Nathan Newman wrote:
>-Wait a minute. A legally elected government doesn't have the right to
>-jail people conspiring to overthrow it?
>
>Not really, especially when their actions are such things as general
strikes
>and calling for a legal referendum.
-And meeting with Admirals who were involved in an actual coup? Are you serious?
Look, Chavez for various reasons, including some that make me support him over the opposition, has allowed many of the coup plotters loose. So unless the CTV is caught actually plotting illegal overthrow of the regime with folks legally out in society, guilt by association still does not warrant arrest.
>By yours and Yoshie's logic, most of Cointelpro was completely justified
and
>probably too few Panthers were jailed, since from every account I have from
>friends of the era, a lot of folks fully intended to support overthrow of
>the Nixon and capitalist regime.
-So now reactionary union officials and their military allies are the -equivalent of the Panthers? Really, Hathan, you should drop the -propagandist role now and then just for the sake of intellectual -coherence.
You know, I actually do believe in civil liberties rights that transcend the worth of those using them, so yes, as far as the right of association and the right of people to denounce and even organize against government power, reactionary union officials and sainted lefties are equivalent.
As I said, the logic of arguments here is just the same as McCarthyism-- civil liberties belong only to those loyal to the government and who have the "correct" beliefs.
To repeat, I support Chavez over the opposition. I'd like to see the present CTV leadership ousted democratically from within. I hope the business leaders choke on their own vomit. So what is my "propagandistic role" in holding out for civil liberties for those who I disagree with, other than propaganda in favor of universal civil liberties and independent labor rights?
-- Nathan Newman