| Wednesday January 08, 2003
by Bjørn Stærk
|
Bruce Bawer forwarded me an e-mail where a number of Norwegian academics,
media professionals and politicians
led by Petter Nome at NRK deliver a message of peace and goodwill to the peace-loving peace-minded American people by
offering to help them to "get rid of George W. Bush".
The people who signed it didn't list their e-mail addresses, but I managed to dig up most of them using a fantastic
new invention of mine. I call it the Universal E-mail Address Locator. (Okay, so I used Google. Stop bugging me.)
Here's the reply I sent them, and yes, I'm being deliberately polite and non-inflammatory:
To the signatories of the Hello America e-mail campaign,
I want to raise my concern over your contribution to the American image of Norway as a modern
home of ritualistic anti-war mongering. I'm a Norwegian who run a weblog with many American
readers. It's my impression from running it for over a year that more and more Americans have
come to think of Western Europe as politically naive and intellectually dead. This
is no doubt an exaggeration, but your e-mail campaign serves only to strengthen that image. Your
letter is ignorant, simplistic, - even offensive.
Please take the time to read through my comments:
At 13:17 07.01.2003 +0100, you wrote:
Dear fellow citizen of the planet,
The "Hello America!" campaign was launched in Oslo, Norway, at 12.30 PM CET, January 6th 2003.
It is now being spread all over the world.
We want to carpet bomb the world with a message of support for all peace loving Americans.
That would include all of them. Everyone loves peace. But not everyone loves peace more than anything else.
I, for one, also love freedom. Freedom and peace are closely linked, but freedom undefended remains free not for long. It is easy for
you and I to sit here in Norway, one of the most peaceful and prosperous corners of the world, and think
lofty thoughts about world peace. But should we be so eager to sacrifice the freedom of the
people of Iraq for the sake of peace? If forced to choose, would _you_ rather risk your life for freedom or live under a
tyrannic peace? Many people, including our ancestors, have had to make that hard choice throughout history,
or had it made for them. We owe much of our freedom, wealth - and peace - to the ones who chose the
former option.
Please do the following:
1. Add your name to the list below. (Under the "Hello America!" letter)
2. Forward the whole mail to your friends and contacts, with copies to the following recipients:
American News Medias:managing-editor@nytimes.com; news-tips@nytimes.com; CNN@cnn.com; letters@washpost.com; localnews@globe.com; slevinson@knightridder.com; rranderson@tribune.com; homeforum@csps.com ; world@csmonitor.com ; readers.rep@latimes.com; feedback@wsj.com; newseditors@wsj.com; editor@american-reporter.com; cwarmbold@ajc.com; pgast@ajc.com; gbailon@dallasnews.com; rbarrick@dallasnews.com; rchavira@dallasnews.com; philly_feedback@knightridder.com; publiceditor@tribune.com; eyewitness.news@abc.com ; daily@timeinc.net; letters@time.com
Bush and Cheney:
president@whitehouse.gov; vice.president@whitehouse.gov
Feel free to do the following with this e-mail:
1. Send it to all your friends and contacts.
2. Do _not_ send endless copies to people who have already received it, (even though
some of them may have secretaries to filter their mail). That's just rude.
HELLO AMERICA!
The USA is on the brink of war. An aggressive and unpredictable leader is spreading fear and insecurity. His name is George W. Bush.
The meaning of the term "aggressive" must have undergone inflation over the years. It once would have
referred to power-hungry leaders who provoke wars with weaker neighbours to conquer their land
and exploit their resources. Now _any_ war for _any_ reason is aggressive? Bush attacked
Afghanistan in self-defense. In place of its Arab occupants and religious tyrants, he introduced the
closest thing to a peaceful democracy the country has had for decades. In a few weeks, Bush
will attack Iraq, in pre-emptive self defense. One may agree or disagree with the view that Iraq
has the potential to become a nuclear threat, but the American motivation behind the war is clear: Bush
perceives a significant threat, and is taking steps to disable it. Correct or not, this is categorically
different from an aggressive war of conquest and exploitation. It serves only to cloud
an already complex issue to pretend that they are the same thing.
As for being unpredictable, Bush's intentions on Afghanistan were made clear immediately after
September 11. His intention to attack Iraq has been obvious since at least the spring of 2002.
His foreign policy has been, if not predictable, then at least _reliable_. Perhaps the word you're looking
for, though, is "uncontrollable". Bush has refused to defer his foreign policy to that of Western
Europe. That makes Western European leaders afraid and insecure. It's not hard to imagine
why. Nobody enjoys losing control over the flow of events. Western European opposition to Bush's
foreign policy would, however, be simultaneously more honest and less influential if these concerns
over control were stated openly, rather than in terms of "international law" and "regional stability".
Mr. Bush possesses massive arsenals of weapons of mass destruction.
He claims he has the right to use them.
