*----------------------------------------------------------* | | | x x x x x x x xx xxx xxx xxx | | xx xx x xx xx xx x x x x x x Issue #1 | | x x x x x x x x xx x x x xx xxx | | x x x x x x x x x x x x 09/24/84 | | x x x x x x x xx x xxx xxx | | | |----------------------------------------------------------| | Newspaper of the Maoist Internationalist Movement | *----------------------------------------------------------* Mondale: War to keep Central America Walter Mondale, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate said that he favored last year's invasion of Grenada. In an interview on September 16th, Mondale justified the invasion of the sovereign country by saying that Americans were in jeopardy. At the same time, Mondale announced his intention to quarantine Nicaragua under certain circumstances. Mondale implied that the use of force might be necessary if the Russians or Cubans set up a base in Nicaragua. The liberal Democrat's honesty during an election campaign is particularly significant because it demonstrates a fundamental unity between the Republicans and Democrats. Those who are working for a genuine peace should not have any illusions about Walter Mondale as their candidate. The American two-party system is really a one-party system for imperialism and war. Anti-war activists do not have a choice in this election. They must stay out of it and work to undermine the system that offers two candidates in favor of war against the Central American people and global conflagration with Soviet imperialist rivals. THE FAILURE OF THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS STRATEGY The Republicans and Democrats legitimize their rule of American society by confusing us with the "lesser of two evils" game. For example, many people who are opposed to Reagan's role in the invasion of Grenada, the invasion of Lebanon and U.S. terrorism against the Sandinista Government in Nicaragua will work for and vote for Walter Mondale. History shows, however, that this will not work. Woodrow Wilson ran as a liberal Democrat on a "He Kept Us Out of War" slogan. When he was re-elected as president, he took the U.S. into WWI to get a share of Europe's colonies and global dominance and to increase profits from military production in the U.S. Long before the grandfather of Mondale liberalism—Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt—took the US into WWII for global domination, arms manufacturers were making profits selling to both sides in WWII. U.S. bankers were also worming in on British banking because the British desperately needed U.S. money and munitions in their war against Germany. Democrat Harry Truman dropped the A-Bomb, not once but twice on Japan. Later he overthrew the government of Korea in another American invasion. Then there was the U.S. invasion of Vietnam and it was Democrat Lyndon Johnson who escalated American troop use to 500,000. Lyndon Johnson, a Southerner had a vice- presidential running mate from Minnesota named Hubert Humphrey, (whose anti-communist credentials were established by his sponsorship of the Communist Control Act of 1954 and his purging of the Minnesota Democratic Party also during the McCarthy era). When Johnson and Humphrey won the 1964 presidential election it was Mondale who was appointed to finish Humphrey's Minnesota Senate term. Mondale fit well as Humphrey's protege and was re-elected in 1966. Mondale was loyal to Humphrey who was loyal to Johnson. In 1964, Mondale said he had "great confidence" in Johnson's war in Vietnam. While the Democrats were still in office, Mondale never opposed the Vietnam War. It was only in 1969, after public opinion polls showed a majority opposed to the war and after a Republican was elected president that Mondale opposed the Vietnam War. It was not the election of a liberal Democrat that ended the Vietnam War. The Vietnamese people beat the U.S. army led by Richard Nixon. In fact, history shows that Democrats like Mondale will do the most to oppose war—for their own opportunist reasons—when they are out of power. Apparently, the two parties have decided they can not afford to lose American dominance of Central America because not even candidate Mondale is making promises about opposing the war in Central America. In any case, Mondale led the Humphrey presidential campaign in 1968 when the Democrats were most exposed as perpetrators of the Vietnam War. That kind of loyalty was repaid in 1976 when Southerner Jimmy Carter had only one opponent in the Democratic Party left to defeat—Hubert Humphrey. Walter Mondale was chosen vice-presidential candidate to pacify the Humphrey wing of the Democratic Party. THE CARTER/MONDALE ADMINISTRATION Mondale and the other liberals in the Carter Administration failed to bring about the social change that liberals support in theory. The Carter Administration was supposedly pro-Black, but the Black/white median income ratio fell from.59 to.56 under Carter—a record drop. Meanwhile in South Africa, the only country in the world where white racism is the law (as opposed to covered up by the law) Carter opposed even the most cosmetic reforms that would require American companies to pay Black South Africans the same as whites for the same work. In addition, U.S. trade with the apartheid government reached record highs. The Carter Administration also resumed military support of Nicaragua starting in 1977 with a $2.5 million pact. That aid continued