[Marxism] The Little Engine That Couldn't Kucinich Surrenders on Anti-War Plank

[Mike Friedman <mikedf@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.counterpunch.org/jacobs07162004.html

July 16, 2004

The Little Engine That Couldn't Kucinich Surrenders on Anti-War Plank
By RON JACOBS

Well, history has repeated itself and, just like the saying goes, this time
around it is pure farce. In this instance, I am referring to the attempt by
Kucinich supporters to attach an antiwar plank to the Democratic Party's
2004 platform. As anyone knows, of course, these platforms don't really
mean much of anything, but the fact that the Kerry people fought even the
inclusion of a statement that called the Iraq war wrong from its inception
proves once again how little difference there really is in the campaigns of
the two men running for president of the United States this year. It also
proves the pointlessness of any group of left-leaning Democrats who still
believe that their party is capable of redemption along McGovernite lines.

The original hope of the Kucinich campaign--a campaign that voiced clear
opposition to the war and ran on a demand that the US withdraw from
Iraq--was that the Democratic Party platform for 2004 would include
language that included a timetable for the withdrawal of all US military
forces from Iraq and also made clear that the party considered the war on
Iraq a mistake from the beginning. What the Kucinich campaign got instead
was "a commitment to begin the process to talk about bringing the troops
home;" according to Kucinich's campaign manager, Tim Carpenter. In short,
they got nothing, since the conversation Mr. Carpenter is referring to has
already begun in the streets and workplaces of the nation.

To add injury to insult to those Kucinich supporters who supported Dennis
because of his supposed opposition to the war, Kucinich called some
supporters and told them that this retreat was some kind of a victory. If I
were one of those supporters, I would have hung up on Mr. Kucinich's
quicker than I do on a solicitor. This is no victory. If anything, it's
further acknowledgement as to the bankruptcy of the two-party system. Not
only have the remaining antiwar forces in the Democratic Party been
relegated to the sidelines at the party convention, they've convinced
themselves that their silencing is a victory. All of this done, of course,
in the name of party unity and a desire to beat George Bush.

[continues ....]

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