http://www.swans.com/
March 13, 2006 -- In this issue:
Note from the Editor: Asking whether America is on the brink of, or in
the throes of, totalitarianism is about as useful as questioning the risk
of civil war in Iraq -- call it what you want, but you can't ignore the
symptoms. With violence on the increase in the latter, Donald Rumsfeld is
spinning the story until he's dizzy, blaming the reporting (his media!)
for exaggerating the number of attacks on mosques and the number of Iraqi
deaths. Recall, my goodness gracious, you would have thought that Iraq
was full of vases, when it was one vase being looted over and over
again... As to the question of totalitarianism in America, Michael
Doliner explains this mass political movement in the face of the
bungling, criminally incompetent, perpetually vacationing Bush
administration, whose domestic policy advisor was arrested in a bizarre
theft scheme that can only be described as... consistent with US domestic
policy. Even Sandra Day O'Connor, having let her robes down, has warned
(albeit off the record) that, "It takes a lot of degeneration before a
country falls into dictatorship, but we should avoid these ends by
avoiding these beginnings." It's a bit like trying to avoid a civil war
at this point, but keep telling it like it is, Sandra!
Also telling it like it is, Gerard Donnelly Smith continues his
"Insurgent Word" series with a look at how we lost control of the
information environment in a world of propaganda, threats, blackmail, and
hypocrisy in the form of fighting an Orwellian "war to spread peace." As
Deck Deckert illustrates, the propaganda campaign is well underway to
draw up support from the masses for an attack on Iran. The "Long War" is
providing handsome rewards for the ruling elite, and all in the name of
democracy. Now that's capitalism at its finest -- or worst; Philip
Greenspan calls a spade a spade. Faced with increased chaos, Milo Clark
recommends taking time to breathe deeply, regain perspective, and find
survival in smallness. In fact, there are bright spots among us, and one
that was recently extinguished is former US Congressman Charles Porter of
Oregon, described by George Beres as a modern Don Quixote and a shining
example of leadership for the people and not the elite. Another political
death, that of Slobodan Milosevic, will not be mourned in the mainstream
media; and, as you can predict, we have some thoughts on the cursed
statesman that reflect Swans' extensive coverage of NATO's wars on
Yugoslavia.
In our Arts & Culture center we have some creative child-rearing advice.
Charles Marowitz explains how not to extort love from your ever-evolving
children but rather to love them in a way that grows with them; and
Martin Murie waxes nostalgic over the good, clean fun that comes from
playing in the dirt rather than falling on the asphalt of our now-sterile
playgrounds.
Meantime, we've not had a dose of Blips in awhile, but the spigot
reopened and out flowed some matters from Judeophobia to the missing
Weapons of Freedom and Democracy; sedition and Hitlerites; social
retribution for a repentant Congressman; and navigating the maze of
government bureaucracy in the land of Boonville, where one's house
becomes a figment of one's imagination. We end with Laura Madeline
Wiseman's poetry, your letters, and the continuing discussion with Dr.
Jacob Amir on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As always, please form your OWN opinion, and let your friends (and foes)
know about Swans.
*****
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/ga205.html
Slobodan Milosevic, 1941-2006: A Cursed, Blasted Statesman
- Gilles d'Aymery
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/mdolin13.html
Totalitarianism Then And Now - Michael Doliner
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/gsmith63.html
The Insurgent Word: Information Environment
- Gerard Donnelly Smith
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/rdeck059.html
Repeating Disaster - Deck Deckert
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/pgreen84.html
Rhetoric And Reality: Democracy And Hypocrisy
- Philip Greenspan
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/mgc179.html
Naqshbandi And Kohr - Milo Clark
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/gberes09.html
Charles Porter: The Loss Of A Great Oregonian - George Beres
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/cmarow41.html
The Love Extortionists - Charles Marowitz
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/murie03.html
Dirt Places - Martin Murie
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/lmwise03.html
Mother May I - Poem by Laura Madeline Wiseman
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/desk034.html
Blips #34 - From the Martian desk - Gilles d'Aymery
http://www.swans.com/library/art12/letter86.html
Your Letters & continuing discussion with Dr. Jacob Amir on the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict.
#####
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Swans
"Hungry man, reach for the book: It is a weapon." B. Brecht
