Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Sunday with Orwell: "They are only doing their duty, as the saying goes"
It is profoundly disconcerting how much Orwell’s work reads like the words of a prophet these days.
Sorry I missed yesterday’s storytelling circle as I believe that I have the Mother of all Cockroach stories to tell.Due to preparations for last minute plans for pre-Xmas departure to far off family environs I have fallen behind on my key clackings.
After today’s running around I will sit and finish my post about the persecution of Rosemarie by a government that apparently has nothing better to do with its time and money. (ironically another story about suit and tie wearing cockroaches).Well I have fallen so far behind on my household maintenance after my recent surgery that the air around here has become heavy with acrimony. Perhaps things shall not be written today as the smashing and angry words in the background have polluted this mornings thoughts while I attempt to type.
Funny how a day can go from hopeful to fucking ugly in seconds flat.See you all after the “holidays” be well and be kind to each other.
Posted by Youngfox on from misery 12/17 at 11:06 AMHoward Zinn!
Tune In Now:
More:
Posted by Robert B. Livingston on from San Francisco, California 12/17 at 01:58 PMimho, two more relevant paragraphs from same essay:
Indifference to Reality. All nationalists have the power of not seeing resemblances between similar sets of facts. A British Tory will defend self-determination in Europe and oppose it in India with no feeling of inconsistency. Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them, and there is almost no kind of outrage--torture, the use of hostages, forced labour, mass deportations, imprisonment without trial, forgery, assassination, the bombing of civilians--which does not change its moral colour when it is committed by ‘our’ side. The Liberal News Chronicle published, as an example of shocking barbarity, photographs of Russians hanged by the Germans, and then a year or two later published with warm approval almost exactly similar photographs of Germans hanged by the Russians(5). It is the same with historical events. History is thought of largely in nationalist terms, and such things as the Inquisition, the tortures of the Star Chamber, the exploits of the English buccaneers (Sir Francis Drake, for instance, who was given to sinking Spanish prisoners alive), the Reign of Terror, the heroes of the Mutiny blowing hundreds of Indians from the guns, or Cromwell’s soldiers slashing Irishwomen’s faces with razors, become morally neutral or even meritorious when it is felt that they were done in the ‘right’ cause. If one looks back over the past quarter of a century, one finds that there was hardly a single year when atrocity stories were not being reported from some part of the world; and yet in not one single case were these atrocities--in Spain, Russia, China, Hungary, Mexico, Amritsar, Smyrna--believed in and disapproved of by the English intelligentsia as a whole. Whether such deeds were reprehensible, or even whether they happened, was always decided according to political predilection.
The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them. For quite six years the English admirers of Hitler contrived not to learn of the existence of Dachau and Buchenwald. And those who are loudest in denouncing the German concentration camps are often quite unaware, or only very dimly aware, that there are also concentration camps in Russia. Huge events like the Ukraine famine of 1933, involving the deaths of millions of people, have actually escaped the attention of the majority of English russophiles. Many English people have heard almost nothing about the extermination of German and Polish Jews during the present war. Their own antisemitism has caused this vast crime to bounce off their consciousness. In nationalist thought there are facts which are both true and untrue, known and unknown. A known fact may be so unbearable that it is habitually pushed aside and not allowed to enter into logical processes, or on the other hand it may enter into every calculation and yet never be admitted as a fact, even in one’s own mind.Posted by sk on from 12/17 at 02:34 PMOops, sorry, the two paragraphs above are from a different essay than the one quoted by Mickey--about the “highly civilzed” folks--which is here.
Posted by sk on from 12/17 at 02:44 PMHello Expendables. It’s another spring-like December day here.
Thanks for the great quotes and link, SK and Robert. Much appreciated. And Youngfox, please feel free to tell a story on any day you please. Btw, this is not only the quote of the day, it’s the quote of any day: “Funny how a day can go from hopeful to fucking ugly in seconds flat.”
