Letters Letters
Al Jazeera—just the news… BDS: Palestinians’ “best hope”… younger than springtime…
May 6, 2014 / Our Readers and Eric Alterman
Letters Letters
City Power! As a progressive city councilor in the second-largest city in Oregon, I found Michelle Goldberg’s “Power to the City” [April 21] especially timely. Eugene is a midsize city at the epicenter of a county that suffers from chronic lower-than-average wages alongside relatively high housing costs, leaving many working families struggling in near-poverty. In March, I co-sponsored a proposal for a paid sick time ordinance that would provide workplace protections and financial security for approximately 25,000 mostly low-wage workers in our city. It is modeled after a similar ordinance in Portland, implemented in January. We are hearing from union grocery store workers who can’t take sick time until they have been ill for three days, hospital workers who don’t earn sick days and workers who fear losing their jobs when they have to care for a sick child. A city ordinance would provide much-needed protection for these vulnerable workers and improve public health overall. Based on data from Portland, Seattle and San Francisco, it would not have a negative impact on employment or business. I hope we are just the first of many to take this step and build on this movement for progressive public policies that protect workers and public health. Claire Syrett Eugene City Councilor eugene, ore. May Flights of Angels… A few years ago, I met Jonathan Schell at an event at the University of California, Irvine [“Jonathan Schell,” April 21]. I bought his book The Unconquerable World, and he autographed it for me with the words “In hope.” It is one of my prized possessions. As our planet is faced with the twin perils of nuclear proliferation and climate change, we can ill afford to lose his wise and prescient voice. Joan Mortenson huntington beach, calif. World’s Oldest Work Right on, Katha [Pollitt, “Sex Work: The New Normal?” April 21]—if it’s fine to be a “sex worker,” then it’s fine to be a john. I’d like to see some neo-femo-lefto discussion of that. Chris Nielsen seattle Nothing is more annoying and demeaning to a prostitute than comparing the work to waitressing or domestic work. Prostitution is nothing like normal work. Nor is it like being a BDSM mistress, stripping or even working in porn, because, of these types of sex work, prostitution is the least safe. There are no protective labor laws, no witnesses, nothing to prevent us from being robbed, raped or murdered. This glamorization of the “happy hooker” is perpetuated by clients, pimps, madams—even dreamy-eyed writers who fantasize about it but don’t have the courage to escort. I’ve read feminist accounts of how “empowering” sex work is, and I can tell you that it is not. Elaine So I felt dehumanized as a waitress—or working my first job at KFC. Countless sex workers I know feel the same. I feel far more empowered and in control being a sex worker. That it is illegal is what raises the fear factor. Lilithe I’m a retired sex worker. I’m forever grateful to the clients who helped me support two children when I was divorcing an abusive man, and couldn’t make a living wage that allowed me time to parent, even with a master’s degree and a decent CV. We “elite” sex workers do care about coerced and exploited people. Juliana Piccillo I wish someone had validated sex work as a career choice when I was young. I suffered the horror of the majority of middle-class women, convinced that my best option was to sell my body to one man for “security.” Hotfishnora1 Return to the Cold War? Thank you, Stephen F. Cohen, for being the voice of reason on Ukraine [“Why Cold War Again?,” April 21]. Sadly, most of our mainstream media are again cheerleading us toward Strangelove II. Jack Burgess chillicothe, ohio “Why Cold War Again?” should be required reading. From the beginning, NATO was never about “defense.” It was about US hegemony and the care and feeding of the military-industrial complex. Jordan Bishop ottawa In the UN, Vladimir Putin’s Russia has a very small circle of supporters, including North Korea and Iran. In France, Russia’s annexation of Crimea is backed by Marine Le Pen. Hungarian neofascists wear T-shirts saying, “Crimea belongs to Russia! Transcarpathia belongs to Hungary!” And in the United States, Putin also has a whitewasher: Stephen F. Cohen, who blames the US government for driving Russia into a corner. I gather Professor Cohen does not watch Russian television or read the Russian press. He does not pay attention to the suppression of “disloyal” media outlets or