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Second Thoughts
Saturday, October 10th, 2009
Friends,
Last night my wife asked me if I thought I was a little too hard on Obama in my letter yesterday congratulating him on his Nobel Prize. "No, I don't think so," I replied. I thought it was important to remind him he's now conducting the two wars he's inherited. "Yeah," she said, "but to tell him, 'Now earn it!'? Give the guy a break -- this is a great day for him and for all of us."
I went back and re-read what I had written. And I listened for far too long yesterday to the right wing hate machine who did what they could to crap all over Barack's big day. Did I -- and others on the left -- do the same?
We are weary, weary of war. The trillions that will have gone to these two wars have helped to bankrupt us as a nation -- financially and morally. To think of all the good we could have done with all that money! Two months of the War in Iraq would pay for all the wells that need to be dug in the Third World for drinking water! Obama is moving too slow for most of us -- but he needs to know we are with him and we stand beside him as he attempts to turn eight years of sheer madness around. Who could do that in nine months? Superman? Thor? Mitch McConnell?
Instead of waiting to see what the president is going to do, we all need to be pro-active and push the agenda that we want to see enacted. What keeps us from forming the same local groups we put together to get out the vote last November? C'mon! We're the majority now -- the majority by a significant margin! We call the shots -- and we need to tell this wimpy Congress to get busy and do what we say -- or else.
All I ask of those who voted for Obama is to not pile on him too quickly. Yes, make your voice heard (his phone number is 202-456-1414). But don't abandon the best hope we've had in our lifetime for change. And for God's sake, don't head to bummerville if he says or does something we don't like. Do you ever see Republicans behave that way? I mean, the Right had 20 years of Republican presidents and they still couldn't get prayer in the public schools, or outlaw abortion, or initiate a flat tax or put our Social Security into the stock market. They did a lot of damage, no doubt about that, but on the key issues that the Christian Right fought for, they came up nearly empty handed. No wonder they've been driven crazy lately. They'll never have it as good again as they've had it since Reagan took office.
But -- do you ever see them looking all gloomy and defeated? No! They keep on fighting! Every day. Our side? At the first sign of wavering, we just pack up our toys and go home.
So, at least for this weekend, let us celebrate what people elsewhere are celebrating -- that America now has a sane and smart man in the White House, a man who truly wants a world at peace for his two daughters.
Many, for the past couple days (yes, myself included), have grumbled, "What has he done to earn this prize?" How 'bout this:
The simple fact that he was elected was reason enough for him to be the recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
Because on that day the murderous actions of the Bush/Cheney years were totally and thoroughly rebuked. One man -- a man who opposed the War in Iraq from the beginning -- offered to end the insanity. The world has stood by in utter horror for the past eight years as they watched the descendants of Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson light the fuse of our own self-destruction. We flipped off the nations on this planet by abandoning Kyoto and then proceeded to melt eight more years worth of the polar ice caps. We invaded two nations that didn't attack us, failed to find the real terrorists and, in effect, ignited our own wave of terror. People all over the world wondered if we had gone mad.
And if all that wasn't enough, the outgoing Joker presided over the worst global financial collapse since the Great Depression.
So, yeah, at precisely 11:00pm ET on November 4, 2008, Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. And the 66 million people who voted for him won it, too. By the time he took the stage at midnight ET in the Grant Park Historic Hippie Battlefield in downtown Chicago, billions of people around the globe were already breathing a huge sigh of relief. It was as if, in that instant, one man did bring the promise of peace to the world -- and most were ready to go wherever he wanted to go to achieve that end. Never before had the election of one man made every other nation feel like they had won, too. When you've got billions of people ready, willing and able to join a cause like this, well, a prize in Oslo is the least that you deserve.
One other thought. The Peace Prize historically has been given to those who have worked to throw off the yoke of racial discrimination and segregation (Martin Luther King, Jr., Desmond Tutu). I think the Nobel committee, in awarding Obama the prize, was also rewarding the fact that something profound had happened in a nation that was founded on racial genocide, built on racist slavery, and held back for a hundred-plus years by vestiges of hateful bigotry (which can still be found on display at teabagger rallies and daily talk radio). The fact that this one man could cause this seismic historical event to occur -- and to do so with such grace and humility, never succumbing to the bait, but still not backing down (yes, he asked to be sworn in as "Barack Hussein Obama"!) -- is more than reason enough he should be in Oslo to meet the King on December 10. Maybe he could take us along with him. 'Cause I also suspect the Nobel committee was tipping its hat to all of us -- we, the American people, had conquered some of our racism and did the truly unexpected. After seeing searing images of our black fellow citizens left to drown in New Orleans -- and poor whites seeing their own treated no better than the black man they had been raised to hate -- we had all seen enough. It was time for change.
Thank you, Barack Obama, for giving us the opportunity to redeem ourselves. Now for the tasks ahead. We need you to do all that you promised to do. We need it. The world needs it.
My prediction for the future? You become the first *two-time* winner of the Nobel Peace Prize! Yeah!
Fred (that's Norwegian for "Peace"),
Michael Moore
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272 Comments so far
Show All"Obama is moving too slow for most of us -- but he needs to know we are with him and we stand beside him as he attempts to turn eight years of sheer madness around. Who could do that in nine months? Superman? Thor? Mitch McConnell?"
-----------------------------
When someone's going in the wrong direction altogether, it's demented to suggest that they've not yet had enough time!
Yep!
Michael, you were right the first time.
History (and common sense) shows that awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to war criminals promotes war, not peace.
Menachem Begin laid waste to Lebanon in 1982, 5 years after receiving the Peace Prize in 1977.
Mr Moore,
Are you grasping at straws? Is all that money you are making warping your perspective? You know Pres. Obama has caved in on most he promised, but I will give you one thing. The American people have been very absent in their actions to stop these wars and corporate crimes. I would like to see as much good in the award of this prize as you do, but I think Prof. Zinn nailed it down much more accurately.
In spite of the above comments, your new movie is excellent!
And a fat lot of support did Obama get from you couch potatoes, right?!?
Did I miss some huge demonstrations across the nation in support of his agenda or did I indeed just see screaming Republicans everywhere, eh?
As much as i usually don't involve myself in dialogue here -
I was in DC making my voice heard for the past ten years. And New York City streets. And in my writing, etc. And ending torture was one issue i've been vocal about. Supposedly, Obama was about that too. But what happened on Monday at his 'home'?????
Arrested, arrested, arrested...........For protesting torture.
Enough said.
more power to you
thank you
PS - But just stay real to the cause- peace, justice, and human rights to all, including our opposition.
That said, it is time to question whether 'conservative' talk is hate talk?
"Did I miss some huge demonstrations across the nation in support of his agenda . . . ?"
And what is his agenda, Araquin?
- single payer - off the table,
- troop withdrawal - off the table,
- meaningful climate bill - off the table,
- prosecution of Bush criminals - off the table, etc., etc.
What's to support? What's on the table?
"What's to support? What's on the table?"
when it comes to war: ALL OPTIONS.
More nonsensical reasoning from Moore.
This time you are correct but only on this article. :)
Michael,
You have contributed much with your thought-provoking movies, thank you for that.
And, I do share your longing and hope for a better world.
However, hoping and longing and wishing it to be true will not make it happen.
Michael: "..it was as if one man did bring the promise of peace to the world -- and most were ready to go wherever he wanted to go to achieve that end."
"..it was as if......"
Obama proved his allegiance with the corporate ruling class with his votes in Congress and continues to align himself with that same corporate ruling class as President.
"...to go wherever he wanted..."
You, and other followers of your leader, Obama, whom you believe can do no wrong and will do better, despite all of the facts proving otherwise, is very dangerous, irresponsible and childish behavior.
"People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster." -- James Baldwin
No, Michael, we will not "come join" you.
Excellent sue! We must join with the truth, and let the truth bring us together, not a popular character.
Finally Moore is coming to his senses.
To hit on one's own in the face of a Nazi-like Republican hate machine is a luxury American progressives can't afford!!!!
The Right hits the street for its people and its causes, the Left blogs and wails and attacks primarily its own camp.
