May Day, Haymarket and the FOP

On May 4, 1886 an agent provocateur, most likely a member of the Pinkerton's (The Blackwater of the 19th century), lobbed a bomb at a labor rally, at Haymarket Square, which killed a Police Officer and started a riot in which 11 more people lost their lives.

125 years ago Police Officers could be counted on by the Plutocracy to beat, shoot, arrest and disrupt pro-Union demonstrations. They were the buffer, as Howard Zinn put it, The Guards of the System.

Today the Plutocracy has continued it's string of victories over the American People. However, the Kleptocrats can no longer count on their traditional Guards to defend their Rich Privilege and they have thus turned to the Republican and Democratic Parties.

With very few exceptions elected politicians can be counted on to enact legislation which aids, succors and provides comfort to the Rich Kleptocrats. Again as the late great Howard Zinn, artfully identified the enemy of the American People;

the Establishment-that uneasy club of business executives, generals, and politicos.

In the past the Establishment, the Kleptocrats, have been content to take a significant portion of America's Wealth but now, thanks mainly to Republicans, they find themselves in a position to hold a Majority of the Wealth of this Nation.

So, the Police who were once counted on to defend the Plutocrats have turned. FOP members and I stood shoulder to shoulder with our Wisconsin brother officers and with fellow Unions members up north.

The Fraternal Order of Police recognizes an attack when they see one. Once expected to bust up Unions, keep minorities and immigrants in their place and ensure the transfer of Wealth to the Rich Klepocrats, Police Officers are now counted amongst the class of people the Establishment wishes to marginalize and oppress.

Your law-enforcement training and experience have taught you how to protect yourself, your fellow officers, and citizens from criminals. Some of those criminals want nothing more than to do harm to an officer. You know to be on your guard, ready to act, and to do what is necessary to protect yourself and others.

Nothing in your formal training has prepared you for the new attack that we are facing as law enforcement officers. Now the criminals are not the only ones that want fewer officers on the streets. Now the criminals are joined by politicians in State capitols across the country. These politicians are doing what criminals everywhere have long hoped for; they are shrinking police forces, putting fewer officers on the streets, and undermining the safety of the officers left on the front lines.

Your job is on the line. Your pension is on the line. Your salary is on the line. Your safety is on the line. You must be on the front line defending your rights against these attacks.

Are you ready to act? Are you ready to protect yourself and your fellow officers? Are you ready to defend your family?

You have been targeted. You have been blamed for the financial crisis. You will be a victim of government mismanagement and scapegoating if you don't fight back.

But, while the filth-ridden Republican scum Governor's Scott Walker, Rick Snyder, Rick Scott, Jon Kasich, Chris Christie are clearly enemies of America they are merely hired foot soliders, akin to Iraqi Republican Guards, while the Koch Brothers are the Uday and Qusay Husseins of America.

And the Uday and Qusay Koch Brothers want more. Thus the attack on Public Employees. It is but one of their sorties against the American People. One of the tactics the Establishment is using to reduce the American People to frightened Wage Slaves.

The Passing of a Generation: Howard Zinn and JD Salinger

Howard Zinn and JD Salinger both passed away recently. They belonged to that near mythical generation of Americans (like my beloved and missed Grandparents) who survived the Great Depression and World War II to witness the birth of American Supremacy.

Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye never had the Holden Caulfield rebellion effect on me because I read it much too late. I was already 25 and firmly ensconced (or so I thought) in my persona. However, reflecting on it today, I recognize in it a kernel of my irritation with authority.

But, I first picked up a copy of A People's History of the United States in 1993 after Clinton's victory and when I was listening to Conservative Talk Radio. It was fascinating. How could the stories by true? My American History classes never touched on these plights or the struggles of the poor and oppressed.

Ludlow? The IWW? I'd never heard Mark Twain wrote against War, and more directly against Organized Religion, Governments and the Elites than just in his heavily cloaked but indisputable polemics starring Huck and Tom. And even though I'd lived in the Chicago land area for 20 years I had never heard of Haymarket Square or the subsequent events of the now widely dissembled Weathermen.

Reading the stories of the workers struggles planted the nascent seed pods of my journey to Liberalism, which flowered along the banks of the Euphrates 10 years later, and away from anti-human conservative pathology.

Of course, the Punk Ass Bitch Conservatives over at She Who Shall not be Named 2's site have only evil things to say about a World War II veteran and staunch defender of the poor and exploited, who fought passionately for Civil Rights and stood courageously against the Vietnam War. They (still) hate Zinn because he stood against warfare and oppression, and Conservatives love to oppress and kill people.

