The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    Michael Moore and the War of the Classes

    By Ramona on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 8:44am | Politics

    For weeks now, ever since the people took over the State House in Wisconsin, we've been looking for a leader.  We've watched the momentum building, knowing this was our chance and we couldn't let this die.  Each of us in our own way has been spreading the word, supporting labor, doing what we could to build this movement to such a juggernaut nothing would stop it, ever again.

    We all knew that without leaders, once the cheering stopped we were dead in the water.  We looked first to the leaders in the Democratic Party, starting with the president, Barack Obama.  It wasn't just silence we got from the White House, it was a slap on the hand to the DNC for jumping into the fray (as they should have) and a slap in the face for the rest of us when they called the Wisconsin triumph a "distraction".  

    With the exception of a few Democratic politicians, my party leaders--those same party leaders who depend on labor to get them elected--have been maddeningly  non-commital, pretending this is a states issue and all they can muster are a few rah rahs from the sidelines.  The few who have come out in support haven't been able to find their way to Wisconsin yet.  Russ Feingold has been there, but Feingold, as good as he is, as impassioned as he is, isn't in office any more. 

    So here comes Michael Moore, our resident comedic rabble-rouser, our Hollywood style muckraker, and what is he out there doing?  He's doing what our Democratic politicians should have been doing all along.  He's committing himself to a cause worth fighting for.

    I wasn't surprised that MM took up the Wisconsin cause.  He's from Michigan, my Michigan, and Wisconsin is right next door.  We're so much alike, we two states, we could be twins.  But what did surprise me is the level of thought that went into what he chose to do.

    Michael Moore, as unlikely--no, incongruous--as it  seems, is, in my eyes, now the de facto leader of the long-time-coming 21st Century American Class War.  He is our general.  He is leading the troops and if we have any sense about us we will follow.

    I know. Look at him.  Michael Moore. 

     

     

    But give him a chance.  Listen to him.  I turn the rest of this post over to Michael Moore.  Just read what he has to say.  Take your time. Understand what we're up against.  This isn't just a battle but an all-out war.  A Class War that's been in the making since the dawning of the Industrial Age and is now so weighted against us it's going to take massive effort to even get us back to a level where we can breathe again.  (Reading this may take a while, following the links and all, but remember, we're in a war.  This is just a small part of our preparation):


    How I Got to Madison, Wisconsin ...a letter from Michael Moore
    Sunday, March 6th, 2011

    Friends,
    Early yesterday morning, around 1:00 AM, I had finished work for the day
    on my current "project" (top secret for now -- sorry, no spoiler
    alerts!). Someone had sent me a link to a discussion Bill O'Reilly had
    had with Sarah Palin a few hours earlier about my belief that the money
    the 21st Century rich have absconded with really isn't theirs -- and that
    a vast chunk of it should be taken away from them.
    They were referring to comments I had made earlier in the week on a small
    cable show called GRITtv (Part 1 (
    I honestly didn't know this was going to air that night (I had been asked
    to stop by and say a few words of support for a nurses union video), but
    I spoke from my heart about the millions of our fellow Americans who have
    had their homes and jobs stolen from them by a criminal class of
    millionaires and billionaires. It was the morning after the Oscars, at
    which the winner of Best Documentary for "Inside Job" stood at the
    microphone and declared, "I must start by pointing out that three years
    after our horrific financial crisis caused by financial fraud, not a
    single financial executive has gone to jail. And that's wrong." And he
    was applauded for saying this. (When did they stop booing Oscar speeches?
    Damn!)

    So GRITtv ran my comments -- and all week the right wingopoly has been
    upset over what I said: That the money that the rich have stolen (or not
    paid taxes on) belongs to the American people. Drudge/Limbaugh/Beck and
    even Donald Trump went nuts, calling me names and suggesting I move to
    Cuba.

    So in the wee hours of yesterday morning I sat down to write an answer to
    them. By 3:00 AM, it had turned into more of a manifesto of class war --
    or, I should say, a manifesto *against* the class war the rich have been
    conducting on the American people for the past 30 years. I read it aloud
    to myself to see how it sounded (trying not to wake anyone else in the
    apartment) and then -- and this is why no one should be up at 3:00 AM --
    the crazy kicked in: I needed to get in the car and drive to Madison and
    give this speech.

