ROADTRIP: Kissinger (bye!), Israel/Palestine, Strikes, Project 2025 + messing with TEXAS
18.5 more hours ...
Hey there,
Thank you all for the incredible support on getting Courage News to the next level!
We can do this! My goal is to raise $1K during this road trip to keep the lights on, reboot the Courage News website, and continue doing impactful journalism. We are living through an incredibly pivotal moment in history and honest documentation and discovery is so important.
To donate to Courage News/keep the lights on (literally!), please visit PayPal.me/content, Stripe Donation Link, or subscribe here at CourageNews.Substack.com.
WATCH THE ON-ROAD VIDEO REPORT:
Courage News is completely reader-supported and a one-woman show. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber (paid helps A LOT) ~ Jenn
Transcript of Above Video
Hello my friends - Jenn here.
I’m driving and we just left Texas. I’m sorry to Texans out there, but I won’t miss you, Texas!
I’m sure that there are very lovely areas in Texas but where we were was not quite that.
Now we’re in Oklahoma and it’s raining, but that’s okay. We had kind of a rough night’s sleep. As I said before, we’re traveling with two dogs and two cats, which is crazy, I know! But, they’re doing really well on the road. We’ve got a system worked out.
We have 21.5 hours left of this journey. We started out with almost 40, so that’s pretty good progress, I’d say.
I really want to make sure that as I drive through each state that I am paying attention to–and I am– the most important issues that are going on. For example, in New Mexico, there’s a fairly progressive governor and the GOP is trying to get rid of her for simply doing things that could possibly improve the lives of humans. So, I’m going to be doing some reporting on that.
Obviously huge, huge news from yesterday…the moment we’ve all been waiting for! Henry Kissinger has died. I’m not 100% certain that he’s not going to simply rise from the dead and haunt us all. He was just such a vile human being.
I’m absolutely disgusted by some of these legacy media outlet headlines and articles acting as if he’s a guy we should care about [in a positive way]–he’s been rehabilitated. Actually, not even rehabilitated because he never fell out of grace at all with the powers-that-be.
Kudos to Rolling Stone and Noah Shachtman, who is the editor-in-chief. He made a point of saying, “here’s how we’re framing our covering” and the framing was that Kissinger was a really, really bad guy who did disgusting things–look to Cambodia.
I obviously can’t look up the quote right now [as I’m driving] but Anthony Bourdain said he visited [Cambodia] and he called Kissinger just an absolutely disgusting human being. He was completely correct!
Through Arizona, there are strikes going on for workers’ rights that are getting very little attention, so I will be highlighting that.
There’s a lot going on with Israel/Palestine. I don’t want to be an optimist. There’s really. nothing to be optimistic about no matter what happens next because such atrocities have been committed at the hands of the Israeli government. And yes, by the way, I do condemn Hamas (which would not exist if not for Israel, but anyway…)
What Israel is doing is just disgusting. Netanyahu is…here’s the thing I don’t get. People who are Democrats yet Zionists, progressive, yet Zionists. I don’t understand how that same people if Donald Trump were doing the exact same thing [to a people, half of which are children] would condemn it, but they won’t [with Israel’s extreme-right leadership].
Netanyahu is also a far right absolute lunatic! Nothing he is doing is good. It doesn’t help the Israeli people and it is literal genocide [being committed]. I can’t wrap my brain around how intelligent people [with access to information] who have hearts in other areas don’t see it. I am horrified by how many people [who support Palestine] have been removed from their positions.
There are certain legacy outlets that have taken Palestinians off from reporting on this. [After publication of this transcript, Medhi Hasan, a muslim journalist who has been supportive of Palestine, had his show canceled by MSNBC]. Are they taking Jewish people off from reporting? No. [Nor should they! That’s the point].
It’s horrible. I have to say, with all the horrible things social media brings us, the truth is getting out. Israel is amazing at PR and they are losing the PR war. So I am feeling a little bit of hope that maybe things can improve. Pressure will have to be put on Biden.
Another thing I want to make clear–and people will get mad at me for this–I don’t understand the people who are like “it doesn’t matter what happens, I’m not going to vote for Biden or the Democrat or whatever. Mostly Biden. Let’s say Biden stays in the race (we hope he does’t). People are saying, “I won’t vote for Genocide Joe.”
I understand the position [and anger]. But to those who are saying it’s “just a hypothetical” that Trump would be worse on Israel. No, it’s literally not a hypothetical. He outright said he thinks that Joe Biden is being ANTI-ISRAEL. He is essentially saying Joe Biden is not going far enough for team Israel.
I really don’t understand the people who are willing to through everything and everyone under the bus, because Donald Trump would be dramatically worse for Palestinians, for Americans.
I’m going to be reporting extensively on something called project 2025 and I think you would do really well to look that up and see the news articles that are already out there. The proposal is essentially a dictatorship by the GOP.
It’s Trump’s GOP, whether he’s ever in office again or not. I’ve said this before – it is Trump’s GOP. Project 2025 would take away the rights of everyone…except for the far right. It would become Moms of Liberty and Proud Boys nation. I really think people need to be smart about the harms.
Now, this does not mean to not pressure Biden.
