Anti-woke Republicans attacked Columbia University. It capitulated | Alisa Solomon, Marianne Hirsch, Sarah Haley and Helen Benedict
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/18/columbia-university-congress-antisemitism-republicans-gaza?CMP=share_btn_url
 
From the Guardian – Opinion
 
It’s hard to believe that the hearings genuinely seek to protect Jewish students when its grandstanding inquisitors include Representative Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York who has trafficked in white nationalist conspiracy theories’ Photograph: José Luis Magaña/AP

In a congressional hearing, Republicans used specious charges of rampant antisemitism to advance an illiberal agenda on campuses

As Jewish faculty at Columbia University, we watched with alarm as our president, Minouche Shafik, appeared before the House education and workforce committee on Wednesday to answer questions about antisemitism on our campus. While we are deeply concerned about antisemitism, we are also disturbed by the ways the hearing – like those in December, and surely those to follow – used specious charges of rampant antisemitism to advance an illiberal agenda.
Read more
 
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/18/columbia-university-congress-antisemitism-republicans-gaza?CMP=share_btn_url
 

Rand Wilson and Peter Olney

It’s time for a serious reckoning — and for working people across the country and the labor movement, there is much at stake. In about seven months, the presidential election and votes in key house and senate districts will determine much of the political landscape for labor over at least the next four years. Some members of the very pro-labor Squad are facing primary challenges, bankrolled by AIPAC because of The Squad’s moral clarity and defense of Palestine. AIPAC is not to be underestimated; in 2022 it succeeded in helping take down Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) who was a staunch supporter of labor. 
So our first task this election season is to defend elected progressives in the primaries. It is their voices (and votes) who have been the loudest in the political arena in pushing Biden on many domestic and foreign policy fronts — including both labor and Gaza. 
Despite all Biden’s failings — and to be sure, his role in the genocide of Palestinians is unconscionable and indefensible — if Trump and his fascist legions recapture power, it will be a very real danger to our racial, gender, climate and economic justice movements, including the labor movement. Our democracy is far from the one we need — and deserve — but under Trump it will be further dismantled and most of the significant gains achieved through the Biden National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) would be wiped out.
Read more.
In These Times
https://inthesetimes.com/article/labor-2024-political-dilemma-biden-trump-gaza-election
 

​

​Steve Tarzynski
Barbara Ehrenreich died on September 1, 2022 at age 81. Coming from working-class roots, she was celebrated as an author, most notably for her 2001 Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, which dealt with the working lives of low-wage women workers. Working at these jobs herself to understand them better, she wrote a powerful report about the many hardships faced by the people who do these jobs every day. But Barbara was much more than a public intellectual and an author of numerous hard-hitting books and essays of social and political commentary. She was a renowned socialist feminist activist, an early leader of the Democratic Socialists of America, and most important for me, a pioneering critic of our health care system.  
Along with Deirdre English, Barbara co-wrote the groundbreaking pamphlets, “Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers” (1972) and “Complaints and Disorders:  The Sexual Politics of Sickness” (1973). The first focused attention on the historic role of women as healers and of their oppression and subjugation by an always threatened and threatening white male hierarchy throughout the ages. And the second focused on women’s care experiences in a class-based, racist, and sexist system. Barbara was also a staff member and on the editorial board of the Bulletin of the Health Policy Advisory Center (Health -PAC) which was published in the 1970s and 1980s and was an important resource for us, when we were young health care activists learning about the system while fighting to change it. Along with her then-husband, John Ehrenreich, she wrote the book The American Health Empire (as another Health-PAC document, 1971), which detailed the growing influence of corporations in the medical care system. A half century before the current destructive impact of private equity’s invasion of our health care system, Barbara was warning about the corrosive influence of the profit motive, sexism, and racism in the financing, organization, and delivery of  U.S.medical care.
On a personal note, I was fortunate to have known and worked with Barbara when she was a co-chair along with Michael Harrington of the Democratic Socialists of America. I served on the DSA National Board with her in the 1980s and observed and learned from her up close. I have fond memories of many conversations with her and remember her warmth, authenticity, humility, intelligence, and sardonic wit. She did not suffer fools gladly, though, and was even less tolerant of know-it-all men. Some of my favorite memories will be of Barbara cutting down to size some of the more arrogant male activists and leaders, long before “mansplaining” was a term.
In her own moving essay on Barbara’s passing, Deirdre English wrote in Mother Jones magazine, “Mother Jones said, ‘pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.’ But Ben Ehrenreich [her son] wrote that Barbara ‘…wasn’t much for thoughts and prayers, but you can honor her memory by loving one another and fighting like hell.’”
The last thing Barbara would want is for us to feel sorry for ourselves about her passing from this world. She would urge us to carry on, no doubt ending with a witty remark. We can best honor Barbara by continuing to do the long-term hard work to create a more accessible, high quality, equitable, and affordable health care system as part of the larger effort of creating a more just, verdant, and peaceful world.
See also:
https://www.dsausa.org/democratic-left/remembering-barbara-ehrenreich-1941-2022/
https://www.dsausa.org/democratic-left/barbara-ehrenreichgroundbreaking-critic-of-u-s-health-care%EF%BF%BC/
 

