From Cambridge to Cairo

There was a massive, energetic, and largely spontaneous march from Cambridge to Boston today calling for the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, and the cutting of US support for his authoritarian regime. People began to gather at The Pit in Harvard Square, Cambridge, a space that could only hold about fifty people, given the high foot traffic and giant mounds of snow. Most people held home-made signs. A few came with Egyptian flags. There were dozens of homemade placards passed out with the Egyptian flag's colors (Red, White, Black) and the printed words "Yes We Can". Hand written with what looked like white-out was also "support democracy" and "end corruption." The rally moved to Mt Auburn Street about a block away. We remained there for about thirty minutes chanting, before we were allowed to march. We marched down Massachusetts Avenue, through Central Square, past MIT, over the bridge into Boston, took a left onto Boylston St, marched all the way down to the Boston Common, marched around the Common, up to the State House, then continued to City Hall Plaza, then finally (mercifully) finished at Faneuil Hall around 4pm. Some people thought we would be in Harvard Square until 4pm and caught up with us later. Some people spontaneously joined us from the busy streets. At our peak I think we were about 600 people. The police had a disciplined presence and redirected traffic efficiently for us. The only time they interfered what when they made us march through the Boston Common rather than the streets along the perimeter.

I just heard reports on NPR which mentioned solidarity demonstrations in Washington DC and Boston. Why is the movement in Boston able to respond so effectively? The most important reason is because of the history of organizing that we have done here. Boston organizers led powerful protests when Israel invaded Lebanon in 2006, and again against Israel's invasion of Gaza in 2007/2008. Boston has also held some of the largest regional antiwar demonstrations for a city of its size. Furthermore, every New Year's Eve we host a "First Night Against the Wars" which includes a muslim led vigil for Palestine. Civil rights activists have done good work with the muslim community and built campaigns around local political prisoners. Despite not having a strong coalition, all of this activity has built the personal experiences and social connections necessary for a rapid mobilization around solidarity with people in the Middle East. The crowd today was young and diverse. Some chants were in Arabic. I helped carry a large hand made banner that said "Down with Mubarak." Popular chants were:

Freedom!
Down, down Hosni Mubarak, Down down with the old regime!
Hey Mubarak you will see, join your friend Ben Ali
Not another Penny, Not another Dime, no more money for Mubarak's crimes
Free free Egypt, free free Egypt, people, power, people, power
Hey Obama don't you know, Hosni Mubarak has got to go!
Hey Clinton don't you know, Hosni Mubarak has got to go!

Folks who have been to antiwar and Palestine solidarity demonstrations will recognize many of these chants, just with new names plugged in. I don't think there were more than two bull horns on the entire march. Many voices were giving out. I nearly completely lost my voice about half way through and only recovered it toward the end.

Today's demonstration greatly surpassed my expectations. I hope news of our relatively modest action will reach the Egyptian people and inspire their strength.

We need to keep hammering at the demand of cutting US military aid for propping up dictatorships like Tunisia and Egypt as well as Isreal. NPR described our march as calling for "massive reform of US policy", which I can only describe as a deliberate muddling of our demands on their behalf. Obama and Clinton sound ridiculous calling for stability. They cannot be allowed to pose as supporting the protests while at the same time advocating against their main demand: the resignation of Mubarak. To be clear, the US needs a dictatorship in Egypt that it can bribe with military aid in order to insulate Israel from international pressure and maintain the blockade against Gaza.

A democratic Egypt would upend US policy in the middle east. For this reason in particular, I think we need to keep building the solidarity movement here in the US. The people of Egypt and Tunisia are leading the way, not just protesting against Israeli aggression or US hegemony, but putting real positive demands forward. This is an opportunity that we haven't seen in a very long time.

See photos from today's action on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=179718358733818#!/photo.php?fbid=1590198040496&set=o.179718358733818

And flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scotteisenphotography/5399491950/in/set-72157625933821502/

A Very Progressive Robin Hood

My wife and I have been hanging around the apartment - cowering from the bitter cold - this weekend. And, as is often the case on occasional lazy inside days like this, we find ourselves taking advantage of available technology to watch free TV via the web. Recently, she discovered a 1950s serial called "The Adventures of Robin Hood." The show was produced in the UK for distribution in the US. It was a big budget affair for the time ... shot on 35mm film, with a fairly well-known cast, solid production values, and great writing. Like really great writing.

At first I wasn't paying much attention to it, but after few episodes, I began to realize that the show had very left-wing positions on class, sex, race (via the vehicle, as with class, of dealing with the institution of serfdom), democracy, justice, liberty and state oppression. So I started putting two and two together: great writing [check], late 1950s [check], produced abroad [check] and aimed at the American market no less.

So, I thought, "I wonder if this show was written by blacklisted Hollywood screenwriters?"

I checked for background info on Wikipedia, and sure enough it was. Turns out the show's producer Hannah Weinstein had left-wing sympathies and hired a number of blacklisted screenwriters - including Ring Lardner Jr., Waldo Salt, Robert Lees, Adrian Scott and Howard Koch, - to create over 140 episodes between 1955 and 1960. Other progressive writers also created episodes, including the German socialist crime writer, jazz critic and psychoanalyst Ernest Borneman.

The Adventures of Robin Hood aired in the US on CBS between 1955 and 1958 - no mean feat considering the times - and on ITV in the UK from 1955 to 1960, commanding an audience as large as 32,000,000 viewers weekly in the UK and US at the height of its popularity.

The series is streets better than most overhyped contemporary remakes of the Robin Hood story, and all without CGI shots from the "arrow's point of view." It is a prime example of why very few current TV dramas come anywhere near some of the classic series of the 1950s and 1960s in terms of social relevance and general quality (although I'm happy to name a few newer shows that I think deliver the goods in future posts).

