>Gore, like President Bill Clinton, had vacillated on >affirmative action and women's right to choose abortion. In >general, he was not saying anything to appeal to the masses >or any progressive segment of the population. > >The vice president aggravated his own situation when he >picked Sen. Joseph Lieberman as his running mate. Lieberman >is one of the most conservative elements in the national >Democratic leadership. He has been an outspoken opponent of >affirmative action, a supporter of school vouchers, and a >friend of the anti-Cuba right wing. > >To make Gore's situation even more difficult, the anti- >corporate campaign of Ralph Nader, directed against the two >big capitalist parties, was gaining ground. > >The corporate media attempted to reduce the Gore campaign's >pre-convention crisis to a personality contest. They said >his style was stodgy and too formal. He had to improve his >style, they advised. > >But the Gore forces, in their desperate attempt to salvage >the campaign, grasped that style was not really the issue. >No, they had to find some means to differentiate their >candidate from Bush in a way that would be discernable to >some section of the progressive masses. > >Thus his campaign advisors decided that Gore should adopt a >posture of being against the wealthy and powerful and on the >side of "working families." Gore, in fact, borrowed the >"working families" slogan from the AFL-CIO as a way to >appeal to union members. > >To that end, when Gore finally mounted the platform at the >Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, he railed >against the HMOs, the pharmaceutical monopolies and Big Oil. > >STRUGGLE OVER PARTY PLATFORM > >How much credence should workers and oppressed people give >to Gore's last-minute change of tune? Consider what went on >behind the scenes at the convention before the Democratic >nominee's speech. > >In the bitter struggle over the party platform, the Gore >forces blocked any and all attempts to insert language >against the death penalty, for more assistance to the poor, >to cut military spending, or for universal health care. > >Of course, the bourgeois parties' written programs >ultimately amount to nothing. They are just pieces of paper >to be torn up after the candidate is elected. > >But to some extent they do register the feelings of the >delegates. In the case of the Democrats this included many >African Americans and labor unionists. The fight over the >program resulted in declining morale among the Democratic >base as represented at the convention. > >A sure warning signal was the comment by Willy Brown, the >African American mayor of San Francisco, who said that Gore >was out of touch with the Democrats' base. Brown advised >Gore to spend every Sunday between now and Election Day in a >Black church, meaning it would take a big effort for Gore to >generate enthusiasm with African American voters. > >In a nutshell, Gore's problem is that he is a prisoner of >the political atmosphere he helped create as part of the >Clinton administration's drive to the right. This included >collaborating with the Gingrich Republican forces in >dismantling welfare, strengthening the racist death penalty, >saying that the era of "big government" is over, and >carrying out the destruction of much of the New Deal-era >legislation. > >Gore's advisors chose to break out of this trap by >rhetorical means. They put words of concern for the masses >in his mouth, though most of his new image was smoke and >mirrors. So Gore came out unequivocally for affirmative >action and Roe vs. Wade. He deliberately repudiated the >Clinton/Lieberman formulation on affirmative action, "mend >it, don't end it." > >He came out for prescription drug coverage for seniors, >which the Clinton administration has long promoted but >failed so far to put into effect. He called for health >insurance for children; but this has already been half done, >and is part of a plan of minimum maintenance in place of a >real universal health-care program. > >All this amounts to a pile of election promises without a >heap of conviction. The small reforms Gore promised are >predicated on the swing of the capitalist economy and the >cooperation of the legislative bodies. By the time these >modest measures take shape they will likely be compromised >or shredded to pieces. > >GORE BOUGHT AND PAID FOR > >Gore and the Democratic leadership are perpetrating a fraud >when they say they are for the workers and the poor. > >Gore is part and parcel of the rich and powerful, who paid >for the Democratic Convention. The Democratic leadership is >loyal and beholden to them. > >For all his talk about working families, Gore didn't once >mention unions or the right to organize. He wasn't about to >challenge the military, so there was no hint of criticism of >the "don't ask, don't tell" policy used to witch hunt >lesbians and gay men. > >Gore wants to spend the budget surplus to pay off the >national debt, but he didn't mention the 43 million people >without health insurance. He talked about a "patient's bill >of rights," but what does that mean when health care is in >the hands of the insurance companies? What about the $300 >billion military budget? > >He talked about further increasing the repressive forces >under the rubric of "community policing." That amounts to >trying to put a kind