It is just another fine example of the stupidity of American life. It breeds people incapable of putting two and two together. For ex., a demonstration of these _same_ construction workers were furiously attacked by Guilianis' cops a couple years back in a labor dispute with NYC. No matter, the idiots still wave the flag!
Luckily (I hope) for the human race, Americans aren't "good enough" to qualify for the roles of Nazis or Romans. You need a reasonably healthy ego, something American society systematically destroys as a barrier to profit: it needs "flexible" workers. Even Hitler had to first fight, with incredible bravery (his fellow soldiers thought he was nuts, and they turned out to be right), in the trenches of WWI. The same with Mussolini. That was a real war, unlike the farcical "wars" waged by the American lightweights, who seriously expect
everyone to love them for blasting up their country.
It is hard to imagine a real American fascism operating with the ruthless efficiency and determination of the Nazis or the political finesse of the Italians. That's why it has been so easy for American Likudism to grasp so many levers of power. Their combined neoconservative and Jewish (or Catholic) background gives them a strong historical, sociological and political sensibility (however grandiose) that is a tremendous advantage in a country and society that _hates_ history, _hates_ politics, _hates_ the idea of a social collectivity. In this desert even a Likud halfwit can imagine themselves Napoleon, Caesar or Alexander (I predict that, looking eastward to "Persia", "Bactria" - Central Asia - and the "Kingdom of Porous: - Pakistan - they
presently fancy themselves the famous Macedonian prince. Alas for them, they'll lack the same quality army!).
James Baldwin was wrong. It will be The Farce Next Time. This is the Eighteenth Brumaire of George W Bush writ globally large. With Tony Blair as Court Jester.
I should quit my job and write the book now!
-Brad
Hakki Alacakaptan wrote:
> Looks like construction workers are the core of the
National-Sozialiste
> amerikansche Arbeiter Partei.
>
> http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/apr2003/pro-a12_prn.shtml
> A spectacle of filth and reaction
> New York union gangsters celebrate slaughter in Iraq
> By the Editorial Board
> 12 April 2003
> Back to screen version | Send this link by email | Email the author
>
> In a celebration of slaughter, some 10,000 union construction workers
were
> assembled April 10 at "ground zero," the site of the fallen World
Trade
> Center towers, to demonstrate in support of the Bush administration's
> illegal war in Iraq.
>
> The rally was organized by the Building and Construction Trades
Council of
> Greater New York, an umbrella group that includes carpenters,
painters,
> operating engineers, ironworkers and other construction unions.
Workers were
> brought directly from job sites by the union to mill around while
Republican
> politicians and union bureaucrats delivered speeches in support of the
US
> war. American Flags were passed out, but there were few signs. Chants
> consisted largely of "USA, USA."
>
> This spectacle of corruption, ignorance and reaction was trumpeted by
the
> media as the "largest pro-war rally yet," even though it was less than
a
> fifth the size promised by union organizers. It was given far more
coverage
> than a demonstration last month that saw at least 50 times as many
people
> march 30 blocks down Broadway to condemn the aggression against Iraq.
Voice
> of America and the international wire services and news networks
spread the
> images of the rally around the world, proclaiming them as proof that
the
> "American labor movement" supports the president and his war.
>
> While no doubt the administration sees great political value in these
> images, they no more capture the real mood of the working class than
those
> of the staged toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue reveal the real
state of
> affairs in Baghdad. If anything, the event in lower Manhattan was
another
> verification that a corrupt, anticommunist trade union bureaucracy has
over
> the course of several decades completely destroyed the American labor
> movement as an institution that in any sense represents the interests
of
> American workers.
>
> It has also served to further disprove the fanciful claims of various
"left"
> organizations that the official union hierarchy had somehow reformed
itself
> and become a bastion of antiwar sentiment. Because of their peculiar
history
> and backward craft union tradition, the construction trades are among
the
> most reactionary of American unions. Nevertheless, the entire AFL-CIO
has
> lined up in support of the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
>
> The rally was organized on the basis of lies. The first was contained
in the
> leaflet issued by the trades council calling on its members to "show
your
> support for our men and women serving in the armed forces." The rally
was
> not one of solidarity with the predominantly working class and poor
youth
> who join the military to get a job or education. No one asked them if
they
> wanted to invade Iraq. It was organized in support of the criminal
policy
> undertaken by the Bush administration.
