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Today's
Stories
November
6, 2004
Carl
G. Estabrook
Who Killed Cock Robin?
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Green Out
Rahul
Mahajan
Fallujah and the Reality of War
November
5, 2004
David
Vest
The Not-Bush Brothers: a Fond Farewell
Elizabeth
Boylan
The Dems and Faith-Based Politics
Conn
Hallinan
War Crimes and Iraq
David
Zonsheine
Poetry and the Courage to Refuse
Cynthia
McKinney
It's a New Day!
Elaine
Cassel
Running from the Religious Right
Chris
Geovanis
First Protect Your Vote: Lessons for Democrats on Fixing Elections
from Chicago
Rob
Ritchie
Election 2004 by the Numbers
Jo
Guldi
The Beast of History is In
November
4, 2004
Sharon
Smith
The Self-Fulfilling Prophesy of Lesser-Evilism
CounterPunch
Wire
Bush Voters: 2000 v. 2004
Ben
Tripp
My Fellow Americans...Get Stuffed!
Michael
Donnelly
Why Not Blame Rosie?
Vijay
Prashad
An Election of Homophobia and Misogyny
Jules
Rabin
De Profundis: the Morning After
Robert
Jensen
Politics and Professions of Faith:
"Your Rich Men are Full of Violence"
Zoltan
Grossman
Blue State Secession: the Only Solution?
Jonah
Birch
1968 and Today
Dave
Lindorff
What Went Wrong?
Jack
McCarthy
I Knew It Was Over When Michael Moore Showed Up: He Was For Nader...Before
He Was Against Him
Donna
J. Volatile
Ahoy Kerrycrats! Welcome to Our Nightmare
Paul
Craig Roberts
The Bright Side of Black Tuesday
November
3, 2004
James
Hodge / Linda Cooper
The CIA and Abu Ghraib: 50 Years of
Training Torturers
Ann
Harrison
The Ghost Votes in the Machine: Voting Snafus Across the Nation
Greg
Moses
Blues for Fallujah
Anis
Memon
The Moral (Values) of This Election
Mickey
Z.
Post Mortem
Josh
Frank
The Dems Should be Ashamed
Chris
Floyd
No Ways Tired: Defeat, Dissent and the Bush Machine
spArk
Smoke Signals from Portland: Karmic Blowback and the Democrats
Friedrich
von Schiller
Folly, Thou Conquerest
Cockburn
/ St. Clair
Democrats in End Time: Who to Blame
Now?
November
2, 2004
Gary
Leupp
Democratic Elections in Historical
Perspective: The Wrong Side Wins
Lance
Selfa
Selling the War on Terror
Laura
Carlsen
The US Elections and Latin America: Can the US Ever be a Good
Neighbor?
James
Davis
To Control the Event: Attention Bicyclists
Richard
Oxman
Getting Up with Osama
Dr.
Ira Kay
A Mental Map of the Bush Presidency
Jesse
Walker
Frankenstein v. Chucky: the Halloween Election
Thomas
C. Mountain
Election '24, Deja Vu?: LaFollette, Nader, & the "Most
Important Election of Our Lifetimes"
November
1, 2004
Cockburn
/ St. Clair
How Bush Was Offered Bin Laden and
Blew It
Dave
Lindorff
Bulgegate Confirmed; Press Yawns
Greg
Bates
Nader Voter Survey Results
Roger
Morris
Novel Politics: Only Fiction Can Do
This Election Justice
Diane
Christian
Death Tolls
Lenni
Brenner
Secularists Be Warned: Christlike Kerry Roams Spiritual Universe
Christopher
C. Conway
Can the Left Sink Any Lower?
Francis
Boyle
Legal Elites and the Iraq War: the Nazis Had Their Law Professors,
Too
Jason
Leopold
Rummy's Failed War Plan
Website
of the Day
Dylan Resurrects "Masters of War"
October
30 / 31, 2004
JoAnn
Wypijewski
The Long March and the Million Worker
March
Winslow
T. Wheeler
Spartacus Tells All
Bruce
Anderson
Notes from the Big Empty: When the Hippies Invaded NoCal
Vicente
Navarro
They Worked for Franco: How Sec. of State Cordell Hull and Nobel
Laureate Camilo Jose Cela Collaborated with the Fascist Regime
Robin
Blackburn
How Monica Lewinsky Saved Social Security
Greg
Bates
A Question of Character: What Makes Nader Tick?
Nancy
Welch
The American Health Care Crisis: an Interview with Dr. David
Himmelstein
William
Lind
Election Day: Which Menendez Brother Will You Vote For?
Brian
Cloughley
Uzbekistan and Bush Hypocrisies
Suzan
Mazur
Oops They Did It Again: the NYTs the Paper of Record and Rip-Offs
Greg
Moses
Standing at the Graves of Iraq
John
Chuckman
Osama's Endorsement
Richard
Oxman
Why Not Accept Osama's Offer?
