* OUTRAGE: Lynne Stewart: Heroic Human Rights Lawyer Jailed -Free Lynne Stewart Now!- From Steve Lendmen's Blog

Click on title to link to the Lynne Stewart Defense Committee website. Free Lynne Stewart Now! Free All The Class War Prisoners!


From "SteveLendmenBlog"

Friday, November 20, 2009

Lynne Stewart: Heroic Human Rights Lawyer Jailed

Lynne Stewart: Heroic Human Rights Lawyer Jailed - by Stephen Lendman

On November 20, New York Times writer Colin Moynihan broke the news headlining:

"Radical Lawyer Convicted of Aiding Terrorist Is Jailed," then saying:

"Defiant to the end as she embraced supporters outside the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan, Lynne F. Stewart, the radical lawyer known for defending unpopular clients, surrendered on Thursday to begin serving her 28-month sentence for assisting terrorism."

Fact check:

Stewart did what all attorneys should, but few, in fact, do - observe the American Bar Association's Model Rules saying all lawyers are obligated to:

"devote professional time and resources and use civic influence to ensure equal access to our system of justice for all those who because of economic or social barriers cannot afford or secure adequate legal counsel."

Also to practice law ethically, morally and responsibly to assure everyone is afforded due process and judicial fairness in American courts. Sadly and disturbingly, Stewart was denied what she did for others heroically, unselfishly, and proudly. More on that below.

Stewart (prison number 53504-054) is now jailed at:

MCC-NY
150 Park Row
New York, NY 10007

Betrayed by American Justice

For 30 years, Stewart worked heroically to defend America's poor, underprivileged, and unwanted, never afforded due process and judicial fairness without an advocate like her. Where others wouldn't go, she defended controversial figures like David Gilbert of the Weather Underground, Richard Williams of the United Freedom Front, Sekou Odinga and Nasser Ahmed of the Black Liberation Army, and many more like them. She knew the risk, but did it fearlessly and courageously until bogusly indicted on April 9, 2002 for:

-- "conspiring to defraud the United States;

-- conspiring to provide and conceal material support to terrorist activity;

-- providing and concealing material support to terrorist activity; and

-- two counts of making false statements."

She was also accused of violating US Bureau of Prisons Special Administrative Measures (SAMs) that included a gag order on her client, Sheik Abdel Rahman. When imposed, they prohibit discussion on topics the Justice Department (DOJ) rules outside of "legal representation," so lawyers can't discuss them with clients, thus inhibiting their defense.

At former US Attorney General Ramzy Clark's request, she joined him as part of Rahman's court-appointed defense team. In his 1995 show trial, he was convicted and is now serving a life sentence for seditious conspiracy, solicitation of murder, solicitation of an attack on American military installations, conspiracy to murder, and conspiracy to bomb in connection with the 1993 World Trade Center attack despite evidence proving his innocence on all charges.

The DOJ's case wasn't about alleged crimes. It reflected his affiliations and anti-western views. Rahman was connected to the Egyptian-based Al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya - a 1997 US State Department-designated "foreign terrorist organization." In the 1980s, however, he helped the CIA recruit Mujahadeen fighters against the Soviets in Afghanistan. For his work, he got a US visa, green card, and State Department-CIA protection as long as he was valued. When no longer, he was targeted along with Stewart.

Her case was precedent-setting, chilling, and according to the Center of Constitutional Rights Michael Ratner:

sent "a message to lawyers who represent alleged terrorists that it's dangerous to do so."

Her attorney, Michael Tigar, called it:

"an attack on a gallant, charismatic and effective fighter for justice (with) at least three fundamental faults:

-- (it) attack(ed) the First Amendment right of free speech, free press and petition;

-- the right to effective assistance of counsel (by) chill(ing) the defense; (and)

-- the 'evidence' in this case was gathered by wholesale invasion of private conversations, private-attorney-client meetings, faxes, letters and e-mails; I have never seen such an abuse of government power."

Her 2004 - 2005 show trial was a mockery of justice with echoes of the worst McCarthy-like tactics. Inflammatory terrorist images were displayed in court to prejudice the jury, and prosecutors vilified Stewart as a traitor with "radical" political views. In addition, days before the verdict, the militant pro-Israeli Jewish Defense Organization put up flyers near the courthouse displaying her address. It threatened to "drive her out of her home and out of the state," and said she "needs to be put out of business legally and effectively."

It was part of the orchestrated scheme inside and outside the courtroom to heighten fear, convict Stewart, and intimidate other lawyers to expect the same treatment if they dare represent unpopular clients effectively.

On February 10, 2005 (after a seven month trial and 13 days of deliberation) she was convicted on all five counts. Under New York state law, she was automatically disbarred, and the state Supreme Court's Appellate Division denied her petition to resign voluntarily. On October 17, 2006, she was sentenced to 28 months imprisonment, but remained free on bond pending appeal before the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Stewart Ordered to Prison

The Justice for Lynne Stewart web site (lynnestewart.org) announced the news. On November 17, the Appeals Court revoked her bond, upheld the verdict, ordered her surrender forthwith, but stayed it until November 19 at 5PM to let her attorney file a motion for reconsideration. It was denied, so she must report to federal marshals as directed. A November 19 conversation with Lynne and her husband Ralph confirmed it.

The situation remains fluid, dire, and complicated by Stewart's battle with breast cancer. She has surgery scheduled for December 7, unlikely now, but if done in prison or where authorities direct, it won't be the quality she deserves.

In its ruling, the three judge panel (John Walker, Guido Calebresi and Robert Sack) was firm, hostile and belligerent in upholding the lower court's conviction. Judge Sack accused Stewart of lying and called for a longer sentence. "We think that whether (she) lied under oath at her trial is directly relevant to whether her sentence was appropriate," he wrote, and directed District Court Judge John Koeltl to re-sentence her "so as to reflect that finding." Judge Walker was even harsher, calling the original sentence "breathtakingly low." Judge Calabrese said: "I am at a loss for any rationale upon this record that could reasonably justify a sentence of 28 months' imprisonment for this defendant."

