Tom Hayden's Blog, page 27

California Prison Hunger Strike Masked by Iron Curtain

Will California Governor Jerry Brown, a lifetime opponent of capital punishment, take responsibility for the death of hunger strikers in solitary confinement in state prisons? That is a looming question as the hunger strike enters its fourth week and the governor and top legislators return from their summer vacations. 

California Prison Hunger Strike Masked by Iron Curatin

Will California Governor Jerry Brown, a lifetime opponent of capital punishment, take responsibility for the death of hunger strikers in solitary confinement in state prisons? That is a looming question as the hunger strike enters its fourth week and the governor and top legislators return from their summer vacations. 

Protests Against Secrecy Drive Elites Into Debate

Concerned citizens need to crack open the covers of C. Wright Mills’ The Power Elite as the curtains are being ripped back from the new surveillance state by whistleblowers, investigative reporters and civil liberties lawyers.

Counterinsurgency or Immigration Reform?

Senate immigration bill SB 744 may be a savvy way to divide the Republican Party in the coming elections, or a small step forward at the cost of massive militarization of the border. Already many immigrant rights activists are in revolt against the now advancing compromise.

Trayvon Died for Our Sins

For Trayvon Martin and his family I feel a sadness that will not lift. For America, I feel a dread that certain horrors repeat again and again, chief among them the murder of young men of color, not only with impunity for their killers but under the cover of judicial sanction. A re-armed George Zimmerman walks free, after a trial in which references to racism were forbidden by the judge. The unarmed Trayvon Martin, under the interpretation of the law, had no right to stand his ground against an armed vigilante. The “incident” considered by the jury, according to the instructions given by the judge, began with a physical confrontation between Trayvon and Zimmerman, not when Zimmerman launched his armed pursuit, muttering, “Fucking punks. These assholes, they always get away.”

How New York Stopped Shale Fracking

Anthony Ingrafea is a Cornell professor who has been immersed in the science, politics and resistance to the development of oil and gas from shale in New York State for five years. After a long grassroots battle, New Yorkers have succeeded in achieving a five-year moratorium, and Governor Andrew Cuomo has promised he will make a decision on permitting based on studies yet to be completed. Over 100,000 Californians already have signed a petition against such fracking.

Bernie for President?

It is all fantasy at this point, but will Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders wind up being a presidential candidate in 2016? That is what some progressives are asking as they scan a field without dreams.

Congress Challenging Syria Escalation

Pressure is building on Congress to avoid a further US escalation in Syria by sending weapons to strengthen the anti-Assad rebel forces. The evolving US escalation is opposed because it would lead to a spiral of further escalation while there is neither an endgame nor an exit strategy in sight. The expedient nature of the US proposal was revealed in a recent statement by one of its leading advocates, former President Bill Clinton, who recently called President Barack Obama “lame,” said, “Sometimes it’s best to get caught trying, as long as you don’t overcommit.”

Does Obama Control the State?

It seemed weird, offhanded, President Barack Obama’s comment that he was “not going to be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker,” just two days before the US forced down a Bolivian plane carrying Evo Morales on the suspicion that Edward Snowden was smuggled aboard. Diplomatic hell broke loose, with Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador and others all accusing the US of violating their sovereignty. 

The Nightmare of 2014

The Tea Party and Republicans believe that President Barack Obama’s climate change agenda will be comparable to Obamacare in 2012 in mobilizing massive voter opposition in coal states like Ohio in the 2014 congressional elections, giving the GOP a shot at controlling the Senate. Their assessment may be correct since turnout for midterm elections are traditionally low. The Roberts Court decision undoing the Voting Rights Act may open the door to efforts at dampening voter turnout among the elderly, students and people of color. The Republican seizure of Congress would set the stage for another epic political showdown in 2016 when Obama leaves office.