the falsification of elections. He does not want to see that Putinism means chauvinism and Soviet-style hatred of the West. The Baltic countries are lucky to be members of NATO and the EU, which makes them safer from the Kremlin’s thuggish “protection” of Russian speakers. US administrations have certainly made mistakes in dealing with Russia, but it is wrong to blame them for forcing Russia to behave badly. Even Belarus and Kazakhstan do not demonstrate Cohen’s degree of pro-Putinism. Gennady Estraikh new york city Cohen Replies Yes, I read and watch Russian media—and American as well—but clearly in ways unlike Gennady Estraikh. I do so for information and my own analysis. He does so, it seems, for an ideological purpose, as do so many with his preconceived views. (Note the defamatory, telltale “pro-Putinism.”) Stephen F. Cohen new york city Red in Tooth and Claw Re Thai Jones’s “Remembering the Ludlow Massacre” [April 21]: Colorado poet David Mason has written an epic poem, Ludlow. Through character and setting, he mines coal-dust voices from a tragic history. Let’s hope this verse novel will find a teachable moment in American literature courses. Kemmer Anderson signal mountain, tenn.
Apr 30, 2014 / Our Readers and Stephen F. Cohen
Letters Letters
Locked up in Alabama… Ben-Gurion changes his tune…
Apr 22, 2014 / Our Readers and Bernard Avishai
Letters Letters
Run, Bernie, run… pull your pants up… Snowden: copy a plea?… Whistler's and his work…
Apr 15, 2014 / Our Readers
Letters Letters
This is your brain on poison… "monetizing" scholars… doubting Thomas… mishegoss II…
Apr 8, 2014 / Our Readers
Letters Letters
Calling All Populists! I admire The Nation, but now and then it hits me where I live and my gratitude spilleth over. To wit: Jim Hightower’s “Time for a Populist Revival!” [March 24]. Inspired and inspiring! Thank you! Valerie Govig baltimore I concur with Jim Hightower. At 101 years of age, I have declared myself a candidate for Congress (joenewman101.com) with the primary purpose of bringing to public attention the threat to morality from the far right. Part of my platform is to remind us that in 1787 some of our best minds met and set this goal—dreamed this dream, if you will—that “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, to establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity….” Can we keep that hope, that dream, alive? We must. Joe Newman sarasota, fla. Climate leaders would do well to read Brother Hightower’s prescription for the progressive movement as a template for developing a working collaboration between the grassroots climate movement (including scientists) and climate advocates in Congress. Where is the coalition—you know, the one that a third of voters are waiting to be part of? One hundred million Americans are concerned about the climate emergency. And yet the climate movement has no actionable unity of message on solutions, goals or plans to bring its separate entities together. The hour is late, friends. It’s five minutes to midnight for planetary life. Time to get very angry, very determined and very organized. Brian R. Smith When French Foreign Minister Pierre Lavalle informed Comrade Stalin that he should promote Catholicism to appease the pope, Stalin replied, “The pope! How many divisions has he got?” Jim Hightower shows the same departure from reality. For two years now, we have been regaled with the impending demise of the Republicans. We are told of a party riven by internal war, on the wrong side of history, the issues and the demographics. We hear of the resurgence of populism/liberalism among the American people, shot into afterburner by the Occupy movement. The massive injustices cited by the author are real enough, and they are lamented by a majority of Americans. But the contention that we can effect change by working harder and smarter and organizing better is an exercise in self-delusion. The massive power crafted by the oligarchs by means of a carefully planned and hugely financed intergenerational program of political capture has carried the day. We have long passed the point where social, economic, legal and political justice can be obtained at the ballot box. Power never yields without a fight—a real fight. We can prevail only in the streets, by massive peaceful protest. We ended the Vietnam War and toppled a corrupt presidency, not from the ballot box but from the concrete and asphalt. This octogenarian liberal is ready to go once more unto the breach. Ron Zimmerman scottsdale, ariz. Plus ça change… Has the Front Nationale won the soul of France? I doubt it [Cécile Alduy, “The Battle for the Soul of