Life, Love, and Liberty

I was feeling increasingly pessimistic about the prospects of warding off the potential campaign of mass murder being planned against Iran, yet a post by Arthur Silber led me to realize that there might still be hope.

To quote the post:

Perhaps people think that nothing they do at this point can alter what seems close to inevitable. It may be that even large-scale, continuing public protest would change nothing — but we don’t know that. Since it hasn’t been tried, it is impossible to predict what the effects might be. And permit me to offer a recent example, an instance where activism on the part of a large number of “ordinary” Americans did in fact change an outcome of some significance.

In terms of substance, I view the example as a profoundly unfortunate one, for it has to do with the defeat of the immigration bill. I viewed that bill as a terrible one, but for reasons directly opposed to those offered by its loudest opponents — for their opposition was obviously racist in nature. Of course, they denied their objections were racist, but they all finally resorted to discussions of “demographics,” and what they viewed as terrifying changes in our “culture” and to “way of life.” Such coded words fool no one, and this kind of viciously disapproving attitude toward immigrants has a long and awful history in the United States.

But with regard to the following observations, I am not concerned with why opponents of the immigration bill fought it so vehemently: I am focused only on the fact that they opposed it so strenuously, and that their opposition had the intended effect. I’ve mentioned that I listen to far too much talk radio, in part because I don’t have television. I listened to a number of conservative talk radio shows during both recent periods when the immigration bill came up for consideration: Limbaugh, Hannity, Al Rantel here in Los Angeles, Mark Levin, and several others. On both occasions, all of the shows talked about the immigration bill all the time. They discussed what they viewed as its inevitable awful results, why it was “unAmerican,” how it would destroy our country, and included the other standard rightwing talking points on this subject.

And they all did something else: they told their listeners to call and email people in Congress, and to call and email various Republican organizations, including the Republican National Committee, and to take all these actions repeatedly. They provided phone numbers and email addresses, and they indicated the general message that should be conveyed. They didn’t do this only once in one show: they did it throughout their shows, on every show, for over a week both times. The message was unceasing and unrelenting. It was repeated over and over and over. You couldn’t listen to one of the major conservative talk shows without hearing it within five minutes of tuning in. It went on all the time.

One part of the message deserves particular note, and all of the shows I heard made the same point: they condemned those Republicans, including Bush, who supported the bill without mercy. They told people to inform the RNC and all the appropriate Congressmen and Senators that they would receive no further support of any kind, including financial support, unless the bill was defeated. In their view, support of the bill was a betrayal of core conservative principles. They therefore maintained that any such alleged “conservatives” did not deserve to be in office. As one, they said that these betrayers of the conservative faith should not hold power any longer — and that the principles they believed were imperiled were more important than the continuation in power by the Republican party.

Why not encourage a similar campaign when it comes to the Democratic base? Or anyone who is concerned about the prospect of military action against Iran. The idea would be to try planning some kind of sustained series of mass emailing, postal mailing, and phone calling days. It would be even better to see if enough people could be convinced to do these types of actions on a daily basis. I’ve decided to speak to as many individuals as I can in an effort to get them to take part in the above. I’ll ask them to speak to as many people as they can and see if some kind of chain reaction could be sparked. I also intend to devote more blogging time to the issue, so I can reach those who are not already convinced of the need to deter such an attack. I am asking anybody else reading this to do the same. It may be possible to deter the gang in Washington from another act of aggressive war via this kind of leaderless grassroots resistance.

Some other ideas:

- The college students reading this could try to see if they could organize some kind of teach-in on campus.

- The anti-war/left-libertarian/progressive/anyone concerned about this issue blogosphere could advertise these mass action days.

- The Center for a Stateless Society could publish op-eds that encourage opposition to war with Iran while simultaneously tying its origins to the existence of the nation- state. I have a piece started that will make such an argument.

The present context of horrific approval ratings for the Bush administration is ripe for a sustained information and call to action campaign. It would be positively and wonderfully dialectical! : -)

The link to the contact information page for the Senate is here, while the listing for the House of Representatives is here. It’s also possible to use this page to contact the folks in Washington. It’s never too late to start letting the governing class know that your electoral support for them is jeopardized by their heinous policies. They may not care about the victims of the warfare state, but a threat to their power is something that would be a cause for concern to them.

Additional Info

If collaboration is on the table, be sure to learn the subtle art of teleconferencing. The best part of a telephone conference call is the opportunity for multiple players to contribute to the topic at hand. There are plenty of ways to make free conference calls, so don’t be lured into any expensive contracts.

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