Egypt: Referendum vote shows fall in support for President Mursi		Printer-Friendly E-Mail This
Dec 20, 2012 By David Johnson, Socialist Party (CWI England & Wales)
Regime squeezed between workers’ opposition to austerity and ruling class President Mursi’s referendum on a new constitution for Egypt has not produced the strong vote in favor he hoped for. Ten out of 27 governorates (regions) voted on Saturday 15th December, with 4.6 million (56.5%) voting in favor and 3.5 million (43.5%) against. What was striking was that barely one in three turned out to vote. 52% voted in the second round of the presidential election in June when Mursi was elected. The numbers not voting were increased by new measures requiring residents to go to their registered district to vote. This is estimated to have deprived ten million of their right to vote, particularly those who have moved to cities to work who could not take time off to travel back to their original home. Clearly the regime’s aim is to strengthen the relative weight of the generally more conservative rural areas. The vote is being taken over two days (with the rest of the country voting on 22nd December) because the Judges’ Club refused to supervise polling stations in opposition to Mursi’s attempted power grab that made him unchallengeable in the courts. In the face of mass opposition on the streets, Mursi partly backed down, conceding that his extra powers would not continue beyond the referendum. Opposition parties have reported many cases of vote-rigging and absence of independent supervision at polling stations. Voting analysis of the first round shows major cities, where the concentration of the working class is highest, opposed the constitution. Cairo governorate voted 43.1% for the constitution, and 56.9% against. Gharbiya governorate in the Nile delta, including the industrial cities of Mahalla Al-Kubra and Tanta, voted 47.9% for and 52.1% against. A narrow majority voted against in Alexandria. Meanwhile, in more rural Assiut 76.1% voted for. The vote also shows a fall in support for Mursi and right-wing political Islam since the parliamentary elections twelve months ago, when over 70% voted for the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party or the more conservative Salafist party, Nour. A full analysis of trends will need to wait until the whole country has voted. Little support for new constitution It seems the new constitution will be passed, but by little more than about one voter in five. That is a very weak position for Mursi and his government, who are being squeezed between growing opposition to his attempts to impose austerity from workers and the poor and pressure from the ruling class. The government attempted to introduce new taxes and raise existing ones, as part of a deal to get a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. Within hours, the government reversed its announcement and postponed any tax rises until after the constitution referendum was out of the way and asked the IMF to postpone the loan. The most prominent opposition leaders in the newly-formed National Salvation Front are not talking about tax rises for the poor while big business continues to make huge profits. Limiting their campaign to constitutional issues means they will not build mass support among the workers and poor masses. The daily struggle to survive, as food and cooking gas prices rise, is a higher priority for the millions who did not vote. After two years of upheavals there are many who wish for a more stable life. The jobs situation remains desperate, especially as tourism will be hit again by the recent street battles, as well as continuing recession in Europe. The poor who did vote for the constitution can be won away from support for right wing political Islam if the growing independent trade unions organize together, building a political party based on the interests of the working class and campaigning for a clear socialist programme. That would refute attempts by Mursi to paint the opposition as supporters of the old Mubarak regime. Notwithstanding Mursi’s conflicts with some parts of the old elite, his government is defending the interests of big business, who continue to take profits from out of the pockets of the working class and poor, just as under Mubarak and SCAF. A second, socialist revolution is needed to end their rule.

