Posted on 09/17/2001 11:23:11 AM PDT by BigTime
From: Robin Morgan
Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 16:02:33 EDT
Subject: NYC report . . .
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Dear Sisters and Friends,
Forgive the mass emailing of this letter, but in this situation it seems more important to get some personal, basic lower-Manhattan news/impressions to you all than take the time to reply one-on-one to each of your many, many, moving emails. I've received emails and phone calls from women in 18 different countries over the last 24 hours--from South Africa to Jordan, Malaysia to Brazil, Nepal to Canada, Australia to the Caribbean, The Philippines to Peru, all across Europe and the USA--and from West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
First, thank you from my heart for all your thoughts, concerns,invitations to come stay with you, expressions of sadness, solidarity, and political anxiety. So many, many of you have astonishingly cited my book The Demon Lover as the essential expression/analysis of what has just happened (as well as the background and underlying conflicts) that even in the midst of deep sorrow and grief you have renewed my belief that art, an attempted clarity of thought, and a stubborn politics of transformation do make a contribution, make a difference. But so far, as we know all too hideously, not enough.
I am well and safe, as are those dearest to me. (I've also been in touch with dear friends who were in transit around the US, who are safe, though some stranded in hotels and airports.) Here in Greenwich Village we are, as many of your worried, in lower Manhattan, but north--about a mile and a half--of the catastrophic area. We have electric power, water, the basics.
Friends who live(d) much closer to it staggered here yesterday morning, covered with ash, shaking with fear, and spent the day and last night here.
The infrastructure of the city is holding extraordinarily well: subways and busses are already running again (though not south, near the site itself); there was a brief run on the banks and food stores but that seems to have passed. (Personally, I'm supplied enough even to be able to help others; have garden vegetables growing plus leftover Y2K water, candles, and canned goods--but that seems probably unnecessary.)
This morning the National Guard arrived--and on my dawn walk I could just as well have been walking through a military state: police, state troopers, and emergency personnel on every corner below 14th St., with trucks filled with Guardsmen, rifles bayoneted and at ready, beginning to roll through the streets. Since this area is uptown from the site itself, you can imagine how tight security is closer to the WT Center. We must be calm but truly vigilant, since in such a time of crisis, the danger of a turn to the extreme Right is genuinely real. The press continues to roll, though no newspapers could be delivered below 14th St.
Media coverage has been nonstop, and relatively cautious to avoid rumors(especially in the wake of misreporting the election results last year). As of this morning (first day "after") the expectable patriotic blabber and religious jargon had started, along with pundits and politicians issuing media cliches about "beginning the healing process" and seeking "closure."
Maddeningly, there have been frequently repeated airings of film clips of some Palestinian men in West Bank celebrating the attack with laughter, dancing, and v-signs--but unfortunately there have NOT been as frequently repeated press airings of Palestinian leaders, Arab leaders, and leaders of the Arab American community deploring it; equal time has NOT been given; only once in 24 hours have I heard major media announce the official statement of the Muslim community in the US that heatedly denounced the attack. But there HAS been heartening journalistic comment--including from the mayor of NYC--warning against bigoted responses to this tragedy.
As those of you with whom I've managed to speak know, in fact, that has been one of my great worries, because a few years ago, in the 48 hours after the Oklahoma City bombing (before it was discovered that the perpetrator was a white Christian right-wing male) three Arab Americans were lynched in the Midwest of the US. Already, mosques are being defaced and Internet chatrooms spewing hate against "all Arabs." We (feminists, progressives, etc.) are doing everything we can to avoid this kind of escalating nightmare--and a network of safe houses is already being set up to shelter and help innocent Arab or Muslim civilians who might be persecuted in the wake of this tragedy.
This morning I was touched to learn that the Pagan and Wiccan community is doing the same thing, in the name of religious freedom from persecution. We are also trying to organize a press conference of support--but whether that will be covered or not is questionable, given the major news that breaks every hour or so.
