(Moment of nuclear detonation)
Excerpts from a string of e-mails between members of our family concerning the current election after revelations of massive exit poll discrepancies.
Source article Buzzflash 11/11/04
Tim,
Thanks for the URL. As I told you long before the election, if Bush didn't win
it, he'd steal it -- again. As a Gay man who, if you believe the Republican
spin-meisters, is part of a group that so appalls the American public that they
just simply HAD to vote for W to protect true AmuriKan values, I have decided
that this was the last time I will participate in the election farce. I don't
much appreciate being led on to believe that the process is meaningful. It makes
me feel foolish when it's all over. I can handle feeling oppressed, since that
is a baseline experience, but oppressed AND foolish is more than my fragile
ego can tolerate.
John
Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons.
—Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)
John,
Don't let them make you feel stupid for voting. We have people defrauding the
vote but that doesn't mean voting is stupid, it means we have to be smarter
and more organized to catch the crooks. Am I missing something here? Do we want
to let these crooks keep running things?
I'm outraged too but I'm fighting back. As you know, I feel the whole "war
on terror" is a fraud, a cover for imperialism. We provoke terrorists or
we do the terrorism on ourselves in order to have an enemy to justify our militarism.
It's an old trick. We've killed 100,000 Iraqis and people can't believe our
own government would be complicit in the events of 9/11 and kill a few thousand
Americans? Of course they would. It has worked beautifully, it has manipulated
people to permit preemptive war in Iraq to "defend ourselves". The
whole project in Iraq is not self-defense, it's not democracy, it's about putting
in a puppet regime, which we can't do until the country is sufficiently debilitated
and the political opposition is killed off. It's disgusting and sick. We've
got to fight this thing with truth. This month I've organized some people here
and we're bringing a documentary filmmaker to Denver from Canada who has made
a film on the events of 9/11. He's going to speak and show his film in Boulder
and Denver next weekend. The more truth people get, the better off we'll be.
Our media is not doing its job, it's terribly corrupt and biased.
If any of you are willing to watch a 75-minute documentary dvd on the events
of 9/11, please let me know and I'll send it to you.
Tim
Tim,
/Rant on
I am not so much outraged as sadly resigned--perhaps demoralized.Sometimes,
the best way to defeat someone is to let them have exactly what they ask for.
Let them have a society where Creationism is taught in schools after pious prayers
to Jesus. Let them live in a society where space exploration will be impossible
because they can't quite calculate how to get to Mars, since it, along with
the Sun, revolves around the Earth, as the Bible tell them; where AIDS funds
are administered by "faith based" groups like Jerry Falwell's "Liberty
Baptist Church," where their wives and daughters will not be able to terminate
a pregnancy even if the fetus will be born with two heads, half a brain, and
an insipid, vacant smile (a Pat Robertson clone); where their Gay sons and daughters
are lynched with impunity, where divorce is outlawed or made so damned difficult
that uxoricide is preferable. Let them eliminate any affirmative action programs,
social welfare, and be sure there is never any comprehensive national health
plan. Let them incarcerate people and hold them indefinitely without charges
or counsel, promote programs of torture, and, best of all, let them alienate
the entire world with their smug unilateralism. Yep, Republicanism: a country
of small government and big prisons. A land of free white straight Christian
Evangelicals. A land where government stays out of your private life, as long
as you deny you are Gay, decide never to have an abortion, pray until your knees
are calloused, marry only people of the same race and different gender, and
make only "private" decisions that their Jeheeeezuz would be proud
of. I say, "Amen, brother, let 'em have it." In fact, I think we should
reinstitute crucifixion for all of them who fail, in any way, to comport exactly
with the Levitical rules they wish to impose on the rest of us by way of Constitutional
Amendments. In the meantime, I'll take as much as I can, give back as little
as possible, and look for jobs in other countries.
I had a difficult time bringing myself to vote in this election after the utter
debacle of 2000. I am now sorry I bothered. Since the vote is meaningless, casting
one simply conveys the impression that I have been taken in by the lie and lends
a façade of legitimacy to the power mongers. I will leave governance
to the religious leaders who now guide this theocracy. It's ironic, Tim, that
this nation, which (so the myth goes) was founded in reaction to the oppressive
lack of human rights in the "Old World" is now more oppressive than
the society it rejected. I will not vote again, Tim, unless there is some sort
of revolution that reinstates democracy and respect for human rights in this
country. Unfortunately, since it is now clear that such a revolution cannot
be brought about by ballots, it will, eventually, I am sure, be brought about
by bullets.
/Rant off
P.S. The CD sounds interesting. I'd be interested in it to see what you are
doing, Tim.
