People Before Profit blog

Lou Bortz

Thu, 31 Oct 2002 11:06:00 +0000

CLEVELAND – Longtime Communist Party activist Lou Bortz died here Aug. 16. He was 92 years old.

Bortz was one of 10 children of an immigrant shoemaker from Czarist Lithuania. He finished ninth grade in New York City and began working at 16 in the needle trades. As a teenager, he helped organize the Grocery, Dairy and Fruit Clerks Union, originally with the AFL and eventually an independent union affiliated with the Trade Union Educational League, led by William Z. Foster. At 14 he joined the Junior Group and at 16 the Young Workers League, later renamed the Young Communist League.

Bortz moved to Cleveland in 1929, where he eventually lost his job in a sheet metal shop in the deepening depression. He joined the Communist Party in 1930 and was active in the Unemployed Councils and in the fight for unemployment insurance.

He was one of the 3,000 young Americans whose dedication and internationalism led them to volunteer to fight fascism in Spain as part of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. During his 22 months in Spain he fought in the battles of Jarama, Guadalajar, Brunete and elsewhere. He returned to Cleveland in 1938 and in 1942 enlisted in the U.S. Army. As with many of the 15,000 Communists who joined the armed forces, he faced discrimination but nevertheless rose to the rank of sergeant in the Army Air Corps.

Discharged from the Army in 1945, he worked for six months in a steel mill before moving to Pittsburgh. He served as Educational Director of the South Side Club, one of more than 10 neighborhood clubs in 1947, and was an active supporter of the Progressive Party in 1948.

When the U.S. government launched its vicious attack upon the Communist Party and progressive movements in the late 1940s and 1950s, Lou Bortz remained steadfast despite loss of employment and betrayal of many associates. He was hauled before the House Un-American Activities Committee, where he refused to name names.

He was one of a handful of comrades who helped to restore the Party in Western Pennsylvania and inspired many through his activism in the 1960s. He attended the 1963 March on Washington and helped to found the Pittsburgh Chapter of Veterans for Peace during the Vietnam War.

In 1977 he was a member of the 10th Venceremos Brigade that worked in socialist Cuba for five weeks. His fellow Brigadistas voted him the honor of representing them on the podium with Fidel to view the May Day parade. In 1980, when democracy finally triumphed over fascism in Spain, he returned to that country with a group of veterans of the Lincoln Brigade and had the honor of meeting the legendary Communist leader, Dolores Ibarruri, La Pasionaria.

For many years, until he moved back to Cleveland, he was a mainstay in maintaining the Ben Careathers and William Z. Foster Book Center in Pittsburgh. He was always a staunch supporter and distributor of the People’s Weekly World and its predecessors.

Throughout his life, Lou Bortz remained deeply committed to the cause of socialism. He gave selflessly and bravely to the movements for the freedom of workers in every land. Those that knew him were forever changed by his example. He brought honor to the name “Communist.”

James Herndon,1925-2002

Thu, 31 Oct 2002 11:02:00 +0000

James Herndon, progressive attorney and lifelong social activist, died Sept. 17. He was 77 years old. Jim, as he was known to his friends and family, was a man of keen intellect and deep commitment to social causes affecting the lives of the African Diaspora and working people of all colors.

Born on May 14, 1925, in Troy, Ala., he was the oldest in a family of eight children. The Jim Crow mindset in Alabama, with its denial of economic opportunities and the constant threat of violence against those who dared to demand a better life, were behind Jim’s lifelong striving for a better world.

He learned printing skills at an early age to support his family and also to put himself through high school and Morehouse College, where he was a classmate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and student president of the NAACP. Later he earned his law degree from Howard University. At both institutions he honed his oratorical skills in debating societies, having been inspired by Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois and Paul Robeson.

In the 1950s Jim moved to the Bay Area, where he worked as a typesetter for the San Francisco Chronicle while completing his law studies for the California Bar. After passing the Bar he joined the National Lawyers’ Guild and still retained his membership in the International Typographical Union.

It was during this time he co-founded the African American Historical and Cultural Society, then known as the Negro Historical and Cultural Society. Jim organized many Negro History Week celebrations and brought outstanding scholars to speak before the Society.

In the early ’60s he threw himself into the thick of the civil rights movement espousing the rights of Black workers and became president of the local chapter of the Negro American Labor Council led nationally by A. Philip Randolph. The campaign led by Herndon resulted in the hiring of the first African American checker in a major supermarket in the Bay View District.

Also, during this period he became the first African American to become a partner in a major S.F. law firm, Garry Dreyfus & McTernan, where he represented low-cost housing groups at Bayview-Hunter’s Point and the Mission Tenants Union. He was the lawyer for the United Farm Workers Tulare County rent strike, sit-in demonstrators on S.F. Automobile Row and the suit to eliminate de facto segregation in the S.F. School District schools.

In 1975 he founded the Paul Robeson Society, which was dedicated to the struggle for human rights and social and economic justice. The organization sponsored numerous public discussions and raised funds for various progressive causes.

James Herndon is survived by two daughters, Julia and Corinne, four grandchildren, and a large extended family.

Brazils Lula is victorious

Thu, 31 Oct 2002 10:02:00 +0000

On Oct. 27, the overwhelming majority of Brazilians awarded Luiz Inacio da Silva, known by all as Lula, with a resounding victory in the nation’s presidential elections. Lula won with over 61 percent of the vote, to Jose Serra’s 39 percent. Even though the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Wall Street and Washington tried to blackmail Brazilians into rejecting Lula for president, the attempt failed.

At their 10th Congress in December 2001, where Lula passionately spoke, the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) set winning this presidential election through a united coalition of forces as the most important strategic task on the nation’s immediate agenda. It will open the way to a new stage in social progress for Brazil.

According to Renato Rabelo, the national president of the PCdoB, winning this victory is the mark of an historic turning point in Brazil, as significant as the abolition of slavery and the proclamation of the republic, where national sovereignty, democracy, development and social justice can be pursued. The PCdoB itself won over 9 million votes throughout Brazil, and elected 12 deputies to the Chamber of Deputies (equivalent to our House of Representatives).

Throughout the world, this glorious triumph is being celebrated by progressive forces. Cuban President Fidel Castro said Lula is his friend and he admires his perseverance. Hugo Chavez of Venezuela said an “axis of good” now exists in Latin America. Rev. Jesse Jackson went to Brazil at Lula’s invitation and joined in the campaign. The experience was positive and very welcomed, reported Luis Fernandes of the PCdoB. Fernandes also stated that “Though we were leery of dirty tricks and remained mobilized, we were very optimistic.”

Lula was a metalworker in the auto industry and is a former president of the metalworkers’ union. His sharecropping family migrated to Sao Paulo from Pernambuco, a state in the northeast, which is one of the poorest regions in the country. Lula’s father worked on the docks after moving to Sao Paulo, and Lula began to work full time by the age of twelve.

He was a political prisoner during the late 1970s under the military dictatorship that governed Brazil from 1964 to 1985. As the founding leader of the Workers’ Party, this was Lula’s fourth run for president since 1989.

