Rothschild is the editor of the magazine The Progressive which is located right here in Madison. The room at The Overture Center was sparsely populated at first but filled up at 7:30 approached. Allen Ruff from Rainbow Bookstore was there selling copies of You Have No Rights as the crowd found its way to their seats. There were people young and old but mostly old. This disparity in the ages of the attendees is common from my experience. There is a healthy smattering of senior citizens who want to go to their graves informed and involved. The majority of the audience were middle-aged folks – people who probably rioted here at the UW against the Vietnam War. They have been political since their college years and continue to be so. The paucity of younger adults, however, was striking. There was a handful there scattered as they were around the room. You'd think the people that are going to toil under the effects of the government policies & decisions of the last six years the longest would have a keen interest. Perhaps this is because Rothschild just doesn't have the reputation and movie star charisma of a Michael Moore.
My observation aside, I personally enjoy hearing Rothschild speak immensely. He and I are in agreement politically most of the time and he is a godless heathen like myself. In fact, I enjoy Rothschild's work so much that The Dulcinea has taken to referring to him as my boyfriend. His book is basically a best-of compilation of stories from his "McCarthyism Watch" column which collects stories of civil rights abrogations. I've only glanced at the book and don't have it with me but Marc Eisen of Isthmus wrote a piece in anticipation of the event and listed a few of the 82 stories in the book. To wit:
* Stephen Downs being arrested for trespassing at the mall when he wears a tee shirt that says "Peace on Earth" on one side and "Give Peace a Chance" on the other.
* Laura Berg, a nurse at an Albuquerque veterans hospital, being investigated and accused of sedition by the Veterans Administration after she writes a letter to the editor accusing the Bush administration of criminal negligence for its Iraqi war.
* Frank Van Den Bosch of Platteville being arrested for disorderly conduct when he unfurls a sign saying "FUGW" when the Bush campaign caravan rolls through town.
* U.S. rowing champion Aquil Abdullah being repeatedly detained, questioned and searched at airports because he happens to be a black man with a Muslim-sounding name.
* Members of Peace Action Milwaukee being barred from flying to a demonstration against the School of the Americas because some of their names pop up on the mysterious law-enforcement "watch list."
There's also the story of Renee Jensen in West Virginia who put a sign up in her yard reading "Mr. Bush: You're fired". This prompted a visit by the Secret Service. Or take Marc Schultz who was reported to the FBI because he stood in a line at a coffee shop reading an article critical of Fox News.
It's hardly surprising that people trying to exercise their right of free speech at, say, a Bush rally are arrested. But what is surprising to me and even more profoundly disturbing are stories like Mr. Schultz's. It's one thing for a guy donning a black trench coat and sunglasses to bully people with slogans on t-shirts – those in power like to bully those who are not. But it's absolutely chilling to read about someone being reported to the authorities by a member of their community. What must be going through your mind to call the police or the FBI when you see someone in line for a latte reading criticism of Fox News? Who did this? How did this person feel threatened?
When John Nichols of The Cap Times editorialized in favor of the book, it elicited comments which basically said that, because Rothschild was allowed to publish the book and not get sent to Gitmo, then there's no problem. Either the most extreme bad thing happens or all is well with no middle ground, no shades of gray pointing in one direction or the other. How does one acquire this mindset?
Just as Bill Lueders published his account of being on-air with Ann Althouse, I was finishing up listening to the audiobook of John Dean's Concervatives Without Conscience. In it, Dean examines the history of conservatism in this country and contrasts his Goldwater conservatism with the flavor(s) now prevailing here. He uses the research of Bob Altemeyer, specifically his research into right-wing authoritarianism. Both the negative comments directed at Nichols and Althouse's incredulity that someone would actually want to wait for evidence seemed to me authoritarian in nature – both submission and aggression. Likewise for some of the examples in Rothschild's book. 9/11 induced fear into people and the Bush administration stepped up as a father figure, of sorts, to allay those fears. Authoritarian types will tend to go along with whatever the Bush administration says because it is attempting to do away with certain fears. And they heap derision on those who would be critical of the father figure.
I am certainly not giving Dean nor Altemeyer their due and I highly recommend reading their works. It is difficult for me to read the incidents in You Have No Rights and not think that authoritarian figures are at work.
No comments:
Post a Comment