Although it is difficult to separate the RAF’s theory from their actions–actions which included murder–if one does so they find an application of left theory that perceived the anti-imperialist resistance in the advanced industrial nations (First World, if you will) as just another part of the worldwide anti-imperialist movement. It was this conclusion that the RAF used to rationalize their attacks on US military installations in 1972 during their anti-imperialist offensive.. They did not believe the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) to be in a revolutionary situation, but justified their attacks via the argument that the US and other imperial forces (German and British) should be attacked wherever they were, not just in Vietnam or another country where they were engaged in overt warfare. This approach echoed the slogan popularized by the Weatherman organization in the US-Bring the War Home.

I lived in Frankfurt am Main, Germany during the period described in this book. I attended protests against the Vietnam War, in support of the burgeoning squatters movement (and against property speculation) in Frankfurt, against the Shah of Iran, in support of Gastarbeiter rights and against the repressive regimes in Turkey and Greece. I also attended concerts and street festivals where the German counterculture mingled flamboyantly with the US servicemen and adolescents that abounded in the country then. When the IG Farben building and Officer’s Club in Frankfurt am Main were attacked by the RAF, a serious security effort became part of our daily lives. School buses taking us to the American High School in Frankfurt were boarded by military police who checked our bags while other GIs used long-handled mirrors to check underneath the buses for explosive devices. German police and military set up shop at airports and train stations, holding automatic weapons. Autobahn exits were the site of roadblocks. Wanted posters featuring the faces of the RAF members appeared everywhere. The Goethe University in Frankfurt came under increased police surveillance, especially after the playing of a tape-recorded message from RAF member Ulrike Meinhof at a national conference there. A protest held against the US mining of northern Vietnamese harbors and intensified bombing of the Vietnamese people was patrolled by police armed with automatic weapons. Nonetheless, many of the protesters chanted “Für den Sieg des VietCong, Bomben auf das Pentagon!” (For the victory of the NLF, bomb the Pentagon). The following day, the Pentagon was bombed by the Weather Underground.

Recently, PM Press in California published the book The Red Army Faction, A Documentary History: Volume 1: Projectiles For The People. This voluminous work includes virtually all of the communiques and theoretical pamphlets published by the RAF from 1970 to 1977. This period is considered the first period of the RAF–an organization that saw its original leadership imprisoned after the aforementioned bombing offensive against US military installations in Germany. These members were followed by another set of individuals drawn to the RAF mostly through support organizations that developed to protest the conditions of the RAF’s imprisonment and their eventual deaths that many still believe were state-sanctioned murders. Over the next two decades , hundreds of others would join the organization to replace those imprisoned and killed. Besides the text written by the RAF, the editors have written an accompanying text that provides a take on the history of post World War Two West Germany that has been mostly unavailable to English readers.

The RAF was an intensely sectarian organization. They saw most of the rest of the German Left as revisionist or opportunist, unwilling to make the commitment armed struggle required. Besides invalidating the gains won by the autonomist squatters’ movement and other independent groupings, this analysis ignored the fact that other approaches might have been more effective in the long term. By positioning itself to the left of all other leftist groups in Germany, the RAF insured its limited effectiveness. Once the State was able to capture its primary membership and literally isolate them in prisons, the RAF’s purpose moved away from challenging the imperialists to one of staying alive inside a draconian and psychologically debilitating prison environment.

Indeed, as this book clearly demarcates, the bulk of the work of the RAF in the 1970s centered around the nature of their existence in prison. In what would become a harbinger of the future we live in, the German prison authority and its departmental ally the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA) developed an architecture and series of mechanisms designed to destroy the minds of the RAF prisoners. Isolation cells painted completely in white where the neon light never went off. No contact with any human for months at a time. The use of informers and ultimately a trial held in a specially designed prison courthouse that took place without the defendants or their attorneys. In addition, laws were passed that criminalized not only the act taken by the attorneys to defend their clients but also the acts of any individuals who opposed the actions taken by the State against the RAF prisoners. Of course, this enabled the RAF to point out the unity of purpose between the right wing CDU-CSU West German government and the SPD (with obvious comparisons to the role played by the German Social Democrats after World War I when they used the right-wing militia known as the Freikorps to kill members of the revolutionary Spartacists). The special laws enacted against the RAF and its supporters contained many elements of laws now in existence in the US, realized most fully in the Patriot Act.

While the RAF was certainly successful in exposing the fundamental authoritarianism of the modern capitalist state through their hunger strikes and other actions, they did nothing towards rebuilding the anti-imperialist movement that the 1972 actions were conceived in. This created a situation where their developing analysis of imperialism and the struggle against it became essentially moribund. In other words, the repression by the German government and its allies was successful.

The editors of this work, J. Smith and André Moncourt, have created an intelligently political work that honestly discusses the politics of the Red Army Fraktion during its early years. Their commentary explains the theoretical writings of the RAF from a left perspective and puts their politics and actions in the context of the situation present in Germany and the world at the time. It is an extended work that is worth the commitment required to read and digest it. More than a historical document, The Red Army Faction, A Documentary History: Volume 1: Projectiles For The People provides us with the ability to comprehend the phenomenon that was the RAF in ways not possible thirty years ago.

Back at the University of Rochester representatives of the occupying students and the university administration signed a Joint Statement of Understanding.

The approximate wording of the statement is:

1. University of Rochester will commit to provide any surplus goods or supplies that could assist the devastated University of Gaza.

2. University of Rochester will commit resources and information to assist fundraising for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

3. University of Rochester will commit to reach out to Palestinian students in order to provide them scholarships to the University of Rochester

4. University of Rochester will commit to organize open forum to discuss why the University invests in weapons manufactures and discuss the process of the University moving toward a more socially responsible, transparent, and democratically controlled investment policy.

I got in touch with three of the organizers/participants via email and recorded the following online exchange. –Ron Jacobs

Ron Jacobs: Please introduce yourself? Are you a student? Do you have a major?

Adriano Contreras: My name is Adriano Contreras. I’m a student at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), where I study both Sociology and Video Production.

Kyle Brown: My name’s Kyle Brown. I graduated in 2004 with a BA in Sociology. For the past four years I’ve been working as a residential mental health and drug addiction counselor.

Ryan Acuff: My name is Ryan Acuff, a member of University of Rochester Students for a Democratic Society (UR-SDS). I’m a graduate student in psychology and a part-time instructor at the university.

RJ: Can you tell us what happened at UR on February 6th?

Adriano: Well, Students for a Democratic Society at UR (SDS-UR) handed their administration four demands the day before they planned to occupy the Goergen Building. The sit-in, inspired by 20 other universities in the UK, took a stand against the Israeli siege on Gaza. SDS invited other activists groups, community members and allies to participate in the sit-in.

I don’t think anyone would have thought that 9 hours later everything would be over. There was a whole schedule planned for the first evening of the occupation. There was a discussion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, SDS’s demands, and we were to have guest speakers. The administration however, realized the seriousness of the occupiers and sent the Dean of Student Affairs to be their negotiator multiple times that day.

Ryan and Kyle can better explain more of what happened that day, I spent most of that time blogging from inside the occupation.

Ryan: On February 6th, we took direct action for peace and in solidarity with the Palestinians by peacefully occupying a building at the University of Rochester. Beginning at 3:00pm, UR-SDS claimed and occupied the adjacent atrium and auditorium of Goergen Hall (the Biomedical Engineering Building) and declared them a liberated community space—an autonomous zone democratically run by the occupiers until our demands were met. The action was organized by University Rochester Students for a Democratic Society (UR-SDS) but U of R post-docs, faculty members, and staff also occupied along with numerous community members. We came to raise awareness about the dire situation in Palestine and the United States role in the conflict. In addition, we were there to occupy this space until our demands of the administration for divestment, humanitarian aid, educational aid, and scholarships for Palestinian students were met. Also, (let me clarify) despite what the administration said, we did not “reserve” the auditorium and the online calendar still says that it remains unreserved at that time.

Kyle: (LIke Ryan and Adriano said) SDS at UR organized an occupation of Goergen Atrium and Auditorium on campus in solidarity with Gaza. Beforehand, they had presented the administration with an official letter demanding that UR divest from corporations that profit from Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and to provide direct aid to the people of Gaza. This wasn’t an occupation like the illegal sit-down strikes of 1930’s because the campus administration allowed SDS to reserve the building in the interest of “peaceful dialogue”. They also provided the Dean of Student Affairs for negotiation of the demands.

As the day went on, the Dean informed the organizers that UR students would be punished if not out of the building by midnight. So we decided to call for as many campus and community members to mobilize around that time as possible to put as much pressure on the Dean as possible to deliver on our demands.

The Dean agreed to negotiate at 10pm and we had maybe 75 people in the building for support. Through the negotiations, the Dean agreed to the following plan of action: that the administration organize a public forum with UR investors, SDS and the community on the university’s investment policy and its investment in Israel; that UR commit resources and provide any needed information for a campus-wide fund drive for Palestine; that UR work to assess needs in Gaza and donate surplus supplies to universities, such as computers and books; and that UR commit to reaching out to Palestinians with international student scholarships.

Feb 6th was a day of education, debate and mobilization. It was a concrete show of solidarity with the people of Gaza and protest against Israel’s occupation. It was a concrete demonstration of real democratic decision-making and flexibility.

RJ: What particular event spurred you to get personally involved in this issue and the occupation?

Ryan: (For me) the unspeakable events of the recent US-Israeli war on Gaza were very difficult for me witness. Especially knowing how complicit the United States was in the massacres. On January 23rd a message about a series of student occupations of English universities in solidarity with Palestine was floated on the northeast SDS listerv. On Saturday January 24th UR-SDS called an emergency meeting to discuss bringing the occupation movement across the Atlantic. Our discussions bore out a resolve to do the same in the United States.

