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Today's
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February 18, 2004
Greg Weiher
Why is Kerry Getting a Pass?
February 17, 2004
Mike Ferner
The
Countryside Murders in Iraq
Mokhiber / Weissman
Corporation
as Psychopath
Marjorie Cohn
DrakeGate:
a Victory for Free Speech
Kurt Nimmo
Bush's
Endgame: a Review of Chalmers Johnson's "Sorrows of Empire"
Greg Bates
Nader Ambush: a New Low for The
Nation
Ximena Ortiz
A Bush
Doctrine, of Sorts
Gary Leupp
Whatever Happened to Gen. Khazraji?
Sen. John Kerry
"The Cause of Israel is the Cause of America"
Steve Perry
Kerry
1, Drudge 0
February 16, 2004
James Johnston
Huddling
with the Cheeseheads in a NASCAR World
Sara Eltantawi
To
Wear the Hijab or Not
Bruce Anderson
Kevin
Cooper and the Midnight Needle
Elaine Cassel
Feds
on Campus: the Drake Subpoenas
Rahul Mahajan
Bush,
Is the Tide Finally Turning?
Kevin Cooper
The Ritual of Death
Stan Cox
Goodbye, Howard Dean
Larry David
My War
Steve Perry
Bush and the Guard: the Cover-Up's the Thing
Website of the Day
Prison Patriots: Help This Vital Film Get Made
February 14/15, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Milk Bars, Hollywood and the
March of Empires
Jeffrey St. Clair
Oil Grab in the Arctic
William A. Cook
Faith-Based Fanatics
Stan Goff
Beloved
Haiti
Dave Marsh / Lee Ballinger
Rock, Rap & the Election
Hughes / Weiher
Tupac, the Patriot Act and Me
Michael Colby
Bush v. Kerry: the Power Elite's Dream Ballot
Mickey Z.
Michael Moore's Lesser Party: the General and the Lieutenant
Josh Frank
Dean's Demise No Big Loss for the Left
Peter Wolson
The Politics of Narcissism
William James Martin
Clean Break with the Road Map
Daniel Estulin
Religious Extremism in Africa
Standard Schaefer
The Privatization of Culture: an Interview with Michael Hudson
Dave Zirin
Maurice Clarett Gets Off the Plantation
Tracy McLellan
Oprah's Birthday Greedfest
Poets' Basement
Holt, LaMorticella, Guthrie, Subiet and Albert
Website of the Weekend
Progressives Scorecard: Where Do the Dems Rank on the Issues
That Matter?
February 13, 2004
Alan Maass
Kevin
Cooper's Fight to Live
Karyn Strickler
McCarthyism in the Sierra Club
Annie Higgins
On
a Street in America
Adam Federman
Democratic Snipers Target Nader
Mike Whitney
George W. Faces the Nation
Brian Cloughley
Our Imperial Leader Has Spoken
Website of the Day
Lying Action Figure Doll
February 12, 2004
Ray McGovern
George
Tenet's Spin Cycle
Robert Jensen
Bush's
Nuclear Hypocrisy
Saul Landau
Elegy to the Salton Sea
February
11, 2004
Cockburn
/ St. Clair
Hail, Kerry: Senator Facing-Both-Ways
Steve Perry
Bush
v. Bush?
February
10, 2004
Kurt
Nimmo
Inquisition in Iowa
Ron Jacobs
Politics and the Beatles: Don't
You Know You Can Count Me Out (In)
Elizabeth
Schulte
The Many Faces of John Kerry
Mickey
Z
Meet the Oxmans: "The Rich
Shouldn't Sleep at Night Either"
February
9, 2004
Michael
Donnelly
Will Skull and Bones Really Change
CEOs? Inside John Kerry's Closet
Chris Floyd
Smells Like Team Spirit: the Bush
B-Boys Replay Their Greatest Hits
Bill
Christison
What's Wrong with the CIA?
