-Caveat Lector- http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=14744&CFID=6242555 &CFTOKEN=16712235 Coalition of the chilling
Bill Berkowitz - WorkingForChange 03.28.03 - William Bennett says they are "willing to sacrifice freedom for appeasement." Dr. D. James Kennedy claims they are "essentially propping up Saddam Hussein's regime." The Rev. Jerry Falwell thinks it's all motivated by hatred for President Bush. Bob Grant is "sick and tired of these left- wing America haters." David Frum accuses conservative war critics of betraying conservative principles. In writing about the Catholic Worker movement, Joseph J. Sabia wrote that the "Marxist- dominated Catholic community" was made of "traitors" as was shown by their demonstration against the war at a military recruiting office in Ithaca, New York. As we wind our way into the second week of a war that is obviously not going nearly as well as the Pentagon would have us believe, these are some of the voices pummeling the anti- war movement. Pro-Bush pundits, television's gas bags, an assortment of radio talk-show hosts, the self- appointed patriot police and long time Religious Right figures are all getting in on the act. They are promoting movie boycotts and the burning of Dixie Chicks CDs, bashing religious communities opposed to the war and launching vicious strikes on their former conservative comrades. In a number of cities across the country, thousands of people are attending events called "Rallies for America," which are organized by the nation's largest radio chain, the Bush-friendly Clear Channel Communications Inc. (See "'Rallies for America' Draw Scrutiny: Critics Question Clear Channel's Ties".) Since the bombs started falling on Baghdad, thousands of anti- war protesters have been arrested -- the vast majority for participating in non- violent civil disobedience. In mid-March hundreds of thousands turned out to march against the war in San Francisco, New York and several other cities. On Wednesday, March 26, a prestigious group of anti-war protesters were arrested near the White House. The group included Nobel laureates Mairead Corrigan Maguire of the Northern Ireland Peace Movement, Jody Williams of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of the Detroit archdiocese, Bishop C. Joseph Sprague of the United Methodist Church in the Chicago area, Dave Robinson, national coordinator of Pax Christi USA (the Catholic peace movement) and Daniel Ellsberg, best known for leaking the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War. On Thursday, March 27, the Associated Press reported, "hundreds of chanting anti-war demonstrators lined Manhattan's Fifth Avenue... and dozens lay down in the street to begin a day of planned civil disobedience actions." Early last week I wrote: "If massive protests continue after U.S. bombs start pounding Iraq, expect the anti-war movement to be lambasted by President Bush's pro-war minions. Radio and television pundits will crank up the volume, labeling protests un-patriotic and anti-American. Some may equate dissent with treason. Expect long-winded one-sided debates on the Fox News Channel, MSNBC and CNN focusing on the nature of treason." So far, to the best of my knowledge, the cable channels have not yet commenced debating treason. But that hasn't stopped the Coalition of the Chilling whose aim is to demonize, marginalize, intimidate and silence anti- war protesters. Questioning patriotism Self-appointed culture maven Bill Bennett is about to have his book "Why We Fight: Moral Clarity and the War on Terrorism" published in paperback. (I don't think that I need to remind folks that Bennett appeared to find his personal path to moral clarity during the Vietnam War when he refused to serve despite supporting the war.) Just in time for the president's war with Iraq, Bennett has added two chapters to the book. According to AgapePress, a Christian news service, the new work "dismisses the propaganda of the anti-war brigade, and challenges those in Hollywood, the media, and Washington who seem so willing to sacrifice freedom for appeasement." Questioning the patriotism of anti-war protesters, who are fronted by communists who "sponsor and organize" the demonstrations, Bennett claims that "It is about America -- it's not about Iraq with these protestors, because when you look at the protests and you read the signs, they're about America and about Bush," he says. "That's where all the bile and the hatred is." Aside from the gratuitous smear, it does seem rather strange that Bennett appears to believe that the communists have a following in the US that numbers in the millions, including hundreds of thousands in New York City and San Francisco. In one of those turn the mirror on thyself moments, Bennett writes: "There's nothing that has the power to immunize against thought so much as ideology -- and if you're an ideologue, evidence doesn't matter, facts don't matter. You're an ideologue, which means that you have a priori beliefs which cannot be dislodged by any evidence or any experience." The usual collection of right-wing hate-radio talk-jockeys, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, and Bob Grant have been joined by shock radio's Don Imus and Howard Stern. The New