Busboys & Poets

Howard Zinn @ Busboys and Poets (photo by Nicole Young)

What perfect timing !…  after the jubilation and exuberance have settled and citizens are ready to get serious,  Busboys and Poets brings Howard Zinn to speak. Just exactly what was called for to get people aimed in the right  direction for their next political assignment.  Zinn knew what was needed and played the tune perfectly.

So, I write to highlight two of Zinn’s remarks that were most meaningful; that set the tone and political awareness for the listeners.  (meaning  - the two high points around which he drew his picture of Obama… and how we stood in relation to Obama as president.  (Surprise, surprise, the same the two items that caught my attention during Obama’s campaign)

First, Zinn reminded us that, during the primary campaign,  Obama went to Connecticut to campaign for the re-election of Senator Joe Lieberman instead of the anti-war candidate, Robert Lamont. (what a shock that was). It seemed completely out of character. But Obama must have known that Hillary had the Jewish vote, and he had better chip away at it, to win the primary.  Lesson learned:  Zinn said,  Obama is a real politician and knows how to play the game.

Second, to restore some virtue to Obama,  Zinn then repeated the most useful, thoughtful statement that Obama made … perhaps during the whole campaign.  In effect, (paraphrased) Obama said, the most important thing is not to get out of Iraq; but to change the mindset that got us into Iraq…. and everything follows from that re-ordering of our thinking.  Zinn gently but firmly led the audience away from “market capitalism” to a self-generated society designed to serve the well-being and prosperity of its citizens.
He reminded us that “of, by and for” is the real purpose of the machinery of government, not the fulfillment of an abstract model called the “free market” (a living lie).

Zinn was living proof that Politics is an Art, not a Science,  and that’s the highest praise I can give.
(no I didn’t make it up - I learned it from Aristotle and read it in Shakespeare) Again, thank you for having him … and getting me into the room so I could hear him. Tuesday morning, I’ll join the demonstration down on Penn. Ave. and 13th st.  for Single-Payer health care.   I think lots of groups will participate… physicians and nurses orgs… etc.    “Once more, into the breach!”  Shakespeare - Henry V

Jenefer,  re-retired.  (78 come March 21)