| Progressive Calendar 09.13.05 | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: David Shove (shove001 tc.umn.edu)
|
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| Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 11:51:30 -0700 (PDT) | |
P R O G R E S S I V E C A L E N D A R 09.13.05
vote today
vote progressive
if they're not progressive, don't vote for them
1. KFAI/Peace month 9.13 11am
2. Cambodia couple/salon 9.13 6:30pm
3. Consider voting GREEN 9.13 -8pm
4. Poll watchers 9.13 7:45pm
5. Dickinson party 9.13 8pm
6. Elizabeth Dickenson 9.13
7. Vote Green Mpls 9.13
8. Mpls park board 9.13
9. Hopfensperger - WalMart debate gains momentum across Minnesota
10. Werther - The Stalingrad Effect: jackals and jackasses
11. PC Roberts - Riptide of the brownshirts: power grab in New Orleans
12. Joshua Frank - Blame more than Bush: Katrina's political aftermath
13. Dave Lindorff - Crocodile tears for the camera
14. ed - His lies go marching on (song)
--------1 of 14--------
From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: KFAI/Peace month 9.13 11am
Tues Sept 13, 11am, to "Catlyst:politics&culture" on KFAI Radio, 90.3fm
Mpls 106.7 St Paul(archived at www.kfai.org) to get a taste of the MN
Alliance of Peacemakers "Month of Peace" events:
JONATHAN SCHELL, who will speak Sept 17 at The FITZGERALD Theatre in St
Paul. We dig into the archives for an interview about nuclear
nonproliferation. Schell's books include "The Fate of the Earth", "The
Abolition" and his NEW book "The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence &
the Will of the People" (for more info on Schell's talk www.map,.org)
JANE EVERSHED: a delightful poem about anti-war and nuclear weapons
resistance
"WINTER SOLDIER" the 1971-2 campaign by Vietnam Veterans Against the War,
exposing atrocities committed by American soldiers in Vietnam. Hear the
speech before Congress by JOHN KERRY, that the Swift Boat Smearers did NOT
air. See the documentary FILM "WINTER SOLDIER" Thur Sept 16-22 at BELL AUD
17 Av/University Av SE, EAST Bank, U of M, Mpls www.mnfilmarts.org
Music from the locally produced peace album AMAZE ME (more info
www.peacecd.org) and from DAVID ROVICS, anti-war
troubador(www.davidrovics.com)
Plus a few words about New Orleans...
--------2 of 14--------
From: patty guerrero <pattypax [at] earthlink.net>
Subject: Cambodia couple/salon 9.13 6:30pm
This Tuesday, Sept 13 (come after you vote) the salon will have as our
guest, Annie Keo and her husband, Saravuth who will tell us the story of
their life growing up in Cambodia, their escape to Thailand and their life
as refugees. The truth of lives like these needs to be heard.
Salons are held (unless otherwise noted in advance):
Tuesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 pm.
Mad Hatter's Tea House,
943 W 7th, St Paul, MN
Salons are free but donations encouraged for program and treats.
Call 651-227-3228 or 651-227-2511 for information.
--------3 of 14--------
From: Nancy Doyle <nancyjdoyle [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Consider voting GREEN! 9.13 -8pm
I sent this message to all my leftish or greenish or even not very
greenish friends and family. I encourage you to do the same!
Very few people vote in the primary elections, so every vote is worth a
lot. The Green Party has endorsed excellent candidates for a number of
offices this year. Many of the offices do not indicate the party
affiliation on the ballot, so you need to vote by name alone. Here's a
list you could take with you to the polls if you'd like to vote green!
(And forward this list!!)
The Green Party of Saint Paul has endorsed Elizabeth Dickinson as
candidate for Mayor:
Elizabeth Dickinson
Mayor of St. Paul
Contact:
651-312-0616
www.elizabethdickinson.org
384 Hall Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55107
info [at] elizabethdickinson.org
The 5th Congressional District Green Party Local has endorsed 10
candidates for the 2005 municipal election cycle:
Farheen Hakeem
Mayor of Minneapolis
Contact:
612-395-5559
www.hakeemformayor.org
P.O. Box 6419
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55406
info [at] hakeemformayor.org
Annie Young
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board - Citywide
Contact:
Address: 2601 Cedar Ave. S. #1
Day & evening phone: 612-729-3359
Cell phone: 612-236-5985
anniey [at] visi.com
Campaign committee: Young for Parks Committee
Campaign contact: same as above or Sara Johnson,
600-6195
Website: www.annieyoung.net, www.minneapolisparks.org
Cam Gordon
Minneapolis City Council - Ward 2
Contact:
cam [at] camgordon.org
612-296-0579
Neighbors for Cam Gordon
2626 30th Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55406
www.camgordon.org
Aaron Neumann
Minneapolis City Council - Ward 3
Contact:
612-788-1284
info [at] voteneumann.org
www.VoteNeumann.org
1126 2nd St. NE #1
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Natalie Johnson Lee
Minneapolis City Council - Ward 5
Contact:
PO Box 580531
Minneapolis, MN 55455-0531
612-377-2125
tleeocg [at] aol.com
www.nataliejohnsonlee.com
Dean Zimmermann
Minneapolis City Council - Ward 6
Contact:
Friends for Dean Zimmermann
PO BOX 6045
Minneapolis, MN 55406-6045
612-724-3888
www.VoteDeanZimmermann.org
info [at] votedeanzimmermann.org
Reggie Birts
Minneapolis City Council - Ward 8
Contact:
PO Box 581547
Minneapolis Minnesota 55458
612-824-2288
www.VoteRegBirts.org
info [at] regbirts.org
Dave Bicking
Minneapolis City Council - Ward 9
Contact:
612-276-1213
dave [at] davebicking.org
davebicking.org/
Dave Berger
Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation
Contact:
DaveBerger [at] MNGreens.org
301 St. Anthony Avenue SE, #3F
Minneapolis, MN 55414
(612)338-3630
(651)450-8545
www.daveberger.org
Ian Stade
Minneapolis Library Board
Contact:
ianstade [at] gmail.com
612-532-8288
www.IanStade.org
INFORMATION ON WHERE YOU VOTE:
Minneapolis:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/elections/where-to-vote.asp
St. Paul:
http://www.co.ramsey.mn.us/elections/precinctfinder/index.asp
--------4 of 14--------
From: Diane J. Peterson <birch7 [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Poll watchers 9.13 7:45pm
The Elizabeth Dickinson for St. Paul Mayor Campaign still needs volunteers
to be present to watch the closing of the St. Paul polling places. There
are 104 precincts to be covered and we have many of them covered with
volunteers, but we still need some more. If you can't volunteer yourself,
can you recommend a progressive friend to us who can?