Ken
Avidor
Landscape of Fear: When Ugly is Suspicious
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
Bush, Ba'ath and Beyond
Hope
Bastian
Strangling Cuba's Economy
P.
Sainath
Tower of Gabble: Toward a Sustainable Rhetoric
Dave
Zirin
Bush League: Why MLB Owners Support the Prez
Jon
Swift
The Dry Drunk Thang: Put a Cork in It
Ron
Jacobs
The Joke's on Me: a Review of Bob Dylan's Chronicles Vol. 1
Alexander
Billet
Taking Theatre Back: Are the States Ready for "Stuff Happens"?
Poets'
Basement
Jones, Laymon, Norris, Ford and Albert
Website
of the Weekend
The Origins of Halloween
October
29, 2004
Harry
Browne
No Justice for Peace Activist in County
Clare
October
28, 2004
Forrest Hylton
"The Gas is Ours:" Bolivia's
Ghosts of October
Col. Dan Smith
Rebellion
in the Ranks
Alan Maass
Jon Stewart v. the Pundits
Ron Jacobs
Ecstasy
in Red Sox Nation
Alexander
Cockburn
Kerrycrats and the War
October
27, 2004
Jules
Rabin
Crammed with Distressful Politics
Dave
Lindorff
Bulgegate: the Lies Continue
Katherine
Van Tassel
On the Home Front: Both Parties
Ignore Working Parents
Jeffrey
St. Clair
The Bi-Partisan Politics of Oil
October 26,
2004
Brian Cloughley
Three
Weddings and Lots of Funerals: Atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan
William Blum
Fear
Factors
Lenni Brenner
The
1964 Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Lessons for 2004
Ben Tripp
The
Chicken Salad Election
Fidel Castro
After the Fall
Greg Bates
The Nation's Flawed Calculus
Walter Brasch
Gag the Public: the War on Dissent
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
An Open Letter to Pat Buchanan
Mickey Z.
Rumble in the Jungle at 30: Ali, Foreman and the Congo
Amir Taheri
The Boom in Conspiracy Theories
Alexander Billet
Say It Ain't So, Bruce!: the Boss Endorses Kerry
Doug Giebel
The Religion of G.W. Bush
Kathleen Christison
Why
I Liked Thomas Friedman's Latest Column Before I Didn't
October 25,
2004
Ralph Nader
Letter
from a Minnesota Highway
Werther
West
Texas Wahabbism
Dave Zirin
Boston's Killer Cops: Death of a Fan
Fred Gardner
Pot Shots: Oregon Revokes Dr. Leveque's License
Omar Barghouti
Executing Another Child in Rafah
William J. Nottingham
Lori Berenson's Story
John Chuckman
A Foolish Consistency
Uri Avnery
On
the Road to Civil War
October 22
/ 24, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
You
Can't Blame Nader for This
Rev. William Alberts
On Bended Knee: Faith-Based Deceptions
Willliam A.
Cook
Killing for Christ
Saul Landau
George W. Bush: a Man of His Words?
Bill Quigley
I Held the Bullet in My Palm: Masked Haitian Police Shoot Children
While Arresting Priest
Christopher Brauchli
Seal It With a Frown: What Compassionate Conservativism Really
Means
William S.
Lind
Fallujah and the Moral Level of War
Sharon Smith
Guilt Trippers for Kerry
Greg Bates
Kerrynomics: "Hurt the Ones Who Vote for Us"
Justin E.H. Smith
Is Lesser Evilism a Compromise with Evil?
Rebecca Evans
Tarnished Legacy: Pinochet and the Chilean Military
Mike Whitney
Al Hurra TV: the Second Invasion
M. Junaid Alam
Purchasing Individuality in America
David Krieger
Nuclear Non-Proliferation: Examining the Policies of Bush and
Kerry
David J. Ledermann
The Emperor's New Crumbs
Lawrence Reichard
Same Old FBI Story
Website of
the Weekend
Lie Girls: the Real Coalition of the Willling
October 21,
2004
Ben Tripp
The
Undecided Voter Examined
Joshua Frank
Kerry
and the Environment:
It's Not Easy Pretending to be Green
Stan Cox
What
the Left Doesn't Get About Small Businesses
Bill Martinez
State
Depart and Cuban Visas: Only Anti-Castro Agitators Need Apply
Mark Engler
The War and Globalization
Lina Britto
and Lucia Suarez
Bolivia:
a Year After the October Insurrection
Website of the Day
Two Pampered Children of Wealth
October 20,
2004
Yitzhak Laor
"Did
You Two Squabble?": a Bullet Fired for Every Palestinian
Child
Jason Leopold
Sinclair
Broadcasting's Air War: a Long History of Journalistic Deception
Jesse Sharkey
A
Teacher's Account of How Military Recruiters Prey on High School
Students
Col. Dan Smith
Choking
Free Speech About the Draft
Dr. Teresa Whitehurst
Using My Religion
David Vest
If
Bush Wins, Blame Me
Jack Random
The Jackson 17: Reflections on a Mutiny
Ron Jacobs
Time
to Kick It Up a Notch
James Brittain
Plan Patriota and the FARC: a Change in the Countryside?
