[Marxism] Counterpunch and Democ Now: Dems, war and efforts to challenge from within

["Mike Friedman" <mikedf@xxxxxxxx>]

June 8, 2006
>From Bush to Hillary
Holding the War Parties Accountable

By JOSHUA FRANK

There are plenty of reasons the Democrats continue to support the ongoing
occupation of Iraq. Not only did they authorize the invasion, they
continue to sit on their hands while our armed forces commit murder in the
name of democracy in Haditha.

Perhaps the worst of the Democrats still embracing the illegal war is
Senator Hillary Clinton. And despite her unwillingness to engage the
antiwar community, she still receives substantial support from those who
say they don't support the occupation.

On June 3 Clinton won the coveted ballot line of the Working Families
Party in New York, even though the WFP was one of the first to oppose the
war on Iraq four years ago. It was a sign of what's to come as Hillary
sets herself up for a presidential run down the road, where alleged
antiwar groups like MoveOn.org will likely rush to defend Hillary against
a Republican challenger, despite her deadly foreign policy positions. But
let's hope Hillary never makes it that far.

Capitulation, like the WFP's last week, only serves to make Hillary worse
than she already is. Not that the Democrats will ever come out in
opposition to the Iraq war, but they surely aren't going to do so as long
as the antiwar movement supports them simply because they aren't
Republicans. And the WFP even had a legitimate alternative in Jonathan
Tasini, Clinton's antiwar primary challenger.

Tasini has come head-to-head with the Democratic elite in his efforts to
hold Clinton accountable for her depraved war stance. Late last month at
the New York Democrat's state convention, Tasini failed to introduce an
antiwar resolution that would have called for an immediate withdrawal of
US troops from Iraq.

His party wouldn't hear it. Democratic officials said Tasini hadn't
followed the rules by introducing the resolution fifteen days in advance.
Tasini contends he was misinformed and insists that Clinton's camp was
behind the sabotage.

[...]

The truth is, Democrats and Republicans aren't going to end this war. We
will, by refusing to play by their rules.

Joshua Frank, author of Left Out! How Liberals Helped Reelect George W.
Bush, edits http://www.BrickBurner.org

http://www.counterpunch.org/frank06082006.html
-----------------------
Tuesday, June 6th, 2006
Antiwar Candidates Challenge Incumbent Democrats in House and Senate Races

The 2006 mid-term elections are just five months away. In the Senate,
close to three-dozen seats are up for grabs, while all 435 seats are open
in the House. Democrats hope growing public discontent with the Bush
administration will help them win control of Congress from the
Republicans. But some of this year's most heated races won't just come
down to Republicans vs. Democrats - or Independents - in November. Rather,
in primaries this week and continuing through the summer, some of the
country's closely-watched races will pit Democrats - against Democrats.
And there's one main issue that's creating the fault line: the war in
Iraq.

Across the country, a handful of challengers are taking some of the
leading Democratic figures to task for voting to send US troops to Iraq
and refusing now to bring them home. On this issue and others like
government wiretapping, these candidates say many elected Democrats have
betrayed core party values and provided political cover for the Bush
administration.

We hear from four of these candidates that are shaking up races across the
country: Jonathan Tasini in New York, Marcy Winograd in California, Ned
Lamont in Connecticut and John Bonifaz in Massachusetts. [includes rush
transcript]

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/06/1337214#transcript



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