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The Next Stage of the 9/11 Truth Movement Carol Brouillet / Global Outlook | July 11 2006 Reprint of article which appeared in Global Outlook Issue #11, with updated text from presentation at the 9/11 Revealing the Truth, Reclaiming the Future Conference in Chicago June 2nd-4th.
To win this struggle to reveal the
truth we need to know where we are in terms of the 8 Stages of the evolution
of our movement so we can plan and carry out more effective social action.
Bill Moyer, author of Doing Democracy The MAP Model for Organizing Social Movements, a strategist for Martin Luther King, Jr. who had been organizing and empowering activists for forty years, was with us. He taught that all social movements have been about the struggle between power-holders and the rest of us, that societal myths allow power-holders to maintain their position, and that exposing their secret violation of those myths, ideals, values is a catalyst for social change. All social change, from the abolition of slavery, the right to vote for African Americans and women, the growing environmental movement has helped empower people and pulled other movements forward. When movements succeed, however, there is backlash, power-holders try to undermine social gains. This phenomena is at the core of 9/11, an act of fear perpetrated by a criminal elite who feared losing power. Terrorism and war are classic methods to expand state power. 9/11 was used to roll back civil liberties globally, justify the construction of a police state to protect the few against the majority who oppose government and corporate policies, and to frighten the world into silence and submission. As Aung Sung Suu Kyi wrote:
The last four and a half years the media and government have relentlessly threatened the American people and the world with pending terrorist attacks, and unending war. The attempts of the Bush Administration to crush any genuine investigation, the dubious joint Senate House Intelligence Oversight Committee’s Official Inquiry into “the failure of the intelligence agencies to prevent the attacks, the eventual announcement of the creation of a 'Cover-up Commission' to be run by Henry Kissinger (which was like waving a red flag and saying “We did it!”) gave the critics of the official story credibility.
An Emergency 'Truth' Convergence held in DC on the anniversary of the 9/11 report and the Downing Street Memo, brought together many movements, all struggling against press censorship of their issues. A pattern became discernible.
Passage of the Patriot Act, violations of fundamental constitutional rights, the surfacing of damning evidence of doctored intelligence, and official lies in the mainstream press has sparked a wave of new groups, websites, protests, actions across the country. Fahrenheit 9-11 surfaced the damning footage of Bush’s non-response to news of the terrorist attacks and the Bush-bin Ladin family ties to a wider audience, the tip of the 9/11 Truth iceberg. Resolutions appeared to demand a repeal of the Patriot Act. The desire to rid the country of the Bush Regime drew a tremendous amount of energy. Large numbers protested at the New York Republican Convention, and worked to get out the vote for the 2004 Presidential election. The 2nd stolen election created a greater movement for 'real' election reform, and greater awareness of the ability of the press to censor vital information surrounding the myth that America is a 'legitimate democracy.' Questioning 9/11 broke the mainstream press baricade.
There is an effort underway to conduct a Zogby Poll to determine exactly what most people think about 9/11 at this moment in time. [Results of that poll show the public is divided on 9-11 with half believing the official story and the other half believing that there has been a cover-up- and half unaware of the most basic facts about 9-11- such as the inexplicable collapse of Building #7 which was omitted entirely from the official Report. This places the 9-11 Truth Movement squarely in Stage Four.] Certainly the credibility to the Bush regime is at an all-time low. Barrie Zwicker discovered while polling audiences that people’s understanding of 9-11 often goes through stages, depending on their ability to overcome fear and examine the information. 9/11 challenges not only a person'sview of the world, but forces one to ask themselves a much deeper question “Who am I?” Unscientific polls, such as a recent poll on CNN after Charlie Sheen publicly questioned the official story showed up to 84% of the public believe that there has been a cover-up of the truth. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney’s brave stance on 9-11 cost her one election. Her courage and persistence got her re-elected to elicit testimony during the Congressional Black Annual Legislative Conference in DC September 2005 on “The 9/11 Omission: What the Commission Got Wrong.” Placing the problem on the political agenda earned McKinney attacks from the press and the Democratic leadership. She also entered the taboo area of exposing how the vote was stolen in a new award winning film- American Blackout, by Guerrilla News Network. For any social movement to succeed, the public must be convinced, at least three times to overcome their fears
Power-holders want to maintain and expand their
power, or trick the populace by making cosmetic reforms, while claiming
they are solving the problem. Worse, they have used the bogus 9-11 Commission
to further their agenda. Instead of Democrats attacking Republicans
for their “leadership role in 9-11,” we witness Democrats
vying to “do the war on terror better than the Republicans.”