Christopher
Dols
Bombing Madison: Michael Moore's Fright Fest
Dave Lindorff
First They Came for the Nurses...
Website of
the Day
Banana Republican Catalogue
October 19,
2004
Jeffrey St.
Clair
Party
Favors: the Political Business of Terry McAuliffe
Jeff Taylor
Confessions
of a Swing State Voter
Matt Vidal
American
Myopia: "More Money in Your Pocket"
Victor Kattan
"It's Not Who You're Against; It's Who You're For":
Palestine Takes Center Stage At Euro Social Forum
William Loren
Katz
What Goes Around Comes Around
Sean Carter
O'Reilly Should Shut Up About Extortion Claiims
CounterPunch Wire
Who's Really in Bed with Republican Funders: Kerry or Nader?
October 18,
2004
Saul Landau
Facts
and Lies; Slogans and Truth
Dave Lindorff
Bulletin
on the Bush Bulge
Diane Christian
Sheep
and Goats: On the Language of Goodness
Greg Bates / Dave Lindorff
Betting on War: a Wager on the Fallout of a Kerry Presidency
Uri Avnery
Ariel
Sharon's Philosophy
Peter LaVenia
Leaving the Greens So Soon? a Response to Josh Frank
Mike Whitney
O'Reilly at the Whipping Post
Elaine Cassel
The Other War: Civil Liberties Three Years After 9/11
October 16
/ 17, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
The
Free Speech Movement and Howard Stern
Leslie Brill
Unmerciful Judge, Merry Executioners: the Death Penalty as the
True Measure of Bush's Character
Jules Rabin
Reckoning Deaths in an Agitated World
Dave Lindorff
About the Bush Bulge: Was There a Pucker in That Jacket or Was
the President Just Glad to be There?
Peter Linebaugh
Judging Judges: a Few Pages from The Mirror of Justices
Gary Leupp
Iran and Syria: How to Effect Regime Change and Expand the Empire
M. Shahid Alam
America, Imagine This!
Ron Jacobs
Trying to Cross Lake Champlain
Fred Gardner
The Flu Vaccine Question: How Bush Blew It
Jenna Orkin
The Toxic Legacy of 9/11
Dave Zirin
Name the DC Baseball Team: Contest Results
David Hamilton
Alone and Exposed: Bush as a Strong Leader?
Ralph Nader
Criticizing Israel is Not Anti-Semitism
Doug Giebel
Thinking the Unthinkable
Mark Engler
Crimes in Freedom's Name: Dick Cheney's El Salvador
Derek Tyner
Blacks Didn't Get the Vote by Voting: an Interview With Clarence
Thomas on the Million Worker March
Evan Jones
Gimme That Ole Time Religion: Cash and "The Mind of the
South"
Poets' Basement
LaMorticella, Klipschutz and Albert
Website of
the Weekend
No More Bush Girls
October 15,
2004
Paul Craig
Roberts
Where
Did These "Conservatives" Come From?: The Brownshirting
of America
Laura Carlsen
Wal-Mart
vs. the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon
Greg Bates
Empire of Insanity: Kerry's Iraq Troop Numbers
Michael Donnelly
News from a Swing State: Does Anyone Here Have a Spine?
Katherine Lahey
The Venezuelan "Threat": Why Do Kerry and Bush Fear
Hugo Chavez?
Robert Jensen
/ Pat Youngblood
Election Day Fears
Leah Caldwell
From
Supermax to Abu Ghraib: the Masterminds of Torture and Abuse
Website of
the Day
An Anti-Billionaire Policy? Why That Would Be Economic Racism
October 14,
2004
Darcy Richardson
The
Other Progressive Candidate: the Lonely Crusade of Walt Brown
Willliam A.
Cook
Turning
Myths into Truth
Laura Santina
Water, Women and War
Evelyn Pringle
Free Speech Banned by Big Pharma: What You Can't Say About Drug
Importation
Alan Farago
Lessons
from Nature
Rep. Maxine Waters
A Letter to Colin Powell on Haiti
Nicole Colson
Maimed
for Oil and Empire
October 13,
2004
Bishop Thomas
Gumbleton and Bill Quigley
Aftermath
of a Coup: The Other Disaster in Haiti
Sharon Smith
Barak
O-Bomb-a?: Democrats Target Iran
Christopher Brauchli
God and the Bush Administration
Mike Whitney
The Real Meaning of the Hamdi Case
Paul de Rooij
Amnesty
International: a False Beacon?