As I see it, it's not meaningful to talk about anyone having a right or not having a right to use
nuclear bombs. What matters is that the United States does have that power, and so far have not abused
it. Nothing indicates that it will in the foreseeable future. They may be forced to _use_ that
power, though, and the likelihood of this increases dramatically if truly aggressive and
unpredictable dictators like Saddam Hussein are allowed to get their hands on nuclear
weapons.
None of us, I am sure, would welcome a return to the Cold War, a revival of MAD and nuclear deterrence,
but that is where we might be heading if nuclear weapons end up in the wrong hands.
There are, perhaps, no good hands for nuclear weapons to end up in, but some are far worse
than others, and Hussein's are near the top of that list.
He was never elected by a majority of his people.
(32 % of adult Americans voted for Bush. He got 539,989 less votes than opponent Al Gore)
That's rule of law for you. Democracy is worthless without it. Fairness in democracy is a subjective
and highly volatile concept. Peaceful elections are only possible where high-flying ideals of fairness
and democracy, dragged down to earth, have been turned into _laws_. There will always be differences of opinion about the
various implementations of democracy, and when a country is unable to settle these
differences in the legislative or the courts of law, it is forced to settle them with violence.
Bush and Gore settled their differences in court, in full accordance with American law. There is no other
way to do it. Introducing retroactive laws _after_ the election - a significant rewrite of the Constitution
would have been necessary to bypass the electoral college - would not only have destabilized the
country, it would have been undemocratic. Cosmically fair or not, Bush's victory was fully democratic.
So would Gore's have been, had the laws been in his favor.
Incidentally, if you believe that Bush unfairly "stole" the presidential election, I am confident that you
will be similarly enraged to learn that Norwegian parties have been "stealing" our Parliamentary
elections on a regular basis for years. The setup of the Norwegian Parliament is not representative of
the will of the people. Votes from Finnmark weigh 50% more than votes from Oslo. This means that
parties that are popular in Finnmark are arguably unfairly represented in Stortinget. Whether one agrees
with the practice or not, the only way to change it is by changing Norwegian law, and doing so well in
advance of the next election. On election day, fairness is irrelevant. Only law counts.
He leads a regime, where he himself - and a rich elite - enjoy enormous wealth and growing privileges, while millions live in poverty and despair.
It is true that millions of Americans live in poverty by Western standards, but that only a small
elite enjoys wealth is hardly true. The vast majority of the Western world is rich beyond the imagination
of our ancestors as well as the people of the Third World. The average American is also measurably
wealthier than the average Norwegian. Wealth is less evenly spread, but this does not seem to be a
major concern of the people who live there, or the many people in the Third World who wish they did.
We can disagree over economic policy, but it is hard to disagree with economic fact. Portraying the US
as a society for the privileged few is deeply unfair, and says much about what privileges the
person who believe it happens to take for granted.
People of ethnic minorities are oppressed and humiliated.
It was interesting to follow the aftermath of September 11, and the expected massive "retaliation"
against Muslim communities. From what I gather, about 300 hate crimes were investigated by the
FBI, and perhaps nine people were killed. (This according to http://www.terrorismanswers.com/policy/hatecrimes.html).
Bad as this is, in what non-Western country would a comparable act of mass slaughter, identifiable with an ethnic/religious minority, not have
been followed by riots and even massacres? The fact that none of this happened in the US
speaks well for its attitude towards ethnic minorities.
His country ranks highest in the world with regard to
not signing human rights treaties.
Have no fear. Now that the US have been voted off the UN Human Rights Comission in favor of
Syria, the global battle for human rights is in safe hands.
We thank you, America!
Why, yes.
We know that most Americans want peace, prosperity and justice for all.
You are good people, like most people are, in Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Korea, Ukraine, Australia, Norway, Mexico, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, Brazil, India, Bolivia, Iran, Uganda, Portugal and elsewhere.
We thank you for giving us Abraham Lincoln, Bessie Smith, Elvis Presley, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hank Williams, Martin Luther King jr., Toni Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Jesse Owens, Woody Allen, Miles Davis, Ernest Hemingway, Helen Keller, Madonna, John Steinbeck, Jimmy Carter, Julia Roberts, Muhammad Ali and many more.
If we can do anything to help you
get rid of George W. Bush
before he wrecks your reputation
and messes up the whole planet,
please let us know!
"Get rid of George W. Bush"? That is a very unfortunate choice of words. I can only think of three
ways to "get rid of" an elected American president before the end of his term: Through impeachment, a
coup, or by having him assasinated. There hasn't been a single coup or (as far as I know) a successful presidential impeachment in
US history. That leaves assasination as the only realistic option,
an attempt of which seems to be made every 10 to 20 years. By supporting this campaign, are you saying
that you would support an assasination attempt on George W. Bush?
