Followup to my Open Letter To Heather Cox Richard Published here on Substack a day ago...
Once again dear Heather,
Last night you put out your first "Letter from an American" since October 7 that has any substantial mention of Gaza, Hamas, and the U.S. and Israeli governments' actions and behavior... You published this letter just hours after my Open Letter To Heather Cox Richardson (johnfridinger.net/p/open-letter-to-heat…) was published here on Substack, where we both have accounts... I give whatever credit there may be for the timing to the gods...
And yet Heather, in that "Letter from an American" last evening, you demonstrate once again what I can only believe now is a calculated and intentional avoidance of ALL of the deeper sources, contexts, past events, and manipulations and dishonesties, along with the many actual truths about all that has led up to these current events and circumstances... Not to mention what can only be an additional calculated and intentional avoidance of the actual realities of what is happening on the ground there, RIGHT NOW, and for the last 25 days...
Understand I am not accusing you of ignorance, I am instead accusing you of an actual calculated avoidance... Because you are far, far too smart, and extremely capable of seeing all the things, energies and beliefs that are feeding into the current circumstances in the Middle East... Your training and experience as a historian, and as a PhD history professor at the highly respected Boston College, is explicitly and exactly all about HOW to look at and into these sorts of things, so as to effectually unravel the history and actual realities behind what is happening... And especially including all that has led up to it... It may not be your "lane," but it is very definitely your ballpark and your game...
Instead, the only"substantial" mention in your October 31 "Letter from an American" of the complex and multidimensional circumstances, past events, understandings and truths at play in the Middle East and most especially in Palestine/Israel RIGHT NOW, were pretty near verbatim and for the most part maybe even actually plagiarized (in fact if not exact detail) REPEATS of all the very same narrow, superficial, manipulative, misinformed and dis-informed talking points that have been repeated over and over by the Israeli government, the U.S. government, and now as well the Biden Administration, and not just since this whole most recent insanity began, but for DECADES...
Once again you are merely in lockstep with "our" mainstream corporate owned "liberal" media, such as the NYT and WaPo, where I suspect you got some of the actual text in your Letter last night, as you loyally keep repeating all those talking points, for the benefit of a gullible public that is now well indoctrinated, propagandized and brainwashed with all the conflicting and competing (left, liberal, conservative, MAGA, oligarchical, fascist, etc., etc.) ruling class establishments' efforts to control, bend, confuse, scare and divide the minds of our voting public...
You are for a good while now basically giving NO real context, NO real history, and NO real understanding for much of anything that is ACTUALLY going on in our world these days, Heather...
Instead you continue to play up to the liberal ruling elites who you have obviously become deeply identified with... All the while as you continue to repeat the Biden Administration's many political slogans and talking points, using your knowledge of U.S. history as necessary to rationalize and excuse all the politicking that is actually going in in your "letters" these days...
I suspect the only reason this last letter even had any actual substance at all in it, about what is happening in Palestine/Israel, is that Blinken and Austin were sitting there in front of the Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday in a way you could not avoid... In other words it "called your hand"...
And so only "now" you decide to "write" a bit about Israel and Gaza, using what are almost "picture perfect" talking points from the Biden Administration's Press Secretary and the Biden Administration's National Security Adviser, from Israeli government press releases, and of course Blinken's and Austin's talking points in front of the committee...
Once again, SHAME ON YOU... You who once wrote and even repeated almost daily that "we need to step up and make ourselves heard"... And even as you are now taking ZERO risks in exactly those regards... Instead you are sucking up again and again and again to "our" liberal ruling class "leaders" and influencers... Merely another influencer now, Heather, having become tipsy on the triple juices of power, fame and wealth...
And so I am calling to you very loudly now Heather, with my words, to let go of your obedience to the status quo and to the elites you keep fawning and bowing down to, and USE your position and influence to challenge, question and interpret the extremely important deeper things that really, really, REALLY need to be challenged, questioned and interpreted in our societies now... I am still convinced you are more than capable of doing this, if you were to firmly decide to take some real risks and actually do it...
Here is a taste of the courage to speak the truth that I am asking of you, Heather...
Just one of many, many, many examples of the truth that is EASILY findable on the internet by one with your access, education and experience... But ONLY if you have the courage...
Otherwise you are at least in my mind a traitor to ALL the intelligent, aware and caring people like myself who supported you and spread the word about you during your early years... All these mostly white liberal middle and ruling class elites for whom the Israeli government keeps playing their holocaust, yellow star and antisemite get out of jail free cards for their EVERY transgression and act of repression and murder... With their UN delegate being just a bloody PERFECT example...
By your silence and by every liberal ruling class elite's silence, including all those with whom you have some significant influence, you are exactly, actively and knowingly helping the rightwing repressive fascist Israeli government to keep getting away with murder, genocide, extreme repression, and ethnic cleansing...
THIS insane deafening clamoring SILENCE of yours, a silence of all the ways you only and merely repeat all their excuses, guilt trips, misinformation, disinformation, and talking points, IF you speak about it at all...
John Fridinger
Talent, Oregon
Autumn 2023