>
> No speaker bothered to mention the Bush administration's cuts in
veterans'
> benefits or the plight of more than 200,000 veterans of the first Gulf
War
> who are suffering disabilities as a result of their exposure to toxic
> chemicals and depleted uranium in that intervention. It would have
been more
> honest to call the demonstration a "sacrifice our troops" rally.
>
> Secondly, the site for this event was deliberately chosen to promote
the lie
> that the invasion of Iraq was somehow justified by the terrorist
attacks on
> the World Trade Center. The politicians and bureaucrats hypocritically
> exploited the deaths of nearly 3,000 people there to whip up support
for the
> murder of tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of civilians and
soldiers in
> Iraq.
>
> From the bellicose rhetoric spewed from the speakers' platform, no one
would
> ever know that none of the alleged hijackers who flew the two
passenger jets
> into the Twin Towers were Iraqis. Nor would they guess that the Bush
> administration itself was forced to acknowledge that the Baghdad
regime had
> nothing to do with the attack.
>
> It is particularly lamentable that a handful of firefighters turned
out in
> their bunker gear for the affair. Having lost 343 of their members in
the
> catastrophe of September 11, the firefighter unions have never
demanded an
> independent investigation to determine who really was responsible for
what
> happened that day. Rather, they have accepted the lie that attacking
Iraq
> "evens the score."
>
> "The war started here on September 11, 2001," New York Governor George
> Pataki told the crowd, adding the bizarre suggestion that Saddam
Hussein's
> statutes should be melted down and turned into girders for new
construction
> on the site.
>
> Patrick Lynch, the president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent
Association, one
> of the other "unions" participating in the rally, managed to turn the
old
> slogan of labor solidarity, "An injury to one is an injury to all,"
into a
> justification for the massacre of women and children in a virtually
> defenseless country. "We are sending a message to the world: You
attack one
> of us, you attack all of us. And we attack back," he bellowed.
>
> Lynch also denounced antiwar demonstrators for what he claimed were
violent
> acts against cops. New York City police have brutalized protesters,
> subjecting many to beatings, false arrests and illegal interrogations.
>
> But the biggest lie of all was the pretense that those on the platform
as
> well as their audience of workers-including those who were bribed,
> intimidated or fatally intoxicated with the jingoism promoted by the
> media-somehow represent the American working class and the workers, in
> particular, of New York City, one of the most concentrated centers of
> antiwar sentiment in the country.
>
> In both its tone and content, the rally recalled the infamous hard-hat
> demonstration dubbed "Bloody Friday" of May 1970, when hundreds of
> wrench-wielding construction workers attacked antiwar demonstrators at
New
> York City Hall. The demonstrators were protesting the National Guard's
> killing of students at Kent State University. The union-organized mob
moved
> on to randomly bludgeon students at nearby Pace University.
Seventy-five
> people were injured seriously enough to require hospitalization.
>
> Later that month, Peter Brennan, who was then the head of the city's
> Building and Construction Trades Council-the same outfit that
organized
> Thursday's rally-led a "support the troops" march of tens of thousands
down
> Fifth Avenue.
>
> While the construction bureaucrats claimed then that both the violent
> assaults and the march were "spontaneous," they were anything but.
These
> actions were jointly sponsored by the union officials and the
construction
> bosses. Workers who participated got paid, while those who didn't were
> docked for the day.
>
> It later emerged that Brennan had organized the gangster attacks and
the
> demonstrations at the behest of the Nixon administration, which was
outraged
> and frightened by the growing movement against the war in Vietnam.
Brennan
> was rewarded for his services with an appointment as secretary of
labor, a
> post he held from 1973 until shortly after his benefactor was forced
to
> resign in disgrace.
>
> The present head of the Building and Construction Trades Council,
Edward
> Malloy, is cut from the same cloth as Brennan. If anything, the union
group
> has grown even more reactionary and corrupt over the past 30 years,
and more
> directly subordinated to the interests of the employers and the
government.
