:: Diary of an Aging Protester ::

:: 6.26.2003 ::

Apparatchik
I will edit this later for accuracy since all I had was highlighters and no pencil when I saw this, but wanted to get in a quickie right away. As I was going to GSU's Atheletic Center on the shuttle from Tech this afternoon, I saw this incredible billboard across from CNN HQ which said (to paraphrase): Fox News does not pander to dictatorships, nor does it come out against our gov't. Fox News is for the American people.

I was pretty stunned but then again not really....

Yet for all of our demonizing of the USSR in the 1980s by right wingers, it's amazing how easy it is to see the similarities between the USA and USSR. Interrogating and imprisoning specific religious minorities and political dissenters, creating opps. for those with the 'right' ideology to be promoted, those with the wrong demoted or castigated, censoring the press and creating an apparatchik that protects those in power at all costs and benefits from it, dismantling regulations that are pro-citizen/gov't watchdog groups, and finding ways to export one's ideology through minor but very troublesome wars.
:: posted by Doreen on 6:24 PM [+] ::
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more of "with us, against us"
recently my friend and colleague Chuck wrote a missive on his blog about his utter outrage at the House passing a bill that would end estate taxes in 2013 and thus increasing the deficit while decreasing monies for important programs for the needy (who also happen to be american citizen though it appears those in gov't don't remember that particular detail). Now it's my turn to be mad...(and FYI Chuck has a new blog address for those interested in reading his thoughts, screeds, and criticisms).

A news item broke yesterday that I wanted to ignore but today I just can't after reading Naomi Klein's biting piece in the Guardian about it and damn the imperious nature of the Bush clan is reaching new heights. It now seems that the Bush admin. and his sycophant Natsios who runs USAID can determine which NGOs get contracts based on whether they are with US (not saying anything the least bit critical of US occupation and attendant problems) or against US (doing what NGOs do, provide and dispense aid and act as watchdogs to gov'ts that interfere with that process). As Klein claims,

"The war on NGOs is being fought on two clear fronts. One buys the silence and complicity of mainstream humanitarian and religious groups by offering lucrative reconstruction contracts. The other marginalises and criminalises more independent-minded NGOs by claiming that their work is a threat to democracy. The US Agency for International Development (USaid) is in charge of handing out the carrots, while the American Enterprise Institute, the most powerful think-tank in Washington, is wielding the sticks."

Now, NGOs are not perfect; in fact, they have been criticized by many regional and national activists in 3rd world countries as doing exactly what the US gov't is now asking them to do--be imperial propangandists--in cahoots with certain ideologies that promote an agenda rather than distribute goods and services to those in need. So now that the US has made this policy official, do you not think that NGOs will not only be vulnerable to criticism but also to attack? many workers put their lives on the line as it is but to now have to face ire from people who may not think it is in their culture's best interest to take on US ideology, esp. in regions where that ideology is in serious cultural conflict, means that workers will be more endangered and the work they do will not get done because the US has decided they are an enemy of the state, oh excuse me, a threat to democracy.

So not to be a semantic nitpick, but the groups that do tow the line aren't really NGOs anymore, are they? Since as Klein muses, the N of NGO stands for Non as in Non Gov't Org. Instead they have graduated to an "arm of the gov't". So now they are AOGs. Sadly, as the last two years have shown, this admin will not stop in dismantling, changing, coercing, and bullying whomever and whatever it wants to get its own damn way. is this latest censorship not something that the former Soviet Union would do? How many more fronts are left for this dastardly admin. to occupy with its own cheap form of democracy? Buy one, get one free--just like at Kroger.
:: posted by Doreen on 9:12 PM [+] ::
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A bit of Good News in a Grim Grim World
The Supreme Court has upheld the right to use affirmative action at the U. of Michigan law School. The 5-4 decision must be a shock to Bush & Co. who adamently came out against using race as a factor in admission. Sandra Day O'Connor (soon to retire) was the swing vote. The second case which was taken up by two white students who did not get into U of Michigan's undergrad program has been sent back to the Circuit Court because its use of a point system appears to be unconstituitional. In any case, there is some justice in the world. I'm always amazed by folks who sue universities over AA. It reeks of a privilege not known or known and thus exploited. I wonder why people don't question the AA that goes on in terms of wealth begetting wealth via the Ivy League system (which is private, I understand), but still you have idjits like Bush getting into Yale and Harvard based on his father's relation to these universities which I'm sure is bound up in donor funding as well as his position in public office.
:: posted by Doreen on 10:39 AM [+] ::
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A Non-Violent Approach to Conflict in the Mideast
I was fortunate enough to see Sami Awad of the Holy Land Trust speak to a small group at the American Friends' House on Friday night. Sami started the Holy Land Trust in order to counter the growing violence between the Palestinians and Israelis by promoting a non-violent approach to resisting occupation. Sami definitely has his work cut out for him these days or rather since the 2nd intifada started. Some of the facts about the Palestinians' economic plight were stunning: 65% unemployed in the occupied territories, 80% rely on charity, hand-outs, etc. to just get by. Even more bone-chilling were his stories of trying to leave the territories to get to the us via israel. Since he has a US passport and is a citizen, you would think this wouldn't be a problem but the gestapo-style tactics of the IDF when he had already negotiated with the US embassy in Israel to leave were pretty disturbing. As were his descriptions of Bethlehem where he lives as being a prison since the Israelis have built a high wire fence with surveillance equipment around most of the city. Our tax dollars, of course, contribute to this internment. What Sami is trying to do is negotiate ways to bring Israelis and Palestinians together to fight violence on both sides. His work must be immensely depressing, esp. after viewing the last few weeks of violence in the aftermath of road map to peace talks but he seemed to think that there was hope, that really all one and one's community can do is continue to hope.