​
Happy Birthday Dolores
Dolores Huerta turns 94 today, April 10th! Throughout her remarkable life, she led boycotts alongside Cesar Chavez that changed the landscape of labor rights and inspired generations to fight for a more equitable world.
But Dolores' work doesn't stop here. The Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF) carries her torch, building upon her legacy by empowering marginalized communities through grassroots organizing, education, and civic engagement.
Today, as we celebrate Dolores' birthday, we invite you to join us in securing the future of her impact.
Ed note.
 
Dolores was a member of DSA from 1982 until at least 2016.  I do not know if she remains a DSA member.  She was an Honorary Chair of DSA from at least 1990 until the 2017 Convention. She spoke at numerous DSA functions and conventions.
The honorary chairs were abolished in that year.

 
Note: Sanders has encourage all to share these views. ( below) 
I am writing to let you know that I recently launched a new podcast. In the first few episodes, John Nichols and I discuss my recent book, "It's OK to Be Angry About Capitalism" — which, if I must say so myself, is a very good book.
I wanted to share the first few episodes with you. I hope you'll take the time to watch, save for later, and share with your friends. 
To start, you can find all the episodes and different places to watch or listen to them at this link:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2331318
Otherwise, here the first few episodes on YouTube:
Episode 1: The Political Revolution
Bernie Sanders. 

​

 
Last Friday, D. Taylor stepped down as president of UNITE HERE—the union of hotel and casino employees. His nearly dozen years at the helm of one of America’s most member-involved unions saw it become an improbable political powerhouse in a host of swing states and key elections.
By Harold Meyerson , American Prospect 


If anything, Taylor’s tenure coincided with industry practices that should have made already difficult union-building all the harder. These days, the people working behind the hotels’ registration desks and in kitchen and waitstaffs may well be employed not by the hotel itself but by contractors—a route hotel owners have taken precisely to thwart their workers going union. Despite that, UNITE HERE has continued to unionize hotel and casino workers not only in its Nevada stronghold and in such legacy cities as New York, but also in the otherwise non-union South. During Taylor’s presidency, the union not only organized 140,500 new workers, but fully half of them were in right-to-work states, which most unions shun for fear that workers benefiting from union contracts there would exercise their right not to pay union dues.

Which gets us to what’s really distinctive about UNITE HERE: It generally wins a level of worker allegiance that leads workers to join, and pay dues, even when they don’t have to. Las Vegas, where the local now claims roughly 60,000 members, has been ground zero for such successes. There, Taylor and his presidential predecessor, John Wilhelm, pioneered practices of involving workers in organizing, mobilizing, and bargaining at levels that are uncommon in most unions. That involvement has tended to pay off, literally, in the contracts the union has won.

During Taylor’s tenure, that involvement has also spurred the union’s political programs. Most unions still do politics by writing checks to the candidates they back, while some of the largest and disproportionately public employee unions—the two teacher unions, AFSCME and SEIU—can fund massive electoral operations that take to the airwaves and also have members and other canvassers knocking on doors and working the phones.



UNITE HERE doesn’t have that kind of treasury and can’t afford to hire non-member canvassers, as some unions do. But beginning in Nevada, where it’s long been much the biggest union, it has enlisted its hotel housekeepers, waiters, and cooks to become the state’s most potent door-knocking and phone-banking force, often alongside the Democratic machine built by the late Sen. Harry Reid. During Taylor’s tenure, the union began playing a similar role in other key swing states where its locals had similarly motivated members. In 2020, it mobilized many hundreds of its members in four swing states that gave Joe Biden the presidency: Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and, of course, Nevada. Its precinct walkers came from those states’ unionized hotels, as well as from those in such neighboring states as New York and California. Moreover, as UNITE HERE secretary-treasurer Gwen Mills (who now succeeds Taylor as president) told me in 2020, the union’s electoral training program for members also provides union organizing training as well.

In speaking with Taylor last month, he voiced both a cautious optimism about his union’s trajectory, and some frustration at the labor movement’s hesitation to exploit the unusually pro-union climate now abroad in the land. "Right now," he said, "we have a high level of worker militance, the highest level of public approval of unions in 60 years, the most pro-union administration in our history, and a labor shortage that gives workers more power. If we fail to take advantage of all that, historians will say we didn’t do justice to the next generation of workers."

