As regarding Sec.Powell's quote, watching the interview I could 
see he was regretting the terminology he was using, even as he 
said it. He hastily went on to try to clarify things with a 
straight face by saying "we need to shine a light on these areas 
and dry up their sources of income"..etc etc. I don't think he 
was talking about any specific parts of the world, it was just 
that his unfortunate choice of words had just too many obvious 
avenues of humour to venture down. In all seriousness he does 
however come across as a trustworthy and sincere person. As far 
as Mr.Rivera is concerned, I obviously wouldn't wish death on 
him either, but it is rather strange seeing him there. 

At the moment, it's just a case of 'watch this space' as 
regarding Iraq. I recall being approached back in 1984/5 by a 
Iraqi individual who was handing out leaflets and trying to 
bring the to the attention of passers by the human rights abuses 
in Iraq, even then. I think it's about time Saddam Hussein's 
regime was brought to a swift end, for a whole number of reasons 
not least of which are his alleged links to Al-Qaeda and is 
quest for weapons of mass destruction.

As far as the U.K. is concerned, in point of fact, there's no 
discernable unease here, any plots against the U.K. have not 
made front page news. Behind the scenes the intelligence 
services I'm sure are working flat out to uncover numerous 
individuals with links to Al-Qaeda. It's a concern that they 
seem to be more prevalent in the U.K., apart form the U.S., than 
any other country. 
 
I'll beat a hasty retreat on Too Serious, I quite obviously have 
not being paying enough attention!, that post made me laugh 
anyway.

 

Officials told NEWSWEEK the reports were startling. Walker 
acknowledged a lot more than fighting for the Taliban: according 
to administration sources, he also admitted to being a member of 
Al Qaeda and training at its camps, where he participated in 
terrorist exercises-including learning to use explosives and 
poisons-and met with visiting Qaeda officials, including Osama 
bin Laden. Walker also admitted having been instructed in how to 
act in airports so as not to attract police attention.  He was 
no innocent bystander,  said one official.  This wasn t like 
learning to be a soldier in Patton s Army. He was training to 
commit terrorist acts.  
===============================================================

Does anyone know how to say leathal injection in Arabic?

I will be seriously pissed off if he does not get life in prison 
without parole or the death penalty.  Like Walter said he will 
probably get his fifteen minutes of fame in the media.  They 
just need to shoot him and leave him in Afghanistan.

If you dont like our GOD then pack your bags get out of USAwe 
dont want you here anyway its a goverment thing why your here 
they feel sorry for you or something go home make your contry as 
great as ours then you wont need to bum from us or live tax free 
on us will we suffer the concequeces of your action it aint far 
and trully if it was up to me you all would have to leave this 
country.so saying it nicely GET THE FUCK OUT WE DONT WANT YOU 
HERE DONT NEED YOU (PS AMARICA THE WHITE MAN NEEDS TO WAKE THE 
FUCK UP BEFORE WE LOOSE IT ALL.


               NO MORE FORIENERS PLEASE KEEP THEM OUT
               TO MANY HERE NOW     GO HOME LEAVE US
               ALONE BUILD YOUR OWN COUNTRY BEFORE WE  
               REALLY GET PISSED 

We hope all you americns know we support all that is now 
happening in our world, bin laden suck eggs you div, your gonna 
die soon so come out and lets get it over with you no good 
coward, you killed thousands of inocent people now come out and 
face the music,,
god bless America, god bless the UK and all decent people in our 
world

You are ignorant.

Osama was last seen running down a path to Pakistan, wearing a 
Burka to hide his identity, with his Koran shouting; Curse you 
George Bush! Doomed to life in a burka Osama is now being 
considered for membership in a Hiram but until he shaves off his 
beard he will be only good for goat and sheep with occasional 
camel duty.

bradar azizam yahya jan salam taqdem ast omed darem darai sehat 
bashed ma hama ba fazel khdavand sar hal hastem va arzodarem eid 
khoshi ra separi kned ba omed dedar.G.haidar

See how easily I get frustrated.  I can't take it when people 
make fun of me.  When I am in school people make fun of me and I 
just get really upset about it and go and cry in the bathroom.  
I am really just a little pussy who can't handle the truth or 
someone else's opinion.  I try to act tough and smart online to 
make myself feel better.  I think that I am the only person in 
the world and only my opinion matters.  Maybe instead of 
insulting people right off the bat, I should try and carry on a 
rational conversation first before running my big mouth.  I 
think that is why I have no friends (well except for Zac, my 
imaginary friend).  I hope all of you are happy.  You made me 
cry.  Just go away!  I never want to talk to any of you ever 
again!!!

I swear the fucker is NOT in Afghanistan, does anyone truly 
think that this fuccker planned out the murder of our innocent 
people for years without planning HIS OWN SURVIVAL?  I still 
feel what I said before that he must have a DOUBLE or some other 
of his suicide FLUNKIE pretending it is him in Afghanistan.  The 
fucker is NOWHERE to be found and this proves my point.  I have 
a terrible feeling we may not find the fucker for years.  The 
Muslim community is GUILTY by their silence.  KICK ALL MUSLIMS 
OUT OF USA.  FUCK ALL YOU ISLAM COCKSUCKERS!  

Hi Ashraf, I have recently seen and heard a lot of information 
that makes me a lot more sympathetic of the Palestinians. I 
totally don't know why Ariel Sharon is in the lead of Israel 
and why they are sending the Army to do a job that special 
forces should be doing. All of the terrorist attacks on Israel 
have bothered me a lot, but the response to blow stuff up 
with no defined goal is equally upsetting. Right now, the fact 
that Arafat wants to talk while Sharon just wants to blow stuff 
up says something to me... Maybe Arafat is or was a 
terrorist, but I surely think that Sharon is also one. Perhaps 
the fact that the Israelis elected a war criminal made the 
terrorist groups target civilians? Still I think hurting innocent 
civilians is wrong. 

To all on this board...do we really know enough about Israel 
to defend them without question? 

Ashraf, I don't know if you still drop in to read the posts, but I 
just wanted to say hello again and wish the best to you and 
yours. Remember, not all Jews are bad people - just those 
with closed minds and loaded weapons. From what I have 
seen and heard, I would rather visit a Palestinian home than 
the home of an Israeli. Hezbollah and Hamas types should 
read about Martin Luther King Jr. and Ghandi. They could 
accomplish so much more by protesting peacefully rather 
than throwing rocks. If any protestors were killed by 
opposing military forces, history will give creedence to their 
cause and remove justification from the killers. 

God help the middle east!

And just to show how much they care about Christians and the 
American people,Israel has made special trips into Bethlehem and 
fired a number of rockets into that area.In the meantime,the are 
asking for 17 billion from the U.S.,and the sad part is that they 
do not ask for money or food.They Want WEAPONS.

A Darkness...........

It has come clear and a very bad thing I fear. 
For the fate of the Jews is the cloud I see near. 
For Jacobs pillow a fight to the death.
The Jews and Palestinians to their last breath.
God's judgment weighs over this land.
The future of mankind lies in the sand.
Turn from the want and desire to hate.
Your own life is in the balance of their fate.
This Christmas is for the message of Christ.
Not that painful day of his death, but in the meaning of his 
life.

. Merlyn /|\

How can we be secure and free?

Every time we turn around, the government is talking 
about "security," but all we see is economic and social 
insecurity. We can't find a job -- or if we can, we have to work 
three to keep our heads above water. Millions of us don't have 
health care. The schools are falling apart. Hunger and 
homelessness are on the rise. When our children look for a 
future, they don't see one. And the more we get on to the 
Internet, the more we watch CNN, the more we read about a world 
we perhaps never knew existed, the more we see that millions of 
people all over the world are in the same boat we are (and 
millions more are worse off than that).

The government claims that the new laws such as the USA PATRIOT 
Act, the use of military tribunals, and rewritten federal 
policies will protect the American people from terrorism, and, 
by implication, America will be safe and secure again.

Is this true?

For the ruling class, yes, of course it's true. The ruling class 
is not threatened by those they claim that they are pursuing in 
order to protect "the American people." As if the ruling class 
cared about the American people! The real threat to the ruling 
class is the growing millions of impoverished throughout the 
world and at home. Worsening poverty, political repression and 
powerlessness, and the destruction of all they hold dear is 
propelling these millions into action in defense of their lives.

The "war against terrorism" is a wedge with which to pry open 
the door to a world in which it is no longer possible to 
question our rulers, to disseminate a vision which does not 
affirm their view of the world, or to organize ourselves in our 
own interests. Our rulers are constructing an "alternate system 
of justice," as one journalist called it, the next step in 
controlling the inevitable upsurges that are bound to rise and 
spread as conditions deteriorate.

Military strategy says the optimum position is to pick the field 
of battle and to go for the enemy's weak point. The ruling class 
understands this well. This is the reason why they have shifted 
every minute of news to terrorism, why they have kept the 
American people in a state of simmering anxiety. All these moves 
are aimed at diverting attention from the very real dangers we 
face in these new laws, as well as to silence complaints about 
our deteriorating quality of life.

Their weak spot -- and our battleground -- is the growing 
inability of this ruling class to guarantee the wherewithal for 
the people to secure even the basic necessities of food, 
clothing, and shelter. It is a ruling class that has betrayed 
every tenet the American people hold dear -- the rights to life, 
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The only thing that can bring safety and security to our 
families is to guarantee that every family in this country and 
the rest of the world shares equally in what the world has to 
offer, that all who have been torn down by poverty are raised 
up, and all those who have been marginalized are made whole. 
This is the only path to a world free from violence, brutality 
and terror.

Humanity stands on the threshold of achieving all that it holds 
dear. The handful of violent, decadent brutes that make up the 
world's ruling class is the only thing that stands in our way. 
We must speak out against the true nature of these new, terrible 
laws. But we must strengthen our efforts by shifting the 
battleground to the fight for a world which is organized 
cooperatively, a world in which no one goes without.

Tonight I want to talk about unity. I also want to talk about 
class conflict and how ideas both reflect and influence that 
conflict. And I want to talk about the war against new ideas.

Everyone is talking about unity today. It is a central theme in 
our culture. I want to share with you a few relevant quotes 
about unity. First the words of conservative columnist Linda 
Chavez, who referring to the tragedy of September 11th wrote:

"The attacks remind us we re all in the same boat. What unites 
us as Americans is more important than any of the petty 
divisions of race or ethnic group, of class or profession, of 
religious or political affiliation. We are not black or white, 
Asian or Latino, Christian or Jew. We are Americans We ve been 
indoctrinated with the cult of multiculturalism ." "we must 
recommit ourselves to assimilating the millions of new comers."

Sounds like the Borg. "You will be assimilated. Resistance is 
futile."

Then there is Bill Moyers. Who to his credit, has for several 
years been raising the alarum that something is wrong with the 
soul of democracy in America. In his words:

"The soul of democracy--the essence of the word itself--is 
government of, by and for the people. And the soul of democracy 
has been dying, drowning in a rising tide of big money 
contributed by a narrow, unrepresentative elite that has 
betrayed the faith of citizens in self-government.

