Commenter Profile

Total number of comments: 13 (since 2011-04-16 15:22:05)

gloriousbach

Mondoweiss.net supporter

Retired history professor.

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  • Responding to commenters on recent bannings
    • gloriousbach March 2, 2012 at 11:09 am with 14 replies

      The courage and integrity needed to field Mondoweiss have impressed me profoundly. The drive for justice and knowledge of history shine through the posts and the comments. I don't know if the banning of J.B. was politically necessary--it may be another indication of the relentless pressures against Phil and Adam in a treacherously imperfect world.

      The discussion generated by the banning of of J.B. has revived a question for me which, until I read the comments and yesterday's response, I was reluctant to ask (my ancestors spoke a Latin rather than a Semitic language.) I think that I should know the answer but, in truth, I don't.

      Could someone direct me either to posts or to comments which would clarify for me what is meant by the term "anti-Semitism" as it's used on MW? Or is part of the larger difficulty, apart from the discussions here, that many players in the Middle East troubles benefit from keeping the definition unclear?

  • Paul's challenge to progressives
    • gloriousbach January 3, 2012 at 6:37 pm with 1 replies

      kalithea: "There are people being maimed, slaughtered, denied their rights and losing their land and homes not to mention the rights that Americans are losing to this warped Neocon agenda while some here are nitpicking at purity. The imminent fate of these people is my baby; my priority!"

      "[K]eep reality, which in this case is the existential threat to human beings being sacrificed by warped policy, in focus."
      -------
      Absolutely right: committing to the most important priorities. Never believed a word from Obama in 2008 & refused to vote for him then. In 2012, will write-in Paul. Living at latitude 38": 54' & longitude 77":02' there's no angst involved.

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  • Could Ron Paul's Iowa surge finally open up political debate on Israel and Iran attack?
    • gloriousbach November 29, 2011 at 8:45 pm

      You both are treasures.
      I'm glad to hear of Gjelten's integrity and not in the least surprised at the Matthews-Schieffer axis of journalistic corruption.

  • '48 is beginning to replace '67 in discourse -- even at UVa
    • gloriousbach November 7, 2011 at 9:17 pm

      Downloaded it to my Kindle. Can see already how excellent & helpful a presentation of what happened. Appreciate the recommendation.

  • Ultrazionists have met the enemy and he is... Tom Friedman!
    • gloriousbach November 4, 2011 at 10:53 am with 1 replies

      Speaking of NYT columnists -- Ethan Bronner spoke last night at George Washington University to a group of students at the Middle East Institute. He opened by stating his credo as a journalist that his "goal" was to find the "grey" areas in these controversial Middle East issues, to avoid reducing complexities to "black and white." The words "goal" and "black and white"were a leitmotiv throughout his talk. The session was filmed but I don't have access to a transcript yet, so am relying on memory.

      He illustrated his approach with polarities such as "fence" vs. "barrier," "terrorist" vs. "freedom fighter" and so forth. The references to actualities in the Middle East were general and limited and in search of the grey. Aside from "I met so-and-so" or "I was at Tahrir Square," there was almost nothing substantive that couldn't have been gleaned by a reading across the net.

      At the end, an audience member revisited his opening journalist imagery of "black-white-grey." He was asked something like: "Is your view that the fullest truth is assumed to be in the grey area? is that your personal understanding of journalism or is it the policy of the New York Times? What if the truth is not grey?"

      He answered that the views he expressed at the outset regarding his "goal" for the "grey" as a journalist were his own and not NYT policy. He then added: "If I found the truth in the black," he would not hesitate report that. I don't recall a single example from the session where he identified something he found as "black" or "white." To my ear, issues were all framed in a dualistic breakdown leaving the faux grey as the assumed truthful position.

