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N O R T H C O A S T T IM E S E A G L E , OCTEMBER 2005
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY
BABY
A fnend from Redding, California visiting a mutual
friend in Portland brought him, three bottles of locally
produced red wine and a couple of issues of the People's
Press' to Astona Published by Del and Suzy Coffee in
Manton, California, and disthbuted in several Northern
California cities and town, The People's Press’ celebrated
its second anniversary last spring in an editorial ..
B Y SUZY COFFEE
BARRIE MAGUIRE
WHAT HAPPENED
TO AMERICA?
BY ELIOT WEINBERGER
In the last fifty years, we have grown accustomed to
governments whose policies on specific issues may be good
or bad, but which essentially institute incremental changes to
the status quo. The major exceptions have been Thatcher and
Reagan, but even their programs of dismantling systems of
social welfare seem, in retrospect, mild compared to what is
happening in the United States under George Bush — or more
exactly, the ruling junta that tells Bush what to do and say.
It is unquestionably the most radical government in
modem American history, one whose ideology and actions have
become so pervasive, and are so unquestionably mirrored by the
mass media here, that the population seems to have forgotten
what “normal" is.
George Bush is the first unelected President of the
United States (with exception of the unique circumstances of
Gerald Ford’s Presidency following Nixon’s resignation), installed
by a right-wing Supreme Court in a kind of judicial coup d'etat.
He is the first to actively subvert one of the pillars of American
democracy: the separation of church and state. There are now
daily prayer meetings and Bible study groups in every branch
of the government, and religious organizations are being given
funds to take over educational and welfare programs that have
always been the domain of the state.
It is the first administration to openly declare a policy of
unilateral aggression, a Pax Americana where the presence of
allies (whether England or Bulgaria) is agreeable but unimport
ant; where international treaties no longer apply to the United
States; and where — for the first time in history — this country
reserves the right to non-defensive “pre-emptive” strikes against
any nation on earth, for whatever reason it declares.
It is the first — since internment of Japanese-Americans
in World War 2 — to enact special laws for a specific group. Non
citizen young Muslim men are required to register and subject
themselves to interrogation. Many hundreds have been arrested
and held without trial or access to legal assistance — a violation
of another pillar of American democracy: habeus corpus. In
Guantanamo Bay, where it is said execution chambers are being
prepared, hundreds of foreign nationals have been kept for
nearly four years in a limbo that clearly contravenes the Geneva
Convention, as well as covertly transporting prisoners to other
nations for torture.
Similar to the Reagan era, it is an administration openly
devoted to helping the rich and ignoring the poor, one that has
turned a budget surplus into a massive deficit through its combin
ation of enormous tax cuts for the wealthy (particularly those who
earn more than a million dollars a year) and increases in defense
spending. (And although Republicans always campaign on “less
government," it has created the largest new government bureau
cracy in history: the Department of Homeland Security.) The
Financial Times of England, hardly a hotbed of leftists, has
categorized this economic policy as “the lunatics taking over the
asylum."
But more than Reagan, whose policies tended to benefit
the rich in general, most of Bush's legislation specifically enrich
es those in his lifelong inner circle from the oil, mining, logging,
construction, and pharmaceutical industries. At the middle level
of the bureaucracy, where laws may be issued without congress
ional approval, hundreds of regulations have been changed to
lower standards of pollution or safety in the workplace.
Billions in government contracts have been awarded,
without competition, to corporations formerly run by adminis
tration officials. In a country where the most significant social
changes are enacted by court rulings, rather than by legislation,
the Bush administration has been filling every level of the
complex judicial system with right-wing ideologues, especially
those who have protected corporations from lawsuits by individ
uals or environmental groups, and those who are opposed to
women’s reproductive rights.
Most of all, America doesn't feel like America any more
The climate of militarism and fear, similar to any totalitarian state,
permeates everything. Bush is the first American President in
memory to swagger around in a military uniform, though he him
self — like all of his most militant advisers— evaded the Vietnam
War. (Even Eisenhower, the most successful general of World
War 2, never wore his uniform while he was President.)
In the airports of provincial cities, there are frequent
announcements in that assuring, disembodied voice of science-
fiction films: “The Department of Homeland Security advises that
the Terror Alert is now...Code Orange." Every few weeks there
is an announcement that another terrorist attack is imminent, and
citizens are urged to take ludicrous measures, like sealing their
windows, against biological and chemical attacks, and to report
the suspicious activities of their neighbors.
The Pentagon institutes the “Total Information Aware
ness" program to collect data on the ordinary activities of
ordinary citizens (credit card charges, library book withdrawals,
university course enrollments) and when this is perceived as
going too far, they change the name to “Terrorist Information
Awareness” and continue to do the same things. Millions are
listed in airport security computers as potential terrorists, includ
ing antiwar demonstrators and pacifists. Critics are warned to
“watch what they say” and lists of “traitors" are posted on the
Internet.
The war in Iraq has been the most extreme manifest
ation of this new America, and almost a casebook study in total
itarian techniques.
First, an Enemy is created by blatant lies that are end
lessly repeated until the population believes it: in this case, that
Iraq was linked to the attack of the World Trade Center, and that
it possesses vast “weapons of mass destruction” that threaten
the world.