This job requires spending about an hour on Tuesday evening (tomorrow)
from 7:45PM - 8:30PM at a polling place and calling in or delivering the
results to the campaign manager.
To sign up for this, please call Sharone on her cell: 651-208-0688. Or,
leave a message on her home line at 651-772-3023. She will provide you
with instructions on where to go and how to report results.
And then you're invited to the campaign party afterwards in downtown St.
Paul at the Black Dog Cafe!
--------5 of 14--------
From: Diane J. Peterson <birch7 [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Dickinson campaign party 9.13 8pm
There are many disaffected-from-the status-quo residents in St. Paul who
are enthusiastic about voting for Elizabeth Dickinson as their first woman
mayor because she is a strong, proven, progressive leader. We Greens are
blessed with a dedicated contingent of "DFLers for Dickinson" who are
working mightily alongside us on her campaign to get out the vote in
Tuesday's primary election.
Those of us on Dickinson's campaign are having a celebration which starts
when the voting polls close at 8:00 on Tuesday night. All Minnesota
Greens are invited!
Here's the word of invitation from Dickinson's campaign manager:
Come to Black Dog Cafe on primary night, Tuesday, at 8 pm. 308 Prince
Street This is in the "Lowertown" district of downtown St. Paul, across
from the Farmers Market. We'll have some pizza, treats, and non-alcoholic
beverages available; you can buy some fine wine, beer and more! We really
do hope you can join the many like-minded people who've given so much of
their time, energy, and goodwill to help get Elizabeth on the November
ballot.
Saturday was an amazing day for the Dickinson campaign and an uplifting
display of grassroots action and dedication! We delivered thousands of
pieces of campaign literature! We had a fabulous, all-day presence at the
Selby Jazz Fest! We had people on the phone and at their computers!
I can't thank you enough for all that you've done to get a progressive and
green Mayor elected! You're each fighting the good fight for our city, and
ultimately, to create a better world. Thank you!
Mary Petrie, Campaign Manager
Campaign Team, Elizabeth Dickinson for Mayor
E-mail: mailings [at] elizabethdickinson.org
Web Site: http://www.elizabethdickinson.org
--------6 of 14--------
From: Erik Hare <hare [at] tcfreenet.org>
Subject: Elizabeth Dickenson
On Mon, 12 Sep 2005, BRIAN JOYCE wrote:
> The important thing for all those like me who support Chris Coleman is
to > get out tomorrow and vote. I like Elizabeth and believe she is a good
> candidate. She is however not the candidate I believe best reflects my
views > of what St. Paul needs.
Brian, and everyone:
As a West Ender for Dickinson, I want to agree with you on one very
important point: This is our chance to register who we think is the best
person to be our Mayor. A large part of this is what that person believes
in and has accomplished in their life, which we translate into what
direction we expect them to take our city.
After the election is over, someone will become Mayor in January. And we
will still live here, and we will still love this city. We all make our
choices, and then we learn how to live with that the majority has decided
to go with.
We are blessed with three people who are strong leaders, each in their own
way, and three rather different views of what needs to be done. We make
our choices accordingly. We should never forget that the only "wrong
answer" would be to take any one else's opinion as one of loving our city
less, or having alterior motives that are dark and sinister. That's just
not the case.
My choice is clear - I want our city to chart new directions and move away
from the handouts that a strongly centralized City Hall appears to favor.
I'm for Elizabeth for that reason. If one of the other ones win, I will
still work for the same thing no matter what.
---
From: Jeanne Schnitzen <gljeanne [at] yahoo.com>
We all know politics in this country have changed dramatically in the last
four years, and the Democratic Party's answer to the right-wingers is to
move further and further in their direction.
Don't get me wrong, I don't subscribe to the "there's no differnce between
the two parties" line. But the fact remains that until the Dems and the
DFL start consistantly running candidates who act like Dems, many on the
left will have no choice but to find other candidates that reflect their
views.
I spend a lot of time at the Capitol, and while I love most of our St Paul
delegation, there are a whole lot of folks on their side of the aisle that
make me think "with friends like these, who needs Republicans?"
---
From: erin stojan <erinstpaulissues [at] yahoo.com>
Subject: Will rhetoric & money smother the TRUTH about Randy?
Dennis writes:
> Bob Spaulding writes:
> "A QUESTION: At what point does the flow of money into our politics
> begin to erode the legitimacy of St. Paul's next Mayor?"
>
> When a dollar bill can vote.
Unfortunately, dollar bill DOES vote in this town. Witness the influence
of the Chamber of Commerce, who is among the single largest independent
expenditure sources for local elections in the city. And who, it might be
added, endorsed both Randy Kelly and Chris Coleman during their political
careers.
An Xcel executive sits on the fundraising committee for Randy Kelly, while
the next mayor of St. Paul will have to renegotiate a contract that's the
city's third largest source of general fund revenue for the City. Chris
Coleman is bringing in money from out of St. Paul and out of state, too.
At what point are our St. Paul elections being governed by special
interests? Can the best we can hope for be that the special interest
actually has some kind of connection to St. Paul, as the Chamber does?