      If Bronner had opened with any statement along the lines of: "My goal as a journalist is to present as full an account of TRUTH as possible, period," I might have respected his approach. But constant resort to: "they-say-this and the-others-say-that" led to egregious sins of omissions -- for example, about "when" Palestinians began insisting that Israel stop building settlements, and stating that there is no reliable government structure working for Palestinians and leaving out why that might be. Again, until I can get the transcript, that wording comes close to exact but the structuring of his views left this audience member yearning for a reporter to say: TRUTH, as far as I can determine it, is my goal. Period, no color schemes.

  • Two Israelis try to help Brooklyn's Jews cross the Red Sea
    • gloriousbach September 16, 2011 at 1:50 pm with 8 replies

      To the commenters here:
      You can't imagine how helpful these discussions are to those of us still learning. The quality, depth of knowledge, and the commitment.
      I hope that Norman Finkelstein knows how profoundly inspirational he is to so many. All I ever do here is thank and compliment--but the site is a lifeline these days. So, thanks, again, to Phil, Adam et al.

  • Thanks for making our fund-drive successful!
  • I shouldn't have admitted, I'm pulling for the Japanese
    • gloriousbach July 17, 2011 at 2:11 pm

      "You’re outta line on this one, Phil."

      I think that Phil's is a rather sane position and a really, really, really brave one. I wouldn't have dared to "speak truth to family," i.e., that one doesn't even have to give a fig about sports, that I think it's become one more bread-circus corporate con game, verging on pure treacle.

      Maybe Mooser's mountain cigarettes are a good idea, they could have tamped down any preachy edge to Phil's views but the: "I'm/we're number 1" (like this matters much?) mantra deserves to be resisted. Whoa! talk about radioactive subjects.....

  • Liberal American Jews negotiate away the right of return
    • gloriousbach July 15, 2011 at 6:27 pm with 2 replies

      Phil's insightful post along with gingershot's and chespirito's (and others) comments = so encouraging. Succinct and powerful framing helps enormously.

      My only regret is the psychic energy I waste on wondering what drives Witty to write the sorts of jesuitcal arridities he inflicts on readers.

  • Why this fund drive is important for us
    • gloriousbach July 6, 2011 at 2:21 pm with 5 replies

      "every morning i wake up and check the drive numbers. then i think about how much money it take to live nowadays. . . . in a perfect world this site would generate 100 grand a year, at least! plus think of the great coverage during egypt’s (ongoing) revolution."
      - - - -
      Yes, 100% agree with you, Annie, you describe my reactions exactly. I read comments from the latest-to-earliest and was discouraged as I scrolled up to your post by the relatively petulant digressions -- relative, that is, to the horror of what is inflicted to human beings moment-to-moment on Middle East ground -- and relative to the heroic efforts that Phil, Adam, and other bloggers make.

      The tiresome and time-consuming digressions downthread which trolls inflict on us -- GF being upset and someone else whose name I've forgotten, being annoyed at something else and deciding to punish Mondoweiss by not contributing a possible $100. What a time-wasting headache this must be for those who maintain the site. Perspective: it's a terrible thing to lose.

  • Calls grow for Freedom Flotilla to launch from Egypt
  • Help Mondoweiss stay afloat with a voluntary subscription
    • gloriousbach June 27, 2011 at 4:21 pm

      This site is incomparable and one of the most important on the net

      Whatever I have to do to get to a thousand $$$ by Thanksgiving, short of selling my grandchildren, I’ll do. I’m a (bad) Catholic and I can drive up the RCC $$$ numbers for this drive (*lame humor attempt) and, worse, I lurk here.

      So, I am grateful not only to Phil and Adam but also to the Kathleens, Annies, Mooser, Taxi et al., who are so dedicated and informed. Even the predictably depressing Hasbara cant from eee and Mr. Witty are vivid reminders of the corrosive intellectual effect of the Zionist worldview.

      If (when) I make it to the ”etoile” level, I’ll rent out the star, free-float it to whomever might appreciate it. Thank you all.

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