http://www.jayallen.org/projects/mt-blacklist/

It works well if you keep your blacklist updated. This is the kind of blacklist I like.

This is why Hugo Chávez is so important to us — and why he has to go: because he’s the icing on the cake that stands out from the general run of sordid opportunist leaders on the Left. He’s a BAD, bad example…
Got to go!

One thing I think we should seriously be pushing hard is that the European Left take the initiative and put forward their OWN *real* EU constitution — one which is hammered out in an even MORE democratic fashion than what they hammered out to create the 5th Republic in Venezuela. With this, we take the initiative away from the squalid european bourgeoisie, and their even more toad-like bureaucratic henchmen & women… And I think permanently.

Why stop with a simple tactical victory? Latin America is showing the way to Europa & Afrika. Let’s use this found opportunity as our premier organizing tool for now — and begin the Big Push for a socialist Europa from the North Sea to the Urals.

Don’t get frustrated when it doesn’t go right up. (-:

However, I am pessimistic. Not about what the result of this referendum, which I am pretty sure will be a resounding ‘No’ – but about what will happen afterwards.

See, a few years back we here in Ireland had a referendum on the Nice Treaty. We only had it because our Constitution demanded it. So, I guess many of us with consciences knew that – in a way – we were voting for the millions in Europe who were given no voice on this issue. And we won – the country voted ‘No to Nice’.

Now, it would be over simplistic to suggest that this was a mass outpouring of leftist sentiment and/or international solidarity. There were many factors involved in the result – not least the fact that every mainstream political party was in favour of the Treaty (Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Labour and the utterly misnamed Progressive Democrats [in reality just hardline Thatcherites]). They wrongly assumed that because they were for it, naturally their voters would be too. And as a result, the Yes campaign was a half-hearted affair. The No Campiagns – and I say campiagns becasue there were basically three; the Left (Greens, Sinn Fein, Socialist Party, SWP, Labour-lefts and Independents), the hard Right (Christian fundies and xenophobes for the most part) and the Anarchists – worked hard, at least the one I was involved in did (the Left).

So, we won. But then, about a year later – the exact same treaty was put up for referdum again. Seems the Irish voting public just didn’t get it right first time around – shocking, I know. If memory serves, on the re-run they tacked on something about the International Criminal Court and Ireland’s participation in it (but this was a seperate vote to Nice, just held on the same day).

So, the assembled forces of the Establishment – the mainstream politicos, the media, the business federations, the trade union bureaucracy – launched their assualt. Their mission – fearmongering and making poeple feel stupid for how they voted first time out. How many times did we hear “we obviously didn’t explain how absolutely fantastic this Treaty really is, and therefore ho could we expect teh plebs to understand!” and of course the old enlargemnt strawman – “If you don’t vote this in, you’ll wreck the EU and also you’ll stop all those poor people in Eastern Europe from joining”. Now, it has be said that while I am absolutley opposed to the ‘EU project’ (No to a bosses Europe I say) it has to be recognised that EU grants played a big role in the development of Ireland from basically a Third World country to a ‘dynamic successful Tiger economy’ (not my words!). And in recognising this, one must also see that the strawman argument about the Irish being seen as ‘selfishly preventing enlargement’ could not but hit a chord.

And the second time round, after lie upon lie, the country voted Yes to Nice. Of course, a best of three was out of teh equation. The lesson? Simple really, and the same lesson its always been – ‘you’re free to vote how we want you to’.

Now, I’m not saying there’s exact parallels with France (they certainly have a much more radically politicised country than we do at the moment), just that I’m not confident a No Vote by the French will be the end of the story. But then, I guess I’ve always been a pessimist. And I don’t trust these burEaUcrats one bit.

Anyway – off topic for a moment. Stan, great to see you finally got a blog up and running. I doubt you remember, but I had a brief correspondence with you about, as I recall, a debate between you and some neo-con, and a quote by James Connolly. Unfortunately, I never managed to track down an audio of that debate.

All the best,
Kev

French citizens are even discussing and analyzing this bogus, bureaucrat neoliberal EU “constitution” very much in the same spirit as Venezuela’s bolivarian masses discussed their own proud 5th Republic founding document.

I do not know how the world revolution is going down — or whether it can stave off a looming imperial WWIII — but in any case it is coming. And will decide all issues: military or otherwise.

So: Long Live the Revolution!
Whatever form and path it takes, the World’s people will soon be creating a better society than the ugly capitalist one it will replace.