Daily Briefing - Wednesday September 1, 2010

Hello Ian Masters, Thank you for all of your outstanding journalism and inspiring broadcasts on KPF; for many years my friends wondered why I was never available Sundays until the afternoon. When I told them, it didn't register - listening to political discussions and critiques? Never! not for them; now they do listen to 'political' radio, if you can use those terms to describe the rants of Limbaugh and what's his name on Fox. Anyway, thanks again...

Getting to the subject at hand, I am just as concerned as you about the absence of any push-back from the left side of the political spectrum. I think the causes can be understood, and remedies undertaken to produce at least an offensive on the left to push back at the extremme Republican right wing - the question then may be, Do we really want to piss these people off that much?? Right now I say Yes, hoping not to regret such an effort later.

The Left of the American Political Spectrum that took shape as a fairly effective political and social force from the mid 1960's through, say, the 70's had basically disbanded by the time Reagan became President. In point of fact, he was only elected President because so many of the "troops" voted for him. These were/are my peers, the baby-boomers, the ME generation. They turned out in the streets in the sixties and seventies because it was what many of their friends were doing - hell, most everyone on most college campuses were involved in some manner. Add to that the issuses of concern for blacks, latinos and labor and you had a large left of center movement, by all appearances. After Vietnam, black desegregation, and labor advances had been achieved, and the boomers moved into the workforce, married and had children, the erosion began. Busing (bring black youth into white boomer educational institutions) rubbed off the thin veneer of youthfuul edealism. Boomers wanted a lot more of what their parents had given them, at no cost to themselves. Republicanism started to germinate among their ranks; black americans, meanwhile, were busily trying to better their plight by moving into mixed race suburbs, depopulating their urban power positions and greatly diminishing their political voice. Labor, well you know the story on that...

so that leaves the left intelligencia, leftist hard-line ideologues, some feminists, fringe labor leaders and the soon to emerge gay movement (due to the AIDS epidemic of the mid 80's. Today you can add to that latino immigration rights activists, possibly a reviving labor movement (mostly public employees)the global warming movement members, a compromised enviromentalist party (lime Greens) economic critics and other assorted special interest groups, many not organized in any capacity.

but it seems that the numbers are there - its the issues that aren't. The young men and women of today are much different than us boomers; we have raised them putting materialism on the altar in place of ethics, religion, etc. The boomer sex, drugs and rock and roll personal freedom movement morphed into great aquisitivness and possesiveness which has been passed to our youth.

Oops,. more editorializing.

The newly arrived latino immigrant population, in massive numbers, and asians to some extent, have taken the brunt of the global recession - their more than a little upset. They need a unifying, dignifying issue. How about the OCCUPATION. Most Americans are aware of the Israeli occupation of Palestine which actually began in 1947-48 (not including the Zionist movement even earlier).

But that is not the occupation I am speaking of. Rather, it is the white european american occupation of Mexican land starting about 100 years earlier to which I refer. During a time of governmental chaos in Mexico, America swept in and forced a negotiated settlement (not with a popular or necessarily legitimate government of Mexico, but with some oligarchs and general Santa Ana) that "ceded" California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and New Mexico to America. The legal residents and land owners were suddenly, without consultation or concern, totally disenfranchised. Some may have received some compensation, but only a token amoount. Many, if not most, Mexicans returned to what remained of Mexico.

I say latino demands for immigration reform and legalization could easily morph into a movement for repatriation and compensation at the least, and return of the OCCUPIED territories as the ideal. And that is were the strident rhetoric needs to aim, with repatriationa (immigration reform) and compensation (not attainable) as the fall-back position, the compromise position.

Latinos can look to the Native American Movement/Wounded Knee for a blueprint to begin with. They have the numbers that Russell Means did not have. They could truly upset the Republican Applecart and allow room for a revitalization of the left with Latinos in the vanguard. Put the Republicans on the defensive with a potent "offense".

Thanks for being patient while I fleshed out my idea; I am certain you will shortly have it down to a sentence or two, or 86ed it altogether.

Sincerely,

Ray Koke
gimmeakoke@msn.com
626-226-8913