Boston Phoenix takes contradictory libertarian
stand

Posing as the third and "alternative" Boston paper
until recently challenged by the "Boston Metro,"
the Boston Phoenix is reminiscent of New York's
Village Voice. Recent events have uncovered that
the Boston Phoenix is just an extension of the
Boston Globe's East Coast Establishment reporting.
The Boston Phoenix has distinguished itself
especially by calling for assassination of foreign
government leaders in response to the September
11th attacks.

Relying heavily on music and pornography/escort
industry advertising money for its existence, the
Boston Phoenix took a relatively good line on
"civil liberties." Moreover, like MIM Notes, the
Boston Phoenix's business niche depends on
street-level distribution. The Phoenix is very
correctly suing the Back Bay Architectural
Commission" for its effort to prohibit newspaper
distribution in its neighborhood.(1)

The Phoenix pointed out that the law U.S. Attorney
General Ashcroft wanted is as follows: "United
States prosecutors may use against American
citizens [italics on these last two words]
information collected by a foreign government even
if the collection would have violated the Fourth
Amendment." The Boston Phoenix points out that
"This provision is not about fighting terrorism.
It's about giving the FBI a way to get around the
Fourth Amendment in any criminal investigation,
pure and simple." (2)

In the same article, the Boston Phoenix
demonstrates the same befuddled confusion of other
libertarian nationalists inside U.$. borders
everywhere. Whereas Osama bin Laden was a creation
of the CIA--receiving his funding and training
from it--the Phoenix proposes more of the
same--get this--as the solution: "We want the
Central Intelligence Agency--never a friend of
progressives--to have the latitude it needs to
stop Islamic-fundamentalist terrorists."(2) So it
is that the CIA created the problem and then
somehow convinced the Phoenix and a majority of
the public that the solution is to give the CIA
even more latitude than before as the solution.

The truth is the opposite. Had there been no CIA
operating to aid torturers in Iran, the revolution
there would not have taken the turn it did. There
would have been no hostage crisis in Iran after
Ayatollah Khomeini took power. Had there been no
CIA and similar agencies to give military aid and
training to Osama bin Laden, he would not have the
capability or desire to do what the average
citizen of the United $tates is afraid of.

The bottom line problem is that the Boston Phoenix
and others fight a rearguard action to defend
civil liberties under assault; however, thanks to
a lack of anti-imperialist outlook, the Boston
Phoenix keeps on feeding the monster that creates
the problems that threaten civil liberties to
begin with. We congratulate the Boston Phoenix for
picking up the same quotes as MIM from Benjamin
Franklin: "They that can give up essential liberty
to obtain a little temporary safety deserve
neither liberty nor safety."(3) We at MIM do not
claim to be red-blooded Amerikkkans like Dan
Kennedy over at the Boston Phoenix; however, what
Franklin says is the true consistent approach in
Amerikan ideology. In contrast, we at MIM say that
not in 1776 and not in 2001 are there conditions
yet for true "freedom." We are doing long-term
work to eliminate the causes of repression and
fear. Moments in history like these last few
months of 2001 prove why MIM is correct and why
others are defending non-existent freedoms--"fair
weather freedoms."

That's not to mention that the Boston Phoenix and
others with patriotic libertarian views have
confused themselves and others hopelessly with
regard to the facts. It is not appropriate to be
fighting a defensive battle for freedoms as if
they already exist while the united $tates is the
leading prison state per capita in the world. The
need for an offensive battle for freedom is lost
in an Amerikan nationalist haze that pretends
freedoms already exist--usually consciously or
unconsciously in the name of Amerikkkan pride
which is well beyond hubris, and rather a
full-blown stupid arrogance.

The same issue of the Boston Phoenix--the best
issue of the Phoenix's since September 11th,
because the others were even more wrapped up in
warmongering fervor--published an article from a
pro-Zionist writer saying a crusade should be
launched against the Arab world and bemoaning the
retraction of the word "crusade" by Bush.(4) These
Boston Phoenix writers do not seem to notice that
Israel has not solved the "terrorism" problem and
in fact perpetrates more terrorism than its
opponents.

Another newspaper depending on street-level
distribution and niche ads is the Bay Windows.
Tabbing itself as "New England's largest gay and
lesbian newspaper," Bay Windows has always
concerned itself with civil liberties for
individuals, including the gay/lesbian minority.
Like many other gay/lesbian papers, the Bay
Windows goes out of the way to make sure to give
credit to Republicans or conservatives whenever
they think correctly. Talk-show reactionary
motor-mouth Rush Limbaugh nonetheless bashed Pat
Robertson and Jerry Falwell for bigotry after
their remarks blaming gays, feminists and
libertarians for the September 11th bombing-- a
supposed act by a wrathful god.(5)

In contrast with the Boston Phoenix, the Bay
Windows is running tough articles defending civil
liberties but it is also exploring the causation
of war. A front page article calls for gay and
lesbian activists to step up their work against
the war and makes the link to hate crimes against
people looking Arab within U.$. borders. The
position of Bay Windows and In Newsweekly(6) fully
vindicates MIM in its insistence on gay/lesbian
issues. Those alleged Marxist-Leninists or even
Maoists opposing MIM's line on this objectively
place themselves in the camp of war-mongering
chauvinism.

