Blues Crawl Review

The Wichita Blues Society is one of the important grass roots organizations that preserves and enriches the cultural life of Wichita. Without the WBS and similar organizations, only narrow commercial interests and the elite refined culture of elite foundations would determine the cultural scene.

Each year, the WBS sponsors a Blues Crawl on a Sunday evening with a low admission price allowing admission to a series of Old Town clubs which are featuring blues bands for the evening. I made the Sept 30 crawl after having missed several. I managed to catch a tune or two from 10 of the 12 bands. Pretty good, considering the I got started at 7 instead of 6 when the crawl got underway. Maybe not the ideal way to take in a crawl, but something every crawler should consider.

Here's what I heard.



Nightwatchmen. My buddy Clayton Crawford is lead guitarist and vocalist for this power trio. I started and spent the longest time here. Highlight was "Got My Mojo Working Working" They had a unique arrangement for the tune based a driving guitar lick which I never heard another band use. It wasn't till the vocals that I recognized the tune. The drummer did an outstanding job on MOJO, evoking Sam Lay.







Next was the Corbett Cameron Band at Flashbacks. Reminded me of a Southern rock band with a country twinge.



At Mort's playing outside was Moreland & Arbuckle. Can you say Jimmy Reed. Very jumping.













RKO, two-time winners of the WBS Blues Challenge. I really liked this band. It had a classic Chicago blues line-up of lead and rhtym guitar, harmonica, bass, and drums. Played a very nice version of Otis Rush's "All My Loving," including a double time section. I think that's on the original, but AML isn't on the Cobra best of OR that I have.

Three Shades of Blue was holding forth at Torre's Pizza. Very skillful guitarist, but I felt like he was using every lick he knew.


Little Smoke playing a O'Sullivan's had a conga player, didn't come away with a distinct impression. That's the problem with trying to squeeze in seeing 12 groups in 2 hours.

Wing Tip Six a swing/jump blues combo with two saxes was groovin at the Brickyard.









Sharon Rush Band was doing a Dylan tune when I stopped into America's Pub.

Kelly's Irish Pub had Front Porch Blues a guitar and harp duo. Someone requested Stevie Ray Vaughn and they obliged, but I think their forte is more country blues.

My last stop of the evening was Larkspur where I heard Rachelle Coba who did some nice blues while accompanying herself on guitar. Not an easy thing to do, but she pulled it off.

About the only safe Republican Senate seats in '08 are the ones that aren't on the ballot," a GOP operative with extensive experience in Senate races said. (Washington Post Sept. 2, 2007)

1. Pat Roberts to Too Popular

Pat Roberts is may be well-known, but he is not popular. Survey USA national polls have consistently put his ratings in the low 50s.

In contrast, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius has a 60 percent approval rating.

It is time to take of the kid gloves and tell the truth about Roberts. He is a professional Washington, D.C. politician who is closer to the K Street lobbyists than to main street Kansans. He may be mild-mannered, but he is not moderate. He has fully backed the GOP obstructionist tactics in the Senate.

2. Voter Registration is so overwhelmingly Republican that no Democrat has a chance of winning.

MISLEADING.

Registration in the state breaks down along these lines 47% Republican, 29% Democratic, and 27% Independent. But this doesn't tell us much about where people really stand political.

A national Gallup poll early this year asked voters whether they "leaned" Democratic or Republican, as well as whether they were Dems or Republicans and they broke the answers down by states.

Here's how the Gallup poll break down for Kansas with leaners included

Democrats and Lean-Democratic 48%
Independent Independents 8%
Republicans and Lean Republican 44%

Other national polls are also showing a strong break for D among independents.

3. Kansans vote Republican when it comes to federal office.

WRONG. Look at the 2006 results for Congress, across the state. Total the results across the state and you’ll see that a Democrat could be elected to the Senate.

Republican Congressional Candidates 2006 Total Votes 456,138 55%

Democratic Congressional Candidates 2006 Total Votes 369,191 45%

4. Hilary or any other D at the top of the ticket will doom the down ticket.

A late August 2007 Survey USA poll shows Hilary Clinton surprisingly close to the leading GOP candidates in Kansas.

Among 502 registered voters in Kansas:

Clinton 40%, Giuliani 54%

Clinton 44%, Thompson 49%

Clinton 45%, Romney 46%

2004 results were Bush 60% Kerry 39%

As Kansas Democrats we have supported Howard Dean’s "50 State Strategy." It is time we held up our part of the deal.

5. Wait until 2010, there’s a much better chance to capture an empty seat when Brownback retires.

WRONG. Brownback may or may not keep his promise to retire. An empty seat is usually easier to capture. But 2008 is shaping up to be a Democratic wave nationally. There are 22 Republicans Senators up versus only 12 Democrats. GOP dollars and resources will be stretched thin. The many favorable circumstances for pull off an upset in 2008 will not be present in 2010. The state Republican party continues to appear to be divided and disarray, the time to strike is now.

6 Roberts is too formidable a candidate.

Roberts miserable failures as Senate Intelligence chair mark him as vulnerable. Let’s call is the Bush-Cheney-Roberts debacle in Iraq. Roberts will be 72 when November 2008 rolls around. He has never faced a first-rate challenge as Congressman or Senator.

Roberts isn’t running like he thinks he in invulnerable. He is running like he is scarred for his political life.

7. No Democrat can be elected to the US Senate from Kansas.

In the last fifty years, there have only been two serious challenges for Senate seats. Dr. Bill Roy in 1974 and Jill Docking in 1996. In both cases, it took dirty tricks to beat them.

Democrats have won statewide offices–Governor, Attorney General, and Insurance Commissioner. There is no reason a Democrat can’t be elected to the United States Senate.

8 Kansas Democrats should concentrate on the lower offices.

A strong campaign for US Senate will help candidates all down the line.

9. None of our top level statewide office holders will run.

Stop whining. Find a candidate. It is not necessary to be or to have been a statewide office holder or a former Congressman to be a Senate candidate. Nancy Kassebaum was a school board member. Paul Wellstone was a college professor. Barak Obama was a state Senator.

10. It’s too late.

Campaigns are starting earlier and it certainly would have been ideal for a challenger to have already launched a campaign. But it is not too late. The opportunities in 2008 are unique and must be grabbed. Kansas campaigns are cheaper than elsewhere in the nation and won’t take as much financing.

Is America Moving Left?

Is America Moving Left?

October 2 7:00-9:00 PM WSU RSC 223 (Rhatigan Student Center)

David Dulhade National Organizer Young Democratic Socialists
Kelly Johnston, Chair, Sedgwick County Democratic Party


The WSU YDS chapter appears to be a solid group involved in real world. Their projects have included voter registration, increasing the Kansas minimum wage. I'm sure the program will be of interest to not-so-young-anymore activists as well.

YDS is the youth group of Democratic Socialists of America, the group that was founded and led by Michael Harrington, author of The Other America. Notable DSA members have included United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta, SDS veteran Steve Max, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers President William W. Winpisinger, literary critic Irving Howe, former Congressman Ron Dellums, author Barbara Ehrenreich, United Auto Workers co-founder Victor Reuther, leading African-American Studies professor Cornel West, political columnist Harold Meyerson.

Here is the wikipedia entry on DSA
The DSA website
wikipedia on YDS
YDS blog

Cheating Workers Out of Overtime Pay

The cover story of the October 1 Business Week looks at the booming business in law suits for overtime violations. The New Deal era FLSA guarantees most workers which mandates time-and-a-half pay after 40 hours of work. Even after the Bush administration stripped millions of workers of over-time protection about 115 million employees—86% of the workforce—are covered by federal overtime rules, according to the U.S. Labor Department

So pervasive and routine is the violation of the FLSA law that some lawyers are making fortunes in bringing law suits on behalf of workers. The lawyers typically take a big cut of the settlement, usually 25 percent.