Doing justice, in Taylor’s view, would require waging a unified labor campaign to organize the commanding heights of the economy—companies like Amazon. "That will take not one union but a powerful coalition of unions, a force like the CIO in the 1930s," he said. "We have to increase union density if we’re ever going to reduce the crazy levels of economic inequality that we have. The whole movement needs to step up."
 
 
https://americanprospect.bluelena.io/index.php?action=social&chash=1d94108e907bb8311d8802b48fd54b4a.2647&s=f3196cb603d6d11dedcd326ed6daf0e3
 




 
 
 

I'm forwarding this appeal - I can only respond to the most urgent but I plan to send Jamaal as much as I can. I am very proud that DSA national has joined the Resist AIPAC coalition. We are standing with the Squad and everyone AIPAC is trying to destroy. Working Families Party,  Sunrise, Justice Democrats, a whole slew of anti-MAGA allies.

It's not just Gaza, though OUR power has forced the US to permit a cease fire resolution to pass the UN Security Council today! The same forces that oppose Bowman are attacking reproductive freedom, sexual rights, immigrants, BIPOC Justice, education, voting rights and unions.

I'll be sending out a list soon of the other Resist AIPAC groups so you can link up in this common cause. But for now, please think how you can help. ¡Venceremos!

North Star Steering Committee 
* * *

Hey team, it's Jamaal Bowman, can I have a few minutes of your day?

1️⃣I'm up against an AIPAC-backed opponent who is being funneled millions *just* to defeat me.

2️⃣After his launch, he raked in $1.4 million - that's a lot to compete with.

3️⃣This is my last FEC deadline before our primary, so this goal has never been more important.

Please, will you chip in to help me defeat my MAGA-funded opponent and keep fighting for Black and Brown communities? I truly need a grassroots team behind me right now. 

https://act.bowmanforcongress.com/go/eoq-goal

Thank you! 

Jamaal

Reply STOP to Opt Out 

​ Robert Reich, 
 
The 2024 general election is now underway. 
Like most of you, I’ve found myself immersed in many conversations about the threat to our nation — and the world — posed by Donald Trump. 
Just to be clear, I’m not talking about conversations with Trump supporters. I’m referring to conversations with people who are fully aware of the damage Trump has already done and the even greater danger he presents if reelected. 
Understandably, many of the people I talk with express rage and despair. 
It’s natural that we want to share our anger. Someone who has attempted to jettison the rule of law, unleashed violence on the U.S. Capitol, and seeks to wreck our constitutional system is once again the candidate put forward for president by the Republican Party. Why isn’t he already imprisoned? 
When rage is driving us, despair is often in the passenger seat. It’s easy to feel dismayed that so many of our fellow Americans (sometimes even within our own families) have been seduced by this man and manipulated by his Republican lapdogs and the right-wing media. Our hearts ache for our nation and the ideals on which it’s based, and for the previous generations that have sacrificed their lives in service of those ideals. 
I’m convinced that Trump can be beaten. But to ensure Joe Biden’s reelection, we must communicate effectively and concretely with one another about how to do so and what we’re going to contribute to the effort. We cannot be spectators. 
Over and above feelings of rage and despair, we need to emphasize the urgency of defeating him along practical lines with steps all of us can take: getting out the vote, identifying and engaging voters who are on the fence, doing our damndest to discourage potential Biden voters from voting for third-party candidates, and focusing on winning swing states. 
We must not allow our rage and despair to get in the way of communicating such urgency, developing such strategies, and committing to effective action. 
The next 33 weeks will test our individual and collective capacities. We need to stay focused on what must be done. 
Trump is neither inevitable nor invincible. Democracy is our precious legacy, and we must do everything humanly possible to preserve and strengthen it.
 
Robert Reich,  March 25, 2024. 

Read the tribute.www.dsausa.org/democratic-left/maria-svart-built-dsa/
https://www.dsausa.org/democratic-left/maria-svart-built-dsa/

by David Duhalde 

​

by Paul Garver

A shorter version of this article was published in Chartist 327
The MAGA Right
The largest hegemonic bloc in US politics remains the MAGA ‘Make America Great Again’ Right, closely associated with its Maximum Leader Donald Trump.   Roughly 30% of the US electorate, including a solid majority of evangelical Protestants, appears to remain loyal to Trump, even as federal and state courts find him guilty of rape, tax evasion, and other financial crimes.   Even though President Trump helped to foment the attempted insurrection of January 6th 2021 intended to overturn his clear electoral defeat, and thereby should have made himself ineligible to serve in any federal office as a promoter of insurrection, he will surely win the Republican nomination for the presidency.  Most Republican leaders, some of whom fear that a Trump candidacy will alienate independent voters, fall into line with MAGA out of fear or expediency.
 