South Africa: Founding of Workers and Socialist Party Printer-Friendly E-Mail This Jan 2, 2013 By DSM (CWI South Africa) WASP will now mobilize support for the party Press Release, Dec 17, 2012, DSM Executive Committee, the Strike and Workers’ Committee Representatives of Bokoni Platinum, Harmony Gold, Anglo Gold Ashanti, Royal Bafokeng and Murray Roberts. An event that has the potential to change the political landscape of South Africa, like Marikana has done on the industrial plane, was quietly marked in the founding of a new political party, the Workers and Socialist Party (WASP) this week-end. The Democratic Socialist Movement, affiliate of the Committee for a Workers International and representatives of strike committees of Bokoni Platinum in Limpopo, Royal Bafokeng and Murray and Roberts in Rustenburg, North West and KDC in Carltonville, Gauteng founded the party. This took place despite seemingly unrelated but more than likely to be deliberate acts of sabotage in the form of the withdrawal of the permission hours after it was granted to hold the rally at a stadium in Limpopo, the draconian bail conditions of leaders of the Bokoni Platinum strike committee and the shunning of the event by the media. Despite suffering these setbacks in planning what was meant to be a rally and media conference to announce the intention to launch the party and to celebrate the release on bail of key leaders of the Bokoni Platinum Strike Committee leaders, the representatives who could make it there on their own after the rally was called off were undeterred and determined to proceed with what had to be pared down to a founding meeting of the Workers and Socialist Party. What especially lifted the spirit of those gathered was the reading out of some of the messages of support from Harmony Gold, Anglo Gold Ashanti and sister organisations of the DSM in Nigeria, Venezuela, China and others including of the sole member of the Irish Socialist Party in the European Parliament, Paul Murphy. The need for such a party was clearly evident in the reports given by strike committee leaders of the situation that exists at various mines around the country after the return to work. At Bokoni Platinum a virtual state of emergency has been imposed and workers found not be at work in the surrounding villages are frog marched to report for duty at the mine. At Harmony Gold, workers have resumed strike action and elsewhere discontent is simmering just below the surface as many of the demands for which workers came out on strike as far back August, at the huge cost of lost income and in the lives sacrificed on the koppies of Marikana and surrounding areas remain unresolved and unmet. Despite the modest founding of the Workers and Socialist Part with just 20 delegates present, it has made concrete the idea of an alternative based on a socialist programme committed to nationalization of the commanding heights of the economy of which the mining industry remains a key component. The WASP will have to put as one of its key demands the nationalization of the mines under the direct ownership, management and control of workers in the process leading to the socialist transformation of society which is the only basis on which a lasting solution to the problems of mine workers and working class as a whole can be found. The historic first step in the process towards the launch of what until this time has been referred to as a mass workers party will build the strike committees as the first battalion in the struggle to unite workers in the mines, factories and farms, communities and students into a formidable force that will tie the historical knot between the events at Marikana and those at Sharpeville on 21st March 2013. The WASP will have to distinguish itself from all other political parties by its clearly socialist programme, its approach to electoral politics as but one terrain of struggle and by its public representatives being subject to the right of immediate recall and to a workers wage. It will demonstrate the irrelevance of the ANC conference where candidates contesting for leadership are all committed to the preservation of the enslavement of the working class under capitalism - the very system WASP is dedicated to abolishing In the coming days and months leading to its launch the WASP will mobilize support for the party with a resolution calling for the building of the party to popularize the idea of an alternative in organised formations such as unions, community organisations, social movements and like-minded political organisations who will be invited to adopt the resolution as part of their formal affiliation to the WASP. The WASP will be fighting party that will unite service delivery protests, student struggles against unaffordable tuition fees and workplace struggles against short time, retrenchments and labor broking. As part of the mobilization for the launch, WASP militants will fan out across the country to amass a million signatures in preparation for contesting the 2014 elections. WASP will also lead a campaign for the recall of all incompetent and corrupt councillors to replace them with WASP representatives - workers representatives on a workers wage. WASP will put its full weight behind campaigns against corruption and e-tolling. A series of regional rallies to report on the adoption of the resolution spelling out the broad outlines of what will be in the programme of WASP will culminate in the launch of the party on Sharpeville Day as part of the strategy to register what will be unapologetically a Workers and Socialist Party. Issued by: DSM Executive Committee, the Strike and Workers’ Committee Representatives of Bokoni Platinum, Harmony Gold, Anglo Gold Ashanti, Royal Bafokeng and Murray Roberts. December 17, 2012

