Today in Labor History June 7, 1971: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that clothing with the words "Fuck the Draft" was protected by the First amendment. The Court overturned the conviction of Paul Cohen for disturbing the peace, setting the precedent that vulgar writing is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
In 1968, Kiyoshi Kuromiya designed this poster and sent orders by mail. He was arrested by the FBI and charged with sending indecent material through the Post Office. Later that year, after beating the charges, Kuromiya defied the authorities by handing out 2000 of the posters at the Chicago Democratic Convention. The photo is of Detroiter Bill Greenshields was taken at random during a 1967 March on the Pentagon and used by Kuromiya.
There has been no draft in the U.S. since 1973. Ending conscription was one of President Nixon’s campaign promises (not because he opposed conscription or imperialistic wars, but because he wanted to undermine the antiwar protest movement). However, if the U.S. and NATO continue their reckless escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, and their threat to station hundreds of thousands of troops along Russia’s entire western border, from Finland to the Balkans, the mass slaughter could rise to the scale of World War II. And this could force the U.S. and Europe to reimpose the draft, so that they are not forced to replicate Ukraine’s desperate move of sending people over the age of 50 to the front. Indeed, Germany is already considering reimposing conscription because they can’t find enough willing volunteers. https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/06/06/germany-is-thinking-about-bringing-back-conscription
Even the religious right no longer cares about vulgarity in language, or even behavior. Hence, their love of a man who brags about rape and sexual harassment.
If you support #palestine, you should support this plan by Speaker Johnson to separate Israel and #Ukraine aid into separate bills -this means Democrats have no excuse to vote for #Israel funding. 🇵🇸
@figstick@israel@palestine if you support #palestine, vote dems in nivember. Speaker Johnson's plan is to pass #Israel funding without passing aid for #Ukraine and for #Palestine. Johnson won't even schedule a vote for the humanitarian for #Gaza that is included in the Senate Package.
This goes for Canadians too. As frustrating as it is to see Trudeau falter on condemning Israel, it is always better than seeing the Conservatives outright praise Israel and Russia for committing genocide.
A year ago when the DNC chose Chicago for this summer’s national convention, the last thing they probably had in mind was the disastrous convention of 1968, but now, unless Biden stops his unconditional support of Israel's genocide, they may get just that.
@NeptuneCaffeine@israel@palestine Biden and Trump are features of the system. We must reject both parties that maintain the system that oppress the working class. The good path is electing the working class outside of the two party system to represent the working class and organize to mobilize regardless of outcomes. The elite have never and will never represent us. They are there to maintain the illusion of choice and freedom.
IfNotNow : Chuck Schumer, Mike Johnson, Hakeem Jeffries, and Mitch McConnell will forever be remembered as the leaders who invited the war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu to give a speech to Congress in the middle of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, days after he crossed President Biden’s red line on an invasion of Rafah. This will be their legacy.
US is showing the world that EVERYTYHING they have said about law and order, human rights, respect for international law and humanity is nothing but complete lie.
They are the most disgusting hypocrites with the power to control the world economy and military. Sadly, the leaders of Europe and most of the other countries are either complicit or cowards to stand up against them.
#BlueMAga really better hope #Trump doesn't get elected, or they'll have a hard time explaining why they're suddenly appalled at a #genocide that they'd been pretty blithe about for an entire year.
Today in Labor History February 18, 1970: A jury found the Chicago Seven not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. However, Judge Julius Hoffman still convicted all the defendants with contempt and sentenced them to jail time ranging from 3 months to over 4 years. These were all reversed on appeal. Black Panther Bobby Seale had been a codefendant, but his case was declared a mistrial. Judge Hoffman had ordered him physically gagged during the trial.