I want to remind everybody that the German Left was sharply divided when Hitler came to power, they hated each other nearly more than they hated the Right. The German Right, OTOH overcame its divisions, cooperated and paved the road for him, albeit unwittingly.
I go out and see my fellow Americans on the street, and I do not judge them as anything but another me. The left and right are more alike than different and that is because we are all on this human journey. Eventually there will be a new people, but it will be made up of us all. Not just people on the left or just people on the right. As soon as we relinquish the ego vision that sees only difference and enemy, then we will see sameness and ally. Then we will be at peace, even if the world is not yet, but how else will the world be at peace if not through us as individuals?
Yes Leea!
Leea, I like that kind of thinking. Sometimes, I myself don't even know whether I really am a conservative, progressive, liberal, etc ... It just stinks that pols proudly wearing those ideological labels in addition to party labels to sell us out. To answer your question, I see no other way to the best of my knowledge. Mankind broke peace on earth and mankind will have to repair it lest Mother Earth punish mankind until it does.
Are you a Marxist?
It's embarrassing that people still buy into "left," "right" "progressive" and all the other labels that have defined the language of the ruling class.
The question to ask yourself is, are you a Marxist? Do you believe that the working class should have control over the means of production?
Your answer will speak volumes about you.
You take care now.
"Are you a Marxist?"
Not at all.
"It's embarrassing that people still buy into "left," "right" "progressive" and all the other labels that have defined the language of the ruling class."
That's what Leea and I have been saying.
"The question to ask yourself is, are you a Marxist? Do you believe that the working class should have control over the means of production?"
That's a question to think deeply about. I can't just give a simple answer on this one.
Christ on crutches, you just gave us your answer. "Of course not."
I asked you if you were a Marxist, and you said, "Of course not."
If it is not obvious to you that our current economic system is unjust, violent, sexist, racist, and is an absolute HORROR for billions of people on the planet, then you are incapable of "deep thinking."
But you go right ahead and continue doing the bidding of the ruling class. They love you for it. Of course, they despise the ground you walk on and would kill you in a heartbeat if and when you became expendable, but keep on going to bat for them.
Exactly how many capitalists/imperialists are on this forum besides you?
"Christ on crutches, you just gave us your answer. "Of course not." I asked you if you were a Marxist, and you said, "Of course not." "
First of all, you asked a totally unfair question and you sounded like you were asking if I was purely marxist or not for which I replied "Of course not."
"If it is not obvious to you that our current economic system is unjust, violent, sexist, racist, and is an absolute HORROR for billions of people on the planet, then you are incapable of "deep thinking.""
I already know damn well how bloody our economic system is so don't you dare call me incapable of deep thinking.
"But you go right ahead and continue doing the bidding of the ruling class. They love you for it. Of course, they despise the ground you walk on and would kill you in a heartbeat if and when you became expendable, but keep on going to bat for them."
Oh KISS MY ASS ! I don't support the ruling class and you know it. If you had actually read my posts, you would have found out that I support socialism and regulated capitalism similar to what Europe does. There is a difference between regulated and unfettered capitalism. Read Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine" and see for yourself if you dare !
"Exactly how many capitalists/imperialists are on this forum besides you?"
Lame-brained question ! Capitalism and imperialism are not the same. Unfettered capitalism could be construed as imperialism but certainly not regulated capitalism which is done in Europe in conjunction with socialism. You don't even know what you are talking about. Grow up and stop being so prejudiced !
"Are you a Marxist?Another name to add to the other names that you are throwing rocks at.Marxism made promises too and ended up totalitarian.Power is the ultimate high and "the marxists" ended up with words also that meant nothing.They had a version of it back when the Inca's were around.I'm a "WE" person as in we the people;of the whole world!My licence plate holder has "Freedom thrives in a we society".It says it all for me.Tony
THANK YOU ! I thought that he asked a very harsh question similar to the way good pols are unfairly push-polled and persecuted.
You sre welcome and Marxism is just another word for my way or the highway as it has shown itself.Tony
The left and right are alike because the majority of both "sides" are working class.