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Film Review: Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln Printer-Friendly E-Mail This Jan 3, 2013 By Patrick Ayers and Eljeer Hawkins The theatrical release of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln is situated between important events and anniversaries. This past September 22 marked the 150th anniversary of the preliminary draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, November 6 saw the re-election of the first black president, Barack Obama, to a second term and January 1, 2013 is the 150th anniversary of the final implementation of the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation as a war measure. It declared "all persons held as slaves" within the rebel states "are, and henceforward shall be free.” The Making of Lincoln Lincoln is based in part on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s award winning biography of Lincoln, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Lincoln adapted for the screen by award winning playwright Tony Kushner. Lincoln is directed by Spielberg and stars Oscar winners Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field. It has already garnered a number of Golden Globe nominations and will certainly get Oscar nominations. Lincoln focuses on efforts to pass the Thirteenth Amendment toward the end of the Civil War. After winning reelection in 1864, Lincoln took the opportunity in the final days of the outgoing “lame duck” session of Congress to pass the amendment. Passage was not guaranteed, even though the Republicans had a strong majority. Lincoln had to deal with opposition in his Cabinet, his party, and also win support from some Democrats (who had been the main party of the slave owners). The film clearly intends to highlight Lincoln's skills as a political leader in a period of crisis. The film also attempts to humanize Abraham Lincoln who suffered from bouts of depression not dealt with fully in the film. Lincoln’s propensity to tell stories and parables to enforce his point to soldiers and cabinet members is in full display. Some of the most touching and powerful scenes are with his wife Mary Todd Lincoln portrayed by Sally Field and the profound grief of the passing of their son Willie at the age of 11. These also include moments of play with Lincoln’s younger son Tad and his strained relationship with his son Robert Todd Lincoln, who wanted to enlist into the union army despite Mary Todd’s disapproval. Robert Todd will join the union army in the final weeks of the war. Great leaders Daniel Day-Lewis is absolutely mesmerizing; epitomizing his methodical approach to acting. Lewis becomes Lincoln in body, spirit and mind. Through the sentimental and grandiose imagery in Spielberg’s directing Lincoln almost appears as a god-like figure. Undoubtedly, the choice by the filmmakers to make a film about Lincoln's character in the limited context of the battle for the Thirteenth Amendment is meant to amplify Lincoln's role in events. At one point in the film Lincoln asks a soldier in the White House, “Are we fitted to the times we are born into?” And the soldier answers, “I don't know about myself - you maybe.” The problem here for those that wish to fully appreciate Lincoln's role in history, is that the filmmaker's choice of events don't help paint the full portrait of the “times” that Lincoln had to “fit into”. By almost entirely featuring debates in the halls of power in Washington, the film is not able to explore the role of the masses in the historical process. Without the slaves, small farmers, workers, and others who were radicalized by events leading up to the 1861 outbreak of war – and even more so after – Lincoln would not have had a platform from which to lead. To fully understand the qualities of Lincoln's leadership, it is vital to place his role in the context of the broader historical process. This could have been done in a few minutes at the beginning of the film. But, the choice by the filmmakers of Lincoln to provide a narrow focus, without providing a full historical context, serves to render history as being made by great people ordained by a power greater then themselves. The Second American Revolution “The struggle has broken out because the two systems can no longer live peaceably side by side on the North American continent. It can only be ended by the victory of one system (chattel slavery) or the other (free labor).” – Karl Marx The Civil War ended in a revolutionary war against the slave-owning planters, who had dominated U.S. politics for decades before the war. By abolishing slavery, the material basis of their economic and political power was rooted out. This revolution was necessary because the first American Revolution – the war for Independence from Britain – ended in a compromise between the capitalist ruling class in the North, and the slave-owning planters in the South. Many at that time thought slavery was a dying institution. But, with the invention of the cotton gin, and the development of the industrial revolution, demand for cotton lead to a rapid growth of slavery – and in a far more brutal form than before capitalism. This strengthened the slave-owning planters and they dominated politics in the U.S. until 1860 through their two party system – the Democrats and the Whigs. Due to the destructive effect of cotton plantations on the soil, planters were constantly in search of new land. This brought them into collision with the rapidly growing population of small farmers in the North who wanted new lands for small “free soil” farms, not large slave plantations. In 1854, small farmers and slave-owners fought a war in Kansas over whether the new state would be a slave state. With the rapid growth of capitalism in the North, which had its own political agenda, the two systems – the chattel slave system and the free labor capitalist system – increasingly came into conflict. The refusal of the slave-owning planters to relinquish their power made a revolution absolutely necessary. The industrialists were in a position to lead a historic movement against the slave owners, but they had to mobilize the masses to do it. The Republican Party was launched in 1854 out of a growing democratic movement against the “slave power.” Along with the small farmers and industrialists, the new party brought together abolitionists and workers organizations that recognized an opportunity to build a powerful movement to crush the “slave power” and open the way for a radical transformation of society. The Republican program had a limited goal of stopping the spread of slave lands, but this was enough to herald a death sentence for the slave system. Added to this opposition in the North, the slave owners constantly lived in fear of slave rebellions. With the growth of slavery to over 4 million human beings working in bondage, this fear became even greater. The slave-owners were completely dependent upon racist ideology and a state apparatus that ruthlessly enforced its needs, including enforcing fugitive slave laws and repressing abolitionist agitation. Anti-democratic measures against abolitionists spread fears in the North that the “slave power” was a threat to democratic freedoms. In 1859, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry raised alarm bells, not just because it raised the specter of a slave rebellion, but