They all said Stewart was "convicted principally with respect to (her violating) measures by which (she) had agreed to abide," namely SAMs. They rejected her "argument that, as a lawyer, she was not bound by (them), and her belated argument collaterally attacking their constitutionality." They also:

"affirm(ed her conviction) of providing and concealing material support to the conspiracy to murder persons in a foreign country (and) of conspiring to provide and conceal such support....We conclude that the charges were valid (and) the evidence was sufficient to sustain the convictions. We also reject Stewart's claims that her purported attempt to serve as a 'zealous advocate' for her client provides her with immunity from the convictions...."

"Finally, we affirm Stewart's convictions for knowingly and willfully making false statements....when she affirmed that she intended to, and would, abide by the SAMs. In light of her repeated and flagrant violation of (them), a reasonable factfinder could conclude that (her) representations that she intended to and would abide by the SAMs were knowingly false when made. We reject the remaining challenges to the convictions. (We) affirm the district court's rejection of Stewart's claim that she was selectively prosecuted on account of her gender or political beliefs....We therefore affirm the convictions in their entirety."

They redirected her case to District Court Judge Koeltl for re-sentencing. The DOJ wants 30 years. Koeltl originally imposed 28 months, let Stewart remain free on bond pending appeal, implied his decision might be overturned because of a gross miscarriage of justice, effectively rebuked the Bush administration at the time, and handed it a major defeat. Her fate is now in his hands, but justice has already been denied at a time we're all as vulnerable as she if we dare resist state policies, unchanged under an administration no different from its predecessor.

In a November 17 news conference, Stewart said:

"I'm too old to cry, but it hurts too much not to." In criticizing the Court's decision, she said its timing "on the eve of the arrival of the tortured men from offshore prison in Guantanamo" suggests that lawyers appointed to represent them may face the same fate as she. "If you're going to lawyer for these people, you'd better toe very close to the line that the government has set out (because they'll) be watching you every inch of the way, (so those who don't) will end up like Lynne Stewart. This is a case that is bigger than just me personally (but she added that she'll) go on fighting."

So will her lawyer, Joshua Dratel, who said he'll pursue it "as far and as long as we can," including a possible Supreme Court review. The Obama US attorney's office was silent, effectively affirming a gross injustice at a time the due process and judicial fairness thresholds are so low that all Americans risk the same fate as Lynne.

Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday - Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national issues. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://republicbroadcasting.org/Global%20Research/index.php?cmd=archives.year&ProgramID=33&year=9


posted by Steve Lendman @ 3:18 AM

*Present At The Creation- Writer Gore Vidal’s Novel On The Rise Of The American Imperium- “Empire”-A Review

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of an interview with Gore Vidal in 2007.

Book Review

Empire: A Novel, Gore Vidal, Random House, New York, 1987

The name Gore Vidal should be no stranger to the readers of this space. I have in the recent past reviewed his earlier American historical novels “Burr”, “Lincoln”, and “1876” that form something of a backdrop to the book under review, “Empire”. Although I have noted, in those previous reviews, that I generally take my history lessons “straight” from historical writers, occasionally, as with the case of Vidal, I am more than happy to see history tweaked a little in novel form. Vidal does not disappoint here, although the cast of characters, past and present, overall form a weaker story line at the end of the 19th century with the rise of the power-driven American imperial impulses than his earlier efforts. That may say something about what kind of misbegotten characters the age produced, variously known as the “Gilded Age”, “The Age Of The Robber Barons” and the “Age Of The Rise Of The American Imperium”, as those in power threw into the dustbin of history that quaint and old-fashioned term coined by Lincoln about the American republic being “the last, best hope for mankind”.

Vidal’s historical novels work on two levels, which may account for their appeal to political types like me. First is the thread that holds all the novels together in the person, fictionalized or not, of Aaron Burr and his progeny, or better, alleged progeny who, helter-skelter, keep making odd appearances in each work and generally product a main character for each succeeding novel. Here the Burr connection is in the person of Caroline Sanford, a young, feisty, independent woman of the late 19th century linked to Burr through her grandfather (maybe)who wants to take her part in a quintessentially man’s world riding the crest of the rising prominence of the print media. Her struggle for her place in the sun (and her fight with her half-brother over rightful inheritance)is the core personal story told here.

The second level is the liberal use of real historical figures, usually high government officials or other worthies, as seen in their “off-duty” endeavors, usually pursuing some power position or a sexual adventure. Or both. That’s about right for this milieu, agreed? Although the gap between fictional and real characters is sometimes blurred, here mainly Lincoln’s old personal White House secretary John Hay who now has come, front and center, into his own as President McKinley’s Secretary of State in the aftermath of the 1898 Spanish-American War, that ‘splendid little war that started the American republic full-throttle on the road to the imperium. Obviously, no Gilded Age period piece is complete without many pages on the “exploits”, political and military, of one “Teddy” Roosevelt. Brother Vidal takes old Teddy down a peg or two here.

To finish off the period, and to note the decline of the original Puritan/Yankee spirit that drove the early history of this country, the last major prominent member of the Adams clan(excluding Brook Adams who has a cameo role here), Henry, is brought in as a weak conscious-driven counterweight to the “hard-pans” (read: new rich) who would dominate the American scene in the 20th century and whose progeny still burden us today. This is a quick read but a thoughtful novel of the perils of America's starting down that imperial road to replace the British Empire as the main world power. Worst though we are still dealing with the ramifications of those decisions today. Read the real history but also read Vidal.

Tales From The 1950s Crypt- The "Red Scare", Dalton Trumbo And "The Hollywood Ten"

Click on title to link to Wikipedia's entry for "The Hollywood Ten", an honorable group of writers with connections, of some sort, to the American Communist Party who, honorably, refused to name names during the height of the American ruling class's "red scare" tactics of Cold War fame. As I have mentioned elsewhere in this space today we of the anti-Stalinist, ant-capitalist, pro-communist left could have better used some of the pens of these fighting writers than the Stalinists did.