Stop looking at it through the lens of some smarmy new-age "we're all human beings on a journey through the wispy wondrous clouds" b.s. and start looking at it from a materialist viewpoint.
THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY REQUIRE A PAYCHECK IN EXCHANGE FOR THEIR LABOR, WHETHER MENTAL OR MANUAL LABOR, FOR THEIR DAY TO DAY EXISTENCE. That is whether they are on the "right" or the "left."
That makes them working class.
That means the common enemy is the bourgeois, the ruling class.
The teabaggers we've seen, the right wing noise machine, consist of the petty bourgeois, those in the "middle class" who are willing to do the bidding of the ruling class.
With this verbal diarrhea he has spewed today, Michael Moore falls squarely on the side of the bourgeois and would obviously push back against the working class, if we ever made it to pedal to the metal.
"Stop looking at it through the lens of some smarmy new-age "we're all human beings on a journey through the wispy wondrous clouds" b.s. and start looking at it from a materialist viewpoint."
Oh good Lord, I swear ! What is wrong with you ?
Leea knows what she's talking about and I strongly share her sentiments. I'm tired of both party and ideological labels. Why don't you learn from Kivals, Sioux Rose, RichM, and even Henry8 about getting past all these stupid labels and grow up ?
Yeah! Grow up! Learn from us! How many times do we have to say it! Party labels are stupid! Good Lord, vote unspecified third party already why don't you just.
Interesting. I wrote MM an email yesterday pointing out that Obama didn't, in fact, end torture. Why doesn't someone as 'in the loop' as Moore, know this? I can't figure it out.
Does he watch CNN for his news? Is he buddies with Obama?
He says he is watching too much right wing media....Why???
Obama has allowed the u.s. to undermine the Goldstone report, for heaven's sake! Yes, Kissinger won the prize. As Zinn points out. Hitler was considered in 1938, as i learned from Tariq Ali on Democracy Now.
Just by being a biracial man who got himself elected? This is why he should get the prize? Let's get real. So Goldman Sachs funded him in a big way. And he is a good propagandist. (I didn't buy it from the start). But that is irrelevant.
People yearn for a saviour now. But, unfortunately. As we can all see. It just doesn't work that way.....However,
Old mythologies die very, very hard. This is clear. Because so many are still hanging on to that hope we could believe in. Or was it change? I can't remember right now. I never knew what those slogans meant. Only the effect they were supposed to have. It worked.
And i saw his newest film. To be honest. I truly wanted to like it. To learn new things and feel moved. But i was quite disappointed. Bowling for Columbine was much more creative and moving. But this is just a personal opinion.
He is a seemingly good guy who tries hard, as far as he is concerned. And i believe he is sincere. He believes in the good old USA of the fifties.
He feels he is ready to 'retire'. He says he is tired of doing it all himself. Tell that to Kathy Kelly or Dahr Jamail. Two people, who, come to think of it, would have been more worthy of that Nobel Peace Prize....
One man -- a man who opposed the War in Iraq from the beginning -- offered to end the insanity.
----------
Dear Michael Moore,
Because I like and admire you so much I offer you this friendly tip:
Never compromise the truth, especially when addressing the left.
By all means use your soapbox to implore those who voted for Obama (and those of us who didn't) to start fighting and never give up.
But for goodness sake don't LIE to us.
Everyone at this forum knows Obama approved almost every off-budget funding request by George Bush to continue the slaughter in Iraq.
This is support for the war, not opposition.
By writing that Obama "opposed the War in Iraq from the beginning" you defeat the purpose of your letter which is to rally the base.
Because as soon as people realize you're willing to compromise the truth they'll tune you out and your position of influence will be lost.
Sincerely,
CX-1
Indeed!
I always say that the reason a person has a stand, is very important. Obama claimed to be against the war in iraq in the beginning. On the grounds that it wouldn't be cost effective. Period. No ethical or moral grounds. He never stopped reminding us of this.
He always said he believed in war and american exceptionalism. Never lied about this.
Your last sentence is quite right. After reading this article, I tuned out Michael Moore, not that was particularly tuned into him beforehand.
MM is obviously drunk on Obamania. Not even worthy of a reply.
