Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Cindy Sheehan and Lesser-Evil Politics: Campaigning Against the War in California

By Josh Frank

Read full article...

Posted 01/31 | Add a Comment

    Comments:

    You must register to comment.

    Login | Register

  1. I’m curious as to what Joshua’s take is on the electoral aspects of this article when stacked up against the fact that Camejo only pulled 5% of the vote last time (in the “liberal” area of Santa Cruz) --relatively recently-- in going up against Terminator for the CA(ca) Gov job. Also, I’d like to know what’s good about Chretien, Sheehan et. al. continuing to refer to the Iraq invasion as having started THREE years ago. Y’know that tired --very misleading-- notion that totally discounts when the invasion really “began.” I mean, doesn’t the whole business of trying to make an antiwar “statement” (almost --educating-- begin with making it very clear to the general public that politicans ‘cross the board have been bloodying their hands for quite some time in that realm? Those are what I consider two simple points that need addressing, among others. Merci, Ox

    Posted by Richard Oxman from Los Gatos, CA  on  01/31  at  08:33 PM

  2. Also,...if the focus of a Sheehan campaign is to be spotlighting “malignant war blemishes” on Feinstein’s record, it begs the question of what good having such stuff front and center again will do. Is anyone still under the delusion that all the California electorate needs is to be woken up to Feinsten’s (and others’) records. The scorecard was in on her when Camejo stepped to the plate. We need a “hit” on the ballfield now, not another prolongation of our agony into extra innings. It is very, very sad that anyone still thinks that simply planting electoral seeds will do very much in time. For all of the sweet points that one can delineate respecting Medea, and Press Action Award-Winner Amy et. al., the sour notes attached to their general agenda of contributing to Third Party movements, etc. must be discussed. A good place to start, perhaps, might be to simply make a list of what we know now about CA electoral politics that we didn’t know, say, thirty years ago. There are significant adjustments that need to be made in light of what’s crystal clear these days, but the closest anyone’s coming to talking about those matters is how good reform in the system might be.... With too few signs that we’ll even be able to advance in that realm from A to B. And much more is certainly needed. A “better” candidate and “better” public fuss doesn’t change the fundamental flaws. The Jaws of Those in Power won’t allow it. Alternatives exist.

    Posted by Richard Oxman from Los Gatos, CA  on  01/31  at  09:59 PM

  3. Geez Ox, why don’t you just got start a revolution with your bad self? You seem to have all the answers. Since when was a monkey-wrenching campaign a BAD thing? I see Sheehan doing more than whoever you are. Go Cindy and Todd!

    Posted by Jackie from PDX  on  02/01  at  06:30 AM

  4. Dear Jackie: Your tone doesn’t make for much potential re solidarity...which is what would be needed...down the road...to deal seriously w the issues I raise. You’re dismissing out of hand the legitimate questions I raise, and...others...are not responding at all, I see. That lack of solidarity and/or lack of concern w building such is another issue to be addressed, not dismissed. You bandy about the word “revolution” too cavalierly...considering the intention of my commentary. “Monkeywrenching,” if I understand your usage correctly, is a negative when one doesn’t have time to simply put a glitch here and there in the works, when one has a sense of urgency about needing to make The Machine do more than blink. The personal contrast you offer up b me and Cindy is unwarranted...and --for obvious reasons-- based on zero knowledge. One can keep on cheering the easy gonowheremuch “victories” of Left Icons, but the fact remains that as long as politicians stand and applaud (or not) people like Bush at events like last night’s STATE OF THE UNION they’re more concerned with observing the niceties of The Game than they are in really changing the state of our so-called union. Cindy and Chretien, for all their pluses, are slated to go down that polite road. The alternative is not restricted to the kind of “revolution” you bring up. It also includes the possibility of going down a different road...with civility, by the way.

    Posted by Richard Oxman from Los Gatos, CA  on  02/01  at  12:21 PM

    5. Next entry: What an Idiot! Bush Jumpstarts the Alternative Energy Movement...

    Previous entry: Osama's Book or Oprah's Book?

    [ads]

    Support Press Action