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Karmic
Justice Shame on those pathetic "little Eichmanns" at UO who cowardly canceled Ward Churchill's lecture! Those who deny Mr. Churchill a forum are, no doubt, the kind of people who want us all to have filters on our minds to keep out "politically incorrect" facts and ideas so they can usher us in the New World Order, where no one will be permitted to say or write (or even think) anything that is not "politically correct." They know that they can't maintain their control over the minds of Americans unless they can control the flow of information and ideas. And if they lose their control over what Americans think, they eventually lose their political power as well. They obviously do not believe in free speech. These are people who will tell you with a straight face that the First Amendment was never meant to protect "offensive" or "hateful" speech. That's why they become hysterical when someone calls spade a spade and states the truth loudly enough for others to hear. As the saying goes, "the truth is hate to those who hate the truth." Thus it seems brutally obvious to me that a person here in America cannot act honorably without being hated for it. Professor Churchill is vilified and attacked because he speaks the truth and he was, yes, absolutely right saying that on Sept. 11, 2001, America got what it was asking for. Why do so many people hate America so much that they are even willing to commit suicide if they can take some of you with them? I've never gotten really clear and honest answer to such questions from the Americans. Instead, nearly all feel offended by these questions, pretending that it was an unprovoked attack. They look only for "politically correct" explanations — or at least, for explanations which are not "offensive." This is why there is ongoing effort to silence the dissidents like Churchill, to stifle those people who are asking inconvenient questions and thinking dangerous thoughts. Well, the American people now are clearly faced with a choice. You can keep on behaving like ostriches with heads stuck in the sand, and as Churchill wrote, you can continue your slavishly obedient sheeplike behavior prattling on about "innocent Americans" being "the most peaceful nation on Earth" while silently endorsing the continuous violent crimes of the U.S. against the rest of the world. Or, you can try facing up to both the realities of America's shameful historical record and the responsibilities that history has bequeathed. Churchill's truly brilliant book, On the Justice of Roosting Chickens, is a precise chronicle and expertly written examination of America's monstrous behavior and murderous history — all its bloody crimes from Wounded Knee to May Lai, from Hiroshima to Fallujah. Churchill lets the facts speak for themselves. Of course, it's not the nation itself that is hated; it's American foreign policy. It's what the U.S. has done to the world. "Our nation is the greatest force for good in history," proclaims Bush. But America's genocidal history makes it abundantly clear that the U.S. government always was and still is a major force for evil in the world. As celebrated British playwright Harold Pinter put it, America today is "the most dangerous power the world has ever known — the authentic rogue state, but a rogue state of colossal military and economic might." Therefore, yes, 9/11 was nothing but a payday which was long overdue. In a sense, that was indeed like a karmic justice. Since the vast majority of Americans continue to support or at least tolerate the blatant evil of their government's crimes, you naturally should have been expecting some kind of retribution for that. That's why I must agree with Ward Churchill's opinion that the people who have suffered and died in 9/11 attacks were not all totally innocent victims of an "unprovoked" terrorist assault. Let us not forget that the Pentagon is the seat of U.S. military power and that the World Trade Center was the premiere hub for the major players of U.S. global economic domination. In order for America to be "free" and prosperous, millions of human beings have suffered and died horrendously, and continue to do so in numbers far greater, every day, than were killed on 9/11. America should not ignore the widespread hatred that is felt against it. Things have gone far too far. When people are pushed as far as they are willing to go, and when they believe that they have nothing left to lose, then they resort to terrorism, which is born of helplessness and despair. Empires have always been hated. And it is appropriate to remember that quite a few hegemonic monsters such as this one have risen — and fallen — over the centuries. Mumia Abu-Jamal said, "What history really shows is that today's empire is tomorrow's ashes." Eventually all the chickens will come to roost! Meanwhile, in solidarity with Ward Churchill, I would suggest that everyone simply boycott that upcoming conference on racism and diversity, hypocritical organizers of which had canceled his invitation. Valdas Anelauskas is a Soviet dissident from Lithuania currently living in Eugene. He is the author of Discovering America as It Is (see www.bookmasters.com/clarity/b0015.htm),a book he wrote with assistance from Ward Churchill.
