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Dominant Discourse

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California State University, Dominguez Hills
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Created: November 3, 2001
Latest Update: November 5, 2001
E-Mail jeannecurran@habermas.org

Constraint on the Imaginary

Journal entry by jeanne

Review and Essay by Jeanne Curran, Susan R. Takata, and Olivier Urbain
Copyright: Jeanne Curran, Susan R. Takata, and Olivier Urbain: October 2001.
and Individual Authors. "Fair Use" encouraged.

This essay is based on a post to the Peace Education Commission by Ian Harris on the prevention of a Green Party member from flying to Chicago for a Green Party meeting. The post is included below, followed by the indymedia website material on this incident. Please scroll down past the posted description to the comments that indicate the extent to which rumor and innuendo are rampant. Dominant discourse can be confirmed on the local and national media. Opposition discourse is much harder to confirm. It isn't just the corporate media we have to concern ourselves with. We're going to have to read carefully, and find trusted mentors on peacemaking issues, because there is no central administrative processing of data. All data come with perspectives and agendas.

Notice the ease with which opposition to bombing Afghanistan becomes a status characteristic by which we judge people suspect. Notice also the difficulty in establishing the bonafides of any message that doesn't fit into the dominant discourse. There are, of course, similar difficulties in establishing the bonafides of messages wtihin the dominant discourse: witness Governor Davis' warnings of pending attacks on suspension bridges, which the FBI later claimed were unsubstantiated and unverified messages, passed on with no intent for public access to the information.

On Saturday, November 3, 2001, Ian Harris posted to the Peace Education Commission:

The following message was posted to wagreens-active:
Green Party USA Coordinator Detained At Airport (english) by Louis Lingg 6:23pm Fri Nov 2 '01

Prevented By Armed Military From Flying To Greens Meeting In Chicago

Armed government agents grabbed Nancy Oden, Green Party USA coordinating committee member, Thursday at Bangor International Airport in Bangor Maine, as she attempted to board an American Airlines flight to Chicago.

"An official told me that my name had been flagged in the computer," a shaken Oden said. "I was targeted because the Green Party USA opposes the bombing of innocent civilians in Afghanistan."

Oden, a long-time organic farmer and peace activist in northern Maine, was ordered away from the plane. Military personnel with automatic weapons surrounded Oden and instructed all airlines to deny her passage on ANY flight. "I was told that the airport was closed to me until further notice and that my ticket would not be refunded," Oden said.

Oden is scheduled to speak in Chicago Friday night on a panel concerning pesticides as weapons of war. She had helped to coordinate the Green Party USA's antiwar efforts these past few months, and was to report on these to The Greens national committee. "Not only did they stop me at the airport but some mysterious party had called the hotel and cancelled my reservation," Oden said.

he Greens National Committee -- the governing body of the Green Party USA -- is meeting in Chicago Nov. 2-4 to hammer out the details of national campaigns against bio-chemical warfare, the spraying of toxic pesticides, genetic engineering, and the Party's involvement in the burgeoning peace movement.

"I am shocked that US military prevented one of our prominent Green Party members from attending the meeting in Chicago," said Elizabeth Fattah, a GPUSA representative from Pennsylvania who drove to Chicago. "I am outraged at the way the Bill of Rights is being trampled upon."

Chicago Green activist Lionel Trepanier concluded, "The attack on the right of association of an opposition political party is chilling. The harassment of peace activists is reprehensible."

For further information, please call 1-866-GREENS-2 (toll-free)

The GREEN PARTY USA will hold press conference in CHICAGO SATURDAY, NOV. 3 to discuss this matter.

10 a.m. at the J. Ira and Nicki Family Hostel 24 East Congress Parkway (at Wabash), 2nd floor"

The Indymedia Story. About halfway down the file you'll find the message which starts: "This is crap! Nancy Oden is a fruitcake. . . . " I should appreciate your comments on the extent of difficulty in keeping information clear in a crisis situation. Note also Governor Davis' warning about the suspension bridges in California being tragets, and the FBI's dismay over that announcement. backup