How
the Press &
the CIA Killed Gary Webb's Career
Today's
Stories
December 27,
2004
Saul Landau
James
Cason's Cuban Delusions
December 25
/ 26, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Yup,
It's Moral Outrage Time
Diane Christian
The Christmas Christ
Dr. Susan Block
Faith-Based Sex
Gary Leupp
Rumsfeld, His Critics and the Draft
Ron Jacobs
Music in Wartime
Elaine Cassel
Articles I Didn't Write
Jim Minick
Beyond Organic
Poets Basement
Louise, Landau, Orloski, Albert
and Collins
December 24,
2004
Diane Christian
Winning:
Rummy and John Milton
Chad Nagle
Ukraine's
Real Underdog
Saul Landau
My Friend Richard Barnet
Greg Moses
Ramsey Muniz Speaks
Joe DeRaymond
The Endless War in Colombia: a View From Within
Borzou Daragahi
Iraq's Christians: Tolerated by Saddam; Targets Under Occupation
Mike Whitney
Rummy's Quagmire of Lies
Francis A. Boyle
O Little Town of Bethlehem: Another Christmas Under Occupation
William Loren
Katz
Florida 1837: Christmas Eve Resistance to the First US Occupation
December 23,
2004
Chad Nagle
Report
from Kiev: Yushchenko's Not Quite Ready for Sainthood
David Smith-Ferri
The
Real UN Disgrace in Iraq
Bill Quigley
Death
Watch for Human Rights in Haiti
Mickey Z.
Crumbs
from Our Table
Christopher Brauchli
Merck's Merry X-mas
Greg Moses
When
No Law Means No Law
Alan Singer
An
Encounter with Sen. Schumer: a Very Dangerous Democrat
David Price
Social
Security Pump and Dump
Website of the Day
Gabbo Gets Laid
December 22,
2004
James Petras
An
Open Letter to Saramago: Nobel Laureate Suffers from a Bizarre
Historical Amnesia
Omar Barghouti
The Case for Boycotting Israel
Patrick Cockburn / Jeremy Redmond
They Were Waiting on Chicken Tenders When the Rounds Hit
Harry Browne
Northern Ireland: No Postcards from the Edge
Richard Oxman
On the Seventh Column
Kathleen Christison
Imagining
Palestine
Website of the Day
FBI Torture Memos
December 21,
2004
Greg Moses
The
New Zeus on the Block: Unplugging Al-Manar TV
Dave Lindorff
Losing
It in America: Bunker of the Skittish
Chad Nagle
The View from Donetsk
Dragon Pierces
Truth*
Concrete
Colossus vs. the River Dragon: Dislocation and Three Gorges Dam
Patrick Cockburn
"Things Always Get Worse"
Seth DeLong
Aiding Oppression in Haiti
Ahmad Faruqui
Pakistan and the 9/11 Commission's Report
Paul Craig
Roberts
America
Locked Up: a System of Injustice
December 20,
2004
Gary Leupp
Japan
in Iraq
Robert Fisk
An
Army Without Compassion
Uri Avnery
The Mountain and the Mouse
Francisco Letelier
My Case Against Pinochet
Patrick Cockburn
The Polls of Fear
Bill Conroy
Charles Bowden on the Legacy of Gary Webb: "He Drew Blood"
Yoshie Furuhashi
Chokeholds of a Giant: Attacking Wal-Mart's Supply Chain
David Swanson
Media Blackout of Bush's War on Labor
Chad Nagle
Did Yushchenko Poison Himself?
December 18
/ 19, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Why
They Hated Gary Webb
Saul Landau
Gen.
Pinochet Should Also Face Charges in DC
Patrick Cockburn
Losing
Mosul: Once They Called It a Model for the Occupation
Douglas Valentine
Wolves
and Revolution in Venezuela: a Caracas Romance
Ray McGovern
Laughing Dragon, Dancing Bear: the New China / Russia Alliance
Fred Gardner
DEA Upholds Grower's Marijuana Monopoly
Jean-Guy Allard
Locked Up Naked in a Hole Within a Hole: Have the Cuban 5 Been
Tortured in US Prisons?
Ron Jacobs
Drifters Escape, Again: Encounters with Berkeley's Police
Raymond G.
Helmick, S.J.
The Law and Peace in the Middle East
Sean Sellers
Values Voters, Desperate Housewives and Sweatshop Tacos
Lee Sustar
Christmas
on the Picket Line at CNH: "They Want to Break Our Unions"
Richard Thieme
Webb's Wife: "Gary Was Never the Same After They Attacked
Him"
Sam Bahour
WANTED:
Middle East Negotiator
Joshua Frank
The
Spin Doctor: an Interview with Mickey Z.
