Stop The Boston MBTA Fare Hikes-They Say "Fare Hike" We Say FARE STRIKE! -JULY 1ST, 2012

FARE STRIKE!

The object of a fare strike is to convince the MBTA that they are going to lose more money because of the fare strike than they are going to gain by raising the fare or cutting service. This is entirely possible if enough people participate.

The only way the MBTA will respond to our needs is if we can put real pressure on them—if we can disrupt business as usual. We have the power to do this. One third of MBTA's budget comes from fares. They depend on us as riders to pay fares, and as workers to collect fares. When riders refuse to pay, and workers refuse to; collect, that will really hit them where it hurts.

We can get where we need to go, have a free ride, and 'put pressure on them at the same time. If this happened on a large scale, they would move quickly to reverse the fare hikes.

Get on the bus anyway you can. Go in the front door or the back door, whatever feels right to you. Don't cause a scene. Just don't pay. Or, start a conversation with the driver and your fellow riders, and together decide to participate in the strike.

Whatever you do, be polite to the driver. They are not the enemy. They have a very difficult and stressful job. Fare hikes, service cuts, and layoffs make their job more difficult. Many, if not most, of the drivers are sympathetic to our efforts.

TOGETHER, RIDERS AND DRIVERS UNITED, WE CAN WIN!

How do we build a fare strike? Get in touch!

BOSTON FARE STRIKE

What is Boston Fare Strike? We're a coalition of Boston-area organizations and individuals that came together this Spring to meet the July 1st fare hikes with a fare strike. We see this action as a first step in a long-term struggle to not only defend our public transit, but to improve and expand it to better serve the people of Boston and the surrounding environment.

Join the struggle!

Email: BostonFareStrike@rilhip.net

Website: bostonfarestrike.tumblr.com

Find us on Facebook

Read more about the MBTA hikes here: http://
mbta.com/about the mbta/?id=23567

No Fare Hikes!

No Service

No Layoffs!

They Say "Fare Hike" We Say FARE STRIKE! -JULY 1ST, 2012-

*****************
FARE HIKE?

On July 1st, the MBTA will raise fares 23%. That means your bus trip will go from $1.25 to $1.50, your subway fare from $1.70 to $2.00, and Bus-Subway combo monthly passes from $59 to $70. This increase is not to fund better service, cleaner facilities, more seating, or even more jobs. It's to knock $33 million off of the MBTA's $185 million debt.

MBTA's debt is from years of mismanagement, bad decisions by the politicians, and a recession caused by big banks. But the MBTA is asking us who have the least to spare-working people, students, immigrants, unemployed, and other members of the working class—to reach deeper into our pockets.

This is just the beginning. While "The T's yearly operating budget is millions of dollars in the red," according to NECN's Eileen Curran, "the long-term debt is in the billions." That means that
July's hikes are only a glimpse of what we can expect down the road. MBTA employees, who escaped this round of cuts mostly unscathed, will likely face major layoffs and benefits cuts next year in addition to future fare hikes. Public transportation should be defended and *expanded* to create jobs, help working people, and benefit the environment. How can the people of Boston stop these cuts and defend our transit system and our jobs in the long term? We must build power and strength together. Riders and workers must band together to launch a fare strike on July 1st!

Dublin in 2003 the bus drivers union called a fare tree as part of an ongoing fight against privatization on the city's bus system.

In 1998, a fare strike in LA organized by the LA Bus Riders Unions not only stopped a fare strike, but pressured LA into buying more buses to reduce crowding.

In some French cities, organized rare evasion became so common, it was more expensive to pay the police to watch all the metros and buses than to just make transport free which is what then happened in a number of cities*

In Italy, fare strike widespread and sucessfully stopped fare increases all over the country.

1993: in San Francisco a fare evasion cam­paign pressured the city to bring
back transfers which they did.

This Spring, Occupy Wall Street and TWU in New York chained exit doors open during rush hour, giving thousands of com­muters a free ride.

In Greece, transportation hikes were stopped through a massive non-pay­ment of fares while uniting with demands of transit workers.

There are successful, ongoing fare evasion campaigns in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Helsinki

Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By-From The Janitors For Justice Struggle

In this series, presented under the headline “Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By”, I will post some songs that I think will help us get through the “dog days” of the struggle for our communist future. I do not vouch for the political thrust of the songs; for the most part they are done by pacifists, social democrats, hell, even just plain old ordinary democrats. And, occasionally, a communist, although hard communist musicians have historically been scarce on the ground. Thus, here we have a regular "popular front" on the music scene. While this would not be acceptable for our political prospects, it will suffice for our purposes here. Markin.
**********
Gritos/Chant Sheet

Grito/Chant #1
Capitol escucha Estamos en la lucha

Grito/Chant #2
De norte a sur De este a oeste Ganaremos esta lucha Cueste lo que cueste

Grito/Chant #3
El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido

Grito/Chant #4
Esta lucha no se para
Ni con nieve! Ni con agua!

Grito/Chant #5
No pare Sigue Sigue

Grito/Chant #6
Que queremos? Justicia!!! Cuando? Ahora!!!

Grito/Chant #7
Estamos aquf en la calle porque
se puede
Si Se Puede
Marchando por la justicia porque
se puede
Si Se Puede
Exigiendo nuestros derechos
porque se puede
Si Se Puede

Grito/Chant #8
Arriba la Uni6n Aba jo la explotacion

Grito/Chant #9
Miren Escuchen Venga lo que venga Si aqui no hay justicia Aqui va haber candela

Grito/Chant #10
Se Puede? Si Se Puede!!!

Grito/Chaht #11
mira oye qve se mueve soinos el 9(>!!!
EngHsh/lngles

Grito/Chant #12
Hey people i
What
I got a story
What
I'll tell the whole wide world this is union territory

Grito/Chant #13
What disgusting Union Bustin Whats outrageous Poverty Wages

Grito/Chant #14
The people united
will never be defeated!!!

Grito/Chant #15
What do we want?
Justice!!!
When do we want it now?
NOW!!!

Grito/Chant #16
Move Capitol get out the way get out the way move get out the way

Grito/Chant #17
who's street our street!!

Grito/Chant #18
Were fired up
We cant take it no more

Grito/Chant #19
We are the 99% We are the 99%

Our Call To Action:UniteWomen.org

Markin comment:

I place some material in this space which may be of interest to the radical public that I do not necessarily agree with or support. Off hand, as I have mentioned before, I think it would be easier, infinitely easier, to fight for the socialist revolution straight up than some of the “remedies” provided by the commentators in these entries. But part of that struggle for the socialist revolution is to sort out the “real” stuff from the fluff as we struggle for that more just world that animates our efforts.
*************

Our Future, Your Future
UniteWomen.org

Our Call To Action:
Voter Education: We will continue to highlight legislative proposals for or against women's rights in all states and nationally. We will track individual lawmaker's voting record on women's rights issues.

Voter Registration Efforts: We will work with communities to register and mobilize the 46 million women who are not currently registered to vote.

Voter ID Laws: We will assist voters to fight efforts that limit voter participation by womenand low-income voters.

Elections: We will support and work for candidates that believe in full equality for women in all areas of our lives.
In an election year that could mean the difference between progress on many fronts or taking a giant step backward.

www.unitewomen.org

"All of this has been accomplished in less than two months, without money, without "connections", without really knowing what the end result might look like, and, yet, without hesitation." ~ Karen Teegarden

UniteWomen.org

Thank you for standing up and standing proud, to defend our constitutional right to make our own decisions and participate as equals within our society. The fight doesn't stop here: we must remain vigilant to legislation being proposed at state and national levels and the activities of extremist groups.

UniteWomen.org has far-ranging plans that include voter education and mobilization in every state, organizing college students, legislative and political action in states, and more.

We look forward to your continued support of UniteWomen.org. Together, we will tell the world: Enough is Enough!

About Us: UniteWomen.org is a national grassroots organization founded in February 2012 to protect and advance women's rights in all areas of our lives across our lifespan. Working with members in all 50 states, we identify our common concerns and develop action programs to address them. We work in partnership with other groups that share our mission of a better life for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.

#YO SOY 132

#YO SOY 132


Un movimiento importante en Mexico actualmente es la lucha contra el fraude electoral, la represion policial y la corrupcion endemica. Este movimiento comenzo cuando 131 estudiantes de la Universidad Iberoamericana rechaza la presencia de Pena Nieto. Ahora han comenzado a tofnar medidas para impedir la eleccion el 1 de julio del presente ano y de ser robados por un regimen criminal. Su movimiento ha llegado a ser conocido como "Yo Soy 132." Yo Soy 132 ha emitido una solicitud para estudiantes internacionales y otros activistas en el mundo a manifestarse en solidaridad con ellos. Es su esperanza que el llamar la atencion internacional sobre la corrupcion electoral de Mexico, puede ayudar a asegurar una eleccion justa.
Su peticion fue publicada en YouTube y puede servista en: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSiuTmYihWQ&feature=
Occupy Boston invita a todas las organizaciones e individuos que apoyan esta causa a unirse a nuestra manifestacion de solidaridad con "#Yo Soy 132" frente al consulado mexicano en Boston el 29 de junio, 4-6 PM.

For information or to get involved contact the following: YoSoy132BostonSolidarity page on Facebook or histheman(o)qma il.com.