In the first phase of the 2002 election, held on Oct. 6, the Workers’ Party won more seats in the Chamber of Deputies than any other party. In that round, Lula won 46 percent of the vote to Jose Serra’s 23 percent. Serra was the presidential candidate from the governing party’s coalition, the Brazilian Social Democracy Party. Anthony Garotinho of the Brazilian Socialist Party got 18 percent and Ciro Gomes of the Popular Socialist Party got 12 percent of the vote. Both Garotinho and Gomes threw their support to Lula in the second round of the elections.

The IMF attempted to win the presidency for Jose Serra by awarding a $30 billion package in August, three-fourths of which would not be released until after the election. It is widely reported that the agreement was designed to help Serra, the current president’s hand-picked successor.

It is also reported that Lula’s most formidable opponent was not Serra, but the world financial community, particularly Wall Street. In an attempt to manipulate voters, Wall Street financial players steered investors away from Brazil, downgraded Brazil’s government bonds and contributed to effecting the devaluation of Brazil’s currency. Part of the objective was to make it clear that Wall Street did not favor Lula’s superiority in the election polls or a Lula victory. One financial house, Goldman Sachs, developed a “Lulameter” to create increasing economic trouble for Brazil as Lula’s ratings in the polls increased.

Washington made it clear it did not favor a Lula victory. U.S. government circles are concerned about Brazil and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement under a Lula administration. Representatives of the Bush administration have arrogantly indicated that as long as Lula adopts sound policies and commits to U.S. values, they are willing to work with him. This, along with the IMF loan hold- out, is a clear attempt at blackmail, leaders of the PCdoB charge.

Experts indicate that the U.S. has been involved in upsetting progressive Latin American governments consistently since 1954. The progressive movement in the United States must keep its eyes open to expose and mobilize quickly against any Washington or Wall Street shenanigans geared toward undermining the decision of the Brazilian people to choose Lula as their president. We must make it clear, we too are for Lula! As one woman in Brazil declared, “He is one of ours.”

The author can be reached at pww@pww.org

PDF version of 'Brazil’s Lula is victorious'

Letters

Fri, 25 Oct 2002 05:44:00 +0000

Part of the system

I certainly appreciated Sam Webb’s centerspread article “A threat to humanity: Bush’s new military doctrine.” (10/19) I think the article could have emphasized the “why” of the ruling class obsession with aggression even more.

A lot of Americans think the ruling class is becoming more aggressive simply because they want to and because they think they can get away with it. The article would be even stronger if it confronted that notion bluntly and more fully emphasized the fact that the capitalist ruling class is experiencing a severe economic crisis of international proportions.

In other words, they are doing what they are compelled to do by the very nature of their capitalist, expansive, imperialistic, economic system. They want to invade other countries in order to exploit them more fully, just as they are cranking up their exploitation of the working class at home. At home and abroad they are driven by the same frenzied need: to try to resolve their underlying capitalist economic crisis.

Jim LaneDallas TX

Vet says ‘No war for oil!’

I am a World War II veteran. I flew 30 combat missions with the U.S. 8th Air Command, as a gunner and radio operator on the B-17 Flying Fortress, attached to the 401 Bombardment Group.

I know first hand the harsh meaning of war. But I supported that war with the full understanding of why we were fighting. We were fighting enemies who were aggressive and planning to put the whole world under its iron fist of fascism. They brought us into the conflict by raining havoc, destruction and death upon us at Pearl Harbor. I enlisted to fight.

Today the story is different. The real purpose is not for freedom or against terrorism but the desire of some to capture the lucrative oil of the Middle East.

George FeigenbaumPompano Beach FL

Joking around

I saw this one and wanted to share it with your readers:

A woman dies and goes to heaven. As she stands in front of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates she sees a huge wall of clocks behind him.

She asks, “Why do you have all those clocks there on that wall?”

St. Peter answers, “Those are Lie-Clocks. Everyone has a Lie-Clock. Every time you lie, the hands on your clock will move.”

“Oh,” says the woman, “whose clock is that?”

“That’s Mother Teresa’s. The hands have never moved indicating that she never told a lie,” St. Peter said.

“Whose clock is that?” the woman asks.

“That’s Abraham Lincoln’s clock. The hands have only moved twice telling us that Abe only told two lies in his entire life.”

Looking around the woman asks, “Where’s George W. Bush’s clock?”

“Oh that one’s in my office. I’m using it as a ceiling fan.”

Jenny Gordonvia e-mail

Can someone help me?

Who was the retired Marine officer who said something like, “Al Capone was a piker. He only ran three counties in Illinois. I made all of Central America safe for United Fruit!”

I’m battling with a few right-wingers at our local newspaper’s online site today. Most folks here support peace and oppose “Bush the Little” but, I’d like to be able to give an accurate quote and source.

Ed CampbellSanta Fe NM

Editor’s note: If anyone has the source of that quote please send to pww@pww.org

New Haven says no to war

On Oct. 21, by a vote of 24 to 2, with 1 abstention, the New Haven Board of Aldermen approved a resolution submitted by Alderman John Halle opposing any U.S. military intervention in Iraq. In the weeks prior to the vote, public opposition to the war expanded in the city with a large rally on the New Haven Green addressed by elected officials and religious and academic leaders, and a public hearing called by the City of New Haven Peace Commission which heard strong testimony against invasion of Iraq. Several weekly vigils have been held continuously for many months.

A readerNew Haven CT

Editorials

Fri, 25 Oct 2002 05:32:00 +0000

There’s still time

One thing can be said about the Bush administration: No administration in history has been so focused – and so far so successful – in protecting the interests of the rich and super-rich.

A case in point is the July promise Bush made that “corporate misdeeds will be found and will be punished,” all made possible by legislation authorizing “new funding for investigators and technology at the Securities and Exchange Commission to uncover wrongdoing.”

Never mind that it was public outrage over the shenanigans of officials at Enron, Global Crossing and WorldCom that forced Congress to act – and a reluctant Bush to join the chorus. And never mind that both promises have since been broken

We don’t expect Bush and the other millionaire members of his cabinet to change their spots – or their policies. But, as last summer’s events showed, they can be forced to retreat. The next battle will be fought in voting booths across the country on Nov. 5.

Simply put, that’s what this year’s elections are all about. Karl Rove & Co. has Bush hop scotching around the country in a desperate effort to keep control of the House and win control of the Senate.

They, too, have read the polls showing 56 percent of the people thinking the economy is “bad” or “very bad,” that 39 percent say it is “getting worse” and that 57 percent say economic issues will influence the way they vote.

On the surface, those are pretty good odds. But, as the saying goes, “The only poll that counts takes place on election day.” And there’s another: “Every vote counts, but it doesn’t count if you don’t vote.”

Thus the challenge: To use the days between now and Nov. 5 to help guarantee the maximum voter turn out. There’s a place for everyone in that effort: making phone calls, poll watching, ringing doorbells. Sign up now. As Yogi said, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”

********************************************************************************************

Thugs and rogues at UN

The Bush administration cannot pursue its unilateral first-strike foreign policy without destroying international bodies established to uphold world cooperation and national sovereignty. The current situation at the United Nations vis-a-vis Iraq is a case in point. Bush officials have been threatening, bullying and trying to bribe their way to getting a resolution which would give international cover to their Iraq war plans. They are holding aid and loans over some countries’ heads. They are offering other countries control of Iraqi oil fields and threatening some with a cut-off of oil if they don’t cooperate.