France,” March 24]. This is just a by-election. The French, as they are wont to do, are so pissed off with both major parties of the left and right that they will vote against them by electing FN candidates—because these elections (mostly regional) are not that important. Then, when the really ‘n’ truly important elections arrive next year… well, that’s a different ballgame. Et puis, c’est tout. Lafayette Talking Turkey Jenna Krajeski may be missing the point in Turkey. The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) has organized a working-class, feminist, youth and Kurdish response to the Erdogan government and went into an electoral alliance with the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) last year. As the elections have drawn closer, coordinated violent attacks have been carried out against the BDP and HDP. These attacks mean that the Turkish elections cannot and will not reflect a democratic consensus. In addition, we must note that Vimeo, Twitter and Google’s domain name system servers have all been blocked by the government. Turkish media are, in the main, intimidated by the ruling party and government, but they are now also frustrated by an inability to share information and report. Krajeski is correct in pointing out the shortcomings of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), but her report seems to hand Erdogan a victory he does not deserve and has not yet won. She emphasizes the role of the Gulen movement at the expense of other important forces. The Gezi protests did not fade out, as Krajeski says, but were transformed into other movements. Mass protests inspired or kicked off by Gezi continue in Ankara, Amed and other cities. Recently, at least two people died and more than 450 people were arrested in these protests. Her claim that the Kurdish freedom movement’s negotiations with the government inhibited Kurdish participation in the protest movements lacks substance. Kurds did and do participate in the protests. The CHP’s “Kemalist outlook” (Krajeski’s phrase) did much more to inhibit Kurdish participation in the protests. During this period, much Kurdish attention was focused on aiding the revolution in Rojava, a story our media have yet to tell. The BDP-HDP alliance, with its feminist and working-class dimensions, and the Kurdish liberation movement are the heroes of the moment in Turkey and North Kurdistan. The March 30 elections were one step for these forces—but only one step. Bob Rossi, publisher Harvest, a newsletter on Turkey, North Kurdistan and Rojava salem, ore. Mistaken Identities A caption in Susan Freinkel’s “Pesticides and the Young Brain” [March 31] misidentified the man pictured. That man is Jesús López, not José Camacho. Ari Berman, in “What’s Next for the Moral Monday Movement?” [March 10/17], meant to say Yancey (not Yancee) County, North Carolina.
Apr 2, 2014 / Our Readers
Letters Letters
Doubt … More thoughtfulness in the world would make it such a better place. JoAnn Wypijewski’s “Woody, Dylan & Doubt” [March 10/17] is beautifully crafted—fair, compassionate, insightful. “The techno age meets the eleventh century” is a brilliant summary of the public’s involvement in an ongoing family tragedy. Kudos for an advanced twenty-first-century commentary. Jane Myers ann arbor, mich. There’s nothing radical or liberal about giving an accused sex abuser the benefit of the doubt outside of a courtroom. Most patriarchal societies now and throughout history have given the accused rapist/child molester the benefit of the doubt, without such benefit to the (always) less powerful accuser. Sad to see such a reactionary premise masquerading as liberal in The Nation. But too many so-called progressives enjoy Allen’s movies. pjwhite I began reading “Woody, Dylan & Doubt” goofily thinking it was about Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and metaphysical uncertainty. I was pleased as well as surprised by JoAnn Wypijewski’s intelligent, thoughtful and fair-minded piece on the latest innuendos concerning Woody Allen. David Lehman new york city Al From in Mississippi During the 1960s, I was a senior field representative for the Office of Economic Opportunity, the official War on Poverty agency—the only federal OEO employee to be stationed in Mississippi, my home state. I had planned with the legendary Jim Draper and several activists to seek employment with OEO so that the movement-related Child Development Group of Mississippi (CDGM) would have a friend in the bureaucracy. OEO was all too eager to employ a young, native, white Mississippian, a former Baptist preacher thrown out of his church for getting