SHOW OF SOLIDARITY WITH MEXICAN STUDENTS PROTESTING ELECTION FRAUD AND STATE VIOLENCE, JUNE 29™, 4-6 PM AT THE MEXICAN CONSULATE, 20 PARK PLAZA, BOSTON

SHOW OF SOLIDARITY WITH MEXICAN STUDENTS PROTESTING ELECTION FRAUD AND STATE VIOLENCE, JUNE 29™, 4-6 PM AT THE MEXICAN CONSULATE, 20 PARK
PLAZA, BOSTON

#YO SOY 132

A major movement in Mexico is presently fighting against election fraud, police repression, and endemic corruption. This movement began when 131 students began to take action to prevent the July 1st election from being stolen by a criminal regime; their movement has come to be known as "Yo Soy 132." Yo Soy 132 has issued a request for international students and other activists globally to demonstrate in solidarity with them in the run up to the Mexican election on July 1st. It is their hope that calling international attention to Mexico's electoral corruption they may help to ensure a fair election. Their appeal was issued on youtube and may be seen at: http://www.voutube.com/watch?v=kSjuTmYihWQ&feature=share

Occupy Boston invites all organizations and individuals who support this cause to join our demonstration of solidarity with Yo Soy 132 outside the Mexican consulate in Boston on June 29th, 4-6 PM.

For information or to get involved contact the following:

YoSoy132BostonSolidarity page on Facebook or histheman@qmail.com.

What the Occupy movement demands... of each of us

Markin comment:

I place some material in this space which may be of interest to the radical public that I do not necessarily agree with or support. Off hand, as I have mentioned before, I think it would be easier, infinitely easier, to fight for the socialist revolution straight up than some of the “remedies” provided by the commentators in these entries. But part of that struggle for the socialist revolution is to sort out the “real” stuff from the fluff as we struggle for that more just world that animates our efforts.

Markin comment:

Jesus- This laundry list below is a tall order for a movement that can barely take notes of its meetings and is barely able to decide on what color shades to put in the living room without a six-session expanded GA (and then leave it up to each autonomous individual to decide on his or her color). I think keeping the old-time ten commandments would be easier, much easier to do.
***********
What the Occupy movement demands... of each of us

By J. Ramsey contact: jgramsey(£ gmail.com Read more at www.kasamaproject.org

That we work to defeat and to overthrow the rule of the 1% (and the 0.1%) over our lives, our society, and our world;

That we devote our lives to ending the oppression and exploitation of people both near and far; That we defend what remains of public space and the public sector against attempts to destroy it;

That we stand up for freedom of speech and assembly, of dissent and public protest as rights which no law-maker can revoke;

That we work for social equality: the radical redistribution of wealth, the transformation and/or abolition of oppressive institutions, the dismantling of unaccountable hierarchies, and the thorough democratization of society;

That we live out the practice of egalitarianism in our own movement and in our own lives, seeking to build others up as our equals, not to subordinate them as tools or inferiors;

That we seek to unite the many against the few, behind an inspiring vision of emancipation;

That we work to expose, to challenge, and to shut down wars abroad and militarism at home, and the imperial and fascistic apparatus that sustains them;

That we devote ourselves to exposing and to resisting the ravages of a toxic capitalism before it poisons the climate to the point that wide swaths of our planet become unlivable;

That we work to expose, oppose, and defeat racism, homophobia, sexism and other backward ideologies and practices wherever they rear their ugly heads;

That we seek to give voice to the voiceless and hope to the hopeless across our world;

That we work to defeat and to overthrow the rule of the 1% (and the 0.1%) over our lives, our society, and our world;

That we devote our lives to ending the oppression and exploitation of people both near and far; That we defend what remains of public space and the public sector against attempts to destroy it;

That we stand up for freedom of speech and assembly, of dissent and public protest as rights which no law-maker can revoke;

That we work for social equality: the radical redistribution of wealth, the transformation and/or abolition of oppressive institutions, the dismantling of unaccountable hierarchies, and the thorough democratization of society;

That we live out the practice of egalitarianism in our own movement and in our own lives, seeking to build others up as our equals, not to subordinate them as tools or inferiors;

That we seek to unite the many against the few, behind an inspiring vision of emancipation;

That we work to expose, to challenge, and to shut down wars abroad and militarism at home, and the imperial and fascistic apparatus that sustains them;

That we devote ourselves to exposing and to resisting the ravages of a toxic capitalism before it poisons the climate to the point that wide swaths of our planet become unlivable;

That we work to expose, oppose, and defeat racism, homophobia, sexism and other backward ideologies and practices wherever they rear their ugly heads;

That we seek to give voice to the voiceless and hope to the hopeless across our world;

That we help to inspire courage, trust, and solidarity amongst those who have been beaten down by the current system, to turn our collective weakness into strength;

That we work to expose the farcical nature of our 1%-dominated, so-called "democracy," even as we may use what is left of this state apparatus to tactically leverage the needs of our movement;

That we keep our commitments and promises to one another;

That we are honest and accountable in our interactions whenever we are representing the movement;

That we approach with suspicion and skepticism those representatives of existing 1% power structures who seek to co-opt our movement, even as we are constantly on the lookout for friends and allies in unexpected places;

That we put the greater good of the people and the movement ahead of our personal interests, even as we recognize that only through such a movement can our individual talents be fully realized, and vice versa;

That we work each day to help raise our own awareness as well as the consciousness of those around us concerning the world situation—this is a global struggle;

That we inform ourselves about the current dangers and crises facing our society and our planet, and that we seek to understand not only the news and the facts, but the underlying forces driving the situation forward, and the future trajectories these forces imply;

That we seek to cultivate a tactical flexibility and creativity that can adapt to the shifting situation;

That we develop a long-term strategic plan for actually building the movement that we want to create, for actually achieving the changes we want to see;

That we cultivate an honest and humble self-critical attitude in evaluating the successes and failures, the strengths and weaknesses of our movement, its theories and its practices; that we are willing to alter our theories and practices in light of evidence and reflections we gather from the world;

That we seek to become citizens of the world, not just of any single city or nation;

That we sink roots in our local communities, in our workplaces, neighborhoods, schools, families, and other institutions, becoming attentive students of others' lives, as well as supportive allies, and where appropriate, leaders of just struggles that emerge;

That we are kind and patient with one another in the movement, working to understand deeply even those with whom we disagree, knowing that those who may be wrong on nine issues may teach us something valuable on the tenth;

That we demonstrate courage as well as wisdom in the face of threats we face;

That we seek to cultivate the fullest, deepest humanity in ourselves and in others alike;

That we work creatively and tirelessly to bring into being a society that is worthy of human beings;

That we commit to the long haul, as the fight ahead is sure to be as extended as its outcome is uncertain.

That we sustain one another in this great collective endeavor, cherishing each thinking, fighting spirit in
these dark tunes. ****

J. Ramsey jgramsey(g),gmail.com

This Justice for Janitors Day,Support Good Jobs for Our Communities!

This Justice for Janitors Day,Support Good Jobs for Our Communities!

Today is International Justice for Janitors Day, when we celebrate and recognize the hard work and sacrifice that prop­erty service workers across the world make. Today also marks the 10 year anniversary when thousands of janitors in the Boston region went on strike, to lift standards in the jani­torial industry. That fight continues: in Houston, Texas hun­dreds of janitors have already gone on strike in the hopes that they can improve their working conditions and win a better way of life.

Here in Massachusetts, a better way of life is on the horizon. Our economy is looking brighter, and has been outperform-
ji ing most of the rest of country during the recovery. Boston is among the fastest-recovering metropolitan areas in the country. One of the pillars of industry driving the Massachusetts economy is commercial real estate. Vacancy rates are going down and rents are going up, with the Back Bay neighborhood being one of the strongest markets in the nation.

This summer the 14,000 contracted janitors that work in the key industries that drive our state's economy will be negotiating a new contract to continue improving standards that they have fought so hard to achieve. Like so many, their hope is to share in the continued growth and prosperity that those at the very top have enjoyed.

Unfortunately, here in Back Bay those at the top are not working to achieve this vision. Capital Prop­erties, the owner of 31 St. James Avenue, recently made the decision to hire an irresponsible contractor, Crystal Bright, to provide cleaning services there. The dedicated janitors who cleaned this building for years were not offered employment and have been displaced. The decision to hire this irresponsible contractor, who pays poverty wages, threatens the standards for janitors across the region.

Join us to demand a shared prosperity, and a New England that works
for everyone!

Visit our website at www.seiu615.org to learn
more about Justice for Janitors and a
New England that works for everyone

SEIU Local 615 * 26 West St. Boston, MA 02111 * 617-523-6150-*seiu615.org* facebook.com/seiu615 * @seiu615

Finally, A Refreshing Change From The Republicrats-Socialist Alternative’s Danny Keating Throws His Hat in the Ring in New Hampshire's Second Congressional District

Click on the headline to link to the Committee To Elect Danny Keating Facebook page.

Press Release

Independent Candidate Danny Keating For U.S. Congress In New Hampshire's Second Congressional District

Mr. Daniel “Danny” Keating, a construction worker and Iraq War Army Veteran raised in Nashua, has filed papers with and has been officially notified of his status as a candidate, pending getting the requisite number of petition signatures, by the New Hampshire Secretary Of State’s Office to run as an independent candidate against incumbent Republican Congressman Charles Bass his 2012 Democratic Party opponent, Ann Kuster. If elected to Congress Mr. Keating will accept the wages of an average worker in New Hampshire and donate the rest of his salary back to social justice causes. Danny is a member of Socialist Alternative and has worked tirelessly on campaigns for workers' rights and against budget cuts. Danny will bring the voice of the 99%, into a Congress that is dominated by corporations and big money.

Here are Danny's remarks made at the opening event of his campaign:

I am running for Congress as an Independent and a member of Socialist Alternative because the two parties of big business, Democrats and Republicans, have carried out deep and unfair budget cuts, stepped up attacks on civil liberties and immigrant rights, assaulted women's core rights to control their bodies and their lives, and have let further corporate control in this country go on unfettered. These are all symptoms of a sick and unresponsive system.

Trillions, yes trillions, of dollars have been handed over by the federal government to the big banks that have thoughtlessly and viciously kicked people out of their homes, scandalously dodged their taxes and helped to wreck the American and global economy. Both parties, controlled by big business, are complicit in the corporate domination of politics and our lives.