There have been some huge settlements in white collar professions with the number of federal overtime lawsuits more than doubling from 2001 to 2006. One estimate is that companies have collectively paid out more than $1 billion annually to resolve these claims. But the same giant companies keep on violating the laws. Apparently, it is cheaper to cheat employees wholesale and risk paying court-ordered settlements. The lawyers winning these suits say that most clients come to them complaining about other problems and don’t’ realize they’ve been cheated out of overtime pay. Only a small percentage of those cheated take a case to court.

Many employees don’t know their rights. Companies don’t make it easy for them. One common dodge is to give workers a fancy title like “manager” or “assistant manager.” Another trick is for a company mis-classify employees as exempt from the wage and hour laws. and thus improperly failed to pay overtime. A third trick to have employees do a portion of their work “off the clock.” This is common among big retailers. Wal-mart has been found guilty many times, most recently paying over $70 million in a Philadelphia suit.

Naturally, the Chamber of Commerce is denouncing the "FLSA litigation explosion." The real issue is the FLSA violation explosion.

Slattery considers Senate race against Roberts

Public radio, the KC Star, and other sources are reporting that former Congressman Jim Slattery is considering entering the race against Senator Pat Roberts.

Dumbest President--Ever!

Okay, you're no friend of George Bush, you voted against him twice, you've opposed nearly every thing he's done as President, you detest him and his politics. But you've thought it was laying it on a little heavy when people started calling him the worst President ever. After all, there is some stiff competition--Richard Nixon, Warren Harding, James Polk (Mexican American war), Grover Cleveland (suppressed the Pullman strike), James Buchanan, and Franklin Pierce.

Well, whether he's the worst or not, he certainly appears to be the dumbest and most incompetent.

According to a recent NY Times article, Bush is being interviewed by author Robert Draper. There is a simply amazing passage in the article

Mr. Bush acknowledged one major failing of the early occupation of Iraq when he said of disbanding the Saddam Hussein-era military, "The policy was to keep the army intact; didn't happen." But when Mr. Draper pointed out that Mr. Bush's former Iraq administrator, L. Paul Bremer III, had gone ahead and forced the army's dissolution and then asked Mr. Bush how he reacted to that, Mr. Bush said, "Yeah, I can't remember, I'm sure I said, 'This is the policy, what happened?' " But, he added, "Again, Hadley's got notes on all of this stuff," referring to Stephen J. Hadley, his national security adviser.

"I can't remember." One of the most fateful decisions of his Presidency and Bush can't remember! He didn't have enough "leadership" to make sure that his decisions were implemented. Dumbest President. Ever

Could Clinton Carry Kansas?

Hillary's not my first or second choice for President, but a just released Survey USA poll shows her surprisingly close to the leading GOP candidates. (via Pollster blog)

Among 502 registered voters in Kansas:
Clinton 40%, Giuliani 54%
Clinton 44%, Thompson 49%
Clinton 45%, Romney 46%

2004 results were Bush 60% Kerry 39%.

My guess is that Giuliani perceived as a moderate Republican, while Thompson and Romney are seen as right-wingers. Of course, it could be just name recognition.

But if Hillary Clinton runs this close in the polls, Kansas Dems ought to be serious about challenging Senator Pat Roberts. A campaign would need to target him as a stealth extremist/obstructionist. That could begin even before a candidate is fully recruited.

Sacco and Vanzetti

August 22 is the 80th anniversary of the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, Italian immigrant workers who were convicted of murder during a 1920 Boston payroll robbery. The trial was marked by prejudice and irregularities. Sacco was a shoe-maker and Vanzetti was a fish peddler and both were active in the Italian American anarchist movement. Their arrest came in the midst of the first Red Scare, that saw thousands of socialists, anarchists, and union members arrested and even deported.

The judge in the case, Webster Thayer, stated to the jury "This man, (Vanzetti) although he may not have actually committed the crime attributed to him, is nevertheless culpable, because he is the enemy of our existing institutions."

Sacco and Vanzetti were supported by a broad cross section of liberal and progrssive opinion in the U.S. and worldwide. The 1922 American Federation of Labor convention adopted a resolution describing Sacco and Vanzetti as "victims of race and national prejudice and class hatred."

Fifty years after their execution, Governor Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation stating that Sacco and Vanzetti were tried in an atmosphere permeated by prejudice against foreigners and hostility toward unorthodox political views and that therefore any stigma of disgrace should forever be removed from their names.

A recent documentary on Sacco and Vanzetti is now available on DVD

Website on Sacco and Vanzetti and the Italian American experience

Wikipedia on Sacco and Vanzetti

The myth of Amazing Grace

A mini-essay on Amazing Grace which I posted on Everyday Citizen.

There's a good chance you'll learn something new about the famous song. I don't discuss the recent movie about William Wilberforce, which I found to be quite good, but which is less than historically accurate. Unfortunately, the critical review by Adam Hochschild from the New York Review of Books is not available free on-line. It appeared in the June 14 issue.

Wal'mart's volunteer labor in Mexico

I posted this on the group blog Everyday Citizen.

Max Roach

Max Roach, one of the giants of jazz, died today at age 83. His drumming innovations were critical to the development of the be-bop revolution, though not often credited as being on the same level as the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic innovations of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

He was also a socially conscious musician. In 1960, he recorded the landmark Freedom Now Suite.
He was also active in the civil rights movement.

I had the pleasure of hearing him live, including a very memorable benefit concert for Eldridge Cleaver, when Cleaver returned to the United States. Cleaver had abandoned the third world revolution temptation and not yet embraced nutty right-wing views. For a brief moment, his politics were sane, democratic left. Bayard Rustin organized a defense/support group and brought in many leaders in the African-American community.

Roach's performance that night was marvelous. Normally, I detest drum solos, but Roach could play the drums musically. In fact, he went from using the entire drum set, eliminating one component at a time until he was just down to the hi-hat. The way I remember it, he actually had the various drums and cymbals removed, but maybe that is memomry playing tricks.

You tube has some wonderful clips of Roach performing.

Here's a good idea: international labor rights groups blog together

The International Labor Rights Forum blog is now a joint project with two similar-mined groups: STITCH and US LEAP. It's called "Labor is not a Commodity" Looks like it will be a go to place to get news about the brutal exploitation that corporate globalization visits on workers in poor countries.

Here's descriptions of the three groups.

International Labor Rights Fund
ILRF is an advocacy organization dedicated to achieving just and humane treatment for workers worldwide. ILRF serves a unique role among human rights organizations as advocates for and with working poor around the world. We believe that all workers have the right to a safe working environment where they are treated with dignity and respect, and where they can organize freely to defend and promote their rights and interests. We are committed to overcoming the problems of child labor, forced labor, and other abusive labor practices. We promote enforcement of labor rights internationally through public education and mobilization, research, litigation, legislation, and collaboration with labor, government and business groups.

STITCH
Women in Central America and the U.S. face similar challenges in the workplace, especially when it comes to low wages, discrimination, insufficient childcare services and dangerous working conditions. To change these shared conditions, STITCH, founded in 1998, unites Central American and U.S. women workers to exchange strategies on how to fight for economic justice in the workplace. STITCH equips women with the essential skills through trainings and educational tools, and in the process, builds lasting relationships with women across the two regions, further empowering women in the labor movement. STITCH also ensures women's voices are heard in global debates and discussions on issues that impact them: globalization, trade agreements, immigration policy, and global labor standards.