John
Thanks John. On one level I understand where you're coming from but on another
I wish you'd continue to vote. It is a weapon we still have to fight this insanity
and to put it down seems foolish. It makes it a hell of a lot harder for them
to commit voter fraud if everyone votes, because it will be lopsided and everyone
will know it. Here in Colorado, the voters kept Pete Coors out of the US Senate,
so the system still works on some levels. Pete Coors is not just the head of
a beer company--he is one of the founders and funders (going back decades) of
the whole rightwing thinktank set (American Enterprise Institute etc) that has
accomplished a takeover of the media and politics in this country. He's also
an accomplished polluter (those Coors commercials "It's the water"
are a joke...Coors has had serious and repeated pollution violations). He's
fully aligned with the evangelicals and the bigotry exploiters, I can assure
you. I know that like me you would rather see things solved through a cooperative
system than through force and violence, and it says a lot about the deterioration
of our system that you can only envision the right wing releasing their grip
on power through some kind of violent overthrow. I think more likely we will
see an Argentina-like economic meltdown, if the current bankrupting of our government
continues. Then we'll have tons more poverty and the rudely-awakened Americans
(unable to afford gas for their SUVs) will vote in left-wingers like they are
doing all over Latin America right now and the struggle will go on. Better to
head this off at the pass if we can. I'm sending you a dvd.
Tim
Good rant, John... I also tend to believe there may be a
violent revolution in the future but there are several other
futures somewhat more likely.
The domestic scene in the U.S. will almost certainly continue
in the same direction, i.e. those individuals having the most
power in government and business continue screwing
everybody else in ever more determined and coercive ways.
You think there might be a violent revolt, sometime. But I
see *nothing* to indicate such a buildup of pressure. I've
seen dozens of videos like Kilometer 0, We interrupt this empire,
etc. and have done a lot of street demonstrations here in
Seattle. John, there is no *broad* rebellion.
Most people, the unschooled and ignorant, manual laborers,
etc. are mushrooms. Immersed in a complete seamless fabric
of lies (school, media, church) from early childhood.
The smarter folks who ought to know better, *seem to think
they are elites* (oh hah hah! irony. ) In any case they seem
satisfied with their tract homes and multiple cars and possessions.
and their investments.
Most likely this will continue until sharp disruptions are
imposed from abroad. Either military defeats abroad,
or disruptions inside the U.S. Americans might do that,
as you said, "bullets" but surely it is more likely to come
from the other 95% of humanity. nuff said.
I expect nukes in containers, as one example but it would
also be ridiculously easy to disrupt the U.S. economy, shit,
just steal a truck, and jackknife it on the freeway at rush
hour, light it on fire, and escape on a fast motorcycle.
You might not even get caught. Or load up a flatbed with
a couple hundred concrete pier blocks, and 3 or 4 guys,
chuck them out the back end.
Or saw down some interstate power lines etc. or
just shoot an arrow over the top with a carbon fiber line.
My point is, nothing like this is happening because
there is no revolution. There aren't even 100 people
in the country, mad enough to have a shooting war.
Or foreigners either. If there were one suicide bomber a
week in U.S. malls, as the Palestinians did in Israel during
some intervals, it would hobble the economy. Most
Americans would rather quit their jobs anyway. Look
how hard IT people worked during the dotcom bubble.
Now they have totally completely QUIT, since their
dreams of 6 figure incomes were punctured.
There must be cookbooks with 1000 negative ideas...
But don't expect Americans to do it. Americans think
they are the beneficiary class of American war and
imperialism. That is the most ironic lie of all, since our
kids are the cannon fodder, our kids must pay the deficit,
and our kids must breath the pollution and suffer from the
hatred and cynicism we are creating in our generations'
insatiable greed and racism etc.
The revolution that must happen is, ACTIONS which
illustrate the moral bankruptcy of the ruling elites
and destroy their legitimacy. When a population believes
the government is morally illegitimate they do act.
Republicans exploited religious views on abortion -
the pro life movement I think, has been such a powerful
part of their success we should all reflect on it. First
of all, reasonable people disagree whether a fetus has
rights. Mom described the nurses in her team would
bring the fetuses back to the back room and they
would sometimes live for minutes or hours, it was
so hard for them to watch. Why do we let the ruling elites
polarize the country, label progressives as pro-abortion,
and then resume their tax cutting and wars and plundering
the environment as a result??? Is it worth it?
The power elite are, today, vulnerable on the slaughter
of innocent people in Iraq and other countries. This is
one, key area where the legitimacy of the federal government
will collapse, when the truth of it, is reported on the media.