Kyle: After September 11th, I was already organizing against the US invasion of Afghanistan and Israel began using Bush’s “war on terror” rhetoric to extend it’s occupation of Palestine. I became dedicated to ending the occupation of Palestine when I attended a national demonstration in DC in solidarity with the Al Aqsa Intifada. It was amazing to be marching in the streets with Arabs and Muslims chanting “Free Free Palestine!” Through and after that demonstration, I started exploring US funding for Israel and came to the understanding that Israel plays a crucial role as watch dog in the Middle East for US imperialism. I’ve been an anti-imperialist ever since, so when I heard that UR was organizing an occupation on campus I dove into organizing head first.

Adriano: I’ve been involved with the Campus Antiwar Network, a national democratic student anti-war organization, for over 2 years now. When I began my activism it was really all about figuring out the political reasons for why being in Iraq and Afghanistan was wrong, aside from the moral gut feelings I had. The answers I found were imperialism, geopolitics, and profit. With that understanding I became firmly anti-war.

The chapter of CAN at my school had done an educational meeting around the issue of Palestine a week or so prior to Israel’s assault. While home in New York City, I participated in two demonstrations that were overwhelmingly Arab. Unlike anti-war demonstrations which have remained largely free of an Arab presence, the demonstrations around Gaza filled the streets with people whom after 9/11 feared to speak out against the wave of anti-Arab sentiment.

When we returned from Christmas break the political landscape of the anti-war movement had begun to shift. Israel’s true colors were shown clearly to the entire world. Despite its claims to the right of self-defense, the slaughter of over 1300 Palestinians was unjustifiable and people took notice. I took part in the national demonstration on January 10 and it was an amazing experience. CAN and the Muslim Students Association marched together for the first time ever. The people most directly affected by the so-called “War on Terror” were out in big numbers.

Organizing at school had taken on a different character. People wanted to talk and organize around Palestine, even though we had things organized already around the occupation of Afghanistan. When I spoke with Ryan Acuff about SDS’s plans at UR, he mentioned the sit-in. The CAN chapter at RIT got on board with it.

RJ: Is this part of a larger movement? Would you call it a coordinated movement or spontaneous?

Ryan: Our occupation is part of the larger occupation that began on January 13th in London when students from the School of Oriental and Asians Studies occupied a building on campus. This exploded into an occupation movement that has swept over 20 schools in England and Scotland and has now begun in the United States. Oh yeah, and all the occupations have been spontaneous in that each one ha has inspired the others, but none coordinated by a higher body.

Adriano:What is happening in the UK is spreading like wildfire. There have been 23 university occupations so far and some of them are still occupied. Certain demands have been won and its really a testament to the power of organized struggle and protest. The UR occupation was inspired by the UK. Globally, I think it’s something that’ll catch on. Like I said, the world has now seen Israel’s true colors. The siege, the blockade, and the history of oppression have exposed the ideology of the Israeli state.

In the United States, we’re going to begin to see more occupations of this nature. We’ll see similar campaigns to the ones that ended South African apartheid. Presently, South African dockworkers are refusing to import Israeli goods. Already a national call has been put out by the Campus Antiwar Network to figure out and propose a plan of action that includes the help of SDS UR members and students from the UK.

Kyle: There are a number of events that set the stage for the UR action. First, the election of Obama has given ordinary people across the country hope that things can change after eight long years living under the Bush regime. The urgency for change has never been felt more strongly as we are spiraling into the worst recession/depression since the 1930’s. After Obama was elected, the Republic Windows and Doors workers in Chicago won severance pay and health insurance owed to them by occupying their factory when their bosses announced the plant was closing. Not too long after, students at the New School of Social Research in NYC occupied a building to prevent it from closing and directly noted inspiration from the Republic workers. Israel invaded Gaza over the holiday and sparked a series of campus occupations in Britain. The demands of the UR students almost exactly mirror the demands of the Britain students. So I think there is a real context to what we did. I see the UR action as the next stage in the anti-war movement–a new movement of occupations in this country and internationally.

I think this also needs to be viewed in the context of the broader antiwar movement. This has the potential to breath new life into the antiwar movement and set the stage for the national antiwar demonstration called in DC for March 21st which is the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

RJ: What is the intention of the movement?

Kyle: Simply put, we want justice for the people of Palestine. The US funds Israel’s occupation of Palestine with billions of dollars in addition to direct military aid. This means that the US government is directly responsible for bombs dropped on schools, bulldozers razing communities, and F16s terrorizing Gaza. It’s amazing to learn that so many institutions of higher learning–both UR and RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) invest and research for corporations that directly profit from the occupation of Palestine. Our intention is to end the occupation of Palestine by standing in solidarity with the people of Gaza and building a movement capable of forcing the US government from divesting from Israel.

Ryan: Although many of the schools have slightly different demands, the movement seeks to take direct action to express our solidarity with the people of Gaza, highlight our countries’ and universities’ complicity in the atrocities in the Gaza strip, and make our universities’ relationship to Gaza one of supporting people and peace, not war. Members of UR-SDS also hope our action will help inspire other occupations or sit-ins in the United States, given that our culpability as Americans is dramatically larger than even the British in blocking peace and supporting oppression of the Palestinians.

Adriano: The movement has taken on boycott, divestment, and sanctions. The demands of the UK and UR occupations represent that. The effectiveness however of the movement will largely depend on how well coordinated it is on a national level. Locally we can act, make demands, and win but if we remain isolated it’ll be harder for these actions to catch on. The movement needs to be a player on the national scene in order to tackle organizations like AIPAC but also get to the root of the problem, which is United State tax dollars invested in imperialism in the Middle East. The movement has to bring to light the fact that Israel is the US’s proxy in that region. Why else would it have the second largest fleet of F16s, the highest amount of our foreign aid, and nuclear weaponry?

RJ: What has been the response of other members of the campus community? What about alumni?

Kyle: Adriano and Ryan are on the campuses (I’ll take the next question though!)

Adriano:At RIT, we’ve had a significantly larger attendance at our meetings around Palestine. It hasn’t completely translated into activism, but people are searching for answers and perspectives from the Palestinian side. So there is a potential to mobilize people around this.

Ryan: The response from other members of the campus community has been mostly positive. People seem excited to have these kinds of actions at the University of Rochester. Although the U of R has a history of activism its been a few years since students have taken direct action for a cause. Given that we have a large Jewish population on campus, there are some members of the community that see any support of the Palestinians or condemnation of Israeli state policy as a direct threat to their identity as a Jew. The best we can do in these cases is continue the dialogue to clear up misunderstandings. All alumni I’ve communicated with have been extremely excited about our actions. We’ve even had graduates from 1970s send us e-mails of support.

RJ: In the broader sense, what kind of impact do you see (or hope to see) the movement against the Israeli occupation of the Territories on university and college campuses having on the US and British public?

Ryan: We hope these actions on college campuses help open the discussions on the US-Palestinian-Israeli conflict and help the voices of the Palestinians be heard. One of the only ways the horrific polices of the U.S. in Israel-Palestine can continue is if people don’t know the extent the U.S. suppressing peace and democracy. We hope if the student create enough of stir, then we can create a climate where Obama will have to fulfill his promises of change and actually bring an expedient end to the occupation and facilitate peace and justice in Palestine.

Kyle: Consciousness is shifting around the question of Palestine. I was amazed to learn that over 40% of people in the US were against Israel’s latest attack on Gaza. This is amazing given how pro-Israel the US mainstream media has been. There is never a voice for Palestinians. The only question US reporters would ask Palestinians during Israel’s latest invasion was, “Do you blame Hamas for this?”
That being said, it seems like people are aching to take up this issue but up until this point have been under confident that anything can be done. The amazing thing about our action is that we won in just 9 hours an agreement for a plan of action from the Dean that provides concrete organizing for the movement in weeks ahead. This is giving confidence to community members and fellow activists across the country that we can fight and win.

I think people are also nervous about being labeled an anti-Semite when organizing and taking a stand against Zionism. We have to education people on the difference between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. It is helpful just to point out that there are anti-Zionist Jews organizing in Israel today. We can and should fight against racism, anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism all at the same time.

Adriano: If the movement grows, if it is coordinated, we could expose university investments and fight for socially responsible endowments. The struggle to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine could potentially expose the “war on terror” on a big scale. The possibilities are numerous especially in this period of economic crises and endless war. On the flip-side Obama has brought hope to many and promises of change. If we educate ourselves, take action, and push Obama for more than what he’s promised than we can expect some serious victories.

RJ: Similar actions at campuses around other issues like sweatshops have received a certain amount of positive press when they were undertaken, only to have the administration and trustees negate the agreements that were made. How does a group prevent this, while simultaneously keeping interest in the issue alive on campus and in the surrounding community?

Adriano: This was brought up during the occupation by some people and the answer was unanimous… we’d occupy again. For UR, the biggest employer in Rochester, NY, it’s crucial for them to maintain a favorable reputation. They won’t completely brush off our demands because they know what we’re willing to do now to have our voices heard. During the occupation there was a huge effort made to contact local press and media outlets.

Maintaining interest in the issue has much to do with winning something along the way. The victory at UR was just a first step to get the administration to comply with our demands. If people invest time and energy into organizing and never win anything it becomes demoralizing. If we win, people build confidence and it give activism a whole new meaning.

Kyle: We won the agreement/plan of action through mobilization of students and community members. The agreement was signed in person and in front of all the participants of the occupation because we demanded that the negotiations happen in the auditorium in front of everyone. The agreement should continue to be publicized as far and wide as possible, not only on UR campus but throughout the community and onto every campus across the country. This will play a key role in holding the administration accountable.