A U.S. union leader commented, “Multilateralism has been reduced to threats, bribes and bullying, all of which undermine the prestige of the United Nations.”

This is an administration that refuses to sign onto the International Criminal Court, pulled out of the Kyoto Treaty, walked out on the UN conference on racism, and sees itself as the boss of the world, with the weaponry to back it up.

In his 1966 book, “The Arrogance of Power,” Sen. J. William Fulbright wrote about the mounting Vietnam war fever, “We all like telling people what to do, which is perfectly all right except that most people do not like being told what to do.”

Fulbright’s observations resonate today as the Bush administration promotes its aggressive National Security Strategy and celebrates a congressional war resolution that many compare to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that set in motion the tragic escalation of the Vietnam war.

There are many lessons to draw from the mass movement that ended the Vietnam war. The most important is that the American people insist on our democratic right to determine our foreign policy. And the majority is for multilateralism, international cooperation and respect for international norms and law.

Most would agree with Fulbright: “When we violate the law ourselves, whatever short-term advantage may be gained, we are obviously encouraging others to violate the law; we thus encourage disorder and instability and thereby do incalculable damage to our own long-term interests.”

N. Calif. PWW call: Unity against Bush clones

Fri, 25 Oct 2002 03:14:00 +0000

BERKELEY, Calif. – In a spirited tribute, the Northern California People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo banquet Oct. 13 honored “the heroes and heroines of the struggle against corporate greed,” and called for a big turnout against Republican “Bush-clones” in the Nov. 5 election. The banquet raised $8,000 for the PWW fund drive.

In her opening, Berkeley Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek spoke of the growing movements in solidarity with West Coast port workers and against war. “So there is hope,” she said, “and a new movement that we must help nurture and grow.”

That movement includes the bloc in Congress that voted against the Bush war resolution, and those who supported Rep. Barbara Lee’s (D-Calif.) peace resolution.

The banquet honored the Coalition for Workers Rights (CWR), Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE) Locals 2 and 2850, Sacramento Living Wage Campaign and Father Bill O’Donnell, known as “labor’s priest.” Each received certificates from Rep. Lee, in whose district the event took place, and from Wilma Chan, majority leader in the California Assembly, as well as from PWW/Nuestro Mundo. Eliot Kenin and the “Spirit of ’29” traditional jazz band and singer/songwriter Anthony J. Smith added to the upbeat spirit.

One of the sharpest struggles is that of the dockworkers, locked out by the employers’ Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) but now back to work under the virulently anti-union Taft-Hartley Act. The Coalition for Workers Rights (CWR) unites unions and organizations involved in contract and community struggles. Together with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), the AFL-CIO and other groups, the CWR co-sponsored a number of protests drawing wide public support for union rights.

Clarence Thomas, secretary-treasurer of ILWU Local 10 and chair of the CWR, told the crowd the struggle is not over. “This is a matter that must be addressed by the entire labor movement,” he said.

Many coalition members highlighted the struggles that brought them together. Lee Sandahl, ILWU Local 34, representing clerks, whose jobs the PMA is threatening, said the coalition is about “people who understand that this is not just a longshore fight, not just a newspaper workers’ fight, it’s a fight for our rights, for all of us.”

Teamsters Local 70 Business Agent-Organizer Odus Hall concurred: “Anywhere that workers struggle, the Teamsters will be there.”

Judy Goff, executive secretary-treasurer of the Alameda County Central Labor Council, said unity on issues of living wages, justice for workers and protection of the environment “makes a tremendous difference.” She urged maximum turnout of union families and allies on Election Day.

Dwight McElroy, head of SEIU Local 790’s public works chapter; Karen Pickett, Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment; Jennifer Krill, Rainforest Action Network; and Willie Keyes, West Oakland Neighbors, also spoke for the CWR.

Alfonso Loera, head of Local 790’s Port of Oakland Chapter, said, “Unity in action is our code word. We don’t have the PMA’s $200 million or the $85 billion of the hotshots behind Bush. We have something more precious – the 265 million men, women and children who comprise the working people of America, and nobody can buy that!”

Calling this moment “a turning point in history,” Juan Lopez, long-time community activist and chair of the Northern California Communist Party, cited the Bush administration’s “declaration of war” on the ILWU and the entire labor movement, and the administration’s adoption of a dangerous new doctrine of “pre-emptive, first strike, unilateral military action, including with nuclear weapons.” He added, “This redoubles the importance of a massive voter turnout on Nov. 5 against the extreme right.”

As they received certificates of appreciation, HERE Locals 2 and 2850 members described the great organizing victory at San Francisco’s downtown Marriott, after two decades of effort, and of ongoing struggles. Local 2’s Ramon Guevara declared, “We will not be content with what we’ve gained” until the others win. He cited the struggle at the Marriott at Fisherman’s Wharf. Daryl White, who works there, also spoke of the Marriott Struggle. (Since the banquet, the workers there won a contract in parity with long-unionized San Francisco hotels.)

Local 2850 member Fidel Arroio, a cook at the Claremont Hotel, told of management “scare tactics” to weaken the union. “But,” he said, “we will fight harder to have justice at the Claremont and all other hotels.” Arroio urged everyone to join the Claremont boycott movement.

Father Bill O’Donnell, honored in absentia, is currently serving a six-month sentence for non-violent civil disobedience in last November’s protest against the School of the Americas (SOA) in Ft. Benning, Ga. Accepting his certificates were Judy and Charles Liteky, leaders of SOA Watch West. They urged support for the upcoming Ft. Benning protest, Nov. 15-17.

In accepting for the Sacramento Living Wage Campaign, steering committee member Ruth Holbrook emphasized the importance of a living wage. “The coalition has over 80 different groups,” she said, “and we see our work continuing after winning a living wage.”

The PWW/Nuestro Mundo editorial board honored correspondent Herb Kaye with a special certificate for his lifelong dedication to labor’s cause.

The author can be reached at ncalview@igc.org

Cuban urges trade, freedom for Miami 5

Thu, 24 Oct 2002 09:10:00 +0000

PHILADELPHIA – Dagoberto Rodrigues, chief of the Cuban Interest Section in the U.S., spoke here at the University of Pennsylvania, Oct. 7. Rodrigues is a former journalist with an extensive career in foreign service. He spoke about the advances Cuba has made since 1959 in education and health care. “Our infant mortality rate was 6.2 per 1,000 live births in 2001 and 800,000 Cubans have college degrees,” said Rodrigues. He also described the hardships Cuba endured in the 1990s when the USSR and other European socialist countries collapsed and Cuba lost 80 percent of its trade.