MAGA’s and Trump’s proclaimed intention is to seize political control of the nation, and to cement that control into the indefinite future.  Republicans have no plan for governing the nation, leading to a ‘clown show’ in Congress, in which the most extreme elements of the Right wreck any effort at reaching the basic compromises essential to preserve essential public services.   Government is to be discredited and disabled, so that constituencies who need its services for survival are discouraged from voting at all.  Congressional Republicans have rejected a tentative agreement with Biden that they had proposed linking continued aid to Ukraine for more border security.  
The leading strategist for deliberately sowing political chaos is Donald Trump himself, who believes that as President he will be able to pardon himself and not serve lengthy prison sentences or pay hefty fines for his numerous political and financial crimes.  So far, each new indictment brings Trump a flood of cash from his admirers.  The most ruthless right-wing thinker for Trump is Steven Bannon, a neo-Fascist who openly courts the global Right and admires Putin, but he has numerous enablers, including former presidential candidates he is brushing aside in Republican primaries.  The possibility of a second Trump administration poses a lethal threat to American democracy.  Trump has promised to wield Presidential power in a personal and vindictive way against all his perceived enemies.
The Center
The Right faces a Center, the majority faction of the Democratic Party, led by incumbent President Joe Biden.  In 2020 the Democratic Center demonstrated that it could win a narrow national electoral majority against an incompetent sitting President.  Biden carried most ‘purple’ swing states by winning strong majorities among young people, women and people of color, even as most white men, evangelical Christians, and rural and small-town voters opted for Trump.
Normally an incumbent President who managed to guide the nation through the pandemic crisis, and emerge with a relatively strong economy would be assured of re-election.  While the most optimistic hopes of young people crushed by student debt, environmentalists confronting the climate crisis, and immigrant communities were not realized, the Biden administration seemed to be trying hard enough, with setbacks attributed to obstinate resistance from Republicans and a few right-wing Democrats.
However, the mainstream Democratic Party has been hollowed out by decades of neo-liberal ‘triangulation’ on major economic and social policies, including those crucial for winning and retaining the support of the working class, racial minority, women, and youth constituencies essential to a Democratic victory.  Rhetorically Biden Democrats talk a lot about the interests of these constituencies, but in reality they often cater to the whims of the wealthy individual and corporate donors that fund their campaigns.  Biden has chosen, or been forced, to take retrograde steps on immigration, student debt and the environment that may be justified by narrow political calculations but are likely to alienate activists from such crucial constituencies.
The Left
The small democratic socialist grouping in Congress does not mirror the spoiler role of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) extremists.  Bernie Sanders and the Squad critically support many initiatives of the Biden administration, while promoting stronger progressive measures on student debt, climate, and workers’ rights.  Recently Biden has voiced greater support for unions, by his appointments to the National Labor Relations Board and even joining an autoworkers’ picket line.  Here he is aligned with the broad Left and socialist movements.
A strong consensus has emerged on the Left around support for a diverse and inclusive workers’ movement based on grassroots organizing.  Rank-and-file reform caucuses in the UAW (United Autoworkers) and the Teamsters (Truck Drivers) have helped elected union leaderships mobilize their memberships for successful campaigns and strikes.
DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) members in the UAW, mainly in its growing division of academic workers, worked to elect the reforming leadership of Shawn Fain.   Eco-socialists in DSA have rallied to support the UAW’s campaign to organize a Just Transition to electric vehicle production and won a major campaign to require New York State’s public power authority to prioritize renewable power sources.
The revival of a militant labor movement in which DSA plays a constructive role bodes well for the future of democratic socialism. However, it is difficult for DSA to imagine joining in a united front with centrist Democrats to defeat a MAGA takeover that would preclude space for the development of democratic socialism. DSA and much of the US Left still focus too strongly on the evils of neo-liberalism and the shortcomings of the Biden administration, regardless of the MAGA threat.
Gaza Crisis
This has been even more challenging since the Gaza crisis strengthened the centrifugal forces within the Democratic Party.   The Biden administration intensified US military and diplomatic support for Israel despite the suffering of the civil population of Gaza.  Despite widespread popular support for a ceasefire, including the majority of union members, progressives in Congress, led by the democratic socialist Squad members and Bernie Sanders, are suffering strong attacks from the mass media for expressions of solidarity and support for Palestinians.  Pro-Israel political action committee AIPAC is targeting democratic socialists supporting Palestine in Congress by funding right-wing opposition candidates in Democratic primaries and/or their Republican opponents.
AS a ‘big tent’ organization, DSA is often divided on international issues.  This is less so on Palestine, where DSA conventions previously endorsed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.  After initially muddled rhetorical responses that alienated some members who felt its statements were too pro-Hamas, DSA settled into support for less rhetorical but more effective actions. Younger DSA activists, especially Jewish-Americans, Muslim-Americans and other members of color have particularly engaged in this issue, joining mass demonstrations, lobbying legislators, and organizing labor unions in support for de-escalation and a cease-fire. DSA leaders joined a hunger strike, while spokespersons for major US unions supporting de-escalation were DSA members, including a Regional Director of the UAW.
While DSA seems to pass the ‘stress test’ of Gaza by better alignment with the democratic socialist members of Congress, and collaboration among its national leadership, its National Labor Commission, International Committee and Elections Committee, that cannot be said of the Democratic Congressional leaders.   Rather than respond positively to the significant bloc in Congress calling for de-escalation and a ceasefire in Gaza, to the majority of Democratic voters appalled by the carnage in Gaza, and to growing street demonstrations supporting Palestinian civilians, Democratic congressional leaders like Nancy Pelosi falsely accused the demonstrators of being influenced by Putin.  Many Democrats voted with Republicans to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib for her advocacy of Palestinian rights.
Biden is hampered by his apparent frailty of old age and his lack of charismatic speaking ability to campaign effectively.  Polls indicate that almost any other Democrat would defeat Trump more easily.   Trump is nearly as old as Biden, but has the energy and demeanor of a spoiled two-year-old brat throwing temper tantrums when he doesn’t get his way.  This endears him to a sector of the electorate (predominantly male) that misinterprets Trump’s behavior as ‘manly’ and strong.
I personally hope that ‘Good old’ President Joe Biden has the wisdom to allow someone else to run against Trump in 2024.  I fear that (his nickname) ‘Genocide Joe’ could lead the Democrats to defeat. But maybe women facing the annihilation of their reproductive rights, and unionized workers hoping to consolidate their reviving labor rights will vote in sufficient numbers in key states like Michigan to balance the defection of Arab-American voters.
Shawn Fain, the energetic new President of the UAW, provides a good model for creating a Center-Left United Front. Following its impressive strike victory against the Big Three auto companies, the UAW both endorsed a Gaza ceasefire and the Biden candidacy, citing his support for workers’ rights. Turning back the danger of a disastrous MAGA seizure of power will require such a sophisticated approach.
(Update  March 6
 