The wars, the torture, the bailouts, Guantanamo and all the other concentraton camps, the health insurance machinations, etc. will eventually hit him over the head and back to reality, one hopes.
I did not vote for Barack Hussein Obama. What if anything tells us he is not simply a corporate foot soldier? Congress is bought and sold, our justice system put our last president in through a court decree, and somehow this president should be trusted as though he is the only one of us that got in through a natural process of democracy and is now struggling against the tide of corruption? I don't believe this because there is nothing so far that says I should, especially not when the story is critically examined with common sense. There is a lot that says I could believe he is against my interest though through that same critical measure. The jury is out for me and will remain out until the trial of this man ends and either peace or war prevail. I'm with him if he's with me and I'm against him if he is against me, why pledge allegiance to anything but the truth in this matter?
But I do give merit to view with hope and pray that president Obama could be or will ultimately be on my side, but who is to say, he is no god nor any Ghandi. He is just another politician in an age where the majority of politicians equate to nothing more than puppetry. He doesn't really have great power in the scheme of things because it seems he as one man has buckled under the scheme of things. We hoped he would walk above it all, that his character would prove out to be prize worthy, but it seems our only real hope continues to be born with us, the people, the heart of hope for continued democracy. I think I am one of the lucky few in regards to this, because I did not hang my hope on him, I'm going to hang it where ever it can survive and thrive into reality. It's this hope that is solid gold, the real treasure of our nation. Barack was the promise of a place for hope to flourish, not hope it's self. I think when the left lets go of Obama as hope, as savior and remembers that only the collective can enact the actions of progress to carve out a new world, a new world that hope, happiness and freedom can flourish in again, then that eventuality will arrive. Lets remember that common actions, not a little word to pin on one man alone will get us there. These common enacted choices are overdue, and difficult to enact no matter the circumstances, and Obama is becoming an excuse to react instead. Those against our interest do not gain power when we act in calm progressive measures, they want us reacting in frenzied fear. That fear, that reaction is what their power relies on, because the power of love and truth overcome all other powers on this earth. If we continue to misunderstand where our real power resides because like Micheal we get distracted by meaningless muck baited by glittery enticements, our own window to create a new world by choice will be blown closed by our own unwitting good intentions. Then a new world will come upon us unprepared. In this regard even the jury on Micheal remains out, as he may be an unwitting dupe to his own confusion, and split allegiance, as we all may be, by product of the times we live in. This confusion is often propelled into action by reaction, and then consumes our time and energy. When we begin to act in calm measure to our goal, and make a habit of it, ignoring the actions against our goal in favor of actions for our goal, we will arrive there sooner than later. Peace for all is our goal. Equality for all is our goal. Happiness for all is our goal. Health for all is our goal. Power in the people is our vehicle. Does an award of peace given before peace is achieved, as families and homes are blown apart in the most savage forms of war ever seen for our time have any meaning to one of our goals? If you say no, lets move on to that which serves us, and learn to be diligent only to the habits of character that serve us and our goals.
"But I do give merit to view with hope and pray that president Obama could be or will ultimately be on my side, but who is to say, he is no god nor any Ghandi. He is just another politician in an age where the majority of politicians equate to nothing more than puppetry. He doesn't really have great power in the scheme of things"
This is as it should be. Shouldn't our government represent us? The truth is each of us has great power and we should not lose sight of that or deny it, or else we abdicate our power.
We have now, the moment, to create a sea change. Well said Leea.
Well said yourself donnalou, thank you.
Cicero: "Freedom is participation in power."
What too many far-Left posters on CD fail to grasp are the numerous historical examples of where nearly all components of the American Left NEED each other for different reasons in order to collectively effect--even by differing strategies and tactics--a successful counter-push against the far more affluent and well-organized Right. The historical job of the Left when there is a political and economic situation similar to the current one is two-fold: The far-Left blasts the failures of the establishment system as a whole while providing innovative ideas for solutions to specific problems, and planks of comprehensive reforms for more efficient, better government to sympathetic ears in academia, the political class and the journalistic class. The just Left of Center people like Michael Moore also have a very important task that requires them to walk more often a rhetorical tightrope. That job is to provide media and political starting cover for the misplaced Center of Power to shift Left.