through 1978 when Israel took over the U.S. job of arming the murderous Somoza regime. Also in 1977, Carter offered El Salvador military aid, but the junta found it more profitable to reject it under the guise of independence from the Yankees. After a coup in El Salvador in 1979, the U.S. again offered military aid. In 1980, the U.S. provided $90 million in economic aid and $5.5 million in "non-lethal" military aid. Much more aid was slipped under the table through agencies like the Inter-American Development Bank which coughed up a $45.4 million loan. Since 1979, over 40,000 Salvadorans have been killed by government-sponsored death squads—mostly under the leadership of President Duarte who the Carter Administration supported with further aid upon his election in 1980. Of course, the Carter Administration paid the price for its support of murder of tens of thousands of Iranians by the Shah and his SAVAK special forces. The Iranian Revolution nearly succeeded in wiping out all U.S. influence and means of domination in Iran, so great was the spontaneous hatred for America. Despite this record, Mondale promises that there will be more emphasis on "national security" and less emphasis on "human rights" under his 1984 administration. (New York Times, 9/18/84) PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR TRAP The costs of a presidential campaign strictly construed run into tens of millions of dollars. When one adds in the media coverage and other hype connected, the cost of a candidate runs into hundreds of millions of dollars. Is it any wonder that millionaires run for president? Why should it be surprising that Mondale and Reagan really amount to the same thing— imperialists who have differing views of how to conquer the world for American business? Mondale sits on the board of Control Data Corporation and Geraldine Ferraro's husband is a real estate millionaire. It's not surprising that established business and media treat the presidency as their game. Nor is it surprising that the capitalist candidates throw out a tax cut to the middle classes to interest them in the election and give them a stake in the system. Elections would be a pretty boring game for millionaires without a tax cut issue to rile up the middle class. What is surprising is how many people think they can beat this game by playing it. The same people who admit that they play the "lesser of two evils" game think they are realistic and that everyone else is apathetic. The truth is that despite the multi-million dollar campaign hoopla the lower half of American society is not interested in elections. This mass of people is not stupid. There is just nothing about the two-party non-choice that makes much difference to the non-voters. This is the fault of the political system, not the attitudes of the half of the people who have not voted in the last three presidential elections. The highest Black turnout at an election since 1974 was 50.5%. Unemployed turnout was at its highest at 43.7%. In 1982, 39.1% of the blue-collar workers, 41.8% of the South, 31.9% of renters and 41.1% of service workers voted as compared to 48.5% of the total for the U.S.. The two parties combined do not have the support and legitimacy derived from these groups. AFL-CIO leader Lane Kirkland is the perfect example of who the two-party system represents. He is important as Mondale's single most powerful backer. Lane Kirkland is in favor of war in Central America as evidenced by his participation and support of the Kissinger Commission on Central America. Furthermore, the AFL-CIO bureaucracy established the American Institute for Free Labor Development. The AIFLD assisted the CIA in military coups in British Guiana (now Guyana) in 1965, in Brazil in 1964, in the Dominican Republic in 1965 and Chile in 1974. Today, AIFLD assists the "land to the tiller" program in El Salvador which is modeled after the U.S. Operation Phoenix in Vietnam. Lane Kirkland is from that section of laborers in this country that benefits from high corporate profits derived from cheap labor under military dictatorships overseas. At best, Mondale represents these highly-paid workers who share in the spoils of imperialism. A vote for Mondale is a vote for President Duarte is a vote for Somoza is a vote for the Shah of Iran is a vote for apartheid in South Africa. NO VOTES FOR IMPERIALISM! DOWN WITH TWEEDLE-DEE AND TWEEDLE-DUM! Sources: "Isolate Nicaragua If It Won't Bend, Mondale Suggests," New York Times, 9/18/84. Richard Krooth, Arms and Empire. James Ridgeway, "The Minnesota Twins," Michigan Voice, 9/84. Facts on File, 12/31/1980, p. 993; 10/19/79, p. 790; 12/12/80, p.941; 3/26/77, p. 206; 10/8/77, 767. Statistical Abstract of the United States 1984. Trade Unionists in Solidarity with El Salvador, "In Your Name:Introducing AIFLD or How the CIA Uses the AFL-CIO in Central America." Business International South Africa, A Fresh Look at South Africa, 12/82. _____________________________________________________________ THIS IS AN ELECTRONIC ISSUE OF MIM NOTES For the real thing, twelve to sixteen pages of tabloid newsprint, including revolutionary art and photos with professional lay-out, subscribe to MIM Notes now. Back- issues also available in original release for most issues. Subscriptions: Send $12 for 12 issues of MIM Notes MIM Distributors PO Box 3576 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-3576 Make checks out to "ABS" or send cash.