Portside

• Juneteenth Freedom Day

• Re: Netanyahu’s Iran Attack Trumps Trump  (Cathy Deppe; Felice Sage; Roberto Rosario)

• Iran Conflict Would...  --  Cartoon by Adam Zyglis; Commentary by Robert Reich

• Bee Bee Netanyahu  --  Cartoon by DC Cartoonist

• Regrets, they’ve had a few  --  Cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz

• Re: ‘Disgusting’: VA Doctors Can Now Reportedly Refuse To Treat Unmarried People, Democrats  (Eleanor Roosevelt)

• Re: Why on Earth Should Air Traffic Controllers Be Pro-Trump?  (Carolyn McLure Milby)

• Re: The Real Democratic Civil War  (Frank Chadwick)

• Re: The Past, Present, and Future of Left Jewish Identity  (Paul Buhle; David Berger)

• ICE Wearing Masks  --  Cartoon and Commentary by Jesse Duquette

• Re: Warnings of ‘Untold Harm’ After US Supreme Court Rules Against Trans Youth  (Robert Laite)

• Re: Bring Back Horn & Hardart  (Shaun Richman)

• The Peace Grifter  --  Cartoon and Commentary by Clay Jones

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• Suzanne Crowell  -  Presente !

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Resources:

• USC Law Students Have Started A Hotline For People To Call When They Have An Immigration-Related Court Hearing

Announcements:

• The Crisis of Higher Education: Reactionary Assaults Today - Webinar  -  June 23  (Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS) and Socialist Education Project)

• Live-stream the Socialism Conference!  --  July 3 - 5  (Haymarket Books)

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Juneteenth Freedom Day

Re: Netanyahu’s Iran Attack Trumps Trump
 

A game of distraction?  I don't think that is cute.  the families of  78 dead Iranians don't think so.  

Cathy Deppe

      =====

He doesn't make great deals. He doesn't make peace. Nobody but his own GOP politicians fears him. Grown up world leaders neither fear not respect him. When will MAGAs realize what the rest of the world has long known? He's just a barely literate two bit con artist with delusions of grandeur, in way over his stunningly ignorant head.

Felice Sage
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

      =====

Netanyahu should be arrested for crimes to humanity and the United States should stop the support to Israel.

Roberto Rosario
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Iran Conflict Would  --  Cartoon by Adam Zyglis; Commentary by Robert Reich

Adam Zyglis
June 18, 2025
The Buffalo News

For Trump, a military conflict with Iran would distract from:

• Sinking poll numbers
• A devastating (and unpopular) budget bill
• Harmful trade wars 
• Unleashing the military on American soil
• Millions of people protesting his authoritarianism

We must remain on high alert.

Robert Reich
Post on Facebook

Bee Bee Netanyahu  --  Cartoon by DC Cartoonist

DC Cartoonist
June 16, 2025
r/PoliticalHumor

Regrets, they’ve had a few  --  Cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz

Lalo Alcaraz
June 18, 2025
https://www.pocho.com/

Re: ‘Disgusting’: VA Doctors Can Now Reportedly Refuse To Treat Unmarried People, Democrats
 

What will it take before we're willing to straight up call them what they are? He's not a "king," he's a Nazi surrounded by Nazis.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Why on Earth Should Air Traffic Controllers Be Pro-Trump?
 

He’s requiring it of all Civil Servants too. It is in the TREASONOUS PLAN TO OVERTHROW THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, better known as PROJECT 2025!

Carolyn McLure Milby
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: The Real Democratic Civil War
 

Harold Meyerson's insights on "The Real Democratic Civil War" are right on target. My only disagreements are with emphasis, not core content. 

For too long American "progressives" have not been progressive at all; they have become the new conservatives. That is, they have not articulated an agenda that actually improves the lives of struggling working class and middle class people. They have instead concentrated on defending gains already made, protecting them against encroachments from the right. 