involved in civil rights activities. I was in a unique position to know firsthand from the inside the OEO strategy of maximum participation of the poor in controlling the programs and resources of the anti-poverty effort. Al From, who was assigned to the OEO Office of Inspection in Washington, stayed in my home in Jackson several times on his trips to Mississippi, and I have followed his career with great interest. In view of Rick Perlstein’s mostly deserved pillorying of Al for the reactionary role he has played in national Democratic Party politics in the years since the ’60s [“From & Friends,” March 3], I felt I should set the record straight about his participation in the poverty program struggles in Mississippi. Although the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 required approval by the governor of a state before programs could be funded there, OEO found a loophole, by which programs could be funded through an institution of higher education. In the summer of 1965, the first Head Start programs were funded to local groups growing out of the civil rights movement by passing the grants through historically black colleges/universities (HBCUs): Mary Holmes College and Rust College. Subsequent struggles with the white power structure over who would control the incoming funds resulted in many of these groups continuing on a volunteer basis under the umbrella of the Friends of the Children of Mississippi until the control issue could be resolved. Senators “Big Jim” Eastland and John Stennis urged local white leaders to organize Community Action Programs, which the law required all funds to pass through. Where CAPs were not set up, CDGM and Friends of Children were funded through HBCUs to operate black-controlled programs. In counties where CAPs were set up, including Sunflower and Bolivar counties in the Delta, the movement-based groups were legally made subsidiaries to these power-structure-controlled CAPs. Neither Al From nor OEO could do or say anything about that legality. This was the setting for From’s claim that “Shriver sent me to Sunflower County to investigate a dispute between two Head Start programs, one run with federal funding by the white powers of the county—the Eastland forces—the other run on a volunteer basis by civil rights activists.” Those of us in the OEO committed to empowering local people held strategic discussions for keeping the resources and consequent political power of OEO funding in the hands of the black communities. Ultimate implementation of OEO strategy was up to the Atlanta OEO office, and Al From’s presence and participation were limited. But when he came to Mississippi representing the national office, he participated in those discussions and was on the side of the angels. His statement in his book that the fight was for “an important prize in the political balance of power in the county” was correct, as these were the first substantial institutional funds and jobs the black folks of these counties had ever controlled. In Sunflower and Bolivar counties, two Head Start programs were funded, one to the CAP and one to the local groups: Associated Communities of Sunflower County and Associated Communities of Bolivar County. By law, the funds had to flow through the CAP agencies, but in both cases OEO required that the local movement group be funded as a separate subcontractor of the CAP, with its own board, controlling structure and staff. Under the circumstances, this was the best possible outcome, and OEO relentlessly protected the independence of these groups until 1969, when Head Start funding was removed from OEO. I have no interest in defending Al From. While I was continuing to pursue every third- party and independent left initiative we could stir up over the years and working in community organizing and advocacy, Al was busy at a much higher level, doing perhaps irreparable harm to the political and economic plight of ordinary Americans by helping to restructure the party system so that no real Democratic alternative was on offer, leaving us—still—with a Clintonite-flavored administration somewhat to the right of Eisenhower Republicanism. But you could not ask for a more likable or collegial person to diminish the hopes of your grandchildren than Al From. For a short time, though, he played a positive role in empowering the black communities and children of Sunflower and Bolivar counties. Don Manning-Miller Vice president, Rust College holly springs, miss.
Mar 27, 2014 / Our Readers
Letters Letters
En pointe… tiny tasks, tiniest pay… mishegoss?… last word on the National Library of Israel…
Mar 11, 2014 / Our Readers