How elite am I?

There's a new quiz making the rounds and rapidly becoming a meme.  It's all based on a  column  by Charles Murray, the neo-racist author of the Bell Curve and now a scholar (sic) at the American Enterprise Institute.

1. Can you talk about "Mad Men?" Yes
2. Can you talk about the "The Sopranos?" A little.
3. Do you know who replaced Bob Barker on "The Price Is Right?" Yes, Drew Cary, and it it the New Price is Right
4. Have you watched an Oprah show from beginning to end? Yes.
5. Can you hold forth animatedly about yoga?  No.
5. How about pilates? No.
5. How about skiing? No.
6. Mountain biking?   No
7. Do you know who Jimmie Johnson is?  Yes, I know three. (a) Race car driver, (b) ex-football coach, (c) modern blues musician.  The desired, right answer is (a)
8. Does the acronym MMA mean nothing to you?  Mixed martial arts.
9. Can you talk about books endlessly? Sure.
10. Have you ever read a "Left Behind" novel? No.
11. How about a Harlequin romance? Yes.
12. Do you take interesting vacations? Interesting to me.
13. Do you know a great backpacking spot in the Sierra Nevada? No. I don't even own a backpack.
14. What about an exquisite B&B overlooking Boothbay Harbor?  I don't even have an idea where that is.
15. Would you be caught dead in an RV? Yes
16. Would you be caught dead on a cruise ship?  Maybe
17. Have you ever heard of of Branson, Mo? Yes, but I've been there twice.
18. Have you ever attended a meeting of a Kiwanis Club? No.
19. How about the Rotary Club? No.
20. Have you lived for at least a year in a small town? I grew up in a town of 12,000 and lived in smaller towns for a year or more.
21. Have you lived for a year in an urban neighborhood in which most of your neighbors did not have college degrees? Yes.
22. Have you spent at least a year with a family income less than twice the poverty line?  Yes.
23. Do you have a close friend who is an evangelical Christian? Yes.
24. Have you ever visited a factory floor? Yes.
25. Have you worked on one? Yes 


I scored six out of twenty-five for an elitist score of 24%, which is better (worse) than Russell's 30 percent --eight out of twenty-seven.

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime

Deficit spending got us out of the Great Depression. Slashing government spending risks turning the Great Recession into another Great Depression.

Solomon Burke passes

The great Solomon Burke died today. He was one of the great soul vocalists of the 1960s and did some great CDs in recent years. Burke had a taste for country music, so his version of a Don Gibson classic is a fitting tribute.

Dems gain in State-wide races

The latest Survey USA poll shows gains by Tom Holland for Gov, Atty Gen Steve Six,
Treasurer Dennis McKinney, and Secretary of State Chris Biggs. There's still a long ways to go in these races, but usually when Dems win in the state it is due to late movement.

For Governor, US Senator Sam Brownback and running mate Jeff Colyer today defeat Democrats Tom Holland and Kelly Kultala 59% to 32%. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll released 1 month ago, the Republicans are down 8 points; the Democrats are up 7. Among women, Brownback had led by 35, now leads by 19. Among voters 50+, Brownback had led by 31, now leads by 20. Among the 1 in 3 likely voters who identify themselves as moderates, Holland and Kultala had trailed by 10, now lead by 9, a 19-point swing to the Democrats.


Incumbent Secretary of State Democrat Chris Biggs has gained some ground in his fight against Republican Kris Kobach. Kobach today defeats Biggs by 17 points, 53% to 36%, down from a 32-point margin a month ago. Biggs has gained strength and Kobach has simultaneously lost ground among women, where the two are now essentially even, and to a lesser extent, among voters 50+. Biggs has also found support among moderates, where he had led by a 5, now by 22.

Another Democratic incumbent, Attorney General Steve Six, is also gaining ground against his opponent, Republican Derek Schmidt. Schmidt today defeats Six 50% to 41%, a 9-point lead for the Republican, down from 20 points last month. There has been an 18-point swing toward the Democrat among women, a 12-point swing among older voters, and Six has dramatically improved his standing in southeastern Kansas, where he had trailed by 25 points, and is now neck-and-neck with Schmidt.

The State Treasurer race has also tightened, with Republican Ron Estes today defeating incumbent Democrat Dennis McKinney by 11 points, down from 21 points last month. McKinney, like his fellow incumbents in the Attorney General and Secretary of State offices, is up gaining strength among women, older voters, and moderates.

James Elon White on Haley Barbour and racism

Tom Holland at State Fair

Tom Holland, Democratic candidate for Governor of Kansas, at the Kansas State Fair debate.

The Young Guns

Music for Labor Day: Four takes on Work Song

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, one of the most influential blues-and-beyond groups of the 1960s, recorded Nat Adderly's "Work Song" on their landmark "East-West" album.  It was also a staple of their life performances. 

This is a version from San Francisco's "Winterland" Sept 30, 1966. It is from the fantastic Wolfgang's Vault website.


And here's a version by the Cannonball Adderly Quintet.




That clip was on a show hosted by Oscar Brown, Jr. who wrote lyrics to the tune.  Here's the link to his take.



And here's Nina Simone.




Both the Butterfield and Adderly bands were notable for being integrated, something that was rare and brave in the 1960s, and is still rare today.

Glen Beck rally

 An interesting and entertaining clip from Sam Seder.

Raj Goyle's Social Security Pledge and Why it Matters

Image via Wikipedia(August 18) Saturday at the  Wichita Hyatt, in front of a crowd of nearly 200 people  at Demofest, State Rep. Raj Goyle, candidate for Congress representing the 4th District, signed a pledge promising to work to strengthen and protect Social Security. The event came on the 75th Anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signing the bill into law.

Now some political pledges are primarily  symbolic, but some have real consequences and mark dramatic political differences. This is just such a case. Goyle's opponent, Mike Pompeo and the leadership of the national Republican party have Social Security in their crosshairs.
 

Goyle's Pledge
In a speech that received a standing ovation from the crowd, Raj Goyle stated, "Seventy five years ago today President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed into law one of the most groundbreaking, progressive and forward-thinking programs in our nation's history when he created the Social Security system. Social Security has withstood a World War, thrived in times of peace and unrest, survived recessions and deficits and held firm under Democrats and Republicans."
"And in 2010, Social Security will be protected and nurtured for many more decades to come, because we in this room - and other like us nationwide - will not let special interests, the Club for Growthers, the greedy Wall Street raiders, the John Boehners and the Newt Gingriches of the world anywhere near this American institution," Goyle continued,
"I pledge to you today that I will protect Social Security. I will oppose all efforts to privatize it and I will certainly oppose John Boehner's idea of raising the retirement age to 70! Together, we will protect the guarantee of dignity, security and hope that began with FDR 75 years ago," Goyle concluded.
Pompeo's Plan to Gut Social Security
In an April 10 interview with the Winfield Courier, Pompeo stated his position on social security.  Pompeo supports raising the retirement age and a Bush-style privatization of social security. And note that the article is featured on the Pompeo campaign website.