What many of the firebrands on CD fail to get is that in times past there was (1) a much better organized, larger and more socially influential Left agitating on the ground, (2) there was a FAR larger and more diverse and more well-read print media advocating Leftist positions in every major city in multiple language versions and (3) academe was not as hog-tied to grants and fellowships funded by plutocrats and their corporations as it is now because the research goals of corporations and universities were not as integrated as they are now.
At one time New York City alone had over 40 different DAILY newspapers. This was in an era when people still read--before TV and as radio was still spreading across the country. THERE IS NO TRULY PROGRESSIVE LEFT-WING JOURNALISTIC EQUIVALENT NOW IN TERMS OF MARKET AND POPULATION REACH. In previous decades more Americans had read and understood the still accurate Marxist and socialist critiques of capitalism, and they were thus more sympathetic to the aims of organized labor. They still knew the difference between communism, socialism, capitalism and fascism. Now most Americans are clueless about all of this. They don't know a progressive vs. a regressive policy trend when they see one and they are bombarded with corporate serving themes of amorality and immorality, greed and superficial sensory candy on a 24/7/365 McNews/Infotainment cycle where the themes in the entertainment programming are chosen to reinforce the corporate McNews propaganda: The medical establishment is fair & equitable & filled with compassionate self-sacrificing doctors; police at all levels are our friends; if you don't have looks and money you better be funny and have money or willing to bathe daily in your own excrement whilst spewing the most obscene Right-wing cant like Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck.
That is why just Left of Center popular Leftist agents of reform like Michael Moore are, in fact, scarce as hen's teeth and precious to any real trend toward reform because they provide some minimal, well-explained POPULAR cover for politicians to move Left in an era when there is so very little of that media cover around. Why is this true? Because (1) the far-Left in this country now is more mouthy than activist, more selfish, local and class elitist (dinner circle progs with no sense of national or working-class SOLIDARITY) than in the more effective Leftist past, and less talented at creating and disseminating well thought-through specific or comprehensive ideas for positive change because: (2) there are far fewer journalistic means for disseminating ANY progressive ideas now that actually reach enough people to do sufficient good and (3) too many members of academe are too frightened of losing corporate research & work grants or fellowships to risk taking up and pushing progressive ideas on the political class.
Cicero: "Freedom is participation in power."
In light of all of that, Moore actually makes some very salient points in his little follow-up screed and only really stumbles in two locations. Obama himself did not constitute a rebuke to Bush's warmongering in Iraq, the portion of the electorate who voted for him believing that he would reverse that warmongering constituted that rebuke. Obama has disgraced himself by doing little to nothing for the current and former poor residents of New Orleans and other victims of Katrina--dragging his heels and doing as little as he could get away with because there is so little authentically progressive media or academe to hold him accountable for anything.
"...as [Obama] attempts to turn eight years of sheer madness around. Who could do that in nine months? Superman? Thor? Mitch McConnell?"
Moore is spot on in that observation. The situation the country is now in could hardly be reversed overnight even with a still organized, functioning progressive Left on the streets, in academe and in the media. Even if Obama were to do everything right it would take the country decades to reorganize into a new sustainable direction and feel like it was actually recovering in any well-rounded sense.
And I assure you, Mitch McConnell, Lindsay Graham, John McCain, Sarah Palin, John Boehner, et al have no interest whatsoever an anything besides a new feudal aristocracy with oodles of subservient peasants-in-perpetuity licking their boots. If you don't believe me, go back and look at video of Bush II's inauguration and the maniacal leer of debauched glee and naked avarice on Mitch McConnell's bespectacled face. I will never in my life forget the face on that sick ratfuck that day. It looked exactly like photos of the ecstatic fanaticism on the faces of German women as der Fuhrer paraded by in his staff car to a Nuremberg rally. Look at McConnell's face and ask yourself truly which is worse even now: A DLC stumbler who can at least be pushed if we can figure out how to push him (a serious move to organize an umbrella Progressive Party to unite all authentic American progressives is one way) or the naked face of the GOP as so obscenely displayed on McConnell's face after they got away with their cronies on the Supreme Kangaroo Court appointing their neo-con stoat to power?
