-Caveat Lector- For the most part, media response to the anti-war demonstrations last weekend was surprisingly positive, and it’s had a good impact on American (and I believe international) public opinion. But there will always be a few negative reports made. Although I haven’t seen the Washington Post article written by the journalist Ms. Moriarty is responding to, I have seen some reports of it, and it was an unjustifably vicious attack. Ms. Moriarty has responded here passionately, and with a huge dose of heart, beautifully written.
How Dare You, Michael Kelly! By Judith Moriarty [EMAIL PROTECTED] 1-22-3 On Saturday, Jan 18-03, hundreds upon hundreds of thousands throughout the world took to the streets and parks with the Song of Peace. It's estimated that some 500,000 filled Washington, D.C. Mr. Michael Kelly, of the Washington Post, wrote on Jan 22-03, unabashedly, and without even a hint of insight, that all, all, all, of these people were from the Left; and furthermore they all chose to "March with Stalinists, and oppressors of humanity!" Furthermore, Mike ranted on, all of these hundreds upon hundreds of thousands supported the butchers of Beijing, after the slaughter of Tiananmen Square, Saddam Hussein, the mullahs of Iran, the narco-gangsters of Colombia, the bus-bombers of Hamas, and the mass starvation of North Korean citizens! The only thing Mike seems to have left out was the murder of Bambi, and the crucifixion of Jesus! I am all for freedom of speech and the right of people to be heard no matter how incoherent and absurd. Mr. Kelly needs help. In his venomous, disjointed, frothing, diatribe he appears to be in the throes of a mid-life crisis or mad cow disease. Maybe in Foggy Bottom (Washington, D.C.) they're one and the same? We can be thankful that most of America doesn't read the Washington Post, and goes elsewhere for rational, informed reporting. According to Michael Kelly of the Washington Post, we can kiss tolerance, diversity, conflict resolution, and we are the world goodbye! Michael, like his cohorts down in Washington, D.C., need to come into the real world. Mr. Kelly, duh, the people out at these marches, are for the most part, the most informed people of America! If you'd watched any of the man on the street interviews during the election you'd know that most were befuddled and bewildered as to whom the Secretary of State was! One person actually replied that the Civil War was the L.A. riots!! Stalin!! Hello Mr.Kelly, it is now the 21st century! We may not all be the sharpest tools in the shed but couldn't you think up someone a bit more in step with the times? How about "Marching With Charlie Manson--Freddy Kruger-(Nightmare on Elm Street) or The Terminator?" With history no longer being taught, people may well think "Stalinists" is a new rock group! Been there, done that, Mr. Kelly;the McCarthy era of a Commie in every sewer or back lot in Hollywood is over! Those who were too young to have been privy to this insanity in the 50s, have at least been able to see reruns on the History channel. How dare you, Mr. Kelly, in your bias, prejudice and pathology of hatred, make a sweeping generalization of citizens throughout our land and around the world, "supporting fascists, tyrants, starvation and the slaughter of students in Tiananmen Square!" It is not 'we the people' who time and time again voted most favored nation status for China! It is not 'we the people' who supplied both Iran and Iraq with weapons of mass destruction during the Iraq-Iran War! It is not 'we the people' who supported and armed the Taliban during the Afghanistan/Russian War! It is not 'we the people' who used depleted uranium for the first time during Gulf War I, and later on Yugoslavia; poisoning soldiers, civilians and the environment! It is not 'we the people' denying our veterans of the needed medical care they need for Gulf War Disease. It is not 'we the people' championing the expenditure of billions upon billions on missiles, vaporizing bombs, cluster bombs and micro-waving weaponry; while millions go hungry in the world, or are unable to afford medical care or affordable medicines! It's not you Mr.Kelly picking up the remains of a loved one sent back in a body bag! It's not you being told by President George Bush Sr. to "shut-up and sit down" when you ask about those left behind in Vietnam! It's not you, as a returning Reservist having to go on welfare to get needed medical care. It's not you being issued the cheapest of prosthetics from Walter Reed (to save tax-dollars!). It's not you going out to homeless veterans living under bridges or in abandoned cars; their feet rotted and filled with maggots! It's not you living under a plastic sheet in a refugee camp with your hungry babies! It's not you digging frantically in the collapsed walls of your mud hut searching for your child! How dare you ridicule and mock those who march for peace for the lives of Americans and those in foreign lands! How dare you! How dare you label mothers, grandmothers, fathers, grandfathers, maimed veterans, students, ministers, politicians, blacks, whites, Asians, , Muslims, Catholics, Jews, Protestants, Native Americans, Agnostics, Atheists, doctors, nurses, professors, mechanics, steelworkers, carpenters, longshoremen, auto-workers, craftsmen, farmers, loggers, clerks, attorneys, musicians, artists, poets, writers, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Green Party, Libertarians, etc., as unpatriotic, and