From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Rewind, November 2 - 8 2008
SUNDAY Quote of the Day November 2, 2008 'By midnight Tuesday, millions of conservatives probably will believe that the nation, foundering on the reefs of sin, is ruined. And millions of "progressives," emboldened to embrace truth in labeling by again calling themselves liberals, probably will have decided that Heaven is at hand, the nation revived like a flower in an April shower. ' Columnist George Will TownHall.com November 2, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5pgve2 Toon of the Day http://tinyurl.com/5bdt3w "Ice" Holbert - Boston Herald MONDAY Quote of the Day November 3, 2008 'Whatever Tuesday's voting brings, the national conversation sparked by the driveway encounter between Barack Obama and Joe the Plumber seems likely to have a lingering, and potentially destructive, effect. Consider: Eight years ago, George W. Bush was selling himself to the country as a compassionate conservative. Today, it is hard to detect even the faintest note of compassion in John McCain's railing against Mr. Obama as "redistributionist in chief." 'The tired trope of campaigns past -- Democrats as voracious tax-and-spenders -- has been augmented in the closing days of Campaign 2008 with the accusation of socialistic wealth-spreading. The two charges are related but fundamentally different, in ways that matter for the future debate about the proper role of government. The tax-and-spend charge goes to the question of the size of government; the spread-the- wealth charge goes to the core of government's function. It is fair to worry about taxes being so high that they impede growth, or the safety net so comfortable that it discourages work. But Mr. McCain's anti-redistributionist argument, taken seriously, has profound implications for the nature of modern American government and the stability of the post-New Deal consensus about the government as ultimate safety net. ' Editorial Washington Post November 2, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5z5p8x Toon of the Day go to: http://tinyurl.com/55fw46 Mike Luckovich Republican cleaners TUESDAY Quote of the Day November 4, 2008 'By all means, vote today. But that is just the first step toward meaningful change. ' Columnist Bob Herbert New York Times November 4, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5kojzd Toon of the Day http://tinyurl.com/5sj564 'Golly Dick' Jim Moran Miami Herald WEDNESDAY Quote of the Day November 5, 2008 'Even the sound engineer got the applause of his life. It was just before 10 p.m. and the networks had declared Barack Obama the 44th president of the United States. Cheers were ringing out across Grant Park in Chicago, the scene of Obama's election party. The technician stood on the stage, in front of 25 huge US flags and counted "one, two, three" before saying with pleasure: "I am the sound check for the next president of the USA." '... The technician was announcing more than just a sound check. It was the promise of a new tone -- for America and for the world.' Spiegal (Germany) November 5, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5u6f38A Toon of the Day http://tinyurl.com/563hs8 Miami Herald THURSDAY Quote of the Day November 6, 2008 'But as Mr. Obama's victory showed, the path to change is arduous. Even as the nation shattered one barrier of intolerance, we were disappointed that voters in four states chose to reinforce another. Ballot measures were approved in Arkansas, Arizona, Florida and California that discriminate against couples of the same sex. 'We do not view these results as reason for despair. Struggles over civil rights never follow a straight trajectory, and the ugly outcome of these ballot fights should not obscure the building momentum for full equality for gay people, including acceptance of marriage between gay men and women. But the votes remind us of how much remains to be done before this bigotry is finally erased.' Editorial New York Times November 6, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/6mpgty Toon of the Day http://tinyurl.com/5fgqzj Obama Victory Mike Lukovich FRIDAY Quote of the Day November 7, 2008 'Right now, many commentators are urging Mr. Obama to think small. Some make the case on political grounds: America, they say, is still a conservative country, and voters will punish Democrats if they move to the left. Others say that the financial and economic crisis leaves no room for action on, say, health care reform. 