Criticisms of the rhetoric of "American Innocence" (= willful ignorance of US imperialism) have been written at least since the mid-nineteenth century (e.g., Herman Melville, "Benito Cereno" [1856]), but I believe this trope will survive until the fall of the American Empire. In the mean time, there are better & worse ways of questioning the rhetoric.
As for the Oden & like cases, it doesn't make political sense to say, "hello, Virginia, you should have known that this is no democracy," when your fellow leftists are getting arrested, harassed, etc. One thing leftists in the States need to learn quick is to close ranks when it comes to defense of civil rights & liberties, whatever else we may continue to disagree on. Otherwise, we won't survive even if we all master all the "survival skills" that the most cautious black adults teach their kids in, say, Cincinnati. I say this because if a fascist state rises again, it will do so _here_ in the guise of "counter-terror."
At 6:59 PM -0600 11/4/01, Carrol Cox wrote:
> > Viz. S11, because there's only so much of "We never attack civilians" and
>> "they hate us because we're free and democratic" and "America has now seen
> > evil" that I can take before my gag reflex self-activates.
>
>When you get enough of this to activate your gag reflex, you are
>probably talking to someone who (at least for the present) is not going
>to be won to the anti-war cause anyhow, so gag away -- perhaps a little
>cultural shock will pay off in his/her case a few years from now.
I second Carrol. Our time, energy, etc. are limited, so it makes sense to spend them first on those who are likely to get actively involved in anti-war organizing & second on those who already have serious doubts about the U.S. government's claim that this is "the land of the free and home of the brave." We'll get an anti-war movement off the ground by organizing the first group first & make it bigger by expanding outward to the second group. The rest come later, if changing circumstances change their minds. -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Anti-War Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Anti-War Organizing in Columbus Covered by the Media: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/media.html>