Those gains need to be defended, but that cannot be the core position of the Progressive movement. Working class people are in bad shape, and it gets worse every day. Crowing about past accomplishments does them no good. The Harris campaign suffered from the same fatal flaw as did the Clinton campaign, and it was not the gender at the top of the ticket. It was that the central message of the campaign was "We're not Trump." That is necessary, but not sufficient.

It is not enough to rail at the billionaire class; we actually need a policy to redress the spiraling economic imbalance in our society. Until "Progressives" understand that they actually have to be the energetic, committed change agents of  progress, their label will continue to be a sad, ironic joke.

Frank Chadwick

Re: The Past, Present, and Future of Left Jewish Identity
 

proud to have played my little goyishe part in this history. Ongoing

Paul Buhle
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

      =====

Been a part of it for about 65 years.

I got recruited to Zionism in ‘55, when I was 11!. This was 7 years after the Israeli state. Within a couple of years, I began, as a kid, to “feel bad” about the Arabs as they were called.

I was aware of the Holocaust through family connections and TV shows.

Been watching Israel move to more and more of an aggressive, military, right-wing state.

Then Genocide.

David Berger
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

ICE Wearing Masks  --  Cartoon and Commentary by Jesse Duquette

You know, Border Czar Tom “Melted Thumb” Honan is right, it is inappropriate to compare ICE to the Gestapo. At least the latter weren’t sad cowards hiding behind masks when being evil shits towards their fellow humans.

Jesse Duquette
Week of June 11, 2025
(Multi)-Weekly Cartoon Roundup #15

Re: Warnings of ‘Untold Harm’ After US Supreme Court Rules Against Trans Youth
 

Dear America, 1984 was a warning, not an operating manual!

Robert Laite
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Bring Back Horn & Hardart

(posting on Portside Culture)
 

Union-busting, 1938-style.
 

Shaun Richman
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

The Peace Grifter  --  Cartoon and Commentary by Clay Jones

Can you grift me now?

Here’s a fun fact: Between the 2024 presidential election and the inauguration on January 21, 2025, the Trump Store launched at least 168 new products. One product would have been weird.

This isn’t just a way to grift your supporters, but also to take bribes. The Trump Store isn’t run by the Trump Campaign, but by the Trump Organization. All the profits go directly to Donald Trump. These 168 products are in addition to the products launched before the election, like Trump Watches, Trump Shoes, Trump Bible, etc, etc. Now, we're going to get Trump Mobile. I, for one, expect future commercials to be made even cheaper than those featuring Ryan Reynolds for Mint Mobile.

Trump Mobile will sell a gold (fake) cell phone for $500. Check it out.

One analyst discovered that it’s the same phone another cellular provider carries, which is made in China, but sells for less than $200. But who’s surprised Trump is selling a cheaply-made product for an outlandish price? He’s selling a $300 guitar for $5,000. What increases the price is that it’s a “Trump” guitar. We guitar players used to joke, with some truth to it, that the only difference between a $3,000 Gibson and a $300 Epiphone was the shape of the headstock. Now, the only difference between a $300 Tokai copy of a Les Paul and a Trump copy of a Les Paul is the taste of the Kool-Aid.

Of course, Trump doesn’t play the guitar, but that’s OK because he sold Trump Wine but doesn’t drink wine, he sold Trump Vodka but he doesn’t drink vodka, he sells the Trump Bible and he’s the anti-Christ, and he sells watches but can’t tell time.

Trump Mobile offers a plan with a monthly fee of (you’re either going to hate this or love it) $47.45 each month. He should have gone with 45 before 47 because he was 45 before he was 47, but that would lose him $2 for each plan every month. Trump is cheap, yo.

It’s a conflict of interest for the president (sic) to be selling merchandise. While the stocks and bitcoins are obvious bribe magnets, Trump Mobile offers a great example of a conflict of interest.

