GARBAGE RESEARCH

 I just finished attempting to read Simon Sebag Montefiore's book called "Young Stalin".

I got through two thirds of it and put it down .

As a novel , it might have been entertaining , but as a work of scholarly research, it's trash.

When you have access to old russian archives , there is no need to speculate with "probablies" and "maybes" . Plus , this creep was far too obsessed with the sex lives of old Bolsheviks . There was speculation on every second page , with "she probably did this" or "he probably did that". I couldn't stand it any longer. It will be out of my house soon. This just shows, you can't trust the reviewers and critics .

LEARNING FROM OTHER VIEWPOINTS

 It's easy to just read something and smugly pick at and whine about how everything is full of shit. It's much more challenging to learn from opposing points of view , and even to trying to understand ideas you might completely disagree with. Learning is a positive thing no matter how it comes about.

An Appreciation for Bob Avakian's Article, FASCIST CRUELTY AND ATTACK ON EMPATHY VS. THE NEW COMMUNIST VIEW OF EMPATHY 

by Coco Das

July 13, 2026

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Bob Avakian's article FASCIST CRUELTY AND ATTACK ON EMPATHY VS. THE NEW COMMUNIST VIEW OF EMPATHY is a much needed scientific explanation of empathy and its role—where society goes without empathy and what its limitations are for getting humanity beyond this system of monstrous atrocity. As with all of Bob Avakian's (BA's) works, the title and the subheadings provide an important guide to understanding the article as a whole and his scientific approach to identifying and breaking down the key contradictions. The following is my attempt to engage with this article more deeply and record some of my thinking after reading it.

BA begins with the grotesque glorification of cruelty and violence by the Trump/MAGA movement, taken to weird and absurdist levels with the cage-fighting spectacle on the White House lawn. This is emblematic of all the terror the Trump regime has unleashed against immigrants and others here and around the world—in Venezuela and Iran (also in Cuba, where the power grid has totally collapsed because of U.S. sanctions and blockades.) Cuts to USAid has already caused over 500,000 preventable deaths, and the list of cruelties goes on and on. 

As BA points out, this cruelty—“and ritualized exhibitions of cruelty”—is an essential component of the fascist program and society they are trying to bring into being. Millions of decent people who feel, show, and at times act on their empathy for those under attack is a big problem for these fascists—with (mainly untapped and unrealized) potential to reach crisis levels that threaten the fascist hold on power. BA walks through how these fascists think the very idea of empathizing with oppressed people will “lead to the destruction of everything that this country must be about and everything that makes it ‘god’s chosen nation,’ which must rightly dominate the world.” Thus, they are compelled to attack the very concept of empathy. This view lines up well with the capitalist mode of production. BA ends this section with a discussion of the writer Ayn Rand’s ideological attack on altruism. Incidentally, when I was in high school in the 1980s, all of my male classmates were passing around copies of Ayn Rand’s books Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead.

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BA contrasts that with the new communist view of empathy, an ability of human beings to identify with others’ suffering and pain, a positive social and moral value—which nevertheless cannot be “separated, or posed in opposition to, fundamental social relations.” BA’s example of the slave owner and the slave is illustrative: you cannot identify and sympathize equally with the slave and the slave owner without obscuring the relation of exploitation and oppression and the antagonistic interests of each side. The interest of the slave owner is to profit from the exploitation and maintain the system of exploitation, and the interest of the slave is to be free of their bondage. That doesn’t mean we should not try to scientifically understand the outlook of the slave owner—as part of understanding reality and struggling effectively to end the system of slavery. This sentence is extremely important: “Only when the historic objective of the communist revolution has been achieved—the abolition and uprooting of all relations of exploitation and oppression, everywhere—can empathy be applied with regard to people generally.”

Empathy is one value that helps us to care, to viscerally hate what is happening to people, and as BA has often put it, “you have to hate this,” meaning, you have to hate the horrors being brought down on the masses of people by this system. But empathy alone is not enough, especially when there is an actual way to understand the problem—the system of capitalism-imperialism—and the solution—a revolution based on the science of the new communism. 