Website of
the Day
Operation
Truth
October 12,
2004
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
"Indian
Country"
Greg Bates
The Year of Voting Dangerously: a Survey Request of Nader Voters
in Swing States
Steven Conn
Progressives as Pawns: Kerry's War on Nader
Jason Leopold
Under Cheney, Halliburton Helped Saddam Siphon Billions from
UN Oil-for-Food Program
Security Scholars
for a Sensible Foreign Policy
Time for a Change of Course
Timothy J. Freeman
Dying for a Mistake
Pierre Tristam
Deconstructing Bush
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
The 2nd Debate: the Blurring of Act and Audience
Bill and Kathleen
Christison
Israel as Sideshow
Website of the Day
John Kerry's Personal Off-Shore Tax Shelters
October 11,
2004
Robert Fisk
Iraq:
Unforgivable Betrayals and Broken Promises
Kevin Pina
The
Untold Story of Aristide's Departure from Haiti
Patrick Gavin
Rethinking
Columbus Day
Chris Floyd
Tribes with Flags in the New Afghanistan
Daniel Wolff
Radioactive Money: Entergy, Political Cash and America's Most
Dangerous Nuclear Plant
Walter Brasch
The Only Ones Who Believe Saddam Had WMDs are Bush, Cheney...and
40% of All Americans
Mike Whitney
The Phony Afghan Elections: Ballot of the Disappearing Ink
Ari Shavit
"He Talks to Condi Rice Every Day": an Interview with
Sharon's Lawyer
Paul Craig
Roberts
The
Debates and the Big Lie
Website of the Day
Dylan's Greatest Recording?
October 9 /
10, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
"There
Are No Innocents"
Paul de Rooij
Northern Ireland is Still the Issue: a Conversation with Gerry
Adams
M. Shahid Alam
Making Sense of Our Times
Laura Carlsen
Protest and Populism in Latin America
Fred Gardner
Pot Shots: ASA Goes to Court
Col. Dan Smith
Bush's Credibility Gap
Paul Craig
Roberts
Faith-Based Economics
Greg Bates
What If Nader Critics Get What They Demand?
Joshua Frank
Cobb, the Greens and the Collapse of the Left
Felice Pace
Wilderness, Politics and the Oligarchy: How the Pew Charitable
Trust is Smothering the Grassroots Environmental Movement
Walter A. Davis
Of Pynchon, Thanatos and Depleted Uranium
William A.
Cook
The Agony of Colin Powell
Phyllis Pollack
Twas No Crank Call Love Affair: London Calling, 25 Years Later
Poets' Basement
Klipschutz, Albert, Ford
Website of the Weekend
Abu Ghraib: the Taguba Annexes
October 8,
2004
Jennifer Loewenstein
The
Israeli Invasion of Gaza
Moshe Adler
Edwards' Gambit: He Hoped No One Would Notice the Similarities
David Swanson
Media Blackout: Press Continues to Ignore Labor's Opposition
to Iraq War
Dave Zirin
CounterPunch Contest: Let's Name the New DC Baseball Team!
Rep. Ron Paul
The Draft is a Form of Slavery
William S. Lind
Keeping Our SA Up
Samar Assad
Kerry v. Bush: No Difference When It Comes to Israel / Palestine
Jim Ingalls
and Sonali Kolhatkar
The Elections in Afghanistan
October 7,
2004
Dave Lindorff
All
Out of Volunteers: A Draft is in the Air
Masha Hamilton
Fear in Kandahar
Christopher
Brauchli
Master of Corruption: the Ripening Scandals of Tom Delay
Jason Leopold
Is There Still Time to Impeach Bush?
Bruce K. Gagnon
Bombing the Panhandle: Fighting the Pentagon in Rural Florida
Meredith Kolodner
Where
is the Urgency?: The Anti-War Movement's Election Year Challenge
October 6,
2004
Jeffrey St.
Clair
"Please,
Dude, Can I Take Them Out?": Targeting Civilians in Fallujah
Ron Jacobs
Going
Nuclear: the Ghost of Edward Teller Lives
Michael Colby
The National Flip-Flop: Suddenly Bush is Unfit to Lead?
Tarif Abboushi
More of the Same: Israel Wins the Debates
Matthew Behrens
Canadian Firms Profit from Iraqi Blood
Mike Whitney
Rethinking WMDs
John Pilger
Stealing Diego Garcia
Ben Tripp
Kerry's "Triumph"
Kevin McKiernan
Cheney's Poison Lab: Wrong Time, Wrong Target
Patrick Cockburn
Elections
Will Not End the Fighting in Iraq
Website of the Day
Is There an Islamic Problem?