Dave Lindorff
A Man Who Confers with God Should Have Good Hearing
Stan Cox
What Kids Cost: Dallas v. Delhi
Chris Frasier
Farming By Numbers: More Poets, Fewer MBAs
Poets' Basement
Katz, Melek, Harley, Albert and Ford
December
17, 2004
Cockburn /
St. Clair
CounterAttack:
How the Press and the CIA Killed Gary Webb's Career
Dave Lindorff
Racism:
Philly Style
Dan Bacher
Bush Abandons Salmon Restoration
Marisa Jacott
NAFTA and the Environment: Trade Still Runs Roughshod
Francis Thicke
How Now, Industrial Cow?
Rupert Cornwell
The Inuit Strike Back
Website of the Day
Franz Boas Unrolls Over in His Grave
December
16, 2004
Michael
Neumann
How We Became Barbarians
Merlin
Chowkwanyun
An Interview with Ralph Nader
Gabriel
Espinoza Gonzales
The Dubious Career of John Bolton
Christopher
Brauchli
Louis Freeh's New Gig: Usurer
Patrick
Cockburn
Allawi's Pre-Election Ploy: Putting "Chemical Ali"
on Trial
Mike
Whitney
Gearing Up for a Draft?
Walter
Brasch
Hillbilly Humvees and Rumsfeld's New Physics
Bill
Conroy
How Gary Webb Saved My Ass from the FBI
Website
of the Day
Saturday Memorial for Gary Webb
December
15, 2004
Robert
Fisk
Who Killed Baha Mousa?
Jennifer
Van Bergen
The Monster Under the Bed
Heather
Gray
Will the Real Christians Please Stand?: a Personal Testimony
Dave
Lindorff
The DNC, Albright and the Iraq Elections
Luis
Hernandez Navarro
To Die a Little: Migration and Coffee
in Mexico and Central America
Joshua
Frank
The Ohio Recount: an Exercise in "Dumbocracy"
Greg
Moses
Eighty-Sixing Civil Rights in Ohio?
George
Caffentzis
The Petroleum Commons
December
14, 2004
Dave
Lindorff
DNC Meddling in the Ukraine Elections
Larry
Birns / Seth DeLong
Haiti is Unraveling and No One is Saying
Anything
Richard
Thieme
My Last Talk with Gary Webb: "I Knew It Was the Truth and
That's What Kept Me Going"
Patrick
Cockburn
A Year After Saddam's Capture, Iraq
is Getting Worse
Chris
Floyd
Client State: Moral Values and Voluntary Servitude in Bush's
America
Akiva
Eldar
A One-time Hanukkah Miracle
Burbach
/ Cantor
The Legacy of Pinochet: Kissinger
and the Teflon Tyrant
December
13, 2004
Cockburn
/ St. Clair
Gary Webb: a Great Reporter, Trashed
by the CIA's Claque
David
Phinney
"Contract Meal Disaster" for Iraqi Prisoners: Rancid
Food Sparked Abu Ghraib Riots
Paul
Craig Roberts
A Dose of Non-Delusional Reality
for Douglas Feith
M.
Junaid Alam
The War is the War Crime
Robert
Jensen
The US Has Lost the Iraq War...and That's a Good Thing
Richard
Oxman
Kafkaesque Lessons for the Left
Greg
Moses
Send No Messengers of Defeat
Douglas
Lummis
The Pentagon's Neurosis: Fallujah
Gulag
December
11 / 12, 2004
Alexander
Cockburn
Running an Empire on the Cheap
Ron
Jacobs
The Drugs of War: Getting High in the Green Zone?
Saul
Landau
Listening and Talking to God About
Invading Other Countries
Gary
Leupp
Bush's Capital
Sharon
Smith
The Horrible Toll on US Troops
Dave
Lindorff
Deja Vu All Over Again: 5,000 Desertions and Counting
Uri
Avnery
The Boss Has Gone Crazy
Jude
Wanniski
The Neo-Con Smear on Kofi Annan: What Food-for-Oil Scandal?
Heather
Gray
How the South Became Republican: an Interview with John Egerton
Patrick
Cockburn / Ken Sengupta
Fallujah: the Homecoming and the Homeless
John
Pilger
Return to Kosovo: Calling the Humanitarian Bombers to Account
Joshua
Frank
All the Rage: Mr. Solomon, Say You're Sorry
Ben
Tripp
O Canada!: the Truth About the Election of 2004
John
Stanton
God Speaks!