These are serious questions. This is a big reason why I'm supporting
Elizabeth Dickinson for Mayor... she doesn't take corporate contributions,
and she has the highest proportion of fundraised money coming from here in
St. Paul than any other candidate. Oh, and she's been a public school
teacher, she's a union member, she's presenting innovative ideas that are
already being picked up by the City Council, and she's a fierce advocate
for the little guy. Reminds me of a great Senator we had in Minnesota...
I want a Mayor who's accountable to the residents of St. Paul, not to
corporations or folks who don't live here. Vote your values, and vote for
Elizabeth Dickinson for Mayor on Sept. 13. You can find out more about
Elizabeth (and where to vote, what to bring, etc.) at
www.ElizabethDickinson.org.
Erin Stojan
ST. PAUL: VOTE TUES, SEPT 13!
More info on who, where, when to vote:
http://www.co.ramsey.mn.us/elections/index.asp
http://www.elizabethdickinson.org/voterinfo.php
--------7 of 14--------
From: Eric Oines <erkoines [at] hotmail.com>
Subject: Vote Green Mpls
Be Green!
This Tuesday, the voters of Minneapolis will have an opportunity to send a
strong message in this traditionally DFL town. The Minneapolis 5th
District Green Party is fielding a very strong slate of candidates for
city-wide office, including three incumbents (Annie Young, Natalie
Johnson-Lee, Dean Zimmerman), six extremely qualified challengers (Cam
Gorden, Dave Bicking, Reggie Birts, Aaron Neumann, Dave Berger, Ian Stade)
and the most exciting, down to earth, person of the people, mayoral
candidate we've seen in years - Farheen Hakeem. If Hakeem were to advance
to the general election against either Tweedledum or Tweedledee, we might
actually have a campaign of substance and issues instead of mud-slinging
and stadium-peddling.
Voting a straight Green ticket on Tuesday will let City Hall know that the
citizenry of Minneapolis wants government that is more progressive, more
diverse, and more innovative than the same old, same old that has marked
the past 4 decades.
Be daring, Minneapolis. Vote Green on Tuesday!
--------8 of 14--------
From: Dastj05 [at] aol.com
Subject: Mpls park board
PARK BOARD VOTING TIP: Here what voters can do to help.
Minneapolis Deserves a Better Park Board.
See Endorsement List on website link: http://www.mplsparkwatch.org/
I want to share some information. Please use what you can. Especially, if
you have not made any decision and need some help with Minneapolis Park
Board races this year.
The Park Board races are nonpartisan seats. A citizen's adhoc watchdog
group have been observing the Minneapolis Park Board for 20 months, This
group is called Park Watch.
The litmus test for many Park Watch activists as campaigns came forward
was -- did the candidates reach out to the people, and watchdog group.
Those who did were those who in the end, where endorsed by Park Watch, it
wasn't the only factor, but it was a good indication the candidate was
concerned about the parks and the legacy of our park as so many of us
were.
Park Watch spent many hours discussing park issues with the new
candidates, and with commissioners who are currently on the Minneapolis
Park Board, that we MUST reelect.
The three primary values for PARK WATCH we were looking for in candidates
are: Stewardship, Accountability, and Openness. Also and equally
important they needed to be familiar with the history and design of
Minneapolis' great park system. They also needed to be familiar with the
issues coming down the pipeline and perhaps have to share their position
on tough issues and votes.
Park Watch believes that the ENDORSEMENTS are individuals that can work
together.
MINNEAPOLIS DESERVES A BETTER PARK BOARD.
The biggest issue facing the Minneapolis Park Board in our city is the
"land grab."
Website Park Watch website will provide context and history of issues.
You decide.
See http://www.mplsparkwatch.org/
** AT THE POLLS **
Please vote for 4 Park Commissioners TODAY
One District Commissioner to represent you, YOUR district.
& Three (3) Citywide At Large Commissioners.
If you have friends in OTHER park districts please forward to them too:
Help a friend find their PARK DISTRICT (special map for 2006).
Find their precinct BEFORE you forwarding to a friend.
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/elections/precinct-finder.asp
PARK WATCH recommendations:
If you live in these Minneapolis Park Districts:
District 1 - LuAnn Wilcox
District 2 (no recommendation)
District 3 Scott Vreeland
District 4 Tracy Nordstrom
District 5 Jason Stone
District 6 Jim Bernstein
Citywide At Large (vote for 3)
Rochelle Berry Graves (incumbent)
Annie Young (incumbent)
Tom Nordyke
These individuals are also ENDORSED BY SIERRA CLUB and PARK REFORM
Minneapolis Park Reform website
http://www.parkboardreform.org/
Katie Simon-Dastych Park Watch Supporter Ward 2 Cooper / Longfellow
Neighborhood 5th District
--------9 of 14--------
Wal-Mart debate gains momentum across Minnesota
JEAN HOPFENSPERGER
Star Tribune
Published September 12, 2005
Deb Rousu doesn't consider herself a rabble-rouser. But when asked
recently to sign a petition pledging not to shop at Wal-Mart, she grabbed
the pen without hesitation.
"Why should the American public be helping a huge corporation pay for
employee health care?" asked Rousu, a nurse from Plymouth who had heard
that a lot of Wal-Mart workers use state-subsidized health insurance.
The petition Rousu signed - and the fact that she was aware of the
insurance debate - is evidence of the anti-Wal-Mart crusade that is
gaining momentum in Minnesota. In recent months, the state has seen
teacher protests, door-to-door canvassing, booths at neighborhood
festivals and petitions at the State Fair denouncing everything from
Wal-Mart's labor practices to its "destruction" of small-town Main
Streets.
Meanwhile, a "Wal-Mart bill" that would have required Minnesota to
calculate which employers have the largest numbers of workers enrolled in
MinnesotaCare, the state's subsidized health insurance program for
low-income workers, came close to becoming law this summer.
Wal-Mart officials call many of the actions "publicity stunts" by groups
with their own political agendas. They insist that workers are offered
fair wages and benefits, and that their stores' presence improves the
communities they serve.
The anti-Wal-Mart swell points to the unique role that Wal-Mart has come
to play, social observers say.
