Local vigils today marking 3000th GI death in Iraq

Unfortunately more American (and Iraqi) deaths are ringing in the New Year.  There will be protests January 1st in Raleigh and Chapel Hill.  Below is a message with details posted on the NC Peace and Justice Coalition's listserve.  May the anti-war movement have many successes this year, so that there is peace, or at least improvement, in Iraq and around the world by this time next winter. 

 

Fw: The US military death total in Iraq has reached 3000, according to www.icasualties.org

 

A Raleigh vigil will be held at the United Community Church, corner of Wade Avenue and Dixie

Trail, tomorrow, Monday, January 1, 2007, from 6 to 7 pm.

 

Please bring any old pairs of shoes you may have for the program. We need to be together and

gather strength to fight this illegal occupation and bring our troops home. If  you need to contact

me before the vigil my cell is [ ].

 

A total of 918 US troops died this year so far.

===============================================

Orange County: Let's gather at Peace and Justice Plaza, corner of East Franklin and Henderson

Streets, 5 to 6 PM, January 1, 2007.  Take a candle and/or signs. [ ]

Discussion of national self-determination, nationalism, and solidarity, January 13th

What are nations (as opposed to states, empires, and other social entities)?

Can nationalism be progressive?  How can people in imperialist or multinational countries
stand in solidarity with oppressed minorities and
national liberation movements?  Is internationalism
necessary for our own freedom?  Join the discussion,
Saturday, January 13th, at 4:30pm in the downstairs
conference room at the Chapel Hill Public Library.  A
short background reading is Lenin's 1920 Draft Theses on
the National and Colonial Questions (online at www.marx2mao.com/Lenin/DTNCQ20.html).  

Organized by the Triangle Socialist Forum, which is also
organizing an event on the Iraqi resistance in
February.  

 

I wrote summaries of the readings for the November and
December meetings, which I am including below.

Synopsis of Ch. 1, Class, Society, and the State, of
VI Lenin's The State and Revolution

Lenin wrote The State and Revolution in August 1917,
after the Russian Revolution was well underway and had
overthrown the Tsar.  At the time a bourgeois
democratic coalition Provisional Government was in
officially power, in favor of continuing Russia's
participation in World War I and forming some kind of
democratic republic.  At the same time a parallel
popular government of councils (soviets) existed and
eventually replaced the Provisional Government in the
October Revolution later that year. Lenin was writing
in part to oppose the view of Opportunists who glossed
over the need for a revolution to replace the
institutions of capitalist states, not just replace
the leadership of those states.  Chapters 2 and 3
discuss the lessons of the European Revolutions of
1848 and the Paris Commune in 1871, a short-lived
workers' government created at the end of the
Franco-Prussian War and brutally crushed by the
Versailles government, working with the German
occupiers.

1.  The State as the Product of the Irreconcilability
of Class Antagonisms

"the bourgeoisie and opportunists" "omit, obliterate
and distort the revolutionary side of [Marxism], its
revolutionary soul, and push to the foreground and
extol what it is, or seems, acceptable to the
bourgeoisie," thus the need for the book.

"The State is the product and the manifestation of the
irreconcilability of class antagonisms.  When, where,
and to what extent the State arises, depends directly
on when, where, and to what extent the class
antagonisms of a given society cannot be objectively
reconciled.  And, conversely, the existence of the
State proves that the class antagonisms are
irreconcilable." [Lenin paraphrasing Friedrich Engels]


The State does not reconcile the classes, but enforces
the domination of one class over the others.  "Its aim
is the creation of order which legalizes and
perpetuates this oppression by moderating the
collisions between the classes."

Lenin asserts that "lower middle-class democracy is
never able to understand" this fact.

"liberation of the oppressed class is impossible
without violent revolution, and without the
destruction of the machinery of State power, which has
been created by the governing class and in which this
'separation' [of the State from the society it
regulates] is embodied."

2.  The Special Bodies of Armed Men, Prisons, Etc.

According to Engels' The Origin of the Family, Private
Property, and the State, originally humans lived in
tribal societies, and "the State is distinguished,
first of all, by the grouping of the subjects of the
State according to territorial divisions."

"The second distinguishing feature is the
establishment of a public power which is no longer
identical with the population and which is organized
as an armed force."  This is required "because a
self-acting armed organization of the population has
become impossible with the break up of Society into
classes.

The "public power" generally becomes stronger and more
independent of society over time.

This was a 'theoretical' question for Engels, but a
very practical one for the Bolsheviks -  "the question
of the relations between 'special bodies of armed men'
[the State] and the 'self-acting armed organization of
the population' [the Soviets]"

3.  The State as the Instrument of Exploitation of the
Oppressed Class

As the State becomes more complex it requires taxation
and loans to support itself, and requires law, instead
of the ancient "free, voluntary respect" [Engels] for
moral authority.

"Since the State arose out of the need of keeping in
check the antagonisms of classes; since at that time
it arose as a result of the collisions of those
classes, it is, as a general rule, the State of the
most powerful and economically predominant class,
which by means of the State also becomes the
predominant class politically, thereby obtaining new
means for the oppression and exploitation of the
oppressed class" [Engels]

During times of "equilibrium" the State can appear as
"independent" and a "mediator,"  such as the
government of Napoleon Bonaparte (and Franklin
Roosevelt??).

Note Engels' words (with Lenin's brackets) on our form
of government:  "In a democratic Republic wealth uses
its power indirectly, but so much more effectively,
first, by means of direct bribery [as in America];
second, by means of an alliance between the Government
and the Stock Exchange [as in France and America]."

"Engels quite definitely views universal suffrage as a
means of capitalist domination," even though he saw it
as a valuable tool of the working class, which should
be defended.

The State did not exist at one time and soon it will
be an exhibit in the "museum of antiquities."

4.  The Withering Away of the State and Violent
Revolution

Lenin quotes a long and useful passage by Engels.
Part of it says "The firs act of the [revolutionary]
State, in which it really acts as the representative
of the whole Society, namely, the assumption of
control over the means of production on behalf of
Society, is also its last independent act as a State.
The interference of the authority of the State with
social relations will then become superfluous in one
field after another, and finally will cease of itself.
 The authority of the Government over persons will be
replaced by the administration of things and the
direction of the processes of production.  The State
will not be "abolished" [the Anarchist view]; it will
wither away."

Lenin:  "The capitalist State does not wither away,
according to Engels, but is destroyed by the
proletariat in the course of the revolution.  Only the
proletarian State or semi-State withers away after the
revolution."

Suppression of the "handful" of bourgeoisie by the
"millions of workers" (a reversal of the capitalist
order), the dictatorship of the proletariat, is "the
destruction of the State as such" and the
expropriation "of the means of production by Society."


After the revolution is over the State, "an absolutely
complete democracy" according to Lenin, withers away.
"Democracy is also a State and"…"consequently,
Democracy will also disappear when the State
disappears," it will wither away.  This does not mean
that democratic decisionmaking disappears, only that
the final democratic State will gradually wither away
after the socialist revolution.


Outline of Stalin's The Foundations of Leninism,
sections 7 – 9 (end)
(online at www.marx2mao.org)

The Foundations of Leninism is based on lectures by
J.V. Stalin at the USSR's Sverdlov University,
following Lenin's death earlier that year.  They were
published in the party paper, Pravda, April-May 1924.
To the Marxist school of thought that is pro-Stalin,
Foundations is a classic summary of Lenin's, and the
CPSU's, contributions to Marxist theory and practice.