The U.S. government expected Cuba to collapse and a U.S. document called for the intensification of the blockade and sanctions to hurt Cuba’s economy and bring starvation to its people in order to overthrow the government by any means. “If the Cold War is over, then why does the U.S. continue the blockade and sanctions?” asked Rodrigues. “The U.S. blames Cuba for nationalizing U.S. companies. Cuba says end the blockade and we can discuss it. Other countries have received compensation and 167 countries oppose the blockade,” said Rodrigues. He also said that Cuba has proposed agreements for U.S. cooperation in fighting drug trafficking, illegal immigration and terrorism but the Bush administration has not responded.

When information on terrorist groups in Miami was given to the FBI, the informants were jailed and charged as spies while the terrorist groups remain free. The jury of the “Cuban Five” was threatened, and the request to change the venue was denied.

“We only want Cuba’s independence, sovereignty and dignity to be respected,” said Rodrigues. Because relations with Cuba are not normalized, Rodrigues was limited by the State Department on the time he can spend at meetings. The remainder of the meeting was devoted to a question-and-answer session, which included the following questions:

Question: Has Castro changed his ideas? Is he setting up a peaceful transition to end the blockade? Could the Roman Catholic Church help settle the conflict?

Rodriques: Cuba has been in transition since 1959. It is the U.S. that has the power to end the blockade, not Cuba. Cuba is much more than President Castro. Many young, educated, skilled people are the power of Cuba. Cuba’s goal is and has been economic and social equality. We want to develop a new kind of human being.

Question: Latin American banks are in crisis. What guidance does Cuba have for young people?

Rodrigues: The 13th Congress of the Continental Organization of Latin American and Caribbean Students will take place Nov. 29-Dec. 3 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Cuba is sending a 600-person delegation of writers, poets and cultural figures.

Rodrigues told the crowd that he looks forward to the day when the United States and Cuba will have normal relationships.

Steve Eckardt, coordinator of the Philadelphia Cuba Solidarity Coalition said, “The U.S. still refuses to recognize Cuba and it hurts us here in Philadelphia. Chuchu Valdez, the great jazz artist, was scheduled to play a concert here but at the last minute his entrance to the U.S. was denied.”

The author can be reached at phillyrose1@earthlink.net

Letters

Sat, 19 Oct 2002 03:19:00 +0000

Taft-Hartley

I sent this to you-know-who with no chance that they will print it.

To The Editor of The New York Times:

The Taft-Hartley act was enacted in 1947 as a series of amendments to the New Deal’s National Labor Relations Act of 1935, which established a democratic process for union certification and collective bargaining in the United States. The act represented a resounding victory for pro-business conservative forces at the time in the restrictions it placed on the right to strike and its infamous clause 14B, which gave states the right to restrict union shops through so-called state “right to work laws.” However, its provisions giving the president the right to declare a national emergency and end strikes have been used very sparingly and never in a maneuver to support tactically an employer’s lockout.

That the President has stacked his “Board of Inquiry” with Southerners, Republicans, and conservatives adds insult to injury to all trade unionists and and non-conservatives in the country.

The events of Sept. 11, have obscured for many the fact that George W. Bush is the first president since Benjamin Harrison in 1889 to run second in the popular vote. For an administration with absolutely no electoral mandate, Bush has both pursued the policies of Ronald Reagan and has treated his opposition as if he were Ronald Reagan. The only answer trade unionists and non-conservative voters can give to this brazen attack on labor’s rights is to defeat the Republican Party decisively in the elections and deter the administration from its aggressive and destructive policies at home and abroad.

Norman Markowitzvia e-mail

Thanks for a vote against war

I sent the following letter to the two Philadelphia Congressmen who voted no to war:

To Congressmen Brady and Fattah,

My most heartfelt thanks for your courageous vote for peace. I am aware of the terrible pressure by the White House and the Republican Party to swing the vote that gives the president the right to wage war.

It is indeed unfortunate that not enough members of Congress people had the stamina to stand up and be counted as you did.

In the face of this onslaught you have won the deepest respect of your constituents. History will record that yours were the hands that helped stay the course of all out war. This fight has not yet been concluded. Your act of courage inspires us to greater efforts. The people of the U.S. will have the final say.

Frances GabowPhiladelphia PA

Law’s fault, not Green Party

Your Oct. 5 issue again criticizes the Green Party for running a candidate for U.S. Senate in Minnesota. The Green Party of Minnesota is required by Minnesota law to nominate by primary. The party itself cannot prevent any voter in the state from paying a filing fee and getting on the Green Party primary ballot for any partisan office in the state.

In my opinion, state laws should not require minor parties to nominate by primary, precisely because it leaves them no freedom to determine whether or not to run a candidate. The law is to blame, not the Green Party.

Richard WingerSan Francisco CA Richard Winger publishes Ballot Access News

No to war

On Sunday, Oct. 6, people gathered here to call for peace. Senator and 2000 vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman, invited to introduce the Democratic candidate for governor to a large group of African-American clergy, had to pass a picket line of sign-holding, anti-Iraq war demonstrators as he entered the church where the event was taking place.

Lieberman, one of Congress’ most vocal hawks supporting a first strike attack on Iraq, has long avoided talking to any members of the peace community.

Some of the picket signs read “Curry Yes, Lieberman-Bush War on Iraq No.” Bill Curry is the candidate running for governor. The picket was organized by the Greater New Haven Peace Council.

A ReaderNew Haven CT

Editorials

Sat, 19 Oct 2002 03:03:00 +0000

Defend the Bill of Rights

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) launched a “Safe and Free Campaign” Oct. 16, aimed at mobilizing in defense of civil liberties and the Bill of Rights. The ACLU decried the loss of life in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack but also condemned the Bush administration for exploiting that tragedy to ram through the repressive USA Patriot Act, to detain 6,000 innocent people, mostly Muslims, Arabs and other people of color, and to expand FBI and local police spying.

“Without an immediate and powerful public outcry on behalf of liberty,” an ACLU statement said, “the administration’s calculated attempts to limit our constitutional rights and liberties could change the definition of freedom in America.”

One goal of the campaign, said Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU’s Washington office, is to push for enactment of city council resolutions to block intrusive spying carried out jointly by the FBI and local and state police. Another goal is to push for repeal of the most repressive sections of the Patriot Act. A third goal is to fight the expansion of police surveillance aggressively pushed by Attorney General John Ashcroft and George W. Bush. Murphy also warned that some are pushing for a de facto national I.D. system.

The ACLU is a non-partisan group that does not endorse candidates or political parties. But its grassroots campaign is just in time. It comes on the eve of perhaps the most important midterm elections in U.S. history. Bush seeks to restore Republican majority control of the Senate and widen the razor-thin Republican majority in the House. If he succeeds, it will give the ultra-right control of all three branches of government and place our Bill of Rights in deadly peril. That is the reason the first point in keeping America “safe and free” is to question candidates on where they stand on protecting the Bill of Rights. Then vote Nov. 5 to defeat the Republican ultra right.

*******************************************************************************************************************************************************

Will Bush and Congress strip children of CHIP benefits?

Last year the number of people lacking health insurance increased by more than 1.5 million to 41.2 million, 8.5 million of them children under 18. By any definition the situation is a national disgrace. Despite an annual cost of more than $1.3 trillion, our health care “system” is very sick, in fact, terminally ill. It costs too much and excludes too many.

