Susan Sontag quote, September 24th, 2001

[shance]

Susan Sontag, The New Yorker, September 24, 2001



The disconnect between last Tuesday's monstrous dose of reality and the self-righteous drivel and outright deceptions being peddled by public figures and TV commentators is startling, depressing. The voices licensed to follow the event seem to have joined together in a campaign to infantilize the public. Where is the acknowledgement that this was not a "cowardly" attack on "civilization" or "liberty" or "humanity" or "the free world" but an attack on the world's self-proclaimed super-power, undertaken as a consequence of specific American alliances and actions?

How many citizens are aware of the ongoing American bombing of Iraq?

And if the word "cowardly" is to be used, it might be more aptly applied to those who kill from beyond the range of retaliation, high in the sky, than to those willing to die themselves in order to kill others. In the matter of courage (a morally neutral virtue): whatever may be said of the perpetrators of Tuesday's slaughter, they were not cowards.

Our leaders are bent on convincing us that everything is O.K. America is not afraid. Our spirit is unbroken, although this was a day that will live in infamy and America is now at war.

But everything is not O.K. And this was not Pearl Harbor.

We have a robotic president who assures us that America stands tall. A wide spectrum of public figures, in and out of office, who are strongly opposed to the policies being pursued abroad by this Administration apparently feel free to say nothing more than that they stand united behind President Bush. A lot of thinking needs to be done, and perhaps is being done in Washington and elsewhere, about the ineptitude of American intelligence and counter-intelligence, about options available to American foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East, and about what constitutes a smart program of military defense. But the public is not being asked to bear much of the burden of reality.

The unanimously applauded, self-congratulatory bromides of a Soviet Party Congress seemed contemptible. The unanimity of the sanctimonious, reality-concealing rhetoric spouted by American officials and media commentators in recent days seems, well, unworthy of a mature democracy.

Those in public office have let us know that they consider their task to be a manipulative one: confidence-building and grief management. Politics, the politics of a democracy--which entails disagreement, which promotes candor--has been replaced by psychotherapy. Let's by all means grieve together. But let's not be stupid together.

A few shreds of historical awareness might help us to understand what has just happened, and what may continue to happen. "Our country is strong", we are told again and again. I for one don't find this entirely consoling. Who doubts that America is strong? But that's not all America has to be.

[maxsolomon]

1. ah, now i remember why freepers hate her

have the intervening years proved one word of that statement wrong?

no they have not.

RIP susan.

[Cuban_Liberal]

2. May she rest in peace.

Another voice for truth falls silent...

[scarletwoman]

3. I remember it well. I was so pleased that SOMEONE

was finally speaking the truth. What she wrote was absolutely right on -- "reality-concealing rhetoric" -- perfect!

The subsequent vilification of Ms. Sontag for writing these words which came from the right was to be expected, of course, but I will NEVER forgive the cowardly, disgusting, bleatings of certain "liberals" who hastened to distant themselves from her searing honesty by joining the chorus of critics calling her "anti-American".

For these post-September 11 words alone, Susan Sontag has my undying admiration and respect. And those who whined that she had "gone too far" have earned my undying contempt.

Splendid journey to you, Susan!

sw

[KlatooBNikto]

4. AMEN. Susan Sontag, patriot, thinker, fearless woman.May she

rest in peace.

[shance]

7. Truly. Those are insightful, courageous words during a confusing

fear-fueled moment in our history.

No doubt, she had a level grasp on the reality of the overall picture. Must have been a lonely time for her.

I wish I had known more about her while she was here.

***

[Z_I_Peevey]

10. We must remember always the atmosphere

following the 9/11 attacks, when an iron curtain clamped down on free speech, and any questioning of the Usurper became treason. Remember, and honor those who continued to exercise their rights as Americans.

[scarletwoman]

17. The "atmosphere" was ALLOWED to come into being by COWARDICE!

If more people had had the courage to look reality straight in the eye and had spoken out as Susan Sontag and Bill Maher did, that "iron curtain" of which you speak would not have been allowed to develop.

Instead, many so-called "liberal" public figures not only openly expressed dismay with Ms. Sontag's New Yorker piece, they cravenly stumbled all over themselves in rushing to declare that THEY, too were properly patriotic and would NEVER harbor such Anti-American thoughts in their own bleeding heart bosoms.

Liberals, used to empathizing with the oppressed, fell giddily into the great orgy of victimhood that banished nearly all rationality in the group mind of the U.S.

