I don't know if this country's racism has ever been more on display than in the murder of Michael Brown and subsequent Star Chamber cover-up perpetrated by "the system" as employed by Robert McCulloch and Governor Jay Nixon. If I can ever get over my grief over what America has become, I may have more to say. Shame on McCulloch and Nixon. Shame. People like them give human beings a bad name. And Governor Nixon? Your career is deader than Richard Nixon's. No self-respecting Democrat--no self-respecting human being--would ever vote for a racist POS like you ever again. While Officer Wilson will have to live with the guilt (if he's capable of such) for murdering an unarmed teenager for no reason whatsoever, everything that has happened since is squarely YOUR fault, Governor Nixon. So don't come out with your speeches expressing faux outrage at looting and burning. It was in your power to prevent any of that from happening. It was in your power to ensure that justice was done. Instead, you abdicated your responsibilities and cowered in whatever dark corner you slither off to at night. You could have done the Right Thing. You CHOSE not to. Blood and destruction is your "legacy". The devil you sold your soul to is very proud of you, today.
"Ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have"--James Baldwin, author and Civil Rights activist
I don't know if this country's racism has ever been more on display than in the murder of Michael Brown and subsequent Star Chamber cover-up perpetrated by "the system" as employed by Robert McCulloch and Governor Jay Nixon. If I can ever get over my grief over what America has become, I may have more to say. Shame on McCulloch and Nixon. Shame. People like them give human beings a bad name. And Governor Nixon? Your career is deader than Richard Nixon's. No self-respecting Democrat--no self-respecting human being--would ever vote for a racist POS like you ever again. While Officer Wilson will have to live with the guilt (if he's capable of such) for murdering an unarmed teenager for no reason whatsoever, everything that has happened since is squarely YOUR fault, Governor Nixon. So don't come out with your speeches expressing faux outrage at looting and burning. It was in your power to prevent any of that from happening. It was in your power to ensure that justice was done. Instead, you abdicated your responsibilities and cowered in whatever dark corner you slither off to at night. You could have done the Right Thing. You CHOSE not to. Blood and destruction is your "legacy". The devil you sold your soul to is very proud of you, today. Most income of the rich and super rich is the result of speculation, usury, and theft of the product of labor. Every mathematical study of the American economy verifies these simple facts. The rich and super rich are superfluous to society, they're irrelevant, they do nothing that can't be done without them.--Danny S, Yahoo comment to the story "The Poor Should Stop Whining, Says Luxury CEO"
I have, in my head, a list of individuals that I hope, someday, to investigate--to delve into their writings and speeches and songs and poems--to mine their words in the interests of adding to our repository, here. Of course, I never get around to doing any of that. Time is just so scarce. Pete Seeger was certainly on that list. Pete Seeger, folksinger and activist, passed away January 27. Few individuals have participated in so much of America's history. Certainly, there are few who were so influential in the second wave (the thirties and forties) of labor organizing. Pete's "Talking Union Blues" is as powerful and delightful today as it was when he wrote it over 70 years ago. More than that, Pete never turned down an invitation to contribute to a labor action when asked. If he couldn't come himself, he'd send a contribution and words of encouragement. Contrary to the claims of critics, who persist today, Pete loved America very much. There are some, and always have been, who believe in a very narrow America. They believe you cannot be a communist and an American. They believe you cannot be a Muslim and an American. They believe you cannot be African-American and American. Those poor twisted bigoted souls truly believe that only white conservative heterosexual Christians can be real Americans. Never mind that that kind of narrow view was exactly what the Constitution was seeking to guard against. Pete Seeger believed in certain aspects of communism, its true. He believed in communism as was practiced by the Native Americans, not as it was practiced in the USSR. As Pete pointed out, the communism of Eastern Europe bore as much resemblance to true communism as the Christianity taught in the churches bears to true Christianity. I consider myself a Christian, but I want nothing to do with The Church which, in my opinion, preaches