October 5,
2004
Anthony Loewenstein
Rupert
Murdoch and the Marginals: "Personally Creating Outcomes"
Mark Clinton
and Tony Udell
The
Suicide of an Iraq War Veteran
Greg Bates
Trading
Idiots: an Open Letter to Eric Alterman
Dave Lindorff
What's
the Frequency, Karl?
Norm Dixon
Why Washington Won't Save Darfur Villagers
Larry Kearney
God Talk and Burning Children
Bill Linville
Dirty Politics in the Land of "Clean" Government
Gary Leupp
What
Edwards Should Ask Cheney
Website of
the Day
A Guide to Halliburton for Tonight's Debate
October 4,
2004
Diane Christian
The
Gates of Hell
Joshua Frank
An Interview with David Cobb
Doug Giebel
Incurious George: What If Bush Didn't Lie?
John Chuckman
Strange Victory: Sen. Obvious and the Pathetic Lump
Ramzy Baroud
Reverse the Picture: Anatomy of a Palestinian Outrage
Julia Stein
Remembering Mario Savio and the FSM
Sean Donahue
Outsourcing
Terror: Kerry and Special Forces
Website of
the Day
Mapping
Mt. St. Helens as She Rocks
October 2 /
3. 2004
Paul Wright
John
Kerry on Criminal Justice
Kathleen and Bill Christison
An Exchange with Israeli Historian Bennie Morris
Kathie Helmkamp
My Son Trent: a Marine Who Doesn't Want to Kill
Phillip Cryan
Indigenous Mobilization in Colombia
Lenni Brenner
The First Ex-Catholic Saint: Memories of Mario Savio
Fred Gardner
Pot Shots: In Case You Missed "Montel"
Ron Jacobs
It Did Happen Here: When Neo-Nazis Terrorized Olympia
Ben Tripp
Sticker Shock
William S.
Lind
The Grand Illusion: Iraqi Security Forces
Dave Zirin
The Swindle of the Century: Baseball Comes to DC
Dave Lindorff
Lies from the Great Debate
Luscon Pierre-Charles
Haiti's Elections: a High-Tech Sham is Underway
Zoe Moskovitz
& Sasha Kramer
Separating Lies from Truth About Haiti
Nelson P. Valdes
Habana Night vs. Latin American Scholars in Vegas: 61 Banned
Cuban Academics
Alan Farago
The "Ownership Society" and the End of the Everglades
Nancy Haley
What is the Historical Jesus Trying to Tell Us?
Alex Billet
Long Live The Clash: London Still Calling After 25 Years
Steve Fesenmaier
Save and Burn: The War on Libraries
Poets' Basement
Smith, Holt, Albert
October 1,
2004
Steve Breyman
Kerry's
Missed Opportunities
Rose Gentle
My
Son Died for a Lie
Lee Sustar
Iran
in the Crosshairs
Ralph Nader
What
We Didn't Hear at the Debate: Where's the Exit Strategy?
Walter Andrews
We Are Less Secure Now Than Ever
Mike Whitney
Pandora's
Government
Mickey Z.
Debate
This
Saul Landau
The
Iraq Invasion: Lessons from the Pinochet Cases
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click
Here for More Stories.
|
Weekend Edition
November 6 / 7, 2004
Invitation
to the Bodily Snatched
The
Leno/Letterman Model for Direct Action
By
RICHARD OXMAN
"Call the Federal Bureau
of Investigation! Yes, it's an emergency!" -- from Invasion
of the Body Snatchers
"PLAN FOR DIRECT ACTION
WHICH FOLLOWS A NEW PARADIGM: AN ATTEMPT TO INSPIRE SIMILAR ACTS
OF MOVING IN SOLIDARITY" -- Original title for article
Special Note: There's a
proposal for direct action 26 paragraphs down in case you
don't have the heartbeats or stomach for the lead-in. Previously
the Leno/Letterman Action, it's now called The Plan.
For many months now, I've been trying
to recruit activists in confidence, for the purpose of implementing
a particular plan for singular direct action which encourages
nationwide movement in solidarity.
Too much talkin' 'bout Straw
Men, too much burnin' down Straw Men, and all of it takin' much
too much precious time. The incessant wringing of hands that
went on Pre-W II now threatens to evolve into another four
years of "Tsk, Tsk, See What They're Doing Now." And
the ABB Defense is already morphing into We Can Win With A Woman!
Forget about Hillary talk, even Cynthia McKinney's recent victory
serves as a major distraction...from our inevitable Day of Reckoning.
As Berkeley historian Jo
Guldi notes, "whatever we were doing isn't working,
and the deadline is past."
