Egregiously off path of a great nation’s promise

WSWS political analyst Joseph Kishore pens “Obama’s legacy”

Excerpting, editing, brief comment by 

Carolyn Bennett

I know of no principled, law-abiding leader or citizen who aspires to this epitaphic litany

Ordering the assassination of a U.S. citizen without due process

Former constitutional law professor his initial job was with a CIA-linked corporation, the first president in U.S. history to boast openly of executing a U.S. citizen (Anwar al-Awlaki) without judicial review. More than any other, his administration has sought to institutionalize and bureaucratize extra-judicial state killing, presiding over weekly meetings and the drawing up of ‘kill lists’ to select targets for U.S. drone missiles.

 

Vastly expanding the global police state spying apparatus

The Edward Snowden revelations expose a spying apparatus that operates without constraint, monitoring the communications of virtually every person on the planet.

Criminalizing those who reveal government crimes

The Obama government’s attitude toward democratic rights is reflected in the fate of those who exposed illegal state actions: Bradley Manning’s in prison, Julian Assange’s trapped in the Ecuadorian embassy in Britain, and Edward Snowden’s forced into exile in Russia and facing death threats from U.S. officials.

Yet the administration adamantly opposes prosecution of government officials who ordered torture and committed war crimes.

Waging war without limit

The Obama government continues its predecessor’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and sends countless drone missiles to pulverize targets in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and other countries; in 2011 initiated a war in Libya to overthrow and murder head of state Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi; for the past two years, with its allies, financed and armed an Islamist-dominated opposition in Syria, igniting civil war that has taken the lives of tens of thousands and turned millions of Syrians into refugees.

 

The Obama government has carried out a ‘pivot to Asia’ to militarily encircle and economically and diplomatically undermine China. It has deliberately provoked regional tensions that, a hundred years after the eruption of World War I, threaten to unleash a new global conflict.

Overseeing, in the world’s documented history, the greatest transfer of wealth from poor people to rich people 

2008 bailout of the banks and the “quantitative easing” expanded by the Obama government saw corporate profits rise higher than ever — while wage growth dropped to its lowest level since the end of the Second World War. Wage collapse, for the first time in history, has resulted in the majority of U.S. food stamp recipients being of working age.

Giving a free pass to Wall Street criminals

Shielded, not a single top banker held accountable for the crimes committed and the disaster inflicted on the world’s populations. 

Carrying out a social counterrevolution, beginning with the decimation of health care for workers under Obamacare

Leading a relentless assault on every social program, … the Obama government boasts its lowering of domestic discretionary spending to its lowest share of the U.S. economy since the 1950s. 

J

oseph Kishore concludes, the Obama government “has operated with the support of the trade unions and the liberal and ‘left’ forces, wedded to identity politics that championed his election in 2008 as a ‘transformative’ event in American history.” This latest “State of the Union address will be aimed in large part at providing a phony ‘reformist’ image around which these forces can coalesce to bolster support for the Democratic Party and block the emergence of an independent movement of the working class.…

Perhaps [U.S. President Barack] Obama’s most significant legacy will be that his administration demonstrated to millions that the ruling class has absolutely nothing to offer; and that it presides over an economic system, capitalism, that is historically bankrupt.

“The conclusion that follows, and is beginning to be drawn by wider sections of the working class,” Kishore writes,  “is that it [the economic system] must be overthrown.”

Sources and notes

“Obama’s legacy: This evening, Barack Obama delivers his fifth State of the Union address, an annual political tradition that over the years has become a hollow ritual, with little or no relationship between the president’s words and the actual state of U.S. society. This year will be no different” by Joseph Kishore, January 28, 2014, http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/01/28/pers-j28.html

Joseph Kishore is a Senior Political Analyst with the World Socialist Web Site and is affiliated with (National Secretary) and on the board of the Socialist Equality Party http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Joseph-Kishore/1309816212

The World Socialist Web Site, published by the International Committee of the Fourth International, features daily news and analysis written from a socialist perspective, and commentary on the arts, culture, history, and politics. http://www.zoominfo.com/c/World-Socialist-Web-Site/302628879

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Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy

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Authentic artistry lives and lasts: Mozart, Mirren

Deserved acclaim for the virtuoso 

Excerpting, editing, comment by Carolyn Bennett

Dame Helen

Along with Dench, Dame Helen Mirren is my all-time favorite actor, for her high-level of skill, originality, intelligent creativity, and consistently accomplished versatility. I know of nothing she could undertake that she would not make great: from head housekeeper in Gosford Park to The Queen, and of course, that tough yet vulnerable Prime Suspect series police detective Jane Tennnison. Mirren has no peer among American actors, who are not so much artists as they are affected exhibitionists, celebrities with baggage, “movie stars.” Helen Mirren is a true virtuoso with staying power. Her work, her performance in film will live to eternity.