The last section, “Emancipation, Not Revenge” reminds us of the fundamental goal and purpose of the new communist revolution. A refusal to equally identify with the exploiter and exploited does not mean that the “ends justify the means” or the tables are turned and “the last shall be first.” These ideas are motivated by revenge. Revenge will not lead to a society that is free of exploitation and oppression but would in fact lay the basis for the restoration of capitalism. Only a thorough and consistently scientific approach, which understands the need to seize state power and fights for that to be the basis on which a dictatorship of the proletariat would transition society and the world to communism, can get us to the kind of society where humanity can soar, to “—the emancipation of humanity as a whole from thousands of years of vicious exploitation and literally murderous oppression—emancipation from, and moving historically beyond, the long night in which human society has been divided into masters and slaves, and the masses of humanity have been lashed, beaten, raped, slaughtered, shackled and shrouded in ignorance and misery.”

Since I read this article, I’ve been thinking about the ideological attack on empathy as another aspect of the shared epistemology between the fascists and the woke identity hustlers. Although the woke view of empathy has different expressions, lacks state power, and does not celebrate and glorify cruelty against the oppressed, there are overlaps or perhaps a way they mirror each other. In woke culture, empathy gets attacked as “performative” or “appropriation.” There is a total disbelief that people from one group, usually the “privileged” group, can identify and sympathize with people from another group, especially a group they define as more oppressed. This calls into suspicion anyone who dares to put such empathy on display. In the woke worldview, such expressions of empathy cannot be real. They can only be a cover for self-interest, a desire to profit off the pain of others.

See:

Bob Avakian Opposing “Woke” Distractions and Obstructions

As BA has often critiqued, the rules of woke identity politics are arbitrary and constantly mutating—so who gets called out for a violation of their rules, i.e. “staying in their lane,” is often dictated by a woke mob and can seemingly come out of nowhere. An attack on the novel American Dirt, and the novelist Jeanine Cummins, is a good example of this phenomenon. American Dirt is about a middle-class Mexican woman who becomes the target of a drug cartel and is forced to flee with other migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border. It was released to fanfare and positive reviews. But one rant by Myriam Gurba went viral, and soon an internet mob, largely made of other writers of Latinx descent, accused Cummins of capitalizing on migrant trauma under the guise of social justice literature. 

Along with the woke rules on empathy, a reactionary cancel/teardown culture revels in revenge and schadenfreude—a delight in the humiliation of others—led by an antiscientific epistemology where truth doesn’t matter: an epistemology that the woke and fascists have in common. Never aimed at the system, or even the fascist regime, woke culture identifies certain individuals as the embodiments of privilege who are neither permitted to express empathy nor receive any empathy if they are canceled. This reaches dangerously absurd levels with oppression Olympics stacking oppressions and pitting different oppressed groups against one another. 

The battleground of woke attacks on empathy is often the arts—where their derision of empathy is having terrible effects. But this is a problem all over, including in every struggle for justice, dictating who should or shouldn’t be out in the streets and dampening a sense of responsibility to unite and act together for a better world. The woke attack on empathy goes hand in hand with excuses to avoid the reality of other people’s suffering. There are other ways, especially in the “wellness community,” that empathy is not exactly derided but is used as an excuse. “I feel things too deeply, therefore don’t ask me to look at the pain and suffering of others!”

Together, the fascist and woke attacks on empathy are a lethal combination. One works on hardening the MAGA base, preparing them to be vigilantes and shock troops for the fascist regime, while the other divides and pacifies the decent people, who should be filling the streets to stop this fascism and lifting their heads to revolution to put an end to this whole horrific system. 

These are just some initial thoughts sparked by BA’s piece. I think engaging with this article is an important way to deepen our understanding of the dialectical relationship between the superstructure, especially in the realm of ideas, and the underlying mode of production—and how to wage the fierce ideological struggle necessary to bring forward a revolutionary people. 

THESE DISPLAYS ARE MUCH MORE THAN SYMBOLIC

 The next story shows how important it is for people to step up and do what's right . Of course it's gonna take more than kicking one filthy fuckface out of power , but this type of display is extremely important . This takes courage .

Air Force major demands Trump be impeached, is arrested

By Michael Kramer posted on July 17, 2026

Air Force Major Jason Watson at U.S. Capitol, July 1, 2026, before he was arrested by Capitol Police.

