Social Justice Magazine
Tom Hayden is a former state senator and leader of Sixties peace, justice
and environmental movements. He currently teaches at Pitzer College in Los Angeles. His books include The Port Huron Statement [new edition], Street Wars and The Zapatista Reader.
The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is close to ruling on key portions of the Alex Sanchez case involving prosecution conflicts-of-interest and double jeopardy issues. Meanwhile, two-and-one-half years after the initial arrests, the top lawyers for both sides are leaving the case. Sanchez has been out on bail since January 2010 after the 9th [...]
Tom Hayden: Compared with the brutal police crackdowns against the Occupy movement in New York City, Oakland and even the pacific Davis campus of theUniversity of California, the Los Angeles eviction last night was almost entirely peaceful. The question is why.
Tom Hayden: In light of the police actions in New York, Berkeley, Oakland, Denver, Portland and beyond—and as massive national demonstrations are about to take place—it’s not too late for the mayors to use their political stature to speak out about the crises befalling their cities.
Tom Hayden: Obama, the black candidate, the liberal candidate, the anti-war candidate, the candidate with not a moment of military experience, certainly saw a strategic opportunity to focus laser-like on bin Laden, from the 2008 primaries right through the first two years of his presidency.
Tom Hayden: If there’s enough people and they all sit down and say “We want to appeal to a jury of our peers, which is our Constitutional right,” that’s something that should make the decision makers take pause because I don’t think juries are going to convict these people.
Tom Hayden: The LA occupation is not merely symbolic, but constitutes an interruption of government-as-usual by its presence on the City Hall lawn. The protest simply cannot be avoided by those in power.
Tom Hayden: Slowly but surely, the United States is creeping deeper and deeper into a disastrous war in Pakistan. The peace movement and its political and media allies need to be ready.
Tom Hayden: Why is the United States pursuing Assange as the conspiratorial mastermind of WikiLeaks, when his reputation, credibility and organization have been so damaged?
Tom Hayden: Unless further clarified, the Obama proposal means we’ll be pushing to decrease the near 80,000 Americans remaining in combat until the end of 2014, three-and-a-half years from now.
Tom Hayden: The fact is that Democratic constituencies and leaders, responding to overwhelming public sentiment against the war, have been uniting in recent weeks behind a call for “substantial and significant” troops reductions and a transfer of war funds to job creation at home.
Tom Hayden: It is becoming almost certain that the U.S. succeed in forcing Iraq to “invite” thousands of American troops to stay indefinitely in the latest imperial outpost of the United States in the Arab world
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What’s Next for Obama and Democrats?
Tom Hayden: Launch a campaign progressive to the core, with no compromises on ending tax cuts for the rich and trillion-dollar wars.