We need to continue galvanizing new students and community members with educational panel discussions and teach-ins where we can learn the history of Zionism, the history of Israel’s occupation of Palestine, campus complicity, the politics of the Palestinian resistance and the role of US imperialism in it all. And we need groups like SDS, CAN, and all activists organizing to hold the Dean accountable to what he agreed but also to push it further. If the administration negates the agreement in anyway, we occupy with more numbers and we stay until they meet our demands.

Ryan: We hope these actions on college campuses help open the discussions on the US-Palestinian-Israeli conflict and help the voices of the Palestinians be heard. One of the only ways the horrific polices of the U.S. in Israel-Palestine can continue is if people don’t know the extend the U.S. suppressing peace and democracy. (Specifically) our big follow up event we have planned is an open forum on the universities investment policies and a discussion of the process of moving towards more socially responsible, transparent, and Democratic investment policy. The more people we can bring into the process the more authoritarian institutions will begin to break down. The more we work to empower and inform people on these issues and the more they will start demanding more power and reform of the institution. We are also planning an editorial in investment for the next issue of the Campus Times along with an open forum to discuss the US-Palestinian-Israeli conflict. In addition, if the university breaks the agreements or simply refuses to move forward we are prepared to take direct action again, this time will more people and in a more dramatic fashion. Justice will be served.

RJ: Since it appears that one of the goals of these actions is to make connections between college investments and the occupation of Palestine (and to make people consider their own complicity, let’s take that a step further: do you think people make the connection between US tax dollars and Israel’s occupation?

Adriano: Right now especially, people are making these connections! Bailout for the banks, none for the working class. $3 billion per year for Israel and no money for universal healthcare coverage. Unemployment is rising and wages have less buying power. If people haven’t made the connection between tax dollars and Israel, they will. It is only a matter of time before people realize the hypocrisy of the system. However not everyone will come to these conclusions alone. We need to be there alongside those people to get them organized to fight back and win the divestment campaigns and reforms we need.

Kyle: I don’t think people make the connection yet. This is a connection the movement will have to make clear. Over three billion dollars in government money goes to fund Israel every year. What could $3 billion a year do for the 47 million people without health insurance in this country? What could $3 billion a year do for our schools that are crumbling under the weight of budget deficits from state to state across this country? What about the workers at Kodak that have lost their jobs as Kodak has laid off more than 50% of their Rochester workforce in the past 30 years (UR has now become the largest employer in Rochester)? It should be our job to make the connections and reach beyond our campuses to win solidarity in the community and labor movement.

Ryan: I think people are beginning to see this connection. UR-SDS pointed this out in our editorial in the campus paper last week. The more people can see we individually our complicit in these atrocities, the more willing people are going to be to take action.

RJ: I know there is a national conference going on around this issue. What do you see as the goals of that conference?

Ryan: Currently there is national conference call organized by the Campus Anti-war Network planned for next Monday to discuss spreading the occupation movement across the U.S. I believe the goals are for other schools to learn about our actions and possibly enact something similar at their school. People are feeling that the time has come to escalate our actions.

Kyle: (Like Ryan said) There is a national conference call this Monday. We will be giving a report on the UR action. Also, someone will be giving a report from the New School occupation. Hopefully, we can get someone on from the occupations in Britain. We want students to organize on every campus across the US. But there must also be coordination between these campuses because it’s going to take a coordinated, democratic, nationwide movement to win divestment from Israel. Hopefully the call will inspire students. Students should “think big” and organize to win concrete gains. (If you are talking about another conference, let me know! I should be there!) (I was referring to the conference call-Ron)

RJ: Anything else?

Adriano: I run a website called The Sitch. Its a site for activist news, political commentary and analysis. On there you’ll find coverage of the UR occupation, as it happened, including videos and images.

Kyle: Yes. The immigrant rights movement in 2006 took up the slogan “Yes we can!” Obama adopted this for his presidential campaign in 2008. Coming out of the UR action, I was thinking to myself: “Yes we did.” It feels great to finally win something. I want people across the country to feel the same way so we can raise our hopes even higher and fight for more!

Ryan: Thanks for your interest in our action. We hope to spread the word far and wide to help inspire similar actions for peace and Palestine and fight oppression in all forms.

Student #1:

I am twenty years old and go to the University of C, studying for a degree in business and technology. With all that is happening around me, I am no longer sure what I aspire to be. I wish to help bring the change to this world that will lead to [the social and political policies this publication advocates]. I was considering trying to become a technician in some field, but am unsure of what. I know that most politicians cannot get things done simply because they are not trained to do so; and am asking for your guidance as to where I should point myself. I’m a bilingual college student who works as a bank teller, and quite frankly, the more I learn about banking the less I want to work in it; the more I learn about the monetarism we are a part of, the more I want to change it. It’s terrifying, when I ask some of my peers what they know of our government, or how our money system works, or about world affairs. I usually find an overwhelming ignorance, or just lack of interest because they don’t think they are part of the global community. In fact most people my age could care less about what goes on outside this country or how this government handles public affairs. They are usually just interested in pop culture, or where the next party will be, or who has the most impressive weed. I am disdainful of most of the people in my generation, who are absolutely clueless of what the world is really like. I have a different perspective since I come from a different country and I have traveled quite a bit. But, I do not know what I should do. I am lost and in need of guidance, or another person’s perspective. Would you reply in a sincere and honest way to this question? Is there any hope for change and what can I do to be a part of it?

Response #1:

The best thing you can do for society is to become good at what you love doing most. Naturally, I am thinking about legal and humane applications of your developed skills. Each of us has some activity that we are naturally drawn to, that excites us, that we can feel passionate about, and that would give our lives meaning even if we had to live in poverty and obscurity to engage in it. For some, it is music, perhaps singing or composing — think of Mozart and Maria Callas. For others it can be mathematics or scientific or nature studies — think of Charles Darwin or Einstein. For others it can be craftsmanship by hand, like potters and calligraphers honored by Chinese and Japanese tradition. For others it might be writing, of many varieties. The point is that you must first determine what it is that you REALLY want to do with your mind and hands, in the day-to-day, regardless of whatever circumstances might exist in the world outside. Find your avocation.

The next step is to decide what type and quantity of education you need — and are willing to put up with — in order to develop your avocation. Simply put, if you love doing it, you will be willing to put up with the work needed to learn how to do it well. This is the “monastery” and “apprenticeship” stage of a consciously self-directed life. This is the period where artists and musicians wait on tables to earn the money needed to pay those exacting and expensive teachers, and for the art supplies and/or gigs they need to hone their art. This could be on-the-job training, and it could be graduate school in the Ivy League. The point is, get the education you need to hone the skills for practicing the mechanics of YOUR passion.

Eventually you “finish school” and have to make it on your own, hopefully on the basis of being paid for practicing your craft. Perhaps your passion is writing, specifically in the field of history, but you find yourself employed in a bank or insurance office because you have to support a family and because the employer finds your ability to write sufficiently applicable to preparing financial reports and business documents. You would much rather be a columnist at a big city newspaper, but you just can’t write as fast and as good — within the confines of the paper’s orthodoxy — as the people they already have. Your challenge is twofold:

1, how to ensure the support of the family (which might be minimally yourself), and

2, how to apply the skills of your passion (your avocation) to the betterment of society?

This is such a grand challenge, that most people can’t do it.

First step, be forgiving of yourself. It is not possible for one individual to take on the problems of the world, to feel responsibility for all the ills and misery around you. This is too much, it crushes the individual. Second step is to not give up, to develop your understanding of the world and society around you, so you can perhaps come to see opportunities where you could contribute your skills (your passions) and they would find a welcome, and possibly even reward you monetarily, so as to help with part 1 of your career challenge.

Beyond this point, it is simply effort and refinement.

So, can you solve world hunger by becoming an ace potter in some country hamlet? No, but you might develop into a good teacher of young children working with clay, of adults regaining use of hands and minds after strokes, or you might devise some cost-effective containment devices or strategies for people in poor rural communities who have to make their own items — and clay is a natural. My point is that if you actively think about what human needs exist and how you could apply what you know to them — at some level even a very local and personal one — that you will increase the portion of your working energy that goes into bettering society, instead of just being a mindless “consumer” whose total working life is gobbled up to keep running some capitalist, socially-parasitic system.

The better you are at what you do, the more likely you will be able to apply your skills at a higher level, and to affect more people.

So much for generalities.

It sounds as if you have some economics knowledge. If so, and it interests you, there is always a need for “experts” in development who work to devise methods for poor and peasant communities to improve their economies in sustainable ways, and to keep their independence from foreign multi-nationals (you know, “globalization”). This is not easy at all, and the need is great. Naturally, well-trained economists usually prefer getting the big bucks working for banks and big financial firms, which aim to exploit those peasants (along with everybody else). If one could work in such a setting and make big bucks by funneling investors into ethical portfolios, and then also use your own fat commissions ethically, and/or to fund social improvement projects of your own, then you would be applying MBA skills in a very worthy way.

Look into the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UNICEF for descriptions of economics applied to improve rural/poor/3rd world societies. I have read reports about the energy needs of the world’s poor, a significant problem that cries out for economists with talent, and an interest in simple energy technology (for more, http://www.idiom.com/~garcia/EFHD_01.htm).

If you add a facility with languages (being multi-lingual) to any set of skills, then you become much more effective.

Given the economic circumstances today (impending depression) you can easily see that teachers, advisors and advocates who show people how to get out of debt, stay out of debt, and ultimately produce and trade for what they need without having to go through corporations at all — for food, water, energy, light, heat, furnishings — would be a boon to poor people, which is to say most people. Could you devise such schemes of personal financial independence for the non-rich?