That won't happen of course, so people like Tim and I
are producing public screenings and sharing DVDs
with our friends. Eventually we will have community
wireless networks and the broadcast and cable TV will
be left behind.
The videos themselves, such as A Force More Powerful,
illustrate the power of nonviolent action, publicity schemes,
building awareness... the common theme is, wherever the
legitimacy of a ruling party becomes questioned by a
large fraction of the people, change happens.
Too much for now!
Love you all,
Wage peace,
Todd
I agree that there will be no revolution, either by violence or by election.
Perhaps, if the EU becomes economically strong enough, they can encourage us
to do things like treat all citizens equally, eliminate the death penalty
for children, and stop torturing POWs by simply refusing to do business with
any American company until the changes are made. I have no delusions about
the prime motivating factors in American society: paranoia and money.
John
Tim- How GREAT to hear you're organizing screenings! We do that here too...
http://www.epjc.net/events/events.htm etc. etc.
Please send me the DVD and tell me which of my DVDs you
want to see. I'm lending my DVDs to my friends directly.
Mad and not taking it anymore. DVDs cost 40 cents and
DVD burners cost $50. Let's jump on this. First you build
your hand-to-hand radizdat community. Then you have the
possibility someday, there are friends nearby enough for
point to point wireless. At some point there are enough
progressive people per square mile, for ad-hoc routing, for
multipoint distribution. and you've really got something.
Free, owner-operated telephone and broadband service.
My writings...
http://ledgerism.net/whyP2Pwireless.htm
http://ledgerism.net/requirementsCWNs.htm
Todd
DVD1 P
Howard Welsh - Making your Claim for CO
The Ground Truth
Beyond Good and Evil
DVD2 P
MOOS Military Myths
GI Lies
Faces of the Enemy
Poetry In Wartime excerpt (1st 10 minutes)
GNN The War Conspiracy
DVD3 P
The Good War and those who Refused to Fight
XXI Century Part 4 -Cline, etc. segments
Its a Wonderful World excerpt -Bowling Columbine
DVD4 P
The Doctor and DU
The Invisible War - DU
DVD5 P
Iraq Uncovered (2003)
Preventive Warriors (2004)
DVD6 Militarism P
The Fog of War
DVD7 & DVD8 P H
A Force More Powerful
DVD9 3 films on US in Latin America H
The Future will not be Televised
School of Assassins (SOA)
Colombians Speak Out
DVD10 2 films on the Military Industrial Complex P
Dick Cheney Unauthorized Biography
Moyers: Inside the Pentagon
DVD11 P
NOVA CASH Hospitals
Moyers segment National Guard mobilization summer 2004
XXI Century Part 4 -Cline, etc. segments
Its a Wonderful World excerpt -Bowling Columbine
DVD12 P H
What I've Learned: War on the Third World (Dorrel 2004)
DVD13 P H
Poetry in Wartime
Going Upriver excerpts Vietnam,WinterSoldiers, MedalToss, etc.
DVD14 H
Crucible of Empire: the Spanish American War - 2000
DVD15 H
The Panama Deception - 1992
DVD16 Major Problem Here. M
Rich Media Poor Democracy
Amy Goodman: Media in Wartime
GNN Countdown
Outfoxed (first 1 hour 13 mins)
DVD17 Media Bias 101. M
Free Speech for Sale - Moyers 1999
xxi Century part 3: Nothing but the Truth 2004
DVD18 M
Who's Afraid of Rupert Murdoch? FRONTLINE 1995
DVD19 M
Manufacturing Consent - Chomsky/1992
DVD20 M
Outfoxed
Fear and Favor in the Newsroom -1996 Studs Terkel narr.
DVD21 M
Orwell Rolls in his Grave (2003)
DVD22 C
Unprecedented (2000 elections)
Counting on Democracy Florida 2000
DVD23 C
Brother Outsider - Bayard Rustin
DVD24 C
Freedom on my Mind
DVD25 M
Poetry in Wartime
Categories:
P - Peace:
- Conscientious objection (The Good War, Faces of the Enemy, etc.)
- Nonviolence (A Force More Powerful etc.)
- Quasi-entertainment (Fahrenheit 911, etc.)
- Quasi-political (Neocons; Iraq uncovered, Hijacking catastrophe,etc.)
H - History of Imperialism (Spanish American War, Vietnam, Korea, Panama, Colombia,
Nicaragua, Venezuela, etc. etc.) Categories:
M - Media concentration/ media bias (Outfoxed, Fear and Favor, Media in Wartime,
etc.)
C - Civil Rights (PATRIOT act, Election frauds, Voting machines, equal rights, MLK, Bayard Rustin, Freedom on my Mind, etc.)