The disconnect between last Tuesday's monstrous dose of reality and the self-righteous drivel and outright deceptions being peddled by public figures and TV commentators is startling, depressing. The voices licensed to follow the event seem to have joined together in a campaign to infantalize the public. Where is the acknowledgement that this was not a "cowardly" attack on "civilization" or "liberty" or "humanity" or "the free world" but an attack on the world's self-proclaimed superpower, undertaken as a consequence of specific American alliances and actions? How many citizens are aware of the ongoing American bombing of Iraq? And if the word "cowardly" is to be used, it might be more aptly applied to those who kill from beyond the range of retaliation, high in the sky, than to those willing to die themselves in order to kill others. In the matter of courage (a morally neutral virtue): whatever may be said of the perpetrators of Tuesday's slaighter, they were not cowards.

Our leaders are bent on convincing us that everything is O.K. America is not afraid. Our spirit is unbroken, although this was a day that will live in infamy and America is now at war. But everything is not O.K. And this was not Pearl Harbor. We have a robotic President who assures us that America still stands tall. A wide spectrum of public figures, in and out of office, who are strongly opposed to the policies being pursued abroad by this Administration apparently feel free to say nothing more than that they stand united behind President Bush. A lot of thinking needs to be done, and perhaps is being done in Washington and elsewhere, about the ineptitude of American intelligence and counter-intelligence, about options available to American forgeign policy, particularly in the Middle East, and about what consitutes a smart program of military defence. But the public is not being asked to bear much of the burden of reality. The unanimously applauded, self-congratulatory bromides of a Soviet Party Congress seemed contemptible. The unanimity of the sanctimonious, reality-concealing rhetoric spouted by American officials and media commentators in recent days seems, well, unworth of a mature democracy.

Those in public office have let us know that they consider their task to be a manipulative one: confidence-building and grief management. Politics, the politics of a democracy -- which entails disagreement, which promotes candor -- has been replaced by psychotherapy. Let's not be stupid together. A few shreds of historical awareness might help us understand what has just happened, and what may continue to happen. "Our country is strong," we are told again and again. I for one don't find this entirely consoling. Who doubts that America is strong? But that's not all America has to be.

-Susan Sontag

(back to Martin Luther King page)

Got anything to add? Go ahead and cut through the pap.

Previous responses:

Gametone said:

Yeah this letter got her lambasted by politicians and talk show pundits. It
was one of the earliest rational responses to this event.

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IJL said:

Beautiful. I'm glad to know there are people besides me out there who can see through our leaders.

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Mathieu (France) said:

I'm glad to know that some people in the US do not consider those who are against the wars (Afghanistan or Irak, countries of the so-called "Axis of Evil") as ennemies or anti-american...

BTW, have a look at Bowling for Columbine by Michael Moore folks...

Peace

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pammy pam said:

thanks for the great article.

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feralchimp said:

the 'tag...telling it like it is! tnx for the great site.

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monsueir cheppy said:

Hey, i've a couple of things to say about whether or not they were cowards or not. They did what they did so that they could escape this hard life and live in a garden paradise with 72 virgins at their service, rather than building themselves a life on this earth. I call that cowardice. As for the US military, I dont know how you can call them cowards. I guess you are unaware of how difficult it is to pilot a fighter safely, and how easy it is to get shot down. one mistake, you could be dead. im sure you've heard about all the helicopters shot down in Iraq, so lets not say that they fire from beyond the range of retaliation.
By the way, I think we need to be more realistic than to think that the media is in league with the government, considering how much they criticize bush. The media is biased, but I think that bias is more to one party or another, rather than knee-jerk support of the government.

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fuck u 4-ever said:

give some fucking movies!!!

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lol said:

I think this fucking shit is porno!!!!

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mor din e hora said:

I think luthar had a little dick!!!

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Anonymous said:

martin luther king acivments

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Anonymous said:

youll should ashjamed of youll selves talking about a great honorable man like that

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COOLAX said:

THAT was a great article to read for everyone.Ithink everyone should read the article.

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Demarcus Hill said:

I call him "Freedom Man."

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Demarcus Hill said:

He's brave.

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mopoooo

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RJ said:

Congratulations to those who seek to pollute this board. You are a product of corporate mind control and are undable to see the truth even though we are handing it to you. I beg you to consider for a second that everything our government feeds us which in a pure reflection through mass media, may not be truth but a machine designed to psycologically reject "outside" ideas.

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WTF said:

what the hell is going on

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WTF said:

UR ALL IDIOTS

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Anonymous said:

mostly every one on here is acting like idiots GROW UP.

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Anonymous said:

I think that king inspierd alot of people and was a graet laeder

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Anonymous said:

this is bull

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Dr.GRAY said:

i am a eternie lairw and am going to find out who rote this expect a vsit from the cops

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Anonymous said:

keyn said

why martin let white black get along

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boo said:

mushmis

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cE's said:

the greatest man that lived

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Anonymous said:

shit

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emma said:

life is is never fair to mater what.but we shall all live with pease and kindness.^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^j^

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dani said:

i

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Garrett Morgan said:

Dr. king is the greatest speaker ever when i do a speech i try to be just like him .

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Anonymous said:

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jordan C said:

Martin Luther King Jr. I think
is a great role modle to kids that fight and kill each other I think if he was still alive the world wouldent be as bad as it is right now

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Anonymous said:

The date he said his " I had a dream" speach

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Anonymous said:

the day i was born

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