To be less opaque: You don't
change things by incessantly exposing Electoral Fraud* in lieu
of forcing the game to play by other rules. "Force"
is a problematic word for Democratic Intellectual Ambulance Chasers,
but that's part of what must be on the table for consideration
these days. In fact, that always has been the case.
*Exactly how many "proofs"
do we need that the "boofs" don't work?
(See http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041105/ap_on_el_pr/voting_problems,
http://www.counterpunch.org/harrison11032004.html,
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Nov2004/Palast1102.htm,
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/03/1520204,
and http://www.accuracy.org/new.htm).
I mean what if Ann Harrison,
Greg Palast, Ron Gould, and the entire staff at Institute for
Public Accuracy spent a few minutes each day letting the Lord
teach their fingers to make battle, and their hands to make war,
as per Guldi's article above? Or at least encouraged a friend
or two...to do the same? The articles are useful, BUT....
Almost worse than anything
is the likelihood that the old, tired forms of Direct Action
will still not be modified to meet the needs of The Movement,
will not measure up to the Powers' Maniacal Machinations.
Habit, as Beckett said, is the great deadener.
In a new article of mine titled
"Rehnquist's
Tumors, Rumors of Solidarity" I recommend a litigous
approach for certain issues --working within the system-- but
I don't really have much faith in that sort of thing. (1) Certainly
not without Direct Action backing it up.
Direct Action following New
Paradigms are being screamed for by every soul on this planet
who has not yet succumbed to The Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
In that '56 film, citizens were caught napping as the
pods did their dirty deeds. We have to look in the garden variety mirror,
so we can see how we're digging holes for the pods (and our own
graves, in the process), as pencil pushers/planters for The Powers.
"Little Eichmanns,"
as Ward Churchill characterizes many of us. (2)
Activists who can Sleep
No More are obliged to address our nightmare dislocation
without apology, without trying to hold hands with everyone across
the Left Spectrum as they truly confront Business As Usual. They
see there's not a dime's worth of difference between Osama
and Obama. (3)
The nine cents worth of distinction
is what the vast majority of Americans cling to (including
most "progressives") when they debate --endlessly--
the dead horse of Democracy in Iraq...in lieu of detonating
the particular expletives/explosive diatribes necessary to end
the defoliation of, say, Colombia. Imprisoned by parameters.
The smart citizen will
somehow find a way to tolerate Obama's abominable talk about
Iran, look the other way when Jay (Leno) trashes Gay Life...all
the while avoiding the real work that lies ahead.
I know we have to be careful
when we act like Hickey in The Iceman Cometh, destroying
people's illusions. But the personal comfort zones of the great
unwashed and washed alike, their routines, and their handshake/wink
to you are going to have to take a backseat to...priorities.
Forget about the Lord's Prayer
issue in the schools, we can't salute the flag anymore...on the
ballfield or in the classroom. For that's clearly where
the soldiers and the pencil pushers come from, the inhumane pods.
As Robert Jensen suggests,
we must say "God condemn America, please, so that the world
might live."
"Only when we have to
fight to stay human do we realize how precious it is," intones
the protagonist of IOTBSnatchers. And so true it is. Nevertheless,
there is less confrontation concerning the souring and scouring
of America than what you get at a Jets game.
As Justin Podur clarifies,
"...the American people have...lined up behind their killer
leaders when they could have rejected them. That doesnít
leave a lot of room for hope, other than about the key questions
of how, what it will take, when they will (and whether theyíll
get a chance to) change their minds." (4)
Here's that chance.
The confidentiality alluded
to at the outset here has always seemed crucial because
of how important I deemed was the element of surprise. As in
war. Because of that, even those who contacted me --bouncing
off of the nationwide "feelers" I put out there-- only
received info on a need-to-know basis.
Most bank robberies go awry
'cause the participants sink their ship with some variation of
Loose Lip. Ditto for radical ventures which Post-Modern Cointelpro
can make go away...more easily than ever.
Nonviolence and legal
tactics were embraced in The Plan, in part, to facilitate recruiting.
But I haven't been sufficiently successful with the underground
approach. The small numbers of people (who I could trust
on various levels) did not step up to the plate. Some high
profile "progressives" --constantly pleading for change,
ideas-- ignored me completely. And continue to do so.
What a lesson...for us all.
Therefore, what follows will
delineate more than what I've revealed to anyone to date --with
the exception of a handful of activists/professors-- in public.
The time has come to drop the pretense of working undercover,
and (likely) sacrifice the potential efficacy of this particular
proposal...in an effort to stimulate more contributions on
the same order nationwide.
At this juncture --on the eve
of our nuclear militarization of space, the eve of the invasion
of Iran, and the now-required DNA samples from innocents
arrested in California, etc.-- it seems like I must shoot for
the larger audience, Shoot for the Moon, as the Lovers of Hearts
say...from time to time.
