Last night I was banned from the NoWarBaltimore-AT-yahoogroups.com listserv. I had been a member of it almost since it began. Although I have politely requested an explanation as to why I've been removed from that scene no explanation has been given.

What follows are two emails. The first concerns controversial Baltimore activist Robert Kaufman. The second is my response to it. Apparently my response got me banned from NoWarBaltimore.

I would like someone from NoWarBaltimore's listserv to explain why they think my speech can not be tolerated, and why I must be removed from the group without comment.

peace,
Scott


* * *




--- Michael Melick wrote:


Robert Kaufman



Here’s a 73-year-old guy who:

Has been a civil rights fighter since age 16.

Has been a war opponent since the Korean War.

Has inspired and organized the first anti-Vietnam War rally and march in Baltimore.

Has been unjustly arrested in West Palm Beach, Fla., Washington, D.C. and Baltimore about a dozen times.

Led the struggle to have the school council vote to integrate by an overwhelming majority -- in 1950, his senior year at Park School.

Was responsible for creating the Citizens Holocaust Committee, which showed that Jews were not the first victims of Hitler and that Nazis planned to do the same to 100 million Slavs as they did to six million Jews and that the German ruling class appointed Hilter as chancellor to save the country from communism.

Helped the New Jewish Agenda to picket a synagogue for hosting the Jewish fascist Myer Kahanie and joined Students for a Democratic Society in picketing a fascist Argentinean training vessel.

Possibly became the first Jew arrested for passing out a leaflet describing the relationship of the United States and Israel as one between a pimp and a whore.

Fought for two-state solutions in Israel.

Aggressively leafleted the leading black nationalist, an anti-Semite. Defended a Korean family, which was forced out of business by black racists supported by a local “socialist” organization.

An early defender of the first gay rights bill in the Baltimore City Council.

Publicly challenged the two House Un-American Activities Committee extravaganzas.

Organized a picket line at a local hotel which refused to rent a hall to the Communist Party.

Organized a protest at the Baltimore Holocaust Memorial when the Northern Alliance murdered possibly thousands of Taliban POWs.

Led 10 weekly demonstrations in front of the Baltimore Republican headquarters and U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings' office, demanding the government stop the genocide in Darfur.

Organized the City Wide Insurance coalition of 180 community, ministerial and labor organizations to demand Baltimore create a co-op to provide home and car insurance at cost. Likewise, got the City Council to twice vote unanimously to make Mayor Schmoke support the effort.

Led fight to take the profits out of drugs and treat addiction as a medical problem while creating living wage federal job programs to end poverty.

Gave more than 1,000 public presentations on the above two efforts.

Got practically no support from the peace and justice community on most all of the above efforts.

Has retrieved his FBI file, literally 6 inches thick and mostly blacked out.

Has brought peace and justice issues before the public as an electoral candidate about a dozen times.

As such a candidate, has successfully debated Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Cummings and Mayor Martin O'Malley on peace and justice issues.

Popularized socialism in the midst of the McCarthyism witch hunt through study groups, lectures and radio talk show appearances.

Has suffered numerous economic and social depravations because of his politics.

Has had more than 2,000 letters to the editor published, along with another dozen or so op-eds in The (Baltimore) Sun and the Afro-American.

Has had about a dozen feature articles about him published in The (Baltimore) Sun, The New York Times and other publications.

Has calls into the Mark Steiner show about 25 times a year.

And throughout all these years and decades of his political activism, his speakings and writings, the best his detractors can come up with is that he believes in the right of self-defense, used the word “shit” at a political forum that included three or four children. Oh, and we mustn’t forget his referring to an S.O.B. as an S.O.B.

And on that basis, to ban him from being City Wide Coalition’s spokesman at forums, bar his name and contact information from ever being published in Activist Alert, ban him from even receiving Activist Alert, lie about him, rumor-monger him, ostracize and shun him, and strain credulity just to drive him out of the peace and justice movement.

Well, I’d say I must have been doing something right. As far as I’m concerned, those ignorant, arrogant, witch-hunting, political detractors who pronounce and support such unjust judgments which divide our movement, are doing the FBI’s work.

Any honest peace-and-justice movement would not let them get away with it.




My response:


"Oh, and we mustn’t forget his referring to an S.O.B. as an S.O.B."

Whenever I encounter an S.O.B. I don't hesitate to call him an S.O.B. to his face. That's important to me. I reserve the right to call people S.O.Bs when I feel they deserve it!!


"As far as I’m concerned, those ignorant, arrogant, witch-hunting, political detractors who pronounce and support such unjust judgments which divide our movement, are doing the FBI’s work."

This is a pretty amusing story. From my point of view, Kaufman is another guy who is indoctrinating the anti-war community into adopting the wrong tactics for social change today. Anyone who believes we're still living in the 1960s and we should just hold large marches to curb the power of the Bush dictatorship is just not paying attention to what's really going on. Even worse, they're indoctrinating others into not paying attention.

The FBI WANTS activists to be just as indoctrinating and ineffectual as Kaufman wants others to be. The FBI is HOPING that activists will continue taking their cues from the 1970s and march, hold vigils and adopt peaceful forms of resistance that cannot succeed today.

Kaufman...you're an S.O.B.!

:-)
Scott