[Peace-discuss] Draft flyer (corrected) for AWARE demo, Aug. 3

Sun Aug 3 20:44:54 EDT 2014

Chomsky was of course "a nationally recognized figure" for more than 40 years before the events of 9/11/2001.

As a young man he did for the study of language roughly what Einstein had done for physics: he established a new model for the subsequent science. 

In the 1960's he took up writing against Kennedy's war in SE Asia and quickly became one of the most important anti-war voices with articles like "The Responsibility of Intellectuals" (1967) <http://www.chomsky.info/articles/19670223.htm> and "On the Backgrounds of the Pacific War" (1967) <http://www.chomsky.info/articles/196709--.htm> - still very much worth reading. 

Chomsky is an anarchist (libertarian socialist, if you prefer). He presents a convincing case for that position in "Government in the Future" (1970) <http://tangibleinfo.blogspot.com/2006/11/noam-chomsky-lecture-from-1970-full.html>.

His brief book "9-11" was a best seller in 2001, because it didn't follow the US government/media line. Here's a summary:

"In '9-11', published in November 2001 and arguably the single most influential post 9-11 book, internationally renowned thinker Noam Chomsky bridged the information gap around the World Trade Center attacks, cutting through the tangle of political opportunism, expedient patriotism, and general conformity that choked off American discourse in the months immediately following. Chomsky placed the attacks in context, marshaling his deep and nuanced knowledge of American foreign policy to trace the history of American political aggression - in the Middle East and throughout Latin America as well as in Indonesia, in Afghanistan, in India and Pakistan - at the same time warning against America’s increasing reliance on military rhetoric and violence in its response to the attacks, and making the critical point that the mainstream media and public intellectuals were failing to make: any escalation of violence as a response to violence will inevitably lead to further, and bloodier, attacks on innocents in America and around the world..."

Chomsky's politics are such that he is cordially hated by soi-disant liberals and progressives. In an interview in 2008 he said, 

"I should say that the place where I am most feared and despised is probably in left liberal intellectual circles. If you want to see a graphic indication of this, take a look at one of my favorite journal covers, which is framed and posted right outside my door. It’s the more or less official journal of left liberal intellectuals, The American Prospect, and the cover depicts the terrible circumstances in which they try to survive – the enormous forces that are virtually destroying them.

"In the picture, two figures are depicted; two faces, sneering and angry. On one side is Dick Cheney and the Pentagon, on the other side is me. The left liberal intellectuals are caught between these two huge forces. This depiction is indicative of the paranoia and concern that there might be some small break in orthodoxy. The liberal intellectuals (and not just in the United States) are typically the guardians at the gates: we’ll go this far, but not one millimeter farther; and it’s terrifying to think that somebody might go a millimeter farther. This extends throughout the major media too. So, yes, the United States is a very free country, in fact it’s the freest country in the world. I don’t think freedom of speech, for example, is protected anywhere in the world as much as it is here. But it’s a very managed society, it’s a business-run society, carefully managed, with strict doctrinal requirements and no deviation tolerated – this would be too dangerous.

"One of the reasons it’s too dangerous is that the political establishment, both political parties and the political class, is, on many major issues, well to the right of the population. On health care, for example, which you’ve written about for decades, the population is to the left of the establishment, and has been so forever. And the same is true for many other issues. So, permitting issues to be discussed is threatening, and permitting deviation from a kind of party line is dangerous and has to be carefully controlled."

--CGE

On Aug 3, 2014, at 1:16 PM, Stephen Francis via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> wrote:

> I accuse CGE of gatekeeping because of his incessant quoting of Chomsky.  
> I think Chomsky is in part a nationally recognized figure because of his views on 9/11 Truth. 
> In efforts to control the opposition he plays a perfect role.
> He is a prolific author and the vast majority of his positions are acceptable to 'liberals', progressives'....etc  (whatever they are?)
> 
> Zionists are very fearful of 9/11 Truth because it really threatens them, so they have to ridicule and keep people distracted from it.
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> Chomsky keeps people talking and not acting.
> 9/11 Truth is about acting.  It's about prosecuting criminals not jawboning policy. CGE is a jawboner.....
> NYC CAN's effort was successful and they are in a strong position to challenge any legal obstacles in their path.
> A heartfelt thank you – We did it! – High-Rise Safety Initiative
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> A heartfelt thank you – We did it! – High-Rise Safety In...
> Updates about the High-Rise Safety Initiative A heartfelt thank you – We did it! August 1, 2014 Dear friends,
> View on highrisesafetynyc.org
> Preview by Yahoo
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> On Sunday, August 3, 2014 8:43 AM, David Johnson <davidjohnson1451 at comcast.net> wrote:
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> Stephen,
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> Good article about Bolivia and other South American countries pulling their ambassadors from Israel,
> 
> However, the other article is absolute nonsense. There are no " left-wing " U.S. Congressmen and Senators.
> Only corporate controlled neo-cons and neo-liberals.
> The ONLY elected official in the entire U.S. that I am aware of who is
>  " Left-wing " would be Socialist City Council member Kshama Sawant in Seattle.
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> And your continued accusations of Carl as a " Zionist Gatekeeper " is absurd and borders on the delusional.
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> David Johnson
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