U.S. Air Force Major Jason Watson has been arrested by Capitol Police and is under investigation by the military after holding a press conference on July 1 on the U.S. Capitol steps denouncing the Trump administration and calling for the impeachment, conviction and removal from office of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

The press conference was attended by U.S. Rep. Al Green, an 11-term Democrat from Texas who is an African American. Green will be leaving Congress at the end of 2026 as his congressional district was recently eliminated when the Texas state Legislature gerrymandered the congressional districts, a move that reduces the likely number of Democratic and also non-white representatives, a racist maneuver.

Major Watson is a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and has been on active duty for over 17 years. For full impact and symbolism, he wore his Class A blue uniform with all his awards and decorations at the press conference. He was most recently stationed at the NATO Joint Force Training Center in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Watson attacked the Trump administration for both its foreign and domestic policies. In addition to illegal wars, he described the prison-like immigrant detention centers, the suing of media organizations and colleges, the role of mega-donors, the trading of pardons for donations, the weaponizing of the Department of Justice and the attempt to reverse birthright citizenship.

After the press conference, he walked away from the gathering and stood alone on the steps of the Capitol holding a sign that read “Impeach-Convict-Remove.” Watson was then arrested for demonstrating without a member of Congress present. He was held overnight at the D.C. Central Cell Block. 

After a court appearance where charges were dropped, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations took Watson into custody. He is currently at a Level I confinement facility at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, located in Southwest Washington, D.C., and he is under a gag order.

That the Air Force is preventing Watson from speaking is reason enough to reproduce some of his July 1 statement here: “When the President of the United States orders military action against foreign countries … as was done with Venezuela, Cuba and Iran — that is an unconstitutional usurpation of Congress’s authority and a violation of the War Powers Clause. … 

“When the President of the United States directs the Department of Homeland Security to deny hundreds of people due process before illegally detaining them and sending them to a foreign prison notorious for human rights abuses, that is a violation of our Fifth and Eighth Amendment rights. Most people sent to CECOT [a high-security prison in El Salvador, where the U.S.sends migrants] never committed any violent crimes in their lives but are being defamed as violent criminals as a pretext for the torture they suffer in El Salvador, paid for with U.S. taxpayer dollars. 

Watson stressed, “For this, the President and Vice President must be impeached, convicted and removed.”

Major Watson’s statement shows that he believes in the Constitution, the oath of office, democracy and more. His full statement, which can be found at freespeechforpeople.org, says so. He has put his pension at risk, as well as facing possible incarceration while he now navigates the intricacies of the military criminal justice system.

Many people, including this writer, agree that we cannot let Watson disappear into the system and will support his right to speak out — in or out of uniform.

Kramer is a member of Veterans For Peace Chapter 021 (Northern New Jersey) and served in the Israeli military (1972-75).

FAR FROM OVER

 While the western "democracies" look away or even actively support fascism , israel continue with their plan of obliterating the Palestinian population and replacing them with their own . This is far from over.

Family Wiped Out, Police Targeted: Israel’s Genocide Claims 16 More Lives

July 15, 2026 News

Sami Abu Qasem is the sole survivor of an Israeli airstrike that targeted his family's home in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza. (Photo: Social media, via QNN)

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By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Israeli attacks killed at least 16 Palestinians, including children, women and police officers, as Israel’s genocide continued despite the ceasefire.

Key Developments

• Israeli attacks killed at least 16 Palestinians across Gaza during the past 24 hours.
• A family of three, including a six-year-old girl, was killed in an airstrike on Deir al-Balah.
• Six police officers, including Jabaliya Police Chief Col. Mohammed Marwan Salem, were killed in an attack on a police post.

At least 16 Palestinians, including children, women, police officers and people seeking humanitarian aid, were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip during the past 24 hours, as Israel continued its genocide despite the ceasefire that entered into force in October 2025.

The attacks targeted homes, police facilities, displacement areas and civilian gathering points across northern, central and southern Gaza, leaving dozens more wounded.

Family Wiped Out

Among the victims were Omar Sami Ahmad Abu Qasim, 33, his wife Asma Ghazi Abu Qasim, and their six-year-old daughter Habiba, who were killed when an Israeli airstrike struck their apartment near Al-Baraka Roundabout in western Deir al-Balah.

The couple’s young son, Sami Omar Abu Qasim, survived the attack.

