Horribly Injured Americans Against Obamacare | CommonDreams.orgV

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Gov. Rell spent tax dollars on political focus groups…but it should be a lesson for everyone who “does politics”

Big political news in Connecticut today is evidence that Governor Rell spent $220,000 of taxpayer money for the services of a consultant to help craft her political message – including the convening of a focus group and keeping tabs on the popularity of rival politicians.  The story that this was money spent to figure out how Connecticut would best weather the recession, streamline government, craft tax policy, etc. is pure bunk . . . especially in light of an expose by Ted Mann of the New London Day showing that consultant “Dr. Kenneth Dautrich, a polling expert and confidant of Rell’s chief of staff” advised the governor about such burning policy issues as the popularity of Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and the best “messaging” to use to get support for Rell’s opposition to raising income taxes on the rich.
Connecticut residents do not generally appear to have very high expectations for their politicians, so it’s hard to say how much of a furor this will really stir.  It can certainly be argued that there is a significant appearance of impropriety and ethical violations and that an independent investigation is warranted.  Impeachment certainly should not be off the table at this early stage.

But there is another lesson to be learned as well – though I question whether it will be heeded.  Both politicians and political activists seem to have become so enamored of “messaging” that it often takes the place of honest talk about policy: What do we stand for and how are we going to get it?  Even on the left there seems to be a preoccupation with controlling the message so that no genuine discussion takes place, only a constant reiteration of talking points.  I would argue that if you want to know at least one reason that many working class people are cynical about politicians and are susceptible to being recruited into reactionary populist causes like the teabaggers, you have to consider just how sick and tired people are of politics by focus group.

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When the Right attacks: defending our allies

For the last several nights, Rachel Maddow has been doing an excellent expose of the pro-corporation right-wing forces that have been attacking ACORN.  Sadly, she has correctly pointed out that the liberal establishment has failed to rally to defend ACORN.  Even further to the left, among progressives who should understand the critical importance of defending groups that organize poor people and people of color, there have actually been opportunistic criticisms of ACORN at a time when what was most needed was rallying to its defense.

So it is more than a little frightening to hear her prediction that the next target of the ruling class attack dogs will be SEIU – the Service Employees International Union.  The connection is certainly easy to see: like ACORN many of the locals of SEIU around the country have memberships that are predominantly low-wage workers and workers of color.   The union worked  tirelessly for Obama in the presidential election and was responsible for registering and getting out large numbers of first time voters.

But as with ACORN, there is clearly another element to the right wing strategy: the knowledge that SEIU has its critics within the labor movement, and the expectation that those critics will either leave the union swinging in the breeze or will use the opportunity to air and escalate their own criticisms of its organization and leadership.

Working class and progressive activists who witnessed the outrageous assault on ACORN have to be prepared for the next wave.  We need to understand that objectively anything that emboldens the right and weakens organizations that serve working people and poor people is contrary to the interests of our class.  And as the right wing chorus against SEIU – or any other of our class allies – rises, we have to be prepared to show real solidarity and write, petition, picket and march to defend them.

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Connecticut’s most controversial legal cases . . . really?

I received a postcard today advertising the Connecticut Bar Association’s latest publication, “Controversial Court Cases in Connecticut, Part II.” The postcard reads, in dramatic, bold lettering:

Explore Six of the Most Notorious Cases to Rock the Connecticut Judicial System

The list of “controversies” seems to include, judging by the cases listed:

*chopping up your spouse in a woodchipper (presumably they regard this as ‘bad’)

*being a serial killer (ditto)

*being a rich, white guy and being able to fight for years and years to keep your ass out of jail by claiming without any evidence that they have the wrong guy

*being a poor, black guy and spending half of your life in jail before they figure out they have the wrong guy

*being railroaded into jail because you’re mentally challenged and can’t defend yourself

and, of course,

*wanting to be able to get married to your long-term partner who is of the same sex.

