mod falsk tale er tavshed guld

What happened in Egypt and what happened in Iran, which this week is once again using violence against protesters seeking basic freedoms, was about a great deal more than the Internet. In each case, people protested because of the frustration with the political and economic conditions of their lives. They stood and marched and chanted and the authorities tracked and blocked and arrested them. – Hilary Clinton

Ray McGovern, en forhenværende CIA analytiker, soldat og medlem af Veterans for Peace, blev slået ned og arresterede under en tale som Hilary Clinton holdt for et åbent publikum ved George Washington University (kilde).

Under Clinton's tale som bl.a. handlede om friheden på internettet, og hvori hun fordømte de iranske og egyptiske regimer for at have brugt vold mod deres egne protesterende befolkninger, rejste McGovern sig og vendt tavst ryggen til hende. Få øjeblik senere blev han pågrebet, slået, sat i håndjern, arresteret, og fængslet natten over. Og mainstream pressen har tilsyneladende intet bemærket.

Mens alt dette sker taler Clinton "uforstyrret"  videre. Som McGovern selv skriver om det, i en artikel for Counterpunch:

The fulsome praise for Clinton from GWU's president and the loud, sustained applause also brought to mind a phrase that – as a former Soviet analyst at CIA – I often read in Pravda. When reprinting the text of speeches by high Soviet officials, the Communist Party newspaper would regularly insert, in italicized parentheses: "Burniye applaudismenti; vce stoyat" — Stormy applause; all rise. 

With the others at Clinton's talk, I stood. I even clapped politely. But as the applause dragged on, I began to feel like a real phony. So, when the others finally sat down, I remained standing silently, motionless, with my eyes fixed narrowly on the rear of the auditorium and my back to the Secretary. 

I did not expect what followed: a violent assault in full view of Secretary Clinton by what in Soviet parlance were called the "organs of state security." The rest is history, as they say... 

As the video of the event shows, Secretary Clinton did not miss a beat in her speech as she called for authoritarian governments to show respect for dissent and to refrain from violence. She spoke with what seemed to be an especially chilly sang froid, as she ignored my silent witness and the violent assault that took place right in front of her. 

Hvad der også er bemærkelsesværdigt i denne sammenhæng er det faktum, at publikum virkede lige så uforstyrret – ingen protesterede, ingen lod sig mærke med noget. Man skulle nødig opføre sig upassende og forstyrre "freden" og den demokratiske "orden".

I vesten forsvarer magthaverne ytringsfrihed, så længe folk kun siger hvad det er tilladt dem at sige og på dertil fastlagt steder og tidspunkter. Som Clinton klart viser, er det kun autoritære regimer (som det ikke længere kan betale sig for vesten at være venner med) der skal afholde sig fra at bruge vold og begå overgreb mod deres egne befolkninger, når de rejser sig og stiller spørgsmålstegn ved det bestående; demokratiske stater derimod, har frie hænder. Selv når protesten er tavs.