>
> Former senator and failed Republican presidential candidate Robert
Dole,
> known for his sarcasm, told the crowd, "I'd call Saddam's rule a
gangster
> regime, but that would be an insult to gangsters." The construction
> bureaucrats on the platform no doubt appreciated the senator's remark.
Many
> of them have been indicted for racketeering, charged with taking Mafia
> kickbacks for creating "no-show" jobs and allowing cheaper nonunion
labor to
> be used on so-called union construction sites.
>
> There is a clear and present danger that this gangster leadership will
> attempt to replicate the kind of vicious attacks on opponents of the
> government seen during the Vietnam War era. Like their Peronist
counterparts
> in the Argentine unions of the 1970s, this bureaucracy is prepared to
act as
> a bulwark of fascist reaction and dictatorship.
>
> The union officialdom's actions are completely opposed to the genuine
> interests of workers in New York City and the US as a whole. As the
rally
> was unfolding at the Ground Zero, several blocks away the city's
billionaire
> mayor, Michael Bloomberg, and his aides were putting the finishing
touches
> on a budget that will impose the full burden of the collapse in
revenues
> from Wall Street onto the backs of the city's workers. Up to 15,000
layoffs
> are predicted along with sharp cuts in basic services.
>
> Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin, a lonely, angry voice in a media
otherwise
> given to the glorification of US militarism, drew the real connection
> between the war in Iraq and the mounting attacks on the working class
in New
> York City in a column published earlier this week entitled, "Bombs
Away, and
> Poor Pay." Pointing to the million-dollar price tag on cruise missiles
fired
> at Iraq, he wrote:
>
> "They see them on television, night and day, a nation's treasure
exploding
> in the sky, glowing, white smoke against a night sky, shooting from an
> aircraft carrier at sea and then, soon, here are the explosions in
Iraq,
> Baghdad mostly, lighting up the night sky. A million-dollar show.
School
> teachers fly in the explosion. Single mothers who learned how to
operate a
> computer. Clerks in a welfare office.
>
> "The missiles going through a sky that is undefended, aiming with
precision
> at a small country that has no missiles that can reach any distance,
not one
> plane in the air, and has been firing anti-aircraft at American planes
for
> over 10 years now and hasn't brought one down."
>
> Workers who participate in reactionary events like the rally at the
World
> Trade Center site, whether because they are paid or intimidated,
should be
> ashamed of themselves. It is not just an afternoon off to shout and
drink
> beer. Their actions serve to discredit the American working class
> internationally, divide it from its class brothers in other lands and
> fatally undermine the ability of workers in this country to wage any
> independent struggle against the attacks on jobs, living standards and
basic
> democratic rights.
>
> Such demonstrations will only assist the Bush administration in using
war
> and militarism as the justification for escalating the attacks on the
> conditions of American working people and speeding up the transfer of
more
> and more wealth into the hands of the corporate oligarchy. The cost of
war
> and occupation will be paid for through even more severe austerity
policies
> and longer unemployment lines.
>
> For the bureaucrats like the AFL-CIO's John Sweeney, the Teamsters'
Jimmy
> Hoffa or Malloy and Co. of the Building and Construction Trades
Council,
> this is not a problem. They have presided for many years over the
decimation
> of the jobs and rights of the members they purport to represent in
return
> for increased privileges and closer relations with the employers and
> politicians. Some of them no doubt hope that by howling out their
patriotic
> support for Bush they will earn credit with the Justice Department on
> pending criminal indictments.
>
> The war in Iraq marks the onset of a new period of profound crisis and
> shocks for working people in the US and internationally. The ability
of
> American workers to defend their interests under these conditions
depends
> upon their ability to cast off the reactionary domination of the
AFL-CIO.
> Entirely new organizations of industrial and political struggle must
be
> built that are independent of and opposed to this degenerate and
> bureaucratized apparatus.
>
> Above all, the revival of a genuine workers movement in America
requires a
> new perspective, implacably opposed to the fascistic nationalism of
the
> labor bureaucracy. This perspective must be based upon the political
> independence and international unity of the working class and the
struggle
> for socialism.
-- /**********************************************************************/
Brad Mayer