"Wal-Mart represents everything that we fear - or want - at the same
time," said Hy Berman, a retired University of Minnesota history
professor.
"What we want is cheap stuff, sold to us efficiently. But many people fear
the encroachment of big business, the destruction of Ma and Pa
businesses."
Wal-Mart belongs to a handful of American corporations that, historically,
have come to symbolize transformations in the economy, Berman said. At the
turn of the century, it was U.S. Steel, he said. Then it was General
Motors. In our current service economy, it's Wal-Mart.
"It goes from big steel to big auto to big box," Berman said.
Battle on many fronts
The Wal-Mart debate is growing as fast as the firm itself - and it goes
far beyond the usual T-shirts, mugs and bumper stickers. Books,
conferences, TV documentaries, a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper series
and countless media reports have examined the sweeping effects of the
world's largest retailer, both good and bad. A new video documentary is
slated for release this fall, and already organizers are setting up Twin
Cities showings.
There are websites devoted exclusively to tracking Wal-Mart, with names
such as www.walmartwatch.com and www.wakeupwalmart.com. The retailer
counters with www.walmartfacts.com.
Minnesotans have been eyeing the retailer for distinct reasons. Earlier
this year, for example, about 75 members of churches around St. Paul's
West Side gathered to talk about the effect that a Wal-Mart could have on
shaping wage and benefit standards in their community.
"The businesses of west St. Paul have ethical standards around the way
their employees are treated," said the Rev. Steve Adrian of St. Matthew's
Catholic Church, which hosted the event. "Anything that could erode their
benefits or lifestyle has a direct impact on this congregation.
"When it's time to negotiate contracts with Rainbow and Cub, what's to
make them pay benefits that their competitor isn't paying?"
Meanwhile, members of the Sierra Club in Minnesota often show up at local
government meetings where new Wal-Mart stores are being considered, said
Karen Harder, who leads the club's water quality committee. The group
doesn't focus exclusively on Wal-Mart, but it is very concerned about how
stores like Wal-Mart affect urban sprawl, wetlands and other environmental
problems, she said.
"You won't find our members chained to bulldozers," said Harder, "but if
we hear about a plan [to build a store], we try to get involved as soon as
possible."
And the United Food and Commercial Workers union - which has been trying
to unionize workers at Wal-Mart for years - now has a full-time Minnesota
organizer devoted to its anti-Wal-Mart campaign, said Bernie Hesse, the
union's organizing director.
A mixed reaction
At the Minnesota State Fair, that organizer sat behind a booth packed with
Wal-Mart fliers and pledge forms asking people not to shop at Wal-Mart.
More than 2,000 people signed them, Hesse said.
Reaction to the campaign was mixed. Larry Aebly, a retired business owner
from Wisconsin, looked at the booth and asked with bewilderment: "You're
going to stop Wal-Mart from what?"
After hearing the sales pitch, Aebly and his wife decided not to sign the
pledge. The reason: They park their RV in Wal-Mart parking lots when they
travel, known in their circle as "Camp Wal-Mart." And they like it.
"We think Wal-Mart does a good job for us," Aebly said. "We can't stop
shopping there."
But Karen Kraska, a 35-year-old printing worker from Albany, quickly
signed the form. Said Kraska: "It's hard enough to live on low wages, much
less not have health insurance."
Costs and benefits
Meanwhile, legislatures across the country are taking a look at big
retailers, including Wal-Mart, amid concerns that their wages and benefits
are driving workers to apply for food stamps and subsidized health
insurance.
About a dozen states have tabulated which companies have the largest
numbers of workers using state-subsidized health insurance. And Wal-Mart
is invariably at or near the top of the lists.
"We didn't see this as a real legislative issue until this year," said
Laura Tobler, health care director for the National Conference of State
Legislatures. "I attribute it to the ongoing struggle to contain Medicaid
costs - and to a few states that have put it out there in terms of a
public policy issue."
Wisconsin did a study earlier this year and found 1,252 Wal-Mart workers
and their dependents were enrolled in BadgerCare, that state's insurance
program for the working poor. The survey, conducted by the state's
Department of Health and Family Services, estimated the total cost to the
state was $2.7 million annually.
Wal-Mart, meanwhile, conducted a survey of its own focusing on Medicaid
use, Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogelman said. Wal-Mart's survey showed that 7
percent of its hourly workers received Medicaid before taking a job at
Wal-Mart. The number dropped to 5 percent once employed and 3 percent
after two years on the job, he said.
Fogelman said critics fail to mention the benefits that Wal-Mart brings to
communities. Wal-Mart estimates that families save $500 to $1,200 a year
in purchases after a Wal-Mart comes to town, he said.
"Many people don't understand what it means to have an extra $50, $60 a
month," Fogelman said. "Many of our shoppers do."
Meanwhile, Wal-Mart expects to generate about 100,000 new jobs this year,
the company predicts on its website. The website also says the company
employs 1.2 million Americans, pays workers an average of $9.68 an hour,
"almost double the federal minimum wage," and supports communities through
property taxes, sales taxes and community giving.
"We understand there are critics out there," said Fogelman. "And some are
legitimate ... such as the smart-growth [concerns]. But when criticism is
brought forth by self-interest, it's times like these when Wal-Mart has to
do what it does best - which is to take care of our customers, our
associates."
Those customers and associates are likely to continue to be in the
spotlight, as Minnesota organizers gear up for the months ahead. Watch for
picketing Santas, guerrilla theater, church activism and more legislation
next session.
If history is any guide, said Berman, this debate will not end soon.
Jean Hopfensperger is at hopfen [at] startribune.com.
--------10 of 14-------
The Stalingrad Effect
Jackals and Jackasses
By WERTHER
CounterPunch
September 13, 2005
The loss of Stalingrad was a disaster that hit the German nation like a
thunderclap. A whole army of 300,000 was wiped out - most of them killed
or wounded, and 90,000 pitiful scarecrows taken prisoner. The entire
southern sector of the Eastern Front was unhinged. The ominous rumble of
Red Army artillery would creep towards Berlin at an average pace of two
miles per day for the next two and one half years.
