Free Republic

May 05, 2009, 4:00 a.m. Now He Has the HammerBarack Obama plays whack-a-mole with the wingnuts. By David Kahane You wouldn’t believe how heartily I celebrated Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday yesterday. As is well known, Pete’s songs of outraged protest against the fascist, racist United States of America and his comradely sympathy for the late, lamented, egalitarian, utopian Union of Soviet Socialist Republics are some of my fondest childhood memories. For a time there, in the aftermath of the now blessedly forgotten Reagan Revolution — it took not one but two Bushes to leave the Republican party the leaderless,...

Obama Set to Lift Ban on Travel to Cuba By LAURA MECKLER WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama plans to lift a longstanding U.S. ban on family travel and remittances to Cuba, a senior administration official said Friday, in what could be an opening gesture toward more openness with the Castro regime. The move will fulfill a campaign promise and follows more modest action in Congress this year to loosen travel rules. The president has authority to loosen these rules on his own, and the move is likely meant as a signal of a new attitude toward both Cuba and other...

The labor policies of the Obama administration and the Democratic Party controlled Congress are being praised in certain quarters. Some see this praise as an indication of the Democrats’ true agenda. The appointment of Hilda Solis as Labor Secretary was noted with accolades on the Web site of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). A story written yesterday by Joelle Fishman, chair, Political Action Committee, CPUSA, said, “The appointment of Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor with an overwhelming vote despite right-wing opposition, is a great victory to celebrate this International Women’s Day. It is no wonder that Hilda Solis, born...

In the run-up to next month’s Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, the Obama administration has moved to ease travel controls and lift limits on cash remittances that Cuban-Americans can send to the island, notes a report in the U.K.’s Observer. The ground-breaking provisions are featured in a $410 billion spending bill set to be voted on this week. The bill would allow Americans with immediate family in Cuba to visit annually, instead of once every three years, and broaden the definition of immediate family. It would also nix a requirement that Havana pay cash in advance for...

LoyaltoLiberty "It has been frequently remarked that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force." The Federalist "With words we govern men." Benjamin Disraeli In practice, the substance of liberty is deliberate, voluntary choice. Constrained by the threat or use of force; manipulated by lies and misinformation; herded by contrived circumstances; choice is...

Glenn Beck had on the program today the CHAIRMAN of Communist Party USA! I can't believe the guy (Sam Webb) actually have the nerve to do a national television show! The communists must figure there isn't any need to hide what they're up to anymore. Sam Webb (chairman CPUSA) talked about (paraphrase) "the great changes to come" for America with the new Obama administration. Absolutely incredible! I have to find and post a youtube clip when it becomes available (if someone beats me to it, that's ok). Here's a link to Glen Beck's website. However, there isn't much there yet...

A Chance to Make Change Millions of people have responded to the Obama campaign’s request for input on what the priorities of the new administration should be. Labor, the women’s movement, and other people’s organizations are already making proposals that include the following: -- A stimulus package of a half trillion dollars or more, to create millions of jobs, including a public works program. -- Emergency help for the jobless and the victims of the sub prime mortgage crisis. -- Passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, so more workers can have unions. -- A concrete timetable for pulling out...

President Obama is "considering" a radical agenda to nationalize the U.S. financial system, the Federal Reserve Bank, and private industries such as energy and other sectors whose future is "problematic" in private hands, claims the leader of the Communist Party USA. In a major speech focused on Obama titled "Off and running: Opportunity of a lifetime," CPUSA leader Sam Webb also alleges Obama's administration is considering turning education, childcare, and health care into "no profit zones;" rerouting investment capital from military infrastructure to "green economy" projects and public infrastructure; and waging a "full scale" assault on global warming. "We now...

Springsteen's Homage to Pete Seeger By Tom Moon World Cafe, April 25, 2006 - On the new collection We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, Bruce Springsteen honors the folk music tradition that has inspired many of his own compositions over the years. All the tracks on the new album are standards closely associated with folk icon Pete Seeger. Springsteen assembled large ensemble of acoustic musicians to flavor the proceedings with everything from accordion to tuba. Rock critic Tom Moon talks with host David Dye about why he reacted so strongly and positively towards this latest offering by The Boss. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5360791...

