On “The International Socialist Organization and the 2012 US elections“
According to the Socialist Worker, the Democrats had a real opportunity to open a new progressive era in the United States but chickened out before Wall Street. The ISO’s brilliant conclusion is that the progressive left has coddled the Democrats too much and has to give them some tough love so they don’t chicken out next time. What is a socialist to these people? Do they think it means cultural cosmopolitanism + mild Keynesian economics? They have said before they don’t see themselves as a vanguard party. They don’t seem to believe in Permanent Revolution (look at their perspective in Egypt!).
As Mr. Walsh writes, their entire establishment orientation on national politics indicates a rejection of the independence of the working class. I find that the fact that their Greek sister party is in SYRIZA is a good indication of what the ISO would do to betray the working class in a similar situation. What the WSWS has written on the ISO is great—keep it coming. I would add that it would be beneficial to write a short history of their organization and its evolution.
Terrence M
Massachusetts, USA
26 October 2012
On “George McGovern: Liberal standard-bearer at a turning point in US politics“
Thanks for article. Gives answers to few of my questions about the Democratic Party. Also, how the year 1971 marks the shift in American politics to right, with the end of post-war boom, has been well explained.
Regards,
Sathish
26 October 2012
On “Ben Affleck’s Argo: An embrace of US foreign policy“
Good review of a poor movie and a disappointing Ben Affleck, whose acting had often been to portray characters in strained social conditions.
Hollywood and its well-off actors are incapable of producing again a movie like The Parallax View (1974), which offers a far better view of the world of political bourgeois plotters. The scene in which the main actor is put through a slide show while undergoing the recruitment process for a mercenary company, the Parallax Corp., says a lot about the political principles of such people.
Keep up the good work.
Regards,
J
29 October 2012