Section 7 - Strategy and Tactics

1.  "Strategy and tactics as the science of leading
the class struggle of the proletariat"

Contrasting the strategy and tactics of Marxists
during the time of the Second International ("mainly a
period of the formation and training of the
proletarian political armies under conditions of more
or less peaceful development.") with the following,
revolutionary period ("when the question of
overthrowing the bourgeoisie became a question of
immediate practical action").  Stalin asserts that
"The strategy and tactics of Leninism constitute the
science of leading the revolutionary struggle of the
proletariat."

2.  "Strategy and stages of the revolution"

"Strategy is the determination of the direction of the
main blow of the proletariat at a given stage of the
revolution, the elaboration of a corresponding plan
for the disposition of the revolutionary forces (main
and secondary reserves), the fight to carry out this
plan throughout the given stage of revolution."
Stalin illustrates this by analyzing the tasks,
allies, and opponents of the working class in Russia
in three stages of the revolutionary struggle from
1903 to the period after 1917.

3.  "Tactics and the ebb and flow of the movement"

"Tactics are the determination of the line of conduct
of the proletariat in the comparatively short period
of the flow or ebb of the movement, the rise or
decline of the revolution, the fight to carry out this
line by replacing old forms of struggle by new ones,
old slogans by new ones, by combing these forms, etc."
 Stalin illustrates this speaking of the Bolsheviks'
experience.

4.  "Strategic leadership"

The allies of the proletariat in the Soviet
experience:  the closest are "the peasantry and in
general the intermediate strata of the population,"
workers in nearby countries, "the revolutionary
movement in the colonies and dependent countries," and
"the conquests and gains of the dictatorship of the
proletariat – part of which the proletariat may give
up temporarily, while retaining a superiority of
forces, in order to buy off a more powerful enemy and
gain a respite"

"Indirect" aids are the divisions in the classes
besides the proletariat and divisions among the
imperialist states.

The task of strategic leadership is to make proper use
of these reserves for the achievement of the main
object of the revolution at the given stage of its
development."

a.  "concentration of the main forces of the
revolution at the enemy's most vulnerable spot at the
decisive moment,…."when insurrection is knocking at
the door, and when bringing the reserves up to the
vanguard is the decisive condition of success."
Stalin quotes Lenin on further considerations on the
tactics of a revolutionary uprising to seize political
power.

b.  The "decisive blow" must be timed when conditions
are ripe.

c.  "Undeviating pursuit of the course adopted, no
matter what difficulties and complications are
encountered on the road to the goal" to prevent
"'losing one's bearings'" and setting back the
progress of the struggle.

5.  "Tactical leadership"

a.  "The task of tactical leadership is to master all
forms of struggle and organization of the proletariat
and to ensure that they are used properly so as to
achieve, with the given relations of forces, the
maximum results necessary for strategic success."

This means matching the tactics with the situation,
"to enable the vast masses to realize from their own
experience the inevitability of the overthrow of the
old regime" and "to realize from experience the
correctness of the revolutionary slogans."

b.  "To locate, at any given moment, the particular
link in the chain of processes which, if grasped, will
enable us to keep hold of the whole chain and to
prepare the conditions for achieving strategic
success."  What is needed to master our situation, and
what is the most pressing demand or issue at the
moment?

6.  "Reformism and revolutionism"

The difference between reformist and revolutionary
tactics, why reformist tactics uphold the system and
put off revolution, and the use of reforms after the
revolution.

Section 8.  "The Party"

During the time of the Second International,
parliamentary (electoral) tactics were primary and
"under these conditions the Party neither had nor
could have had that great and decisive importance
which it acquired afterwards, under conditions of open
revolutionary clashes."

Stalin asserts that the "new party, a militant party,
a revolutionary party," with boldness, experience, and
enough "flexibility" is a must to end imperialism and
put the working class in charge of society, instead of
the capitalists.  The new type of workers' party, the
Leninist model, has several features.

1.  "The party as the advanced detachment of the
working class"

Stalin argues against 'tailing' the working class and
events, and says that a party is the "General Staff of
the proletariat," and must be "closely bound up with
all the fibers of its being" with the working class.

2.  "The party as the organized detachment of the
working class"

Members of the party should belong to party groups and
the party is a "single system of these organizations,
their formal union into a single whole," with
democratic centralism, so the party can provide
"systematic and organized leadership of the
working-class struggle."

3.  "The party as the highest form of class
organization of the preoletariat"

The party should provide "the general line" and
leadership to the various organizations the working
class creates.  These groups should not be controlled
by the party, but "the members of the Party who belong
to these organizations and are doubtlessly influential
in them should do all they can to persuade these
non-Party organizations to draw nearer to the Party of
the proletariat in their work and voluntarily accept
its political leadership."

4.  "The party as an instrument of the dictatorship of
the proletariat"

The party is not "an end in itself" but "an instrument
in the hands of the proletariat for achieving the
dictatorship,…, and for consolidating and expanding
the dictatorship, when it has already been achieved."

Maintaining and expanding the hegemony of the working
class means providing a center and education for the
working class, which requires a party.

5.  "The party as the unity of will, unity
incompatible with the existence of factions"

Unity is necessary, but this unity is by "conscious
and voluntary submission," "after a conflict of
opinion has been closed, after criticism has been
exhausted and a decision has been arrived at," leading
to "solidarity and iron discipline."

6.  "The party becomes strong by purging itself of
opportunist [unprincipled or wavering] elements"

Stalin says that "The source of factionalism in the
Party is its opportunist elements," who must be
expelled so the party can be effective.

Section 9.  "Style in work"

"Leninism is a school of theory and practice which
trains a special type of Party and state worker,
creates a special Leninist style in work," which
Stalin calls a combination of "Russian revolutionary
sweep" with "American efficiency."

"Russian revolutionary sweep" is a progressive spirit,
but can lose touch with practical implementation and
become "fantastic scheme concocting."  "American
efficiency" is practical organization and efficiency,
but it needs the guidance of a revolutionary spirit,
or "vision," to stay on course.


What does all of this mean for Americans in December
2006, what of Leninism is relevant to the working
class struggle here and how do we put it into
practice?


Triangle Socialist Forum – December 9, 2006

Report from the meeting at Price's office in Durham + Price letter on impeachment

At the meeting with District Liason Tracy Lovett at Rep. Price's Durham office we had two people from the western Triangle and two from Durham.  I think we were all late, and I was last, I think at least partly because I publicized the wrong address for the NC Mutual Building.  I hope the small size was not because of the address error or full visitor parking spaces (another reason why I was late to the meeting).  Basically we were providing comments, since Price was not there.  We discussed the Democrats soon having subpoena power in Congress.  I asked what Price has done (besides the wiretapping letter to Bush), and will do, to implement the suggestions in the Al Gore speech he praised to us when we met with his January 30th in Chapel Hill.  We were not given an answer, but I said that I hope that Price will do more for investigation, and will not be afraid to consider impeachment or censure, if and when Congress 'reveals' the crimes and undercutting of democracy and our liberties by the Bush Administration. 

