Another Rendition

[Gerry]

I was moved by the apparent success of the various internet demo orgs during
the election. I still sign petitions right and left over the net to support
various causes. We are told that all this petition signing and contributions
to good causes is making a difference. One thing is for sure, a lot of
well-meaning money is flowing to various orgs who are applying pressure. But
let me remind you:

Sitting on your ass and signing petitions and sending money is not going to
bring down the Bushies. Their campaign in New Mexico which won them a razor
thin victory was not accomplished by petition signers, they got out and
knocked on doors. Yep, the demos signed a lot of new voters but the repugs
signed more. In short, the repugs used mailings (pure rot but well designed)
and door to door campaigns to outhustle the demos. 44% of the Hispanics who
voted in the election went for Bush!

Don't you think that squads of progressive Mexican Americans knocking on
doors in the 'hood could have changed this? No doubt about it. But they
didn't. They stayed at home and signed petitions on the net and sent checks.
While this tactic may be safe and may make you feel good it isn't going to
bring down the Nazis in Washington. Sooner or later there will have to be
large mobs on the streets, strategically organized to put the pressure on
the bad guys. And you and I will have to be there too, in our wheelchairs if
necessary. Otherwise, we will not win. Sometimes in democracies it is those
who shout the loudest who win. Shouting at the computer and the TV has yet
to win an election.
G


----- Original Message -----
From: "Pepi Plowman" <pepstoil at yahoo.com>
To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s"
<austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>
Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2005 10:29 AM
Subject: Re: Another Rendition


> On a couple of subjects:
>
> As for Christians being silent, I disagree.  Even
> though I'm not a Christian, there are a couple of
> sites who contact me to call senators or sign
> petitions on various issues:  genocide in Darfur; the
> initiation of the Clean Air Act (which actually gives
> more latitude rather than less to the plants putting
> most of the crap in the air); not getting Gonzalez
> approved as AG; not allowing rendition (sending people
> to places like Egypt to get tortured), and on and on.
> Those sites are Sojourners and Faith Based America.
> They are anti-Bush and anti war in Iraq.  The
> Sojourners came up with the bumper sticker that said
> "God Is Not a Republican (or a Democrat)".  More and
> more Christians are seeing where the real axis of evil
> lies, thanks to folks like these.
>
> And Ramsey, I agree with you about our needing to
> stick together.  I have a feeling there will be a lot
> coming down in the next five years, much of which has
> already been predicted, especially energy-wise, and I
> think probably a lot more that we can't predict.
> Contingencies need to be established--networks
> reinforced.  Lucky we know people in other countries.
> pep
> --- Harry Edwards <laughingwolf at ev1.net> wrote:
>
> > As a recovering Baptist I'd have to agree.  There
> > are a few goodhearted
> > christians out there: Jimmy Carter and Bill Moyers
> > come to mind.  (And
> > Frances Morey too).  But the deafening silence we're
> > hearing is that of
> > all the true christians, churches and churchgoers.
> > A plague on
> > monotheism!         twisty dodds
> >
> >
> > On Mar 9, 2005, at 10:16 AM, Clark Santos wrote:
> >
> > > Frances,
> > > You sure weren't born in the Baptist church,
> > where it was an outright
> > > sin to shop anywhere but HEBs. Do you really think
> > Christianity and
> > > religions were founded to save souls and get
> > people closer to God.
> > > Think how much more your car registration would
> > cost without free
> > > license plates.
> > >
> > > EL PATRON
> > >
> > > On Mar 9, 2005, at 1:12 AM, Frances Morey wrote:
> > >
> > > Ramsey,
> > > I'm scared, too. Just when we can't believe
> > anything worse can happen,
> > > it does. I feel that the Know-Nothings led by the
> > Neocons, rather than
> > > the christians, are the real weapons of our
> > national destruction. It
> > > isn't christian to withhold stem cell
> > research depriving countless
> > > people who would benefit from it. It isn't
> > christian to incarcerate
> > > more people than any nation on earth! It isn't
> > christian to run a
> > > government for the protection of the rich to the
> > detriment of the
> > > majority of the populace, rejecting a hike in
> > the minimum wage, which
> > > 60% of the voters favor, turning our nation into a
> > mean spirited,
> > > angry, punitive and heartless place. That
> > marijuana is cynically kept
> > > illegal because the war on drugs feeds the
> > judicial-incarceration
> > > industry is another instance where 60% of the
> > people favor
> > > decriminalization and the legislation does not
> > reflect the opinion of
> > > the public, indeed, countermands it. Where's the
> > democracy?
> > > The poor are getting poorer, and can't support
> > their churches, so the
> > > "faith based" funding props them up, in exchange
> > for delivering the
> > > vote. That ain't christian, it's an insidious plot
> > to control the
> > > population as it squeezes them from middle class
> > into poverty, while
> > > the rich bask in greedy triumph with tax cuts.
> > > Christianity hasn't sold out, the churches that
> > cloak themselves in
> > > it have. There is a difference.
> > > From being on the road, Katfish
> > reinforced what we tend to take for
> > > granted--that we live in a kind of rarified social
> > hothouse here in
> > > Austin. Most of the country is the way he and
> > Della found it and
> > > reported it to us. I don't feel so bad about
> > not being able to travel.
> > > I'm just glad I can hang on here.
> > > Frances
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > >  From: Ramsey Wiggins
> > > To: GHETTO2 at LISTS.WHATHELPS.COM
> > > Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2005 11:19 PM
> > > Subject: Re: Rendition
> > >
> > > Seems to me every time christians get a lot of
> > power, people get
> > > burned at the stake -- to save their souls, of
> > course. Power and rigid
> > > ideology produce ever more strenuous coercion
> > every time they get
> > > together. If people dissent, more and more power
> > is applied,
> > > ratcheting up the level of coercion to torture,
> > mass imprisonments,
> > > and finally mass murder.
> > >
> > > We could also compare the republican putsch to
> > Stalin, whose rise to
> > > power had a similar arc: a reform movement -- the
> > russian revolution
> > > -- based on a rigid ideology, co-opted by a
> > powerful psychopath and
> > > propped up by platitudes about the general welfare
> > and fear of enemies
> > > without and within. By the time the secret police
> > are disappearing
> > > people, the Stockholm syndrome sets in and
> > everybody loves big
> > > brother.
> > >
> > > We need to start keeping track of one another. The
> > way we carry on, it
> > > wouldn't surprise me if one of us woke up in an
> > egyptian jail one day.
> > >
> > > Seriously.
> > >
> > > RW
> > >
> > >
> > > On Tuesday, March 8, 2005, at 07:41 AM, Gerry
> > wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Gonzales, the American hero poor boy who made it
> > to the top, is lying
> > > through his big white teeth. Will this be his role
> > now, apologist for
> > > war crimes? In the New Yorker there is a long,
> > in-depth article on
> > > rendition and how since 9/11 the US has sent
> > hundreds of prisoners
> > > abroad to be tortured. This practice is, perhaps,
> > the most dastardly
> > > of all the practices engaged in by the Bushies and
> > Rummy, including
> > > firing on unidentified vehicles occupied by
> > Italian journalists. I
> > > guarantee the NY article will make your flesh
> > crawl. Now they are
> > > denying it in spite of a ton of evidence to the
> > contrary. War
> > > criminals, torturers, christians run amok. They
> > are tainting all of us
> > > and digging such a deep hole we may not be able to
> > crawl out of it in
> > > our lifetimes.
> > > G
> >
> >
>
>
>