U.S./LEAP
The U.S./Labor Education in the Americas Project (U.S./LEAP) works to support the basic rights of workers in Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico, especially those who are employed directly or indirectly by U.S. companies. Founded in 1987 as the U.S./Guatemala Labor Education Project (U.S./GLEP) by trade unionists and human rights advocates concerned about the basic rights of Guatemalan workers, US/LEAP has since expanded its work to other countries in the region.

UPDATE 8/14: Thanks to A.L. for catching that the link to the collaborative blog didn't work, it's been corrected.

Behind Enemy Lines in Garden City

The LA Times ran an interesting article earlier this week on a Republican campaign worker in Berkeley, California and a Democratic organizer in Garden City, Kansas.

For my coastal and foreign readers, that's far western and deep Republican Kansas . The famous In Cold Blood murders happened in Holcomb, just a little west of Garden City.

Jacqueline Bujanda is the Democratic organizer in Garden City. Here are some interesting 'graphs from the story.

Rural Kansas businesses are boycotted for Democratic sympathies. At one county clerk's office, workers stared dumbfounded when Bujanda introduced herself as the new Democratic regional field coordinator. "There was total silence," she recalled, "as if what I was doing was just an unheard-of thing."

Garden City (pop. 27,000) was now more than 40% Latino, a demographic shift driven by the arrival of Mexican and Central American immigrants to work in the county's meatpacking plants.

When she first began her field-

coordinating, she pursued mostly Republicans, challenging a Midwestern tradition of conservative voting handed down over generations.

One day, Bennie Creeden scowled at Bujanda's pitch. "I'm not voting for any Democrat," he said, shutting his door. Nearby, retiree George Purnell had the same response: "Democrat is a dirty word in this community."

Bujanda now thinks her best chances lie not in the area's old guard, but with the Latino newcomers. Here, she reasoned, was an untapped voter base.

Bujanda wants to enlist 1,500 new Latino voters. She knocks on doors, patiently explaining to some immigrants what a Democrat is.

Got a Bad Boss?

Working America, the AFL-CIO community affiliate, is doing some neat one line things.

In its second annual My Bad Boss Contest, Working America is looking for the worst of the worst workplace horror stories about managers who mismanage and maltreat employees and otherwise act like they are the proprietors of their own personal medieval serf estate. The winning entry—voted on by visitors to the Bad Boss site—will get a weeklong getaway—miles away from the boss.

Over 500 entries have been submitted. The first week's four winners are here.

I especially liked this submission

worst boss in America: G.W. Bush
bludnguts, Minnesota

1. He is not qualified by either training or successful experience in management. He and his friends engaged in illegal activities to get him the job.
2. He is destroying the bottom line and the general economy of the company
3. He has the company borrowing heavily-at a rate that will destroy the company's credit and lead it into bankruptcy.
4. He is mis-appropriating company assets by giving them to his friends on the board and friends who kick-back to him for company favors and contracts
5. He is spending heavily on foreign activities that have no logical connection to the well-being of the company and are causing loss of life and limb of company employees
6. He is trying to nullify the healthcare, retirement and other benefit obligations to company employees
7. There is little hope that he is able to change his policies, because he is does not read, seek the advice of experts and is not curious
8. He is a poor speaker and communicator, is not respected or trusted by heads of other companies that might do business with us; he is a poor public representative of company values and integrity
9. It is clear that he is actively working to take the company apart and sell it off to other profit-making interests.

There's also a nifty interactive quiz that asks "How Bad is Your Boss?"

Boyda's profile in courage

Before he became President, John Kennedy wrote a famous book Profiles in Courage. It was probably the first political book I ever read. I remember being impressed that a Kansan was among those profiled. Edmund G. Ross cast the decisive vote that prevented President Andrew Johnson from being impeached. Later, when I connected JFK's go slow stance on civil rights with his selection of Ross, I wasn't so proud. Kansas deserved a better hero.

Regardless of how one feels about PiC or Ross, Kansas had a real political hero last week: Congresswoman Nancy Boyda.

Boyda voted against the FISA bill. 41 House Democrats voted for it. Boyda is among the freshmen Democrats who narrowly won election in 2006. Her seat is one of the top GOP targets for 2008 and it is a district with a military base.

The Bill, S. 1927, the Protect America Act, which authorizes the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence to acquire foreign intelligence of individuals "reasonably believed" to be outside the United States without a court order.

Boyda's statement

Tonight I voted to uphold something near and dear to America - the U.S Constitution. When the President signs this bill, anyone out of the country, including Americans, can have their communications monitored with virtually no oversight. Sadly, the slippery slope of our civil liberties has given way to a mudslide.

"It's never been easy to balance our security and our liberties. Our nation has struggled with this for over 230 years. As Benjamin Franklin said, 'They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.' Tonight our freedoms took a serious blow.

"For the past several weeks, Congress and the Administration worked closely to achieve a bipartisan agreement on foreign surveillance. An agreement was reached that would have provided our nation's intelligence community with the powers it needed while safeguarding the Constitution. But Friday night, at the 11^th hour, the Administration effectively eliminated oversight. "

"Over the next six months, we may hear reports of information gathered under this bill. Let me be clear - that same information could have been collected without giving up Constitutional oversight. "

Michael Yates on Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas

Michael Yates, touring the country to promote his Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate, was here in Wichita recently and has written up his trip through Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas here.

Emergence of Paul Simon

Wichita's NPR station, KMUW, ran a two-part special on Paul Simon this week. I've never been a great Paul Simon fan so it is easy to forget just how much great music he has made.

Those who grew up with Simon and young listeners should give a listen to the wide range of his work. There's a new 2-CD, 36 song Essential Paul Simon collection that I'm adding to my wish list.

Two stories on John Edwards

I read two interesting stories on the John Edwards campaign this week.

Jonathon Tasini discusses an interesting Wall Street Journal article on how Edwards is seeting the agenda for the Democratic field. The WSJ article is for subscribers only, but here's two key paragraphs.

John Edwards may be stuck in third place in the polls and fund raising in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. But the populist seems to be playing an outsized role in driving the terms of the party's debate -- generally to the left -- on everything from Iraq to health care.

This week, the former North Carolina senator has made his most prominent bid yet to place the oft-ignored issue of poverty prominently on the 2008 agenda, with a four-day tour of some of the most run-down parts of the South and Midwest, beginning with his sixth trip this campaign to this city, devastated by Hurricane Katrina. He has talked about the issue more than any of his rivals, and was the first to craft a "poverty" plank in his platform.

David Moberg has a fascinating In These Times article "The Union's Man?"

Edwards walks the talk as well, often on picket lines. The week after his swing through Iowa, he joined a rally at the giant Smithfield hog processing plant in his home state to demand that the company, a notorious labor law violator, recognize workers when a majority signs union cards. During the past two years, the Edwards campaign claims, the former senator and vice-presidential candidate has taken part in more than 200 different union events with more than 20 unions, including a national contract campaign tour for hotel workers, a fast with janitors organizing at the University of Miami and an airport rally in Texas for Continental Airlines ramp employees who were organizing.

“He’s redefined the way public officials engage the ongoing work of the labor movement,” says Chris Chafe, the former chief of staff of UNITE HERE and one of several labor officials with high-level positions in the Edwards campaign—not counting campaign manager David Bonior, the former staunchly pro-union congressman who previously headed American Rights at Work, a labor-rights advocacy group. “I don’t think anyone has come so close in recent memory to putting himself so squarely behind issues central to the labor movement. We’d welcome institutional endorsements, but our goal is to have workers and union leaders focus on what he does as well as what he says.”

