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LONG BEACH (gorewon2000.net) February 3, 2001 -- Dismissive media attitudes, fear of personal reprisals, and concern about government retaliation keep many dissenters anonymous in The BUSH BROTHERS BANANA REPUBLIC. Today, The Diva outs herself.
In the aftermath of the 2000 Presidential Election debacle, one constant held, and still holds: the mainstream corporate media have consistently characterized concern and outrage over Coup2K as a fringe phenomenon. In what at times appears to be a single voice reading from a single script, assertions have constantly been made that dissenters, those in agreement with the minority opinions in Bush vs. Gore, are either of a particular race (black), or so far removed from the mainstream, that their dissent is trivial. (Never mind that four of the most respected jurists in America agree.)
Despite the fact that more American voters voted for Al Gore than for the current Resident; despite the fact that conservative and liberal jurists alike have, for the most part, found his selection process indefensible; despite the fact that tens of thousands of Americans from all walks of life attended January 20th demonstrations to protest what has happened to their country -- the voice of grassroots dissent has been muffled if not totally silenced in the mainstream press.
SILENCE = FEAR
Perhaps unwittingly, this media blackout has engendered fear -- if not outright paranoia -- in the community of dissent. Though many have taken their outrage not only to the streets, but into cyberspace as well, they have refused to sign their real names to their work, creating aliases instead, my readers included. After writing an eloquent and impassioned defense of their point of view, of which they should be justifiably proud, many BBBR Resistance Fighters add a note:
"Dear Diva: If you post this, PLEASE DO NOT USE MY REAL NAME!!!!!"
Some feel it stands to reason (the media being as powerful as they are), that media silence must be coerced. I disagree. I think the mainstream media exists, like other going concerns, to make money. I think their silence pleases their advertisers, companies owned primarily by the richest Americans, those with the most to gain from a Republican administration's tax policies. I don't think the media has been 'gotten to'. I think they have been bought. Those are two very different things. One should make you afraid, the other should make you angry. Me? I'm ANGRY.
ORIGINS OF "THE DIVA"
I should tell you that, back in the early days of The BBBR, I chose to refer to myself as "The Diva", not out of fear, but out of homesickness. This was a nickname bestowed upon me when I worked in nightclubs in Austin, Texas. (It would take a really confident person to name HERSELF "The Diva!") I wanted to resurrect it, as a way of tipping my hat to the folks back home who gave it to me. I missed them, living here in California, and I missed being 'The Diva.' She is the best and most true parts of me. I wanted to be her again because it was fun, NOT because I was afraid.
OPENLY OUTRAGED
In the gay community, when you come out of the closet -- refuse to hide your real self, refuse to live in fear of the disapproval and threats of the wider society, and refuse to edit the truth of your existence for other people's comfort any longer -- you are said to be 'out' or 'openly gay'.
Today, "The Diva" is 'outing' herself:
MY NAME IS TAMMY TALPAS,*
AND I AM OUTRAGED OVER COUP2K.
(*But I still like being called "The Diva.")
STEP 2: TAKE BACK THE LANGUAGE
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