On the spending side, the government needs to move down a path to reform entitlement funding, including Social Security  and Medicare -- the government's two biggest entitlement programs, Pompeo said.
Options that could be examined include increasing the age for full Social Security benefits to retirees, he said.
"I would advocate for a partial privatization of the system so people could choose to go into the government-funded program or to a retirement investment program where they could get a return on their capital," Pompeo said.

Pompeo's GOP vs. Social Security 

Pompeo's intention to privatize social security, unfortunately, is not an isolated case.
The Wonk Room summarizes

Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) much ballyhooed Roadmap for America's Future calls for the creation of private Social Security accounts, akin to those proposed by President Bush in 2005. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) has explicitly advocated "reviving President George W. Bush's failed plan to partially privatize Social Security." 

Reps. Dan Lungren (R-CA), Jack Kingston (R-GA), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) have all touted personal accounts, while Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has expressed a desire to "wean everybody off" Social Security entirely. Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) even questioned the constitutionality of the program. 

Kentucky's Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul, meanwhile, has said "let young working people opt out, the sooner the better, let 'em opt out and get a better investment." Indiana's GOP Senate candidate Dan Coats has endorsed a Social Security plan "along the lines of what Paul Ryan has proposed."

As a Center for American Progress Action Fund analysis found, under a Bush-style privatization plan, an October 2008 retiree would have lost $26,000 in the market plunge of that year, and if the U.S. stock market had behaved like the Japanese market during the duration of that retiree's work life, "a private account would have experienced sharp negative returns, losing $70,000 -- an effective -3.3 percent net annual rate of return." But despite the market turmoil that America just went through, Republicans are most certainly pushing a privatization agenda, under the guise of a manufactured Social Security crisis.

The Polluters: my first Amazon review

The Polluters: The Making of Our Chemically Altered Environment (Hardcover) Benjamin Ross and Steven Amter have written a fascinating and eye-opening history of the companies, institutions, and policies that have created our chemically altered environment over the last century.

If Earth Day or the Love Canal tragedy were the events that brought the environmental crisis into your consciousness, then you owe it to yourself to read The Polluters. Even more so, if it was Global Warming or the BP oil spill.

Killer smog in LA and mass zinc poisoning in Denora, Pennsylvania are two dramatic events, just after WWII, covered by Ross and Amter. But there is also the story of DDT and leaded gasoline. The coverups by companies and the obfuscations of industry-influenced scientific groups are constants in the story.

Government has rarely been an effective regulator. The chemical industry in pursuing its own pecuniary interests has promoted and exploited an ideology of market fundamentalism, which has helped to negate and undermine efforts at regulation.


The Polluters is free of academic jargon and is written in a lively style

Abbey Lincoln

Abbey Lincoln, the great jazz vocalist and activist, has died.  Here are two clips. The first from her early 1960s collaboration with Max Roach (The Freedom Now Suite) and the humanitarian classic "People in Me" from later in her career.

Pompeo bigotry right out of Brownback playbook

By now, you've probably read that 4th Congressional Republican candidate Mike Pompeo was caught using Facebook and Twitter to promote a vile, racist, religiously bigoted blog attacking Democratic rival Raj Goyle. The rest of the story is that this attack on an opponent's religion is nothing new for the Kansas GOP.  Pompeo's campaign made the mistake of being crude, early, and traceable.  A little over a decade ago, Sam Brownback showed how this sort of dirty trick should be done: with a wink, late in the campaign, and with deniability.

First, to bring you up to date on the recent controversy.

This is part of the post that the Pompeo campaign recommended as a "good read"

Like his comrad obama, he wouldn't give an answer, only that he was not a Christian. This guy could be a muslim, a hindu, a buddhist etc who knows, only God, the shadow and ...goyle knows! One thing's for sure ... goyle is not a Christian!
Since the 2008 election of the evil muslim communist USURPER, barack hussein obama, political candidate "BIRTH CERTIFICATE & RELIGION" information is now a vital part of the vetting/nomination/election process for any and all American citizens seeking political office.
Just like his evil muslim communist USURPER comrad, barack hussein obama, This goyle character is just another "turban topper" we don't need in congress or any political office that deals with the U.S. Constitution, Christianity and the United States of America!!!

          (screen shot of the since removed tweet and blog can be found here.)


Pompeo has apologized, but apparently hasn't taken disciplinary against the staffer.

saying a staff member posted an incorrect link, the mistakes were discovered less than an hour later and the posts were pulled down immediately.

Pompeo said in a statement, “The statements of the blogger in no way reflect my views. There is no place in campaigns or in public discourse for language of this nature. I have placed a personal call of apology and spoken to Rep. Goyle directly expressing our campaign's regret for the error."...

Pompeo says he spoke with the staff member in question and is convinced there was no malice. The campaign won’t say if the staffer is facing disciplinary action.

Now, the rest of the story from Scott Swenson

 I worked on a Kansas Senate race in 1996 when Bob Dole resigned to devote attention to his presidential race. Jill Docking, the Democratic nominee, was attacked in the final days of that campaign by calls into rural areas that were clearly anti-Semitic, asking, "would you vote for Jill Docking if you knew she was Jewish?"

Those calls, and a series of ads on TV were paid for by Triad Management Services, whose leaders were deposed in anticipation of Congressional Hearings. Triad contracted with a series of nefarious organizations like Common Sense 2006 with names that sound so reasonable, but whose tactics destroy the fabric of our democracy.

Senator Sam Brownback, the winner of that 1996 race, also claimed he had nothing to do with those ads, though his own ads coincidentally also used Jill's maiden name emphasizing her heritage. A Senate Committee scheduled to investigate Triad canceled hearings once Brownback secured a seat on the committee.