*Tales From The 1950’s Crypt Of Another Sort- The “Red Scare” -Up Close And Personal- The Life And Times Of “Hollywood Ten” Writer Dalton Trumbo

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of the fim documentary "Trumbo".

DVD Review

Trumbo, based on a memoir by Christopher Trumbo, various actors read from Dalton Trumbo’s work, Magnolia Home Productions, 2004

Today, along with the DVD under review , "Trumbo", I have written a review of the film “Revolutionary Road”, based on the 1950s novel by Richard Yates, about the ‘trials and tribulations’ of an upwardly mobile white middle class suburban couple who are dissatisfied with that existence but can’t break out. “Trumbo”, about the real trials and tribulations of a great American writer, Dalton Trumbo provides an interesting contrast from the same period of history, post World War II America. The two are joined together in an odd way. The unstated subtext of “Revolutionary Road” is that it is not wise to challenge the cookie-cutter norm, nor is it ‘wise’ to defy the “security blanket” provided by capitalist America in its fight against “godless communism”. And for proof, just ask Dalton Trumbo, (or any of the Hollywood Ten writers and others who had to endure the 1950s (and beyond) blacklists.

This aspect of the Cold War, now mainly forgotten, is the apt subject here. One of the commentators let the cat out of the bag concerning the “red scare” and its victims. These victims of America’s post-war build-up of the Cold War against the Soviet Union were men and women who, at heart, were liberals in the old-fashioned sense but who between the horrors of the Great Depression, the rise of fascism and their own basically decent human instincts gravitated toward communism, or at least what they took for communism as presented by the popular frontist American Communist Party. In the post-war period when America was determined to be hegemonic that boded ill for those who had been previously favorably disposed to the Soviet Union.

This one and one half hour goes into detail about all of that, including some very interesting black and white film from the period that somehow seems to capture the moment better than any 'talking head' commentary. More than that though this is a “tribute” to Dalton Trumbo’s struggle against adversity when he, honorably, said no to the government. No. He would not be an informer. No. He would not stand for the abridgement of his right to free speech. He went to jail, had a hard time getting work later (in the period of the “front” which Woody Allen made a very clever film, “The Front” out of), and much later was vindicated in a way by being recognized for his writing achievements, including a number of screenplays that were outstanding like “Spartacus”. All of this is told through Dalton Trumbo interviews giving during various periods of his life, the voices of various actors like Donald Sutherland and Michael Douglas performing excerpts from his works, and by remembrances of his children and other survivors from that period.

Two things to finish up. You MUST read, if you want a top grade anti-war novel, Trumbo’s savage indictment of the effects of war on the young, “Johnny Got His Gun” that is excerpted in this presentation. And, although other that the novel just mentioned and some films (including “Spartacus” and “the Exodus”) that I had seen and that Trumbo wrote the screenplays for I was not that familiar with his personal story aside from his political problems. After viewing this film I have one abiding thought about the man. Dalton Trumbo was too good human material to have labored, and I think thanklessly, for the by then distorted Stalinized American Communist Party. We, of the anti-Stalinist, anti-capitalist, pro-communist left could have used his finely- etched pen to better effect.

Tales From The 1950s Crypt- “Revolutionary Road”- This Ain’t “Ozzie And Harriet”

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of the trailer for the movie, "Revolutionary Road".

DVD Review

Revolutionary Road, based on the book by Richard Yates, starring Kate Winslett and Leonardo DiCaprio, DreamWorks Productions, 2008

Over the past period I have seemingly endlessly retailed the experiences of my young adulthood during the 1960s, the time of the “generation of ‘68”. That makes me, obviously, a child of the 1950s, the time period of this very interesting movie, “Revolutionary Road” based on a book by the darkly sardonic writer, Richard Yates. I have also seemingly endlessly pointed out my experiences and the effects they had as a result of growing up among the marginally working poor in that ‘golden age’. I am fond of saying that I didn’t know there was any other condition than being poor for a long time. Well, I did find out there was and although in my youth I would still have had a hard time relating to the story line of this film. The ‘trials and tribulations’, then, of an upwardly mobile, prosperous young couple, the Wheelers, Frank and April, with the mandatory two charming children (although amazingly well hidden throughout the film) and a nice leafy suburban house in some nice town in Connecticut would have gone over my head. Now though I can a little more readily appreciate the seamy psychologically paralyzing side of that existence.

As graphically portrayed in the film, that seamy side that also provided some of the most powerful scenes in the movie, and best acting moments by both Winslett and DiCaprio (last seen together in "Titanic") the central driving force of the story is the emptiness of middle class existence in the 1950s. Cookie-cutter is the word that came to mind as Frank and April try to break the golden bonds that keep them tied to their old life. One of the nice moments cinematically is the sequence involving Frank’s routine workday morning ritual catching the train to New York City (along with all the other felt-hatted men, the symbol of success in that period). Another sober moment is when April takes out the rubbish in their deathless suburban tract and realizes that this life is not for her.

But how to break those golden chains? The issues presented here about consumerism, meaningless and vacuous work, the isolated role of women in the nuclear family (and the question of women's reproductive rights that drives the final section of the film), the eternal struggle for security in an individualistically-driven society are all issues that got a fuller workout and wider airing in the 1960s (and since). In a sense the ‘whimsical’ Wheelers were too early. They were before their time. However, although times have changed, I will bet serious money that if you go to some Connecticut train station headed to New York City on any Monday morning you will see, two generations removed and without the hats, men and women making that same meaningless trip that old Frank made. Yates was definitely onto something about the nature of modern capitalist social organization. But I will confess something, although I know better now the stresses of that fate, I would not have minded, minded at all, growing up in that little ‘cottage’ the Wheelers called home. That, however, is a story for another day. In the meantime note this. I am glad, glad as hell, that I followed my version of 'revolutionary road', not theirs.

*Dalton Trumbo’s “Johnny Got His Gun”- A Film Excerpt

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of an excerpt from the 1971 film version of Dalton Trumbo's "Johnny Got His Gun", starring Donald Sutherland.


Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye
words and music Traditional

While on the road to sweet Athy, hurroo, hurroo
While on the road to sweet Athy, hurroo, hurroo
While on the road to sweet Athy
A stick in me hand and a drop in me eye
A doleful damsel I heard cry,
Johnny I hardly knew ye.

With your drums and guns and drums and guns, hurroo, hurroo
With your drums and guns and drums and guns, hurroo, hurroo
With your drums and guns and drums and guns
The enemy nearly slew ye
Oh my darling dear, Ye look so queer
Johnny I hardly knew ye.

Where are your eyes that look so mild, hurroo, hurroo
Where are your eyes that look so mild, hurroo, hurroo
Where are your eyes that look so mild
When my poor heart you first beguiled
Why did ye run from me and the child
Oh Johnny, I hardly knew ye.

Where are your legs with which ye run, hurroo, hurroo
Where are your legs with which ye run, hurroo, hurroo
Where are your legs with which ye run
When first you learned to carry a gun
Indeed your dancing days are done
Oh Johnny, I hardly knew ye.

I'm happy for to see ye home, hurroo, hurroo
I'm happy for to see ye home, hurroo, hurroo
I'm happy for to see ye home
All from the island of Sulloon
So low in flesh, so high in bone
Oh Johnny I hardly knew ye.

Ye haven't an arm, ye haven't a leg, hurroo, hurroo
Ye haven't an arm, ye haven't a leg, hurroo, hurroo
Ye haven't an arm, ye haven't a leg
Ye're an armless, boneless, chickenless egg
Ye'll be having to put a bowl to beg
Oh Johnny I hardly knew ye.

I'm happy for to see ye home, hurroo, hurroo
I'm happy for to see ye home, hurroo, hurroo
I'm happy for to see ye home
All from the island of Ceylon;
So low in the flesh, so high in the boon.
Johnny I hardly knew ye.

Extra lyrics I found:

They're rolling out the guns again, hurroo, hurroo
They're rolling out the guns again, hurroo, hurroo
They're rolling out the guns again
But they never will take our sons again
No they never will take our sons again
Johnny I'm swearing to ye.

Chords: KEY D

Background: Which came first the chicken or the egg. I first learned about "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" from a popular American version written during the Civil War. That song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" was first published in 1863 as "Words and Music by Louis Lambert," which was a pseudonym for Patrick Sarsfield, 1829-1892. Patrick was a native of Ireland who emigrated to Boston. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" is a rousing song about a hero returning from war.

The first published version of "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" came out several years after Sarsfield's song. Nevertheless, it is strongly believed to have originated in Ireland.

It's a much more somber song that tells about the woes and horrors of war in the popular folk tradition of describing the body parts blown off a soldier who does not come home to his love.

*Writer’s Corner- Dalton Trumbo’s Anti-War Classic “Johnny Got His Gun”

Click on title to link to Wikipedia's entry for Dalton Trumbo's classic anti-war novel "Johnny Got His Gun".

The subject of war has had all sorts of novelistic treatments, the most successful usually trending lightly on the war action itself and delving into the personal choices and consequences of the characters as their central aim. In that odd sense the most compelling novelistic treatments are either pro-war (for some seemingly rational reason like defending one’s country or coming to the aid of a smaller, weaker country, etc.) or neutral to the more physical and psychological dimensions of the situation. A flat out, anti-war (or, to use a more vague term, pacifistic) treatment is usually not successful either because it has a “preaching to the choir” quality or strikes some false chord. That is not the case with Dalton Trumbo’s “Johnny Got His Gun”.


Although this novel was written under the sign of the Hitler-Stalin Pact in the late 1930s , reflected in Communist International and American Communist Party political line as one of intense opposition to Western war preparations it brings more home truths than merely another piece of ‘communistic’ propaganda and it would be incorrect even for staunch anti-Stalinists to dismiss it out of hand. Joe, the main character here, maimed beyond belief and repair, is every mother’s son, every American mother’s son. His interior monologue, as he remembers his past, his lost youth, his desires and the useless way he was used in the last days of World War I is almost unique in the way the story unfolds. It certainly is not for the faint-hearted, or the weak-minded. As steps are now being taken to up the ante in Afghanistan, another one of those wars to ‘defend’ democracy this thing should be required reading for every mother, and every mother’s son and daughter who seeks to put him or herself in harm’s way.

Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye
words and music Traditional

While on the road to sweet Athy, hurroo, hurroo
While on the road to sweet Athy, hurroo, hurroo
While on the road to sweet Athy
A stick in me hand and a drop in me eye
A doleful damsel I heard cry,
Johnny I hardly knew ye.

With your drums and guns and drums and guns, hurroo, hurroo
With your drums and guns and drums and guns, hurroo, hurroo
With your drums and guns and drums and guns
The enemy nearly slew ye
Oh my darling dear, Ye look so queer
Johnny I hardly knew ye.

Where are your eyes that look so mild, hurroo, hurroo
Where are your eyes that look so mild, hurroo, hurroo
Where are your eyes that look so mild
When my poor heart you first beguiled
Why did ye run from me and the child
Oh Johnny, I hardly knew ye.

Where are your legs with which ye run, hurroo, hurroo
Where are your legs with which ye run, hurroo, hurroo
Where are your legs with which ye run
When first you learned to carry a gun
Indeed your dancing days are done
Oh Johnny, I hardly knew ye.

I'm happy for to see ye home, hurroo, hurroo
I'm happy for to see ye home, hurroo, hurroo
I'm happy for to see ye home
All from the island of Sulloon
So low in flesh, so high in bone
Oh Johnny I hardly knew ye.

Ye haven't an arm, ye haven't a leg, hurroo, hurroo
Ye haven't an arm, ye haven't a leg, hurroo, hurroo
Ye haven't an arm, ye haven't a leg
Ye're an armless, boneless, chickenless egg
Ye'll be having to put a bowl to beg
Oh Johnny I hardly knew ye.