What was the response of the German leadership - to admit the invasion of
Russia was a mistake, to retrench, to save what could be saved? As the
reader can surely guess, not at all. Redouble the effort. Show fanatical
will. Stay the course, if you will. Don't cut and run. And alter history
by defining failure as success.
Rather than as a colossal disaster in its own right, the government
painted Stalingrad as a necessary sacrifice to avert a greater
catastrophe: "Sie starben, damit Deutschland lebe!" (They died, that
Germany might live!") screamed the headlines. [1] Fight them over there,
so we don't have to fight them over here, as one of Rush Limbaugh's
moronic flock might say.
The German administration's top communications director knew how to set
the proper tone. On 18 February 1943, Josef Goebbels addressed a
pre-selected audience at Berlin's Sportpalast. "Wollt Ihr den totalen
Krieg?" ("Do you want total war?"), he bellowed. The audience, which
included wounded soldiers strategically placed in the front rows, clapped
and cheered in the affirmative. As Minister for War Production Albert
Speer relates:
"Except for Hitler's most successful public meetings, I had never seen an
audience so effectively roused to fanaticism. Back in his home, Goebbels
astonished me by analyzing what had seemed to be a purely emotional
outburst in terms of its psychological effect - much as an experienced
actor might have done. He was also satisfied with his audience that
evening. 'Did you notice? They reacted to the smallest nuance and
applauded at just the right moments. It was the politically best-trained
audience you can find in Germany.'" [2]
Whatever their secret, unexpressed doubts, the German people responded.
War production shot up. Rubble clearance and restoration of municipal
services in the bombed cities were in many cases a marvel of efficiency.
[3] Army and people held out with a tenacity that seems astounding in
retrospect. A rational soldier might have instantly surrendered to the
(Western) allies at the earliest opportunity. Picking tomatoes on an
Arkansas farm as POW labor with regular Red Cross inspections - and being
carefully segregated from blacks by the same U.S. government that affected
to abhor Hitler's racial policies - was infinitely preferable to getting
ground to mush by Soviet tank treads at Cherkassy or pulverized by
time-on-target artillery in the Falaise Pocket. Yet the great majority
stayed at their posts, and died.
Such is the mystery of popular faith in political witchdoctors, even as
one's world collapses.
On 6 September of 2005, as the levee breaks in New Orleans became public
knowledge, this writer formally predicted to his correspondents that our
current Zeus occupying the alabaster throne at Washington City might shed
a few points from his all-important poll ratings; but that his popularity
would not collapse into the 20-percent territory like Nixon's or Truman's.
The rationale was as follows: these are different times. The older
generation that had grown up without television, as in the Truman and
Nixon years, was gone. In its place is a public increasingly composed of
two elements: Abysmally ignorant MTV-bred dolts whose bovine passivity
dampens public outrage like a bucket of water on a smoldering match; and
pseudo-religious halfwits who believe Stegosaurus trod the earth
contemporaneously with homo sapiens sapiens, 6,000 years ago. These are
the segments of society that prop up our rulers: one passive, one active.
Similarly, the corporate kleptocracy that created the present
administration surely knows on which side its bread is buttered. It will
stay loyal - at least as long as the marginal utility of continued looting
outweighs the risk of sticky-fingered CEOs being strung up by the neck
from lamp posts. With an ocean of corporate plunder laundered into
campaign contributions, our incumbent rulers can anesthetize the body
politic with a Mississippi-like deluge of propaganda that shapes, defines,
and changes the subject.
A glance at the opinion polls provides, at least provisionally, some
confirmation of this view. The latest polls suggest a seven-point drop
from July (July was a popularity blip resulting from the usual Vaudeville
hugger-mugger of our Caudillo passing his "agenda" through the
rubber-stamp Cortes that Congress has become); but the drop since June is
a mere two points. [ 4] Two measly points. There may be some further
slippage in the days to come, but we doubt there will be a complete
meltdown.
Here we arrive at the nub of our argument: cabals dressed up as
governments do not require majorities to continue their misrule, merely
pluralities. So long as its popularity stays above approximately 35
percent of the population as committed supporters (the remaining 65
percent being split between impotent opponents and brain-dead
indifferents), a determined and ruthless ruling clique can hold on to
power indefinitely.
But why does the faithful 35 percent not melt away like a snow cone in a
blast furnace in the face of evident disaster and incompetence? The answer
lies in the murky depths of primate psychology.
What we are describing is similar, but not identical to, the Stockholm
Syndrome (the tendency of some hostages to identify with their captors),
and the Battered Wife Syndrome ("never mind he broke my nose: he really
loves me.") Perhaps there is an aspect of the Sunk Cost Fallacy as well
("I'll keep putting my chips on lucky seven and get my 'investment'
back").
Certainly, after 9/11, Iraq, and now Katrina, die-hard supporters of the
incumbent administration have an enormous sunk cost of emotional
investment. Their minds, if we are to describe the dead matter in their
crania in such terms, plainly operate along the lines of a Winnebago
shaman or Congolese witch doctor rather than as a child of Renaissance and
Enlightenment.
We herewith christen this pathology the Stalingrad Effect: the tendency of
disastrous events and failed policies to bind faithful followers to their
leaders.
This syndrome exacerbates whatever toxic effects result from the
calamitous policies in the first place. As cogitation slides ineluctably
from the empirical to the magical (read, "faith based"), so the policies
become ever more irrational in a downward spiral.
All else is mere detail, or should we say, public relations. Just as
Goebbels was summoned to rationalize Stalingrad, so is Karen Hughes
recalled to carry the crushing hod of explaining to the heathen why the
occupation of Iraq at more than $5 billion per month is a Good Thing.
But in the interest of historical accuracy, we are constrained to point
out that these analogies have their limits. The German chancellor who
presided over the late unpleasantness, for all his demonic misanthropy,
was a genuine Man of the People, however grotesquely distorted.
As an alumnus of the Viennese flophouses, he knew the lash of poverty. As
a veteran of Flanders between 1914 and 1918, he knew what combat was like.