Controversial? Well, some of them, maybe. But c’mon . . . featuring “The Woodchipper Killer” (woooohhhh….scary….like a horror movie) alongside the case settling the question of the constitutionality of barring same sex marriage seems bizarre. Add to that the fact that the book’s cover graphic is supposed to look like blood is spilt all over it. What the hell does that have to do with same sex marriage?

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Were “imposters” responsible for provoking, escalating political violence in Iran?

Where is the discussion – in the mainstream media or even on the U.S. left – of the implications of the following story? If it is true that the Iranian police and the Basij volunteers in Tehran were infiltrated by provocateurs, it is logical to ask who is responsible. It also makes sense to ask who stands to benefit from escalating social strife in Iran . . . starting with those nations with long histories of disrupting civil society in Iran to promote their geopolitical strategies in the Middle East.

Police, Basij “imposters” arrested in Iran
Global Research, June 29, 2009
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=20090629&articleId=14166

Iranian police officials have reportedly arrested the armed imposters who posed as security forces during post-election violence in the country.

Iran’s Basij commander, Hossein Taeb, said Monday that the imposters had worn police and Basij uniforms to infiltrate the rallies and create havoc.

Taeb added that the recent anti-government riots have killed eight members of the Basij and wounded 300 others.

Iranian security officials –and in particularly the Basij volunteer forces– have been accused of killing and injuring protestors who took to the streets to protest the outcome of the June 12 election — which saw incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad win by a landslide.

“Basij forces are not authorized to carry weapons,” said Taeb, asserting that armed groups are the main culprit behind the killings.

Tehran Police Chief Azizallah Rajabzadeh has also insisted that his department had no role in the shoot-out that has become the focus of most media outlets in the West.

“Policemen are not authorized to use weapons against people,” said Rajabzadeh. “They are trained to only use anti-riot tools to keep the people out of harms way,” said Rajabzadeh.

Last week saw some of the worst violence since the election after some ‘terrorist elements’ infiltrated the rallies on Saturday, according to Iranian officials.

The insurgents set fire to a mosque, two gas stations and a military post in Western Tehran, leaving scores of people dead and wounded.

Supporters of the defeated candidates have staged a torrent of rallies, which have provoked unprecedented mayhem in the country over the past nine days.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi election campaign officials, however, have insisted that the defeated candidate’s supporters are not within the rioters.

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An editorial from Workers World on the Iranian elections

Iran: What fraud? Published Jun 17, 2009 4:27 PM The first thing to make clear about the Iranian election is that the U.S. and other imperialist states have no right to intervene. The media here are now filled with moralizing, even racist scolding of Iran over the election results. Who are they to act so hoity-toity? Remember George W. Bush’s open theft of the 2000 election in Florida? And then there are the self-righteous European imperialists. Only 43 percent of the people voted in the recent EU elections. Compared to that, Iran’s 82 percent vote makes it a vibrant capitalist democracy. The second thing is that absolutely no evidence has been dredged up of significant electoral fraud. Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s 62.6 percent total is completely consistent with his 2005 vote total of 61.7 percent. It is also consistent with the only election poll taken. Ken Ballen and Patrick Doherty polled a thousand Iranians and predicted a two-to-one win for Ahmadinejad. (Washington Post, June 15) Given that the Iranian economy is continuing to grow, despite the world capitalist contraction, it’s reasonable that a majority would vote for the incumbent. The vote breakdown by neighborhood, as provided by the official election authorities, is also consistent with political reality. Ahmadinejad lost in Teheran City, a bourgeois stronghold. He was weakest in the wealthier northern part of the capital. But he swept the rural areas and did well among the urban poor. All the Iranian candidates—and here we will discuss just the president and his nearest rival, Mir Hossein Mousavi—are part of the Islamic Republic’s ruling circle of politicians. It would be surprising if any deviated far from generally acceptable politics in Iran. That means capitalist economic development and projecting Iranian power in the region. And maintaining some independence from the imperialists—not easy if your economy is integrated with the world capitalist market. Ahmadinejad is closely identified with militant support for the mass-based resistance movements in Palestine and Lebanon, and also with the determined public defense of Iran’s nuclear power program. With a high vote for him, the Iranians thumb their noses at the imperialists. This also explains the strong hostility from the U.S. ruling class. In Iran, the reelected president is also considered a populist who will fight for economic concessions to Iran’s poor—which explains his strong popularity outside the middle-class and wealthy districts. Mousavi was first seen as a reformer who might relax cultural and social restrictions and give more leeway to organize for rights. He got some support from women’s organizations, labor and even some progressive circles. By the end of the campaign, however, Mousavi was obviously allied with the power broker and former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, whom Ahmadinejad defeated handily in the 2005 election. All reports—even from anti-Ahmadinejad sources here—describe the Mousavi-Rafsanjani followers as the wealthier, college-educated Iranians who dwell in the cities. Rafsanjani, who still holds a position of power in the regime, is identified with the wealthiest sector of Iranian society, with privatizing industries, with a more conciliatory approach to imperialism. Mousavi is now linked to him, and it’s their grouping that the imperialists either want to win or want to cause enough internal trouble to weaken the government. In the end, what the imperialists want is to reverse the Iranian revolution and get back control over its rich resources. But 2009 is not 1953, when the CIA overthrew Prime Minister Mossadegh and installed the Shah. The Iranian people have benefitted enormously from their revolution and cannot easily be turned back. Articles copyright 1995-2009 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011 Email: ww@workers.org Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php

