The impossibility of discussing anything at all
The Power of Narrative
by Arthur Silber
07/16/06
I personally became painfully aware of the smear tactics that concern me when I began writing seriously about foreign policy in the spring and summer of 2003. Because I offered an extensive critique of the Bush administration's embrace of an aggressively interventionist foreign policy, a policy that history demonstrates always fails, always leads to destruction, and always leads to results that are the opposite of those intended by the interventionists themselves, the same people who had previously found considerable worth in my writing consigned me to 'the other side.' For many people, I was a 'Saddamite,' a particularly vicious and dishonest smear that I discussed just recently. Let us be very clear about the purpose of all such smears. Very simply, it is to prevent all questioning and criticism, and to end debate. That's all. The dishonest smearers hope that their intimidation will cause those with differing views to shut up and go away, never to be heard from again...
http://tinyurl.com/h73y9
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
by Arthur Silber
07/16/06
I personally became painfully aware of the smear tactics that concern me when I began writing seriously about foreign policy in the spring and summer of 2003. Because I offered an extensive critique of the Bush administration's embrace of an aggressively interventionist foreign policy, a policy that history demonstrates always fails, always leads to destruction, and always leads to results that are the opposite of those intended by the interventionists themselves, the same people who had previously found considerable worth in my writing consigned me to 'the other side.' For many people, I was a 'Saddamite,' a particularly vicious and dishonest smear that I discussed just recently. Let us be very clear about the purpose of all such smears. Very simply, it is to prevent all questioning and criticism, and to end debate. That's all. The dishonest smearers hope that their intimidation will cause those with differing views to shut up and go away, never to be heard from again...
http://tinyurl.com/h73y9
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
rudkla - 18. Jul, 16:32