 

 

The primary is over. This is it. The election will once again be between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. And, frighteningly, at this point most polls have Trump in the lead.
The question we now face is a simple one. How do we defeat Trump and his right-wing extremist allies in the House and Senate? How do we elect more Progressives to Congress?
And, frankly, the answer is complicated by the reality that the Democratic establishment is ill-prepared to do that. They have relatively little support within the working class. Their support among the Latino community is declining. And they are even seeing a drop In support from the Black community - historically the Democrats strongest base of support. Their support among young people is declining. The Democrats are also weak in terms of generating grass-roots activism or excitement. 
We have to do things differently. 
While most Democrats will focus their attention on Trump's indictments, his insults and outrages, our job is to be laser-focused in reminding people of the fraud and pathological liar for working people we all know Trump to be.
For instance: 
This is a president, Donald Trump, who said he was going to provide health care to everyone, yet tried to throw 32 million people off of health care and has pledged to continue to try and accomplish that goal. 
This is a president who said he was going to stand up for working families and who promised to pass tax reform legislation designed to help the middle class, yet 83 percent of his tax benefits go to the top 1 percent.
This is a president who promised to take on the pharmaceutical companies. He said they were "getting away with murder." Yet, drug prices continue to soar and he appointed a drug company executive as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
This is a president who promised to take on the greed of Wall Street, but then proceeded to appoint more Wall Street titans to high positions than any president in history.
This is a president who appointed vehemently anti-labor members to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). 
This is a president who believes climate change is a "hoax", and appointed agency leaders and judges who consistently undermined our ability to move toward sustainable energy and protect the environment.
This is a president who said he would do "everything in my power to protect our LGBT citizens," yet went out of his way to attempt to deny them from getting the health care they need and allow discrimination against them in the workplace.
This is a president who brags about his role in overturning Roe v. Wade and denying reproductive rights to millions of women across the country.
This is a president who said that if he won that America would be respected again around the world, yet as a result of his anti-democratic and incompetent policies has succeeded in significantly lowering the respect that people all over the planet have for the United States, all while embracing right-wing authoritarian rulers around the world. 
This is a president who not only rejected his own defeat and attempted to incite an insurrection to stop Congress from certifying the election, but worked overtime to make it harder for people to vote and easier for billionaires to buy the outcomes of elections. I happen to believe that if Trump is elected once again this November, the 250 year old experiment of modern democracy in this country may very well come to end. 
The truth is, Donald Trump sold out the working families of this country once, and if he wins again all of the anti-worker, anti-democratic policies he pursued during his first term will only be magnified. He is a menace to working people whose rejection of climate science threatens the future of this planet. We have to appreciate how unbelievably severe the current moment is.
This is not the message most Democrats trying to defeat Trump will communicate, but it one we must relentlessly remind the working people of this country about ahead of November's elections.
So there it is. A lot of important work ahead of us. 