But what's happened since the September 11 attacks would seem to 
put the lie to my fears. Americans have rallied together in a 
way that I cannot remember since World War II. This catastrophe 
has reminded us of a basic truth at the heart of our democracy: 
No matter our wealth or status or faith, we are all equal before 
the law, in the voting booth and when death rains down from the 
sky."

I would question whether we are all equal before the law, or in 
the voting booth for that matter, but more importantly after 
that statement Moyers reminds us:

"The ideologues at Heritage earlier this year teamed up with 
deep-pocket bankers--many from Texas, with ties to the Bush 
White House--to stop America from cracking down on terrorist 
money havens. How about that for patriotism? .And these people 
wrap themselves in the flag and sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" 
with gusto."

But to me, the most enlightening statement about our new-found 
unity comes from a US Postal worker. She said: 

Rain, snow, sleet, or hail, they didn t say nothin  bout no 
Anthrax.
CNN did not name her, but in my opinion in those simple words 
she profoundly captured the state of America today. She also 
showed that part of her soul where the poet resides.

The death of postal workers is not a laughing matter, but the 
denial by the Federal Government of the unequal manner in which 
the institutions of power in Washington were treated whether 
there were signs of Antrax or not, compared to the way the 
Postal workers were ill-treated, is definitely laughable. 

The Postal workers have shown at minimum a degree of social 
consciousness in this very confrontational, not united, 
discourse over their well being. However, even the class nature 
of the government s policy is also revealed.

Are we united? 

Last year the average poor person's income dropped so far below 
the official poverty line, that it set an all-time record. 
Almost half a million more people filed for unemployment 
benefits in the first eight months of this year than in the same 
period last year. More than 440,000 jobs have been lost since 
Sept. 11. All of this following a record expansion. Seldom is 
the question asked: Expansion for whom?

Only 3.6% of national income went to the poorest one-fifth of 
households in 2000, tying 1967 for the lowest level on record. 
The share received by the middle three-fifths set a new low of 
47% while the share received by the top one-fifth set a new high 
of 50%. And according to the New York Times, the congressional 
tax-cut package would give $70 billion -- out of $100 billion -- 
in relief to businesses. The richest 1% of individual taxpayers 
would get 41% of the 2002 tax cuts in the House bill, about 
$27,000 each, according to Citizens for Tax Justice. The 60% 
with the lowest incomes would get 7 percent of the tax cuts, 
about $78 each. 

If that is unity, then give me the most chaotic disunity 
available. 

We are united in our horror at the atrocities of September 11th. 
And we are united in our concern for our future. But beyond 
that, what else are we united on?

There is more than one war going on right now. There is the war 
in Afghanistan. And there is a class war in America. Ultimately 
both are class wars. Accompanying these wars is a propaganda 
war. It is a statement on our times that CNN is actually using 
the term "propaganda war" independent of anti-communism   but 
only in the context of the battle of ideas between the Taliban 
and the Pentagon. There is, however, also a battle for the 
hearts and minds of workers around the world. Sometimes the 
language of this war is subtle and at other times it is wielded 
like a hammer. How can you have ideological unity when the 
reality is one of economic disunity? Of economic inequality? Of 
economic injustice? This propaganda war is more evident than I 
have seen it during my lifetime. It is pervasive and touches our 
every day lives. On the other hand, it is far more abstract and 
relatively removed than we are used to in this country. Issues 
that were not widely discussed before are now fair game.

Here are a few noteworthy examples of how the level of public 
discourse, and the range of ideas and idealogy, has expanded: 
First of all the scholarly book Taliban, written by Ahmed Rashid 
is on the New York Times bestseller list and is being sold at 
Costco. And while it probably would have sold only a couple of 
thousand copies prior to September 11, it has now sold more than 
half-a-million. Americans are discussing what is happening in 
the world. As much as the network news sucks, more people are 
tuning in to it. Maybe some of them will tire of the towing of 
the official line and the narrowness of the coverage and 
analysis, and start searching for alternative sources. I think 
this is good.


When former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, who is a 
Muslim, visited the ruins of the World Trade Center, a reporter 
asked how he felt about the suspects sharing his Islamic faith, 
Ali responded, "How do you feel about Hitler sharing yours?" 
Ouch! Muhammad Ali asked that question!


The Pentagon is hiring Hollywood to help it imagine terrorist 
scenarios. A commentator on CNN explained " If you are going to 
change the future you have to first imagine it." 
"If you are going to change the future you have to first imagine 
it." We all know that is true. But I could swear this is 
something I have heard Nelson Peery say at some point. So it 
seems that CNN commentators are now quoting revolutionaries. 

Of course it all comes down to what kind of future you envision. 
Earlier I said we are united in our concern for our future. That 
is true. But don t assume there is unity about what that future 
should look like. Your view of the future is rooted in your view 
of the present.

Did you hear what Ann Coulter, formerly of the National Review 
said after the attack:

"This is no time to be precious about locating the exact 
individuals directly involved in this particular terrorist 
attack. Those responsible include anyone anywhere in the world 
who smiled in response to the annihilation of patriots We should 
invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to 
Christianity." 

Do you think she wants the same future as you? 

There is a battle for the future. That is why Colin Powell 
distinguishes between the "civilized" and "uncivilized" world. 
That is why President Bush who claims to be against all 
terrorism, still has found it necessary to specifically condemn 
radical terrorism. If you are against all terrorism why qualify 
the word? Because this is not just a war against terror. It is 
part of a class war. This is a war just as much about meaning, 
as it is about property, oil, power, and retribution. What does 
terrorist mean? When it fit the interests of US Foreign Policy 
to underwrite terrorism in Afghanistan to oust the Soviets -- 
terror was acceptable. Not evil. Zbigniew Brezinski, the 
National Security Advisor under Carter, has recently said that 
ousting communism was worth arming "future" terrorists. Which is 
exactly what happened.

When State Department Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Michael 
Sheehan was asked to define terrorism he said;

In a war, if military forces are attacking each other, it's not 
terrorism. But if an armed terrorist organization attacks 
civilian targets, that's terrorism. Or its... a terrorist attack 
if you attack military people in barracks, such as Khobar 
bombings on the Marine barracks in 1982. Those are terrorist 
acts. Each case is taken on a case-by-case basis.


REPORTER: So, for example, if the United States were to drop-
what do you call them? cruise missiles on the people who where 
in barracks or in tents, as it may be, would that be terrorism? 
Could that be terrorism?


SHEEHAN: No. 
That exchange took place last year. There was actually laughter 
in the room at this response. That laughter was not included in 
the transcript of the briefing released by the State Department, 
but it could still be heard when the segment was played on C-
Span radio. Again, not a laughing matter, but laughable.

George Bush qualifies the type of terrorism he is against, 
because in the historical sense if it were not for terrorism, 
America would not be the power it is today. America might not 
even exist where it not for terrorism. Consider the irony that 
the US government is now preparing to combat potential small pox 
weaponry, when biological warfare in the form of small pox was 
waged against the Indians. As a result warriors in New England 
were reduced from 30,000 to 300 years before even the arrival at 
Plymouth Rock. The point is where there are class interests at 
stake there is an ideological battle. George Bush would never 
refer to the use of small pox against the Indians, a kind of 
ethnic cleansing, as terrorism. In fact I dare you to find 
reference to that part of our history in most history books. 

We are in a war over ideas and that is why on the one hand we 
are in an exciting period of new ideas being openly discussed 
and disseminated, while at the same time, we are experiencing a 
new wave of censorship and repression.

The type of terrorism is being qualified, because swiftly and 
silently terrorism has been redefined for domestic use. Thus we 
come to the USA Patriot Act, which stands for the Uniting and 
Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to 
Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. If you are not familiar 
with the new powers given the Attorney General, the FBI, and CIA 
in this Act, I urge you to read it soon. Following are some 
interpretations of major components of the Act. 

It permits the Attorney General to incarcerate or detain non-
citizens based on mere suspicion, and to deny re-admission to 
the U.S. of non-citizens (including lawful permanent residents) 
for engaging in speech protected by the First Amendment.


It expands the ability of the government to conduct secret 
searches, again in anti-terrorism investigations AND in routine 
criminal investigations unrelated to terrorism. This means that 
law enforcement authorities can enter and search an individual s 
home without presenting a warrant or in any way informing the 
subject of the search.


It gives the Attorney General and the Secretary of State the 
power to designate domestic groups as terrorist organizations 
and to block any non-citizen who belongs to them from entering 
the country.


It grants the FBI broad access to sensitive medical, financial, 
mental health, and educational records about individuals without 
having to show evidence of a crime and without a court order.


It puts the CIA and other intelligence agencies back in the 
business of spying on Americans by giving the Director of 
Central Intelligence the authority to identify priority targets 
for intelligence surveillance in the United States.


It allows searches of highly personal financial records without 
notice and without judicial review based on a very low standard 
that does not require probable cause of a crime or even 
relevancy to an ongoing terrorism investigation.


It allows student records to be searched based on a very low 
standard of relevancy to an investigation.


It creates a broad new definition of "domestic terrorism" that 
could target people who engage in acts of political protest and 
subject them to wiretapping and enhanced penalties. 
So where do you fit in the context of the USA Patriot Act? Are 
you a terrorist? What does all this mean to those who are 
battling for the poor. What might it mean to the President of 
the Postal Workers Union? One writer, using Martin Luther King 
as a political barometer, has written that King would have been 
subject to investigation under these rules. Although we already 
know he was wired taped. We can learn something about how 
dangerous a new idea can be from the way that the final years of 
King s life are addressed or not addressed by our cultural and 
media institutions, since it was during that period that King 
was waging a Poor Peoples Campaign.

First he was ostracized. He basically was condemned for his new 
ideas. Why? Well he began to look beyond color to class. In his 
Beyond Vietnam speech in 1967 he called America the "greatest 
purveyor of violence in the world today" and referred to 
the "capitalists of the West investing in Asia, Africa and South 
America, only to take huge profits out with no concern for the 
social betterment of the countries." But perhaps most damaging 
from the perspective of those members of the ruling class who 
had previously praised him, King starting talking about 
restructuring society. Literally saying that an "edifice that 
produces beggars needs restructuring." When he began to form 
what he called a "multiracial army of the poor" to descend upon 
Washington the Reader s Digest warned of an insurrection.

So first he was made into a pariah. Which effectively set the 
cultural, ideological, and propaganda environment in which he 
was assassinated.. That was the reaction to his ideas changing. 
The USA Patriot Act is not only about planes being flown into 
buildings. It is not about unity but polarity. It is about class 
conflict. It is about the threat of changing ideas. And on many 
levels ideas are changing in America.

One young person working on Wall St. when asked about his life 
post September 11th, said "My life was ruled by the stock 
market. I measured success by what college I would attend, and 
my starting salary. Now how do I feel? A fireman asked what I 
did and I did not want to say my job. Tax analyst " Nothing 
wrong with being a tax analyst, but that self-evaluation 
represents an opening for a shift in consciousness. And this 
applies across society. Such a shift, a reprioritization, is 
drastically needed in our society.

Consider this. 

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture 
Organization (FAO) nearly 36,000 children died from conditions 
of starvation on September 11th. There were no television 
programs about these children. No newspaper articles. No message 
from the president. No acts of solidarity. No message from the 
Pope. No Alert Level. And no military mobilization.

