Freedom of Speech

I have spent the last 72 hours scouring videos online, looking for citizen journalism from Iraq. I've found scores of video blogs and bits by US soldiers. I cannot find any videos created by Iraqis from inside Iraq. It may be because, I do not speak Arabic. Yet I doubt that's the case --there are quite a number of propaganda videos from the different insurgencies fighting in Iraq.

What I speak of is of videos coming from Iraqi cellular phones or digital cameras. I speak of videos where Iraqis may have filmed their surroundings, their day to day and put out on the web for any and all to witness and never forget.

Iraq by Iraqis in Iraq are nowhere to be found.

The measure of a brutal imperialistic force is in it's effective silencing of the people they've set out to conquer, submit, silence and colonize.

We The People Of The United States have been complicit in the silencing of Iraqis, in the wiping away of their culture and history, in the destruction of their freedom of speech and freedom to be by destroying their homes, destroying their country's infrastructure, destroying their economy.

There's a splendid rant curently on Kos' Rec list, titled Islamic Countries can Suck Jesus' Chocolate-covered C***.

Go read it. Come back when you're done.

Unsurprisingly, the title and content have sparked outrage. Thing is, once you strip off the hyperbole, there's some profoundly disturbing stuff, as detailed here on HuffPost.

Islamic countries pushed through a resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday urging a global prohibition on the public defamation of religion - a response largely to the furor last year over caricatures published in a Danish newspaper of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad...

The resolution, which was opposed by a number of other non-Muslim countries, "expresses deep concern at attempts to identify Islam with terrorism, violence and human rights violations."

Yeah. How'd that happen?

The resolution was adopted by a 24-14 vote with nine abstentions. Canada, Japan and South Korea joined European countries in opposition, primarily citing its excessive focus on Islam and incompatibility with fundamental rights such as the freedoms of speech and thought...

There are 17 Muslim countries in the 47-nation human rights council. Their alliance with China, Cuba, Russia and most of the African members means they can almost always achieve a majority.

Human Rights Watch said the resolution could endanger the basic rights of individuals.

I am thisclose on getting all ghetto on your ass. I want you to stop and I want you to stop now.

I was born in East Harlem and raised in Puerto Rico. Before being a black woman, I have the qualitative Puerto Rican come before it. I don't pick or choose sides when it comes to my ethnicity or my race most of the time --unless you are Alberto Gonzales or Condoleeza Rice.

Right now, I am thisclose to choosing.

Which is why, as much as I have reasons to smack Markos upside the head for the kind of very public fall out he and I have had, I will get all ghetto on anybody's ass who tries to use my name to discredit him.

Do you get that?

I don't give a shit whether you are black or white. What I give a shit about is your true commitment to progressive political action.

What are you going to do to move forward a progressive agenda that will help everybody in this country equally?

Puertorriqueña I am siempre. I am black because I come from slavery; but my mother, who's white skin and green eyes I have taken in with love since the day I was born, comes from the Spaniard equivalent of white niggers. My family were both slaves and indentured servants and I was raised to never forget that.

The father of my children is as white as he can be through his Irish and Polish ascendancies. I have one child who is dark skinned and another one who is white. They both could pass as non-latinos and non-black if we were those kind of people.

Last, but not least, I happen to have blogs where the majority of the posters are white. It's not what I intended at all, but that's what it is. At least here at culturekitchen I have women on the front page. At the The Daily Gotham? It's all white men.

Are you going to call me a racist if the majority of people who have turned down my invitations to post on these sites are black americans and latinos?

Let this be a warning to not just to you, the person who has prompted me to write this post, but to all who use the services of this site.

Do not take my name or the name of any of my blogs in vain for any of your petty vendettas.

Amanda has announced her resignation from the Edwards' campaign.

Announcement at Pandagon:

I was hired by the Edwards campaign for the skills and talents I bring to the table, and my willingness to work hard for what’s right. Unfortunately, Bill Donohue and his calvacade of right wing shills don’t respect that a mere woman like me could be hired for my skills, and pretended that John Edwards had to be held accountable for some of my personal, non-mainstream views on religious influence on politics (I’m anti-theocracy, for those who were keeping track). Bill Donohue—anti-Semite, right wing lackey whose entire job is to create non-controversies in order to derail liberal politics—has been running a scorched earth campaign to get me fired for my personal beliefs and my writings on this blog.

In fact, he’s made no bones about the fact that his intent is to “silence” me, as if he—a perfect stranger—should have a right to curtail my freedom of speech. Why? Because I’m a woman? Because I’m pro-choice? Because I’m not religious? All of the above, it seems.

Regardless, it was creating a situation where I felt that every time I coughed, I was risking the Edwards campaign. No matter what you think about the campaign, I signed on to be a supporter and a tireless employee for them, and if I can’t do the job I was hired to do because Bill Donohue doesn’t have anything better to do with his time than harass me, then I won’t do it. I resigned my position today and they accepted.

May I say this is the most opportune moment for all bloggers, but most important feminist bloggers, to consider the importance of what's next?

I don't see any other way around it but we are now playing big leagues. The stakes are too high to drop the ball and go back to doing what we know best to do : rant at 'the man', pick blogfights, rally around other people's political interests, rinse and repeat.

We have influence.

We obviously have some power.

We need money to use it like a club.

We need a Feminist BlogPAC.

Here's something I wanted to rant about last week but it got totally side-tracked by the John Edwards bloggers debacle. Especially since it is a perfect follow-up to the hypocrisy surrounding that debacle. A hypocrisy based on how a certain kind of woman uses language.

I was told by a party insider they could not link to this blog because I used the word "panties" in one of my posts.

Yes people. Like 9 year-olds, Democrats are skittish of the word used for a girls' cootie catcher.

Do I have to be a multi-millinaire political socialite or a couple of guys dressed in blog drag for it to be acceptable? What of the DNC linking to the aforementioned blog back in 2004 when it had a media dilettante who's shitck at said blog was to endlessly pepper her posts with sodomy jokes?

Does choosing not to link to this blog have something to do with common decency or is it just out right censorship?

From the Edwards campaign blog:

Statement on Campaign Bloggers
John Edwards in News
2/08/2007 at 11:36 AM EST

The tone and the sentiment of some of Amanda Marcotte's and Melissa McEwan's posts personally offended me. It's not how I talk to people, and it's not how I expect the people who work for me to talk to people. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that kind of intolerant language will not be permitted from anyone on my campaign, whether it's intended as satire, humor, or anything else. But I also believe in giving everyone a fair shake. I've talked to Amanda and Melissa; they have both assured me that it was never their intention to malign anyone's faith, and I take them at their word. We're beginning a great debate about the future of our country, and we can't let it be hijacked. It will take discipline, focus, and courage to build the America we believe in.

How much you wanna bet this 2,000,000 unique visitors a day comment Jill quotes from me might have gotten their attention?

More later.