I'm happy for to see ye home, hurroo, hurroo
I'm happy for to see ye home, hurroo, hurroo
I'm happy for to see ye home
All from the island of Ceylon;
So low in the flesh, so high in the boon.
Johnny I hardly knew ye.

Extra lyrics I found:

They're rolling out the guns again, hurroo, hurroo
They're rolling out the guns again, hurroo, hurroo
They're rolling out the guns again
But they never will take our sons again
No they never will take our sons again
Johnny I'm swearing to ye.

Chords: KEY D

Background: Which came first the chicken or the egg. I first learned about "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye" from a popular American version written during the Civil War. That song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" was first published in 1863 as "Words and Music by Louis Lambert," which was a pseudonym for Patrick Sarsfield, 1829-1892. Patrick was a native of Ireland who emigrated to Boston. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" is a rousing song about a hero returning from war.

The first published version of "Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye" came out several years after Sarsfield's song. Nevertheless, it is strongly believed to have originated in Ireland.

It's a much more somber song that tells about the woes and horrors of war in the popular folk tradition of describing the body parts blown off a soldier who does not come home to his love.

*In The Spirit Of Dalton Trumbo -From The Folk Archives- Richard And Mimi Farina Performng "House Un-American Blues Activity Dream"

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Richard and Mimi Farina performing 'House Un-American Blues Activity Dream" on Dalton Trumbo's fellow blacklistee Pete Seeger's 1960s television show, "Rainbow Quest". It all fits here doesn't it. All honor to those who said no to that committee, come what may.


Lyrics to House Un-American Blues Activity Dream :

I was standing on the sidewalk, had a noise in my head.
There were loudspeakers babbling, but nothing was said.
There were twenty-seven companies of female Marines.
There were presidential candidates in new Levis jeans.
It was the red, white and blue planning how to endure.
The fife, drum and bugle marching down on the poor.
God bless America, without any doubt.
And I figured it was time to get out.

Well I have to b'lieve that in between scenes, good people.
Went and got em done in the sun, good people.
Tourist information said to get on the stick.
You ain't moving 'til you're grooving with a Cubana chick.
So I hopped on a plane, I took a pill for my brain,
and I discovered I was feeling all right.
When I strolled down the Prado, people looked at me weird.
Who's that hippy, hoppy character without any beard?
Drinking juice from papayas, singing songs to the trees.
Dancing mambo on the beaches, spreading social disease.

Now the Castro convertible was changing the style,
a whole lot of action on a blockaded isle.
When along come a summons in the middle of night,
saying, "Buddy, we're about to indict."
When I went up on the stand with my hand, good people.
You've got to tell the truth in the booth, good people.
I started out with information kind of remote.
When a patriotic mother dragged me down by the throat.
"If they ask you a question, they expect a reply!"
Doesn't matter if you're fixin' to die.

Well I was lying there unconscious feeling kind of exempt.
When the judge said that silence was a sign of contempt.
He took out his gavel, banged me hard on the head.
He fined me ten years in prison, and a whole lot of bread.
It was the red, white and blue making war on the poor.
Blind mother justice, on a pile of manure.
Say your prayers and the Pledge of Allegiance every night.
And tomorrow, you'll be feeling all right.

*Poet’s Corner- Early Soviet Poet Vladimir Mayakovsky

Click on title to link to the Vladimir Mayakovsky Internet Archive to read some of his poems, especailly from the famous "The Bedbug".

Vladimir Mayakovsky 1922

You

Source: The Bedbug and selected poetry, translated by Max Hayward and George Reavey. Meridian Books, New York, 1960;Transcribed: by Mitchell Abidor.

You came –
determined, because I was large,
because I was roaring,
but on close inspectionyou saw a mere boy.
You seized and snatched away my heartand
beganto play with it –
like a girl with a bouncing ball.
And before this miracle
every womanwas either a lady astounded
or a maiden inquiring:
“Love such a fellow?
Why, he'll pounce on you!
She must be a lion tamer,a girl from the zoo!”
But I was triumphant.I didn’t feel it –the yoke!
Oblivious with joy,
I jumped and leapt about,
a bride-happy redskin,
I felt so elated and light.

*From The Pen Of Early Soviet Culture Commissar Anatol Lunacharsky- On Henrik Ibsen

Click on title to link to the Anatol Lunacharsky Internet Archive's copy of his essay on the great Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen. Lunacharsky may have been a 'soft' Bolshevik and conciliatory toward Stalin, when the deal went down and the Russian Left Opposition was defeated, but he certainly has some interesting and thoughtful insights on the "culture wars" of his day.

*From The Pen Of Early Soviet Culture Commissar Anatol Lunacharsky-On Marcel Proust

Click on title to link to the Anatol Lunacharsky Internet Archive's copy of his essay on the great Russian writer Pushkin. Lunacharsky may have been a 'soft' Bolshevik and conciliatory toward Stalin, when the deal went down and the Russian Left Opposition was defeated, but he certainly has some interesting and thoughtful insights on the "culture wars" of his day.

*From The Pen Of Early Soviet Culture Commissar Anatol Lunacharsky- On Maxim Gorky

Click on title to link to the Anatol Lunacharsky Internet Archive's copy of his essay on the great Russian writer Maxim Gorky. Lunacharsky may have been a 'soft' Bolshevik and conciliatory toward Stalin, when the deal went down and the Russian Left Opposition was defeated, but he certainly has some interesting and thoughtful insights on the "culture wars" of his day.

*From The Pen Of Early Soviet Culture Commissar Anatol Lunacharsky- On Russain Poet Mayakovsky

Click on title to link to the Anatol Lunacharsky Internet Archive's copy of his essay on the great Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. Lunacharsky may have been a 'soft' Bolshevik and conciliatory toward Stalin, when the deal went down and the Russian Left Opposition was defeated, but he certainly has some interesting and thoughtful insights on the "culture wars" of his day.

*From The Pen Of Early Soviet Culture Commissar Anatol Lunacharsky-On George Bernard Shaw

Click on title to link to the Anatol Lunacharsky Internet Archive's copy of his essay on the great British writer George Bernard Shaw. Lunacharsky may have been a 'soft' Bolshevik and conciliatory toward Stalin, when the deal went down and the Russian Left Opposition was defeated, but he certainly has some interesting and thoughtful insights on the "culture wars" of his day.