He used these experiences, and his aberrant genius, to bond with the
German people.
He was no Louis XVI, no Nicholas II, no overprivileged frat boy who,
whenever he fell in a dung heap, was hauled out by Poppy's fixers, hosed
off, sprinkled with rose water, his pockets stuffed with cash by the law
firm of Baker-Bott. His failings, and evils, were of a different order of
magnitude, not bound up exclusively with petty graft writ large. But we
are left with the conundrum: What can explain the attachment of the people
to such feckless and utterly unrepresentative leaders as we have other
than the Stalingrad Effect?
There are some things even a totalitarian country in wartime would
hesitate to try. Were the bombed-out evacuees of Hamburg reviled as
shiftless scoundrels by a whispering campaign initiated by the Party
apparatus? Was the municipal government of Hamburg scapegoated for the
firestorm? We are skeptical.
It is doubtful that if a 2,000-lb. bomb took out, say, Karinhall, the
chancellor would say on a national radio hookup, "out of the rubble of
Hermann Goring's estate there's going to be a fantastic estate. And I'm
looking forward to sitting in the garden." Such an offhand musing would
not play well among the working class toiling in the arms factories as
their sons froze to death east of the Vistula.
Nor would he have commended Generalfeldmarschall Friedrich Paulus thus:
"Pauli, you're doin' a heckuva job."
H.L. Mencken described democracy [5] as follows: it is a form of religion.
It is the worship of jackals by jackasses.
* Werther is the pen name of a Northern Virginia-based defense analyst.
[1] A photograph of a representative
newspaper:http://www.privates-antiquariat.de/st_ende037.jpg
[2] German Propaganda
Archive:http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/goeb36.htm
[3] Bomber Command, by Max Hastings, 1979
[4] Bush Approval Hits 40 % in US:<> http://www.angus-reid.com/
[5] We can broaden the definition of democracy to any form of government
in which so-called mass opinion - manipulated by the levers of modern
communications - dominates.
--------11 of 14--------
Riptide of the Brownshirts
Power Grab in New Orleans
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
CounterPunch
September 12, 2005
The New Orleans catastrophe is inexplicable.
FEMA's slow response is a mystery.
Never before has federal funding for work by the US Corps of Engineers on
the New Orleans levees and for the congressionally authorized Southeast
Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project (SELA) been curtailed in the face of
dire expert warnings of the consequence.
The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA knew days in advance that
Hurricane Katrina was threatening the Gulf coast of the US. Yet, the
normal advance preparations were not undertaken.
At the request of the Louisiana governor, President Bush declared a
federal emergency for Louisiana on Saturday August 27 prior to Katrina's
arrival in New Orleans on the following Monday. The declaration
specifically authorized FEMA "to identify, mobilize, and provide at its
discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of
the emergency." However, FEMA took no action until 3 days after the
hurricane, delaying the arrival of effective help until 5 days after 80%
of New Orleans was under water.
Compare this inexplicable delay with the rapid response to the Florida
hurricanes last year.
Cynics note that Florida's governor is President Bush's brother, a
Republican being groomed for a run for president, while the Louisiana
governor and New Orleans mayor are expendable Democrats. However, the New
Orleans disaster is too great to be attributed solely to crass party
politics.
Funding for the New Orleans levees and for SELA were drastically curtailed
despite experts' protests and warnings, including the hurricane simulation
project (Hurricane Pam) conducted in July 2004 when 270 experts spent
eight days assessing the impact of a major hurricane hitting New Orleans.
The simulation predicted that state and local officials would be
overwhelmed, that flood waters would overcome the levees and cover most of
the city, that more than one million people would be uprooted for a year
or longer, and that deaths would number in the tens of thousands.
The report reads: "The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the
Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparedness (LOEP) believe that the gravity
of the situation calls for an extraordinary level of advance planning to
improve government readiness to respond effectively to such an event."
Despite these expert warnings, the Bush administration made the decision
to redirect the funding for hurricane protection to the "war against
terrorism." As Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson
Parish, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune (June 8, 2004): "It appears
that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland
security and the war in Iraq."
As the decisions to deny funding for the Corps of Engineers' levee
projects and SELA and the delayed federal response to Katrina are
inexplicable, the Bush administration, realizing its criminal negligence,
quickly took steps to blame state and local officials.
A senior Bush administration official planted on the Washington Post the
disinformation that FEMA could not act because the Louisiana governor had
not declared a state of emergency. Hours after printing this
disinformation, a red-faced Washington Post issued a retraction, which
reads: "A Sept. 4 article on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
incorrectly said that Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D) had not
declared a state of emergency. She declared an emergency on Aug. 26."
Nevertheless, the disinformation was widely spread by Brit Hume and other
Bush shills who operate out of Fox News (sic), and it continues to be
spread via rightwing talk radio and pro-Bush Internet sites. Fox News
(sic) host Bill O'Reilly spread similar disinformation. Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff added to the disinformation against Gov.
Blanco. Most Republicans cling tightly to the orchestrated disinformation
as it coddles their state of denial about the failure of leadership in the
White House.
One cause of the Bush administrations' catastrophic failure is obvious:
its single-minded focus on its "war on terror." In order to justify its
invasion of Iraq (which has gone badly both for the US and Iraqis) and the
nullification of our essential civil liberties, such as habeas corpus,
that are the foundation of our political and social order, the Bush
administration has made terrorists into a greater threat than cold
warriors were able to make the Soviet Union. The over-hyped threat of
terrorism has become a greater threat than terrorists themselves.
Readers have insisted to me that Bush administration incompetence, even at
the level of criminal negligence, cannot explain the New Orleans disaster.
They insist there must have been willful intent as the disaster is too
large and was too predictable to be the result of mere incompetence.
Readers cite the following circumstantial evidence in behalf of their
views:
The response of federal emergency management was delayed until survivors
desperate for food and water (and some for a drug fix) began looting. In
keeping with James Q. Wilson's "broken window" analogy, looting for
survival quickly spread into general lawlessness on the part of some
elements.