un-American! It is WE who built this nation, who farm this nation, who pay the astronomical billions for war! It is WE who have been to war and now worry over the lives of our children and grandchildren being called to what is a war without end. A war that could last for years! You charge ANSWER (the organizer of this gathering) with every crime and evil under the sun, pointing to the signs people carried; of accusations and less than kind descriptions of the administration. We may disagree or choose to carry signs with a more noble or peaceful message, but in a crowd of hundreds of thousands one has little control. Like your vicious column we must accommodate for freedom's sake all voices. Besides, Mr.Kelly, with the tens of thousands of signs carried I find it remarkable that you managed to choose those most fitting for your vindictive verbiage! One would think you'd arranged it? If the truth be known Mr.Kelly, people did not travel hundreds of miles on a bitter cold day to support ANSWER, whom probably 90% had little to no knowledge of! Here is where, as a writer, you show your utter ignorance of the times. People gathered for many reasons. Some, it's true are groupies, and turn out for any and all mass protests, living vicariously through the passion of others. Others come out of curiosity, and some may indeed have intentions of stirring up dissension with vulgar signs or violence! But mostly people came together out of love for their country and fellow man. They came because ANSWER was there for their concerns, fears and grief. The politicians had left them in the lurch, as most of the Churches had! I may have chosen a different roster of speakers and an environment more conducive for debate and discussion, but then I wasn't the organizer. The people came because they are weary of war, decades and decades of bombings, napalm, minefields, defoliants, depleted uranium, vaporizing daisy cutters, and multitudes dead! They are sickened of the Stalins' of the world with their 'Purges' killing millions and millions through famine and wholesale slaughter. All violence is injustice! The majority of those you so abusively labeled know that war upon war is not the answer! With modern day nuclear weapons we are now capable of destroying the earth, can you grasp that Michael? There is a way beyond hate, rage, vengeance, an eye for an eye, and it behooves those left with compassion to convince those who only see mindless-forever destruction. Demonizing one's adversaries, Mr. Kelly leads to polarization. People respond to arrogance with their own arrogance. If we attend to battles, we become embattled. If we give love, we become loving. What we choose shapes and defines us. The lofty, smug, superior, intellect that we see exhibited daily; leads to the fragmentation of the world, while the heart operates at greater depth. U.S. Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich tells us, "All people are essentially one. The world is interconnected not only on the material level of economics, trade, communication, and transportation, but interconnected through human consciousness, through the human HEART, through the HEART of the world, through the simply expressed impulse and yearning to be and to breathe free!" Feb. 17, 2002 In closing, Mr.Kelly, here is wisdom on what you missed in the gathering of the people of many lands; "The spiritual understanding and awareness that every human being is a sacred, divine being with a higher spiritual purpose, is fundamental to understanding and manifesting the deepest meaning and infinite love of our soul. Not only do we need to honor and respect our own sacred, divine self, but we must also, learn to see and experience this same spiritual reality in every other human being. The longest road you will ever have to walk is the sacred journey from your head to your heart. Both the mind and the heart are sacred. Both are inseparably connected. The Creator has put lessons in every part of creation. Look at the trees; the alder does not tell the pine to move over; the pine does not tell the fir tree to move over; each tree stands in unity, their mouth pressed to the same Mother Earth, warmed by the same sun, with their arms raised in prayer and thanksgiving, protecting one another. If we are to have PEACE in the world, we too must learn to live like those trees. The stream travels through deserts, mountains, and many places, but it never turns its back on anyone or anything. Even though it gives life to all living things, it is very humble, for it always seeks the lowest spot. The hurt of one, is the hurt of all and the honor of one , is the honor of all." Phil Lane-Hereditary Chief of the Yankton Dakota and Chickasaw tribes, Professor of Education. You looked for signs of hatred and vindictiveness Mr. Kelly and so you found them. I saw a veteran in a wheelchair, paralyzed in Vietnam, softly pleading for Peace. I heard the songs of women for their children and a Congressman praying for us all. And finally, I listened to Grandma Sarah from the Oneida nation telling us that long ago it was spoken by the ancient ones that the Sacred Fire would all but be extinguished except for the smoldering embers. Those with listening hearts were charged with carrying the embers to all nations and re- igniting the Sacred Fires of all lands. That Mr.Kelly was what the people were about. That's what you missed! jm http://www.rense.com/general34/howca.htm <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
