Democrats, Union Workers, and Communists Rally Together in Washington

Unmotivated, Lethargic Astroturfers Trash the Nation’s Capital

Washington D.C. Oct. 3, 2010 – By El Marco

The lines between the Democratic Party, labor unions, socialist and communist organizations, were blurred at the One Nation Working Together rally at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday. Organized by One Nation Working Together, which is headed by the cream of the Democratic National Committee, the rally was a sort of coming out moment for the radical leftist base of the Democratic Party.

National Campaign Manager of One Nation Working Together, Leah Daughtry, was CEO and top organizer of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, where Barack Obama was nominated to be candidate for President. Many of the rally’s top organizers work for Obama for America, which changed to Organizing For America after Obama was elected to the presidency. Organizing For America is the president’s personal, all purpose “grassroots” political campaign agitation corps. They coordinate closely with labor union and radical communist groups.

The page on the National Education Association’s website (NEA) inviting its members to travel to the rally quotes its president: “NEA is proud to be standing with our brothers and sisters in the labor and social justice movement …” The term social justice movement is a catch-all phrase for everyone to the left of Santa Claus including Marxist and Stalinist  “anti-war” umbrella groups. This rally had been touted as “a collection of over 400 liberal groups“, but a glance at the official list shows that it includes the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and other fanatical revolutionary groups that have struggled for decades to destroy the “capitalist system” and topple western democratic governments.

The majority of rally participants were union members who came on free buses. They were given T-shirts, and handed signs when they arrived. Many carried free lunch boxes to what was, for all intents and purposes, an anti-capitalism, pro-Obama rally.

According to the AFL-CIO web site, unions sponsored some 1,400 buses to get the grassroots out to the rally. At an average of 50 passengers per almost full bus, that’s 70,000 free rides.

“Social justice” organizations involved include the Communist Party of America, National Council of La Raza, Green Party, Progressive Democrats of America whose goal is to extend the 2008 victory into a “permanent progressive victory”, International Socialist Organization, Ramsey Clarke’s communist and anti-American umbrella group ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition, and myriad organizations for Obama, who promoted showing up at the march as “community service”.

The speakers included numerous pastors, rabbis and imams. Various holy texts were cited calling for social justice. “When the Gulf of Mexico was poisoned by the greed of big oil, the fish were denied justice” said Rabbi Arthur Waskow. Imam Khalid Griggs (above) claimed that Mohammed set an example of always treating the oppressed with compassion, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary. The fact that Mohammed was a leading supplier to the slave markets of his day was not mentioned.

Union members made themselves comfortable or napped during speeches. Each union had a designated area which divided them with steel barricades. Most unions supplied their members with colorful shirts. The National Education Association (NEA) had the largest presence along with the United Auto Workers (UAW). The NEA was given the best location at the front with the most shade (above right.) NEA members were provided free buses and food allowance to travel from their home states. I spoke with NEA members (above right) from Detroit and Chicago who were bussed in for the day. The weather was cool and fresh, and as the day progressed more people snoozed.

Many speakers mentioned comprehensive immigration reform. That got almost no response from organized labor. There was a lot of mention of green jobs, including by speaker Van Jones, a communist who was Obama’s first green jobs czar. The Sheet Metal Workers International Association above displayed a handmade sign calling for a revival of the American nuclear industry which was killed by radical environmentalists with help from the Democrat party.

There were dozens of communist groups represented. The International Socialist Organization did good business selling books and signing up new members. Books by Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and Karl Marx were selling briskly. One could say they hit the Jackpot, or in capitalist terms they “made a killing”. Note the large clenched red fist on their banner. Now imagine if you can, a world ruled with a clenched red fist.

Young communists hold a banner near the reflecting pool.

The Communist Party USA declared its loyalty to the Democrat Party on its official website in an article titled Why We March and Vote :

“Millions are coming forward to counter fear and hate with unity and hope, and to protect the democratic majorities in Congress. The Communist Party USA and Young Communist League stand with them.

While thousands are rallying in Washington for jobs, hundreds of thousands of other patriotic Americans who can’t make it will be there in spirit. They will spend their day canvassing door to door, phone banking, registering new voters and talking to their neighbors and co-workers about the issues.”

Most of the area along the reflecting pool was uncrowded. Throughout the rally walking from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to any area was not a problem. The photo above was taken at 2 p.m. The rally was from 12:00 to 4:30 p.m.

