...... ...................Larouche Online Almanac

Published: Tuesday, Sep. 14, 2004

Today is:

This Week You Need to Know:

Why 'LaRouche in 2004' Was Indispensable

Had I Not Been Excluded

by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.

September 11, 2004

As I wrote on the subject of "How to Campaign for Kerry," earlier today, the fact that the Democratic Party is under such campaign pressure for the coming weeks, is reflected now in the still mentally deadening effects of what is typified by the "Shrum factor" over the entirety of the primary campaign since the New Hampshire primary. Had I not been excluded from the campaign debates, the issues which I was addressing during the period prior to the July Convention would have already been aired to a broader population over the preceding six months.

The importance of that lies not in the substantial primary vote I would have accumulated. In light of the hatred fostered against me by certain currents even within the Party, Kerry would have probably won the nomination, anyway. The most important difference, now, is that the general population was left ill-prepared by the Kerry election-campaign, by the failure to digest the strategic issues which were already the central feature of my primary campaign.

Now, therefore, we must make up, very quickly, for about six months of opportunity more or less frivolously cast away.

1. Kerry As the Candidate

Kerry's primary campaigning was at its relative best in New Hampshire, where he tended to respond to the environment of my campaign, unlike the later parts of the primary campaign. If one thinks back about the pluses and minuses of his campaign so far, one sees two things, foremost.

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Latest From LaRouche

Dumping the Undertaker
How To Campaign for Kerry

by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.

September 11, 2004

It were not unfair to think of the late Bob Shrum as the writer of funeral orations for the candidacies of otherwise winning Democrats. These were Democrats whose campaigns were misdirected into accepting recommendations that they adopt the kind of mournful services which Shrum, on his consistent record, has provided for the amusement of the victim Democrats' Republican beneficiaries.

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The Economy

World and Nation-State

This Week in History

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September 13 - 19, 1787

Benjamin Franklin Makes His Final Speech to the Constitutional Convention

September 17, 1787 was the last day of the convention which had drafted the United States Constitution, and it was now time for the delegates to sign the document. The leaders of the convention were worried that there was a small minority in the convention made up of delegates who had argued for various measures and been defeated, and thus might refuse to sign the final document, endangering future ratification by the states. They went to Franklin and asked him to give a speech which would appeal for unity. Franklin's speech on that last day was crucial, but it was only the capstone on what he had done, both before and during the convention, to ensure it would produce the basis for an enduring republic.

Almost exactly two years earlier, Franklin had returned to Philadelphia from his mission in Europe, where he had cemented an alliance with France, rallied Europeans to support the American Revolution, and signed the treaty which recognized the independence of the new nation. Now about to enter his 80s, and suffering from an extremely painful kidney stone, he slowly made his way overland to his French port of embarkation, travelling in a sedan chair sent by Queen Marie Antoinette herself. Once in Philadelphia, he was elected to the Presidency of Pennsylvania, and continued his scientific work as president of the American Philosophical Society.

But the weak Articles of Confederation government set up during the Revolution was failing, and Franklin had larger objectives in view. Uncharacteristically, for one who had lived fairly simply, Franklin embarked on a major renovation of his house. He designed a 16x30-foot addition which gave him a dining room seating 24 people, and an upstairs library which could contain 40,000 volumes. Had the Court at Versailles given him delusions of grandeur?

Anyone who had read his Autobiography would have known what to expect next. When the call went out for a convention to reform the Articles of Confederation, Ben Franklin took a page from his own book, and organized a group called the Society for Political Inquiries, which met weekly in his library. It was modelled on the "reforming societies" such as "Young Men Associated" which had been organized by his mentor, Cotton Mather, to train up a generation of Boston citizens who knew how to do good. It was also modelled on Franklin's own Junto, which he had founded in Philadelphia in 1727, and which, for almost 40 years was, as described by Franklin, "the best school of philosophy and politics that then existed in the province."

While the states were electing delegates to the convention, the Society for Political Inquiries was discussing theories of government, writing essays on political topics, and proposing prize questions which other authors could write upon. Although the active members were mainly from the Philadelphia area, the group enrolled honorary members from throughout the states, including George Washington. The Society continued to function throughout the convention, the fight for state ratification, and the inauguration of President George Washington, only disbanding by the vote of its members when the new nation had been launched on a solid footing.

As the delegates reached Philadelphia in May, they went to pay their respects to Franklin, who, as President of Pennsylvania, was the unofficial host of the convention. His dining room seating for 24 was strained to the maximum, as he wrote to a London brewer who had sent him a cask of porter: "We have here at present what the French call une assemblée des notables, a convention composed of some of the principal people from the several states of our confederation. They did me the honour of dining with me last Wednesday, when the cask was broached, and its contents met with the most cordial reception and universal approbation."