Laura
Nathan
Porn Stars are People, Too: a Talk with Christi Lake
Poets'
Basement
Capaccio, Davies, Louise, Ford and Albert
Website
of the Day
Fallujah Photos: Killed in Their Beds
December
10, 2004
Ralph
Nader
President Bush, Stop Destroying the
Mosques of Iraq
Greg
Moses
Whitewashing Voter Fraud
Nicole
Colson
Rebellion in the Ranks: Grunts Are Resisting Stop-Loss Orders
Frederick
B. Hudson
"They Still Got Those Dogs": A New Book Probes Old
Civil Rights Lessons
Patrick
Cockburn
Iraq's Insurgents Oppose the Occupation, Not the Elections
Kathy
Kelly
From Haiti to Iraq: Burying Water
December
9, 2004
Greg
Moses
Ask Not Who Bankrolled Fallujah
Joshua
Frank
Cobb and the Ohio Recount: Vote Fraud as Fundraiser!
Ralph
Nader
An Open Letter to Bush: It's Time to
Disclose the Real Casualty Figures
Lee
Sustar
Bhopal: the Making of a Disaster
Tom
Barry
Restrictionist Resurgence
Mickey
Z.
Sander Hicks and the 9/11 Truth Movement
Christopher
Brauchli
Bush in the Bubble
Mark
Donham
Why are House Democrats Trying to
Deny Cynthia McKinney Seniority?
Gary
Corseri
On the Anniversary of John Lennon's Death, 2012
Paul
de Rooij
The Voices of Sharon's Little Helpers
December
8, 2004
Ralph
Nader
Will the Real Michael Moore Ever Re-Emerge?
Ann
Harrison
The Ohio Recount: Reluctant Officials
and Few Rules
Paul
Craig Roberts
War Crime
Dave
Lindorff
They've Got a Secret: Inside the $40 Billion Black Budget for
Spying
Patrick
Cockburn / Andrew Buncombe
CIA Warning on Iraq: Fallujah Did Not Break the Back of the Insurgency
Col.
Dan Smith
Rules of Engagement in Iraq
Emily
Alves / Michael Johnson
Paradise Lost: Corruption and Clientelism in Costa Rica
Richard
Oxman
The Dylan Bob Wouldn't Mention: Up With Dylan Thomas
Ron
Jacobs
In Fallujah, Freedom Isn't Free
December
7, 2004
Patrick
Cockburn
Running Battles in Baghdad
Behrooz
Ghamari
Lost Muslim Voices of Dissent
Dave
Lindorff
American Fantasies: Psst! Hey Buddy,
Did You Hear How Well the War's Going?
Joshua
Frank
Dean at the DNC?
Richard
Oxman
Down with Dylan: the Insufferable Interview
Ray
McGovern
All Mosquitoes, No Swamp
John
Chuckman
The Invasion of Hallifax: The Imperial Wizard Visits Canada
James
Petras
Latin America: the Empire Changes Gears
Website
of the Day
ToxMap: Who's Poisoning You
December
6, 2004
Paul
Craig Roberts
Paranoia and Pre-emption: Is the
Bush Administration Certifiable?
December
4 / 6, 2004
Alexander
Cockburn
Politicize the CIA? You've Got to
be Kidding
Joe
Bageant
Dining with the Rhinos
Alan
Maass
Reporting from the Ground in Iraq: an Interview with Patrick
Cockburn
Brian
Cloughley
Democracy, Bush-style, in the Gulf
Laura
Carlsen
Latin America Shifts Left
Lenni
Brenner
Jefferson, Madison, Bush and Religion
Anna
Ioakimedes
Brazil's Haitian Mission: Doing God's Work or Washington's?
Uri
Avnery
Widow of Opportunity?
Fred
Gardner
Supreme Court Hears Medical Pot Case
Dave
Zirin
Steroids to Heaven
Jackie
Corr
Mining Camp Blues: the Red State Variation
Don
Fitz
Will Greens Abandon IRV?
Lucy
Herschel
"Art can be a Weapon of the Oppressed": an Interview
with Artist Anthony Papa
Richard
Oxman
No Angels in America: Bashing the Gay Play
Ron
Jacobs
Holiday Greeting Card
Poets'
Basement
Collins, Albert, LaMorticella
December
3, 2004
Dave
Lindorff
Lie Then Escalate
Ben
Tripp
Fun With Boycotts: How to Shop in a
Time of Crisis
Joe
Allen
Murder in El Salvador: the Assassination of Teamster Organizer
Gilberto Soto
Matthew
B. Riley
Human Rights Court Fails Lori Berenson
Meir
Shalev
In the End, It is the Violin that Wins
Bob
Wing
The White Elephant in the Room: Race and Election 2004
Christopher
Brauchli
When McCain Bit His Tongue
Sasan
Fayazmanesh
The EU, the US, Israel and Iran
December
2, 2004
Tito
Tricot
No Justice in Chile: I'm a Torture
Survivor in a Country Where Torturers Still Run Free
Behzad
Yaghmaian
The Murder of Theo Van Gogh and Muslim Migration
Dr.