Remembering Ernest Eber

Herman Benson writes in the Summer 2010 issue of New Politics

I remember Ernest Erber, who died in February at the age of 96, as one those few remaining friends and comrades whose political life and ideas so closely followed my own, from our formative years in the mid-1930s through the last 20 years. A a very young man, he joined the Socialist Party-affiliated Young People Socialist League(YPSL) in the thirties. While president of the YPSL in 1937, Erber visited Spain and wrote a pamphlet about the Civil War.  The SP helped form and fund a Debs column and Erber himself joined the staff of La Battale, the POUM newspaper.  In 1938, he left YPSL with the Trotskyists to form the Socialist Workers Party in 1940 after the Soviet Union invaded Finland, he became a founding  and leading member of the Workers Party (later reoriented as the Independent Socialist League.) Some time in 1948, then looking for a socialist philosophy which rejected both right-wing social democracy and leftist Leninism, he resigned from the WP/ISL.

At the point our ways parted and I lost track of where he went politically; I do know that he became a city planner; he worked briefly for Jesse Jackson as a volunteer; and remained steadfast as a democratic socialist. I knew him and respected him (as did most everyone) as a fine human being, intelligent, of absolute integrity, modest, independent-minded, decent--a  great educator.  He was a leader in the WP/ISL, under the name Ernest Lund he wrote our popular booklet "Plenty for All."  He was a member of the National Committee, served for a time as managing editor of the New International, and was on its editorial board until 1948.  AT the WP (or ISL?) convention around 1948, at a time when we were trying to redefine our role as a movement, he was a lone voice suggesting that we function as a "small mass party" an idea that went nowhere and seems to have little impression even on his own thinking.  When he presented his resignation, indicating that he had abandoned the Leninist, Bolshevik, whatever tradition, Max Shachtman wrote a whole little booklet denouncing him for his apostasy.  Erber wasn't sure where he wanted to go but he knew what he rejected.  In that respect he was a kind of pioneer for a myriad of followers who never will know of him!  At the time, I agree wholeheartedly with Shachtman, but looking back, I am convinced that Ernie, all alone, was (more) right.

Some of Erber's youthful Trotskyist writings are online. His 1943 booklet "Plenty for All" can be found here.

After his break with Shachtman, Erber, in addition to his work as a planner, wrote occasional articles and reviews for New Politics and Dissent.  As 1990 essay for the latter journal "Virtues and Vices of the Market: Balanced Correctives to a Current Craze" was reprinted in the Dissent collection Why Market Socialism and other books.

I had some contact with Ernie many years after his break with Shachtman.  I knew him as a member of DSOC and DSA,  We were both involved in CATNAM (the Committee Against the NAM merger) and in a small group that published a newsletter entitled, if I recall correctly, "Mainstream."  I remember editorial meetings at a Chinese restaurant in downtown Washington, D.C. and at his home in the planned community of Columbia, Maryland.  I share Herman Benson's kind thoughts towards Erber.  I wish now that I had known enough to ask Ernie about his political experiences. I am sure it would have been fascinating, but Ernie was very much involved in the issues of the day and treated his far younger comrades with the greatest equality.

Wikipedia does a fairly good job in describing the political conjecture

The proposal for merger [with the New American Movement]  generated vocal opposition, however. Forces on the organization's right wing, led by Howe and calling themselves the Committee Against the NAM Merger (CATNAM), urged that instead of courting New Left survivors that DSOC should instead continue to place its emphasis on outreach to larger forces in the labor movement and the Democratic Party. In addition to noting NAM's deep distrust of the Democratic Party, many adherents of CATNAM had grave misgivings about NAM's position towards Israel [and, though not noted in the article, NAM's third-worldist international politics]

The 1981 DSOC national convention was marked by a very heated debate on the question of merger with NAM, which was ultimately resolved by a vote of approximately 80% of the delegates in favor, none against, with the 20% or so supporting the CATNAM position abstaining.

One of our concerns, before and after, was that DSOC/DSA needed an internal political culture that consciously and unapologetically resembled the mass social democratic parties of Europe, and not the totalistic environment of the political cults or the hot-house, student movement.  (Of course, neither DSOC nor DSA never had nor desired that sort of insular political culture.  But there has not always been clarity on what they wanted, nor easy to achieve within the dominant American political culture.)  That was an echo, I think, of Erber's idea of a "small, mass party."

Jean Schodorf message to supporters

Moderate Republican State Senator Jean Schodorf finished second in the Kansas 4th Congressional District primary.  An article in the Sunday Eagle reported that the rivals of winner Mike Pompeo may not support him.   Yesterday Schodorf sent an email to her supporters with an intriguing last paragraph

I want to challenge all of you.  Please, be concerned about the future of our city, our state and our country.  A candidate (we all know who) said at the WIBA forum that he wants to go to Washington, D.C. to "throw sand in the gears every time".  What does that mean?  Do we really want to stop programs that will help our senior citizens, our kids, the disabled , our safety, the less fortunate and businesses?"  That comment has stayed with me.  Which do you want?  Do you want to "throw sand in the gears every time", or do you want to "roll up your sleeves, pitch in, and be a part of the solution"?  I know which I choose.

Wanted David and Charles Koch, Climate Criminals

A humorous look at the Koch's. I'd like to see a more serious report. Let me know if there is one around that you are aware of.


Wanted: David and Charles Koch, Climate Criminals from Greenpeace USA on Vimeo.

Kansas primary outlook 4th District

Via Daily Kos which also has analysis of other Kansas races.

A SurveyUSA poll taken just during the past few days identifies the favorites for both parties in this battle to replace Todd Tiahrt. The district is reddish (58-40 McCain in 2008), but Democrats are high on their well-funded challenger: state legislator Raj Goyle. SUSA polling in June showed Goyle actually trailing unknown retiree Robert Tillman, but a quick pre-primary advertising blitz handled that effectively. Goyle now has a 40+ point lead. Meanwhile, Republicans have a more muddled field, which has become a three-way race at the last. For the longest time, it was a battle of the businessmen, as manufacturing exec Mike Pompeo and Florida transplant Wink Hartman paced the field. But moderate state senator Jean Schodorf has surged at the wire, and could figure in the conversation on Tuesday. This week's SUSA poll had Pompeo at 31 percent with Schodorf (24 percent) and Hartman (21 percent) within striking distance.

Who I am voting for in the August Kansas Primary

I don't ever remember so many choices in the Kansas Democratic primary as we have this year.  There has been a lot more heat and dollars spent on the GOP side, so the information to make an informed decision has been hard to come by.  For what it is worth, here are my recommendations.

US Senate: Charles Schollenberger is the candidate who has taken the most progressive positions on the issues.  Schollenberger, so far as I can determine, is the only candidate to openly support unions and the Employee Free Choice Act.