But it's not an award for not being Bush, and it's not an award for turning things around in the US.
Just because the republicans are nuts, doesn't mean we need to back everything obama does.
Cicero: "Freedom is participation in power."
Do you seriously think I'm advocating that we need "to back everything Obama does?" You need to go back and read my posts on this string.
Excellent posts metal. I read with great interest your clear description of the left I assume during the 30's 40s and 50'sand 60's. The newspapers and the unions. Yes we have been marginalized,systematically. No wonder we are so angry! that's what happens when one doesn't get a chance to speak, yet the marches against the Iraq invasion before the invasion in this country were HUGE. They took place all across the country, small cities and large cities, millions of people. Do we remember that? The potential is there, there is much disastifaction in our country not only on the left but in the middle as well. What frightens me is the right wing will fill that void and they have the" megaphones". They are also very well organized. How do we on the center to left capitalize on Americas 'liberal' bent? People like Michael Moore are the reasoned side and I applaud the approach that we have a President who will if pressed,listen to us if we are united.
It is possible for better organization on the Internet to succeed but so far the results haven't shown that to be the case. I think a better case to make is to get people to see past politics and open their hearts and minds to the issues and stop allowing politics to poison their thinking. That was what happened during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Today's ongoing Great Depression is stuck in blissful ignorance. How we will get out of this remains to be seen.
Sioux Rose
METAL: I applaud your decency, capacity to see issues from multiple angles, along with your diplomacy in this forum, and sheer grace. YOU belong in office, sir! Thank you for taking the time to lay out very compelling arguments, ones full of excellent, supportive examples, both current and historical.
Cicero: "Freedom is participation in power."
YE GODS AND FLYING MONKEYS! There ain't no way I would ever try to be a politician. The best politicians in American history were the ones who never ran for office but were in a unique position to influence the creation of founding documents like the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Many of these were thinkers and idea advocates like George Mason of Virginia who drafted the Virginia Declaration of Rights that was later drawn on by Thomas Jefferson. Now I would consider being Vulcan science officer for spaceship Earth. If I could have Mason's level of input and influence on the founding principles of a new form of national and global government without actually having to hold office, then I would be happy as a mollusk gazing at the sea with my wandering eyes while slurping on some nice phytoplankton covered kelp.
Metal: I agree with Sioux on your post, which eloquently covers key points in the political-media-educational-and participatory arena. More than ever, there are a plethora of books, magazines, CD's, DVD's, progressive radio and television shows available, lectures by progressive people to attend, but how many citizens partake of these instruments of knowledge?
I'm a trade-unionist and trying to get the rank and file to participate or use the tools mentioned above is like pulling teeth with fingers, let alone pliers.
One of the leading progressive journalists of the 20th Century was George Seldes, who published a newsletter called "In Fact" for working people (mainly trade-unionists) in the 1940's and early 50's, which published exposes and beneficial information for working people. Seldes went before the Joe McCarthy hearings in Congress and made a fool of that tortured-minded misanthrope, but nevertheless, was branded as a "commie" by the MSM, and his readership began declining as well as subscription renewal, based on innuendo, and he eventually ceased publishing In Fact. He later advised I.F. Stone about publishing a newsletter.
It irks me when I even have relatives ask me about Glenn Beck or O'Reilly's comments, knowing my positions. How do you get people to come on board?
How do you get people to come on board?
Solidarity can't hurt. That is the feeling that we are already on board the same boat. The people understand how complicated politics is and that there are no easy solutions.
Michael Moore gets that and is why his work is so powerful.... because he doesn't demand that the people read Marx or agree with him.
Does anyone here think they are the one who can bring peace? Obama is now the captain of the ship in a sea full of icebergs and we don't know in what shape it will be in 3 years or if we will be here at the end of the voyage.
If the Peace Prize is to offer encouragement and remind the Captain where safe harbor is, I see no crime in that.
If you are looking for a lifeboat and a suitable Island, no crime in that either and have a smooth sail.