Two landmarks

Important landmarks on blogs I enjoy.

Josh Rosenau of Thoughts from Kansas is leaving the state to take a position with the National Center for Science Education. Josh has been a leading critic of intelligent design. the banner on his site now say "Travelling from Kansas." Josh is also a supporter of unions and an all around good guy.

Norm Geras recently posted the 200th item of his popular weekly bloggers profile and picked a very suitable subject Norm Geras.

For the list of previous subjects, click here. My profile was no 148.

Mainstreaming anti-Semiitsm

I've recently come across two disturbing examples of mainstream media outlets whitewashing two of the most notorious anti-Semites in American history.

US New & World Report publishes occasional "collectors editions" on special topics for news stand sales. I picked up "Mysteries of History" Secret Societies."

In an article on "America's Cult Culture," Philip Jenkins describes William Dudley Pelley as "a religious activist of the 1930s." Pelley was, in reality, the leader of the Silver Shirts, one of the largest and most active Nazi group in the United States with more than 15,000 members at its peak.

The Economist, in a review of Amity Shlaes book on the Great Depression, seems to vindicate Henry Ford's antisemitism.

Ms Shlaes tends to look at the Depression in terms of the conflict between business (good) and politics (bad). At the time, though, Roosevelt's view that the “lack of honour of men in high financial places” was at the root of the trouble seemed like a statement of the obvious, rather than a political pose. Even Henry Ford had been uttering warnings that “the Jews of Wall Street”, as he so nicely called them, had stored up trouble in the 1920s. The Depression appeared to prove him right.

IMPORTANT UPDATE (August 15) I've had an exchange of emails with Philip Jenkins. He writes:

USNWR took my description of Pelley from a book in which I wrote at length about his Nazi and anti-semitic activity. The article that appeared under my byline was abstracted from that book, but I do not believe I was consulted about the final text, which left the Pelley phrase out of context. (Nor did I have any idea it was to appear as a separate article). I am trying to find exactly what happened from my publisher.

Your comments about Pelley's Nazi politics are entirely correct, and I share them fully.

In short, this is a bizarre matter, and I look forward to clearing it up.

Prof. Jenkins was kind enough to send me an extract of his writings and I am informed that he has an outstanding reputation as a scholar, so I credit his explanation.

Nontheless, it is troubling that the editorial staff of one of our leading news weeklies would not realize that describing Pelley as a "religious activist" was highly inaccurate and troubling.

Minor Update August 18. In the third paragraph, I originally wrote "Dudley" instead of "Pelley" in the second paragraph.

Barry Lando Lies About Israel

Truthdig, a website associated with Robert Scheer, a much respected radical journalist, has a bad article by journalist Barry Lando, "Israel's Primal Myth: A Barrier to Peace." I've been noticing an upsurge in anti-Israel articles beyond the sewers of Counterpunch, et al. Lando's article deserves a fisking. I anticipate that someone with more time and knowledge will thoroughly deconstruct it.

For now, note of Lando's outright misrepresentation of Benny Morris.

LANDO "Morris found that not only was there no evidence that Arab leaders had
called upon their people to flee in 1948-49, but that records revealed
exactly the opposite."

MORRIS ".. it turns out that there was a series of orders issued by the Arab Higher Committee and by the Palestinian intermediate levels to remove children, women and the elderly from the villages. So that on the one hand, the book reinforces the accusation against the Zionist side, but on the other hand it also proves that many of those who left the villages did so with the encouragement of the Palestinian leadership itself."

Backlash Against Globalization

Interesting article in the Financial Times

Large majorities of people in the US and in Europe want higher taxation for the rich and even pay caps for corporate executives to counter what they believe are unjustified rewards and the negative effects of globalisation.

Viewing globalisation as an overwhelmingly negative force, citizens of rich countries are looking to governments to cushion the blows they perceive have come from the liberalisation of their economies to trade with emerging countries.

Those polled in Britain, France, the US and Spain were about three times more likely to say globalisation was having a negative rather than a positive effect on their countries. The majority was smaller in Germany, with its large export base

Corporate leaders fared little better, with 5 per cent or fewer of those polled in the US and all large European economies (except Italy) saying they had a great deal of admiration for those who run large companies. In these countries, between a third and a half said they had no admiration at all for corporate bosses.

In response to fears of globalisation and rising inequality, the public in all the rich countries surveyed – the US, Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain – want their governments to increase taxation on those with the highest incomes. In European countries, a large majority want governments to go further and to impose pay caps on the heads of companies.

What secularists go wrong about Islam

Taner Edis has an interesting article on the Council for Secular Humanism website.

secular humanists have not been entirely clear-eyed about Islam. While supporting critical inquiry, many secularists have also been partial to simplistic representations of the Muslim world. Indeed, some popular secular literature opposing Islam is hardly distinguishable from Christian and neoconservative polemics. Secularists have been too eager to seek immediate doctrinal causes for Muslim problems. In doing so, many critics have been tempted to identify an essential “true Islam” that is antagonistic to reason and liberal values.

Here's the conclusion

Those of us who do not accept revelation, however, need not go in search of an idealized, true Islam. We should give up those habits of thought that prompt us to seek a well-defined true faith, now to condemn as barbaric rather than to endorse as divine. Religion is a human activity, and what deserve our attention are the varieties of faith revealed in actual practice.

Secular humanists have been very supportive of science and critiques of Islam; they have stood up for freedom of inquiry. And as a godless infidel, a scientist, and a critic of Islam, I am grateful for this support. But we secularists also have our blind spots, our episodes of intellectual laziness. Accepting the framework of a “true Islam” is one such mistake. We can do better.

Michael Yates: Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate

Radical economist Michael Yates was in Wichita yesterday, part of the book tour for his new book Cheap Motels and a Hot Plate.

Some union folks met him for lunch and talk.

He gave a book reading in the evening at Watermark books. There were some more union folks there, including some present and retired members of the letter carriers.

It's a fascinating book. It reminds me a little of John Gunther's Inside the USA but with two big differences. Gunther interviewed business and government leaders; Yates lived with and interviewed working folks. The second difference is that the USA is a very different country today than when Gunther wrote IUSA in 1947. Yates chronicles the growing disparity of wealth and income in today's America.

More important than Guthrie

What was more important than the Woody Guthrie festival? Why did I make it to Tulsa, but not the rest of the way to Okemah.

Quite simply, an almost 12 year old is a huge Weird Al Yankovich fan and I took him to the Brady Theater concert in Tulsa as an early birthday present. It was a long drive down and back, but it was worth it. Al put on a good show and Dominic thought it was great. Al signed autographs after the show.

The Brady Theater is only a couple of blocks from the legendary Cain's Ballroom, which was Bob Wills' showcase in Tulsa.

One of the highlights for me was Weird Al's palindromic tribute to "Bob" Dylan.





For the younger readers of this blog, its a parody of Dylan's premature music video

Happy birthday Woody (without illusions)

Today is the 95th anniversary of Woody Guthrie, the legendary American folksinger and songwriter, who did much to enrich our life, not the least being "This Land Is Your Land"

Each year during this week, his hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma throws a grand tribute with a free folk festival. (There is a fund raising concert Wednesday nights.)

I had the pleasure of attending with friends Laura Dungan and Aaron Fowler and can attest to its excellence, even though we were able to go only on Saturday. I reported on that festival visit in 2005 and 2006.