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/17 at 03:44 PMHi Youngfox,Mickey,sk, RBL…
I cannot see or hear the Zinn links but I have heard Howard say that same thing as Mickey has here on the front page. The Orwell quote is very similar to what Zinn says about his time as a bombardier.
About doing one’s duty...The idea of blind obedience is so ingrained in us in this culture, less so now than in the old days. There might be less blind obedience now, but unfortunately there is very little critical thinking that is encouraged by the culture. There is a name for critical thinkers...in many places they are called loners. Kind of makes me laugh....when the Press was here in my house the other day, they seemed to be facinated by all of “Information” I have posted up on the walls. (My walls are made of wood and therefore it is easy to put things up and also replace them. No holes show in a wall made of wood.) One of the little post cards that is up says, “You all laugh because I am different. I laugh because you are all the same.” One of the members of the Press asked to use the bathroom. In there he saw a little sign that said, “When you invite people to think, you invite revolution”. I do have very interesting walls.Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 12/17 at 04:34 PMHello RMJ. Here’s something from today’s NY Times I’m sure you’ll appreciate:
“The most fundamental thing that we need to do in Iraq is establish the rule of law. It’s the cornerstone of a civilization. Without it you have anarchy. And we are falling short.”
- MARK WALLER, an Air Force Reserve major and deputy district attorney in Colorado, who prosecuted detainees in Baghdad.Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/17 at 04:59 PMBack from another ‘flying visit’ to Melbourne - and ‘Cool Observer’ is the first stop on the Internet ‘surf tour’ because it always makes my day. Great quotes, graphics and texts. Orwell makes sense - and so do you, Mickey!
And hello from a rather warm (86F) Daylesford to Youngfox, Robert B. Livingston, sk and Rosemarie. Hope your day does not turn ugly on any of you.
captcha: ‘turned’ by sheer coincidence ..
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 12/17 at 05:06 PM“I can assure you that no constitutional questions are raised here....” spoken by Condi Rice after the usa assassinated a usa citizen on Nov 3, 2002. I believe that this is one of the first publicized cases of the usa assassinating a usa citizen. You have been warned.....
Mickey #7, I’ll be right back. I need to copy something for you.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 12/17 at 05:17 PMAnd your walls really do sound very interesting, Rosemarie! Much more interesting than Mr and Mrs Helga’s walls, that much is for certain.
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 12/17 at 05:18 PMGreat quote there from the Air Force Major. Speaking about “the rule of law”, below is part of my love letter to the local newspaper that I sent today.
“...A Congressional Hearing on December 11, 2006 has confirmed the number of Iraqi civilian deaths as 650,000 since March 20, 2003.
Below is a brief excerpt from my statement in court which explains my position. It was published on the Internet in 2004 and can be accessed by googling my name and “A Courtroom Speech”.
“...It is my profound respect for the Rule of Law that brought me to the 4 corners on March 20, 2003. At the precise moment of my arrest, the federal government of the United States was bombing civilians. The bombing of civilians is a violation of international law, a violation of U.S. treaties, a crime against humanity, and a war crime....”
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 12/17 at 05:22 PMThanks, Helga. I love my walls. I find inspiration no matter where I look. On my desk here, I have one that says, “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 12/17 at 05:27 PMHello Helga. Nice to have you back.
Great letter, RMJ. I’m wondering if we should wait to start asking folks to write letters to the Banner so they don’t get lost in the Xmas madness. Perhaps start a campaign in early January?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/17 at 05:28 PMMy friend, “Joe from Maine,” sent me this:
I don’t know if you have gone into this yet...every time I hear the
phrases, leave Iraq and save face, victory, win, etc. blah, blah....I
feel nuts! Have any journalists examined this mindless need for many people to ‘win’ this war of our aggression against other countries? The use of the words, win, victory, save face to reference our barbaric slaughter of numerous cultures, simultaneously...is as shocking, should be as shocking as the savage actions of genocide themselves.Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/17 at 05:29 PMBreaking news in the Boston Globe...just received a google alert on it...Well, there is one policeman who is still mad at me. I agree that it is not about being a grandmother or my age, it is about 650,000 civilian deaths since 3/20/03. I have a question. I will be tried twice for standing in silence, with my head bowed, while holding a sign. Is anyone going to be tried for slaughtering 650,000 civilians ?