Then a War of Liberation, entirely portrayed by the mass
media in terms of our Heroic Troops, with little or no imagery of
casualties and devastation, and with morale-inspiring, scripted
“news" scenes — such as the toppling of the Saddam statue and
the heroic “rescue" of Private Lynch.
Finally, as has happened with Afghanistan, America has
received very little (factual) news of the chaos that has followed
the Great Victory.
It is difficult to speak of what is happening in America
without resorting to the hyperbolic clichés of anti-Americanism
that have lost their meaning after so many decades, but that now
have finally come true.
Perhaps one can only recite facts and I have mentioned
only a few of them here.This is, quite simply, the most frightening
American administration in modem times, one that is appalling
both to the left and to traditional conservatives. This junta is
unabashed in its imperialist ambitions; it is enacting an Orwellian
state of Perpetual War; it is dismantling, or attempting to disman
tle, the most fundamental tenets of American democracy; it is
acting without opposition within the government, and is operating
so quickly on so many fronts it has overwhelmed and exhausted
any popular opposition.
Perhaps it cannot be stopped, but the first step toward
slowing it down is recognition that this is an American govern
ment unlike any other in this country's history, and one for whom
democracy is an obstacle.
Eliot Weinberger wrote this article for Vorwaerts. His
political articles, in 18 languages, have been published as a book
in the United States, titled 9/12 by Prickly Paradigm Press.
When I announce to you that the People’s Press turned
two years old on March 24th, I say it with the gushing starry-eyed
indulgence of a proud and beaming parent.
When Del and I first started up the paper two years ago,
we realized a long held dream. First published five days after the
American invasion of Iraq, the only thing I knew about issue #1
of the People’s Press was that it was filling a need; a local public,
as well as a personal need to speak out freely without corporate-
government media censorship. I couldn't know at the time what
shape the paper would take as it “grew up" within the communi
ties it served. Del and I were eager to find out.
Two years later, we are still thrilled and inspired to be
exercising our First Amendment right through this local, free
independent news-magazine. More than ever, I believe that if we
do not exercise this fundamental freedom, then we will surely
lose it.
The thing is, I love free speech. As a woman living in
Patriarchal America, I have felt the strong cultural pressure to be
silent, and to acquiesce to male authority. Being able to speak
freely is for me like being able to breathe. And this makes sense,
since air is the conductor of sound and ultimately, speech.
When you think of it, speech is the primary medium by
which human beings communicate and connect with each other.
Speech is a powerful tool of evolution. It fosters relationship
among us, and builds community. I will go so far as to name free
speech as the mother of all freedoms.The creators of the Consti
tution knew what they were doing by making free speech a first
and foremost right of the people.
It figures that corporations would put a gag on free
speech. Having purchased American media, they can do what
they want. They have shareholders to consider, protect, and
enrichen. American media today aren’t just supportive of the
conservative right agenda, they are it. To boot, corporations want
to control, which they shamelessly do with the public information
they now own. Ignorance breeds fear and isolation; a divide and
conquer strategy that has been historically effective in controlling
the masses.
As a counterbalance to the blatant self-interest of
corporate media, the People’s Press remains a viable medium
for genuine human communication. We “uncork" the flow of
information that mainstream media have captured and hoarded.
On its pages we have shared, debated and digested new infor
mation, which has inspired and armed us for action. As editor,
I have consistently sought publication of local activists, commun
ity members and friends who are the People's Press, as are the
faithful readers.
As a small, independent local free news-magazine,
competing with corporate commercialized media feels like
Davey going up against the mighty Goliath.The key to success,
I have found, is in steady, unwavering persistence. “Just keep
publishing" has been our mantra for the last two years. Conse
quently, the People’s Press has been around long enough now
to see with a bit of hindsight, often a valuable perspective.
I can give first hand testimony that free and open
communication does indeed build community. Personally and
locally, I have watched people (in ever growing numbers) come
together, coalesce and begin to take action. All of this has
occurred because of a freer flow of information that has been
“broadcast" by American citizens themselves. And what is
happening locally, is happening on a larger collective scale,
all across the nation and world.
Through the People's Press, I have witnessed, in fact,
a whole community of peace and justice minded people steadily
It is a solidarity; a coalition of people who reject the social,
economic and cultural takeover of American government by
a powerful concentrated corporate elite, and are taking matters
into their own hands.
With every issue of the People’s Press, Del and I
continue to feel the exhilaration of being a part of this cohesive
and hopeful group. And we are honored to provide a vehicle
through which the voice of the people can be expressed. Living
up to our Mission Statement to provide an alternative voice to
corporate media, a forum for social and political change, where
diverse groups can debate issues, build consensus and pull
together for the cause of justice and peace, we remain dedicated
to this dynamic and satisfying work.
I am eager today to see what, in the years ahead, the
People's Press will grow into. I do know that at this very moment,
working together, we are already beginning to make a tangible
difference and mark.
Turning the tide is what we are after.
The People's Press is published every other month and
is distributed in Manton, Shingleton, Redding, Red Bluff, Chico,
Weaverville, Dunsmuir, Mt Shasta and Montgomery Creek,
California. Its address is P.O Box 514, Manton, California 96059
(peoplespress@jett net). Fax/home (530) 474-3961
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