Laura, Aaron, and I each vowed to make it back to the festival. Unfortunately, we haven't. I come closer this year, making it all the way to Tulsa, within 72 miles of Okemah. That's most of the way from Wichita. But I had something far more important to do in Tulsa. (more on that in a later post.)

2007 Thoughts on Woody

As potent as the songs of Woody Guthrie are, as powerful as the arc of his life's story, and as tragic as the suffering of Woody, his family, and friends, we should not hestitate to acknowledge the deep ambiguity of his political and moral choices. For Woody the tribune of the people, the defender of the common people against oppression, the defender of democracy, had a major blind spot. It was a blind spot as significant as the American founders participation in slavery.

Guthrie, if not a member of the Communist Party, during the long years of its slavish devotion to Stalinism, was a full-fledged fellow traveller. His songs followed, for instance, the twists and turns of the CP during the invasion of Finland, and the Hitler-Stalin Pact. Woody never wrote a "Ballad of the Legless Veteran," who after WWII was fired as a government clerk because he belonged to subversive organization. The problem for the American Stalinists was that the veteran belonged to the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party. Woody never wrote a talking blues for the March on Washington Movement, the movement led by A. Philip Randolph to force the integration of U.S. defense plants. Here the problem was that the Communist Party subordinated the just demands of minorities and workers to the military needs of the Soviet Union. CP hacks denounced Randolph as a fascist for insisting on the abolishment of Jim Crow in American defense plants.

During the war, the CP applauded the Smith Trial act prosecution of Trotskyists and demanded that Socialist Norman Thomas be prosecuted under the same law. During the cold war, American Communists were, in turn, prosecuted under the same laws that they had supported a few short years before.


Wobblies Vs. Woody

Tom Herriman, producer of Shiftbreak, a Washington state labor radio program, has an intriguing interview with shipwright and anthropologist Archie Green whose new book, "The Big Red Song Book" analyzes the famous "Little Red Song Book" published continuously by the Industrial Workers of the world (aka the IWW, aka The Wobblies) since 1909. Green explodes some of the myths about labor music, and charts the political fights between L the Wobblies and other popular folk singers like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. Listen here.

A Final Word for now


Let's not avoid dealing with the full complexity of Woody Guthrie's life. There is no more reason to reject the values and sentiments of his great songs because of his naive attitude towards Stalinism, than there is to reject the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights because Jefferson and Madison were slave-owners. After all, this country still has to overcome its treatment of Native Americans and the post-slavery exploitation of African Americans.

In the final analysis, "this land is your land, this land is my land." But it is not enough to say "This land was made for you and me." It is time that we say "This land is you and I make it together." And, we can, only do that with honesty, reconciliation, and justice.

So, let's celebrate Woody for all he contributed and where he fell short, lets do it right.

Kansas GOP launches "loyalty" oath

Gee, the Kansas Republicans are going downhill faster than one can possibly imagine.

Our friend Thomas Frank is going to have to come out with a new edition entitled "What Used to Be the Matter With Kansas"

The Kansas GOP has come out with a loyalty oath and it's a dozy. There have been some important loyalty oaths in American history. They've always dealt with the past or the immediate future. In the post civil war era former Confederate soldiers released upon taking an "oath of allegiance". Lincoln required an oath to "faithfully support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the union of the States thereunder" as a condition for a Presidential pardon. The ironclad loyalty oath during the Reconstruction forbid former Confederate soldiers from elected and appointed office.

During Truman's presidency, after the discovery of Communist spy rings, loyalty oaths were imposed for government jobs. Again, they dealt with the past and present. Here's an example.

"I further swear (or affirm) that I do not advise, advocate or teach, and have not within the period beginning five (5) years prior to the effective date of the ordinance requiring the making of this oath or affirmation, advised, advocated or taught, the overthrow by force, violence or other unlawful means, of the Government of the United States of America or of the State of California and that I am not now and have not, within said period, been or become a member of or affiliated with any group, society, association, organization or party which advises, advocates or teaches, or has, within said period, advised, advocated or taught, the overthrow by force, violence or other unlawful means of the Government of the United States of America, or of the State of California...."

Political parties sometimes require that their candidates do not support the candidates of any other party in the current election or something similar.

In the past, loyalty oaths have been imposed over issues of great import. A rebellion or the infiltration of the government by a conspiracy directed by a hostile government. What has the Kansas GOP so upset pales by comparison. A couple of former Republicans won state-wide office and a few at the legislative level. And that causes the GOP to panic and demand a loyalty oath of an extraordinary sort.

But the Kansas GOP is apparently demanding an oath in perpetuity. They must pledge "never to abandon" "I will, at no point in my political or personal future" "I will not at any future time ..." become a Democratic...or a Libertarian. "I will always be a Republican"

But even these forever promises aren't enough for the fearful Kansas Republicans. No, not by any means. Now they want candidates to forswear even "to ever consider" switching parties.

I, _______________, promise never to abandon my present Republican Party affiliation for the purpose of political gain. The Republican Party, both nationally and domestically, was founded on sound and principled ideals, that include but are not limited to, personal liberty, individual freedom, responsive and citizen-based Government, life-affirming values, economic growth, strong and cutting edge military, low taxes and a mutual respect for fellow Republicans. Because of that, I will, at no point in my political or personal future, find cause to transfer my Party loyalty to any other affiliated organization.

I will not, at any future moment, become a registered Democrat for the purpose of seeking any political office. Additionally, I will not change my Party affiliation to that of any peripheral political party, such as the Reform Party, the Green Party or the Libertarian Party. Such a move would be not only opportunistic, it would be an unjustified trampling of everything that I previously claimed to stand for.

I care far too deeply about the previously espoused Republican ideals as well as the thousands of hard-working Republican citizens all over the State of Kansas to ever consider changing my political Party affiliation. I look forward to a life of citizen-serving, Republican political involvement. I thank the Kansas Republican Party, including all of the registered Kansas Republicans, for their years of service, good will and friendship.

I solemnly pledge to always be a Republican, no matter what promises are made by external forces seeking only to undermine the Republican values I stand for. I can have reasonable disagreement with members of the Republican Party; however, at no point will ‘Party switching’ or quitting of the Party be tolerable.

Signed,

X __________________________________

(It is also interesting that the Kansas GOP, which once counted a great writer like William Allen White, has fallen on some hard times. Notice at the end of the first paragraph that the want people to pledge not to "transfer my Party loyalty to any other affiliated organization." Wouldn't an affiliated organization be a Republican organization.)

There were always two kinds of Republicans in Kansas. Those who were born Republicans and could never imagine anything different. Republican was just another way of saying Kansan. The absurd and insulting idea of having to swear forever to a Republican and to never at any future time to become a Democrat would be just ridiculous to this sort of GOPer. Now, they would never consider switching parties, but the very idea being asked to take an oath to never even considering switching parties would, I think, strike them as just plain loco. It might be enough to start them to thinking.

The other type of Republican is a Republican because everyone else is a Republican. It made sense to register in the GOP party where the primary made a difference. The road to professional success for many a young professional ran through the GOP. But if the Republicans have to resort to this sort of extreme loyalty oath to maintain their superiority, it may just occur to the go along Republicans that they are on a sinking ship.

Conference of Independent Trade Unions in Palestine

Via Labour Start

On behalf of the Democracy and Workers’ Rights Center in Palestine, We would like to invite you to A Conference of Independent Trade Unions in Palestine on July 27 and 28, 2007, In Ramallah, Palestine

Democratic and independent unions in Palestine have decided to join together in order to make their voices heard.

