Greentangel:
Thanks, I fixed the link. It should be working now, or at least it is for me…

not to be picky but meat/animal agriculture is listed as the number one cause…”U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) concluded that worldwide livestock farming generates 18% of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions — by comparison, all the world’s cars, trains, planes and boats account for a combined 13% of greenhouse gas emissions.”

oh and I would run spell check before the next PR.

Thanks for your thoughts on election night. I was also down by the White House that night. I share some of your perspective and feelings – however, what i feel is not what i consider skepticism. Skepticism, for me gives a little too much legitimacy to the idea that Obama represents real change. I am critical of the positive energy and hope behind Obama because i believe it is misplaced and even dangerous if it pacifies people towards working for true change.

Maybe that’s the same thing as being skeptical, but I believe being a skeptic isn’t enough. We need to be not just skeptical of Obama, but conscious that he both a false solution and part of the same system that perpetuates animal exploitation; environmental destruction; war; poverty; and everything else we are working against.

Perhaps the energy and hope around Obama is refreshing, but we need to push that energy further… because it’s not enough – and it’s smart and strategic to feel that; it’s not just mere skepticism…

Keep up the good work Will.

First, the WUO. I don’t think they were inefficient at all. They blew all sorts of things up, many of them fairly small targets, and yet remained underground, out of the reach of the FBI, for years. None of them were ever caught; they all turned themselves in after they grew tired of being invisible. So to say that they were inefficient, I think, isn’t very accurate.

What they did fail to do, however, was to create a sustainable, lasting movement. They were very single-issue focused; it was all about the Vietnam war, which was extremely important, of course. But once the war ended, so did their time in the spotlight. I think it would have been better to recognize all movements as one, and to perform actions in solidarity with various struggles, at home and abroad. Not to mention that there was a little hypocrisy in there – most if not all of them were chain-smoking corporate cigarettes. Maybe even some of them were meat-eaters. Animals are a social class too, you know?

But thanks to them, politically motivated property destruction became a useful and popular tactic. Their communiques were sometimes threatening, sometimes a bunch of hippie, white-privileged nonsense. But they took a stand in both words and action. So now we come to the ELF. Their communiques in the past haven’t been as threatening, but have still driven the point home and have been fairly aggressive at times. I think it would be a sort of compromise to play nice with the public. The State and the bourgeosie class are going to hate the ELF regardless of their tone or language, because they represent a grassroots threat to their power. Remember COINTELPRO? It infiltrated not only the WUO, but also student-run organizations, and the American Indian Movements. The FBI, to this day, is trying to infiltrate vegan potlucks and groups called “Hugs for Puppies.”

Something tells me that, given this information, nicer language used in that press release wasn’t going to change one single, solitary thing.

All that being said though, I agree with your final suggestion in that the ELF should specifically voice their support for other indigenous struggles. Obama’s victory, however, doesn’t mean much and has no place in an ELF communique.

This is all just my opinion, of course.

- lantz.

The day after the election I was happy to be part of having the first black president and really hoped I would be shown wrong about Obama. But, even my Obama voting buddy felt nervous as well. A lot of people seem to think that, if they go out once every 4 years and hit a button, they’ve done a huge things for the world. That’s why it’s sad. People put so much into the election but nothing else… then act as if I owe them something because I didn’t vote democrat (or republican as a note).

I think the publicity thing is a good move on the ELF’s part as was already said.

Also, thanks for this blog. I am an avid reader but don’t comment much. I really appreciate its existence.

So, kudos to everyone, I completely agree. -Will

Greentangel:
Thanks, I fixed the link. It should be working now, or at least it is for me…