A Partial Response to My Critics on the "Left"

By: Jack Dalton

For those of you that are regular readers of the POAC and Uncommon Thought you will remember the piece on anti-recruitment I sent out on the action alerts this past Saturday, "Anti-Recruitment Efforts Needed Now More Than Ever" (UTJ). In it I simply stated how and why I believe this needs to be taking place on a grand scale. In it, I also pointed my finger pretty hard at the Bush administration, due to the fact it is he and his circle of friends that occupy the seat of power currently. Also a fact is that the Bush administration is the most secretive in this nation's history so based on that I felt is very appropriate to point my finger at them, and will continue to do so. It is also the most openly corporate owned administration in the nation's history exceeding even that of Grant which was owned by the railroad companies at the time.

Since that POAC op/ed went up and out on the POAC action alerts I have been receiving a lot of emails about it. Most were appreciative of the info and links that were provided for people enabling them to contact the groups and organizations involved in anti-recruitment efforts around the country. Some of the emails were not appreciative for bringing up the need for anti-recruitment efforts. In fact some of them were reminiscent of street preachers who like to chase you down the street beating you on the head with their Bible until you accept all they say.

It is those emails that proceeded to let me know in no uncertain of terms that the Democratic Party is as responsible for the mess we as a nation are in as are Bush and company. No disagreement from me there, as if one looks at history they will see the over whelming majority of the wars this country have been in are a result of the Democratic Party being in control of the seat of power. In fact for those that have been reading what I write they understand I blame the entirety of congress, Republican and Democrat alike, as they are two ends of the very same pole, the one that we keep getting in the posterior! We have two parties in this nation that have "institutionalized" our political system into "party politics." As that has taken place over the decades, we the people who are supposed to be the real seat of power, have been relegated to that of by-standers in the political process of the nation. And that needs to be changed and quickly as we are in great danger of becoming a sort of "Theocratic Oligarchy."

Before that will be able to be changed there is something else that will need to be addressed and changed, and that is the force behind both parties - U.S. multinational corporations which own both parties. I bring this up as one of the critics of what I wrote asking people to get involved in anti-recruitments efforts in their local areas pretty much chastised me from only pointing my finger at Bush and company about all of this because I did not bring up the Democratic Party or anyone in it, nor did I bring up the imperialistic designs of them. As I have done that so much in past articles and due to the fact I wrote the piece for those that have been reading my work for sometime, I did not see the need for that extensive and inclusive of a "diatribe" in a simple call to get involved with anti-recruitment. Others however have seen it a little differently.

Before going any further with this let me say it loud and clear for all to see and hear - I hold party politicks totally responsible for every bit of the mess this nation is in, Repuglicans and Demoncrats alike as they are all pretty much bought and paid for by their corporate minders. And until the day comes we strip corporations of "personhood" I do not see anything changing, not for the better at least. This mess has nothing to do with party politics, as one of my critics intimated when telling me how I or anyone else for that matter, must of necessity include the Demoncrats as part and parcel of the imperialistic designs of the nation. To my critics I say you had better look past both parties at what the real heart of the problem is and that is the "ownership" of this nation's body politick by giant monolithic profits over people U.S. multinational corporations.

Until that is changed nothing will change. We all could go after one party or another from now until they serve ice tea in hell, but until corporations are once again looked at for what they are, an artificially created "thing" NOTHING will change. It's the multinationals that currently own the entire shebang. And we can continue to go after each other, but until corporate control of the body politick is done away with what we are facing today will continue. Due to the fact the Bush administration has notched up corporate rule to an extent never seen, I will also continue to point my biggest finger in that direction, period, end of story there.

I have no problems with criticism or critics, none what so ever. In fact, I welcome them as that is what keeps me on my toes. What I do mind, and see as counter productive to a very high degree is simple this: it is people that profess to be activists, liberals, left, progressives, et al, that are faster on the "trigger" than are those we profess to be aligned in opposition to, and publicly, thereby undermining each other so the opposition has got to nothing but sit back and watch.

When will we learn to put that aside and be more willing to have individual private discussions over possible points contention with each other before launching a public discussion that has as an end result showing how divided we are? What purpose does that serve in the end other than to keep us in opposition with each other?

Less than 18 months ago I was just an old disabled vet sitting at home. Then I started writing my opinions about what I was seeing. Since then I've had hundreds of discussions with people from all over the country. Mostly we all came away with a greater understanding of each other, our individual nuances, and a higher degree of willingness to work together for a common cause. That said, the ugliest letters I've received (other than the 217 death threats) has not been from the Bush cheerleader squad, it has been from those that profess to be progressive activists. Mostly due to me not articulating anything in the manner "they" thought I should be.

There is something terribly wrong with this picture the way I see it. I have talked with many others that write polemics, op/eds, commentaries and every one has told me the very same thing - the worst critics they have are people that profess to be working for the same cause - which is getting this nation to be less profit/corporate oriented and much more people oriented for one.

It is U.S. multinationals that are at the heart of the nation's problems, the two different parties are the people they own and that do their bidding. We can hammer at the individual parties all we want, and that must be done, but until the personhood of corporations is revisited and changed nothing else will change, not really; maybe in appearances, but not in fact. So, no, I did not include anything in the call for anti-recruitments efforts about the Demoncratic Party, not did I include the leading culprit, U.S. multinationals, but that does not negate what I said and that is we badly need to accelerate our nation wide anti-recruitment efforts and get in back of the organizations that are leading the way in that effort.

And along the way, hopefully people will learn things they did not previously know, and also hopefully part of that is being willing to talk with others before going public with everything they think should have been said. From here on in I would appreciate it if anyone disagrees with anything I say, or thinks I should include other things, write to me, and we can discuss "it." From there I am pretty certain most will find we are pretty much on the same page. After that type of discussion we can then together work at trying to "frame" or "reframe" various things, what ever they may be. I do believe that is a little more appropriate than trying to tell me you are attempting do discuss things with me but in a public forum where people have a tendency to jump the gun and usually with a lot of incorrect assumptions. I do not see that as productive in the least.

Jack Dalton is a disabled Vietnam veteran and co-editor of the Project for the Old American Century. His email address is jack_dalton@comcast.net

Posted by rowan at February 28, 2005 4:30 PM | TrackBack | [eMail this article!] |