Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> [Here's a piece bound to make Marc Cooper even more friends than he's
> earned in the Pacifica wars. From this week's New York Press.]
>
> For a Mumia-Free 2000
> by Marc Cooper
>
> I make no New Year's resolution. Instead, I have a simple plea: Oh
> Lord, please make 2000 a year free of Mumia.
Doug: I really don't like Cooper, because of his pro-Pacifica board rants, but I'm glad he wrote this piece on the Mumia movement. I also stopped subcribing to the Nation years ago because of its pro-Clinton editorializing (I do miss reading Pollitt on a regular basis).
I've been active in the Mumia support movement for 5 years. I've seen my share of Leftist crap done in Mumia's name. Last week I exchanged some heated emails on the anarchy-list with another anarchist Mumia supporter. I have never been afraid to let my criticisms be known, especially my criticism that the Mumia support movement can't tolerate internal criticism, which I maintain has led it to make some foolish decisions.
My basic criticism of the Mumia movement, that it lacks any pretense of internal debate, was confirmed two days ago when my email exchange on the anarchy-list was alluded to in a bulletin put out by the "Internet Anti-Fascist." In this bulletin, my criticisms are not addressed, instead I'm attacked for promulgating "State Department anarchism," whatever the hell that is.
At least I'm not attacked as being an agent of COINTELPRO, which is how similar critics have been attacked in the past.
It's about time the Left started talking about the warts on the Mumia support campaign.
Cooper hits the nail right on the head, when he talks about how the large Mumia movement has failed to turn his support into a broader opposition to the death penalty. This was talked about within the movement several years ago, but was apparently dropped in favor of Left spectacles such as "Millions for Mumia," which was only attended by 15,000 people.
-- Chuck0
Mid-Atlantic Infoshop http://www.infoshop.org/
Leonard Peltier Freedom Month Executive Clemency For Peltier! http://www.freepeltier.org/lpfreedommonth.html
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Now! http://www.infoshop.org/gulag/mumia_idx.html
"A society is a healthy society only to the degree that it exhibits anarchistic traits."
- Jens Bjørneboe