 

I presented 50 signatures to the DSM petition on paper, 86 from www.petitiononline.com/dsmnc/petition.html (of which I think about 50 are new), and 35 GRIm collected at the Hillsborough town meeting last July, on paper.  I've been circulating the petitions at stores, at a few meetings, and online, rather than more actively circulating it, and it is mostly a one person effort.  We will continue to collect signatures.     

 

Below is an email on impeachment I received from Price's office November 29th.  I don't remember sending an email though.  I think this is not enough, though it could be an improvement, and that the Democrats collectively didn't speak out and vote many times when they should have to oppose Bush's policies.    

 

Dear [southplumb]:

Thank you for contacting me regarding possible grounds for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

I share your concern about the policies of the Bush administration and understand calls for the House to initiate impeachment proceedings against the President and Vice President. I think it is very likely that, among other things, the President exaggerated intelligence findings to strengthen his case for war in Iraq, that he and/or members of his administration authorized the use of torture, and that he violated federal law by authorizing wiretaps on the communications of U.S. citizens without obtaining the approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. I have voiced my opposition to these policies as forcefully as I can, and have pushed for investigations into presidential abuses of power. Unfortunately, congressional oversight of the executive branch has been almost totally lacking over the last six years.

When the 110th Congress convenes next January, under new leadership, I am confident that the situation will fundamentally change. We will have aggressive and extensive committee oversight on the broad range of President Bush's policies, and investigations into the many allegations that he and the Vice-President have abused their authority.

As you may know, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who is expected to be elected Speaker of the House in the next Congress, has indicated that the House will not initiate impeachment proceedings against President Bush at this time. She also made very clear that the House will once again be in the business of holding the executive branch accountable for its actions and policies. Rep. John Conyers, the likely chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has similarly indicated his intention to intensely scrutinize Bush Administration policies and the actions of the President and Vice-President.

Thank you again for contacting me. Please continue to stay in touch on this and other issues of concern.

Sincerely,

DAVID PRICE

Member of Congress   

Meeting with Rep. Price's staff about impeachment, December 7th

There will be a meeting with David Price's Durham
stafd to present petitions and discuss impeachment
December 7th at 4pm at the Mutual Life Building (411
West Main St.).  There is visitor parking by the
office.  We should meet outside the office 10 minutes
early.  This meeting is to find out if Price's
position on holding Bush accountable has become more
active now that the Democrats will control Congress
and after further anti-democratic acts by the Bush
Administration. Updates will be posted at
downingstreetactionnc.blogspot.com.  Help
publicizing the meeting is appreciated.

The petition is online at
www.petitiononline.com/dsmnc/petition.html and on
paper at the Durham Food Co-op, The Peoples Channel
studio, and Internationalist Books.

A petition to the Durham City Council is
online at www.petitiononline.com/durimp and one for a

State resolution is at www.petitiononline.com/ncres.

Democrats.com called for impeachment committees to be
set up in all Congressional districts, and there are
now committees in all (?) of the districts in the
Triangle (link from www.impeachbushcheney.net).
Meetup.com impeachment groups are active in Durham

(next meeting November 29th) and Raleigh (soon to ask the

City Council to pass resolutions) and GRIM is planning

events in December and January.  There will be a demonstration

in DC January 27th and there will probably be charter buses from the Triangle.

Discussion: Building a revolutionary workers' party - the Bolshevik experience, Dec. 9th

The meeting on class, government, and current
government attacks on our rights went very well.  I had
hoped that more people would come, but five people
participated.  This might have been the
best discussion the group has had so far, covering
current news, such as the Military Commissions
Act and a local petition campaign, as well as the nature of
revolution, class dictatorship, etc.  We could
have discussed how State and Revolution and civil liberty struggles 

relate more deeply, and the election, but I think
we touched on most of the key issues.  We also watched
most of the Predatory Class War episode of Bill
Manson's Freeing the Mind (I think that is the title),
a program on The Peoples Channel in Chapel Hill.

 

The next meeting will be Saturday, December 9th, 4:30-6pm in

the downstairs conference room of the Chapel Hill Public Library. 

For the next reading I suggest the Strategy and
Tactics, The Party, and Style in Work sections of
Stalin's The Foundations of Leninism (online at
www.marx2mao.com/Stalin/FL24.html).  This should
expain some basics about how a revolutionary working
class party works, at least in the case of the Russian
Revolution.  Foundations of Leninism is a major work by Stalin, 

written in 1924, after Lenin's death, and
before the open struggle of various factions for
leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union began.

As I've said, I think Stalin was a revolutionary
Marxist.  We could discuss any critiques of Stalin at
the meeting also, or the text as a historic document,
though it is not only historical.  If you're skeptical and want to see

where I am coming from, you could look at the introduction to
Bruce Franklin's The Essential Stalin (which probably
also includes the reading, and is available online at

www.btinternet.com/~fountain/stalin/index.html), a basic overview

of the anti-revisionist view of Stalin (harikumar.brinkster.net/paper/march2003/myth&reality.html ),
the true origin of and reason behind the Stalin cult of
personality ( harikumar.brinkster.net/paper/march2003/cultindividual.html),
another article on the USSR under Stalin's leadership,
also discussing the level of democracy ( www.allianceML.com/PAPER/JULY2005/ALLIANCE.htm),
professor Grover Furr's page ( www.chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/politics.html#STALIN),
and there is a lot at www.plp.org, though with a quick
search I only found the reprint of a relatively well-known defense of Stalin by Ludo Martens.  

 

The March 2003 Alliance! issue should be available at the SURGE
Library in Carrboro, if you want to see a hardcopy,
and the summer 2005 issue is still available at
Internationalist Books.  

 

My plan for the first three meetings of 2007 is to discuss self-determination and

nationalism through the writings of Marx, Lenin, and Stalin in January, war, probably

by having speakers on the Iraq resistance and discussing how Americans should

relate to it, and finally, What is Socialism?, which I want to be interactive, but

I haven't thought of something specific for March yet. 

Bill is hosting a separate discussion, Fascism or Humanism?, in the Chapel Hill library

conference room, December 3rd at 1pm. We should discuss fascism at a future meeting.

Also, two weeks ago was the anniversary of the October
Socialist Revolution led by the Bolsheviks in 1917 (in
October by an old calendar, but in November by the
modern calendar).

March demanding UNC support Continental Tire workers, December 2nd

From a Student Action with Workers announcement:

 

* post far and wide *

HEY UNC DROP CONTINENTAL TIRE!

Rally for Workers Rights and Ethical Contracting at UNC!

WHAT: Rally for Workers Rights and Ethical Contracting at UNC.  The United Steelworkers and Student Action with Workers will be before the Tar Heels game against the Kentucky Wildcats to demand that UNC drop its endorsement deal with anti-worker Continental Tire. 

WHEN: Saturday, December 2, 11am

WHERE: Rally starts in the Pit, and we will be marching down to the Dean Center. 

WHY: As many of you know, UNC Tar Heels and the Kenan-Flager Business school has signed a 3 year $500,000 contract with Continental Tire, which is responsible for illegally cutting wages and benefits of Charlotte workers prior to shutting down the plant and is accused of targeting unionized facilities for plant shutdowns.