I propose some alternatives to the chaos churned out by Wall Street and Washington. We need a massive job creation program to hire workers at union wages with full benefits and rights in order to rebuild infrastructure, stop environmental destruction, and provide necessary social services. We could pay for this by closing corporate tax loopholes and increasing taxes on corporations and the top 1% as well as slashing spending on the wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. If corporations threaten to take their operations off-shore (like many have already done) in response to paying their fair share then we should take those companies' resources into public ownership with democratic workers' and community control and management using the resources for the benefit of all.

We can only win a jobs program through mobilizing a massive movement of community groups, political organizations, and unions that protest, educate and build democratically-run organizations. A mass movement for jobs and services and against racial injustice, sexual inequality, seemingly never-ending layoffs, unconscionable home foreclosures and drastic budget cuts should be connected to a political struggle against the two parties and the corporate domination they represent. We need a party of working people, run democratically, with elected representatives who are accountable to working people and are pledged to accept only the wage of the average worker.

Elected representatives of the two major parties, having long been left to their own devices, have not created progressive social and economic change. We saw this after the elections of Barack Obama in 2008 and the Tea Party-dominated Congressional agenda in 2010. To get real change we need a big protest movement. This type movement has created change in the past: from the labor movement for unionization and a 40-hour work week to the civil rights movement against racial injustice to the women's movement for equal rights mass demonstrations have shown that direct action can win real victories. If I am elected to Congress I will be a voice for these struggles against the capitalist system and for a better future democratic socialist society.

For more information about the campaign, Socialist Alternative, or requests for interviews call: 603-233-2999 or email:danny.keating.for.congress@gmail.com

Out In Red Scare Cold War Night- Edward R. Murrow’s “ Good Night, And Good Luck”

Click on the headline to link to a Wikipedia entry for the Edward R. Murrow –featured “Good Night, And Good Luck.”

DVD Review

Good Night, And Good Luck, starring David Strathairn, George Clooney, Robert Downey, Jr. and Senator Joseph McCarthy, the junior Senator from Wisconsin, Warner, 2005

For those who lived in that death red scare cold war 1950s night, or who came of television age then the events depicted in this very well-done black and white documentary-like film, “Good Night, And Good Luck” (the signature sign-off line of Edward R. Murrow on his radio and television shows), should be very familiar. And a cause for reflection for those who howled with the wolves (the McCarthy, Nixon, Robert Welch wolves) calling for the blood of every, well, every speaker against that death night. For those who came after this should be a cautionary tale very appropriate for addressing the madnesses of the political and media howling wolves today.

The story line here is pretty straight-forward, the 1953-54 struggle of Edward R. Murrow, a well-respected and honest radio and television journalist, and the rabid anti-communist monger, the junior Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy, including actual footage of his speeches and remarks. In that red scare cold war night few reporters, fewer liberals, and even fewer average American citizens were ready to take on the howling beasts who, mainly for their own political purposes, were ready to destroy infinite numbers of lives in order to “stop the red menace” from creeping through the door. As it turned out there were a handful of actual reds (or past reds, mainly) who may have been in the government. For that few these wolves were ready to bring the whole frail democratic experience on the American continent (what Lincoln called “the last, best hope”) toppling down.

Some guys, too few guys (or gals), like Murrow (and Fred Friendly played by George Clooney) stood up in their funny way (their cloud puff dreams of an informed, educated citizenry plugged into the world via technological promise of the global village of television seem rather ironic now) to their day’s monsters. And while we, Brother Murrow and I, may have been a million miles away from each other in age, in political and cultural sensibilities, and lifestyle I am always happy to salute a kindred spirit, an honest man seeking the truth. And I encourage all to see this film.

Hold ‘Em Or Fold ‘Em –Steve McQueen’s “The Cincinnati Kid – A Film Review

Click on the headline to link to a Wikipedia entry for the film “The Cincinnati Kid.”

DVD Review

The Cincinnati Kid, starring Steve McQueen, Edward G. Robinson, Karl Malden, M-G-M, 1965

Okay, okay five card stud a game that reality television has gone ga-ga over(not Lady Ga-Ga I don’t think) is not my game, not even close, but the film under review, The Cincinnati Kid, made me realize that at least in a dramatic presentation it has possibilities. Especially when everybody’s 1960s cool hand, cool man Steve McQueen decides to take the table stakes. And one cannot discount, if there is any truth to the story line here, that the very appealing (1960s appealing anyway) eye-candy that drifts around where there is easy money to be found like Melba (played by Ann-Margaret) and Christian (played by Tuesday Weld) makes me think that maybe I should take up the game.

Oops, that is mistake number one brother. See what a man (or woman) needs to play poker, or any game of chance, is undivided concentration, some dough, some serious dough, and some more serious dough for the rough spots, and nerves of steel. Some fluff with come hither looks (Melba) and talk of white picket fences (Christian) is strictly off the books. Well, kind of, remember even “The Kid” has to have something to shoot for beside the dough. Someone to help him spend it, although the dough ain’t nothing, nothing except acknowledgement that he is king of the five card stud hill.

And that grail, that holy, holy grail is what drives The Kid. That and the Great Depression gnawing hunger that drove many kids, and oldsters too, to grab for the brass ring anyway they could. See old Lance (played by Edward G. Robinson last seen in this space slapping dames and old geezers around, although not for long, as old- time “Chi” town mobster on the lam Johnny Rico in Humphrey Bogart’s Key Largo) has been king of the hill since Hector was a pup, if not before. The Kid has been working his way up the ladder, cooling his heels, waiting for just the right time with just the right amount of dough to stake his claim. Of course left by itself one great pie-in the-sky winner take all poker game could not sustain a full-length film. So some sidebar stuff with those come hither and white picket fence dames, some lesser games as warm-up, and some attempts by Shooter (played by Karl Malden), his mentor, to “fix” things his way and some this and that keep the thing moving until the big finale-winner take all game (and maybe an extra prize with the dames). So is The Kid strictly from hunger or is he getting ready to be fitted for a new walking cane? Well, see the movie.

Imagining the Post-Occupy Social Movement

Imagining the Post-Occupy Social Movement

by Shamus Cooke

31 May 2012


If one were to honestly assess Occupy's current strengths and weaknesses as a movement, confusion must be the inevitable result. This is because Occupy is not one movement, but an umbrella term that encompasses several different groups that have varied aims, organizational structures, and gaping theoretical differences.



Occupy may not be dead, but its power as a powerful social movement has surely been splintered into a dozen or so mini-movements. For example, a good, broad definition of a social movement is a large group of people who collectively try to achieve certain agreed on goals.

A social movement without common goals does not move in one direction, but many; an organization without a common set of principles or agreed upon demands is not a “group,” but "groups.”

Consequently, Occupy's various mini-movements move in different directions, towards different ends, using different means, while rarely coordinating with the other groups that are focused on their respective organization, growth, habits, and campaigns.

The result is that collective mass action large enough to change social policy - another key definition of a social movement - is rendered impossible.

Sadly, this was the state of the left prior to Occupy: different groups organized on an "issue based activism" basis, focusing on their own projects, disconnected from any common vision or collective action. Occupy was different precisely because it was massive, and that these various groups found connection under a single banner. But the banner has since been pulled in hundreds of directions until it tore.

Occupy came close to becoming a real social movement but didn't cross the threshold. Although Occupy failed to evolve into a social movement, it has laid a foundation for one, through its successful mass education around highlighting the 1% vs. the 99% and experiments with organizing and its creation of a new layer of revolutionary activists. Occupy's inability to grow into a mass social movement may have been inevitable, since the left's disunity runs especially deep in the United States.

Occupy did, however, create additional barriers for itself to become a social power. Occupy was organizationally wedded to a lack of organization, preventing the enormous energy from being funneled into a social force, and thus spilling in every possible direction.

Enough Occupiers were against goal setting that no goals could be collectively pursued. The well meaning attempts to create direct democracy and inclusion - through general assemblies, consensus, spokescouncil structures, etc. - resulted in gridlock, inefficiency, and exclusion instead, since most working people found it impossible to attend the initial lengthy, daily meetings that seemed unable to push the movement forward.

Some will argue that Occupy is doing fine, and that working towards a multitude of goals will inevitably bring victory, since all paths lead toward the same end, though few Occupiers agree on what this end should be. Working class people, however, are only powerful when they are united in mass numbers and acting collectively on an ongoing basis - no social movement has achieved social change without this preliminary factor. Whereas Egypt and Tunisia steadily gained momentum, Occupy eventually lost it.

It is still possible that a faction within Occupy - and there are several - could regenerate Occupy as a whole by working towards goals with a mass appeal that unite Occupy in a campaign capable of re-inspiring and mobilizing the broader population. But lessons must be learned from Occupy's experience. The key lesson - in this writer's opinion - is that social movements are created when they base themselves on concrete issues/goals that the majority of the population is concerned with.

For example, in the Arab Spring the movement's goal was specifically anti-dictator/pro-democracy; in Europe it is anti-austerity/pro social services; South America's ongoing social movements were born fighting foreign economic domination, in the form of the austerity policies implemented by the IMF and World Bank.

In all these cases the majority of working people in these countries could relate or sympathize with the goals of the movement, which helped multiply the initial protests into what later became powerful social movements.

In the United States, the number one concern of most people today - says numerous polls - is jobs.

Occupy could demand that the federal government create millions of jobs, as was done in the 1930s, and pay for the program by taxing Wall Street as many in the Labor Movement have advocated."

Accessible, affordable quality public education and government social services are other major concerns. Occupy could focus its energies on demanding that the rich and corporations are taxed so that teachers could be rehired and tuition at colleges and universities could be reduced.

In other words, Occupy could aim at increasing taxes on the 1 percent in order to meet the needs of the 99 percent. This would also reduce the growing inequality in wealth. But these issues were lost in a whole laundry list of other goals that, although important, only concerned a periphery of the population.