also because John Brown, who had fought in Kansas against the slave owners, was celebrated by many Radical Republicans in the North. When Lincoln was elected president in 1860, the slave-owners had already decided that their only hope for defending their interests was an armed uprising against the North and secession. This was the broad historical process leading up to Lincoln's election and the outbreak of war. On the basis of two antagonistic systems, conflict and war were inevitable. To his credit, Lincoln fulfilled a historical necessary role in the struggle against the class of slave-owning planters. There was a historic need for the abolition of slavery and revolution. Lincoln’s determination to abolish slavery before the end of the civil war was essential for the subsequent development of capitalism over the coming decades. This also led to the development of a powerful working class, the only class in history capable of establishing a society truly based on equality. For these reasons, Karl Marx and his American allies supported Lincoln and the Union army during the war. They argued against the idea that abolition would lead to greater competition between workers and instead argued how the working class would be strengthened by the freeing of black labor from bondage. “Labor in the white skin can never free itself as long as labor in the black skin is branded,” wrote Marx in Capital. A People’s History and Hollywood Lincoln wasn't an abolitionist and did not set out to abolish slavery. He also held racist views. Lincoln earlier supported colonization projects for a segment of free ex-slaves given the option to migrate to Africa and the Caribbean. Lincoln was contradictory and cautious. Lincoln would state on September 18, 1858, during the first Lincoln and Stephan Douglas debate, “I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races, that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people . . . . I as much as any man am in favor of the superior position assigned to the white race."-Abraham Lincoln, First Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Ottawa, Illinois, Sept. 18, 1858, in The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln vol.3, pp. 145-146, But, Lincoln was a supporter of “free labor” which was crucial for mobilizing the northern small farmers, tradesmen and workers, who volunteered to fight in droves. It also drew the ire of the Democratic Party, the main political prop of slavery, who whipped up racist opposition to the “Black Republicans,” as they were called by the Democrats. Lincoln was a talented orator who could connect with an audience from poor farmers to lawyers. We get a glimpse of this at the beginning of Spielberg's film, when Lincoln discusses with two soldiers, one black and one white. Both of them seem inspired, reciting Lincoln's Gettysburg Address by memory. Lincoln’s thinking and actions were pushed by the intensifying social conflict pressure from below which was decisive in forcing him to adopt new bold proposals. Slaves themselves put pressure on the Union leaders to abolish slavery as a war measure, as they increasingly fled to northern lines in the course of the war. Termed ‘contrabands of war’ fleeing slaves were seen as striking an important blow to the economic power of the South. Abolitionist sentiments also grew enormously after the outbreak of war, thanks to the agitation of the abolitionists. The Army represented some of the most radicalized sections of the northern workers and small farmers. It resembled nothing like the U.S. Army today, which is built through a poverty draft. The Civil War was a political war, and the Union Army was politicized. Although there was conscription, there were also thousands of willing volunteers, because they believed that crushing the “slave power” was important to the struggle for a better society. Members of labor unions, socialists and other radicals played an important role in joining and forming militias to become part of the union army. Union soldiers overwhelmingly voted for Lincoln in the 1864 election. Slaves Struggle for Their Own Emancipation In the opening scene of Lincoln, a black soldier raises issues about the racist treatment of black soldiers. But, it is merely a token reference to the racial tensions between the white Union leaders and the black soldiers. The movie Glory, released in 1989 and starring Matthew Broderick and Denzel Washington, explores much more the dynamic tension between Union leaders fighting to preserve the Union and further their careers, and black soldiers fighting for social liberation. The struggle by the slaves for their own social liberation was a decisive driving force of events that propelled Lincoln to ultimately abolish slavery. Unfortunately, the black characters in Lincoln are used as set pieces lacking any real development, dialogue or influence on events. It’s greatly troubling that there’s no mention or portrayal of important African American leaders like the abolitionist freedom fighter Frederick Douglass or the conductor of the Underground Railroad Harriet Tubman who joined the Union forces. Lincoln in the last year of his life sought Douglass’s thoughts on the question of slavery, post-civil war and black enfranchisement. In the film Mary Todd Lincoln’s confidant and seamstress Elizabeth Keckley is portrayed by actress Gloria Reuben. Keckley, a former slave herself, headed up the Contraband Relief Association made up of slaves who escaped the confederacy. The Contraband Relief Association and black abolitionists impressed upon Lincoln to give up on the colonization project, inviting contraband members to the White House and pressuring union army officials to critically examine slavery. The film also gives the false impression that the Thirteenth Amendment came from Lincoln when in fact the Radical Republicans and abolitionist movement introduced the amendment in January 1864. The Radical Republicans were years ahead of Lincoln by advocating ending slavery with full universal equality among the races and political, economic and social enfranchisement as the radical reconstruction period (1868-1877) illustrates. Radical Republicans like Thaddeus Stevens are portrayed as compromisers in the film, because they lowered emphasis on their broader demand for equality for blacks, thus preventing the Democrats creating a distraction from the central goal of passing the Emancipation Proclamation. But the compromises they made were important to the material destruction of slavery. This sort of compromise advances the struggle of the oppressed. It has nothing in common with the compromises made before 1860 that helped maintain slavery. The film Lincoln allows us to re-examine the 16th president of the United States in a critical manner. It provides a background for further exploring the horrendous conditions African-Americans and working people faced following the end of the subsequent period of radical reconstruction, and the speedy rise of the U.S. as an imperial capitalist nation. The massive social struggles around the civil war bring up important issues that are played out in the continuing battles today to end racial, class, sexual and gender exploitation under U.S. and global capitalism. 150 years after abolition of slavery, the working class and poor are still the true agents of revolutionary change on the stage of world history.