Here are some links for more info on the controversial deal:

http://studentorgs.unc.edu/bp/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=63

http://www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2006/09/15/StateNational/Continental.Tire.Workers.Irked.By.Deal-2279266.shtml?norewrite200610271620&sourcedomain=www.dailytarheel.com

See you there! (feel free to forward this to other listservs)

Smithfield walkout victorious, management to negotiate

I received this update from Justice@Smithfield:

 

Thank you all who called or wrote Smithfield in support of the workers in Tar Heel NC. Your solidarity was essential in winning this agreement.

This is only one step in a long stuggle to attain Justice@Smithfield. Please log in to our website and find out how you can help the workers at Tar Heel by not inviting the Smithfield products produced in Tar Heel to your Thanksgiving Celebration.

*Click in the link below to SIGN UP for the Smithfield Tar Heel Free Holiday Celebrations
http://smithfieldjustice.com/Holiday_Celebration/index.php

SMITHFIELD WORKERS WIN NEGOTIATED AGREEMENT WITH COMPANY ON UNNECESSARY FIRINGS

Workers at Tar Heel plant ignite widespread call for justice at world's largest pork plant

Tar Heel, North Carolina--After a two-day walk out by hundreds of workers, Smithfield Packing agreed to workers demands to halt the wholesale firings of employees and agreed to reconsider their implementation of immigration policies in the plant. The company, for the first time, also agreed to meet with a group of workers elected by the workers themselves to further negotiate about plant issues and employee concerns on Tuesday.

The catalyst for the protest was a disagreement between the workers and the company about Smithfield's improper use of social security data to wrongfully terminate employees. Social security data is no determinant of work authorization or immigration status. In other Smithfield operations where workers are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), contract language provides for a systematic and constructive process for workers and the employer to resolve issues such as immigration and work status. Workers at the Smithfield Tar Heel plant have been struggling for the protection of a union contract for over a decade.

The walk-out generated thousands of calls to the company from national religious, civil rights and immigrant rights organizations demanding that the workers? rights be respected. Organizations included the National Baptist Convention, the Progressive Baptist Convention, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the North Carolina NAACP, National Council of Churches and Rainbow Push. Eric Schlosser, whose new movie Fast Food Nation opens this weekend, issued a public statement condemning the company for its victimization of the workers.

Following the walk out, the company agreed to negotiate around the workers? issues through the Catholic Church and its attorneys. The company acknowledged that they had misinterpreted the law and agreed to make appropriate adjustments to comply.

"We're glad the company did the right thing and recognized that they were mistaken in the way that they were applying these policies. The fact that they sat down and negotiated over the workers' concerns is an example of the kind of process that benefits everyone, the company, community and employees allowing all to resolve differences. This is a historic break from Smithfield Packing's long history of confrontation and intimidation of their workers in Tar Heel and we hope this will continue" says Gene Bruskin, UFCW Director of the Smithfield Justice campaign, a coalition of labor, immigrant rights, civil rights, faith and student groups.

Specifically, the workers and the company have already agreed to the following:

• Smithfield has agreed to increase the time allowed for employees to respond to "no match" letters from the Social Security Administration.
• Employees who have been laid off for failure to resolve Social Security issues may return to work while they sort out these issues.
• Smithfield's Human Resources Department will designate a staff member to help process "no match" Social Security issues and respond to questions.
• Smithfield has agreed that if mistakes have been made, they will be addressed.
• No disciplinary actions of any kind will be taken against those employees who participated in the walkout.
• Tar Heel plant manager Larry Johnson will meet again with a group of Smithfield employees on Tuesday, November 21 at 2:00 pm.

Employees will return to work on Saturday, November 18th.

The UFCW represents 1.3 million workers, including 250,000 in the meat packing and food processing industries.

*Click in the link below to SIGN UP for the Smithfield Tar Heel Free Holiday Celebrations
http://smithfieldjustice.com/Holiday_Celebration/index.php

Sincerely,

JUSTICE AT SMITHFIELD TEAM

New mission statement for Durham Spark

I just changed the heading for Durham Spark. I wanted to say a little more, such as not using an abbreviation of Marxist-Leninist, but unfortunately Blogger only allows 500 character headings. It has been over a year since I created this blog and it is now established and my postings are somewhat regular. I might even have some readers (!), since there are occasionally comments other than spam advertising. I need to do more local publicity, now that I have a year of content, but I also hope to have more original news content, analytical commentary, and regular features in 2007. To anyone who reads my blog (including honest opponents), thank you for your support.

The old heading is:

I intend for this to be a personal political blog looking at news and issues, mainly on a local and state level, but including national and global events, with a progressive, revolutionary perspective from the Triangle region of North Carolina. Marxist-Leninist politics are not well-represented in the many progressive movements here. I want to help reaffirm our perspective and show its usefulness through this blog and other media.

Meeting at Price's Durham office in December on impeachment

I'm scheduling a petition delivery meeting with Tracy
Lovett at Rep. Price's Durham office (411 W. Chapel
Hill St, the Mutual Life Building).  Thursday,
December 7th or 14th, at 4 or 5pm is available.  I
think December 7th would be good, since the After
Downing Street Coalition is calling for impeachment
events for Human Rights Day, on the 10th, and I assume
if we meet at 4pm we could talk longer than at 5pm, if
there is more to say.  What do you all think?  

 

There are more signatures on the first petition (online version at

www.petitiononline.com/dsmnc/petition.html) and there is a similar petition 

from over the summer to present.  The situation in Congress has of course

also changed since the last time we met with Price's staff (in Chapel Hill) and

Bush has pushed further against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights

(for example, with the Military Commissions Act, which can be used against

citizens).  As I said, I don't expect a lot from Price on

truly holding Bush accountable, but maybe something has changed, and it is

necessary to show what we think, even if it is not yet enough to move Price to act. 

500 workers strike at Smithfield Foods plant in Tar Heel, NC

Workers are striking at the largest pork processing plant in the world, a plant where Smithfield Foods has used brutal and illegal tactics for years to keep workers from voting to unionize with the United Food and Commerical Workers union.  I wrote three articles that provide more background on the unionization struggle and the monopoly capitalist nature of Smithfield Foods (and most agribusiness), published in the spring 2006 and spring 2004 issues of Alliance!, available online at www.allianceml.com/indexpages/whatisnew.htm.   

 

From an email I received:

 

If you or folks you know are interested in documenting this historic shut
down of the world's largest pork producing plant which just started an hour
ago, get on down to Tarheel, NC!

News Conference:  TODAY [November 16th] 3:30PM

Smithfield Packing

15855 North Carolina Highway 87 West, Tar Heel, North Carolina

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL: 

 

GENE BRUSKIN  202 297 0198

ELIZABETH MANLEY  919 491 2262
********************************************************************************
NC Peace & Justice ALERT 11/16/2006
Workers Walk Out at Smithfield Foods Plant in Tarheel, NC
Join "Justice at Smithfield" Campaign: Dec. 2 Events Across NC
********************************************************************************

Reports have just come in that 500 immigrant workers have walked out of the
Smithfield Foods plant, the world's largest pork processing plant, in
Tarheel, NC, today in protest of massive firings that have taken place in
the last few days. The company has been using Social Security "no match"
letters as a reason to fire a growing number of workers, some of whom have
work permits but problems with their SS numbers.