I’m working on ideas for generating electricity directly from sunlight, using a “small” machine, so individuals could reduce or even eliminate their dependence on utility companies (perhaps foreign, and perhaps exploitative) and power lines (so, for remote villages), if they could also simplify their lives sufficiently to conserve a good amount of power. Physically, it is possible. Practical?, convenient?, reliable?, still working on it. Maybe I’ll arrive at a breakthrough someday, and maybe nothing will ever come of it, but I’m trying, and I’m using my passion for math and physics. How successful am I at changing the world? I’m forgiving on myself on that point, but I’m trying, and I’m using my passions (which include writing) for much of my time.

Read the book Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl (easily found). It is short, and shows how we humans need meaning in our lives. When we are engaged in what gives us meaning, we can literally live through anything. The philosopher-folklorist Joseph Campbell (book: The Hero With A Thousand Faces) also talks on this theme.

I can’t tell you what to do or study until you identify what gives your life meaning. What is it you feel you are driven to do. Once you know that, nurture it, develop it. And then try, ethically, to apply it in the world. Measure success by the level of satisfaction in your life, NOT by externalities like money, titles, attention and status. Develop a sense of self-respect that can’t be bought (and beware, because it will “cost” you in those externalities). The only success is to lead a life of meaning, even if invisible to others; the only failure is to never experience the thrill of what you were meant to do.

Student #2:

Hello! My name is M. Right now, I’m an undergraduate physics student at O University. I’m finishing up my senior year and I’m getting very excited about continuing my education in graduate school and eventually getting my Ph.D. The plan is to pursue my research in plasma physics. However, I’m always finding conflicts with these ambitions. I chose this path because I really do love physics and math and wanted to do something with my life that was beneficial to the earth. I chose plasma physics as a way to research fusion energy, thinking that this would be the cleanest possible goal for the planet. But whenever I speak about this to other “radical” friends, they kind of look down on me. I’ve gotten a lot of criticism from friends and acquaintances. I read [this publication and MG, Jr. articles], and love seeing a physicist that shares all of my political ideas and feelings about the world. So as a physicist and thinker, is the path I’ve chosen a bad one? I know that you may not be able to make that call for me, nor am I expecting you to plan my life. I just wanted to ask for your opinion.

Response #2:

You put your question very clearly and succinctly. Unfortunately, I do not see how to give as clear or concise an answer.

It’s life that matters, nothing but life — the process of discovering, the everlasting and perpetual process, not the discovery itself, at all.

Inventors and geniuses have almost always been looked on as no better than fools at the beginning of their career, and very frequently at the end of it also.

– Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot (1868)

On April 22, 1970, I attended a lecture in my undergraduate physics class, on nuclear fission and fusion. Professor Walter Whales became quite engrossed in his presentation, which became an hour-long tutorial on the design of a fission bomb. It was fascinating. To see how all the individual textbook phenomena fit together in an intricate, interrelated fashion to produce one awesome effect was just marvelous, a private viewing behind nature’s curtains at a vast panorama of hidden depth, an initiation. At the end of his lecture, Professor Whales was struck by an amusing realization and, with a smile and all his chalk-board spherical shell diagrams behind him, said “What a thing to be talking about on Earth Day!” I left the lecture hall that day, walking onto the sunny spring-day college green, crowded with students, mini-skirts, Beatles music, and the celebratory atmosphere of the first Earth Day, and realized my course in life: to study plasma physics to prepare myself to be in the first generation of chief-engineers of the fusion energy plants that would just begin coming into service within 15 years, by 1985. Energy for the people, a revolution in freedom for the world, perhaps even the beginning of the end of world poverty, hunger, even war. This was one of the most ecstatic days in my life, even my girlfriend was sweet to me. Joseph Campbell called such times “peak experiences,” when you are at your best, and the world smiles on you.

Thirty-eight years later, I am the same person with the same basic dreams, only by now all the hidden assumptions I had as a 20-year-old have been uncovered, and most of them discarded as erroneous. Today, my belief is that simple solar technology, which can be fabricated locally in the 3rd World without anything “special,” except for a little knowledge encapsulated in a simple blueprint or a working model as guides, is how the greatest degree of energy independence is to be provided. I hope to put more time and energy into this project this new year, because it moves me. What I have learned from physics is how to marvel more deeply at the wonder of nature, at the genius of the evolved interrelatedness we are enmeshed in. Still, if some university or college, or even an eccentric millionaire were to pay me to work at solving physics problems involving fluids, electromagnetic effects and plasmas, and just for the sake of the art, I would jump at the chance. I was lucky enough to spend years of my time engrossed in such study — and meditation — and earn my daily bread doing so: ivory tower, rent-free. But, I’m considered a has-been now, my methods and my focus seen as passé.

And, I am passé because I rebel at the likely purposes to which my thoughts of plasma physics would be put to, were I paid to generate such thoughts; I rebel at any suggestion I channel my thinking to the projects most employers of physicists would have; and I rebel against the popular methods of career advancement tolerated among professionals of all types. Finally, I rebel against the realization that I can never be a teacher, because I cannot cater to an audience impatient to have their tickets punched so they can move on in their career trips, and impatient if I do not supply classroom entertainment to relieve their instantly available boredom. I’m a grumpy old man before my time. What I do have, in exchange for being cast off from my former professional associations and their rich resources, is the freedom to pursue my interests without the restraint of fearing to appear foolish, or worrying about getting published — accepted, included. Even if they never reach anyone else, my ideas can fill me with excitement, insight and wonder. THIS is what you want to ensure you experience, at least a few times, when you choose to immerse yourself in a science life. Remember this for those times your career is in a slump; because there are many careerists in science but far fewer real intellectual successes.

It is impossible for any single human being to resolve the conflicts of the world within the limited scope of their personal life. If you try to arrange your activity to have a “zero carbon footprint,” to be “socially responsible,” even 100% certified organic ahimsa harmless pure-loving good, you will go insane. If you are a born American citizen, you are de facto already guilty of the original sin of being a biological unit in the Earth-chewing genocidal fascism of American capitalism. It is unreasonable to expect any rational human being to assume such guilt and forsake all to become a naked sadhu in India. The rational course is to recognize advantages the luck of birth has bestowed on you and to use them to help you develop yourself to some personally rewarding and socially useful purpose. Consider the Parable of the Talents (if you have read New Testament stories). The mere fact of your birth bestows on you the right to seek personal fulfillment, and the right to be creative. If you excel in the pursuit of your deepest intellectual interests, your quest for beauty, and in the understanding of nature, you will have made the best use of your life-energy that world society could ask for. If pondering physics problems is where your heart lies, and you would be willing to wash up as a middle-aged derelict with a sufficient income for simple survival till bucket-kicking, so you can ponder these wonders for several decades during a professional career, then why ask what else? You can easily choose a “safe” course, or something that is more easily bullshitted as “goody-two-shoes” to all those unimportant people you feel necessary to keep up appearances for, and have a boring life and even still end up a professional derelict. Don’t compromise on what gives you fulfillment. If you know what it is do it, if you are uncertain what it is, find it and then stick with it. Life is short, and we all die, the only victory over death is to reach it having experienced what you were uniquely meant to do and enjoy. “Work out your salvation with diligence,” as Buddha said with his dying breath.

With your physics passion aflame, you go out with a freshly minted Ph.D. (assuming all the politics and bullshit of grad school didn’t kill your resolve with disgust), and what do you find? The people who pay for physics want bombs, guns, and money (these latter are usually advertised as educational institutions). There may be a few other outlets for physics talent, but by and large they all connect back to US government funding, and this is not charitable — whatever they say (even “pure physics” and “educational” funding is for maintaining a “pipeline” of new-young physics talent for the many military-oriented jobs). Physicists are paid to codify natural phenomena to the benefit of control-oriented agencies. Today, this means the product is some computer code that simulates physical effects or controls technological mechanisms that interact with the natural world, or other technological systems, for the purposes of monitoring and control. The actual physics minutia you would have to ponder may be very interesting, like gun barrel erosion, or shock wave propagation through varied media, or the hypervelocity dynamics of shaped charges, but the ultimate purposes of the exploration can be very inhumane. You become (or remain) a human being, instead of being just a physics expert automaton, when you take some responsibility for the purposes of the work. This is the hardest part of sustaining a career. If you ignore your portion of responsibility — and this is the overwhelmingly popular choice among professional scientists — then you reduce yourself to a tool and a hypocrite. A tool being a hypocrite is only possible because in being an employed Ph.D., a professional scientist, the tool has proved it has the cranial capacity to know that such a demand of social responsibility exists for it. I dwell on this point because most physicists I knew were in denial about their hypocrisy.

Pretty grim choice, huh? On the one hand seek your bliss in a physics career, and on the other the inescapability of being an agent of the Empire. The only out I know is what the ancient Chinese called “human heartedness,” a recognition of the realities of daily life and the limits of any human’s powers. You have a right to make a decent living, to be able to support a family, to participate in the society of your times. It is not possible to reconcile all the contradictions (between personal life and world politics) crossing through your life, with the exception of a few charmed individuals (and it is best to assume you are not one of them). Of necessity, the feeding of your family and the maintenance of your sanity cannot be done to the satisfaction of everybody. You follow the most honorable course when you recognize these unavoidable disparities, and you conduct yourself mindful of the ideals, compassionate to the people you know (like your family, who will be directly affected by your actions), and honest about your stances. So, you balance your personal “take” from the world and your “give” to the world, in managing your career and in supporting whatever it is you choose to support with it. Who can really judge you but yourself? As long as you are honest with yourself, you will know if you have been a Machiavellian careerist bullshitter, or a person doing their best to honor their creativity while striking an ethical and compassionate balance in an amoral world, dominated by cruel and selfish attitudes.