A lively discussion followed after his talk, particularly after a self-identified "leftie Jew" who had lived on a kibbutz and served in the IDF in the 70s claimed that Sami had not provided a balanced account of what was really going on. It seemed to me that his talk was focused on Palestine and the occupation but that he did condemn the violence and ineffectiveness of suicide bombers as much as he did the Israeli army. Many people attempted to counter his statements as did Sami himself, yet I got the feeling that this guy didn't want to argue or reason; he was adamant about being irrational. This idea of safe space just came to me in terms of finding places where people can listen rather than prod. This doesn't mean that speakers such as Sami shouldn't be questioned, and there were some questions that did try to get him to explain his ideas and methods more in depth and what success they could have in such a dire situation, but to pass judgement on someone's talk without really listening to what he had to say seemed really disingenuous and it seemed like the guy had come to the talk with some genuine interest and concern.
:: posted by Doreen on 9:40 PM [+] ::
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In Defense of Texas
I know that the Dixie Chicks claimed that they were ashamed to be from Texas but I have to admit that having lived there for ten years, I claim it as a home and a place to go back to as well as a place to be proud of. Recently when I heard someone make a degrading comment once again about Texas, I countered his accusation of it being a conservative backwater by naming at least 4 Texans who have been instrumental in promoting a progressive political agenda--Ann Richards, governor when I moved there in 1991 (she too was an alcoholic but didn't go the route of crusader for Christ as yours truly) and unfortunately defeated in 1994 by Shrub, Molly Ivins, the political pundit, and her colleague, Jim Hightower. Lastly is the late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan who I was fortunate enough to see speak at a Clinton-Gore rally at UT-austin back in 1992. BJ was the first African American woman to be voted in to Congress. She died a very premature death in 1996 from pneumonia. Jordan was one of the most thrilling orators I've ever heard--deep voiced and big boned, Jordan made the grass sway as we listened to her speak in the broiling May sun. I wish I could remember what she said but years later I do remember how she said it. It is extraordinary that someone like Jordan of the mellifluous voice could come from the same state as Georgy Porgy whose idea of effective prose is found in his common epithet "Big Dude" to any young man he meets which is supposedly what he called the son of Sami Al-Arian, the CS prof. at USF who's been taken away without any legal counsel since last fall, when he met Abdullah at a meeting with the Muslim community of Tampa.

My recent discovery of a website based in Austin, Bushwatch.com made me realize once again that to describe Texas as a conservative backwater is a bit off the mark--though events such as the lynching of James Byrd is testimony that reactionaries, racists, and fundamentally flawed righteous thinkers do live there. Bushwatch provides a great assortment of leading headline news from around the world, local and academic writers commentaries', cartoons, satire, and my favorite page Bushlexia.

"The true strength of America happens when a neighbor loves a neighbor just like they'd like to be loved themselves." --George W. Bush, Elizabeth, N.J., June 16, 2003

And this one says it all:

"We ended the rule of one of history's worst tyrants, and in so doing, we not only freed the American people, we made our own people more secure."--George W. Bush, Crawford, Texas, May 3, 2003