Flat
Out Stupid or not, Oregon voters banned gay marriage. If you want matrimony's legal benefits and you're not in a one-man/one-woman couple, the Constitution officially declares you SOL. But queer people are such rebels we keep on getting married. When friends announced their same-sex nuptials about a hundred miles south of town, wild homophobes couldn't keep us away. Four of us made plans to drive down together in Jean's new car. Jean, Wifey and I are big old dykes. For the special occasion of a lesbian wedding, we'd arrayed ourselves in our fanciest finery — Jean, in a freshly-ironed plaid button-down with Dockers, Wifey and I opting for elastic-waist pant and shirt ensembles. You know, dressed up. Then Mary arrived. The one straight woman in our entourage showed up for the trip in a stunning blue silk suit. Next to her we looked like the Clampetts. But hey, we're down with diversity. So there we are, toodling along the interstate, chatting up whatever it is homos and straight people find in common, such as who we'd like to see as Martha Stewart's new apprentice. We're into a good discussion about baba ganouj when blammo! A huge explosion jerks the car out of control. Jean white-knuckles the steering wheel. Wifey and I squeeze bruise-marks into each other's thighs. Jean's freckly complexion flushes scarlet, clear around to the back of her neck, upon which my gaze is rigidly fixed. Jean and Wifey and I lose our power of rational thinking. Was it a sniper? Land mine? Off-target strategic air strike? Mary remains composed and matter-of-factly points out we've blown a tire. The car hobbles to a stop. Life and limb no longer in danger, I assess our situation. A current AAA card but no cell phone. I jump out and try to flag down help. I feel like an idiot. All those years of martial arts, assertiveness training, and lesbian empowerment have come down to this one bizarre moment — me flailing my arms in the wind like some berserk Olive Oyl calling Help! Popeye! Traffic zooms past. My traveling companions stand at the open tailgate. Popeye not forthcoming, I give up on waving at speeders and join my gang behind the car. Turns out that while Jean has owned this vehicle two whole months, she has never looked at — nor for that matter even located — the spare. Here we are, three lesbos in sensible shoes all dressed up in our Sunday-go-to-wedding clothes. Nobody wants to get dirty. Then Mary, our token straight woman in heels, takes over. She lifts the floor panel. We big tough lesbians just stand there, staring at what is supposed to be the spare — a rubber ring the size of a hemorrhoid cushion. Mary hefts out the tire, biceps bulging under the still-pristine blue silk, and rolls it around to the front passenger side where the flat is. The jack lies in tinker-toy segments of industrial-yellow metal tubing — assembly required. While we three galoots fumble with the pieces and argue over the possible meanings of the tiny-print instructions, Mary pries off the hubcap. The tire iron is too dinky to loosen the lug nuts. Here's where I come in. Big dyke that I am, it's my duty to step up. Literally. Mary has me climb onto the lug wrench while she holds it in place, using my bounce for torque to loosen the lug nuts. Then she jacks up the car, removes the lugs and sets them into the upturned hubcap — all of this without getting so much as a dust mote on her nicely manicured hands. By the time the flat is removed and stowed and the spare is mounted and secured, we three lezzies have managed to get ourselves filthy. Mary remains unsullied. Luckily, she has enough moist towelettes in her purse for all of us. Note to self: Never go to a lesbian wedding without a straight woman along. Join writer Sally Sheklow March 3rd in a demonstration for marriage equality at Oregon's state capitol. For Day of Action details see www.basicrights.org. For transportation from Eugene contact Religious Response Network's Jan Fairchild, familyzoo6@comcast.net, 344-7378.
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