We urge people across the state to demonstrate solidarity with the
courageous Smithfield workers.  First, educate yourself about their
struggle.  Come join them on the picket lines if you can, or call their
offices to express your concerns. Now is the time to plan to join the
Justice at Smithfield campaign on DECEMBER 2, 2006.  Supporters will gather
at ten Harris Teeter grocery stores in different cities to demand that
Harris Teeter stop carrying Smithfield pork products that are packaged with
the abuse of NC workers at the world's largest pork plant in Tar Heel, NC.
Read below for background info and next steps.

Smithfield Packing Co Inc
15855 Nc Highway 87 W, Tar Heel, NC (910) 862-7675 or (910) 872-0032

A History of the Struggle in Tar Heel, NC
http://www.ufcw.org/working_america/case_against_smithfield/case_against_smthfld.cfm

When Smithfield Foods opened its million square foot facility in Tar Heel,
N.C., in 1992, it became the largest pork processing plant in the world.
Today the plant employs over 5,000 workers and slaughters up to 34,000 hogs
a day. Wages currently start at $8.10 per hour. Workers are not eligible for
health insurance for at least 6 months, and then only at a high cost. The
work is dangerous and fast. Workers face intimidation from both management
and the company's private police force when they attempt to band together to
defend their rights on the job.

While unionized in most locations outside of North Carolina, in this
southern state Smithfield has fought vigorously to prevent its employees
from forming a union. Elections to unionize the plant were held in 1994 and
in 1997; although the elections were initially lost, the results were
overturned in a landmark decision by a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
judge, who charged Smithfield with multiple violations of federal labor law,
violations that destroyed the conditions for a free and fair election.

In December 2004, the NLRB upheld the order for a new union election at the
plant and the findings that the company has engaged in unfair labor
practices against employees. But Smithfield continues to deny justice as it
drags out the appeals process through the courts.

Smithfield is About Pigs
http://www.coopamerica.org/programs/rs/profile.cfm?id=289

When consumers think Smithfield, they should think pigs, because that's what
the company is about. Smithfield pumps pork products onto the market at
volumes that weigh heavily on people and the environment. Massive hog farms
mean tons of waste and Smithfield has been fined as much as $12.6 million
for violating Clean Water Act provisions by improperly dumping waste in
waterways. On the human side of operations, meat packers endure poor working
conditions and poorer treatment than employees in most other industries.
Companies such as Smithfield require workers to perform strenuous tasks in
low temperatures, causing bodily harm that often goes undiagnosed or
untreated. Like most other corporations, Smithfield has a stated commitment
to the environment and its employees, but the company's actions hardly
reflect these admirable principles.
Unionization

A diverse coalition of groups including DC Jobs with Justice, Campaign for
Labor Rights, and United Food and Commercial Workers, highlighted the
dangerous working conditions in the world's largest pork processing facility
in Tar Heel, North Carolina. Working conditions have not improved since the
2002 lawsuit that found the company guilty of violating human rights in Tar
Heel, NC.

In June 2002 a supervisor for Smithfield Food admitted before a Senate
Committee that in 1997 she fired Smithfield employees who were trying to
organize a union. In her testimony before the Senate Health, Education,
Labor & Pensions Committee Sherri Buffkin told the panel, "Smithfield Foods
ordered me to fire employees who supported the union, telling me it was
either my job or theirs." Buffkin also claimed that the company promoted
racial tension to separate workers, testifying that, "Smithfield keeps Black
and Latino employees virtually separated in the plant with the Black workers
on the kill floor and the Latinos in the cut and conversion departments. The
word was that black workers were going to be replaced with Latino workers
because blacks were more favorable toward unions." The Employees were
awarded $755,000 in punitive damages in March 2002.

-- PR Newswire, 07/21/2002


Smithfield Foods
200 Commerce St.
Smithfield, VA 23430 USA
Phone: 757-365-3000
Web: www.smithfieldfoods.com

Brands: Armour, Butterball, Eckrich, Esskay, Gwaltney, Hamilton's, John
Morrell, Lean Generation, Longmont, Lunch Makers, Luter's, Margherita,
Patrick Cudahy, Smithfield, Valleydale


NC STATEWIDE DAY OF ACTION - SIGN UP
http://www.smithfieldjustice.com

ON DECEMBER 2, 2006 supporters from across North Carolina will gather at ten
Harris Teeter grocery stores in different cities to demand that Harris
Teeter stop carrying Smithfield pork products that are packaged with the
abuse of NC workers at the world's largest pork plant in Tar Heel, NC.

Smithfield has mistreated North Carolina workers for over a decade with
threats, intimidation, and even violence. Smithfield creates a dangerous
workplace with fast line speeds and inadequate training, and then even fires
some workers when they get hurt and denies their Workers Compensation
claims. People of faith and conscience throughout the country are saying,
"Enough is enough! We won't eat pork that's packaged with the abuse of
workers."

Please join us in telling Harris Teeter to stop selling Smithfield Pork
products made in Tar Heel, North Carolina.

Click here,
http://www.smithfieldjustice.com/Signup_Harris_Teetre_Protest.php to SIGN UP
and to take part in the Day of Action demonstrations in the city nearest
you!

We thank you in advance for your support and hope you join us in front of
Harris Teeter stores throughout the state ON DECEMBER 2!

These are the locations where you can support the action:

 a.. Asheville: Biltmore Parkway Centre, 1378 Hendersonville Rd.
 b.. Charlotte: NEW LOCATION: 1704 Central Avenue
 c.. Durham: 1817 Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway
 d.. Fayetteville: Highland Centre, 2800 Raeford Road
 e.. Greensboro: 4640 W. Market Street
 f.. High Point: High Point Mall, 265 Eastchester Drive
 g.. Raleigh: Cameron Village, 500 Oberlin Road
 h.. Rocky Mount: West Ridge Village, 3649 Sunset Ave.
 i.. Wilmington: 820 South College Street
 j.. Winston-Salem: Reynolda Commons, 3508 Yadkinville Road

To find the maps of the locations click here:
http://www.smithfieldjustice.com/Signup_Harris_Teetre_Protest.php

If you are interested in Tell your Friends about this campaign go to:
http://www.smithfieldjustice.com/Tell_Friend.php

Thanks for your help.
Your support is critical in the effort to win Justice at Smithfield.


Sincerely,

Justice at Smithfield NC Team

Impeachment events around Human Rights Day, December 10th

This is another message from David Swanson, of the After Downing Street Coalition, sent Tuesday the 14th.  The local Grass Roots Impeachment Movement (www.impeachbushcheney.net ) is already using some of the tactics called for below.  The meeting at Rep. Price's office in Durham to present more petitions will probably be around December 10th. It might be on a Thursday in the late afternoon. 

Now that the Democrats control Congress impeachment is more likely, but we still face an uphill battle.  Rep. Nancy Pelosi and others have already rejected impeachment (or say they do).  I think Rep. Brad Miller rejected it (see the post about the CCR video showing in the summer).  Price might vote for impeachment, but I'm sure he won't be in the lead on it.  If the members of Congress do their Constitutional duty and impeach, it is likely they will be soft on Bush and others, since many Democrats in Congress support some of the illegal and anti-democratic policies pursued by the Bush Administration.  For example, many supported the attack on Iraq.  The Bush Administration was lying in its case for War, but many Democrats ignored the evidence that Bush was lying and these Democrats wanted "regime change" anyway.  Some wanted a UN Security Council seal of approval and a stronger coalition, but they still wanted to wage a war of aggression against a developing country that was not a threat to the USA and did not have weapons of mass destruction or ties to al-Qaida (unlike 'our allies' Pakistan and Saudi Arabia).  Many Democratic politicians are still advocating increased force in Afghanistan (instead of in Iraq) and harsh measures, possibly military force, against Iran and the DPRK (meanwhile some Democrats, such as Price and I think Miller, voted for Bush's nuclear deal with India, rewarding India for violating the non-proliferation treaty).  The Democrats might be more firm on Bush's signing statements and actions against Congressional oversight - we'll see.      