The situation is desperate but there is more bad news. A little-noticed provision in the 1997 Balanced Budget Act – the very law that created the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) – reduced spending for the program by one billion dollars in fiscal years 2002 through 2004. Unless Congress acts to rescind these cuts in federal funding for CHIP, the number of children served by the program will fall by 900,000 by 2006.

States lost even more CHIP money when fiscal year 2003 began on Oct. 1. At that time a $2.8 billion “surplus” had accumulated when states – including Texas under Gov. George Bush – failed to appropriate the necessary matching funds. These funds reverted to the Treasury and can be used for other purposes unless Congress preserves them for child health care

Because there is not yet a budget for fiscal year 2002, Congress and the White House must craft “continuing resolutions” as stopgap measures. While such action generally extends provisions of existing law, there is no guarantee that Congress will act to fix this problem in the CHIP program. Thus the demand that Congress act now to protect the health insurance of hundreds of thousands of children. Candidates seeking election Nov. 5 should be asked to explain where they stand on this health care crisis. As governor, George W. Bush made Texas the worst state in the country in providing CHIP benefits to poor children. Now he and his Republican cronies are doing the same nationwide.

If this is not an election issue, what is?

Rep. Patsy Mink, 1927-2002

Thu, 17 Oct 2002 11:03:00 +0000

The loss of Patsy Takemoto Mink, a 12-term representative of Hawaii in the House, profoundly affects all who fight for justice, equality and peace. Mink died Sept. 28 at the age of 74, due to complications from viral pneumonia. She described her convictions based in “simple justice and equality,” saying, “If to believe in freedom and equality is to be a radical, then I am a radical.” These simple beliefs proved radical time and again.

Her first election to Congress in 1964 challenged long-standing barriers against democratic representation of women and people of color, since Mink was one of 12 women in the House of Representatives, and the first woman of color ever elected to office. Her simple convictions for justice and equality consistently challenged her own Democratic Party, when she opposed the Vietnam War, sued the government under the Freedom of Information Act, thus opening the door to gain Nixon’s Watergate tapes, and ran for president in 1972.

Patsy Takemoto was born in 1927 in Paia, Maui, Hawaii. She grew up in the small town of Hamakuapoko with her mother, father and brother. From an early age, she witnessed the racialized inequality that structured the plantation economy of Hawaii. Wealthy haole, or white people, owned the plantation lands, but immigrants and their descendants from Japan and the Philippines worked the lands, only to remain in poverty.

The day after her 14th birthday, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and her knowledge of racism became even more immediate. Her father was taken for questioning because of his Japanese heritage, even though he was born in Hawaii. Though her father was released, Mink took away important lessons from this injustice. “It made me realize that one could not take citizenship and the promise of the U.S. Constitution for granted.”

Mink is most celebrated for authoring the Title IX Amendment to the Education Act of 1972, legislation that mandated women’s right to equal financing of their athletic and academic programs in institutions receiving public funding. While the Act did not only mandate women’s equal access to sports, the legislation has been most often used to support equal sports programs for women. As Jackie Joyner-Kersee eloquently stated, “Because of Title IX, I am here.” Title IX is also being used to mobilized support for the struggle against anti-gay harassment in public schools and homophobia in intercollegiate sports.

Even as Congress moves farther away from its commitment to peace, to basic civil rights for immigrants and citizens, and women’s equality, it is voting on a bill to rename the Act “Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act” to commemorate her achievement. As Congress justly honors Mink’s past successes, it fails to heed her more recent efforts to secure justice and equality. In her last term, Mink expressed deep misgivings about the Homeland Security Department that could be used as a tool to further undermine civil rights.

In her last years in Congress, Mink also courageously took on a centerpiece of the conservative agenda, the dismantlement of welfare benefits for women and children living in poverty. The cause was one she described as “close to my heart.” In 2001, she authored a counter-bill to the punitive measures that forced women off welfare rolls regardless of whether they had a living wage job, childcare, or opportunities for education and job training.

Her bill sought to transform coercive measures in the reauthorization of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) to an ethical stance against poverty. In her words, “so that leaving welfare for the labor market means leaving poverty … We need to treat women on welfare the same way that we want all women to be treated – with the respect, dignity, and the rights we all cherish for ourselves.”

Patsy Mink is survived by her daughter, Gwendolyn Mink, her husband, John Mink, and her brother, Eugene Takamoto. Her own words survive as testimony to the simple and radical beliefs she dared to support through unceasing struggle. “So long as there remain groups of our fellow Americans who are denied equal opportunity and equal protection under the law … we must remain steadfast, till all shades of man may stand side by side in dignity and self-respect to truly enjoy the fruits of this great land.”

The author can be reached at earmstro@email.smith.edu

Reporters journal: Israel

Thu, 17 Oct 2002 09:21:00 +0000

NAZARETH – I was moved to tears to read Sen. Robert Byrd’s (D-W.Va.) statement about the impact of the calls and e-mails he received. People here are excited about how many in Congress voted against Bush’s Iraq war, though the dread of the war and its impact is undeniable. We do have a lot of work to do, but we’ve come so very far in a few short weeks.

Now the question is how can we channel this powerful people’s democracy action into defeating the Bush agenda in the elections – a big challenge but necessary. The grassroots has grabbed the ear of Congress – so let’s keep the pressure on!

For those who worried about my safety I can assure that the biggest problems I have faced are the incessant chain smoking around me and the shower where I couldn’t figure out how to control the flow of water and almost flooded the entire floor of the hotel!!

The Communist Party of Israel’s Congress was incredible. Members of the opposition parties in the Knesset and the peace movement spoke. But what was most incredible is the commitment of the CPI to Jewish-Arab unity in action to turn back the Sharon government’s war and economic crisis. (See story page 6.)

Tomorrow 50,000 state workers will strike. The crisis is even more than the terrorist bombings and the continued military actions in the occupied territories.

Today we traveled to Ramallah for a meeting with Arafat but it got rescheduled due to an urgent meeting on the January elections. We went to the compound; the effects of the bombing/siege of two weeks ago are incredible.

The city remains on a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, and the Army remains in the streets as children struggle to go through checkpoints to school and families remain prisoners in their homes while suffering 75 percent unemployment and most living below the poverty line.

The city is one that looks like it is being destroyed not only by bombs but also by attrition. It’s is a terrible tragedy. Those who care about the future of Palestine are doing everything in their power to unite the people for the continued struggle for a Palestinian state.

Tomorrow we will met with Arafat and I have been choosen to open the meeting – so I’m freaking and I have to work on my talk. So it’s just a brief note.

The author can be reached at Jleblanc@cpusa.org

Letters

Fri, 11 Oct 2002 08:06:00 +0000

Why vote?

Here’s a reason to vote Democrat for the U.S. Congress. If we succeed to elect a majority Democratic Congress, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) could become majority whip. He then will be in a better position to push his Universal Health Care Bill HR-99.