Susan Block
Lana and Me: Meetings with Remarkable Apes
Frank
/ Chowkwanyun
Liberalism and Its Bounds
Lee
Sustar
Standoff in Ukraine: the Bad v. the Corrupt
Patrick
Cockburn
Another Grim Record in Iraq
Mark
Engler
Seattle at Five
Michael
Donnelly
Something Stinks in South Bend: the Firing of Tyrone Willingham
Nate
Collins
The Bay Area Mall on an Ohlone Burial Grounds
Saul
Landau
The Assassination of Danilo Anderson
December
1, 2004
Phillip
Cryan
Associated with Whom? Rightist Bias
in Wire Coverage of Colombia
Dave
Zirin
What's the Matter with "Leon"?:
Budweiser's Racist Commercial
Ghali
Hassan
Iraq's Health Care Under the Occupation:
200 Children Die Every Day
Donna
J. Volatile
Beware Western Nations Threatening "Democracy"
Patrick
Cockburn
How Saddam Tried to Arm the Insurgency
Nick
Meo
Chemical War Over Afghanistan
Mike
Ferner
The Battle of Toledo
Mokhiber
/ Weissman
Shame and Determination on Global AIDS Day: 40 Million and Rising
Kathy
Kelly
Looking the Other Way: the Real Crimes
of the UN in Iraq
November
30, 2004
Jennifer
Van Bergen
The Veil of Secrecy
Toni
Nelson Herrera
Meeting Kurtz: When Art is a Crime
Paul
Craig Roberts
The Bush Delusions: Successful at Incompetence
Patrick
Cockburn
The Insurgency Strikes Back: There Are No Safe Havens in Iraq
Chuck
Munson
WTO Protests Five Years Later: Seattle Weekly Trashes Anti-Globalization
Movement
Adam
Williams
Citizenship Sold: Back to Business in Indiana
Gregory
Elich
A Dangerous Turn in the US Plans for
North Korea
Website
of the Day
Read Lynne Cheney's Lesbian Novel Online!
November
29, 2004
Dave
Lindorff
Blowback in Ukraine: The Hand of
the CIA?
Omar
Barghouti
"The Pianist" of Palestine:
Roadblock Concerto at Gunpoint
Mike
Whitney
The US Media and Fallujah: How to
Market a Siege
Uri
Avnery
The Abu Mazen Style: "Give Me
Some Credit!"
Matt
Vidal
Globalization and Economic Inequality: a Look at the Numbers
Patrick
Cockburn
An Interview with Iraq's Foreign
Minister
Alan
Farago
Sex Change and Salvation: God, Girly Men and Endocrine Disrupters
Justin
Huggler
Bhopal 20 Years Later
Antony
Loewenstein
How Australia Reported Arafat's Death and Legacy
Gary
Leupp
Ukraine: Poll Results Aren't the Real
Issue
Website
of the Day
Mosul: Images from a Kill Zone
November
27 / 28, 2004
Peter
Linebaugh
Torture & Neo-Liberalism with
Sycorax in Iraq
Alexander
Cockburn
What Happened to O'Reilly's Loofa?
Fred
Gardner
Ashcroft v. Raich: Medical Marijuana and the Supreme Court
Kathy
Kelly
What We Can Control
Diane
Christian
The Other Cheek: "Empire Doesn't Analyze, It Acts"
Gary
Leupp
One More Neocon Target: South (Yes, South) Korea
Lenni
Brenner
Equality and Rights of Return: Jefferson Instructs the New York
Times
Ron
Jacobs
Death Squads and Iraq's Elections: the Mysterious Murders of
the AMS Clerics
Joshua
Frank
An Interview with Kevin Zeese on Nader, Kerry and the ABB Crowd
Toni
Solo
The Murder of Danilo Anderson
Saul
Landau
Fallujah, the 21st Century Guernica
JoAnn
Wypijewski
Matthew Shepard Case 6 Years Later: Why Hate Crimes Laws are
No Cure for Homophobia
Justin
Taylor
Empire's Lawless Opportunities
Amos
Harel
The Case of Captain R.