Planning. 
Save the date: March 20 – 7 pm EDT/ 4 pm PDT
We are planning an interactive North Star member Zoom meeting to discuss how we can take action, both inside DSA and with other progressive organizations, to build the united resistance to Donald Trump’s election, keep the Senate Democratic, and flip the House. 

​
 

I Opposed Humphrey in ’68. All I Did Was Help Prolong the Vietnam War. 
Michael Kazin
When I was young, the left I was a part of helped elect Nixon. Please don’t make a similar mistake today.
I remain as committed to the ideals of the left as I was back in 1968. But back then, in my small, disruptive fashion, I may have helped elect a president who ended the era when liberals dominated American politics, enacting policies like the Civil Rights Act and Medicare that benefit tens of millions of people. Under Richard Nixon, the nation began to move rightward, a shift from which we are still struggling to recover. Before the Watergate scandal brought him down, he also took four long years to withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam, after another 20,000 or so U.S. soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians had died.

​Donald Trump may not embroil the nation in a long and bloody foreign conflict. But he’ll hand Ukraine to Putin, and he’ll give Israel a total free hand to kill as many Palestinians as it can. And here at home, Trump has already vowed to wage a war against “the Communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.” Such invective most definitely includes young Americans who sympathize with the Palestinian cause. To support the Democrat who runs against him next year should not be shrugged off as voting for a lesser evil. It will be a necessary choice to preserve what, in his final speech, Martin Luther King Jr. called “the right to protest for right” that is so vital to whatever “greatness” our nation possesses. 
Read the entire Piece. 
 
https://newrepublic.com/article/177353/hubert-humphrey-1968-loss-prolong-vietnam-war
 

Michael Kazin’s latest book is What It Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party. He teaches history at Georgetown University.

 
 


As a woman who is deeply rooted in my faith, I believe in the humanity of all people and the importance of pursuing peace. So the Vice President’s call for a ceasefire in Gaza is a welcome and much-needed shift from the White House, and a testament to the strength of our movement. We have been calling for an end to this violence from its inception, and our coalition is growing daily.
​
 We must be clear. An immediate and indefinite ceasefire is the only way forward. It is the best way to save lives, return all hostages, and deliver the humanitarian aid Gaza so desperately needs. And it’s not just a moral imperative but a sacred duty. Our shared humanity is at stake.
For the past five months, the world has watched in horror as the crisis in Gaza has worsened daily. Over 30,000 Palestinians — two-thirds of whom are women and children — have been heinously killed by the Israeli military’s relentless and indiscriminate bombing campaign.
Over 11,000 children have been killed in Gaza, a horror that defies explanation. 260 children who will never celebrate their first birthday. Thousands more weigh heavy on our conscience and in our hearts. Babies, toddlers, teenagers, young men and women.

 I am devastated at the number of times that I’ve had to call for an indefinite, lasting ceasefire in the past one hundred-plus days. I feel betrayed. I feel haunted. And I feel shame.
If a temporary truce ends and the indiscriminate bombing resumes, it means returning to a world where a child is being killed every 15 minutes in Gaza. It means a full-scale Rafah invasion, where over 1.5 million Palestinian civilians are sheltering without food, clean water, or medicine. It means more Palestinian civilians will be on the brink of starvation. We cannot let this cruelty continue.
The U.S. cannot — and should not — continue offering its full-throated support for the Israeli government as it violates international law and operates with callous disregard for human life. Vengeance is not a foreign policy doctrine. We cannot bomb our way to peace. History has shown us that time and time again.
Together, we will continue to call for peace, to pray for peace, and to work for peace. And I will continue to hold the Biden-Harris administration accountable and push them to move with the urgency this moment demands for a full and lasting ceasefire.
In solidarity,
Ayanna

 
 

The “Uncommitted” vote was a measure of frustration with Biden’s stance on Gaza, and it was up dramatically from past primaries.