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Greece: ‘Initiative 1000’ – An ambitious move on the Greek Left Printer-Friendly E-Mail This Jan 3, 2013 By Andros Payiatsos, Xekinima (CWI Greece) Build a united front of Left forces on a programme to end capitalist crisis! Xekinima (CWI Greece) plays a central role in an initiative to bring together different forces from the Greek Left to fight for a united front, based primarily around SYRIZA, (radical left coalition party) the highest polling opposition Left party, on a programme that decisively breaks with capitalism. The initiative is known as ‘Initiative 1000’ due to the number of individuals who signed the original ‘Declaration of the initiative’. The ‘Initiative’ had its first public meeting on 29 November 2012 in Athens. Despite heavy rain, 600 people attended the very successful launch. Meetings have taken place in many other areas in Greece to set up local committees of the Initiative. What follows is an edited translation of an article by Andros Payiatsos, from Xekinima (CWI Greece), published soon after a press conference at which the Initiative 1000 was formally launched in November. Socialistworld.net On Monday 5 November 2012, members of different Greek Left organisations and independent activists launched ‘Initiative 1000’ which takes its name from the 1000 or so individuals signed an initial declaration. This ambitious launch comes at a time of unprecedented attacks on the standard of living and rights and lives of millions of Greeks, who are driven to despair by the policies of the ruling elite and the Troika [EU, IMF and IMF]. With society in a state of flux, rapid turns and changes, the Left is confronted with huge tasks and challenges. Workers and youth openly public about the extent to which the Greek Left provides adequate answers to the crisis. The Initiative 1000 is set to intervene in this debate, not like “another party” just trying to recruit members in competition with the rest of the Left (SYRIZA, KKE, ANTARSYA, etc) and leading to further fragmentation of the Left. The Initiative calls for cooperation on the basis of a programme that provides a way out of the catastrophic crisis, a programme based on the need to defend the interests of the working class and the oppressed. Initiative 1000 - The fundamental points As the Declaration of the Initiative 1000 states, the fundamental points of agreement are summed up as follows: All the undersigned: Believe that any solution to the social and economic implosion taking place in Greece in this period can only be found on the basis of breaking with the present capitalist system. Such a solution can only be found on the basis of a united front of Left forces and on the basis of a programme that calls for the ending of crisis engulfing the working masses and for the overthrow of the present capitalist regime. The crisis is international and European-wide. We fight for a revolutionary change in Greece that can act as a trigger to similar /processes internationally. Thus we strive for the widest possible coordination and common struggle of the mass movements that develop internationally. We support the greatest possible cooperation and unity in action of all the Greek Left, on the basis of such a radical political programme, but also in the common daily struggle for the people’s survival and for solidarity actions for those most severely hit by the crisis. We support the prospect of a government of the Left (in the present conditions identified mainly with SYRIZA) knowing however that such a development is not the “end of the road”, but the beginning of mass struggles. The Left must seek the widest possible cooperation of its forces in the fight against the Memoranda, the Troika and the Greek ruling class, starting from the demand of ‘No Sacrifices for the Euro!’ We appeal to all Left forces and fighters (including non-party individuals) who agree with the ideas represented by this Initiative, independently of which party (or political trend) they may belong, to support and widely campaign for the above aims and tasks. Unity A central feature of the Initiative 1000 is that it aims for unity, transcending the divisive ‘Chinese Wall’ of the various political parties that historically have become, particularly in Greece, an almost insurmountable obstacle for the different forces of the Left to effectively communicate. This Initiative has been made by: Aristeri Paremvasi, ARAN (a tendency inside ARAN – Left Renewal and ANTARSYA, the Anti-capitalist Alliance) Kommunistiki Ananeosi (Communist Refoundation – one of the constituent organisations making up ANTARSYA) Paremvasi (a new Left organisation set up by those expelled from KOE, a Maoist organisation working inside SYRIZA, in the beginning of 2012 and who participate in MAA, the formation created by the ex-leader of SYRIZA, Alekos Alavanos) and Xekinima (CWI section in Greece) Very soon after its initiation, a large number of ‘independents’ (I.e. not belonging to any Left party) expressed their support for the Initiative and signed its Declaration. The agreement of so many comrades from different Left political trajectories on the basis of such an advanced common framework – both political and tactical – is something that we have never seen before! This certainly creates some difficulties, as well as doubts about its prospects. But the dominant issue for all those who are involved in the Initiative 1000 is the common understanding of the historical tasks confronting the Left in Greece The programme Some of the