Dr. Susan
Block
Janet Jackson's Mammary Moment:
Boob Tube Super Bowl
February
7/8, 2004
Kathleen
Christison
Offending Valerie: Dealing with
Jewish Self-Absorption
Jeff Ballinger
No Sweat Shopping
Dave
Lindorff
Spray and Pray in Iraq: a Marine
in Transit
Alexander
Cockburn
McNamara: the Sequel
February
6, 2004
Ron
Jacobs
Are the Kurds in the Way?
Joanne
Mariner
Anita Bryant's Legacy
Saul
Landau
Happiness and Botox
Kurt Nimmo
Horror Non-fiction: A How-To Guide
from Perle and Frum
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
The Real Intelligence Failure:
Our Own
February
5, 2004
Benjamin
Shepard
Turning NYC into a Patriot Act Free
Zone
Khury
Petersen-Smith
A Report from Occupied Iraq: "We Don't Want Army USA"
Mokhiber
/ Weissman
The 10 Worst Corporations of 2003
Teresa
Josette
The Exeuctioner's Pslam? Christian Nation? Yeah, Right
David Krieger
Why Dr. King's Message on Vietnam is Relevant to Iraq
Christopher
Brauchli
Monkey Business: Of Recess and Evolution in Georgia Schools
Norman
Solomon
The Deadly Lies of Reliable Sources
Cockburn
/ St. Clair
Presenting President Edwards!
February
4, 2004
Brian
McKinlay
Bush's Australian Deputy: Howard's
Last Round Up?
Mark
Gaffney
Ariel Sharon's Favorite Senator: Ron Wyden and Israel
Judith
Brown
Palestine and the Media
Frederick
B. Hudson
Moseley-Braun and the Butcher: Campaign for Justice or Big Oil's
Junta?
Kurt Nimmo
Bush's Independent Commission: Exonerating
the Spooks
M.
Junaid Alam
Philly School Workers Fight for Fair Contract
Fran Shor
Whose Boob Tube?
Kevin
Cooper
This is Not My Execution and I Will Not Claim It
February
3, 2004
Alan
Maass
The
Dems' New Mantra: What They Really Mean by "Electability"
Nick
Halfinger
How the Other Half Lives: Embedded
in Iraq
Rahul
Mahajan
Our True Intelligence Failure
Neve Gordon
The Only Democracy in the Middle East?
Laura
Carlsen
Mexico: Two Anniversaries; Two Futures
Terry
Lodge
An Open Letter to Michael Powell from the Boobs & Body Parts
Fairness Campaign
Hammond
Guthrie
Investigating the Meaningless
Website
of the Day
Waging Peace
February
2, 2004
Gary
Leupp
The Buddhist Nun in Tom Ridge's Jail
Justin
E.H. Smith
The Manners of Their Deaths: Capital Punishment in a Smoke-Free
Environment
Tom
Wright
The Prosecution of Captain Yee
Winslow
Wheeler
Inside the Bush Defense Budget
Lee Ballinger
Janet Jackson's Naked Truth
Leonard
Pitts, Jr
For Blacks, the Game of Justice is
Rigged
Jeffrey
St. Clair
The Hollow Candidate:
The Trouble with Howard Dean
Website
of the Day
Resistance:
In the Eye of the American Hegemon
Jan. 31 / Feb 1, 2004
Paul
de Rooij
For Whom the Death Tolls: Deliberate
Undercounting of Coalition Fatalities
Bernard
Chazelle
Bush's Desolate Imperium
Jack
Heyman
Bushfires on the Docks
Christopher
Reed
Broken Ballots
Michael
Donnelly
An Urgent Plea to Progressives: Don't Give in to Fear
Rob Eshelman
The Subtle War
Lee
Sustar
Palestine and the Anti-War Movement
George
Bisharat
Right of Return
Ray
McGovern
Nothing to Preempt
Brian Cloughley
Enron's Beady-Eyed Sharks
Conn
Hallinan
Nepal, Bush & Real WMDs
Kurt Nimmo
The Murderous Lies of the Neo-Cons
Phillip
Cryan
Media at the Monterrey Summit
Christopher
Brauchli
A Speech for Those Who Don't Read
John
Holt
War in the Great White North
Mickey
Z.