Check it out on Hulu anytime. They have 117 episodes ready for your viewing pleasure. Highly recommended

Making Census Of It All, Part 2

Sincerest condolences to the families and friends of those killed outside the Safeway Supermarket in Tuscon, AZ.

And best wishes to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords as she recovers from gunshot wounds. Thank goodness she doesn’t have to worry about her health care or insurance coverage. And a pox on anyone who questions how much her treatments cost.

Now can we start discussing seriously the prospect of extending to all Americans the type of health coverage our elected representatives receive?

And – and this is a BIG and – real gun control in this country. If initial reports are accurate – students in Jared Loughner’s classes at Pima Community College say they sat near the door whenever possible so they could escape quickly should he arrive at school, automatic weapon blazing.

Loughner, according to news reports of the indictments brought against the 22 year old in federal court, bought a semiautomatic pistol from a Sportsman Warehouse store legally. On top of that, Arizona (among other states) allows citizens to conceal their weapons in public.

NRA pressure be damned; do we want people with grievances carrying weapons of mass destruction?

Robots On The Factory Floor

I was going to write about my experiences as a 2010 Census enumerator in this column. Thus the play on words in the headline. Under the circumstances, it doesn’t seem as important right now.

I do want to mention one other thing that has been weighing heavily on my mind.

Under enormous financial pressure to turn profits, and criticized for presenting too much news that is negative, newspapers and other commercial media outlets seem to be jumping over each other to show how the “Great Recession” is over. The Boston Globe had two stories on the front page of its Money & Careers section on Sunday for example: “After a grim year, employers are once again optimistic about hiring” and “As cloud lifts from economy, recruiter finds his mission becoming a little easier.”

In the former article, writer Megan Woodhouse says “Economists are painting a brighter picture for 2011, anticipating solid job growth in the last six months of this year and predicting an economic recovery that actually feels like one.”

Interesting that she should use the word “feel,” as most economists quoted in the paper rely on objective mathematical data to come to their conclusions, no?

Feelings aside, this is what I see: local retail outlets – from big box department stores to small neighborhood businesses laying people off in droves. Just try finding a clerk to help you in any of the cavernous warehouse stores. It’s next to impossible.

And places such as supermarkets and pharmacies switching from live checkout clerks to automated cash registers which always put people out of work.

The CVS drugstore in my neighborhood recently let go of two full time and two part time employees when the store made the transition. I’d like to introduce those former employees to Ms. Woodhouse’s economists.

Then again, we’re told constantly by policy makers and politicians that it’s better for our economy to de-regulate business because government oversight restrains economic growth. ‘Better for whom’ is the better question.

And if workers are going to be denied collective bargaining and other benefits of a union, what recourse will those laid off workers have? Is it any wonder violent crime increases during economic downturns?

I just hope those with the means to do something about worker protections will also push for much stronger gun ownership laws.

One other thing.

I don’t care what Jared Loughner is accused or convicted of doing.

I’m against the death penalty and in my opinion, it’s just as morally wrong for the state to take a life as any individual.

- dave goodman -

Making Census Of It All Part 1

May I borrow you for a few minutes? I know time is money so I'll return the loan when I cash my next unemployment insurance check.

The experts say the "Great Recession" came to an end last year. Huh? The national unemployment rate is 9.8% according to the US Labor Department. In practical terms; counting those who have run out of benefits plus the severely underemployed and those who have given up pounding the pavement and banging their heads, the rate is closer to 20 percent.

Millions of families have lost or at risk of losing their homes. Foreclosures and property auctions are on the rise. Food pantries remain overwhelmed with requests for assistance.

In 2010 some people facing financial insecurity turned to groups such as the Tea Party Movement. They demanded the feds keep their hands off "guns and bibles" to paraphrase Sarah Palin in an April speech on the Boston Common. "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" I get. (The song was written as a response to the attack on Pearl Harbor). But do the TP'ers think they can shoot and pray their way out of this economic mess?

Three years ago, the bottom fell out of the global economy and private sector markets. The response: on one hand, massive government payouts in the form of "stimulus" money. The best being the subsidy for laid off workers paying COBRA to keep their health benefits, in my opinion.

But that subsidy is over and done and the fight to extend unemployment insurance benefits took on a "Twilight Zonesque" veneer as Republicans forced President Obama and Congressional Democrats to hand over huge tax breaks to the wealthy in exchange for a few more months of UI.

Says James Carroll:, "If a just society is defined by the relationship between the well off and the very poor, we have big trouble. US Census data for 2010 show the widest rich-poor income gap on record."

In Europe, thousands hit the streets daily to protest cuts to the social safety net. In America, on the other hand, elected officials - and many of our neighbors, my friends - can't call for public austerity fast enough.

Because all those unemployed, hungry, and disaffected people need to start tightening their belts. In order to save money and bail out corporations too large to fail.

In fact, belts have gotten so tight blood flow to the brain has been restricted. That may explain all the tea flingers and their notions about Obama being the Anti-Christ.

The President's following a dangerous economic and foreign policy path - he calls it non-partisanship; others say the "military industrial complex" has never been stronger in Washington - but he's not the son of Satan. (That moniker is reserved for several members of the GW Bush cabinet).

So what of a liberal/progressive answer to the Tea Party enthusiasts? Union leaders, along with allies in the immigrant, GLBT, and environmental movements are taking tentative steps towards a unified response.

And it hasn't yet received a lot of press, but the folks at the Backbone Campaign, the Center for Media and Democracy, the Alliance for Democracy, and Move to Amend, have begun coordinating political actions through The Coffee Party.

Make mine French Roast with a bit of 2% milk.