Lorenzo TorrezTucson AZ

Sid will be missed

Sid Taylor was a most unusual man. His devotion to the Communist Party and to the People’s Weekly World were eternal. In spite of being legally blind, unable to hear, having difficulty walking, suffering from the ravages of diabetes, he took the train from West Palm Beach to Deefield Beach several times a month, sometimes more than once in one week. He refused to accept skepticism of our ability to take on new projects. He tried to push us as resolutely as he pushed himself. He was involved in every activity in West Palm Beach. Always concerned about people. When he went to the hospital, he insisted on going to the one in the area that had an organized union staff. When his son came down to see him in the hospice, his first question was “how did the protest rally go?” He leaves a void. He cannot be replaced. He is going to be missed.

Rosalyn L. SpitzerDeerfield Beach FL

Great quote

I have a great quote from one of my favorite TV programs “West Wing,” which I would like to share with your readers. It’s especially good for those of us who may forget things from time to time. “West Wing’s” President Jed Bartlett said, “What I lack in memory I more than make up for in deductive reasoning.”

Sarah WaltersChicago IL

Havana hip hop

I was excited to read Mary Murray’s article “Havana hip hops to its own rhythm” in the Sept. 7 edition of the PWW. I found the article quite interesting and informative as Ms. Murray talked about the positive role that rap is playing in Cuba with bringing some problems in Cuba to the forefront so they will be addressed.

However, I was dismayed by a sentence early on in the article which to me attempts to put an anti-Cuban government slant to this article: Cuba is a “country that prefers to keep its shortcomings under wraps.” I read this sentence and I’m thinking to myself just more anti Cuban propaganda and I almost stopped reading the article.

I continued to read the article to find out that Cuban rap has a lot of support in Cuba, and in particular in Havana. I don’t know what the point of the sentence was since this article demonstrates the opposite. I don’t know whether Ms. Murray wrote that sentence or one of her editors added it in, but I think PWW editors could have removed it without changing the article’s intent.

J. TeixeiraAttleboro MA

Texans protest unending war

Texans are responding to the deafening war drums from the White House with our own firm demand, “No Blood for Oil!” 2,000 gathered in Austin from across the state on October 5 to march and rally. Another statewide demonstration is planned for Austin on October 26.

In Dallas on Oct. 7, 200 activists held an anti-war rally in the City Hall Plaza. African-American groups initiated the activity and accounted for a number of the participants.

On the same day, University of North Texas activists gathered on campus to remember the thousands of deaths caused by the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan. One of the signs read, “3,000 innocent civilian deaths in the World Trade Center; 6,000 innocent civilian deaths in Afghanistan: Are we even yet?”

Speakers blasted both of Texas’ U.S. Senators, but are tremendously heartened by the anti-war postures of two African-American Texas Congresswomen: Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D) of Houston and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D) of Dallas. Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D) of Austin has also resisted the raging pro-war media propaganda.

Jim LaneDallas TX

Editorials

Fri, 11 Oct 2002 07:55:00 +0000

Another reason to vote

The court decision granting President Bush an injunction in the dispute pitting some ten thousand members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) against the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) marks an evil and nasty shift in the administration of U.S. labor law.

For the first time in its 55-year history, a Taft-Hartley injunction was granted in a situation where employers had conspired with the government to create a “threat to the national health,” thereby giving Bush justification for seeking an injunction under terms of the Taft-Hartley Act.

Never since the late 1800s, have any workers been faced with the government pressure that has been heaped upon the West Coast dockworkers, who are locked in a struggle that could very well determine the very existence of their union. The arm-twisting began last summer with telephone calls from Homeland Secretary head Tom Ridge and the Department of Labor, warning ILWU President James Spinosa that the administration would view any strike as a threat to national security and would act to stop it, even threatening the use of military personnel to replace strikers.

The injunction is a certain recipe for further action against the ILWU, providing the PMA with a pretext for demanding stiff penalties if dockworkers work at a safe and bearable pace. But even without further government intervention, an 80-day cooling-off period allows shippers and retailers to not only meet the holiday rush, but also build stockpiles for future confrontation. Given the haste with which the White House moved in seeking an injunction – and the obvious hand-in-glove relationship between the waterfront employers and the White House – the PMA has no reason to negotiate, but need only to sit and wait, secure in the knowledge that the Bush administration will do its dirty work.

The struggle on the West Coast waterfront affects every worker and every union. Defeat for the ILWU could affect unions as profoundly as President Ronald Reagan’s smashing of the air traffic controllers union in 1982.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************

A real Senate race in New Jersey

The decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court to permit Frank Lautenberg’s name on the November ballot as the Democratic Senate candidate, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s opting not to intervene, are a victory for democracy and voting rights. This dramatically improves the chances that labor, African American and Latino voters will defeat Republican Douglas Forrester, a right-wing extremist with close ties to the National Rifle Association and other ultra-right groups. That in turn improves the odds of blocking the Republican effort to take back control of the U.S. Senate Nov. 5.

The Democrats hold a one-seat majority in the Senate. But several Senate races are too close to call. Winning the Senate race in New Jersey by exploiting the ethical lapses of Robert Torricelli was one of the GOP’s fondest hopes, thus their futile attempt to keep Torricelli’s name on the ballot. Now those hopes are dashed.

Lautenberg, a former three-term U.S. Senator, has come out swinging, hammering Forrester for being “out of touch” with the people. Flanked by gun control advocates, Lautenberg blasted Forrester for his callous comment that gun control could not have saved the lives of six innocent people murdered by a sniper in Maryland.

Suddenly on the defensive, Forrester denounced Lautenberg for his 1991 vote against the Gulf War resolution. Lautenberg should proclaim that vote as a badge of courage.

Voters now can focus on real issues: growing poverty and unemployment, lack of health care and prescription drugs under Medicare, police racial profiling, the runaway corporate crime wave, and yes, the danger of war. Forrester is a millionaire executive of Benecard, a prescription management corporation that steered people to the highest cost prescription drugs, typically 25 percent above the fair market price. He reaped millions in this price-fixing swindle targeted against senior citizens and others in ill health. Now it is Forrester’s turn to answer some questions about “ethics.”

Sen. Byrd: Slow down. Ask questions.

Fri, 11 Oct 2002 06:57:00 +0000

In an impassioned Oct. 4 Senate speech, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) said the nation was rushing “into war without fully discussing why, without thoroughly considering the consequences, or without making any attempt to explore what steps we might take to avert a conflict.”

Byrd said the “newly bellicose mood” permeating the White House was “clearly motivated by campaign politics” and warned that before sending U.S. armed forces into Iraq, members of Congress must “overcome the siren song of political polls” and “focus on the merits rather than the politics, of this most grave, this most serious issue.”

Byrd said Senate Joint Resolution 46 (SJR-46), authorizing Bush to launch a preemptive strike against Iraq, “is not only a product of haste, it is also a product of presidential hubris.” He said the resolution is “breathtaking” in its scope and redefines the nature of defense, reinterprets and amends the Constitution to suit the will of the executive branch and “stands the Charter of the United Nations on its head.”

He said claims by the administration that Congress gave Bush authority to take action in order to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism when it authorized the use of military force following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack were a “cynical twisting of words.”

“The reality,” he said, is that Congress “granted the president specific and limited authority to use force against the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attack. Nowhere was [there] an implied recognition of inherent authority ... to deter and prevent future acts of terrorism.”