So there you have it, the sublime (barbara jordan) and the ridiculous (GW). Couldn't get more stark of a contrast. As an antidote to the above comments, I implore you to go to the BJ webpage posted above and read her keynote at the 1976 Democratic Convention. And remember: GW grew up in the most remote area of Texas, a place dominated by stinky oil fields and vast stretches of land where one didn't have to think to much about communicating, nevermind even just thinking. Being so isolated from the world has definitely contributed to his inability to speak or listen and surely it must have influenced him to drink.
:: posted by Doreen on 8:35 PM [+] ::
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Been a While
Well, I've decided to resurface in the blogosphere after a few weeks of inhabiting the disser-sphere. Unfortunately the disser-phere is occupied by a party of only one (all dissertators operate in their own private but parallel disser-sphere) which makes it a lonely and often debilitating writing process. Still it must get done. My third chapter is now behind me--informally known as the chapter from hell--emailed off to the committee and I've got 1.5 chapters to go. So hurrah on that note. I've realized that both my blogging and my tv watching has gone way down in the past few weeks. This could mean either I'm being incredibly productive with my time or simply being more creative with discovering new ways to waste time. Of course, painting my apt. took up most of last week. It looks fabulous, I must admit. And a big shout out to Kyle, Bryan, and Lindsey for jumpstarting that venture, buying me most of the paint and supplies, and rearranging my bedroom.

I've also taken some TO from even attempting to cover the various political and geo-political fronts that this admin. is attempting to unravel. It's ultimately too depressing to write about. Despite brave attempts by some of those in the know about the case of the missing WMD, no one really wants to pick up the ball and run it through the endposts. I guess because either Rumsfeld or Cheney will get a death squad after them or be the mastiff defensive ends waiting to pulp them into the ground. The latest report on the Iraq Fiasco--The Great Lie of the 21st C.-- is that on June 14 on Meet the Press former Gen. Wesley Clark claimed that Rumsfeld and Cheney were chomping at the bit to make a connection between Al-Queda and Iraq hours after the second jet flew into the Twin Towers. Sadly none of the major media outlets who rely on these sunday morning shows cared to make that big of a deal about this news and the story never broke like others have. I've heard a recent story that many service folks are leaving the armed forces in droves, having been scared off by the prospect of another war as well as being completely burned in this one. And a story in the AJC today--front page--reported a high rate of cancers are already occurring in Iraq from the depleted uranium used by the US to blow up tanks and other heavy artillery. What else? it seems we lose a soldier a day to violence, iraqi children lose limbs and lives from unexploded ordinance, and the mideast is blowing itself up on the roadmap to peace.


:: posted by Doreen on 8:15 PM [+] ::
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Wigfield
I went to see Wigfield with Bryan on Saturday night. I met Bryan at one of the protests right before the war started. He has a fabulous Chihuahua named Margo who is a real darling. After the show, we went back to his place and Margo was jumping and barking all over the place but she only weighs 4 pounds. Then she stuck her head in my purse and turned my phone on. When I got home, I had this 2 minute message of a conversation between me, Bryan, and Kyle (Brian's b.f.). I guess she started my voice mail somehow. Weird and disturbing.

In any case, I thought Wigfield was really good. We sat in the front row which was okay except when Steve Colbert sat in front of us on a stool and we had to bend our necks back really far. The play came out of a book that the three co-wrote together about a mythical town called Wigfield that is about to be destroyed when the state decides to destroy the dam in order to get the salmon run flowing again. A writer goes out to capture small town life before it's extinguished and discovers a cast of characters that puts David Lynch's Twin Peaks to shame in terms of sordid, bizarre, and politically incorrect portrayals of white trash. Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello, and Stephen Colbert each take several different characters and the play is about a play that the writer is forced to write in order for the publishing co. to make more than enough money via a two for one deal. Because the play is occuring while in progress, the actors read from scripts and don't dress up in character but there is a changing set of photographs via a slide show that act as hilarious props to the already funny character portrayals. The play ends with a video re-enactment that the writer has produced of the dam exploding at a last bash party that the whole town celebrates.

What I liked most about the play was its undercutting of our current romance with small town life found in many tv shows, films, and radio shows like Lake Woebegone. Shows like the Gilmore Girls reveal how you can have all the excitement of the city without the ugliness, the violence, and scruffiness that comes with. The town in GG is all about people who've made it but opt for slowing down and getting away from city life and its various problems. The grossly inaccurate attempt to draw out the wonders of the small town community through various festivals, marathons, town hall meetings, etc. does not really get at the poverty, desperation, and plight of the rural working-class. Although Wigfield is not about making social statements at all, it does seem to take to bat Lake Wobegonitis's bourgeous attempt to gloss over the difficulties of making a living or of being different in small communities. with characters like Raven the transvestite stripper or Julian Childs, the fey man who does theatrical productions using rabbits. Of course, one can read the show as taking a potshot at the trashy white working-class who inhabit Wigfield as well--an easy target.

