Not in My Name!

A group of brave artists, writers, actors, and other folks who’d really like us to pay attention to them have bravely issued a statement condemning all the Evil Things the US Has Done Since 9-11, titled “Not in Our Name.”

That the “leading American writers, actors and academics” (in the Guardian’s words) were able toare able to do this without being shot, imprisoned, or crushed by a bulldozed wall goes without saying, which is probably why they don’t say it.

It’s getting enough play in the media that I thought I’d do a bit of artsy deconstruction of my own …

We believe that peoples and nations have the right to determine their own destiny, free from military coercion by great powers.

Unless, of course, those peoples are suffering under regimes which we consider cruel and heartless. Like, say, Afghanistan under the Taliban. Weren’t some of these folks protesting the actions of that government, once upon a time, and calling for its end?

We believe that all persons detained or prosecuted by the United States government should have the same rights of due process.

As … what? Oh, as each other.

We believe that questioning, criticism, and dissent must be valued and protected.

Of course, there is a difference between valuing criticism in the abstract, and valuing a particular piece of criticism.

Thus we call on all Americans to RESIST the war and repression that has been loosed on the world by the Bush administration. It is unjust, immoral, and illegitimate. We choose to make common cause with the people of the world.

What exactly does that mean? Which people? What cause of “the people of the world” are we supposed to support here, and how many of those people are actually clamoring for it?

Did the Bush administration loose “war and repression … on the world”? It seems to me like the US was, instead, attacked (though I’m sure the signatories would agree that the attack on 9-11 was provoked by US something-or-another). We’ve fought a war, with the support of quite a number of other nations, against a brutal and oppressive and, ah, repressive regime that was harboring the folks who attacked us.

The whole rest of the War on Terror has been a lot of sound and fury, but hardly a loosing of “war and repression … on the world.”

We too watched with shock the horrific events of September 11, 2001. We too mourned the thousands of innocent dead and shook our heads at the terrible scenes of carnage — even as we recalled similar scenes in Baghdad, Panama City, and, a generation ago, Vietnam.

Ah, yes, the flying of hijacked civilian airliners into crowded office buildings during peacetime working hours which the US Army, CIA, and GOP performed in Baghdad, Panama City and Vietnam. I remember it well …

We too joined the anguished questioning of millions of Americans who asked why such a thing could happen.

… and immediately came up with the glib, simplistic answer that it was all the responsibility of the Evil American Capitalists, with their Third World Raping Policy of Capitalism, Americanism, and Evil, Propping Up Israel, and Spreading McDonalds Around the World.

But the mourning had barely begun, when the highest leaders of the land unleashed a spirit of revenge. They put out a simplistic script of “good vs. evil” that was taken up by a pliant and intimidated media. They told us that asking why these terrible events had happened verged on treason. There was to be no debate. There were by definition no valid political or moral questions. The only possible answer was to be war abroad and repression at home.

Which would explain why nobody has raised any questions about Bush’s foreign policy, Bush’s domestic policy, or what the Bush White House should have known before the attacks. That explains the mass arrests of journalists, the gunning down of protesters, and the strange beeping sound on my telephone.

The brutal repercussions have been felt from the Philippines to Palestine, where Israeli tanks and bulldozers have left a terrible trail of death and destruction.

What are Israeli tanks doing in the Philippines? Oh, I understand.

They have a point. Israel never used tanks or bulldozers before they got their marching orders from the White House on 9/12. And certainly there’s not been any provocation there …

The government now openly prepares to wage all-out war on Iraq — a country which has no connection to the horror of September 11.

Oh, absolutely not. No connection at all. Nothing to see here. Move along …

What kind of world will this become if the U.S. government has a blank check to drop commandos, assassins, and bombs wherever it wants?

A safer one? No, that’s unfair. The US government should only be permitted to drop commandos, assassins and bombs wherever it doesn’t want. No, wait. It shouldn’t be allowed to drop them at all. That’s it. The world will be safe if only the US government can’t use commandos, assassins and bombs. That’s the ticket.

In our name, within the U.S., the government has created two classes of people: those to whom the basic rights of the U.S. legal system are at least promised, and those who now seem to have no rights at all. The government rounded up over 1,000 immigrants and detained them in secret and indefinitely. Hundreds have been deported and hundreds of others still languish today in prison. This smacks of the infamous concentration camps for Japanese-Americans in World War 2. For the first time in decades, immigration procedures single out certain nationalities for unequal treatment.

Oh, my God! This is the first I’ve heard of this! The media has completely blacked this travesty of justice out! The Feds have obviously arrested everyone who has spoken out against this! The bastards!

We say NOT IN OUR NAME. We refuse to be party to these wars and we repudiate any inference that they are being waged in our name or for our welfare.

I expect, of course, that all of the named individuals will renounce their US citizenship (those that have it), or at the very least refuse to pay any taxes. That would be the ethical thing to do, of course. If not, of course, declaring a revolution.

Because, of course, it is being done in the name of all Americans. These are elected officials and their appointees doing this. And if you don’t like it, there are a number of tried and true ways to stop it. Like voting. Like campaigning for individuals who will change the policy, either in the White House or in Congress. Or demanding impeachment. Or working through the courts. That’s how the system works.

We extend a hand to those around the world suffering from these policies; we will show our solidarity in word and deed.

And the people around the world say … “Huh?”

We who sign this statement call on all Americans to join together to rise to this challenge. We applaud and support the questioning and protest now going on, even as we recognize the need for much, much more to actually stop this juggernaut.

And if you don’t get more, obviously it’s because the media and people are cowed by the Evil Repressive Bush Administration, not that they, say, don’t agree with you.

We draw inspiration from the Israeli reservists who, at great personal risk, declare “there IS a limit” and refuse to serve in the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

And who face imprisonment for their beliefs. Which puts them better off than those on the Palestinian side who are considered “collaborators,” and who, if they are lucky, are merely gunned down in the street.

We also draw on the many examples of resistance and conscience from the past of the United States: from those who fought slavery with rebellions and the underground railroad, to those who defied the Vietnam war by refusing orders, resisting the draft, and standing in solidarity with resisters.

So what exactly are you suggesting? How many of you plan to engage in rebellion, or at least some exuberent civil disobedience?

Those who are interested in signing the petition can send an e-mail to a Hotmail site (which I find ironic on so many levels — yeah, that’s stickin’ it to the Man … use a free privacy-destroying mail system from Micro$oft!).

The problem here is not with some of the particulars the signatories raise — I’ve raised some of them myself. It’s the way the message is presented — that the US in general, and the US government in particular, is in the hands of crazed (or sinister, or both) madmen who are leading us down the path of despotic ruin, and that the tame media and a scared populace are marching in lockstep with them.

Claims that “lots of folks wanted to sign the petition, but were afraid to” is a rhetorical non-starter. You can make that claim about any cause, and people on all sides of the spectrum do.

Throwing in the lefty-socialist calls for “solidarity” and “common cause with the peoples of the world” and the like is only saccharine icing on the cake. It’s difficult to take anything serious that’s signed by Noam Chomsky.

Have various regimes around the used the War on Terrorism as an excuse for repression? Has the Bush Administration been too quick to question the loyalty of those who have dissented from its script? Have there been mistakes made, and hidden agendas advanced, and stuff like that?

Unquestionably.

Should folks continue to question the Bushies on what they’re doing?

Undoubtedly.

Is the “Not in Our Name” letter full of bombastic rhetoric, left-leaning rabble-rousing, and sky-is-falling hyperbole that does more harm to thoughful, intelligent dissent than it does good?

Unquestionably and undoubtedly.