The movement that Occupy gives birth to will be born at a higher level, with unity of purpose and collective action. It will not simply protest corporate power but directly challenge this power and the political system tied to it by the combined power of working people.

Shamus Cooke is a social service worker, trade unionist, and writer for Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org)



See also:
http://workerscompass.org/?p=5155

From The Pages Of The International Communist League Press-La grève étudiante secoue le Québec

Click on the headline to link to the International Communist League website and this article.

Victory To The Greek Workers! Down With The EU!-For A Workers And Peasant Government In Greece!

Markin quick comment:

In light of the June 17th Greek elections the battlelines between revolution and counter-revolution are sharply posed:

Victory To The Greek Workers!-Build Workers Councils –Arm The Workers-Take The Power Now And Build Socialism! Later May Be Too Late- And Start Reading Lenin And Trotsky Like Crazy! They Knew How To Make A Revolution.For A Workers and Peasant Government!

From The Pen Of Enaa Doug Greene-Cold Water in the Eye: My Experiences in Freedom Road Socialist Organization (Left Refoundation)

Cold Water in the Eye: My Experiences in Freedom Road Socialist Organization (Left Refoundation)

http://enaadoug.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/cold-water-in-the-eye-my-experiences-in-freedom-road-socialist-organization-left-refoundation/

By Enaa/Doug Greene

From November 2008 to June 2009, I was a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FRSO (Left Refoundation). This was a natural outgrowth of previous political development which had largely been academic. I was well-read in Marxist theory and itching for some form of action. I believed after my initial encounters with FRSO that this was a group that was advancing a communist agenda. Very quickly, I was disabused of this notion.

Until I joined FRSO, I was largely aloof from organized communist groups. I had considered myself a conscious communist for some time, but I had not joined. Many of the groups that I considered left a bad taste in my mouth. Too many organizations I didn’t even look at because they were little more than sects debating the Marxist equivalent of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. I wanted to join an organization that was principled, not bound by sectarianism and engaged in practical organization. From my own vantage point, nothing seemed to fit the bill.

So what did I, a communist do instead of joining a group? I donated money. I attended various demonstrations. I contributed occasional pieces of writing to various magazines. Mostly I studied. I spent nearly five years in college and practically worked full time as a cashier/assistant manager to pay my way. I made it a point to deepen my knowledge of communism whenever I got the chance.

Yet mere knowledge wasn’t enough. It could serve me when debating in a college class or on a paper. I wanted to do more. I wanted to be in the struggle. So when I got the chance, I took it.

In early 2008, I had finished my undergraduate degree and was applying for graduate school (history major in both if you were wondering). Through a friend, I learned about a labor/immigrant/student political economy study group near where I lived. This friend offered to let me join in. Itching for some practical struggle, I jumped at the opportunity.

I won’t recount the details of the study group here (if you’re interested read my essay, Observations on FRSO and the Mass Line). At the time, I had a positive experience. I worked with about 15 students, immigrants, and workers. We seemed to get a basic grasp of political economy. It taught me a great deal about practical organizing, holding a study group, and just hearing people out. I think I romanticized it at the time, later after leaving I grew more critical (the group didn’t discuss communism or break with Democrat/reformist ideas). When one of the organizers (who was in FRSO) talked to me about joining the group, I was definitely interested.

Well, I didn’t get involved with the group right away. Potential members had to attend various study groups and then were formally asked to join. Through the summer of 2008, I attended about four sessions. The topics discussed were Women/Gender Oppression, National Question, Mass Line, and Marxist Politics. There were no more than seven people at each group. These groups were mostly a back and forth on what we’d read (which consisted of short articles).

The sessions certainly were friendly and respectful of the various opinions exchanged. It felt like I was among comrades. Yet there were misgivings in the background that I became aware of later on. Some of those attending the meetings were really excited about the US Presidential Elections (this was 2008 and Obama was the great hope). I didn’t see why Marxists should be involved in cheer-leading for Obama. I could see why they were excited for him since he was Black and his election could be a blow to white supremacy (yet his politics were decidedly reactionary which was never addressed by those at the meetings).

Related to this was that while there was a lot of talk about Obama, there was none about communism. Sounds strange, but hear me out. I was fighting for communism and assumed everyone else in FRSO was too (you know what they say when you assume). Communism was something in the future. It was a far off goal that wasn’t discussed. This got to me the more I thought about it. There was a lot of discussion about student and worker organizing (as there should be). But it was an incomplete discussion. What was the point of this discussion if not to advance toward communism? There was no relation of our movement to its end. We seemed to talk about getting people active (in unions and politics). All well and good. But no discussion of getting people active as communists. It was about getting active in whatever was going on at the moment and no relation to the future. Isn’t the place of a communist to raise consciousness and relate the particular struggle to the communist end?

Organizing to me made no sense if there was no relation to communism. Let me elaborate. My late father was an organizer for the local Democratic Party where I lived. He was a damned good organizer too. He could get people to meetings or a lecture. He could mail out literature. He could go door to door for a candidate. Yet it didn’t mean a thing. His organizing was all to perpetuate the status quo (we argued over the point many times). He could get people elected, but they wouldn’t challenge anything of the putrid capitalist system. They might propose a few reforms, but nothing substantial. His organizing was within the confines of the system. It didn’t raise the consciousness of those involved. It didn’t seek a new and better society. In many ways, I felt that what FRSO was doing was similar to my dad’s activities…except my dad was up-front about where he stood.

These misgivings remained with me as the summer wore on. But either through being naive or sheer inexperience, I still decided to join up with FRSO. By now, the economy was crashing and Obama was coming into office. The FRSO members were real hopeful about some kind of radical opening. So was I. I wanted to take a shot at the system.

Although I joined FRSO in November, I didn’t attend my first meeting until early January 2009. It wasn’t the best time for me to be active though. I was doing a student teaching practicum which was at least forty hours of work a week (with no pay). The practicum was part of graduate school work which took most of the rest of my time. I had a class on campus that I also had to study for. I had another job on campus too (paid!) that helped with tuition and had flexible hours, but it was still a drain. Lastly, there was a crisis in my family (someone I was close to was suicidal). As you can imagine, I was stretched to the limit. Still, I was a communist and I was determined to do my small part for the revolution.

I managed to juggle everything fairly well until my practicum ended (May if you’re wondering) which freed up my time. I was able to attend the required meetings of FRSO, but it soured pretty damned fast.

At the first meeting, the local group was throwing a party to celebrate Obama’s inauguration (other Obama linked ‘popular’ groups in the area were also attending). This disgusted me. How could a socialist group even consider celebrating the inauguration of a capitalist leader? I was supposed to pass out leaflets on campus and do some organizing on facebook. I was given a bunch of fliers dealing with the ‘celebration.’ The next time I was campus, I ditched them in the fist trash can I found. I also made an excuse to get out of the party (my father was throwing one for Obama too, why didn’t I go to that). I didn’t sign up to fight for them.

The FRSO members said that they were throwing this party to stay linked with the active masses. They said that it was to raise their consciousness and keep the Obama base involved in various struggles. Yet the only struggles talked about were more reforms that could be had. How could this be otherwise if you weren’t going to put your communist politics boldly out in front? FRSO was making out like someone who understood the masses was seemingly in power. It seems that instead of raising the consciousness of the masses, they just lowered themselves to the worst reformist illusions.

The other meetings weren’t so bad, but that isn’t to say that they were any good. It was always about pushing Obama/Democrats to the left. I remember when the health care bill came up. FRSO members talked about trying to get the best possible plan with a public option. There was never a word about socialized medicine (my dad was actually calling for that). Other topics like card check or Iraq were pretty much the same. Let’s lobby. Let’s put a little pressure on our Democrats friends by writing letters or having a rally. It was all about getting a little more and being realistic. I remember being told that you had to compromise and do what was possible since we lived in a non-revolutionary period.

Funny, I knew that if you played by the system’s rules you weren’t going to get very far. FRSO seemed to be willing to accept the game board the system had laid out. As a communist, I believed that we needed to dip that game board in gasoline and light it up. Weren’t we supposed to change the very constellation of choices? Wasn’t there a slogan that said: be realistic and demand the impossible?

There were a few other points that crept in and galled at me. One member was pretty critical of Lenin and Mao (even calling the Bolshevik revolution mistaken at one point). That got on my nerves. Here I was in a socialist organization that was more critical of Lenin than Obama. Cunning of reason I suppose.

The FRSO members seemed nostalgic of their past activities (most of those I was with were in their 50s). What they’d done in past struggles was something to be proud of. It was like talking about the exploits of being high school and all the crazy/fun things you did. But now you’re grown up and taking things seriously. I’m a historian and I like talking about the past too, but shouldn’t our past struggles be linked to the present.

I do have a slight confession to make here. I hope that you see it as a normal human failing. I remember feeling that since I had joined the FRSO and had so little experience that I should try and learn and not rock the boat (at least not until I was more active). To be fair, the FRSO members were respectful of the demands on my time and seemed to realize that everyone had other personal commitments. Whenever I went to meetings, I didn’t really speak up. I was already tired from my busy life. I just went through the motions.

This isn’t some disillusioned communist story though. During this time, I remember reading around. I read various socialist critiques of Obama. I also was attracted to Kasama’s constant reporting which was bold and refreshing for being critical of Obama and upholding communism. That was more than I could say about FRSO.

In May 2009, my teaching practicum ended which freed up alot of time. Now I wasn’t working two jobs, but just one. I still had graduate courses, but they were manageable. My family situation also stabilized. FRSO wanted me to get active since I had more free time. Yet I was determined to get out of FRSO. It all came down to a simple question: why work in the group if it wasn’t working for communism? The parting went fairly well. One member I was friends with tried to keep me in. But I didn’t want to stay. So just as quickly, I was out. I never told my dad that I was an FRSO member until I left. When I shared my experience with him, I was surprised that he found them unprincipled too.