After the show, Bryan bought a copy of the book and we waited on line to get it signed by the three writers/performers. as we got closer to them, I started feeling really nervous and tried to stand as far away as possible from them when Bryan had them sign the book. Just as we were walking away from them, Amy S. looked at me and said, Wow, what a pretty dress. I must have blushed, I'm sure, and just smiled and said, thanks. Then Bryan got all chatty with her and she was talking to us and honestly I didn't hear a thing she said because my mind was buzzing that she'd complimented me. Wow!
:: posted by Doreen on 3:20 PM [+] ::
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A Tale of Two Women
Naomi Klein's report about the difference in US admin and media's reaction to Jessica "I'm Going to be the subject of an ABC Monday Night Made for TV Movie" Lynch and Rachel Corrie in the Guardian makes clear how the press here distorts and emphasizes specific stories in order to placate any possibility of a critique against Israeli control and destruction of the occupied territories and to keep the flags waving since 9/11. The article also shows how gender is used to mastermind certain kinds of hero worship--woman as warrior--over others--woman as peace activist. It's interesting that we can view Jessica's narrative as a new one emerging in the theater of war that has traditionally been assigned to men, yet the woman warrior has become a common trope particularly among computer gamers; thus, Jessica becomes-the Lara Croft of the Iraq War. Yet sadly rampant sexual harrassment and violence against women in the military occurs on a frequent basis and is often silenced and rarely reprimanded.

We're on the Road Map to Nowhere...
Reading articles like Klein's, and seeing the blatant ways that the US media and the admin. condone Israel violence through silence and erasure, makes me think that this 'road map' is just an attempt by Bush to pander to Arab concerns, (because he has to--american lives are at stake in the Middle East and the US), yet his agenda is to get Jewish votes for the upcoming election, esp. if Leiberman is in the running, so eventually he'll end up paying lip service to Palestinians while making Israeli's concerns the main focus. Bush has been playing this same janus-faced card for 2 years now with other issues such as stem cell research. It's all about getting the votes rather than doing anything as sincere as making a stand on an issue. Then again I'm assuming that he can have any kind of opinion that is not informed by Al-Anon ideology.

I know I'm being grossly cynical but the agreement to the road map to peace among Israeli cabinet members was only agreed to with the qualification of looking into 14 areas of concern. This doesn't bode well, folks. I mean, the Israeli cabinet agreed to the road map on their terms (the road map is intended to be non-negotiable) which means it wasn't an agreement, but a begrudgement. Yes, the right wingers are pissed, but I don't see why. Sharon has already indicated that refugees will not be able to return to pre-1948 lands they once possessed, and that settlements will continue to be built that have already been planned...so I'm not really seeing what Israeli right wingers have to sacrifice other than a future where Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank could live with human dignity, self-respect, economic opportunities, and political representation as they do.
:: posted by Doreen on 1:55 PM [+] ::
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I've been out of touch recently, trying to get some momentum going for the home stretch of the diss. and continuing to clean with Johnny on the Spot for $$$. However, dear readers, an urgent matter demands your attention as you probably already know. Below you'll find an email that my friend Anne Helwig sent me today about the attempt to deregulate media via legislation that's going through Congress in early June. My friend/colleague in arms Chuck who attended the town hall meeting at Emory U. has done a fine job reporting on some of the issues at stake and also in covers overall responses to the questions and concerns people in the audience had and the turn-out.

Our Democracy Needs Real News with Diverse Points of View: Stop Giant Media Corporations from Growing Bigger-and Serving Up More Bias, Mayhem & Infotainment
Just click on this link to send an e-mail (text below) to all five members of the Federal Communications Commission, urging them not to allow giant media corporations to grow larger.

If journalism provided us a healthy diet of balanced news-rather than an overdose of mayhem, fluff, and distortion-would we have been able to prevent America's invasion of Iraq? Would more people vote? Would our neighbors be less cynical and less fearful of each other? Would our democracy and collective spirit be stronger? We think so. Yet, if the Federal Communications Commission has its way, America's shameful "news" media will continue to undermine our democracy. On Monday, June 2, the FCC will vote on new rules allowing our nation's giant media conglomerates to grow even bigger by squashing the independent media outlets we have left. The new rules would allow a mammoth media corporation in one city to own eight radio stations, two major TV stations, and the largest daily newspaper. The news media is too powerful-and essential in our democracy-to be dominated by a few for-profit corporations. Tell the Federal Communications Commissioners not to approve this plan allowing further mergers by media conglomerates. Just click on the link below.

Then please tell anyone else you think agrees that journalism is the lifeblood of democracy by forwarding this link.

Sincerely,
Ben Cohen
President, TrueMajority.org
Co-Founder, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream*
:: posted by Doreen on 1:26 PM [+] ::
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