Where Americans spend their money is an indicator of what they 
think is important. The day before September 11th the Red Cross 
received $1,000 in donations . Within two weeks after Sept 11, 
it had raised $202 million. Within a month that had doubled. By 
November all donations associated with September 11 had reached 
at least 2 billion. According to the US Department of Health and 
Human Services more than 600,000 people go to bed homeless each 
night. I praise all the artists who have come forward and 
donated their talent to the victims of the attack on the World 
Trade Center Towers. Over $150 million was raised in one night. 
The social ills, the problems of the poor and destitute, are not 
irresolvable. We have the money, the vision, the know how, the 
technology, all of the resources necessary to resolve these 
problems. Clearly what is lacking is a government willing to 
mobilize those resources on behalf of the poor. And there is a 
profound lack of general will. In fact when people found out 
that not all of the nearly $500 million they donated to the Red 
Cross would be going to the victims of September 11, but would 
be distributed across the areas of concern addressed by the Red 
Cross, many wanted their money back. 

We are in more than one war. I have not quoted Martin Luther 
King much in my life. But we all have quoted "I have a dream." I 
think that quote should always be followed by King s other 
forgotten, under reported, not as catchy quote: "an edifice that 
produces beggars needs restructuring." We might need an artist 
to restructure that quote. But the meaning is profound.

I know I have not talked much specifically about art. But art 
take places within a culture. And if we are in a culture where 
it takes the tragic death of 6000 innocent Americans for our 
hearts to be moved -- then we are doomed. Our art must move 
American citizens to be as outraged by the slow, invisible, 
unreported, death of 36,000 children in one day, as they are by 
what one kindergarten child described to her teacher as 
the "birds are on fire" as she watched people jumping from the 
World Trade Center Towers. 

I listened to Charles Osgood on CBS talk about getting back to 
normal. He said "We want to go back to the world we remember." 
That will not happen. That world is gone. But even if we could I 
don t want to go back to that world. We have to envision a world 
better than the one that created the conditions that make such 
terror imaginable. 


Select Sources:


"Which America Will We Be Now?" Bill Moyers, The Nation, 
November, 19, 2001

"Martin Luther King: A Domestic Terrorist?" Ira Chernus, Common 
Dreams News Center, October 30, 2001

"Terror Law: A Win for Fear, a Loss for Freedom" The Nation, 
October 26, 2001

"Attack on the Bill of Rights" Marty Jezer, Common Dreams News 
Center, October 19, 2001 

"As Economy Tumbles, The Poor Will Suffer Most," Betsy Leondar-
Wright, San Jose Mercury News, October 19, 2001

"Americans Dig Deep to Aid Victims, Maureen O Donnell, Art 
Golab, Chicago Sun-Times, September 26, 2001

"This Is War" Ann Coulter, National Review, September 13, 2001

State Department Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Michael Sheehan, 
briefing on the 1999 Annual "Patterns of Global Terrorism" 
Report, May, 1 2000

Le Nouvel Observateur (France), Interview of Zbigniew 
Brzezinski, January 15-21, 1998

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 
http://www.aspe.hhs.gov/progsys/homeless/

"New class, New Consciousness," LRNA

"You Are Being Lied To   The Disinformation Guide to Media 
Distortion, Historical Whitewashes and Cultural Myths, Russ 
Kick, Editor, disinformation

A-Infos News Service

"We Are Americans" Linda Chavez, http://www.jewishworldreview.com

CNN

Politicizing the League

The overall purpose of the League is to ensure the development 
of the consciousness of the American people. To do this, we have 
to shape the League to the needs of the new epoch of history -- 
where the technological basis for organizing society on the 
basis of the distribution according to need is increasingly 
possible, where social revolution is throwing all of society 
into motion, and the emergence of a movement that is objectively 
and practically for communism.

We know that our first task is to build the League as a 
political organization capable of pulling together the 
revolutionaries and winning them to communism, not as an idea 
but as a practical resolution to the problems faced by society. 
We know that the League must become capable of influencing the 
political thinking of whomever and whatever section of America 
we are targeting -- the whole of society, the different elements 
of the dispossessed, etc. -- so they in turn will politically 
influence the political process along the line of march of the 
revolution.

The key question today is how do we build and stabilize the 
League on the broad basis that the new epoch demands while at 
the same time striving to strengthen the organization 
politically and theoretically. This report pulls together our 
discussions since the last Convention and makes use of some 
organizational writings to begin the discussion. Answering this 
and all the myriad questions clustered around it will take the 
contribution of the entire organization.


Being political

We often talk about "being political". Being political is having 
an outlook based in an understanding that politics is about 
power -- which class has it and what they do, have done and will 
do to hold on to it; what class is trying to get it and how it's 
going get it -- and aligning our individual, organizational and 
political conduct toward that reality.

We are not striving to "be political" in the abstract, but along 
a particular line of march. In the case of the Labor Party 
work, "being political" involves playing a role in building a 
class party in order to effect the political environment and to 
develop the combatants subjectively along the line of class 
perspective and class politics. In the case of propaganda "being 
political" means the production and broad dissemination of 
communist propaganda around the questions of the day with the 
aim of facilitating, on the one hand, the development of class 
identity and, on the other, planting the seeds of a vision of a 
society that could realistically replace the one we suffer under 
today.

Within both sides of this dialectic, however, it is impossible 
to be political along the lines we have identified unless we set 
up and maintain the means by which we are analyzing the various 
forces in motion and their effects on the class struggle from 
both an objective and subjective point of view. This includes 
drawing conclusions not only for the tasks of revolutionaries in 
the mass movement, but also for questions of organization and 
propaganda. We do this in order to determine specifically how to 
effect the environment in a broad way and along the lines we 
have laid out in our documents. It also allows us to continually 
assess and reassess that environment in order to make plans for 
the future.


Politicizing the League

Being political and politicizing the league are interconnected, 
but they are not the same. Politicizing the League means 
orienting the League toward the outlook of being political and 
on that basis, rallying the organization around an 
organizational vision and a sense of purpose.

We talk so much about vision it is easy to get confused here. 
For purposes of this paper, we are not discussing the vision of 
a cooperative society. We are instead discussing the vision of 
the League as an organization. These two "visions" are 
inescapably linked, but they are not the same. One describes a 
new society. The other describes what the organization needs to 
be and what it needs to do in order to play its role in bringing 
that new society about.

It is interesting to note that business leaders are grappling 
with similar problems, if not for the same reasons, as the 
League. They are seeking to organizationally decentralize to 
take advantage of the new technology while at the same time 
maintaining the necessary influence over the workforce so that 
it accomplishes the goals of the corporation or business. 
Various studies done by the military and books such as The Fifth 
Discipline agree that this necessary organizational 
decentralization will turn to organizational chaos without the 
cohesion of a common intellectual outlook and approach among 
those who make up the organization.

The descriptions of an organizational vision found in The Fifth 
Discipline are useful for us to consider:

"A vision is a 'articulation of a realistic, credible, 
attractive future for an organization. It is a mental model of a 
desirable or idealistic future for the organization that is 
better, more successful, and more desirable than the 
present. ... a vision transcends the day to day. It inspires 
people to commit voluntarily and completely to something that is 
truly worthwhile."

...A vision provides a purpose and inspires an organization to 
be much greater than the sum of its parts, it has the potential 
to generate unity of purpose and spirit."

Through a vision and a sense of purpose an organization can 
build the necessary moral and esprit des corps that allows 
individuals to commit their all to the organization and what it 
is trying to accomplish.

Vision, a sense of purpose, morale, esprit de corps are 
abstractions. They can only be instilled, internalized and 
expressed through concrete actions. This is most effectively 
achieved through plans/campaigns that have clear and specific 
goals, objectives and tasks. It is crucial that every individual 
in the organization understands his or her particular role in 
what the organization is trying to accomplish, that they believe 
in its validity and that they have a perception that it is 
attainable.

By carrying out these concrete actions along a certain line 
individuals gain confidence in the work of the organization, its 
purpose and their own place within it. It is on the basis of the 
interaction between concrete plans that are realistic and 
clearly articulated, on the one hand, and the actual 
implementation, evaluation and results of those plans, on the 
other, that an understanding of organizational vision, a sense 
of purpose, and esprit de corps can develop.

If we apply these insights coupled with our own organizational 
principles we can see that the League can most 
effectively 'politicize' within the context of overall concrete 
and coordinated plans that have the following elements:

Plans that are based on thorough and ongoing political 
assessments 
Plans that are constructed with the knowledge of the strengths 
and weaknesses of the different aspects of the organization 
(nationally and within areas) 
Plans that have clearly articulated goals, objectives and tasks 
that identify how each and every committee, area and member will 
be mobilize toward realistic and achievable goals. 
Plans that are evaluated and reported upon as the building 
blocks for future work. 
Plans that take the organization toward a clearly articulated 
vision of a "future destination". 
The elements below (there are undoubtedly otherscan assist in 
politicizing the membership and need to be integrated into an 
overall plan:

Political discussions that broaden the comrades' outlook of the 
world, allow them to analyze the environment in which they do 
their work and to draw political conclusions for the work of the 
organization. (This is related to but distinct from an 
educational program of schools, classes, study and discussion. 
Both are needed). 
Regular evaluation of plans, which focuses on aligning the work 
with our overall understanding (not simply who did what). 
Having open dialogue with others through the various mediums 
that exist both within and outside the League. 
"Politicizing the League" is not simply a matter of a campaign 
to agitate and inspire the membership around an abstraction, or 
establishing another education program (although these may be 
components of the whole), or is it an end in itself. Nor is it 
the work of one committee checking to make sure people 
are 'being political'. It must be embedded in the outlook and 
approach of the whole organization -- guided by a common plan 
and specific mission. All collectives should be involved 
in "politicizing the League" in the sense of conforming activity 
along agreed upon lines, with the express purpose of achieving 
the goals we have outlined.

The propaganda campaign and the short campaign around the energy 
crisis helped us accumulate some experience in this approach. In 
the case of the energy crisis, for example, individuals quickly 
informed themselves of the particulars, wrote materials, went on 
the radio, organized meetings etc. to raise the question of 
private property and a vision of a cooperative society. 
Evaluations of the campaigns have pointed to the need to use 
this approach more fully as model for future work.


Resources:

Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline, Doubleday, 1994

Col. P.J. McCabe, "A Few Good Visions: Time for Wartime 
Leadership" (War, Peace and Security WWW Server Advanced 
Military Studies Course) 
http://www.cfcsc.dnd.ca/irc/amsc/amsc1/026.html

Editorial: Police state is aimed at the poor 



America is in the grip of panic, fear and confusion. Such 
terrible times become the muddy waters in which treacherous 
political groups go fishing. Politics in America isn't so much 
the creation of situations as it is taking advantage of them. 
The panic and confusion of our time is a temporary window of 
opportunity for these groups to carry out an agenda that would 
be unacceptable in "normal" times. The agenda of the ruling 
class is simply how, in a changing world, to protect the 
interests of the 1 percent of the population that have an 
economic and political strangle hold on America. Their agenda 
never changes, but their tactics do. 

To understand what tactics they are utilizing, we must have some 
grasp of the basic situation they face. 

