The Green Left list and Carl Kenner in the twilight zone

By Bob Gould

At the World Socialist Web Site public meeting a week or so ago, one
very striking feature was that there was almost no discussion from the
floor except for a bit initiated by myself and Dennis Berrell. Most of
the audience sat in silence, although they clapped a fair bit.

The two speakers on the platform, Nick Beams and Linda Tannenbaum,
replied at great length to short statements, which Berrell and I were
forced to present in question form, but the WSWS later managed to
describe that as "lively discussion". In the course of the responses
from the platform, Beams and Tannenbaum accused myself, the Socialist
Alliance, the ISO and assorted others of agreeing with the politics of
the ruling class and really supporting imperialism, etc.

The DSP, quite reasonably, resents distortions of its views, and Nick
Fredman has even challenged the WSWS to an argument on those
questions. On form, I don't much like his chances of getting a serious
response from the WSWS.

On the Green Left site, the real Marxist from the twilight zone, Carl
Kenner, does much the same to me as Beams and Tannenbaum did, accusing
me of supporting corporate leaders, implying I support Tony Blair,
etc, etc. Carl Kenner apparently thinks this passes for discussion on
serious questions of the day. Kenner asserts that there has to be
something good about the WSWS if it condemns Gould, the Laborites and
the trade unions.

The DSP leadership, and all its significant supporters on the GLW
site, and in Green Left, however remain totally silent on the
political question that is emerging in the federal elections, which is
the enormous pressure being mounted by the Liberals, the Murdoch
press, Bush, Armytage and the US administration, and now even the Tory
Governor General, for Labor to reverse its policy of withdrawal of
Australian troops from Iraq by Christmas.

So far, Latham and Rudd have dug their heels in, and Latham's short
statement, reported last Saturday, reiterating the withdrawal policy,
continues to infuriate the ruling class.

Nevertheless, the DSP leadership, its main supporters and the
Socialist Alliance are resolutely silent on this question, as far as
can be judged from GLW and this discussion site.

On the face of it, the rank and file of the DSP, and most of the rank
and file of the Socialist Alliance are, on this question, silent in
the same way as the rank and file at the WSWS meeting were silent,
waiting patiently for their leaders to set them right, from the platform.

On the GLW discussion site, the entirely secondary question of Peter
Garrett getting a seat or not, and very detailed discussions of
Venezuelan politics get a pile of comments and postings, but the big
political question that preoccupies the labour movement, as to whether
mobilisation behind Latham will encourage him to stick to his guns on
Iraq, excites no interest or comment at all.

GLW, the Socialist Alliance and the DSP leadership, and the DSP and SA
rank and file, should snap out of their Marxian twilight zone and
develop some opinions on the split that's absolutely clear to most
others in Australian society -- between the Greens and Labor on one
side and the Liberals, the US adminstration and the Governor General
on the other.

The twilight zone is a bad place for Marxists.