[lbo-talk] Green dropouts

[John Halle]

So that we are clear as to how we got to the point of Doug resorting 
to four letter words and personal attacks against me:  Doug asked me 
for an explanation for why Matt Gonzalez might not feel that serving 
another term is not worth the considerable personal sacrifice which 
serving in office entails.  I suggested that one component of the 
explanation involved the hostility demonstrated not by the corporate 
media (whose hostility is predictable), but that of the establishment 
progressive media. This hostility is an important cause of the 
failure of the party to grow sufficiently over the past few years and 
will continue to be an impediment in the future.

I believe Doug's attitudes reflect those of his employer the Nation 
in this respect.  I was wrong to personalize this, however. Doug is 
by no means uniquely to blame any more than my own personal failings 
are to blame for the failure of the Greens. Insofar as what I wrote 
implies otherwise, I apologize.

Finally, one misconception in Doug's posting needs to be corrected. 
Participation in building a party does not consist solely in running 
for office, though that is certainly valuable.  At best, political 
parties provide a structure in which many people participate 
according to the full range of their abilities.  (Chomsky has a nice 
brief discussion of this aspect of the CP in a recent interview which 
i can't seem to find. Perhaps someone else can.  I'm sure many of you 
know my colleague Michael Denning's the Cultural Front which deals 
with the subject in detail.)

In any case, at minimum, what is primarily required of nominal 
progressives in relation to a progressive third party is a commitment 
by to the Hippocratic oath: first do no harm.

The lack of this commitment comes as no surprise, but it is sad nonetheless.

With that, I'll sign off the list-assuming I have not been bounced already.

Best Regards,

John Halle
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