*From The Pen Of Early Soviet Culture Commissar Anatol Lunacharsky- On Dostoevsky

Click on title to link to the Anatol Lunacharsky Internet Archive's copy of his essay on the great Russian writer Dostoevsky. Lunacharsky may have been a 'soft' Bolshevik and conciliatory toward Stalin, when the deal went down and the Russian Left Opposition was defeated, but he certainly has some interesting and thoughtful insights on the "culture wars" of his day.

*From The Pen Of Early Soviet Culture Commissar Anatol Lunacharsky- On Pushkin

Click on title to link to the Anatol Lunacharsky Internet Archive's copy of his essay on the great Russian writer Pushkin. Lunacharsky may have been a 'soft' Bolshevik and conciliatory toward Stalin, when the deal went down and the Russian Left Oppposition was defeated, but he certainly has some interesting and thoughtful insights on the "culture wars" of his day.

*Those Who Fight For Native American Leader Leonard Peltier's Freedom Are Kindred Spirits- From The Pen Of Peter Matheissen

Click on title to link to a "The New York Review Of Books" article by writer Peter Matheisssen, "The Tragedy Of Leonard Peltier vs. The United States", detailing his long personal struggle to gain freedom for Native American leader Leonard Peltier. Hats off. Leonard Peltier Must Not Die In Prison!

*On The Harpers Ferry Raid Anniversary- All Those Who Honor John Brown Are Kindred Spirits- A Guest Commentary

Click on title to link to an article from "Workers Vanguard", November 6, 2009, "From The Archives Of Marxism-The 150th Anniversary Of Harpers Ferry Raid- Honor John Brown". I need add nothing here-the title speaks for itself for readers of this space.


John Brown's Body

The tune was originally a camp-meeting hymn Oh brothers, will you meet us on Canaan's happy shore? It evolved into this tune. In 1861 Julia Ward Howe wife of a government official, wrote a poem for Atlantic Monthly for five dollars. The magazine called it, Battle Hymn of the Republic. The music may be by William Steffe.


John Brown's body lies a-mold'ring in the grave
John Brown's body lies a-mold'ring in the grave
John Brown's body lies a-mold'ring in the grave
His soul goes marching on

Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
His soul is marching on

He captured Harper's Ferry with his nineteen men so true
He frightened old Virginia till she trembled
through and through
They hung him for a traitor, themselves the traitor crew
His soul is marching on


Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!

His soul is marching on
John Brown died that the slave might be free,
John Brown died that the slave might be free,
John Brown died that the slave might be free,
But his soul is marching on!


Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
His soul is marching on

The stars above in Heaven are looking kindly down
The stars above in Heaven are looking kindly down
The stars above in Heaven are looking kindly down
On the grave of old John Brown

Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory! Hallelujah!
His soul is marching on

Information and lyrics from
Best Loved Songs of the American People
See Bibliography for full information.

*In The Beginning There Was……Jug- Songstress Maria Muldaur Goes Back Home

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Maria Muldaur performing with the Jim Kweskin Jug Band back in the days.

CD Review

Maria Muldaur And Her Garden Of Joy, Maria Muldaur and the Garden of Joy Jug Band, Stony Plain, 2009


The last time that I featured the femme fatale blues torch singer reincarnate Maria Muldaur (at least that is the way that she, successfully, projected herself in her recent blues revival projects) was in a review of her 2007 CD tribute to the great singers of the 1920s and 1930s, Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, Sippy Wallace and the like. I might add that I raved on and on about the value of her project, the worthiness of the singers honored and her own place in the blues pantheon. Of course, for those in the know about the roots of the folk revival of the 1960s at least, the name Maria Muldaur is forever associated with another closely-related branch of roots music-the jug band. Maria was the very fetching female vocalist for the old time revivalist Jim Kweskin Jug Band (and an earlier effort in her home town, New York City, by John Sebastian of The Lovin’ Spoonful fame, The Even Dozen Jug Band).

Well, hold the presses please, because the red hot blues mama has come back home in her latest project, the CD under review, “Maria Muldaur And Her Garden Of Joy”. And if Maria was kind of thrown in the background somewhat in those days by the strong presence of Jim Kweskin and that of her ex-husband Geoff Muldaur she is front and center on this effort. One of the virtues of jug music back in the day was that it was basically zany, funny, send-off kind of music and full of, usually, high-spirited if coded sexual innuendos. This, on occasion, was a welcome break from the heavy political message songs that were de rigueur or the traditional ballads filled with tales of thwarted love, duplicity and murder and mayhem. In this CD Maria brings back the energy and just plain wistfulness of that type of music. And she does it on her terms.

As fate would have it, or rather by a conscious act, I happened to see Maria and her very fine new jug band made up of younger, well, Jim Kweskin jug band-types (along with guest performer, now blues/ragtime guitar virtuoso John Sebastian) in Cambridge (one of her old stomping rounds and an important secondary center of the folk revival in the 1960s). And, like the last time I saw her a couple of years ago when she was that femme fatale blues singer, she did not disappoint. The woman carried the show with the energy of the old days (that you can get an idea of by going on "YouTube" in a click from 1966).

The line between jug music and flat out torch blues sometimes is not that wide and the switch over thus is not that dramatic. At least in Maria's hands. Witness her version of Mississippi John Hurt’s “Richland Woman” which she did jug-style at the concert (she did a more lowdown bluesy version on her “Richland Woman” album). The example on this album that comes to mind is the little known but, currently, very relevant 1929 song “Bank Failure Blues”. Also the classic jug tune “Garden Of Joy” and another one “Sweet Lovin’ Ol’ Soul” (also done blues-style on a previous album of the same name). This is good stuff but begs the question. Jim Kweskin is still performing. Geoff Muldaur is still performing. Geoff and Jim occasionally perform together. Wouldn’t it be a treat if...?