Is it any wonder, then, that the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is honoring Dame Helen Mirren with the Academy Fellowship to be presented February 16 at the EE British Academy Film Awards ceremony at the Royal Opera House, London?

Reading from its website, “The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public.”

Dame Helen has won four BAFTAs out of eleven nominations, an Academy Award, three Golden Globes and four Emmy Awards. She is the only actor to have taken on film roles of Queen Elizabeth the First and the Second. For her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 film “The Queen”, Mirren received a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Actress.

“Mirren’s career,” BAFTA said in its press release, “is a model of how to balance box office success with critical acclaim.” Quoted in the release, Chairman John Willis said, “Dame Helen Mirren receives the Fellowship as one of the most outstanding actresses of her generation. Dame Helen’s incredibly successful career is testament to the determination, dedication and skill she brings to each of her roles.”

Past recipients of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Fellowship include Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Judi Dench and Vanessa Redgrave.

Dame Helen’s acting career started in the 1960s, sparkled 1980s, then soared. Acclaim deserved by a performer, without peer. Hear! Hear!

Also in today’s news: Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, another exceptionally accomplished artist: born today in Austria two hundred and fifty-eight years ago

This virtuoso “wrote in all the musical genres of his day and excelled in every one.” At the age of three, Mozart is said to have been “picking out chords on the harpsichord”; at age four “he was playing short pieces”; and at age five, he was “composing.” When he was six years old, his father, Leopold Mozart, “took him to Munich to play at the Bavarian court”; a few months later, they went to Vienna and performed “at the imperial court and in noble houses.”

At the time of his death, the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was widely recognized as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music”; he “was widely regarded not only as the greatest composer of the time but also as a bold and ‘difficult’ [composer].” 

  

Sources and notes

“Dame Helen Mirren To Be Honoured With BAFTA Fellowship: On Sunday 16 February, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) will present Dame Helen Mirren with the Academy Fellowship at the EE British Academy Film Awards ceremony at the Royal Opera House, London”, http://www.bafta.org/press/dame-helen-mirren-to-be-honoured-with-bafta-fellowship,316,SNS.html

“Dame Helen Mirren - BAFTA Fellow in 2014,” January 16, 2014, http://www.bafta.org/film/awards/helen-mirren-fellowship-2014,4076,BA.html

“In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round Learning & Events programme that offers unique access to some of the world’s most inspiring talent through workshops, masterclasses, lectures and mentoring schemes, connecting with audiences of all ages and backgrounds across the UK, Los Angeles and New York. BAFTA relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships to support its ongoing outreach work,” www.bafta.org            or www.bafta.org/guru .

“Helen Mirren to receive Bafta fellowship: Oscar-winning actor hails news of award as ‘the greatest professional honour I can imagine’” by Ben Child, theguardian.com, Monday 27 January 2014 07.39 EST, http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/27/helen-mirren-bafta-fellowship

IMAGE: HELEN MIRREN at BAFTA site photo credit Giles Keyte 14908

Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,  baptized as  Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, born January 27, 1756, Salzburg, Archbishopric of Salzburg [Austria], died December 5, 1791, Vienna. Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus.  (2013). Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Deluxe Edition.  Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica.

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Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy

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“Choose to fight terrorism together or continue to support terrorism”: Walid al-Moallem

 Syria’s Foreign Relations Minister opens Geneva2

Excerpt, editing by Carolyn Bennett

“Countries that celebrate democracy, freedom and human rights regrettably only choose to speak the language of blood, war, colonialism and hegemony. Democracy is imposed with fire, freedom with warplanes and human rights by human killing, because they have become accustomed to the world doing their bidding: if they want something, it will happen; if they don’t, it won’t. 