York Post reported that "New York's highest- rated radio talk-show hosts loaded their Scuds on opponents of the war." "I'm not messing with people who want to say this attack is illegal, it's not warranted, it's not justified -- I'm not going to argue with you people anymore," Rush Limbaugh warned listeners. "Take your propaganda to somebody else who might believe it," he said. "We got stabbed in the back by those a******s in France and the rest of them," Imus complained. "Enough of Tom Daschle, who is disgraceful, and all the rest -- enough of that." "I'm sick and tired of these left-wing America haters," Grant said. "I don't know who I hate the most: Tom Daschle, Saddam Hussein or Peter Jennings." It was reported to me by a friend (whose name I don't want to use for fear of embarrassing him) that Dr. Laura Schlessinger took a new tack in criticizing anti-war voices. Apparently, on a recent program she offered this bit of shrewd advice; not only is it wrong to oppose Bush's war, but it is equally as bad if you don't speak out in support of the war. Slamming former allies David Frum, the man who is credited with coining the term "axis of evil" for President Bush's State of the Union speech, is particularly miffed at a bunch of what he simplistically labels paleoconservatives for betraying conservative principles: "You may know the names of these antiwar conservatives. Some are famous: Patrick Buchanan and Robert Novak. Others are not: Llewellyn Rockwell, Samuel Francis, Thomas Fleming, Scott McConnell, Justin Raimondo, Joe Sobran, Charley Reese, Jude Wanniski, Eric Margolis, and Taki Theodoracopulos." In a National Review article titled "Unpatriotic Conservatives," Frum writes: "These conservatives are relatively few in number, but their ambitions are large. They aspire to reinvent conservative ideology: to junk the 50-year- old conservative commitment to defend American interests and values throughout the world -- the commitment that inspired the founding of this magazine -- in favor of a fearful policy of ignoring threats and appeasing enemies." Perhaps these folks' greatest transgressions are that "They have made common cause with the left-wing and Islamist antiwar movements in this country and in Europe," and they cite and link to anti-war Web sites. (For the complete text, click here.) >From the pulpit Long time Religious right activist Dr. D. James Kennedy, head of Coral Ridge Ministries, focuses his ire on mainline Protestant leaders whose opposition to the war is "essentially propping up Saddam Hussein's regime." AgapePress reports that Dr. Kennedy -- clearly unable to grapple with the concept that opposition to the war does not equate with support for Hussein -- believes the protests are actually aimed directly at President Bush: "Why any churchman would choose to support that rather than to support our own president, I don't know. I think that some of them are doing it for purely political reasons, and [because] they have a very strong liberal bias -- and George W. Bush is their favorite target. Anything he does, I think, in their eyes would be wrong." Then, there's the Rev. Jerry Falwell who has Senator Tom Daschle and the Dixie Chicks on his mind. In the March 20 edition of Falwell Confidential, his e-mail newsletter, he claims that Daschle is solely motivated by "hatred of President Bush." As for the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines -- who apparently broke the good Reverend's heart by criticizing President Bush -- they have gone "from top of the charts to bottom of the barrel in the minds of many music lovers." The Rev. Falwell was ahead of the curve here. Of late there have been a number of events organized by good and righteous Americans who stand around a bon fire and throw Dixie Chick CDs into it. Of Maines' apology, the Rev. Falwell says that while she "attempted a pseudo apology for her words... the damage had been permanently done." The Rev Falwell knows from whence he speaks when talking about "pseudo" apologies. He's been issuing them pretty regularly down the through the years. Perhaps his most memorable apology followed his infamous and cowardly comments shortly after 9/11 when he told Pat Robertson's "700 Club" audience that: "I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'" The Rev. definitely earned a merit badge in "pseudo apologies," issuing them day-after-day, unable to get it right. Finally, executives at DreamWorks, set to release "Head of State," a new film by Chris Rock, have advised the comedian not to make any derogatory comments about President Bush or the war in Iraq. According to the Drudge Report, one top studio source said: "We are confident Chris knows this is not the appropriate time to make jokes about war and the president. We don't want to get Dixie-Chicked, or anything like that, out of the gate. We've invested tens of millions of dollars in the making of the movie and its marketing." ©Working Assets Online Forwarded for your information. The text and intent of the article have to stand on their own merits. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many genera- tions. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of teachers, elders or wise men. 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