JOHN NICHOLS
 
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/michigan-primary-analysis-biden-gaza/

Demonstrations in 31 capitol cities Saturday 

​We, members of the American labor movement, mourn the loss of life in Israel and Palestine. We express our solidarity with all workers and our common desire for peace in Palestine and Israel, and we call on President Joe Biden and Congress to push for an immediate ceasefire and end to the siege of Gaza. We cannot bomb our way to peace. We also condemn any hate crimes against Muslims, Jews, or anyone else.
In issuing this call, U.S. unions are joining the efforts of 13 Congressmembers and others who are calling for an immediate ceasefire.
The basic rights of people must be restored. Water, fuel, food, and other humanitarian aid must be allowed into Gaza, power must be restored, and foreign nationals and Palestinians requiring medical care must be allowed out of Gaza.
The Israeli hostages taken by Hamas must be immediately released. Both Hamas and Israel must adhere to standards of international law and Geneva Convention rules of warfare concerning the welfare and security of civilians.
There must be a ceasefire in Gaza. The cycle of violence must stop so that negotiations for an enduring peace proceed.
The U.S. must act. We call on President Biden to immediately call for a ceasefire.
The road to justice cannot be paved by bombs and war. The road to peace cannot be found through warfare. We commit ourselves to work in solidarity with the Palestinian and Israeli peoples to achieve peace and justice.
Union members come from diverse backgrounds, including Jews, Muslims, and Middle Eastern communities. The rising escalation of war and arms sales doesn't serve the interests of workers anywhere. In the end, we all want a place to call home and for our children to be safe. Working people around the world want and deserve to live free from the effects of violence, war and militarization.
Thousands of Americans have joined the groundswell of global solidarity demanding a ceasefire now.
It's the labor movement's turn to make our voices heard and demand a ceasefire. Together, we can stand for peace, justice, and a better future for working people everywhere.
Please sign this call and add your name to a growing list calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
https://www.laborforceasefire.org/

 Union Statements and Resolutions Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza

• AFT Resolution: Calling for a Bilateral Cease-Fire in Gaza and Promoting a Two-State Solution and an End to the Weaponization of Hate
• Statement from APWU General Officers on the Conflict in Israel and Palestine
• California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee Statement on the Crisis in the Middle East
• Communications Workers of America Executive Board Statement on the War in Gaza
• NARA IWW Stands With Palestinian Workers and Civilians
• National Nurses United Statement on the Crisis in the Middle East
• SEIU’s Mary Kay Henry Statement on War in Gaza
• UAW Statement on Israel and Palestine
• UE Helps Initiate Labor Call for Ceasefire in Israel and Palestine
• NEA Board of Directors Reaffirms NEA Call for Ceasefire

 

 
Manning Marable was a prolific  African American  scholar,  academic, writer and political organizer who made significant contributions to  building   the U.S. left and  Black left   from 1980 until his passing in 2011. He was the founding director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies and the Center for the Study of Contemporary Black History at Columbia University.  
Manning’s first book, How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America (1983 & 2015), along with Race, Reform and Rebellion- The Second Reconstruction and Beyond in Black America, 1945-2006, ( 1983 & 2007), provide crucial political and social history of African American struggles while developing a Marxist tradition of scholarship and activism Let Nobody Turn Us Around (2000 and 2005 co-edited with Leith Mullings), which traced the history of “transformational” (left) politics in black political writing from the time of slavery to the present, became one of the most widely used textbooks in black studies. 
 www.dsanorthstar.org/blog/manning-marable-1950-2011-a-radical-intellectual-a-dsa-founder
See more
 
https://www.dsanorthstar.org/blog/manning-marable-1950-2011-a-radical-intellectual-a-dsa-founder
​

BY
DAVID BACON
 
While Republicans cry “invasion” and Democrats placate them with hard-line border policy, immigrants languish in prisons or die in dangerous passage. A rational approach to immigration must both address the causes of displacement and protect those who migrate.
 
…

Should Trump win the election in November, he promises to reinstitute the notorious family separation policy. Children who survive the crossing, unlike Yorlei and Jonathan, might not see their moms again for months and easily be lost, as so many were, in the huge detention system. Oklahoma senator James Lankford wants to reintroduce the "Remain in Mexico" policy, under which people wanting asylum were not allowed to enter the United States to file their applications, and the Mexican government was forced to set up detention centers just south of the border to house them while they waited. Trump and other Republicans would imprison all migrants who face a court proceeding, applying to stay or stopping a deportation. Pending cases now number in the millions, because the immigration court system is starved for the resources needed to process them.
 
 https://jacobin.com/2024/02/migration-detention-ice-immigration-crisis

 

 
Join us in taking the NS strategy to a next level. All are welcome.
We have a strategy. It now requires that we increase our focus on the 2024 elections.
https://www.dsanorthstar.org/our-strategy.html
 
 
We have started  with our  list serve, then members are invited to  a NS zoom meeting, in pursuit of clarifying NS strategy and focus. 
 
We now need to clarify, refine and plan our next steps.