“They have heedlessly forgotten that the perpetrators who blew themselves up in New York follow the same doctrine and come from the same source as those blowing themselves up in Syria.  They have heedlessly forgotten that the terrorist that was in America yesterday is in Syria today, and who knows where he will be tomorrow.  What is certain, however, is that he will not stop here.  Afghanistan is an ideal lesson for anyone who wants to learn – anyone! 

“Unfortunately, most do not want to learn. Neither America nor some of the ‘civilized’ western countries that follow its lead, starting from the city of lights to the kingdom over which “the sun never set,’ in the past; despite the fact that they have all felt the bitter taste of terrorism in the past.”

Leading his country’s delegation, Syrian Deputy Premier, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem was speaking yesterday morning at the opening session of the international conference on Syria, Geneva2, at Montreux, Switzerland. Following is more of what he said in a transcript reprinted at Global Research-Ca

“Never have I been in a more difficult position. My delegation and I carry the weight of three years of hardship endured by my fellow countrymen – the blood of our martyrs, the tears of our bereaved, the anguish of families waiting for news of a loved one – kidnapped or missing;

the cries of our children whose tender fingers were the targets of mortar shelling into their classrooms; the hopes of an entire generation destroyed before their very eyes; the courage of mothers and fathers who have sent all their sons to defend our country; the heartbreak of families whose homes have been destroyed and are now displaced or refugees.

“My delegation and I also carry the hope of a nation for the years to come –

the right of every child to safely go to school again, the right of women to leave their homes without fear of being kidnapped, killed or raped; the dream of our youth to fulfill their vast potential; the return of security so that every man can leave his family safe in the knowledge that he will return.

Moment of truth

“…The truth (is) that many have systematically tried to bury in a series of campaigns of misinformation, deception and fabrication leading to killing and terror

Truth that refuses to be buried

Truth (that is) clear for all to see – the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic representing the Syrian people, the government, the state, the Army and the President – Bashar al-Assad.

Foreign aggression

“It is regrettable … that seated amongst us today in this room are representatives of countries that have the blood of Syrians on their hands:

Countries that have exported terrorism along with clemency for the perpetrators, as if it was their God given right to determine who will go to heaven and who will go to hell. 

Countries that have prevented believers from visiting holy places of worship whilst abetting, financing and supporting terrorists. 

Countries that gave themselves the authority to grant and deny legitimacy to others as they saw fit, never looking at their own archaic glasshouses before throwing stones at acclaimed fortified towers.

  

Countries that shamelessly lecture us in democracy, in development and in progress whilst drowning in their own ignorance and medieval norms. 

Countries that have become accustomed to being entirely owned by kings and princes who have the sole right to distribute their national wealth granting their associates whilst denying those who fall out of favor.

“They lectured Syria – a distinguished, virtuous, sovereign state. They lectured her on honor whilst they themselves were immersed in the mud of enslavement, infanticide and other medieval practices.  After all their efforts and subsequent failures, their masks fell from their quivering faces, to reveal their perverse ambitions— a desire to destabilize and destroy Syria by exporting their national product: terrorism.  They used their petrodollars to buy weapons, recruit mercenaries and saturate airtime covering up their mindless brutality with lies under the guise of the so-called  ‘Syrian revolution that will fulfill the aspirations of the Syrian people.’…

“… [W]ake up to the undeniable reality that the West is supporting some Arab countries to supply lethal weapons to al-Qaeda.  The West publically claims to be fighting terrorism, whilst in fact it is covertly nourishing it.  Anyone who cannot see this truth is either ignorantly blind or willfully so in order to finish what they have begun.…”

Sovereignty: exclusive rights, duty

“We have come to stop terrorism as other countries that have experienced its bitter taste have done, whilst affirming loudly and consistently that a dialogue between Syrians is the only solution. But as with other countries that have been struck by terrorism, we have a constitutional duty to defend our citizens and we shall continue to strike terrorism that attacks Syrians regardless of their political affiliations.  

We have come to hold those accountable; for as long as particular countries continue to support terrorism, this conference will bear no fruit.  Political pluralism and terrorism cannot coexist in the same landscape.  Politics can only prosper by fighting terrorism; it cannot grow in its shadow.

We are here as representatives of the Syrian people and the state; but let it be clear to all, – and experience is the best proof – that nobody has the authority to grant or withdraw legitimacy from a president, a government, a constitution, a law or anything else in Syria except Syrians themselves; this is their constitutional right and duty.” 