Blues Lyrics - Mississippi John Hurt Richland's Woman Blues

All rights to lyrics included on these pages belong to the artists and authors of the works. All lyrics, photographs, soundclips and other material on this website may only be used for private study, scholarship or research. by Mississippi John Hurt recording of 19 from

Gimme red lipstick and a bright purple rouge
A shingle bob haircut and a shot of good boo'
Hurry down, sweet daddy, come blowin' your horn
If you come too late, sweet mama will be gone
Come along young man, everything settin' right
My husbands goin' away till next Saturday night
Hurry down, sweet daddy, come blowin' you horn
If you come too late, sweet mama will be gone
Now, I'm raring to go, got red shoes on my feet
My mind is sittin' right for a Tin Lizzie seat
Hurry down, sweet daddy, come blowin' you horn
If you come too late, sweet mama will be gone
The red rooster said, "Cockle-doodle-do-do"
The Richard's' woman said, "Any dude will do"
Hurry down, sweet daddy, come blowin' you horn
If you come too late, sweet mama will be gone
With rosy red garters, pink hose on my feet
Turkey red bloomer, with a rumble seat
Hurry down, sweet daddy, come blowin' you horn
If you come too late, sweet mama will be gone
Every Sunday mornin', church people watch me go
My wings sprouted out, and the preacher told me so
Hurry down, sweet daddy, come blowin' you horn
If you come too late, sweet mama will be gone
Dress skirt cut high, then they cut low
Don't think I'm a sport, keep on watchin' me go
Hurry down, sweet daddy, come blowin' you horn
If you come too late, sweet mama will be gone __________

Note 1: a woman's haircut with the hair trimmed short from the back of the head to the nape; Note 2: nickname for the Model T Ford automobile (1915), a small inexpensive first time mass- produced early automobile.

*I Hear That Whistle When She Blows- Utah Phillps' "Daddy, What's A Train?

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Utah Phillips performing his classic train song, "Daddy, What's A Train?".

Markin comment: How could, on a day when I am reviewing a book about the building of the American transcontinental railroad, such an entry be complete without a nod to one of the "knights of the rails", the late folksinger/storyteller Utah Phillips and his classic train song, "Daddy What's A Train?".



Daddy What's A Train

Most everybody who knows me knows that I'm a train nut. In Dayton, Ohio, when I was 12 years old during the Second World War, there was a railroad that went close by Greenmont Village. A bunch of the kids and I built a fort out of old railroad ties, half dug in the ground and half above the ground. We let a bum sleep in there one night - I think he was the first railroad bum I remember meeting - came back the next day and it had been burned down. He'd evidently set it on fire or started it accidentally.

Playing around in that fort we'd see the big steam engines run by. The engineers would wave, and the parlor shack back in the crummy - that's the brakeman who stays in the caboose - would wave, too. Put your ear down on the rail and you could hear the trains coming. We'd play games on the ties and swing ourselves on the rails. Also we'd pick up a lot of coal to take home. I understand that during the Depression a lot of families kept their homes warm by going out along the right of way and picking up coal that had fallen out of the coal tenders.
This song is written for my little boy Duncan. His grandfather, Raymond P. Jensen, was a railroad man for over 40 years on the Union Pacific, working as an inspector. There's a lot of railroading in Duncan's family, but he hasn't ridden trains very much.

Daddy, What's a Train?-Utah Phillips

(sung to chorus tune)

When I was just a boy living by the track
Us kids'd gather up the coal in a great big gunny sack,
And then we'd hear the warning sound as the train pulled into view
And the engineer would smile and wave as she went rolling through;

(spoken)
She blew so loud and clear
That we covered up our ears
And counted cars as high as we could go.
I can almost hear the steam
And the big old drivers scream
With a sound my little boy will never know.

I guess the times have changed and kids are different now;
Some don't even seem to know that milk comes from a cow.
My little boy can tell the names of all the baseball stars
And I remember how we memorized the names on railroad cars -


The Wabash and TP
Lackawanna and IC
Nickel Plate and the good old Santa Fe;
Names out of the past
And I know they're fading fast
Every time I hear my little boy say.

Well, we climbed into the car and drove down into town
Right up to the depot house but no one was around.
We searched the yard together for something I could show
But I knew there hadn't been a train for a dozen years or so.

All the things I did
When I was just a kid-
How far away the memories appear,
And it's plain enough to see
They mean a lot to me
'Cause my ambition was to be an engineer.

Copyright ©1973, 2000 Bruce Phillips

*On The 20th Anniversary Of The Fall Of The Berlin Wall- From The Pen Of Alan Woods- A Guest Commentary

Click on title to link to an "In Defense Of Marxism" article (via Renegade Eye)by Alan Woods on November 9, 2009 the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Markin comment:

This article by Alan Woods is a useful general commentary that does a fairly good job of highlighting the events of that period. Two weaknesses in the article though. A little too strong emphasis on the anecdotal evidence that some of those who thought that so-called "market socialism" would be better than the bureaucratized central planning system that they known. There is no, or little, evidence that this post-dated "buyer's remorse" noted in the article has led to anything stronger than some grumbling.

More importantly, there is no information in the article about what the International Marxist Tendency's policies were at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall and what they were advising their co-thinkers to do. In short how to fight for the political revolution (or at least fight off the counterrevolution) For an article attempting to teach the lessons of history and to educate today's youth that is a serious shortcoming. Unless one believes that nothing could be done and that one should just follow the crowd. That would be worse.


Markin comment- November 16, 2009


This last point is of no mere academic interest. I am personally, painfully, aware of what an incorrect orientation, or rather a somewhat early studied indifference toward the events of 20 years ago surrounding the demise of the deformed and degenerated workers states signaled above all by the fall of the Berlin Wall had on future revolutionary prospects. I have noted elsewhere in this space (see "*On The 20th Anniversary Of The Fall Of The Berlin Wall - The Defeated Fight To Save Socialism- The International Communist League View", Novemeber 2, 2009) what the demise of the Soviet Union and the other non-capitalist states of East Europe have had on the prospects for socialism. The learning of the lessons of that hard truth will be the subject for a future fuller commentary but for now here is an outline of my thinking on the matter.

