MELVIN LITTLE SAYS, "NOT ME!"

Melvin Little Proffers Points for Pundits to Pontificate

Good Morning,

I heard nothing but negativity coming out from the Michigan folks (with the exception of Mike [Treacy] and his wife, whose name escapes me at the moment). Like the Eric Chester cadre, they are in sour grapes mode. They wanted a presidential campaign, and they got one. But the catch is that they didn't get the candidate they wanted. So how do they deal with this? They engage in a borderline slander of Walt Brown.

With the Eric Chester folks, they atleast give it the appearance that they are concerned about a so-called top down micromangement of the campaign. Aside from Matthew Andrews' nit picking and lecturing Michael Marino on what he can and can not do, the Eric Chester folks do not attack too heavily, partly because they want to help their VP Candidate Mal Herbert. I actually personally like Mal Herbert; she is sort of like an elderly version of Mary Cal Hollis. I suspect that politics is local, and she may or may not be as stridently ultra left as Eric Chester. If she is, that's fine as well (because we are balanced with a Norman Thomas Socialist) with Walt Brown.

But Lisa Weltman offeneded me with this post below. She asserts that Walt Brown is somehow some kind of racist, some kind of sexist, and some kind of homophobe. She claimed that he was condensending toward her. I think her allegations are as real as an honest 2000 Bush/Cheney victory in Florida. And of course, I still beleive with my heart and soul that Bush and Cheney cheated in Florida. Likewise, I beleive that Lisa Weltman is lying through her teeth about Walt Brown.

I am appalled by the attacks against Walt Brown. I am a good judge of character, and I am convinced that accusing Walt Brown of racism, sexism, and homophobia is virtually slander. Why the attacks? In my opinion, most of the folks from the Socialist Party of Michigan are Stalinists. People like Martin Schreader and Joe De Neen will denounce other democratic-socialist groups like DSA, CCDS, and Soldiarity, while they make very warm remarks about the Worker's World Party. They get their rocks off on seeing the Socialist Party become a negative force for ultra left sectarian pamblum instead of the rosey colored no nonsense optomistic democratic-socialist message that is our true core of our party.

They cry about oppression from the so-called "SP establishment," and they form a caucus devoted to tearing down internal democracy, working with others outside our party in the social anti captialist movements, and making our party look like politically correct pissed off cranks. The Michigan crowd are divisive, destructive, and dangerous. They accuse North Carolina, Chicago, and Oregon of being right-wing, but it is they that are the right wing. They do not want to reach out. Dennis Galbraith, a DSA Comrade from Yipilanti, Michigan told me that the left reguarly networks with each other in Michigan. This includes DSA, the CP, Solidarity, and the Greens. He told me that SP Michigan is nowhere on the left camp. In my opinion, the Socialist Party of Michigan is exactly what's wrong with this party; they represent an extreme anti democratic core which has a strong Messianic complex about them. If this is what it means to be a socialist, it would have turned me off a long time ago. Furthermore, they are not that intelligent if they think that democratic-socialism is closer to Worker's World than it would be DSA, CCDS, and Solidarity. Please, comment if you will. I am pissed by the ultra sectarians that place this so called right wing test. Their mentality is that they have this self rigteous attitude that they are just a little bit more antri captialist, a little bit more anti racist, a little bit more anti sexist, a little bit more anti homophobic, a little better of a human being than someone else that doesn't fully agree with them. Who died and made them the leaders of the Socialist Party?

Peace & Vegetable Liberation!
Melvin Little

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COMRADELY LETTER FROM LISA WELTMAN

Hi Comrades,

The Walt Brown campaign raises some serious questions for me, and it has nothing to do with "sour grapes." After the presidential vote was taken at the convention I attempted to speak with Walt and even offered to fix up the bus if he wanted to use it for a national campaign. I really did want to find some way that we could work together. During that conversation I got a taste of his attitude towards the campaign and towards women. To make the matter short, my impression was of an incredibly arrogant and sexist man who could not relate to the people that we are trying to appeal to here in Michigan. Furthermore, numerous requests have been made to Walt to expand on his positions on such things as women's rights, gay rights, fighting racism, etc. There has been no response, and that leaves me with the impression that he does not take these issues seriously and/or that there is a problem here that is not being addressed.

My concern is for the work that we are trying to do here in Michigan. Given my own impression when talking with Walt (or, more accurately, being condescendingly lectured by him), I fear that actively organizing for him here would damage the reputation of the SPMI and drive people away from our organization. I can just see us organizing a forum for him and bringing workers from Detroit to it, and Walt taking the same attitude towards them as he took with me. If that were to happen, the SP would become known as a racist and sexist organization that should be avoided. It would sabotage our work, and it is not a reputation that we want to cultivate. This is why I have not been able to find a way to justify throwing myself into this campaign. The lack of response when questions are asked about his positions also reinforces this problem - and no, it is not enough just to say that he is running on the SP program.

On the other hand, if we could arrange for Mal to come to Michigan, I would gladly throw myself into organizing for that. I have talked a lot with her and think that she is a very supporable candidate. At some point I would very much like to work on building a forum for her here.

In any event, there are real reasons for hesitating to support Walt's candidacy - and just putting them down to "sour grapes" really avoids some serious issues.

Comradely,
Lisa