Nations together

“Today, in this gathering of Arab and Western powers, we are presented with a simple choice:

we can choose to fight terrorism and extremism together and to start a new political process, or you can continue to support terrorism in Syria. 

Let us reject and isolate the black hands and the false faces, which publicly smile but covertly feed terrorist ideology, striking Syria today, but ultimately spreading to infect us all.  This is the moment of truth and destiny; let us rise to the challenge.

  

Syrian Deputy Premier, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem spoke, he declared, “on behalf of the Syrian Arab Republic. SYRIAN – steeped in history for seven thousand years; ARAB – proud of its steadfast pan-Arab heritage despite the deliberate acts of aggression of supposed brotherly Arabs; REPUBLIC – a civil state that some, sitting in this room, have tried to return to medieval times.”

Sources and notes

“Geneva II – Syrian Foreign Minister: ‘The West Publicly Claims to Be Fighting Terrorism, Whilst It Is Covertly Nourishing It’” by Global Research News, Global Research, January 22, 2014. SANA, http://www.globalresearch.ca/geneva-ii-syrian-foreign-minister-the-west-publicly-claims-to-be-fighting-terrorism-whilst-it-is-covertly-nourishing-it/5365833

Global Research other: Region: Middle East and North Africa; theme: U.S. NATO War Agenda; In-depth Report: SYRIA: NATO’s NEXT WAR?

Syrian Deputy Premier, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem

This week Walid al-Moallem is participating in the Geneva II Middle East peace conference at Montreux, Switzerland. In an opening speech, the minister “described the ‘opposition’ in Syria as traitors and terrorists.”

Walid al-Moallem’s career began with the Syrian foreign ministry and he has served in Syrian missions to Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Spain and England. His positions have included Ambassador to Romania (1975-1980); head of the authentication and translation department at the foreign ministry (1980-1984); head of the private offices department from (1984-1990);   Ambassador to the United States (1990-2000); assistant foreign minister (2000-); deputy foreign minister (2005-); minister of foreign affairs (February 11, 2006-) involved with the Lebanese file and Israeli-Syrian negotiations.

During the 2011 Syrian civil war, the minister represented the Syrian government in relations with other national governments and the United Nations. In October 2012, after United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urged Syria to show compassion in light of the growing humanitarian crisis,

Walid al-Moallem “appeared at the United Nations and blamed the United States, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar for ‘aid[ing] terror’ and ‘blatant interference’ in Syria’s affairs, mainly by supplying rebel groups with arms and money and calling for Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to step down. He also called Western concerns over chemical weapons use ‘a joke’ and a pretext for an Iraq War-like campaign.” Academic credentials: Cairo University B.A. in economics (Wikipedia biographical notes)

Montreux, Switzerland (Population, 2007 est., 23,195)

A town comprising three resort communities (Le Châtelard-Montreux, Les Planches-Montreux, and Veytaux-Montreux; merged 1962) in Vaud canton of western Switzerland, extending 4 miles (6 km) along the eastern shore of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman). Its natural setting below mountains protecting it from northerly and easterly winds has made Montreux the lake’s most fashionable health resort. Montreux is on railway lines from Geneva and France to Italy via the Simplon Tunnel and is also a terminus of mountain railways.  (Encyclopedia Britannica notes)

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Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy


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Oscars 2014 embalmed predictability as official American public life

Arts editor David Walsh’s ring of truth: Painful banality

Excerpt, minor edit by Carolyn Bennett

“Some things are easier to predict than others. We are willing to wager any amount of money that on the March 2 broadcast no one will stick his or her nose out,” David Walsh writes.

2013 was one of the most tumultuous years in a very long time. It is nonetheless guaranteed that on a widely watched broadcast dedicated to the most popular art form of our time, an art form that still draws masses of spectators annually ─ none of the presenters or winners will mention Edward Snowden, the NSA, drones, Egypt, Syria, martial law in Boston, poverty, food stamps, the Detroit bankruptcy …

In an interview with World Socialist Web Site, “Omar” director Hany Abu-Assad said:

Arab film presented at Cannes Film Festival
“Omar” Director Hany Abu-Assad
wins the Jury Prize

‘I think my artistic motivation is to be a witness to history. One hundred years from now, people will still look back on movies that are not just great stories, but also showed what happened in that period of time. To witness history, from my point of view: History is something we all write together.’