From his website:

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING:
Kansans have the right to a satisfying job and a fair wage, whether they work for themselves or others. They also have the right to organize unions and collectively bargain. An array of research demonstrates that union and organized labor benefits the economy by raising living standards for union and non-union workers alike, making companies more efficient and productive, and by balancing the interests of ownership and investors with the interests of the hardworking men and women that make these companies thrive.[9] As Kansas’ next U.S. Senator I will support legislation like the Employee Free Choice Act, which would impose real penalties on employers who harass or fire union sympathizers, or otherwise try to scare workers away from a union. Under the Employee Free Choice Act, if a majority of employees at a workplace sign cards favoring a union, the act would require an employer to recognize the union, avoiding long and destructive battles.[10]

On the economy, Schollenberger has articulated a strong, progressive program in contrast to Lisa Johnson who displays the rhetoric of the right.  She writes about the "skyrocketing federal deficit" and promotes the misleading and dangerous notion that the federal government, instead of acting to stabilize the economy as a whole, should emulate the mythical household . David Haley in the Wichita Eagle candidate survey also pushed the GOP line about balanced budgets and even supporting the line-item veto.

Schollenberger supports a strong economic recovery program and advocates that it be paid for by a financial transaction tax.

Schollenberger takes a courageous position in support of immigration reform and is strong in his opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Haley on immigration channels Kris Kobach and Pat Buchannon, telling the Eagle that the US must "immediately mitigate the rewards currently found for lawlessness and the resulting erosion of our established American culture."

Any of the Democrats will be a decided underdog to either Jerry Moran or Todd Tiahrt in the November.  Since there is no strong practical politics case that I can see for any of the Democratic rivals,  I am going to vote for the most progressive candidate.  That is clearly Schollenberger.

Secretary of State: Chris Biggs, the incumbent via appointment by Gov. Mark Parkinson is the clear choice over Chris Steineger.  Biggs has been endorsed by Gov. Mark Parkinson, Sen. Anthony Hensley (Kansas Senate Minority Leader), Rep. Paul Davis (Kansas House Minority Leader), KNEA, Kansas State Firefighters Association, Mainstream Coalition, Wichita/Hutchinson Labor Federation.

Steineger has flirted with the Tea Party and spoken at Kansans for (Koch) Prosperity events.  He made noises about running for Governor and then lowered his sights. I can see no compelling reason for his challenge to Biggs.

Fourth Congressional District: I'll vote for Raj Goyle, although not with the enthusiasm that I had hoped to have.  On many of the issues covered in the Wichita Eagle, I find myself more sympathetic with many of the positions articulated by Robert Tillman.  Goyle, on the other hand, is a great natural politician, a prodigious fundraiser, and an extraordinarily  well-organized campaigner.  He could have a real chance to win the open seat in the Fourth Congressional race.  While not being a progressive Democratic and, I think, running to the right of Dan Glickman, Goyle is clearly no Republican and would be a great improvement over Todd Tiahrt or presumed likely opponents Wink Hartman or Mike Pompeo. (If Jean Schodorf  should pull off an upset, which has gone from a pipe dream to a distinct possibility, Goyle will have to work hard to demonstrate his superiority.)

Goyle defends. in part, the health care reform bill, abortion rights, affirms that the stimulus program has benefited Kansas, and opposes raising the retirement age for Social Security.  But his answer on immigration avoids taking a position in favor of immigration reform and instead touts his support for an English official language law.  He says the "Out-of-control Washington spending has taken a federal budget surplus 10 years ago and turned it into a record deficit."  As the Center for Budget and  Policy Priorities stated in 2005

Some seek to portray “runaway domestic spending” or growth in the costs of entitlement programs as the primary cause of the shift in recent years from sizeable surpluses to large deficits. Such a characterization is incorrect. In 2005, the cost of tax cuts enacted over the past four years will be over three times the cost of all domestic program increases enacted over this period.

Even more disappointing is Goyle's statement a key to stimulating the economy is "by cutting wasteful government spending."  The New York Times recently reported that a study by economists Alan Blinder and Mark Zandi showed that without the stimulus programs enacted beginning in the fall of 2008

the nation’s gross domestic product would be about 6.5 percent lower this year.
In addition, there would be about 8.5 million fewer jobs, on top of the more than 8 million already lost; and the economy would be experiencing deflation.

Gottlieb in on the web

[Portrait of Art Tatum, Vogue Room, New York, N.Y., between 1946 and 1948] (LOC)
Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

The Smithsonian is putting the extraordinary jazz photos of William Gottlieb on the web, on flickr to be specific.

This photo of Art Tatum seemed a good one to share. Tatum once walked into a club where Fats Waller was playing, and Waller stepped away from the piano bench to make way for Tatum, announcing, "I only play the piano, but tonight God is in the house." Tatum is said to be

Great blues show tomorrow at Cotillion

Magic Slim, a great bluesman, is performing at the Cotillion in Wichita on Thursday.  I saw Slim a lot when we both lived in Chicago, he's well worth seeing.

Eliseo Medina, SEIU VP, on immigration and civil rights at Netroots Nation

Eliseo Medina, international vice president of the Service Employees International Union, spoke at a panel on “civil rights in the modern era” at the just concluded Netroots Nation convention in Las Vegas.  Medina reviewed the impact of Arizona’s SB 1070.

Eliseo Medina at Netroots Nation: Unite to Defeat anti-immigrant, anti-Hispanic movements from Talking Union on Vimeo.

The vestigal trait of neo-conservatism

from The New Republic Politics by Jonathan Chait

 

Neoconservatism long ago ceased to have any meaningful ideological difference with just plain old conservatism. Perhaps the one remaining vestigial trait of the ideological tendency is a mania for forming committees and stuffing them with progenies (of both the ideological and the literal sort). The glory days of neoconservatism in the 1970s revolved around such committees as the Committee on the Present Danger and the Coalition for a Democratic Majority.

LabourStart Global Solidarity Conference

LabourStart, the international union news and campaigning site, held its first-ever public conference last weekend in Hamilton, Ontario. More than 200 participants from about 30 countries attended. The AFL-CIO blog had apre-conference round up, Working In These Times had a post conference report, and another report was here.

Here is the plenary talk from LabourStart's founding editor, Eric Lee.

Day One of the LabourStart Global Solidarity Conference

As I get ready for breakfast on Sunday, I can report that the first open LabourStart conference has been a huge success. Here are photos from the first day.
Here's a pre-conference report from the AFL-CIO Now blog.

And here are photos from the first day. Additional reports later.