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 12/17 at 07:26 PMA “folk hero,” huh? I love it. Was this article the result of your AP interview?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/17 at 07:28 PMOf his works, I believe “Homage to Catalonia” to be Orwell’s strongest. It’s a manageable view of the Spanish Civil War (a subject which is often word-bombed into wreckage), a ground-level view of life during modern civil war (or, I imagine, revolution), and has the sparkling passages that best represent Orwell.
Also: -"The Road To Wigan Pier” was a project sponsored by a left-wing book club in England. -Orwell’s “War Commentaries” are repetitive, but show his part in the propaganda mill, which allowed him to write “1984” so convincingly.A yodel out to Youngfox, sk, Livingston, RMJ, MZ, and Helga.
Methinks I will gather letters and editorials by the local paper about RMJ, in order to better respond.
Captcha sez “tax.” I reply “my patience.”
Posted by Zenprole on from Urth 12/17 at 07:39 PMYes, Mickey, that was the AP article. It turned out differently than I expected from a 2 hour in-depth interview. I don’t know if there is more to come or not. You never can predict what a reporter will write. It is a bit sad to see the comment from the policeman. Maybe there are just some people who just don’t understand how other people are affected by the killing of civilians. They should drop by here at Mickey’s once in awhile for a dose of enlightenment.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 12/17 at 07:47 PMRMJ, I just found your deposition and courtroom speech, and also a letter and commentary
depo: http://tinyurl.com/y5mrwd
speech: http://tinyurl.com/aboge
vetrn: http://tinyurl.com/yy8vj8Thus far, you’ve done more damage to business as usual than the town hierarchy can stand. Reading Judge Suntag’s quote of “I am not foolish enough to try to engage in a debate with you” says it all.
I didn’t realize that your collection of Iraq photographs and the video of the protest were disallowed at trial, but the phrasing of the prosecutor’s objection ("designed to invoke the prejudice of the jury") really set me off. For a seasoned defense attorney, this was a barn door open for riposte.
That old quip about “How much justice can you afford?” comes to mind… and that doesn’t give me many ideas on letters to write (or to whom).
I’m going to see if a friend overseas can translate news about your case and post it other places.
Posted by Zenprole on from Urth 12/17 at 08:28 PMGreat stuff, Zenprole. I’m not sure exactly what we can do but I’m pretty sure we should start doing it after the holiday madness. What say you?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/17 at 08:41 PMP.S. Word is spreading:
http://tinyurl.com/yzu5ydPosted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/17 at 08:43 PMZenprole...you do good work. I had forgotten that quote from the Judge. I love it. Now can you find the quote from the prosecutor, Dan McManus. As he was leaving the courtroom he is quoted in the newspaper as saying that he knew that I had good intentions. That statement might just blow the government’s case out of the water.
Also, my protest sign had to be subpoenaed because the State would not produce it...probably the only sign in history that ever had to be subpoenaed. Then the judge would not allow it to be taken into the jury room. It is the prime piece of evidence in the case. It clearly shows what my intent was.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 12/17 at 08:47 PMMZ, I agree about a post-holiday strategy. January 2nd is when the holiday madness has passed like an outbreak of lycanthropy (a polite description). I used to look forward to a cool, crisp re-boot of the Gregorian calendar, an existential trek through the snow. This year it could be canoeing or gardening.
RMJ, thanks for the kind words. You’ll find the prosecutor’s quote near the end of the 3rd link above (vetrn). Daniel Bergstrom is the author, and I don’t know if anyone captured the quote on audio/video, or if there were a few people who would bear witness. (there I go again, thinking that the truth matters...)
Posted by Zenprole on from Urth 12/17 at 09:02 PMZen, could “an outbreak of lycanthropy” be called Lon Chaney’s Disease?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/17 at 09:57 PM
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