College Democrats and their Marxist friends happily held signs distributed by communist organizations and the NAACP in front of an anti-tea party banner.

The Socialist Workers Party started by asking $2 each for signs, but even when they tried giving them away, there were hundreds of signs left over. The International Socialist Organization, based in Chicago, is making common cause with the most radical elements of Islam and the gay liberation movement.

Unlike a tea party gathering, where almost all signs are homemade, this rally had few that weren’t mass produced. One exception was this man whose message was echoed by featured speakers like Al Sharpton and liberal icon Ed (who?) Shultz. Shultz boomed from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial:

“The conservative voices of America, they are holding you down. They don’t believe in your freedom. … For the last two years President Obama he’s had to put up with the word no. 40 people, 40 people in the United States Senate has held down the working man of America.

…we as one nation must stand together, must fight the forces of evil, the conservatives in this country across the board want it for them. They don’t want it for the people. They talk about the Constitution but they don’t want to live by it. They talk about our forefathers but they want discrimination.”

There were signs aimed at the FBI, which has recently raided “peace groups” offices. Evidence that leftist groups are involved with terrorist groups in Middle East and Latin America is what prompted the raids. Veterans For Peace is supporting Bradley Manning, who is accused of being a traitor for leaking thousands of military documents to Wikileaks. Secrets that were published are said to endanger U.S. troops and Afghan allies fighting in the field. The photo above shows the scene at 2:20 PM.

This photo was taken at the height of the rally, at 2:40 p.m. I couldn’t decide whether to include it, as it seems unbelievable that such a highly organized event could fail to achieve it’s objective. This area can be seen (photo below) on the right side of the reflecting pool. The long area of rail with no crowd is the same area shown in the photo above. Telephoto compression makes the area look much shorter than in the photo above.

This photo (above) was taken around 3 p.m. At this point widespread littering was becoming apparent.

The sidewalks around the mall were the most crowded areas. Most of the litter seen here is from radical left handouts and communist newspapers. The communists were everywhere, selling or giving away printed material and signs. Trash like this, as well as thousands of union signs like the SEIU FORWARD sign, littered the entire area from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington monument and into the downtown area. Maybe they were just showing solidarity with their brothers in the garbage collectors union.

There was much talk from the podium of unity, from individuals and representatives of groups that push identity politics. Much rhetoric and signs were devoted to attacking “those who hate” in the abstract, and often specifically the tea party.

This was one of the few handmade signs I saw, carried by a union member. Charles Trotter, of the Union of Electrical Workers, came from Chicago to tell President Obama that workers are hurting for jobs. Many stickers and printed signs had slogans such as “Fund Jobs, Not War” or “Jobs Not War!” For years the left have claimed that the U.S. uses war to stimulate the domestic economy. Now they seem to be saying that war is partially responsible for a lack of jobs at home, which is a reversal of the standard theme.

The scattered blue boxes contained free lunches given to union workers that travelled from out of state. These boxes were left at the base of the Washington monument along with other trash as attendees returned to the buses.

The World War II Memorial was also left littered with garbage. I felt awful for the visiting WWII veterans and their families. Many vets traveled from across the country for a visit to their memorial only to find that it was being used as a lounge for union workers who were uninterested in the rally they were bussed in to attend.

See What others say:

Accuracy in Media goes into the radical roots of key organizations and individuals involved in the rally here.

Moonbattery has an ariel overview comparison of the Glenn Beck rally and the One Nation Trashathon here

Nice Deb says communist groups were explicitly welcomed to participate in the rally.

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SEE El Marco’s June 6th rally photo-essay – Stop the Mosque at Ground Zero – Part II

Who says it’s not a MOSQUE?  Read El Marco’s photo-essay – Prayer Time at the Ground Zero Mosque

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El Marco distills life and Politics into Art  at – Art and Politics Blog.com

Enjoy El Marco’s Art Photography at – Looking at the World.com

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See other El Marco Photo-Essays on Islam:

• 9/11 – NEVER FORGET – NEVER GIVE IN
• Islam Clouds Bali’s Horizon
• 9/11 Families Rally Blasts Obama’s Show Trial Travesty
• Cartoons To Die For

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……….EL MARCO………..

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THANKS FOR VISITING!  –  NEVER FORGET  and  NEVER GIVE IN !