X-CURSION SPEAKOUT FORUM (politics, religion, social issues)

(last updated on July 24, 2006)

www.poetryvlog.com is in its 14th week featuring...Hello Poets and Poetry Fans: Michael Mart, Producer of poetryvlog here letting you know that http://www.poetryvlog.com<http://www.poetryvlog.com/> is now in its 14th week, and featuring Mindy Kronenberg. Please view the site, ask all your family, friends, and colleagues to view it, and above all enjoy Mindy's video. We now have an RSS feed link for those who want to view all the poets on a single page or to subscribe. And, there is an iPod Video version for downloading to your video iPod and iTunes library. Sincerely, Michael Mart http://www.poetryvlog.com

I've   always liked Dolores Taylor & Tom Laughlin's films.
I'd like to do what I can to support their artistic efforts.
I have a movie review of   their movie: "Billy Jack Goes to Washington"
(GO TO   our movie review web page:
www.bradleyphoenix.com/moviereviews.html ).

This movie was never released in 1977.      I support independent films.
I'm happy for the Laughlins.    It looks like Billy Jack   is   back!

                                     -     Bradley   Thunderbird   Phoenix               :)

Information    from    www.billyjack.com

New   Movie - Billy Jacks Crusade
Contents of what's in   this   movie:

· Explosive political theme of the new film

· The political theme is only 1 of 6 powerful themes and not the most controversial one

· 4 extraordinary love stories

· Not a documentary, but a full-length feature film in a breakthrough film format.

· Overview Summary of themes in the film

· Excerpts of the details of some scenes themselves (click here)

Announcing the New 2005 Billy Jack Feature Film

Billy Jack's Crusade to End the War in Iraq
and Restore America to its Moral Purpose

To prove to the world that there is available right now a realistic, immediately doable Exit Plan - Give back the Oil
Bring home the Troops Plan - that will immediately end the insane daily flow of the blood of American heroes and
innocent Iraqi civilian women and children, bring real stability and peace to Iraq, and bring our troops home immediately
not next year, but by Labor Day.

To lead a nationwide protest march to force Bush and Cheney to give up Iraq as an oil colony and stop the endless flow
of blood by getting the hated Americans out of Iraq immediately – “No more orphans for Halliburton Oil.

· If Bush and Cheney refuse to end the war and give up Iraq as Bushs oil colony, hold an open public televised Hearing
conducted by panelists who are people, including victims of the war, not politicians or political appointees, to explore Impeaching
Bush & Cheney if thats the only way we can force them to end the war, outrageous as that first seems.

· And to stop the 3 fanatic groups and the Neo-Cons controlling Bush and the government from dismantling our Congress, our
Laws, and the Constitution itself

The political theme is only 1 of 6 dramatic, emotional themes in the movie, and far from being the most controversial one.

Plus 4 Extraordinary Love Stories.

There are 5 other more controversial themes in the film -- 5 more powerful, insightful, and more important themes than the political
theme, including 4 highly emotional, exciting love stories that focus on the human dimension. Like the original Billy Jack, it is an uplifting
"10-handkerchief" tearjerker!

Billy Jack's Crusade will not be a documentary. It will be light years away from being a Fahrenheit 9/11. Billy Jack's Crusade will
be a full-length feature film, in a breakthrough film format, weaving together the genres of cinema verite, reality film, documentary and
computer graphics into a unique full-length feature film never seen before.

Just as the original Billy Jack, Billy Jack's Crusade will be a non-stop powerful melodrama.   Billy Jack and Jean will be “Obewon Kenobis” passing down their wisdom and mantle to a younger Billy Jack and Jean, and today's idealistic rebels struggling against all of the enormous pressures assaulting young people today. Think of Forrest Gump whereby Forrest appears on screen and talks with John Kennedy, and
you'll get a hint of how real this unique film will be.

Mailing    Address:

Billy Jack - The Official Website                  Telephone:   (877) 253-4567
P.O. BOX   840
Moorpark,   CA     93020                         Fax:   (805) 491-2802

E-mail: info@billyjack.com

The Laughlins are looking for financial backing for
their political film outside of the Hollywood system.
GO   TO     www.billyjack.com    for more details.

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East Timor ACTION Network ALERT (ETAN)

To donate go to http://www.etan.org/etan/2006bappl.htm

Pam Sexton
Charles Scheiner
PO Box 15774, Washington, DC 20003

July 2006

Dear Friends of East Timor,

“We need your solidarity now as much as ever!” Every day, we hear this from friends in East Timor.

Four years after achieving independence, Timor-Leste (East Timor) is again in the headlines. Most of the population of Dili, the capital, have fled to rural areas or emergency safe zones. Dissatisfied soldiers and rifts between the military and police caused long-submerged political and economic tensions to surface, manifesting as violence and chaos as gangs of unemployed young men looted and burned hundreds of houses across Dili. Foreign troops have arrived, invited by East Timor’s government, and political pressure has pushed out Mari Alkatiri and brought in Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta as the nation’s Prime Minister. At the grassroots, tension, fear and violence loom.

Is the UN's "poster child" becoming a failed state? Is the poorest country in Asia in danger of losing the independence, democracy and peace that its people achieved after decades of struggle?

As activists who have spent many years in East Timor between 1999 and today, with close communication with many people there, we know that the situation is complex. Both of us work with La’o Hamutuk, an East Timorese NGO which has analyzed the role of international institutions in East Timor for the past six years, and we understand how failures of those institutions, magnified by problems within Timorese society and weak political and economic structures, have led to the current crisis. Massive unemployment, historical memories, military schisms, regional conflicts, governance failures, a climate of impunity, post-traumatic stress, misdirected international "aid" and misguided UN decisions all play a role. The breakdown was predictable, but it can be resolved.

Since 1991, ETAN has addressed key underlying causes of the current crisis. Our work today is as critical as it was before the 1999 vote for independence.

ETAN continues its work for justice for crimes against humanity committed by the Indonesian military in East Timor. To date, virtually no Indonesian has been punished for crimes committed in East Timor. Impunity for past crimes leads to a sense that current crimes will also go unpunished and encourages vigilante justice; accountability, is an essential element of lasting peace.

