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November 8, 2002 | Issue 429
FRONT AND BACK PAGES
Billions for Iraq war...Tax cuts for the rich...No help for the jobless
Washington's twisted priorities
Tax breaks for the rich. A relentless drive to war. And crumbs for the rising numbers of long-term unemployed. Those were Washington's priorities before the November 5 elections. And they'll be the priorities the day after.
Opposition to a war on Iraq is spreading
Stop Bush's war drive!
Support for a U.S. war against Iraq has continued to drop even as the administration tries to keep up a war frenzy. But none of this matters to the Bush gang.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Two parties of big business
Washington's rotten system
The excitement and frenzied speculation among pundits and insiders going into the midterm elections contrasted starkly to the disinterest of most voters. Socialist Worker looks at Election 2002--and what it says about the U.S. political system.
Corporate America cuts jobs to prop up the bottom line
Crisis of the "go-nowhere economy"
Whether it's a recession, a recovery or something in between, Corporate America will keep cutting jobs and closing factories in a drive to boost profits.
Why antiwar activists shouldn't claim the American flag
We aren't the "real patriots"
Among the more than 200,000 people who protested a new U.S. war on Iraq across the country October 26, a common idea put forward was that opponents of war are the "real patriots." But before a single antiwar activist takes up the American flag, they should take a closer look at what it really represents.
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WHAT WE THINK
Democrats have themselves to blame for election defeat
The evil of two lessers
Every opinion poll going into the election showed Democrats had the advantage on the issues. Yet the "party of the people" never put forward a real alternative to the Republican program. And as they found out on Election Night, you can't beat something with nothing.
Saying no to a Europe for bosses
Tens of thousands of people will come this week from across Europe to attend the European Social Forum in Florence, Italy. "A different Europe is possible--against neo-liberalism, war and racism" is the call for the gathering.
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NATIONAL NEWS
Desperate Haitian boat refugees thrown behind bars by the Feds
"It broke my heart"
The pictures were gut wrenching--dozens of people risking their lives by running across a Florida freeway and begging motorists to take them to safety. And instead of being welcomed into the "land of the free," these immigrants have been thrown in U.S. immigration detention centers.
Accounting watchdog appoints old crony
Dirty deals at the SEC
Bush sent a goat to guard the lettuce. Last year, he appointed Harvey Pitt--one of the accounting industry's top lawyers--to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Then Enron collapsed, and Pitt was suddenly faced with demands for a housecleaning among his old clients.
Four freed from Camp X-Ray
What threat did they represent?
"They kept us in cages like animals," Jan Mohammed told reporters as he arrived back home in Afghanistan. He was one of four detainees released last week from the U.S. military's prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba--after months of interrogations and brutal conditions.
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COLUMNS
WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?
When the U.S. backs using poison gas
By the twisted logic of U.S. imperialism, when Washington and its allies use poison gas, they are striking a blow against "terrorism." When its enemies do the same, they are committing crimes against humanity.
THE MEANING OF MARXISM
The drive for profit at capitalism's core
Profits are not the capitalists' just "reward" for owning everything. Rather, they represent the fact that workers are paid for only a part of the value they add to what they produce.
Inside the system
All the news that's fit to ignore; Simple Simon runs for governor; Heard it through the grapevine
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ON THE PICKET LINE
Dockworkers and employers reach pact on technology
Will ILWU deal save jobs?
A tentative agreement on technology in the West Coast dockworkers' contract struggle appeared to give management the upper hand on that crucial issue. Details won't be available until after a full agreement is reached, and negotiations continued as Socialist Worker went to press.
Thousands hold demonstration outside MTA headquarters
NYC transit workers prepare for fight
"We will do everything possible to arrive at a contract by December 15, but we will not surrender the right to strike!" That's the message that thousands of subway workers had for New York's politicians and employers October 30.
Labor in brief
Washington, D.C., teachers; General Electric; Teamsters for a Democratic Union; Dominick's; Boycott Taco Bell; Plainfield, Ill., teachers
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REPORTS FROM THE STRUGGLE
Say no to Bush's war on Iraq
Activists take the fight home
Hundreds of students who traveled to Washington, D.C., to protest Bush's war on Iraq are taking that fight home--to build it bigger and better.
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SW READERS SPEAK OUT
Framed for the Central Park jogger rape case
This is a travesty of justice
Kharey Wise lost 13 years of his life for a crime that he did not commit. And then he was repeatedly denied parole because he maintained his innocence.
Anti-death penalty activist put behind bars
Former death row prisoner and anti-death penalty activist Lawrence Hayes is in jail facing parole charges that could land him back in prison for years following a September 24 domestic argument.
SW distorted Benjamin's views
I was disturbed to see you distort the views expressed in Medea Benjamin's recent commentary in USA Today (SW, October 25).
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REVIEW
Thomas Friedman's book on September 11
A free-market hack selling a racist war
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman was best known prior to September 11, 2001, as a leading cheerleader for globalization. Since then, Friedman has focused on celebrating George W. Bush's "war on terrorism."
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