“Omar”, nominated in the Academy's best foreign film category, can be fully endorsed,” Walsh writes. It “presents a realistic, sobering picture of Palestinian life under Israeli rule.

March 12, 2013
at FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting):
“‘What Palestinians Said Was Israeli Aggression’:
The Death of Omar al-Masharawi,” 

‘The film points to the nearly impossible personal and social conditions for the Palestinians under Israeli rule. Under the intense pressures [as explained by the director], friendships and relationships can change, deteriorate and turn into their opposite ─ Omar brings to life the tragic situation in intimate, concrete detail.’

Of the 2014 Academy Award nominations announced January 16 in advance of the March 2 ceremony, Walsh concludes that despite deserving acclaim for films such as “Nebraska” and “Omar”, this annual pageantry and associated awards events “are as predictable and embalmed as much of the rest of official American public life, and about as unblemished by the influence of real life.”

Sources and notes

“2014 Academy Award nominations: Very few bright spots” by David Walsh, January 18, 2014,

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/01/18/acad-j18.html

Walsh also references WSWS’s coverage of the 2013 Toronto film festival

Writer and journalist David Walsh is arts editor of the World Socialist Web Site and writes about film, the arts, politics and history.  http://www.indiewire.com/critic/david_walsh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Walsh_(writer)

Image: March 12, 2013 at FAIR: “‘What Palestinians Said Was Israeli Aggression’: The Death of Omar al-Masharawi,” http://www.fair.org/blog/2013/03/12/what-palestinians-said-was-israeli-aggression-the-death-of-omar-al-masharawi/

Image: Seul film arabe à avoir été présenté au dernier festival de Cannes, Omar du palestinien Hany Abu-Assad, a remporté le prix du Jury. Crédit photo / Site officiel - Omar de Hany Abu-Assad - See more at: http://27973hd45102.ikexpress.com/564525092013Omar-le-nouveau-film-coup-de-poing-d-Hany-Abu-Assad.html#sthash.UYUZX32T.dpuf

Google translation:

Only Arab film to be presented at the last Cannes Film Festival, “Omar” Palestinian Hany Abu-Assad, won the Jury Prize. “Omar” Hany Abu-Assad - - photo / Official Site Credit See more at: http://27973hd45102.ikexpress.com/564525092013Omar-le-nouveau-film-coup-de-poing-d-Hany-Abu-Assad.html#sthash.UYUZX32T.dpuf

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Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy

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Vile creature leaves stage, “pseudo-left” piles praise

Why America can’t move constructively forward

Excerpt, minor edit, comment by Carolyn Bennett

His foulmouthed presence I found disturbing years ago and I was surprised that the University of Maine’ s flagship university had given him prominence in a lyceum lecture series. This was the late 1990s or early 2000s, pre-911. Fred Mazelis’ article “Amiri Baraka (1934-2014): Poet, playwright, black nationalist” rings true for me and clears the fog a bit.

New Jersey native Everett Leroy Jones aka LeRoi Jones aka  Imamu Ameer Baraka aka Amiri Baraka, was “a somewhat troubled and alienated black intellectual” whose narrow-minded  “race-based” views “fatally afflicted his literary and political efforts, essentially determining the character of his life and legacy,” Fred Mazelis writes.

In the 1960s, the troubled Jones/Baraka “expressed his backward conceptions in various forms:

… Anti-Semitism, homophobia and vicious attacks on women

“All of these exercises, through which Jones attempted to demonstrate his ‘revolutionary’ credentials, have more than a passing resemblance to fascist demagogy,” Mazelis writes.

“Baraka’s legacy is part of the unsavory legacy of the middle class radicalism of the 1960s. Cut off from the working class by the betrayals of Stalinism and the trade unions, the mass movements of workers and young people against the war in Vietnam, poverty and inequality were succeeded by the reactionary politics of black nationalism and various forms of identity politics.”

But the “liberal” political “left” loved him.  In death they praise him.

Citing evidence of the role played by what he terms the “pseudo-left,” Mazelis reports, “outfits like The Nation magazine, its editor Katrina van den Heuvel, rushed into print after Baraka’s demise to call attention to the magazine’s earlier connections with the poet, and to claim that ‘Jones celebrated the cultural achievements and dignity of African-Americans while unblinkingly exposing the grave injustice of this country’s condescending attitude toward and often-brutal treatment of his people.’” [Emphasis I added]

“Black nationalism and the pseudo-left,” Mazelis continued, “share a profound agreement:

 …a hatred of the working class, and

… a bitter opposition to genuine struggle against capitalist exploitation and inequality … 

“Their professed opposition to racial discrimination, Mazelis says, “is in fact based on support for the profit system and the demand that a small privileged layer of the black population share more equally in its spoils.”

