[lbo-talk] Tariq Ali Endorses Kerry . . . for theBattleground States

[Shane Mage]

Alas,  ABB Dementia has ravaged some minds even more than I had
feared. Nathan Newman writes:

>----- Original Message -----
From: "Shane Mage" <shmage at pipeline.com>
>-M. Pugliese gives us a list of right-wing scoundrels who (if the
>-list is accurate, something not to be accepted on faith) have
>-proven themselves far better guardians of the people's
>-democratic rights than the Official Leftists, Liberals, and
>-other Kerrycrats.
>
>....Just as the Bushites support unilaterial action in Iraq without
>consultation with allies of any form, the Naderites see unilateral action
>in the election as their god-given right where no consultation or deference
to the views of other progressive allies need be considered.

  The right to electoral action--unilateral or not--is "given"
not by "god" but by the First Amendment to the US Constitution
and by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  The "right"
to "action" in Iraq--whether largely unilateral (Ubu POTUS aka
GWBush jr.) or (with lots of luck) more multilateral (Nathan 
Newman/JFKerry) is denied by the US Constitution (Article I
Section8) absent a declaration of war--and by International
Law absent a UN Security Council invocation of the procedures
prescribed in Article VII of the UN Charter.

and Doug Henwood wrote:
"...the guy from the Competitive Enterprise Institute who was 
directing a petition drive for Ralph in Oregon...was 100% clear on 
using Ralph to promote Bush. Was he guarding the people's rights 
without knowing it?"

Who cares whether he knew it or not?  His subjective intention
may have been to help UbuPOTUS but his objective effect was
beyond any doubt whatever to help in "guarding the people's rights."

Shane Mage

"Thunderbolt steers all things...It consents and does not
consent to be called 
Zeus."                                                         

Herakleitos of Ephesos