There were only two candidates for president of the convention—Washington and Franklin. Franklin deferred to Washington, and when he could not nominate him in person on the first day of the meeting, he had the Pennsylvania delegation do it in his stead. Never known as an orator, Franklin did not speak often at the convention, and focussed his energies—five hours a day for four months—on working for compromise and the best plan that could be obtained. He himself favored features, such as a unicameral legislature and paying only expenses for the executive, that were voted down by the delegates. He took the defeats gracefully, but other delegates were not so calm.

The great stumbling block for the convention was the question of what kind of legislative representation would satisfy both the large and the smaller states. The level of debate became so acrimonious that a delegate from a smaller state warned that they might find a foreign ally and secede. A delegate from a large state threatened that if that event occurred, the nation would suffer under fire and sword, and officials of the smaller states would face the gallows for treason. Franklin stepped into the fray and calmly told the delegates that, "The diversity of opinion turns on two points. If a proportional representation takes place, the small states contend that their liberties will be in danger. If an equality of votes is to be put in its place, the large states say their money will be in danger."

Franklin then called for compromise. "When a broad table is to be made, and the edges of the planks do not fit, the artist takes a little from both, and makes a good joint. In like manner here, both sides must part with some of their demands in order that they may join in some accommodating purpose." He then submitted a motion, where the delegates could fill in the number which he left blank: "That the legislatures of the several states shall choose and send an equal number of delegates, namely ____, who are to compose the second branch of the general legislature." This motion was passed, and so the House of Representatives would be selected according to population, but the Senate would give states equal representation. This broke the logjam in the convention and allowed the Constitution to be further filled out.

On the last day, the only remaining obstacle was whether the bitter holdouts would sink the Constitution's chances to be ratified by the states. Worn out by his pain and his incessant labors for compromise, Franklin had to ask James Wilson to deliver the following speech: "Mr. President, I confess, that I do not entirely approve of this Constitution at present; but, Sir, I am not sure I shall never approve it; for, having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration to change my opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise....

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InDepth Coverage

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Links to articles from Executive Intelligence Review*.
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Feature:

59 Days To Change History: A Moment Of Epic Decision
by Nancy Spannaus
The semi-annual conference of the LaRouche movement in the United States brought together approximately 900 persons at locations in Northern Virginia and Southern California on Sept. 4-6, to deliberate on how to save the United States, and the world, from disaster—specifically, the re-election of George Bush and Dick Cheney on Nov. 2. As Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. put it in his keynote address, entitled 'A Moment of Epic Decision,' this is not a fight to win an election; 'it's a fight to turn the course of history.'

A Moment of Epic Decision
by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.
Here is Lyndon LaRouche's keynote to the Labor Day conference of the International Caucus of Labor Committees and Schiller Institute, Sept. 4, 2004. The panel was chaired by EIR Editor and ICLC Executive Committee member Nancy Spannaus; Schiller Institute Vice Chairman Amelia Boynton Robinson introduced the speaker.


Strategic Studies:

LaRouche Comments on Putin: The Issue Is World War III
by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.
The following statement was uttered by LaRouche at a Labor Day conference on Sept. 6, and issued as a press release on Sept. 7 by LaRouche PAC.
On President Putin's statement, as reported in leading press in the United States, available today, such as the New York Times. The leading feature, the crucial feature of President Putin's statement, is featured internationally. This is the statement on Russia's reaction, to the attack in North Ossetia, by forces which are deployed from within the Caucasus, and with the tacit support and sympathy of not only certain governments which are closely tied to the U.S. government in the Caucasus at present, but with actually very obvious participation of covert elements, operating behind the scenes in these regions.
(See President Putin's Speech on page 4 of this article.)

Neo-Cons Knee Deep in Caucasus Provocations
by Jeffrey Steinberg
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sept. 8 delivered the most unambiguous attack on Western countries in recent memory, when he declared that they 'bear direct responsibility for the tragedy of the Chechen people when they give political asylum to terrorists. When our Western partners say we should re-examine our policy, what you call tactics, I would advise them not to interfere in our Russian internal affairs.'

LaRouche's 1999 Video: 'Storm Over Asia'
EIR released a feature-length video, 'Storm Over Asia,' at a Washington press conference on Dec. 8, 1999. In the program, Lyndon LaRouche and associates gave a precise strategic evaluation of the Anglo-American financier oligarchy's assault on, especially, Russia, China, and India. The following is excerpted from LaRouche's script of his presentation. The video begins with film footage of battles in Chechnya and on the India-Pakistan border.

The Last Warning
Russian analyst Roman Bessonov looks at Russian society and the challenges to its leadership, in thewake of the Beslan school massacre.
A crowd of people at a blood donation station; not a soul in line at the airport's booking office; an old war movie on TV, for the first time in three years; a shrill voice on the radio, warning that the Civil Defense Service is testing the emergency warning system; the following measured strikes of the metronome. 'This is war,' said the head of state.


