[Peace-discuss] Fw: Would You Rather be Eaten by a Wolf or a Fox?

[unionyes]

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Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 8:21 PM
Subject: Would You Rather be Eaten by a Wolf or a Fox?


> Would You Rather be Eaten by a Wolf or a Fox?
>
> By Carl Finamore
>
> submitted to portside 7/20/09
>
> Several of my favorite, most memorable quotations come
> to mind these days as I sadly observe what seems to me
> like abject, deferential genuflection before
> Washingtonâ?Ts Democratic Party majority by major labor
> and progressive organizations in this country.
>
> Oddly enough, it is a poet and not a politician that
> provides the first insight into the problem. It is
> Oscar Wilde who famously quipped with his brilliant
> Irish wit that â?otrue friends stab you in the front.â?
> You have to think about that for a moment.
>
> Maybe the much ballyhooed hope in President Obama has
> in fact stunned into silence the American reform
> majority that elected him. Maybe getting snubbed by
> Obama in the front is more disorienting and confusing
> than getting stabbed directly in the back by
> Republicans?
>
> Let us consider a few developments since Obamaâ?Ts
> election.
>
> Recall that it was only in May that the heroic
> pro-choice Dr. George Tillman was murdered in cold
> blood. Not too long ago, such a violent challenge to
> the rights of women would have unleashed a massive
> series of public protests exposing the lies and
> provocations of right-wing anti-abortionists.
>
> Instead, the National Organization for Women (NOW),
> Planned Parenthood and other prominent womenâ?Ts rights
> organizations followed Obamaâ?Ts lead and limited
> themselves to issuing paper condemnations, urging
> letters to Congress and proposing specific legislation.
>
> Of course these are important initiatives, but only in
> conjunction with action campaigns. Without broad
> national mobilizations organized by large independent
> organizations like NOW, we are left with the deafening
> silence of the pro-choice majority. This vacuum leaves
> the two major parties defining terms of the debate.
>
> What are Friends For?
>
> Close acquaintances can get close enough to stab us in
> the front because we do not expect deception as they
> approach.
>
> The Mafia has long understood this. Recall the
> â?oGodfatherâ?Tsâ? Don Corleone explaining to his son
> Michael that he should anticipate the dirty traitor
> would be a close member of their own crime family.
>
> But it doesnâ?Tt really feel any different being stabbed
> front or back.
>
> Ask the poor beleaguered people of Afghanistan.  The
> Democratic administration is dramatically escalating US
> military intervention in that country above what we had
> during the Bush administration. Where is MoveOn.org?
> This extremely popular liberal organization gained
> millions of supporters for its anti-war stance during
> the 2008 national elections.
>
> Today, their once loud voice for peace is but a
> whisper.
>
> Then, of course, there is the bankrupt economy
> supposedly heading towards a â?ojobless recovery.â? A
> ridiculous oxymoron conjured up by Wall St. sycophants
> in the administration who steadfastly refuse to support
> wage increases and a massive federal jobs program as
> the most effective relief for suffering working class
> families.
>
> Facing this crisis, or rather backing away from it, the
> national AFL-CIO kept the midnight oil burning lobbying
> legislators but it wasnâ?Tt enough to keep the lights on
> at worksites across the country.  Millions are laid off
> and just go home, if they still have one.
>
> There has been not one significant protest.
>
> Not even the United Auto Workers (UAW) with its long
> proud history asserted itself when they were falsely
> blamed for driving the industry collapse that was
> actually steered by the auto barons. Not in one plant,
> not in one shop was there any resistance organized by
> national labor leaders even though the dramatic local
> example in Chicago of the Republic Glass factory
> workers occupying their plant still lingers in our
> memory.
>
> The malaise doesnâ?Tt stop there. We are witnessing
> laborâ?Ts number one legislative priority, the Employee
> Free Choice Act,  being ripped apart on Capitol Hill
> like a gazelle carcass on the African savanna and yet
> labor sits quietly in their tents waiting to be
> rescued.
>
> Do You Want to Be Lunch?
>
> Iâ?Tm Mad as Hell!â? Peter Finch once shouted from his
> office window in the 1976 Sidney Lumet film, Network.
>
> Where now is that same spirit of resistance? How much
> economic and social injustice has to happen before the
> labor and progressive movement leaders begin shouting
> "we're not going to take it anymore?"
>
> Just as it doesnâ?Tt feel very good being stabbed
> anywhere, it also doesnâ?Tt really make any difference
> whether you are eaten, as Malcolm X pithily observed,
> by the â?oâ?~liberalâ?T fox or the â?~conservativeâ?T wolf.â?Tâ?
>
> Malcolm X himself didnâ?Tt want to be anyoneâ?Ts lunch so
> he warned against both the stealth Democratic foxes and
> the unrepentant carnivorous Republican wolves of his
> day.
>
> Consider the largely unchallenged lies of racist
> politicians like Senator Sessions and commentators like
> Pat Buchanan who flagrantly mischaracterize affirmative
> action during Congressional hearings for Judge
> Sotomayor. The Democratic majority sidestepped the