The lawlessness provided cover for the federal government to violate the
Posse Commitatus Act and send in regular military troops to police
civilian populations. (Both the New York Times on September 8 and the
Washington Post on September 4 and September 11 report that federal or
active duty troops are being used along with National Guard and police.)
Lawlessness, the eruption of which was guaranteed by delayed relief,
provides cover both for martial law, which suspends constitutional
protections, and for the confiscation of legally owned private firearms in
violation of the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. Everyone has by
now seen the images of troops and police breaking into New Orleans homes
and pointing weapons in the faces of residents. US military even described
survivors as "insurgents." (At time of writing news reports are confused
whether martial law exists in New Orleans. Some reports have the mayor
declaring martial law; others report that the state has declared its
version of martial law. Most constitutional experts believe martial law
requires an act of Congress or a presidential order or both.)
Many readers see a concocted militarization of civil society. They insist
that these new precedents, together with the recent federal appeals court
ruling that the White House has the power to seize American citizens and
to hold them indefinitely on mere suspicion or accusation without charges
or presentation of evidence against them, mean the overthrow of liberty
and accountable government in the United States.
These suspicions are widely held. They demand careful investigation both
by Congress and the news media. If there are valid grounds for the
suspicions, our remaining liberties are at risk. Even if the suspicions
are groundless, they are highly corrosive of many Americans' belief in
their system of government.
All Americans should be distressed that federal judges increasingly defer
to powers, asserted by the executive branch, which nullify constitutional
rights in the interest of some "higher" cause, such as the "war on
terror." This is a certain path to tyranny. Once gained, unaccountable
powers become permanent and can be used against whomever by future
administrations. Are Republicans content for such powers to be in the
hands of a President Hillary Clinton?
Whether or not there are grounds for suspicion of the extraordinary
federal failure in New Orleans, it is certain that federal bureaucracies
will take advantage of the situation to grab more powers in behalf of
their own agendas.
Private parties already are doing so. The New Orleans power elite sees in
the recent US Supreme Court Kelo decision, which permits the use of
eminent domain to serve private interests, a chance to rebuild New Orleans
in their own image.
In the September 8 Wall Street Journal, Christopher Cooper ("Old Line
Families Plot the Future") quotes members of the power elite, who admit
they are mapping out a new city that will not restore the old order:
"Those who want to see this city rebuilt want to see it done in a
completely different way: demographically, geographically and
politically," says James Reiss. "I'm not just speaking for myself here.
The way we've been living is not going to happen again."
The Journal's report brings to light that the "teeming (black)
underclass," which guarantees Democratic control of New Orleans, is one
part of the old order that is not slated for renewal. In other words,
federal failure in New Orleans plus Kelo equals ethnic cleansing of a
large historic American city.
With 40 members of the New Orleans power elite having seized the
opportunity to meet in Dallas on September 9 "to begin mapping out a
future for the city," you can bet federal agencies will use the same
opportunity to grab heightened powers. The rights that protect US citizens
from government power are rapidly disappearing if not already lost. This
is the real crisis faced by the vast majority of Americans who are not a
part of the power elite.
In the end not even the power elite will be safe. Hitler exterminated his
own Brownshirts before he went to work on the Jews, and Stalin
exterminated the Bolshevik heros of the Russian Revolution. Once power is
unaccountable, it becomes the possession of the most ruthless. Loyal party
membership protected neither the Brownshirts nor the Bolsheviks. And it
will not protect Bush's Republican apologists.
Paul Craig Roberts has held a number of academic appointments and has
contributed to numerous scholarly publications. He served as Assistant
Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. His graduate
economics education was at the University of Virginia, the University of
California at Berkeley, and Oxford University. He is coauthor of The
Tyranny of Good Intentions. He can be reached at:
paulcraigroberts [at] yahoo.com
--------12 of 14--------
Blame More Than Bush
Katrina's Political Aftermath
By JOSHUA FRANK
CounterPunch
September 13, 2005
Hurricane Katrina has left much in her wake, including who is to blame for
the aftermath. Most are heaving their anger at the Bush administration.
Much of it is deserved. But we can blame more than just Bush.
The most grotesque facets of American society have been on display for
everyone to dissect. Indeed, our makeup has been smeared and our manicured
blemishes exposed. Flood or no flood, we live in an unjust country that
leaves its poor and minorities left to rot.
Some are holding the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
accountable for the government's failed response to Katrina. In fact, Bush
blames FEMA and has pulled director Michael Brown from heading up the
Katrina relief effort only to have Brown resign hours later. The
scapegoating has begun.
Who is really to blame? Bush or FEMA?
Well, FEMA has forever been a train wreck. Doomsday scenarios have
propelled the agency's crooked course for decades. The apocalypse has
always been more panic provoking than a tornado in Kansas or hurricanes in
the Florida Panhandle, and the majority of planning has been spent on the
easing Cold War fears. Many Bush critics claim FEMA gained muscle in the
1990s under Bill Clinton but has been dismantled under Bush. But the truth
is, FEMA has never been capable of dealing with enormous natural
catastrophes.
In 1999 Hurricane Floyd ravaged the eastern seaboard leaving tens of
thousands stranded. It took over twenty long days for ex-FEMA director
James Lee Witt to get the trucks rolling in to provide assistance. "We're
starting to move the camper trailers in," Witt told Rev. Jesse Jackson on
CNN a full three weeks after Floyd hit. "It's been so wet it's been
difficult to get things in there, but now it's going to be moving very
quickly. And I think you're going to see a - I think the people there will
see a big difference over within this next weekend."
"It seemed there was preparation for Hurricane Floyd, but then came Flood
Floyd," said Rev. Jackson. "Bridges are overwhelmed, levees are
overwhelmed, whole town's under water . . . [it is] an awesome scene of
tragedy," Jackson espoused.
Even with a Democrat in office, FEMA was as inadequate then as it is now.
