Vets, Military Families Rally for Obama

www.peoplesworld.org September 98115, 2012

Vets, military families rally for Obama

By Tim Wheeler

near-capacity crowd of veterans and military families gave Tammy Duck- worth a hero’s welcome as the Illinois congressional candidate who lost both Alegs in the Iraq war walked to the speakers plat- form on her prosthetic legs. She was the speaker who galvanized a meet- Other speakers hailed Obama for pushing ing of the Veterans and Military Families Coun- through the most generous benefits for veterans cil (VMFC) at the Democratic National Conven- since the GI Bill of Rights at the end of World War tion here. She recalled that then-Senator Barack II including a new GI Bill of Rights. Obama or- Obama, also from Illinois, came to visit her often dered an affirmative action hiring program by the when she was recovering from her wounds at Wal- federal government that has resulted in the hiring ter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, of thousands of veterans, an effort to curb jobless- D.C. ness that is higher among veterans than the over- Unlike other politicians who made quick all national jobless rate. “photo-op” visits, Obama stayed long. “The presi- Obama ended the shameful “don’t ask, don’t dent says that America has a covenant with our tell” policy of discrimination against gays and les- veterans,” she said. “Never forget the sacrifices of those who have worn the uniform of this great na- tion.” this week: She blasted the so-called “Ryan Budget” ap- proved by the majority-Republican House “that • Vets, military families rally for Obama does not mention veterans even once in that gi- • Editorial: The Romney-Ryan white skin strategy gantic document.” The budget, which slashes vet- • Arctic sea ice hits lowest levels ever erans and human needs programs by nearly a tril- • Community: Save San Francisco City College lion dollars over the coming decade, was authored • Semana decisiva para campaña electoral en EE.UU. by Republican vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. read more news and opinion daily at www.peoplesworld.org “Today, you will never know whether you are going to be in that top 1 percent or whether you are going to need a helping hand,” Duckworth said bians in the military. to thunderous applause. “President Barack Obama “When you talk one-on-one to veterans about is that helping hand.” the accomplishments of this President, he should

Page 1 win this election hands down,” said Ron Pierce a whisper from speaking too often and too long, de- U.S. Army veteran who is heading up the Obama livered a sharp warning in her Power-Point pre- reelection outreach to veterans. sentation that the Republicans will resort to these The caucus meeting, the largest since the dirty tricks in the 2012 elections. founding of VMFC, had a tone of “victory in the Christine Pelosi is credited with creating the air.” Yet Pierce described the election as an “all Council after the vicious “swiftboating” of Cleland Unlike other hands on deck” effort. Grassroots outreach, he and Kerry. politicians who said, has recruited 25,000 veterans in the reelec- She told the crowd that she consulted with made quick tion campaign, he said. And 538 convention del- Cleland before moving to organize the Council. “photo-op” visits, egates describe themselves as military veterans or Cleland told her emphatically that the Council family members of veterans. should include “military families” to broaden its Obama stayed long. Speakers warned that rightwing extremists appeal. have turned even highly decorated war heroes like Pelosi is the daughter of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Vietnam veteran, John Kerry, into virtual traitors and the author of Campaign Boot Camp. She told with lying “swiftboat” media ads secretly funded the crowd to “focus on the persuadables” in the by GOP millionaires. final 64 days of the campaign. Meanwhile George W. Bush used his family “We have to ‘leave no veteran behind’ at the connections to avoid service in Vietnam yet the ballot box,” she said. media whitewashed it. She warned against “swiftboat tactics” from Speakers referred to former Sen. Max Cleland, the Republicans adding, “Veterans must be on the a triple amputee Vietnam war vet defeated in his election protection team....Connect with the peo- reelection bid with scurrilous-- but successful--- ple. Mobilize to win!” TV ads by Georgia Republican Saxby Chambliss. Christine Pelosi, her voice reduced to a raspy Tim Wheeler writes for the People’s World. The Romney-Ryan white skin strategy PW Editorial Board n integral part of the Romney-Ryan workers to show them that they have no skin in election strategy is to exploit the racial the Republicans’ “white skin strategy” game. misconceptions of white workers. After all, if successful, that game, by bringing Republican strategists, after do- Romney, Ryan, and the Republicans to power, Aing the math, concluded that they have to do bet- would set the stage for a class-wide, racist, anti- ter than John McCain did four years ago among democratic attack the likes of which the working white workers if they stand a chance of winning class and people never seen. It will make Rea- Interwoven to one in November. gan’s firing of the PATCO air traffic controllers degree or another Interwoven to one degree or another into ev- seem like child’s play. into everything erything they say and do will be coded and not- Thus, buying into the racist myths and “vot- they say and do so-coded racist messages. ing white” comes at a high price for working peo- will be coded and We will hear that the president is not up to ple - too high. It may seem for some like the right not-so-coded racist the intellectual task of leading the country in thing to do, but nothing could be further from the messages. these difficult times. truth. Romney, Ryan and their mouthpieces will A better future for white workers and their also suggest that non-white Americans, thanks to families lies in a common struggle of workers of the president, live off unearned handouts, checks all races and ethnicities to defeat Romney and his signed by Uncle Sam and paid for by hard work- far-right corporate backers in November. ing “white American” taxpayers. No, it won’t resolve the capitalist economic The right wing and its amplifiers in the me- crisis that is punishing every section of the work- dia will argue too that President Obama prefers ing class. But it is also true that there is no way an “entitlement” society over an “opportunity” out of this terrible economic situation unless the society. multi-racial working class first stands united at Will the Republican Party be successful? It is the ballot box against Romney and the Republi- still an open question. can right, while keeping its eye on what’s at stake We feel, they won’t be successful to the de- for working America. Indeed, no struggle is more gree that they hope, but only if the labor and peo- important between now and November 6. ple’s movements aggressively reach out to white www.peoplesworld.org Page 2 Arctic sea ice hits lowest levels ever

