Republicans forgot that Susan B. Anthony was a socialist

by Joel Wendland

I was amused to learn this weekend that Republicans have organized a new group called The Susan B. Anthony List. No doubt a knock-off of the influential Emily's List, a political action committee dedicated to supporting the political campaigns of women to public office who support women's equality and a host of related issues.

The Susan B. Anthony List, as its website indicates, does the opposite. It will support women who specifically oppose women's reproductive rights.

So what's the connection to Susan B. Anthony? Anthony was among the preeminent feminist social activists of the 19th century, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, and many others. She was a staunch abolitionist as well as an advocate for voting rights for women.

Which, of course, makes the Republican campaign to link their opposition to reproductive rights to such a well-known advocate of equality so ironic and offensive.

Above all, however, is the apparently forgotten fact that Susan B. Anthony was also a socialist!

In an article celebrating Anthony's life and career, famed labor activist and serial Socialist Party president candidate Eugene V. Debs said, "she was a heroine in the highest sense and her name deserves a place among the highest on the scroll of the immortals."

Amusing: Republicans are celebrating the life of one of America's home-grown socialists.

Why doesn't anyone blame PoliticalAffairs.net?

From The Daily Beast:

Socialist Shocker
by Benjamin Sarlin

A stunning new poll shows that just 53 percent of Americans favor capitalism over socialism. The Daily Beast’s Benjamin Sarlin writes that it’s not Obama’s fault. It’s Rush Limbaugh’s.

Maybe Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are right—socialism is a real and dire threat to America. The latest Rasmussen poll shows a stunningly low 53 percent of Americans favor capitalism over the dreaded "s" word, with a full 20 percent preferring socialism and an addit[i]onal 27 percent unsure.

Even in the current economic gloom, it’s an eye-opening result. But it’s worth asking whether the supposed socialist resurgence is really the work of President Barack Obama, who has been branded a socialist since the 2008 campaign, or the same right-wing talkers who have been shouting it over the airwaves.

Read the whole blog post here...

Those Gallup people are sharp

by Joel Wendland

A recent Gallup poll astutely found that language and framing play a huge role in constructing and reflecting public opinion. Focusing on the financial crisis late last month, Gallup asked people two questions: 1) "Do you favor or oppose the federal government temporarily taking over major U.S. banks in danger of failing in an attempt to stabilize them?" 2) "Do you favor or oppose the federal government nationalizing major U.S. banks in danger of failing in an attempt to stabilize them?"

54% of respondents to question 1 said yes. Only 37% of respondents to question 2 said yes.

Gallup's conclusion is that public support for the issue depends on what you call. Astute.

But Gallup's own method might be inherently flawed. Four additional questions, at least should have been asked in order to get at the truth of public opinion on this question: 1) Should major banks in danger of failing be allowed to fail? 2) Do you favor permanently taking over major US banks in an attempt to keep them from failing? 3) Do you favor permanently nationalization major banks in an attempt to keep them from failing? 4) Do you favor creating a permanent national bank to compete with private banks?

I might be inclined to say yes to all of these.

What's most amusing about the survey's results is the extent of support for "taking over" banks. Suggests may be that the new GOP mantra that President Obama is a socialist might not have much in the way of legs.