I cannot know what the specifics of your career should be. Perhaps you’ll be the next Einstein, and we would be grateful that US military money sustained you, so we could receive your wisdom and value it down the ages. Perhaps, you’ll be a physics teacher, cranking out generations of recruits for the imperial forces, and having a brief period of time to influence each student, perhaps to become more intellectually honest, perhaps to become more rational, perhaps to just get homework done on time, and this can add to the overall good to society. And, perhaps you’ll just be another troglodyte in the imperial armaments industries, and the most social good anyone will see from you will be that you kept yourself off the streets, supported a family even if only a bunch of strays saved from the city pound, and lent your company to some well-intentioned groups and artistic circles. If you live mindfully (a concept written about by Thich Nhat Hanh), then it is inevitable that your big physicist brain will question the ongoing phenomena of your life and times, and you can devise many opportunities for you to “do better” in terms of your own character, and as karma-trailing actions for our world.

The bottom line: it is your life to live, and your life to choose how to live. Honor your creativity and do what brings ecstasy and peace to your consciousness. Do this with enthusiasm, and mindfully. Be aware of your karma, the impact of your actions on others, and be honest about taking justifiable responsibility. Be good to yourself, remember you are only human, not Prometheus, so don’t shoulder all the problems of the world. We humans are never perfect, we are just monkeys with bigger brains. So monkey around, do your best, and after all is said and done the best judgment you can possibly get is: you were never perfect, just a monkey with a bigger brain, monkeying around most happily.

Give my regards to the future.

Ron Jacobs: Hi Kati. How are you doing? Let’s get right to the chase. Can you tell me what the plan is to mark the beginning of the sixth year of war and occupation in Iraq in March?

Kati Ketz: SDS is again putting out a call for students to take action, this time a week of action between March 17th-21st in order to protest five years of war in Iraq. We are focusing on March 20th as a student and youth specific day of action, where schools will be having walk-outs or rallies and protests on their campuses and in their cities.

Ron: Is SDS the primary force behind these planned protests? If so, how can non-students participate? As you know, the two main national networks against the war and occupation were going to hold a national protest in DC and a couple other cities but decided not to. Instead, there is a call by UFPJ to come to a civil disobedience action in DC — a noble gesture to be sure but not the mass protest I think is needed.

Kati: SDS is the group that put out this call to action, and a slight majority of groups that are participating are SDS chapters. We are asking students that are on spring break during this time to get in touch with DC SDS to see how they can plug into the UFPJ (United for Peace and Justice) civil disobedience action in DC. Non-students can support student protests on campuses and cities by finding out what is going on in their cities, mobilizing for protests, and helping student groups put together rallies. Non-student organizations can also help by endorsing the call to action.

Students and youth are an important part of the broader anti-war community. We are putting out this call aimed at mostly students and youth to take actions locally and on the campuses in order to get even more students involved and to build a broader student movement.

Ron: I notice that UNC-Asheville SDS is working with the local Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW). In fact, you all did a counter-recruitment action a couple weeks ago that included some pretty effective guerrilla theater from the IVAW. This seems like a natural coalition given the numbers of returning vets going to school, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of campuses where SDS and IVAW are working together. How did you all start doing work together at UNC-Asheville?

Kati: It seemed natural to our SDS group that when the IVAW-Asheville group started up in November of 2007 that we invite some of their members to speak on our campus. From that, a couple of members of IVAW-Asheville started coming to SDS meetings and getting involved in our actions on campus, which led to the counter-recruitment action we did recently. During this counter-recruitment action, we staged a mock Iraq raid based on what one member of IVAW-Asheville witnessed firsthand, with a family of Iraqi people being zip-tied and asked for information that they did not have before being carried away.

Coalition building is an important part of building and strengthening the anti-war movement in general. If we remain divided we will never be able to do our part in helping end the war in Iraq.

Ron: Looking at the broader picture, where do you think the antiwar movement needs to go next? We’re in the middle of an election year with one candidate (John McCain) an outspoken war hawk and the two other leading candidates (Obama and Clinton) claiming to be against the war despite the fact that neither of them has ever voted against funding continued operations in Iraq or Afghanistan. Nonetheless, it seems like a lot of the liberal wing of the antiwar movement is jumping on the Democrats bandwagon. Consequently, the movement itself seems to be dormant. Is this the case from your perspective?

Kati: From my perspective at UNC-Asheville, it seems that although some students are very much swept up in the election process most students remember what happened in 2006 when they put their faith in the Democrats – the Democrats failed to do anything about the war. Because it’s an election year it seems that the student body is becoming more politicized and wanting to be more active about issues such as the war in Iraq.

Ron: On a similar vein, what is the SDS position on the election?

Kati: There isn’t much of a united position on the elections from SDS as a national organization. What we are doing at UNC-Asheville is trying to involve students from groups such as the Young Democrats or Students for Obama in the March 20th protest while still putting out in literature and teach-ins that we do not believe the Democrats will do much to end the war, as they have done virtually nothing thus far.

Ron: What’s your take on how those of us only tangentially interested in the elections should respond to those individuals that are opposed to the wars but are actively involved in campaigning for one of the candidates?

Kati: I think that we should try to pull those people who are against the war into our movement — that is how movements grow. We should try to work with anybody who is against the war without compromising our political beliefs around the elections. Many anti-war Democrats joined the anti-war movement after what happened in 2006 and the same could happen in 2009.

Ron: What do you think lies in store for the student movement over the next few months? Can it provide a spark to the rest of the movement so that we’re ready for the post-election reality?

Kati: I think that the student movement will continue to grow over the next few months. With the actions against the 5th anniversary of the war looming combined with frustration at the electoral process, I believe that we will see many more students hitting the streets in protest. The upcoming Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota will be another major part of student protests in the next few months. If one section of the anti-war movement grows and becomes more militant, it will hopefully spark the rest of the movement so that we can become bigger and more militant for whatever happens in 2009.

Ron: Back to the March actions. Once again, what is their intent and where can people find out how to help out and attend the events?

Kati: We are hoping to build up broad student and youth opposition to the war in Iraq through actions taking place on campuses and cities across the United States during the week of March 17th-21st, with major actions happening on March 20th. For more information or to read and endorse the call to action, people should visit our website at www.newsds.org/march20

Ron: Anything else?

Kati: Five years is five too many. We need to stand in solidarity with the people of Iraq and demand for US troops to be out of Iraq now – no peacekeeping forces, no permanent bases, nothing. The movement must recognize and respect the self-determination of the Iraqi people and do our part to end the war.

The boys (and some of the girls) were intrigued by the recruiters. Their uniforms and their sense of certainty seemed to appeal to these young people—especially the ones with the least stable home lives. Burlington never had much of a gang problem, but it always seemed to me that the appeal of the recruiters was that they promised membership in something very much like a gang with all of the solidarity and unity such membership could provide. On the days the recruiters showed up they would converse with the kids—none who were older than 13—about the Red Sox, the game and what they thought about high school. After all, the military was only recruiting high school graduates at the time. To their credit, the recruiters were more convivial than anything else and may even have inspired some of the kids they talked to into staying in school. Yet, their primary reason for befriending these kids was to get them to join the military and go to war.

High schools across the nation include JROTC as a standard course. In some schools it replaces physical education. The course is about physical education but it is also about regimentation and indoctrination. Boys and girls in the course do not use guns except when they carry fake ones in drill. They do, however, get indoctrinated in the military doctrine and nationalistic propaganda. Meanwhile, the US military has total access to young people’s phone numbers and school records. Recruiters come to schools and speak to mandatory assemblies. The US Army sends mail and calls students incessantly in their last two years of high school and send recruitment vans into neighborhoods where many youth are present. Recruiters hang out in shopping malls near arcades hoping to get boys hyped up on the latest video game to consider a couple years in Iraq or Afghanistan as an option. They push their way into job fairs at two and four year colleges and set up offices in as many towns as possible throughout the United States. The Marines have a program called Young Marines that encourages parents to sign up their children in elementary school for drill practices, militarized outings and indoctrination. The culture of militarism is pervasive and it is heavily geared toward young people between the ages of twelve and twenty.

I mention all this in relation to a recent news item from the Associated Press stating that the group the Pentagon calls Al-Qaida in Iraq is recruiting and training teenagers. For the moment, let’s assume that this article is true and is not some kind of fake news planted by US psy-ops. According to the story, some videos were found in an operation against insurgents. According to Rear Admiral Smith of the US Navy, the videos “were meant to spread Al Qaida’s message among the young rather than train the boys for missions.” This was not the first time such videos had been found, the story continued, but “it was the most disturbing.”

Now, if I understand this right, the US military is appalled and disturbed because some Iraqi insurgent groups (that may or may not have anything to do with Al Qaida in Iraq) are using videos to propagandize among adolescents in the hope that they will enlist. Meanwhile, the US military, which is engaged in the same type of operations as the Iraqi insurgency only as the occupying force, glorifies its mission of bloodshed, intimidation, and killing in videos, video games, in schools, on the television, at shopping malls and through the mails. Naturally, these methods are not training the US adolescents that they are targeting for operations, but they are definitely “meant to spread the US military’s message among the young (to borrow Admiral Smith’s words.)”

As I write this, a news item is coming over the radio stating that the US Army Surgeon General issued an order telling military counselors to stop helping Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans fill out paperwork required to seek psychological assistance. After denying such a document existed, the General backtracked from that denial when the document was produced. He is now looking for another lie to explain away the order. Do you think the recruiters mention this to the teenagers they target?

