A truly brilliant media event occurred in D. C. this week. In front of the U.S. Capital, public officials, celebrities, and even ordinary citizens walking by had a chance to use 60’s style ‘hot line’ phones to talk directly to Iranian citizens. This kind of citizen diplomacy works. Back in the 1980’s, it played a […]
Category: Peace
Re Torture: Pain Breeds Lies
Dear MP Network, This month’s post has already been published by Alternet on November 30th, in their Rights and Liberties Section. My short summary of the piece is that the Mukasey nomination result shows that we progressive activists must take on the job of educating the public on this issue now. The most powerful argument […]
Re The Iran Trap
Dear Friends, Below are some remarks about the U.S. threat of war with Iran I recently made as a private citizen when visiting our congressional representatives here in the Bay Area. As these remarks were well received by our delegation, I’ve decided to share them with you via the MP Network. (I’ve included links to supporting documents or sites […]
Re Iran: The ‘Cool It’ Option
Most American progressives agree that a U.S. ‘preventive’ strike on Iran, nuclear or not, would be stupid, and self-destructive, as well as immoral and illegal under international law. Our challenge right now is to help foster broader public support for diplomacy, not war. So how should we talk to the media and mainstream public about it? Right now too […]
Wrong on Terror
Talking about Iraq
Dear MP Network, This post is in two parts: headlines with frames (no caps) followed by a rationale for the headlines. If you are in a hurry and you agree with my suggestions, you can skip the rationale, although it contains a few more ideas and frames (in caps) not included in the headlines. All […]
Defusing Terrorism, Not a War on Terrorism
Dear Friends of the Metaphor Project, Below is a sample letter you can easily cut and paste for forwarding yourself. I believe that the time is finally ripe for this message. Yesterday (10/24/01) the S.F. Chronicle reported that the Bush Administration was seeking advice from Madison Avenue about how to sell the War on Terrorism […]
America Needs Smart Game Plans, Not War
Dear Friends of the Metaphor Project, My second letter to the editor included below (already sent to the New York Times) contains the urgent message I believe we need to convey at this point to everyone, members of Congress, media outlets, and opinion makers. Please use your own contact lists and forward this message as […]
U.S. Moral Integrity Demands Crime Metaphor, Not War
Dear Friends of The Metaphor Project, The letter to the editor included below (already sent to the S.F. Chronicle) represents the most concise and complete version of the message I believe we must get out to every member of Congress, every media outlet, and every opinion maker as quickly as possible. I have already contacted […]