'Let's hope that Mr. Obama has the good sense to ignore this advice.' Columnist Paul Krugman New York Times November 7, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5w2vtx Toon of the Day http://tinyurl.com/6ykdj8 Keith Knight blacknews.com November 7, 2008 SATURDAY Quote of the Day November 8, 2008 'So much for that post-election glow. Miserable jobs figures made for a bitter welcome for president-elect Barack Obama. Payroll employment fell by 240,000 in October, with the jobless rate rising to 6.5 per cent from 6.1 per cent in September. Worse is to come. Drastic negative revisions suggest that the labour market is unravelling faster than previously thought. Sectors of strength earlier this year, such as manufacturing, are crumbling. With the average weekly time worked at a historical low, more companies will soon have to cut bodies, not just working hours. Overburdened household balance sheets will keep the disaffected pounding the streets, thereby pushing the unemployment rate above the 7.8 per cent seen in the relatively mild 1990s downturn. America's leader-in- waiting will soon come to dread the first Friday of every month.' Lex Column Financial Times November 8, 2008 http://tinyurl.com/5kn955 Toon of the Day http://tinyurl.com/5oewl3 It's Never to Late to Consider Your Legacy www.Matt Bors.com _____________________________________________ Portside aims to provide material of interest to people on the left that will help them to interpret the world and to change it. Submit via email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: www.portside.org/subscribe Search the archives: www.portside.org/archive *** http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21182.htm Obama's Historic Victory By Howard Zinn November 09, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" -- Those of us on the Left who have criticized Obama, as I have, for his failure to take bold positions on the war and on the economy, must join the exultation of those Americans, black and white, who shouted and wept Tuesday night as they were informed that Barack Obama had won the presidential election. It is truly a historic moment, that a black man will lead our country. The enthusiasm of the young, black and white, the hopes of their elders, cannot simply be ignored. There was a similar moment a century and a half ago, in the year 1860, when Abraham Lincoln was elected president. Lincoln had been criticized harshly by the abolitionists, the anti-slavery movement, for his failure to take a clear, bold stand against slavery, for acting as a shrewd politician rather than a moral force. But when he was elected, the abolitionist leader Wendell Phillips, who had been an angry critic of Lincoln's cautiousness, recognized the possibility in his election. Phillips wrote that for the first time in the nation's history "the slave has chosen a President of the United States." Lincoln, he said, was not an abolitionist, but he in some way "consents to represent an antislavery position." Like a pawn on the chessboard, Lincoln had the potential, if the American people acted vigorously, to be moved across the board, converted into a queen, and, as Phillips said, "sweep the board." Obama, like Lincoln, tends to look first at his political fortunes instead of making his decisions on moral grounds. But, as the first African American in the White House, elected by an enthusiastic citizenry which expects a decisive move towards peace and social justice, he presents a possibility for important change. Obama becomes president in a situation which cries out for such change. The nation has been engaged in two futile and immoral wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the American people have turned decisively against those wars. The economy is shaken by tremendous blows, and is in danger of collapsing, as families lose their homes and working people, including those in the middle class, lose their jobs, So the population is ready for change, indeed, desperate for change, and "change" was the word most used by Obama in his campaign. What kind of change is needed? First, to announce the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, and to renounce the Bush doctrine of preventive war as well as the Carter doctrine of military action to control Mideast oil. He needs to radically change the direction of U.S. foreign policy, declare that the U.S. is a peace loving country which will not intervene militarily in other parts of the world, and start dismantling the military bases we have in over a hundred countries. Also he must begin meeting with Medvedev, the Russian leader, to reach agreement on the dismantling of the nuclear arsenals, in keeping with the Nuclear Anti-Proliferation Treaty. This turn-around from militarism will free hundreds of billions of dollars. A tax program which will sharply increase taxes on the richest 1% of the nation, and will tax their wealth as well as their income, will yield more hundreds of billions of dollars. With all that saved money, the government will be able to give free health care to everyone, put millions of people to work (which the so-called free market has not been able to do). In short, emulate the New Deal program, in which millions were given jobs by the government. This is just an outline of a program which could transform the United States and make it a good neighbor to the world. (written for l'Humanité in Paris) ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
