I watched that interview. Some valid points but also some extremely dangerous proposals which masked the absence of the most important point of all.
Howie called for armed self defense groups. He compared it to the Deacons for Defense and Justice, which was an armed self defense group in Louisiana in the 1960s. (By the way, there is an interesting interview with Charles Sims, the founder of the group, in the excellent, excellent book "My Soul is Rested", which is the best book on the civil rights movement that I've read.) Howie points out that the Deacons prevented KKK violence in their area. He also claims that it was civilian self defense that repelled the start of the Russian invasion of 2022. Kieran in effect agrees with Howie. These two situations are totally different. It's true that civilian action like flooding the roads caused the original thrust of the 2022 invasion to grind to a halt, but the Russians were repelled at the Kyiv airport by Ukrainian military. And if Howie thinks that a few civilians with rifles and shotguns could stop an army armed with tanks and helicopters, then he knows less about military affairs than does the average teenager. As far as the Deacons: they stopped a relatively few Klansmen who were similarly armed to what the Deacons carried. If an armed self defense group confronted ICE, and ultimately the National Guard, do Howie and Kieran think the outcome would be in any doubt? Here's what I wrote in my article of 1/24: "Those who sympathize with this approach should think through the likely scenario: An armed group marches through the streets to confront ICE in any city. Whether open carry is legal or not, ICE confronts and tries to stop them. ICE is immediately joined by the local and nearby police forces. They stand there with guns facing each other. A tense standoff develops in which all other protesters scatter. In fact, most demonstrators would have already left the moment the armed protesters arrived. Then, at some point, a shot is fired – maybe from a sniper on a roof somewhere. Guns blaze. In the end, every single one of these armed protesters, and those surrounding them are either wounded or killed. The mayor or governor declares a state of emergency and *all* public gatherings are banned, including peaceful protests.Within a matter of hours Trump declares martial law and anywhere he sends ICE he will send in the National Guard to “protect” them. In fact, he might do so nationally. ICE will then be free to rampage anywhere they like without any public observers or protesters. ICE is then free to rampage throughout any city in the country with *nobody* tracking them." That was *before* Pretti was executed, and it was proven to be 100% correct. See: https://oaklandsocialist.com/2026/01/24/mass-anti-ice-protest-vs-extremely-dangerous-alternative/ All that militant sounding talk masks what is really lacking: Howie and Kieran criticize the union leadership. Kieran refers to a private conversation he had with the general president of his union, the CWA. Private conversations are entirely inadequate. Entirely. What neither of them mention is the necessity of organizing a rank and file movement to force the unions and their leadership to actually do something, to actually lead. Often, what is not said is more important than what is said. This is one of those times. John Reimann -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#40381): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/40381 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/117461971/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