Politically--well, it's too early to say, of course. But some things can be hypothesized. It may be heartening that this disaster might deter Bush's star wars anti-missile fantasy--since, as so many of us have said for so long, THIS kind of attack, not missiles, is the real 21st century threat (and it was amazingly "low-tech": ceramic knives, commercial flights, 3 to 5 men ready to die for a cause: simple). Furthermore (despite the expectable "let's all stand together behind our president" rhetoric) general press analysis plus public reaction seems fairly critical of Bush's handling so far, noting 1) Bush's policy of withdrawal from Mideast peace process talks, 2) Bush's administration having ignored warnings 3 weeks ago of a major "unprecedented" attack to come, and 3) Bush being incapable of projecting leadership or even a sense of basic competence.
In talking with colleagues in feminist leadership, a number of us have noted that for years we've tried everything to get the US to move forcibly against the Taliban, given the literal attempted genocide of women and girls in today's Afghanistan--and each time we've been impeded by the powerful boys of Big Oil--who care only for their beloved pipelines. Perhaps this may finally make a difference.
As I write this, news breaks that the FBI has picked up possible "suspects" in Florida and in Boston . . . but that kind of story you will hear or read as it evolves, in your own press, or if you can access CNN, where you are.
So I will sign off for now. Feel free to share this communique with your own networks. I trust with all my heart that you will each do all you possibly can in your own countries, cities, and situations to educate people as to WHY this kind of tragedy happens--that it is NOT just "madmen" or "monsters" or "subhuman maniacs" who commit dramatic violence, but that such acts occur in a daily climate of patriarchal violence so epidemic as to be invisible in its normality--and that such tactics as this attack come from a complex set of circumstances, including despair over not being heard any other way; desperation over long-term, even generational, suffering; calcification of sympathy for "the other"; callousing of sensibilities, blatant economic and political injustice, tribal/ethnic hatreds and fears, religious fundamentalisms, and especially the eroticization and elevation of violence as a form of "manhood" and "solution." Violence IS psychosis --but it's a psychoses that contemporary incumbent leaders of most nations share with their insurgent opponents.
Even as we mourn, we somehow must continue to dare audaciously to envision and revision a different way, a way out of this savage age, to a time when our species will look back and gasp, recoiling at its own former barbarism.
Even as we weep, we must somehow reorganize to reaffirm our capacity to change the world, each other, and ourselves--to insist, even in the teeth of despair, on a politics that is possible and necessary: a politics not of thanatos and death, but of eros and joy.
I send each of you my gratitude and my deep affection.
Robin Morgan
It may not be the end all do all for the average male, but I'm reminded of an episode of "Cops" where a pre-school girl got away from a kidnapper, and probably saved her own life, with nothing more than a swift kick. She's still alive because someone cared enough to teach her how to protect herself in the real world. The children of Susan Smith and Andrea Yates are dead because no one bothered to teach them how to disable an attacker who happens to be female. Maybe you can disable a woman who attacks you now, but could you have stopped one when you were 6?
Should a woman try this on me (or any other virile American Male) She might quickly start wondering why her lips are numb and her vision fading and why that 270 pound MALE is holding her off the ground by her throat....
And you may be wondering why you're in jail when the woman attacked you. Of course by law everyone has the right to defend himself against an attack, but the judicial system, made up mostly of men, haven't caught up to the fact that this applies even when the woman is the attacker.
Agreed, but for how long have males been taught (even by other males) not to hit a female even in defense? If you weren't taught this, then I'd like to know where you're from so I can move there.;-)
The fact remains, AND IT IS SO REGARDLESS OF THE LAW, Females are NOT able to physically compete with males unless the males ALLOW IT.
I also pitty the woman who tests her prowess with a man who knows this fact. It may not end in death but certainly she would not do it again. I have personally no angst for women, but the PERSON who attacks me will recieve the fruits of my training and my gender REGARDLESS of theirs.
What difference does it make? Let's concentrate on issues and leave personal issues out of this.
Your arguments hold NO water.
