Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., in his 1967 Riverside Church Speech, hit home with some truths. He came out vehemently against the war in Vietnam ( we now have a " War ON Iraq") and pulled no punches. In his speech, Rev. King stated that silence, in the face of the horror of that war, was simply a betrayal. The mainstream media blasted him for those thoughts, and I am sure many so called liberals did the same. For it is easy to give lip service to a belief, or to honk at others in support. It takes a bit more courage and conviction to stand tall for a principle. Elie Wiesel, holocaust survivor and scholar, put it even more succinctly; " What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor, but the silence of the bystander."
As our president continually ships and reships our young, mostly low income at that, to patrol "streets of anger" thousands of miles from home, what do we say to that? As the British medical journal Lancet speculates the Iraqi civilian dead at over 600,000, what do we say to that? Some mourn and salute, showing those yellow ribbons and the stars and stripes so proudly, only for the 3000 plus American dead, and the ( now ) 150,000 others who gamble with Mr. Grim Reaper each day. Do they still support the foreign policies of Bush and Company? Do they comprehend that you do not carpet bomb, invade and occupy a sovereign nation, based upon lies and half truths? Do they realize the audacity of anyone, of any politician, to demand that the invaded and destroyed and occupied nation should now " get its act together and defend itself " from the very civil war that we caused?
More importantly, what of the overwhelming majority of those Americans who do not support this mess in Iraq, and never did? When will they finally understand what Rev. King and Eli Wiesel meant? We are reaching the first stage of a critical mass of events.... the street corners are still mostly empty. Silence is betrayal.
Philip A Farruggio
Port Orange
( Philip A Farruggio is a columnist, activist leader and small businessman. he can be reached at paf1222@bellsouth.net )
Philip A Farruggio
Port Orange ProActivists
Philip A Farruggio is a small businessman, progressive activist leader, columnist and radio talk show host. His show, " The ProActivist Hour" , can be heard Mondays at noon on WPUL 1590 AM in Daytona Beach, Florida. He can be reached at paf1222@bellsouth.net.
I work with a bunch of blue collar folks, good family people,union members all, love their country, hunting and fishing too. You know the kind of folks who were once solid democrats before that party turned on the working class, lost their leadership, their balls, and their minds. Now these good republican union folks are muttering about Bush, about Iraq and about lots of stuff you never heard even two years earlier.
I am not a pessimist, I see that we are a bunch of spoiled consumer oriented fatties who sit in front of our plasma screen tvs and get lied to endlessly, but the lies are beginning to fall flat (this is the optimist part)and even Rush Limbaugh is losing market share....Keep working, we will see th elight soon. Especially if you work to restore the Democratic Party or build the Green Party......
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ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2388 comments)
on Thursday, January 18, 2007 at 5:35:32 PM
What you are saying is so true. I read that people today don't march in the streets they blog. I was really angry watching cable tv. some reporter was talking and you could hear a protest nearby but the camera never once shot the protesters, or interviewed them. The media are the marionettes of the warmongers like GE which owns nbc, msnbc, etc. These guys love warr. It makes them rich. the Iraq study group just said theat Iraq will cost us 2 trillion dollars to re arm. People think that by voting they do their duty. This is mostly true. But when we vote to leave Iraq and our Dear Leader says "Oh this is code for lets escalate" what do we do? and when Hillary is a hawk and McCain is a Hawk and Giuliana is a hawk what do we do? When will big oil fund the Green Party to stop the impending global warming disaster? We are caught in a system which we built which is destroying us and the rest of the world. This is why china and Russia are going to back Iran and grab two thirds of the oil for themselves and wipe out the United States. They see Bush is a fool who can't even get people out of New Orleans. The million dollar question is how do you get the majority of peace loving Christians, Muslims and Jews to rise up and grab power from the warmonger companies, politicians and media? Especially when they have no idea what is really going on because they are constantly lied to. This is why the politicians are banning net neutrality to take away the last voice of the peace loving majority, the independent internet.
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Karen Fish (55 articles, 12 quicklinks, 25 diaries, 50 comments)
on Thursday, January 18, 2007 at 9:22:22 PM
I enjoyed your article. I am just starting to read, "The Oath" by Ellie Wiesel. The great problem of Judaism in the thirties was the terrible silence even from the Jewish elders in Europe and the deadly silence of American Jews even after there was undeniable evidence of what was happening in Treblinka, Auschwitz, Dachau and other death camps.
Did you notice the same silence in face of rabid patriotism turned nationalism in the run up to the invasion of Iraq? News media all over the country knew the real story. How could they not? Yet, deadly silence in face of those that would call you anti-American if you spoke out. The clear call of Judaism after WW II was, "NEVER AGAIN." I, for one, admire the Jews for standing up to tyranny against Jews around the world.
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pratliff94 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 945 comments)
on Thursday, January 18, 2007 at 11:44:29 PM
They will know what they meant as always. When it's safe, when they are dead, and when they can be elevated to 'hero'. (but for that you first have to be killed...and lucky, and have had good timing)
And this is the requirement over, and over again, and every time, and people never learn from history, or are able/willing to transfer information...unless, they have been there themselves.
I know what it takes, because I am in a very unusual position.
When you speak of them, and the bystanders...of course, those are not all people. You also have the oppressor, and bystanders come as active, or passive, and that goes for both directions, etc.
What it takes is a 'truth moderator', and who stands on the outside, and can see the whole picture. She understands the dynamics, and she has been in every role herself. She understands, that you don't just sit there, and blame, and wait for the bystanders to get what Martin Luther King means.
The task is for the volunteers, like us, to understand the bystander, as well as the oppressor, as well as the victims. as well as the 'leader', or 'hero'.
(And this could be taught to you by very few qualified people, and they do not include psychiatrists, lawyers, and most other professionals, and experts)
The last step would be, to use that understanding, and insight...to influence them productively...so they can hear, and get it.
But, who would listen to that? Our hearing is no less selective...you don't learn how to listen , and think for yourself, and understand.... in school. It doesn't come bound in books. It has to be encountered, and it takes wisdom, and experience... not much different from king luther, and the other lady.
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Katrin R. (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 525 comments)
on Friday, January 19, 2007 at 5:23:33 AM