    I went online to get directions and saw that there was no official big
    rally planned like the one they had last Saturday and will have again
    next Saturday. Just the normal ongoing demonstration and occupation of
    the State Capitol that's been in process since February 12th (the day
    after Mubarak was overthrown in Egypt) to protest the Republican
    governor's move to kill the state's public unions.

    So, it's three in the morning and I'm a thousand miles from Madison and I
    see that the open microphone for speakers starts at noon. Hmm. No time to
    drive from New York. I was off to the airport. I left a note on the
    kitchen table saying I'd be back at 9:00 PM. Called a friend and asked
    him if he wanted to meet me at the Delta counter. Called the guy who
    manages my website, woke him up, and asked him to track down the
    coordinators in Madison and tell them I'm on my way and would like to say
    a few words if possible -- "but tell them if they've got other plans or
    no room for me, I'll be happy just to stand there holding a sign and
    singing Solidarity Forever."

    So I just showed up. The firefighters, hearing I'm there, ask me to lead
    their protest parade through downtown Madison. I march with them, along
    with John Nichols (who lives in Madison and writes for the *Nation*).
    Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and the great singer Michelle Shocked have
    also decided to show up.

    The scene in Madison is nothing like what they are showing you on TV or
    in the newspaper. First, you notice that the whole town is behind this.
    Yard signs and signs in store windows are everywhere supporting public
    workers. There are thousands of people out just randomly lining the
    streets for the six blocks leading to the Capitol building carrying
    signs, shouting and cheering and cajoling. Then there are stages and
    friendly competing demos on all sides of the building (yesterday's total
    estimate of people was 50,000-70,000, the smallest one yet)! A big semi
    truck has been sent by James Hoffa of the Teamsters and is parked like a
    don't-even-think-of-effing-with-us Sherman tank on the street in front of
    the Capitol. There is a long line -- *separate* from these other
    demonstrations -- of 4,000 people, waiting their turn to get through the
    only open door to the Capitol so they can join the occupation inside.
    And inside the Rotunda is ... well, it will bring tears to your eyes if
    you go there. It's like a shrine to working people -- to what America is
    and should be about -- packed with families and kids and so many senior
    citizens that it made me happy for science and its impact on life
    expectancy over the past century. There were grandmas and great-grandpas
    who remember FDR and Wisconsin's La Follette and the long view of this
    struggle. Standing in that Rotunda was like a religious experience. There
    had been nothing like it, for me, in decades.

    And so it was in this setting, out of doors now on the steps of the
    Capitol, with so many people in front of me that I couldn't see where
    they ended, that I just "showed up" and gave a speech that felt unlike
    any other I had ever given. As I had just written it and had no time to
    memorize it, I read from the pages I brought with me. I wanted to make
    sure that the words I had chosen were clear and exact. I knew they had
    the potential to drive the haters into a rabid state (not a pretty sight)
    but I also feared that the Right's wealthy patrons would see a need to
    retaliate should these words be met with citizen action across the land.
    I was, after all, putting them on notice: We are coming after you, we are
    stopping you and we are going to return the money/jobs/homes you stole
    from the people. You have gone too far. It's too bad you couldn't have
    been satisfied with making millions, you had to have billions  -- and now
    you want to strip us of our ability to talk and bargain and provide. This
    is your tipping point, Wall Street; your come-to-Jesus moment, Corporate
    America. And I'm glad I'm going to be able to be a witness to it.
    You can find the written version of my speech on my website 
     Please read it and pass it around far and wide. You can also watch a
    video of me giving the spoken version from the Capitol steps by clicking
    here ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgNuSEZ8CDw ). 
    I will be sending you a second email shortly with just the speech so
    you can forward a clean version of it without the above story of how I
    abandoned my family in the middle of the night to go to Wisconsin for the
    day.

    I can't express enough the level of admiration I have for the people of
    Wisconsin who, for three weeks, have braved the brutal winter cold and
    taken over their state Capitol. All told, literally hundreds of thousands
    of people have made their way to Madison to make their voices heard. It
    all began with high school students cutting class and marching on the
    building (you can read their reports on my High School Newspaper (
    http://www.mikeshighschoolnews.com/ ) site). Then their parents joined
    them. Then 14 brave Democratic state senators left the state so the
    governor wouldn't have his quorum.

