LETTERS
LETTERS to the Editor Come Back, Nat! It was with tremendous dismay that I read of Nat Hentoff's departure (Letters, May issue,) from The Progressive. If Matt Rothschild's "brave urgings" weren't...
...I was a Jackson alternate delegate designate in northern Ohio in 1984, and a Jackson delegate from Wyoming in 1988.1 know the excitement, inclusiveness, and power of his appeal...
...Paul Schumacher Atlanta, Georgia Picky, Picky Ijust received my April issue and of particular interest to me was Professor Reed's article on Jesse Jackson ("Jesse's Snake Oil," April issue) and especially his statement on Page 20: "Paul Wellstone is probably the clearest, most articulate and resolutely progressive choice, but it is unlikely that he would be available because he is up for re-election to the Senate that year...
...A good friend of mine— not noted for vehement reactions—was so angered by Time's choice of the Pope that he threw his issue across the room and canceled Time...
...the real challenge lies in examining our own beliefs and refusing to lapse into mindless repetition of tired, worn-out liberal cliches, which only lead us to leftwing fascism and "political correctness" (please forgive my use of that tired phrase...
...Nat, we need somebody whose conscience is not dictated to by someone else's agenda...
...But what did other people do...
...The Progressive has generally pooh-poohed the Presidential nominees of the major parties and has often discouraged people from even bothering to vote for them...
...And the nice things about scapegoats (from Newt's point of view) are: a) they're helpless—hence can't fight back...
...Down with dope, up with hope" is not a bad slogan...
...Reed's criticisms of Jackson as justified or pertinent...
...Adolph Reed Jr...
...In her haste to compare the new hospital dramas with previous medical shows, however, Rapping leaps over perhaps the finest drama in the history of American television, St...
...No, that hasn't overturned the present system...
...Clearly, what we are talking about is scapegoats...
...Not just for Jackson but for the national ticket and other more progressive local and state candidates and issues...
...All letters may be edited for clarity and conciseness...
...Reed's statement regarding Senator Wellstone's qualifications for a Democrat candidacy have to be the understatement of the year— Wellstone not only is the foremost progressive in the Senate, but is principled, pragmatic, persistent, and most of all passionate, which is a quality we sorely need in a candidate who can arouse and energize a progressive coalition constituency...
...You may have made a convert...
...If Clinton falters more, if other candidacies split up the vote, if progressive parties and movements get together— maybe a third party run would make sense...
...I hope you keep it up...
...What's wrong with that...
...Whether or not Jackson should run as an Independent or as a Democrat is a calculation that requires more knowledge than I have...
...My criticism of Jackson is that he thwarted efforts by Rainbow Coalition people to organize democratically at the grassroots after the 1988 campaign...
...Come back home...
...As estimable as they are, they can't match Jackson for charisma, ability to translate complex economic and political questions into popular language, experience in building a powerful national political campaign, and moving the national discourse in a progressive direction...
...He correctly pointed out how many so-called feminists were ready to hang the professor before examining the flimsy evidence...
...I'm referring to the reaction to Nat Hentoff s views on infants with AIDS in the May letters column...
...No, not the insulting pittance we hand out to the poor...
...He has supported other liberal and progressive people and causes...
...Jackson hasn't hurt other liberal or progressive candidates...
...To criticize Jesse Jackson for "a strain of conservative moralism" is to be a bit picky...
...Whether you agree or disagree with Hentoff (and I agree), he should be entitled to his opinion without being called a "senile old loony...
...Week in and week out, St...
...What...
...The argument that Jesse's success with black voters is less valuable because what we need is more success with white voters sounds like the undemocratic counsel of the Democratic Leadership Council...
...Against all kinds of obstacles, Jesse has done better than anyone else could have done, and better than most others who didn't face such obstacles...
...Rather than being praised, Hentoff was met with a barrage of predictable knee-jerk responses...
...b) they don't cause the problems they're accused of—so the campaign against them can be endlessly escalated, on the plea that it simply hasn't been stern enough...
...Reed suggests Well-stone or Bonior and Gephardt as possible candidates...
...And while the show admittedly centered on health-care professionals, it did extend its purview to include EMTs, orderlies, and even a few recurring patients...
...Snake oil," my eye...
...Yes, Jackson has brokered some progressive benefits for struggling people...
...Jackson's appeal now, given the growing power of black identity politics and the worsening conditions for three quarters of the American people, could be greater than ever...
...Good for you...
...In her skewering of the hospital dramas on prime-time television ("Bad Medicine," May issue), for example, she appropriately noted the parallels between the networks' presentation of healthcare solely from the perspective of its privileged professionals and the mainstream media's coverage of the nation's health-care crisis solely from the perspective of Beltway politicians (Bill and Hillary lost...