Currently, there are four competing labor federations in Palestine—three controlled by Fatah and one by Hamas. None of these federations have had genuine democratic elections of their leadership in recent years and appointments and distribution of positions in the executive boards are made on a political basis.

This situation has considerably weakened the trade union movement and it has become necessary to create a movement independent of political factions in order to truly represent the will of Palestinian workers.

The goal of the conference is to strengthen independent trade unions and to liberate the labor movement from the hegemony of political factions and the Palestinian Authority.

Independent and democratic unions in the following sectors will participate in the founding conference: financial, health, pharmaceutical, university professors and employees, telecommunications, municipalities and electricity.

Your participation will allow you to become acquainted with the grassroots Palestinian trade union movement and with union leaders elected by their peers to lead the day-to-day struggle for decent work, social protection and equality.

We look forward to count you among us for this memorable event. Should you be able to come, please notify us as soon as possible. The detailed program of the conference will be available within a week.

Sincerely,

Hasan Barghouthi
General Director

Normally, I have a bias against dual unions, but this is a different case. I suspect that the existing unions are really not unions, but ideological structures of Fatah and Hamas. The cause of independent and democratic unions in Palestine should be supported.

New blogs

Some interesting new blogs

George Packer's Interesting Times

Open Left

a news, analysis and action website dedicated toward building a progressive governing majority in America. The three founding partners are Chris Bowers, Mike Lux, and Matt Stoller.

For more information on the term "Open Left," please see the article "What Is OpenLeft.com?" by Matt Stoller.

Progressive Strategy Blog

"This blog reports and comments on the most significant insights and debates contributing to the formulation of a strategy for building progressive power in the United States.

Wolfgang Brauner, the editor, is principal researcher and project manager of the Progressive Strategy Studies Project"

Last survivor of Ludlow massacre dies

The Pueblo Chieftain recently reported that Mary Benich-McCleary, the last known survivor of the Ludlow Massacre, died of a stroke on June 28. McClearly was 18 months old when the Colorado militia attacked striking miners and their families on April 20, 1914 at the Ludlow mining camp north of Trinidad during a labor strike.

Wikipedia has good historical survey of the Ludlow massacre

17 people were killed during an attack by the Colorado National Guard on a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners and their families at Ludlow, Colorado in the USA on April 20, 1914. These deaths occurred after a day-long fight between strikers and the Guard. Two women, twelve children, six miners and union officials and one National Guardsman were killed. In response, the miners armed themselves and attacked dozens of mines, destroying property and engaging in several skirmishes with the Colorado National Guard. This was the bloodiest event in the 14-month southern Colorado Coal Strike.

According to Wikipedida, the Colorado Coalfield War was the bloodiest conflict in US labor history.

The University of Denver Anthropology Department has an informative website on the Colorado Coal War

The Colorado Bar Association prepared a historical background on the Ludlow massacre for the 2003 mock trial competition.

Here's a little from the Wikipedia entry on the aftermath.

A United States Commission on Industrial Relations, headed by labor lawyer and Democratic activist Frank Walsh, conducted hearings in Washington, collecting information and taking from all the principals, including Rockefeller. The commission's 1,200 page report suggested many reforms sought by the unions, and provided support for bills establishing a national eight-hour work day and a ban on child labor.

The UMWA eventually bought the site of the Ludlow tent colony in 1916. Two years later, they erected the Ludlow Monument to commemorate those who had died during the strike. The monument was damaged in May 2003 by unknown vandals. The repaired monument was unveiled on June 5, 2005 with slightly altered faces on the statues.

There is a memorial service every June and info on the Memorial site can be found here.

Fact checking Brent Castillo on immigration

Brent Castillo is the Wichita Eagle's designated right-wing Christian columnist. He can be counted on to regurgitate the talking points, snipe at liberals, and distort the facts.

Take his latest column "it's not anti-immigrant to want to secure the border."

Here are some pronouncement by Castillo and the facts as shown by polls which can be found here.

CASTILLO: President Bush and a handful of Republican senators joined the Democrats in pushing for the failed legislation. But an outpouring of negative response from their constituents persuaded many who were waffling, such as our own Sen. Sam Brownback, to vote it down.

It was the right thing to do.

FACT: Castillo apparently is unable or unwilling to distinguish between the number of phone calls generated by a rapid anti-immigrant minority and the views of the majority.

A June 22-24 CNN poll asked "Do you oppose the Senate immigration bill MOSTLY because you think it goes too far toward helping illegal immigrants, or MOSTLY because it does not go far enough toward helping illegal immigrants?"


They found that only 28 percent opposed the bill because it went to far. In contrast, 30 percent supported the bill and 15 percent opposed it because it didn't go far enough.


CASTILLO: The majority of Americans want to see our southern border under control before they're willing to talk about roads to legalization.

FACT: LA Times/Bloomberg poll "When it comes to dealing with illegal immigration, do you favor an approach that focuses only on tougher enforcement of immigration laws, or an approach that includes both tougher enforcement of immigration laws and also creates a guest worker program that allows undocumented workers to work legally in the U.S. on temporary visas." Only Tougher Enforcement 40 percent; Guest worker program too 55 percent

CASTILLO:A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll from June asked: "Compared to other problems facing the country, how big a problem is illegal immigration?"

Eighty-six percent said illegal immigration was one of the most important problems facing our country.

FACT: Only 31 percent said that illegal immigration is one of the most important problems facing the country.

CASTILLO: A Quinnipiac University poll from late last year asked if, in regard to a border fence and increased security, "additional measures are needed from Congress to deal with illegal immigrants entering the country, or do you think this is enough for now?

FACT: The same poll showed that 65 percent favored a guest worker "would allow illegal immigrants to register for temporary legal status and employment." 69 percent were in favor of allow[ing] illegal immigrants to register into a guest worker program, should that program offer them the ability to work toward citizenship over a period of several years.

CASTILLO: The majority of Americans want to see our southern border under control before they're willing to talk about roads to legalization.

FACT: This is a right-wing anti-immigrant talking point. I couldn't find a poll question that asked anything of the sort.

A May CNN poll asked people whether they would favor a number of measures dealing with immigration.

Building a 700 mile fence 45 percent favored, 53 percent opposed.

Creating a program that would allow illegal immigrants already living in the United States for a number of years to stay in this country and apply for U.S. citizenship if they had a job and paid back taxes 80 percent favored, 19 percent opposed.

CASTILLO: "our border crisis goes unresolved even though a majority of Americans, regardless of political affiliation, want the problem addressed."

FACT: It is not only a border crisis. It is a crisis of 10-12 million undocumented and exploited workers in the United States. It is a crisis in which major sectors of the American economy are complicit. It is a crisis of exploitation and poverty in Mexico and Central America.

CASTILLO: We need to have an open and honest discussion about what's best for our country.

FACT: Consistently misrepresenting what the polls show about American opinion on immigration is no way to begin an honest discussion. Starting your column with dishonest swipes at the Democratic leadership in the Congress, while ignoring the obstructionist tactics of the Republicans does not show a desire for dialogue.

Brownback was for immigration reform before he was against it

From NBC Carrie Dann

GOP presidential hopeful Sam Brownback was very nervous for 11 minutes this morning. That's the time that elapsed between his initial "Aye" vote for cloture on the Senate's immigration bill today -- essentially an expression of support for the Bush-backed overhaul -- and a change to "Nay" before the vote was over.