Before the tragedy of September 11, the country was already in a 
recession that threatens to become a depression. The economic 
forces represented by President Bush were demanding cuts in the 
social services in order to maintain the ready money (liquidity) 
to keep Wall Street going. Their political representatives, 
looking toward the next election, hesitated to openly attack 
what is left of the social safety net. They correctly feared not 
only a backlash at the polls, but widespread street 
demonstrations. They wanted to wait until the downturn slowed. 
They know there will be a slight economic recovery. People have 
to have food, shelter and clothing. They also know that such a 
slight recovery will not result in hiring back the millions of 
laid-off workers. It is more economical, and therefore 
necessary, to continue the shift to labor-replacing machinery. 
Therefore, the partial recovery will lay the basis for an even 
more severe downturn in the economy. The basic economic rule is 
that if the masses do not earn an expendable income, they cannot 
buy. If they cannot buy, the ruling class cannot get a profit. A 
partial economic recovery is not occurring, but the terrible 
national emergency provides them the same opportunity. 

The ruling class knows they can command the loyalty of the mass 
only so long as the elementary economic needs of the mass are 
attended to. If this is not done, then this mass will surely 
turn toward revolution. The time to stop it is before it 
happens. From this point of view, the national tragedy is an 
opportunity that the ruling class is moving rapidly to take 
advantage of. 

We do not underestimate the danger that this country faces. The 
slaughter of some 5,000 people, mainly workers, in New York is 
clear enough. The depth of the tragedy does not stop this group 
of fascists that controls the government from moving to take 
advantage of the situation. Their first point is to maintain the 
confusion and fear as intensely and as long as possible so they 
can pass laws against "terrorists" that actually are aimed at 
the growing and restless mass of poor. 

The worst case in point is the fascistic Senate Bill 1510, which 
Congress was preparing to pass as we go to press. This bill 
provides for the seizure of assets of any individual or 
organization that the government decides is somehow abetting 
money laundering or terrorist groups. No proof need be submitted 
so long as the government states that disclosing proof would 
jeopardize ongoing investigations. 

One of the most dangerous parts of this bill is 
the "retroactive" clause. This clause makes activities that were 
legal before the passage of the bill retroactively illegal. That 
means that if you participated in a legal rally to lift the 
embargo against Cuba, you could be retroactively charged with 
aiding a terrorist state. If you have protested the planned, 
methodical starvation of the Iraqi people you could be charged 
with abetting a terrorist state. The list is endless. Among the 
bill's most troubling provisions are measures that would give 
the government the authority to spy on its own people, give the 
attorney general unlimited authority to incarcerate non-
citizens, and allow the government to expand its use of secret 
searches. 

Following is an excerpt from a recent FBI memo concerning 
domestic terrorists in the United States: 

"Left-wing and Puerto Rican extremist groups -- The second 
category of domestic terrorists, left-wing groups, generally 
profess a revolutionary socialist doctrine and view themselves 
as protectors of the people against the 'dehumanizing effects' 
of capitalism and imperialism. They aim to bring about change in 
the United States through revolution rather than through the 
established political process. A few organized groups, such as 
the American Indian Movement (AIM), All-African Peoples 
Revolutionary Party (A-APRP) and Republic of New Afrika (RNA), 
although fractured, still exist. Terrorist groups seeking to 
secure full Puerto Rican independence from the United States 
through violent means represent one of the remaining active 
vestiges of left-wing terrorism." 

We must not be fooled by the super-patriotic rush to lash out 
against anything "linked to terrorism." We know that the only 
weapon the poor have is organization. The ruling class is moving 
to deny this weapon to us. Fascism always begins the assault 
against democracy with an attack against the democratic rights 
of those who people are most reluctant to defend. 

The German Nazi Party established a "guilt by association" law 
in order to consolidate their dictatorship. This idea was taken 
up by Senator Joe McCarthy's gang in their near-successful 
attack upon American democracy during the late 1940s through 
early 1950s. Crimes are committed by individuals, not by 
organizations, or national or religious groups. This is the 
cornerstone of our civil rights and it must be defended. 

LRNA will carry out its responsibilities in exposing this crude 
maneuver for what it is. 

Don't be fooled by war's goals 



As the year 2001 comes to a seemingly chaotic ending, it's 
important to summarize America from the point of view of what 
the American worker has faced/is facing before and after 
September 11 and how to address those issues in a conscious 
manner. 

First of all, let's be real. "A surge of layoffs" of Americans, 
according to the Wall Street Journal, was taking place long 
before the tragedies of September 11. Yes, they have intensified 
since, and the government has been cutting out (unbelievable as 
it sounds) any discussions about benefit support to the 
unemployed, especially around health insurance. As we've 
reported in past issues, more than 40 million Americans have no 
health insurance. This is just one of the many areas where it is 
the poor who bear the burden of the policies of the ruling 
class. 

The world the American worker is waking up to is an impoverished 
world. Currently, the American worker is being whooped up into 
hysteria around terrorism; he is being swayed in the direction 
of waging war against a deeply impoverished region of the world. 
We are not fooled. Oil and global domination for the ruling 
class were the goals of the Gulf War -- a war led by President 
Bush's father and then-General Colin Powell -- and these goals 
remain the same today. And it will be the poor in the United 
States who will pay the ultimate price. 

Conscious people are beginning to challenge the ruling class on 
its real intentions. Revolutionaries must win the war for the 
hearts and minds of the American people. This ruling class is 
telling the American worker how he must part with what liberties 
he has in order to move towards all -out war to "punish the 
terrorists." This tactic is aimed at disarming and dividing all 
poor people. The terrible conditions faced by the poor of the 
world and the new class of poor people in America are being put 
on the back burner. The real challenge today is the creation of 
an organization dedicated to bringing real peace and economic 
security for all. 

We believe that an organization of revolutionaries, capable of 
summarizing the political and economic situation from the point 
of view of the interests of the poor, is necessary. This is why 
the League of Revolutionaries for a New America (LRNA) was 
formed. LRNA, which publishes the People's Tribune/Tribuno del 
Pueblo, is dedicated to educating the people about the true 
nature of this system. This system called capitalism values only 
what it can exploit. Fundamental change in the way society 
produces its wealth is underway, which calls for fundamental 
change in how society is organized to distribute that wealth. A 
society built on cooperation, with the physical, environmental, 
cultural and spiritual well-being of its people put above the 
profits of a handful of billionaires, is what LRNA proposes. 

We have options in the face of fear. It's a long, hard struggle, 
but we see we have no choice other than to organize ourselves. 
We must not allow oil profits and global domination to be put 
before people's lives. The ruling class is committed to the 
maximization of profits even if it means the destruction of 
humanity; we want and are committed to a vision of a world of 
peace and cooperation. This vision is possible. 

This article originated in the People's Tribune (Online 
Edition), Vol. 26 No. 11 / November, 2001; P.O. Box 3524, 
Chicago, IL 60654, http://www.lrna.org. For free electronic 
subscription, email majordomo@gocatgo.com with a message of 
subscribe pt-dist
Feel free to reproduce unless marked as copyrighted; please 
include this message with reproductions of the article.

In memory of Millie Ankrum 



It has long been accepted that the revolutionary movement needs 
role models along with printed or spoken education. As young 
militants step forward, they naturally search for outstanding 
people to emulate. Millie Ankrum's life is such a role model. 
Millie was no ideologue. She deeply understood the need for 
fundamental change and organized her life to achieve it. 

Rare in history are individuals who, before their time, come to 
personify qualities of the new human being destined to be 
created by a new, more humane society. In spirit, in everlasting 
memory, Millie Ankrum is for us today such a special person. 

Born of no property, no wealth, Millie was rich in her capacity 
to love -- and we, in return, loved her so much. The devoted 
mother, the true friend, and -- most importantly-- the 
enlightened revolutionary anticipated in the life she led 
qualities of the new person we all must seek to emulate and 
fight for. 

In a world where the highest accomplishments of human 
intelligence are used to create the cruelest inhumanities, 
Millie's embracing honesty, sincerity, and humanness is our 
immediate and permanent thought of her. Her sweet smile and 
laughter-- but, then, her militant and deep anger at injustice 
and selfishness -- will never be forgotten. 

"I remember something that really struck me about Millie," noted 
a close comrade. "Besides her strength and staunchness as a 
black woman, she was a genuine internationalist. She was deeply 
appreciative of the value of human cultural achievements, no 
matter the color or ethnic flavor. I remember her overwhelming 
joy after having gone to a country music concert. She talked of 
how Dolly Parton's voice powerfully and beautifully filled the 
entire hall." 

In summing up the millions of years of human experience, Jackie 
Robinson once stated that "a life is not important except in the 
impact it has on other lives." Who would deny Millie's impact? 
There is no doubt that those of us who had the honor and 
privilege to walk with her, to talk with her, and to work with 
her have been bettered by her caring and courageous 
comradeship. "Every time I have thought of her, I feel 
strengthened in the revolutionary work that I do. Even now, her 
memory inspires me," said another of her longtime friends. 

Millie was among the best that the League of Revolutionaries for 
a New America has produced. Her roots were deep in the 
impoverished streets of South Central Los Angeles and Watts; she 
worked there and on Chicago's West Side and South Side. The many 
streets of America like those are also the roots of the new 
American revolution which will give rise to a New America free 
of poverty, want, and dehumanization. And this, in turn, will 
give rise to a new human being with all the truly 
internationalist, loving, and sincere qualities of Millie 
Ankrum. It would do our great cause and vision well for all of 
us to be guided each and every day by her forever-living memory 
and model. 

-- The League of Revolutionaries for a New America 


-----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------

Calm Persuader 



Some gesticulate wildly and swing their arms and raise their 
voices ... 

Millie spoke with a subdued passion ... 

Some are loathe to admit when they don't understand 

Millie struggled for clarity every day of her life. 

Some toot their own horn and trumpet their every act, self-
importantly. 

Millie looked to the task that lay ahead. 

And some complain at the slightest discomfort 

While Millie's muted endurance inspired, inspires. 

She was in the eye of a social hurricane, almost as a 
birthright, 

But she was unruffled by the winds that blew around her, holding 
steady. 

She was loved and followed; a persistent influence, dogged, 
patient, 

A calm persuader. 

But she was also a stick of dynamite with a long fuse that 
crackled, 

burning down with a razor hatred of the foe, and when she 
castigated injustice, 

all froze (but her smile shined so bright, eyes sparkling, a 
rolling laugh, 

so robust, she lifted spirits daily) 

(And, man, could she bake some cakes!) 

Missing you, Millie. Trying to find an explanation in the 
randomness of casualty, 

and not succeeding. 

But celebrating, nonetheless, that you were here, that you 
touched so many, 

that our kids played together, that we danced, that we argued, 

that we strategized and soared high and claimed the world as our 
own ... 

that we were all but children when our paths first crossed 

and we walked down a just road together for a very long time. 

-- poem by Tony Prince 


-----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------

An open letter to Millie's son 



Dear Carl: 

Michigan Welfare Rights offers our most sincere sympathies at 
this hour of family transition. If ever there was a Drum Major 
for justice, for peace and for equality, it was your mother. Who 
can forget those memorable fights and battles we fought side-by-
side where she demanded that the rights of the poor and 
disenfranchised be preserved and recognized as important by 
those who felt otherwise. This general, this champion of the 
oppressed has paid plenty of insurance into the "Book of Life" 
that has secured for her a place in our hearts forever, whether 
she be here or not. It is our own selfishness when our comrades 
are suffering that makes us pray that they linger with us, but 
champions know when they need to leave and lay down this fight. 
Rest, most dearest sister Mildred, thoroughbred and hero of ours 
and know that we will carry your heart on with us one more step, 
one more day, one more victory ... 