Democracy Now has a fitting Tribute to Howard Zinn and the Real News Network often interviewed Zinn because of his great moral integrity and they way he fundamentally changed the way We the People should view our deference to authority and our acceptance of the Outrage of War.



Related:
NPR's All Things Considered asked David Horowitz to comment on Howard Zinn's passing: Not surprisingly Horowitz as a radical chicken hawk anti-human punk ass bitch conservative who hates the poor and oppressed and loves war insulted and slandered Zinn because Howard Zinn fought for those crushed under the iron heel of anti-human conservatives.

How does one resist their Government?

The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. almost invariably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries t change it. And if he is not romantic personally, he is apt to spread discontent among those who are. ~ H. L. Mencken.

What is the difference between a terrorist, a patriot, a freedom fighter and a rebel? The McCain Camp has been pushing a connection between Bill Ayers of the Weather Underground and Obama. Why?

ZombieTime published a post highlighting, Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-Imperialism a book produced by Ayers and other members of the Weather Underground. Interestingly, the post starts with the following: William Ayers is a communist. Then disclaims there is nothing illegal about being a communist but ends with the (I suppose) stinging reproach;

William Ayers is a communist. By his own description. He was a communist then, he is a communist now, and he was a communist for the entire time that Barack Obama worked with him and was associated with him.

The Weathermen conducted activities against the United States Federal and State and Local governments (across the US but also in Chicago, the Weathermen twice destroyed a statue of a police officer which stood in Haymarket Square) during the US war in Vietnam and stated they planned to "seize power". The Weathermen used bombings, demonstrations and prison breaks.

There is a loud contingent, led by such luminaries as Sean Hannity and Bill Cunningham, claiming what Bill Ayers did in the Sixties was beyond redemption and when Obama wins, have convinced themselves he will install a islamic marxist police state, which will take their property and curb their freedoms. But, what can they do to resist such an evil government? Clearly they can not physically resist because of their stance against violent resistance used by Ayers. They have placed themselves in a quandary.

The problem is these people who are touting Ayers as ultimate evil have constrained themselves into accepting the Hobbesian Ideal of Government. Once a government takes power the people have no voice and no role in government and the every action of the government is by axiom, legitimate. This is clearly the view of the two Dicks, Nixon and Cheney. As typified by the famous Nixon line ‘If the President Does It, That Means It’s Not Illegal’ and Cheney's 'So?' in response to the fact 2/3rds of Americans think the war in Iraq is not worth fighting.

So does Bill Cunningham think resisting the government is immoral or prima facie evidence of treason? No, Bill Cunningham has stated many times if Obama is elected he will fight like a Scottish Warrior Poet or like Patrick Swayze in Red Dawn.

But by what LEGITIMACY does Braveheart Cunningham have in resisting Obama's Federal Government?

The early history of the United States is founded on the Polybian belief in order to avoid revolts a simple government of one of the 3 classic types (monarchy, aristocracy, democracy) is to have a balanced government combining the 3. The One, The Few, The Many. The problem is those men were the product of the Enlightenment as well versed in Ancient Greek and Roman History as with contemporary thought. Such men are in short supply today. But, to them the problems of modern America are not new, they are simply an extension of the problems faced in Ancient Greece and Revolutionary America. However, the United States was founded with the active resistance (The Revolution) to the ruling government. Which causes a problem; If violent struggle can legitimately be used once can it be used again? Or was the American Revolution a one-time aberration?

Toranaga: There is no mitigating factor for rebellion against your liege lord. Blackthorne: Unless you win. ~ from James Clavell's Shogun.

On what side would those who rage rage rage on the Obama/Ayers connection have fallen with regards to Sophie Scholl and White Rose, with the government or the radicals?

Are these they same people who cheered when the US military rolled into Iraq and deposed the ruling government of Saddam Hussein? Would they have been pro-Sadr when his father was against Saddam and anti-Sadr when the son is against the current government of Iraq?

Do these people cheer the Kurds on against the government of Turkey? Do they champion a Kurdish Free State? Or do they snicker and roll their eyes at Biden's not new idea of a tripartite Iraq?

Are these the same people who cheered Georgian military aggression against South Ossetia?

Do these people think the Irish resistance to British rule is unconscionable and the deaths and bombings in the Troubles are all the fault of Irish criminals who have no basis for resistance?

Getting back to the Weatherman bombing tactics. What is the difference between the bombing of the Haymarket Square statue and when the American Founding Fathers and Patriots destroyed a statue of King George III, which stood at the foot of Broadway on the Bowling Green in New York to make bullets?

