The music of revolution - Riz Khan - Al Jazeera English
Yusuf Islam interview.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Food riots in India as prices soar - Asia - Al Jazeera English
Food riots in India as prices soar - Asia - Al Jazeera English
The house of cards that is Neo-liberalism may collapse in food riots.
The house of cards that is Neo-liberalism may collapse in food riots.
The Lesson of Obama
For those who are paying attention, the lesson of the Obama presidency, thus far, is this:
Craven complicity with the plutocratic corporatocracy is color-blind.
Craven complicity with the plutocratic corporatocracy is color-blind.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Turkey's Necmettin Erbakan dead - Europe - Al Jazeera English
Turkey's Necmettin Erbakan dead - Europe - Al Jazeera English
By standing up to the military establishment, Erbakan created a small space for religious freedom in Turkish "democracy."
By standing up to the military establishment, Erbakan created a small space for religious freedom in Turkish "democracy."
Friday, February 25, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Iraq braces for largescale protests - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Iraq braces for largescale protests - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Like I said, al-Qaeda is every despotic regime's favorite fiction...
Like I said, al-Qaeda is every despotic regime's favorite fiction...
Gaddafi blames unrest on al-Qaeda - Africa - Al Jazeera English
Gaddafi blames unrest on al-Qaeda - Africa - Al Jazeera English
Every despotic government's favorite fiction... I was waiting for this...
Every despotic government's favorite fiction... I was waiting for this...
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Gaddafi loses more Libyan cities - Africa - Al Jazeera English
Gaddafi loses more Libyan cities - Africa - Al Jazeera English
RISE UP YOUNG LIONS OF LIBYA, AND BRING GADDAFI DOWN!
RISE UP YOUNG LIONS OF LIBYA, AND BRING GADDAFI DOWN!
Saudi king announces new benefits - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Saudi king announces new benefits - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
The Saudi royal family is nervous...
The Saudi royal family is nervous...
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
............. in the middle: Life under the dictator
............. in the middle: Life under the dictator: "Life under the dictator"
An interview with my good friend Dr. Dardery.
An interview with my good friend Dr. Dardery.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Time for the U.S. to Get a Clue
It is time for deep cuts to corporate welfare: with the so-called "defense" industry number one on the chopping block. Look how the empire is failing.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
صوت الحريه (Voice of Freedom) | Video Cafe
صوت الحريه (Voice of Freedom) | Video Cafe
One of the musicians told a CNN reporter, "These were our weapons of the revolution" (referring to their musical instruments, their voices, their hopes, their tears).
One of the musicians told a CNN reporter, "These were our weapons of the revolution" (referring to their musical instruments, their voices, their hopes, their tears).
Friday, February 18, 2011
Libyans bury dead after clashes - Africa - Al Jazeera English
Libyans bury dead after clashes - Africa - Al Jazeera English
Col. Gaddafi...Isn't he Rumsfeld's buddy? Swore off terrorism and all that? Looks like yet another "mission accomplished" for the Bush team!
Col. Gaddafi...Isn't he Rumsfeld's buddy? Swore off terrorism and all that? Looks like yet another "mission accomplished" for the Bush team!
Fresh protests hit Iraqi cities - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Fresh protests hit Iraqi cities - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
"Operation Iraqi Freedom" ... this time, the real thing...
"Operation Iraqi Freedom" ... this time, the real thing...
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Belgium marks 'political record' - Europe - Al Jazeera English
Belgium marks 'political record' - Europe - Al Jazeera English
The Belgians would do well to figure out that government is way over-rated; cooperative anarchist communes are the wave of the future.
The Belgians would do well to figure out that government is way over-rated; cooperative anarchist communes are the wave of the future.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Yemen protests enter fifth day - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Yemen protests enter fifth day - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
The Yemen is rising, and Bahrain...
The Yemen is rising, and Bahrain...
Monday, February 14, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Egypt's army dissolves parliament - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Egypt's army dissolves parliament - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
If only we could send all of Washington packing...
If only we could send all of Washington packing...
From 9/11 to 2/11: A Sermon in the Key of Tough Love
This is the journey that our fear-ridden, navel-gazing fellow Americans must take: from the obsessive victim-hood of a criminal act that the federal government chose to cover-up in textbook Orwellian fashion (i.e., through sensational, testosterone-driven media manipulation and jingoistic militarism) rather than properly investigate (recall that the crime scene was not preserved for forensic purposes but quickly "cleaned up" for exploitation and hallowed as "ground zero") to the celebration of "people power" in fearless, non-violent regime change as we have been privileged to witness in Tunisia and Egypt.
