Chomsky News Network

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Fri May 31 13:34:02 PDT 2002


budge wrote:


>On Fri, 31 May 2002 at 2:44pm Doug Henwood wrote:
>
>> kelley at pulpculture.org wrote:
>>
>> >so how is this 'Love America" to say this, doug? carrol?
>>
>> "Love America" is a bit of a caricature. But you seemed
>> to think it important to profess patriotic feelings, and
>> invoked your mother-in-law's reaction as something of a
>> test. I don't know your m-i-l, but I don't feel any
>> compulsion to shape my comments to please her. Convince,
>> provoke, inspire thought, sure, but why should Chomsky
>> or I or anyone have to play the God Bless America game?
>
>i don't think kelley was asking for that, but maybe i'm
>wrong. but you seem to be bordering on the coxian with your
>last sentence above. after all, it's carrol who is always
>on about it how we shouldn't be worried about 'reaching out'
>or 'convincing' people, i thought you disagreed.

I said "convince...sure." What's Coxian about that?


>do you not tailor your message differently for different
>audiences? not write differently for the nation than you
>might write on this list or your own newsletter?

Yup. I wouldn't go on about imperialism if I were invited on CNN (the two times I was on that stupid network, I never used the word). I couldn't wax patriotic in ways I don't really feel. I would say there's much I admire about this country, and much I don't like very much. But global declarations of how this is the best or worst place on earth aren't very helpful or enlightening.


>not turning down sex seems straightforward enough, i mean i
>understand why, but why go on teevee? why waste your time,
>if you're not interested in persuading?

I am interested in persuading. But one of the things I'd like to persuade people of is that this is not the Shining City on the Hill.

Doug



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