censorship during war Re: [LINK] Guardian: Al-Jazeera tells the truthabout war

[Robin Whittle]

Vic, you wrote:

> > Vic, did you once rail against censorship, but now accept it as
> > necessary and good, for instance in times of war?  
>
> thats a misinterpretation of my position. I am not in the slightest
> bit pro-censorship, 

On Sunday you wrote:

> > Viveka:[listmail at karmanaut.com] wrote:
> > > Deus Ex Machina wrote:
> > > > KevinL [darius at obsidian.com.au] wrote:
> > > > the right to lie to us about how the war progresses, the right 
> > > > to cover up war crimes, those things are not given just because 
> > > > there's a war on.
> > >
> > > sorry the government whom you elect makes that call not you.
> > 
> > Democracy does not end at the ballot box. The right to vote every 
> > three or four years does not a democracy make. You are describing an 
> > elected dictatorship. As much as LJH might prefer it that way, we 
> > have a somewhat richer and more complex system here in Oz. Those who 
> > happen to agree with current policy might like democracy to go away, 
> > but it won't.
> 
> paranoia. there is absolutely no democratic principal involved with 
> government ontroling the flow of information during war. quite the 
> contrary government must control the flow of information during war 
> since lives depend on it.

The above quoted passage shows you writing in complete support of
government censorship.  Now you write: "I am not in the slightest
bit pro-censorship," 

The rest of your message indicates you support government censorship in
wartime.  

Then you indicate that you think that the USA can achieve a good outcome
amongst Arabs and democracy in Iraq with its lust for oil, its
preparedness to kill thousands of Iraqis, its destruction of the Iraqi
telephone exchanges, its missiles, bombs and depleted uranium shells,
its support for vile regimes (Saddam Hussein in the past) all whilst
supporting Israel in its attempts to destroy the Palestinians.  You are
as deluded as Donald Rumsfield and co.

Thanks for asking my question about whether your views have changed in
what I assume are your 30s or 40s:

> yes my views have I would like to think, matured over the last 20 
> years.


Your complaint that I misrepresented you as supporting censorship, for
instance in times of war, and your statement that you are "not in the
slightest bit pro-censorship," in the same message as this where you
support censorship in wartime, makes me think that you don't know your
own mind.  

I think there is some commonality between your thinking and that of
Rumsfield etc.   

   http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0304.marshall.html

Likewise the Castroesque columnist whose name I was trying to think of -
Padraic McGuinness:

  http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/paddymcguinness/

I am now thinking of this whole debacle in terms of mental health,
evolved proclivities to be rebellious in one's 20s and brutally bitter
and right-wingish in ones more "mature" years (at least for men - this
would clearly attract a bunch of women) and evolved proclivities to
follow leaders and those predicted to win.  These in addition to all the
usual considerations of religion, racism, fervent nationalism,
comfortable middleclass cluelessness etc.


  - Robin