To paraphrase John Lennon: the Reagan-Bush II era is over (if we want it).
Somebody should tell President Obama. He loves to ride bandwagons. Someone should really let him know that the train he should be riding is, even now, leaving the station.
Rise up my fellow citizens of the Invisible Whitmanian Republic! Facebook and Tweet and WikiLeak your way to a new consciousness!
And when you've finally decided to stop feeling sorry for yourselves that a group of nameless, faceless, uppity brown men got the drop on you and made a spectacle of your holy places (the symbols of global capitalism and U.S. militarism), you can start to feel empowered by the fact that a much bigger group of (largely anonymous) uppity brown men and women and children have embraced and put into action on the streets of their capital cities ideals that you espouse with your lips while denying with your hands and feet and tax dollars.
Rise up! Rise up! Your resurrection lies in insurrection! Rise up, unless true liberation and democracy are no longer your birthright. Rise up and show the world that we, too, have a right to determine our destiny free from plutocratic despotism and violence. Rise up now or forever hold your peace!
To paraphrase John Lennon: the Reagan-Bush II era is over (if we want it).
Somebody should tell President Obama. He loves to ride bandwagons. Someone should really let him know that the train he should be riding is, even now, leaving the station.
Rise up my fellow citizens of the Invisible Whitmanian Republic! Facebook and Tweet and WikiLeak your way to a new consciousness!
And when you've finally decided to stop feeling sorry for yourselves that a group of nameless, faceless, uppity brown men got the drop on you and made a spectacle of your holy places (the symbols of global capitalism and U.S. militarism), you can start to feel empowered by the fact that a much bigger group of (largely anonymous) uppity brown men and women and children have embraced and put into action on the streets of their capital cities ideals that you espouse with your lips while denying with your hands and feet and tax dollars.
Rise up! Rise up! Your resurrection lies in insurrection! Rise up, unless true liberation and democracy are no longer your birthright. Rise up and show the world that we, too, have a right to determine our destiny free from plutocratic despotism and violence. Rise up now or forever hold your peace!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Critical Montages: Post-Vanguard
Critical Montages: Post-Vanguard: "First Ben Ali, and now Mubarak. The empire has failed to stop the momentum of the Arab revolt that started in Sidi Bouzid. It is a time of..."
Friday, February 11, 2011
Reflections in the Aftermath of Mubarak's Departure
According to the Angry Arab News Service, this is how Mubarak managed to sneak out of Cairo...
Satire aside, this has been a truly beautiful day. The message Egypt has sent to the entire Arab world is unmistakable: Pay attention! This is how it's done. If we could dislodge Mubarak, you, too, can dislodge your US-Israeli-Saudi-backed regimes.
I believe we are on the cusp of a new era.
As usual, the US power elite were caught flat-footed. While Obama waffled, tear-gas canisters stamped with "made in the USA" told the anti-government protesters in Tahrir Square all that they needed to know about the true position of the United States in this affair.
As the elation begins to wear off, the mantra of the victorious revolutionaries of Egypt and Tunisia must be this: the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
The forces of reaction will not be dormant. You may rest assured that measures are being taken by despotic regimes (including our own) to contain and undermine popular revolution wherever it may stir.
Anyone who watched Obama's speech in response to Mubarak's departure is forewarned. Obama makes great speeches; ignore his words. He is an accomplished liar. Pay attention to his delivery, his body language. He was anything but celebratory. He finished his remarks and quickly turned and left the room. He entertained no questions. He needed to get back to the Situation Room and the deliberations of the Plutocratic War Party.
I would not be surprised to learn that, at this moment, the Israelis are planning a diversionary strike on Iran, with US-Saudi backing.
I am not saying that this will happen. I am saying: Put nothing past the Plutocratic War Party. They were caught flat-footed; they will move quickly to regain the advantage.
Emissaries from the PWP are doubtlessly calling upon the Egyptian Supreme Military Council with attache cases stuffed with cash.
While the people celebrate, money is changing hands.
Nevertheless, WikiLeaks is on the case. And social networks are showing how, in the hands of the saavy and the motivated, the people can organize and catch the plutocrats off guard.