Walter
A. Davis
Tabloid Justice
Stephen
Hendricks
God's Kind of Men
Poets'
Basement
Albert, LaMorticella and Ford
November
26, 2004
Peter
Feng
Gavin Newsom: Man or Machine?
Greg
Moses
It's the White Vote, Stupid
Liaquat
Ali Khan
The Devil's Work: Bush's Minority Appointments
Michael
Mandel / Gail Davidson
Why Bush Should Be Banned from Canada: a Memo to the Ministry
of Immigration
Dave
Lindorff
Nation of Sheep, Turkey of an Election: Urkrainians Show the
Way
Gary
Corseri
When Black Friday Comes...
Paul
Craig Roberts
Whatever Happened to Conservatives?
Website
of the Day
Iraq Pipeline Watch
November
25, 2004
Willliam
Loren Katz
Giving Thanks to Whom?: "Thanks
to God We Sent 600 Heathen Souls to Hell Today"
Mitchel
Cohen
Why I Hate Thanksgiving
Mike
Ferner
An Uncommon Mom
November
24, 2004
Gila
Svirsky
License to Kill: the Example of Violence
is Set by the State
Winslow
T. Wheeler
The
Other Mess in Congress
Christopher
Brauchli
The Company He Keeps: the Syndicate of Tom Delay
Dave
Lindorff
Double Standards on Exit Polls: Hypocrisy Sans Irony
Ron
Jacobs
The Occupation of Iraq is the Root of t he Problem
Ken
Sengupta
Witnesses: War Crimes in Fallujah
Diana
Barahona
The Final Holocaust or Why I Voted for Ralph Nader
John
L. Hess
Safire the Shameless
Jason
Leopold
Did Harvard Hire (Another) War Criminal?
Jeffrey
St. Clair
The Mark of McCain: the Senator Most Likely to Start a Nuclear
War
Map
of the Day
Now and Then: 2004 v. 1860
November
23, 2004
Forrest
Hylton
Bush and Uribe at the Beach
November
22, 2004
Dave
Zirin
Fight Night in the NBA: Selective Outrage
in Detroit
Paul
Craig Roberts
On to Iran: We Won't Get Fooled Again?
Michael
Mandel / Gail Davidson
Why Bush Should be Banned from Canada
Kathie
Helmkamp
Our Son: a Marine Who Won't Kill
Ken
Sengupta
The Triangle of Death: "This is Now the Most Dangerous Place
in Iraq"
Mike
Whitney
Greenspan's Hammer
Roger
Burbach
Why They Hate Bush in Chile
Website
of the Day
Fed Up with Government Lies and Corporate Spin?
November
20 / 21, 2004
Alexander
Cockburn
The Poisoned Chalice
Todd
May
Religion, the Election and the Politics of Fear
Abbas
Ahmed Ibrahim
The Horrors of Fallujah: a First-Hand Account
Kevin
Zeese
Mishandling Nader
Landau
/ Hassen
After Arafat
Tom
Barry
The Vulcans Consolidate Power: The Rise of Stephen Hadley
Fred
Gardner
Pot Shots: Ask Dr. Todd
Justin
E.H. Smith
Triumph of the Will: the Sequel
Carl
Estabrook
Where We Are Now
Gary
Leupp
Imperial History-Making vs. Reality-Based Thought: a Dialogue
Dave
Lindorff
Apocalypse Soon
Jenna
Michelle Liut
Plans Colombia and Patriota: Wanton Wastes of Money, Manpower
and Lives
Mickey
Z.
The Granma Moses of Radical Writing: an Interview with William
Blum
Greg
Moses
The Same Old Struggle Against Imperial America
Sharon
Smith
Abortion Rights and the Election: What Now?
Ron
Jacobs
Sandwiches and Car Bombs
Ben
Tripp
Raising d'Etre: Finding Money in Hollywood These Days
Richard
Oxman
Basketbrawl Two Pointer: Iraq Rules!
Gilad
Atzmon
Politics and Jazz
Poets'
Basement
LaMorticella, Albert, Ford, & Anon.
Website
of the Day
Voice of the Forest
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.
|
December 27, 2004
Goodbye, Goodbuy, Goodguy Xmas
Reflections
for a Handful of Activists
By
RICHARD OXMAN
"It's not everyday that
we are needed. Not indeed that we are personally needed. Others
would meet the case equally well, if not better. To all mankind
they were addressed, those cries for help still ringing in our
ears! But at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind
is us, whether we like it or not."
