Aug 22 2008
Howard Zinn on Obama, McCain, and the State of American Politics
Starting on Monday, Denver will host the Democratic National Convention. Tens of thousands are expected to convene at the Pepsi Center in downtown Denver and even more are expected to attend Senator Barack Obama’s nomination acceptance speech at Mile High Stadium. Protesters from across the country are planning to descend on Denver to voice their opposition to the two-party system. As Obama heads to his party’s convention, his statistical lead over McCain has narrowed considerably. According to CNN’s “poll of polls,” which averaged seven surveys, shows Obama with a one percent advantage over his Republican rival. A Reuters-Zogby poll released two days ago actually projected John McCain ahead in the race with a five percent lead. The two candidates have jockeyed to position themselves as “men of the people.” Obama has gone on the offensive criticizing the Arizona Senator for for not knowing how many homes he owned. The McCain campaign responded by saying Obama was out of touch with everyday people by proposing to raise taxes. As both party conventions approach, we take some time today to hear from activist, historian, scholar, playwright, and author, Howard Zinn, about his opinion of this race.
GUEST: Historian, author, and playwright Howard Zinn, whose book, “A People’s History of the United States,” has sold over a million copies and still going strong.
For more information, visit www.howardzinn.org.
10 Responses to “Howard Zinn on Obama, McCain, and the State of American Politics”
[…] Howard Zinn on Obama, McCain, and the State of American Politics – GUEST: Historian, author, and playwright Howard Zinn, whose book, “A People’s History of the United States,” has sold over a million copies and still going strong. For more information, visit http://www.howardzinn.org. […]
I was VERY disapointed in Zinn’s comments with regards to the role of thrid party candidates. I recently finished Zinn’s work, “A people’s history”, and felt energized by the anarchist current that underlies the commentary on the great movements of the American left. Zinn celebrates the small, independent movements and parties that refused to compromise their values in electoral politics. But during this interview, he states that Nader and Mckinny are not a threat to the Democrats. They will be if we refuse to vote democrat! The reason Nader entered the electoral arena in the first place was specifically because the two party system was not responsive to popular movements and demands. How else will we hold Democrats accountable if not by threatening them with our votes? At what point will we refuse to play the least worst game?
[…] just finished listening to an interview with (the so-great-I-named-my-son-after-him) Howard Zinn, in which he tells it like he see […]
I agree with Jason Brown, although I think it is important to never underestimate the power of those independent movements. Zinn realizes the detrimental effects of having McCain in the White House over Obama.
A 2-party system is especially bad when both parties have the same ultimate goal: world economic and military imperialism. But the real problam is the apparent contradiction of the US Constitution and the ideals offered in the Declaration of Independence. That contradiction was re-emphasized in the Bill of Rights (see Amendment V) which is why Jefferson wrote Thomas Paine that he doubted the US was even a Republic, let alone a Democracy. This is spelled out clearly in my book “Democracy? Notyet,perhaps never”
Thomas Paine was correct. This is not a republic, no less a democracy.
To vote at all, even for a third party candidate, is to grant our consent, the consent of the governed, to a government engaged in crimes against humanity, thereby legitimizing it. Don’t vote!
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