I had the opportunity to connect with some of the participants/organizers of this action. We had an informed and stimulating exchange. I reprint it here in the hopes that others will be inspired to act similarly, especially in the light of the current attempts by Congress to rewrite the aforementioned legislation so that there are no timetables or deadlines for withdrawal whatsoever, only so-called benchmarks that do nothing but blame the Green Zone government for the occupation’s failure to assume control of Iraq and its resources while simultaneously tying non-military aid to the Green Zone government’s continuing the transformation of Iraq into another neoliberal colony of Washington. The elected representatives of the people must be made to understand that we want the troops home now. As the students below make clear, only mass protest will bring this home to them.

Ron Jacobs: Tell me what happened. How did this protest turn into a sit in?

Josh Brielmaier: About 100 of us crammed into Kohl’s office to make our demands. Somebody suggested staying the night and by show of hands around forty of us were willing to stay the night.

Chris Dols: The visit to Kohl’s became an overnight office occupation when Kohl refused to meet our demand for an in-person meeting. Kohl has never met publicly with antiwar constituents in Madison since the war began. Further, he has supported and funded the war since the beginning.

Zach Heise: The original intention of the protest was for it to be a sit-in. We were informed that Wednesday afternoons were a time when a regular sit-in group was in Kohl’s office, so we thought that we would bolster their group and show our support. We had hoped that we wouldn’t need to do a sit-in, at least some of us. Campus Antiwar Network’s (CAN) reasons for being there were clearly stated and taped within moments of our arrival: we wanted to meet with Kohl, or at the VERY least, arrange with him personally via phone for a time that he could meet with our group. We didn’t want any secondhand hearsay from aides or notes — we wanted to hear his voice on the phone to arrange a meeting with us, and then we would have, as far as I believe was our intention, left peacefully. That was our mission.

Todd Dennis: Like Zach said, the plan from the start was to go to Herb Kohl’s office and make our demands and request a public meeting where we could get Herb Kohl’s response to our demands for the troops to come home from Iraq. Following the run-around from his staff, as the folks from The Network have been getting since they have been conducting their sit-ins, we stayed in the office while waiting on when Kohl would come back to speak with his constituents in his home state. The staff told us they would give us a teleconference in the next couple days but wouldn’t give us an exact time as they had to work out to find some open time the senator had. After “granting” the conference call, they said okay here you go, will you leave now. Of course since we wanted a public meeting in Wisconsin we said no. As previously understood by those of us who planned the event, we staying in the Senators office waiting to hear he would come to Wisconsin for the public meeting. However, overnight upon the realization that we meant business we were given several demands and when they told us we couldn’t make anymore demands and also made it clear that we would get neither the conference call nor the public meeting we took back the entire office from the 10 X 20 part we were corralled in overnight. Following our taking over of the entire office, the police were called, and we had to leave the building.

Ron: What were your personal and political reasons for participating?

Bernadette Watts: I don’t see any just reasoning behind this war. Everything in my body tells me that it’s a senseless war for the profit of a small group of individuals. Kohl, the wealthiest US senator, continues to support funding for the war while saying he is against it. I believe our senator should work for us, the people he supposedly represents, and when he messes up, I believe it’s our duty to make him accountable for his actions. I recently became involved with CAN and it has been a pleasure working with such an intelligent group of individuals, all of whom continue to inspire me to use my voice.

Todd: I have a couple reasons why I participated. One, as a veteran who was on active duty in the US Navy when the disinformation war to start the occupation of Iraq began, I have been opposed to the occupation from the start. While in the military, partly out of fear of retributions and partly because I was unaware of my GI rights to protest off-base and out of uniform, I didn’t participate in the anti-war rallies and demonstrations prior to the start of the occupation. I did however contact all of my representatives stating my displeasure with the proposed Iraq war vote. Kohl like normal didn’t respond to my emails. This was very disrespectful to me and my brothers and sisters whose lives he is personally responsible. Since I have become a peace and justice advocate with first, Veterans for Peace and now along with Iraq Veterans Against the War, I have been disappointed in the representatives of this country’s response to the war and public sentiment to it. While I can do nothing about my earlier inaction, I can when any opportunity arises take action showing my displeasure with the continued occupation of Iraq where our military has virtually no mission but to stay alive.

Some in our group, until we did this action, felt that Kohl was an honest and sincere politician. I had lost faith in the Democrats long ago and felt that Kohl who claims to be against the war and yet keeps funding it was a good target to show everyone how he really doesn’t stand with us in our demand that Iraqis get self-determination. To show them and the rest of the country how our purported representatives respond to our simple requests I participated in the occupation of Herb Kohl’s office.

Chris: My French grandfather fought against occupation of his country by the Nazis. Had my grandfather been a German, I like to think he would have done the same, but I can’t know where he would have stood. All I know is that my country is now occupying others and if the memory of my Grandfather means anything to me, it directs me to stand with those my government attempts to conquer. It is the responsibility of progressives in the heart of the empire to stand in solidarity with the victims of those empires. Kohl stands for conquest, I stand against him. We conquered his office for one, long night. A taste of things to come. I slept soundly on his plush office carpet knowing while my squirrelly little Senator stands on one side of history, I stand on the other.

Zach: I originally joined the antiwar effort due to what I view as a horrendous economic waste. Besides being illegal and founded on what have been proven to be Western expansion reasons as opposed to “democracy” this war is costing over $3000 dollars every second; every second, that much money is spent on this war. There’s a great site, www.costofwar.com that allows you to see how much your exact area has estimated spending on the war. Well, Wisconsin’s spending on the war could have purchased 12,000 full-ride scholarships to UW-Madison. Simply ridiculous. Maybe if this was a just and well-reasoned war that could be justified. But, as it is now, I find it simply appalling.

Josh: I think if we’re serious about bringing an end to this war then its obvious traditional protest alone is going to be insufficient. It serves a purpose, but puts no real pressure on our elected representatives to do their job. As a newcomer to the antiwar movement I felt inspired by the energy and momentum of my comrades and the general sense that we were doing something different. We’re no longer politely asking those in power to put and end to the war in Iraq; we’re demanding it.

Ron: In the statement you all released, you wrote that Kohl expressed support for your position. If this is so, then why did you occupy his office?

Zach: We occupied his office because his “support” for our position seems to be completely ceremonial. He pays lip service to being opposed to the war, but yet he continues to fund a war. For me, that’s the biggest reason: if you’re supporting the war, be honest; if you’re opposed to the war, let your voting record show that you’re opposed to the war. It’s all well and good for him to “support our position” — now show us that you’re willing to vote with us.

Todd: He has no idea what our position is and his “support” of our position is not the support that we need to see to have it proven that he truly does stand with us. He continues to vote for the occupation and recently voted for the funding and “timetable” to continue the occupation for an indefinite amount of time. In further showing his lack of standing with us he failed to address our six demands. This showed he was not with us but with his own train of thought. Since we had no public meeting we were not willing to meet with Kohl. We requested this and it was ignored by him and his staff.

Bernadette: In Kohl’s patronizing response email, he let us know that he was happy we came to show our discontent and he agrees with us but that he couldn’t really do anything about the war in Iraq, as it lies in George W’s hands. We occupied his office to make a statement. A statement telling Kohl that we refuse to be continually misrepresented in Washington, as he says he’s against the war, yet continues to support funding for the war.

Chris: Kohl wrote that he stands with us in our opposition to Bush’s failed war policy. But we were not in his office because of anything that Bush did. We were there because Senator Herb Kohl cuts the checks or Bush’s wars and military occupations. Had Kohl read our demands, then, perhaps he would have responded to the content. These were our demands,

1.) Immediate withdrawal of all US forces from Iraq
2.) Iraq for Iraqis
3.) Fully fund veterans’ benefits and health care, including mental health care
4.) Reparations to the Iraqi people, no strings attached
5.) Ban the use of depleted uranium munitions in Iraq
6.) Money for Jobs & Education, not for War and Occupation

Kohl’s attempts to lessen our expectations of him (specifically, opposition to war should mean not funding it) are emblematic of the new Congress’ game plan, more generally. Raised expectations can either be met or diminished. Ever since November’s election raised the country’s expectations for the war to end, Kohl and his colleagues have set out to diminish our expectations (we want peace and they give us timetables for withdrawal). Heaven knows they won’t actually meet our expectations and let the Iraqis run their own affairs. That’s for us — and the Iraqis — to push him to do.

Josh: (The way I see it is) Kohl says he is antiwar. But his voting record contradicts it. The senator also has never held a public meeting in the state of Wisconsin which he represents. To us this is inexcusable. Our modest request was that our elected representative meet with his constituency publicly

Ron: What do you think he meant when he said that as a senator he had no power to end the war?

Josh: I really couldn’t tell you. Not only is he a US senator, he is the wealthiest US senator in Congress. Does he mean to say he is incapable of using any of that influence to help end the war?

Zach: That was such a laughable statement. Of course he as one individual senator, acting all by himself, could not end the war. But what I at least view his duty to us, his constituents, as being is that he should be willing to fight for us with his colleagues. We, the antiwar network, cajole and try to educate our friends and family every day as to why this war is wrong and needs to be stopped, NOW rather than later. I want to know that Kohl is out there, speaking with his colleagues, using educated, well-rounded responses that aren’t canned statements and doing all that he can to end this massacre.

Bernadette: I think Kohl meant that as a senator who became senator by buying the popular vote, he lacks the principle dignifying qualities it takes to speak out on behalf of the common people, like supporting an end to the war. I think Kohl means that his incentives of releasing himself of the power to end the war are far too great to give up. I think he means that he lacks the sympathy for the common citizens of Wisconsin, as well as solidarity for the American troops and the Iraqi citizens, needed to end the war.

