It's not so cut and dry as a consumer sovereignty (ie "choose to listen or tune out") issue. I would certainly agree with Ian that there seems to be a witch hunt going on in the popular media at least, one that simply doesn't jive either with long-standing traditions of vigorous dissent within the US polity or with a significant element of the population of the US today. For every person who seems to want to unquestioningly follow the little general to Armageddon, there seem to be a lot of others who question the motives and rationales behind this rush to war. What I have seen however, is a marked lack of such voices on the mainstream American media. Much more in the independent and certainly a hell of a lot more coverage in Canadian and European presses. But on the CNN or Fox War channels, which have been hyping "a showdown" and an "ultimatum" with Iraq for months now, the waiting, as Tom Petty once said, really must be the hardest part. Woe betide you if you utter a discouraging word, else you'll get lectured, as Susan Sarandon found out when harangued by Connie Chung for "betraying our troops" or the French (apparently the American ass-kissing Alliance now wants to officially change the name to "Freedom Canadians" and "freedom kissing"). The point isn't whether or not the Dixie Chicks are being oppressed, but that dissent is still very much discouraged by both the state and the mainstream media in the US.
Pablo ***** Pablo Shiladitya Bose Research Coordinator, Ethics of Development-Induced Displacement Project Research Associate, Centre for Refugee Studies Doctoral Candidate, Faculty of Environmental Studies York University, Toronto, Canada Tel: (416) 736-2100 ext. 20559 ___________________________________________________________ FoIB Mailing List - Bits, Analysis, Digital Group Therapy http://www.ianbell.com
