Letters to the Indy:

To the Indy:

I am a big fan of the Indy and read in your September 18th issue about all the hate crimes committed against Muslims and/or people who were thought to be Muslim or Arab-American. All I could do was sit with my head in my hand and shake my head in disbelief. I started talking with my co-workers about the decision whether to bomb Afghanistan, about losing our civil liberties in lieu of added security and the persecution against people of Middle East descent. I was shocked that out of nine people all nine of them believed we should “bomb the hell out of these countries” and “evict all the Muslims.” These people are college educated, professional, and self professed “Christians.” I couldn’t make them understand! I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised....it seems this town is full of closed-minded people.

Katie Micetic

To the Indy:

Re: Is Peace Possible? (Indy, Sept. 18)

Has it ever been possible?  I contend that is has never been possible to maintain complete peace.  I ask for an example throughout the history of humankind where there has been peace.  This does not mean that we should stop seeking for peace, but it does mean that to wail and gnash teeth until peace comes is useless.  And it smacks of the religious right that is awaiting Jesus to come riding down out of the clouds. Yes, seek peace but don’t walk around with such a head the clouds attitude that the reality of the earth is ignored.

I have written many letters and emails in the wake of the WTC and Pentagon terrorist attacks.  Some have been well-thought out, while others have not.  I have battled with the knuckleheads who say bomb everyone, kill all Arabs and Muslims, and kick out all immigrants.  I have also gone head to head against the bleeding hearts who proclaim lovey-dovey, love-ins, and sing give peace a chance with their loudest voice.  I do not claim to have the “answer” to any of these problems.  If I did then the problems wouldn’t exist. But I don’t, and neither does anyone else.

I find your magazine to have some very good articles. I also find it to have some that are crap.  As for this being an “independent” newspaper, I have my doubts.  Maybe I am not clear on the definition of “independent” that is being used or how the newspaper is “independent” or what it is “independent” from.

I see that your mailing address is an ISU Campus Box. Are you independent from using government offices and funds?  Isn’t the basic philosophy of this paper one that is against the US government as it stands today? If you really are against the US government then take your paper out of a government-sponsored building.  If you are so against the US government and everything that it stands for then feel free to leave.  There is no restriction, as far as I know, about leaving the US.  I don’t want anyone to leave, this country is big enough for all ideas (not actions).  Solutions come more readily when problems are addressed from many angles.  So as Voltaire stated “I disagree with what you are saying but I would defend to the death your right to say it (paraphrase).”  But don’t take from the very government you hate.  After reading your newspaper it is hard to imagine that you don’t detest the US government.

But if things are that very horrible here and so very good elsewhere then...get going.  I would expect that from someone who absolutely despises the government of the country that they live in.  Especially if they have the means to leave.

And don’t give me something about you want to stay here until you make the changes you see fit.  Just go elsewhere and ease your mind.  Then your home office won’t be funded by the government you hate.  Just think you can go to: Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq, Iran, China, Angola, or any of the other countries listed in the article “Terrorists in America.”  See just how very long your “independent” newspaper lasts in those bastions of freedom.  See how many issues you get out that goes against the established government.  See what happens when your newspaper blasts the established religion in that country.  (By the way, I am an avowed agnostic and support nor denounce any religion).

So stay true to your mission, leave the ISU umbrella, and remain independent.

Chris Brown

John K. Wilson replies:

You ask, “Are you independent from using government offices and funds?” The answer is yes. Although the Indy is an ISU student group, we receive nothing from public money or student fees: no office, no funding, nothing except a mailbox. The primary reason we became an ISU student organization was to avoid a long fight for the right to distribute the Indy on the ISU campus. We are independent from both the government and the mainstream corporate media.

However, your notion of “independent” seems excessive. Why shouldn’t the Indy be funded like any other student group on campus? Should all ISU professors feel obliged to support the Bush Administration policies because they are paid with public money? Should we purge our public libraries after every election to endorse the new administration?

As for your “love it or leave it” ideology, I reject it entirely. Loving America does not require silence in the face of immoral actions by the current government, such as the $43 million Bush gave to the Taliban this summer. And saying that I’d rather live in America than Afghanistan does not mean that the unelected Bush Administration is entitled to a blank check for our support in anything it does.

Yes, America is better than Iraq. One reason why is that we have the freedom to dissent, and we are not afraid to use that freedom.