Tom Hayden's Blog, page 43

Building Populist Communities

No matter the outcome of the November election, but particularly should the federal government become crippled by Republican judges and House members, defensive Democrats and deadheaded bureaucrats, we need to be prepared to dig our way out and press onward.

What Obama Said About the War

"After two wars that have cost us thousands of lives and over a trillion dollars, it’s time to do some nation-building right here at home... [and] in 2014 our longest war, in Afghanistan, will be over."

Judge Says Alex Sanchez Free To Speak

Federal Judge Dale Fischer ruled today that Alex Sanchez may travel this weekend to speak in San Francisco at the opening of a Culture Clash play about his life and times.

Feds Threaten to Revoke Alex Sanchez Bail for Supporting Salvadoran Peace Process

US prosecutors have threatened to revoke Homies Unidos leader Alex Sanchez’ bail and return him to prison for his part in supporting a truce between imprisoned gang members in El Salvador. The prosecutors are seeking to prevent Sanchez from appearing in San Francisco this weekend at the opening of a Culture Clash play, Placas, based loosely on Sanchez’s long journey from gang-banger to peacemaker.

Port Huron Celebrates the Port Huron Statement at 50!

Six hundred cheering students, faculty and staff, and area residents people welcomed Tom Hayden to Port Huron, Michigan, for a college appearance last week, fifty years after the Students for a Democratic Society was founded at a vanished lakeside retreat outside the town.

Saving Obama, Saving Ourselves

The threat of a Romney-Ryan regime should be enough to convince a narrow American majority to vote for Barack Obama, including the disappointed rank-and-file of social movements. A widening of economic and racial inequality. Cuts in Medicare and Medical. More global warming and extreme weather. Strangling of reproductive rights. Unaffordable tuition. The Neo-cons back in the saddle. Two or three more right-wing Supreme Court appointments to come. Romney as Trojan horse for Ryan the stalking horse and future presidential candidate.

Javier Sicilia to Americans: Don’t Leave Us Alone

The Mexican-led Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity passes through Fort Benning, Atlanta and Louisville this weekend before heading north to Chicago and finally east towards its September destination, Washington, DC, the seat of power for the War on Drugs which has claimed at least 60,000 lives south of the border since 2006.

US Marines Deployed in Guatemala for Drug War

US Marines have landed in Guatemala with the objective of chasing down local drug cartel outfits, particularly the notorious Mexican gang Los Zetas which itself was founded by former US-trained Mexican commandos. The official name for the current operation is “Operation Martillo” or “Operation Hammer” and signals a new escalation in regional interventionism by the Obama administration under the guise of the Drug War.

Saving Democracy

Only you and I can save democracy this time and for times to come. If we all play our part now, Obama and his popular majority will win. If not, we need to be clear and fortified for big confrontations ahead. Let's look at where democracy movements must intervene to stop the hemorrhaging before a final collapse. Democracy movements must try to stop the stolen elections now, and delegitimize any mandates claimed from them in the future.

The Drug War, the Peace Movement and the Legacy of Port Huron

The Rag Blog and Rag Radio presents Tom Hayden, peace and justice activist, SDS pioneer, and primary author of the Port Huron Statement, who speaks on "The Drug War, The Peace Movement, and the Legacy of Port Huron."

Hayden was in Austin, TX, in conjunction with Mexican poet Javier Sicilia's Caravan for Peace, which opposes the U.S.-supported Drug War in Mexico.