By Blake Deppe

ccording to studies by the National Snow and Ice Data Center and other monitoring organizations, Arctic sea ice has now reached its lowest extent Aever recorded, becoming a real harbinger of climate change. “This is an indication that the Arctic sea ice cover is fundamentally changing,” said NSIDC scientist Walt Meier of the phenomenon. “The Arctic used to be dominated by multiyear ice, or ice that stayed around for several years.” This year’s record of melting sea ice beat out the previous one recorded several years ago. Satellites showed the ice levels had shrunk by 1.6 million square miles on August 26 - three million effect on more than simply the weather; if warm- square miles more than in 2007. ing trends in global climate continue, scientists “The previous record,” Serreze continued, say, wildlife like the Emperor penguins could be “occurred because of near-perfect summer weath- pushed toward extinction. er for melting ice. But, apart from one big storm That prediction was determined as part of a in early August, weather patterns this year were larger study led by biologist Stephanie Jenouvrier, unremarkable. The ice is so thin and weak now, it of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a doesn’t matter how the winds blow.” nonprofit oceanographic research organization. Julienne Stroeve, another NSIDC scientist, Using sea ice predictions from climate models and remarked, “Only 15 years ago, I didn’t expect to information provided by historical sea ice obser- Greenpeace UK di- see such dramatic changes - no one did. The ice- vations, the researchers studied a population of rector John Sauven free season is far longer now. Twenty years ago, it Emperor penguins on the coast of Terre Adelie in explained, “These [lasted for] about a month; now it’s three months. Antarctica. figures are not We can expect the Arctic to be ice-free in the sum- Carl Christian-Olsen, president of the Inuit the result of some mer by the year 2050.” Circle Council in Nuuk, Greenland, said that Inu- Experts point out that the rapidly vanishing freak of nature.” its and their way of life are also at risk. “Every one ice will have dire consequences. If the white ice no of the 56,000 Inuits has had to adapt to the retreat longer reflects sunlight back into space, the region of the ice,” he explained. “The permafrost is melt- will be expected to heat up much more than it is ing and this is jeopardizing roads and buildings. currently doing. Ocean temperatures will increase The coastline is changing, there’s more erosion as a result, and that will have unknown - but trou- and storms, and there are fewer mammals, like bling - effects on weather systems in northern lati- polar bears. It will have unpredictable effects on tudes. social change.” Greenpeace UK director John Sauven ex- A Greenpeace spokesperson concluded, “The plained, “These figures are not the result of some disappearing Arctic serves as a stark warning to us freak of nature. all. Data shows us that the frozen north is teetering “These preliminary figures provide irrefutable on the brink. The level of ice has remained far be- evidence that greenhouse gas emissions leading to low average and is getting thinner, leaving it more global warming are damaging one of the planet’s vulnerable to future melting. The consequences of critical environments - one that helps maintain further rapid ice loss at the top of the world are of the stability of the global climate for every citizen profound importance to the whole planet. This is of the world.” not a warning we can afford to ignore.” And the disappearing ice will have a negative www.peoplesworld.org Page 3 local news Semana decisiva para campaña Local contact electoral en EE.UU. [email protected] By Prensa Latina a semana que culmina hoy cremento de los fondos dedicados a la resultó decisiva para la con- subversión en la isla caribeña. Community: save tienda electoral en Estados El desfile de oradores en la no- Unidos, de cara a los comi- che inaugural estuvo dirigido a dar City College Lcios generales del 6 de noviembre, una imagen de diversidad y esperanza By Marilyn Bechtel por la realización de la 46 Convención ante las frustraciones de amplios sec- Nacional Demócrata, en Charlotte, tores de la población estadounidense, broad coalition of San Francisco Carolina del Norte. particularmente las mujeres, latinos y residents