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Dollars & Sense blog: BLS March Unemployment Data | Dollars & Sense

Dollars & Sense blog: BLS March Unemployment Data | Dollars & Sense

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What’s next? May Day

[An editorial from Workers World]

Published Apr 2, 2009 8:07 PM

People will gather on Wall Street April 3 and 4 to stage a focused political protest against the core center of the U.S. and worldwide capitalist system, now in its most severe crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The protesters are among those searching for a strategy to rescue the working class. The question in the minds of those who want to take the struggle further is: What’s next?

Barring dramatic changes, the answer is obvious: Organize for May Day!

May Day—International Workers’ Day—was first inspired in the 1880s by the actions of tens of thousands of mostly European immigrant workers fighting in Chicago and demanding the eight-hour day. The Communist International recognized the importance of the workers’ struggle in the United States—a rapidly developing capitalist country, continental in scope, and with none of Europe’s feudal past—and declared May 1 as the day for workers to demonstrate across the world.

May Day had been mostly ignored for decades here in the U.S. when in the spring of2006, immigrant workers and their supporters demonstrated by the millions in a wave of demonstrations across the country. Angered by the threat of the horribly repressive Sensenbrenner bill, they held the strongest May Day job action ever in the U.S., and have been marching on May Day ever since.

In 2006 these immigrants were mostly from Latin America, with a substantial minority from Asia, the Pacific Islands, Caribbean and Africa. It’s this new group of immigrant workers who have brought May Day back in the United States. Since then immigrants have faced Gestapo-like raids and deportations, along with a loss of jobs since the economic crisis hit. This repression is meant to keep the working class divided, when what is needed is unity.

Sympathy and compassion for immigrant workers are honest and legitimate feelings. But the solidarity immigrant workers deserve from the rest of the working class is not based only on these feelings. Workers born in the U.S. should recognize the great contribution that immigrant workers have made to the struggle of all workers. At this moment workers need all the forces and all the leadership that the immigrant workers can provide. Solidarity with immigrant workers can strengthen the combined struggle of all workers.

Trade union members, bring this message to your unions.

Community organizers, spread it to all the poor and oppressed.

Bring out all members of the working class on May Day to stand in solidarity with immigrant workers and ALL workers. Bring out all workers, students and your community to stand together against the assault by big capital against our jobs, our benefits, our homes.

It is not only the right thing to do.

It’s the only way we can win.

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G20 protests London, riot police deployed 1st April 2009 – Obama arrives in the UK

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Cancellation: April 1 meeting in Hartford with Larry Hales

The April 1 meeting with Larry Hales of the Bail Out the People Movement  has been cancelled.  It will be re-scheduled for another time.  Sorry for any inconvenience!

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