[Marxism] Comments on the UPJ Adminstrative Committee

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Below are the members of the Administrative Committee of United for Peace
and Justice as indicated on
<http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2327>http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2327.
This committee is responsible for "Providing oversight and direction to the
national staff", "Developing policy recommendations for the Steering
Committee regarding personnel or organizational issues", etc. In other
words, it is really a key decision making body.

1. Allison Budschalow, American Friends Service Committee
(The AFSC is a pacifist outfit connected to the Quaker Church.)

2. Andrea Buffa, Global Exchange
(Buffa is a typical nonprofit careerist who has never held down a real job
in all likelihood. Global Exchange is run by Medea Benjamin, who played a
prominent role in attacking the Nader campaign last year.)

3. Bill Fletcher, TransAfrica Forum
(Fletcher is an African-American and self-described socialist who used to
be the education director of the AFL-CIO. He co-authored an article titled
"Visualizing a Neo-Rainbow" with actor/activist Danny Glover that can be
read at:
<http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0127-24.htm>http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0127-24.htm.
They say, "As much as many progressives may wish for the replacement of the
party by a left/ progressive party of struggle, this is unlikely to happen
in the near term. Independent political parties have simply failed to
ignite widespread populist electoral activity. At the same time, no one
should expect that the Democratic Party will itself become the party of the
dispossessed. Instead, activists should look upon the Democratic Party as
itself a field of struggle."

4. Bob Wing, War Times
(Wing was a member of the Line of March group that folded in the 1980s.
Although nominally Maoist, Line of March had an orientation to the CPUSA.
He has written, "Building electoral alliances--around issues, referenda,
and candidates, both inside and outside the Democratic Party--is key to the
maturation of a racial justice movement that functions on the scale
necessary to impact national politics, social policy, or ideological
struggle in this country." (Full:
<http://www.arc.org/C_Lines/CLArchive/story4_1_04.html>http://www.arc.org/C_Lines/CLArchive/story4_1_04.html

5. Graylan Hagler, Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ
(Hagler is an African-American Minister who has also worked with ANSWER.)

6. Jen Geiger, Women's International League for Peace & Freedom
(WILPF has been around since 1915 and was a stalwart of the Vietnam antiwar
movement.)

7. Jessie Marshall, National Youth and Student Peace Coalition; Judith Le
Blanc, Communist Party USA
(Jessie Marshall is also a member of the CPUSA. The National Youth and
Student Peace Coalition is a typical CP-controlled "movement" group.
Marshall and Le Blanc, who I used to work with in the Committee in
Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, obviously support the work of
the Communist Party in Iraq, which helped to provide left cover for the
quisling government. In an interview that appears in Political Affairs, the
CP's theoretical magazine, Iraq CP leader Hamid Majid Moussa says, "The
Americans started out and still are in a state of political confusion and
chaos in Iraq. Admittedly, they have a general strategy, which is to
reshape Iraq's political life to promote their own interests. But
tactically speaking, the Americans have driven themselves into tight spots
and harmed their goals and many of their allies." The Americans are
obviously not the only ones in a state of political confusion. God help the
antiwar movement with people like Marshall and Le Blanc in positions of
authority.

8. Lenore Palladino, United Students Against Sweatshops

9. Lisa Fithian, RANT
(RANT is an anti-globalization group.)

10. Rahul Mahajan, NoWar Collective, Empire Notes
(Rahul used to be a subscriber to the original Marxism list. He just
received a PhD in physics from the University of Texas but has expressed a
desire to me to launch a career as a professional leftist.)

11. Van Gosse, Historians Against War
(I don't have much confidence in Gosse's ability to build any kind of
dynamic movement after seeing him in operation as moderator of the
H-RadicalHistory mailing list. He is singularly uncommunicative. His
mailing list is moribund.)


Louis Proyect
Marxism list: www.marxmail.org


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