Clueless in America: When Mikey Met Wesley
Mark
Scaramella
The High Cost of Throwing Away the Key
Tariq Ali
Farewell, Munif
Ben
Tripp
Waiter! The Reality Check, Please
Poets'
Basement
LaMorticella, Guthrie, Thomas and Albert
January 30, 2004
Saul
Landau
Cuba High on Neo-Con Hit List
Michael
Donnelly
Bush's Second Front: The War in
the Woods
Elaine
Cassel
Worse Than Jacko: Child Abuse at Gitmo
David Vest
More Halliburton News, Brought to You by Halliburton
Mike
Whitney
The Kay Report: Still Defending Aggression
David
Miller
The Hutton Whitewash
Sam
Husseini
How Many People Must Die Because of This "Mistake",
Senator Kerry?
January 29, 2004
Patricia
Nelson Limerick
John Ehrlichman, Environmentalist
Ron
Jacobs
Homeland Security and "Legalized"
Immigration
Rahul Mahajan
New Hampshire v. Iraq
Greg
Weiher
Bush Calls for Preemptive Strike on
Moon and Mars
Norman
Solomon
The State of the Media Union
Cockburn
/ St. Clair
Does NH Mean Anything?
January
28, 2004
Kathy
Kelly
Bearing Witness Against Teachers of
Torture and Assassination
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click Here
for More Stories.
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February
18, 2004
Killing the Messenger
AFL-CIO's
Attack on Harry Kelber, the 90-Year Old Editor of The Labor Educator
By MIKE GRIFFIN
As a rank and file trade unionist for more than
37 years, I have born witness to events perpetrated by our so-called
leaders that range from amazingly corrupt to outlandishly stupid;
but the attack on a ninety year old elder statesman is proof
that no matter how low you can believe they will stoop, we continue
to underestimate their resolve to find the ultimate depth. If
the realm somewhere between slug slime and pond scum comes to
mind, we are on a parallel thought path. The removal of DR. Harry
Kelber from membership in Typographical Union Local 6, upheld
by Communications Workers Of America [CWA] International Union
President, Morton Bahr, is but another example of how desperate
top labor leaders are to crush dissent and silence criticism,
no matter how well deserved. Leadership so defunct and impotent,
they can only rise to struggle against those in their membership
who are defenseless against a misleadership willing to use their
ill-gotten power and violate their own constitution to win at
any cost.
One might wonder what dire threat a ninety-year-old
writer and labor educator might be to the mighty AFL-CIO. As
a labor reporter with press credentials, Harry had access to
AFL-CIO Executive Council meetings and conventions, a seat in
the press box and an uncanny understanding of the workings of
labor's hierarchy. From that understanding and inside information,
Harry was able to offer legitimate criticism and even dared to
offer alternative solutions to ease labor's woes. Most damming,
Harry wrote about union corruption, in particular, the ULLICO
scandal involving Morton Bahr, CWA President. What made the assault
on Harry difficult were his impeccable credentials, his honesty
and integrity. Decades of service to the labor movement, including
years of educational service to the New York AFL-CIO, made it
difficult to discredit the often-chiding senior statesman of
the rank and file. They stooped to use a past due dues payment
to remove his union membership even though he sought to pay them.
Will Harry Kelber be allowed to return to the AFL-CIO press box?
I think not.
There are a number of transgressions
Harry Kelber is guilty of; ones that make me extremely proud
to be his friend, co-conspirator, and fellow trade unionist.
This past September in Chicago IL, the AFL-CIO held it's Executive
Council meeting. Trade unionists from around the country gathered
in front of the lavish Drake Hotel to protest the lack of democracy
in the AFL-CIO and demanded an end to corruption. The main source
of contention was the ULLICO scandal and the AFL-CIO's failure
to hold accountable, many members of the Council involved. When
I saw my old friend lumbering down the street attempting to cross
over to the AFL-CIO meeting, his pace had slowed, age had stooped
him, but the devlish twinkle in his eyes was unmistakable. The
ancient warrior was still prepared for battle. The lively demonstration
was clearly a source of public pain to labor's bureaucracy. There
was no question of Harry's involvement and prior to the day of
the demonstration, Harry was removed from the Drake under the
guise of "security risk" and moved to a hotel across
the street. Labor press has for years, been billeted in the same
hotel and welcomed by the AFL-CIO. That now appears to be only
when they print the news the way the AFL-CIO wants it. Imagine
at 90, Harry represents a security risk. Proof the pen is mightier
than the sword.
Harry's rebellion to the business union
that continues to strangle our precious union movement goes back
many years. In 1994, I had the privilege to pick Harry up at
the Decatur IL airport and take him to his hotel. Harry had come
to the War-Zone to offer his wisdom and counsel to more than
four thousand striking and locked out workers at Caterpillar,
Staley and Firestone. Harry's insight into the inner workings
of the AFL-CIO proved to be a valuable resource in securing assistance
to this bitter and protracted labor dispute. At the request of
Ray Rodgers, President of Corporate Campaign, a labor-consulting
firm from New York, hired by the locked out Staley workers, Harry
was the key to overcoming the resistance of the Lane Kirkland
AFL-CIO to join in the dispute and put the house of labor behind
the Decatur struggles. We knew that our international unions
were resisting the solidarity between the UAW, Paperworkers,
and the Steelworkers, as it made if difficult for them initiate
any kind of "Exit Strategy"[sell us out]. Harry, at
80, had the appearance of a member of the royal family, immaculately
groomed, a thick white moustache, dressed in tweed, and in an
instant, set you at ease with the charm of a true gentleman.
It was a pleasure to benefit from his conventional wisdom and
share personal moments with my family in my home. After Harry
returned to New York rank and file organizers in the Staley local
hatched a plan to confront the AFL-CIO for their distancing themselves
from the Decatur disputes. After maneuvering local leaders, busses
and vans were loaded for Bal Harbor, Fla. to confront the AFL-CIO
Executive Council. Harry, a reporter at the council meeting sprang
into action and formulized a plan to force the struggles to their
attention. While some Decatur activists were of the mind to kick
in the doors, Harry suggested a more conservative approach, one
that resulted in the Executive Council organizing a rally and
show of support in Decatur early in the spring of 1995. When
they came to our union hall and addressed the battle weary multitudes,
you could not mistake the shock of the enormity of the battle
taking place in Decatur IL. One leader told me of his surprise
at seeing such a great effort by rank and file workers, he was
never made aware of the circumstances unfolding in Decatur IL.
That was Morton Bahr, President of the CWA. Those one on one
conversations contradicted assurances by Wayne Glenn, President
of the Paperworkers, that he was seeking the support of the AFL-CIO
for our struggle and it explains why Glenn was so angry at our
surprise visit in Bal Harbor. So angry that he poked his finger
in the chest of our local president, Dave Watts, but only once!
The criteria for AFL-CIO support would
come at a high price. Ray Rodgers and Corporate Campaign would
have to go. Understanding this would throw us at the mercy of
the Paperworkers, I strongly opposed that directive, as did my
local president. But with waning support and an unmistakable
roadblock denying AFL-CIO assistance, the local executive board
ruled. Months after the AFL-CIO dog and pony show in Decatur
and after it became clear that our struggles were being held
hostage to the dues per capita paid to the AFL-CIO by the international
union, it was time to change the game plan. Rank and file organizers
devised a plan to indict Kirkland's poor leadership and we took
it to the regional AFL-CIO meetings in the form of protest from
the floor about the lack of support of striking and locked-out
workers in Decatur. As Kirkland traveled using the meetings to
stump for re-election, he was constantly haunted by the struggles
in Decatur. That effort culminated in Chicago when Kirkland stepped
down, giving the reins to Tom Donohue, Secretary Treasurer of
the AFL-CIO. As Sweeny and Trumka geared up to take control of
the AFL-CIO, the Staley local used their outreach to verify the
need for change with the full knowledge of the leadership of
the United Mineworkers of America, Trumka's union.
