Size
Matters?
Thanks
Debra For Keeping it Up
by
Paul Dean
Dissident Voice
March 2, 2003
*Editor’s Note: The following is a reply to
syndicated columnist Debra Saunders’ latest commentary Does
Size Matter?
Dear
Ms. Saunders,
Thank God for Jesus and good
Americans such as yourself. These violent protestors are indeed a scourge. The
tiny band of protestors in hundreds of cities across the world certainly should
not be encouraged, as if their voices mean anything. If we true patriots
acknowledge that their message conveys any idea other than a validation of the
'concept of demonstrations,' we would then have to address those ideas, and
that could be highly inconvenient in this present circumstance. Much better to
dismiss all such ideas as "mindless anti-American rhetoric." That
way, we won't have to get bogged down in arguments that employ logic, and which
must demonstrate consistency.
You, and all of us patriots
who are in the unenviable position of having to make it appear that Bushs' war
plans are about democracy and security, are strategically and tactically
correct to keep all debate at the level of "How big is it?" If we
make theirs look smaller, continue to assert that size does not matter, and
keep asserting that THEY are the ones with a political interest in manipulating
perceptions of the size of their movement, we will have all of our bases
covered. But you are a pro, you already know all of this.
And you also know that we
can ill afford to debate the issues. On those, we are vulnerable everywhere.
For example, if the discussion were to veer toward examination of the 'bad
weapons' pretext, we might have to answer for the use of depleted uranium
ordinance, which causes birth defects and cancer, both in those that they are
used against, and in our brave soldiers. God forbid the discussion should be
directed towards the Bush's administrations' possible use of nuclear weapons,
as it would be very difficult to justify our use of the most destructive weapon
ever constructed, as a means to prevent really bad weapons from being used.
And we, as educated people,
know that democracy is the least of our concerns. Pinochet killed 3000 people
after democratically elected Salvador Allende was murdered on Sept. 11th, 1973,
with US support. And we installed and backed the Shah of Iran, who was a
murderous thug, etc. etc. Never mind the fact that Bush himself is only
President because of vote fraud and manipulation of public opinion.
I could go on and on, but
thanks to people like you, I will never have to, if you continue do your job
correctly. Keep asserting that the stupid hippy demonstrators are ignoring how
evil Saddam is, and we will never have to discuss those photos of Rumsfeld
shaking hands with the personification of Evil, back in '83 when Evil was
gassing his own people with materials purchased from us. Keep asserting that at
any moment he will attack and hurt us, and perhaps no one will notice that if
that were true, he could have done so at any time from the Gulf War forward,
but has not. People might ask why, even now, with virtually nothing to lose, he
doesn't strike us with the Mother of all Weapons, even as we vow to attack him,
and we point to the awesome threat he represents to us all.
And of course, we can't wait
until people conceive of the all-but-obvious idea that Bush could eliminate
suspicion that his war will be about oil, by announcing categorically that US
corporations will not profit at all from this war. People might realize that
Bush could tell the UN and the world that all profits from the sale of Iraqi
oil will go towards rebuilding Iraq.
But he has not done so, even though this would obviously be the
strongest step he could take if his real motive was fear of the threat posed by
Saddam. Intelligent people like you and I know that Bush will never do that.
And we know why, but we cannot ever admit it, or even discuss it, because to do
so would be detrimental to our real agenda. Intelligent debate is our enemy,
and is to be avoided at all costs.
Much better, then, to
continue to sneer at how small theirs is. Our smirk is our badge. After all, we
own the press, and the voting machines, and the oil companies, and the courts,
and more weapons than all other nations combined. That is some mighty big
equipment to have under your belt. You
must continue to assert that ours is much bigger than theirs. And above all,
never utter the phrase: "By any standard of measurement, the
demonstrations of Feb15th and 16th, were the largest global protests against
war and imperialism IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD." To do so might give you
a little bit of a shrinking feeling.
Paul Dean is an activist and bass player with the band Blusion. He lives in Sebastopol, CA. Email: blusion@blusion.com.