Hacktivistas have also flexed their cyber-muscles and it does not take a crystal ball to predict that we will witness more of their sort of subversive action.
It will take some time for the Plutocratic War Party to adjust to these new weapons of People Power--but adjust they will.
In the meantime, the people of the world need to keep the enemies of freedom off balance.
McWorld can only be dismantled by means of a hundred thousand little peaceful jihads.
Rise up young lions of the Invisible Whitmanian Republic! You have nothing to lose but your chains...
Hosni Mubarak resigns as president - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Hosni Mubarak resigns as president - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
MABROUK TO THE EGYPTIAN PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!
MABROUK TO THE EGYPTIAN PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Labour unions boost Egypt protests - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Labour unions boost Egypt protests - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Organized labor steps up! Before Ronald Reagan broke the back of the labor movement in the United States, we, too, had a friend in labor...
Organized labor steps up! Before Ronald Reagan broke the back of the labor movement in the United States, we, too, had a friend in labor...
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
What We Are Witnessing: A History Lesson
Today, throughout the Arab world, but also in other poverty-stricken countries (e.g., Bangladesh), we are witnessing popular push-back against the War Lords of the Global Plutocracy.
The War Lords of the Pentagon, the War Lords of the so-called "Defense" industry of the United States, have counterparts--partners in oppression--throughout the world.
Sometimes these War Lords rule openly (as in Mubarak's Egypt), sometimes they prefer to work behind the scenes--putting what the Pentagon likes to term a "civilian face" upon their activities (prime examples: the United States, the Russian Federation, the two Chinas, Turkey). But, whether open or clandestine, the rule of the War Lords is almost universal throughout the globe.
It has been thus since the rise of the city-state in Mesopotamia during the urban revolution of 3,000 BCE.
The rise of the city-state made possible concentrations of wealth and power in the hands of the few--the few that worked in concert with the violent, on the one hand, and the priestly class (typically apologists for power) on the other.
In response to the huge disparities of wealth and power that began to characterize what we now call "civilization" (literally, "citification"), there also rose up prophetic figures in diverse cultures throughout the civilized world. These figures challenged the right of the few to horde the wealth of their societies and to eat bread baked with the blood of innocents. In the process of articulating their protest, these figures ushered in what the philosopher Karl Jaspers termed the "Axial Age." They also founded (unintentionally) traditions which underlie many of the world's major religions.
Of course, the priestly/apologist tradition stands cheek by jowl with the popular prophetic tradition in these same major religions; this fact may help to explain the longevity of these religions: both oppressor and oppressed can draw water from the same well.
Because the repertoire of human behavior remains fairly constant over time, we ought not to expect to see the cycle of oppression and push-back end any time soon. We appear to have entered a new historical cycle.
The only light to lessen the darkness of this deep tunnel that humanity has dug for itself is that periods of push-back frequently result in short-term periods of genuine reform. The prophetic populace does obtain some degree of relief from the plutocratic war lords (usually at the price of extortion); and, for a time, the plutocrats withdraw to their villas and gated communities.
In response, the general populace itself retreats into a false sense of security (the sentiment which typically identifies one as a member of the fabled Middle Class).
After a generation or so, the plutocrats begin to implement their revanchement through the instruments of power that are always at their command.
We who identify with the prophetic populace should enjoy the approach of our latest "Prague Spring" while we can: and make the most of it. Genuine concessions can and will be made by the plutocracy if we remain vigilant and insist.
Rise up young lions of the Citified World! You have nothing to lose but your chains!
True, you will, in terms of economic reality, only exchange slavery for share-cropping or, at best, wage slavery; but in terms of your self-respect, you will truly glimpse the Promised Land.
Is that it? you ask. Is that the best we can achieve?
If history is any guide, I'm afraid so.
Paradise belongs to the eschatological future. Even the prophets themselves warned us of that.
The War Lords of the Pentagon, the War Lords of the so-called "Defense" industry of the United States, have counterparts--partners in oppression--throughout the world.
Sometimes these War Lords rule openly (as in Mubarak's Egypt), sometimes they prefer to work behind the scenes--putting what the Pentagon likes to term a "civilian face" upon their activities (prime examples: the United States, the Russian Federation, the two Chinas, Turkey). But, whether open or clandestine, the rule of the War Lords is almost universal throughout the globe.
It has been thus since the rise of the city-state in Mesopotamia during the urban revolution of 3,000 BCE.
