Comments on: Light Years Ahead

by: Pete IVDL

Fri, 10 Jun 2005 20:40:06 +0000

Ann, the report could have been called “A Gulag By Any Other Name”… It’s about the only word that isn’t used in the report, like a dead elephant in the room. If you substitute “CCCP” for “US” and change the dates back 20 years or so, the only difference is the continued press coverage!

I’m not sure I shoulda read the damn thing, now I dunno whether to laugh or cry. Perhaps I’ll try laughing first.

by: Ann

Wed, 08 Jun 2005 21:44:55 +0000

Pete,
Hmm. It’s in the foreword on the Amnesty site, but I haven’t obtained a print copy. Do let us know how it all turns out!

by: Pete IVDL

Wed, 08 Jun 2005 20:44:09 +0000

Ann, I think the gulag bit might have been added to the web release of the document. It doesn’t appear in the actual report or header. (Yes, I’m trying to read it. No, I don’t have a life!)

by: Ann

Wed, 08 Jun 2005 18:16:31 +0000

I don’t mean to be pedantic, but the phrase “gulag of our times” does appear in the foreword to the report. I’m not saying that the attacks by the administration and its henchmen were reasonable or fair, but I do think we have to be extremely careful to get our facts straight.

by: hedera

Wed, 08 Jun 2005 03:34:00 +0000

Pete, the trouble is, you couldn’t make this stuff up. You’d be laughed out of the room.

by: Pete IVDL

Wed, 08 Jun 2005 00:01:38 +0000

I started to laugh, anticipating the “spinology” in this blog… I never finished.

If it wasn’t so Lobsterdamned true, it’d be unbelievable.

I’m prepared to vote Jon Stewart. Even in an Australian election. The alternative is just not plain funny anymore.

Mary, even the magic shoes don’t work anymore. There’s no place like home…

by: Mary

Tue, 07 Jun 2005 12:47:17 +0000

I’m beyond cynical. It is now a deep depression and my meds aren’t helping any more

by: Tom M

Tue, 07 Jun 2005 08:02:40 +0000

You’ve got to hand it to the Bush camp. They are masterful in their deployment of the Ad Hominem attack against the flank exposed by their diversionary tactics. It’s a poor show on the part of the press though. They were suckered in worse than anyone in their thirst for blood, and when the rug was pulled from under them they had no choice but to join in the ad hominem or look weak themselves.

by: David

Tue, 07 Jun 2005 01:32:41 +0000

Decent,humane people just can’t quite bring themselves to stare these bastards down. Of course it’s a gd gulag, and anyone who dares speak the truth about the Bush administration is treated as an enemy of the state. They just don’t get shot the way they did in Stalinist Russia, or sent off to prison camps. There’s no need since these bastards have perfected the art of media-based assassination.

Lily Tomlin was soooooooooooooooooo right.

by: tim

Tue, 07 Jun 2005 00:59:13 +0000

I’m looking back at my past comments, and I see that I used the word “gulag”, while speculating about where FA readers may someday end up, on May 24th. Amnesty International’s Irene Khan used it on May 25th to describe Guantanamo Bay. Coincidence? I certainly hope so. Otherwise, I’m terribly, terribly sorry.