Seth's Hit Piece on Russell

[FTL_Ian]

He called FTL tonight and plugged this:
http://www.conmon.com/drupal/index.php?q=blog_entry/seth_cohn/perhaps_it_is_a_vice



I don't have time to rebut this, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on the part where he claims that Russell "burns flags".  Surely it was an accident that he didn't specify that it was the UN flag.

I also made the point onair that I would still support Seth if he got in trouble, but it's clear from this article that he won't support Russell.

[Caleb]

He also compared Russell to Anakin Skywalker and said that Russell's "anger and hatred" for the federal government had taken Russell to the dark side. 

I don't think Russell has an angry or hateful bone in his body.

That having been said, Seth's article was mostly congenial, I thought.

[burnthebeautiful]

Seth Cohn?

[FTL_Ian]

That having been said, Seth's article was mostly congenial, I thought.

I just think it's lame that he won't support Russell because he joked about turning over tables.

[Caleb]

on the fsp site, Seth linked to two other opinion pieces, which in my humble opinion are hundreds of times better than his own.

http://www.freestateobserver.com/?p=100
Sandy's is touching because it seems heartfelt.

http://www.sniggle.net/Experiment/index.php?entry=02Aug06
This one compares Russell to Thoreau, and makes some good points.  Its very brief.

Ian, I also think it is sad that so many people want to work so hard to distance themselves from Russell.  I've come to realize that is just how its going to be, though. 

[KBCraig]

on the fsp site, Seth linked to two other opinion pieces, which in my humble opinion are hundreds of times better than his own.

I had the same reaction upon reading the three pieces. Seth's was rambling, and wavered between support of and sympathy for Russell, and condemnation of him. Seth started off very supportive, but, frankly, I wasn't sure what he thought about Russell by the time I finished reading that article.

Kevin

[ravelkinbow]

To each their own opinion and right to free speech   

[Lloyd Danforth]

That having been said, Seth's article was mostly congenial, I thought.

I just think it's lame that he won't support Russell because he joked about turning over tables.

Joke?   Did I miss the punchline?

[FTL_Ian]

Well, I got the impression he was kidding.  I could be wrong.

[aries]

That having been said, Seth's article was mostly congenial, I thought.

I just think it's lame that he won't support Russell because he joked about turning over tables.

I think it's lame that there's any questioning of whether he should be supported. Now is not the time to have petty differences and fights. Russell is a good man, an influential one and nobody should be saying, at this time, during his imprisonment(!) that "oh he did a few things that I didn't agree with." And teeter on some imaginary fence. There is one thing that liberals and conservatives do well that libertarians refuse to, and that is, understand what we want, and support anybody who helps do it. Save the politics for planning, but when something goes ahead, get behind it or get out.

[Soundwave]

I think it's lame as well. It seems like bad tactic in my opinion to start attacking each other, in addition to being totally ludicrous that any liberty loving individual wouldn't support a man who was arrested for trying to give a flyer to an IRS agent.

Perhaps there could be an activism approval committee and Seth could be in charge, since he knows what's best. 

[d_goddard]

I always thought it was kinda cool that Seth would accuse Russ of being like Anakin,
and Russ would call Seth the "Seth Lord" (ie, geeky play on "Sith Lord")

Their in-person interactions have seemed fairly amicable to me.

[BillyC]

I read the piece Seth wrote.
I don't think he was out of line at all he just differs in the tactics being taken.

He cares about Russell as a friend and partner in our quest for liberty and freedom.

>>>>>>>>>
Russell wrote "Politics is acceptable to the government, because it will not destroy it." Like the fictional Anakin Skywalker, I fear that Russell's anger and hatred of 'the powers that be' has taken him to the dark side, to a place where rather than focusing on creation, he's focusing on the destruction. And if that has truly become his intent, then perhaps we are no longer comrades in arms after all. I hope I'm wrong, and I hope, unlike Anakin, that he realizes that in time, before any harm comes to him or his loved ones. Russell's smile and his laugh, not to mention his many talents, are too valuable for them to be wasted behind bars, or worse, twisted by destructive ideas he sincerely believes are righteous and good ones.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I think, from what I read Seth still sees Russell as an asset to the freedom movement, but he isn't doing anyone any good in prison.

Russell's approach only works when you have hundreds nay thousands doing it at the same time.
Doing it with less people than that is just an minor inconvenience to the Beast Machine.
One at a time we are just speed bumps it will keep moving and gaining speed.
Don't blow this out of proportion........ its not a hit piece its just an opinion.

[Braddogg]

I think, from what I read Seth still sees Russell as an asset to the freedom movement, but he isn't doing anyone any good in prison.

Russell's approach only works when you have hundreds nay thousands doing it at the same time.
Doing it with less people than that is just an minor inconvenience to the Beast Machine.
One at a time we are just speed bumps it will keep moving and gaining speed.
Don't blow this out of proportion........ its not a hit piece its just an opinion.

I agree with your opinion on Seth's piece.  However, I disagree with your assessment of Russell's actions.  It could be that Russell will inspire others to engage in this sort of civil disobedience.  I agree that right now Russell is a divot, but he could inspire others, and all those divots together could be the hole that breaks the axle of the state.

[BillyC]

I think, from what I read Seth still sees Russell as an asset to the freedom movement, but he isn't doing anyone any good in prison.

Russell's approach only works when you have hundreds nay thousands doing it at the same time.
Doing it with less people than that is just an minor inconvenience to the Beast Machine.
One at a time we are just speed bumps it will keep moving and gaining speed.
Don't blow this out of proportion........ its not a hit piece its just an opinion.

I agree with your opinion on Seth's piece.  However, I disagree with your assessment of Russell's actions.  It could be that Russell will inspire others to engage in this sort of civil disobedience.  I agree that right now Russell is a divot, but he could inspire others, and all those divots together could be the hole that breaks the axle of the state.

We can hope.