From David Swanson:

Can you modify any elements of this you want to use and send to the largest list you have? 

IMPEACHMENT BY SPRING: HERE'S THE PLAN

________________

Plan Events on December 10th, Human Rights and Impeachment Day

December 10 is Human Rights Day, and this year we're making it Human Rights and Impeachment Day. Slogan: "Putting Impeachment on the Table."

We encourage you to organize a town hall forum or rally on this day for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney.

You can create a public listing of your event here. You will be able to communicate with the people who sign up for your event, and to edit the listing for your event, changing or filling in details later.

You can view existing events and sign up to attend one here.

Here is a list of available speakers with their contact info.

Be sure also to invite your Congress Member or newly elected future Congress Member to speak.

Here are resources that will make your event easy and effective.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/december10

________________

Collect Signatures on Petitions
Collect millions of them, especially in front of your Congress Member's offices. Use this to build local organizations as well as a national list of names.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/petition

________________

Join a Congressional District Impeachment Committee
Organize locally to lobby your Representative:

http://www.democrats.com/cdic

________________

Pass State and Local Resolutions
Pass impeachment resolutions in your town or city, state, political party, or labor union. Use the petitioning (above) to help make this happen:

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/resolutions

________________

Be a Media Activist
Work the media for impeachment:

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/media

________________

Talking Points and Other Resources to Assist You

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/resourcecenter

________________

Impeachment Conference Call November 13, 2006
81 organizers and activists from across the country took part in a conference call Monday evening to discuss upcoming actions to advance the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. You can listen to the 90-minute call to catch up and get involved. We'll post the transcript and notes ASAP.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/downloads/impeachcall.mp3

________________

Audio and Video from Philadelphia on Veterans Day
Here is video of our impeachment movement launch:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/phillyvideo

Here is audio:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/phillyaudio

________________

We Now Have Shirts With Long Sleeves

http://www.wavelengthclothing.com/impeach_bush.html

________________

Invite the Bush Chain Gang to Your Town
Reduce fear and roadside trash: put them to work.

http://backbonecampaign.org/chaingang.cfm

Impeachment events around Human Rights Day, December 10th

This is another message from David Swanson, of the After Downing Street Coalition, sent Tuesday the 14th.  The local Grass Roots Impeachment Movement ( www.impeachbushcheney.net ) is already using some of the tactics called for below.  The meeting at Rep. Price's office in Durham to present more petitions will probably be around December 10th. It might be on a Thursday in the late afternoon. 

Now that the Democrats control Congress impeachment is more likely, but we still face an uphill battle.  Rep. Nancy Pelosi and others have already rejected impeachment (or say they do).  I think Rep. Brad Miller rejected it (see the post about the CCR video showing in the summer).  Price might vote for impeachment, but I'm sure he won't be in the lead on it.  If the members of Congress do their Constitutional duty and impeach, it is likely they will be soft on Bush and others, since many Democrats in Congress support some of the illegal and anti-democratic policies pursued by the Bush Administration.  For example, many supported the attack on Iraq.  The Bush Administration was lying in its case for War, but many Democrats ignored the evidence that Bush was lying and these Democrats wanted "regime change" anyway.  Some wanted a UN Security Council seal of approval and a stronger coalition, but they still wanted to wage a war of aggression against a developing country that was not a threat to the USA and did not have weapons of mass destruction or ties to al-Qaida (unlike 'our allies' Pakistan and Saudi Arabia).  Many Democratic politicians are still advocating increased force in Afghanistan (instead of in Iraq) and harsh measures, possibly military force, against Iran and the DPRK (meanwhile some Democrats, such as Price and I think Miller, voted for Bush's nuclear deal with India, rewarding India for violating the non-proliferation treaty).  The Democrats might be more firm on Bush's signing statements and actions against Congressional oversight - we'll see.      

From David Swanson:

Can you modify any elements of this you want to use and send to the largest list you have? 

IMPEACHMENT BY SPRING: HERE'S THE PLAN

________________

Plan Events on December 10th, Human Rights and Impeachment Day

December 10 is Human Rights Day, and this year we're making it Human Rights and Impeachment Day. Slogan: "Putting Impeachment on the Table."

We encourage you to organize a town hall forum or rally on this day for the impeachment of Bush and Cheney.

You can create a public listing of your event here. You will be able to communicate with the people who sign up for your event, and to edit the listing for your event, changing or filling in details later.

You can view existing events and sign up to attend one here.

Here is a list of available speakers with their contact info.

Be sure also to invite your Congress Member or newly elected future Congress Member to speak.

Here are resources that will make your event easy and effective.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/december10

________________

Collect Signatures on Petitions
Collect millions of them, especially in front of your Congress Member's offices. Use this to build local organizations as well as a national list of names.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/petition

________________

Join a Congressional District Impeachment Committee
Organize locally to lobby your Representative:

http://www.democrats.com/cdic

________________

Pass State and Local Resolutions
Pass impeachment resolutions in your town or city, state, political party, or labor union. Use the petitioning (above) to help make this happen:

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/resolutions

________________

Be a Media Activist
Work the media for impeachment:

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/media

________________

Talking Points and Other Resources to Assist You

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/resourcecenter

________________

Impeachment Conference Call November 13, 2006
81 organizers and activists from across the country took part in a conference call Monday evening to discuss upcoming actions to advance the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. You can listen to the 90-minute call to catch up and get involved. We'll post the transcript and notes ASAP.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/downloads/impeachcall.mp3

________________

Audio and Video from Philadelphia on Veterans Day
Here is video of our impeachment movement launch:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/phillyvideo

Here is audio:
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/phillyaudio

________________

We Now Have Shirts With Long Sleeves

http://www.wavelengthclothing.com/impeach_bush.html

________________

Invite the Bush Chain Gang to Your Town
Reduce fear and roadside trash: put them to work.

