Howard Zinn: leftist in his own dream world
By Lorna Salzman

Howard Zinn is living in some kind of leftist dream world when he anticipates an American rebellion. We are already living in an economic, political and social nightmare, and have been for some decades. This nightmare has less to do with Republicans and Democrats than with the incredible naivete and outright ignorance of American liberals and leftists, who have had plenty of opportunities to rebel but have passed them up in the hope that the Democratic Party would rescue them.

Here are the issues that have NOT sparked a mass rebellion on the part of liberals and the left, as well as individual groups and movements such as gay, feminist, civil liberties and black, who have preferred to tend their own private garden instead of addressing the broader root causes of the huge problems facing this country.

1. Environment. Token acknowledgement by all of the above movements, accompanied by sheer ignorance of the issues and compromised leadership by the Beltway enviros, has allowed the national and global ecological crises to reach the boiling point, on global warming, energy policy, wilderness, biodiversity and the oceans, as well as on related issues such as agriculture, food safety, public transportation, exurban sprawl and food safety standards.

2. Islamist terrorism. Political Correctness still reigns supreme in all these circles, fueled by inexcusably hypocritical leftists here and abroad who, at the urging of anti-semitic and anti-israel/pro palestine groups, have decided that the "crimes" of israel against those who publicly declare their intention to destroy israel and issue anti semitic tirades at every chance far outweigh the crimes of the governments of countries like Sudan, Nigeria, Burma, Zimbabwe, Congo, etc, etc. In this country, liberals refuse to speak up against muslims seeking special privileges that clearly infringe on the separation of religion and state and which would open the door to religious practices that are illegal and contrary to American traditions and principles of human rights.

3. Women's rights. The legitimized authorized oppression and murder of women in islamic countries, including those in northern Africa as well as Iran, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, mostly escapes the notice and the wrath of most American women's groups.

4. Slavery. Across the world child and woman slavery imprisons tens of millions of suffering children and women forced into prostitution, in Haiti, western Europe, Thailand, and notably India, touted as a secular democracy with the rule of law. Only evangelical Christian groups have confronted this issue, not always successfully or honestly, but at least they have made it a major issue in the American congress and State Dept....which continue to ignore it completely.

5. Inscrutable tolerance of the betrayal of the Democratic Party. Incredibly, Democrats continue to put all their chips on this corporate-controlled party which now gets more Wall St. donations than the Republican Party. As yet, not one Democrat in congress has had the guts or integrity to propose and promote a universal single payer health plan funded through the income tax. Here is a concrete proposal that would save taxpayers and the poor specifically thousands of dollars each year and would provide equal quality care to every American. Here is a proposal that would shove the crooked insurance companies and HMOs aside so their obscene profits would be terminated and their stranglehold over congress ended one and for all.

6. Distrust of and hostility to science. Liberals who are concerned about national security infringement on privacy and civil liberties have shown little support for scientists who are defending the teaching of evolution against ignorant supporters of "intelligent design" and creationism. One would think that those people who put education as one of their chief concerns would be concerned about these efforts to undermine the teaching of science...or that they would be vigorously promoting mandatory environmental studies starting in grade school and through the university.

One could go on and on about the Democrats, including their recent and predictable sell-out to the Republicans on offshore oil drilling, their desperate attempts to squash the Green Party and any attempt at forming a third party, their refusal to fight for public financing of presidential campaigns and for campaign finance reform in general, and their utter failure to develop a sane energy policy that ends fossil fuel and nuclear subsidies, stops the use of coal, and implements a carbon tax and mandatory energy efficiency standards across the board.

No, rebellion by Americans is not in the cards. What is in the cards is a complete cultural and ecological collapse, alongside the economic one, a situation where, thanks to the lack of an appropriate response to global warming, we will be forced into a society of self-defense and mitigation against rising sea levels, severe destructive climate events and crises with water and agriculture, as well as the spread of disease from tropical vectors moving north as the climate heats up.

This is what the spineless liberals and left has brought us.

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