Letters to Clark County. Part I.
Ken Loach
Tuesday October 19, 2004
The Guardian
In a bid to give the rest of the world a say in the US election, the Guardian is urging non-Americans to write to voters in Clark County, Ohio, one of the most marginal areas in a key swing state.
Friends,
You have the chance to do the world a favour. Today, your country is reviled across continents as never before.
Because of your president, and some who have preceded him, you are seen as the greatest bully on earth.
You seek to dominate all others by demanding access to all markets on your terms, so that local industries and small farmers go to the wall.
You have supported brutal dictators, like Augusto Pinochet, General Suharto and Saddam Hussein, who, over the years, have murdered and tortured with your administration's approval.
Now you have led an invasion in a country which was not a threat to you. You have broken international law. You have destroyed what vestige of authority the United Nations had left. The British prime minister Tony Blair and your president are seen as liars and war criminals.
Your government has shown its disregard for human rights in Guantanamo Bay. Your soldiers tortured prisoners in Abu Ghraib.
All this has been done in your name, much of it by George W and his cronies.
But many of us know that this does not represent the real America. There is another tradition.
It is in the struggle of the early trades unions, the International Workers of the World, who fought injustice and exploitation. Those who were sacrificed in the Ludlow Massacre. Heroes like Joe Hill and Mother Jones.
It is in the struggle of Americans, black and white, for civil rights for black people led by many brave men and women like Martin Luther King.
It was in the great struggle for independence from Britain - how ironic, now, that the country that led the way against imperialism is now being governed by those who seek to subjugate others - it is in your music, your poetry and those who fought against slavery.
You have a chance to be true to that other America. For all our sakes, kick out the wretched Bush, spokesman for greed and oppression. Show the world you're not taken in by his phoney, folksy grin.
Do the world a favour
Tuesday October 19, 2004
The Guardian
In a bid to give the rest of the world a say in the US election, the Guardian is urging non-Americans to write to voters in Clark County, Ohio, one of the most marginal areas in a key swing state.
Friends,
You have the chance to do the world a favour. Today, your country is reviled across continents as never before.
Because of your president, and some who have preceded him, you are seen as the greatest bully on earth.
You seek to dominate all others by demanding access to all markets on your terms, so that local industries and small farmers go to the wall.
You have supported brutal dictators, like Augusto Pinochet, General Suharto and Saddam Hussein, who, over the years, have murdered and tortured with your administration's approval.
Now you have led an invasion in a country which was not a threat to you. You have broken international law. You have destroyed what vestige of authority the United Nations had left. The British prime minister Tony Blair and your president are seen as liars and war criminals.
Your government has shown its disregard for human rights in Guantanamo Bay. Your soldiers tortured prisoners in Abu Ghraib.
All this has been done in your name, much of it by George W and his cronies.
But many of us know that this does not represent the real America. There is another tradition.
It is in the struggle of the early trades unions, the International Workers of the World, who fought injustice and exploitation. Those who were sacrificed in the Ludlow Massacre. Heroes like Joe Hill and Mother Jones.
It is in the struggle of Americans, black and white, for civil rights for black people led by many brave men and women like Martin Luther King.
It was in the great struggle for independence from Britain - how ironic, now, that the country that led the way against imperialism is now being governed by those who seek to subjugate others - it is in your music, your poetry and those who fought against slavery.
You have a chance to be true to that other America. For all our sakes, kick out the wretched Bush, spokesman for greed and oppression. Show the world you're not taken in by his phoney, folksy grin.
Do the world a favour
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