Bernie Sanders Sets The Smithsonian Straight

[babylonsister]

http://www.newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p=1171

Bernie Sanders Sets The Smithsonian Straight
Filed under: Art/Culture, General, Propaganda — Mark @ 12:08 pm


It’s pretty sad when a respected national institution like the Smithsonian fails to uphold the minimum scholarly standards that it’s reputation implies.

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery recently unveiled the portrait of George W. Bush that will hang in the museum. Accompanying the portrait will be a description of Bush’s tenure that says it was…

“…marked by a series of catastrophic events” including “the attacks on September 11, 2001, that led to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

Of course the catastrophic events of 9/11 had absolutely nothing to do with the war in Iraq. Well, unless you consider the fact that the Bush administration conspired to exploit the tragedy in order to justify their previously determined agenda of aggression against Iraq and other Middle East oil producers. By now everyone knows that the claims about WMDs and connections between Saddam and Al Qaeda were lies. For the Smithsonian to be so careless in their exposition of these events is an irresponsible mangling of history.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has sent a letter to the portrait gallery director, Martin Sullivan, objecting to the language. The letter says in part…

“The 9/11 attacks did not lead to the war in Iraq. What President Bush was telling us (before the war) was that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that Iraq was somehow in collusion with Al Qaeda. Those were misstatements of fact, as even President Bush has since acknowledged. <...> You can agree or disagree with the war. I simply think it’s important that history not be rewritten. Politicians spin all the time, but a wonderful national institution like the National Portrait Gallery should stick to the facts.”

The Smithsonian has not yet responded to Sen. Sanders’ letter. In the meantime, it might be useful to weigh in on the matter by letting the gallery know that people are paying attention and that accuracy in the depiction of American history is important. Particularly as it relates to matters of war and the trustworthiness of our government representatives at the highest levels.

Email the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery Exhibitions group and demand that they tell the truth:
[e-mail]

[4 t 4]

1. WTF?

[Richard D]

2. "Those were misstatements . . . "

I hate that term. They were lies, not misstatements. Misstatement is far too close to mistake in meaning rather than the calculated lies that they were.

[babylonsister]

4. It's okay to be polite; he got his point across. Now will they listen? nt

[Idealism]

3. Bush Legacy Express '09!

WHOO!

[ColbertWatcher]

5. Good catch, Bernie Sanders! Kick and rec! n/t

[barbtries]

6. i sent an email.

and good on Bernie Sanders.

[Vincardog]

7. I did too and sent them Bernie's email again.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

9. I sent them my letter to Gov. Kaine

I asked why they were telling lies about the unelected p.o.s. serving as Commander in Chief the last eight years and this note I sent to Gov. Kaine, since I was asked to send one via:
http://www.democrats.org/page/s/welcomekaine

Gov. Kaine,
I want to know what the Democrats plan to do about the Sept. 11, 2001 investigation (coverup) and how quickly they will open a New Investigation that looks into who controlled the demolition of world trade center buildings 1, 2 and 7. If there is no new investigation, I believe it will just be a revelation of how involved the democrats were in the events of that day themselves. There is No other issue more important to this nation than seeing that the governing body of this nation represents the people of this nation and Not the Corporations and Rich who scam the public for personal profit. I believe that the reason half of the population will not even turn out to vote is because those in office have shown they do not care one bit about the public, but only their own wealth and power.

There are many websites in the 9/11 Truth movement, but you may start here: http://firefightersfor911truth.org/

This issue should bring about the prosecution of Bush and Cheney, and all their con men, for their crimes against Humanity.

Sincerely,

Volunteer Fire Fighter of 30 years

[BrklynLiberal]

8. k&r

[formercia]

10. History is always written by the victors.

Now that we've won, it's time to set History straight.

[babylonsister]

13. And that's why Sanders is so heroic to have called them on this.

The Smithsonian documents history? They'd better do it honestly.

[cali]

11. This just infuriates me

And I'll email the Smithsonian now.

[mdmc]

12. ditto

[kenfrequed]

14. A rough letter sent...kicked

I had the pleasure of visiting your museums back in the service in the army while I was on temporary duty training near the DC area back in the early nineties. I enjoyed the natural history museum immensely and am impressed with how much good work your museums do under the budget constraints you unfortunately are saddled with.

I also recall the modification of the the exhibits regarding the use of the first atomic bombs and how much ink and anger was spilled all over about giving an honest depiction of the bombings minus the gloss of patrioticly correct history or the sugar coating of historical inevitability. I know how these kinds of effects only serve to obfuscate the past to make the present entirely unclear resulting in our complete inability to connect events from the past to the present and thereby deny us of what is supposed to be the greatest boon of knowing our past: the ability to know who we are, how we came to be here, and how we can avoid the missteps of our past.

I write to you today to protest the spin put on recent history as I respect yoru organization and do not wish you to fall to the political vaugeries of the last eight years of unthinking and factually absent lawyering and destruction of civil liberty in the face of tragedy. The events of September 11th 2001 are a tragedy but to state that they 'led to the war in Iraq' removes from history the agency of choice and invokes the 'inevitability' thinking that James Lowder warns about in his writings about monuments in america and about the manner in which history is taught.

It is a fact that Iraq had nothing whatever to do with the attacks of September 11th and it is a fact that many knew of this prior to the war that was projected towards Iraq. It is a great tragedy that there are still Americans that are not aware that this terrible terrorist event had nothing to do with a nation we have spent the last five years occupying, torturing, extorting, and pillaging both our own treasury and the rsources of this nation.

Pretending these events are merely passively connected is also a great crime as it suggests that these things merely happen absent of any action at all and this is a great falsehood. This is not a partisan matter, the projection of American military power abroad has known handmaidens and helpers from several political perspectives and both parties. If we are to understand war then we must have honest depictions of the causes of it, the more we mystify or mythologize the cuases of war the easier it is to repeat.

With all of this in mind I implore you... I beg you to consider more honest language with regards to this war of choice. Acknowledge our mistakes and our descendants will know us as wise people that, in fear, made a few poor choices but managed to realize the folly of these decisions. Failing this allows for inevitable rationalizations that will aid further lies in the future. Failing the truth allows the most political of all lies to perpetuate and has resulted in the worst imaginable excesses in history where unneeded, unjust, and unwon wars have resulted in scapegoating because the people do not understand the causes, consequences, or the costs of the conflict.

So please, put aside partisan politics and have honesty in regards to the current administration, let our ancestors admire us our integrety and our descendents look back at our honor in knowing our error and doing the right thing in acknowleding