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HOWARD GRAUBARD's avatar

I will admit to a free-speech oriented bias against libel suits as a political weapon, since it is used by people like Trump to bleed people who’ve made legitimate criticisms. Folks have been put out of business by such suits.

But’s let’s examine the idea anyway.

It is an indisputable matter of fact that DSA endorsed a march, which was essentially one in support of killing Jews (preferably female, stripped naked and raped), and now is considering suing because its reputation was damaged by some factual inaccurate statement made about the march and the DSA’s involvement.

Though endorsed by the DSA, was sponsored by "The A.N. S.W.E.R. Coalition," which is pretty much synonymous with the "Party of Socialism and Liberation" (PSL).

PSL is an ideologically indistinguishable split off from the Stalinist Workers World Party (WWP), a tiny political sect with a perverse attraction to the world’s worst people.

WWP formed in the 1950s, after splitting off from the Socialist Workers Party over a disagreement about the Soviet invasion of Hungary, which the Workers World supported. After that, the WWP threw itself behind Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Hussein, and Kim Jong-il; it backed the Chinese crackdown on the “counter-revolutionary rebellion” in Tiananmen Square. WWP was not just pro-Palestinian; it was pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah, devoted to the destruction of Israel.

WWP’s fringe views would hardly be worth noticing if not for its members’ organizing skills. For example, by securing protest permits on significant dates far in advance, it was able to take a leading role in the early marches against the Iraq war, even though many progressives were mortified by its involvement, and for a long time controlled International ANSWER and the International Action Center.

Since the split, control over ANSWER has largely reverted to PSL, which on its website labeled the US’s laudable effort to stop genocide in the Balkans and our successfully effort to defeat the Nazis as “Imperialist Wars.”

Naturally, they are also pro-Putin.

Say what you want about DSA; they are, more or less, a group which operates within the four corners of liberal democracy. By contrast, ANSWER is resolutely anti-democratic.

Yet, DSA endorsed their rally, and in the last election, more than one DSA elected endorsed the PSL candidate for Mayor.

Yes, not everyone is aware of what ANSWER stands for, and so innocents can be duped without intent. But, as part of the organized left, DSA leadership was, or should have been, aware of who ANSWER are and what they stand for, which raises the question, when the opportunity to support this march arose, did the DSA leadership ask itself “what could possibly go wrong?”

Another question: Doesn't the motto "No enemies to the left," have some limits of decency?

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LudicrousLife's avatar

Perhaps if DSA did not want to be linked by Eric Adams with the protests then the New York DSA should not have sent out a supporting tweet

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