Great Infographic on Walmart

Via: Home Loans

Quote of the Day

Russell Moore, dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary:

"There's really nothing conservative -- and certainly nothing evangelical -- about a laissez-faire view of a lack of government regulation, because we, as Christians, believe in sin. That means if people are sinful, if all of us are sinful, then all of us have to have accountability -- and that includes corporations. Simply trusting corporations to go about their business without polluting the water streams and without destroying ecosystems is really a naive and utopian view of human nature. It's not a Christian view of human nature." 

Hat tip: Right Wing Watch

World’s unions reject boycotts, embrace Israeli-Palestinian cooperation

[Positive news from TULIP.]

The international trade union movement has just delivered a stinging rebuff to advocates of the campaign to boycott Israel.
At its second world congress which just concluded in Vancouver, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) rejected calls to support the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign targetting the Jewish state.
A vehemently anti-Israel resolution submitted by the Congress of South African Trade Unions never made it to the floor.
And in a stunning blow to pro-Hamas activists in some unions, the Israeli national trade union center Histadrut was honored by the global trade union movement.
Its leader, Ofer Eini, was elevated to the ITUC’s 25-member Executive Board as well as its General Council.  Eini was also elected as one of the organization’s Vice Presidents.
The ITUC has 312 affiliated organizations in 156 countries and territories representing 176 million workers.
Eini’s election followed calls by major unions in the UK and elsewhere for the Histadrut to be boycotted.  Instead, the international trade union movement has embraced the Israeli unions, understanding them — correctly — to be important partners in building peaceful relations between Israelis and Palestinians.
In a resolution adopted by the ITUC congress, the positive role of the Histadrut was made explicit:
“Congress welcomes the landmark agreement between Histadrut and the PGFTU on the rights of Palestinian workers, which was finalised with the assistance of the ITUC in August 2008, and initiatives by Global Union Federations in their sectors to support cooperation in defence of workers’ rights. This agreement, and other actions to promote decent work and end discrimination, are crucial to building the basis for just and equitable economic development.”
For the future, the ITUC resolution declared:
“Congress commits the ITUC to continue to support the strengthening of cooperation between the Palestinian and Israeli trade union movements and calls upon the international community to support Palestinian economic reconstruction and development, including through the ILO Palestinian Fund for Employment and Social Protection.”
In addition, the world’s trade unions

• Called for a two-state solution — and “universal recognition of Israel’s right to exist, next to an independent viable Palestinian state”
• Rejected “the extremist policies of Hamas“
• Condemned the Egyptian “decision to impose heavy restrictions on its border with Gaza”
• Acknowledged that Israeli’s December 2008 attack on Gaza came “in response to rocket attacks”
• Supported the 2002 “Road Map” for peace proposed by the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union

The resolution adopted was highly critical of many Israeli policies, calling for an end to illegal settlements in the Palestinian territories, rejecting the blockade of Gaza and the building of a security fence, and so on.
But what stands out clearly is the commitment by the vast majority of the world’s trade unions to a two-state solution and to strengthening Israeli-Palestinian trade union cooperation.
This is welcome news for Israelis and Palestinians and a blow to the supporters of Hamas who have tried hard to isolate and demonize Israel within the trade union movement.

KS-4 Poll shows tight primaries; is vote against state budget hurting Goyle

There is a new poll out showing tight primaries, as expected on the GOP and, surprisingly, on the Democratic side.  According to the poll, State Representative  Raj Goyle, who has raised over $ 1million, leads retiree Robert Tillman by only a 42-32 percent margin.  One has to wonder whether Goyle lost support because of his failure to support a one-cent increase in the state sales tax, which was backed by Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson and an overwhelming majority of Democratic legislators as the alternative to drastic budget cuts.

Here's a report from Daily Kos

KS-04: Toss-up for the GOP, Democratic field closer than expected
If KS-01 is seen by virtually everyone as a guaranteed hold for the GOP (McCain took 69% there), the Wichita-based 4th district has potential. Not only is the district marginally more competitive (58-40 for McCain), but the Democrats have one of their leading recruits here in state senator [sic] Raj Goyle. Given that fact, the latest SurveyUSA poll out of the district has to give Dems pau se. In that poll, Goyle only leads the Democratic primary with 42% of the vote, with 32% of the vote going to retiree Robert Tillman, who has not even raised enough cash to file an FEC report (Goyle has raised close to a million dollars for his bid). On the GOP side, it is a battle of the businessmen, as manufacturing executive Mike Pompeo leads oil executive Wink Hartman by a pair (39-37), with the rest of the field languishing in the single digits.

Senate Dem Leader Hensley Endorses Chris Biggs, calls for Steineger to drop out

Chris Biggs, Ks. Secretary of  State

An Open Letter to Kansas Democrats
From Senator Anthony Hensley
Kansas Senate Democratic Leader

Dear Fellow Democrats:

Last week a federal investigation exposed extensive financial mismanagement of the Kansas Republican Party under the leadership of Kris Kobach.

During Kobach’s stint as Republican state chairman, the Republican Party accepted illegal donations yet failed to pay thousands of dollars in state and federal taxes.  Not only that, Kobach left the Kansas Republican Party almost bankrupt.

Now Kris Kobach wants to be our next Kansas Secretary of State.  Should he become the Republican nominee, Kansas Democrats need a strong candidate who will bring professional conduct to the office.

I believe the man to beat Kobach is our current Secretary of State, Chris Biggs.  Chris is a lifelong public servant.  He has the experience and integrity needed to go head-to-head with http://draft.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=6053155Kobach and win.  It is important that we unite behind the strongest Democratic candidate and in this case the choice is clear:  Chris Biggs is the man for the job.

So, today, I am not only endorsing Chris Biggs for Secretary of State, but I am calling on Biggs’ primary opponent, State Senator Chris Steineger, to withdraw from the race and put his full support behind Secretary Biggs.

Much like Kris Kobach, Steineger has his own ethical and legal problems.  He has violated campaign finance laws which forced him to pay a $5,000 fine to the Kansas Ethics Commission (Topeka Capital-Journal, May 18, 2010).  Democrats will lose the office if Chris Steineger is our candidate. 
Kansans deserve a Secretary of State who understands the law, follows the law, and is committed to enforcing the law.

I strongly urge you to join me in voting for Secretary of State Chris Biggs in the Democratic primary elected on Tuesday, August 3rd.  To learn more about Chris Biggs, go to his Web site at www.biggsforkansas.comhttp:// www.biggsforkansas.com.

Sincerely,

Anthony Hensley
Kansas Senate Democratic Leader

Men's Day--Southern Baptists go politically correct

The Southern Baptist Church in my neighborhood seems to have gone politically correct. Instead of a Father's Day celebration they had a "Men's Day" celebration.