I don't see where you directly addressed any of them. For example, could you have stopped Andrea Yates or Susan Smith from killing you when you were 6 years old? Do you think the average boy could, as that young girl did when a man tried to kidnap her?
The facts can not be denied, they are overwhelming and irrefutable. The only argument you or any feminist can muster is under the protection of civilized LAW, and unfortunately the LAWS OF NATURE are blind to the LAW OF MAN.
It is, without a doubt, Femist, politically correct policy that allowed this WTC terror to happen. It is also doubtless that it will be the minds and brains of MEN that will solve and eliminate it, backed by a healthy showing of something WOMEN don't have....BALLS!
Another evasion? Why don't you just answer my question?
The only argument you or any feminist...
Do you realize you are the third person to accuse me of being a feminist. You are accusing me, right?
...can muster is under the protection of civilized LAW, and unfortunately the LAWS OF NATURE are blind to the LAW OF MAN.
That's why women are getting into bodybuilding, martial arts, guns, etc..., so that they can protect themselves when your law of nature takes over. And I don't care how big you are, a woman with a gun can easily drop you.
It is, without a doubt, Femist, politically correct policy that allowed this WTC terror to happen.
I'll bet the terrorists would be shocked to learn they are the result of feminism.
It is also doubtless that it will be the minds and brains of MEN that will solve and eliminate it, backed by a healthy showing of something WOMEN don't have....BALLS!
MEN can eliminate it through one simple decision. Stop contributing to it.
I didn't say hit, I said use the degree of force necessary for defense. I've never been told I couldn't defend myself from anyone, regardless of gender. I doubt few others have either, it's just a matter of degree. If a girl I'm dating gets mad and hits me, it is my duty to shrug it off. If she continues to hit me, I will restrain her or leave, depending on the situation, and terminate the relationship. If a total stranger runs up and hits me (not counting small children), I will beat the living crap out of them, again regardless of gender.
I am still having trouble understanding what point you are trying to make.
Folks, we as individuals and as a nation had better come to grips with reality real quick. The rubble that was once the WTC and the Pentagon teaches one powerful lesson and it is this: These people can NOT be reasoned with, they can NOT be negotiated or "made nice" with.
The Islamic Fundamentalists don't want our "love" or "hugs". Is everyone listening?... THEY WANT TO SLIT OUR THROATS, LIKE THEY DID THOSE POOR STEWARDESSES. THEY WANT TO CRASH THE PLANE WITH EVERYONE ON BOARD AND TAKE AS MANY PEOPLE ON TEH GROUND WITH THEM AS THEY POSSIBLY CAN. To put it mildly, THEY WANT US ALL DEAD. They want to KILL you and me if we are Americans or Israelis. They are fanatically bent upon the wholesale and total destruction of our country, our faith, our children, our sons and daughters, our fathers and mothers our way of life. THEY HATE US... period.
Our nation has been mercilessly attacked. Thousands upon thousands of CIVILIAN citizens are dead because that was their intention and whether we like it or not we are at WAR. Those responsible, along with those who sponsor, profit from and support them must be held accountable and punished. The sword of justice must be now be applied and applied strongly and swiftly upon those who have made themselves our enemies. Otherwise the events of September 11, 2001 will be repeated on an ever-increasing level throughout our land in the days ahead.
If our enemies were able to accomplish all of this with box cutters. Think what they WILL attempt when they obtain biological and nuclear weapons of MASS DESTRUCTION! Do not be under any illusion that they would not dare to use them. They WILL, GLADLY, they will rejoice and pass out more candy to their children as hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of Americans lay dead in the streets.
This is the enemy we are up against and it is the face of pure evil and hate. They will not listen to a message of "love" or "hugs". The only message they will understand, the only message that will get their attention and deter their plans, activities and ultimate goals is the message of overwhelming force leading to THEIR utter destruction.
I do not say these thing because I hate them. (I pray for their souls and for their salvation through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ who can save them and forgive their sins.) I say these things because this is reality. This is the enemy we face and must defeat. If we do not, he alternative will be too horrendous to endure.