It's easy enough to corral
numbers for movement in superficial solidarity (or hard, as the
case may be). But the bonding that's necessary today to be effective
long-term is another matter entirely. I need more core help.
This shotgun approach will have to do for now.
THE PLAN
The Plan is to have 50 people
make reservations that will guarantee their being in the audience
of Jay Leno's Tonight Show (NBC) on a given date in April. My
understanding is that one must make reservations approximately
five months ahead of time. Another 50 people will do the same
for that same date for CBS' Letterman (N.Y.C.) show.
April 15th would be a good
date to shoot for (as a starting date) as it is Tax Day in the
U.S., and it can be a day when we tax the government with
demands.
If the first "interference"
with taping of the shows takes place on April 15th, 2005 (a Friday),
follow-up disruptions can occur on the next week's Monday (18th)
and Tuesday (19th) shows. From a PR standpoint, there are many
reasons why this configuration is...beautiful, pregnant with
promise.
I think this kind of thing
--interrupting Entertainment As Usual in this form-- is unprecedented. A
watershed event? I wouldn't want it any other way.
And it could be supported by
small groups demonstrating solidarity in each of the capital
cities in the continental United States...with simultaneous actions
--specifics to be revealed on a need-to-know basis-- breaking
out on the three days in question. The form of the support
would not be your run-of-the-mill protest.
This would easily give the
impression that there was deep grassroots backing, a cross section
of citizen solidarity that would be difficult for the media NOT
to cover. Overreaction on the part of authorities can be expected.
And the core group recruited for this plan --in working together
for the better part of six months-- should be able to have follow-up
actions orchestrated for the remainder of 2005.
Both talk shows have such large
audiences, there is no question that if we interfere with the
taping of the programs (for three days in close succession) it
will be a national story for the media. In fact, I believe it
has the potential to be a story of international interest, particularly
with the re-election of Bush (depending on what our demands
are).
Special note: Household Nielsen
ratings for talk shows tend to hover around 4 or 5, that's approximately
4.5% of the country's 97 million TV households.
This underscores the huge impact
we can have virtually overnight*. Problems created for the shows'
sponsors alone make "dealing with us" obligatory...as
nothing "live" would be possible for three days. And
much that's problematic for The Powers would linger long after
The Plan is history.
*It is noteworthy that although many
have no compunctions about using some forms of violence eventually,
this initial foray can be completely nonviolent. It is also something
that can be pulled off legally. Both points are significant in
being able to recruit people to join hands with us. Also note,
on this count, that if the participants live in the NYC or L.A.
areas...they can be involved without a financial burden or scheduling
pressure.
We do not need more than 300
people total to implement The Plan. In recruiting, however, it
is essential that signing people on not be rushed. That's
because success will be contingent, in great part, upon working
in confidence for about half a year...and beyond.
Each individual involved will
have to be capable of being part of the dynamic anonymously.
And --following implementation of The Plan-- the ideal would
be to keep as little information as possible from law
enforcement officials et. al. for obvious reasons.
Other activists, it is hoped,
will be inspired to conduct similar activities by virtue of the
The Plan simply having been implemented. Many details can remain
a mystery. The facts that small activist numbers are adequate
and no money is required are of monumental importance.
When the media descend on us
to inquire why we're going to all the trouble to do what we're
doing, what should we tell them? Should we delineate a list
of demands? Note only one concern? Perhaps a book
or two, or some other sources, should be cited as recommendations.
If you have any imagination whatsoever, you can have a field
day with this potential scenario. Certainly it's as good an op
to help the public self-educate as anything else that's
come down the pike.
"Maximum coverage"
could be guaranteed by tweaking a few particular issues, that
I'd like to keep under wraps for the moment. I think we all know
what some might be.
It could be that
once someone gets stuck in traffic on the Bay Bridge because of
a political demo, they're so angry...they can't learn anything.
Can't be considered a candidate for crossing over, so to
speak. Critical Mass Syndrome? I submit that this particular
interruption of routine is a far different animal, full
of promise in those regards.
Neither the Letterman nor the
Leno shows have much by way of security. They are set up to handle
a disturbance between a few individuals. They are NOT set up
to handle the kind of ongoing interruptions that we have planned,
involving scores of people. Details should not be discussed
at this juncture. But they will be over a barrel
with the orchestration that's planned for each evening.
Following the first night's
disruptions, the media buzz is likely to characterize
the "protests" as a passing thing. It is highly
unlikely that Leno or Letterman staff will expect follow-up occurrences
the next week. And any measures that are taken to beef up security
can be expected to be minimal. That is why the element of surprise
is so important throughout*.