Jim: As I've said before...I admire Michael Moore for his commitment, but like most CD'ers are saying, it's time for Obama to step up to the plate rather than having others pinch-hitting for him in order to avoid striking out at the bat. Many voters believed he would initiate a plan of action for bringing the armed forces back home, and reverse the Bush policies which breached the Constitution and International Law, but so far, has gone along with the same programs, making minor changes.
Nobody on CD (to my knowledge) "think they are the one to bring peace," and whether "Obama is now the captain of the ship in a sea of icebergs" should be of concern if he steers head on into the largest block of ice.
What about Africa Com? Military bases on that continent, too? And sending our armed forces to three military bases in Columbia, not to mention Central Asia. And Kosovo, that Slick Willy commandeered? WE have a lot of trops from Germany and elsewhere stationed in Kosovo, now. The list goes on in militarism, plus, covering the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people by avoiding the Goldstone Report.
And what about "health care?" The Prez could not be any more complacent on that subject. Words are a dime a dozen. It's time for liberals, progressives, or whatever they want to be called to abandon the Titanic, aka the Democratic Party if they want real change for the better, providing the people are willing to fight for it.
I agree, Bring the troops home and fix our country first.
I don't think any party is the ship... the big boys get the top decks so even when you jump ship, somebody has to keep a look-out for them new war iceburgs that can also sink spaceship earth.
And when the captain acts blind, mutiny is an option.
But, enough metaphors for now... I'll give you all a break and pick my guitar.
Cicero: "Freedom is participation in power."
Solidarity was one of the best ideas of socialism and it is applicable to every level of society: Local, State, national and international.
Capitalism attacks the working-class on the local , State, national and international levels with the "free trade" regime and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The secret adjudicating tribunals of the WTO were designed specifically to trump local and State laws formerly regulating trade-related issues that were passed by elected officials who were supposed to be representing the will of the people.
It is only fitting that the Left reorganize a new response to the neo-liberal capitalist banking and "free trade" regime on local, State, national and international level that is based on a similarly scaled attitude and activist expression of solidarity.
Solidarity is not simply the realization that the working-classes, progressive creative classes and progressive components of the professional classes are all in the same boat with respect to capitalist robber barons. It is the realization that the struggles of working-class people at each level of society ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD help strengthen the cause and, ultimately, the conditions of working people everywhere IF OUR MOVEMENT IS CONSCIOUS OF THESE STRUGGLES AND CONSCIOUSLY USES THEM AS LESSONS AND INSPIRATION TO KEEP MOVING AND PRESSING REFORMS.
For example: If poor minorities in the working-class in the U.S. understood why they should feel more solidarity with the poor and working-class people in nations like Iraq, then they wouldn't be so eager to support a military attack on and brutal occupation of those Iraqi masses simply out of economic desperation here at home. They would realize that their real enemies are the capitalists permanently off-shoring middle-class industrial manufacturing jobs, the oil companies out to literally make a killing with foreign oil grabs, and the weapons industry profiting by the bloodshed of and caused by a misappropriated and dysinformed subset of the American working-class to fight its oil wars.
Cicero: "Freedom is participation in power."
One of the best chances for progressives to get out our messages to the masses without them first going through the filter of the "mainstream" corporate media is the low power FM radio station. The FCC is finally moving to make operating licenses for such stations more readily available at the local level. Their potential is immense. If enough progressive low power FM stations are located in and around any large population center, and if their progressive message can periodically arrange simulcasts around key issues, then several such stations with overlapping broadcast ranges can duplicate market penetration in high numbers in a given urban area that are competitive with corporate media platforms. But for this strategy to work most effectively there needs to be a united progressive Party to periodically coordinate some of these simulcasts around key issues, Congressional votes, electoral races, etc., in a timely fashion. For such a Party to come into being there needs to be a national summit/convention of the leaders of all of America's progressive organizations, the Green Party, old Progressive Party, etc., for the purpose of uniting all authentic American progressives under one new umbrella Party. We need unification, a renewed sense of solidarity between professional, creative and working-class progressives, socialists, etc., and blanket of low power FM radio stations in every town and city to get out our message.
Very good.