[Peace-discuss] [Peace] This list is for brief announcements, e.g., 'Obama slaughters innocents..."

[John W.]

Thank you, Carl.  I believe I speak for everyone on this list when I say
that you've succeeded in convincing us, at long last, that War Is a Bad
Thing.  We owe you a profound debt of gratitude.  Or is it a debt of
profound gratitude?

Reverently.

John



On Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 5:15 PM, C. G. Estabrook <galliher at illinois.edu>wrote:

 "...Obama is forever 'murdering' people around the world rather than that
> his (administration's) policies indeed lead to the slaughter of
> innocents..."
> --M. Brussel
>
> "Killing one person is murder; killing thousands is foreign policy"
> --bumper sticker purchased from AWARE table at Farmers' Market
>
> I met Murder on the way -
> He had a mask like Castlereagh* -
> Very smooth he looked, yet grim;
> Seven blood-hounds followed him:
>
> All were fat; and well they might
> Be in admirable plight,
> For one by one, and two by two,
> He tossed the human hearts to chew
> Which from his wide cloak he drew.
>
> Next came Fraud, and he had on,
> Like Eldon, an ermined gown;
> His big tears, for he wept well,
> Turned to mill-stones as they fell.
>
> And the little children, who
> Round his feet played to and fro,
> Thinking every tear a gem,
> Had their brains knocked out by them...
>
> 'And that slaughter to the Nation
> Shall steam up like inspiration,
> Eloquent, oracular;
> A volcano heard afar.
>
> 'And these words shall then become
> Like Oppression's thundered doom
> Ringing through each heart and brain,
> Heard again - again - again -
>
> 'Rise like Lions after slumber
> In unvanquishable number -
> Shake your chains to earth like dew
> Which in sleep had fallen on you -
> Ye are many - they are few.'
>
> --from "The Masque of Anarchy," by Percy Bysshe Shelley, written on the
> occasion of the "Peterloo Massacre" carried out by the British Government at
> St Peter's Field, Manchester, on 16 August 1819, when cavalry charged into a
> crowd of 60,000–80,000 gathered at a meeting to demand the reform of
> parliamentary representation. (Cf. the attack on the unarmed Bonus
> Expeditionary Force - 43,000 marchers, including 17,000 World War I veterans
> and their families - in Washington DC on 28 July 1932 by US army infantry
> and cavalry supported by six tanks, and commanded by Army Chief of Staff
> General Douglas MacArthur; Major, later President, Dwight D. Eisenhower was
> his liaison with Washington police, and Major George Patton led the
> cavalry.)
> ___________
>
> *British Foreign Minister who eventually killed himself by cutting his
> throat with a letter-opener.
>
>
> On 10/27/10 12:07 AM, Brussel Morton K. wrote:
> > Joy and others,
> >
> > I've been pondering the nature of the peace-discuss list for some
> > time, and am sympathetic to your annoyance and exasperation with its
> > current incarnation. Since it is an open forum, however, I'm not
> > sure anything can or should be done about it. Relatively few
> > contribute routinely to the discussion there. I have been among them,
> > but aside from articles I run across that appear pertinent to AWARE's
> > supposed mission—anti-war and anti-racism—, I usually only respond to
> > opinions or commentary I find fault with.
> >
> > What irritates me in some of the discussion is a grossly repetitious
> > insistence on certain themes, themes to which I do not necessarily
> > disagree, but whose presentation I think are not quite honest, hence
> > destructive. Thus, Obama is forever "murdering" people around the
> > world rather than that his (administration's) policies indeed lead
> > to the slaughter of innocents. For some, it seems any slight
> > deviation from their own beliefs are to be condemned. There is scant
> > nuance, to an extent often bordering on intellectual dishonesty
> > and/or distortion. Distinctions are avoided. "Liberals", the "left",
> > Democrats, and even "progressives"—defined rather arbitrarily
> > according to the points to be made—are too often cast as stooges or
> > dupes for the power elites (not insufficiently anti-capitalist,
> > anti-war, and/or anti-imperialist). "Abortion is murder" is another
> > example. Religious doctrine/beliefs (God) also sometimes get thrown
> > in where, from my point of view, they have no relevance to the
> > mission of AWARE. Not infrequently, when a discussion occurs, and
> > questions are raised, the questions are not answered honestly or
> > directly, but rather a bait-and-switch rhetorical technique ensues.
> >
> > But to repeat, perhaps the most irritating aspect that arises for me
> > is the obsessional repetition of what one wants to have others
> > believe. Furthermore, I find that the discussions on the list are
> > not broadly balanced; the variety of opinions on the list seems to me
> > to be too narrow.
> >
> > Presentations found at ZNet is much better.
> >
> > One obvious solution to all this is to simply remove oneself from
> > the list. But there are useful things to be aware of that are
> > exposed there. It's akin to subscribing and hence being led to read
> > the editorial page of the News-Gazette or the NYT, not to mention
> > the choice of articles presented. I'm often tempted to cease my
> > subscriptions, but I haven't followed through.
> >
> > My 2¢.
> >
> > --mk
>
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