Saturday, August 28, 2010

Summer re-runs (Part 6): Remembering Howard Zinn

Posted by Mickey Z on 08/28 at 05:06 AM
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  1. Good evening Mickey.

    I like Howard Zinn’s comments.

    I have often thought about the local peace community, wondering if there would be a show of support if the heat ever came down on one individual. I have concluded there would be no support or unity.

    Whatever the personal motivations are for an individual who shouts, peace stop wars, I have no idea.

    I especially wonder when the people who want war stopped abroad, ignore the root of the problem right here under their feet in america. They will ignore people who are more oppressed by this system than they are right in their community.

    They want war tax dollars brought home ignoring the very mentality of greed and profit in their neighborhood. That is okay. But when will they confront the local governments who are extorting, embezzling, dictating, fining people and who are consistent with the central government and the pentagon?

    I have questioned one activist about when we might be enabling, encouraging that which we state we want to transcend?

    Posted by Joe of Maine from The Window  on  08/28  at  05:45 PM

  2. Thanks, Joe. Provocative, as always.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  08/29  at  06:11 AM

  3. Can Howard Zinn ever be considered a re-run? Methinks not. The eighteenth reading of his stuff is fresher than this morning’s fishwrap.

    Great comments, joe. My departure from the left (sic) began when I saw the pale reflection of the usual class structure. No change, please, we’re American.

    I thought about Zinn during a radio show a few nights ago. A young man was charged and sentenced under an archaic law and is in prison for life. There’s an effort to get the governor to commute/pardon. The host, a lawyer, was mildly hostile to the two family members in studio, precisely because he took the law at face value. What a schmuck. By the time I realized what was happening, the phone line was jammed.

    The show may have had some publicity value, but the odds remain long, especially in this election year. The guv, Deval Patrick, is a cipher in the Obama mold - toothless, gutless, technocratic, contemptible. The best bet is that he loses the election and grants a lame-duck pardon.

    Posted by Zen Prole from Boston (temp)  on  08/29  at  10:05 AM

  4. Hi joe, Zen, Mickey, and all…

    The only joy greater than the joy of sax is the joy of Garner as he played. You could tell that he was in ecstasy and he brought the audience along with him.  One of my favorite Garner pieces is titled “How Could You Do a Thing Like That to Me”.

    My favorite Zinn story was when when I was honored to have a conversation with him. I asked him if there were ever any mistakes in his books. His answer -"Of course. Every book has some mistakes in it.”

    Posted by RMJ from Ward Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts  on  08/29  at  11:53 AM

  5. Good afternoon RMJ and everyone.

    RMJ, that’s just one of the reasons my book will only have blank pages, to reduce errors.

    I enjoy your appreciation of Garner and his compositions.

    How’s Dennis Steele and Thomas Naylor doing in Vermont these days?

    Posted by Joe of Maine from The Window  on  08/29  at  12:23 PM

  6. Hi Mickey, Joe, Zen Prole and Rosemarie - from a SUNNY Daylesford.  And temperatures are up to 60F, which is much ‘warmer’ than it has been in the last 3 weeks. 

    I like Howard Zinn’s comments as well, and I like Joe Bageant’s comments equally - heard and saw him on Saturday, where he was on a panel with Peter Beinart on the occasion of this year’s Melbourne Writers’ Festival.  Joe B. really cuts to the chase and does not mince words - so refreshing! 

    Have a good Sunday, evening , all of you.  I’ll be off to Melbourne again tomorrow, which is Tuesday 31 August in Australia.

    Posted by Helga from Daylesford, Australia  on  08/29  at  08:00 PM

  7. Hello Expendables...from warm, humid NYC.

    A new post is now up and running.

    Posted by Mickey Z. from Astoria  on  08/30  at  09:59 AM

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