Robert Naiman wrote: > I'm with Doug on "don't give the guy an inch" - with respect to bad > things. It's not in the interest of humanity for Obama to get a "pass" > when he does bad things.
Right. I agree with the principle. The problem is in deciding specifically that, with a certain action or omission, Obama is indeed doing a "bad" thing. Good and bad are not determined in the abstract, on the basis of ideology. They are contingent on the concrete political context. They have to be judged on the basis of an assessment of political realities. There are strategic and tactical considerations. Etc. For example, it would have been unfair and -- *much more importantly* -- politically damaging to the workers' cause (i.e. stupid) to have weakened Chavez in 2000 Venezuela by persistently denouncing him as a class enemy on the basis of his advocacy of third-way capitalism. By the way, Chavez has said that, back then, he *believed* in the third-way. (Please note that I am not saying that Obama and Chavez are the same thing. This is an analogy, and analogies have restrictions. The key points are that life is fluid and that context matters. And there's something called "uncertainty," as much as we'd like to think we can overcome it with our insightful gaze.) That's where the real disagreement lies, because -- with all due respect -- I reject the notion that Doug or Louis or Jim are more sincere or honest or righteous in their championing of working class interests than, say, Max or Charles or raghu or myself. No need to question anybody's motives. IMO, with the knowledge I have now, the most fruitful approach is not so much denouncing Obama's apparent or real sins, but in arguing better for stronger measures in the interest of workers, and in denouncing the main obstacles in the way to taking those stronger measures. Is there a risk involved in this political stance? You bet. The only way to avoid risks is not to be born. And I insist that I don't see clear evidence that Obama has become a major obstacle to working class militancy. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
