“The greatest tyrannies are always perpetuated in the name of the noblest causes.” – Thomas Paine.
Also,
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion; what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms." -- Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, 1787
Organized protest, when still allowed, mostly earns a “So?” The trend is for appeals to our “goddam-piece-of-paper” Constitution—along with the simple questioning of CorpoGov—to become acts of “terrorism”. First, America cries terrorism! whenever foreigners we’re terrorizing seek to protect themselves; now it’s coming home, turning on us. Most people still seem to buy the illusion that this coming November 4 will have something to do with positive change. We do have at least the potential for major change—one way or the other—coming much sooner. Many things falling into orbit around Thursday, May 1, could have influence beyond anything we’ve seen in a long time.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has voted to shut down West Coast Ports on May Day, planning to stop work during the day shift. Since troops invaded Afghanistan in 2002, this Internationalist Group has fought for American unions to strike against the Pentagon killing machine. Now they are demanding not only an end to occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, but a withdrawal of our troops from the entire region, including oil sheikdoms of the Persian/Arab Gulf. On the “other side”, the CPC’s chosen ones, Obama, Clinton and McCain, all support expansion of warfare in Afghanistan. Also, Admiral Fallon was removed this month, the main obstacle to Cheney and his chickenhawk pack getting us into attacking Iran, perhaps kindling WWIII. As the head of U.S. Central Command, Fallon had maintained that an attack on Iran would never happen on his watch. The White House finally got him retired—further disgrace that CorpoMedia obscured with standard bursts of CorpoGov lies, before quickly going on to more important matters (nothing to see here, move along). After all, who’s ever heard of Admiral William Fallon, formerly the most important voice of reason perhaps in the whole world?
If not severely muted or worse, by attacks on Iran before May 1, the action announced by the powerful West Coast dock workers union should be taken up by unions and labor organizations throughout the United States, even internationally—May Day is the international workers day, though not honored in the U.S. The only thing for sure about this strike is that, now “legally”, pretty much anything could happen, including declaration of martial law. American troops firing on American workers. Blackwater unleashed. UN “Peacekeepers”...? Labor accurately sees the War On Terror as an attempt to terrorize the world into submission, while doubling as a war on working people and democratic rights. Labor still has the muscle to shut the country down, and this strike against imperialist war is nothing new. During contract negotiations in the fall of 2002, where a shutdown of similar proportions loomed, BushCo hit with an injunction declaring any work stoppage a threat to the “war effort”, and issued threats of occupying the ports with troops. Lots of new “rules” since then guarantee that, overall, we should expect new standards of American “liberty” to bare their teeth if labor flexes their muscles...all a certain prelude to so long dollars, loonies and pesos, hello Amero? (3)
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