Maureen D. Taylor, Chairperson of the Michigan Welfare Rights 
Organization 


-----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------

This article originated in the People's Tribune (Online 
Edition), Vol. 26 No. 11 / November, 2001; P.O. Box 3524, 
Chicago, IL 60654, http://www.lrna.org. For free electronic 
subscription, email majordomo@gocatgo.com with a message of 
subscribe pt-dist
Feel free to reproduce unless marked as copyrighted; please 
include this message with reproductions of the article.

Okay Merlyn, now you're talking my worst fear.  Israel has 
overstepped themselves this time and I'm afraid their actions 
will cause the Arab nations to join with the Palestinians in an 
all out war...possibly with nukes ala Hussein.  World War III if 
we defend Israel.  

I don't think I can get deep enough in the woods if that happens.

Hope you all had a great weekend.  I am determined to treasure 
every moment...I'm worried there could be a limit on 'em.

Program of the dispossessed is key to victory of revolution

-----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------

The following is an excerpted version of a speech given by 
Nelson Peery at the LRNA Steering Committee meeting in August 
1997.

We should spend a little time talking about this question of the 
line of march because we have been using the term over and over 
again, and after a while in the revolutionary movement terms 
begin taking the place of concepts. But this phrase is so 
fundamental, we keep going back to it to try and understand what 
is meant.

The term "line of march" originated in the military. It looks at 
conceptually how do we get to our target, how strategically do 
we achieve what we are trying to achieve.

I want to make a distinction between what we mean by line of 
march in the military sense and what we mean by line of march in 
the political sense. When revolutionaries talk about line of 
march, we mean the general progression of revolutionary 
development and transformation, something that is entirely 
objective.

The term was first used in the political sense by Marx and 
Engels when they stated in The Manifesto: "The communists 
therefore, are on the one hand, practically, the most advanced 
and resolute section of the working class parties of every 
country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the 
other hand, theoretically, they have over the great mass of the 
proletariat the advantage of clearly understanding the line of 
march, the conditions and the ultimate general results of the 
proletarian movement."

We were thinking that perhaps it would be worthwhile if we 
grappled with something in history to illuminate this question 
of line of march, rather than just talking abstractly about it. 
It was suggested that we use the lessons of the Civil War and 
Reconstruction. We keep going back to this period in our history 
because it is still determining what kind of nation we are and 
how we relate to the rest of the world.

 

Lessons from history

The first thing we have to say when we talk about the general 
line of march is that politically, slavery disfigured the 
country. There was nothing that was united, nothing that was 
cohesive about the United States because of slavery. The working 
class wasn't cohesive, the bourgeoisie wasn't cohesive, nothing 
was cohesive as long as slavery existed. The revolutionaries - 
and there were Marxist revolutionaries at that time - could not 
even discuss the idea of how the American worker could achieve 
political supremacy. To talk about the worker, the free worker, 
achieving political supremacy in a country that had slavery is 
nonsense. The line of march was the destruction of slavery, the 
growth of an industrial proletariat, the politicization of that 
proletariat, the expansion of industry to its limits, 
irresolvable crisis and the seizure of power by the workers. The 
first task, then, was to do away with slavery.

Despite the fact that the Civil War was a war between two 
contradictory wings of the bourgeoisie, that is between the 
industrial bourgeoisie and the agrarian bourgeoisie, it was one 
of the truly great revolutions in history. When that war ended, 
it ended with the greatest expropriation of property the world 
had ever known, the greatest redistribution of wealth that had 
ever taken place up until that time. It expropriated $4 billion 
in slave property and returned it to the slaves themselves.

The general conditions of the working class and the 
possibilities they faced were decisively and materially changed 
by the Civil War. However, they weren't changed ideologically. 
The concept of races - superior and inferior races - was not 
destroyed with slavery. The second class citizenship of the 
Freedmen was accepted by the militant workers and it spelled the 
doom of the movement.

All kinds of social elements are drawn into the revolutionary 
process. One of the contradictions of revolution is that the 
most consistently revolutionary class is always the least 
prepared to carry out the revolutionary work. They are 
uneducated, they are disorganized, they are fighting one 
another. Therefore, it is almost impossible for elements of the 
revolutionary class to act to seize actual control of that 
revolution. Who seizes control of that revolution are groupings 
that are articulate, that have the ability to publish books, 
that can speak and write. This social element takes partial, 
compromised positions. They take partial positions because 
whereas they were opposed to the existing conditions, they only 
wanted partial resolutions to these existing conditions. They 
did not want to do away with the totality of the existing 
conditions. They wanted to reform these existing conditions 
within the revolution.

This period of our history proves that if the revolutionary mass 
does not take the program of the most oppressed and exploited 
section of society as the program of the revolution it cannot 
succeed. The only consistently revolutionary class in the 1865 
to 1872-73 period was comprised of the Freedman and those 
landless whites that happened to gravitate around them. This 
revolutionary class could not live without the breakup of the 
plantation system and the seizure of power of at least the 
workers and the petty bourgeoisie, (petty bourgeoisie being the 
tradesmen, small farmers and small producers). Despite the 
tremendous revolutionary history they had in Austria, and in 
Germany, and in France, to some degree in England, the workers 
in the United States never understood or they rejected the idea 
that they had to take the program of the Freedman as the program 
of the revolution.

Now let's look at the second lesson of this period. If the 
revolutionary classes do not reject the social ideology of the 
their enemy they cannot win.

I want to restate that the line of march is the dialectic of 
change in objective conditions and the subjective response of 
the masses and, conversely, how the results of the mass response 
immobilizes or frees up the objective conditions for further 
motion. There is no separation between the objective and the 
subjective process. One absolutely influences the other. The 
objective process is definitely impacted by what people do.

During the period the objective situation was moving rapidly 
towards a democratization of the country. It was stopped and 
once it stopped, the reaction took over. Despite the tremendous 
upheavals, the workers never gave up the social or political 
ideology of the capitalists and they never took the program of 
the Freedman as their program. The result was the concentration 
of the wealth in the hands of the few. The Robber Barons did not 
rise from nowhere. They arose from the inability of the mass of 
the American people to democratize this country and redistribute 
its wealth at the end of the Civil War. Here, we see how the 
objective process can be turned, terminated, or accelerated by 
the subjective.

 

Progression of the revolutionary process

It is said so often, but I think it is true and it should be 
said: L.A. was the "shot heard round the world." It notified the 
entire world that in America there is a large and growing group 
of people so alienated from a society based on private property 
that they could do $1 billion dollars of damage in the matter of 
27 hours - a billion dollars of damage and walk away laughing.

That is something new in the United States. The L.A. Rebellion 
signaled the beginning of a struggle between an increasingly 
alienated society on the one hand, and a political 
superstructure on the other that was attempting to stabilize 
itself with the only weapon it has, fascism. As the base of that 
superstructure, that is, the productive relations, 
disintegrates, the superstructure has a less and less stable 
foundation to stand upon. The base of American society is the 
sale and use of labor power. As Jeremy Rifkin points out in his 
book, The End of Work, of 126 million jobs in the United States, 
90 million of them are going to be automated in the next ten 
years. We are talking about the destruction of the base. We are 
not talking about someone losing a job. We are talking about the 
base of society, the base of the police department, the base of 
the army, the base of the court system, the base of the legal 
structure in the United States.

We are talking about the progression of the revolutionary 
process. We see that the rise of fascism today is not the same 
as it was in Germany or Spain. It is rather the struggle of the 
superstructure to stabilize itself as its base, the ground it 
stands upon, becomes narrower and more unstable. The more 
unstable the superstructure becomes the more it has to turn to 
violence in order to stabilize itself.

 

The next inevitable stage: crisis

It has been correctly pointed out that the line of march is, 
essentially, the quantitative stages of development of a 
revolution. The first stage comprises the objective changes, 
that is changes in the economy. The second stage is the 
spontaneous social response to that. The third stage is the 
superstructure responds to the mass uprising. The fourth stage 
is the further development of the objective process (the 
economic forces that are undercutting society) and then crisis. 
All of these stages are interlocked. You cannot categorize them 
and say there's this stage here and that stage there. You only 
say that in the sense of polarity we are, in the main, in this 
or that stage.

It is clear that the productive forces are finishing this stage 
of their expansion and development. The next inevitable stage is 
crisis. The question is, will the next social response again be 
spontaneous uprising or will it be guided by the first stage of 
political and social consciousness?

Uprisings and rioting that everybody says are so horrible, are 
the indispensable beginning of any revolution. Uprisings, 
whether in Watts or Chicago, are the way the mass responds to 
change when that mass does not have organization, does not have 
theory and does not have ideology. This first round is 
indispensable and welcome because it tells us something 
important is happening. The same thing will happen over and over 
and over again, however, unless the ideological, theoretical and 
political conditions of the masses change.

I can assure you that if the response is simply a spontaneous 
uprising, that is all the state will need to consolidate a clamp 
down on the American people making it extremely difficult for 
them to move.

So just to sum up: the conception of line of march is a very 
dialectical thing. History creates the objective conditions as 
does new machinery, conquest, and revolution. But the subjective 
response to the conditions depend entirely on the thinking of 
the people. If they do not respond correctly the cause is lost. 
The line of march is not mechanical or guaranteed in any sense 
of the word.

(c) 1997 by the League of Revolutionaries for a New America. 
Permission granted to reproduce, provided this message is 
included, the article is not changed, and no further 
restrictions are placed on its distribution.

There's only one solution: a cooperative society

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"Marx, lying in his grave, and at present almost universally 
scorned, has a slow smile creeping across his face as he sees 
the convulsions ahead." New Perspectives Quarterly, Fall, 1996

 

In Charles L. Mee's play, Lower Depths, you could hear a pin 
drop when Tertius, a homeless aristocrat from Boston, screams at 
his white, black, Jewish, Bulgarian, Asian and Puerto Rican 
comrades living in an abandoned factory in the rustbelt. "This 
is how it's going to be for everyone in ten years," he warns. In 
this powerful play based on Maxim Gorky's vision of the 
downtrodden leading a social revolution, the audience is 
forewarned that America is poised on the brink of a social 
explosion.

Mee is not the only social critic sounding the alarm. Jeremy 
Rifkin, author of The End of Work, says we are heading for a 
near workerless world and predicts that as a result of the 
robot, less than 2% of the global workforce will be in factories 
in twenty years. Today, less than 2.7% of the world's population 
is engaged in farming, down from 60% in 1850. And, the Japanese 
are working on a robotic melon picker that uses sensors, not 
people, to determine if a crop is ready to pick. Rifkin asks - 
What will become of the people left behind by the technological 
revolution?