> whole discussion instead of defending affirmative
> action gains in the last quarter century.
>
> And then there is the painful truth that discussion of
> a Single-Payer government medical plan has been
> completely marginalized by both parties in Congress.
> Grass-roots organizations are doing their best to
> expose the lies spread by insurance companies but there
> is no echo in Washington and no prospect for mass
> street actions proposed by any organization with real
> clout.
>
> Itâ?Ts also completely wrong to expect the administration
> to lead a staunch defense of Medicare, Social Security
> and the GI Bill as three examples of essential
> government programs benefitting millions?  It wonâ?Tt
> happen. The job has to be done by a re-energized social
> protest movement. Right-wing mouthpieces would stutter
> and stumble if challenged to explain their opposition
> to these hugely popular programs as â?osocialistic.â?
>
> Finally, we had to endure the ridiculous spectacle of
> reactionaries mischaracterizing President Obamaâ?Ts plan
> to lapse Bushâ?Ts tax largesse for the super rich as
> â?oMarxist redistribution of wealth.â? Where are the
> voices from powerful national organizations explaining
> loud and clear that dramatic and steady redistribution
> of wealth upward actually began in the early 1980s and,
> oops, continued under both Democratic and Republican
> administrations?
>
> Perhaps the truth is too embarrassing for some of
> President Obamaâ?Ts liberal allies to admit,  but
> whatever the reason, none of these conservative
> political blows will be answered effectively unless
> unions and progressive organizations stop waiting for
> cues from â?ofriendsâ? in Washington.
>
> Thatâ?Ts why it was so refreshing to see significant
> opposition briefly emerge to successfully shed a bright
> light on Obamaâ?Ts inaction and extreme hypocrisy
> regarding equal rights for Gays. The White House felt
> the pressure.
>
> We must honestly admit, however, that overall, recent
> attacks against working people, women and minorities
> have gone largely unchallenged. No national
> demonstrations, rallies or protests. No
> civil-disobedience sit-ins, nothing.
>
> I Dreamed I saw Joe Hill Last Night
>
> Joe Hill possessed the absolute defiance and
> determination we need today in our reform movement
> leaders.  Hill was an Industrial Workers of the World
> (IWW) itinerant labor organizer who was murdered by the
> mine-owners controlled Utah state government in 1915.
> Joeâ?Ts admonition to his supporters that they â?odonâ?Tt
> waste any time mourning, organize,� is of course known
> the world over.
>
> But the lesser-known next sentence in his final
> testament is also very powerful.  Joe asked IWW leader
> Big Bill Haywood if he â?ocould have my body hauled to
> the state line to be buried? I don't want to be found
> dead in Utah.� 1
>
> Thatâ?Ts taking the lies leveled against him and throwing
> it right back in the faces of his accusers. Standing up
> to those in power with his last breath, Joe yelled
> â?oFireâ? just before execution by firing squad.
>
> I donâ?Tt see any of these bold, daring impulses today
> from leaders of our larger political organizations. As
> a result, when looking at politics in America, emotions
> range from anger to disappointment. But there is room
> for optimism.
>
> The historical record provides ample evidence that
> people will ultimately act in their class interests.
> Sooner or later, todayâ?Ts profoundly depoliticized mass
> will experience a liberating social awakening just as
> yesteryearsâ?T slaves, serfs and colonial oppressed have
> all eventually done.
>
> Thatâ?Ts when modern Joe Hill rebels will emerge and
> perhaps be capable of assuming the leadership of the
> unions and other mass organizations of working people.
>
> But why is it taking so damn long?
>
> Iâ?Tll throw in one last quote that addresses that issue.
> This time the concise and insightful nugget comes from
> an expatriate African-America woman living in Paris.
> She appears in Michael Mooreâ?Ts exceptional film
> â?oSicko.â?
>
> Moore asked why millions of French people demonstrate
> on social issues rather often whereas nothing like that
> happens in America. Paraphrasing this woman, she
> poignantly responded that â?oin France, the government is
> afraid of the people. In the United States, it is the
> people who are afraid of the government.�
>
> Enough said. This womanâ?Ts words of wisdom concisely
> describe, for me, the basic dilemma in this country.
>
> Until and unless we chickens grow some sharp teeth and
> learn to bite back when chased by either a wolf or a
> fox, we will likely be running around with our heads
> cut off. Now I realize that it goes against the laws of
> nature for chickens to grow teeth, but we humans
> already have incisors and two legs to hold us upright
> enough to get up off our knees.
>
> All that is necessary is the insight to discern when we
> are being suckered and the will to stand up and bite
> back against both our foes and those posing as friends.
>
> 1 In fact, Joeâ?Ts ashes were placed in small envelopes
> and spread by his comrades to every state in the union,
> except Utah, with several requests from other countries
> as well.
>
> Carl Finamore is a veteran labor and political activist
> living in San Francisco. His growl is bigger than his
> bite but he is working on that. He can be reached at
> local1781 at yahoo.com
>
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