ETAN continues to work for East Timor’s economic independence. Australia's defiance of international law on maritime boundaries is robbing East Timor of billions of dollars of revenue from the Timor Sea oil and gas reserves. This money is critical for the new country's current and future economic and social stability. “Free market” economic policies adopted at the urging of the World Bank and the U.S. government curtail public sector employment and government services, contributing to the large number of alienated, unemployed youth.

ETAN has always supported East Timorese grassroots organizations working for peace, human rights and democracy. These organizations need our support more than ever. Filomena dos Reis, a strong activist ETAN has worked with for years, has said, “Twenty-four years we fought for our freedom. I still have hope: to develop the future of this country and live in peace.”

As East Timor deals with a political, economic and humanitarian crisis, ETAN must continue its important work. Help us to make our solidarity response as strong as possible. Please make a generous contribution to ETAN today so that we can continue our critical education and advocacy work in the United States and at the United Nations.

Please join us and hundreds of others who care about the future of East Timor by making a contribution to ETAN today. To make a secure donation online, go to http://www.etan.org/etan/2006bappl.htm.

You can write a check to “ETAN/U.S.” in support of its political advocacy work, or make a tax-deductible donation of over $50 to “A.J. Muste Memorial Institute/ETAN,” which supports ETAN’s educational efforts. Please mail donations to: ETAN, PO Box 15774, Washington, DC 20003.

Thank you for your support.

In solidarity,

Pamela Sexton

Charles Scheiner

etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan

John M. Miller Internet: fbp@igc.org

National Coordinator

East Timor & Indonesia Network

48 Duffield St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA

Phone: (718)596-7668 Mobile: (917)690-4391

Skype: john.m.miller Web: http://www.etan.org

Send a blank e-mail message to info@etan.org to find out

how to learn more about East Timor on the Internet

etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan

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For anyone who has the time to read the prodigious list of George Bush's failures. RÉSUMÉ - GEORGE W. BUSH EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE COLLEGE: I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. I was a cheerleader. MILITARY: I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam. LAW ENFORCEMENT: I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. I pled guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available. PAST WORK EXPERIENCE: I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland, Texas, in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock. I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money. With the help of my father and our right-wing friends in the oil industry (including Enron CEO Ken Lay), I was elected governor of Texas. ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS GOVERNOR OF TEXAS: I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies, making Texas the most polluted state in the Union. During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden city in America. I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions in borrowed money. I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American history. With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father's appointments to the Supreme Court, I became president after losing by over 500,000 votes. ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT: The World: I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S. history. I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors - 2002 U.S. Elections. I am the first President in U.S. history to ask the United Nations to remove the U.S. from the Human Rights Commission. I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked, preemptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation. I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S. citizens, and the world community. I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one billion dollars per week. In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for attacking Iraq, then blamed the lies on our British friends. I refused to allow inspectors access to U.S. detainees and thereby have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention. I withdrew the U.S. from the World Court of Law.--actually what happened is the World Court is changing into the International Criminal Court--because the US wants to be a part of the court, but not be open to having the US have charges brought up against them, they have temporarily ceased negotiating with the countries involved in and taking part in the establishment of the ICC. So, in other words, the US wants to be able to establish the laws within the ICC, practice those laws within the ICC, but not have those laws applied to our country. I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and security. I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously protest a president in public venues (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind. I set the record for fewest number of press conferences of any President since the advent of television. I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year period. After taking off the entire month of August 2001, I presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history. I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. after the World Trade Center attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most disliked country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world history. The Economy: I spent the U.S. surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury. I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. history. I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period. I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period. I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the U.S. stock market. In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month. I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history. My "poorest millionaire," Condoleeza Rice, had a Chevron oil tanker named after her. I set the record for most campaign fundraising trips by a U.S. President. I am the all-time U.S. and world record-holder for receiving the most corporate campaign donations. My largest lifetime campaign contributor, and one of my best friends, Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron. My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election decision. I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against investigation or prosecution. More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate rip-offs in history. I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed. I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history. Crime: I am the first President in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record. I changed the U.S. policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts. I appointed more convicted criminals to my administration than any President in U.S. history. Security I created the Department of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government. I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in duty benefits for active duty troops and their families. I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice. RECORDS AND REFERENCES: My Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available. All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's library, sealed and unavailable for public view. All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my bankrupt companies are sealed and unavailable for public view. All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President, attended regarding public energy policy are sealed and unavailable for public view.

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ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
To subscribe, visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email
============================================================================
Please forward widely!

Two days ago, on April 29, the streets of New York City echoed with the chants, songs and shouts of at least 350,000 people from across the United States. Mobilized around the call to end the war in Iraq now, to say no to any attack on Iran, and to support the rights and dignity of immigrants and women, and all people, the marchers brought a renewed urgency to the clear demand for change. One of the largest contingents of the day was organized by antiwar activists in the trade union movement, bringing together the largest antiwar labor contingent in U.S. history.

At the march’s conclusion in Foley Square, a vibrant sea of flags, banners and signs welcomed marchers to the “Peace and Justice Festival.” Issue tents featured speakers, literature, educational activities, t-shirt sales, food and music highlighting the key issues of the wide-ranging March coalition: the war in Iraq and threats of war and U.S. nuclear attacks on Iran, a Palestine tent featuring Q&A on Israel/Palestine and folkloric dance in an Arab-style “café,” counter-recruitment campaigners, a Labor tent featuring the NYC Labor Chorus, and others. A special Children’s Peace Tent featured puppet making and peace crane art projects, “Putt for Peace” and other games, face painting, musicians and jugglers. Films, music, performances by the Raging Grannies and many other activities were featured as well. A fuller report, including photographs, will be available soon on our website.

Now we must look forward and build on the momentum of this vibrant, empowering demonstration. We call on you to help us quickly and energetically into the next phase of our work. We need your time, talent and dedication to your local activism, and we need your financial support for our national organizing work.

UFPJ’s 2006 plan of action to Organize, Mobilize and Empower the Peace Majority began with the April 29th mobilization. In the coming months we plan to:

* Expand the pressure on Congress and the White House to end the war on Iraq and bring all of the troops home now. We will work to prevent a pre-emptive war on Iran or any other country. We will continue to put people into the streets in marches and rallies and vigils; we will strengthen our legislative action and we will support non-violent civil resistance.
* Convene organizing conferences for UFPJ member groups, which will include skill-building workshops and training in building stronger, broader coalitions.
* Organize to make peace and justice issues the focal point of the election-year agenda, and to mobilize voters for peace.

