Category: Right Wing

The Victory in Alabama

by Bill Fletcher Jr

Well, team, I must confess that i expected Moore to win Alabama’s special Senatorial race.  As a result, I was shocked this morning when I awakened and received a text from one of my best friends celebrating Moore’s defeat.  I immediately went to msn.com to read about the election results.

When I subsequently went to Facebook i saw a posting from an African American who was, in effect, treating the Jones victory as a victory for white people, i.e., that African Americans had placed no demands on the campaign and we gained little from the victory.

I disagree.

What struck me about the results–besides the fact that the election was so close–was that initial analyses indicated that African American turnout was comparable to 2008 and 2012,  In other words, Presidential years when Obama ran (and won).  African Americans in Alabama understood what was at stake in this election and this turnout demonstrates that, under the right circumstances, voters who normally don’t vote in non-Presidential elections can be mobilized.

Is Jones a revolutionary?  Certainly not.  But the election was not a choice between revolution and counter-revolution.  It was an election against misogynism, right-wing populism, irrationalism and racism.  It’s significance cannot be underestimated given Alabama’s history as a home of the former Confederacy and a state that voted for Trump by an overwhelming margin.

Yet the book is not closed, and not simply because there will inevitably be a recount.   What is so essential is the building and strengthening of progressive organizations in Alabama that can take advantage of the voter mobilization toward the achievement of longer term, progressive strategic objectives.  There are organizations popping up all over the country that are advancing progressive electoral work with an "inside/outside the Democratic Party" orientation that are making a difference.  My hope is that such organizations will proliferate in Alabama.

Congratulations to the people of Alabama who have rejected irrationalism!  The war, however, is far from won.

Fight White Supremacy, Racism,and Fascism Everywhere!

CCDS Statement on Charlottesville

We condemn the white supremacist and neo-Nazi rally and violent assaults against anti-racist demonstrators which occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12, 2017, resulting in the murder of one anti-racist protestor and severe injury to over a dozen more.

We indict the Trump Administration for refusing to name and condemn the violence unleashed by the racist and neo-Nazi forces, while blaming both sides equally.

We believe Donald Trump and his key administrative advisors, such as Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller, are directly responsible for the increase of white supremacist and Nazi violence. They emboldened the far right during the 2016 presidential campaign and have continued to promote white supremacy since Trump assumed office. Trump’s blaming both sides masks the reality of rising white supremacist and neo-Nazi violence across the country.

We mourn the loss of life and injuries suffered. Our deepest sympathy goes to the family and friends of the young woman killed and the families of the police officers who died in a helicopter crash while patrolling the area. We grieve with the 19 and possibly more anti-racist and anti-Nazi protestors who suffered injuries.

The white supremacist protestors in Charlottesville were not just Virginians. They came from cities and towns across the United States, reflecting the national scope of this right-wing threat to our people and democracy.

CCDS calls on all justice minded people everywhere to build a broad front against white supremacy, racism, and fascism and to build and fortify our organizations to fight the right.  There is no place for racism and fascism and in our country.

Paul Krehbiel
Rafael Pizarro
Harry Targ
Janet Tucker
Co-Chairs Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS)

Defend Net Neutrality!


Net neutrality activists in Washington. The Trump administration is trying to overturn Obama-era regulations that protected it. Photograph: UPI / Barcroft Images

About 200 internet companies and activist groups are coming together this week to mobilize their users into opposing US government plans to scrap net neutrality protections.

The internet-wide day of action, scheduled for Wednesday 12 July, will see companies including Facebook, Google, Amazon, Vimeo, Spotify, Reddit and Pornhub notify their users that net neutrality – a founding principle of the open internet – is under attack. The Trump administration is trying to overturn Obama-era regulation that protected net neutrality, and there is less than a week left for people to object.

View the complete Guardian article