Byrd pleaded with his colleagues to “think for a moment of a precedent that this resolution will set. From the day forward American presidents will be able to invoke SJR-46 as justification for launching pre-emptive military strikes against any sovereign nation they perceive to be a threat. Other nations will be able to hold up the United States to justify their military adventures.”

Byrd pointed to the concerns of the Founding Fathers, who carefully debated the authority of the president to declare war. “To be sure, weapons of mass destruction are a 20th and 21st century horror that the framers of the Constitution had no way of foreseeing. But they did foresee the frailty of human nature. And they saw the inherent danger of concentrating too much power in one individual. That is why the framers bestowed on Congress the power to declare war.”

Byrd warned that war against Iraq “will affect thousands if not tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of lives and perhaps alter the course of history. It is not a decision to be taken in haste under the glare of election-year politics and the pressure of artificial deadlines. And yet that is precisely what Congress is proposing to do. ... Fie upon some of the so-called leaders of the Congress for falling into this pit.”

Byrd said the Senate is rushing to vote on whether to declare war on Iraq without pausing to ask why. “Why is war being dealt with not as a last resort but as a first resort? Why is Congress being pressured to act now? Why, 33 days before a general election? ... Where are our senses?” he asked

Byrd challenged Bush’s claim that Iraq had connections with the events of Sept. 11: “Yes, we had Sept. 11. But we must not make the mistake of looking at the resolution before us as just another offshoot of the war on terror. We have dealt with Al Qaeda and with the Taliban government that sheltered it ... So where does Iraq enter into the equation? Where?

“No one in the administration has been able to produce any solid evidence linking Iraq to the Sept. 11 attack. The fact that Osama bin Laden attacked the United States does not de facto mean that Saddam Hussein is now in a lock-and-load position and is readying an attack on these United States. Slow down. Think. Ask questions. Debate.”

The author can be reached at fgab708@aol.com

Quotable quotes

Fri, 11 Oct 2002 05:46:00 +0000

Everyone loves reading quotes. They give us a chance to step back and think about past struggles and historical situations. As present developments continue at a rapid-fire pace, sometimes a step back to look at what people said about similar issues helps put things in perspective, giving us further confidence to struggle on.

“Unless the present situation extends our nationalism into internationalism, unless it has thrust forward our patriotism into humanitarianism we cannot meet it.”

Jane Addams

Address before the Chicago Liberty Meeting, April 30, 1899

“1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood beyond his control.

“2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.”

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, December 10, 1948

If you have a quotable quote – send it in to the People’s Weekly World and we will occasionally reprint them: pww@pww.org

Letters

Fri, 04 Oct 2002 03:56:00 +0000

Doing something

Did you ever feel that you had come to the end of the line – that the situation had deteriorated to the point where you didn’t know what to do and, even if you did, it probably wouldn’t matter?

I know I have. When I get in that mood I remember that someone once said, “I shot an arrow in the air, it fell to earth I know not where” and decide to do something. After all, that has more potential for success than doing nothing.

A case in point is the offer of Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream to send an e-mail to your member of Congress giving your views on Bush’s drive to war with Iraq.

After sending my own I got one of those bright ideas that we all get but usually do nothing about: “Why not write a leaflet with all the pertinent information, print a couple hundred copies and pass it out at the local train stop?”

So I did, making sure that I included my e-mail address, in hopes that someone might respond, thus opening the possibility of some kind of peace group.

So far that hasn’t happened. But who knows? Maybe they all responded and maybe none did. But 200 people were given an opportunity that they may not otherwise have had – and that counts for something.

Oh yes, the web site: www.truemajority.com/index.asp?action=2174&ms=

irqpease.

Fred GabouryChicago IL

What kind of slip?

Was it a Freudian slip? A pink slip? A slip of the tongue?

Or did the Secretary of State almost tell a congressional committee the truth on September 26 when he expressed his concern about the possibility that some powerful leader might be using “weapons of mass distraction?”

“Er, destruction.”

Jim Lane Dallas TX

War for oil

Thank you for doing the work necessary to bring more of the facts to light concerning Iraq and the fact that the much-wanted war on the part of the oil barons has to do with oil, not “terrorism.” (9/21)

The information on the Defense Policy Institute was especially enlightening. Now we see even more clearly that oil is what working-class young people will be asked to die and kill for.

Has anyone in mainstream media conducted a poll which asks the question: are you willing to send your children and loved ones to die and be killed for Halliburton, Exxon Mobil, Harkin, and their fellow corporations? A guess would be that most people would just say no.

The kind of information that was presented in your article is exactly what’s needed to rip the mask off those who are terrorizing the world: the U.S. ruling class.

Barbara Jean Hope Philadelphia PA

More on Israel and Palestine

Fron the perspective of an “older adult” out here in Middle America, let me say that I find your website quite impressive and good journalism. I especially liked the articles on “Calls jam Capitol phones” and “NGO’s in Palestine.” (9/28) I intend to read more and come back often. I learned about your site from a post at Indymedia.org. (which was itself mentioned in a Newsweek article).

I would like to suggest, if I may, that you provide a link and an article about the online petition in Israel by over 480 enlisted and officer Israeli reservists (www.seruv.org.il). Also suggest you post the weekly column by Uri Avnery, an Israeli journalist, peace activist and former Knesset member for three terms. (www.uri-avnery.co.il). A new column comes out every Sunday. It is nothing short of excellent. His peace website is www.gush-shalom.org.

I would also recommend a map of the Occupied Territories, showing all the settlements. I believe they number 200.

One thing almost no American knows about is the bulldozing of Palestinian homes for “no Israeli military building permit.” The homes are bulldozed, often without notice, even with the families inside scrambling to get out.

Over 10,000 homes in Gaza alone are under Israeli demolition orders. Palestinians almost never get issued a “building permit”. How can Arafat control his people when Israel controls the building permits? Then there is the current lockdown. Excuse me, “curfew” in Occupation Speak. Incidentally, there is a very good article on Occupation Speak at www.counterpunch.org.

Don Voss St. Charles MO

Editorials

Fri, 04 Oct 2002 03:18:00 +0000

There’s still time

Two recent reports from the Census Bureau shed additional light on why the Bush administration seeks to turn public attention from the economy to concern about whether or not Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction that justify a preemptive military strike against Iraq. The Pentagon estimates the cost of such a war at $200 billion.

Meanwhile, according to the Bureau, both the number and the proportion of Americans living in poverty increased last year for the first time in eight years, the number of people without health insurance increased by 1.4 million and the gap between rich and poor widened.

And there’s more: 1.5 million workers have been unemployed for six months or longer; nearly a million workers have exhausted their 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits and the extended benefits enacted in March. Bankruptcies are up, foreclosures on home mortgages are at 30-year highs and the value of families’ stock and mutual fund holdings has declined by nearly a trillion dollars since June.

All are painful testimony to the economic policies of the present resident of the White House – and none will improve if the right wing strengthens its grip on Congress by winning control of the Senate on Nov. 5.