Yet that isn’t the end of the story. Not quite. A year later, there had been a death in the family. It was pretty sudden. At this point, I had pretty much focused whole-heartedly on graduate school (I finished in August 2010). Yet I wanted to get back active. I sent out some feelers to a few friends about what organizing was going on. The FRSO got back to me. I wondered if the FRSO had seen the errors of their line (especially considering all Obama had done).Not so. According to them, they had never supported Obama! They gave me some literature to explain their position on Obama (the literature actually called for support to Obama). Well, I ditched that too and I went my merry way.

Lest you think that this is some disillusionment, please let me be clear. I’m even more of a communist now than when I joined FRSO. My problem with the FRSO isn’t that they were communist, but that they were not. I keep active. I write (fiction and politics). I maintain this blog. I keep a youtube channel going where I keep the red flag flying (check it out and comment!). I try to stay active.

As bad as my experience in FRSO was, it wasn’t too entirely worthless. I got water thrown in my eye to be sure. But I learned. Sometimes failure is a better teacher than success. I saw that the ABCs of communism that I had learned were a little different on the ground. I was sharpened my own ideas of what a communist organization had to do. Instead of hiding our ideas, let’s place them forward boldly. Let’s not beg for reforms from the powerful, but raise the consciousness of the masses for revolution now.

From The Pages Of "Workers Vanguard"-Defend Quebec Students!

Click on the headline to link to the International Communist League website.

Workers Vanguard No. 1004
8 June 2012

Defend Quebec Students!

The following statement was written by our comrades of the Trotskyist League/Ligue Trotskyste, Canadian section of the International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist).

Since their strike began in mid February, Quebec students and their supporters have faced brutal repression at the hands of the capitalist state. A recent “Request for solidarity and support” by the Legal Committee of the CLASSE student federation notes that the Quebec government’s Law 78 represents “the biggest attack on civil and democratic rights since the enactment of the War Measures Act in 1970.” As of May 18, the Legal Committee had already “documented and is supporting 472 criminal accusations as well as 1047 ticket and penal offenses.” Following the passage of Law 78 that same evening, the number of arrests has risen to well over 2,500.

The CLASSE Legal Committee adds that “those numbers only reflect those charged with an offense, without mentioning the thousands pepper sprayed and tear gassed, clubbed and beaten, detained and released. It does not mention Francis Grenier, who lost use of most of an eye when a sound grenade was illegally thrown by a police officer into his face in downtown Montreal. It does not mention Maxence Valade who lost a full eye and Alexandre Allard who clung to life in a coma on a hospital bed for days, both having received a police rubber bullet to the head in Victoriaville.” In addition, students who have called to defend strike pickets in the face of court injunctions, including CLASSE spokesman Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, face “contempt of court” charges that carry fines of up to $50,000 and possible jail time. Drop all charges against students and their supporters!

The Partisan Defense Committee—the legal and social defense organization associated with the Trotskyist League/Ligue Trotskyste—has made a donation to the CLASSE Legal Committee, and we join with the Committee in urging that trade unions, other organizations and individuals do the same. Make cheques payable to “Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante,” and send them to: ASSÉ, 2065 rue Parthenais, Bureau 383, Montreal QC H2K 3T1. “CLASSE Legal Committee” should be noted in the memo line.

From The Pages Of "Workers Vanguard"-Quebec: Mass Defiance of Anti-Protest Law

Click on the headline to link to the International Communist League website.


Workers Vanguard No. 1004
8 June 2012

Quebec: Mass Defiance of Anti-Protest Law

Broad Support for Student Strike

JUNE 4—The nearly four-month student strike in Quebec, which was sparked by proposed massive tuition hikes, has now escalated into a major social crisis. Fueling protest is the repressive Law 78—popularly known as the “loi des matraques” (law of the nightsticks). This measure was enacted on May 18 by the widely despised provincial Liberal government after up to 200,000 students throughout Quebec had boycotted classes and shut down the campuses with mass pickets, often in defiance of court injunctions. Students have faced brutal, near daily assaults by the police. The emergency law bans any protests in or outside the schools, severely restricts all other protests and threatens fines of up to $125,000 for groups who defy these edicts. Even advertising such protests is now illegal, as is supporting any kind of strike at a university or college.

The evening that Law 78 was enacted, at least 10,000 students and their supporters took to the streets of Montreal. Protests continued over the following nights and the police declared them illegal, moving in with tear gas, sound cannons and pepper spray and staging mass roundups. Altogether, more than 2,500 people have now been arrested during the student strike (see “Defend Quebec Students!” above). This total far exceeds the arrests even under the War Measures Act in October 1970, when the federal government in Ottawa suspended civil liberties and imprisoned hundreds of leftists, nationalists and union leaders in a move to suppress widespread social struggle over national rights for the French-speaking Québécois.

The Quebec government clearly hoped that the threat of stepped-up repression and huge fines would quell the student protests and smash the strike. But the opposite happened. Four days later on May 22, thousands of trade unionists marching behind union banners as well as large numbers of teachers, parents and high school students joined a 300,000-strong demonstration in Montreal. CLASSE, the more left-wing, anarchist-influenced student union representing the majority of strikers, refused to announce the route of the march and thus effectively dared the government to ban the “illegal” protest and arrest its leaders. The immense size of the protest and substantial union presence stayed the hand of the police.

CLASSE had called on other organizations opposed to the emergency law to join it in active defiance. The union bureaucracy, other striking student groups and leaders of the petty-bourgeois nationalist Québec Solidaire responded by saying that they could support only “peaceful and legal” protests. Nonetheless, a significant majority of protesters went with CLASSE when the demonstration split about ten minutes into the march.

Despite a daily media barrage demonizing “violent” students, polls show that a majority of the francophone Québécois oppose the emergency law. Many are wearing red squares, the symbol of support to the students and opposition to the crippling student debt (i.e., “being in the red”). As the May 22 demo passed a major downtown hospital, elderly wheelchair-bound patients hooked up to IVs sat on the sidewalk with red squares pinned to their hospital gowns, applauding and raising their fists. The protesters responded with massive cheers. Nightly “pots and pans” marches against Law 78 have broken out in Montreal and other cities, emulating protests during the recent student strikes in Chile.

Having earlier, and repeatedly, vowed that there was nothing to negotiate, the Quebec government did an about-face and resumed talks with the student federations. But the negotiations collapsed on May 31 after the students rejected a gratuitously insulting “offer” to cut one dollar off the planned 75 percent tuition hike. Liberal premier Jean Charest soon after raised the prospect of further repression, slandering CLASSE as “people who are threatening the Québécois” (La Presse, 1 June).

Our comrades intervening in the demonstrations reported that many students put forward the notion that better “democracy” is the answer to government repression. In fact, “democracy” does not exist in a vacuum but rather its content is determined by the class that rules society. Under capitalism, democracy is a thin veil to hide the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, which is enforced by its state machinery of violence, namely the cops, courts and prisons—the very forces that are beating and jailing strikers.

While campus activists clearly welcome support from the unions, there is little sense of the unique social power of the working class. Students do not have any direct relationship to the means of production and lack the social power to beat back the capitalist onslaught. This power resides with the working class, which can withhold its labor and bring the capitalist system to a grinding halt. In the French-language supplement that our comrades distributed at the May 22 mass protest, which appeared in English translation as “Student Strike Shakes Quebec” in WV No. 1003 (25 May), we noted: “Student struggle can certainly spark broader social battles, as the current strike shows. But ultimately the only way forward is to ally with the working class.”

It also is in the interest of workers to champion the struggle for free, quality education for all, with a state-paid living stipend and free childcare for students. In the face of mounting debt servitude to the banks, there should be a fight to abolish the student debt. Since all reforms wrested from the bourgeoisie are temporary and reversible under capitalism, such struggles on behalf of students, workers and the oppressed must be linked to the necessary task of overthrowing this system through socialist revolution.

CLASSE has called for workers to strike in solidarity with the students. But in no way is it advancing a perspective of working-class struggle against the very capitalist system that deprives youth and working people of their basic needs. Like the other two student federations leading the strike, CLASSE seeks to refurbish the education system within the framework of capitalism. A short-lived May 5 deal that the CLASSE leaders endorsed—which was later widely rejected by students—simply tinkered with the terms of austerity and could easily have spelled wage cuts and layoffs for university and college employees.

The abortive deal was brokered in part by the union bureaucracy, which has done its part to attempt to restore “social peace.” Despite the broad anger among working people against the Liberal government, the potentially powerful trade unions of Quebec have not been mobilized for strike action or anything more than an occasional contingent at a demonstration. The union misleaders are firmly wedded to a class-collaborationist outlook, as expressed by their support to one or another bourgeois nationalist party.

The French-speaking Québécois have long been forcibly retained in a “united” Canada. We call for independence for Quebec as a means to combat Anglo chauvinism and address the national antagonisms that divide the workers of both nations. The mutually reinforcing nationalisms of the Maple Leaf and fleur de lys serve to tie workers to their own exploiters, poisoning prospects for united class struggle.

When in the provincial government in the 1990s, the bourgeois-nationalist Parti Québécois (PQ) carried out sweeping attacks on the working class and social programs in the interests of the francophone bourgeoisie. A darling of the reformist left, Québec Solidaire employs populist rhetoric to attract those dissatisfied with the PQ, keeping them firmly in the grip of bourgeois nationalism. Its founding “principles and orientation” foster terrible illusions in a “reformed” bourgeois rule, upholding “democracy,” pacifism and environmentalism while eschewing socialism or class struggle.

Struggle against the all-sided attacks of the capitalist rulers must proceed from an understanding that the interests of the workers and their exploiters are irreconcilable. Only after the working class, standing at the head of all the oppressed, sweeps away the capitalist state and expropriates the bourgeoisie will the right of all to free, quality education, much less jobs, housing and health care, be secured. We are dedicated to winning advanced workers and radical youth to the struggle to forge a revolutionary workers party, one that can unite capitalism’s many victims behind the social power of the proletariat in the fight for a socialist egalitarian society.