Well, now. I’d say that sheds critical light on a frequently-staged American farce: foulmouthed faker Everett Leroy Jones/LeRoi Jones/ Imamu Ameer Baraka/Amiri Baraka held up as messiah by equally fraudulent, mendacious fawners.  Fred Mazelis’ full article is worth reading.

Sources and notes

“Amiri Baraka (1934-2014): Poet, playwright, black nationalist” by Fred Mazelis, January 18, January 2014, https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/01/18/jone-j18.html

Writer, activist, politician Fred Mazelis was a founding member of the Worker’s League. In the 1992 and 1996 U.S. presidential election years, he was Socialist Equality Party candidate for U.S. vice president; the presidential candidates he ran with were Helen Halyard and Jerome White, respectfully.  In 1984, Mazelis was the Socialist Equality Party’s candidate for the U.S. Senate from Michigan; and in 1989, a candidate for New York City mayoralty. Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Mazelis

  

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Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy

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Women “Strike against war” passionately for nonviolence: Keller, Maguire, Williams

 Great struggle continues 1916, 1979, 2013 -

Minor edit, excerpts by 

Carolyn Bennett

Betty Williams speaking in 1976

“We wish to see those who keep the lights burning twenty-four hours a day in the Pentagon and the Kremlin and all the other great centers of militarism liberated into truly creative and happy lives, instead of the soul-destroying tasks of preparing for self-destruction.…

“We as Peace People … believe in taking down the barriers, but we also believe in the most energetic reconciliation among peoples by getting them to know each other, talk each other’s languages, understand each other's fears and beliefs, getting to know each other physically, philosophical, and spiritually. It is much harder to kill your near neighbor than the thousands of unknown and hostile aliens at the other end of any missiles; and that is going to take a tremendous amount of sheer hard work.

“The only force which can break down those barriers is the force of love, the force of trust, soul-force....

Nobel Peace Laureates
Mairead Corrigan Maguire (L)
Betty Williams (R)

We are deeply, passionately dedicated to the cause of nonviolence, to the force of truth and love, to soul-force. To those who say that we are naive, utopian idealists, we say that we are the only realists, and that those who continue to support militarism in our time are supporting the progress towards total self-destruction of the human race, when the only right and left will be dead to the right and dead to the left, and death and destruction right, left and center, east and west, north and south.

“To the whole world, we repeat the same message that we proclaimed in August 1976. It is the Declaration of the Peace People:

We have a simple message for the world from this movement for peace.

We want to live and love and build a just and peaceful society.

Nobel Peace Laureate
Betty Williams

We want for our children, as we want for ourselves, lives at home, at work and at play to be lives of joy and peace.

We recognize that to build such a life demands of all of us dedication, hard work and courage.

We recognize that there are many problems in our society which are a source of conflict and violence.

We recognize that every bullet fired and every exploding bomb makes that work more difficult.

We reject the use of the bomb and the bullet and all the techniques of violence.

We dedicate ourselves to working with our neighbors, near and far, day in and day out, to building that peaceful society in which the tragedies we have known are a bad memory and a continuing warning.

“The voice of women has a special role and a special soul-force in the struggle for a nonviolent world. We do not wish to replace religious sectarianism or ideological division with sexism or any kind of militant feminism. But we do believe that women have a leading role to play in this great struggle.”

Máiread Corrigan Maguire speaking in 2013

“There is nothing good or glorious about violence, armed rebellions, militarism, nuclear weapons and war.

“Suicide bombings, extrajudicial killings, renditioning, secret trials, and torturing other human beings is always wrong and we as world citizens have the power to stop such inhumanity by raising our voices against the use of such methods be they used by individuals, armed rebels, or governments. Torture should never be accepted and the current policies of many Governments to ignore civil and human rights in the name of ‘war on terrorism’ is a denial of every world citizen’s right to basic freedom, worked for so long and hard by many people. When basic freedoms are denied or removed by governments, or rebel groups, people have a moral and legal responsibility to demand the return of those rights, otherwise all we have is domination and fear; and freedom, democracy and peace are no longer part of the people’s rich identity and inheritance.