As Rifkin proves, the world is an integrated and connected 
whole. The microchip has thrown a radically new quality into the 
global economy. As chips develop, they infiltrate new areas of 
production, increasing output and replacing the need for human 
labor in production. According to a recent United Nations 
report, 80% of people already live in extreme poverty, and 20% 
of those live on the equivalent of $1 a day. At the other end of 
the spectrum, 477 billionaires wallow in unprecedented wealth. 
Something will have to give.

As this society is destroyed by the robot, a new one must be 
born. But in whose interests will a new society be? Will it be a 
modern-day Rome where a small group of exploiters maintain their 
privileges while the exploited majority lives off their crumbs, 
if live at all? Or as Rifkin asks, will the 'end of work' signal 
the beginning of a great social transformation and a rebirth of 
the human spirit?

To answer these questions, we will examine some of the programs, 
schemes, and "wishes" for a more "humane" (and possibly worse) 
capitalism that some leading spokespersons on the left and the 
right are proposing. Our purpose is to make clear that today 
there are no reforms left within the capitalist system. There is 
no "third sector," no redistribution of wealth, no 
capitalist "restraints" no taxing of the rich that can solve the 
fundamental contradiction of capitalist society in the era of 
electronic production. This is expressed in the fact that, if 
people do not work, they cannot eat. Today, the only solution is 
for society to utilize the struggle for reform to take the next 
historical step. That is, to reorganize society cooperatively.

 

Solutions Proposed

It is no surprise that all kinds of conscious forces, from the 
left and the right, are talking about the impending economic 
collapse and putting forward non-partisan programs to forestall 
the inevitable social upheavals. Everyone realizes that the 
economic revolution is having a profound effect on social life, 
from the working-class blacks, first hit by electronics, to the 
formerly secure blue and white collar workers to the middle 
managers, and new books and theories about this are being 
written every day. Peter Drucker, the acclaimed author for 
business executives, warns in Forbes that few can imagine 
the "hatred, contempt and fury" millionaire-bosses have created 
among their middle management professionals. In an article 
published in the Atlantic Monthly entitled, "The Capitalist 
Threat", George Soros, one of the wealthiest billionaires in the 
world, alerts the capitalists to the dangers of the growing gap 
between wealth and poverty. He proposes 'some' sharing of the 
wealth. Republican William J. Bennett, in a speech to the 
National Press Club, warns that unbridled capitalism presents a 
serious problem for all human beings.

Writers like Rifkin, William Greider, author of One World, Ready 
or Not, William Julius Wilson, author of When Work Disappears, 
and Alvin Toffler, author of the well-known book, Future Shock, 
accurately portray the objective nature of the global economic 
crisis. However, much of their writings envision what they call 
a more "humane" or "democratic" capitalism in which the market 
economy is preserved (the system of private ownership of the 
means of production). Greider argues for "owner-workers" so that 
capital can be shared. He cites the paradox of "poverty amidst 
plenty", but argues that this can be reconciled without 
destroying the market system. Rifkin favors transferring a 
portion of the productivity gains from the market to a "third," 
non-profit sector. Wilson proposes a 21st century version of the 
WPA work program and a "partnership" between the private and 
public sector to create sub-minimum wage public service jobs 
that pay 10%-15% below the minimum wage. Toffler favors a 
society where majority rule is replaced by 'minority rule.'

The question is: If technology is eliminating human labor and 
small scale production, while producing more necessities than 
ever in history, why must people work? Why must people still 
engage in repetitive, demeaning or exploited work when human 
labor is no longer required for production of most commodities? 
Why must schemes be invented to create worker-owned businesses 
or new sectors of the economy? Or for people to work at sub-
minimum wage jobs, barely eking out an existence? Why must we 
look backward, seeking to save capitalism? Why not reorganize 
society so that the globe's incredible social wealth is 
distributed to people based on need, and, in doing so, end 
poverty once and for all?

Greider admits that today the world's capacity to produce food, 
for example, has far exceeded the "entire human population's 
need for nourishment." Yet, neither he, nor others, envision a 
world without private ownership of the means of production.

If Marx has a "slow smile creeping over his face," it is because 
he proved the 'secret' of the capitalist's profit and the 
eventual destruction of the system. Surplus value, the source of 
all profit, comes from unpaid labor. Capitalism's survival rests 
on the extraction of surplus value, or profit, on a constantly 
increasing scale. However, laborless production in the robot 
does not create surplus value, thus capital cannot create a 
profit. While it is true that speculative capitalists are raking 
in billions, labor replacing technology increasingly separates a 
new and growing propertyless class from wages and money and thus 
any means of survival. The workers can no longer sell their 
ability to work and the capitalists can no longer sell the 
product of the workers' labor. Objectively, these developments 
signify the end of the capitalist system. No amount of "sharing" 
of capitalist wealth, development of a non-profit or "third" 
sector of the economy or "reducing of the work week" can reverse 
this process.

 

A New Cooperative Society

In a historic sense, the electronic revolution can be compared 
to the discovery of fire. Fire was the foundation for separating 
humans from animals. Today, we can take that final step begun 
over a hundred thousand years ago and leave the dog-eat-dog 
world of exploitation, greed, national, sex and race hatred and 
be free to become truly human. Today, with the unprecedented 
level of productive capacity in electronics, we can only begin 
to imagine the potential of education, communications, pleasure, 
as well as the cultural and spiritual growth of every person on 
the globe. In a new society where the means of production are 
commonly owned, the whole notion of "work" could be redefined as 
one's contribution to society. This new world could not be won 
in the era of industrial society in which Marx wrote, but it can 
be won today. Can we settle for anything less?

If we agree that the "market" economy is obsolete, then the 
question becomes: how will we achieve this new world? And, 
specifically, who will lead us? Toffler, Greider and others bank 
on the world's elite as the leaders and creators of the new 
society. However, the electronic revolution is creating a social 
revolution and the engine of social change is the class 
struggle. Throughout history, as new tools developed, new 
classes arose. Today a new class of propertyless people, 
structurally forced away from production and a new class of 
speculator capitalists, is being formed. The new class of poor 
will move against the private property relations which prevent 
it from eating. Thus, this is the only class in modern society 
where "each for all and all for each" and "from each according 
to ability, to each according to need" makes economic sense. The 
ideals of a cooperative, communist society are no longer 
subjective. They are real, objective, economic and inevitable.

 

An Organization of Revolutionaries

Defending our future depends upon the leadership of an 
organization of visionaries capable of arousing and enthusing 
the masses of people to the goal of the communist reorganization 
of society, not as an ideology but as a practical reality. What 
the American people have lost has been lost forever. We have to 
grab the future, not the past. For this task, an organization of 
revolutionaries is needed that can pull the chain together and 
supply that one missing link. Literally millions of 
revolutionaries are trying to do this. They are exposing 
capitalism and educating people. Elisabet Sahtouris, for 
example, rejoices in "The Biology of Globalization," because the 
words "community" and communal values" are back in our 
vocabulary. The League of Revolutionaries for a New America 
needs to meet these forces and together build an organization of 
revolutionaries that can fulfill its historic task: education of 
the American people so they can gain the economic and political 
power to overturn this system and build a new world.

(c) 1997 by the League of Revolutionaries for a New America. 
Permission granted to reproduce, provided this message is 
included, the article is not changed, and no further 
restrictions are placed on its distribution.




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New times are demanding that revolutionaries take up new tasks

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Everything before us is changing -our institutions, culture, 
family structures and society itself. The League of 
Revolutionaries for a New America must change also to be in step 
with this process. When the League was founded, it was grounded 
among the practical fighters in certain sections of the 
survival, equality and trade union movements. As such, it 
gravitated towards the practical and tactical fight. However, 
the founding of the Labor Party has created the conditions to 
free up the League so that it can develop the theoretical and 
analytical side of the movement.

This situation demands that we discuss the concept of vanguard 
in its relationship to the line of march of the revolution in 
the United States. We do so to get a better understanding of our 
role as an organization of revolutionaries. Therefore, we will 
review the content of the revolutions in this century, look at 
the line of march of our revolution, and, draw conclusions and 
proposals for action.

 

The Line of March and Revolution

The countries that have experienced revolutions in the 20th 
Century have had one thing in common: they have been bourgeois-
democratic revolutions in content. This is true of Russia, 
China, Albania, Vietnam, Cuba, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. Many 
of these countries have also had an anti-imperialist and or anti-
colonial character. In Russia, with its small working class 
concentrated in the European part of Russia, the Bolsheviks were 
able to build a small disciplined party that based itself in the 
key section of the proletariat. Through the Soviets they were 
able to give direction to the larger social movement. They did 
this by concentrating on the vanguard of the proletariat ". . . 
in pre-revolutionary Russia, the metal workers were the vanguard 
of the Russian proletariat. Their conditions in society, their 
social organization in the factories, their militancy, and above 
all their class consciousness made them the vanguard" (O.W. 
Kuusinen, Fundamentals of Marxism Leninism, page 409).

The Bolshevik Party was a highly ideological and disciplined 
organization because it had to win the Russian masses to the 
ideas of socialism. At that time there were two possible paths 
forward to industrialization: one led by the working class and 
the other under the leadership of the capitalist class. The 
country was in the midst of breaking with the feudal fetters 
that restricted the development of capitalism. In other 
countries, the party took a political-military form combined 
with a united front strategy. Here again, the parties were 
highly ideological because they had to win over the other 
classes and sectors by convincing them that socialism was 
superior to the capitalist mode of production and in the 
interest of the people. Thus, industrialization would take place 
with the means of production owned in common, rather than in 
private.

 

Line of March in the United States

What is the content of our time? We live in a society moving 
from an economic base whose foundation was mechanics in 
industrial production to one based on electronics. This new 
economic situation is global. Where imperialism was the apex of 
the capitalist mode of production, globalization is capitalism 
in its descendency. With the new means of production based on 
electronics utilizing very little labor power, commodities are 
being produced with less value embodied in them, this includes 
the commodity of labor power. This is threatening the whole 
bedrock of the capitalist system of production which is based on 
profit being derived from the exploitation of labor power in the 
production process. Every new innovation in the new instruments 
of production lowers the value of the commodities produced. 
Thus, we are moving in the direction of a valueless society. We 
are in the beginning of the end of the capitalist system.

Socially, we are advancing towards a majority movement, similar 
to what Marx and Engels describe in The Communist 
Manifesto: "Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses, 
however, this distinctive feature: it has simplified the class 
antagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up 
into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly 
facing each other: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat" (Karl Marx and 
Frederick Engels, Communist Manifesto, page, 109).

In previous revolutions, the majority of the populations did not 
have a stake in the common ownership of the means of production, 
and the class or section that did, was its vanguard. In those 
revolutions, the working class was a minority of the population, 
which led the masses of the people, who were mainly peasants. In 
our revolution the proletarian majority has a stake in the 
common ownership of the means of production and will have the 
capacity to represent themselves. This class of proletarians 
will be a practical movement not an ideological movement, and 
therefore they will develop their tactics and strategy.

What are the features of this beginning stage of the 
revolutionary process? This situation is creating a society that 
is being polarized economically and socially. We are moving from 
social polarization to political polarization and entering a 
period of the development of class identity. With the founding 
of the Labor Party, the immediate class interests are being 
united under one umbrella that brings together the interests of 
our diverse class. The role of the Labor Party is to awaken the 
American people through their program of action and to form a 
proletarian army.