http://backbonecampaign.org /chaingang.cfm

Invitation to an Impeachment - announcement

> From: David Swanson [of the After Downing Street Coalition, which I endorse through 2 supporting groups]
> Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2006 23:57:57 -0500
> To: 00David Swanson
> Subject: Invitation to an Impeachment
>
> Invitation to an Impeachment
>
> We're organizing a new campaign for the impeachment
> ofd Bush and Cheney and
> need your input and participation.
>
> We've planned a conference call for 9 p.m. ET on
> Monday, November 13th.
> Conference Dial-in Number: (402) 756-9100
> Participant Access Code: 462356#
> RSVP to David Swanson
>
> For those who can make it, we'll also have a
> face-to-face strategy meeting
> on Saturday, November 11th, in Philadelphia, Penn.,
> from 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
> ET. The meeting will follow a forum at the National
> Constitution Center
> entitled: "Organizing for Impeachment: Announcing a
> Movement". In the first
> hour (1:00 - 2:00 p.m.) speakers will include:
> Elizabeth Holtzman, former
> Congress Member; David Swanson, Co-Founder of
> AfterDowningStreet.org,
> Washington Director of Democrats.com; Tim Carpenter,
> Co-Founder of
> AfterDowningStreet.org, Director of Progressive
> Democrats of America; Jodie
> Evans, Co-Founder of CODE PINK Women for Peace; Bill
> Perry, Delaware Valley
> Veterans For America; Cindy Sheehan, Co-Founder of
> Gold Star Families for
> Peace; and moderator Bob Fertik, President of
> Democrats.com.
> Representatives of other participating organizations
> will attend. From
> 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. we will lead a Blogger Panel to
> discuss the issues we raise
> in the first hour. If you can attend, please sign
> up and get a ticket here:
> http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/impeach
>
> Why are we moving so quickly on impeachment?
>
> GOP scaremongering persuaded Nancy Pelosi to declare
> impeachment "off the
> table." She even pledged there would be no
> impeachment on "60 Minutes."
> But after Election Day - assuming a Democratic
> takeover of the House - we
> are determined to put Impeachment back "on the
> table" over the objections of
> the Republican Party, the GOP-controlled corporate
> media, and cowardly
> Democrats. Pelosi has a 100-day plan to pass
> "positive" legislation, but
> she will get a rude shock when Bush nullifies her
> bills with
> unconstitutional signing statements. With 51
> percent of Americans
> supporting impeachment (according to Newsweek) and
> an election just behind
> us, the moment seems ideal to create the public
> pressure needed to allow
> those Members of Congress who favor impeachment to
> act.
>
> Grounds for impeachment are detailed in our
> petition:
> http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/88
>
> We are looking for suggestions and proposals for
> changes and additions to
> the following tentative plan:
>
> 1. Declare a mandate for Impeachment based on
> election results, exit polls,
> and local impeachment referenda in CA, IL, WI, and
> VT.
>
> 2. Start a grassroots petition drive to collect 1
> million signatures. (Each
> group keeps the names and contact info it collects,
> as well as Emailing it
> to us to add to the petition, and we pay $0.25 per
> valid Email address.)
> http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/petition
>
> 3. Form Impeachment Committees in 435 Congressional
> Districts to lobby every
> Member of Congress:
> http://www.afterdowningstreet .org/cdic
>
> 4. Hold Town Hall Meetings and rallies on
> impeachment around the country on
> December 10th (Human Rights Day):
> http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/december10
>
> 5. Pass Impeachment resolutions in state
> legislatures, cities, towns,
> unions, political parties:
> http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/resolutions
>
> 6. Expand our Citizens Impeachment Commission to add
> prominent citizens,
> celebrities and bloggers:
> http://impeachpac.org/citizens
>
> If you would like to be listed on the Citizens
> Impeachment Commission or
> want to recommend someone else to include, please
> send that information to
> david [at] davidswanson [dot] org
>
> If you are available to speak at an event on
> December 10th, please let us
> know and tell us what contact info for you can be
> posted publicly and what
> area of the country you can speak in.

Why vote for David Price?

Why should progressives vote for Price, when he supports imperialist policies and squanders opportunities to resist the Bush Administration?   Consider some of his recent votes (details at thomas.loc.gov and www.house.gov/price):

 

House Resolution 921 in July, which supported Israeli aggression in Lebanon and Bush's support for it, painting that aggression as a response to "completely unprovoked" attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah, praised Israel's "continued efforts to prevent civilian casualties," and implied that Syria and Iran should be "held accountable" for supporting Hamas and Hezbollah.   It didn't call for military action, but it points that way, and "diplomatic" measures can kill millions too (think Iraq in the 90's).  Price called the bill "significantly flawed," yet he voted for it!   His form letter to me only mentions concerns about Lebanese civilian casualties and the lack of peace leadership from George Bush, and called Hezbollah's rocket attacks "a threat to [Israel's] very existence as a sovereign nation," as if that was the cause of the war.   He supports the bankrupt position that Israel is an innocent victim of Hamas and Hezbollah, indigenous national liberation movements, not the predatory occupying power Israel really is.   His July 28 letter to Bush says "Hezbollah's unprovoked raid across the internationally recognized border between the two nations, and its subsequent rocket attacks – explicitly aimed at civilian targets – left Israel no choice but to defend itself."   A large factor in Price's vote might have been to appeal to the Zionist vote by supporting Israel, no matter how much it is in the wrong.  If this is so, Price didn't give those who support justice for Palestine and Lebanon a lot of consideration.      

 

The Henry J. Hyde United States and India Nuclear Cooperation Promotion Act of 2006 (House Resolution 5682), certifying Bush's nuclear technology agreement with India, breaking the Non-Proliferation Treaty and rewarding India for its development of nuclear weapons.   Ironically the only representatives in the State to vote against it were Republicans Walter Jones and Charles Taylor.  After that vote, how can those who voted in support of the deal condemn the DPRK for its nuclear weapons program?   Price even joined Etheridge, Watt, Jones, and others in voting for another bill, which failed, but would have required that India support US anti-Iran policies before the Bush deal would be in force.   If Price wins the election next week he might have to vote on aggressive actions against Iran or the DPRK, and his record offers little assurance that he will resolutely resist chauvinist double standards and aggression.    

 

Some other bills Price supported H. Con. Res. 65, commending Turkey for its military contributions to the "War on Terror" (meanwhile Turkey is oppressing northern Kurdistan and attacking the Kurds in Iraq), H. Con. Res. 83 to condemn China's human rights record at the UN last year (I'm sure there are violations, but I say first deal with our own crimes), H. Con. Res. 723, seeming to call for NATO intervention in Sudan, a bill, H. Res. 900, supporting full investigation of terrorist financing, barely mentioning that that investigation should be lawful and with Congressional oversight, and a bill allowing US survivors of terrorism to sue foreign governments for involvement in terrorism.   

 

Price could easily have provided a symbolic reason for progressives and liberals to support him next week, but refused to merely be on record as a co-sponsor of bills to resist Bush policies.   He did not cosponsor Barbara Lee's resolution to investigate how the USA and UK planned their aggression against Iraq or John Conyers' bills (H. Res. 635) to investigate whether there have been impeachable crimes and to censure Bush and Cheney (H. Res. 636 and 637).   Regarding the domestic wiretapping he joined a California representative to ask Bush to appoint a special counsel to investigate his Administration.   Of course, Bush refused and said the source of the leak should be found.  Price co-sponsored H. Con. Res. 148. commemorating the revolutionary Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, the first declaration, but only a few bills to combat modern tyranny in America.    

