And maybe when they are done discussing science, the Greens will take the short subway trip to Bed-Stuy or East New York and confront some real problems. They would run the risk of encountering black folk, but heck, what is life without adventure.
Also, I caught up with my LBO reading last night (you guys were busy for a holiday weekend LOL) and wanted to make three brief points:
1) Creating a functioning class consciousness among all workers is hampered by the racism, homophobia, sexism and other biases to which many workers cling. Even if we could magically bring about economic justice, these biases would still function full force. Addressing them is not caving into "identity politics," but rather laying the groundwork for building a united class consciousness.
2) Civil union vs. marriage is tricky; marriage will bring immediate equality for those queers who wish to get married. Civil unions can strike a blow for separation of church and state. Is making civil unions the equivalent of marriage in terms of rights/benefits the way to go? I am still confused since same-sex marriage would be bring so much benefit so quickly.
Also, we cannot forget that even if same-sex marriage passes, you can still be fired in most states for being queer with no legal recourse. As Doug's post about Amnesty International's report pointed out -- it is still very risky to be queer in the world today.
3) Brando's Obituraries: I like the one Doug posted. It was the only one not to take the party line that Brando failed to fulfill his talent. He fulfilled it many times over; what he failed to fulfill were the expectations of the movie business. He went his own way and was only rewarded when he played a stoolie upholding conventional morality and a good family man (even though a Mafia don).
Also, it was more than Brando who created subversion in The Godfather. Coppola has always been good at showing how systems work and how little freedom people have in them. The power of his films comes from not following the Hollywood convention of giving audiences a hero to identify with and root for. He is very like Visconti in this way.
Brian Dauth Queer Buddhist Resister