-- Vladimir's exalted tirade
from Beckett's Waiting for Godot
"red-rag and pink-flag
blackshirt and brown
strut-mince and stink-brag
have all come to town
some like it shot
and some like it hung
and some like it in the twot
nine months young"
-- e e cummings
"Tell all the Truth but tell it slant"
-- Emily Dickinson
This is dedicated to Sylvie's
brother "Skee" (who let me use his room during the
holidays)...AND all of those who sent me supportive missives
around JC's Waylaid Day.
I first met Alan Watts at the foot of
Mt. Tamalpais shortly after he had taken part in the infamous
"Houseboat Summit" of '67 with Howl Ginsberg,
LSD Leary and Mountains and Rivers Without End Gary Snyder.
It was at the bed of Redwood Creek, just about where the Dipsea
Trail crosses it that he told me what he thought of political
activism; in retrospect, I was taken aback that I never got around
to asking anything about my heroes. And about his special
brand of fakery that I loved...or about all their personal
demons.
Nevertheless, on this so-called Savior's Birthday Party it's
time to share what he said with you. There may have to be a Part
II to this, as I'm finessing family obligations and struggling
with the stench of dead pig wafting through my isolated room
(with a window) at the (Sierras) in-laws....while straining to
create a Watershed Piece. (1)
Three years before the Tofflers' Future Shock anticipated some
of the key changes that would characterize our society, including
personal computers, the Internet, widespread psycho-pharmacological
treatment, same-sex marriages and parents, niche-marketing, a
vastly enlarged services sector, and decades-longer life spans
enabled by revolutionary medical and biotechnology advances...Alan
laid out what our stressed-out society could look forward to
vis-a-vis our fighting for change.
Small change...what we're involved in. And shortsighted in the
way we're going about it.
The Civil Disobedience that was all the rage at the time was
his primary focus. He said we could probably only count on it
being cyclical. He saw it as being part of an ebb and
flow, a Yin/Yang within very defined limits.
Confrontations of the sort festooned across the front pages of
sixties' publications --their impact-- would subside, he said...once
a given point was made in the future. Large numbers of "mild
protesters" --the majority-- would take over...making
sure that they wouldn't be bad boys and girls causing any serious
problems for The Powers. Why? For the simple fact that everyone
would be sooooooo inundated with stimuli, soooooo overwhelmed
with keeping basic things together...that they wouldn't have
the time/wherewithal to follow through.
I was reminded of the Watts encounter the other day when I came
across Barbara Epstein's "The Politics of Prefigurative
Community: The Non-Violent Direct Action Movement," (2)
which underscores the fragility of civil disobedience, the consensus
process and non-hierarchical style of organization as (intended)
builders of community solidarity/accomplishment.
Barbara's critique of the direct action movement is "based
on the assumption that it would be better if more continuous
identity and political presence could be achieved." (3A)
Like Watts, she cites "cycles," and points out that
the common coming together (only to dissipate) makes for Reinventing
The Wheel Syndrome; avoiding bureaucratic entrenchment is a minor
benefit which accrues from the rising and falling of organizations,
surviving affinity groups contracting in terms of impact....in
spite of lessons learned.
That's a quick hit respecting Old Paradigms of thought/action.
For what's new on the horizon, for what might work within The
Shock of Our Future That's Here...I direct you to the remnants
of the Electrohippies who pulled off the "Virtual Sit-In
at the WTO" (Seattle, '99).
Just as that prototypical adult in The Graduate whispered
"plastics" in the ear of Dustin Hoffman's character
to indicate what the future beckoned/promised, I am tiptoeing
on eggshells to send the message that "hacking" holds
much promise. Ricardo Dominguez (who has done highly laudable
work with the Zapatistas), co-founder of Electronic Disturbance
Theater and co-creator of the webjamming FloodNet, is someone
to plug into your Search for starters. Critical Art Ensemble
and Electronic Civil Disobedience might also yield something
positive. (3B)
Why all the vague leads? For those with some imagination I offer
the following from page 37 of Roya Hakakian's Journey from the
Land of No: A Girlhood Caught In Revolutionary Iran (speaking
about being Iranian under Jimmy Carter's Shah): "To escape
its ominous attention, every citizen hid what was on his mind
and learned to talk in such a way that his true thoughts would
not be obvious. Speaking in metaphors and resorting to
poetry were old national traits. But SAVAK gave Iranians yet
another reason to aspire to the vague. Conversations did not
convey clarity. They became endless games of creating allusions."
Italics mine. (3C)
And don't forget what Foucault said about "it must be dead
if talked about." None of us must be about...what we're
talkin' about.