Sometimes, in the beginning of an insane shabby political upheaval he is strongly moved to revolt, but he doesn't do it - he knows better. He knows his maker would find out - the maker of his patriotism, the windy and incoherent six-dollar subbeditior of the village newspaper - and would bray out in print and call him a traitor. ~ Mark Twain, As regards Patriotism.

Funny how Twain knew what tactics would be used against those who stand against their government.

Sowing the Seeds of Hate

Update:
Well, since standard red-baiting Obama is a Socialist isn't working why not just claim - Obama is League with Lucifer! Could Lucifer play a role in this presidential election? So asks James PINKerton.


You want this, don't you? The hate is swelling in you now. ~ The Emperor

Vote for McCain or get the Fuck out of My Country, you fake american, socialist, communist, anti-american, god-hating muslim!

The face is revealed. The spittle-flying vitriol has spouted fancy buds. No longer do we have fringe chemically imbalanced persons like Ann Coulter She Who Shall Not Be Named calling the other party Traitors, it's permeated and become the mantra of an entire political party.

It started with Sarah Palin and her gosh-golly darn-it, I'm so folksy and hot and Obama's-a-terrorist speeches and extended when both she and McCain equated Obama with socialism. I'd love to hear Sarah Hot Piece define Socialism it would probably be as understandable as her definition of what the United States Vice President does.

Of course, the most egregious example is Michelle Bachmann's call for an investigation of anti-american's in Congress. But if you listen to her closely not only does she believe Obama is anti-american, to Bachmann anti-americans can be found many places; "some of these people have positions teaching in institutions of higher learning, but, you'll find them in all walks of life all throughout america."

Uh-huh. Bachmann has no idea what she is talking about. Watching her vapid stare, listening to the pauses, the set patterns of speech, the stilted way she responded to questions which differed from her set talking points it appeared Bachmann had been given the RNC text of; equate Liberal with anti-american at every opportunity. She's a tool or a fool.

Absolutely, I have concerns Barack Obama has anti-american views. ~ Michelle Bachmann

Good. Use your aggressive feelings. Let the hate flow through you. ~ The Emperor

But, it didn't stop with Bachmann, who actually has continued her Obama is anti-american talking points. McCain advisor Nancy Pfoentauer divided Virginia (again) into real and unreal parts and the Real part supports McCain.

Robin Hayes stated unequivocally "Liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in god", then lied, then claimed it's the fault of liberal bloggers. Dang those liberals! Not only do they hate real americans then they lie about it and slander a real american like Sarah Hot Piece and Robin Hayes!

And as a minister in an Iowa McCain rally pointed out, everyone knows the false faiths of the world yearn for an Obama victory.

Of course, claiming one's side has the Mandate from Heaven is not new in politics it's one of the oldest arguments for claiming power.

And the mobs which have been taken in and read the "works" of Coulter she who shall not be named, Michael Savage Weiner Liberalism is a Mental Disorder, Sean Hannity, these comments help whip them into a hate-filled frenzy. Socialist! Communist! Terrorist! Anti-American!

I'm sure if Bachmann was given her script and told to include the following words, she would find them and the men who penned them and stood in armed conflict against their government to be anti-american:

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

I'm sure she would declare this to be against the right of center values which in her mind alone real americans hold dear.

And a note on Bill Ayers and the Weather Underground. The Weathermen twice destroyed a hypocritical statue of a police officer which stood in Haymarket Square, taking this action alone how is it different than when the American Founding Fathers and Patriots destroyed a statue of King George III, which stood at the foot of Broadway on the Bowling Green in New York to make bullets?

The Apparatus of Government Controls You Utterly

The entire apparatus of government is a Rube Goldberg machine. It's huge, complex, cumbersome, slow, and designed for the simple task of controlling you. Of course perhaps that's an insult to Rube Goldberg. The goal is not just control but domination which you willingly accept or are not even conscious of... It's hard to cut the strings if you don't realize you're a marionette.

Now, it may be man requires a form of government for arbitration, defense and peace keeping but a there is no way a monstrosity 1000 miles away (from the Chicagoland area that is) can respond quickly or effectively to your needs or problems, just ask the residents of New Orleans, the aftermath of which showed the limitations and downright incompetence of even State Government.

But, even after spectacular failures such as Katrina and the Imperial decrees of little more the 500 Masters of DC to invade and overthrow foreign rulers (whom they no longer like) Americans still acquiesce and defend the Apparatus.

Even when the rulers, such as Phil Graham, safely ensconced in their insular world of Government=Lobbyist, tell the plebeians to Just rub some dirt on it and quit whining about gas or home foreclosures and the recession in your little minds, Americans acquiesce to their Masters.