...Splendid issue, by the way...
...I sent him your piece by Susan Douglas...
...Reed says, "Jackson is ineffective as a vote-getter...
...Harvey Mader Chicago, Illinois If what Jesse Jackson has peddled is "snake oil," I say it beats all the other remedies I've seen for the maladies of our body politic...
...On the other hand, I think we should clean up welfare...
...Elsewhere...
...As for Terry Scott's statement that "hopefully any new editor of The Progressive will take a long hard look at Hentoff's continuing waste of space," is there only room in The Progressive for people who agree with Terry Scott...
...But making things better for oppressed people is not such a bad thing...
...I don't see Mr...
...I agree with Hentoff— many Progressive readers like Terry Scott and Robert Sommer would prefer to be spoonfed unchallenging dogma than to be forced to think (reminds me of an old anti-Republican bumper sticker...
...I was particularly stirred by the pieces on targeting welfare: Frances Fox Piven ("Poorhouse Politics") and Molly Ivins ("A Time for Sustained Outrage...
...I am reminded of Hentoff s article where he defended a college professor who was accused of (and suspended for) sexual harassment for teaching about sexually explicit Jewish religious texts...
...I didn't always agree with Hentoff, but his space was hardly "wasted," as Scott alleges...
...About time...
...In 1988, in primaries and caucuses, Jackson got more votes in not winning the nomination than Mondale got in winning the nomination in 1984...
...Did you miss out on this great show, Elayne...
...Attacking conservative arguments is easy...
...I must admit, though, that I'm a bit disappointed in Hentoff—real revolutionaries don't run from a fight...
...Willie Ludlow Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania The author replies: There's no point trying to argue with true belief...
...opposed...
...Dan Graff Glen Carbon, Illinois Supply-side Poverty Your February 1995 issue containspoetryl ("A Ma-triot's Dream: Health Care for All," On The Line...
...Jackson speaks to the people he speaks for...
...As a spokesman, advocate, political leader, and minister, Jackson articulates the case for systemic change while at the same time challenging cynical, apathetic, disadvantaged, and marginalized peopie to stand up, think clearly, and act boldly...
...Michael Simmons Hollywood, California St...
...Reed says, "Getting votes and political education are often...
...He surpasses them, complements them, and, when allowed to do so, supports them...
...But Jackson and other candidates adroitly used their candidacies to educate diverse constituencies and produce votes...
...Bravo to Rapping for her continuing insights...
...If Matt Rothschild's "brave urgings" weren't enough to keep Hentoff, then let me offer the brave urgings of a reader: Please stay...
...The editors welcome correspondence from readers on all topics, but prefer to publish letters that comment directly on material previously published in The Progressive...
...One question, though: does a vote count extra if it's enthusiastic...
...Too true...
...Throughout the Reagan years, this NBC series featured a large multicultural cast confronting the major social issues of the day (date rape, AIDS, privatization, to name a few...
...His views are obviously based in a deep-seated humanism and old-fashioned concern for little babies...
...Not that this is new—just egregiously blatant under Newt...
...Some of the letters made me wonder if their authors had ever read the column...
...Elsewhere's gritty but hopeful community of doctors, nurses, and workers struggled to preserve a social consciousness and commitment to public welfare rarely seen on American television...
...I'm talking about the needless, enormous, and dangerous largesse we keep shoveling at the military (both Newt and Clinton are demanding more...
...Many people who had never before voted have been inspired by Jesse to register, vote, and become active politically...
...Lee Nichols Austin, Texas Why is it impossible for someone on the left to deviate from standard left-wing political correctitude without supposedly progressive people becoming apoplectic...
...It is a generally beneficial personal and political morality...
...Somewhere Iwant to applaud Elayne Rapping for her excellent analyses of the culture industry over the past several issues...
...Jesse Jackson's message and methods, bridging the gap between practical electoral politics and progressive challenge to the system, are a lot better than snake oil...
...All along, Jackson has shown up in needy places, drawn attention to injustice, and given a boost to progressive grassroots organizers, of all races and religions, both men and women, gays and lesbians, in all sections of the country, urban and rural, young and old...
...and c) best of all, Newt's making more of them all the time, so there will always be an endless supply (supply-side poverty...
...In the last Presidential election, although blacks voted overwhelmingly for Clinton, not so many blacks showed up, and they did so without much enthusiasm...
...Keep up the good work...
...As a white man with few illusions about our national political system since about 1969,1 appreciate Jesse Jackson's candidacies for President...
Vol. 59 • June 1995 • No. 6