Brownback likely recognized that a vote in favor of the bill, which is deeply unpopular among many Republicans who consider it "amnesty" for illegal immigrants, would not play well in the GOP presidential race or in a potential re-election bid in his native Kansas (he's up in 2010). He's supported the bill up until now, and voted to bring the measure to the Senate floor earlier in the week.

***Update*** At 2:10 pm ET, Brownback's Senate office issued a press release entitled "BROWNBACK VOTES AGAINST CLOTURE ON IMMIGRATION BILL," but it didn't mention he voted for the bill today before he voted against it.

Dr. Bill Roy asks who'll retire Pat Roberts

Dr. Bill Roy, who almost defeated Bob Dole in the 1974 Senate race, has a column in the July 3 Wichita Eagle taking a look at who will retire Pat Roberts.

He writes

his most potent opponents have other things to do. Jim Slattery or Dan Glickman or Kathleen Sebelius would be not just good senators but, nearly certainly, great ones

After a nice survey of those three, Roy concludes

All I'm suggesting is we help [Roberts] graciously retire in a timely manner.

Because, let's face it, Roberts has been running around with a bad crowd -- which he probably recognizes, judging by his early, near-frantic political activity.

So if the big three have reasons not to make a race, who might make a race?

The second tier might be Representatives Dennis Moore, Nancy Boyda, Attorney General Paul Morrison, and Lt. Governor Mark Parkinson. Boyda is in a tough re-election fight and is only a freshman. Moore's seat, once very marginal, now looks safe for Dennis, but maybe not for another Dem. I've heard Morrison make some Jim Webb-like populist sounds, but he's a career prosecutor, not a career politician and probably wants to stay where he is. Parkinson hasn't been a Democrat for long and is probably planning to run to replace Sebelius.

An effective challenger to Roberts doesn't have to come from one of these tiers. Think of Paul Wellstone, a college professor elected to the Senate in Minnesota, or John Testor, a State Senator elected to the Senate from Minnesota.

Dr. Roy is right there is a need for a credible challenger to Roberts. Finding and recruiting such a challenger is one of the three big tests for Kansas Democratic party leaders in 2008. The other two being re-electing Nancy Boyda and increasing the still depleted ranks of Democrats in the Kansas House and Senate.

Labor History in July

DBet you didn't know that all these important labor events happened in July?


July 1 National railway strike with one over one million out (1922)

July 3 Children's Strike for 8-hour day Patterson NJ (1913)

July 5 National Labor Relations Act passed (1935)


July 13 Southern Tenant Farmers Union formed (inter-racial union)

July 14 Sacco and Vanzetti convicted (1921)

July 16 San Francisco General Strike (1934)

July 19 First Women's Right Convention Seneca Falls NY

July 29 Grape boycott ends (1970)

July 30 Lettuce boycott starts (1970)


I know because I downloaded the very cool free July calendar from Northland Poster Collective.
They've been doing great work since 1979, but are having to deal with some critical financial issues, so if you have a wall that needs a statement, order something or make a donation.

Reagan Lied about his Commie connections

Yes, children, Ronald Reagan, the icon of the right, had CP connections during the 1940s. And in 1966, he lied about it, ccording to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.

(Via Rick Perlstein's blog.)

As governor, Reagan would have access to UC's atomic research data. The Atomic Energy Act required the FBI to conduct a comprehensive background investigation of him.

The process started on Dec. 18, 1966, when Reagan filled out a Personnel Security Questionnaire that asked, among other questions:

"Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of any organization which has been designated by the United States Attorney General as required under the provisions of Executive Order 10450?

"Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of any foreign or domestic organization, association, movement, group, or combination of persons which is totalitarian, fascist, communist, or subversive . . . ?"

Applicants were required to list any such groups and the dates they were involved with them.

Reagan answered "no" to both questions on the form, which contained a warning that "any false statement herein may be punished as a felony."

Reagan received shining recommendations from everyone the FBI interviewed.

But files of the Los Angeles FBI office showed that in 1946 Reagan had been a sponsor and director of the Committee for a Democratic Far East Policy, which had been designated as subversive by the U.S. Attorney General under Executive Order 10450.

The records also showed that also in 1946 Reagan had been a member of the American Veterans Committee, the California section of which had been cited in a report by the predecessor of the Burns committee as "communist dominated and (as) a vociferous, decadent minority in national AVC affairs."

But Grapp, head of the L.A. office, approved a report that conformed to Reagan's Personnel Security Questionnaire -- omitting Reagan's association with the two groups officially deemed subversive.

When FBI officials in the bureau's headquarters read Grapp's report, they ordered him to amend the document to include Reagan's role in the groups.

The bureau could not risk the omission. Hundreds of people in the late 1940s and early 1950s had faced hearings and sometimes dismissals from federal employment for failing to disclose memberships in groups deemed subversive.

But the final report to the Atomic Energy Commission, prepared by FBI headquarters, did not mention Reagan's false statement that he had never belonged to a subversive organization, which by law could itself be reason to deny a security clearance.

Needed: a reality-based peace movement

Shouldn't a proposal to effectively mobilize the American public be--at a minimum--
reality-based? A popular proposal by Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith is being widely circulated on the internet and beyond. Like many statements by very prominent anti-war spokesmen appears to be based on either wishful thinking or propaganda braggadocio or willfulignorance.

"Over 60% of Americans want this war over--yesterday," Brecher and Smith shout.

There is huge difference betwen poll questions which ask whether the war is/was a mistake or do you approve of George Bush's handling of the war and questions which ask whether people favor an immediate withdrawal.

These polls can be found with great ease on the internet. They can be found here http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm

Here are three polls from early June.

NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll

"More specifically, do you think that we should have an immediate and
orderly withdrawal of all troops from Iraq, or not?"

Should 37% Should Not 59%

LA TIMES

"In your opinion, should the United States withdraw troops from Iraq right away, or should the U.S. begin bringing troops home within the next year, or should troops stay in Iraq for as long as it takes to win the war?"

Withdraw right away 25%
Withdraw within a year 43%

USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

Are you more likely to support a Presidential candidate who
.
"Supports legislation that would cut off funding for the war in Iraq"

More likely 33%
Less Likely 60%

The fact is that only a minority of Americans support the out now position and it is a act of movement-delusion to pretend otherwise. Cute tactics may make small groups of anti-war activists feel warm and fuzzy and make them feel justified in denouncing the sell-outs of the Democratic Party, Move-On, and UFPJ. (To be honest, I suspect that the UFPJ and even DP
activstis are not immune for this wishful thinking syndrome.) But it won't do much to end the war or build a progressive majority.

If the majority are with you then you only have to come up with some magic formula so that the you can shout so loud that the media can't ignore you. But an entirely different approach is needed if only a minority is with you and there is a potential majority which might be organized-- if not to your most preferred position then to something close to it.

