school, and threatened the
livelihoods of millions of people. "Our nation
cannot heal until we end racist systems of incarceration and
immigration enforcement. We're thankful for congressional champions who
have stood with us since the launch of the Defund Hate campaign in
2017. Regardless of what is to come, we look forward to continuing this
fight for the safety and wellbeing of immigrant communities together.
We call on Congress and local and state governments to end the wasteful
spending of our tax dollars on ICE and CBP that puts lives in jeopardy,
and to instead fund education, housing, health care, and other programs
that provide opportunity and increase our collective wellbeing."
The #DefundHate campaign, composed of organizations
representing directly impacted communities, faith leaders, and civil
rights and immigrant rights advocates, is committed to divestment from
agencies that tear apart our families and terrorize our communities.
For too long, our representatives have said they care about our
communities while simultaneously funding aggressive immigration
enforcement and deadly immigration jails. They must be held accountable
to keep their promises and stand with the immigrant community. We call
on our members of Congress to say no and vote against wasting taxpayer
dollars on an abusive and deadly immigration enforcement system.
Instead, we want our tax dollars used to strengthen our families and
communities by investing in education, housing, nutrition and health
care programs that provide opportunity and increase well-being.
United We Dream is a youth-led network in the U.S.
that fights for justice and dignity for all immigrants.
Photo
Review Across the U.S. in
the days
before and since Election Day, November 3, working
people, youth, African Americans, Indigenous peoples and
national minorities have been boldly continuing to defend the rights of
all in the face of ongoing police brutality and the anarchy and
violence arising from the contending factions of the ruling circles in
the elections. The people are making clear that whatever the outcome of
the election, they will continue to press their demands and rely on
their own initiatives and organizations. Actions in Portland,
Minneapolis, Washington, DC and elsewhere made this clear. Sustained
protests against police brutality and impunity carried on in several
cities. Protesters also opposed the self-serving attempts to manipulate
the election process, adamantly defending their right to have a say in
the direction of the country by casting their votes and demanding that
at the very least, all their votes be counted. This was notable in
places like Detroit and Philadelphia, where there are disputes among
the rulers as to whether to count all the mail-in ballots. The demand
raised by the people is not so much about the outcome, but rather that
the existing electoral system excludes them and they demand to be
counted. In Seattle, on November 3, hundreds of
people carried on the more than 150 days of continual protests
demanding equality, justice and accountability. As has occurred since
May, they were met by a heavy police presence and arrests. Their
actions continue. Demonstrations also
continued in Portland. On November 4, the day after the elections,
state and county police again attacked people, declaring the action a
riot. The Oregon National Guard was already on standby for the
elections. It was activated by Governor Kate Brown to assist in "crowd
control." Some 50 National Guard troops joined the repression of
protesters.
Other states, including Wisconsin,
Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas also had National Guard deployed, both in
anticipation of protests and to assist at polling stations Election
Day. In the ongoing protests for rights since May, about 40,000
National Guard have been deployed in various states at various times.
Some of them, like the many veterans joining protests, have taken their
stand with their neighbours demanding rights and refused to
participate in repressing people. In Minneapolis on
November 4, people persisted in their efforts to demand justice for
George Floyd and all those killed by police and for defunding,
demilitarizing and control of policing. They again marched on
Interstate 94 to focus attention on their demands. Local and state
police carried out mass arrests of 646 people. Undaunted, protests
continued November 5 and 6 to denounce the arrests and persist in their
demands for justice and equality. In New York City,
nightly protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have
been underway since the evening of November 3. In
Washington, DC protests to oppose police brutality and demand rights
have been persisting since May and have been daily since Election Day.
The most recent case of racist police killings involves Karon Hylton,
the 20-year-old African American man who was killed in a traffic
collision in October as a result of an unjust police chase. Actions
here and elsewhere also demanded an end to detention of immigrant
children, and that detention camps be closed and expressed the unity of
African Americans and Latinx together with all those fighting for
equality and justice. On November 4, several organizations also raised
demands to protect the natural environment.
It is
evident from all the actions that people of all nationalities and walks
of life are standing together as one and advancing their battles for
rights. The election chaos did not divert these efforts but rather
further affirmed the need for the people to be the decision-makers on
all matters that impact their lives. Seattle,
Washington
   
November 4, 2020. Police
attack on the peaceful march left one person in serious condition in
hospital and a number of arrests were made. Organizers called for
further actions.
Portland, Oregon
 
Denver, Colorado
Dallas, Texas
 
Minneapolis, Minnesota
November 5, 2020. Twin
Cities organizers hold a press conference outside Minnesota Governor
Tim Walz's mansion to denounce the mass arrests the previous day.
November
4, 2020. People are kettled by state and local police on Interstate 94
during a peaceful protest and 646 are arrested.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Chicago, Illinois
Detroit, Michigan
   
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
November 4, 2020. Rally
outside Pennsylvania state legislature.
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Graham, North Carolina
 
November 3, 2020. Participants in an Election Day rally are violently
attacked by police.
Georgia
 
Boston, Massachusetts
New
York City, New York
 
Washington, DC
November 4, 2020.
 
November 3, 2020.
Election night protests outside the White House.
(To
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