Viv, Impressed by NZZ readers, takes Americans to task
*Cotillion sister, Conservative Belle has a great post:
Population, Privilege, Prestige, Pride and Power -
The Five Reasons We Are Obligated to Fight for Democracy
It was prompted by the hundreds of NZZ readers who signed the petition, ( click here to see or sign the petition and names). Here’s Viv’s post:
The (NZZ) article generated a massive amount of traffic to her blog and signatures on the petition shot up by hundreds in just a short amount of time. Europeans were genuinely interested in the fate of al-Khaiwani and free speech in Yemen. It was amazing to all of us as Jane shared this news. We were so excited for global interest and participation….
At the time of this writing, there were 1172 signatures on this petition. Of that number, based on Jane’s reports, at least two or three hundred of these signatures are a direct result of the NZZ story. But in America, between the story in the New York Times and at least 50+ stories in the blogosphere, we could only generate approximately 800 signatures for freedom and democracy? This is shamefully pathetic. So now I’m going to take us to task for it.
Are we so arrogant, lazy, selfish and apathetic that we cannot take 30 seconds to click and sign this petition for a man who is willing to be separated from his family or even worse, possibly die for journalistic freedom and truth? How can the Yemeni government possibly be intimidated by a petition if Americans don’t even appreciate the very freedoms we have by signing it?
We have this huge population. We have people willing to fight and die to protect our freedoms and provide them for others. There is safety in numbers in this affluent nation of ours. The number of signatures on this petition should be overwhelming just based on our population. Why aren’t they there?
We are a nation of privilege and we don’t even realize it. We have such protection of our freedoms here that we forget how important they are. But unless you are a veteran or a member of our Armed Forces, how many of you would be willing to put your life in jeopardy or on the line to stand up for those freedoms? We love the new media - the blogosphere. We love the access to the Internet. But how would we feel if suddenly our site was banned from access to the public by our own government? Have you forgotten how good you have it? Privileged we are, indeed.
We have this tremendous prestige which we should exercise. Where are the signatures of lawmakers (oh look, here’s one ed: Trent Franks, AZ), policy-makers, think tanks, political candidates? For that matter, where are the signatures of Hollywood elites, who so frequently champion freedom from oppression around the world? How about prominent journalists who are supposed to be so zealous about the freedom of the press? And what about the blogosphere? Shame, shame on all of you who have dismissed this as worthless or not likely to have an impact at all or not likely to bring you any free publicity. [Editor's note: a HUGE thank you for those of you who did already sign and blogged about this]
Where is the pride in our freedoms? Where is this passion for causes greater than ourselves? Where is the joy we receive when we take a stand on something so important and the self-respect from making a difference? We are Americans. We want others to know the freedoms we have. It seems others in The West and other parts of the world can demonstrate their passion for free speech better than we can. Maybe they see their hopes for democracy fading under repressive regimes and Nanny State governments.
We have the power to make a difference. In the past the Yemeni government yielded to outside pressure and a petition for al-Khaiwani when he was jailed on another occasion. Did you get that? He has survived this oppression before. Please don’t dismiss this as a waste of time or as something unlikely to have an impact. This is not the case.
My view is the people with rights should fight for those who have less rights. Our freedoms are a birthright paid by someone else’s blood. I always think of my grandmother telling about my grandfather in World War One watching the waves of gas coming toward the trenches. There was no where to run. Thousands of guys just had to watch the cloud of poisen gas as it slowly drifted toward them. I think we owe them at least to oppose tyranny, even in Yemen, and nothing is more clear or more basic than the right to speak freely.
And when did it become somehow uncool to be pro-freedom? What’s up with that?
And lastly, a big ew-rah to all of you who did sign.
*The Cotillion, also know as Tiara Media, is America’s premier association of female conservative bloggers. Our leader is Beth who also keeps my website all shiney. (Cotillion link on the sidebar.) The Cotillion has been extremely helpful in all my efforts. Really, I couldn’t have done it without them and the other bloggers listed here and
here .
