Re: ALERT: Scn tried to subvert CAN; EFF will be next.

In article <800473701snz@sidaway.demon.co.uk> Tony@sidaway.demon.co.uk writes: [information about scientology infiltration]

Anyone else notice a change in tone from the scieno camp ? Suddenly the postings have a whiff of restrained, slightly weary reasoned discussion, with little flourishes of polite banter ? Like, "I'm playing nice and following the rules of polite discourse, are you ? If you don't, you know Daddy will be mad at you and will like me." It's half a transaction, and is supposed to prompt the other party to the discourse to respond in kind because they've been conditioned to play their part in the transaction like good little socialized children. I saw another posting where someone else mentioned it, but can't find it now.

Of course in this case, it's not the transaction that's actually happening, it's a tactic and a crock of shit, and it won't affect anyone who's been following the discussion, but what it's about is Penetration. If direct assaults don't work, see if you can deceive your way into moving the discourse to a level where your opponent engages you directly instead of objectifying you, and thus legitimizes you. Cajole or "I sound reasonable" your way into gaining a place in the discourse, and build your position as a legitimate participant. Sooner or later, you will be able [that's the plan at least] to introduce more and more of your position and not have it instantly incinerated, because of accumulated time having been a participant in the discourse instead of just the object of it. (is the moral: don't engage in anything approaching a normal dialog with the opposition ?) I saw tactics like this applied in some other newsgroups (comp.unix/comp.os) with varying success, although there the background fabric is different and the penetrators were, well, more laughable than this crowd. (Though that very laughability was part of the cajoling.) But penetration was what it was about - gradual acceptance of their quasi-equal participation in the discourse.

Being divisive and exclusionary is not necessarily a pleasure, but finding divisions instead of commonalities is absolutely and thoroughly appropriate in some situations, certainly when external groups are taking actions which will damage one's own (community in this case), when divisiveness has been used to identify one as an opponent to be changed/removed/overcome, and in those situations, it can be damn satisfying to turn diviseness to one's own use, particularly since wimpy liberals generally think a sight better than turgid conservative manipulators. In this case, it's - the Establishment and its lackeys move in, and there goes the neighborhood - well, not here.

Speaking of lackeys and turgid manipulators, it's interesting to see how certain segments of the remnants of the 60's counterculture (w/o which our right arms might already have fatigue disorders from a few decades of straight- armed salutes), notably the been-there, done-that, seen-it-all, screwed-a- hippy-chick-on-the-ashram-roof-in-India-and-now-I'm-into-B&D bunch (succinctly described in the Village Voice as the "art, spirituality and S&M crowd") (Ooh, was that an unstable pornographic image ?) finds common cause and methods with the far right. There is a certain acceptance of use of power without excessive concern for ethics, because the having of the power generates its holder's right to use it (might makes right, but I wanted to avoid the cliche). This is precisely the same mode as used by the New Right, which still bothers to justify its actions with "it's for your own good", and the national security establishment, which doesn't bother with justifications, and simply says "fuck you non-WhiteMaleConservativeInsidePlayer, we're the Old Boys Club gone into government, and now that we're sitting on the floor with the cookie jar between our fat little legs, we can do whatever the hell we want, with you and everyone else" (the CIA in recent years comes to mind). From some there are babblings about transforming the beast from within, but the story about process being as important as goal gets lost; what is going on underneath is still and again unapologetic or at best thinly rationalized abuse of power. Sad but true, and a useful identifier for the real problem. I am turgid and bloated with (8 essential vitamins plus iron/your power source of choice), therefore I am.