Too few hands from the left mustered for the battle for the National Conscience. The right won by default because so much of the left conceded ground by heedlessly buying into the framing being fashioned by the powers-that-be.

A lynch mob cannot grab you if you are surrounded by fellow warriors, but the left seems to be short on true warriors -- newly short one more with the passing of Susan Sontag.

Fear need not have won after 9/11 had enough people kept their wits about them...

sw

[Taxloss]

5. At least Linda Lee-Potter died the same year.

A balance there.

[diamond14]

6. words from her C-span interview, replayed tonight .....

her thought about war.....


in the first World War...90 % of those KILLED were military, 10 % civilians...

by the second World War...90 % of those killed were CIVILIANS, mostly women and children....10 % of those killed were military....
Americans/British/Canadians bombed HAMBURG, Germany round the clock...bombed a city that had no men left in it (they had all gone to fight the war) and they KNEW that Hamburg was mostly inhabited only by women and children....the bombings KILLED MORE PEOPLE than BOTH ATOMIC BOMBS....

At this point in our history, we only know how to conduct war by killing massive numbers of innocent civilians. Susan would have no problem with military soldiers fighting each other in a war....but she felt that we are incapable of that anymore....we mostly kills civilians in our wars, and that is why we must NOT have wars anymore....we must find other ways to resolve our differnces...and certainly there would be many different approaches to removing saddam, or changing his power structure, or altering his abilities WITHOUT WAR...

(my own comment: the ratio in OUR Iraq war is over 1300 American Soldiers KILLED, and over 100,000 Innocent Iraqi civilians killed....I have not seen numbers for Iraqi soldiers...but in the initial glorious American invasion way back in March 2003, it seemed like the Iraqi military all ran away, leaving few DEAD)....

[gandalf]

8. Why are there so few well-known "lefties" like her?

Surely "leftie" is a gross simplification...

It does not seem to be en vogue for US intellectuals to be critical of US imperialism. There are Chomsky, Gore Vidal, who else?

[Disturbed]

9. I viewed the entire interview on C-Span.

We have lost a great lady, activist and writer.

[FizzFuzz]

14. just off the top of my head

Krugman, Molly Ivins, Laura Flanders, Al Franken--

Well, I realize that the last three are not considered in the higher eschelons like Sontag, Chomsky and Gore Vidal, but they are all smart as hell, insightful, honest and outspoken.

I know there's got to be more; I've got lots of knowledge gaps.

[nostamj]

11. sounds like Bill Maher was a Sontag fan...

And if the word "cowardly" is to be used, it might be more aptly applied to those who kill from beyond the range of retaliation, high in the sky, than to those willing to die themselves in order to kill others. In the matter of courage (a morally neutral virtue): whatever may be said of the perpetrators of Tuesday's slaughter, they were not cowards.


isn't that pretty much was he said on POLITICALLY INCORRECT? (and got cancelled for it)

[saltpoint]

12. Thanks for reminding us, Shance --

-- of Susan Sontag's extreme clarity and wisdom.

We could sure use her back.

[shance]

15. You're very welcome

She did leave us quite an example and legacy to live by.

[SpiralHawk]

13. I nominate Susan Sontag for the Presidential Freedom Medal

She merits acknowledgement and honor from the entire nation.

[dbt]

16. DAMN. She must have been great!

Thanks for posting this, shance. I got somebody new to learn about now!

:wow:
dbt

PS: DAMN!

[mitchum]

18. THAT is why the freepers hated Sontag...

it's not as if they resented having to read "Notes on Camp" in college

[scarletwoman]

19. I've nominated this thread for the front page, I hope others will also. nt

[shance]

20. That's a good idea Scarlet. Would be a fitting tribute for Ms. Sontag.

and her work.

Definitely.

:)

[scarletwoman]

21. My deepest thanks to you for starting this thread.

I must confess, prior to her post-9/11 New Yorker article, I was really only familiar with Susan Sontag as a name -- someone "known" as a part of modern culture.

I was immediately and deeply impressed with the quality of her thinking upon reading this piece, and felt immensely relieved to find that I was not alone in my profound distaste for the direction being taken by U.S. groupthink.

Thank you so much for posting this piece!

sw

[shance]

22. That is so kind Scarlet. Actually the thanks belongs to Cuban liberal

who made many of us at DU aware that she had passed away.

We all just keep the information going!

Thanks for posting SW. Ms. Sontags' words are very significant to me too.