[lbo-talk] progress!

Nathan Newman nathanne at nathannewman.org
Fri Apr 18 05:37:41 PDT 2003


----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com>
>A very pleasant surprise to report: At the Brecht Forum event in NYC
>the other night on civil liberties after 9/11, Ira Glasser, former
>director of the ACLU (and a very fine speaker) and current NYCLU
>director Donna Lieberman both agreed that liberals had too long
>relied on courts to protect freedom of speech and assembly, and not
>enough on popular action.

All to the good. Despite my conservative credentials on this list, folks know that the area where I outflank many of Guild colleagues on the left is my disdain and hostility to court litigation and relying on judges for protecting our civil liberties or just about anything else.

It's funny-- the Guild could not even after six months of extensive debate bring itself to vote to call for impeaching the Supreme Court in the wake of Bush v Gore, for fear by many of undermining "judicial independence", but the national office has been casually endorsing impeachment of Bush. It's funny that even on the left there is still so much more deference to the elistist unelected branch than to the well, democratic judge appointed executive branch.

-- Nathan Newman



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