____________________________________________________________________

Beecher and Smith Proposal

IRAQ MORATORIUM September 21 and every Third Friday thereafterToday the Iraq Moratorium project steps onto the public stage!Over 60% of Americans want this war over--yesterday. The political processis moving glacially, at best, to make that happen. It's got to stop! We'vegot to stop it!The idea is simple. On September 21 and on every subsequent Third Friday,millions of Americans will break with their
daily routine to take someconcrete step to demand an end to the war and the
return home of thetroops.The hallmark will be the wearing of black ribbons
and armbands, inmourning for all of those who have died in this
senselessadventure--Iraqis, American and other coalition troops, and others.
All ofus who want this war ended can decide what steps we will
take,individually or with others, on September 21. Together, acting where
welive, work and study, we will create a mighty shout so loud that the
mediawon't be able to white it out and the politicians won't be able to
ignoreit.The Iraq Moratorium is not an organization. It was initiated by a
smallgroup of anti-war activists from very diverse backgrounds. We see it as
aproject that will strengthen the work of existing anti-war groups. Evenmore
important, the clear and simple message, the local focus and thevariety of
activities it can encompass will bring into motion greatnumbers who have not
yet taken any action against the war.It is a 21st century project: the reach
of the Internet and the Web willhelp reach tens of millions with this
message. Please help by forwardingthis message widely.To learn more, to
pledge to take part in the Iraq Moratorium, and to getinvolved, please go to
http://iraqmoratorium.org

Slave Labor in China

National Public Radio had a shocking report today on slave labor in China. Here's their blurb

The son of a local Communist Party leader has been implicated in forced labor in China's Shanxi and Henan Provinces, where impoverished people, many of them children, have been abducted or lured to brick kilns, locked up and forced to work without pay. The central government expressed outrage at the abuse following reports in the Chinese media.

Families of many of the enslaved workers hadn't known why they vanished or where they were, and parents are searching for missing children.

LISTEN HERE

Bush unpopular in even Kansas

President George Bush came to Kansas this week among other things to appear a a fundraiser for Kansas Senator Pat Roberts. Notably, this was a fundraiser in a private home, not in any sort of public forum. It raised a fair, but not outstanding, amount.

Survey USA's latest poll on Bush's popularity in Kansas shows

38 % approval
56% disaproval

Compare that to the rating for Democratic Governor Kathleen Sebelius

65 % approval
31 % disapproval

By the conventional wisdom, Roberts should be a shoe-in, but I've been making the case that he is far more vulnerable. The three biggest things Roberts has going for him is that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is unlikely to enter the race and the lure of an open seat in 2010 when Sam Brownback says he won't run for re-election. And, the perception that Kansas can't elect a Democrat to the Senate.

I don't think there is any real chance that Sebelius will make a run in 2008, but that doesn't mean that someone else can't make a race of it. It might be easier to capture an open seat in 2010, but there's always a chance that Brownback will get a message from God and change his mind. To be a little more serious, there is a good chance that 2008 will be a strongly anti-GOP year, while 2010 the terms of debate framed by the popularity of a new Democratic President who is pushing through an agenda which would mobilize traditional GOP voters.

Now for the third reason. Is there a potential for a Democrat to win a statewide race.

The same SURVEY USA poll has a break down of party identification in Kansas.

Republicans 43
Democrats 33

That's a lot closer than the official registration figures are about 46% Republican, 28 % Democratic and 26 % independent.

National polls which ask independents which way they lean are producing a big margin in overall identification for Democrats. If this Democratic trend holds true for Kansas the party identification might be pretty damn close. In fact, a Gallup poll earlier this year did a state by state breakdown and showed a slight Democratic advantage in Kansas when leaners were included.

Wichita Eagle: Tiahrt's had better weeks

The Wichita Eagle's editorial board raised a gentle question on Saturday about Fourth District Congressman Todd Tiahrt.

Because the power in Congress has shifted to the Democrats, two measures closely associated with Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Goddard, have targets on them and soon could be history. His constituents in the 4th Congressional District need to follow the legislative drama in the coming days, and realize the role Tiahrt is playing -- fairly or not -- in policy debates far from Kansas.

In 1998, Tiahrt pushed through a measure preventing the District of Columbia from funding a needle-exchange program aimed at fighting HIV-AIDS, because he believed such programs promote drug abuse and threaten children. On Tuesday, Rep. Jose E. Serrano, D-N.Y., who now chairs a subcommittee that deals with federal appropriations to the District, stripped that ban from legislation making its way through the House. The Washington Post praised Serrano for taking the "first step toward ending this nuttiness."

Then Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., who chairs a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, said Thursday that she would strip what's most often referred to as the "Tiahrt amendment" from a spending bill before her panel. That's the 2003 legislation on gun-tracing data that Tiahrt says protects undercover law enforcement officers and that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and 224 other U.S. mayors say impedes crime-fighting. This week also saw the mayors' group run a full-page ad in USA Today on the issue, pairing text such as "America can't afford a Congress that is soft on crime" with a photo of police officers carrying another officer's coffin. Law enforcement officers from across the country also plan a D.C. press conference Tuesday in opposition to the Tiahrt amendment.

In the 2006 election, Tiahrt's campaign ads were mainly the "he brings home the bacon" sort. They certainly didn't make the case for electing a conservative Tiahrt. If Democrats are going to continue to be the majority party in the Congress, what is the rationale fro electing Tiahrt? Might the voters of the fourth district be better served by elected a moderate, mainstream Democrat?

Bono--humanitarian or t ax dodger

Bono, the lead singer of U2, wants to be thought of as a humanitarian, but the sad truth is that he is a tax dodger. He chastises governments for not following through on commitments to Africa, while taking advantage of tax loopholes. For god sake, the man is a multi-millionaire. NPR interviewed him recently and the only tough questions they asked was why he wears sunglasses and what he talked to President Bush about.

Here's Lucy Komisar on the tax dodger

Bono’s protest at a Berlin news conference Monday might be taken more seriously if he and his U2 band were not contributing to the system that deprives developing countries of far more than western aid – much of which has to be repaid.

Bono is a tax dodger. The Irish Bono ran his music publishing company in Ireland, where he and his partners took advantage of a law that exempted musicians and artists from taxes on royalties. To dodge taxes on non-royalty income, Bono’s interests had the help of offshore nominee directors...

Bono’s Dublin company earned $110 million in 2005. Taking profits through the company rather than individually, Bono would have had to pay only 12.5 percent corporate tax, a rate still below that of the local bus conductor or plumber or school teacher.

But that apparently was too much for the man who has homes on the Irish Coast and in the South of France and New York City. So, last year, Bono “moved” the registration of his business to the Netherlands, where it will pay about 5 percent tax on royalties.

Maybe Ireland and the countries of the G-7 could provide more development aid if Bono and people like him didn’t dodge their fair taxes.

What might the people in the countries he wants to help think about this? The same “move your registration to the lowest tax rate” system that Bono uses is employed by multinational corporations to dodge taxes worldwide.

Developing countries lose an estimated $500 billion every year as a result.

As Africa is the continent Bono expresses most concern about, he ought to listen to what the African Union says: Tax dodging by foreign companies costs it $150 billion a year - three times what it receives in aid.

Carl Shier

Carl Shier, a kind giant of the labor and left died last week at the age of 89 after a long and productive live.

In 1982, Carl received the Debs-Thomas award at a Chicago dinner that celebrated the merger of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee and the New American Movement to form the Democratic Socialists of America. William Winpisger, President of the Machinists was the keynote speaker.

(In the photo at the right, from an earlier dinner, Carl is pictured with Dolores Huerta of the Farmworkers.)

Here's what they said about Carl that evening

We honor you as an exemplary socialist and trade unionist

You have spent a lifetime in the effort to build a socialist movement. You have refused to succumb to disappointment and defeat. You have helped win the small and lasting victories that inspire others to join and continue in the struggle.

Above all, your life has been a constant act of sharing - sharing your time, energy, enthusiasm, intelligence, and constant good spirits with your friends and co-workers.

You have demonstrated that true comradeship is capable of breaking the bonds of generations, color, sex, and class which separate us from one another in this society - and will be broken forever in the society that we seek.

We honor you for living for others and the Norman Thomas - Eugene V. Debs Committee does hereby present you with its award on this 1st day of May, 1982.

The family requests that contributions be made to Dissent through its nonprofit foundation FSISI (310 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10025.)