As incredible
as it may seem, the giant labor federation, the AFL-CIO, used to be run
by a staunch anti-communist. George Meany had his disagreements with conservatives
on domestic issues but he mostly agreed with them on foreign policy. Indeed,
Meany was so anti-communist that he was dubbed a “right-winger”
by liberals in the media. He criticized détente with the Soviet
Union. He didn’t like communists and refused to allow them into
his coalitions.
All
of this changed over time. When the AFL-CIO staged a “Solidarity
Day” rally in 1981, in order to protest President Ronald Reagan’s
domestic policies, then-AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland refused to tell
communists they were not welcome.
When
John Sweeney, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, became
president of the AFL-CIO, the communists and their fellow travelers were
officially welcomed in. He hired veterans of the Venceremos Brigades such
as Karen Nussbaum and Karen Ackerman. These were the groups of radical
young people who had gone to Communist Cuba for indoctrination sessions
back in the 1970s. Some went for training in guerrilla warfare. The trips
were arranged by Bernardine Dohrn of the terrorist Weather Underground.
As
we
noted in a recent column, Nussbaum, executive director of Working
America, a community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, is in charge of getting
the unemployed to the ballot box on November 2 in order to prevent a conservative
takeover of the U.S. Congress. Nussbaum, who served under Sweeney at the
Service Employees International Union (SEIU), has refused to talk about
her time in Cuba and the media won’t ask her any questions about
it.
Ackerman,
AFL-CIO political director since 2003, is also close-mouthed about her
Cuba trip.
In this
day and age, with the liberal media so willing to act as megaphones for
the Obama Administration and left-wing labor leaders, it is not “news”
that Ackerman, in charge of overall strategy and the spending of millions
of dollars on behalf of liberal candidates, once went to Cuba for indoctrination.
Nor is it “news” that the AFL-CIO, now under President Richard
Trumpka, has joined a “One Nation Working Together” coalition
staging a Saturday rally with the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and other
openly communist and socialist groups.
Consider
Thursday’s
Washington
Post story about the “liberal” and “left-leaning”
groups planning the October 2 march in Washington, D.C. Reporter Krissah
Thompson says the coalition includes “environmentalists, antiwar
activists, church and civil rights groups, union organizers and gay rights
coalitions…” Nothing is said about the fact that the “One
Nation Working Together” official list of “
endorsing
organizations” includes the CPUSA, best known for receiving
Soviet funding and direction during the Cold War. But the CPUSA is not
the only far-left group on the list. All that a reporter has to do is
read it. But to report the facts would mean that organizers of the rally,
led by a veteran Democratic Party operative, might have to be asked embarrassing
questions. So the facts are ignored.
The
liberal media bias and dishonesty aside, the change reflects how the progressive
movement has capitulated to the forces of the anti-American left, in order
to swell their ranks. It is a terrible development that is ominous for
the future of the United States because of the hold that the progressives
now have on the White House and Congress. It makes sensational reports
of a few extremists in the conservative-oriented Tea Party movement look
silly by comparison.
We
noted
in our recent column that the “peace director” of the
“One Nation Working Together” rally ran an organization that
defends accused Army traitor Bradley Manning. He talks openly about inviting
communists to the rally. It doesn’t bother him in the least.
Unfortunately,
this is the continuation of a trend we have seen since Barack Obama became
President and hired communist Van Jones. After Trevor Loudon broke the
story about Jones’ communist background and Glenn Beck of Fox News
raised a ruckus, Jones left the administration, only to return to the
group in Washington, D.C. where he had previously worked—the George
Soros-funded Center for American Progress. This revolving door proves
that the modern-day progressive movement is willing to work with communists
and tolerate their destructive ideology. It is a tragic turnaround from
the days when liberal Democrats shared the anti-communism that characterized
U.S. foreign policy.
