One of Justin's earlier comments, however, cannot go without comment from this quarter. He wrote:
> No, I don't mind criticism. We might be wrong:
> that's axiomatic. What I
> don't like is this language of betrayal and the
> threats that the left will
> be even more savagely sidelined than it has in the
> past.
This really takes top prize in the "do as I say, not as I do" sweepstakes.
The entire Nader campaign was organized around the theme of betrayal by Gore and the Democratic Party, and if that was not enough, it was rapidly extended to all those who supported Gore's election. It ended with Nader threatening to do everything he could do to defeat the most progressive, elected Democrats, such as Paul Wellstone, by running Greens against them.
Justin put himself on record supporting this type of campaign, when he denounced as completely lacking "self-respect" and being devoid of principles those on the left -- be they socialist or radical democratic or whatever -- who campaigned for a Gore victory on the basis of a strategic sense of how to intervene in elections. Now he is going to talk about how he resents this "language of betrayal." One can throw shit, but one shouldn't have to catch any shit on the rebound.
What is especially interesting about all of this is that, with the brief exception of Jan Carowan, I haven't seen any commentary on this list which challenged the principled nature of Nader supporters. Indeed, one is inclined to smile at the sudden affection for Barbara Ehrenreich and Cornel West, all because they supported Nader, from some of the very same folks who savaged them in the past. I know both individuals, like both of them and consider them both intelligent and principled. I also think that they were wrong on this question, and have said so. But they remain comrades, and very good ones at that. I suspect that this is the view of virtually everyone, with the possible exception of Jan, who took a similar supportive position toward the Gore campaign here. If the LBO Nader supporters had been willing to acknowledge the principled nature of those who supported the Gore campaign in this fashion, then the cries of protestation about the "language of betrayal"
could be taken a whole lot more seriously at this point. Instead, it has the ring of the schoolyard bully who cries after someone finally punches him in the nose.
Leo Casey United Federation of Teachers 260 Park Avenue South New York, New York 10010-7272 (212-598-6869)
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has, and it never will. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and
lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters. -- Frederick Douglass --
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