Tom Hayden's Blog, page 46

Yo Soy 132 May Occupy Televisa

Leftist PRD candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) is now challenging the July 1st election results through legal channels, demanding the election be fully annulled due to vote buying and illegal campaign expenditures by the PRI and its candidate Enrique Pena Nieto.

Romney Threat to Peace, Can Obama Mobilize Peace Vote?

Barack Obama was the first president to be elected on a pledge to end an ongoing war. Though political pundits rarely discuss this, Obama's re-election depends on winning back the peace vote in November. Mitt Romney's election will mark the return of the same neo-conservatives who championed the Iraq War and loyal deference to military solutions; hawks like John Bolton and Randy Scheunemann and, in the background, the deep pockets of Sheldon Adelson.

Invite Tom Hayden to Speak in Your Town

In this 50th anniversary of The Port Huron Statement, Paradigm is publishing Inspiring Participatory Democracy, edited by Tom Hayden, this September. As Tom launches a fall-winter speaking tour, invitations are welcome from community groups, universities, political clubs, and everyone who feels the need for progressive voices in the 2012 national election climate and who believes that participatory democracy is critical to our future.

An Interview with The Washington Post

Few symbolized 1960s radicalism as boldly as Tom Hayden: co-founder of Students for a Democratic Society, Freedom Rider in the South, member of the Chicago Eight put on trial for disrupting the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Vietnam war protester. Later he earned fame in other ways, by marrying actress and activist Jane Fonda (from whom he is long divorced) and serving in the California legislature. Now in his 70s, Hayden writes every day — newspaper columns, books, tweets — as part of a “moral obligation” that he says he feels to speak out. “I made that commitment after my heart surgery, which was at the time of 9/11, and I have kept that pledge,” he says. Hayden spoke to The Post from his office in Culver City, near Los Angeles.

Tom Hayden Interviewed by the Washington Post

Few symbolized 1960s radicalism as boldly as Tom Hayden: co-founder of Students for a Democratic Society, Freedom Rider in the South, member of the Chicago Eight put on trial for disrupting the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Vietnam war protester. Later he earned fame in other ways, by marrying actress and activist Jane Fonda (from whom he is long divorced) and serving in the California legislature. Now in his 70s, Hayden writes every day — newspaper columns, books, tweets — as part of a “moral obligation” that he says he feels to speak out. “I made that commitment after my heart surgery, which was at the time of 9/11, and I have kept that pledge,” he says. Hayden spoke to The Post from his office in Culver City, near Los Angeles.

Mexico's Election: A Vote for Peace, A Plan for War

The authorities were boasting that all flights were on time as I landed at Mexico City’s international airport on June 26 to cover the country’s national election. Terminal 2 bustled with travelers; the duty-free shops gleamed with jewelry and alcohol, and the food courts were in full service mode. Only 24 hours earlier, however, travelers were crawling on the same terminal floor during a shootout that killed three federal police. The shooters escaped in broad daylight. The dead officers were not shot by narco-traffickers but by other police who apparently were working for the narcos. It turned out that AeroMexico stewardesses were helping export cocaine on flights to Spain. Bienvenidos to the Mexican labyrinth, where nothing is transparent, including elections.

Jerry Brown, Our Angela Merkel

As a friend and sometime ally of Gov. Brown, I have been pondering his irreversible cuts to higher education and social services. It is the fault of the Republicans and the requirements of Prop 13, I know, but there is more.

Diane Feinstein Calls for Extraditing Assange to U.S.

Implicating herself on Pentagon’s side in a historic First Amendment controversy, Sen. Diane Feinstein is calling for the extradition and prosecution of Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks who is presently inside the Ecuadoran embassy in London. Feinstein, head of the joint intelligence committee, told a Syndey, Australia, paper in a written statement that Assange “has caused serious harm to US security and should be prosecuted accordingly.”

Diane Feinstein Calls for Extradicting Assange to U.S.

Implicating herself on Pentagon’s side in a historic First Amendment controversy, Sen. Diane Feinstein is calling for the extradition and prosecution of Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks who is presently inside the Ecuadoran embassy in London. Feinstein, head of the joint intelligence committee, told a Syndey, Australia, paper in a written statement that Assange “has caused serious harm to US security and should be prosecuted accordingly.”

The Roberts Court, Enemy of Democracy

While progressive Democrats are giddy over the Supreme Court ruling upholding the Obama health care law, the Roberts’ decision can be interpreted as cushioning the reputation of the Court from rising public questioning of its balance and legitimacy. Indeed, salvaging its reputation was one of the reasons for its decision in the case.