Bernie's "Fighting Oligarchy" Tour
Plus: Trump allies are building a private army, the Tate brothers flee Romania, and updates regarding Die Linke, Ukraine, and DOGE.
Dispatch from Below is a digest delivered every Monday and Thursday, highlighting what I find to be the most interesting stories covering politics, working class struggles, and international current events, along with my own brief commentary.
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I know that I technically did not publish a digest on Monday, but I was feeling a bit exhausted. I did release this piece examining the future of generative AI and the implications for the economy that I recommend you check out if you haven’t already!
Otherwise, let’s dig into the some of the most major stories of the week:
🚔🇷🇴 Trump grants refuge to convicted sex traffickers Andrew and Tristan Tate
The brothers, who were being held in Romania on charges of rape, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation of women (for all of which there are mountains of evidence from their own mouths), have fled the country after Trump administration officials pressured Romania to lift travel restrictions on them.
🇺🇸🇷🇺 U.S. Votes against U.N. Resolution condemning Russia
In the meantime, it appears that Trump and Zelenskyy are set to meet Friday to sign a deal which grants the United States 50% ownership on all future revenue earned from Ukraine’s state-owned natural resources.
👩⚖️🏛️ Judge issues order restraining Elon and DOGE from Department of Education and Office of Personnel Management
In response to requests from labor unions, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman has issued a temporary restraining order against DOGE, restricting them from accessing sensitive data in the DOE and OPM. It is unclear whether or not the administration will comply, nor what may happen if they choose not to.
⛓️🪖 Ex-Blackwater CEO (the private mercenary group responsible for war crimes) wants to help Trump build a private army to do deportations
Erik Prince, the ex-CEO of Blackwater, the private mercenary group which aided George W. Bush in his destructive campaign on Iraq that killed hundreds of thousands, has been circulating a proposal to aid President Trump with deportations. The proposal includes creating a 10,000 man army of private citizens and housing migrants in camps at U.S. Army installations. Apt comparisons are being made to other private partisan militias of the 20th century.
🚩📈 Die Linke, the German Left Party, outperforms expectations in German elections
After polling at 2% for some time, the German Left party soared to nearly 9% this week as German elections took place. In some progressive strongholds like Berlin, Die Linke won a majority of the vote. Although there is some understandably grim reporting about AfD, the far-right party, surging basically 100% since the last election, Die Linke returning from the brink should inspire hope that strong left-wing parties who stand for proudly for a progressive vision can serve as a real alternative to deepening rightward tendencies in the west.
💰🥊 Bernie Sanders launches “Fighting Oligarchy” tour while Biden and Harris are nowhere to be seen
Bernie Sanders emerged to thunderous applause as he launched his “Fighting Oligarchy” rally tour in the midwest. By contrast, Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, the recently vacated leaders of the party, have virtually been nowhere to be found (aside from signing with talent agencies, apparently).
The dichotomy is deeply emblematic of the current state of the Democratic party. Voters’ pleas for some action to curtail the Trump Administration’s assault on vital programs and agencies have largely fallen on deaf ears. The same centrist leaders who fear-baited voters for years about an imminent fascist threat are now seemingly absent when said threat has become more concretely manifest than it’s ever been. Only the most progressive members of the party, who have for so long been derided as unreasonable extremists both by their opposition and peers, have been mounting any sort of rigorous response.