Brownback's silly idea shows ignorance of Kansas

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

I imagine Sam Brownback is mighty pleased that the New York Times gave him a puff piece story for his silly idea to create a  "State Office of the Repealer whose job it would be to start disposing of all the silly, needless, over-the-top regulations that state officials have dreamed up."

Brownback then cites the prime example "the rejoicing of residents in Saline County, Kan., when a strict fireworks ban was lifted there."

Hey, Sam, that was a county ordinance, it had nothing to do with a state law or regulation.

Moran being investigated for C street

 KC prime buzz:

The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reported today that House investigators are checking into the well-known "C Street house" that was home to several members of Congress.
The issue: Have members received an improper gift in the form of below-market rent?
Among house residents have been Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, a candidate for governor this year, and Kansas Congressman Jerry Moran, who is now a candidate for Brownback's Senate seat.

The Hill:

At an April campaign event with Coburn in Wichita, Kan., Moran was asked about the CREW complaint. He described the C Street house as a place where Members gather for Bible study, and he said, “It became a residence of mine several years ago. I rent a room there with other colleagues and moved my bed in and share a bathroom with other folks.”

Moran added, “I’ve never even showered at C Street.” (my emphasis)


Moran has said he believes the complaint is groundless, and he said at the Wichita event: “I do believe that there are those people that want to make certain that one’s religious faith is not something that is mingled with their public service. ... My public service is clearly related to my beliefs as a Christian.”

Arizona fires Kobach

The Lawrence Journal World reports

A change in leadership at the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in Arizona is costing Kris Kobach some work.

Kobach, an attorney and Republican candidate for Kansas secretary of state, was providing legal advice to Maricopa County on immigration issues.


But Kobach said he has been terminated from that job after the former Maricopa County Attorney, Andrew Thomas, left office last month to run for Arizona attorney general.

The new Maricopa Attorney “takes a very different view of enforcing Arizona’s human smuggling” law, Kobach said.

KS-02: Jenkins draws late, possibly tough, Dem challenger

Daily Kos reports

One district that had been essentially left for dead by Democrats this year was the one occupied by freshman Republican Lynn Jenkins. That changed at the filing deadline, as Jenkins drew a potentially intriguing Democratic challenger. The Democrat is Sean Tevis, who raised six figures from small donors in a longshot state legislative bid that he wound up narrowly losing (52-48).

Two demonstrations in solidarity with the people of Iran

NEW YORK CITY

WHY WE'RE STILL HERE
On June 12, 2009 we declared that we would stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Iran. We pledged to make their voices heard and to raise our voices loudly where their cries had been suppressed. We pronounced ourselves a new generation of human rights advocates inspired by the brave men and women on the streets throughout Iran. Today, we remain steadfast.

One year later, the Iranian government continues to imprison all human rights defenders and to meet any dissent with violence. We gather to advocate for the rights and well-being of the Iranian people and stand against the rising tide of violence and despotism that has come to
define the Iranian Government. Today we uphold our faithful commitment to the inviolable right of self-determination for our brothers and sisters in Iran.

When: June 12th, 2010 AT 12:30PM
Where: Iranian Mission to the United Nations
622 Third Avenue
(Between 40th and 41st)
with march and rally to follow

Attendees are invited to participate in a living art installation that recounts the journey of the Iranian people in the past year. We will be highlighting the names and images of prisoners of conscience.
Rally Program Features:
Freedom Glory Project, the original lineup
Mamak Khadem, formerly of Axiom of Choice
Kathy Kelly, Co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Professor Hossein Kamaly, Barnard University
Austin Heap, Haystack Creator
Participants will read from a collection of letters, poems, and testimonies, composed by our brave Iranian brothers and sisters, that spoke to our hearts, inspired our resolve and gave us hope to stand with them as they strive for a brighter future.
www.whereismyvoteny.org

CHICAGO
You are invited to join a demonstration called by The Committee in Solidarity with the People's Struggle in Iran - Chicago
Saturday, June 12, 2010
12:00pm - 2:00pm
Tribune Tower, 435 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL

June 8: Global Day of Remembrance for Victims of Foxconn

It’s been dubbed the “suicide express” by Chinese media. Twelve workers, all between 18 and 24 years old, have committed suicide, at the production facilities of Foxconn Technology Group, a Taiwan-owned enterprise based in Shenzhen, southern China. Foxconn is a key supplier to various leading brands including Apple.

SACOM (Students & Scholars against Corporate Misbehavior) and labor organizations based in Hong Kong and Taiwan, is calling for a Global Day of Remembrance for Victims of Foxconn for June 8th, to coincide with Apple’s global launch of its fourth-generation iPhone. The Democratic Socialists of America has endorsed the Global Day of Remembrance.

They are also appealing for a one-month June boycott of Foxconn’s products (Foxconn supplies major electronic products not only for Apple, but for Nokia, HP, Dell, Sony, Erikson, Motorola and others).
Update:  Apple has announced that the new iPhone 4G is scheduled for release on June 24. This would be an excellent day for a small symbolic action.
Here are some ideas on how you can support the Global Day of Remembrance:

• Sign the LabourStart email campaign, which will go to officials at Apple and Foxconn.

• Sign the on-line petition from SACOM.

• Link to the SACOM petition on your website with this code Online petition – 強烈要求富士康停產整頓  倡議6月8日為「全球悼念富士康自殺工人日」 June 8th: Global Day of Remembrance for Victims of Foxconn

• Observe a minute of silence at your next union or political meeting.

• Include the Foxconn victims in prayers if you are active in a religious group.

• Organize a few people to hold a respectful, non-disruptive remembrance outside an Apple or ATT store. (It doesn’t have to be on June 8.)

• Farhad Manjoo suggests

Next time you visit an Apple Store, ask an employee about where the iPad is made. Ask about the suicides there, and if Apple has pressed Foxconn to improve conditions at the plant. Are you an Apple shareholder? Attend the company’s annual meeting and ask executives whether their production practices are sustainable over the long term.

Better, ask to talk to the store manager. Better yet, take a small group of people with you and talk to the manager.

Memorial Day

10 Greatest Philosophical Principles

Via Normblog

Philosopher Julian Baggini has picked the ten greatest philosophical principles.

Go and apply

or

Discuss

Four experts discussed the new health care reform legislation at Wichita State University last Saturday.
The experts were: Dr. Richard Skibba, David Wilson (President, Kansas AARP), Bev White (President and CEO of the Center for Health & Wellness), and Monica Flask (Director of Project Acress, Central Plains Regional Health Care Foundation).



