Letter to the Editor, Capital Times---
I read with interest the stories on Fighting Bob Fest.
The September 15, 2012 Editorial < http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/editorial/the-supreme-issue-of-fighting-bob-fest/article_0418dd5e-fea2-11e1-8f5a-001a4bcf887a.html >and the article, Madison Politiscope: Fighting Bob Fest showcases what unites — and divides — progressives
< http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/politiscope/madison-politiscope-fighting-bob-fest-showcases-what-unites-and-divides/article_b436a24e-ff96-11e1-964c-0019bb2963f4.html >.
Since it would seem Jill Stein's campaign would best capture the spirit of "fighting Bob" I am wondering why the Democrats would get a better reception than Stein did? This seems rather odd since the Democrats have no progressive agenda; not even a liberal agenda.
Since it would seem Jill Stein's campaign would best capture the spirit of "fighting Bob" I am wondering why the Democrats would get a better reception than Stein did? This seems rather odd since the Democrats have no progressive agenda; not even a liberal agenda.
For sure there is nothing progressive about Barack Obama and his dirty imperialist wars being paid for through austerity measures from which Wall Street profits from both the wars and the austerity measures; Wall Street bankers even profit from the distribution of Food Stamps.
I'm wondering if the Fighting Bob Fests are intentionally structured with the intent of using progressive-sounding rhetoric to keep people trapped in the two-party system?
One thing that is particularly troubling is Mike Wiggins, Jr. Chairing a session on open pit mining. Mike Wiggins, Jr. runs around talking about how mining destroys air quality yet the very casino industry he is a major part of managing forces hundreds of thousands of workers to work in smoke-filled casinos at poverty wages and without any rights as these casino operations are major contributors to the campaign coffers of the Democrats who Wiggins bribes to look the other way in indifference to these injustices--- thousands of working people in Wisconsin now work in the hideous Indian Gaming Industry under these most atrocious and despicable conditions where crooked and corrupt tribal councils front for the white mobsters who own all the slot machines. The sheer hypocrisy of Mike Wiggins, Jr. chairing a session on open pit mining is the epitome of hypocrisy when he is a major player in an industry that not only creates impoverished workers but forces them to work in these smoke-filled casinos without any rights under state or federal labor laws knowing that they will contract heart and lung diseases and cancers along with the complications associated with diabetes and second-hand smoke.
There is then the conclusion by Capital Times that young people stayed away from the Fighting Bob Fest because of football games.
I have another theory why so many young people, especially young activists from the Occupy Movement, labor, civil rights, environmental, women's and peace movements are staying away from the Fighting Bob Fest: They are fed up with the hypocrisy of using the progressive, militant, anti-Wall Street legacy of fighting Bob La Follette to try to rope them into dead-end "activism" with the Democratic Party where the pinnacle of their activism involves working for a Wall Street warmonger like Barack Obama.
Might I suggest that future "Fighting Bob Fests" be centered around building the kind of progressive movement that "fighting Bob" really fought for--- independence from Wall Street's Democratic and Republican parties; a movement capable of challenging Wall Street for political and economic power.
Forget about inviting the Democrats; instead invite people from Canada's socialist New Democratic Party to speak about what they are doing and how they won real health care reform. Focus more on building on the legacy of the progressive foundation of fighting Bob La Follette and his allies in Minnesota--- the socialist Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party. Then you won't have to make up excuses that activists don't attend because they are watching football games.
We know what unites progressives: peace, jobs, justice, equality, living wages, worker's rights and decent working conditions.
What divides progressives is having Democrats and Obama shoved down our throats.
What divides progressives is having Democrats and Obama shoved down our throats.
Howard Pawley, a former New Democratic Premier of Manitoba recently wrote an excellent book I think fighting Bob La Follette would have appreciated, "Keep True."
I would suggest that the organizers of the Fighting Bob Fest "keep true" to the ideals for which fighting Bob La Follette is best known--- breaking free from Wall Street's two-party trap.
--
Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council
58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763
Phone: 218-386-2432
Cell: 651-587-5541
Primary E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net
E-mail: alan.maki1951mn@gmail.com
