Irving Kristol, Godfather of Modern Conservatism, Dies at 89
From Trotskyist fellow-traveler to godfather of neo-conservatism.
House votes to deny all federal funds for ACORN
Democratic-majority House and Senate votes to cut off all federal funds to ACORN after right-wing hit.
South Carolina and the other race battle behind Rep. Joe Wilson’s outburst
The changing political and social landscape of the South and the white supremacist populism that is trying to hold onto power.
Exclusive: Hamas leader interview
Ken Livingstone interviews Khaled Mashal and the British government whines.
Resisting Degradations and Divisions
Richard Pithouse interviews S’bu Zikode, president of South Africa’s Abahlali baseMjondolo
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Per the ACORN link above:
It’s amazing how far the attack on ACORN has gone. My understanding is that there’s been an effort for awhile now coming from the rightwing of the Democrats and from the Republican Party to isolate and undermine ACORN. Both parties have been known to have more than an occasional case of corruption, fraud, and ties to escort and sex rings, so their pretense to be appalled by the behavior of a couple ACORN employees is laughable at best.
The ongoing attack seems less about the politics of the organization itself – ACORN is far from radical – and more about undermining some of the specific services it offers, namely voter registration and housing & welfare assistance. Both services cater mainly to people of color and working class folks.
There has been debate within the GOP about how to change its image in order to reflect the growth of communities of color in the U.S., and apparently they think one way to handle the situation is by ensuring the disenfranchisement of those communities.
The quickness with which the Democrats also turned their back on ACORN, despite some of their own members having leadership positions with ACORN, is symptomatic that either the Democrats have no backbone and are continuing to let the right dictate the terms of political debate; or that the Democrats themselves are moving rightward and trying to isolate the “progressive” wing within their own party; or maybe it’s symptomatic of both.
Ultimately, this move is bigger than just ACORN. What is striking about the whole thing is how much this points to a deepening of the repression of progressive and left politics and working class organization. To run an organization today where you sign people up for Earned Income Tax Credits, or food stamps, or TANF, or to register them to vote, is to make yourself a target of the ruling class. These are basic programs that are legal and run by the federal government! It’s another way of attacking what little welfare the government still offers the working class without directly cutting it.
Rush Limbaugh recently commented that the U.S. needs to re-segregate the public buses, and with this move against ACORN it looks like he’s joined by both Democrats and the GOP in trying to roll back the basic legal rights won by working people and people of color to where they were almost a century ago!