One way you can be part of this dynamic program of work is to become a UFPJ Sustainer by making a monthly donation: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/donate. If each one of you gave $10 or $15 a month, or a quarterly donation of $25, we would have the resources we need to move forward.

Or you could make a personally significant one-time contribution (http://www.unitedforpeace.org/donate) -- whether that is $50, $500 or $5,000, please know that however much, or however frequently, you can give, your donations are immediately put to work by United for Peace and Justice. Your gift of dollars today will help us give the gift of peace tomorrow.

Thank you for your support,

Yours, for Peace and Justice,

The UFPJ National Staff

Online donations and credit card donations by phone are not tax deductible.

Donations of $100 or more are tax-deductible if your check is made payable to our 501 (c) (3) fiscal sponsor, the A.J Muste Memorial Institute. Be sure to specify "UFPJ" on the memo line.

Due to restrictions by our fiscal sponsor, donations under $100 are not tax deductible, and must be made payable directly to United for Peace and Justice.

Mail all checks to UFPJ at P.O. Box 607, Times Square Station, New York, NY 10108.
============================================
ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
To subscribe, visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email

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SUFFOLK   PEACE NET   INFORMATION

Saturday 4-29-06 through Thursday 5-04-06. Some PPATV selections for
Brookhaven/Hauppauge Cablevision channel 20

**Please forward this email on to anyone in the Brookhaven/Hauppauge area
that you know who might be interested.

*Saturday, April 29th. *
**
*12:30 AM* - *1:30 AM* - *The-Not-So Hidden Agenda* - Featuring: 'Invisibly
Visible'. Documentary outlining evidence, clues, origins and practices of
the Illuminati. Also two additional shorts on the same topic. Followed by
the Intro from Loose Change 2nd Ed, then 'Pentagon Strike' and 'Harry' from
Loose Change 1st Ed.

*Sunday, April 30th.*

*3:00 PM* - *4:00 PM* - *The Unitarian Universalist View* - Highlights and
opening excerpts from the Unitarian Universalist Association's General
Assembly 2004. Featuring The Los Angeles Gay Men's Choir.

*10:00 PM - 11:00 PM - Suffolk Progressive Vision -* REPEAT - Featuring:
Iraq Veterans Against the War. Speaking out on veterans becoming active
resisters.

*11:30 PM* - *12:30 AM* - *The Struggle Continues* - REPEAT - Michael
Parenti. On becoming an activist for social justice. Berkeley.

*Monday, May 1st.*
**
*8:00 PM - 9:00 PM* - *DemocracyNow!* - Episode from Friday 4-28-06.
**
*Tuesday, May 2nd. *

*12:30 AM - 1:30 AM* - *Get Up, Stand Up!* - Featuring Part Two of, Hugo
Chavez at The World Social Forum. Followed by Part One of 'The Revolution
Will Not Be Televised'

*8:00 AM* - *9:00 AM* - *Democracy Now! Digest* - Featuring the 'War and
Peace Report'. The hour consists of the first ten minute daily segments of
Amy Goodman's Democracy Now from the previous week. Dates ranging from
Friday 4-21-06 to Thursday 4-27-06.

*Thursday, May 4th. *
**
*5:00 PM* - *6:00 PM* - *Truth to Power* - Featuring Part Two of, 'Peace,
Propaganda and the Promised Land'. Followed by excerpts from, 'Constructing
Public Opinion', and 'Edward Said On Orientalism'. Concluding with a feature
from 'Women In Black, Scotland'.

Until Peace!
Thanks For Watching!
And For Watching Out!

*Suffolk Progressive Vision*
website - www(dot)spv(dot)active(dot)ws
email - spv(at)active(dot)ws

-or-

www(dot)ppatv(dot)active(dot)ws

Note:
Website - Replace (dot) with a period in the address line of your web
browser.
Email - Replace (at) with the ampersand (@) as well as (dot) with a period
in the send to line of your email.

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HEALTHY    PLANET     INFORMATION

DETAILS
Join us for fun, friends and a completely plant-based potluck dinner
and an opportunity to hear our inspiring speaker.

KIDS ACTIVITIES WILL BE HELD DURING EVERY LECTURE so bring the family!

LOCATION: Sweet Hollow Hall, Melville
West Hills County Park
(Gwynne Road, Just N. of the N. State Pkwy. W. off Rte. 110)
complete directions at: http://www.healthy-planet.org/Series/index.asp

REQUESTED DONATION: $8 General Public / $5 HealthyPlanet Members
(Additional $8 will be requested of those attending dinner portion of
meeting and not bringing food to share).
KIDS UNDER 12 ARE FREE

RESERVATIONS Requested:
Call 631-421-5591, e-mail: info@healthy-planet.org
All details: http://www.healthy-planet.org

IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN TO A DINNER/LECTURE OR NEED DIRECTIONS:
log onto our website for all the details, directions and for what to
bring!
http://www.healthy-planet.org/Series/index.asp

   http://www.healthy-planet.org
             631 421-5591
info@healthy-planet.org

HealthyPlanet...
Working with you, and for you!

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                                                                        SUBVERSIVE       THEATRE

Subversive Theatre
Attention All Partisans of Subversive Theatre
Coming Up Next:
in celebration of May Day 2006 . . .
WAITING FOR LEFTY
by Clifford Odets
Monday, May 1st, 8pm
at the Unitarian Universalist Church
(695 Elmwood Ave)
What?
A staged reading of the classic Union drama WAITING FOR LEFTY in celebration of May Day 2006. Join us for theatre, complimentary food, drink, and post-show discussion.
Who?
Our rendition is directed by Diane Cammarata and features the acting talents of Richard Lambert, Dan Walker, Dana Block, Bill Schmidt, Kelly Beuth, Joe DiCesare, Bob Grabowski, Theresa Baker, Lawrence Rowswell and others.
Where?
In the Social Hall of Buffalo's Unitarian Universalist Church at 695 Elmwood Avenue -- at the northeast corner of the intersection of Elmwood Ave and West Ferry St.
When?
Monday, May 1st at 8pm. Doors open to the public at 7:45pm. Seating on a first come, first serve basis.
How Much?
We're talking about art not fast food. All Subversive Theatre productions are free and open to anyone who has the guts to come and see them. However, we will gratefully accept donations following each performance.
Workers of the World, Come Spectate . . .
For our fifth-annual May Day performance, we are excited to present a staged reading of one of the greatest pro-worker, pro-Union plays of all time! The One-Act drama WAITING FOR LEFTY is an incredibly empowering story of everyday workers who overcome fear, ignorance, and their own corrupt union leaders to strike for a better life.
In the spirit of May Day, this performance will be followed by open discussion as well as complimentary food and drink for all. Don't miss the celebration!
A May Day Tradition . . .
For over a hundred years now, May Day (May 1st) has been recognized as a day for commemorating workers' struggles worldwide. Since 2002, Subversive Theatre has been holding annual May Day performances as our theatrical contribution to this tradition.
Over the past five years we have presented staged readings of KARL MARX IN ALLENTOWN (2002), BURY THE DEAD (2003), ARE YOU NOW OR HAVE YOU EVER BEEN (2004), and THE MOTHER (2005).
Don't miss the latest installment of our growing tradition.