I’m yelling at Biden every day on Twitter…not as if that matters or does anything. But this is not to praise Biden. It’s to say, come on! We have to figure this out. We have to pressure Biden and make him see that he needs to do better. That he needs to put conditions on support to Israel at the very least. He needs to call for a permanent ceasefire. But we all know there’s some oil over there…
Saying Trump is definitely worse is not an outlandish thing to say. It is simply a fact for anyone who has a heart, for anyone who’s a progressive.
Saying Trump and Biden are the same- it’s just not true. So, continue pressuring Biden. Pressure Bernie Sanders. I’m incredibly disappointed in Bernie right now. So, pressure.
But let’s also be smart about this. We have to reduce harm. There are people being harmed in this country and around the world. Short of some revolution … [for workers, for example] I call for a general strike. And referencing Noam Chomsky, nothing good in this country has ever happened without people taking to the streets. So that needs to continue to happen.
I’m really heartened by Gen Z. They are just amazing on college campuses and protests all over.
I think it’s also important to note that it’s okay to look away from the news. It really is okay. You have to rest and recharge. Now, when I say this to myself I feel guilty. Because that is a privilege. The people of Palestine right now, half of which are children, don’t get to rest and recharge, so, what right do I have?
But we are constantly bombarded by the most horrible news and most horrifying images and if we are to keep fighting for good, to do the things we need to do, it has to be okay for us to take care of our mental and emotional health. So, allow yourself that time.
It’s okay to keep fighting. So, through this trip I’m going to be posting behind-the-scenes pictures and things I fight interesting. I’m going to be collecting stories from each of the states and areas I’m driving through. You’ll see things from Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and–my geography is really terrible–but as we continue on, I think we’re going through Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia…it’s going to be good!
I’ve driven a lot around the country and taken a lot of reporting road trips, but I’ve never seen these specific areas. And I’ve certainly never driven from California to Maryland before, so it’s good to interact with people in these different states to see how people are living. To see what the vibes are and what people are fighting for.
And I want to say, truly it doesn’t matter if someone’s in New York City or if they’re in some small town in Arizona. One thing I’m highlight is that workers are striking! Workers are protesting! Workers are fighting back! It is really heartening and it’s happening across political lines. It’s happening across state lines. So I really sense the workers’ revolution will keep snowballing and grow and grow.
I would really appreciate your support to help get Courage News going to its full capacity. We’ve been soft launched in a way for about two years. Part of this has been money reasons. I’ve had to pick up other freelance work and things like that. But everything is dire in the word right now.
As you guys know, I have a passion for reporting on what’s important, on reporting for the people. Courage News exists to report for the 99%. To report for the working class and what’s right and human and good. And to fight against corruption and evilness. That’s in the world. There’s unfortunately a lot of that.
So, if you can support Courage News in any way, that would be incredible. I really hope to develop a team that can report across the country, not just on the coasts, not just in Maryland and DC. I want people to report from their small towns. Whether you’re an activists or journalist, hit me up at jenn@couragenews.com.
Let’s see if I can help you amplify your story!
If you can support Courage News financially in any way, that would be absolutely incredible. It takes a lot to do this kind of reporting. It takes a lot to literally live right now!
If you have the funds and find it in your heart, you can become a subscriber for as low as $5 a month on this substack. You can also do one-off supporting donations through PayPal.me/content or via Stripe.
I’m hoping to raise $1,000 on this trip to keep going. I know that’s a lofty goal for a one-woman operation, but I think you guys know I’m a truth teller. That I’m a fighter. That I’m not a sellout like some. The type of reporting I do is needed and I really do want to hear your feedback if you have ideas for Courage News that you’d like to see, if you have stories you’d like covered - again, jenn@couragenews.com.
I will be doing more videos because I have a billionty more hours to drive. Thankfully, my partner Jason has been doing the bulk of the driving, which has been really lovely. You guys will get to meet him as well- he’s awesome! I will update you later, bye bye!
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To donate to Courage News/keep the lights on (literally!), please visit PayPal.me/content, Stripe Donation Link, or subscribe at CourageNews.Substack.com.
Courage News is completely reader-supported and a one-woman show. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber (paid helps A LOT) ~ Jenn
Handwringing over what people are SAYING about an election a year from now is a distraction from actual PLANS people have for what happens after the election - exactly stuff like Project 2025. I've seen some more people with platforms picking up on this but not nearly enough. The entire landscape of issues might change within 9 months. Someone can go from not pregnant to having a baby before the general election in 2024. I know it was sudden in 2020 a lot of the things I had prioritized in 2019 abruptly had to take a backseat because my safety was in immediate danger from a virus (and sadly that situation hasn't improved enough since and indeed has gotten worse for many). Public sentiment and the positions of various elected representatives might change drastically by 6 months from now, especially if we pester them! We have no idea what's going to happen. But we do know what they're planning. And there's still time to warn everyone about it. The Internet of Fakes is a distraction and social media is an activism placebo. We need people willing to spoon feed us the dangers listed in Project 2025, and other corporate oriented threats to public safety and the public good.
Bon voyage, have a safe journey Jenn.
Is it courageous to not edit your piece before publishing? More than a bit disrespectful of your readers