Justin Schwartz wrote:
> Third parties
> are just platforms to raise a fuss; the real action is in mass movements,
> and to hell with the Dems--they say the same about us, except when the vote
> is close. --jks
At times Justin and I have said nasty things about each other, and doubtless will again, but he here states what has to be the core of any progressive movement in the United States (revolutionary or reformist). I'll add a footnote to his point about working with Dems. I worked in the Jackson campaign in 1988 (in fact I initiated the campaign in this congressional district). It was worthwhile in that I formed new relationships (and recemented old ones) that still hold potential for future conflicts if any arise before alxheimers catches up with me. But from the viewpoint of "influencing" the Democratic Party -- the *one* promise that the Dukakis organization made to the Jackson people was that they would provide money for a registration drive. Hah! Not a penny came through. As I had expected. Jackson made no complaint -- as I'd expected. The politician who gave us the Civil Rights Act, incidentally, was not Lyndon Johnson but that essence of conservative Republicanism, Everett Dirkson. And we would have gotten that act regardless of who was in office in Washington. We won it by mass action outside the electoral system. We also won the passage of ERA by Congress through mass action outside the electoral system. We lost it when the mass action stopped and the wheeling and dealing in the corridors of power started.
Those who hope to reform the Democratic Party or who still stick to the lesser evil theory will eventually be voting for Eichmann against Hitler -- or for Hitler against someone worse than him.
Carrol