face on the racist police brutality >that is running rampant all over the country. > >He said nothing about the ballooning prison population or >the fact that more prisons than schools are being built in >some areas. There was no mention of the continued existence >of sweatshops, or of unorganized workers, who have no >protection, benefits or rights in the face of the greedy >bosses. > >Gore didn't say anything about taking away some of Wall >Street's obscene profits to feed hungry children. In fact, >Gore said precisely nothing that fundamentally challenges >the capitalist class in any way. > >The fact is, Gore's promises amount to nothing. Clinton, >like Gore, said he was for women's right to choose. But >under Clinton hundreds of doctors stopped performing >abortions, schools stopped offering training to abortion >providers, and rural and poor women lost access to >reproductive services. > >So while posturing demagogically for this right, Clinton >allowed it to be eroded by terrorism and neglect. The same >is true for affirmative action. > >It should not be forgotten that in the Clinton-Gore >administration, Gore constituted the right wing. The two of >them abandoned Black law professor Lani Guinier after >appointing her assistant attorney general for human rights. >They teamed up to boot Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders when >she made a modest progressive attempt on sex education. They >championed NAFTA. > >The Clinton-Gore team has a horrible record. There's no >reason to think Gore will do any better if he gets into the >White House as a tool of the monopolies. > >Gore's posturing against the rich and powerful is the oldest >trick of capitalist politics. No one should be fooled by it. >Whether Gore or Bush wins in November, the capitalist class >wins. > >The working class doesn't need to wait years and years just >to suffer rotten compromises over how many crumbs will be >thrown from the table. The workers need to organize and >mobilize. Instead of pouring money into the campaigns of one >or another big-business politician, the unions need to put >it into the struggle. > >Building the struggle is the only way the workers will win >gains and keep them. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > >Message-ID: <014201c01089$293cfa80$0a00a8c0@home> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Mumia to address teach-in before election 'debates' >Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2000 20:44:44 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Aug. 31, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >Protesters set sights on Boston > >MUMIA TO ADDRESS TEACH-IN BEFORE CAPITALIST 'DEBATES' > >By Gery Armsby > >As police storm troopers tried to quell the militancy of >protests at the Republican and Democratic conventions this >summer, "repression breeds resistance" was the battle cry of >many demonstrators in the streets of Philadelphia and Los >Angeles. > >That spirit of resistance is building in Boston. >Presidential candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush are >scheduled to hold their first major televised debate there >Oct. 3. > >Activists plan to continue the work begun in Philadelphia >and Los Angeles: to expose both big-business candidates for >their roles in slashing social programs and promoting >imperialist war. Protest groups will hold events throughout >the week leading up to the debate. > >Death-row journalist and political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal >has accepted an invitation to deliver an audio-taped speech >to a teach-in Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. It will be held at the >University of Massachusetts in Boston, where the Bush/Gore >debate is set for the following Tuesday. > >The teach-in is hosted by U-Mass students. It will include >presentations by leaders of the MOVE Organization from >Philadelphia and other death-penalty foes. > >Organizers from the Boston Coalition for Mumia Abu-Jamal and >the International Action Center are building support for the >Sept. 29 teach-in. The groups say they will also organize >strong contingents to confront the Gore and Bush campaigns >on Oct. 3. > >Frank Neisser, a member of the Boston Coalition for Mumia >and the IAC, told Workers World: "We are proud to have Mumia >speak in Boston on Sept.29. He is 'the voice of the >voiceless' and his case--the police brutality, witness >coercion, judicial misconduct, all of it--is a perfect >example of why we need to build a mighty movement against >both the candidates and their capitalist system, which is >rotten to its very core." > >At the Oct. 3 events demonstrators plan to demand: "Money >for schools, housing and hospitals, not prisons and legal >lynchings. Stop the death penalty now!" > >In addition to the teach-in, there will be an "alternative >debate" on Oct. 2 featuring third-party candidates whose >campaigns are being boycotted by the media. One of these is >Workers World Party presidential candidate Monica Moorehead. > >Moorehead will also speak at a meet-the-candidates forum on >Oct. 1 at 2 p.m. The forum, hosted by the Moorehead-La Riva >Campaign and WWP, will be held at the Community Church of >Boston. > >Readers who want more information or wish to get involved in >building for the activities around Oct. 3 should contact the >Boston International Action Center/National Peoples Campaign >at >(617) 983-3835 or on the Web at >www.home.earthlink.net/~npcboston. