September 11, 2002
Point of View Not Valid, Please Try Again
Re: Messages Derailed below, a concerned citizen has written and provided the Web address of the site at which one can comment on the show I caught (or that caught me) on the radio Saturday, September 7. Here is his message:David, et al:
Found it: wamu.org/world/. Please call/write your NPR station and object to the format of this call-in show. I find it humorous that the subtitle of the show was "The World Speaks"....seems more like it was "The world is not allowed to speak".
You can also post your thoughts on the call-in show's website directly.
A Concerned Citizen
Another citizen wrote into Bushwatch saying that she too had heard the program and was similarly appalled.
Cogswell's Not Kidding, I Heard NPR/BBC, Too
Reading the article by David Cogswell (below) - - I heard the same show yesterday driving to the grocery store and actually just stopped and listened to this in the parking lot at Tom Thumb and that's how I heard it. I was telling my daughter about it this morning. I was really almost shocked that NPR/BBC was having that on there. They were just shutting people off, mid-sentence. ZAP! "Thank you, bye," when listeners were attempting to describe how much they are upset with the crap going on. And each successive person who got on said the same thing. NOBODY was in favor of war. One woman said well, we supported the Taliban and we produced Osama, and we supported Saddam. Why is it that we support people and countries and then they're the bad guy and we have to kill them? ZAP! Off the air. IT wasn't veiled at all. It was scary. --Bush Watcher, 9.9.02
I looked at the site. The show is "The World Speaks" On the site it says it is hosted by award-winning journalists Robin Lustig and Deborah Amos. The male voice with the British accent then obviously belonged to Robin Lustig.
The message board for the program itself is at wamu.org/world/
I decided to take the opportunity to address Mr. Lustig directly. I was just the other day listening to a motivational tape and the guy said, "Ever notice how we never complain to anyone who can really do anything about what we are complaining about?"
That seems like a reasonable idea. As J. Krishnamurti said, if we can't talk with each other, how can we complain that the whole world is at war. We are the world, you and me times a couple of billion.
Here's my message to him:
Dear Mr. Lustig,
Is it possible to get transcripts of your show on Saturday, Sept. 9? I caught only a few minutes as I was driving in my car and had to interrupt the show. As it was I was getting rather upset. The people I heard each started talking about their fears and reservations about the United States going to war against Iraq, and in each case you cut them off unceremoniously just as they began to voice that urgent message. I found it extremely frustrating that you would not allow the expression of that widely shared emotion at such an anxious time. I really wanted to hear what they had to say. I would hope that by looking at the actual transcript I may find some examples of times when you did allow someone to express that sentiment.
You can reach me at my e-mail address davidcogs@aol.com.
Thank you
David Cogswell
-- By David Cogswell