I find it fascinating how much political dissention in the United States is expressed via the Internet. The regular media are obviously the dominate source of information/interpretation for most Americans, but it must be a least a bit harder for the government to put their particular spin on things when one opens one's office email each morning to discover four or five messages debunking the mainstream media's interpretation. Political humor and satire is particularly effective, since people are more likely to forward something funny to their lists of friends than a heavy essay. But compared to the old days when the only anonymous medium for protest was political graffiti scrawled on washroom walls, the internet disseminates these dissenting voices both more quickly and more widely than ever before. This must be frustrating for Bush and company trying to convince the public of increasingly ludicrous threats to American security.
The recent announcement that North Korea may have a missile that could reach the United States is an excellent case in point. Even if one accepted that North Korea had the know how and was prepared to divert the resources necessary to produce such weapons, the more fundamental question is WHY WOULD THEY WANT TO? What would be the point of, say, bombing New York and being labeled the worst mass murderers in history when an hour and a half later North Korea would be reduced to a sheet of volcanic glass? I could certainly understand if the American announced that they viewed the development of North Korean nuclear weapons as a threat to regional stability or a threat to American interests in Asia, but emphasizing that they now have a missile "capable of reaching the United States" is clearly intended to play on 9/11 paranoia. It is strictly laughable. Even if the North Koreans were able to develop one or two such weapons, this threat pales into insignificance to the thousands of missiles aimed at the USA over the last 30 years from the former Soviet Union etc., but no one seems particularly concerned with what happened to all of those warheads.
American allies are having an increasingly difficult time supporting Bush's war initiatives given the increasing public skepticism regarding any of the official White House line on Iraq's connection to external terrorism, and I cannot help but wonder how much of that skepticism has been fueled via Internet humour.
Here, then, a couple of recent examples:
George W. Bush was speaking to a class in Texas when one student put up
his hand to ask a few questions.
"Mr. President, my name is Billy."
"Yes, Billy...."
"I have a few questions for you."
"Go ahead Billy"?
Billy clears his throat, raises a sheet of paper with his questions listed and begins....
"First: Why are you pursuing a war that nobody wants?
"Second question: Wasn't the bombing of Hiroshima the worst war crime ever?
"Third question: Why did you instruct the FBI and CIA to not arrest
Muslim extremists prior to 911, despite warnings from foreign governments?"
Bush's face drained of colour, he gulped, and there was complete silence in the classroom. Just then the bell rang for recess.
After recess the class came back to continue their talk with the president.
This time another kid put up his hand.
"Mr. President, I'm Bobby and I have a few questions."
"Go ahead, Bobby."
Bobby stands, raises a sheet of paper with his questions and begins....
"First: Why are you ignoring world public-opinion and starting a war with Iraq?
"Second: Why have you abandoned international treaties on nuclear weapons?
"Third: If contravening the Geneva Convention is a war crime, doesn't this mean
you, your father and Colin Powell are war criminals?
"And one last question: Where's Billy?"
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What follows is an [abridged] transcription of some of the best signs in Washington
> >during the peace march January 18th, 2003.
> >----------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >Drunken frat boy drives country into ditch.
> >Who would Jesus bomb?
> >Bush is proof that empty warheads can be dangerous.
> >Let's bomb Texas, they have oil, too.
> >How did our oil get under their sand?
>>If you can't pronounce it, don't bomb it.
> >Daddy, can I start the war now?
> >1000 points of light and one dim bulb.
> >Sacrifice our SUV's, not our children.
> >Preemptive impeachment.
> >No George, I said Mac Attack.
> >Frodo has failed, Bush has the ring.
> >Look, I'll pay more for gas!
> >He is a moron and a bully.
> >Draft dodgers shouldn't start wars.
> >War is sweet to those who haven't tasted it (Erasmus).
> >Our grief [over 9/11] is not a cry for war.
> >Different Bush, same shit.
> >Stop the Bushit.
> >You don't have to like Bush to love America.
> >Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld: the asses of evil.
> >Stop the excess of evil [gives figures for the multibillion dollar defense budget].
> >$1 billion a day to kill people -- what a bargain.
> >Consume --> Consume --> Bomb --> Bomb --> Consume -->Consume
> >What's the difference between me & God? He might forgive Bush, but I won't.
> >America, get out of the Bushes.
> >Pro-lifers: Wake from Bush's propaganda spell war kills innocent children.
> >Big brother isn't coming -- he's already here.
> >An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind (Gandhi).
> >Mainstream white guys for peace. (Sign held by three mainstream-looking white guys)
> >Hans Blix -- look over here.
> >Let Exxon send their own troops.
> >There's a terrorist behind every Bush.
> >How many bodies per mile?
> >We can't afford to rule the world.
> >War is so 20th century!
> >9-11-01: 15 Saudis, 0 Iraqis.
> >While you were watching the war, Bush was raping America.
> >Don't waive your rights while waving your flag.
> >Sacrifice our SUVs, not our children.
> >Bush is to Christianity as Osama is to Islam.
> >I asked for universal health care and all I got was this lousy stealth bomber.
> >America's problems won't be solved in Iraq.
> >War is not a family value.
> >Picture of the peace symbol: back by popular demand.
> >A picture of Bush saying "Why should I care what the American people think? They didn't vote for me."
> Silver Donald Cameron
> Home page: http://www.islemadame.com/sdc/