key points of the political programme that Initiative 1000 is fighting for are the following (excerpts from the founding text of the Initiative). Non-recognition of the debt and immediate cessation of its payment Abolition of all Memoranda and all implementation legislation Abrogation of all neo-colonial loan contracts/agreements Nationalization of the banking system Drastic debt relief for all working class households, small businesses, small to medium-sized working farmers and for all those who have been hit by the crisis Heavy taxation on capital, the end of bank secrecy for big depositors and a massive reduction of arms expenditures Nationalization of all the strategic economic sectors and strategic enterprises Real democracy, with the institutionalization of social and workers’ control and management, across the entire spectrum of economic activity The creation, on the above basis, of a progressive plan to reconstruct the economy for the benefit and in the interest of the working masses and the people Only through such a programme can Greek society avert the economic and social disaster in which we are lead by the Greek ruling class, the EU and the IMF. Only in this way can workers’ salaries, pensions, and social welfare gains, like free Health and Education, and industrial relations and basic democratic rights, be rescued. Initiative 1000 and the rest of the Left The advanced political programme, defended by Initiative 1000 and referred to in brief above, distinguishes the Initiative from the policies expressed by the majority inside the leadership of SYRIZA(radical left coalition party). Raising the need of co-operation of the Left and for a ‘United Front’ distinguishes the Initiative from the sectarianism and isolationism of the KKE (the Greek communist party ) and ANTARSYA (the Anti-capitalist Alliance). The Initiative 1000 does not raise its programme in competition with the existing forces of the Left in the sense of trying to recruit members away from the present parties, but attempts to intervene and influence the intense political debates that are already taking place in the ranks of the Left and throughout the whole of the Left. It wants to assist and join forces with individuals and currents of ideas, inside the present parties and formations of the Left, who are fighting for ideas similar to those of the Initiative. The Initiative 1000 has already gained many supporters but, also, quite a number of ‘enemies‘. The ideas of the Initiative are already being attacked inside SYRIZA, inside ANTARSYA (where expulsions have already been threatened to scare people away from signing the Initiative’s Declaration) and elsewhere. We are asking all those comrades who are have rushed to attack the Initiative to try to keep an open mind and to allow the free expression and exchange of ideas among party members so that they can make up their own mind about the issues. They must show trust and confidence to the ability of ordinary members and cadres of organizations and parties of the Left to be able to judge for themselves. Even more, they should show confidence to the ability of ordinary workers to judge what is right and what is wrong, particularly as the “common people” are what the Left is supposed to be fighting for. The Left must have confidence in the class instincts of the oppressed and their freedom to choose what they think is the right course. This should be a core value for the Left. Without this, the Left has already lost the war before the first battle. Viewed from this perspective, Initiative 1000 should be welcomed by all the forces of the Left. Need for co-ordination and action The Initiative 1000 does not seek to limit itself only at the level of ideas and debate. Discussions through blogs, websites and other social media are necessary and important but also have serious limitations: they do not engage large sections of the oppressed and are restricted to (cadre and leaders) on the Left who have the ability, time, etc, to participate. The Initiative 1000 needs the life-blood of the real movements. That is why it is important to set the goal of establishing local committees of groups of friends or supporters of the Initiative 1000, and to take initiatives, whether at a local level, in workplaces or within the Left party they belong to. Xekinima (CWI Greece) participates actively in this initiative precisely because we believe that only a Left policy can provide a way out of the crisis and challenge the power of capital (national and multinational) on the basis of the socialist reconstruction of the economy and a socialist society. The present economic crisis is an international crisis which begun in the US, in 2007, and will not end anytime soon. Imploding capitalism now leads entire societies into barbarism, including societies that thought they belonged in the “developed” world. The socialist perspective is the only practical and realistic solution to the crisis for Greek society, the European South, Europe, and the entire world. All parts of the Left that agree with these views have to get together, communicate and coordinate their activities, beyond organisational and party divisions. This is the only way that the workers’ movement and the oppressed can face the future with optimism, confident we can win the battles ahead. Members of Xekinima have already signed the Declaration of the Initiative 1000 and we are discussing what it the best way forward, how to reach a wider audience, etc. We are asking all our friends and readers of our website to do the same.