    And all this while the White House was trying to stop this movement (read
    this (http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latest-news/excerpt-from-less-drama )!
    But it didn't matter. The People's train had left the station. And now
    protests were springing up in all 50 states.
    The media has done a poor job covering this (imagine a takeover of the
    government HQ in any other country, free or totalitarian -- our media
    would be all over it). But this one scares them and their masters -- as
    it should. The organizers told me this morning that my showing up got
    them more coverage yesterday than they would have had, "a shot in the arm
    that we needed to keep momentum going." Well, I'm glad I could help. But
    they need a lot more than just me -- and they need you doing similar
    things in your own states and towns.
    How 'bout it? I know you know this: This is our moment. Let's seize it.
    Everyone can do something.  
    Yours,
    Michael Moore
    MMFl...@aol.com
    MichaelMoore ( http://www.michaelmoore.com )

    P.S. This local Madison paper/blog captured best (http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=32648 ) what happened yesterday, and got what I'm really up to. Someone please send this to O'Reilly and Palin so there's no mistaking my true intentions. 

    P.P.S. Full disclosure: I am a proud union member of four unions: the
    Directors Guild, the Writers Guild, the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA
    (the last two have passed resolutions supporting the workers in
    Wisconsin). My production company has signed union contracts with five
    unions (and soon to be a 6th). All my full-time employees have full
    medical and dental insurance with NO DEDUCTIBLE. So, yes, I'm biased. 

    ***

    So, okay, I've promoted MM to General, but we need many more.  We need leaders, and so far they're not flocking to us.  We need to get out there and recruit.  We can start with the Labor Unions and their leaders.  Let them know we're behind them and ask them what we can do.  Spread the word.  We're gearing up and ready for War. (And don't forget to sign up for MMs newsletters.  They're messages from our General.)
    (Cross-posted at Ramona's Voices)
    Topics: 
    Politics

    Comments

    Moore was fantastic, wasn't he?  He and Amy Goodman get it in spades that this is a class war!  And the Congressional Dems who refuse to/pretend not to get it, or pretend they have our interests at heart?  Ffftttttt! to them!

    Dunno about recruiting leaders; I tend to think that they emerge as their passion ignites and they find their voices.  Hard to say exactly what makes great leaders charismatic, but that seems to an important ingredient.  Some really smart and committed Progressives just don't catch fire for that reason, IMO.

    p.s. Amy Goodman just did a Colorado tour this week, and according to my husband, she was also on fire, and was even on the funny side a few times, LOL, speaking to a crowd of 500 or so in the town nextdoor.  She kept admonishing folks to 'tell truth to power!  Democracy Now!'


    by we are stardust on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 9:56am

    Yes, he was.  I thought by now a leader would have emerged--maybe a virtual unknown like Cesar Chavez or MLK, but so far nada.  We desperately need them if we're going to be able to sustain this.

    Another example of what we're fighting against (This from Fox News):

    With recall efforts pending against nearly half of the members of the Wisconsin state Senate and Badger State residents weary of the 18-day shutdown in the legislature caused by the Democratic minority’s exodus to Illinois, the end seems to be in sight.

    The overheated rhetoric of the early part of the Democratic walkout has (mostly) given way to statements of acceptance and accommodation. Despite filmmaker Michael Moore trying to rally government workers to keep fighting “the rich,” the steam seems to have gone out of the boiler.

    Don't they wish?  But they have a soapbox much bigger than ours.  We have to keep working at building ours.  We're going to have to tower over them.

    (Amy Goodman funny?  lol. But really, who needs her to be funny?  I don't need Christiane Amanpour funny, either.  Wicked women, so full of that damned truthiness.)


    by Ramona on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 10:58am

    'Amy funny?' LOL!  Yeah; in the end I really believe humor is crucial for keepin' on.  I'm reading some about the Canvas folks who helped guide the revolutions in the ME (along with Gene Sparks, and I hope I have his name right).  Humor can disarm opponents, fire up PRO-ponents, and recharge our batteries.

    If the class war movement's strong enough, leaders will emerge, or....  (Well, I won't go there.)  But maybe it will need to take a form akin to the Social Gospel movement in the Civil Rights struggle, though maybe a new Secular Social Gospel.  I though Michael might bust into call-and-response, but that takes being known, maybe.  I dunno.  But crowds love it! 