And Our Fund Drive . . .
May Day will also be the day we kick-off the fund drive for our 2006-2007 Season. We'll be accepting members (old & new) at the following levels:

a.. SYMPATHIZERS ($25.00 dollars a year)
b.. ENTHUSIASTS ($50.00 dollars a year)
c.. ZEALOTS ($100.00 dollars a year)
d.. FANATICS ($200.00 dollars a year or more)
All contributions are now fully tax deductible, so bring your checkbook and become an official member of the Subversive Theatre family!

Harrassment Sucks
If you feel you already have enough red in your world and would like to be removed from our mailing list, please reply with the word "Remove" in the subject field.

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For more info on this and everything else Subversive Theatre's up to,
check out our website at: www.subversivetheatre.org

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                                               FROM    THE    PEN

DO WE PUT UP A FIGHT NOW? ... NOW DO WE PUT UP A FIGHT?

We told you how critical it was for us to oppose John Roberts with every fiber of our being and many thousands of you did. We warned you that allowing the stealth candidate Roberts to pass without proper scrutiny would only EMBOLDEN Bush to put forward an even more inscrutable personal crony next. And did we get that one RIGHT! The nomination of someone as unqualified as "Brownie" to replace Sandra Day O'Connor was greeted with a universal chorus of catcalls and derision from just about every corner of the media. But it is not enough for us to reject this sad excuse for a lifetime appointment, we must ALSO demand a true moderate for this next vacancy.

TAKE ACTION NOW AT http://www.trotn.com/miers.htm

In a Republican controlled Congress that would rubberstamp a ham sandwich if the president sent one down, this one may prove to be just too hard to swallow even for them. Indeed, some commentators believe this nomination was intended to be SO objectionable that even in its defeat it would force the goal posts even further into far right field. It's not only time for a filibuster, it's time to KEEP ON filibustering until we, the American people, get what we truly deserve, a qualified MODERATE who will rule fairly for us all. And we must make it starkly plain to our representatives that their continued cowardice will cost them their own jobs and very soon.

http://www.trotn.com/miers.htm

This one click action page will also send your personal message to both your senators, plus a letter to your nearest daily newspaper at the same time if you like. The Miers nomination is a non-starter. And as for Harry Reid, we've had it with his non leadership as well. Strike one was the craven filibuster compromise he gave his blessing to. Strike two was allowing the ideologue Roberts to waltz through without so much as a serious challenge. And strike three was talking as if such a dedicated Bush crony as Miers even deserved a hearing. Reid has got to go.

AND WHILE WE'RE AT IT, WE'VE GOT A WAR TO STOP

What we will do is continue to speak out, LOUDER and in even greater numbers, because in the process of speaking out, we are ALSO organizing ourselves into the numbers to win the elections of the future. We just saw the largest antiwar demonstrations since the war and endless occupation in Iraq started. Meanwhile we are breeding so much hatred in the Muslim world with every senseless killing, every additional day we remain it will get worse. What we must do is to speak out to our members of Congress as their personal constituents. There are many of them who are having doubts. We need to tell them the insanity must stop NOW.

TAKE ACTION NOW AT http://www.trotn.com/troopshome.htm

The one click action page above has now been fully dedicated to the message, "Support our troops, bring them home now." There were 250,000 people who TRAVELED to Washington, D.C. to march in person. Can we not get four times that many to make a toll-free phone call or click a mouse one time? We can stop the war years from now, after an order of magnitude more death, horror and destruction. Or we can stop it RIGHT NOW, if only we speak out in sufficient numbers. They can't put a smiley face on this one.

http://www.trotn.com/troopshome.htm

The majority of the American people now realize the invasion was a terrible and tragic mistake. They are beginning to realize that they have been lied to about the most sacred matter a nation can contemplate, the necessity to go to war. And they are waiting for you to reach out to them, to show them how easy it is to express their opinion directly to their members of Congress, or submit a letter to their nearest daily newspaper using the one click action page, and to mobilize them as you are even now mobilized.

or to get no more simply email to no_more@trotn.com

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PLEASE TRY TO COME TO SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH OUR
LATINO BROTHERS IN FARMINGVILLE.

            ~ HEATHER COTTIN

---------------------------------------------------

Comrades,

Now is the time to take a stand against racism. As many of you have heard, over 30 undocumented immigrants got evicted from their home and were rendered homeless by the government. This is a disgusting example of white supremacy at its worst.   We ask that you come out to express your rage, and your support of the workers. The WorkPlace Project
has organized a march, and we are asked to join them.   This is only the beginning, if we do nothing things will get worse.

Who can come?