The event was sponsored by the Sedgwick County Democratic Party and WSU College Democrats.

Re-emergence of anarchism in Cuba

A UK anarchist site has this report  (Hat tip: Poumista)

Recently, on 13th & 14th of March there was in San José de Las Lajas, near Havana in Cuba, the 4th Critical Observatory event organised by the Haydee Santamaría Professorship[?]. There were a good group of attendees from across the island who presented, listened and debated around the libertarian idea and practical self-organization alternatives for today's Cuban society.
Without doubt this is an encouraging sign for those who have hoped for a long time to see a strong remergence of the path laid by Enrique Roig San Martín, Alfredo López, Enrique Varona, Marcelo Salinas and many other men & women as recollected in Frank Fernández's impressive book "Anarchism in Cuba". So it's necessary that we abroad strongly support this effort at reconstruction that is going ahead in very difficult conditions and in the face of all kinds of obstacles.

For more information, visit the blogs: http://observatorio-critico.blogspot.com and http://elblogdelacatedra.blogspot.com, or search the internet for the terms "Observatorio Crítico" y "Cuba" to find many recent references.

Sent in the name of the Cuban comrades, who have agreed to the distribution of all that this message says.

Fernandez book is recommended.  It should be interest to more than anarchists.  The link above is to a Spanish version.  Fortunately, there is an English translation by Charles Bufe available from See Sharp Press.

Goodbye doom and gloom!

Very good results for progressive, labor-left Democrats tonight.   Conway and Sestak wins in Kentucky and Pennsylvania and Halter forcing Lincoln into a run-off in Arkansas.  And. Murtha's seat in Pa was won by a big margin.  A blue, blue dog.  But not a Republican.  All of the right-wing blowhards had been claiming this as a bellwether seat for months.


There's an increasing chance that Democratic losses this November can be kept within normal, tolerable limits.  It is looking less and less like a wave election.

Wish I could say that things were looking so great for Knsas Dems.

Q&A on Arizona immigration law

Confused by the right-wing's talking points or frustrated by the thin reporting of the national and local menda? Here's a suggestion, take a look at the ACLU's Q &A on the new Arizona immigration law. Here's one.

What is the difference between this law and the federal law?

The Arizona law goes well beyond federal law because it mandates that all local police and sheriffs demand papers from people they stop and believe may be in the country without authorization. Nowhere is such requirement in federal law. This law reverses the presumption of innocence, forcing police officers on the street to demand that people prove they are U.S. citizens or otherwise in the country legally. The racial profiling this law invites with its undefined standard for what constitutes “reasonable suspicion” that someone is in the country unlawfully would violate the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law and federal civil rights protections.

There are a number of ways in which the Arizona law directly conflicts with federal law regarding the regulation and enforcement of immigration. As a threshold matter, SB 1070 presumes that the citizenship or immigration status of individuals can be determined simply, outside the complex administrative procedures set up under our nation’s immigration laws. It cannot. Moreover, the Arizona law would also impose different state penalties against people for conduct, such as authorization to work in the United States that is directly regulated under federal law. Not only is this unconstitutional under the supremacy cause, but it is also bad policy as the United States cannot have a patchwork of conflicting immigration laws depending on what state you happen to find yourself in.

Read the rest on-line or down as a PDF

Phyllis Jacobson Remembered

There are a number of remembrances of Phyllis Jacobson who played a leading role in the the creation and sustenance of New Politics, one of the most important journals of the American democratic left. Bogdan Denitch  Barry Finger Sam Farber and others

New Politics had two lives--from 1961 to 1975 and from 1986 to the present. It occupies a space to the left of Dissent (and to my left) and  has always been a valuable and thought provoking journal.

Joanne Landy and Steve Shalom write

 "The Jacobsons did not want an editorial board of clones. They welcomed board members from a range of left perspectives that supported the basic orientation of New Politics: standing "in opposition to all forms of imperialism," "uncompromising in its defense of feminism and affirmative action," and above all insisting "on the centrality of democracy to socialism and on the need to rely on mass movements from below for progressive social transformation."

If that sounds like the kind of thing you might be intersted in, check out New Politics. And if you like what you see, subsribe.

Wichita May Day Immigration Reform Rally

Here are a photo slide show and speeches by Kansas NAACP President Kevin Myles and State Representative Delia Garcia

Bumpersticker of the week (an ocassional feature)

Ks. Sec. of Labor Jim Garner on Two Programs That Work

Kansas Secretary of Labor Jim Garner made some timely remarks on the importance of OSHA and unemployment compensation at the 2010 Workers' Memorial Day observance in Wichita, Kansas. The event was sponsored by the Wichita/Hutchinson Labor Federation.

Garner points out that the unemployment benefits program has pumped $1 billion into the Kansas economy in the last year.. OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, has led to a remarkable decline in deaths and injuries on the job.

Economic Non-sense from Jerry Moran

The other day I heard Rep. Jerry Moran proclaim in a radio ad "you can't spend your way" out of a recession. 

Does Moran think we can "hoard" our way out of the recession?  Does he imagine that we can get out of the recession, if everyone spends less today than they spent yesterday?

What non-sense.  Collectively, as an economy the only way to get out of a recession to spend our way of it.  Keynes called this the paradox of thrift.

A recession is a lack of effective demand.  There has been a precipitous drop in investment spending by corporations.  Due to rising unemployment, the collapse of the housing bubble, and uncertainty, consumers are spending far less. State governments are cutting back drastically.

The only sector of the economy that can pick up the slack is the federal government.  Stimulus spending has kept the economy from entering a free fall and now seems to have sparked a turnaround.

Now, the stimulus was too small because of the opposition of folks like Moran.

There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.
The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.

—Proverbs 11:24–25

Center for American Progress on the Arizona Anti-Immigrant Law

A good analysis from the Center for American Progress


Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed today what is now the most punitive and sweeping anti-immigrant state law in the nation. This law’s full effects will not be measurable for months to come, but it is already clear that it will be challenged in court because it denies rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. And until the legal issues are settled, the new law will have a detrimental effect on Arizona’s economy, as well as city and state budgets.

The law essentially legalizes racial profiling

• The law puts communities of color in the crosshairs by requiring state and local government workers to determine if a person is illegally in the United States based on a “reasonable suspicion.”
• Legal experts maintain that the law will result in racial profiling, as it does not prohibit police officers from relying on race or ethnicity in deciding who to investigate. Of course all Arizonans don’t all look alike. Like America, Arizona is a diverse state with multiple generations of U.S. citizens. Three out of every 10 Arizonans are Hispanic, 1 out of 10 is American Indian, and 13 percent are foreign born.

