[lbo-talk] Everybody Knows...

Michael Pugliese michael098762001 at earthlink.net
Wed Nov 10 19:40:01 PST 2004


On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 18:44:24 -0500, John Lacny <jlacny at earthlink.net> wrote:
> ... Vito Marcantonio was elected as a Republican. Only later did he
> occasionally
> get the Democratic nomination as well, until the red-baiters drove him
> out
> of the nomination process in both major "parties" and he had only the
> American Labor Party ballot line to fall back on. As for this stuff about
> him "failing to act independently of the Democrats," the only response
> of a
> rational person has to be, "um, whatever dude," since Marcantonio
> strongly
> opposed the Cold War when that was decidedly the Not Cool thing to do.
> And
> he paid for it dearly. And yes, the Communist Party was the base of his
> electoral coalition, but there is no evidence that I've seen that he was
> ever a Party member.

Elsewhere (I think in the Lawrence Lader volume, "Power on the Left: American Radical Movements Since 1946." Lader was an aide to Marcantonio.) I've read of bitterness that Marcantonio had towards CPUSA leaders like William Z. Foster, late in life.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1132/is_n5_v42/ai_9013972 Vito Marcantonio: Radical Politician, 1902-1954. - book reviews Monthly Review, Oct, 1990 by Annette T. Rubinstein
> ... Similarly in the 33 page chapter on "Marcantonio and the Communist
> Party" the author is, necessarily, most concerned with the practical
> political assistance the party gave Marc in each campaign and the
> red-baiting attacks on him that their support occasioned. But beyond the
> accurate statement that Marc was never a member of the party, and a long
> list of specific issues on which he (as well as most radicals and
> liberals in the 1930s) agreed with the party, there is only one comment,
> toward the end of the chapter, on the deep personal and political
> differences of attitude and philosphy which characterized the alliance.
> That comment, a single telling paragraph, makes one wish Meyer had taken
> a page or two to develop the insight displayed in his brief factual
> note. Meyer writes: "In the final period of his life Marcantonio's
> energies were almost exclusively devoted to two seemingly contradictory
> goals . . ." Those were an increasingly acrimonious fight with the
> Communist Party and "an increasingly acrimonious fight for the defense
> of alleged and avowed Communists, as well as the Communist Party itself,
> from increasingly severe and comprehensive legal attacks." The radical
> politician's fundamental integrity and concern for democratic rights,
> which is sometimes obscured by the details of day to day politicking,
> comes sharp here.
-- Michael Pugliese

Everybody Knows, Leonard Cohen (co-written w/ Sharon Robinson)

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed Everybody knows that the war is over Everybody knows the good guys lost Everybody knows the fight was fixed The poor stay poor, the rich get rich That's how it goes Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking Everybody knows that the captain lied Everybody got this broken feeling Like their father or their dog just died

Everybody talking to their pockets Everybody wants a box of chocolates And a long stem rose Everybody knows

Everybody knows that you love me baby Everybody knows that you really do Everybody knows that you've been faithful Ah give or take a night or two Everybody knows you've been discreet But there were so many people you just had to meet Without your clothes And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows That's how it goes Everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows That's how it goes Everybody knows

And everybody knows that it's now or never Everybody knows that it's me or you And everybody knows that you live forever Ah when you've done a line or two Everybody knows the deal is rotten Old Black Joe's still pickin' cotton For your ribbons and bows And everybody knows

And everybody knows that the Plague is coming Everybody knows that it's moving fast Everybody knows that the naked man and woman Are just a shining artifact of the past Everybody knows the scene is dead But there's gonna be a meter on your bed That will disclose What everybody knows

And everybody knows that you're in trouble Everybody knows what you've been through

From the bloody cross on top of Calvary To the beach of Malibu Everybody knows it's coming apart Take one last look at this Sacred Heart Before it blows And everybody knows

Everybody knows, everybody knows That's how it goes Everybody knows

Oh everybody knows, everybody knows That's how it goes Everybody knows

Everybody knows



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