DATE: Sunday, June 26, 2005.
TIME: 2:00 p.m.
MEETING POINT (Starting/Ending): 33 Woodmont Place,
Farmingville, NY 11738 (off of Horseblock Road)

In solidarity,
Jim

_______________________________
James McAsey, Organizer
Jobs With Justice - Long Island
16 E 8th Street
Huntington Station, NY 11746
cell: (631) 806-2932
email: Jim@jwj.org

www.jwj.org

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Building Bridges:
Your Community and Labor Report - National Edition
Produced by Mimi Rosenberg and Ken Nash
presents
********************************************************************
Remembering the Triangle Fire
with David Von Drehle author of
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America

     On March 25, 1911, 146 young immigrant mostly
women workers died in a tragic fire at the Triangle
Shirtwaist Factory in New York's Greenwich Village.
The fire spread to consume the building's upper three
stories. Firefighters who arrived at the scene were
unable to rescue those workers trapped inside because
the doors were locked and their ladders could not reach
the factory floor.This tragedy galvanized N.Y.C. workers,
womens's organizations and progressives to fight for
labor reform and safety in the workplace and ultimately
laid the groundwork for the New Deal in the 1930's

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

To download or play this 28 minute program:
go to radio4all download page:
http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=11789
Building Bridges is regularly broadcast over WBAI, 99.5 FM in the
N.Y.C Metropolitan area on Mondays from 7-8pm EST and streamed
at http://www.2600.com/offthehook/hot2.ram

for more information email   knash@igc.org    -   WBAI   host

READ THIS MESSAGE ONLINE, WITH LOTS OF PHOTOS AND MORE LINKS, AT:
http://www.progressiveportal.org/report.html

In this message:

1. Stop U.S. Military Base Expansion

2. Shirt Sale for Tsunami Relief: Final Days

3. Changing the Rules: Extremist Supreme Court judges,
police-state measures at the borders, and more

4. HELP! Kaput computer! We're in Trouble Now ...

5. Progressive Portal User Sends 3 Millionth Letter

Dear ProgressivePortal.org user:

With all the headlines coming out of Washington D.C. lately (vote certification, inauguration, approval of Cabinet nominations, passage of extreme legislation), it's easy to lose track of other causes that still need our support. One of our roles at ProgressivePortal.org is to focus on issues that may not be getting headlines and the full attention of other progressive organizations. I'm writing to let you know about several issues that are at critical stages right now, but are not at the center of the U.S. public's attention.


1. STOP MILITARY BASE EXPANSION
-------------------------------

   If you think you know what it means to be a dedicated anti-militarism activist, wait until you hear about the grandmothers of Henoko.

Okinawa Island in the south of Japan is the reluctant host to one of the biggest concentrations of U.S. military force outside of North America. Twenty percent of the island is military bases. Not content with occupying much of Okinawa's landmass, the military now wants to build an offshore airbase in the pristine waters off Henoko. (The military is claiming this is a tradeoff for the mid-1990s promise to close the massive Futenma military base, but Japanese activists have discovered planning documents for the offshore airbase dating to 1965.)

The offshore base would be built atop fragile coral reefs and sea-grass beds, destroying the habitat of several endangered species, including the gentle dugong, a sea mammal that is a close cousin to the manatee and is a symbol of peace to the Japanese people. Because of this, the Japanese government is required to conduct an environmental assessment - an assessment that itself will damage the environment, including by drilling dozens of holes in the ocean floor.

The project is at a crucial stage. The first five drilling platforms were recently built offshore. That's when the grandmothers of Henoko swung into action.

Before the drilling platforms arrived, anti-military and pro-environment activists, some as old as 90, sat in at government offices for 10 days, occupied the beachfront for more than 250 days, and held a 20-day hunger strike. When the action moved offshore, so did the opposition. The scrupulously nonviolent activists, some of whom had not previously learned to swim, became skilled rowers and divers. Former Naha City Council member Suzuyo Takazato tells of 70-year-olds in wet suits diving into the waters to disrupt the attempts to bore holes in the sea floor. At the World Social Forum in Brazil and on a subsequent visit to the U.S. this month, Ms. Takazato displayed pictures of women and elders blocking drilling workers in rowboats and occupying the drilling platforms. (See the inspiring photos at <http://www.progressiveportal.org/report.html>;.)

Rowing out to the platforms at 6:30 every morning, day after day, week after week, the resisters have managed to prevent all drilling to date. Workers have not yet been able to install a single drilling engine on any of the platforms.

Other avenues are also being pursued. Citizens voted against the offshore base in a referendum; the mayor, who opposed the airbase, was then called to Tokyo, and after a four-hour closed-door meeting in the prime minister's office, he declared the people's wishes null and void - and then resigned, to be replaced by a pro-base mayor. A lawsuit against the base is proceeding in U.S. federal court. (U.S. groups participating in the lawsuit were introduced to the issue by ProgressivePortal.org.) But as yet, the U.S. and Japanese governments have not budged.

The Japanese subspecies of dugong is highly endangered. Scientists believe there may be as few as 25-50 animals remaining in the wild. While dugongs have no natural enemies, they are at risk because of human activity - including the attempts to conduct the drilling survey prior to building the airbase. If the survey continues, and particularly if the base is built, they will almost surely be wiped out forever.

Activists in Okinawa and Tokyo are asking our help now to prevent further base-construction activity and save the endangered creature of the Henoko coral reef.

With elections last year, both the U.S. and Japan have several new public officials involved in this matter. We've devised a letter that goes just to those new officials, so if you have already sent our Save the Dugong letter (before 21 Jan 2005), please go to this special page to write to officials who weren't in office when you sent the previous message:
http://www.progressiveportal.org/letters/environment/dugong/dugong2.html?ltr

If you have *not* previously sent a Save the Dugong letter, please go to this page to send the letter to all of the officials on our list:
http://www.progressiveportal.org/letters/environment/dugong/index.html?ltr

(If you sent the letter on 21 Jan or later, it has already gone to all the recipients.)

2. TSUNAMI RELIEF: SPECIAL SALE THROUGH FEB. 20
------------------------------------------------

   As the waters receded from the tsunami-ravaged shores of East Asia, so did the West's attention to the disaster. Now there is a danger that some of the government aid pledged so generously in the first days of the crisis will not materialize. (The U.S. is but one country known for announcing generous aid commitments and then failing to follow through.)

According to relief workers in the field, victims of the disaster are right now facing a critical need that has gotten far too little attention: grief counseling. There are survivors who lost parents, children, entire extended families, along with homes and livelihoods. They need physical support (food, water, medicine, housing) for certain; but for many, putting their lives together will be impossible without psychological assistance as well. And most mainstream aid groups won't touch a concern key to progressives: Helping poor communities become self-sufficient rather than keeping them dependent for their survival on support from the West or from dictatorial regimes, at the price of their freedom and dignity.