REMEMBER THE TOWERS!
Here's a section that is stupefying in itself. The writer nearly breaks her arm slapping herself on the back for identifying the cause of the WTC attack in her apparently brilliant book. And her implied message that if we just keep trying we can make a difference, blah, blah, blah, is representative of a fundamental tenet of the 'New' Age: the individual does not need God but can perfect themselves. All they need do is consume the proper quantity of feminists' books.
(And having a vegetable garden can't hurt)
I'm not sure, I just wish it wasn't my planet.
One member, calling himself George bush-bin-Laden, has been copying-and-pasting essays from left-wing hate sites such as Democratic Underground, Salon and Bartcop. It seems that all of the lefties are circling around the dead like vultures, screeching, "Blame Bush! Blame Bush! Blame Bush!"
As usual, it's either SunRock, NJCher, Youthful Indiscretion or George Bush-bin-Laden jumping on every new thread, spreading the usual 100% organic left-wing fertilizer.
These left-wing fringe dwellers have repeatedly attempted from the very beginning to gain political yardage from these events. For days the conservatives at Capitol Grilling, and even a few liberals who still have a soul, tried to convince them to stop and show some respect for the dead. But they just keep on circling like vultures over the dead, screeching "Blame Bush! Blame Bush! Blame Bush!"
I had to copy-and-paste a statement from Secretary of State Colin Powell that confirmed all aid sent to the Afghans was humanitarian in nature (in the form of grain, medical supplies and other hard goods instead of cash), routed through relief organizations such as Red Crescent to keep it out of the hands of the Taliban. I also provided a link to the State Department website where Powell's statement was first posted. And they still won't stop attacking our duly elected President during a time of crisis, when we should be rallying behind him.
Do they really believe that at some point, in a smoke-filled room at the White House, Bush said to Powell, "Hey, let's send $43 million in small, unmarked bills to Osama bin Laden to help him destroy America"? Do they really expect others who aren't stupid to believe it? (Of course, they've always been able to count on the stupid vote.)
I have also repeatedly pointed out that the Supreme Court was enforcing a statutory deadline for certifying the Florida vote -- in other words, they were enforcing a valid law passed by the elected legislature of the state of Florida -- and that the recounts this spring, at the behest of the Miami Herald and other media, proved that Bush would have won the recount anyway. I also pointed out that over 7500 convicted felons somehow managed to vote in Florida and that their voted were counted; and that a poll of these felons indicated that 68% of them voted for Gore. (At least they can count on the felon vote.)
Finally, I've pointed out that three separate 19th Century presidents won the electoral college and the presidency while losing the popular vote (as Bush did), but nobody calls any of those presidents illegitimate. None of these left-wing fringe dwellers has even attempted to refute any of this, yet they still jump on every new thread to claim that Bush's presidency is illegitimate.
They keep on keepin' on with their cute little plays on words, such as "pResident Shrub" and "Supreme Court Injustices." They have convinced themselves that they are so very, very clever.
Gore was a vice-president during a time of peace and prosperity. Under those conditions he should have ascended to the presidency in a landslide victory. The fact that he did not speaks volumes about the complete moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the party of the Left. The fact that the presidency was even within the reach of George W. Bush is a damning indictment of the DNC.
Before the Republicans took over Congress in 1994, Clinton and the Democrats slashed spending on the CIA, the DIA, the NSA and other intelligence agencies. Among other things, this cost us hundreds of data analysts, who used to sit quietly in their cubicles, sifting through mountains of data. They are the ones who put the pieces of the puzzle together. When the Republicans took over Congress, they tried to restore the funding; but their majority wasn't big enough to be veto-proof.
If those data analysts had still been on the job, one of them might have noticed that known associates of Osama bin Laden were receiving multi-engine pilot training at a flight school in Venice, Florida. When the voting records of the Democratic incumbents on intelligence funding are used against them in the 2002 elections, the bleating, whining and squealing from the Left will be even louder than it was in December.