The law undercuts the Constitution and imbues local police with federal authority

• Arizona is attempting to grant local police arrest authority for administrative violations of federal immigration law, even though the state police does not even have that authority under federal law.
• The measure does not require the local police to have a search warrant or even suspect that some illegal action has occurred.
• The law criminalizes the solicitation of work even though courts have previously ruled that the solicitation of work is protected speech under the First Amendment.

The law will harm the state and local economies

• The National Employment Law Project pointed out that smaller-scale anti-immigrant ordinances have cost individual localities millions of dollars. The Texas-based Perryman Group calculated that if all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Arizona, the state would lose $26.4 billion in economic activity, $11.7 billion in gross state product, and approximately 140,324 jobs.
• The Immigration Policy Center noted that, “with Arizona facing a budget deficit of more than $3 billion,” the new law will “further imperil the state’s economic future.”
• Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and other local leaders anticipate a drop in new business ventures in the state because of the harsh new law. Phoenix Vice Mayor Michael Nowakowski observed: “We’re the laughing stock of the country because of these crazy laws.”

The law will be expensive and take cops away form community policing

• The Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police firmly opposes the law for fiscal and public safety reasons, noting that fear of government officials will diminish the public’s willingness to cooperate with police in criminal investigations and will “negatively affect the ability of law enforcement agencies across the state to fulfill their many responsibilities in a timely manner.”
• Local taxpayers will bear the heavy costs of lengthy court litigation.
• The costs to arrest, detain, process, and transport undocumented immigrants out of Arizona will drain local government treasuries. There were an estimated 460,000 undocumented immigrants in Arizona as of January 2009, making up 4 percent of the state’s population. If the federal government were to handle the entire undocumented population, the cost would be approximately $23,482 per person, based on a recent study by the Center for American Progress.

Arizona and other local and state governments are taking action on immigration because Congress has failed to enact comprehensive immigration reform that restores border security, provides a flexible visa program to meet business and family needs, and deals with the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. This is a federal issue and must be handled by Congress immediately before other states start to follow Arizona’s lead.

A good reason to strike

Scores of Carlsberg A/S workers walked off their jobs Thursday to protest the Danish brewer's new limits on beer drinking at work

.
Carlsberg spokesman Jens Bekke said 250 warehouse and production workers and truck drivers went on strike Thursday on the second day of a rebellion against the new rules, which state workers can only drink beer in the canteen during the lunch break.

Hat tip: Jonathan Tasani

Dissent's New Blog: Arguing the World

Dissent magazine has started a new blog "Arguing the World."  Contributors so far have included Michael Walzer, Mark Engler, Michael Berebue, and Kevin Mattson.

Take a look.

Criticism does not exclude Muslims from the political process

An important letter to the British Guardian.

April 4th 2010, 4:53 pm

Letter to The Guardian, April 3, 2010:

We are disturbed by the visible rise, in some parts of the country, of anti-Muslim bigotry resulting in sporadic attacks on Muslims and their places of worship. We deplore this and condemn it unreservedly. However, the authors of the letter you published (Islamophobia is a threat to democracy, 25 March) are quite wrong to equate legitimate concerns about the leadership of the East London Mosque and the Islamic Forum of Europe with anti-Muslim bigotry. To do so betrays those who have genuinely suffered discrimination. The East London Mosque has frequently allowed intemperate clerics to speak on its premises, some of whom have promoted values antithetical to those required in a tolerant and progressive society.

They intimidate and bully other Muslims into accepting their contested theology as undisputed truth. Their allies and associates across south Asia have encouraged discrimination against minorities, opposed the reform of family laws and supported laws on blasphemy.

How can it be right for those of us who believe in liberal democracy to leave unchallenged those who would discriminate against religious minorities, women, homosexuals and Muslims with dissenting or heterodox views?

Criticism of incitement to religious hatred has nothing to do with excluding Muslims from the political process, as the supporters of the East London Mosque and Islamic Forum of Europe suggest. There are many impeccably non-sectarian Muslims active in political life, including in parliament, who are capable of opposing both racism and fundamentalism.

The greatest threat to democracy comes from reactionary and sectarian political groupings. We are disturbed by the rise of confessional identity politics in this country. Those who would promote such politics deserve robust scrutiny. To combat them is a moral duty.

Ansar Ahmed Ullah Nirmul Committee, Gita Sahgal Women Against Fundamentalism, Monjulika Jamali Cultural activist in east London, Denis MacShane MP, Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui Trustee, British Muslims for Secular Democracy, Nigel Fountain, Saikat Acharjee Lawyer, Amanda Sebestyen, Tehmina Kazi Director, British Muslims for Secular Democracy, Sandra M Kabir BRAC UK, Tahmima Anam Novelist, Amina Ali Gender equality campaigner in East London, Murad Qureshi London assembly member, Aisha Shaheed Women Living Under Muslim Laws, Dr Ahmed Zaman President, Communist Party of Bangladesh UK Branch, Harunor Rashid President, Soytten Sen School of Performing Arts, Darren Johnson London assembly member, Green party parliamentary candidate, Lewisham Deptford, Keith Angus Lib Dem parliamentary candidate, Hackney North and Stoke Newington, Rayhan Rashid War Crimes Strategy Forum-WCSF, activists’ coalition, Waliur Rahman Workers Party of Bangladesh, Peter Tatchell OutRage, Syed Enamul IslamFormer MEP candidate for London with the NO2EU: Yes to Democracy coalition, Dr Irfan Al Alawi International director, Centre for Islamic Pluralism, Dr Rafikul Hasan Khan President, Bangladesh Udichi Shilpi Gosthi UK Branch based in east London, Prof Tom Gallagher Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford, Prof Nira Yuval Davis Centre for Research on Migration, Refugees and Belonging, UEL, Cassandra Balchin, Sujit Sen Bangladesh International Foundation, Syed Neaz Ahmad Academic and author, Harunur Rashid JSD, Zoe Fairbairns Novelist, Carolyn Hayman, Brigitte Istim, James Bethell Nothing British about the BNP, Jenny Harris Theatre administrator, founder of the Albany, formerly of National Theatre, Marieme Helie Lucas Secularism is a Women’s Issue, Victor Sebestyen, Syeda Nazneen Sultana Gender equality campaigner in east London, Dr Nowrin Tamanna University of Reading, Pragna Patel Southall Black Sisters