Chris: Senator Kohl has the” honor” of being the richest Senator — which is like being the tallest New York Knick. If he really wanted an end to this war, he could give some of his money and political backing to Iraq Veterans Against the War and accelerate the deepening and organization of our movement. Kohl doesn’t have the power to end the war for one very simple reason: he’s for it. That’s why he funds it.

Todd: He meant that he has no courage to stand up against the injustices of the occupation and demand an end to it. He also showed his lack of desire to stand with his constituents and the country in calling for an immediate withdrawal of occupying forces.

Ron: Who called the protest and occupation? Which student groups are active against the war in Madison? What kind of support do you get from other students and the community?

Zach: The Campus Antiwar Network (CAN) arranged for the protest itself to happen, as well as the student walk-out of class. As for the occupation of the office, I don’t know. As for student groups, I believe that we are the only ones taking a strong stance against the war, although I don’t know this for sure. We’ve tried to approach the College Democrats to see if they’ll support us, but those who have tried have been shouted down or asked to not bring up this “radical” agenda. Thankfully though, there are several community groups, most notably the Wisconsin Area Peace Coalition, that are firmly on our side.

Todd: Iraq Vets Against the War (IVAW), Student Labor Action Coalition (SLAC), International Socialist Organization (ISO), al Awda, WNPJ, Madison Area Peace Coalition (MAPC) and other student and community groups supported our call to protest the occupation of Iraq by walking out of class to a rally and then by occupying Kohl’s office with our request of a public meeting. A number of community members came to the rally and a few spent the night locked in our small confines waiting for our public meeting.

Chris: In general, students and the community are very supportive of the antiwar movement.

Ron: As you no doubt know, Madison was a hotbed of antiwar activity during the Vietnam war. In fact one of its most famous protests was the action against Dow recruiters portrayed in the film The War at Home. Another was the bombing of the Math Research Center that killed a grad student. Is the university still involved in war industry research? How?

Todd: You bet the university is still involved in war industry research. While I have no particular research the Madison Infoshop has a file folder full of military research contracts which vaguely describe the research being conducted for the military. In addition to the military research, this university is in bed with major war profiteers and welcomes them without even a second thought for career fairs and other events where they attempt to get UW students to join their unethical companies.

Josh: John Peck from the Infoshop here in Madison has done some research on the subject. A Freedom of Information Act revealed millions of dollars in active Pentagon contracts at UW. Areas of research include surveillance systems, quantum computers, and hypernetic computers to be used for the Star Wars program.

Ron: In terms of the protest movement against the war, do you think it has been effective? If so, how? If not, why?

Bernadette: Yes, I think we’ve been effective. Movements don’t happen over night. They take a while to grow and the campus anti war network is doing just that. The walkout demonstrated the power of numbers standing up in community. It offered hope for people that change is possible, if not over night.

Chris: Our goal is to build a movement that can stop the war. We haven’t done that yet, obviously. But we have expanded the core of organizers significantly. (Four months ago our CAN meetings were attended by 4 of us. Today it’s over 20 regularly) Further, activists are learning from experience. The struggle itself is our greatest class room. The classes are getting bigger and the discussions are ahead, politically, of where they were several years ago. For example, racism against Arabs and Muslims is discussed as regularly as “What would happen if the US left Iraq today?” and the America’s broader goals in the Middle East, etc. These discussions are not only welcomed in the movement, but necessary for our growth. Our goal — and we’ve begun to achieve this — is to make antiwar activism more educational and fulfilling than school. Given the misery of schoolwork and the terrible job market for graduates, we’re operating on fertile ground.

Todd: A large part of the current antiwar movement are Democrats. This fact makes the numbers in the movement fluctuate as they work to get Democrats elected instead of focusing on ending the occupation. The movement however has been growing rapidly both here in Madison and nationally. We had a handful of members in CAN last semester but the lack of support for prowar Democrats has led to an increase in our membership and we have found a number of dedicated people to help us out. Another positive indication that the movement is growing is IVAW getting about 10 new member applications per week in its office, along with our first chapter on an active duty military base.

Zach: I think that the more press coverage that we can get showing us involved in peaceful, organized, well-coordinated action, the more effective we’ll be able to be. Unfortunately, we’re still very small. After watching the well-known documentary The War At Home, I have been fighting as hard as I can to get people interested in joining the antiwar movement. When we have 6000 people flooding the streets of Madison, sitting on the steps of the capitol building, then we can truly be effective. However, I do think that currently, we aren’t being noticed enough by those in power to be truly effective. As mentioned though; our classmates and friends are taking notice of our actions, and, like Chris said, the size of CAN has quintupled in number. They started with 4 before I joined in January, and I’m proud to be with them.

Todd: We have been effective in that we have caused the majority of media to now refer to Operation Iraqi Freedom as an occupation instead of a war. We have also helped along with the lack of any progress on the non-mission in shifting public opinion towards a withdrawal with many calling for immediate withdrawal.

Josh: There’s a lot to take into consideration. I don’t think lobbying can have much impact in such biased and undemocratic institutions either. I think the focus really needs to be on organizing and networking with other groups. That’s how you build political capital. Direct action is all well and good — it chips away at the machine. But it’s a big machine and its going to take a big movement to take it down.

Ron: What do you think would make it more effective? More direct action? A different focus? Personally, I get very frustrated with the idea put forth by some national elements that we must focus on Congress — you know, pressuring them and lobbying them only to see them come up with bills that talk against the war but do nothing to end it. However, I’m not sure how to buck this trend. Any thoughts from you all?

Zach: In my opinion, the more organized we are, the more credible we’ll appear the masses, and then the more likely we are to be noticed and paid attention. A rabble has power, but people only move out of its way when it sweeps through; they don’t stop and listen. I hope that as the CAN contingent here in Madison ages over the months (and we’ll be active in the summer; you’d better believe it!) We’ll learn new ways to better control and focus large groups. As for our focus, I hope that we continue to try to influence powerful people in the government. We have to show them (as our numbers increase) that a large movement support removal of the troops from the Middle East NOW, not later. We also hope to educate people about war resisters and how to support them in any way possible.

Chris: The main idea that stands in between the domestic antiwar movement today and the successful movement that will end this war is that “protest doesn’t matter.” Or some variant of that argument. As I’m fond of saying here in North America’s only city built on an Isthmus, had you made this argument in 1965, you would have been laughed into one of the lakes. The Civil Rights Movement had just crushed Jim Crow and the movements were growing, commanding more and more attention with each passing year. That’s not to say that it was “up-up-and-away” but rather that victory inspires. Since the 1970s few inspirational victories weigh heavily on the memory. That’s why we look to other movements, such as the Immigrant Rights movement which successfully defeated the Sensenbrenner bill last year. Further, we look to the other movements against this war. Specifically, the soldier’s movement to end the occupation and the Iraqis’ movement to boot the occupiers.

Todd: Yes, more direct action is needed. The representatives of this country including the now majority Democrats have shown a blatant disregard when it comes to ending the occupation. Having large groups come in to their offices and make simple requests like ours are crucial in getting them to see that the people are against the occupation. While I don’t like lobbying Congress they have to be reminded who they represent.

I think that our protests while they are very good for the movement are often not as effective as possible. One there are too many issues being addressed to clearly get our message across to the public who doesn’t come. We need more actions which are coordinated across the country and need to better utilize the media to get our message effectively across to the general public.

One thing we have done in IVAW is Operation First Casualty. (Guerrilla theatre that is attempting to bring the reality of the war home. — Ron) The first one of these occurred right after the March 17th demonstrations. Through working with the media to get our message out there, our story was featured in the Washington Post. We have help who have worked with us to get in contact with the proper media contacts to get the story properly represented in the media.

Chris: The movement is growing, but unless it is unlike every movement in the history of movements, it will suffer setbacks ahead. I don’t know what the impacts of the 2008 elections will be, but things like presidential campaigns can tend to have a dampening effect on movements. That said, disappointed expectations may prove to be explosive. I have at times felt that what we were doing was “going nowhere” as you put it. But a good boxer learns more from losses than from victories. A growing number of us are in the ring to stay.

Ron: Speaking of frustration, do you sometimes feel like your work on campus is going nowhere? Or do you feel like the movement in Madison (especially among folks around your age) is growing?

Bernadette: I am frustrated with our government’s policies, and with the willfully ignorant, not with the production of the campus anti war network. Like I said, I am new to CAN, and so far I haven’t been disappointed, I’ve been impressed and encouraged, by a lot of brilliant students. Also, since I’ve been involved, the past couple months or so, I’ve seen an increase of interests and numbers at our meetings. It’s rather exciting.

Zach: (We are) Most definitely growing! I believe my other statements answer this question quite nicely. I’m very pleased with CAN in this respect, and we’re certainly not done yet!

Todd: No! I don’t feel frustrated. I believe the movement is growing.

Josh: I guess I haven’t been a part of the movement for long enough to start becoming cynical. Pretty much everyone I talk to seems receptive to our message and I’ve been impressed and surprised by the the enthusiasm for our cause expressed by many people.

Ron: There are now at least two or three national youth and student groups involved in protesting the war — SDS, Campus Antiwar Network (CAN) and the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition. Is there coordination among these groups? Are there major differences? If so, can you elucidate?

Chris: CAN’s emphasis is on working with all student organizations — and non-student organizations, for that matter — who are organizing against the war. And we have organized jointly with SDS and NYSPC. We look forward to future collaboration.

Todd: No, there needs to be coordination between the groups since the youth are obviously against the war in larger numbers. I am not that familiar with NYSPC but from what I know about SDS and CAN they are democratic and seem to be doing pretty much the same things.

Zach: I know that several members of our group are in communication with SDS, and we do try to plan national events with the national branches of Campus Antiwar Network, which in turn communicates with SDS for coordination. However, I don’t know about NYSPC – they’re a relative unknown to me.

