> IMO, the outlook is favorable for a fair amount of US public
> soul-searching about the function of the military and America's
> overall role in the world -- maybe even questioning of US capitalism
> itself. It is increasingly clear that the Iraqi debacle will not just
> finish George Bush, but will also end the era of US braggadocio that
> began with Reagan. I believe the left now faces its best
> opportunities in many, many years.
I don't see the present situation going as far as questioning capitalism -- for any substantial number of Americans to do that, you'd need a very deep economic crisis (even the depression of the '30s didn't do it, with all the Marxists crawling around then) *plus* a clear, understandable, and very appealing alternative system you could present to them -- but it is a good opportunity.
But what's our message? As usual, we're caught flat-footed.
Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ A gentleman haranguing on the perfection of our law, and that it was equally open to the poor and the rich, was answered by another, 'So is the London Tavern.' -- "Tom Paine's Jests..." (1794); also attr. to John Horne Tooke (1736-1812) by Hazlitt