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Berkeley, CA, USA - Ron Dellums had a big impact on me when I was 18 years-old. He was a 2nd term Congressman from Oakland/Berkeley, and I was an intern for my local Representative. The scandal of Watergate was brewing, but all Republicans and almost all Democrats were afraid to come out and accuse the White House of being involved.
On a beautiful, balmy May day in the Spring of 1973, I got word that some young members of the Democratic Caucus were going to make speeches on the House Floor, to argue for an investigation into White House involvement in Watergate. I literally ran to the House Chamber to get a seat, anticipating a huge crush. The emptiness of the House Floor and the gallery was surreal in light of the obvious historical implications. Only four or five members of the House came to make speeches: Bella Abzug, Patricia Schroeder and Ron Dellums stand out in the long-term memory. They each argued passionately for an investigation, citing connections of the Watergate burglars with Nixon, and the appearance of a cover-up.
There were no more than a dozen people in the gallery that day. The business day was over, and most people had left the House office buildings when the word spread. All but a ha ndful of Members of the House chose to boycott that precursor to the Judiciary Committee Investigation, out of deference to Nixon or political expediency at the time. The Watergate hearings were about a week into the inquiry, but no one dared suggest that Nixon or his staff were responsible. Most Democrats wimped out until the bandwagon generated the momentum to bring Nixon down. Ron Dellums was one of the few Congressman to argue for the Watergate investigation before there was a bandwagon.
Barbara Lee was a lone voice of reason in the House on the eve Bush Jr's vanity war in Iraq. Democrats were both caught in the wave of hysteria and lies that initiated the war, and were cowered by the Republican hijacking of "patriotism" during post-9/11. Rep. Lee was ridiculed and lambasted at the time; now she's a hero.
The Bay Area has a rich history of liberalism and progressive politics. We set trends that are initially ridiculed by the American mainstream, before they become part of that mainstream. Public smoking bans, public handicap access, and aggressive local environmental protection are just a few of the trends we set for the rest of the nation.
In recent years, liberals have been losing big, despite the repeated efforts of Bush Jr. and the Republican Party to present gifts of horses with good teeth. Tom Delay and Prosecutor Ronnie Earle all but gift wrapped a few Congressional seats for Democrats in recent weeks, but the response of Congressional Democrats doesn't instill confidence.
I have identified with the left since junior high school. I happened to grow up in Memphis and had my Bar Mitzvah in the spring of 1968, five weeks after Martin Luther King was killed there. At one time I owned an "I Am A Man" sign that the sanitation workers carried during their seven-week strike in 1968. (I'd love to have that one back.)
The rabbi who led my Bar Mitzvah, Rabbi James A. Wax, was the same man who mediated the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike, which had brought MLK to Memphis. One day I saw him after a lesson from another rabbi and we talked. A few hours later I saw him on the 5 O'Clock news, and was astounded to realize his importance. Growing up in a liberal Jewish family in Memphis, in the aftermath of MLK's assassination was a defining experience.?
When all was said and done the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike impacted three major movements: 1.) The Civil Rights Movement; 2.) The American Labor Movement, 3.) The right of municipal workers to organize and join unions.
The following year, I had my first organizing success. In the late 1960's, Alka-Seltzer had a TV ad campaign that showed a prison dining room erupting with the prisoners chanting, "ALKA-SELTZER, ALKA-SELTZER, ALKA-SELTZER . . .", while they banged cups and bowls on the tables.
In a precocious fit of wit, I organized my entire junior high lunchroom into re-creating that scene on cue. It brought the principal running out of his office sweating bullets, because of the highly charged racial climate at the time. The school was integrated with a few black kids, and they were equal participants in the Alka-Seltzer stunt. Some who remember that still consider it to be my life's greatest achievement. Maybe I should have retired at 14. That year I got a 'B' in Civics even though I did 'A' work. This was another defining experience.
What's wrong with the Democrats? There aren't too many of them in either House of Congress who are as liberal as Nixon was! Most of them would vote against Nixon's environmental programs, economic assistance programs, and expansion of government service programs because they wouldn't wash with today's Republican leadership.