• 
  Developing organizational clarity on the imminent danger of a neo-fascist seizure of political power, and the concomitant loss of American democracy, as the defining feature of the political moment;
• Urging DSA to play a constructive role, as the primary focus of its work, in organizing a broad progressive coalition that can expand towards the political center to oppose that neo-fascist danger;

• Rejecting attacks on elected officials who are the public face of DSA.

 
For example, many of the groups we participate along side of in a popular front do not include in their strategies an emphasis on defending reproductive rights and gender equity.
Should NS highlight these issues in our work?
 
We have an established strategy of defending democratic rights within DSA and in our society. In 2024 that might be pursued by electoral work to defend left congress people and Squad members such as Jamall Bowman, Greg Casar and others under attack by AIPAC who share our priorities but who are not endorsed by their local DSA chapters. 
If we choose to support these individuals, what do we do beyond cheering? ( although cheering is good). 
Do we work in their campaigns, send donations, work independently as NS telephone bank?
These items, tactics and more are under discussion. 
You are invited to enter the dialogue and share your views on the list serve.  See link below. After some debate we will attempt to come to some agreements on a N.S. zoom call. 
We hope to wrap this up in early March so that we can get beyond talk and focus our participation.
 
You are invited to participate in this goal setting and planning.  Go to: 
 Political Next Steps for North Star , at https://groups.google.com/g/dsa-north-star-all-members/c/D2DAz2lCJTs
Of course individual NS members will continue to pursue the issues individually as their analysis of local events suggest. 
After the online discussion, we will be scheduling a webinar on Zoom for NS members who wish to participate in the decisions about the next steps.
 
Duane Campbell
 What will it take to win the presidency in 2024 ?
 
One opinion. 
Do not be swayed by polls. This article clarifies what we must do to defeat Trump. What matters above all are the outcomes in six battleground states, outcomes that will be too narrow to be accurately polled. The bottom line is "the outcome in those states will depend not on the margin of error in polls, but on the margin of effort by campaigns, activists, media, and concerned citizens to mobilize America’s anti-MAGA majority."

To be more specific, please read. Linked and pasted in below.

https://www.weekendreading.net/p/the-electoral-college-landscape?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-restack-comment&r=lvopu

The Electoral College Landscape
To reach 270, Biden needs to win either Pennsylvania, or Georgia + Michigan.
Forwarded by Bob Wing. 
 

“We have given into the Republican narrative in such a way that we’re beginning to sound like them”: A roundtable discussion with Rep. Delia Ramirez, Heba Gowayed, Victor Narro and Carlos Rojas Rodriguez
 
NATASCHA ELENA UHLMANN  FEBRUARY 8, 2024
In These Times. 
 
Going into the 2024 election, the GOP’s position on migration is abundantly clear. In June 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis stood at a presidential campaign podium emblazoned with the words ​“Stop the Invasion” and likened border crossings to home break-ins. On the campaign trail in December 2023, Donald Trump declared immigrants are ​“poisoning the blood of our country.” Mere weeks ago, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lamented the state’s inability to shoot asylum seekers crossing the border because ​“the Biden administration would charge us with murder.” These pronouncements mark a mainstreaming of eliminationist rhetoric: Where conservatives once coyly hinted at nativism, they now openly fantasize of murder.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/biden-letting-republicans-set-terms-immigration
 
What should the border conversation look like?
See. First They Came for the Immigrants.
https://www.dsanorthstar.org/blog/first-they-came-for-the-immigrants
 
https://www.dsanorthstar.org/blog/the-5-biggest-trump-republican-lies-about-illegal-immigration
and more. 
 

Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, issued the following statement on the Senate’s national security and immigration supplemental agreement:
​
“After months of a negotiating process that lacked transparency or the involvement of a single border-state Democrat or member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, it is no surprise that this border deal misses the mark. The deal includes a new version of a failed Trump-era immigration policy that will cause more chaos at the border, not less. It is in conflict with our international treaties and obligations to provide people with the opportunity to seek asylum. It fails to address the root causes of migration. And it fails to provide relief for Dreamers, farm workers, and the other undocumented long-term residents of our country who contribute billions to our economy, work in essential jobs, and make America stronger.
“When I was sworn into this office, I made a promise that I would fight to fix our outdated immigration system and to create a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who have been forced to live in the shadows of our country for far too long. Not a day has gone by that I have not tried to reach out across the aisle to do exactly that. It is critical that we support our allies in their fight to defend democracy and provide humanitarian relief, but not at the expense of dismantling our asylum system while ultimately failing to alleviate the challenges at our border.”

The border bill failed on Wed. Feb.7,2024.  Alex Padilla, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders voted No. 
###
Also: 
 
Immigrants Make the Economy Stronger and Richer
Paul Krugman
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/05/opinion/immigration-republicans-economy.html