 

This is not to say that Price is all bad (though his vote supporting Israel is a huge mark against him in my opinion).   He at least politely listens to constituents (at least that has been my impression so far), he says he agrees with many of our demands, and he is socially liberal.  Price and Miller introduced House Joint Resolution 70 late last October, requiring Bush to present a plan to end the occupation of Iraq and "prosecute without quarter a war on terrorist organizations and networks around the world." He co-sponsored H. Con. Res. 391 (a month after it was introduced), which says that past acts of Congress do not give Bush the authority to attack Iran and that it is a "legal and constitutional requirement" that Congress be consulted before he does (not that it is wrong to attack Iran over the nuclear issue).   He co-sponsored bills to force the Bush Administration to release information about the affect of climate change on this country (H. Res. 515), domestic wiretapping (H. Res. 643), and the Plame leak (H. Res. 363), the White House Iraq Group (H. Res. 505), and H. Con. Res. 197, prohibiting permanent US bases in Iraq.   He co-sponsored several bills supporting Medicare (H. Con. Res. 213)  and Medicaid (H. Con. Res. 215 and 231), open bidding in Katrina and Rita recovery efforts (H. Con. Res 251), to temporarily ease sanctions on Cuba after Hurricane Dennis (H. Con. Res. 206), and equal rights for the sexes (H. Res. 67 and H.J. Res. 37).  He supports Iranian-Americans (H. Res. 367), Haiti debt cancellation (H. Res. 888), gay rights, and he helped improve water quality in the Haw River basin.   However, most of these bills disappeared into committees, and they were not far reaching, and possibly not as good as they might sound.  Price did vote against the Iraq War initially, though it has been argued that he did so because activists occupied his Chapel Hill office.   Price is at least better than Rep. Bob Etheridge and possibly better than Brad Miller on impeachment.     

 

People might also object that if Price doesn't win we will have Steve Acuff, a conservative retired Air Force colonel who actually supports the Iraq War, a flat tax supporter, is against choice, "pro-marriage" (?), vaguely in favor of deporting unauthorized immigrants, and has other reactionary views, (see www.steveacuff.com, which isn't very detailed for such a high post).  This is lesser evilism, leading to the obnoxious arrogance of some Democrats I was confronted by in 2004.  So we should support someone who, among other things, supports Israeli aggression and doublespeak, international nuclear double-standards, and does not go far enough to resist Bush and assert Congress' rightful authority, which he advocates, instead?   This blog post is not part of a far-reaching campaign, so I very much doubt that Price will lose this election on account of me.  Price is in a pretty liberal and heavily Democratic district, so it should be very safe for him, yet he doesn't take great risks for his voters on the Iraq War, Lebanon, holding Bush accountable, or other issues.    

 

The Democratic Party leadership supports the capitalist elite (just with a different tact than the Republican leadership), so it is not going to automatically support most reforms progressives want.   If the Party is stung by the temporary loss of its liberal and progressive, working and middle class base, they might give our demands more support.   Voters have to take risks to hold the Democrats accountable, and not voting for the Democrat is a small risk in a district like ours.  The alternative is continuation of the deadly status quo and the doormat treatment for the Democratic Party's base.    

 

Ultimately we need a party that actually represents interests of the majority of the American people, a real working class, democratic, and socialist party.   The working class is the bedrock of progressive ideas, and it is a sorry state of affairs when the Republicans can call a group like the Democrats socialists.   Price is liberal, (supporting soft empire abroad and placating the masses at home) and ineffective and defeatist (as long as the Republicans control Congress, etc.) at that, when we need people who will completely oppose the Bush Administration's war for the rich, on American and international workers, from Durham and New Orleans to Falluja and Beirut.   Bipartisanship is okay, but not at the expense of the principles politicians are elected to serve.  A few Democrats do serve the working class relatively faithfully, but not our NC representatives.            

 

For these reasons, I plan to write in Kent Kanoy's name as a protest vote, if it is possible to write-in on the ballot.   Kent Kanoy ran to the left of Price in the primary in the spring.  And after the election we need to increasingly hold Democrats responsible for abetting the crimes of the Bush Administration and progressive people need to organize to be independent of the Democratic Party and to carry forward the progressive and democratic ideas the Democrats can't and won't take up (ever).   If there is a "Blue Revolution" next week it will be even more important to hold the Democrats accountable, because without pressure little will change in Washington.   The Marxist-Leninist Organizer (see www.mltranslations.org) has a good article from 2003 about the need for a united front to unite our causes in opposition to the united capitalist program we confront (for example, compare who is being served by reconstruction in New Orleans and reconstruction in Iraq under the neo-cons and the Democrat leaders).   Others say the same thing, and it is an issue of life or death everywhere today.         

Upcoming County Commissioner decisions - which interest will they serve?

I thought the Scott Mill rezoning was going to be clarified by the staff to the County Commissioners at the meeting tonight (?), but it is not in the meeting agenda available at www.co.durham.nc.us .  Maybe the staff's explanation was not meant to be for the public.  The actual vote is supposed to be at the November meeting, and we need to have numbers there to prevent inappropriate and unaccountable development, in one of the last undeveloped tracts north of the Creek and west of Grandale Rd.  The tall, dark, second-growth woods over old farm roads west of Parkwood are almost gone, replaced by "Grandale Forest" and other mostly treeless, typical suburban developments, and the woods along Scott King are next (as well as the woods south of the Creek, on Grandale, at the very end of the County, before oncoming Cary). Things have changed a lot in the last decade around Parkwood.  I'm reminded of the article on rural versus urban interests in the feature article in the current issue of the Independent Weekly, but maybe more on that later.       

 

On the other hand, the agenda does include something about giving money to Quintiles for it to build or upgrade a headquarters here.  Will this be another Dell deal, but for the County in this case?  I'm skeptical of this proposal, but that reference in the agenda is the first I've heard of it.     

Discussion of class, government, and the loss of our rights, Nov. 4th

There will be a discussion of class, government, and
Marxism, with a focus on the loss of rights in the USA and the new detainee act,
at 4pm Saturday, November 4th, in the downstairs
conference room of the Chapel Hill Public Library.
There will be a speaker from the Durham branch of the
Bill of Rights Defense Committee, a group working to
safeguard our rights under the Constitution and on
related democratic issues.  Currently it is focused on
the new Military Commission Act, which abolished habeas
corpus and permits torture and military trials, and can be

used against citizens, as well as foreign prisoners.  A

suggested reading is chapter 1 of The State and Revolution,

by Lenin, to discuss how this relates to our current struggles. It is online at
www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/ch01.htm
and www.marx2mao.com.

This is part of the non-partisan Triangle Socialist
Forum, open to anyone interested in discussion.  It
was called the Marxist Forum, but members thought
socialist might be a more accessible name to the
general public.  Any updates will be posted at
durhamspark.blogspot.com.  The next four discussions
will probably be on working class politics, the
national question (focused on whether there is a black
nation, or other nations, within the USA), war and
globalization, and socialism.

Please let other interested groups know about this and let's make it a big meeting!

Short updates

It sounds like there were hundreds of people at October 5th events across North Carolina.  The Durham protest was more modest, with about 12 people, but that might be double the number there for the Impeachment Day protest September 1st.  GRIM's new impeachment banner was displayed at the event SDS organized at UNC and at our event, as well as Chapel Hill's Festifall last Sunday.  I'm told Festifall was smaller than usual, but the GRIM table had good business.  Now we need to maintain the momentum.  Unfortunately GRIM, the Triangle regional group, has been less active lately and the most active groups are the Durham and Raleigh (?) Meetup.com groups.     

 

The Durham impeachment Meetup group will meet at 7pm on the 18th at the Parkwood Branch Library.  That will probably be changed if Bush is in Greensboro that day for a fundraiser.  He is supposed to come between the 16th and 18th.