> People have often referred to this affair as a putsch of
> the punditocracy, which I believe has a lot of truth. The
> mediacracy are sweating with pleasure to find out that their
> moralistic opinions might actually affect things in the
> world. That August 24, 1998, might be the moment that Skynet
> became conscious.
>
> But the real crime is that people, by contrast, can't even
> imagine what it would be like have an effect on the world.
> Here is what on the face of it seems like an epochal
> opportunity for alternative forces: a massive disgust with
> the entire political system. And not one of us can think of
> a way to make this a new beginning. We have no idea how to
> seize an opportunity. No political vehicle. And no idea how
> to design one.
I disagree. I think we have a wonderful opportunity, and only our self-defeatism (and in particular our love of complex theories born of defeat rather than simple victories) stands in the.
The answer is -- do a Wallace, a Nixon, an Agnew -- RUN AGAINST THE PRESS. Run against the CONSERVATIVE MEDIA.
The Democrats can avoid a landslide defeat and turn the tide by tapping into people's anger and disgust.
Progressives organizing at the grassroots can play a decisive role in helping bring this about.
And radicals can take advantage of the sharp shift in consciousness, discourse and power to bring other suppressed issues and contradictions to the fore.
But we're so used to fighting each other, will any of us sieze this opportunity?
Everyone on this list gets to vote by what they choose to do.
I put this -- not as well as I might, perhaps -- to Jeff Cohen and Bernie Sanders on Pacifica's *Living Room* yesterday, and they both gave sort of routine "amens," as if they've been in the trenches too long to see or believe in an epochal opening, but I swear it's there folks. The Starr report is, in it's own way, a bit like the Tet Offensive. It's signals a turning point in public opinion. But where will it turn?
Once again, everyone on this list gets to vote.
Vote NO! on GE, NO! on Westinghouse, NO! on Murdoch, NO! on the punditalkcracy, NO! on purient prudery, NO! on special-interest government-by-distraction.
No! on plutocracy, and YES! on democracy.
It could happen.
Turn the tide first. Then debate how to take it further.
-- Paul Rosenberg Reason and Democracy rad at gte.net
"Let's put the information BACK into the information age!"