Date: Fri, 27 Feb 1998 20:19:58 -0800
Subject: M-G: Re: RESULT: {misc.activism,soc.politics}.anti-fascism moderated ALL PASS


[posted to Usenet: copy to Mathisen, Dexter, and M-G]

It looks like Paul Kneisel <tallpaul-AT-nyct.net> will soon be 
the owner of three "anti-fascist" newsgroups.  746 people
say this is the right thing to do.  It doesn't matter if
most of those people never use Usenet.  Paul Kneisel has
thoughtfully provided an eighteen-month series of proposals
all offering at least one moderator who _also_ doesn't much
use Usenet.  In that sense, moderator (and ostensible person)
Marc Alan Steier "represents" Paul's e-mail electorate.  ;-)

 Socialist militants, civil libertarians, and anti-fascists
on Usenet will have the opportunity to judge in practice
whose political judgement will prove correct in this case.
I predict that the new news:soc.politics.anti-fascism
will resemble Paul's own weird diatribes [as seen in The
InterNet Anti-Fascist spamzine] rather than the promised
"pluralistic" forum [like Tom Burghardt's broad "Anti-Fa"
newsletter, which has been recommended by _Z_ magazine].

 If the a-priori bans (promised by Tamara Turner) and the
political censorship (suggested by Paul's highhandedness
with his own closest collaborators) come to pass as John
Holmes and I have predicted, I urge the facilitators of the
moderated newsgroup news:soc.politics.marxism to consider
such articles for publication in a.p.m., allowing Big Eight
propagation for those suppressed voices.

 I urge all socialists and civil libertarians who may
experience such censorship from Paul Kneisel's new private
"anti-fascist" newsgroups to publish their rejected articles
to unmoderated group news:alt.politics.socialism.trotsky ,
with a header saying something like
 [REJECTED by news:soc.politics.anti-fascism ].

 If such articles are of general interest to Marxists, I 
suggest they also be submitted to news:soc.politics.marxism
and to the Spoons Collective's Marxism-General mailing list
at mailto:marxism-general-AT-jefferson.village.Virginia.edu  

Neutral Usenet Volunteer Votetaker Neil Crellin reports:
> 
>                                 RESULT
>   moderated group misc.activism.anti-fascism.announce passes 724:106
>   moderated group misc.activism.anti-fascism.tactics passes 719:110
>        moderated group soc.politics.anti-fascism passes 746:93
> 
>  Yes  No  | 2/3 >100 | Pass | Group
> ---- ---- | --- ---- | ---- | -------------------------------------------
>  724  106 | Yes  Yes |  Yes | misc.activism.anti-fascism.announce
>  719  110 | Yes  Yes |  Yes | misc.activism.anti-fascism.tactics
>  746   93 | Yes  Yes |  Yes | soc.politics.anti-fascism
> 
> There were 856 valid votes and 11 invalid ballots.

> Proponent: Paul Kneisel <tallpaul-AT-nyct.net>
> Proponent: Marc Alain Steier <msane-AT-ix.netcom.com>

 Marc Alan Steier, ostensible moderator for the most important
new group [ news:soc.politics.anti-fascism ] didn't participate
in this RFD/CFV discussion -- he has less than a dozen postings
to Usenet in total -- and DID NOT EVEN BOTHER TO VOTE in this
election campaign.  Indeed, he shows no public sign that he's
aware that within four days, he is supposed to be the Enforcer
of an a-priori ban against postings by Bob Malecki, myself, and
our carefully unnamed "ilk," as promised by co-moderator Turner
for the discussion group this "Alleged Steier" will moderate.

 Now that the CFV has passed, Paul can more or less do
as he pleases; there isn't going to be any oversight,
just a number of very bad precedents set for the future.
(If he prefers to be more formal, Paul can merely "replace" 
the magical "Mr. Steier" with himself <g> or Tamara Turner
at this point).

> Proponent: Tamara Turner <tturner-AT-halcyon.com>

 Participants and readers of news:alt.politics.socialism.trotsky
should note that a number of persons who took public positions
on these newsgroups did not cast any ballot at all.

 No votes at all were recorded from: Hunter Watson, Stephen
Diamond, Sally Ryan, Robert Malecki, Chris Faatz, or Chris
Williams.  Bob Malecki's opposition was regarded as significant
only by  Tallpaul, who posted a long Spart-baiting campaign
screed at his website, specifically for Malecki.  Only a wigged
out former Spartacist could himself take poor Bob seriously,
so Paul Kneisel offers it as part of his doctrine!  Bob Malecki
stands in the Spartacist tradition only in publishing long
screeds untrammeled by facts or science, and in ABSTAINING from
what he declared to be an important class battle, much as the
real ICL fled from its engagements in Brazil.  But charges that
Bob Malecki's "rabid abstentionism" constitute "Spartacism" are
as inaccurate as such charges against abstentionists like Ron 
Painter (who, like Bob, advocated opposition only to abstain 
from voting in practice).  At least Chris Williams declared
his apathy in advance.  

 More significant were those former proposed moderators and
collaborators of Paul Kneisel who also did not cast any vote.
These include Vicki Rovere of the War Resisters League, who
still shows no sign of awareness that Paul even dragged her
name through the first RFDs eighteen months ago; Tom Burghardt,
whose enjoyment of Usenet seems to be a curious write-only mode;
Ron Painter, whose "opposition" turned out to be as tangible as 
the ballot he failed to cast; and Sunday "Hi - Bye" Harrison,
who always said she'd rather play on the streets, and meant it.
 
 Relevant to our community of a.p.s.t. and s.p.m. were four
anti-fascist opponents of Kneisel's privatization scheme.
I am honored to join the roster of those who tried, at one
time or another, to work with Paul in good faith:
 
> Annette_Dexter [at] msn.com       Annette F. Dexter NNN
> phylstevens [at] worldnet.att.net     David Stevens NNN
> perimath [at] sn.no                 Per I. Mathisen NNN
> jdholmes [at] igc.apc.org               John Holmes NNN

 Don't say we didn't warn you.

- David Stevens


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