ETS! encourages comments, feedback, tips, corrections, and info! Please keep them as concise as possible so we can print as many different voices as possible: ETS!, P.O. Box 85541, Seattle WA 98145, or e-mail ets@scn.org.

Real Concerns

Dear Ms. Tomchick,

I deeply thank you for your article, "Real Terrorists," in ETS!'s August 19 issue. Muslims have been having a bit of a hard time over the last few years. We saw Chechnya, Bosnia, the slow starvation and sickening of the Iraqi people (who don't like Hussein any more than we do), and the quiet, steady battle being waged against Palestinians. A month or so ago a national Muslim magazine published a warning to Islamic houses of worship to tighten up security because there had been a number of attacks, including arson, on our mosques. Also, during the last year or so in the U.S., there was the propaganda barrage to the effect that Muslims were going to mount a germ warfare attack on this country. Behind this propaganda was what appeared to be a real and very serious germ warfare threat--that Muslims had nothing to do with. It centered around one Larry Wayne Harris and a book he wrote which contained not only creative and lurid untruths about Islam, but also complete instructions on distribution of biological weapons to civilian populations.

With regard to the bombings of the American embassies, I cannot for sure say that Muslims had nothing to do with it--I just don't know. All large groups today have to worry about the possibility that some of their fringe members will use the organization's name as a "cover" for violence and vengeance. However, the fact that two embassies in two different countries were attacked at the same time suggests some coordination was involved. The logistics would have required considerable planning, and of course there would be communication, transportation, and personnel issues to deal with (such as passports and financial support).

The question should be raised, given the apparent size of the operation, who would stand to gain from it. Since the predictable aftermath would involve some sort of retaliation against the Islamic world, Muslims not only wouldn't gain anything from such an attack, but would lose a great deal. (Violence against civilians is also contrary to Quranic law.) An attack against the Islamic world would benefit those who want control of land and resources in the Middle East, and probably no one else.

It might also be noted that one of the tactics of war--whether "hot" or "cold" war, is to commit atrocities in such a way as to blame your opponents. It was interesting that before any investigation had been done that the picture of a Saudi businessman was all over the U.S. paper as the presumable perpetrator. (The U.S. has had a tradition of presuming innocence until proven guilty via-a-vis those accused of crime. Does the fact that something occurs beyond our borders somehow negate this principle?) And the U.S. bombed Afghanistan and Sudan before a really in-depth investigation had time to be completed. The possibility has to be considered, of course, that some homicidal idiot claiming to be Muslim was behind these murders. But the way events have unfolded, it is looking more and more like someone other than Muslims was behind this. Again--who stands to gain from such crimes? Who would have a motive? Definitely not Muslims, who actually stand to lose a great deal.

Again, I thank you for the care and objectivity of your article. Actually, I thank you for your articles in general which are always useful and timely.

--Maria Abdin, Seattle

It's Loaded

ETS!,

Re: City Budget article. Good research and a lot of worthwhile things to consider, but please be a little careful where you're pointing that shotgun in case it goes off by accident. Are you trying to say there's a problem with publicly owned, unionized utilities which are committed to affirmative action and which serve all people every day, receiving the largest single piece of the budget?

Dave Albergine, Seattle

M.T. replies: Did I sling any nasty remarks at the city's combined utilities? No. But to leave them out of an article that gives details of the entire city budget would have been misleading and dishonest. Especially when they receive the largest chunk of funds.

Huh?

To Maria Tomchick,

You strongly dislike the way city government spends working peoples' money, yet, may I assert, you would never consider for a moment voting for conservative candidate for city office should the opportunity present itself. One party rule brings with it a host of unpleasant inequities, and socialist Seattle is no exception. You reap what you sow.

--John L., via e-mail

Vomiting Filth

Dear ETS!,

RE: The "Good" War?:

"... We put fascist/monarchical/colonial regimes back in power in Germany, Italy, and Japan after the war."

I subscribe to ETS! for the reasons you list: getting the word out, inspiring action for progressive causes, bucking the corporate trend in news-management. I've thanked you for article after article, and take this opportunity to thank you for the continuing coverage of the Seattle Public (eek!) School Board's underhanded efforts to deliver their studentry to the jaws of Coca-Consumerism.

So, could someone please tell me WHY Eat the State! would trash its own reputation by printing such reprehensible garbage as this "MediaWatch" column? (For brevity, I quoted only one line; but my comments apply to the whole set of "facts" listed in the original.) My first instinct sent me to the bookcase, to gather the history books written by Mrs. Tuchman and Mr. Zinn. Both sources could easily debunk the crap ETS! flushed from MediaWatch. However, I will not degrade those able historians by associating their fine work with the tripe that Mediawatch threw, any more than I would use a bottle of expensive liquid medication to douse a pile of burning excrement. If the liars at MediaWatch wish to embarrass themselves further, they can attempt to support all of those pathetically transparent fabrications. The entire burden of proof rests upon them, and I wish them the best of luck. Perhaps they can take some tips from the professional Holocaust-deniers.