Since 1992, Democrats have lost about 70 Congressional seats, over 1,200 state legislature seats and 13 governorships to the Republicans, and over 300 Democratic politicians have changed parties.
The last time a Democrat won a landslide victory was in 1964. That was before the party adopted gay rights, the right to kill an unborn child, the disarming of law-abiding citizens to make them defenseless victims of violent crime, and affirmative action quotas as the cornerstones of their platform.
Since 1964, Republicans have won three bona fide landslides, and only one Democrat has ever won more than 50% of the vote: Jimmy Carter in 1976.
And that was right after Watergate.
And it was very close.
And it was 25 years ago.
Consider also that as people grow older, they tend to become more conservative. Remember that old saying attributed to Winston Churchill: "Anyone who is not a liberal at 20 has no heart. Anyone who is not a conservative at 40 has no brain." Now consider that in tandem with the fact that the segment of the population that is eligible to vote is steadily growing older.
The Left used to have a faint glimmer of hope with the younger generation, since they were mostly liberal. Many of them disliked cops. Some of them had even been brainwashed to the point of feeling disgust when seeing a recruiting ad, or hearing a fighter jet fly overhead.
The other night, I saw interviews with a group of students from Stuyvesant High. This is a gifted school in lower Manhattan, very near what used to be the World Trade Center. They were told to stay where they were, and they saw everything from their classroom windows.
And I do mean everything.
Now they welcome the sight of policemen and fighter jets. There's another old saying I'd like to repeat: "A conservative is a liberal who has been mugged." In a sense, this whole generation of young people was mugged last Tuesday. This group from Stuyvesant High used to be very bright, articulate and liberal. They're now very bright, articulate and conservative. And there are millions more like them.
The left-wing fringe dwellers marginalize themselves with every word they post on these websites. Moderate swing voters see the irrational hatred that they spew, and the obsessive-compulsive way in which they still refuse to acknowledge defeat in the state of Florida, and they shake their heads in disbelief and walk into our camp.
Keep up the good work for our party, SunRock.
I cannot wait for 2002.
I'm not evading , your changing the subject to suite your lame argument.
"Do you realize you are the third person to accuse me of being a feminist. You are accusing me, right?"
No, not quite. You see I can read, "(I'm not, but I'm playing devil's advocate)" besides in order for me to have included you as a feminist I would have written,
"The only argument you or any Other feminist...
Which I did not.
"That's why women are getting into bodybuilding, martial arts, guns, etc..., so that they can protect themselves when your law of nature takes over. And I don't care how big you are, a woman with a gun can easily drop you"
Nope, sorry, the rules still apply. I know several "built" women in my gym and NONE of them would even think of taking me PERIOD. The biggest of which can press over 200lbs. Martial arts make no diference whatsoever, mass is mass, no amount of technique can compensate for it. As far as weapons go, if thats where you want to go, I hope she knows how to use it, cause I assure you she can die of lead poisoning just as well as me, only thing is if she runs out of ammo she'll surely die of MAN poisoning.
"MEN can eliminate it through one simple decision. Stop contributing to it"
NOW I KNOW YOUR A WOMAN. are you sugessting that women Don't? So your sugesting that we just allow this attack to stand unanswered? Would you have made the same desicion with the attack on perl harbor? MEN perpetrated this wrong! MEN will answer and stop it!
If we take the pacifist defense and ignore the attack and not respond we will invite more of the same from other MEN.
THIS IS NOT A WOMANS WORLD IT IS RUN BY MEN PERIOD.
THE FEMINIST IDEALS ESPOUSED IN YOUR LAST STATEMENT WOULD BE THE DEATH OF OUR WAY OF LIFE AS WE KNOW IT! (and NO I'm not calling you a feminist)
IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT MOVE TO FRANCE!
(your pretty good at this DA thing)
Aha, there's the rub. For you cannot fight that which will not be made visible... This woman should get the same treatment that's given to everyone else who sees giant green caterpillars crawling up your trousers...
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