[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > . Recently in the thread > about the KKK and 13 year olds visiting evil websites I posted an article > about a left wing group that was literally doing everything that the KKK does > and has done but in the name of a politically "approved" cause. Not only did > I not recieve any emails from listers discussing the irony but there were > none posted publicly. The silence was deafening. >From experience I can assert that it is common to put out a thought, argument or observation and not get a response. That doesn't prove tacit anything on the part of the people who have read it. My own response to violence of any kind by people who are passionate about their cause, be it the environment, racism, abortion or whatever is to condemn it as inappropriate. Further, I have known many many environmentalists over the years and one thing they have in common to the last is a commitment to non-violence. Sure there are extreme examples of violent activists, but they are a rarity and are not accepted by the movement as a whole. Not at all. It has come to light in some past cases that violent actions were actually instigated and organized by gov. agent provacateurs. One notable example was the Earth First! cutting of power lines in (Colo? Ariz?) in which the plan was hatched, pushed, the equipment and vehicles supplied by a gov. agent. Again, not to say this is always the case. I guess my initial thought when I read your post was how eager the media is to sensationalize one group, and how reluctant they are to publicize legitamate enviro groups and the vast environmental problems we face, especially when they conflict with the interests of their advertisers and corporate owners. For instance, GE who is deep into nuclear power and owns NBC, censors news about nukes. And ABC, owned by Disney, now censors news stories critical of Disney. It's like when Ralph Nader was trying to run for pres. The most ink he got during the whole campaign was at the end when they all decided he was a 'spoiler' for Gore. They overlooked or under reported his barring from the debates and his platform in general. > with the Clintons popularity still high in spite of > revelations that they stole not just the furniture but art that was solicited > for the White House permanent collection. What are you telling me, the president is a dishonest politician? Him and every other one in our lifetime. Not good but nothing new. > We find ourselves in a > relativist world culturally. In other words there simply is no right or wrong > any more. In fact those who insist that there is "right" and "wrong" are the > ones who are attacked by the cultural elite. The problem comes when one group's peculiar standards of right and wrong are imposed on others because they have more political power. > So how can anyone criticize > Eminem if all the other stuff is accepted "or else". Once you untether the > society from any form of control Are you talking about censorship? Control by whom? Of whom? > and insist on the validity of cultural > anarchy you cant come back and suddenly say "Hey thats off base". > > If Piss Christ is defended as art then so must Eminem be. I agree with this. We mustn't censor art, except to guard children from pornography. As for adults, they don't need a big brother or 'cultural elite' to decide for them. Again the Eminem question comes back to the media, in this case MTV, who, seemingly contrary to their political orientation, promoted the hell out of his last record, giving his videos heavy rotation out of proportion to his stature at the time, and in fact increasing his stature and sales considerably. The NARAS (grammy org) have also been under fire for participating in his promotion. They both are well aware of the homophobic and mysogenist lyrics. I am in solidarity with the groups who have protested MTV and those who will protest against NARAS today. I have supported a voluntary boycott of Eminem from the beginning, and encourage anyone who does not approve of Eminem to not buy his product, and anyone opposed to or offended by Piss Christ to stay out of that museum. I'm glad we have the freedom to choose. RR
