Open Letter to Kevin Barrett
Dear Kevin Barrett,
I hope this letter finds you in good health and in good spirits.
I just finished studying the materials you published of your exchanges
with Prof. Chomsky, here:
http://www.barrettforcongress.us/chomsky.htm
I got more and more upset as I read it. You did commit a minor but
important transgression by not editing out personal information about
his family situation. You really should have. It's easy to do and it's
important to have done so before publishing.
You are correct though, that everything else in those letters except the
personal information (health and family issues in the Chomsky family)
belong to the public, and they are perfectly illuminating about many
levels of reality, especially about the terrible relationship between
the anti-imperialist Left and the 9/11 Truth movement.
In those letters, Chomsky maintains an imperiously and arrogantly
authoritarian stance through the whole exchange, and keeps getting worse
as it goes.
I'm sure you've seen this video (a total of only a few minutes) of
Chomsky speaking on 911. It's clear, there's no "taking out of context";
his meaning is very clear as the blue sky:
"Noam Chomsky on 911 conspiracy"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzGd0t8v-d4
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoDqDvbgeXM
I just watched it again to do a reality check. There is no obfuscation,
no distortion: his views are very clear, and his claims to the opposite
are an embarrassment. Instead of apologizing to the progressive and
radical community and retracting, he stirs up a fake anger as a supposed
"victim" of some distortion. No, he took on a distorted view of
September 11 from the very beginning, and unfortunately he continues to
hold on to it with more and more bitterness.
I'm sad to see this in the great Chomsky. I have lost all respect for him.
But please edit out the few sentences of personal materials from his
letters; it will improve the view that people have of your organization
and of you in particular, plus, as you know, doing the right thing even
if a little late is a sign of honorable and just people. It would help
the 9/11 Truth movement a lot.
And I can see in your letters that you have the sensitivity and
understanding to apply that kind of discretion.
Thanks,
Petros
http://petros-evdokas.cyprus-org.net/Another-sort-of-Introduction.html
__________
an excellent suggestion....
I really have trouble figuring out Kevin. I think he's brilliant, and has a pretty good sense of humor, but I do take issue with some of the things he promotes, like the Shell Game, True Faction (aka YT), and his association with the disinfonious Uncle (Jim) Fetzer. I do recommend subscribing to Kevin's newsletter--it's usually a pretty good read, and more than most "in-crowd" truthers he does a pretty good job holding Israel to account for its probable role in the 9/11 deception.
I think an interesting discussion generally might be how to work with the fact that as truthers we should be appealing to the better natures of not just the left leaning anti-empire progressive crowd but also to more conservative folk. I think that we of all people need to work to bridge not just truthers and the left but also people who consider themselves conservative, who 9/11 might help see that they have more in common than they may have thought with their "crazy lib'ral" brethren and, um, sistren... (?)
Wise words
Wise words you wrote here:
"...we of all people need to work to bridge not just truthers and the left
but also people who consider themselves conservative, who 9/11 might
help see that they have more in common than they may have thought with
their "crazy lib'ral" brethren and, um, sistren..."
To accomplish this we need coherent understanding of the role of ideology
(those definitions of Left and Right are not accidental) and to find
the elements that exist within life experiences that unite people.
But the foundations of unity can not include any discrimation, hatred,
rejection or prejudice against people for their ethnic and cultural
identity, race, language, sexuality, gender, religion, physical
ability... Many of the people who identify as "right wingers",
conservatives, etc, are morally able and socially fit to rise above
that oppressive stuff if they find themselves within a context that
encourages diversity in comfortable, non-confronational ways.
Petros
This is the perennial
<
identity, race, language, sexuality, gender, religion, physical
ability... Many of the people who identify as "right wingers",
conservatives, etc, are morally able and socially fit to rise above
that oppressive stuff if they find themselves within a context that
encourages diversity in comfortable, non-confronational ways>>
This is the perennial problem as I see it: Fear. Because people are infused with mega-doses of paranoia-inducing propaganda, from the "War on Drugs" to the "War on Crime" to the "War on Illegal Aliens" to the "War Against the Femi-Nazis" to the "War Against the Homosexual Agenda" to the "War on Terror," we find ourselves doing constant battle from within against those who have managed to extricate themselves from one facet of the Empire's fear-mongering, but who are still unconscious of other facets.
This is why all of the mission statements and vision statements and manifestos of our collectives/affinity-groups/organizations MUST include a section about the consciousness of our members.
This is NOT a call for thought police!!!
Rather, it is a call for eternal RESISTANCE to the REAL thought-police. We are not free unless our consciousness is free. Liberated consciousness understands the forces that manipulate and coerce and how that manipulation and coercion are accomplished. It understands the ideological enemy of liberated consciousness.
