In three weeks, the international trade union movement is sponsoring a world wide day of action in support of the workers of Iran — and in particular jailed trade union activists such as Mansour Osanloo and Mahmoud Salehi (pictured).
Please take a moment and send off a message in support of the campaign. Thank you.
A spectre is haunting American politics — the spectre of John Edwards. A week after “suspending” his campaign, the former North Carolina Senator received over 380,000 votes in super Tuesday primaries.
“I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part.” – Otter, “Animal House” (1978)
I am about to propose something which is certainly futile and maybe stupid too.
I’ve been talking in recent days to people who, like me, supported the candidacy of John Edwards.
I’ve found that most of us are in a bind: we don’t really have a clear preference for one or the other Democratic candidate.
The withdrawal of John Edwards from the contest for the Democratic Presidential nomination on Wednesday has made the race suddenly less interesting. Like many other progressives, I was fascinated by the Edwards candidacy and by its promise to put radical ideas on the national agenda.
Back in 1974, I was a student in Cornell University’s labor relations program working during the summer for a union in New York City. The union’s education director (today its president) suggested to me that I quit university and go to work in a factory where I could organize workers. That was the way to get involved in the trade union movement, he told me. I pondered the offer — it would have involved moving to Indiana — and eventually decided not to do it.
Thanks to the Internet, that scenario is no longer possible.