Trump is demanding that Apple start manufacturing its iPhones in the United States or face a 25 percent (at least) import tax. But it’s impossible to fully manufacture iPhones in America. Analyst Leo Gebbie of CCS Insight noted that the US currently “simply does not have the high-tech supply chain” required for smartphone assembly.

This brings us back to Trump Mobile. Eric Trump (the stupid one) said on a podcast that the Trump phones, which are coming out in August (you can pre-order now!), will be built in America. Yet, the iPhone is created by components manufactured in 148 countries. Unless the Trump Phone is nothing more than two plastic cups with a string attached between them, they’re going to have a problem releasing a fully-made-in-America smartphone. And ya never know with the Trump Organization. The technology in their phones may be less high-tech than the two cups and string. How much would a MAGAt pay for that?

Here’s the conflict of interest, kids: When Trump smacks Apple with a 25 percent tariff, thus raising their price for Apple’s customers, will the Trump phone also be slapped with a 25 percent tariff? Of course not. It should also be noted that when Trump is using tariffs as a weapon like this, and to benefit his business, he knows damn well that tariffs are taxes and that China doesn’t pay them.

The other conflict is that Trump, even with the world’s largest military at his disposal, whether it’s for parades, beating protesters, or bombing Iran, he can’t be taken seriously as a person while he’s grifting at the same time. Today, he called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender.” What?

During World War II, the only terms the USA would accept to end the war with Japan were an unconditional surrender. Japan sent several overtures for peace, but President Harry Truman wouldn’t even listen until Japan surrendered unconditionally. What happened after they surrendered unconditionally (after two atomic bombs and Russia declared war on the Japanese Empire)? We occupied Japan. We’re still kinda occupying Japan. Does Trump expect us or Israel to occupy Iran? Let’s see how well occupying Iran with a Jewish army works out.

If you think we invited a war with insurgents by occupying Iraq, wait until we occupy Iran, which is much larger than Iraq.

Israel attacked Iran on its own, but now it’s pressuring Trump to get the US involved and to join its bombing campaign. Now, Trump is referring to the war effort as “we,” as in, “we now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran.” What is this “we” shit? Did Benjamin Netanyahu buy a Trump Guitar?

Remember when Trumpers were bragging that Trump didn’t start any wars? How’s that xenophobia working out for you now?

Trump is right to refer to the war with Iran as “we,” because this war is his fault. He’s the one who dismantled the nuclear agreement that the US and other nations had with Iran, which Iran was complying with. By the way, the war between Israel and Hamas is at least partly his fault, too. During his first term (sic), Trump didn’t do anything to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, and added fuel to the fire by recognizing Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. Who could have predicted that making a racist dumbfuck president wouldn’t work out? But hey, maybe it’ll work out the second time.

Donald Trump is going to scorch the Earth, but the good news is that he’s three times richer than he was six months ago. Doesn’t that just make you feel all warm and squishy inside?

Clay Jones
June 17, 2025
Claytoonz

Suzanne Crowell  -  Presente !

Suzanne Crowell passed away on June 15 in Maine at age 79.  A lifelong activist, she took part in SNCC's Mississippi Freedom Summer Project in 1964 and was a member of Friends of SNCC and SDS while a student at Barnard.

After graduation, Suzanne came south in 1967 to work as the Appalachian correspondent for the Southern Patriot, the monthly publication of the Southern Conference Educational Fund. Almost immediately she was to play an important role in the campaign to free SCEF staff members Carl and Anne Braden and Al and Margaret McSurely, and Appalachian Volunteer Joe Mulloy. The McSurelys and Mulloy were attempting to organize in Appalachia. They were targeted by the Kentucky Un-American Activities Committee, charged under the state’s sedition statute and jailed after raids on their homes. Suzanne was responsible for organizing press coverage of the case, which drew nationwide attention. The sedition statute was later ruled unconstitutional.

Suzanne lived in Whitesburg, Kentucky, during her time at SCEF. She filed stories on coalfield struggles and wrote The Appalachian People’s History Book, which brought light to an area long ignored or poorly represented.  