Of course, Floyd wasn't nearly as horrific as Hurricane Katrina. At least
in the 1990s we had more reserved troops ready to help out with such
disasters. So we can still blame it all on Bush, right? Not exactly. That
blame needs to be shared. Iraq has been a bipartisan nightmare - even
presidential hopeful John Kerry wanted to send more troops over into harms
way. Although Kerry acknowledged Bush's "back-door draft", which has
stretched our troops to their max, he wasn't about to reverse it. So you
can blame both the Democrats and the Republicans for that one. In fact, it
is quite likely that the Democrats would have responded (or rather, not
responded) in the same fashion as the Bush administration did to Katrina.
Neither a Republican nor a Democrat in office would have done what Fidel
Castro did in September 2004 when Cuba was struck by Hurricane Ivan.
Castro managed to evacuate 1.6 million people as the hurricane approached.
Over 20,000 homes were destroyed, yet the hurricane related deaths were
few. Thousands of lives had been saved.
Cuba, despite the embargo, is still a much more equitable society than the
US and Katrina's proved it. We can go ahead and blame FEMA or Bush for all
that has ensued, but the failures of Katrina go much deeper than that.
Until we overcome the greater class inequalities in this country, there
will always be Katrinas in the making.
Joshua Frank is the author of the brand new book, Left Out!: How Liberals
Helped Reelect George W. Bush, which has just been published by Common
Courage Press. You can order a copy at a discounted rate at
www.brickburner.org. Joshua can be reached at Joshua [at] brickburner.org.
--------13 of 14--------
Tears of the Crocodile
Compassion for the Camera
By DAVE LINDORFF
CounterPunch
September 13, 2005
The Republican Congress (and their conservative Democratic quislings) have
decided to show a little compassion for the victims of Bush Administration
incompetence and nature's revenge by including a waiver in the bankruptcy
bill to exempt them from losing their shirts along with their houses.
They've also decided to postpone cuts in Medicaid, so as not to gut what
little public healthcare remains in Louisiana during this crisis.
Notice, though, that they're only doing this for the tragic victims who
are filling prime time TV screens. They aren't canceling the bankruptcy
bill, which is a conservative and banker's wet dream long in coming. And
they aren't canceling plans for slashing Medicaid...just postponing them.
This isn't compassion. This is covering your ass while people are upset
about a national tragedy.
After all, why would the person whose house was destroyed by a tornado, or
an overflowing creek, or who lost a job because her or his company had
decided to move operations to Mexico or China, be any less deserving of
bankruptcy protection than someone who was made homeless and/or jobless by
a hurricane with a given name? Why should a poor person in New York City
or Tonopah, Nevada without resources or insurance have to endure cuts in
Medicaid assistance while a victim of the winds and flooding form Katrina
in New Orleans or Mississippi is given such help? There is no reason, of
course. It's all about the politicians looking good while the reporters in
the corporate media temporarily pay attention to the suffering in the
midst of American plenty.
Once this crisis has passed, as it eventually will, and once the media
have moved on to the next celebrity scandal, these political shysters and
image mavens will be back to screwing the poor and the working class again
in the interests of their corporate patrons. When nobody's looking at the
suffering that is caused by Congress's actions, the bankruptcy bill will
put hundreds of thousands of unfortunate families into permanent peonage,
and the Medicaid cuts will consign millions to third-rate or no medical
care.
Unless we start demanding better news coverage, and unless we vote the
bastards out next year.
By the way, here's a thought to ponder:
According to a recent poll, one in five Americans, or 20 percent of the
adult population, believes that the sun revolves around the earth. At
latest count, only 38 percent of the American public supports President
mbush. Assuming - and I think this is a reasonable assumption to make -
that all of those who believe the biblical notion of geocentricism vote
Republican, this would mean that more than half of little bush's backers -
52.7% to be exact - don't even know that the earth orbits the sun. The
most powerful nation on earth, that is to say, is being run, at least
indirectly, by a bunch of total yahoos, and a fair number of them are in
policy making positions in Washington these days. Now don't you feel
better? No wonder they've made such a hash of it in Louisiana.
Dave Lindorff is the author of Killing Time: an Investigation into the
Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. His new book of CounterPunch columns
titled "This Can't be Happening!" is published by Common Courage Press.
Information about both books and other work by Lindorff can be found at
www.thiscantbehappening.net.
He can be reached at: dlindorff [at] yahoo.com
--------14 of 14--------
George Bush's body lies a-mouldering in the grave,
George Bush's body lies a-mouldering in the grave,
George Bush's body lies a-mouldering in the grave,
His lies go marching on.
Chorus:
Sorry story, hell it's to ya,
Sorry story, hell it's to ya,
Sorry story, hell it's to ya,
His lies go marching on.
He's gone to be a zealot in the Army of the Board,
He's gone to be a zealot in the Army of the Board,
He's gone to be a zealot in the Army of the Board,
His lies go marching on.
Chorus:
Sorry story, it's ta screw ya,
Sorry story, it's ta screw ya,
Sorry story, it's ta screw ya,
His lies go marching on.
George Bush's crapsack is strapped upon his butt,
George Bush's crapsack is strapped upon his butt,
George Bush's crapsack is strapped upon his butt,
His lies go marching on.
Chorus:
Gory story, it's Fallujah,
Gory story, it's Fallujah,
Gory story, it's Fallujah,
His lies go marching on.
George Bush lied that the rich folks shall be free,
George Bush lied that the rich folks shall be free,
George Bush lied that the rich folks shall be free,
His lies go marching on.
Chorus:
Sorry story, it's who knew ya,
Sorry story, it's who knew ya,
Sorry story, it's who knew ya,
His lies go marching on.
The fires below in Hell now are blazing brightly up,
The fires below in Hell now are blazing brightly up,
The fires below in Hell now are blazing brightly up,
His lies go marching on.
Chorus:
Sorry story, hell it's to ya,
Sorry story, hell it's to ya,
Sorry story, hell it's to ya,
His lies go marching on.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- David Shove shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu
rhymes with clove Progressive Calendar
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