Ron: Well, summer is coming up and school will be out for the year. What are your political plans for the summer?

Zach: I will be around after June 7th, and I plan to continue meeting with my colleagues in CAN. As for our plans for the summer, I’m not sure myself. I hope that we’ll continue to do sit-ins and protests at the capitol building, as well as increasing our knowledge of the issues since we won’t have classes to worry about.

Chris: Most of our CAN chapter is going to be in Madison for the summer. We are hoping to spend the summer preparing for CAN’s national conference which may well be held in Madison this Fall (a decision will be made shortly). We also hope to launch fund-raising efforts over the summer to strengthen our hand financially going into the fall. Further, a good number of us are attending the Socialism 2007 conference in Chicago where we hope to learn more about struggles (today’s and yesterdays, successes and failures) and we will network with other antiwar activists and build the student movement there.

Todd: I will be traveling to NYC for an Operation First Casualty action with IVAW and then will be studying abroad in France for a few months. I plan on relaxing and catching up on some reading during this time. When I get back i will be going to the Veterans For Peace National Convention.

Josh: Socialism 2007 in Chicago and whatever else might be going on in Madison when I’m around…I’m going to Kerouac it across the country so hopefully I’ll be able to make some meaningful connections with fellow freaks, revolutionaries, and other fellow travelers.

Bernadette: I will be in Madison over the summer, along with most of CAN. So hopefully we’ll all have more time and energy. The plan is just to continue doing… continue to organize, fundraise, and educate ourselves. I too will be attending Socialism 2007 and I’m looking forward to a productive summer!!

Ron: Anything else?

Chris: Thank you for asking us what we think. As a student-activist, it’s much nicer to be posed these questions, than the one I heard most often from 2004-2006: “When will the students do their part?” Well, here we are.

Zach: Thank you for interviewing us!

If blaming the psychotic responsible for the killings doesn’t sate your bloodlust, how about shifting some over to the officials who demurred in locking down the campus despite the fact that a crazed gunman had already killed two people on the premises? This remains the most troubling aspect of the whole story. Whoever made that decision is at least partly responsible for the number of victims. It may be impossible to anticipate a psychotic break down (although, in this instance there was ample evidence), but damage control is crucial to minimize the impact.

The truth is Cho Seung-Hui was an extremely deranged individual. Reports range from mild autism (treatment of which his South Korean immigrant parents were reportedly unable to afford) to full on, teeth chattering delusional psychosis. The man was mentally ill and should have been institutionalized. I believe this to be the primary motivating factor for what occurred.

If you are seeking a philosophical or meta-reading of these events, don’t waste your precious time on the tired arguments trotting out the usual suspect like guns, gun laws, movies, video games, etc. I find it highly amusing that various wackos on both sides of the gun debate are using this as evidence for their respective arguments. And myopic soccer moms are still trying to convince everyone that we are so feeble minded and weak willed that entertainment can drive us to take lives.

When ever these kids go snap and take it upon themselves to thin the herd, we are privy to the same narrative: that they were teased, they were powerless in the face of their aggressors, that they barely received respect from their teachers, let alone their peers, that they were depressed and didn’t have many friends, and so on.

You tend to forget how horrifying the school environment can be once you reach adulthood. I used to contemplate suicide due to a bad hair day or a particularly volatile pimple, and I was merely your run of the mill miscreant. Just ponder the lives of those with more notable differences, i.e. kids with disabilities or deformities, kids from other countries with a limited grasp on their new language, kids too poor to afford decent clothes, etc. These types have two settings in school: ridicule and ignore.

Despite popular opinion proclaiming children to be bright, shining angels straight from heaven, we all know that kids can be interminably cruel and vile to those different from them. The little bastards seem to take joy in sadism. If you want to see fascism first hand, take a walk through a high school cafeteria. The hierarchy is unbeatable and makes the caste system look like a day at the beach. For some kids, every day at school can be catastrophic, made up of an endless stream of humiliations and abject despair. Imagine that your every misstep was observed, then rehashed over and over for the amusement of others.

The American school system fosters this environment by complying with the power brokers of the academia: kids who are wealthy and privileged, alpha dog types, and those willing to break their spines in order to fit in. What no one tells you is that these same kids who are king-shit in their formative years are experiencing their prime entirely too early. It may be a cliché, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t true; the sooner you peak, the longer you fall. These people will spend the rest of their lives trying to recapture that pyrrhic victory of their school days, to no avail.

There is no harm in sympathizing with Cho Seung-Hui. You are a better person if you are able to look at man who wreaked such horror on others and feel compassion for him. That doesn’t mean that you condone what he did, or that you celebrate it, merely means that you can appreciate the type of psychological torment this person was going through to undertake such a ghastly task. It is the first step toward understanding why and how a person could do this. Also, it would behoove everyone to teach their children some damn tolerance and empathy. There will always be a large amount of ribbing and verbal jousting among young people. The problem arises when its malicious, or when one is of the attitude that they are better or more valuable than someone else

Your average kid will not melt down due to adolescent teasing. In fact, some people thrive on this sort of adversity to excel. For a stable person, it’s fairly easy to overcome a tumultuous school experience. For someone already teetering on the brink, or someone without an adequate mental defense, this kind of thing can life shattering, more so than any piece of fluff entertainment.

Indeed, the “straight shooter” from Coco Solo and the cuckoo stealth shooter from Seoul have more in common than the curious coincidence of their births outside the US in countries bearing similar names and a heavy American military presence. More relevant, perhaps, is their shared fondness for macho posturing, not to mention an overblown, absurdly dramatic prose style that reveals a narcissistic preoccupation with proving to the world that their smoldering resentments have deadly consequences.

Richard McBeef, the play Virginia Tech shooter Seung Hui Cho submitted to his understandably appalled English professor spelled out in stark terms its author’s seething contempt for humanity and a wholly unjustified sense of self-importance, while Character is Destiny, the woefully ironic title of John McCain’s most recent contribution to Barnes and Noble’s discount table, laid out an equally corrupted worldview similarly predicated on fiction. By my reckoning, at least, Cho deserves higher marks for originality than his more banal and prolific counterpart:

McCain: “As a governor and senator, John Chafee set the standard for honesty and decency that the rest of us on our best days could only dream to emulate.”

Cho: “You prematurely ejaculating piece of dickshit.”

The imaginary poetry slam continues as The Manchurian Candidate steps up to the plate:

Remember the words of Chairman Mao: “It’s always darkest before it’s totally black” . . . only to be slapped down again by “Ismael Axe”:

I wonder why it’s so sunny out. Today is one fruity day.

Encouraged by the audience’s frenzied cheers, “Ismael” gives them the “Seoul Patrol” signal and moves in for the “kill”.

“I hate him. Must kill Dick. Must kill Dick. Dick must die. Kill Dick.”

Sadly for the deceased playwright, the trophy for Best Performance By An Unhinged Asshole goes to the Beat Bard of the Beltway for his inspired riff on a Beach Boys classic:

“Bomb, bomb, bomb. . . Bomb, bomb Iran.”

Special honors go to George W. Bush a.k.a. POTUS43, who scored a slam-dunk with his free association musings on chicken plucking, area rugs and “poofing” polls, beating out Don Imus and Alec Baldwin in the “Hell Hath no Fury Like a Rich, Pissed-Off White Guy” category.

Whether or not Senator McCain is considering “Polls just go poof,” “Remember the rug?,” or my personal favorite, “Today is one fruity day,” as a replacement slogan for his next campaign bus tour remains to be seen, although some would argue that “The Straight Jacket Express” seems a more apt definition of his careening wiener cart’s head-on collision with destiny as much it describes his increasingly estranged grip on reality.

Perhaps it’s not entirely surprising that both the “maverick” senator from Arizona and the campus “loner” and spree killer from Virginia were able to remain mostly under the radar of mental health professionals. As a nation, we are more threatened by “effeminate” traits in males than we are by their overt displays of testosterone-fuelled rage. John McCain’s alleged but never proven homosexuality cost him his party’s nomination in 2004, and it’s highly probable that Seung Hui Cho’s parents and classmates would have been more pro-active with their concern over his increasingly erratic behavior if it had included, say, a sudden fancy to nail polish. After years of torments (both real and imaginary) at the hands of torturers and playground bullies, it was arguably only a matter of time before their rage would reach critical mass. The signs were certainly in evidence before either of these maniacs made headlines for their spectacular, public acts of self-immolation.

It doesn’t take an expert on Freud to recognize how both Cho and McCain, whether stalking their human “prey” in the jungles of Vietnam or through the corridors of academia, exhibit(ed) an unhealthy fascination with the overt trappings of masculinity. Or that both men’s wounded sense of manhood resulted in bizarre media-generated diatribes, noteworthy for the seemingly unprovoked nature of their attacks upon innocent civilians both real and gruesomely envisioned.

Ironically, both made recent headlines wearing flak jackets with comically unintended results. Cho was described by one witness as looking like a “boy scout” (a description highly at odds with his intended persona of an “edgy” art house cinema anti-hero) while McCain’s suffered a similar styling fiasco during a recent photo-op that was intended to make him look a mercenary gunslinger. Unfortunately, his overly-accessorized stroll through a deserted Baghdad market inspired at least one comparison of the cocky little Senator from Arizona to Truman Capote, the “tiny terror” of Manhattan in reference to his unfortunate choice of a long, flowing scarf and sunglasses to complement his bad-ass Baghdaddy ensemble. Whether or not the resulting fallout caused the author of Breakfast is Destiny to erupt in a homicidal rage aimed at the Iranian people will no doubt spur debate among armchair Generals and fashionistas for years to come.