Trotskyist Group of Greece Says:Vote KKE! No Vote to Syriza!

5 June 2012

Trotskyist Group of Greece Says:Vote KKE! No Vote to Syriza!

The following is a translation of a leaflet being distributed by our comrades in Greece.

The Greek section of the International Communist League (Fourth Internationalist) calls on workers, minorities and all opponents of capitalist austerity to vote for the candidates of the Greek Communist Party (KKE) on June 17. The central issue for the working class in Greece today is rejection of the devastating attacks dictated by the troika [the European Union (EU), the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund] and imposed by the Greek bourgeoisie. A massive vote to the KKE—which opposes the EU—would deliver a slap in the face to the imperialists and their Greek lackeys and could give a boost to the defensive battles of workers across Europe.

The KKE rightly stands against Syriza’s perspective of keeping “Greece in the EU and NATO and the capitalist relations of production untouched” (KKE Web site, “Between Two Tough Battles,” 23 May). Despite intense pressure for unity, the KKE has rejected Syriza’s appeal to form a “left” (bourgeois) government. Syriza stands in favor of the imperialist EU and the euro, while claiming it can “renegotiate” the austerity package. As proletarian internationalists, we oppose the imperialist EU on principle (as well as the single currency) as part of our perspective for the Socialist United States of Europe. A socialist society cannot be achieved within the borders of Greece alone.

The KKE correctly notes that the central force within Syriza, the “Coalition of the Left” (SYN), voted for the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, is a supporter of the EU and “joined the anti-communist campaign against the USSR” (“Between Two Tough Battles,” 23 May). Today, the pseudo-Trotskyist groups who also hailed counterrevolution in the Soviet Union—including the Socialist Workers Party (SEK) and Xekinima—place themselves to the right of the KKE, whom they denounce for rejecting Syriza’s call to join them in government. We say: Down with the EU! No vote to Syriza!

Our call for a vote to the KKE in this election is an application of the tactic of critical support outlined by Lenin in “Left-Wing” Communism—An Infantile Disorder in 1920. While supporting KKE candidates, we have fundamental differences of program. Our program is proletarian, revolutionary and internationalist. In contrast, the KKE panders to Greek nationalism, the chief obstacle to building a revolutionary party in Greece. Their perspective of “people power” liquidates the proletariat—the only class with the power to overthrow capitalism—into “the people” and obscures the class line, the central division in capitalist society. The KKE’s populism—expressed as “the people” against “the monopolies”—is counterposed to the class independence of the proletariat from the bourgeoisie.

The violent racist attacks on immigrants by rampaging mobs of Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) fascists pose the urgent need to mobilize contingents of workers to defend immigrants and to sweep the fascist vermin off the streets. The KKE has the social weight in the trade unions to do this, but its nationalist populism is a barrier to it. Rather than mobilizing workers and immigrants against Golden Dawn, which represents a threat to the whole of the organized working class, the KKE appeals for votes from among the same backward layers of the population who voted for the fascist scum, demanding: “The working people who voted for Golden Dawn must correct their vote” (KKE Press Office statement, 2 June).

The KKE admits that: “During the 1950’s and 1980’s, the KKE formed ‘left’ alliances” and claims that it “has drawn valuable conclusions from its experience regarding the policy of alliances and it does not intend to repeat similar mistakes” (“Between Two Tough Battles,” 23 May). These were not mistakes but betrayals that flow from their Stalinist program. Despite the KKE’s refusal to participate in a coalition government at the present time, they have not broken politically with the program that led them to join bourgeois governments in the past.

Our international tendency actively fought, to the limit of our resources, for defense of the Soviet Union against counterrevolution. We also stood for a proletarian political revolution against the Stalinist bureaucracy, whose politics of “socialism in one country” and of “peaceful coexistence” with imperialism undermined the defense of the USSR and ultimately led to the triumph of counterrevolution in 1991-92, a defeat for the world’s working masses.

With this call to vote for the KKE we are mass-distributing the article, “Banks Starve Greek Working People” [Workers Vanguard No. 1002, 11 May], to introduce to a wider audience our broader political views. We seek to coalesce into a political formation those forces who agree with the politics expressed there.

—5 June 2012

Η Τροτσκιστική Ομάδα Ελλάδας δηλώνει:Η Τροτσκιστική Ομάδα Ελλάδας δηλώνει:ΨΗΦΟ ΣΤΟ ΚΚΕ!ΚΑΜΙΑ ΨΗΦΟ ΣΤΟ ΣΥΡΙΖΑ!

Η Τροτσκιστική Ομάδα Ελλάδας δηλώνει:ΨΗΦΟ ΣΤΟ ΚΚΕ!ΚΑΜΙΑ ΨΗΦΟ ΣΤΟ ΣΥΡΙΖΑ!

5 Ιουνίου - Το ελληνικό τμήμα της Διεθνούς Κομμουνιστικής Ένωσης (4ο διεθνιστικής) καλεί τους
εργάτες, τις μειονότητες και όλους τους αντιπάλους της καπιταλιστικής λιτότητας να ψηφίσουν τους
υποψήφιους του ΚΚΕ στις 17 Ιουνίου. Το κύριο θέμα για την εργατική τάξη στην Ελλάδα σήμερα
είναι η απόρριψη των καταστροφικών επιθέσεων που προστάζει η τρόικα και επιβάλλονται από την
ελληνική αστική τάξη. Μία μαζική ψήφος στο ΚΚΕ – το οποίο εναντιώνεται στην ΕΕ – θα έδινε μια
γροθιά στο πρόσωπο των ιμπεριαλιστών και των Ελλήνων λακέδων τους και θα μπορούσε να δώσει
ώθηση στους αμυντικούς αγώνες των εργατών σε όλη την Ευρώπη.
Το ΚΚΕ ορθά στέκεται ενάντια στην προοπτική του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ να κρατήσει την «Ελλάδα στην
ΕΕ και στο ΝΑΤΟ και τις καπιταλιστικές σχέσεις παραγωγής άθικτες» (στην αγγλική διαδυκτιακή
σελίδα του ΚΚΕ, “Between two tough battles”, 23 Μαΐου). Παρά τις έντονες πιέσεις για ενότητα, το
ΚΚΕ έχει απορρίψει την έκκληση του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ για σχηματισμό μιας «αριστερής» (αστικής)
κυβέρνησης. Ο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ στέκεται υπέρ της ιμπεριαλιστικής ΕΕ και του ευρώ ενώ υποστηρίζει ότι
μπορεί να «επαναδιαπραγματευτεί» το πακέτο λιτότητας. Ως προλεταριακοί διεθνιστές,
εναντιωνόμαστε στην ιμπεριαλιστική ΕΕ από θέση αρχής (καθώς και στο κοινό νόμισμα) ως μέρος
της προοπτικής μας για τις Σοσιαλιστικές Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες της Ευρώπης. Μια σοσιαλιστική
κοινωνία δεν μπορεί να επιτευχθεί μόνο μέσα στα σύνορα της Ελλάδας.
Το ΚΚΕ σωστά τονίζει ότι η κεντρική δύναμη μέσα στον ΣΥΡΙΖΑ, ο «Συνασπισμός της
Αριστεράς» (ΣΥΝ), ψήφισε την συνθήκη του Μάαστριχτ το 1992, είναι υποστηριχτής της ΕΕ και
«συμμετείχε στην αντικομμουνιστική καμπάνια ενάντια στην ΕΣΣΔ» (“Between two tough battles”,
23 Μαΐου). Σήμερα, οι ψευδοτροτσκιστικές ομάδες οι οποίες επίσης χαιρέτησαν την αντεπανάσταση
στην Σοβιετική Ένωση – συμπεριλαμβανομένου του Σοσιαλιστικού Εργατικού Κόμματος (ΣΕΚ) και
του ΞΕΚΙΝΗΜΑΤΟΣ – τοποθετούν τον εαυτό τους στα δεξιά του ΚΚΕ, το οποίο καταγγέλουν για
την απόρριψη προς το κάλεσμα του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ να σχηματίσουν μαζί κυβέρνηση. Λέμε: Κάτω η ΕΕ! Όχι
ψήφο στο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ!
Το κάλεσμά μας για ψήφο στο ΚΚΕ σε αυτές τις εκλογές είναι μία εφαρμογή της τακτικής της
κριτικής υποστήριξης που περιέγραψε ο Λένιν στο Ο “Αριστερισμός”, Παιδική Αρρώστια του
Κομμουνισμού το 1920. Ενώ υποστηρίζουμε τους υποψήφιους του ΚΚΕ έχουμε θεμελιακές
προγραμματικές διαφορές. Το πρόγραμμά μας είναι προλεταριακό, επαναστατικό και διεθνιστικό. Σε
αντίθεση, το ΚΚΕ συνθηκολογεί με τον ελληνικό εθνικισμό, που είναι το κύριο εμπόδιο για το
χτίσιμο ενός επαναστατικού κόμματος στην Ελλάδα. Η προοπτική της «λαϊκής εξουσίας» διαλύει το
προλεταριάτο – την μόνη τάξη με τη δύναμη να ανατρέψει τον καπιταλισμό – σε «λαό» και θολώνει
την ταξική γραμμή, τη βασική διαίρεση στην καπιταλιστική κοινωνία. Ο λαϊκισμός του ΚΚΕ – που
εκφράζεται ως «ο λαός» ενάντια «στα μονοπώλια» - αντιτίθεται στην ταξική ανεξαρτησία του
προλεταριάτου από την αστική τάξη.
Οι βίαιες ρατσιστικές επιθέσεις σε μετανάστες από τις αφηνιασμένες φασιστικές συμμορίες της Χρυσής Αυγής θέτουν την άμεση ανάγκη για την κινητοποίηση εργατικών τμημάτων για να υπερασπιστούν τους μετανάστες και για να καθαρίσουν το φασιστικό δηλητήριο από τους δρόμους. Το ΚΚΕ έχει το κοινωνικό βάρος στα εργατικά σωματεία για να το κάνει, αλλά ο εθνικιστικός λαϊκισμός αποτελεί εμπόδιο σε αυτό. Αντί να κινητοποιήσει τους εργάτες και τους μετανάστες εναντίον της Χρυσής Αυγής, η οποία αντιπροσωπεύει μία απειλή σε ολόκληρη την οργανωμένη εργατική τάξη, το ΚΚΕ κάνει έκκληση για ψήφο στα ίδια καθυστερημένα στρώματα του πληθυσμού που ψήφισαν τα φασιστικά αποβράσματα, απαιτώντας: «Οι εργαζόμενοι που ψήφισαν την Χρυσή Αυγή πρέπει να διορθώσουν την ψήφο τους» (Σχόλιο του Γραφείου Τύπου για την επίθεση μελών της Χρυσής Αυγής εναντίον μεταναστών, 2 Ιουνίου).
Το ΚΚΕ παραδέχεται ότι: «Κατά την διάρκεια της δεκαετίας του 1950 και του 1980, το ΚΚΕ σχημάτισε “αριστερές συμμαχίες”» και υποστηρίζει ότι «έχει αντλήσει πολύτιμα συμπεράσματα από τις εμπειρίες του αναφορικά με την πολιτική των συμμαχιών και δεν προτίθεται να επαναλάβει παρόμοια λάθη» (“Between two tough battles”, 23 Μαΐου). Αυτά δεν ήταν λάθη αλλά προδοσίες που προέρχονται από το Σταλινικό τους πρόγραμμα. Παρά την άρνηση του ΚΚΕ να συμμετέχει σε μία κυβέρνηση συνασπισμού τώρα, δεν έχει σπάσει πολιτικά με το πρόγραμμα που το οδήγησε να συμμετέχει σε αστικές κυβερνήσεις στο παρελθόν.
Η διεθνής μας τάση πάλεψε ενεργά, στο όριο των δυνάμεών μας, για την υπεράσπιση της Σοβιετικής Ένωσης ενάντια στην αντεπανάσταση. Επίσης σταθήκαμε για μία προλεταριακή πολιτική επανάσταση ενάντια στην Σταλινική γραφειοκρατία, της οποίας οι πολιτικές του «σοσιαλισμού σε μία μόνη χώρα» και της «ειρηνικής συνύπαρξης» με τον ιμπεριαλισμό υπονόμευσαν την υπεράσπιση της ΕΣΣΔ και τελικά οδήγησαν στον θρίαμβο της αντεπανάστασης το 1991-92, μία ήττα για τις παγκόσμιες εργατικές μάζες.
Μαζί με αυτό το κάλεσμα για ψήφο στο ΚΚΕ διανέμουμε μαζικά το άρθρο «Οι Τράπεζες Ματώνουν τους Έλληνες Εργαζόμενους» για να εισάγουμε σε ένα μεγαλύτερο ακροατήριο τις ευρύτερες πολιτικές μας απόψεις. Αναζητούμε να ενώσουμε σε ένα πολιτικό σχηματισμό αυτές τις δυνάμεις που συμφωνούν με τις πολιτικές που εκφράζονται σε αυτό το άρθρο.
ΤΟΕ