These
communists are people who have always put the interests of foreign countries,
most of them totalitarian in nature, ahead of the United States. They
may not have the Soviet Union to depend on anymore, but they continue
to get inspiration and guidance from Cuba. They represent an alien philosophy
that has cost the lives of 100 million people through failed socialist
schemes, violence, terrorism, and murder. As former FBI informant Larry
Grathwohl has testified, the Weather Underground itself had plans to “re-educate”
100 million Americans and eliminate the 25 million who couldn’t
be converted to communism.
To cite
another example of this troublesome trend, consider that a so-called “progressive”
media outlet called “Truthout” is
circulating
a column on women active in politics that glorifies convicted terrorists
Lolita Lebron, Marilyn Buck, and Aafia Siddiqui. These women are called
“political prisoners.”
The
piece by someone named Linda Ford explains, “Lebron and Buck were
anti-white supremacy/anti-imperialist activists from the 1950s-80s. Lebron,
who was a Puerto Rican nationalist, died on August 1 at the age of 90.
From the 60s through the 80s, in a serious, comprehensive and all-encompassing
attempt at revolution, women participated in groups that favored radical
action—even armed resistance—against what they saw as an oppressive
American state.”
“In
March of 1954,” Ford acknowledges, “Lebron wanted to dramatically
tell the world that Puerto Rico was ‘a U.S. colony.’ Shouting
‘Viva Puerto Rico Libre!’ she led a small group which opened
fire in the House of Representatives, firing 30 shots and wounding five
Congressmen.”
Ford
assures us that Lebron claims she only shot at the ceiling, not intending
to hurt anyone. She was pardoned by President Carter and returned to her
“activism.”
As for
Buck, she “was an activist in the intense, politically charged atmosphere
of the 60s and 70s, part of the huge movement challenging the American
system: the capitalist state and white supremacy.”
In fact,
Buck was involved with the Weather Underground and the Black Liberation
Army (BLA) and served decades in prison, “where she wrote prize-winning
poetry and analytic articles on the psychology of female repression,”
Ford tells us. She was in prison for her involvement in multiple terrorist
incidents, including bombings, murders and helping a BLA member named
Joanne Chesimard escape from prison to Cuba.
Ford
goes on, “Stewart and Siddiqui, who were also arguably victims of
white supremacy and imperialism, have both felt the enormous consequences
of the anti-‘terrorist’/anti-Muslim era, beginning with the
9/11 bombings.”
Aafia
Siddiqui, known as “Lady Al Qaeda,”
was
sentenced to 86 years in prison for trying to kill American soldiers
and was implicated in other terrorist plots. But Linda Ford questions
the evidence and cites claims by “human rights groups” that
“she is not an extremist.”
Stewart
is terrorist lawyer Lynne Stewart, now serving 10 years in prison for
providing illegal support to a client, terrorist Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman,
responsible for the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. But Ford
casts doubt on these charges as well, saying that “Stewart thinks
she was being made an example to deter other lawyers, male or female,
from defending ‘controversial figures and causes.’”
These
claims would be laughable were the issue of terrorism not so serious.
How have we come to the point in the United States where a progressive
media outlet, bankrolled by liberal foundations, would run such garbage?
But
the “Truthout” site not only runs columns defending and praising
terrorists. It
distributes
columns by such liberals as Paul Krugman and E.J. Dionne.
A
statement
on the website boasts the names of dozens of leading “progressives”
and says that “We value and support Truthout in its efforts to promote
democracy, social justice, accountability and peace. Truthout is an invaluable
source of independent news and commentary, and provides a powerful voice
for the progressive movement.”
The
names
and signers include Bernie Lunzer, President of The Newspaper Guild/Communication
Workers of America; Michael Winship, President of the Writers Guild of
America, East; Jeff Cohen, founder of Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting;
Carol D. Rothman, Secretary-Treasurer, The Newspaper Guild-CWA; and Mike
Elk, labor writer for In These Times and The Huffington Post.
It is
tragic but telling that the cause of “social democracy, social justice,
accountability and peace” apparently justifies publishing not only
a defense of terrorism but a glorification of terrorists who have served
or are serving prison time.
But
this is what the progressive movement has become. It is shocking and dangerous.
By Cliff Kincaid
From:
NewsWithViews
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