    OT, a bit, but I just got an email from the Showdown in America folks.  Fighting big banking, and trying to gin up the Gov's to launch more investigations since Holder/Obama won't, and NOT settle for the crap settlements that are in the works.  Even Liz Warren's numbers are waaay toooo low.  Here's there wbsite:  (Bill Moyers had them on last year.)

    http://showdowninamerica.org/

    p.s. I'm lobbying for Amy to get a hair make-over, too!  Cool


    by we are stardust on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 11:36am

    How cool is this?  Tractors for Collective Bargaining rights?  I saw it at correntwire:

    http://freakoutnation.com/2011/03/05/thousands-of-farmers-to-descend-on-wi-capitol-with-their-tractors/

    I was trying to remember the agricultural parity issues a few (ahem) decades ago that sparked the enormous tractor parades to Washington.  Wow.


    by we are stardust on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 1:35pm

    Want to see humor in a Labor/Populist stemwinder? Watch Ed Garvey this coming weekend. He'll share a stage in Madison with Hightower and others. Ed's a personal favorite, and the Real Deal. I'm issuing guarantees he'll be hilarious too as he takes Walker and the Kochs to the woodshed. Look for it after Saturday. I'm sure there'll be video! ;0)

    by SleepinJeezus on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 8:28pm

    I'm glad to see Kucinich and Tammy Baldwin will be there.  Some day Dennis Kucinich is going to get the respect he deserves.  He's there whenever anyone needs him and he advocates tirelessly for the working class. 

    The day will come when he and the others who work so hard will finally see the fruits of their labor.  We can make it happen if we stick together and focus on our real enemies.


    by Ramona on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 9:37pm

    Mr. Moore sure has a way with words. Good post; thanks for the links.


    by acanuck on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 2:46pm

    Moore is the best. Our best propagandist and he does not even have to lie.

    Trope was talking about unintended consequences, among other things.

    Think about how the repubs are helping us right now.

    They have all the teachers mad at them. I cannot believe that a high number of conservative teachers will show up in Nov of next year to elect people who hate them.

    And there are conservative people involved in labor, but i cannot imagine they will show up in droves to vote in people who hate them.

    And the police and firefighters...

    I mean, the repub actions lately have taken people's eyes off of non economic issues--even though women's rights and immigration issues are being hit hard with legislation.

    And my conclusion is showing up in recent polls.

    The two percent solution does not work when repubs piss all over the masses.

    Anyhow, thanks for this news from Moore.


    by Richard Day on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 3:08pm

    Actually, it appears that nationally, very few people are changing their mind so far about unions:

    The public’s overall views of labor unions have changed little through the lengthy stalemate between Wisconsin’s governor and the state’s public employee unions over collective bargaining rights. About half (47%) say they have a favorable opinion of labor unions compared with 39% who have an unfavorable opinion. In early February, 45% expressed a favorable opinion of unions and 41% said they had an unfavorable view. However, liberal Democrats and people in union households are more likely to say they have a very favorable opinion of labor unions than they were just weeks ago. (For more on public attitudes toward labor unions, see Pew Research’s Feb. 17 report. For more on views of the showdown in Wisconsin between the governor and public employee unions, see this report, released Feb. 28.) 

    From

    Pew Center, March 3, 2011:
    Fewer Are Angry at Government, But Discontent Remains High
    Republicans, Tea Party Supporters More Mellow

    The rest of that report might have some things to interest you.


    by artappraiser on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 6:06pm

    I guess I'm not surprised at the union numbers, considering the decades-long snow job the Haves have perpetrated in order to keep wages low and workers helpless.  It's going to take some doing to make the majority understand the need for union representation and collective bargaining.  If these charts and polls do anything, they tell us how far we still have to go.

    The rest of those surveys were interesting.  The Republicans aren't quite so angry at the government now that their party controls the House, but the Dem numbers have stayed about the same.  I don't know who they survey, but that's not how it would go where I come from.  In that survey, anger has given way to frustration.  I'd say frustration has given way to anger, but what do I know? 


    by Ramona on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 6:46pm

    The link I put up above to Showdown in America?  Today they 'took over' a BoA branch in DeeCee with their group 'Make Banks Pay'.  Now they are with the State Attys. Generals Conference demanding that banks pay.  Here's video:

     


    by we are stardust on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 4:51pm

    I think there's a whole lot of quaking in a whole lot of boots these days.  The masses are rising up and they're not content to eat cake.


    by Ramona on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 6:21pm

    General or leader don't quite match up when describing MM, at least not for me.  Messenger fits better, since quite often he gets threats of violence as in "kill the....."   He is very good at messaging.

    Growing up in and around Flint, MI as I did, I've been aware of MM since his Flint Voice days and in fact, I would often see him as he scurried from his car to his magazine headquarters.  It was located in a 1 1/2 story house that had been converted for business.  I grew up in this neighborhood, in a house just a few streets away. 

