A weak apology for the poetry spam
To Quote of the Day list members:
It should not have surprised me to receive the responses that objected to the poetry expressing opposition to the war, but it did. I mistakenly believed that those who support health care reform would also support activities designed to prevent the premature death and suffering characteristic of a war that most of the citizens of the world believe is avoidable.
For those that did complain, I wish to thank you for being willing to express your thoughts on this highly controversial topic. I also wish to apologize in advance for the fact that my comments to follow will not end the controversy.
I sent the message out after the Bush administration announced a second condition for preventing the war, a regime change in Iraq. Since it seems that we are only days away from war, I believed that our stridency must increase. I believe that an effort to prevent this war must be the first priority of everyone at this moment. Our work on health care reform can continue, but it is a task that will never be completed though, hopefully, we will have major breakthroughs such as the eventual establishment of a universal single payer.
The decision to send the poems to the Quote of the Day list was mine and mine alone. Although I am president of Physicians for a National Health Program, and most of the messages are posted on the PNHP website, technically they are my personal project and not a project of PNHP. It is appropriate that PNHP publishes my comments since my personal views coincide precisely with the policies developed and supported by PNHP. I'm not saying that I'm always right on target since I'm only human, and I have no staff to critique my views before I send them out. But I am saying that, to those who were offended, please direct your ire exclusively toward me and not to PNHP.
Because I sent the anti-war message to a list that is for health policy issues, I certainly can be criticized for having sent out spam. And for that I do sincerely apologize.
Although I erred in my selection of the forum in which to express my views, I did not err in my expression of those views. For speaking up on this issue, I cannot apologize.
Many undoubtedly were offended by the particular poems that I selected from the thousands on the Poets Against the War website. The poems suggested that the president's decision-making process on the issue of the war is no more sophisticated than that of a young child. With all of the options available, our president is down to a list of only two. Either Saddam Hussein walks, or we attack. Even a child can understand that expanded inspections until hell freezes over would be a much better option, but that has already been rejected by President Bush.
Ardent supporters of Mr. Bush might be expected to be offended by my remarks. But I am more offended by their callous disregard of the people of Iraq and disregard of our standing in the international community. No political personality is worth protecting at that price.
I will not use the Quote of the Day list for any further comments on the war. I intend to limit the list to health policy issues. But for those of you who believe that I have already exceeded my bounds to the degree that you want off the list, you can unsubscribe at http://two.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/quote-of-the-day, or you can send me an e-mail directly at don@mccanne.org.
For those who agree with me, more stridency please!
Don McCanne