Someone ought to share that with An Online Editor Who Shall Remain
Nameless For The Moment...who lambasted me recently, charging
me with "wobbling" in a
recent Counterpunch piece . She took the rhetorical device
that centered the article too literally, and...succumbing to
the energies and facts-of-activist-life that Watts anticipated...overlooked
clear indications that no one could possibly be more against
the actions of our troops than me (as per my labeling them dead-in-the-water
"stormtroopers," and calling for no tears on
their behalf). She was even moving so fast that she lambasted
me for using The Powers' Orwellian word "insurgents"
when I had clearly referred to the Iraqis as "so-called
insurgents." All caught up with having caught me with my
pants down in the wrong column of my "Seventh Column"
piece...with (unobservant) anal retentive analysis.
Now here's the punchline that I hope all activists will find
highly instructive: When I pointed out her indiscretions (documenting
everything in detail)...the private back and forth came to a
screeching halt! She had no time for "such dialogue."
I wouldn't be underscoring this if it weren't typical of encounters
I've had throughout this year. When push comes to shove activists,
apparently, cannot find the heartbeats to put up with in-depth
discussion, let alone adjustment. There is absolutely no temporal
allowance possible for moving laterally, slowing down for necessary
consideration. In fact, if you review the previous paragraph...you'll
be reminded that even editors sometimes don't have a pace that
allows requisite careful reading.
Certainly there's no time to nurture a soul such as mine. (4)
To open presents lovingly.
We push on at such a pace...having to absorb too much...all over
the place...meeting false deadlines...putting all our eggs into
the basket that says...if only we can get enough info out there,
take in sufficient data, etc. we'll make advances.
No. That's the Status Quo. Impotento.
If only activists could ask themselves exactly WHY certain subjects
have to appear ad infinitum on x number of websites, why redundancy
is taking place at such a pace...why it's all so necessary.
If they could they'd be off to a good start. 'Cause the fact
is that none of us are really about getting such and such done
by a certain date. As important as our individual earthly concerns
are, as much urgency as mundane matters call for...ultimately
we are not here to be successful on those counts, are we?
I submit that there is another realm in which we operate primarily.
And it has --in the final analysis-- zero to do with accomplishment
and everything to do with something that cannot be verbalized,
something that has to do with us all being headed for a deathbed
of sorts. I'd use At-One-Ment here, but I don't want to confuse
my meaning with anything associated with Christian Theology...particularly
on this Grand Commercial Day.
Adrift amidst wrapping that won't be recycled, the childlike
horror heaves: "Is that all I get?".
In the Dada manifesto of 1919, Tristan Tzara says, "The
new artist protests, he no longer paints; he creates directly...life
and art make One." When I cite that quotation these days,
too many readers jump on me defending isolated artists, secure
in their Personas and personal realms, raking in the riches...while
Iraq and too many other places are hacked to death. Make your
case, I say, and leave me alone to ignore your selfishness...shortsightedness.
Because no matter how others cut the mustard, some of us will
move toward doing what the prehistoric cave painters did; they
put no labels on their art, no frames around their creativity...separating
imagination and inspiration from their living quarters. Right
there up against the wall...where I live and breathe...where
my limbs often lie in the dark is...that vision of the organism
not separable from its environment!* All my life...an organic
whole.
*So eloquently laid out by Watts in his The Book: On the Taboo
Against Knowing Who You Really Are.
As I was typing, my mom-in-law (for want of a better expression!)
burst into my little hovel...not to tear me away...and back to
the festivities...but to hand me advice that Clarissa Pinkola
(Women Who Run With Wolves) Estes recently gave to an activist:
"We know that it doesn't take 'everyone on earth' to bring
Justice and Peace, but only a small determined group who will
not give up during the first, second or hundredth gale."
A handful. Like what John Brown had.
I do have reservations about Estes' work, but there's no arguing
with her "One of the most calming and powerful actions you
can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show
your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times."
I might add that another powerful thing we can all do is to force
ourselves to slow down...set priorities...taking on less...and
acknowledging that the stress which messes with us all is something
we can rise above.
Our salvation --if such a term is appropriate for us all-- lies
not with our spouse, our children, our writing, our projects,
confronting the so-called enemy...or with any of the neatly defined
entities we've all labored with...forever.
On the one hand, we can work with William Gibson's metaphor of
cyberspace being a mass hallucination...acting as Panther Moderns...developing
other hallucinations within that realm as has been suggested
as early as the mid-90s in publications such as The Electronic
Disturbance and Electronic Civil Disobedience and Other Unpopular
Ideas. Terrorize the U.S. terrorists...so that they loosen their
grip, show their hand.
However, we must not lose sight of the importance of human bonding/the
obligations we have to one another, especially as colleagues.
Those who write to me will all vouch for the civil way (if I
may say so) in which I respond to each missive, the fullness
with which I try to address their concerns...friend and foe alike.