Economics:

There Is No 'Upswing' In the Swing States
by Richard Freeman and Paul Gallagher
In the electoral 'battleground states' of the formerly industrial Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, from Wisconsin and Missouri to Pennsylvania, campaign appeals to the 'middle class' are ignoring the impoverishment and abandonment—of cities, workplaces, and decent jobs—with which globalization and deindustrialization have battered those states. During the years of the Cheney-Bush Administration, sharply rising poverty has made virtually all the cities of the industrial belt start to resemble the eastern Germany which is swept with demonstrations for jobs and reconstruction today.


International:

INTELLIGENCE ORGANIZATION
How Can Intelligence Serve An Un-Intelligible President?
by Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.
If you chose to vacation in the Sahara Desert, do not
blame the weatherman for the lack of rain.
—Lyndon LaRouche today

It's the economy, stupid!
—James Carville, 1992

Spy Scandal Centers On AIPAC Role
by Jeffrey Steinberg
According to sources close to the Bush Administration, Attorney General John Ashcroft moved in August to put the kibosh on an FBI counterintelligence probe into top operatives of the official Israeli lobby in America, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC); and when it became clear that there was a top-down cover-up under way, government officials leaked details of the spy probe to CBS News to prevent the probe from being shut down altogether.

Retired Officers Call for Independent Commission To Probe Prison Torture
by Edward Spannaus
In light of the obvious inability of the Bush Administration to investigate its own responsbility for the prison torture scandal, and in light of the unwillingness of Congress to aggressively conduct such an investigation, a group of eight retired flag officers has issued a call for the creation of an independent commission, to investigate and report the truth about the allegations of torture and abuse of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo.

Shi'ism in Iraq
Don't Mess With Iraq's Moral Authority and Historic Legacy!
by Hussein Askary
It is a very, very sensitive thing to attempt to deal with sectarian issues within religion. I, as an Iraqi who does not identify himself with any sect other than Islam and its universal principles, endeavored to write this limited and short description of the historical background of the actors on the Iraqi battle field, in order to give readers and observers a sense of the people involved in the events of Iraq today. My aim is not to give a lecture in history, because this short piece is far from any thorough review. Its aim is to forewarn those who could act to change the policies of the United States, and other nations, of the consequences of their failure to act now.

Saxony Elections: Bu¨So Calls for Good Jobs, at Germany Demos
by Rainer Apel
Armed with a leaflet calling for millions of new jobs and productive credit, the LaRouche Youth Movement (LYM) and other activists with the Civil Rights Movement Solidarity party (Bu¨So) began a new round of policy interventions throughout Germany's Monday rallies, on Sept. 6. The mass leaflet,'Manifesto for the Monday Demonstrations' by Bu¨So Chairwoman Helga Zepp-LaRouche, (see EIR, Sept. 3) was circulated in 70,000 copies alone in Saxony, which will hold its state parliament election on Sept. 19, and another 30,000 in other German states.

Philippines in Crisis Turns to China
by Mike Billington
Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, just weeks after her dramatic decision to withdraw the small Filipino military contingent from Iraq, and the hostile retaliation to that act from the Bush-Cheney regime in Washington, has now carried out a high-profile three-day state visit to China, signing a series of breakthrough agreements are significant not only for the region, but for the world.

  • Railway Diplomacy n the Philippines
    by Gary L. Satre
    Gary Satre, a longtime friend of EIR who lives in the Philip- pines, received a master's degree from the University of the Philippines after working as a U.S. Navy journalist. He writes and speaks on railroad issues in the Philippines.

Equatorial Guinea:
Maggie Thatcher's Son And the Failed Coup
by Dean Andromidas
At 7:00 a.m., on Aug. 25, agents of South Africa's Scorpions, the elite special police unit deployed for the most serious of crimes, arrived on Mark Thatcher's doorstep in Cape Town to announce to the pajama-clad Thatcher that he was under arrest. South African authorities announced that 'credible evidence' indicated that Mark Thatcher, the son of Great Britain's infamous prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, had helped finance a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea.


National:

GOP Convention Shows A Party in Disarray
by William Jones
The neatly scripted four-day gala event in New York, which Republican party operatives so pompously labelled their National Convention, would have won the admiration of Leni Riefenstahl, the film choreographer of that monumental 1934 Nazi rally in Nuremberg, which Riefenstahl memorialized in her propaganda film 'The Triumph of the Will.' But underneath the strong show of unity behind Republican Presidential nominee George W. Bush, the party is in a state of turmoil, with a variety of factions jockeying to gain influence over a second Bush Administration, assuming he is re-elected.

  • GOP Newsletter Assails 'Bush's Party of Power'
    In its lead story Sept. 6, The Big Picture, a prestigious newsletter that circulates widely among Republican Party movers and shakers, blasted the Cheney-Bush crowd for its scripted Republican Convention, and the Party's intolerance and dedication only to preserving the President's power.
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Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.

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Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr.
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