With enough popular pressure the power-holders begin to attack one another,
or target a scapegoat,today the vulnerable immigrants, in an effort
to distract and divide the public. Divide, distract and conquer. People
are seeing through the diversionary tactics, however, and demanding
the Impeachment (Humorist Will Durst is calling for Impalement) of Bush
and company. More people are involved in Social Movements than ever before, although they are spread widely through the 9/11 truth, anti-war, anti-corporate, global-justice, immigrant rights, voting reform, electoral reform, college not combat, environmental, labor, human rights, movements, whose goals are inextricably linked. Pressuring power-holders on their entrenched positions are a new crop of candidates raising taboo topics, such as 9/11, demanding impeachment, and shifting the budget out of a “kill and control war economy.” While more and more people are coming to question 9/11, thanks to the relentless work of the movement, filmmakers, and the addition of voices such as theologian, David Ray Griffin, and BYU’s Steven Jones, the attacks on the movement are taking the form of media 'hit pieces' and television and movie productions lavishly attempting to sell the official line. Bush has said, “You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones we need to concentrate on.” However, Hurricane Katrina blew off what remained of his credibility as the devastating images of flood victims and Bush’s behavior, photo ops and words revealed his capacity to tell brazen falsehoods. Upcoming conferences, books, films, demonstrations, the participation of people at every level of society in the movement puts more and more pressure on power-holders and support for change of policies and power-holders.
Stage 8- Continuation A friend of mine, Norie Huddle, says “Together we can do what no one of us could do alone.” and suggested rules for this emerging paradigm which she dubbed “The Best Game on Earth:
Europe and Asia have seen the official story debunked on primetime television. There are hopes for a real international investigation into 9/11. [Webster Tarpley and Jimmy Walter has been lobbying for a genuine International Investigation into 9/11, and have sparked some interest in a number of countries who are beginning to challenge the official narrative on their primetime television shows and on the front pages of newspapers.] It is our responsibility, as Americans, to rein in our government; regime change (impeachment) should begin at home. As activists we should include 9/11 in the Impeachment Resolutions. If your 'Congress critter' won’t touch impeachment, oust them, even if you have to run for office yourself, because no one else will do it. [In Chicago, there were quite a few 9-11 Truth candidates, many candidates support our position, even though they are not headlining it as their issue.] P.S. More on Stage Four- Take-Off About Stage Four... Generally social movements surprise and shock everyone when they suddenly burst upon the stage after being ignored by the media for years or decades. A TRIGGER event, will suddenly help the public see that “There is a Problem.” The public responds with passion, demanding an explanation from Powerholders, and ready to learn more from the Movement. Activists can wear different hats, and at various stages some hats are more visible and needed than others. During Stage Four- Citizens & Rebels take the stage. It is a time for non-violent actions which can be replicated across the country- rallies, marches, boycotts, strikes, sit-ins, civil disobedience. Processes that create a public social crisis and places the issue on the agenda. This requires thousands of people across the country taking action and forming new groups. Here are the basic goals and pitfalls/dangers we should be aware of now, according to Bill Moyer: Goals Create new nationwide grassroots-based social movement
Political naivety – expecting the powerholders
to cave in to opposition Dangers (to avoid) Widespread actions must be non-violent to win the
support of the public.
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