Fortunately, the aid organization we've been supporting has focused from the beginning on providing both physical and psychological assistance, with emphasis on self-reliance and sustainability for its beneficiaries. International Service Society (ISS) follows Gandhian principles of self-sufficiency, equality, and respect for the environment. Donations to ISS go 100% toward its aid projects: All fundraising and management costs are covered by its trustees and endowment funds. I've followed the work of ISS and its founder, Shrikumar Poddar, for more than 20 years. It's one of the more trustworthy, effective, and *progressive* agencies around.

In December, we planned to conduct a January stock-reduction sale on our line of environmental and peace shirts. After the tsunami hit, we decided to give all of our net proceeds from that sale to ISS for tsunami relief. After promoting the sale to our existing customers and donors, we've decided to extend it through Sunday, 20 Feb 2005, and to invite everyone on our contact list to take part. Please visit the sale page at:
http://www.progressiveportal.org/sale?ltr

At the bottom of that page, you can make a further donation for tsunami relief, if you wish.

In addition, right now we're giving a portion of all other sales (flags, posters, buttons, stickers, patches, magnets, etc.) to ISS for tsunami relief.

http://www.progressiveportal.org/store?ltr

3. CHANGING THE RULES: SUPREME COURT APPOINTMENTS
AND OTHER ATTACKS ON THE STRUCTURE OF DEMOCRACY
-----------------------------------------------------

The unabashed power grab by the right-wing fringe of the Republican Party continues. Several senators have just met to plan a COMPLETE dismantling of Social Security. We're working on a new action campaign to help head them off.

Meanwhile, the Congress and the Administration are working to undermine the rules, procedures, and processes that protect us from tyranny. By attacking the structural underpinnings of our government, they hope to avoid attention as they dismantle democracy. For example:

- The Senate Majority Leader is threatening to change the rules so Democrats will be powerless to prevent the appointment of far-right, anti-choice, anti-liberty judges, including Supreme Court justices.

- The House has just passed a law giving the Director of Homeland Security dictatorial powers to waive ANY legal impediments in installing security at the U.S. borders - including environmental-protection laws, labor laws, even criminal laws - at his sole discretion. Worse, the law PROHIBITS all courts from reviewing those actions! It's truly a police-state measure - but as an obscure section of a larger bill, it passed without public notice. (Now we must stop it in the Senate.)

- The Bureau of Labor Statistics wants to stop collecting data on the status of women in the workplace. The goal: Make it difficult to gauge the amount of discrimination in the workplace.

By using such obscure "back-door" strategies, the right wing hopes to escape notice as it sabotages democracy. Sorry fellas - not a chance. We're onto you. See our Action Alerts dated 26 Jan, 9 Feb, and 13 Feb 2005 at:
http://www.progressiveportal.org/alerts?ltr

Ever feel overwhelmed sorting through the myriad action requests from many different progressive organizations? Well, at ProgressivePortal.org we offer an easy solution. Our Alerts Editor, Henry Norr, scours the Internet and other resources for the most important action campaigns. Several days a week, we publish a selected alert. Our Alerts page is a one-stop resource for the most vital actions on a range of progressive causes.
http://www.progressiveportal.org/alerts?ltr

You can receive these alerts by e-mail, too. To sign up, simply send a blank message to this address: alerts-all@progressiveportal.org

As our alert of 13 Feb 2005 illustrates, we will periodically offer information about how to write to the national news media to encourage them to shine the light of day on these dark-corner maneuvers.


4. HELP! COMPUTER HAS DIED, AND WE'RE STUCK
---------------------------------------------

ProgressivePortal.org is operated on the most threadbare of shoestrings, so the death of our laptop computer a few days ago poses a serious problem. I must travel soon to help a relative with a serious illness, and need to bring a portable computer in order to keep things going at ProgressivePortal.org.

If you can donate a laptop computer, or even lend one, it will be a tremendous help. Our first choice is a Macintosh, but we can also use a PC with the right software. We need something in hand by Feb. 21.

If you can donate legal copies of the following software (for Mac OS X or Windows), that will also be a great help: Microsoft Word and Excel, or similar programs that produce compatible files; and Dreamweaver or other site-management/ftp software.

Please contact me at webweaver-AT-progressiveportal.org (change "-AT-" to "@") or (510) 595-4626 if you can help out. Thanks.


5. OUR USERS HAVE SENT THREE MILLION LETTERS
-- AND ARE WINNING PROGRESSIVE VICTORIES!
---------------------------------------------

On the morning of 22 January 2005, Beth Enson of New Mexico participated in our Save the Dugong campaign. Hers was the THREE MILLIONTH message sent in our letter-writing campaigns since our launch on 15 May 2001. (More about Beth is at <http://www.progressiveportal.org/report.html>;.)

When we started ProgressivePortal.org, I had no idea activists around the world would make our efforts so successful.

Our first large campaign was to return the progressive Pacifica Radio network to grassroots control after a Washington, DC clique managed to take over. Our users sent more than a million messages in that campaign, including thousands pressing Ken Ford to quit the Pacifica board. The day he resigned, which returned majority control to community members, he first telephoned us.

When the Charles Krug Winery in Napa Valley, CA tried to divide and conquer its unionized production workers, hiring a union-busting law firm, locking out the workers, and demanding salary cuts from most of them, we were asked to step in. A person who works in the Krug office said management was "freaked out" by the seven-foot stack of faxes sent by ProgressivePortal.org users. A Krug Winery official telephoned us just a few days before the winery rescinded the salary cuts and ended the lockout.

Earlier this year, when ploughshares activist Mary Kelly was facing a ten-year prison term for damaging a U.S. warplane stopping over in Ireland before possibly heading to Iraq, our users were asked to write to the judge calling for leniency. Within days, more than 1,600 letters were sent. Although observers believed "the fix was in" and a long prison term had already been decided upon, when the sentencing date arrived, Ms. Kelly received a suspended sentence - not jail.

Now peace- and environment-loving citizens throughout Japan are seeking our support to prevent construction of a U.S.-Japanese military base off the Okinawa shore. With the dedication of Heneko's grandmothers and others keeping watch over the site, the lawsuit in U.S. courts, and a nudge from thousands of ProgressivePortal.org users throughout the world, we believe another success story is now being written. Thank you so much for being part of it.

