Posted on 09/19/2001 8:14:19 AM PDT by SAMWolf
Good evening. I come to you tonight with a heavy heart, as the president of Woodstock Nation.
Today, Sept. 11, 2001, is a day that will live in inappropriateness.
The forces of religious fanaticism and misogynistic patriarchy attacked Woodstock Nation today, hijacking four jets and hitting the World Trade Center towers and Pentagon.
These acts of mass life deprivation can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of Woodstock Nation. Terrorist attacks shatter steel, but they cannot unweave the macrame of Woodstock Nation resolve.
We must act, but not in the eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth, tit-for-tat, retaliatory way that so many of our saber-rattling countrymyn and womyn are calling for today. We must act, but not militarily. We must act, but not with violence.
Let me say this as forcefully as I can, and let me speak directly to the terrorists and the nations that harbor them:
I'm not comfortable with all this war talk. It upsets me.
At a time like this, my friends, we must ask the tough question. Where have all the flowers gone?
So let the word go forth from this time and place:
Woodstock Nation will turn the other cheek.
All the better to hear from the people who launched these strikes, for hear them we must.
We must listen to the very real concerns of the perpetrators.
We must work to understand what prompts our brothers and sisters to slaughter thousands of innocents.
We must eliminate the root causes of terrorism, the poverty and despair.
We know the United States has done many awful things to merit the terrorists' hate and prompt their mass terror -- not developing alternative energy sources, for example. We must let the terrorists know we understand.
They were just sharing.
Understanding why this has happened, the attackers' motivations and what responsibility the United States has for its actions around the world does no dishonor to the people who died at the Pentagon, the World Trade Center and in Pennsylvania.
As such, I am dispatching battalions of diplomats to the nations that offer a safe haven to terrorists. They'll ask the nations harboring those terrorists to stop enabling. They'll ask the terrorists what's bothering them and how they're feeling about themselves. They'll also ask the terrorists to please stop. Pretty please. This is not OK.
Maybe if I get really, really upset I'll ask Interpol to drop by Osama bin Laden's tent and ask him to come in for questioning and a group hug, provided they read him his Miranda rights.
I'm also calling up the rapid deployment conflict resolution specialists and the Delta Team facilitators in our peace institutes.
They more than anyone know that violence begets violence.
They more than anyone know that a war against terrorism is fruitless.
They more than anyone know you'll just create more terrorists.
They more than anyone know that if you kill or jail bin Laden, countless other bin Ladens will take his place.
They know, too, that waging peace will require an global effort. As such, I'm calling today for an international conference on terrorism under the auspices of the United Nations.
As Winston Churchill once might have said, "We will engage them in meaningful dialogue, we will feel their pain, we will keep communicating."
Have we forgotten the words of John F. Kennedy: "We are engaged in a long twilight processing."
Have we not learned that there are no winners in war, World War II notwithstanding?
Have we not learned that arms are for hugging?
I think I speak for all the American peace community when I say how moved we've all been by the spontaneous renditions of "Down By The Riverside" and "Kumbaya" today. Across our land the dove-of-peace banners and one-world flags fly proudly again. Far out. Woodstock Nation is back.
As John Lennon once reminded us, , all we are saying is give peace a chance.
Sing it with me now.
Good night, Woodstock nation.
And, yes, Peace.
My dear brother and sister FReepers,
At this, of all times in my lifetime, I would like nothing more than to be able to read these threads and reply to them. I have much I would like to say.
BUT, I cannot!
Why?
Because I am trying hard to raise the finances needed to keep FreeRepublic up and running so that we can continue to share valuable information and respond to it.
I beg you, if you have not yet donated to FreeRepublic this quarter, do so now!
If you have already donated, THANK YOU VERY MUCH AND GOD BLESS YOU, please ping your friends, and FReep on...!
I realize you are giving to lots of Relief efforts and I encourage you to do so. But we need to help FR too. Where would we be right now without it?
If you have no money, please come and bump the Fundraiser Thread.
I would really like to reach our goal quickly so that I and the rest of the dedicated FReepers who are working the Fundraiser Threads can participate in what is undeniably the most important time in FreeRepublic's history.
WHERE WOULD YOU GET YOUR NEWS FROM IF FREEREPUBLIC WASN'T HERE?<--click here
Support FreeRepublic! Support the U.S.A. <--click here
One spot of hope, the Woodstock nation is getting old and tired, and us Punk Rock adherents are coming into our own now. You won't see us spouting off about "peace and love". Remember, we used to bash each other about FOR ENTERTAINMENT! Hell, we voted for Reagan just to extend a big middle finger to the peaceniks, and that was when we were young and stupid!
You won't see us going to peace rallies. We'll be the ones listening to "Rock the Casbah" by the Clash, with the "Nuke Afghanistan" bumper sticker on our cars! So don't give up hope yet.
These people need to grow some b*&&s, and move to Switzerland.
And that dosn't mean part of the face.
Woodstock needs to reasses the cost of freedom. Freedom means nothing if it won't be defended.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.