Re: Forwarded from Anthony (Bush victory)

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Carrol:
>I see no evidence for this whatever. I see intense quarrels within
>the *political* 'class,' as there was at the time of Watergate or
>in the election of 1912 when T. Roosevelt split from the Republican
>Party and threw the election to the super-imperialist and racist
>Wilson.

This is a sectarian error. As I pointed out, the Trotskyist movement in the
United States took advantage of the furor over Watergate to launch a 40
million dollar suit against the FBI. In addition to damages, the FBI would
be enjoined from spying on and disrupting the organization. The SWP won,
but got a much lower cash settlement, the exact figure I can't remember.
This ruling has made it much more difficult for the FBI to function as
political police. The elimination of the Cointelpro program, which the SWP
case helped to facilitate, made it easier for groups like CISPES to
function. When my own organization Tecnica was investigated by the FBI, the
press opened up a huge attack on the government and they were forced to
back down. If socialists had taken Carrol's simon-pure abstentionist
attitude to heart, the left would be in much worse shape than it is in today.

Louis Proyect
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