We have no big donors. Foundations won't support us because our work is too political (and not tax-exempt). These successes and our ongoing campaigns are made possible by people like you, who donate to keep us going <http://www.progressiveportal.org/feedback/sponsor.html?ltr>;, buy merchandise from our Peace Store <http://www.progressiveportal.org/store?ltr>;, and participate in our action campaigns. Please allow me once again to express my deep gratitude for your participation in our work, and for all you do on behalf of a better world.

Peace,

Steve Freedkin
Publisher

P.S. Key actions to take:

1. The campaign to stop the offshore airbase is at a critical point.
If you sent a Save the Dugong message through our site before 21 Jan 2005,
please visit this page to write just to newly installed Japanese and U.S.
officials (including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice):
http://www.progressiveportal.org/letters/environment/dugong/dugong2.html?ltr

If you've never sent our dugong letter, use the following link to send it
to all the officials on our list:
http://www.progressiveportal.org/letters/environment/dugong/index.html?ltr

2. Until 20 Feb 2005, net proceeds from our special Shirt Sale Page will
go to the progressive tsunami-relief work of International Service Society:
http://www.progressiveportal.org/sale?ltr
You can also make a donation to tsunami relief at the bottom of that page.

Malaise and Faux Foi
by Heather Cottin
June 2004

I. A peculiar malaise has descended on the United States this summer. Its
sources are complex. The torture scandal has exposed a piece of the horror of
what the United States government is doing in its illegal war in Iraq. But why
this is more horrible than the murder by carpet-bombing, daisy cutter, and every
conceivable weapon the United States is using against thousands of Iraqis?
Is it more horrible than DU, bad water, no hospitals, the destruction of homes,
schools, looting of museums that has characterized this war?
Why has the Peace Movement settled down with the war, as if it is a fact of life?
Why have so many in the Peace Movement directed their energies to the election of
John Kerry, who wants to add more troops to the war, and to involve NATO
in the war's expansion?

That is part of the malaise. So many people have decided to throw their
political energies into this campaign with a will that Jean Paul Sartre would have
called, "faux foi," false faith. People really do know that Kerry is pro-war.
He will not end the Patriot Act; he will not restore welfare; he will not protect
Social Security. He will not disavow plans to attack Iran, or North Korea, or
Venezuela. He will not help the legally elected Aristide return to power.
Kerry has said nothing about this, nor will he. He may be pro-choice, but he won't
support gay marriage or end racism. He will do nothing to restore the cuts
that have hurt so many poor people, so many elderly, and so many children.
He will not call for national health care.

Those who have decided to blind themselves to reality and truth have decided
that somehow, by watching a Michael Moore movie and by spending five minutes
in the voting booth next November, all these problems will be diminished. They
who have pulled the wool over their own eyes are trying to believe that they
will be able to sit tight, and vote for democracy's return. Underneath it all,
people really know this is hogwash. Still, they cling to the "Anybody but Bush"
mantra, and try to be cheerful about it. It is as if they have collectively
decided to lie to themselves and to each other. They are acting like the adults
in the emperor's new clothes, not willing to admit that their new
emperor-in-waiting is naked too, that his raiment is every bit as transparent
as that of the emperor they want to replace. Those who would
oppose their views are considered childish and dangerous, or unrealistic, or
horror-of-horrors: idealistic.

This malaise is a kind of collective self-deception. It is denial of almost
everything one actually understands but does not wish to acknowledge.

Take the resistance in Iraq. Were people to really think about it, people who
know and accept that the United States has been conducting an illegal war in
Iraq would have to conclude that the Iraqis have every right to fight back
against the superpower which has been destroying their country. They would
do the same thing if their nation were under attack.

But there has been little in the way of support for the resistance in Iraq.
A tribunal against the Iraq war held in New York's Cooper Union this past
spring condemned the US for its illegal war on Iraq. But the tribunal began by
positing that the killer embargo that killed 1,500,000 Iraqis from 1991-2003
was legal and acceptable. The tribunal did not support the right of the Iraqi
people to resist the U.S. invasion. The tribunal spoke of United Nations law and
international law. Lawyers and activists went on and on, even once mentioning
Article 51 of the UN charter, which gives the right of any people to defend
themselves against invasion. But while the tribunal said the United States was
wrong to have attacked Iraq, to torture its people in prison, the tribunal
accepted the right of the United Nations to conduct this war. False faith. The
Iraqis attacked no one, the United States wanted this war, and those who
would accept a United Nations or NATO incursion into Iraq, and this includes
John Kerry and the Democrats, stand on no legal or moral foundation.

II. The malaise has other sources as well. Recently, at a meeting about
day-workers on Long Island, the coordinator of a legal shape-up site gave
statistics showing that demand for day laborers was down significantly from last year.

He then noted that this was the case across the United States.

This is not as a result of more U.S. citizens taking the construction or
landscaping or restaurant jobs that day laborers do. No; it is a clear indication
that the entire economy is in a crisis. Day laborers do work that is at the
bottom of the U.S. economy. If people have decided to cut their own lawns, or
to put off building new offices, or the addition to the house, that signifies a
crisis, an economic downturn. It seems that restaurants are not as busy as
they were last year and have less need for dishwashers or other support staff.
Who goes to those restaurants? Long Island's "middle class." Restaurant visits
are one of the perquisites of "middle class" existence, like having one's lawn
mowed or borrowing money for the new addition. But these things aren't
happening as much.

This means that the great "middle class" is in some kind of economic crisis,
but no one is discussing it. On Long Island, as in the rest of the country,
people tend to deal with their financial conditions in a very private way,
figuring that their debts and problems are their personal failures, rather than
a systemic indication that something is seriously wrong with the economy.

The economic crisis is hidden, and the "middle class" Long Islander may not
try to draw conclusions from their own lives, but they should. If the "middle
class" Long Islander graduated college 40 years ago, he or she spent about
$6000 or less on a college education. When that person went to work, a starting
salary was about $5000 dollars. Now the child or grandchild of that Long
Islander has paid $60,000 or more for his or her education and starting salaries
hover around $25,000. If this student had to borrow money to finance that
education, he or she is more in debt than his grandparents were when they
purchased their first house on Long Island in the 1970s! This new generation is
in no position to buy a house when he or she forms a family, as his parents and
grandparents did before him.

How many young people are still living at home, rather than getting their own
apartments as their parents before them were able to do? Rental prices in the
metropolitan area are exorbitantly high, housing prices are astronomical. But
the housing crisis is still seen as a personal problem, not the product of
the collusion of bankers and real estate interests, protected by municipal
governments and the Federal Reserve System.