and leaders is launching El evento tuvo lugar en medio negros. a campaign to assure the future of de un amplio despliegue mediático y Con la primera dama Michelle the 90,000-student City College, a un costo de más de 50 millones de Obama, los organizadores intentaron Abeleaguered by years of budget cuts and in dólares. dar un toque personal y sentimental recent months, threatened with losing its ac- Bajo la sombra de una economía al evento al referirse a Obama como creditation. con serias dificultades, más de 12 mil- esposo y padre de familia, y a la vez Crowding the steps of City Hall Sept. lones de desempleados y una deuda cortejar el voto femenino. 4 for a Rally to Save City College, including pública que supera los 16 billones de Julián Castro, alcalde de la ciu- passing a special parcel tax, were students, dólares, los asistentes a la convención dad de San Antonio (Texas), se con- faculty and workers at the school, along nominaron oficialmente al presidente virtió en el primer orador hispano en with parents, trustees, city supervisors, K-12 Barack Obama como candidato a la Estados Unidos que ofrece un discur- school board members, union leaders and reelección en las justas de noviem- so de relevancia en una Convención concerned San Franciscans. bre. Nacional Demócrata. Su presencia Board of Trustees President John Riz- Los demócratas aprovecharon la tuvo como fin llamar la conciencia de zo said repeated cuts in state funding have ventaja de que su reunión se realizó los latinos para que apoyen el actual resulted in “fewer teachers, fewer workers, después de la que celebraron a finales mandatario. fewer classes, students taking longer to get de agosto los republicanos en Tampa, La estrella de la segunda noche through the college when they can’t get the Florida. fue el expresidente William Clinton, classes they need.” Eso les permitió contrarrestar los quien cautivó a los presentes con un He called the recent elimination of 700 mensajes del partido rojo y dirigir los discurso edulcorado que enumeró los classes, on top of hundreds of classes lost in suyos propios hacia los sectores del avances del país bajo el mandato de recent years, “not sustainable.” While the electorado indeciso o desencantado. Obama y exhortó a los estadounidens- ballot measure, Prop. A for a temporary $79 Los seis mil delegados aprobar- es a reelegirlo. parcel tax, “doesn’t restore all the funding, it on la plataforma de esa agrupación En su discurso, Obama reconoció will go a good way toward that,” he said. política, que se manifestó a favor del sus propias fallas como gobernante, Rizzo also urged support for a state aborto, por una reforma migratoria en particular la lentitud del avance ballot measure to temporarily raise sales integral y las bodas entre personas para superar los persistentes proble- taxes and taxes on personal incomes over del mismo sexo. Reflejó además la mas económicos de Estados Unidos, $250,000. convicción partidista de que Obama pero aseguró que serán resueltos si lo San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar debe permanecer otros cuatro años al reeligen. pledged to help build a coalition to fight for frente del gobierno. Eludió el tema de la reforma mi- “a strong, high quality, accessible, afford- El programa político se propone gratoria que prometió en 2008 y solo able system for everyone for the future.” “sacar de las sombras a los inmigrant- hizo una breve alusión a su orden Mar emphasized the college’s importance in es indocumentados”. ejecutiva emitida en junio pasado, allowing immigrant communities “to have Respecto a política exterior y que suspende de forma temporal las an equal chance for jobs and high-quality para cortejar el voto de los sectores deportaciones de jóvenes indocumen- livelihoods to make sure their families are poderosos de Florida, el texto respal- tados que llegaron al país cuando eran supported in the city.” dó la política injerencista que Estados niños, y estudian o son miembros de “When I graduated from high school, I Unidos mantiene contra Cuba y un in- las fuerzas armadas. didn’t know what career path to follow,” said Tiffany Monica Louie, who is in her third national contact year at the school. “I took ethnic studies,” she said, “and found my passion - giving Editorial: (773) 446-9920 Business: (212) 924-2523 back to my community, to people of color.” Email: [email protected]