*We will plan to vary the singular
ways in which we disrupt the shows each evening...so that it
will be very difficult for them to anticipate or deal with what
we present. To move laterally. Even with blowing our cover
with the posting of this piece, however, I'd say we don't
have a helluva lot to worry about vis-a-vis someone coming across
this...and taking action ahead of time.
For the first two disruptions,
at least, we should be able to have one or more of our people
shooting video/taking photos. This is important because even
if NBC and CBS choose to cancel the shows and provide no footage
for news outlets, we will be able to provide "inside"
visuals to CNN, ABC and various alternative outlets like Democracy
Now!
It is our contention that there
are several reasons why mainstream outlets will want to cover
this story, not the least of which is that we plan to make it
very clear that there is great weakness among The Left.
They should eat up the points made about lack of solidarity among
"progressives" AND the criticism of certain segments
of society...that shall remain nameless for the time being. Coverage
by all alternative outlets will be mandatory/obligatory by any
standards.
Like Jonathan Swift said, you
can't reason a man out of something that he didn't reason his
way into. The public --from our activist POV-- needs their business
as usual stopped dead in its tracks. It's entertainment,
in this case. That's the only way that certain issues will
find their way onto the table for expeditious talk and action.
On a very general level, it'll
be easy for armchair psychologists to be dismissive regarding
the potential to win people over, educate, etc. Armchair activists
too, I dare say.
But I submit that if someone
loved, say, Cockburn's/St. Clair's The Politics of Anti-Semitism*,
or had a favorite set of sustainable living talking points...they
could do far worse than to be "a swinger of birches"
(5) with us on this venture. I see it as a great way to
push one's particular thing/come to a consensus with like-minded
souls. I trust that many will fully embrace my open letter
in confidence.
*This particular book is not
chosen at random; it provides a hint respecting something alluded
to above. Regardless, this or that source or cause can be substituted.
There is much that must not
go down the Memory Hole, the Black Hole. The way of
the pods.
We just can't keep sleepwalking
in circles.
If the abominable Pizarro could
"conquer the Inca Empire" with less than 200 psychopaths,
certainly the abominations of this "civilization" can
be effectively addressed with 300 well-intentioned souls.
That's part of The Plan.
Blessings in solidarity,
Richard Oxman, Red States Party Member in Good Standing,
can be reached at: rmoxman@yahoo.com
Notes:
(1) An updated version --taking
advantage of recent criticism-- is available upon request; comments
are encouraged at the above site or at http://mth.blogspot.com/
to stimulate public discussion.
(2) See his On the Justice
of Roosting Chickens: Reflections on the Consequences of U.S.
Imperial Arrogance and Criminality (Oakland: AK Press, 2003).
(3) Dime's Worth of Difference
is the title of a marvelous book, wherein Alexander Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair go "beyond the lesser of two evils."
(4) "The greatest divide
in the world today is not between the US elite and its people,
or the US elite and the people of the world. It is between the
US people and the rest of the world." So says Justin Podur
at http://www.killingtrain.com/archives/000272.html
(5) As per Robert Frost.
Weekend
Edition Features for October 30 / 31, 2004
Winslow
T. Wheeler
Spartacus Tells All
Bruce
Anderson
Notes from the Big Empty: When the Hippies Invaded NoCal
Vicente
Navarro
They Worked for Franco: How Sec. of State Cordell Hull and Nobel
Laureate Camilo Jose Cela Collaborated with the Fascist Regime
Robin
Blackburn
How Monica Lewinsky Saved Social Security
Greg
Bates
A Question of Character: What Makes Nader Tick?
Nancy
Welch
The American Health Care Crisis: an Interview with Dr. David
Himmelstein
William
Lind
Election Day: Which Menendez Brother Will You Vote For?
Brian
Cloughley
Uzbekistan and Bush Hypocrisies
Suzan
Mazur
Oops They Did It Again: the NYTs the Paper of Record and Rip-Offs
Greg
Moses
Standing at the Graves of Iraq
John
Chuckman
Osama's Endorsement
Richard
Oxman
Why Not Accept Osama's Offer?
Ken
Avidor
Landscape of Fear: When Ugly is Suspicious
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
Bush, Ba'ath and Beyond
Hope
Bastian
Strangling Cuba's Economy
P.
Sainath
Tower of Gabble: Toward a Sustainable Rhetoric
Dave
Zirin
Bush League: Why MLB Owners Support the Prez
Jon
Swift
The Dry Drunk Thang: Put a Cork in It
Ron
Jacobs
The Joke's on Me: a Review of Bob Dylan's Chronicles Vol. 1
Alexander
Billet
Taking Theatre Back: Are the States Ready for "Stuff Happens"?
Poets'
Basement
Jones, Laymon, Norris, Ford and Albert
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