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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=black face="Comic Sans MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black;font-weight:
bold'>This is an interesting piece on Progressive Democrats of <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> and
their endorsement of Barack Obama by John Halle and found at Counterpunch.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=black face="Comic Sans MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black;font-weight:
bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=black face="Comic Sans MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black;font-weight:
bold'>Kris<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color=black face="Comic Sans MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black;font-weight:
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<p align=right style='text-align:right'><b><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt;color:black;font-weight:
bold'>February 4, 2008</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<h1><b><i><font size=5 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:18.0pt;
font-style:italic'>An Open Letter to the PDA</span></font></i><o:p></o:p></b></h1>
<h1><b><font size=5 color="#990000" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:18.0pt;color:#990000'>Whither Progressive Democrats?</span></font><o:p></o:p></b></h1>
<p><font size=5 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>By JOHN <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">HALLE</st1:place></st1:City></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=6 color="#990000" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:24.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#990000'>A</span></font><font size=2 face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>s board members, you are aware
that on Jan 31, in the wake of John Edwards's suspension of his candidacy, the
Progressive Democrats of America announced its endorsement of Barack Obama.
Appended to the endorsement was the mild qualification that Obama "has not
always been a progressive".</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>This
is not just an understatement, it is an absurdity.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>The
PDA's "hopes" notwithstanding, where Obama really stands can be seen
by comparing Obama's stated positions with the PDA's own seven point
"progressive challenge" according to which "candidates should be
measured."</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>On
almost all counts, Obama fails.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>For
example, the PDA declares that the candidate should "end imperial foreign
policy . . . redirecting funding towards needs at home". Nowhere does
Obama provide the slightest hint that he would support anything of the kind. He
supports not diminishing but augmenting existing troop levels by 90,000
solidiers. He has at no time made any mention of reducing absurdly bloated
defense budgets. His team of foreign policy advisors led by Zbigniew Brzezinski
are reliable imperialists fully committed to military force as a first resort
as was demonstrated by Obama's endorsement of strikes in Pakistani regions
likely to harbor terrorists.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>As
for the PDA's second challenge--"heath care for all"-- it is now well
known from Paul Krugman's columns that Obama has been consistent in his
rejection of universal healthcare. In this respect, he is to the right of
Romney who implemented universal health care as <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:place></st1:State> governor.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Krugman
also observes more generally that Obama has consistently positioned himself to
the right of the major Democratic candidates on questions of "economic
justice." As for the PDA's specific demands on this score, there is
nothing in Obama's platform which indicates strong support for organized labor
or a recognition of the devastating effect of corporate negotiated trade
agreements, which Obama has supported.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Having
failed on the first three points, it is hardly worth itemizing the remaining
areas where Obama fails to rise to the PDA's challenges.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>For
ultimately, these are not a reflection of Obama but rather of the PDA itself.
Obama, whatever his faults, has run a relatively honest campaign. He has
consistently communicated his disdain for the Democratic Party left, issuing
thinly coded appeals to "bipartisanship" signaling his willingness to
consider extreme right wing policies such as the privatization of social
security. Also telling is his support of his Senate mentor Joseph Lieberman and
his recent panegyric for Ronald Reagan.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>In
endorsing Obama, the PDA has shown itself to be precisely what some had feared:
the latest entry in a time honored series of bait and switch tactics designed
to herd progressives into support of the Democratic Party, holding it out as
the only possible vehicle for progressive change. As Obama's positions and as
the Obama presidency will surely demonstrate, yet again this "hope"
has shown itself to be a chimera. Most crucially, yet again the left will be
forced to confront anew the necessity for organizing independent challenges to
the Democrats and will be required build them from scratch.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>We
sincerely hope you will reconsider lending your names and credibility to an
organization which has shown itself, perhaps unwittingly, but increasingly
obviously, to be nothing more, or less, than a tool in the hands of the
financial, corporate and media elites who own and operate the political system.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Yours
Truly,</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>John
Halle</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;
font-weight:bold'>John Halle</span></font></b><font size=2 face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'> teaches music theory at the Bard
College Conservancy. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:halle@bard.edu">halle@bard.edu</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black;font-weight:
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