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > >Message-ID: <014801c01089$45dab920$0a00a8c0@home> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] It was all a lie: NATO now admits Yugoslavs carried out no mass >killings in Kosovo >Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2000 20:45:32 -0400 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Aug. 31, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >It was all a lie > >NATO ADMITS YUGOSLAVS CARRIED OUT NO MASS KILLINGS IN KOSOVO > >By John Catalinotto > >On Aug. 17 NATO officials conceded that the figures they >released in 1999, allegedly a count of the people killed by >Yugoslav forces in Kosovo, were much higher than the actual >number of people killed there. > >Findings by forensic teams from the International Criminal >Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague forced >NATO's admission. The ICTY exhumed 3,000 bodies and examined >them. > >While they have not yet released a report, ICTY spokespeople >said that at most 3,000 people were killed. They said there >was no evidence of mutilations. And they said that not all >the dead can be proved to be victims of murder or execution. > >Last year NATO had charged that Yugoslav forces massacred at >least 10,000 people. NATO spokespeople implied that 500,000 >supposedly "missing" people also had been killed. > >They used these claims to justify NATO bombings that had no >basis in United Nations treaties or NATO's own charter. > >NATO has now been forced to admit in effect that it waged a >lying propaganda war to win support for its own illegal >intervention that killed over 3,000 Yugoslavs, about one- >third of them children. > >Washington and NATO have no hard evidence that Yugoslav >forces carried out even a small-scale massacre of civilians, >let alone the "genocide" they were charged with. > >The ICTY--itself created and funded by the NATO powers--has >exposed this "Big Lie" of NATO's. > >According to a report in the Aug. 18 British Guardian, Mark >Laity, the acting NATO spokesperson, said: "NATO never said >the missing were all dead. The figure we stood by was >10,000." Laity even tried to claim that NATO's intervention >stopped further killing. > >The truth is that since NATO occupied Kosovo, right-wing >Albanian forces have killed some 1,000 people, mostly Serb >and Romani, while pushing all non-Albanian peoples out of >the region. > >NATO FORCES LIE AGAIN ABOUT TREPCA > >While this exposure of NATO's lies came too late to stop >last year's bombing, it should be kept in mind by anyone >evaluating NATO leaders' current statements regarding >Yugoslavia. > >On Aug. 14, French and British forces occupying the Serbian >province of Kosovo and Metohija seized the smelter at the >Trepca mines near Kosovo Mitrovica. These are the richest >nickel and lead mines in Europe. Corporate forces in the >United States, Britain and France want these mines in their >hands and not in the hands of the Yugoslav government. > >This time the excuse for the action was that the smelter was >"polluting" the environment. Compared to the pollution >caused by NATO's deliberate bombing of Pancevo and other >Yugoslav chemical complexes, not to mention the use of >radioactive depleted uranium weapons, this pollution is >minor. In any case, Yugoslav authorities reported that steps >had already been taken to reduce the smelter's pollution. > >The United States, Britain and France--the major NATO powers- >-are again using a lie to justify an unwarranted and illegal >seizure of Yugoslav property, just as they lied to justify >the war in the first place. > >The NATO powers and Washington in particular have been >attempting to intervene in the Yugoslav election scheduled >for Sept. 24. They have set up an office in Budapest, >Hungary, to deliver funds to parties in Yugoslavia that >oppose the current elected president, Slobodan Milosevic. > >Seizing the Trepca smelter must be seen as part of this >election strategy. By taking this step before the election, >NATO hopes to put the blame for the "loss of Trepca" on >Milosevic rather than on his opposition. > >This strategy was spelled out last fall in a study prepared >by a think tank funded by multi-billionaire George Soros. >The report suggested that NATO use the excuse of pollution >to seize the Trepca mines, and to do it before the election. > >Besides trying to undermine the Yugoslav government by >meddling in the national election, NATO forces have been >supporting a pro-Western leadership in Montenegro, the >republic that with Serbia makes up present-day Yugoslavia. >British officers have been training the Montenegrin police >to combat the Yugoslav Army. > >This was underlined when Yugoslav forces caught two British >officers who were doing this training, along with two >Canadians who had equipment that could be used for setting >explosives. Whatever the outcome of the hearing over charges >that these four were conducting terrorism, the case has made >it clear that British imperialism is trying to help pro- >Western political groups split Montenegro from Yugoslavia. > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > _______________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________