From The Pen Of American Trotskysist Founding Leader James P. Cannon-On Anarchsim- A Letter

James P. Cannon On Anarchism

The following letter to Myra Tanner Weiss from James P.
Cannon has never been previously published.

Los Angeles, Calif.
July 29, 1955
Dear Myra:

I received your letter of June 9. Sending you my IWW
pamphlet was really a bit of sly calculation on my part. I
knew my IWW pamphlet would stir up the old Wobbly
in you.

Murry may be partly right in interpreting my sending
the pamphlet to you as a recognition that you are an
“anarchist.” But he is dead wrong to deprecate the term
as such. Anarchism is all right when it is under the control
of organization. This may seem a contradiction in terms,
but if it were not for the anarchism in us as individuals
we wouldn’t need the discipline of organization. The
revolutionary party represents a dialectical unity of opposites.

In one sense it is, in effect, the fusion of the rebel
instincts of individuals with the intellectual recognition
that their rebellion can be effective only when they are
combined and united into a single striking force which
only a disciplined organization can supply.

In my young days I was very friendly to the anarchists,
and was an anarchist myself by nature. I dearly loved that
word “freedom,” which was the biggest word in the
anarchist vocabulary. But my impulse to go all the way
with them was blocked by recognition that the re-organization
of society, which alone can make real freedom
possible, cannot be achieved without organization, and
that organization signifies discipline and the subordination
of the individual to the majority. I wanted to have
my cake and eat it too—in fact, I still have the same
idea—but I have never yet been able to figure out exactly
how it could be done.

People who have grown up since the Russian Revolution
and the First World War don’t know and can’t have
a real feel of what the anarchist movement was before that
time, before its theoretical assumptions had been put to
the decisive test. Anarchism was then regarded as the
most extreme form of radicalism. The anarchists had
some wonderful people; they claimed the heritage of the
Haymarket martyrs, and they were greatly respected in
all radical circles. When Emma Goldman and Alexander
Berkman came to Kansas City on lecture tours, we Wobblies
used to pitch in and promote their meetings as a
matter of course.

Goldman was a great orator, one of the best I every
heard, and Berkman was a heroic figure of pure nobility.
It was he who organized the first defense committee and
movement for the defense of Tom Mooney, after he had
been convicted and was on the way to the gallows, when
everybody else was cowed and afraid to raise a voice. I
remember his coming to Kansas City on a nation-wide
tour to arrange the first net-work of Mooney Defense
Committees, and I recall fondly and proudly the fact that
I was an active member of this first committee organized
by Berkman. (Me and Browder!)

The impulses of the original anarchists were wonderful,
but their theory was faulty, and it could not survive
the test of war and revolution. It is shameful to recall that
the Spanish anarchists became ministers in a bourgeois
cabinet in the time of the Spanish Revolution; and that
old-time American anarchists in New York, or rather
what was left of them, became social patriots in the
Second World War. Nothing is so fatal as a false theory.
If I get wound up some day I will write something
about the anarchist movement in America, as it was in the
days before the First World W a r.

So you’re really living it up these days as a full-time
party functionary and housewife. You had better not let
Murry read my chapter in “America’s Road to Socialism”
about the coming jail-break of the housewives from their
kitchens. He might get so scared at the prospect as to turn
against socialism, and we don’t want to risk that.
The weather’s cool and crisp here today, as usual in
this time of the year. How are things on the weather front
in New York? The L.A. papers have been printing a lot of
scare stories about the devastating heat in all parts of the
country outside California. What’s bad weather really
like? I can’t remember.

Fraternally,
J.P. Cannon

Ancient dreams, dreamed-The Time Of Laura’s Time- Magical Realism 101

Scene: A smoky sunless nameless, or rather legion, bar, urban style right in the middle of high Harvard civilization, belting out some misty time Hank Williams tune, maybe Cold, Cold Heart from father home down in sad sack Kentucky long gone daddy left years before and gladly times. Order another deadened drink, high- end beer these days, gone are rotgut whiskey (or high blend when in the chips) accompanied by that self-same beer, slightly benny-addled. Then, like some misbegotten scene out of Rick’s Café, in walks a vision. A million times in walks a vision, in a million walk in bars, some frail, naturally, but in white linen this time. Signifying? Signifying adventure, dream one-night stands, lost walks in loaded woods, endless stretch beaches searching for meaningful shells, moonless nights, serious caresses, and maybe, just maybe some cosmic connection to wear away the days, the long days ahead. Yes, that seems about right, right against the inflation -beggared times right, and mean street break-down right. And then this tale:

Walking down the narrow stairs leading to the admission window booth at Johnny Fleet’s in good old Harvard Square on this cold Columbus Day 1978 night, jesus 1978 is almost gone already, I was suddenly depressed by this thought-how many times lately had I walked down these very stairs looking, looking for what, looking, as Tom Waits says in his song, for the heart of Saturday night, looking recently every night from Monday to Sunday and not just Saturday. Looking, not hard looking, not right now hard looking anyway after my last nitwit affair, but looking for a man who at least has a job, doesn’t have another girlfriend or ten, and who wants to settle down a little, settle down with me a little. Yes, if you really need to know, want to know, I’ve got those late twenties getting just a touch worried old maid blues.

My parents, my straight-arrow, god-fearing, Methodist god-fearing and that is a fierce fearing, hard-working, lost in some 1950s dreamland parents, my mother really, my father just keeps his own counsel between shots of whiskey and trying to read the latest seed catalogues that keep him and his business alive through the haze, keeps badgering me about finding a nice young man. Yes, easy for you to say you don’t know the nitwits who are out there and they ain’t Rickey Nelson dream jukebox guys, Mother. And then she starts on the coming home, coming home to cranky Mechanicsville (that’s in upstate New York, near Albany, if you don’t believe me) and finding some farmer-grown boy from high school and X, Y, and Z, farmer boys all, still asks about me. No thanks, jesus, that is why I fled to Boston right after college in 1972 (and fled to a far-away, and a no living at home college too but don’t tell her that) and not just because I wanted to get my social worker master’s degree like I told them. And so here I am, a few years later, walking down these skinny stairs again, sigh, yet again.

Johnny’s (nobody calls it Johnny Fleet’s except for one-time people or tourists) isn’t a bad place to hang your hat, as my father always likes to say, when he finds that one or two places in the universe outside of the farm where he feels comfortable enough to stay more than ten minutes before getting the “I’ve got to go water the greenhouse plants” or something itch (read: drink itch). Not a bad place for a woman, a twenty–eight year old woman with college degrees and some aims in life beyond some one-night stand every now and again. Or not a bad place for a pair of women, if my friend and roommate, Priscilla, decides she is man-hungry enough to make the trip to Harvard Square from the wilds of Watertown, and can stand the heavy smoke, mainly cigarette smoke as far as I know, but after a few drinks who knows, that fills the air before the night is half over.