The rise of the city-state made possible concentrations of wealth and power in the hands of the few--the few that worked in concert with the violent, on the one hand, and the priestly class (typically apologists for power) on the other.
In response to the huge disparities of wealth and power that began to characterize what we now call "civilization" (literally, "citification"), there also rose up prophetic figures in diverse cultures throughout the civilized world. These figures challenged the right of the few to horde the wealth of their societies and to eat bread baked with the blood of innocents. In the process of articulating their protest, these figures ushered in what the philosopher Karl Jaspers termed the "Axial Age." They also founded (unintentionally) traditions which underlie many of the world's major religions.
Of course, the priestly/apologist tradition stands cheek by jowl with the popular prophetic tradition in these same major religions; this fact may help to explain the longevity of these religions: both oppressor and oppressed can draw water from the same well.
Because the repertoire of human behavior remains fairly constant over time, we ought not to expect to see the cycle of oppression and push-back end any time soon. We appear to have entered a new historical cycle.
The only light to lessen the darkness of this deep tunnel that humanity has dug for itself is that periods of push-back frequently result in short-term periods of genuine reform. The prophetic populace does obtain some degree of relief from the plutocratic war lords (usually at the price of extortion); and, for a time, the plutocrats withdraw to their villas and gated communities.
In response, the general populace itself retreats into a false sense of security (the sentiment which typically identifies one as a member of the fabled Middle Class).
After a generation or so, the plutocrats begin to implement their revanchement through the instruments of power that are always at their command.
We who identify with the prophetic populace should enjoy the approach of our latest "Prague Spring" while we can: and make the most of it. Genuine concessions can and will be made by the plutocracy if we remain vigilant and insist.
Rise up young lions of the Citified World! You have nothing to lose but your chains!
True, you will, in terms of economic reality, only exchange slavery for share-cropping or, at best, wage slavery; but in terms of your self-respect, you will truly glimpse the Promised Land.
Is that it? you ask. Is that the best we can achieve?
If history is any guide, I'm afraid so.
Paradise belongs to the eschatological future. Even the prophets themselves warned us of that.
An Ominous Development
Read the American Leftist's post re: deployments of US military to Egypt. It appears that the militarized corporatocracy that runs this country intends to secure Egypt's corporatized militocracy's hold on power--by arms if need be.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Fresh violence erupts in Tunisia - Africa - Al Jazeera English
Fresh violence erupts in Tunisia - Africa - Al Jazeera English
Meanwhile, in Tunisia, the revolution continues...
Meanwhile, in Tunisia, the revolution continues...
The Question You Have To Ask Yourself
Is this: Just how difficult would it be at this point for the Obama Administration to throw Mubarak under the proverbial bus?
The answer, which is becoming increasingly clear, is this: extraordinarily difficult.
Why? Because, over the last thirty years, Mubarak has gained admission to the exclusive ranks of the global Killers Club--a fraternity which Barack Obama joined upon his election to the U.S. Presidency--and there is honor among Killers.
To throw Mubarak under the bus would violate the sacred bond that exists among the members of this group.
You see, these are very special people. They are law-makers who function above the law. And where laws are acknowledged by these people, they are not laws subject to moral strictures. This is a status enjoyed by very few human beings on this planet.
Therefore, if Obama were to suddenly acknowledge that there are limits--legal limits--applicable to Hosni Mubarak, or moral limits applicable to any laws, why, might there not also be legal and moral limits applicable to the Presidential actions of Barack Obama? So much for extraordinary rendition or executive assassination orders. So much for the pillaging of the middle class by the Wall Street financiers of the militarized corporatocracy--or, in the case of Egypt, the corporatized militocracy.
Such an acknowledgment would not only complicate Obama's life, it would constitute an act of treason towards the one group of people to whom Obama owes unquestioning loyalty.
No, no, not the American people, dear reader! The global Killers Club.
Now do you understand why Mubarak Obama is not at liberty to throw Obama Mubarak under the bus?
It's a question of honor and loyalty, not a question of justice or morality.
If you had thought otherwise, gentle reader, you must have been laboring under the burden of a category mistake.
Category mistakes are a common form of confusion, of a lack of conceptual clarity. Such mistakes are easily rectified.