Palestinian sources later announced the death of Hani Iyad Talal Al-Ghoul, who succumbed to wounds sustained weeks earlier in an Israeli strike on Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.

Israeli artillery also shelled the northeastern areas of Al-Bureij refugee camp, while large-scale demolition operations were reported in the Qizan al-Najjar area south of Khan Yunis.

In eastern Khan Yunis, Israeli drones dropped explosives near the Bani Suheila Roundabout as tanks continued firing toward residential neighborhoods.

Heavy artillery bombardment also continued in Gaza City’s Shuja’iyya neighborhood.

Police Post Targeted

In one of the deadliest attacks of the day, Israeli forces struck a police post in the Al-Falouja area west of Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza.

The strike killed Col. Mohammed Marwan Salem, director of the Jabaliya Police Station, along with officers Mufid Mohammad Halawa, Ghassan Akram Al-Daqs, Ibrahim Faisal Mousa, Samih Ramadan Al-Aswad, and Abdul Malik Abdul Nasser Abu Al-Jibeen, as well as Susan Abu Hindi Al-Araj.

According to witnesses, Israeli drones initially fired two missiles at the police post before launching two additional missiles after civilians gathered at the scene.

Medical sources said civilians waiting at the police station, along with women passing nearby, were among those wounded.

More Civilians Killed

Elsewhere in Gaza City, Ali Shamlakh and Nasser Al-Louh were killed after an Israeli drone struck civilians behind Sheikh Ajleen Mosque.

In southern Gaza, Bilal Abu Mousa, who had been attempting to secure humanitarian assistance, was shot and killed in Al-Mawasi, west of Rafah.

Earlier in the day, nine-year-old Moataz Abu Shaar was killed after being shot in the chest by Israeli forces operating northwest of Rafah.

Israeli military vehicles later advanced into the Al-Mawasi area while opening fire toward tents sheltering displaced Palestinians.

In another attack, Hussam Mohammad Ramadan Al-Shafei, 36, was killed and three others, including a child and a woman, were wounded in an Israeli strike on the Al-Qadisiyah area of Khan Yunis.

Bassem Armilat also died from wounds sustained during an Israeli attack on the same area two days earlier.

Ceasefire Violations Continue

Palestinian authorities said the latest killings form part of Israel’s continuing violations of the ceasefire through airstrikes, artillery shelling, shootings, demolitions and attacks targeting civilians across the Gaza Strip.

The attacks come as Israel maintains restrictions on humanitarian aid, commercial goods and civilian movement while continuing military operations throughout the enclave.

According to the latest figures released by Gaza’s Health Ministry, 1,123 Palestinians have been killed, 3,599 wounded and 800 bodies recovered since the ceasefire took effect on October 11, 2025.

Since the beginning of Israel’s genocide in October 2023, 73,247 Palestinians have been killed and 173,707 wounded, while thousands more remain missing beneath the rubble or in areas inaccessible to rescue crews.

(QNN, AA, WAFA, PC)

THEY LOOK AFTER THEIR OWN

 We're at a place in the history of this country where the liberals are more pro-billionaire than even the conservatives have been . Asshat carney is committed to looking after the rich and no one else. Is this what bryan adams means when he says "up here we take care of our own"?

Carney’s pro-billionaire actions speak louder than liberal words

A CEO summit in Toronto highlights Mark Carney’s corporate, wealth-concentrating policies. The September get to together of the “the world’s largest investors” should be protested.

Last week the Liberals passed legislation granting cabinet the power to authorize the use of pesticides Health Canada has already deemed unsafe. In effect, Bill C-30 gives cabinet the ability to overrule science in the service of corporate profits.

Also last week Carney announced that part of his plan to improve housing affordability was to bail out corporate condo developers unable to sell already built million-dollar units. Rather than build social housing, $1.5 billion of federal money will go to bailout capitalists who’ve sought to maximize profits.

Immediately upon taking office the former Goldman Sachs banker and chair of Brookfield Assets cancelled a scheduled increase to the capital gains inclusion rate. Instead of paying tax on two thirds of the gains derived from their wealth, the reduction means capitalists only pay tax on half the money they’ve made. Those who make their income through labour still pay tax on 100% of their earnings.

In another early sop to wealth holders, Carney scrapped a small Digital Services Tax. As a result, the world’s largest internet giants will save a billion dollars annually.