“I believe we have to change our thinking and our mindsets. Much of our thinking is being distorted as it is based on the emotion of fear of ‘otherness.’  We see other people and countries, through the lens of fear which leads to hatred and demonization of others whom we see as separate and different, because of religion, race, class, etc. We have allowed fear to be our master. But there is another way to think and live and we are challenged to change both individually and collectively to bring about real change in our world.

“I believe the next stage of our evolution as the human family is to embrace nonviolence. This will mean rejecting violence in all its forms and solving our problems together through nonviolence, human rights and international law. Replacing ‘armed’ rebellions, militarism and war, with international law, is not an impossible task and will happen when we humans reach the critical mass of people who know that each life is sacred, and say ‘no’ to killing, force and the threat of force,  which is currently used by most governments and extremist groups around the world. We are challenged to stop killing each other, and instead use alternatives to violence in order to solve our problems.”

Helen Keller speaking in 1916

Author & Political Activist
Helen Keller

“Strike against all ordinances and laws and institutions that continue the slaughter of peace …. 

Strike against war, for without you no battles can be fought. Strike against manufacturing of shrapnel and gas bombs and all other tools of murder. 

Strike against preparedness that means death and misery to millions of human beings. Be not dumb-obedient slaves in an army of destruction. Be heroes in an army of construction.…

Every modern war has had its root in exploitation. 

The Civil War was fought to decide whether slaveholders of the South or the capitalists of the North should exploit the West.

The Spanish-American War decided that the United States should exploit Cuba and the Philippines.

The South African War decided that the British should exploit the diamond mines.

The Russo-Japanese War decided that Japan should exploit Korea.

The present war [World War I] is to decide who shall exploit the Balkans, Turkey, Persia, Egypt, India, China, Africa; and we are whetting our sword to scare the victors into sharing the spoils with us. …

“The preparedness propagandists have still another object, and a very important one.

They want to give the people something to think about besides their won unhappy condition. They know the cost of living is high, wages are low, employment is uncertain and will be much more so when the European call for munitions stops. No matter how hard and incessantly the people work, they often cannot afford the comforts of life; many cannot obtain the necessities.

“The kind of preparedness the workers want, however, is reorganization and reconstruction of their whole life, such as has never been attempted by statesmen or governments.

The Germans found out years ago that they could not raise good soldiers in the slums so they abolished the slums.

They saw to it that all the people had at least a few of the essentials of civilization--decent lodging, clean streets, wholesome if scanty food, proper medical care and proper safeguards for the workers in their occupations.

“That is only a small part of what should be done …. It is your duty to insist upon still more radical measure. 

It is your business to see that no child is employed in an industrial establishment or mine or store, and that no worker is needlessly exposed to accident or disease.

It is your business to make them give you clean cities, free from smoke, dirt and congestion.

It is your business to make them pay you a living wage.

It is your business to see that this kind of preparedness is carried into every department on the nation, until everyone has a chance to be well born, well nourished, rightly educated, intelligent and serviceable to the country at all times.

“Strike against all ordinances and laws and institutions that continue the slaughter of peace ….  Strike against war, for without you no battles can be fought. Strike against manufacturing of shrapnel and gas bombs and all other tools of murder. Strike against preparedness that means death and misery to millions of human beings. Be not dumb-obedient slaves in an army of destruction. Be heroes in an army of construction.…”

Sources

Betty Williams 1976 Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech on behalf of herself and Máiread Corrigan Maguire, http://www.dadalos.org/int/Vorbilder/vorbilder/PeacePeople/nobel_prize.htm

“‘Stand In Solidarity For Peace Time To Act’: Replacing Violence, Armed Rebellions, Militarism and War with Nonviolence and International Law,” address by Mairead Maguire at the 13th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Warsaw, Poland, on October 2l-23, 2013,

http://www.nobelforpeace-summits.org/info-nobel-eng/address-mairead-maguire-13th-world-summit-of-nobel-peace-laureates-warsaw/

“Strike against War” Helen Keller Speech given at Carnegie Hall, New York City, January 5, 1916, http://www.famous-speeches-and-speech-topics.info/famous-speeches-by-women/helen-keller-speech.htm

  

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Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy

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