That derives from something that dwells Beyond Activism...and
which should be celebrated...if anything is celebrated at this
time of year.
I mix it up on the street as much as anyone from, say, Reclaim
the Streets...even though too much of that stuff will take too
many of us out of the loop...prematurely.
Yet my pleas to readers are far more thought out than any two-bit
(redundant) dinner party vision of despair...over what's wrong
with this world, these U.S. abominations. And couched, for good
reason, in language from Cloudland. (5)
I come close to closing with my inspiration from Alain Badiou
(about going away from humanity):
"In truth, like Rimbaud
Beckett thinks that one never leaves. He recognizes absolutely
the temptation of leaving humanity, the temptation of failing
both language and saying to the point of disgust. To leave existence
once and for all, to return to being. But Beckett corrrects and
ultimately rejects this possibility." (6)
On this, Beckett says: "Try
again. Fail again. Better again. Or better worse. Fail worse
again. Still worse again. Till sick for good. Throw up for good.
Go for good. Where neither for good. Good and all." (7)
Being radical now...to make a difference...we must not merely
change brands of toothpastes. Rather, we must go from brushing
to not brushing. Something like that.
Meaning...perhaps we're going to have to consider saying goodbye
to Xmas. The Christmas that envelopes us all with the wrong,
warped Wattage. The Grand Snowjob.
Good riddance!
Richard Oxman, above, has presented a truncated version
of a chapter from his upcoming book Nine-Step Pogrom for Activists.
He reluctantly invites one and all to help him locate a proper
publisher and/or agent...for taking part in what he considers
to be a contribution to our ecocide. Perhaps there's another
way. He's reachable at dueleft@yahoo.com.
NOTES:
(1) Just want to make sure that the family knows I love them,
and enjoyed being together in spite of my kvetching.
(2) See Epstein essay (particularly p. 345) in Stephen Duncombe,
ed., Cultural Resistance Reader (New York: Verso, 2003).
(3A) Ibid., p. 346.
(3B) Ricardo speaks of not being able to be "more effective
than an annoying mosquito" at one point. However, it doesn't
take much imagination to extrapolate how annoying, say, a yellowjacket
might be...stinging in a certain place...at a certain time. I
take issue with Dominguez...to the extent that I read him correctly...respecting
issues of anonymity and legality, but those are niceties that
we can all thrash through once we've done our homework. One area
in which he is spot on target can be found in the following:
"...as far as power is concerned, the streets are dead capital!
Nothing of value to the power elite can be found on the streets,
nor does this class need control of the streets to efficiently
run and maintain state institutions." Sources for the above
are available upon request.
(3C) New York: Crown Publishers, 2004.
(4) Such would be way too much of a luxury, wouldn't it? More
important things on the agenda such as amassing huge numbers
in soft solidarity? Bonding one-on-one can be put on the
backburner? I don't think so; it just burns up and out there...neglected.
(5) It's a great word, and I urge one and all to look it up in
a solid dictionary.
(6) Alberto Toscano & Nina Power, eds., On Beckett: Alain
Badiou (Manchester: Clinamen Press, 2003), pp. 91-92.
(7) Worstward Ho (Calder Publishers, 1983), p. 8.
Weekend Edition
Features for November
27 / 28, 2004
Peter
Linebaugh
Torture & Neo-Liberalism with
Sycorax in Iraq
Alexander
Cockburn
What Happened to O'Reilly's Loofa?
Fred
Gardner
Ashcroft v. Raich: Medical Marijuana and the Supreme Court
Kathy
Kelly
What We Can Control
Diane
Christian
The Other Cheek: "Empire Doesn't Analyze, It Acts"
Gary
Leupp
One More Neocon Target: South (Yes, South) Korea
Lenni
Brenner
Equality and Rights of Return: Jefferson Instructs the New York
Times
Ron
Jacobs
Death Squads and Iraq's Elections: the Mysterious Murders of
the AMS Clerics
Joshua
Frank
An Interview with Kevin Zeese on Nader, Kerry and the ABB Crowd
Toni
Solo
The Murder of Danilo Anderson
Saul
Landau
Fallujah, the 21st Century Guernica
JoAnn
Wypijewski
Matthew Shepard Case 6 Years Later: Why Hate Crimes Laws are
No Cure for Homophobia
Justin
Taylor
Empire's Lawless Opportunities
Amos
Harel
The Case of Captain R.
Walter
A. Davis
Tabloid Justice
Stephen
Hendricks
God's Kind of Men
Poets'
Basement
Albert, LaMorticella and Ford
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