intolerance and bigotry--exactly the opposite of what I read in my copy of The Bible. Anyway, point being, Pete was called to testify by the House Committee on Un-American Activities during the McCarthy era--as dark a stain as any on America's past. The Committee, of course, wanted Pete to "name names"--to "expose" other communists. While others would plead the Fifth Ammendment, Pete plead the First--the rights to free speech and freedom of assembly. It was a very brave thing to do at the time and Pete spent a year in prison for contempt of Congress until that conviction was, ultimately, tossed out. Twenty years from now, we won't be hailing Edward Snowden as a hero, but there will be a quiet acknowledgement that what he did was righteous and brave. Because that's how we do it, here. Quiet acknowledgement. Pete was generally a pacifist. But that, too, has been painted with too broad a brush. In general, Pete found war to be such a waste of lives and resources, waged for the aggrandizement of those who never fought in them. He recognized, though, that some wars were necessary. He served during World War II, though his communist background kept him picking up cigarette butts rather than fighting. But wars like Viet Nam and Iraq--wars built on lies and profit--those he opposed with his weapon of choice--music. In more recent decades, Pete had been a crusader for the environment, particularly through his Clearwater Foundation. And Pete understood that human beings have a tendency to be overwhelmed by the size and number of things requiring change and improvement. There is a tendency to throw up your hands and say, "What can I do in the face of all that?" Pete's answer was to focus on small things that you could do. He spoke of the Teaspoon Brigade and said, "Realize that little things lead to bigger things." Above all else, Pete brought a lot of great music into the world and spread it far and wide. His songs delivered positive messages, whatever the subject matter. It's impossible to listen to Pete Seeger sing and not picture him smiling with the sun just beyond his shoulder. He was an eternal optimist in song. His spirit will be greatly missed. And, so, belatedly, we've added some Pete Seeger quotes to our humble repository. You'll find them gathered together on the "S" page, and scattered throughout the topic pages as appropriate. It is one of the "little things" I could do. He wants someone to get to the bottom of it so they won't get to the top.—Roy Zimmerman, political satirist and singer, on theGovernor Chris Christie "Bridgegate" scandal in New Jersey
Free speech is for people, my friend. Find out more about the efforts to get money out of politics at Free Speech For People.
The Republican vision is clear: "I've got mine, the rest of you are on your own." Republicans say they don't believe in government. Sure they do. They believe in government to help themselves and their powerful friends. After all, Mitt Romney's the guy who said corporations are people. No, Governor Romney, corporations are not people. People have hearts, they have kids, they get jobs, they get sick, they cry, they dance. They live, they love, and they die. And that matters. That matters because we don't run this country for corporations, we run it for people.--Elizabeth Warren, 2012 Democratic National Convention Here's a nicely done satirical song about Citizens United from one of the best--if not THE best--musical satirists around today, Roy Zimmerman. Pay him a visit at his web site and "like" him on facebook (he likes you, too). "Four years ago, the Mitt Romneys of the world nearly destroyed the global economy with their greed, shortsightedness and – most notably – wildly irresponsible use of debt in pursuit of personal profit. The sight was so disgusting that people everywhere were ready to drop an H-bomb on Lower Manhattan and bayonet the survivors. But today that same insane greed ethos, that same belief in the lunatic pursuit of instant borrowed millions – it's dusted itself off, it's had a shave and a shoeshine, and it's back out there running for president."--Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone
Go read: "Greed and Debt: The True Story of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital" by Matt Taibbi for the full story. Thievery is what unregulated capitalism is all about.--Robert Sherrill, investigative journalist
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About Stubby'sIf the spirit so moves you, feel free to stop awhile and refresh yourself with the collective wisdom and inspiration within these pages. If you hold the copyright to any image herein and wish it removed, just let me know. Always open to verified and verifiable Labor Quotes--especially APWU related. Submit to [email protected] Archives
June 2023
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