> It seems to me that Withrow is an activist...
The information that Withrow is an activist and a unionist places him in a much more dangerous and objectionable category than that of a troll on a maillist. What we need to do is again open up the debate that was triggered by the Black Radical Conference. In that debate I discovered that for a at least two decades I have been greatly overestimating the commitment of "core leftists" to anti-racist and anti-sexist principle. Obviously racism is as strong in the left as it is in the working class as a whole (probably, even, much stronger), and far too many on the left are utterly oblivious to the central fact of U.S. history, that "Uniting the Working Class around Anti-Racism" is a tautology, for "Unite the working class" is a betrayal of the working class unless it is understood that there can be no effective unity whatever beyond shared unity in opposing racism.
Between a now mostly non-existent left (I oppose the concept of "The Left" to the mere existence of few or many leftist) and an enfeebled working class and *either* really effective reform struggles (let alone revolution) there exist a whole series of enemies, not just one. And *at this time* the most serious barriers are *within* the left and *within* the working class, namely, racism and sexism.
And so now Withrow is revealed as not just a random bigot and Limbaugh echo but as a serious, dedicated, and sophisticated traitor to his class. In a left which is, empirically, now only a collection of more or less isolated individuals and groups, nothing much can be done about such traitors. (And let us not talk of sincere convictions: treason always follows from sincere convictions.) But we can at least avoid preaching freedom of speech for racists within left forums.
I can tolerate, within a left grouping, pretty stupid or even vicious opinions on most issues, since error on most issues should be subordinated to the fight against sectarianism and dogmatism. But I do not have any tolerance whatever for tolerance of or expression of racist opinions or attitudes within the left.
This was part of what I learned on my way to becoming a marxist, I practiced it in the anti-war movement, in Central America solidarity work in the 80s, and in most of the minor struggles I have been in. I continue to do so within the Depressive and Manic Depressive Support Group in Bloomington Illinois. If people who already feel bad about themselves (and who include people whose own economic existence is exceedingly fragile) can take it, so can those who are or pretend to be leftists armed with a Pentium. And incidentally, there is cute brief article on thin-skinned British philosphers in the current LinguaFranca.
Carrol