If this sorry mistake has any practical consequences--and I most sincerely hope it has none--it will convince casual readers that MediaWatch, and ETS!, provide haven to the lowest form of cranky anti-American hate-mongers. Who else would print such vile anti-American hate propaganda? >From now on, no one who disagrees with MediaWatch, or ETS!, need address the specific things you say. Why bother, when a sneering "Oh, please, do tell me again about the fascist dictatorship of West Germany that the U.S. installed after the war," will discredit anything you might say, no matter how sincere?

Like Dr. Strange-love's arm inexorably stiffening in a salute to extremism, this casual vomiting of filth tells your readers quite a bit more than you intended. I hope you can explain it as a function of the recent hot weather, and not damage the credibility of ETS! too much through the printing of such contemptible lies.

Shaking My Head in Sorrow,

Tensor, Seattle

M.T. replies: Actually, rather than thanking us for "article after article," as you say, you've sent us a lot of complaints in the past year--some that we've responded to and others that we've justifiably ignored. The above letter, for example, was almost too juvenile to print. Almost. But I couldn't resist, since you list Howard Zinn as one historian who would never support the facts listed in our Media Watch column "The Good War" (ETS!, 8/26/98).

In fact, Mr. Zinn offers most of the same evidence in several of his works. I suggest you open and read his books, instead of just pulling them off your shelf to hug as you type such knee-jerk, emotional, jingoistic screeds. For example, in his book "The Twentieth Century, A People's History," he quotes the French worker-philosopher, Simone Weil:

"Whether the mask is labeled Fascism, Democracy, or Dictatorship of the Proletariat, our great adversary remains the Apparatus--the bureaucracy, the police, the military. Not the one facing us across the frontier or the battlelines, which is not so much our enemy as our brothers' enemy, but the one that calls itself our protector and makes us its slaves. No matter what the circumstances, the worst betrayal will always be to subordinate ourselves to this Apparatus, and to trample underfoot, in its service, all human values in ourselves and in others."

Far from being associated with Holocaust-deniers, Howard Zinn cites only reputable sources that have investigated and documented anti-Semitism in U.S. foreign policy during WWII, including: Raul Hilberg, Arno J. Mayer, and Henry L. Feingold. The Media Watch article made no mention at all of the Holocaust, so your slanderous accusation is puzzling.

You do, of course, reserve the right to dislike anything you read in Eat The State! ... as well as the right to embarrass yourself by vomiting irresponsible filth.

It's Like ... Nordstrom

Dear ETS!,

I figured you folks could make something out of this. According to the Wall Street Journal on 8/17 (page B1), the Girl Scouts are now offering a merit badge in shopping.

If they go to a store called Limited Too and try on clothes and learn how they're made (presumably no mention of sweatshops) they get a 15% off coupon and qualify for the merit badge. One Girl Scout troop leader defended it by saying "It isn't like cigarettes."

Phil Tomescu, via e-mail

A More Profound Reality

Hi ETS! staff,

I picked up one of your publications at the UW bookstore a few weeks back and really enjoyed it. I would like to offer a suggestion however. Given that our society is highly conditioned to status quo socioeconomic and political theory and practice, I think it would be very helpful to include a references section to your publication. This would, I hope, legitimize the publication in the eyes of those that would dismiss the articles as unbelievable. A professor of mine once told me that you could tell a lot about an article, essay, etc., by the number of footnotes and references included at the end (i.e., Noam Chomsky's writings to those of Rush Limbaugh's, although this is an extreme example). Given the important topics you discuss and your struggle to counteract mainstream media, references may open the eyes of certain readers.

If we are to revolutionize our society, we must reach a critical mass of people that first understands a more profound reality of our socioeconomic and political conditions and then acts in accordance with its new understanding. References may help in broadening your readership and thereby assist in creating the 100th monkey, so to speak. Good luck with this important work.

Sincerely,

--Ravi Singh, Seattle

It's For The Articles

Dear Senators Murray and Gorton and Representative Dunn:

According to "Harpers," "Hustler" magazine offered free subscriptions to 535 members of Congress and all but 16 of those members accepted the free subscription.

I would very much appreciate it if each of you would be willing to respond and inform me as to whether or not such a subscription was offered to you and whether or not you accepted/rejected that subscription.

In addition, I would be very interested in identifying all 16 members of Congress who rejected the subscription. I would appreciate any assistance that you could provide on that matter.

Thank you very much.

--Thalia Syracopoulos, Seattle