Carney has instigated a slew of other measures that lower the tax burden on large enterprises. His government immediately deferred corporate income tax payments and GST/HST remittances and created the Productivity Super-Deduction and Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) incentive.

Carney’s radical militarist agenda is also driving an upwards concentration of wealth. Arms production is notoriously capital, not labour, intensive. Additionally, the flow of public resources to arms production has already led to reductions in federal funds for social programs that disproportionately benefit the working class and poor.

As a pillar of his wealth-concentrating economic policy, Carney has promoted privatization and public-private partnerships. He’s seeking to privatize airports and established a $25-billion Canada Strong Fund to derisk major industrial projects. The Sovereign Wealth Fund will subsidize the risk of major corporate ventures.

At the same time Carney’s Major Projects Office tramples on indigenous rights and weakens environmental oversight for large corporate projects in energy and critical minerals. It empowers the government to fast-track infrastructure projects, weakening the requirement for free, prior, and informed consent mandated in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). In a sign of the capitalist, fossil fuel orientation of the legislation, Carney named the chair of the board of directors of Trans Mountain, Dawn Farrell, to be CEO of his government’s Major Projects Office.

Carney has turned to the corporate world for a slew of positions in his government such as the former CEO of Goldman Sachs Canada, Tim Hodgson, as energy minister and the CEO of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Michael Sabia as Clerk of Privy Council. He’s also reintroduced Stephen Harper’s practice of regularly holding informal meetingswith Bay Street CEOs when in Toronto.

Carney’s pro-corporate measures are exacerbating an already spiralling inequality crisis. The top 1% of the tax bracket has a historically high proportion of income and Canada’s 86 billionaire families control more wealth than the country’s 6.2 million least wealthy families. One single Canadian, Changpeng Zhao, has $150 billion.

It’s grotesque. Billionaires shouldn’t exist. Nor should one hundred millionaires or even ten millionaires. Yet Elon Musk just became the world’s first trillionaire.

As part of his bid to create a Canadian trillionaire, Carney will be hosting a summit of some of the world’s top 100 capitalists and investment firms. The first-ever Canada Investment Summit will take place in Toronto in mid-September. Prime Minister Goldman Sachs is pitching the get together as a way to stimulate a trillion dollars in investment, but it’s as much a about stimulating extraction of ecologically damaging resources and selling off assets at discount rates.

The summit is an opportunity for social movements and activists to come together against Mark Carney’s corporate agenda. The Capitalism Can’t be Fixed campaign is calling for a Carnival Against Capitalism in opposition to Mark Carney’s wealth concentrating, ecocidal policies.

THEY WILL TRY TO IGNORE THIS

 When you have people who have been in the very core of the fascist machine speaking out against the lies propagated throughout the nation , the media will ignore the message , but the government will not . You can bet your ass that these veterans are being watched , and for what ? For speaking truth to the lies about "freedom and democracy" . They need to be heard .

Vets challenge 4th of July lies

By Joe Piette, Michael Kramer and John Catalinotto posted on July 8, 2026

Antiwar veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces and active duty personnel burst out in their broadest show of resistance in decades this July 4th weekend, as if provoked into action by the current administration’s orgy of militarism and white supremacy during the 250-year celebrations.

Veterans Against Fascism, Philadelphia, July 4, 2026. (WWPhoto: Joe Piette)

Even before the weekend started, USAF Major Jason Watson, an active-duty service member with more than 20 years of military career behind him, mounted the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on July 1 holding a sign that read, “Impeach Convict Remove,” referring to the current president. 

On July 4 in Philadelphia, the Veterans Against Fascism coalition organized hundreds of veterans and active-duty personnel who marched at an “Independence from Billionaires” parade. Participants called it the largest protest specifically of veterans they had experienced since those during the war against Vietnam. And one where they heard mounting dissatisfaction from active-duty personnel.

The third important action is scheduled to take place July 7, in New York City. Organizers in Veterans For Peace, Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Center on Conscience and War will hand out leaflets to the thousands of sailors in New York for Fleet Week. They are inviting sailors who want more information on applying for conscientious objector status or breaking enlistment contracts to come to the People’s Forum in midtown Manhattan for presentations, films, discussions and legal advice from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The questions raised by long-time veteran activists at these protests are how widespread the levels of dissatisfaction are. What will it lead to? When will open resistance arise? The turnout in Philadelphia indicates growing turmoil among the ranks. What can antiwar civilians do to support resisters inside the military?