    Well, ha!  That 1 1/2 story house is still there!  And it's still a lawyer's office.  Google maps R kewl!

    Anyhoo, I remember driving somewhere with my dad, turning the corner where this house is, and catching sight of MM.  My dad says to me, "Keep your eye on that guy.  He's gonna do somethin',"

    "Like what?" I asked.

    "I don't know.  Somethin'.  Just keep your eye on him."

    hahahaha.  That was back in the mid 70's sometime.  To this day, I don't know if my dad meant this in a good way or not and it's too late now to ask him.

    Still, I don't think that "somethin'" MM is going to do is being a General.  Messenger.  PR man.  That fits better.

    But, what do I know fer shure?  Nothing anymore.


    by wabby on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 11:41pm

    I only met MM once, briefly, when he was still doing the MIchigan Voice (started as the Flint Voice) and just before he went to Mother Jones. Yes, he already had a presence. I knew friends of his who told me after the MJ debacle that they had begged him not to do it. He thought they were jealous and there was a rift that I'm not sure ever was resolved.

    Do you remember Ben Hamper? He was MMs best friend and Mike convinced him that he could write a book about his adventures on the assembly line. "Rivethead" was published, thanks to MM, and it was angry and goofy and hilarious, but a gift that kept on giving to the people who now thought they had proof that unions coddled and protected drunks and cokeheads and all-around troublemakers.

    In the end Hamper couldn't take the attention--he was no Michael Moore.  He had a breakdown (not his first, and no secret, he wrote about it) and disappeared for a while, but to my relief surfaced again to write a foreward for one of Mike's books.  I had this saved and it's not dated so I don't know how old it is, but it's way more fun to read than all the doom and gloom these days:

    http://hamper.michaelmoore.com/lovely_serpent.html

    And here is Michael Moore's foreward to Ben's book.  If anybody ever questions Michael Moore's authenticity, this ought to put a cap on that:  http://hamper.michaelmoore.com/chapter1.html


    by Ramona on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 7:53am

    Senator Sanders and Michael Moore

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5rcnAWaC64&feature=related

    BERNIE SANDERS

    He has the passion, he has the fire., the conviction to take on the corporations

    He knows what he’s taking about.  

    Thom Hartmann: Senator Bernie Sanders on the Budget and the WI Protest 

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AZJ_2C3BtI&feature=related 

    @6:20 Trade policies  

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l90ADkrY-mQ

    Saying he was prepared to speak "as long as possible" against a tax deal between the White House and congressional Republicans,

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6pa-QdL4Wo

    Bernie Sanders end of 8 1/2 hour speech

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnc88gFBUZM&feature=related

    @ 2;34

    "wait a second... are you nuts? do u really think that millionaires and billionaires need a huge tax break at a time when this country has a 13.7 trillion dollar national debt? WHAT. ARE. YOU. SMOKING??"

    Rachel Maddow - GOING OFFENSE- SEN BERNIE SANDERS.mp4

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t0WbaUcmwQ&feature=related

    @1:25  @6:52  Rachel asks about Obama, Sanders knocks it out of the park 


    by Resistance on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 12:18am

    Yep. He's an independent.

    When you see the Democratic party officially start asserting our interests like *that* ... you'll see me stop giving our Democratic loyalist friends a hard time.

    Also, though there really is little chance he'd challenge Obama ... Schweitzer is really good. He brings it like Sanders ... he's not those who act like they should be ashamed of their beliefs; he nails people with them.


    by kgb999 on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 2:54am

    I don't quite agree with the "ashamed of their beliefs" assignation. Rather, I think the calculation of the Democratic Party for thirty-plus years is that elections are most easily won if you "strategically ignore" the economic populist arguments and strive to be "The Moderate" candidate. I mean, isn't that what is meant by "post-partisan?" (NOTE: "Post-partisan politics" has never made any real sense to me as a descriptive term. It seems tantamount to something like "vegan carnivores.")

    It's really lazy politics, but it has its advantages and - as proven - it can win elections. It involves worrying little about message. You allow the other side to define the message, and then you tailor your positions to be less extreme. We need tax cuts? Well, yes we do, but not quite as deep as you suggest. We need deficit reduction? Well, yes we do. But not as deep as you suggest. We need to shrink government to a size sufficient we can drown it in a bathtub? Well, yes we do. But we gotta still have someone around to turn out the lights and lock up afterwards.