If you have any further questions, let me refer you to Mr. O'Brien. His success rate in clearing up such conceptual confusions is very high. He has pioneered revolutionary techniques in this field. Frankly, I think he may be a future Nobel Laureate. By God he should be--if there's any justice in this world!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Oppose US-backed “transition” in Egypt
Oppose US-backed “transition” in Egypt
The great Egyptian people should follow the lead of the great Tunisian people and refuse to allow their democratic revolution to be co-opted by the old regime under "new leadership." It is time to clean house!
The great Egyptian people should follow the lead of the great Tunisian people and refuse to allow their democratic revolution to be co-opted by the old regime under "new leadership." It is time to clean house!
Friday, February 4, 2011
President Obama channeling President Reagan? Let's hope not - latimes.com
President Obama channeling President Reagan? Let's hope not - latimes.com
Reagan talked Right and governed Right. Obama talks Left (on occasion) and governs Right.
Reagan talked Right and governed Right. Obama talks Left (on occasion) and governs Right.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Palestinian Authority Shuts Down Pro-Egyptian Protest
Palestinian Authority Shuts Down Pro-Egyptian Protest
It's pretty clear whose side the PA is on. Aren't these the same guys (busted in the "Palestine Papers") who have tried their best to sell out the rights of the Palestinian people to the Israelis while ostensibly negotiating on the Palestinians' behalf?
2 + 2 still = 4. This isn't rocket science. By their fruit shall ye know them.
It's pretty clear whose side the PA is on. Aren't these the same guys (busted in the "Palestine Papers") who have tried their best to sell out the rights of the Palestinian people to the Israelis while ostensibly negotiating on the Palestinians' behalf?
2 + 2 still = 4. This isn't rocket science. By their fruit shall ye know them.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Notes On the Tunisian and Egyptian Revolutions
First he emptied the prisons. Then Hosni Mubarak sent in his paid thugs. The sclerotic and violent coward who has ruled Egypt with an iron fist for three decades will not exit gracefully. He vowed to "die in this land." From his lips to God's ear.
Mubarak wants to turn Tahrir Square (Freedom Square) into Tiananmen Square. Perhaps he fancies himself a Deng Xiaoping or a Li Peng. There are, no doubt, many powerful people around the world--from Washington to Riyadh, from Jerusalem to Beijing, from Teheran to Moscow, from Baghdad to Kabul--who are hoping against hope that the Egyptian Revolution will fail.
But the Egyptian Revolution will not fail. It cannot fail. There is far too much at stake for it to fail.
Besides, what we are seeing in Tahrir Square is the real Egypt. Anyone who knows Egyptians personally and who has been to Egypt recognizes that what has been happening over the past week is not the madness of crowds (as Mubarak and even some compliant Western media outlets would like to see it portrayed). It is the genius of collective action. It is the genius of the mass when it has been roused to claim its birthright of freedom.
And not only is this the real Egypt, but it is the real Saudi Arabia. The real Iraq and Afghanistan. The real Algeria and Libya, Morocco and Indonesia. It is the real People's Republic of China, the real Pakistan, and it could be the real United States if the people of these States were to awaken from the dream of Self and begin to reach out to one another.
But we are a timid people, raised on the culture of fear. Our Liberalism comforts us, even as it helps to inure us to our present condition as the slavish ennablers of the National Security State. As that great revolutionary and proto-Romantic J.J. Rousseau taught us so long ago: Men are born free, but they are everywhere in chains.
Everywhere.
But this need not be the final word. We can combat our fears. We can overcome them. Look to Tunisia. Look to Egypt. Be not afraid.
Where is Al-Qaeda in all of this? Do you see it in Tahrir Square? Of course not. You cannot see a fiction. Al-Qaeda is a brand name, a convenient label cooked up in the craven and fevered imaginations of neo-fascistic neo-cons in order to play upon the worst (and let us be candid) racist suspicions of white Americans. It is a label applied indiscriminately by politicians (who should know better) and journalists (who should also know better) to resistance movements when, on their fringes, they turn violent.
But we don't have to listen to the Reverend Jim Jones anymore. We don't have to drink the Kool-Aid. This is not the Christian dystopia of the People's Temple on its misguided errand in the jungles of Guyana.
We are free people, and courageous, if we will to be.
Let us stand, then, in solidarity with all of free humanity as we see it displayed in Tunis and Cairo, Alexandria and Amman, Sudan and the Yemen.