Contrary to the situation in Lenin's time, under today's 
conditions there is no need for the organization of 
revolutionaries to direct the immediate practical struggle. To 
do so, confuses the role of the conscious element whose purpose 
is propaganda, with the tactical side of the struggle. This the 
Labor Party can do. The role revolutionaries is to provide 
economic, philosophical and historical understanding to the 
practical fighters; to arm them with revolutionary theory, 
clarity, philosophical understanding, and the historical line of 
march. The organization of revolutionaries doesn't have to 
persuade the practical leaders about developing a society whose 
economic base isn't built yet. On the contrary, our role is to 
point out that capitalism is a fetter on the development of 
society. With the new means of production based on electronics, 
we only have to point out what is inevitable - a social 
revolution that brings the production relations in conformity 
with the forces of production. This means building a society 
where the distribution of goods is based on need.

What is the relationship of the organization of revolutionaries 
and the people's party in the concrete?

The people's party represents the practical fighters, many of 
whom know and will master revolutionary theory. On the other 
hand, the organization of revolutionaries are masters of 
revolutionary theory, with many of them also being practical 
fighters. Both organizations are moving in the same direction 
but have a different division of labor in the revolution. 
Neither one can exist without the other. The practical fighters 
need an institution that knows the science of revolution which 
can teach them theory so that they can develop the movement's 
strategy and tactics. The revolutionaries need the practical 
fighters so that they can put the theory to the test in the 
struggle.

The revolutionaries must build an infrastructure of study 
circles, schools, book clubs, educational societies, sponsor 
forums, radio shows, television, videos, cassette tapes, 
circulate the presses and speak on the leading issues of the 
day. In this way the revolutionaries show the workings of the 
system and why it is outmoded, and they instill in the people a 
sense of entitlement to the means of production.

As a starting point, we should set as a priority the training of 
propagandists who are in position of influencing others and who 
have an interest and calling in propaganda, especially young 
revolutionaries. The understanding of propaganda requires 
particular skills. It requires an understanding of revolutionary 
theory, philosophy, political economy in order to provide 
analysis.

Also, we must make our press and other propaganda accessible to 
the activists in the struggle. This will mean a concentration on 
circulation with a division of labor for subscriptions, bundle 
sales, marketing, and the organization of a distributive 
apparatus. The circulation of our press will tell us whether we 
are succeeding or not.

The content of the revolutionary process taking place today is 
much different than in revolutions preceding ours. The other 
revolutions were bourgeois democratic revolutions and had two 
revolutionary classes capable of leading them - the bourgeoisie 
and the proletariat. In our revolution there is only one 
revolutionary class and in a short time it will be the majority 
of society - the proletariat.

Secondly, the capitalist mode of production is coming to an end. 
It can no longer grow because of limited profits from the 
production process because of the displacement of workers by the 
new means of production based on electronics. This is giving 
rise to severe polarity and will cause class conflict and 
struggle.

The majority of the people will be in the struggle, therefore 
they need a people's party to represent their interests. The 
Labor Party is moving in this direction. It is composed of the 
practical fighters in the diverse struggles that are taking 
place. Its role is to build the proletarian army.

As the revolution moves to this new stage the League must build 
a vast infrastructure of study circles, book clubs, forums, 
educational societies and other propaganda networks. To 
accomplish this the League needs to concentrate on the 
development of propagandists who are in a position to do 
propaganda. And also we must make our press accessible by 
concentrating on circulation. These are the tasks facing 
revolutionaries today.

(c) 1997 by the League of Revolutionaries for a New America. 
Permission granted to reproduce, provided this message is 
included, the article is not changed, and no further 
restrictions are placed on its distribution.




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---------------

We have been in the 20-year war for over 20 years, Ayatollah 
komeni was the first to declare jihad against the United States. 
They have since grown a generation of Islamic hate. The world 
has been burning for 85 years or so, Gasoline, the dragon from 
below the earth.  We are so used to seeing it that we don't even 
know it is going on. It is now almost too late to do anything 
about it. 
  This became a world war on 9-11, make no mistake. We have been 
in recession and class separation for 15 years. The prophecy 
from the biblical era appeared apocalyptic, to us it's just 
another day, unnoticed, until 9-11.
  It has come time for the USA to do something great, or follow 
the written path. With this in mind and the known people in 
control of our fate, I ask these two simple questions;
          If not you and me, then who?
          If not now, when?
 
              Merlyn /|\

Yada Yada Yada...people who produce are evil Robber 
Baron's...People who sit at home watching Jerry Springer and 
collecting welfare are the poor downtrodden. Yada Yada Yada.  
Thank God I live in a country where I can work as hard as I want 
and make as much as I want and I can either give it away or keep 
it...my own decision.  Read Ayn Rand...before it's too late!

Dear Merlyn,
Please don't get me wrong.  I understand your concerns, but I 
find your message oblique.  What do you believe?  What do you 
suggest?

After reading your long posts, you have convinced me, communism
is the way to go. I mean look how well its worked out for the
poor in U.S.S.R, China, North Korea, Vietnam, & Cuba. Not a poor
person left in those countries, no sir! The wealth is spread out
equally and fairly there for sure and the top health care
systems in the world to boot!
 Now that was very nice of you to point out the percieved faults
of America, mainly quotes of people who found it "richly"
rewarding to do so, but I am still not totally convinced this
is the way to go. Whats that you say? Once the Communists come
into power, and I will be happier because I no longer have a
reason to work hard to achieve the things I want for my family.
No matter how hard a individual works, they can only achieve
what another person who does nothing achieves?
 Oh, and there will be no more Bureucarats in the new goverment,
no more power seekers to contend with. They would not dream of 
abusing power and amassing their own wealth under a socialist
goverment. And they would never dream of passing laws to keep
the now equal people subservant. I dont think any of this has
happened in any of the great communist experiments around the
world. Why is it, out of all the communist countrys, say in
1970, there are only a few left. This is the only thing that
concerns me. Im ready to jump on that huge bamdwagon sweeping
the country, ready to give up any personnal wealth I have to
help the poor in this country and abroad. The only problem is,
the League is going to loose quite a few men trying to
get my posessions. Say 2 or 3 men, now multiply that by a large
number (say 10 million, conservativly) and your going to need
a large army to bring all that sharing and caring to America!
 Of course the movement will have to be done covertly through
media manipulation and propaganda. Some of the very things your
pieced together book above was ripping. Also the manipulation
of the citizens through "study circles, book clubs, forums, 
educational societies and other propaganda networks." LOL!
 Stop, your scaring me! Thank our nations founders for the
2nd Amendment. Please enlighten all Americans further, Ben.  

Osama bin Laden(who is now known as simply"Maria")is hiding out 
at my place for awhile.
 Right now,"Maria"is doing dishes out in the kitchen,and God help 
her if she doesn't get them perfectly clean.After that,its time 
for more laundry,then off to bed because she has a busier day 
tomorrow.Sorry for not turning her in,but nobody was lookin for 
her very hard anyway.

Sex change in Pakistan, pre-arranged and of course, in the 
name of Allah (peace be upon the lost member). Works cheap right
now I bet, please keep the Taliban Burka rule in place for
all concerned. I hope you de-liced that thing before you let
it in the house! Im smellin Jerry Springer here, Terrorist
Transvestites invade America! Wait, mayby Geraldo already
beat Springer to that storyline by actually going to Afghanistan.

Its always good you get help that has a price on its head!Now,if 
I can only get my hands on Jessica Walker......life can get awful 
rough in the Midwest in the wintertime......

THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

Article. III.

Section. 3.

Clause 1: Treason against the United States, shall consist only 
in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, 
giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of 
Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same 
overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

Clause 2: The Congress shall have Power to declare the 
Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work 
Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the 
Person attainted.

=================================================================
Heeeeers Johnny!

I can not imagine how so much can be written and say so little.  
What is this garbage?  Take it elsewhere.

-->  "We should spend a little time talking about this question 
of the line of march because we have been using the term over 
and over again, and after a while in the revolutionary movement 
terms begin taking the place of concepts. But this phrase is so 
fundamental, we keep going back to it to try and understand what 
is meant.

The term "line of march" originated in the military. It looks at 
conceptually how do we get to our target, how strategically do 
we achieve what we are trying to achieve.

I want to make a distinction between what we mean by line of 
march in the military sense and what we mean by line of march in 
the political sense. When revolutionaries talk about line of 
march, we mean the general progression of revolutionary 
development and transformation, something that is entirely 
objective.

The term was first used in the political sense by Marx and 
Engels when they stated in The Manifesto: "The communists 
therefore, are on the one hand, practically, the most advanced 
and resolute section of the working class parties of every 
country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the 
other hand, theoretically, they have over the great mass of the 
proletariat the advantage of clearly understanding the line of 
march, the conditions and the ultimate general results of the 
proletarian movement."

BLAH-BLAH-BLAH...

John
E...

Reading your posts is similiar to listening to Charlie Brown's 
homeroom teacher in a Peanuts cartoon.  She also made much noise 
saying absolutely nothing.

John
E...

This site is about 9/11; WTC; daisy-cuttin' sand-niggers and 
America.  Please don't take up space with your socialist 
drivel.  There's a war on.  You're against the Muslim terrorists 
or you're with them.  Or as you socialist shits might 
understand : Which side are you on ?  Make a deal, eh ? I really 
don't mind you posting all your sympathies for poor lazy slobs.  
But can you keep 'em much. much shorter ? Deal ?

Amerikhu Akbar !!!

die john

for someone who dont think my posts amount to much you sure kant 
stop shooting off your big fukin mouth about them can you 
fuckhole?

John,
I know you've read some of Ayn Rand's works...did you read "We 
The Living"?  It's a birds-eye view of what it's like to become 
Communist, whether you want to or not.  *shudder*

Walter?  Could I borrow Maria to help me move?

om/cf,
The penalty for treason is death...I'm betting he won't be 
charged with treason for that reason.  You and I, and I think 
most of us, would accept a decision to try him for treason, and 
to sentence him to death...but, it's a political gamble for 
whoever makes the call.  

Well it is obvious that we all have opinions, I'll keep my pants 
up so mine doesn't show as best I can :o). As for the long post, 
don't have that kind of time and see the want to convince is 
what strikes me for the time invested. 
  Missin' Yes what & who leave us feeling a bit helpless, but 
the first echo can be what starts the avalanche. That is what 
Usama was hoping for. But I think the opposite tide is really 
what is due. An overwhelming want for peace pervades, not war or 
domination. No one snowflake thinks it started the avalanche but 
one has to be the first to move. At the risk of flaky thought:o)
  There is enough hate, but only pushed to the surface due to 
the human want for security and future for our children and 
ourselves. It is a pompous chest beating that is a normal 
reaction to fear. It takes years of research and practice to see 
through this coming end of the millennium. Few like me thought 
it would be important, back when we were very young. I did and 
now see why it is so needed. 
  The coming week will really be hard and will go down as such 
even if little happens. Many troubled and evil people will feel 
compelled to act out due to the times. Best we can do is blanket 
it all with calm understanding and swift justice. We must cast 
hate aside and think clearly. This takes a conscious effort and 
I suggest you do as your ability allows. If simply admitting 
anger and then casting it out feels right, do it. Then as these 
events occur you will make the right choices in this critical 
time.