Jobs, health care, decent education, prescription drugs, protection of the environment and the elimination of poverty are national questions requiring national solutions. As such, they will require congressional action – and those solutions will not be forthcoming if Trent Lott becomes Senate Majority Leader.

Our language is replete with phrases referring to politics and elections: Tip O’Neill’s, “All politics is local,” or “the only vote that counts is cast on Election Day.” There are others, but we think Yogi Berra said it best: “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

That’s how we feel about this year’s elections. By the time you read this there’ll be barely four short weeks until Election Day. But that’s four weeks in which to ring doorbells, make phone calls and do the nitty-gritty that, in the final analysis, wins elections.

***************************************************************************************

Murder incorporated

The White House plumbed new depths of gangsterism Oct. 1 when George W. Bush’s press secretary, Ari Fleischer, suggested that assassination would be a cost-effective way of eliminating Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. “The cost of one bullet, if the Iraqi people take it on themselves, is substantially less” than removing Hussein through a full-fledged U.S. invasion, he said.

He attempted to hide his call for murder by suggesting that it be carried out by Iraqis. But that is nothing new. The CIA has often recruited underworld hit men or assassins of foreign nationality to give the covert agency “plausible deniability.”

Assassination as an instrument of U.S. foreign policy was exposed in 1975 in hearings conducted by Senator Frank Church and his Select Committee on Intelligence. The CIA plotted the successful assassination of Congolese Premier Patrice Lumumba, and Vietnamese puppet leader Ngo Dinh Diem. Their attempts to murder Cuban President Fidel Castro stretched over decades. And there is disturbing evidence of “blowback” implicating the CIA and the FBI in assassinations here at home, such as President John F. Kennedy. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X.

Sen. Church urged enactment of a federal statute barring assassinations. Powerful Cold War proponents of what they call “executive action” blocked it. However, every president since Gerald Ford has upheld an Executive Order barring assassinations. Until George W. Bush, that is.

Last year, The Washington Post reported that the CIA is once again contemplating covert missions. The Bush administration concluded that executive orders banning assassinations did not prevent the president from lawfully singling out a terrorist for death.

Just give the word “terrorist” an inclusive definition, and they can find an excuse to terminate anyone who stands in their way.

Fleischer’s call for assassination gives a menacing new twist to Bush’s vow of imposing a “regime change” on Iraq “by any means necessary.” This is a White House out of control, flouting every principle of decency, morality or international law.

No logo or pro logo

Thu, 03 Oct 2002 09:01:00 +0000

NEW YORK – Naomi Klein, author of No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, and Sameena Ahmad, correspondent for The Economist, who wrote an article entitled “Pro Logo: Why Brands Are Good For You,” debated here Sept. 25, at the Society for Ethical Culture.

Klein’s No Logo, published in January 2000, has become an international bestseller, translated into over 20 different languages. It documents the subtle shift that has taken place over the last decade of corporations no longer being production-based entities. Klein argues corporations are mainly concerned with marketing images, lifestyles and aspirations through brands – brand names. This shift, she says, has facilitated a shedding of physical assets like factories and employees, and moving production to third world countries where troublesome production costs like health care and living wages aren’t a priority, and where more surplus value can be extracted from labor.

Ahmad argues that of the 74 top brands “41 declined in value … while the combined value of the 74 fell by $49 billion.” In other words, paraphrasing Ahmad, corporations are the victims and profits are down.

As the debate began, Ahmad suggested that companies are a “force of social good.” And brands are “proof that our economy works.” Adding, “brands help competition,” and “competition weakens a Goliath.”

Klein argued that the corporate paradigm has changed dramatically. Giving the example of Nike, Klein quoted its CEO, Phillip Knight, as saying, “We are no longer a sneaker company. We are selling the idea of empowerment.”

One of the ways this new paradigm has manifested itself is in the search for “ever more obscure” places where labor law regulations can be avoided and NGO’s have little access.

Corporations look for tax-free zones, she said, and then apply for waivers to lower the national minimum wage laws, threatening to stop production and shift resources elsewhere. This makes impoverished nations compete against one another over who can create the best climate for keeping production costs down.

Overall, the debate was entertaining and informative, but gave few concrete suggestions on how best to combat corporate globalization and the branding of our communities. Also lacking was a more full discussion concerning the role of organized labor.

While struggling to weaken corporate globalization the labor movement has built stronger ties to unions and workers in other nations and has been in the forefront of helping to increase their living and working conditions. It has also fought against NAFTA, FTAA, the World Bank, IMF and WTO.

At the end of the debate, Klein summed up “what we are really talking about.” Asking, “What kind of world do we want to live in? What kind of democracy do we want to have?” Adding, social change isn’t about arguing. It is about “power.” And right now corporations have way too much of it.

Owens Wiwa, executive director of the African Environmental and Human Development Agency, and Peter Marber, president of Trust Company of the Atlantic, also participated in the debate.

The author can be reached at tonypec@pww.org

Chicago PWW banquet set for Oct. 20

Thu, 03 Oct 2002 08:51:00 +0000

Kathy Kelly, two-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, and Ishmael Flory, long-time member of the Communist Party, head the list of honorees at this year’s annual People’s Weekly World/Nuestro Mundo banquet. Barbara Moore, vice president of the Coalition to Protect Public Housing, and a representative of the Carousel Linen workers round out the list of those who have been nominated to receive the Chris Hani/Rudy Lozano Award.

William McNary, president of USAction, will be the keynote speaker. (See interview with McNary, page 5.) People’s artist Peggy Lipshutz and singer Christian Lens highlight the afternoon’s cultural presentation.

“We are very proud of our honorees, keynote speaker and entertainers, all of whom represent the finest of today’s struggles for peace, justice and democracy,” John Bachtell, chair of the banquet committee, said. “They also represent the ideals for which Chris Hani and Rudy Lozano gave their lives.”

Bachtell said the banquet committee sees the event “as more than a fundraiser for the People’s Weekly World, important as that is. It is also planned as an opportunity to draw strength for a final push to defeat the right wing in this year’s election wars.”

Bachtell, organizer of the Illinois district of the Communist Party, said the election will be “even more crucial” if the Bush administration succeeds in its effort to win congressional approval for launching a war against Iraq. “We simply cannot allow such a crime to happen,” he said.

The Chris Hani/Rudy Lozano Award is named in honor of Chris Hani, one-time commander of the armed wing of African National Congress and General Secretary of the South African Communist Party, and Rudy Lozano, a Mexican-American activist and key player in the campaign that elected Harold Washington as Chicago mayor in 1983. Both were gunned down by assassins.

In addition to Bachtell, banquet sponsors include Rev. Willie Barrow, chair, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition board of directors; Chicago Alderman Theodore Thomas; Katie Jordan, president, Chicago CLUW; Rep. Bobby Rush; and Tom Balanoff, president, SEIU Local 1.

Doors will open at 2 p.m., Oct. 20, at the Three Happiness Café, 2130 S. Wentworth, with dinner at 2:30. Tickets are $40 in advance, $45 at the door and may be ordered from: People’s World; 3116 S. Halsted; Chicago, Ill. 60608. By phone: (312) 842-5665.

Reduced-rate parking is available across the street from the café.