And many young people are unemployed, so their choices are limited. Newsday
reports that Long Island's employment conditions are the best in the nation,
so that just further drives those who are having trouble finding a job further
into self-doubt. The malaise spreads among these young folks: whatever is
wrong is their own fault, is because of their own lack of initiative. And while
all this is happening, parents are appalled to find that their children have no
health care insurance. They may have none themselves. This makes family life
tense. Depression, it is reported, is pandemic, and it is rampant among young people.

So the causes of the malaise are the war and the economy.

Most Long Islanders who are white don't think much about racism, the racism
of the war against the Iraqi people or the racism inherent in economy itself,
wherein minorities are the poorest and most oppressed. Long Islanders are
immersed in their own problems, their debts and doubts. But Long Island,
according to Newsday has the most racially segregated schools in the nation.
For progressive people this is an issue, but there are few activists working
against racism toward Long Island's minorities. And for those who feel an
inchoate guilt about racism, those less politically conscious, that guilt turns
into its opposite, and becomes more virulent racism.

Meanwhile, there's the Bush administration revving up the terror threat every
so often. This has become the leitmotif of life in the United States. Although
there are more traffic accident deaths, smoking deaths, more deaths in the
workplace than deaths from terror attacks every year, the terrorism stratagem
works well to divert attention away from reality.

There are those who fear that Bush will steal another election, and cling
very tenaciously to the belief that if we just get through this election,
everything will be fine. Conspiracy pundits are saying that Bush will create
another war to get elected. They are prognosticating another terror event that
would enable Ashcroft to declare "code red" and to "shut down democracy"

If the neocons steal this election too, will the people languishing in their
malaise do anything about it?

People who cling to a simple answer to complex problems do not act; they
react. They are afraid. If they elect Kerry, they may believe their problems
are solved, and they will support his foreign policy, which is exactly the policy
that has characterized every administration of the last two centuries: expansion,
racism, war and conquest. The Democrats and the Republicans have both done
it. If Kerry does as he promises he will send 40,000 soldiers to the war on
Iraq. This used to be called escalation.

The Democrats have gone to war again and again. World War I, II, Korea,
Vietnam, Yugoslavia. Kerry will not bring the troops home unless the Peace
Movement changes to an Anti-War movement. The movement has to oppose all
war and expansionism. It must unite anti-war with anti-globalization; it must
become anti-imperialist.

The Democrats were forced by peoples' movements to initiate social programs,
this includes Wilson's reforms, the New Deal and the War on Poverty. But
Wilson went to war, and Roosevelt said, "Let's cut out this New Deal stuff" in
1940 and turned the economy over to war. Faced with the choice of funding
social programs or the war in Vietnam, Lyndon Johnson chose war, to the
benefit of the Military Industrial Complex. Clinton ended "welfare, as we
know it." Kerry not only wants to send more troops over to Iraq, he wants
an expansion of NATO, which will also benefit the military contractors.
Like Bush, he wants to get European youth to fight this war, and any war the
U.S. wants to fight. Few doubt that there will be a draft to supply cannon
fodder for U.S. worldwide expansionism.

The Democrats are not talking about creating housing for the homeless,
funding education for all, or reviving social programs. They are not even
opposing the exorbitant rise in gas prices! They are a war party too!

Despite a worldwide anti-globalization movement, Democrats are saying that
capitalist global expansionism can be made to be benign. Poverty in every
Third World country has grown to proportions that are absolutely lethal.
Globalization has created these conditions. Globalization is the name for the
imperialist commercial policies of the superpower United States and the G-7 countries.

Have the Democrats condemned free trade? Have they opposed globalization?
Have they condemned a project that would turn the natural resources of the
world over to U.S. multinational corporations? And can this project be
accomplished without wars? Those who would support the call of "Win without
War, " a Democratic Party outfit, must believe that somehow this is the United
States' right: to win, to conquer the world. They must believe that this victory
will enrich the people in the United States in some way. They must believe it is
some United States imperative to prosper from the looting of other nations, to
benefit from oppression of others, and to insure that this inequity continues.
They must believe that if war is absolutely necessary poor youth must go to
war, must kill and die so that this status quo can be maintained.

But these free trade policies, and these wars have impoverished so many in
the Third World while impoverishing people in the United States as well. Over
four million jobs have disappeared since Clinton signed the NAFTA agreement.
Our taxes have been going to war and to corporate welfare for decades, under
Republican and Democratic regimes alike. Our taxes don't support free
education, free health care. Taxes don't support parks, or old people or poor
people. This is a system of the wealthy, by the wealthy and for the wealthy,
and it doesn't really matter if the Republicans or the Democrats run the
government.

While people are drifting in the miasma of their malaise, it stands to reason
that they seek a quick fix. But the election is a chimera. It won't fix
anything. Every four years progressives fall victim to the same election prank.
They keep thinking that the Democrats represent a real alternative. Actually,
the huge numbers of people who don't vote are more realistic. They know
elections are bogus, and change very little.

George W. Bush and his neocons may win or lose the election of 2004, but the
policies which have emiserated most of the people of the world and many
millions in the United States will continue even if Bush loses and Kerry wins.

Protesting against the Republicans is obvious, but the Democrats have voted
for every war appropriation; they have voted against peoples' needs. This has
been going on for decades. Kerry is pro-war. He voted for and supports the
Patriot Act. Kerry has not come to the side of the thousands of progressives who
organized against the Patriot Act in hundreds of towns and cities across the
country. These same people will be voting for him. They are so easy. No wonder
they are depressed! They are being made fools of, fleeced and scorned.

The government of the United States, which includes Democrats and
Republicans, is on the side of repression, war and the capitalists. This is why
honest people need to go and protest against both parties at both conventions this summer.
And people need to stay in the streets, no matter who wins this election.
Getting out of this malaise means getting angry and involved. The malaise is
a form of depression, and depression, the shrinks tell us, is anger turned
inwards. So people have to organize around their needs, and we don't need war
and we don't need the rich to get any richer. We need another system. In the
1960s, activists used to say, "If you are not part of the solution, you are part
of the problem."

The Democrats are no solution; they are part of the problem. And those who
are lending their energies to this election, and taking them away from a
struggle against the system are part of the problem too.