"Osama TV" IS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL AND MAY NOT BE DOWNLOADED, TRANSMITTED, PRINTED OR PERFORMED WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF THE AUTHORSubj: HOOTWE :> Osama TV Date: Friday, December 7, 2001 8:55:51 AM From: FucciXXV@aol.com To: 3rd_eye@yawp.com Okay, so Dubya and Ashcroft want to avoid giving bin Laden an OJ-like trial that amounts to "Osama TV." They also tell us they want to avoid putting jurors at risk. To avoid these things, Dubya issues an order establishing secret military tribunals that can arrest, detain, try, and execute a suspect without ever telling anyone that any of the above ever happened. The accused has no right to counsel, doesn't have to be told the evidence against him so that he defend himself, may be convicted on evidence -- such as hearsay -- that lacks the normal evidentiary guarantees of credibility, is tried by career military officers who work for the man who put the accused before the tribunal in the first place only because he had already decided the accused was guilty, and cannot appeal to any other court. Execution may be ordered by as few as two of the five members of the tribunal in some circumstances. Dubya may throw a suspect into this system on his own say-so without any oversight by Congress or the Court. This order covers not only Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda associates, or even only those persons accused of directly and knowingly committing or participating in terrorist acts, but any foreigner or any one of twenty million or more persons in the United States currently holding a green card or visa whom Dubya decides has done something that falls into the broad and undefined category or "aiding" or "harboring" a "terrorist." (Defending this plan before Congress yesterday, for example, Ashcroft suggested that anyone who publicly criticizes it is aiding the terrorists. Senators Leahy and Kennedy are fortunate that they aren't here on green cards, or they might have been disappeared by tomorrow morning.) All this from an administration that has already abridged the Freedom of Information Act, refused to respond to a subpoena from Congress to discuss Dick Cheney's planning of America's energy policy in closed meetings with a chummy cabal of Big Oil insiders, and has issued an order to seal the records of the Reagan and Bush One administrations and to seal its own records in the future, but which crosses its heart and promises to use these broad, ill-defined, and lethal powers nicely without congressional oversight or judicial restraint. Here's a wild idea: just try "terror" suspects in a regular court-martial. There's no TV and no jurors, but almost all the normal guarantees of a fair trial are in place. If I can think of that so easily, I assume that Dubya and Ashcroft thought of it, too. So why do they prefer the course outlined above, even in the face of domestic and international opposition? They obviously don't want merely to avoid "Osama TV," so what is it they do want? -- Brother Ko-An **************************************************************** Third Eye This list is maintained by Mr. Hans Abbadon and Third Eye Over Iowa, who reserve the right to publish any messages posted hereto. Please consult the legal disclaimer posted at the Third Eye Home Page: http://www.yawp.com/3rd-i/home.html ****************************************************************
I thought it was pretty self contained, but needed a little peppering of theatricality to "no shame-ize" it to a monologue instead of an email debate starter.
I did it dressed (more closely than I would like to admit I can actually do--oh bygone youth--) as Andy Rooney and started with "You know what really makes me mad?"
This got them all laughing a lot so that as they gradually realized this was not just a Saturday Night Live News Parady they got progressively quieter and listened harder...I added in a couple of laugh bits ala Andy Rooney...a short mention of not trusting my 4 year old grandson to stand up pee without watching him do it and not trusting the Bush Administration for the same reasons, and ended with the same line as Jim's email, "So, what do they want?"
It actually got thunderous applause, though they were stony quiet by the end.
the piece was very very good, timely, important, and I've been nervous about providing full evenings of theatre at No Shame over the holidays. Also, I am always looking for ways to expand what these folks think is appropriate on the no shame stage, and there hasn't been any politically themed pieces since we started, so I thought this would open some doors for some people out there afraid to break the ice.
For some reason, maybe because it is the south, or because of the war, or both, we get a LOT of religious themed pieces here. I don't know if that has been true at other no shames. And I think we are the first one to have a father and son participating equally. Some very neat things are happening down here.
"Osama TV" debuted December 7, 2001, performed by Todd Ristau.
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