This posture will put us at odds with the rancid religiosity of the right-wing, but it will place us squarely in the camp of all the Prophets who did battle with Empire in ages gone by.
Thoughts welcome.
the good in the gray
i think many have trouble seeing the good in the gray. therefore, the antithecal polemic mindset and manipulation makes it easier for them. less thinking involved. In addition to your "fear/war-on" list: waging war against evil, The Devil, the threat of eternal damnation...
A liberated consciousness is something to strive for, an ideal. we have been so shackled. beautiful. i shall meditate on the liberation of our individual and collective state of consciousness...
 thank you, GlennG, this has staying power
GlennG, thanks!
I wanted to echo the sentiments and words of Kate of the Kiosk written
elsewhere on this page under the title "the good in the gray".
The "liberation of our individual and collective state of
consciousness" that both of you speak of is the essential element and
ingredient for doing 9/11 Truth work; it is also the very best of all
possible Motives, Goals and Methods, as well.
It's in this spirit that Casseia, writing on another website spoke about "Using 9/11 Truth to Open the Whole Can of Worms":
http://www.911truthportland.org/
As Kate said, "thank you, GlennG, this has staying power"!!!
May it guide and inform the work of Truth in ever-expanding circles.
Petros
________
Can of worms
Speaking of "can of worms" I'm about to open a philosophical can of worms, but I can't resist.
I believe in evil. For me, evil is the abuse of power. Under this definition, deforestation, Hiroshima, child abuse, and 9/11 are all acts of evil. But even more evil than the deliberate destruction of 9/11 was the Lie at the core of the psychological operation. The Lie presented the Perpetrator as the Righteous Protector. It presented the REAL evil-doers as the champions of Good. It presented the innocent future victims of Imperial Terror as less-than-human. And it was all done in FULL CONSCIOUSNESS. This, to me, is evil.
Now, how to ascribe culpability to the various operatives involved is another question. Are the people who planted the explosives as culpable as their masters who directed them? I'm not Dante and it's not my job to determine which ring of Hell they each belong in, even if I believed in Eternal Damnation, which I don't. But Im quite certain that each individual involved that had knowledge of the consequences of their acts has a profoundly darkened heart in need of radical redemption.
For me, the Kosmos is a moral Kosmos. As such, I need a compass that can say, "This is right" and "This is wrong." But I must also be able to recognize, as Kate suggests, that sometimes it's a struggle to know which is which, and clear answers are not always evident. One thing, however, is absolutely clear to me. History is filled with hypocritical fear-mongering self-righteous holier-than-thou finger-pointers ready to bind heavy burdens on people for exercising autonomy over their own bodies, while they massage the shoulders of the war-mongers and profiteers of misery. They, in my opinion, are the most evil of all.
Re: "Open Letter to Kevin Barrett"
Good News from Kevin Barrett
In response to the "Open Letter to Kevin Barrett" about his dialogue with Noam Chomsky
To: Petros Evdokas <petros@cyprus-org.net>
From: Kevin Barrett <kbarrett@.......>
Subject: Re: Open Letter to Kevin Barrett
Date: Thu, 29 May 2008
Thanks, Petros.
Sorry for the slow reply. After thinking it over, I decided that you're right. The personal information has now been edited out.
Feel free to continue to offer constructive feedback in the future.
Kevin
________
Kevin Barrett's response reflects an excellent decision and, I'm happy
to observe, a responsiveness and sensitivity that's rare within the
9/11 Truth movement.
The materials documenting Kevin Barrett's recent exchanges with Noam
Chomsky - slightly edited now, to remove some personal information -
are a very good source of study for all of us who are burning with
questions on how to develop better relationships between the radical
and progressive networks of the Left, and the populist, ever-expanding
9/11 Truth movement. Finding unity in that context has proven elusive
so far.
For millions of people Noam Chomsky represents the semi "official"
voice of the Left within the United States. His approach in the recent
dialogue with Kevin shows clearly the irrational and authoritarian
mental~emotional streaks that fuel his (and that of many others on the
Left) almost absolute refusal to open their hearts and minds to
studying, researching, having conversations about the events of
September 11 as an Inside Job.
For Noam Chomsky and for many of our comrades and colleagues on the US
Left, a step like that borders on the unthinkable, the most intolerable
violation of their sensibilities. Please see the tip of that
uncomfortable iceberg surfacing in Kevin's and Chomsky's exchanges here:
"Noam Chomsky Does Not Want You to Read This"
By Dr. Kevin Barrett:
http://www.barrettforcongress.us/chomsky.htm
"Why is any of this important?" you may ask.
Good question!
There are two Fronts of the struggle for liberation in which the role of the US Left is crucial:
- resistance to the "endless war" presently unfolding in the Middle
East with US invasions, occupations and other forms of political,
financial and military domination;
- resistance to the domestic dictatorship enacted within the US with
legalization of torture and widespread surveillance without Court
warrants, unwarranted search and seizure operations, military
tribunals, maintenance of a shadow Government, suspension of crucial
elements of the Constitution, "normalization" of legal, constitutional
and human rights violations, etc.