    After thirty years of such Dem politicking (or lack thereof, actually), it leads to a Dem President giving the SOTU WTF Address we saw in January in the midst of this bone-crushingly debilitating recession. Keynesian Recovery? Absent. Any recovery assistance on mortgages or unemployment or other transfer payments? Unneeded. After all, says Obama, the economy is back as we can see reflected in the growth of the DIA and the P&L statements of our banks. (Applause) Budget priorities? Deficit reduction, extend Bush tax cuts, and no new taxes.

    Obama and the Dems have ceded all the GOP talking points, with intention of winning voters by showing themselves to be the "more reasonable deficit hawks" and the "more responsible friends of Wall Street" and the "less invasive murderers of Big Gummint."

    Michael Moore's speech strikes us all with a thrill because we find relevance in its take-no-prisoners economic populist message. We're tired of being beaten down. We're angry. We're scared for the future. And we know there exists a great disparity between us and those who always seem to come out on top in this economy - the banksters, the corporations, the "boss," etc.

    In Madison, an approximate 50,000 were on hand to hear Moore's speech, and virtually everyone on hand responded enthusiastically. It was as if they were hearing for the first time that their anger and fears and anxiety were not only shared, but that there was a reason for them to be tearing at them and that a recipe for their cure was available. "We're not broke!" yelled Moore while insisting that we take back what has been stolen from us, including our dignity.

    Yet, when these same people went to the polls in November - as in too many Novembers before that - they were offered no such hope or alternative. Instead, they were told by everyone on the ballot that the GOP's direction for this country and this economy is really the only choice, and were invited to vote whether they wished to go "all-in" or tinker some at the margins; to abandon hope altogether and accept their place as diminished participants in this economy or continue trying to forestall the inevitable decline.

    In Wisconsin, last November, they decided to go "all-in" and we got Walker for Governor. For many voters, I'm sure it's because they could see that all the tinkering in the world these last thirty years wasn't helping them anyway.

    Maybe it's time for the Dems to rethink their strategy going forward. I'd suggest they take a cue from Michael Moore and perhaps extend themselves into what might be called "POST-post-partisan politicking" and go right for the throat of the bastards who've got it coming. God knows, it might at last keep them busy enough to get their boot off our necks as they now try to finish us off altogether with this coordinated attack on worker's rights.

    Let's fight back, shall we? As a political Party. As Democrats, even! I know! What a concept, eh? But it does lie within our very best traditions:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjSTQwamo8M


    by SleepinJeezus on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 10:36am

    Well said,SJ. I think that's what we're trying to do. All of us who cry out against what's been going on. We're fighting back.

    by Ramona on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 10:41am

    And don't overlook just how injurious such a "strategic ignore" approach that denies/covers your own ideology is to that very ideology. For example, if Dennis Kucinich or some such candidate comes along to actually promote himself as a LaborDem/Socialist alternative to the GOP, he is readily marginalized as an "extremist." After all, even the "mainstream" Dems believe that laissez faire capitalism is the ONLY legitimate choice.

    THAT'S the cruellest cut of all


    by SleepinJeezus on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 10:52am

    I love this video. If I had been alive then,  I would have loved the man. It's any wonder he won as often as he did.  

    What strength he displayed, not like the new batch of democrats controlled by money.  


    by Resistance on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 1:50pm

    Bernie Sanders and Rachel Maddow are on our side.  No question about it.  Our goal is to get people outside of the choir to listen to them--and others like them.  That's the goal.


    by Ramona on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 8:06am

    I would like to see Sanders run for President,.

    Send a message to Obama, you have not secured your base.

    But then again he abandoned his base already.

    As fuel prices go higher, the cuts in programs being proposed, it wouldnt take long before the electorate said we want an Independant candidate. A pox on both houses.

    But we need to start promoting the alternative NOW. Name recognition being one benefit. maybe with Trumka, and Bernie Sanders at the table, the grass roots effort will already be underway;  competing for the same money, Obama is going to seek for his relection .

    Should Sanders need to run as a third party candidate because the establishment, centirst pragmatist, DINO's  try to shut Sanders out of the primaries, or the National Debates, as the Democrats did to Nader, we will have prempted they're "strategery". (Strategy and treachery combined)

    With the advancing of General (Sherman) Sanders and his army of supporters at the gates, Washington the fortress of the status quo,  maybe we'll have our generations Magna Carta moment. 


    by Resistance on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 1:43pm