S T A F F Co-publishers Julie Ristau, Lenny Dee Editorial Board Lenny Dee, Diane Hellekson, David Morris, Julie Ristau, Karen Starr, Charlie Sugnet, Jay Walljasper Pacific Northwest Editor David Milholland Art Direction Kate Hunt, Lenny Dee Design Direction Gail Swanlund Cover Design Connie Gilbert Designers Connie Gilbert, Gail Swanlund, Eric Walljasper, Contributing Artists Tim Braun, Sharon Brown, Jonmarc Edwards, Stuart Mead, Ricardo Levins Morales, Jean Murakami, Rochelle Woldorsky, Dave Rathman Proofreader Ann Laughlin Account Representatives Dale Shifler, Kate Sullivan Typesetting JeZac Typesetting, Pat McCarty Contributing Photographers John Danicic, Diane Cumming Spiritual Advisor Camille Gage Queen of Space & Time Lynda J. Barry Thanks to thee ACTION, Betsy Brown, Ron Egstrom, Becky Glass, Jennifer Gage, Louise Guggisberg, Jim Hare, Olivia Lundeen, Nicole Niemi, Musicmaster, Judi Ray, Jenny Starr, Carol Salmon 4 The Music of Failure— Bill Holm What failure means in the life of an old woman, a small town and an entire nation. * | | l Common Good— IR o b e rt Bellah and William Sullivan Is there another vision for America beyond rampant consumerism? <|/ | Columbus, the Indians, I^T and Human Progress— Howard Zinn In four years we’ll be celebrating the 500th anniversary of the “discovery” of America. A look at what really happened. 20 How to Relate to Handicapped People— John Callahan A fitting sequel to Paralyzed for Life. 22 Clinton St. Gallery— Michael Manzavrakos, Jean Murakami, Rochelle Woldorsky Some of the finest Twin Cities artists strut their stuff. The Ramadan Wars— Frank B. Wilderson III Motown ’67—Hot times in the inner city. X Shift at the Mine— Lynna Williams A moving tale from the Iron Range. 36 ...or not to Smoke— Cynthia Morgan One woman’s humorous memoirs of a life up in smoke. ON THE COVER Leon Hushcha is a well-renown Twin Cities painter who shows privately twice a year. VOL 10 NO. 3 FALL 1988 The Twin Cities edition is published by the Clinton St. Quarterly, 3255 Hennepin Ave. S., Suite 255, Minneapolis, MN 55408 —(612) 823-2103. Unless otherwise noted, all contents copyright ©1988 Clinton St. Quarterly. We encourage your comments, articles and art. All material should be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. A MEANINGLESS ARGH! It’s here again — that wonderful season where mindless patter about all that Mr. Tweedledum or Mr. Tweedledee will do for our great land fills the air. No matter that Tweedledum was once the leading hit man for the nefarious CIA or that all Tweedledee can envision is what a wonderful country this must be, if he, the son of an immigrant, can run for President. (He rarely mentions that his father was also a graduate of Harvard Medical School.) Is the outcome of this election really of any import? Here are a few things to consider. Tweedlebush was the director of our secret police. In that role he was responsible for assassinations, drug trafficking, racketeering, international mayhem and the violent ouster of legitimate foreign governments. As the nation’s number one spy from 1976-1977, Tweedlebush suppressed crucial evidence regarding the assassination of Orlando Letelier, former Chilean Ambassador to the United States. Defying a congressional ban, Bush delivered 145,490 lbs. of weapons to Angola and passed out almost $2 million to rightwing rebel leaders. Under Bush the CIA spent over $10 million trying to overthrow Prime Minister Michael Manley of Jamaica, including three failed assassination attempts. Bush also continued the controversial practice of using American journalists as paid informants and conducted electronic surveillance against representatives of Micronesia, a U.S. colony that was at the time negotiating its future status. Tweedledukakis has done nowhere near the dastardly deeds that Tweedlebush has done in public service, yet be assured that once in office he will appoint a CIA director who will employ very similar methods as Bush. If we’re looking for an end to the war economy, a reinstitution of the progressive tax structure, and a redistribution of resources among the U.S. population, there’s little difference between the men. |A/here the difference lies FF between Dukakis and Bush is in our ability to access these scoundrels and halt the wheels of injustice from grinding ever onward. In 1968 Lynchem Baines Johnson was forced out of office because'the daughters and sons of the Democratic Party were out in the streets demanding an end to a brutal war. When the Republicans took office in 1969 it became impossible to apply the same leverage and the war escalated. It wasn’t till after the Kent State shootings in 1970 that change finally occurred. The presidents of Notre Dame and Ohio State called Nixon with the news that the sons and daughters of the Republican Party were out in the streets and that he better pull out of Cambodia. A Bush presidency would be even more remote from the needs and wishes of everyday Americans. Over the last eight years, for instance, Ronald Reagan has R I T U A L ? not had one meeting with the Black congressional caucus. Tweedlebush will certainly continue this policy. Tweedledukakis must at least pay lip service to this constituency as well as many other groups such as women, children, low-income and middle-class workers, farmers, environmentalists and gays. In practice what this means is a little more help will trickle down to the ghettos, schools, environment programs, small farms, health care, social services and the third world. Above all it will give us some access to power that we could use to possibly make the world a little safer and saner. To expect real vision from President Dukakis would be asking a bit much. For that we must look toward the energy that sparked the Jesse Jackson candidacy. Jackson said it best when in Atlanta he made his case for a relationship to power, “close enough to serve, far enough to challenge.” Already the Jackson forces have gotten the Democratic leadership to support stronger South African sanctions, same-day voter registration, D.C. statehood, and better child-care programs. Jackson tells the tale of Martin Luther King Jr. asking Lyndon Johnson to enact civil rights legislation and Johnson replying that he could never get it through Congress. Then came numerous marches and Johnson moved. As Jackson points out, those were the ingredients of change, “the White House on the one hand and street heat on the other.” LD Clinton St. Quarterly— Fall, 1988 3
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