Democrats have been running scared of Republicans since Reagan, and allowed them to set the agenda. Clinton beat them by playing the middle from both ends, but the Democratic Party never got over its fear of the New Right, and still allows them to frame the debate in their terms.
John Kerry showed no more cajones than did Michael Dukaikas. Progressives have been so marginalized within the Democratic Party, they're hardly more relevant that the Ripon Society. Once upon a time there was a "liberal" wing of the Republican Party called the Ripon Society. Now, their website states that they "seek to be the conscience of the Republican Party." How quaint! They seek to be the conscience of a party that has none? At least Democratic progressives have a reasonable hope of becoming effective again.
As to what's wrong with the left, I offer this simplified answer with details to come in upcoming issues of Changester:
1.) A loss of professional courtesies towards colleagues, allies and would-be allies. Much of this arises out of a pettiness over R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and territorial issues. Sometimes the silly turf wars within the left rival those of the FBI and CIA. It's like we didn't learn anything from watching Being There. Where is Chauncy Gardner when you need him?
2.) A puzzling focus on the health and financial viability of the organization that doesn't reflect any success in the overall agenda. This leads to arrogance towards the constituency, which is also reflexive of problem #1. You can get off of the e-mail lists of prominent leftist organizations, if you repeatedly reply to their fundraising pleas with suggestions for revising the methods and the agenda. They're raising money, getting media coverage and the organization is healthy, but the net result is we're still losing. Groups like MoveOn.org make no attempt to counter efforts to marginalize them in the mainstream media. Indeed, they seem to accept it as a badge of honor. The paradox is that the organization is healthier than ever, but less effective at the same time, because they are content to make a good living preaching to the choir. They are as bad as Dukaikas and Kerry in failing to say, 'you're lying about us; here's what the issue is!" At the same time, MoveOn.org has done a lot of good in raising awareness and organizing campaigns and issues.
3.) No sense of humor. Nothing illustrates this better than the programming on KPFA: too much bitching, not enough music and absolutely no element of humor. Where are Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce when you need them? If Dewey Phillips or Alan Freed walked into KPFA and proposed to do a music show, they would be treated so rudely that they would either go hawk their program to a nasty corporation or go back to being dead. Lacking a sense of history or humor, KPFA wouldn't recognize Sahl if he walked in, or Bruce if he rose from the dead. It is sad to find myself denigrating KPFA. I grew to love the programming and mission of the Pacifica Network as a listener and DJ on other public and community radio stations, which have carried their programming. The nasty, internecine conflicts at KPFA have been very public and are also symptomatic of problem #1.
Ron Dellums and Barbara Lee have been vanguards against the creeping elements of fascism into our government and corporate society. They have bravely resisted today's popular hysteria and political paranoia to stand up for the right things. Many times, both statesmen argued a position in isolation, but found many allies at the end of the day.? For all the wrong reasons, there is more hope than in a long time. Recent catastrophes have exposed the destructiveness and selfishness of the Bush Administration and the Republican Party. With the indictments of Tom Delay, a new day is dawning, and the culture of corruption is on the run. Bush Jr. and his kind provide plenty of good material these days to cartoonists and satirists ... too much.
Now that Congressional Republicans have responded to the Katrina/Rita disasters by promising to cut more taxes and slash more services, Howard Dean's primal scream would be right on cue. Too bad his timing was so bad in offering it after a 3rd place finish in a primary. Had he waited until a primary victory to scream, he might be president by now. Dean's passion was genuine, but his timing was all wrong. I look forward to exploring these issues in upcoming installments of Changester. In this day of brazenly partisan journals and websites, it's refreshing to be involved in a publication that strives for a sense of balance. There's a place for Democratic Ripons and Republican progressives at Changester.?
When all is said and done, it is important not to lose sight of why we're here beyond birth, love and death: good sex, good food, good humor, good herbs, good friends, financial security and spiritual fulfillment in general. If you're for any of this, I invite you to JOIN me and LEAVE Arnold. Then get your ticket for the "Love Train" and wait in line.
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