Workers World correspondents Joe Piette, a veteran of the Vietnam War, and Michael Kramer, who was in the Israeli military before becoming an activist supporting Palestinian liberation, were at the July 4 protest. Both have been active in antiwar veterans’ movements in the U.S.. Piette wrote the following news report:

Philly: Veterans and active-duty personnel march against war

Chanting “No more rich man’s wars,” hundreds of veterans and active-duty personnel marched at an “Independence from Billionaires” parade in Philadelphia on the 4th of July.

Veterans banners raise the big issues in Philly, July 4, 2026. (WWPhoto: Joe Piette)

Coming from as far away as California, Maine and Florida, the veterans and active-duty personnel contingent made up the majority of the large “Peoples Parade” during a mile-long march that was led by an “Independence from Billionaires” blue and red banner.

Critical of mass deportation, forced displacement, climate crisis and international wars, local and national groups organized the event as counter-programming to the official 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The Veterans Against Fascism contingent featured dozens of black and white signs and banners targeting U.S. forever wars. The signs attacked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) kidnappings and fascism as the military veterans and family members took the streets despite temperatures over 100 degrees.

Women play leading role exposing militarism of 250-year celebration. Philadelphia, July 4, 2026. (WWPhoto: Joe Piette)

Current military members who oppose U.S. support for genocide in Palestine walked side-by-side with veterans of U.S. wars against Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam.

A short rally took place near Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed 250 years ago. Representatives from Vets for Peace, About Face, Military Families Speak Out and the Fayetteville Resistance Coalition raised the necessity of military personnel active and no-longer-active to speak out against unjust wars and attacks against democratic rights. Speakers emphasized the right of active-duty military members to refuse illegal or immoral orders.

Workers World asked Piette and Kramer for their personal reaction

Piette: First of all, the vibe reminded me of Dewey Canyon III, the veterans’ week-long protest on the Mall in Washington in April 1971. Not as massive or confrontational, but participants just seeing each other together at this event seemed to give everyone more confidence — it seemed like there was a lot of potential for future actions.

I talked with an active-duty National Guard member who wore a Philadelphia Eagles hat. He was standing with about a dozen other active-duty service members among the banners. He said people don’t say anything while in uniform but are talking off duty. 

He raised that the genocide in Gaza changed him. He no longer wants to be in a military that supports genocide, and he is taking steps to separate. He was glad to be among other military members who share his ideas. 

A Marine who quit the service after 13 years was wearing a keffiyeh. She said she flew in from California just to join this march. She was tired of being the enemy wherever she was sent. It was a slow learning process, one thing on top of another, and eventually it made no sense for her to stay in the military. 

Whether marching or rallying, veterans (and active duty personnel) got their messages across clearly. Philadelphia, July 4, 2026. (WWPhoto: Joe Piette)

While taking photos, I had quick conversations with the people holding up the white on black banners. One veteran told me that he felt the population of every country he was sent to by the Army — Iraq and Afghanistan — hated him. He felt he was on the wrong side. I told him that since Vietnam, I assume the U.S. is always on the wrong side. He agreed.

And that was a general response I got from talking to a few other vets. The forever wars have tired them out, and they no longer believe the lies they were told about why they are sent to these places.

Kramer: A couple of things impressed me about the march and rally. One was that it was younger than most of the veterans activities I’ve gone to lately. Those had participation mainly from Vietnam veterans, fewer from veterans from wars in the Gulf region or Afghanistan who are 25 to 35 years younger. There was also a greater proportion of men in the Vietnam era.

Many of the organizers of the Philadelphia march were women. The modern U.S. military itself is about 20% women and has been over 15% since 2010. This was reflected in the makeup of the marchers. And the march was notable for its discipline, Kramer reported. 

Local media ignored it

Although the VAF contingent was a big part of the protest, Philly corporate media gave it no publicity, at least in the next two days. Perhaps this indicates that there is hesitation in the establishment about encouraging such an essential area of resistance. For people in the antiwar movement, it was a jolt in a positive direction.