On Monday, November 26, 2001, at 11:37 , PNFPNF@aol.com wrote:
> Drieux is correct on the importance of being aware of the
> symbolism/meanings of our pronouncements, certainly. But my point, re the
> "Law and Order" episode, is even more about the current intensification
> of manipulation and censorship of the mass media, and the
> possibile--probable--attacks on the use of the net for progressive
> organizing and information dissemination.
> Paula
AMEN and Preach IT!
I think the recent 'study' about the 'weak link' in our national security
that is the 'academic world' showed that this is not merely a 'liberal
media problem' as you suggest - but the even worse problem that the current
government is running scared, that it does not know, nor does it really
care 'what is at stake' in the current war.
the possible 'abuse' of the Patriot act is run out in detail at:
http://www.ombwatch.org/npadv/2001/usapatriot.html
but I would argue that now, more than ever, it is the time to sort out
what people Really Believe, what they are really willing to live and die
for - and more importantly - how they wish to actually effect change
without
having to rely on terrorism and/or any other form of para-militarism.
As such, we can learn a lot from the 'samizdat' movement of the soviet
dissident community - who faced a far more repressive police state than
then american 'anti-war' movement ever faced. Whereas they had to work
with the carbon copies of typed documents, we have the advantage of being
able to work with html and email in ways that will allow us to counter
the lack of information, with information.
We would also be well servered to go back over the history of RAWA - the
revolutionary afghani women's association - to see that even in the face of
a 'vast rightwing religious konspirakii' one can keep on 'keeping on'
without
resorting to the politics of the gun.
At which point we can actually implement 'heroics' - not in the
paternalistic
posturing of pretend patriotism or posseur politics du gauche - but by
deciding
that 'hey kids, maybe that SUV with the sierra club bumper sticker is
bogus'.
Even IF such gestalt awareness is suddenly coming from the likes of Frau
Huffington.
Maybe now is the time to implement an intellectual form of Tai Chi Chuan,
and
support the Attorney General when he suggests that revealing the list of
names
of those who are detained would 'invade their privacy' - and see what we
can
do about protecting the rest of their 'rights of privacy' - like not
having to
be under direct control of the Department of Justice....
Let us not 'worry' about the way that things can go wrong. Let's find ways
to
make it possible that they can't go wrong.
ciao
drieux
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Wed Nov 28 2001 - 03:39:56 EST