Tonight Priscilla is with me because she has a “crush” on Albie St John, the lead singer for the featured local rock group, The Haystraws. And the last time she was here he was giving her that look like he was game for something although he is known around the Square as strictly a “for fun” guy. And that is okay with Priscilla because she has some guy back home some guy from upstate New York where she is from near Utica, some fresh from the farm guy who she has known since about third grade, who will marry her if and when she says the word.

Here is the funny thing though alone, or like tonight with Priscilla, this funky old bar is the only place around where a woman can find a guy who is the least bit presentable to the folks back home, wherever back home is. I’ve met a couple of decent guys in here, although like I said before, things didn’t work out for some reason because they were one-night stand guys or already loaded down with girlfriends and I am in no mood to take a ticket, stuff like that. So you can see what desperate straits I am in still trying to meet that right guy, or something close, without a lot of overhead. My standards may be a little high for the times but I’m chipping away at them by the day.

Moreover, this place, this Johnny’s is the only place around that has the kind of music I like, a little country although not Grand Ole Opry country stuff like my parents go for, you know George Jones or Aunt Bee, or someone. And is a little bit folkie, kind of left-handed folkie, more like local favorite Eric Andersen folk rock, and a little old time let it rip 1950s rock and roll, like The Haystraws cover. You know, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, those guys, that I never knew anything about when I was a kid since I never got past Rickey Nelson and Bobby Darin, darn him, out in the farm field sticks. Upstate New York, like I said, not far out of Albany but it might as well have been a million miles away with me picking my sting beans, tomatoes, and whatever else pa grew to keep us from hunger’s door.

Not for me this trendy disco stuff, not my style at all, no way, although I love to dance and even took belly dancing lessons although I am not voluptuous, more just left of skinny if I say it but really voluptuous Priscilla calls me just skinny. Also my kind of guy would never, never wear an open shirt and some chainy medallion around his neck. Jesus, no way. Plus, a big plus, Johnny’s has a jukebox for intermissions filled with all kinds of odd-ball songs, real country, stuff, late 1950s rock and roll (the Rickey Nelson/Bobby Vee/Bobby Darin stuff) that nobody but me probably ever heard of unless, of course, you were from Mechanicsville, or a place like that.

After going through mandatory license check and admission fee stuff, saying “hi” to the waitresses that I know now by name, and Priscilla does too, and the regular bartenders as we pass by we find our seats, kind of “reserved” seats for us where we can sit and not be hassled by guys, or be hassled if something interesting comes along. I have been in kind of a dry spell, outside the occasional minute affair if one could really call some of the “affairs” even that, for about six months now. Ever since I started to work, work doing social work, my profession, if you need to know. That’s what I am trained to do anyway although when I first came to town a few years ago I was, as one beau back then said, “serving them off the arm” in a spaghetti joint over the other side of Cambridge. Strictly a family fare menu and plenty of college guys including a few who I wound up dating, low on funds doing the cheap Saturday night date circuit. All in all a “no tips” situation anyway you cut it, although plenty of guff, a lot of come-ons, and extra helpings of “get me this and get me that.”

Before that, out in Rochester in college, and later after a short stop at hometown Mechanicsville it was nothing but wanna-be cowboy losers, an occasional low-rent dope dealer, some wanna-be musicians, farmer brown farmers, and married guys looking for a little something on a cold night. Ya, I know, I asked for it but a girl gets cold and lonely too. Not just guys, not these days anyway. But I am still pitching, although very low-key. That is my public style (some say, say right to my face, prim but that’s only to fend off the losers).

“Laura, what are you having, tonight honey?’ asked my “regular” waitress, Lannie, and then asked Priscilla the same. “Two Rusty Nails,” we replied. Tonight, from a quick glance around the room even though it is a Columbus Day holiday night, looks like it is going to be a hard-drinking night from the feel of it. That means on my budget and my capacity about three drinks, max. About the same for Priscilla unless she is real man-hungry. But that is just between us, okay. Lannie, as is her habit, knowing that we are good tippers (the bonds of waitress sisterhood as Priscilla has also “served them off the arm”) brought the drinks right away. And so we settled in get ready to listen to The Haystraws coming up in a while for their first set. Or rather I did the settling in. Priscilla was looking, looking hard at Albie, and he was looking right back. I guess I will be driving home alone tonight.

As I settled in I noticed that some guy was playing the jukebox like crazy. Like crazy for real. He kept playing about three old timey LaVern Baker songs, Jim Dandy of course, and See See Rider but also about six times in a row her Tomorrow Night. I was kind of glad when the band, like I said, these really good rockers, The Haystraws, began their first set. And so the evening was off, good, bad, or indifferent.

About half way through the set I noticed this jukebox guy kept kind of looking at me, kind of “checking” me out without being rude about it. You know those little half-looks and then look away kind of like kid hide-and-seek and back again. Now I have around long enough to know that I am not bad to look at even if I am a little skinny and I take time to get ready when I go out, especially lately, and although times have been tough lately I am easy to get to know but this guy kind of put me on my guard a little. He was about thirty, neatly bearded which I like and okay for looks, I have been with worst. But what I couldn’t figure out, and it bothered me a little even when I tried to avoid his peeks (as he “avoided” mine) is why he was in this place.

Johnny’s, despite its locale in the heart of Harvard Square, is kind of an oasis for country girls like me, or half-country girls like Priscilla (from upstate New York too, Utica, in case you forgot) and guys the same way although once in a while a Harvard guy from the sticks comes around (or a guy who says he goes to Harvard. I have met some who made the claim who I don’t think could spell the name of the college, I swear). This guy looked like Harvard Square was his home turf and if he found himself five feet from a well-lighted street, a library, or a bookstore he would freak out big time. He might have been an old folkie, maybe early Dylan or Dave Von Ronk that nasal hard to understand kind of stuff, he had that feel, or maybe a bluesy kind of guy, Muddy Waters maybe, but he was strictly a city boy and was just cruising this joint.

But here is where this jukebox joe story gets interesting. At intermission Priscilla had to run to the ladies’ room and on the way this guy, Allan Jackman, as I found out later when he introduced himself to me, stopped her and said that her brunette friend looked very nice in her white linen pants and blouse. He then said to her that he would like to meet me. Priscilla, a veteran of the Laura wars (and I of hers), had the snappy answer ready, “Go introduce yourself, yourself.” And he did start to come over but I kind of turned away to avoid him just in case he had escaped from somewhere (ya, like I said before my luck has been running a little rough lately so I am a little gun-shy). Still he worked his way over.

And this is the very first thing that Allan ever said to me. “I noticed that you kind of perked up when I played LaVern Baker’s Tomorrow Night. Have you been disappointed when things didn’t work out after that first night of promise too, like in the song?” Not an original line, but close. I answered almost automatically, “Yes.” Then he introduced himself and just kind of stood there not trying to sit down or anything like that waiting for me to make the next move. Then Priscilla came back and said she had run into Albie St. John and he wanted to “talk” to her before the band came back for a second set (she said with a certain twist like she was doing him this big favor and not like she was practically drooling at the idea. Like I said I am definitely driving home alone today.). She left and Allan was still standing there, a little ill at ease from his look. Befuddled by his soft non-threatening demeanor , and soft manners, I was not sure if I wanted him to sit down or not but then I said what the hell, he seems nice enough and at least he was not drunk.

So he sat down, and gently, actually very gently, shook my hand and said “thank you” for letting me let him sit at the table. In the flush of reaction to that gentle handshake, I swear no man had ever taken my hand in such a manly manner without guile or gimme something before, I relaxed a little and asked him, not an origin question but I was curious, what brought him to Johnny’s. He started to tell me about his country minute, about finding out about the wild boys of country music, about Hank Williams (I winched, that was my father’s music) about this guy Townes Van Zandt and so on.

And then he said he was looking for me. I winched again. Not another crazy. No, not me exactly, but me as a person who he sensed had been kind of beaten down in the love game lately like he had. He said he saw that look in my face, in my eyes, when he kind of half-checked me out at the jukebox. (I made him laugh when I said we were kid-hide-and-seeking earlier). I said I thought he had fully “checked me out” but he would only confess to the half. We both laughed at that one.

And after that opening, strange to say, because being a country girl, and being brought up in a Methodist-etched household to keep my thoughts to myself, or else, or else Dad would have a fit, I started to talk to him about my troubles lately. And he listened and kept asking more questions, not in-your- face questions, but questions like he was really interested in the answers and not as some fiendish experiment to take advantage of a simple girl. And then I asked him a few things and before we knew it the evening’s entertainment was over and Lannie kept telling us that we had to go. I still had some doubts about this guy, this city boy and his city ways, and his fierce piercing blue eyes that could be true or truly devilish.

As we got up to leave he asked, kind of sheepishly with a little stutter, asked, for my telephone number. No “my place or your place, honey,” or “let’s go down the Charles and have some fun,” or “I brought you six drinks (we had each bought our own) and so I expect something more” or any of that usual end of the night stuff that I have become somewhat inured to. He simply, softly, said he wanted it because he wanted to call me up tomorrow night. We kind of laughed at that seeing the way we met, before we met. I hesitated just a minute and he, sensing my dilemma, started to turn to leave. A guy who knows how to take no for an answer, or the possibility of no, without recrimination or fuss. Wait a minute, Laura. Before he took two steps I blurted out my number. And then put it on a cocktail napkin for him. As I passed the glass wet napkin to him he said he would call about seven if that was okay. I said yes. And then he shook my hand, shook it even more gently than when he introduced himself, if that was possible. I flushed again as he headed to the door. Something in that handshake said you had better not let this one get away. Something that said you had better be near the phone at 7:00 PM tomorrow night waiting for his call. And I will be.