She moved to Washington DC in the late 1960s where she was a fixture in local politics for decades -- especially in the years when Marion Barry was Mayor.  Suzanne, a member of AFSCME, was an active unionist and served as president for DC Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) for several years.  She was active in the Metro Labor Council and, after retiring, in the Maine AFL-CIO.

Among the institutions she brought her formidable writing, editing and research skills to was the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, editing its publication, The Civil Right Digest, in the early 1970s. She subsequently worked in the D.C. Ombudsman Office and served as the public affairs officer at the Office of Peoples Counsel. She worked in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in the fair housing division. Later, she worked for the National Council of Jewish Women, a social justice organization, as a writer and researcher.

Suzanne was a member of the Democratic Socialists Organizing Committee and its successor organization, Democratic Socialists of America. She served as part of Metro DC DSA's local leadership in different capacities throughout the 1980s and 90s. She was elected to DSA’s National Political Committee, was part of national DSA's labor commission and anti-racism work and was on the editorial board of Democratic Left.

Suzanne loved horses and when she relocated to southern Maine she bought a small farm.  In 2006 she was approached by JoAnna Mendl Shaw, founder of The Equus Projects, who created choreography that brought together the grace and athleticism of horses and dancers. Shaw was seeking a facility to rehearse a commissioned work for The Bates Dance Festival. The dancers spent hours on Suzanne’s farm with the horses, then in 2008 created a performance work. In 2011, UnStable Landscape was presented at Suzanne’s farm where audiences of over 250 people attended each of two performances. Suzanne’s involvement continued and she served on the Boards of both the Bates Dance Festival and The Equus Projects.

Throughout her life, Suzanne never wavered in her commitment to the struggle against racism, in her uncompromising commitment to the labor movement, to the struggle for peace and for a better world.  She was a good friend and will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

For more information and how to make a contribution in Suzanne’s memory:

https://www.funeralalternatives.net/obituaries/obit-details.php?Crowell-3808

USC Law Students Have Started A Hotline For People To Call When They Have An Immigration-Related Court Hearing

USC law students have started a hotline for people to call when they have an immigration-related court hearing but don't want to show up in person for fear of being arrested/detained by ICE outside the courthouse.

The students will help people complete and submit a "Motion to Change Hearing Format," which can allow someone to have a remote/online hearing instead of in-person. Hotline # is (888) 462-5211 They can help in English or Spanish.

The Crisis of Higher Education: Reactionary Assaults Today - Webinar  -  June 23  (Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS) and Socialist Education Project)

Vice President Vance once referred to universities as “very hostile institutions…If any of us want to do things that we want to do for our country…we have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities…”

Political debates today increasingly involve the character of higher education. Current controversies have emerged over the teaching of critical aspects of American history, such as those dealing with race, class, gender, the environment, and the United States’ role in war and foreign intervention. These debates raise questions about higher education and the place of higher education in society, particularly the motivations behind attacks by the Trump regime and reactionary political forces of all kinds who wish to restructure the purposes served, role of faculty, students, and traditional curricula and research, in the 21st century.

Panelists, Carl Davidson, Jay Jurie, Harry Targ, and Meta Van Sickle, will comment on the theory and practice of higher education, drawing upon the current experiences from many states and on lessons from struggles in the past.

Register and spread the word

Live-stream the Socialism Conference!  --  July 3 - 5  (Haymarket Books)

Making sure that conference sessions are accessible to folks who aren’t able to join us in person is very important to us—but it also comes with a hefty price tag.

While all of our live-streamed programming is available for free, please consider RSVPing for our virtual program and making a donation to help us cover the associated costs!
 

Please note! RSVPing for our virtual program does not grant entry to the in-person Socialism Conference. Register here for the in-person conference!

RSVP to attend Socialism 2025 virtually >>

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• Session times and other virtual and in-person program details remain subject to change!
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