Bay Windows is especially encouraging, because it
receives money from established businesses,
including bars, museums and other entertainment
services. MIM is usually put off by its emphasis
on partying and narcissism, but that just
underscores all the more how certain groups are
objectively allied no matter what differences they
may have in the short-run. We fully applaud the
Bay Windows for questioning the war-mongering
crackdown and we wonder why the Boston Phoenix is
not capable of the same.(7) Bay Windows writers
have noticed Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson(8):
why doesn't the Phoenix know we here in Amerikkka
have to take care of business here before we can
pretend the government is righteous enough to make
war on the Taliban.

The Phoenix has questioned the use of torture,
reported on the denial of an airline seat to a
Green activist and exposed inequities and
flim-flam in charities raising money for September
11th victims.(9) Nonetheless, the Phoenix
especially loves to criticize the Pentagon because
it had a chance to assassinate the head of the
Taliban and did not upon the advice of a
lawyer.(10) Lately, the Phoenix does not believe
it is a good idea to have a law against
assassinating heads of state; perhaps the Boston
Phoenix would like the U.$. government to be a
suspect in every assassination of a government
leader and perhaps the Boston Phoenix would like
other countries to have their secret services do
the same thing. Then when a number of heads of
states die in a quick series of shady incidents,
the Boston Phoenix can run endless stories trying
to figure out who did it. As long as paper sales
go up, who cares if spectacular assassinations by
covert operatives lead to the launching of nukes,
right Phoenix?

A long article by Seth Gitell calls for even more
war-mongering support of Israel than the United
$tates already gives. In fact, he openly says that
peace in the Middle East is not desirable: "The
more effort the Bush administration puts into
forging a peace deal between Israel and the
Palestinians during the war on terrorism, the
greater the chance that the US will be distracted
from the real goal: bringing terrorists to
justice."(11)

The only good thing about Gitell's over-the-edge
war-mongering is that he questions George Bush's
very motivations in the effort to defend Israel.
Bush Sr., James Baker III and former secretary of
"Defense" Frank Carlucci all have business ties to
Saudis, including the bin Laden family--this from
the Wall Street Journal of September 27th. George
Bush Sr. has made paid speeches on behalf of the
Carlyle Group and defends his son in front of the
likes of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah.(11) Through
such admissions and accusations made in passing,
the public can get a glimmering of what its rulers
are really like.

The highest award for war-mongering does not go to
Seth Gitell or the Phoenix's idol Seymour Hersh.
Dan Kennedy took the cake with "'Liberal': No
longer a dirty word." Angling for a job with the
Bush administration, Kennedy's headline says,
"it'll be up to liberals to lead the way on
foreign policy abroad and civil liberties at
home."(12)

Kennedy's article shows that the Boston Phoenix
has solid ruling class credentials. He consciously
calls for liberal internationalism of the sort
that the Trilateral Commission could be proud of
and he trots out a variety of authorities to back
his view.

He approves of columnist Michael Barone, who said,
"'Liberals who thought Noam Chomsky was just an
ally who was a little bit far out on the left are
now realizing what the truth is. There is a huge
gap between America and the putrid corners and
backwaters of universities, where you see lots of
professors taking positions that Democratic
politicians don't take in a million years.'"(12)

That's just all the more damnation of the
"Democratic politicians" who focus on sounding
good to voters rather than the truth. More great
exposure of the liberals comes as follows: "it's
true that whatever romance there was between
mainstream liberals and the dreadlocked kids who
marched for Mumia Abu-Jamal and against Starbucks
is now over."(13) It is typical of the low level
of liberal thinking that Kennedy cannot speak
without resorting to descriptions of hair--
descriptions probably intended as racism, which is
one of the bottom-line reasons the liberals will
never solve the problems of this world.


Notes:
1. Boston Phoenix 30November2001, p. 6.
2. Boston Phoenix 28September2001, p. 4.       
3. Ibid., p. 1.
4. Ibid., p. 8.
5. Bay Windows 4-10October2001, p. 8, pointing
to Rush Limbaugh's web site of September 17th.
6. See In Newsweekly "new england's gay and lesbian news and entertainment source",
vol 11 issue 04 for editorial opposing war, p. 16.
7. See 4-10October2001, p. 1 article 
"A call to action for gay and lesbian peace activists in U.S."
8. See "Terrorists all around: Jerry, Pat and Osama have much to unite them,"
Bay Windows 8November2001, p. 12.
9. Boston Phoenix 9-15November2001.
10. "The indispensable Seymour Hersh," Boston Phoenix 9November2001, p. 7.
11. Boston Phoenix 26October2001, pp. 1, 34, 36.
12. Boston Phoenix 19October2001, p. 20.
13. Ibid., p. 21.