>Sender: >To: >X-Original-Message-ID: <068a01bf2ec5$c97a6560$9acf69cf@pacbell.net> >From: "Peter McWilliams" >Subject: Just call me Oops-e--mon >Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1999 09:29:21 -0800 >X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 >X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 > > >First I send out an e-mail labeled "An e-mail and my reply" that contained >neither an e-mal nor a reply. Then I send out a follow-up e-mail labeled >"Oops. Here's the reply," that made little sense without the original >e-mail. So here are both together. > >I blame it all on the DEA! > >Enjoy, > >Peter > >-------------- >Dear Peter, > >I am very pleased to see you bring up the Vietnam War in this post. I have >been saying to those I speak with on the Drug War issue that there are many >parallels between the two events. Where we are at with the Drug War is >where we were at with the Vietnam War in the late 60's. Body bags are being >needlessly filled. It's time to take our efforts to the streets. > >The politicians stand firm on this drug war for the very same reason that >they stood firm on the Vietnam War at that time. Many of them realize now >as did then that what was happening wasn't right, but with billions and >billions of dollars at stake their political futures depended and depend on >supporting war. It wasn't until public outcry became visible and constant >that some found the courage to admit the wrong. > >Drugs are to the 90's what communism was to the 60's. Portrayed as a threat >to our existence, it becomes the fuel with which to power the war-industry. > >We have thousands upon thousands of people speaking up against this war. >But we're all talking to each other. We are in hundreds of different groups >talking to ourselves about the problems the drug war presents. We need to >take our fight to the streets and demand front page attention. We must >demand mainstream media attention. Right now, the anti-drug war message is >almost exclusively limited to editorial pages. > >This fight against the War on Drugs needs to be taken to the street. I wish >I had the organizational and motivational skills necessary to get a movement >like this underway. > >I am though doing what I can to get as many people as possible to show up in >front of the federal courthouse on the morning of the 30th to gather in >protest of not only your case , but the entire drug war. And I am asking >those I come into contact with to do the same. > >I will be showing up in an effort to not only protect your right to life, >Peter, but also to protest against the lives that have already been taken >and those lives yet to be taken. From refusal to allow medical marijuana, >to raids on the homes of innocents, people are needlessly dying. And it's >all for the sake of a multi-billion dollar war. I pray that hundreds if not >thousands join me in what would be a clear and visible message to the drug >warriors. > >With the power of the internet there is no reason why we shouldn't be able >to get this cause to the next level. > >---------- > >Thank you. Your extension of the analogy is excellent. I wonder, however, if >the gathering of people in physical groups is as effective--or even as >possible--as it was in the 60's. I don't know. We have tools of >communication, such as the Internet, that were undreamed of during the >Vietnam era, when we still had DIAL telephones and didn't even have >answering machines or cheap copies (I remember a photocopy in 1967 cost $1 a >PAGE). > >We may have to rethink the most effective way to protest with the expanded >communication skills we now have. A poster is read by hundreds and might end >up for a second on television. A web page broadcast a message 24 hours a day >around the world. That's but one example. > >How many people have actually COMMITTED to showing up on November 30? (Not >just, "What a great idea! I'll make it if I can.") How much time and energy >did it take to get these people? By contrast, how much time did it take to >write and e-mail your excellent letter to the L.A. Times, and how many >people read it. (The Letters to the Editor section is one of the most read >pages of the paper--and read by the most intelligent and powerful people.) >I'd be will to bet that on a time/result ration, the latter was far more >successful. > >That's why I'm asking people to send the press toward petertrial.com and to >write strategic letters rather than "gathering at the river." Group protest >comes from an era of limited communication ("freedom of the press" applied >to a handful of mostly white men who owned the presses) and groups of people >(woman's suffrage, African American civil rights, student protest against >Vietnam, gay rights marches) who had little access to the media--who were, >in fact, soundly vilified and demonized by the media. The Internet has >changed all that. That's why I've recommend for years that people start >their own sites and promote them as best they can. >http://www.marijuanamagazine.com/toc/whatcanido.htm > >Peace on Drugs must be achieved, as was peace in Vietnam, by winning over >the hearts and minds of key media people, and this is often done one at a >time. When Walter Connkite, then the "most trusted man in America" came out >against the War in Vietnam, it was all but over. > >Just a few thoughts. > >I enjoy and encourage your spirit and especially you ACTIONS for change. > >Peter > > > > > > >================================================================ > >This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to > the mailing list . >To unsubscribe, E-mail to: