November 3rd Nationwide Day of Action Beyond Voting - Please forward to Global Indymedia

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So, a lot of us have realized that we'll be entering into a new protest phase after tomorrow. It will be different, of course, if Kerry wins vs. if Bush wins. I wouldn't expect that many people at Powell and Market if Kerry actually squeaks by.

By here is one thing that I think needs to change. I think the 'left' (i.e. the thousands at those San Francisco marches) needs to dump the ANSWER/IAC/Worker's World leadership in antiwar organizing. We can see, from the fact that Kerry made a late decision to focus on foreign policy, to the exclusion of domestic policy like social security/healthcare/economy/a long list of other things, that the Iraq issue is what was resonating in the polls and in their focus groups. We can take from this that the majority of the public is with us on this. It is not a marginal position. Remember that 6 months ago, everyone thought defense would be Bush's strong point in the election, and Kerry was going to have to focus on the recession and unemployment.
So, we just don't need to keep with this protest model where a communist group that almost all the antiwar people do not support is running the show. Not just in San Francisco, but in almost all towns in the US, the *majority* would at least figuratively be out with the antiwar marchers, so we have to get out of the mindset that a squeaky minority is out there as a marginal group, where the police keeps them under watch and people constantly feel the need to defensively say "we're patriotic too". There are other approaches that will bring out the majority, than what we're doing right now, in terms of PR and populism and having a smart message.

I'm sure ANSWER has its shortcomings, but the group has done an excellent job of organizing mass demonstrations against the war. However, the above commentator is advising us we should get rid of ANSWER because it's led by Communists. This isn't something new. It's an old tactic from way back -- that when somebody does a good job of organizing, the Powers-that-be would send an agent to denounce them for being Communists. It's called Red-baiting. An even older term for this tactic is "Divide and Conquer."

Look, now's not the time to criticize Kerry on Iraq. Sure the war is wrong, but we're stuck with it. We can't just pull out. And Kerry is publically committed to winning in Iraq and getting us out in four years if he wins. This election was never about leaving Iraq - if you believe that, you were wrong. We need unity now - remember that the Republicans will probably remain in control of the House and Senate after this election, and the Supreme Court is firmly in their hands. Any move Kerry makes to precipitously withdraw troops is likely to provoke an impeachment move, which would embroil us in another crisis, and set the stage for the neo-cons to recapture the Presidency in 2008. If we're lucky, Kerry can beef up our forces in Iraq, crush the insurgency before the war escalates and requires a draft.

Vote for Kerry tomorrow. Protest a stolen election on the 3rd. But, don't demand that we bail on Iraq - because the Kerry Administration can't deliver.

if Kerry "can't deliver" on Iraq, then his Presidency will be a failure within about a year

young people, people of color and low income people aren't gong to be Kerry's margin of victory today so that he can get them killed and maimed indiscriminately slaughtering Iraqis as George W. Bush has ordered them to do

maybe, you haven't kept up with the news, a British medical journal, the Lancet, reports that as many as 100,000 Iraqi civilians have already been killed in the war

so, Kerry can decide, does he find a way out, or does he accede to the mantle of war criminal like George W. Bush?

because, when Kerry is President, and US forces launch another one of those "precision" air strikes in Falluja that killed 12 people, including three or four children, and three of four women, then he is the killer, the proponent of a liberal imperialism to replace Bush's conservative imperialism, but a killer none the less

Iraqis have made it clear, they want us out, and they oppose US efforts to force feed them a government composed of Iraqi exiles with lenghty CIA and MI6 resumes

but, for some reason, upper middle class, predominately white American liberals (like you, perhaps?) have decided that they know better, and have decided to perversely rationalize our presence there as a kind of humanitarian assistance

torture, rape, home invasions, mass detentions, random killings, I guess MoveON.org supporters see Iraqis as a people suffering from a national form of 'spousal abuse syndrome' where the brutality of the abuser is transformed into an expression of affection

well, Iraqis think otherwise for good reason, and this type of liberal rationalization would, in most contexts, be viewed as racist, but, I guess, where Arab peoples are concerned, liberal imperialist condescension is considered a form of compassionate concern

the real problem here, of course, is that Democrats, including MoveON.org supporters, apparently, view the suffering of people around the world, like people in Iraq, only at the level of campaign material to attack the President

for example, during the summer, MoveON could only relate to the torture of Iraqis at facilities like Abu Ghraib as an opportunity to call for the firing of Donald Rumsfeld!

there was no call for the release of thousands of detainees (one person that I interviewed, a person who has spent a lot of time in Iraq recently, said that he believes that US forces have detained 156,000 (!) Iraqis at numerous facilities around the country since the start of the war, and asserted, after recently interviewing some released detainees in Jordan, that the torture is ongoing), no demand that outside human rights observers be allowed to enter the facilities and monitor their treatment, basically, no demands related to the treatment of the people themselves

it was very disheartening, and only goes to show how ingrained racism towards Arabs is in the US, when they only serve the purpose of campaign fodder during the news cycle, even for purported liberal organizations like MoveON.org

so MoveON itself has a real moral problem here, as it used the period leading up to the Iraq war as a way of reaching out to people and expanding through activist participation and financial contributions

as a result, it becoming a powerful instrument in support of more progressive Democratic candidates, but now, after taking advantage of these people, if you can be believed, MoveON is going to tell people that Kerry can't deliver????

if so, what a disgusting manipulation of people and their ideals

I've got news for you, there's really no need for MoveON.org if what you say is true, there's already an organization for you

it's called the Democratic Leadership Council


--Richard Estes
Davis, CA



acting

We certainly can pull out. It's the right thing to do, and in doing so we may just save ourselves from the continuing and completely righteous wrath of the rest of the world, which is fed up with this nation's imperial arrogance. We need to be suspicious of any group, such as ANSWER, Workers' World or the IAC, that has access to the massive funding necessary to organize spectacular demonstrations; but at the same time we can strategically take advantage of the opportunities they create to promote our own interests. Once the hype from this country's quadrennial ritual voting dies down, people will begin to realize that, whether Mr. Skull or Mr. Bones becomes president, nothing substantial will have changed. Historical necessity will provide us with more than enough opportunities to ramp up the action, and big, heavily-funded public demos are just one venue among countless others. The rich will continue to grow richer, the poor, poorer. Jobs will continue to disappear. Homelessness will continue to increase. Repression of minorities and the war against Black people will worsen. Police violence and the criminalization of dissent will increase. Whatever the outcome of the election, it will soon become clear that we have only changed emperors, and that the new one is just as naked and butt-ugly. What can we do? Organize affinity groups, discussion groups and study groups with our friends and neighbors. Dare to speak out as individuals. Express ourselves through direct action. In all the creative ways available to us, let the usurpers of power know that we are fighting to win. Keep the vision clear. Smash capitalism. Smash the State.