WAS I A GOOD AMERICAN IN THE TIME OF GEORGE BUSH?

[Jcrowley]

Was I a good American in the time of George Bush?


Too many of us have done too little to stop the crimes of this White House. We are waking up but what took us so long?

Rebecca Solnit
Wednesday March 14, 2007
The Guardian

Was I a good American? How good an American was I? Did I do what I could to resist the takeover of my country and the brutalisation of my fellow human beings? How much further could I have gone? Were the crimes of the Bush administration those that demand you give up your life and everyday commitments to throw yourself into maximum resistance? If not, then what were we waiting for? The questions have troubled me regularly these last five years, because I was one of the millions of American citizens who did not shut down Guantánamo Bay and stop the other atrocities of the administration.

I wrote. I gave money, sometimes in large chunks. I went to anti-war marches. I demonstrated. I also planted a garden, cooked dinners, played with children, wandered around aimlessly, and did lots of other things you do when the world is not crashing down around you. And maybe when it is. Was it? It was for the men in our gulag. And the boys there. And the rule of law in my native land. Before the current administration, it had always been easy to condemn the "good Germans" who did nothing while Jews, Gypsies and others were rounded up for extermination. One likes to believe that one will be different, will harbour Anne Frank in one's secret annex, smuggle people across the border, defy the authorities who do evil. Those we scornfully call good Germans merely did little while the mouth of hell opened up.

I now know the way that everyday life can be so absorbing, survival so demanding, that it seems impossible to do more on top of it or to drop the routine altogether and begin a totally different life. There is the garden to be watered, the aged parent in crisis, the deadline looming; but there are also the crimes against humanity waiting to be stopped. Ordinary obligations tug one way even when extraordinary ones tug the other way. The Bush administration is by no means the Third Reich, but it produced an extraordinary time that made extraordinary demands on US citizens, demands that some of us rose to - and too many did not.

<snip>

There is resistance. But if it were enough, the crimes would have stopped, the war would have ended. When it does and they do, some will have been heroes. Some will have been honourable but moderate, in times that did not call for moderation. And some will have consented, through inaction, to crimes against humanity.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2033238,00.html

[Bonobo]

1. Finally someone said it.

[melody]

2. Finally?

I must have read this same piece fifty times, in other forms, all the while Americans are making noise and standing up and meanwhile, those writing the pieces keep ignoring the fact.

[Jcrowley]

3. I'm not sure I understand

When you say Americans are "making noise and standing up" what do you mean? What examples are you speaking about?

[melody]

4. Well, just these for starters

3/17 - Tulsa, OK: PEACE RALLY AND SOLEMN VIGIL

3/17 - Nashville, TN: Nashville Peace Rally & March

3/17 - Los Angeles, CA: Mass Anti-War Protest in Los Angeles

3/17 - Fayetteville, NC: Fayetteville Peace March & Rally

3/17 - ME: From Every Village Green

3/17 - Washington, DC: March on the Pentagon

3/18 - San Francisco, CA: SF Anti-war Demo - US Out of Iraq Now!

3/18 - St. Louis, MO: 24 Hour Memorial Vigil

3/18 - New York, NY: NYC March to End the War

3/18 - Sioux Falls, SD: Support Our Troops, Bring Them Home

3/19 - Lawrence, KS: Peace is Growing! March

3/19 - San Francisco, CA: Stop Funding the War

3/20 - New Brunswick, NJ: Campus-Wide Walk Out and March

3/20 - Chicago, IL: Mass Mobilization, March and Rally to "Stop Funding War and Occupation, Troops Home Now!"

3/30, the First Unitarian Church of Portland, Oregon

And tons more.

[Jcrowley]

5. Were they effective?

What was the purpose? Did any of those vigils/rallies/marches accomplish the goal of ending the war or even slowing down the machinery? It seems not. If so how? If not, were the same seemingly ineffective tactics repeated?

BTW I have been to every single mass demonstration, heading to DC tomorrow for another, and multiple smaller demos/rallies/vigils locally. They aren't working.

[melody]

6. They were effective in that it shows Americans who ARE demonstrating and ARE active

And yes, I do think they're having an impact.

We have a huge country with 300 million people -- we're much closer to a political body like Europe than we are to a single country. It's very difficult to communicate effectively with such a large population but, yes, just the fact the right-wing neighbors are attending the local March is proof. At least for me. Those who wish to see other things, will see other things.

[Jcrowley]

7. Maybe

they made the people in the rallies feel good but I'm a practical guy, what material results have you noticed that came about from the rallies?

How have these rallies affected policy? How have these rallies threatened the status quo of endless war? What are some tangible results?

[melody]

8. Your assertion was it wasn't going on ... that Americans weren't demonstrating, et al

The result is another issue. We have an illegitimate government in power that is not responsive to the people.
They have other masters. They aren't going to listen to us.

[Jcrowley]

9. That was never my assertion

Look again.

The RESULT is THE issue.

They must be forced to listen. What if those seeking the few rights granted during the Civil Rights Movement had said...

[melody]

10. I went back and re-read your posting

You have underscored (from the article): "There is resistance. But if it were enough, the crimes would have stopped, the war would have ended. When it does and they do, some will have been heroes. Some will have been honourable but moderate, in times that did not call for moderation. And some will have consented, through inaction, to crimes against humanity."

The last line makes the point I was making to you, the point of the article is the assertion of inaction ... blaming the victims. There has been no response because the people in office are sociopaths. Did we blame Iraqis for Saddam? Do we blame Iranians for the Mullah? No, we don't. Bush is nothing more than a Junta. It's only when the world wakes up and realizes how dire our situation in the US
is, that we'll be able to get anywhere ... while it sits around and blames it all on "those Americans", as usual, it's just fobbing
it all off on the new international Jew.

As I said, I've read this article in other forms in tons of European papers. It's just the EU press oligarchy stroking the masses,
just like Fox News does to us. They want to demonize us to the benefit of the EU.

Let's see world leaders with some muscle speak out against our stolen elections.