Throughout most of the last half of the 1980s I (and here in this commentary I speak solely for myself), and some other political associates I was working with at the time, some in Europe although none directly in Germany, had our eyes and political antennae focused on what we consistently considered the alarming situation in the Soviet Union (and to a lesser extent China, the other important workers state). Frankly, the bubbling up of intensely pro-capitalism opposition from various East European countries caught me by surprise, at least its intensity. Moreover, toward the destruction of the Berlin Wall as anything other than a secondary symbolic gesture I was rather agnostic.

Why? Two basic reasons that bear directly on my comments on the Wood article above. First, I overestimated the commitment of the various Stalinist bureaucracies to preserving their own workers states (the desire to hold onto state power for their own personal or political reasons). If one of the prerequisites for revolution (or, as here, counter-revolution) is that the old ruling regime cannot, or will not, defend itself against popular mass action then this proved to be massively true in 1989. Above all I thought the East German bureaucracy, as pivotal as the DRG was to the military and political interest of the Soviet Union, would…hold out in the short term. I was ready to make, devoted Trotsky admirer or not, a tacit bloc with any wing of the crumbling Stalinist bureaucracies that would just not give up (at least until we could organize the pro-communist, anti-Stalinist political revolution against them).

Secondly, I underestimated the extent of the rejection of socialism among the populations, including the working classes, of the East European states as a whole. This view certainly underestimated the identification in the popular mind of Stalinism and socialism (a continuing one, by the way). For a whole bunch of historical reasons, including feelings of national oppression by the presence of Soviet troops, I knew that some sections of the population had always been hostile to socialism, in any form. Rather than cut across that clearly and cleanly with a call for a new Bolshevik Party to rally whatever pro-socialist forces were around and to fight against the counter-revolutionary actions unfolding I drifted along trying to deny reality. And that reality, from our pro-communist perspective, was that rather than an amorphous mass this situation was driven by serious counter-revolutionary impulses. The media images might have been wrapped up in “democratic” rhetoric but no Western imperialist was unhappy with what they saw unfolding among the “people”. I think, for now at least, these comments should buttress my case for the need to learn the lessons of the history of this period for our side. We already know their "death of communism" side. More, and I think much more, later.

**I Hear That Whistle When She Blows-Creation Of A Unitary Continental United States-State- The Building Of The Transcontinental Railroad

Click on title to link to Wikipedia's entry for the (First) Transcontinental Railroad discussed below.

Book Review

Nothing Like It In The World: The Men Who Built The Transcontinental Railroad, 1863-1869, Stephen E. Ambrose, Touchstone Books, New York, 2000

I have spend a great amount of time, and I believe rightly so, in drawing out the lessons of the struggle against slavery as they were played out as the great task of the American Civil War of the mid-19th century. I have mentioned, generally in passing, that the other great task of that fight was the preservation (and extension) of a continental nation-state by the victory of the Union forces. As Karl Marx did, steeped as he was in the traditions of historical materialism, I too saw the creation of a unitary capitalist state at that time as a historically progressive outcome. That said, it is one thing to be in favor of such an outcome, another to see how, in the specific circumstances of the vast North American land mass, that state was to be unified. The subject of this book, the struggle to create a transcontinental railroad, goes a long way to understanding how that task was accomplished, not only as a marvelous engineering feat but as a spur to a more systematic capitalist mode of mass production.

As the author the late Stephen Ambrose, previously known more for his historical works chronicling the war leaders and dog soldiers of his generation, the generation of my parents, the so-called “greatest generation” that survived the Great Depression of the 1930s and fought World War II, has noted this Herculean task was done using the most basic pre-capitalist methods, simple tools and man power, lots of man power. When completed in a few years time , as he also noted, the United States looked, or rather would look shortly thereafter light years different that the simple agrarian society projected by the founders of the country. Today, in our digital age, we are probably closer to those who created the transcontinental railroad society that they were to the hundred of generations before them who walked or used horses to do their traveling.

Of course, this railroad story is a rather good cautionary tale about the virtues and vices of capitalism, capitalists and the onset of the “Gilded Age” that the railroads, their financing and their political clout would speed up. This then is not a laconic tale of hoboes jungled up along some railroad right of way or “riding the blinds” or taking to the road in search of adventure as Kerouac's “beat” generation did. This is a tale of dreams, plans, power, greed, more greed, hard work, hard living, hard drinking and hard dying. Ambrose lays it out in a very compelling and easy to read way, although a minor fault is a too frequent repetition of the facts in one chapter being used again in another in order to bulk up a narrative with a pretty straightforward theme.

As to the dreams, that was the easy part and affected everyone in pre-Civil War America from the old railroad lawyer Abraham Lincoln to such well-known speculators and Gilded Age figures as Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins and Coliss Huntington. As to the plan- private enterprise (backed by the government) was the order of the day and the route, finally established after much political dickering, through the center of the country with two competing lines-the Central Pacific (now part of today’s Southern Pacific –the sight of which when I travel in the West still makes me nostalgic) and the aptly-named Union Pacific.

As to the massive engineering task forgotten names like Ted Judah and the Civil War general, Grenville Dodge. drove the thing forward, through thick and thin. As to the hard work, mainly done by my Irish forbears on the UP side and the Chinese (with important help from the Mormons in Utah) on the CP side, as detailed by Ambrose represents the first inkling of what industrial mass production would look like later. Needless to say the heroes of this story who left no diaries or other writings are those workers who toiled endlessly and effectively to completion. I do have one question, just to be contrary as usual. Why was this project not done as a national task by the central government? As we know the later tales of railroad finacing after 1869, like the Credit Mobilier scandal, not covered in the book, made some of today’s financial shenanigans look tame by comparison. Why were the rails only nationalized, if at all, after those private railroads went belly-up with the advent of mass production automobiles and super highways ( of which one, I-80, follows the basic CP-UP route from Omaha) in the late 20th century?