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In court next week: Gov't seeks to block whistle-blower motive. Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Bradley in court next week: Gov't seeks to block reference to whistle-blower motives. Judge Lind may rule on motion to dismiss charges based on unlawful pretrial punishment, and prosecutors to argue motion to block any reference to Bradley Manning’s whistle-blower motives. Two months remain before the court martial, take action! Take action! New banners available in the store! Bradley Manning returns to court next week, January 8-11, 2013, for another pretrial hearing. Government prosecutors will argue their motion to block both any reference to the lack of harm caused by the released documents, and any reference of Bradley Manning’s whistle-blower motives, from the merits portion of his trial. If granted by military judge Col. Denise Lind, it will make it difficult for the defense to show that Bradley Manning released documents to uncover crimes and abuse and to better inform the American public. As Bradley’s lawyer David Coombs said, it could “cut Bradley’s defense at its knees”. It is also possible that Judge Lind will rule on the defense motion to dismiss charges all the charges based on the abusive and unlawful pretrial treatment Bradley Manning endured at the Quantico Marine brig prison. PFC Manning was kept in solitary confinement for over nine months, against the consistent recommendations of brig psychiatrists. If Judge Lind finds that this treatment was intentionally punitive, she could throw out the charges against PFC Manning, or she could award him multiplied credit for sentencing, possibly as much as ten days credit for every day spent in solitary confinement. Bradley Manning’s court-martial trial is currently scheduled to begin March 6, 2013. This gives us two months to ramp up our efforts. Help us pressure the government and military to do the right thing: free Bradley Manning. We are asking supporters to take action during the proceeding court dates, and particularly leading up to the court martial. You can find solidarity events in your area here, as well as register your own. Court dates: 8-11 January 2013: Judicial notice motions and Defense witness litigation 16-17 January 2013: Defense Motion to Dismiss for Lack of a Speedy Trial 5-8 February 2013: Providence inquiry and “Grunden” issues (re. what portions of the trial will be closed to the public due to the government’s security concerns); 27 February – 1 March 2013: Grunden issues continued (re. what portions of the trial will be closed to the public due to the government’s security concerns) 6 March – 17 April 2013: Trial (18 March 2013: Current alternate trial start date) How to Attend Bradley's Hearings Following next week’s hearing, PFC Manning is scheduled to return to Fort Meade on January 16 and 17, to conclude the defense’s motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial. When that motion is argued, PFC Manning will have been awaiting trial in prison for nearly 1,000 days. Help us continue to cover 100% of Bradley's legal fees! Donate today.

