By: Laurie Manis - 04/24/03 OpEdNews.Com
In
gratitude to the person I admire most, Helen Thomas
After 9/11, I also dared to hope, as did Tim Robbins, that some great good might come from the horrors of that day. I imagined that our leaders might begin to listen and learn rather than seek revenge; that my generation might finally be roused from its apathetic, avaricious condition and remember that it is part of a world community.
However, to
quote the extraordinary words of Mr. Robbins in his speech to the
National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on April 15, 2003.
"And
then came the speech: You are either with us or against us. And the
bombing began. And the old paradigm was restored as our leader
encouraged us to show our patriotism by shopping and by volunteering
to join groups that would turn in their neighbor for any suspicious
behavior.
In the 19 months since 9-11, we have seen our democracy compromised
by fear and hatred. Basic inalienable rights, due process, the
sanctity of the home have been quickly compromised in a climate of
fear. A unified American public has grown bitterly divided, and a
world population that had profound sympathy and support for us has
grown contemptuous and distrustful, viewing us as we once viewed the
Soviet Union, as a rogue state."
Bravo, Mr.
Robbins, bravo, for having the courage to speak out while so many of
us remain silent.
"We
can change the world -
Rearrange the world
It's dying - to get better."
When did we
forget these words? When did we become so cautious, so fearful? When
did we decide the good fight was no longer worth fighting?
When did we forget these words of Adlai Stevenson?
"Freedom
is not an ideal, it is not even a protection, if it means nothing
more than freedom to stagnate, to live without dreams, to have no
greater aim than a second car and another television set."
Did it happen
while we were talking on our cell phones as we drove our SUV's to the
nearest Gap or Home Depot in order to buy more things we don't need?
When did we decide these words of Henry Steele Commager, whose columns
we read in our Senior Scholastic's, were irrelevant?
"Loyalty
is the realization that America was born of revolt, flourished in
dissent, became great through experimentation. Our tradition is one
of protest and revolt, and it is stultifying to celebrate the rebels
of the past while we silence the rebels of the present."
Was it while
we waited, in our apathy and our greed, for the money of the
neo-conservatives to trickle down to us?
In Mr. Robbins' speech, he referred to a famous middle-age rock star
who called to thank him for speaking out against this war, adding that
he could not do so himself for fear of repercussions from Clear
Channel, which plays his music and books his concerts.
I understand. I empathize. I also took the path of least resistance
for months after the events of September 11th. I am a widow whose late
husband neglected to buy life insurance. I have a son in college.
I have another son who is in the Navy Reserves. I'm a social worker at
Earned Income Credit level who stands to lose her job as a result of
her activism. Should that happen, in this country's current economic
and political climate, I no doubt would have great difficulty in
finding another. In that event, my house and my car would be lost.
But when this President committed our fine young people in the armed
services to fighting this war, in contempt of the U.S. Constitution
and in criminal defiance of the UN Charter, while an appalling
majority of our elected representatives cravenly stood by and did
nothing, I no longer could remain silent.
If our troops, who swore to defend this country, not to engage in
preemptive, unilateral strikes against a country that has done nothing
to harm us since the end of the last Gulf War, are risking their very
lives because they have no choice but to obey orders, how could I
possibly defend my failure to exercise my Constitutional right to
protest, simply because I might risk my mere livelihood?
I'm a Roman Catholic but the words of Martin Luther, "Here I
stand, I can do no other." that had been haunting my
conscience for months could no longer be denied for reasons of
expediency.
Thus I began writing, daily, to my Representative and Senators. I
began writing letters to the editors of local papers and they were
published. I began submitting letters to web sites and they were
posted. I became a plaintiff in the anti-war lawsuit filed against
President Bush and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. I appeared on MSNBC
Live. I began to be a guest on numerous talk radio shows.
After I got over myself, I began to wonder why I was receiving so much
attention so quickly. I was stunned to realize that, despite the
positive feedback I was receiving from countless people, I was and am
one of an outrageously small minority willing to speak out against
what is happening to and in our country.
Those of us fortunate to have been born in America need to remember
that it is not enough for the citizens of a republic merely to pay
taxes and obey the laws. It is our bounden duty actively to engage in
its processes. Our elected representatives are our servants, paid by
us and subject to our informed supervision and criticism. As Thomas
Jefferson wrote,
"Dissent is the
highest form of patriotism"
or,
to quote another great American, James Baldwin, "I love
America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for
this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually."
We've always been accused of being the most selfish and self-centered
generation this country ever produced. Let us now act to prove our
critics wrong, once and for all. Certainly the possible repercussions
are more frightening than they were back in The Day. The power is in
the hands of far fewer people than it was then. But let us not forget
that our unbridled greed, our unprecedented apathy and our vast
carelessness were the causes of that too. That the risks are enormous
only proves that the stakes have never been higher.
As a social worker, I act as program coordinator for elderly services.
To my amused chagrin, my job has made me realize that our generation,
which was so quick to denigrate our elders when we were young, now
needs to turn to our parents' generation for inspiration, for they are
the ones who are providing the profiles in courage today.
"Things
they do look awful c-c-cold.
Talkin' 'bout my generation,
I hope I die before I get old."
We who sang
so along with those words so cockily all those years ago, ought now to
be burning with shame when we regard the indomitable courage of
Senator Byrd; when we regard the uncompromising morality of Pope John
Paul II; when we regard the unswerving journalistic integrity of Helen
Thomas; when we consider that the principles of the Greatest
Generation serve to make its members the people who are the most
outspoken in their opposition to this war and our country's current
climate of fear.
But then, they cut their teeth on Franklin Roosevelt's incomparable
pronouncement, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself
-- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror."
Let us, even at this late date, adopt those gallant words as our own.
In conclusion, I quote the words of Senator Margaret Chase Smith of
Maine, uttered in the year so many of us were born, 1950.
"Those
of us who shout the loudest about Americanism ... are all too
frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the
basic principles of Americanism --
The right to criticize.
The right to hold unpopular beliefs.
The right to protest.
The right of independent thought.
The exercise of these rights should not cost one single American
citizen his reputation or his right to a livelihood. Otherwise none
of us could call our souls our own."
This
Administration, which discourages debate and brooks no dissent, is
using the basest form of propaganda when it informs us that we must
support our troops because they are fighting for our 'freedoms'. And
for us to remain silent in the face of such shameless hypocrisy, for
fear of possible repercussions, makes a mockery out of the truly noble
ideals of the fine young men and women serving in the armed forces.
Remember, there is strength and safety in numbers. If we can come
together now as we did in our youth, nothing can harm us and we will
prevail.
Laurie Manis is the daughter of a WWII veteran, the widow of a Viet Nam veteran and the mother of a Navy Reservist. She was a plaintiff in the anti-war lawsuit against President Bush and is a member of Military Families Speak Out.