Tidbits: Reader Responses, Comments and Announcements  -
October 22, 2012

* Re: Libya and All That (Laurel MacDowell)
* Re: Friday Nite Videos -- October 19, 2012 - How Sen.
  McGovern Inspired a Generation (Leonard J. Lehrman)
* Re: What Government Does for You (Bill Perkins)
* Re: 3.4% of U.S. Adults Identify as LGBT (Gene Elder)
* Re: An open letter to critics writing about political art
  (Stephen Duncombe)
* Re: Message to Progressives from Daniel Ellsberg (Isabel
  Thompson, Richard Curtis)
* What is a Progressive? (Carol Bettencourt)
* Re: European Trade Unions Call for Day of Protest (Father
  Paul Mayer)
* Re: How Likely Are Human Beings? (George Fish)
* Epoch-making strikes in the U.S. ?1980s and 1990s - New York
  - October 25

==========

* Re: Libya and All That

This analysis is fantasy! Gadaffi was not only an incompetent
dictator but a thief and it is a good thing he is gone.
Romney has been totally irresponsible on the issue as it
emerged in the election. Obama has said he will find the
people who killed the ambassador. There is nothing tougher
than that.

Laurel MacDowell

==========

* Re: Friday Nite Videos -- October 19, 2012 - How Sen.
McGovern Inspired a Generation

Thank you for providing the link to the excerpts from the
film on George McGovern.

Two comments:

1. I remember going to hear McGovern speak in Syracuse in
1972, at the urging of the young woman who became my wife
six years later.  He inspired all of us to go out a work for
a better world.

When I met him many years later I reminded him of the most
inspiring sign of his whole campaign: "Put another Eleanor
in the White House."

2. Democracy Now used Donovan's singing of Buffy Sainte
Marie's song "The Universal Soldier."

There's been some internet discussion of the words to this
song, particularly the line, "Without him how could Hitler
have condemned them at..."

The original was "Dachau," which doesn't scan prosodically -
the accent's on the wrong syllable. Donovan seems to have
changed it to "Laval" or "Liebau," which also don't fit very
well.

In our version, posted at http://youtu.be/97dAPnvqiuo it's
"Without him how could Hitler have built Auschwitz-
Birkenau," which, I daresay, scans perfectly.

In solidarity -

Leonard J. Lehrman

==========

* Re: What Government Does for You

great reminder...need to do more of the same. 

Bill Perkins,
New York State Senate

==========

* Re: 3.4% of U.S. Adults Identify as LGBT

Thought you might enjoy my latest blog post on drag inSA:
http://utsalibrariestopshelf.wordpress.com/
Feel free to pass this on to anyone who might enjoy learning
about our city's queer past.

Gene Elder

==========

* Re: An open letter to critics writing about political art

Thought you might be interested in this:

Steve Lambert and I just wrote up "An open letter to critics
writing about political art" in response to the criticism --
or lack thereof -- of the Creative Time summit on political
art.

http://artisticactivism.org/2012/10/an-open-letter-to-crtitcs-
writing-about-political-art/

I thought you might appreciate it. Hope you do

And keep on doing what you do so well

All my best,

Stephen Duncombe
New York University
Gallatin School 

==========

* Re: Message to Progressives from Daniel Ellsberg

I fail to understand why one is considered 'progressive' (a
very nasty word in this nation) when admitting to not
supporting the killing of others, for not supporting barging
into other countries to kill, whether by land, sea or
air, drones,

for supporting basic human rights, for all, and does not
believe that rape, pillaging, child abuse should be ignored;
who supports all to be able to go to a doctor, enjoy good
health, receive an education, get a job, support their family,
marry or live with whom they please, to have or not have
children, to practice the religion of their choice, or not.

It is sad that what would seem basic to human behavior is
given a word that has negative connotations.

And as for Liberals....  check out the "Liberal" Party in
Great Britain.

Isabel Thompson

====

For my whole adult life I have heard this same argument.
For my whole adult life the Democratic Party has drifted
farther and farther to the right.  Is it not obvious that
these things are connected?  Lesser evil politics produces
greater evil over time.  It is time to stop this insanity.

Richard Curtis, PhD
Seattle

==========

* What is a Progressive?

What is the current definition of Progressive? I think of
myself as a Liberal Democrat. How am I different from a
Progressive?  I've asked people who say that they are
Progressive but they can't tell me what the differences are
from a Liberal. Is there a list of beliefs which define a
Progressive? Please help me.

Carol Bettencourt

==========

* Re: European Trade Unions Call for Day of Protest

Are the US unions considering participating?

Father Paul Mayer

==========

* Re: How Likely Are Human Beings?

A brief study of human history would seriously raise the
question of whether there actually is intelligent life on
earth!

George Fish

==========

* Epoch-making strikes in the U.S. ?1980s and 1990s

How did we get here?
What can be done to educate & emancipate American labor?

New York Labor History Forum
Join us for a discussion on Thursday evening

October 25 . 6:00 p.m. . Free

District Council 1707
420 W. 45th St.
(Between 9th and 10th Avenues)

Featured speakers include:

* Joseph McCartin
author of Collision Course: Ronald Reagan, the Air Traffic
Controllers, and the Strike that Changed America

* Ray Rogers
founder of Corporate Campaign and veteran of highly visible
campaigns (Hormel; Staley Lockout; International Paper, and
Con Edison/Local 1-2 UWUA Contract Campaign that averted a
strike, 1989)

* Chris Rhomberg
author of The Broken Table: The Detroit Newspaper Strike and
the State of American Labor

Forum moderators:

* Nell Geiser
Researcher, Change to Win

* Faron McLurkin
Organizing DirectorNY/NJ Regional Joint Board of Workers
United/SEIU

Sponsored by the New York Labor History Association and
The Worker Institute at the Cornell ILR School

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