The events of September 11, carried out by instruments of the ruling class for the interests of that ruling class, are pivotal in the emotional life of the public
in order to gain co-operation with those in power and acceptance for
the war and domestic dictatorship. The US Left, self-blinded and
emotionally paralyzed, can not fulfil its mission as a conscious actor
in the liberation movement unless it is able to shake off the paralysis
and catch up with the more politically advanced sectors of the
population which are active in the progressive and radical wing of the
9/11 Truth movement.
For as long as the so-called "masses" (I hate that term) accept the
official lies about September 11, the Peace, anti-war, anti-imperialist
and internationalist solidarity movement within the US will not be able
to get anything done.
For as long as the so-called "masses" accept the official lies about
September 11, the civil liberties and pro-democracy movement within the
US will not be able to get anything done.
The Left needs to see the need for removing the veil, helping the
people to become freed up from the emotional constraint, the shock and
trauma-induced docility and chauvinism brought on by the 9/11 Big Lie.
Why the Left? - Part One
For all of its clatter and adrenaline, the 9/11 Truth movement on its
own has not been able to do very much either "for itself" (even just
promoting the Truth in simple, dignified ways has proven a difficult
task for many of our people), nor has it been able to do much in the
two Fronts of the struggle for Peace and Freedom mentioned above which
are supposedly the directions in which Truth activism is being
invested. We still need to build up on our ability to mobilize,
organize, communicate and co-operate.
In the meantime, even paralyzed, confused and in denial, the US Left
has mobilized a combination of millions of people against the war in
both symbolic protest and Direct Actions at all levels of society.
There are major rallies and marches taking place in all major cities of
the country, and in every small town and campus there's a section of
the Peace movement that's well integrated with the community.
An excellent example of Direct Action against the war is the MayDay
strike against the Iraq war by West Coast dockworkers that shut down
the ports all over the coast. It was carried out by around 25,000
workers at 29 ports along the western US coastline, organized by the
International Longshore and Warehouse Union. More on that here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/911truthportland/message/220
The action was endorsed by numerous Vets for Peace groups and by every Leftist organization in the country. But
so much more could be accomplished if the Left could see the strategic
importance of The Big Lie about September 11 and the liberating effects
of the Truth.
By contrast, in public actions "on the street" the Truth movement is
able to mobilize tiny numbers of usually obnoxious individuals with
mixed up politics who yell at people through bullhorns intimidating,
scaring and insulting them, or delivering loud and ridiculous speeches
to no one. Here's an excellent sampling of such activities in "street
actions" by people I know personally, documented by themselves on video
and published here (they're proud of it):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0oZwp5ZAo
Why the Left? - Part Two
Even paralyzed, confused and in denial, the US Left has mobilized all
of its forces to combat the measures and institutions of the domestic
dictatorship by participating in all aspects of the pro-democracy
movement.
All over the country, progressive and radical lawyers of the American
Civil Liberties Union, the Lawyers' Guild and other groups are in Court
every day working to reverse unconstitutional and illegal acts of the
regime. Everywhere in the US, within unions, schools, temples and
churches, in small and large City Halls, there's progressive and
radical activists, socialists, communists, anarchists, liberals,
feminists, greens and autonomists working to restore democracy through
legislative action, strikes, electoral campaigns, demonstrations in the
streets, educational campaigns, and through the many forms of
communications media that the Left produces and operates. But so
much more could be accomplished if the Left could see the strategic
importance of The Big Lie about September 11 and the liberating effects
of the Truth.
By contrast, the public actions of the 9/11 Truth movement are often
precariously balanced between comedy and tragedy (or is it "stradegy"?).
See for example the West Coast Truth Convergence "street action" that
took place in San Francisco this last month - our Truth activists and
colleagues misled by Truth movement "leaders" who squeezed the event
into that really narrow space between the Shameful and the Ridiculous:
http://wtcdemolition.com/blog/node/1148
The dialogue between Kevin Barrett and Noam Chomsky published here
http://www.barrettforcongress.us/chomsky.htm
is instructive about many of the things that are wrong the relationship between the US Left and the 9/11 Truth movement.
Realities, correct and incorrect critiques, misperceptions,
misunderstandings, ideological enigmas and confusion, lack of
familiarity and lack of principles on instances where principled and
compassionate approaches are indispensable, all contribute to the chaos
and make the barrier between our movements wider.
But we need to find both ideological and practical ways to overcome that barrier.
Petros Evdokas
petros@cyprus-org.net
http://petros-evdokas.cyprus-org.net/Another-sort-of-Introduction.html
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