Again, Harry Kelber was pressed into
service. Rank and file workers from Decatur had resolutions passed
at State Federation conventions and central labor councils. Harry
ran as a rank and file candidate for the Presidency of the AFL-CIO.
So disturbing was the thought of real democracy in the AFL-CIO,
that when an AFSCME official seconded Harry's nomination, top
AFSCME leadership pounced on the errant member. Harry sent a
note to AFSCME leaders threatening to expose the intimidation
before the entire convention, they backed off and Harry became
the first rank and file candidate for President of the AFL-CIO.
The Decatur struggles permeated the 1995 convention with dozens
of Decatur unionists attending and speaking at different meetings.
After promises of enormous support by the New Voice of Sweeney
and Trumka, the Decatur struggles were ultimately betrayed for
thirty pieces of silver, the dues per capita paid by the international
unions.
The struggles that gathered worldwide
support and lasted more than three years, would never had made
it that far without Harry Kelber, Ray Rodgers, and Jerry Tucker,
UAW dissident and in-plant strategist to the Staley local. All
three represent the best of leadership the union has to offer
and none have positions other than rank and file members. The
thousands of members across America, Canada and Europe provided
the bulk of support to these struggles, not the massive bureaucracy
choking our union into oblivion.
As you can see, Harry's transgressions
are many, but I am grateful for all of them. In the times that
we worked closely, Harry's counsel was invaluable and I learned
much from him. Occasionally we crossed swords over how we presented
our strategy; Harry always the gentleman, and me, impatient and
blunt. I was for kicking down the door in Bal Harbor. Judging
by Harry's somewhat militant tactics of late, I choose to believe
he has taken a few cues from me; maybe not. Still, it took him
90 years to get kicked out of his union. Does that mean that
Morty Bahr and AFL-CIO leaders are coming after our grandmothers
next?
You would never hear Harry refer to top
leaders as slug slime or pond scum, but give him a few more years:
he is maturing well. When it comes to the mis-leadership in this
union today, I must make one simple mid-western analogy. When
the cows have grazed all day and they go to the pond for a drink
and digest their intake, you will know that it is not just cream
that rises to the top.
Mike Griffin
runs the War Zone Education Foundation in Decatur, Illinois.
He can be reached at: MgriffWZEF@aol.com
Weekend
Edition Features for February 14 / 15, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Milk Bars, Hollywood and the
March of Empires
Jeffrey St. Clair
Oil Grab in the Arctic
William A. Cook
Faith-Based Fanatics
Stan Goff
Beloved
Haiti
Dave Marsh / Lee Ballinger
Rock, Rap & the Election
Hughes / Weiher
Tupac, the Patriot Act and Me
Michael Colby
Bush v. Kerry: the Power Elite's Dream Ballot
Mickey Z.
Michael Moore's Lesser Party: the General and the Lieutenant
Josh Frank
Dean's Demise No Big Loss for the Left
Peter Wolson
The Politics of Narcissism
William James Martin
Clean Break with the Road Map
Daniel Estulin
Religious Extremism in Africa
Standard Schaefer
The Privatization of Culture: an Interview with Michael Hudson
Dave Zirin
Maurice Clarett Gets Off the Plantation
Tracy McLellan
Oprah's Birthday Greedfest
Poets' Basement
Holt, LaMorticella, Guthrie, Subiet and Albert
Website of the Weekend
Progressives Scorecard: Where Do the Dems Rank on the Issues
That Matter?
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