updated below
today, we honor those who have gone before us in the valiant struggle. these individuals were notable for their moral character and their intellectual strength. they sought to wrest control from plutocrats, from criminal oligarchs, and those who ruled by fiat or by virtue of heredity. their greatest tool was a new and fresh way of thinking about things. their greatest weapon was their ability to organize the seething masses and harness their power. now that's pure democracy. with this strength, they rallied the proletariat to do great things.
today in history courtesy of wikipedia**
today in the news, courtesy of the washington post and wikipedia**:
MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Nov. 6 -- Daniel Ortega, the former Marxist president and nemesis of President Ronald Reagan, appears to have won back Nicaragua's top job.
so, as pete pointed out to me in an email today, everything that was old, is new again. one only need look at the new wave of modern leaders emerging from central and south america. chavez! ortega! relatives of castro! it's should be patently obvious to even the dimmest citizens that without certain unnamed but well known "democratic" hegemons active suppression of the citizenry, they naturally organize for collective progress.
and while i would normally go on at great length about this, and tangentially related pieces of information which materially support our position and lend credence to our call for uprising in the name of the glorious cause, today i am morose. i have it on good information that the three proposals we submitted to the annual meeting were all voted down. three provisions: aimed at increasing transparency and shifting the emphasis back onto the clubs and their activities. i had no thought that any of these would be contentious. among the union committes that labored over the text and formally approved them for submittal to the mabra people's parliament, these concepts were commonly descibed as no-brainers.
this has given me significant pause for thought. i wonder if our work is better conducted within mabra or outside mabra. we will begin conversations shortly to explore other options. i sense a fissure developing; a growing chasm between what is union approved (the example we set through actions and our stated interests) and what is not union approved: the actions of this "representative" body.
in spite of this temporary setback, we must take the long view and soldier on, remembering our great and glorious history and the vast potential the revolution still holds. we are indeed walking on the shoulders of giants. and this is no mean consolation. it warms the heart to know what our brothers and sisters have done for us in the past and what we work to bring about for future generations. union, da!!
** (please note that the capitalization was maintained in both these links in spite of it's flagrant inappropriateness in this context):
update: while billmon is clearly the most union approved blogger currently plying his trade, his current thoughts coincide nicely with this post, my thoughts, and, well, the facts on the ground. i find it refreshing when this happens. crush the hegemon and stick it to the man.
- - - posted by scott