      On the last day of the year, a full moon will look over us 
all. I will be there with you and all of the world, seeking 
peace. You are welcome to join in. If we all do it, it will be 
an event worthy of the cause. 
         From the circle of light and peace
                  Merlyn /|\

you guys are getting all mad at us but we didnt do anything 
wrong so the next time you want to diss us remember we havnt 
said or done anything wrong so
 SLEEPING GIANT
dont piss the rest of us canadians off   OH IF YOU DO I WILL 
PERSONALLY FLY DOWN THERE AND KICK UR AMERICAN ASS
ITALIAN GUY
dont you dare yell at thE RUSSIANS BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT 
RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING
JUST FOR THE RECORD  ANYONE WHO THINKS THAT ALL OR INISENT 
AFGANIES SHOULD DIE ILL FLY DOWN AND KICK YOUR ASS TOO!!!!

...and fails to enter even one single line of original thought 
(all text copied from elsewhere, completely failing to credit 
the originator)...

Take it elsewhere pea brain.

Your communistic ideals are are long gone along with your 
party...

John
E...

Hey Missin',   I read it many many years ago.  You have re-
sparked my interest to re-read her work.  I have a fair 
collection.  I was but a youngster first time around.  It was a 
die-hard liberal who originally introduced me with the hope I 
would see the error of my beliefs upon reading.  Boy was he 
wrong.  LOL

... with regard to Johnny Walker - The recent government 
releases speak of his actual involvement with al Qaeda, terror 
training, chemical uses, etc.  I think it unlikely they would 
release such info without plans to try him, followed by life 
imprisonmen, or potential execution.  The execution of an 
American homegrown international terrorist would send quite a 
wide signal of intolerence for terrorism far across the planet, 
and would greatly serve our interest.  Personnally, I believe he 
to be simply young, and (big time) dumb.  Somewhat like the 
unnamed poster above.  A cushy life sentence is the probable 
outcome.

...and with regard to bin Laden - I believe his location is 
known.  Or he is already dead.  In either case, for long haul 
public support for this action it is probably best we Americans 
have no definitive answer.  The lack of answer serves for 
greater continued needed support to complete the mission(s) 
ahead.

John
E...

fuck off bin laden you cock sucker

Something very disturbing, how did the leader of Taliban slip 
away, how did Osama and his right hand men slip away and in 
Philippine how did the Kinappers (Abu Sayyaf) and the Rebels 
(MNLF) slip away. All these people are surrounded and yet manage 
to escape. Hmmmm? How they manage to escape?

The people who are trying to catch them or destroy them better 
think twice on who they are working with to capture these 
terrorist. These terrorist live on if not destroy. They will 
come back when they are strong again.

As for the Palestinian and what the Isreal is doing story. Mr 
Arafat has been in his post for so many years. Has he manage to 
stop the militants, No. A Few days ago he made a speech about 
telling the Hamas and the Jihad group to stop their suicide 
bombing of innocence Isreal civilians. Let see whether this 
order has been taken seriously by the Hamas and Jihad group. 
There is no point of him making peace statement and the Hamas 
and Jihad group doing the opposite. Mr Arafat should also 
understand that how many Isreal's Prime Minister has he 
negotiate with, and how many peace agreement has he signed and 
how many time these agreement has bee broken. Which side broke 
the agreemnet first. It can be just a simple bomb that kill 1 or 
2 people and the other retaliate and escalate the violence. The 
one who broke the agreement is the guilty one.

The Isreal's leader have given up on signing an agreemnet with 
Mr Arafat if he could not control the other group, so the Isreal 
feel that it is better to negotiate with probably the leader of 
Hamas and Jihad and see what is their demand and if they (Isreal 
can agree on it) then there would be peace.

As I mention before, if the Isreal retaliate in similarity of 
what the Hamas and Jihad is doing by bombing civilian positions 
of Palestinian teritory,You cannot imagine how many palestinian 
would be killed. I pray that Sharon will not even think of doing 
such act.

Each time I watch the news I see Palestinian parading tenager 
and children killed by Isreal fire. The big question is how are 
these children killed? Are they the one I saw throwing stone  at 
Isreal soldiers with automatice weapon.

Please don't get me wrong. I am not against the Palestinian or 
for the Isreal it is just the fact that I find. If you do a poll 
with the Palestinian and Isreal, on who want peace. You would 
probably know the result. It is very sad to see the suffering of 
the Innocence Palestinian and Isreal civilian who really want 
peace.

How nice it would be if Islam, Jewism and Christainity would 
just sit down and discuss with an open heart, to search the God 
of Abraham(Ibrahim), Isaac(Isa), Jacob(Yacob), Joseph(Yusoff), 
Moses(Musa) and all the prophet in the Bible and Quran instead 
of disagreeing with each other through our human response. I 
don't think it is possible but can't we see the ancestral 
believe that the GOD that we worship and love (not fear) are the 
same.

Just Dreaming.

As the old saying, let make peace not war.

ps man utd rocks

what the hell is all your guys problems with all this nonsense 
of swearing, the canadian dude is right we have done nothing to 
hurt you, in fact we have helped you out so you should say thanx 
but then again half your heads are fucked up, except the canadian
CANADA ROCKS, KICKS ASS ESPECIALLY USA ASS

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
The only reason that you do not get attacked on a daily basis is 
because we protect your ass.  You would be nothing without us.  
Do you even have your own military or just a bunch of "mounties" 
in funny suits.  Take off, eh.

What the fuck are talking about?Do YOU know?

What the fuck are you talking about?Do you even have a clue?

Now we have the rag heads under control in Afghanistan. can we 
now turn to the other terrorists in the world like the IRA who 
still bomb England i.e. a few weeks ago some fucker just about 
failed to let a bomb in Birmingham city centre at 10.30 when all 
the peolple were making their way to the clubs and hundreds of 
people could have been hurt or KILLED. so would the USA stop 
giving them terrorist fucker money (those people who ask money 
for the cause in Irish pubs) and lets kick their asses Because if 
you (USA) can take out a country for one act of terrorism we must 
be able to hit them back one hundred fold for the pain they have 
caused us. 

From the people who helped you win your war, so now help us win 
ours 

I have all the respect in the world for England,but there does 
seem to be a problem with giving the Irish home rule(like has 
been promised to them many times).England keeps telling them they 
 must meet demands made by England before they can have home 
rule.These demands are met,then new demands are made.And on and 
on.
 We will be more than happy to help you,if you really need the 
help,but we will not be willing to fight battles for unkept 
promises.

afganistan is a small nation of terrosits who should shove it up 
and would be a phcopathic killer who would hang you with a thong 
and drink your bodily fluids and fuck your dead carcus

phcopathic> This pretty much explains and makes the whole post 
invalid.

this rock and Canada should shove it upthe usa ass before the us 
shoves it up afganistans fuck hole

Yes,and this explains my whole case against "Meds by Mail".

THE AFGANS WANT TO HAVE THEIR HEADS LOOKED AT WHILE THE US ARE 
AT IT TELL THEM TO SLAP BIN LADENS MAM. WE SHOULD TIE BIN LADEN 
TO A LAMP POST WITH HIS GENITALS AND GAG HIM WITH A SWEATY JOCK 
STRAP. THE BLOODY US ARE BUGGER ALL USE, DROPING BOMBS ON THERE 
OWN TROOPS AND RED CROSS CENTERS. WHAT A FUCKING BUNCH OF 
CRETTINS'. BUSH IS AS THICK AS SHIT. ANY AFGANS SHOULD BE SLUNG 
OUT OF ENGLAND, WE DON'T WANT SHITTY MOTHER FUCKERS IN THIS 
COUNTRY. BURN THEM ALL!!!     !!!DEATH TO ALLAH!!!
UP WITH ENGLAND
UP WITH AMERICA

AND FOR GOD SAKE, DROP A FUCKING BOMB ON AFGANISTAN

BNP rule don't dis

What the heck are the Canadian's yelling about, guys?  Did I 
miss some nasty post somewhere?

England, we have one slight problem.  You see, we live in a 
Capitalist Democracy, where people are allowed to earn as much 
money as they want and give it to whomever they want.  I 
understand that there are charities (questionable though they 
might be) who take donations from well-meaning Americans and 
give the money to the IRA.  I don't think you are correct in 
saying that our government gives anything to the IRA.  But, some 
Americans evidently DO support the IRA.  I think the only thing 
that we can do without infringing on our constitutional rights 
is to freeze the assets of organizations that fund terrorism.  
This is something that is being done now for the first time in 
history.  I do know that our government has provided support for 
England against the IRA, although not all the details as the 
information I received was borderline classified.  England has 
never asked us formally to intercede...perhaps she believes that 
she can take care of the problem herself?  And, perhaps we 
haven't interceded for the reasons Walter stated...that I don't 
know.  I can't imagine us ever bombing the IRA as we have the 
Taliban though, can you?

i think justice has got it right!   !!!well said!!!
what the fuck have canada done????????????????????
sod all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ARE YOU SAYING WE SHOULD BOMB THE FUCKING IRA????

Where do they come from?  I don't know people who think like 
BNP.  At least I hope I don't.  Hey BNP and those who believe 
as, - Do you know or communicate with anyone who's IQ is higher 
than a field mouse?

John
E...

Are these true representations of our populace?  Thank God the 
education bill is being signed today.  I'm sorry vouchers 
couldn't be part of it.  But who really believed they would be?

Walter, your humor is growing on me.

Just to clarify from what I know of British/Irish politics, 
because Northern Ireland still has at this point in time more 
protestants than Roman catholics within it's borders, going by 
normal democratic rules, the voting majority hold sway ie; the 
protestant Unionists. They in many ways are more patriotically 
British than the British themselves in that they proudly fly the 
British Union Flag. Their community carry the day politically 
just by weight of numbers, as far as the destiny of the province 
is concerned. (On a related point Americans by and large, from 
observation, unite behind the 'stars and stripes' banner more 
readily. I would assume it has a more unifying significance. You 
don't see many, if any, British Flags flying above people's 
houses here, the direct opposite applies in Unionist parts of 
N.I., they're everywhere, it's symbolism is not really as 
unifying as your nation's flag). Successive British Governments 
have probably wished in many ways, to hand the Province back to 
the Irish Government but the majority in that Province have 
always voted in majority against that happening. Hence the Irish 
Republican's objections to 'majority rule' which in normal 
circumstances applies in most other democracies without any 
problem. Hence the terrorism, the bombings, the beatings etc.

What seems to have come to the attention of the U.S. 
adminstration in particular, is the drug smuggling activities of 
I.R.A. operatives in South America, in return, they give their 
terrorist training to forces in those countries linked to drug 
supply/smuggling. Nice guys huh. Though Unionist terrorists are 
no better either, we'd sure appreciate it in the U.K. (along 
with 'England with love' of course) if the Real I.R.A. had 
access to much less if not zero money from whatever source, 
wherever it comes from, throughout the world. I think we in 
Britain could probably manage things from there.   



  

BIN LADEN IST EIN ISLAMISCH ARSCHLOCH. WIR MUSSTE BOMBE 
AFGHANASTAN!!!!

Do you smell Zyklon-B around here?

Radio...