Cuba's Fidel Castro praised U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday for his "noble intentions" but said in his first opinion column in five weeks that the new American leader had many questions to answer. He spoke of his admiration for Obama... Castro's column, published on state-run Internet site www.cubadebate.cu, came out a few hours after his younger brother, President Raul Castro, denied rumors that Fidel Castro's health was worsening.

We Are One Inaugural Opening Ceremony in Washington - Pete Seeger (C) Bruce Springsteen (R) and Seeger's grandson Tao Seeger perform during the We Are One inaugural opening ceremony concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on January 18, 2009. (UPI Photo/Kevin Dietsch)

"We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration At The Lincoln Memorial" http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/4Jfw6fON_zH/One+Obama+Inaugural+Celebration+Lincoln+Memorial/1NNi5cTZF2d/Bruce+Springsteen ________________________________________________________ From David Horowitz's FrontPageMag.com/DiscoverTheNetwork.org:Profile: PETE SEEGER *Musician, folksinger, songwriter, and political activist *Joined the Communist Party in 1942 *"I'm still a Communist" -- Pete Seeger, 2004 http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1619 ________________________________________________________ "... on April 22, 1970, [the very first] Earth Day was held, one of the most remarkable happenings in the history of democracy... " --American Heritage Magazine, October 1993 ________________________________________________________ Earth Day, April 22, 1970: "The nationwide event included opposition to the Vietnam War on the agenda, but this was thought to detract for the environmental message.Pete Seeger was...

The austere celebrations, including dances and concerts across the island, belied the start of a year infused with possibilities for increased cash and visitors, and other changes that might ease Cubans' daily hardships. Many here hope for improved relations with the United States when President-elect Barack Obama takes office Jan. 20 following declarations he would talk directly with Raul Castro and lift severe restrictions on family travel and remittances to the island.

Congratulations on an extraordinary history making election! We can think back with pride to decades of hard work toward our strategic goal of a big enough, broad enough and united enough labor and all-people’s movement that could overcome the ultra-right blockage to all progress. That all people’s movement has come to life, it is dynamic and it has the potential to keep growing. The election of Barack Obama and a strengthened Congress creates new conditions in our country. There is now the possibility to shift gears and move forward. This new day requires us to further develop our tactics in...

Castro to Penn: I'm open to Obama By Patrick Markey in Havana Reuters November 27, 2008 08:45am CUBAN President Raul Castro is open to meeting US President-elect Barack Obama on neutral ground to try to resolve the island's four-decade-old feud with Washington, according to an interview with a US magazine. Havana's latest overture came in a rare interview for The Nation conducted by US actor Sean Penn, who traveled to Cuba after meeting Castro ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and before Mr Obama won the US presidential election on November 4. "You asked if I would accept to meet with...

http://newzeal.blogspot.com/2008/11/obama-file-52-communists-celebrate.html

CPUSA And Obama Platforms Are Identical Forget for the moment about Bill Ayers and Obama’s other Communist friends and mentors of the distant past. Just behold the current ‘Election 2008' brochure from the Communist Party Of The United States (a pdf file):    (Click on images to enlarge) Election 2008 Help Make History Turn Our Country Around A new day is dawning. Our country is at a turning point. This is a time of great possibility. Issued as a public service by the Communist Party USA A new day is dawning. Our country is at a turning point. This is...

The official magazine of the Communist Party USA has lauded the important role of labor unions in electing Sen. Barack Obama, and quotes socialist-aligned labor leaders hoping the unions can work with the president-elect to enact policies related to jobs, retirement security and health care reform. In a separate article, the Communist Party's Political Affairs magazine quotes a prominent socialist activist and longtime Obama friend petitioning the president-elect to push through a "single payer" health care system, or socialized universal medicine. In an article titled, "Special Interest or Class Consciousness? How Labor Put Obama in the White House," Political Affairs...

The money quote for me: Robert Malley was raised in France. His lineage is noteworthy. His father, Simon Malley (1923-2006), was a key figure in the Egyptian Communist Party.

Hailing Barack Obama's win as a victory for the "working class," the Communist Party USA is calling on the president-elect to carry out his promises, including his noted commitment to "spread the wealth." An editorial by the People's Weekly World said the victory was for "workers of all job titles, professions, shapes, colors, sizes, hairstyles and languages." The newspaper, which boasts of its "partisan coverage," identifies itself as "a national, grassroots weekly newspaper and the direct descendant of the 'Daily Worker.'"