Pardon Bradley Manning

When The Blues Was Dues- Lucinda Williams’ “Lake Charles”

…she knew he was trouble from the first minute that she set eyes on him. What kind of trouble, heartache, money, sex, other women, drugs, drink, lazy no account laying about, she didn’t know but trouble spelt in big letters. Just that minute though she was looking for a little trouble, a little trouble after her old beau Jean Jacques (Johnny) Dubois up and left her with her younger sister (the bitch, and she can have that damn two-timing him) and lit out for the Dakotas, and she could feel it in her quickened breathe at the sight of him and that moist little feeling down by her thighs, what did Johnny call it, down by her love hole, after that first look when she realized that she was looking for just his sized trouble. So don’t blame him entirely for everything that happened. Yah, don’t blame him entirely.

She knew she should have walked right on by when she saw him standing, standing Texas tall (all six feet two of him to her five foot three), kind of lanky, dark hair, a little long, a little too long to have been a local bijou Cajun boy and so Texas tall was about right, dark eyes, devil’s eyes with long lashes, tooth -pick just kind of hanging off to the side of his mouth, and a little permanent smirk setting that jut jaw off. Yah, standing king hell standing with one booted foot curled up against the wall in front of old Doc’s Rexall Drugstore just waiting, waiting for some woman, her, to come by she guessed. He took a look in her direction and he must have sensed that she was looking for a little trouble as he undressed her with his eyes, and she, hell, she ready to take that dress off right there. He, without saying a word, just pointed one finger toward his canary yellow Camaro, convertible, top down parked kitty-corner just then as he invited her into the vehicle. And she, no questions asked, no names exchanged, no life stories exchanged, sat herself right down in the front passenger seat after he opened the door for her. And she, they, their thing had started.

He, later name exchanged Lanny, he and she headed out of town wordless toward the bayou road that ran over to Lafayette that meant only one thing, Jimmy’s Pier, the local lovers’ lane. Her breathe quickened again (and she got wet down there by her thighs all over again) at the thought of heading there in broad daylight as he turned on the car radio as some Hank Williams jambalaya stew broth came on. After they landed at Jimmy’s, still wordless, they went about their savage love business (hell, not love- making just pure buck- naked sex).She had practically torn off her dress in a flash like some two dollar whore to let him at her. And so that is how they started, started their short intense trouble.

And she didn’t mind the trouble for a while because Lanny was sweet to her, kind to her, knew how get her going but there was always something dark in his mood even when making love, something Texas- sized that was eating at him. He started to drink a little more as time went on, at first she joined him but finding she could not keep up just kind of stopped and would drive the car when he got too blasted. Later he was taking drugs (unknown to her, cocaine and some meth) and for a while he would be calm, they would make great love, and she would be happy. Then his love-making became more savage, more insistent. he hurt her with his penetrations a couple of times. During that time he started talking about him, they, but usually he used him unless she corrected him, moseying on back to Texas and some wildcatter work, or something. She didn’t want to go, but would, because, well because she was his woman. And that was that.

Then one night, one misty bayou night, after he had left her in front of her house, he revved up that canary yellow Camaro and headed out on rained- slickened roads fast. According to the later state police report they found him crashed, flame crashed, almost at the Texas line in a ravine. His body filled with alcohol and cocaine.

Her Lanny lived too fast to live too long but every once in a while she would think back to that first date, that unspoken first date, and have no regrets about taking in that little trouble that tall Texas boy brought her way.

…and hence Lake Charles

Lucinda Williams Lake Charles written by Lucinda Williams

A E A

He had a reason to get back to Lake Charles

D

He used to talk about it

A

He'd just go on and on

E

He always said Louisana

A

Was where he felt at home

A E A

He was born in Nacogdoches

D

That's in East Texas

A

Not far from the border

E

But he liked to tell everybody

A

He was from Lake Charles

D A

Did an angel whisper in your ear

D A

And hold you close and take away your fear

E A

In those long last moments

A

We used to drive

E A

Thru Lafayette and Baton Rouge

D

In a yellow Camino

A

Listening to Howling Wolf

E

He liked to stop in Lake Charles

A

Cause that's the place that he loved

A E A

Did you run about as far as you could go

D

Down the Lousiana highway

A

Across Lake Ponchatrain

E

Now your soul is in Lake Charles

A

No matter what they say

D A

Did an angel whisper in your ear

D A

And hold you close and take away your fear

E A

In those long last moments

SOLO

A E A

He had a reason to get back to Lake Charles

D

He used to talk about it

A

He'd just go on and on

E

He always said Louisana

A

Was where he felt at home

D A

Did an angel whisper in your ear

D A

And hold you close and take away your fear

E A

In those long last moments

D A

Did an angel whisper in your ear

D A

And hold you close and take away your fear

E A

In those long last moments