I hope that isn't what you intended, but I can't think of any other way to read this, and I am sure
that your American recipients will react in much the same way. Feel free to correct me if I have
overlooked something.
Best regards,
Your worried friends in the rest of the World.
Petter Nome, Journalist and TV Producer. Reiulf Steen, Ambassador. Finn Sjue, Journalist and Associate Professor. Sidsel Mørck, Author. Bengt Calmeyer, Author and Journalist. Øystein Djupedal, Member of the Norwegian Parliament. Saera Khan, Member of City Council in Oslo and Central Committee of the Labour Party. Torbjørn Morvik, TV director. Margrethe Aaby, Theater Director. Herman Kristoffersen, Mayor of Tromsø. Knut Nærum, Comedian and Author. Svein Tindberg, Actor. Raymond Johansen, Secretary General. Mette Janson, Journalist. Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Professor of Social Anthropology. Odd Arvid Strømstad, Director. Ranveig Frøiland, Member of the Norwegian Parliament. Pål Gordon Nilsen, Journalist. Jon Wessel-Aas, Lawyer. Magnus Nome, Student. Nina Johnsrud, Journalist. Jannecke Hemsen, Teacher. Bente Aschim, Medical Doctor. Helge Nome, Teacher. Colleen Anne Watkins, Translator. Borgny Baastad, TV Photographer. Marte Haabeth Grindaker, President of Juvente (Youth organisation). Frank Sivertsen, Journalist. Hallvard Hatlestad, IT Proffesional and Competance Developer. Roy Corell, Nurse. Bjørn Jacobsen, Member of the Norwegian Parliament. Nils P. Lie-Gjeseth, Teacher and Webmaster. Thorbjørn Bratt, City Councillor. Sonja Holterman, Journalist. Eirik Sivertsen, Production Manager. Jens Øvrebø, TV Director. Tone Bratteli, Director of Information. Stina Greaker, TV Director. Per A. Thorbjørnsen, Managing Director. Henrik Steen, Writer. Eirik Nome, Student. Birger Kolsrud Jåsund, Journalist. Reidunn Nørstelien, Production Manager. Anne Jensen, Teatcher. Marthe Christensen, Student. Pål Rud Knudsen, Editor. Hilde Hummelvoll, journalist. Bjarte Aune Olsen, Student. Brynjar Widerøe, Sound Engineer. Siri Gellein, Journalist and Singer. Chris Foss, TV Director. Marte Spurkland, Journalist. Jan Holm, Journalist and Author. Øystein Bache, Comedian. Yngvil Kiran, TV Producer. Andreas Lunnan, Journalist. Vivi Stenberg, Journalist. Jan Roger Henriksen, Marketing Director, Torstein Vegheim, TV Director. Kjell Terje Ringdal, Managing Director, Ellen Lund, Historian, Bjørn Holmgren, TV Director, Knut Müller Nilsen, Artist Manager, Ingvild Vaggen Malvik, Member of the Norwegian Parliament. Isabell Skagen, Project Manager, Ivar Johansen, Member of City Parliament Oslo. Karin Torp, 1 vice president of the Norwegian Union of Commercial and Office Employees. Gerd Pedersen, Secretary. Olav Boye, Research Officer, Norwegian Union of Graphical Workers. Lasse Sandberg, Administration Officer, Berit Johanne Berg, Floor Manager, Sten Bjørnø, District Secretary. Ruth Grung, Commissioner for Education and Sports. Knut Fagerbakke, City counsellor. Marianne Borgen, Member of the City Governement in Oslo and Deputy member of Parliament. Aamir J. Sheikh, member of Oslo Council, Conservative Party. Per Sverre Rannem, Mayor in Steinkjer Municipality. Odd Thraning, Major in Levanger Municipality. Oddvar Hølland, Union Representative. Reidar Otto Johnsen, TV Director. Sture Arntzen, President of Norwegian Union of Commercial and Office Employees. Kai Christoffersen, Norwegian Confederation of Trade Union Offshore Representative. Lene Bomann-Larsen, Research Fellow. Atle Teigland, Electrician, Signe Tønsberg, Senior Executive Officer. Hallgeir H. Langeland, Member of the Norwegian Parliament.May Sommerfelt, Director of International Department. Maria Astrup, Graphic Designer. Heidi Sørensen, Member of the Norwegian Parliament. Jan Tore Evensen, Secretary General. Nissa Nyberget, Musician. Rønnaug Tveito, Elin Enge, Kjell Erik Øye, Member of the City Council, Oslo. Tonje Østbye, Procect Manager. Olav Viksmo Slettan, journalist. Jens C. Andreassen, student . Susanne Abelsen, Advicor - refugees. Geir Furuseth, Journalist.
Best regards,
Your peace-loving co-citizen,
Bjørn Stærk, software developer and web pundit,
http://bearstrong.net/warblog
