Silence and Politics

At this juncture in our strange sojourn called America, we should not remain silent. There are two comments on this thought:

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Martin Luther King Jr.

The second comment comes from Juan Cole today:

Iraqi Blogger Jailed
Iraqi blogger Khalid has been tossed into jail, apparently for being critical of the Iraqi government on the Web. The arrest was first reported by Riverbend.

So much for "Freedom and Democracy" in the new Iraq. Sounds like the old Iraq to me.

What is the most effective way of speaking out? I think that it is writing letters to the newspaper. It is amazing to me how many people read the letters to the editor. Why more don't write back, I am not sure. Some might say that such activity is preaching to the choir. Could be.

It is also clear that the Plame affair is in crescendo. It is being linked to the Downing Street Memos and to the Iraq war planning group in the White House. I can't imagine how it is going to turn out. Makes for interesting theatre.

The ultimate sadness here is the silence of the press (lambs that they are). You would have thought that both the WaPo and the Gray Lady would have been all over this like chicken pox. Sometimes I wish I were 20 years in the future just so I could read history.