Fault Lines

Two Americas: RNC Begins as Kenosha Burns

On this episode of Fault Lines, hosts Jamarl Thomas and Shane Stranahan discussed a variety of issues, from speeches at the Republican National Convention to the situation in Syria to the fiery riots in Kenosha.
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GUESTS:

Maram Susli - Political Commentator and Geopolitical Analyst | Aggression Against Syria Continues 

Jacqueline Luqman - Co-host of By Any Means Necessary, co-founder of Luqman Nation | Kenosha Riots Are Justified

Mike Partyka - Creator of the series The Black Lives Matter Riots and the Left's Moral Blindness on YouTube | Kenosha Riots Are Not Justified

Richard D. Wolff - Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst | How the USA Should Have Dealt With COVID-19

In Jamarl's first hour monologue, he talked about his feelings of betrayal by both political parties who he says put rhetoric over policy. 

Then the hosts were joined by Maram Susli, who discussed the current situation in Syria and the pressure being put on that country by both the United States and US allies the Kurds. Maram also talked about the economic situation in Syria and shared that, although exports have been cut sharply in the past year and the situation has gotten worse due to the explosion in Beirut Lebanon recently, the Syrian economy also has a self-sustaining aspect to it which is kept it afloat during hard times, including internal production of not just food but also things like medicine. They also discussed where the current situation in Syria seems to be headed.

In the second hour, Shane and Jamarl got two views on the arson, looting, and riots going on in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after the shooting injury to a man reaching into his car who was disobeying police orders to stop. First they spoke to Jacqueline Luqman, who said that, although the shooting victim may not have been the most savory character, the more important issue is black people's feelings about stories of police mistreatment. She compared the situation in the United States to that of the Founding Fathers who felt that they were victims of injustice from the British and said that many African-Americans felt like they were in a pressure cooker. She said that arson, vandalism, and looting in the name of uprisings were a natural outgrowth of those feelings.

Then they were joined by Mike Hardy who took a different view and talked about the specifics of the shooting of Jacob Blake. Mike says that based on the multiple video angles available he did not field at the police had any choice but to fire on Blake, even though his children were in the car. He said that there might push back on the idea that the riots are justified. 

In the third hour, Jamarl and Shane were joined by Professor Richard Wolff who discussed the mistakes he saw made in the COVID-19 crisis in regards to the economy. Wolff said that both parties are suffering from a form of denialism and he believes what the United States should have done was to institute another program like the Great Depression's WPA program, where the government hired not only workers but also artists in order to stimulate the economy through government action. Wolff said he believes in “trickle up” stimuli. They also discussed the political realities of fighting for things such as a $15 an hour minimum wage.

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