Ever mindful of Tiananmen Square, let us build our own Tahrir Squares--in these States and every other. Let us demand the end of the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan--and that includes an end to the U.S.-installed puppet regimes in those countries.
Let us demand an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.
Let us reclaim Jerusalem as a city sacred to all the children of Abraham--and to anyone else who wishes to see it that way.
Indeed, let us all be children of another Abraham, the one who stood on a battlefield in Pennsylvania and rededicated his countrymen to a "new birth of freedom." These are words we memorize in school and hallow in memory but live up to only imperfectly.
Such is life.
Let us not dwell upon our failures now for this is not a time of failure. The revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt are succeeding. There will be set-backs, but there can be no turning back. For once freedom has been tasted, the die is cast, and there is no turning back.
All hail the brave and beautiful peoples of Egypt and Tunisia! Let us rise up and become the brave and beautiful peoples that we ourselves were born to be!
Mubarak wants to turn Tahrir Square (Freedom Square) into Tiananmen Square. Perhaps he fancies himself a Deng Xiaoping or a Li Peng. There are, no doubt, many powerful people around the world--from Washington to Riyadh, from Jerusalem to Beijing, from Teheran to Moscow, from Baghdad to Kabul--who are hoping against hope that the Egyptian Revolution will fail.
But the Egyptian Revolution will not fail. It cannot fail. There is far too much at stake for it to fail.
Besides, what we are seeing in Tahrir Square is the real Egypt. Anyone who knows Egyptians personally and who has been to Egypt recognizes that what has been happening over the past week is not the madness of crowds (as Mubarak and even some compliant Western media outlets would like to see it portrayed). It is the genius of collective action. It is the genius of the mass when it has been roused to claim its birthright of freedom.
And not only is this the real Egypt, but it is the real Saudi Arabia. The real Iraq and Afghanistan. The real Algeria and Libya, Morocco and Indonesia. It is the real People's Republic of China, the real Pakistan, and it could be the real United States if the people of these States were to awaken from the dream of Self and begin to reach out to one another.
But we are a timid people, raised on the culture of fear. Our Liberalism comforts us, even as it helps to inure us to our present condition as the slavish ennablers of the National Security State. As that great revolutionary and proto-Romantic J.J. Rousseau taught us so long ago: Men are born free, but they are everywhere in chains.
Everywhere.
But this need not be the final word. We can combat our fears. We can overcome them. Look to Tunisia. Look to Egypt. Be not afraid.
Where is Al-Qaeda in all of this? Do you see it in Tahrir Square? Of course not. You cannot see a fiction. Al-Qaeda is a brand name, a convenient label cooked up in the craven and fevered imaginations of neo-fascistic neo-cons in order to play upon the worst (and let us be candid) racist suspicions of white Americans. It is a label applied indiscriminately by politicians (who should know better) and journalists (who should also know better) to resistance movements when, on their fringes, they turn violent.
But we don't have to listen to the Reverend Jim Jones anymore. We don't have to drink the Kool-Aid. This is not the Christian dystopia of the People's Temple on its misguided errand in the jungles of Guyana.
We are free people, and courageous, if we will to be.
Let us stand, then, in solidarity with all of free humanity as we see it displayed in Tunis and Cairo, Alexandria and Amman, Sudan and the Yemen.
Ever mindful of Tiananmen Square, let us build our own Tahrir Squares--in these States and every other. Let us demand the end of the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan--and that includes an end to the U.S.-installed puppet regimes in those countries.
Let us demand an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.
Let us reclaim Jerusalem as a city sacred to all the children of Abraham--and to anyone else who wishes to see it that way.
Indeed, let us all be children of another Abraham, the one who stood on a battlefield in Pennsylvania and rededicated his countrymen to a "new birth of freedom." These are words we memorize in school and hallow in memory but live up to only imperfectly.
Such is life.
Let us not dwell upon our failures now for this is not a time of failure. The revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt are succeeding. There will be set-backs, but there can be no turning back. For once freedom has been tasted, the die is cast, and there is no turning back.
All hail the brave and beautiful peoples of Egypt and Tunisia! Let us rise up and become the brave and beautiful peoples that we ourselves were born to be!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Mubarak to stay on till election - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
Mubarak to stay on till election - Middle East - Al Jazeera English
This is Obama's position--in defiance of the express wishes (and interests) of the Egyptian people.
This is Obama's position--in defiance of the express wishes (and interests) of the Egyptian people.
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