And why? Because we the people are taught that to be against the Apparatus is evil and wrong in and of itself. We are taught to revere the Apparatus itself. We the People are taught throughout life to place ourselves in the box and ignore or destroy anyone who tries to get out of the box.

This begins early in life with an education system imported during the Golden Era of Prussian Militantism.

It continues when the Apparatus creates an unending string of little bans upon your life designed to turn everyone in the State into a criminal and to captialize upon the natural instincts possessed by every human other than sociopaths or psychopaths.

The State then ensures resistance to the enforcement bears a double edge. The Apparatus of Government outlaws resistance to force and when it chooses to exercise it's power it sends not the masters but pawns. Any rational human bears in mind if he resists he is not striking out against the Machine in some Matrix inspired fight for freedom, but fighting with an agent of the State who is most likely caught up in the same net and held under the sway of the Machine as well.

And the Apparatus continues by encouraging people to believe they can work within the system for slow and systematic change. Society can't handle rapid changes is usually the bromide dispensed to those working for change. By the time any real change has been adopted those who worked for it are long dead and buried. See Haymarket Square.

Working gradually within the system is, as Tolstoy reasoned, a self-delusion which benefits the Apparatus.

It is ineffectual and irrational because Government... knows very well what is really dangerous to it. and will never let people who submit to it and act under its guidance do anything that will undermine its authority. And therefore, as both reason and experience clearly show, such an illusory, gradual conquest of rights is a self-deception which suits the government admirably, and which it, therefore, is even ready to encourage.

Studs Terkel is 96 years old

Today is the Birthday of Louis 'Studs' Terkel . Studs moved to Chicago in 1922 with his family. Terkel is well known for his Oral histories of the Jazz Age, World War II, Chicago, and Worker's Movements. Particularly, his efforts for the Haymarket Memorial Committee in commemorating that infamous Chicago incident of injustice.

According to Terkel from his 1971 Memoir, in 1926 Studs learned firsthand of the Haymarket Tragedy from Parsons' widow Lucy and members of the IWW, the Wobblies.

On May 4, 1970 Terkel spoke at a small rally at Haymarket and with members of the Illinois Labor History Society placed a small plaque honoring the union dead on the Catholic Charities Building on Randolph Street.

On September 14, 2004 a memorial was finally erected. It's good Terkel lived to see a statue placed to the memories of the wrongly accused, wrongly convicted and murdered workers

In Rememberance of a Travesty

Today marks the anniversary of the labor rally (in favor of the pernicious 8-Hour work day) and riot at Haymarket Square. During the rally, after August Spies concluded his speech, an explosive device was thrown by a agent provocateur, most likely by a member of the Pinkerton's (The Blackwater of the 19th century) and an invective was coined The Bomb Throwing Anarchist.

The explosive device killed Police Officer Degan. What happened after the device exploded is infamous. A general melee occurred, in which at least 11 people were killed and unknown numbers wounded, mostly by the police. And the incident was used by members of the Kleptocracy to rid themselves of men whom they deemed dangerous to the standing social order.

Eight men were arrested: August Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolph Fischer, George Engel, Louis Lingg, Michael Schwab, Samuel Fielden and Oscar Neebe.

The following trial was a mockery. The jury included a relative of one of the killed police officers and had been picked by a court officer who publicly stated, "These fellows are going to be hanged as certain as death." No evidence connected the convicted to the bomb and two (Oscar Neebe and Louis Lingg) were not at Haymarket.

This was not justice but the use of the system by the state's attorney Juluis Grinell and others to divide people. The history of the US is this system of divide and conquer, keep the people apart and under the control of the system.

As Howard Zinn wrote in his Magnum Opus, A People's History of the United States pg 646, 647, 648,

"The American system is the most ingenious system of control in world history. There is no system of control with more openings, apertures, lee-ways, flexibilities, rewards for the chosen, winning tickets in lotteries. There is none that disperses its controls more complexly through the voting system, the work situation, the church, the family, the school, the mass media - none more successful in mollifying opposition with reforms, isolating people from one another, creating patriotic loyalty.

It is very important for the Establishment - that uneasy club of business executives, generals, and politicos - to maintain the historic pretense of national unity, in which the government represents all the people, and the common enemy is overseas, not at home, where disasters of economics or war are unfortunate errors or tragic accidents, to be corrected by the members of the same club that brought the disasters."

I think about the Last Chapter of A People's History often.

who was told what to do by the man,
who was broken by trained personnel,
who was fitted with collar and chain,
-- Pink Floyd, Dogs