JAC: A Journal of Composition Theory, Volume 26, Numbers 1 & 2, 2006 Page: 68
384 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 22 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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of an Ex-Conservative, David Brock further corroborates Scott's
observation, stating that members of the conservative movement
attempt to discredit by any means available all who do not share
their ideology (34-35). And as Alisa Solomon states, "rashes of
American conformity and nativism" have repeatedly broken out
"during periods of war, social strain and insecurity over national
self-definition" (17).
Since 9-11 and the announcement of a "War on Terror," social
criticism in U.S. mainstream contemporary political discussion has
often been deemed un-American, unsupportive of troops abroad,
or as contributing to the failure of present (and past) military
ventures. One day of news coverage during 2003 is illustrative. On
this day, news coverage included reports that public schools are
too critical of America, accounts of Attorney General Ashcroft's
tour to rebuff critics of the Patriot Act, and an interview with Henry
Kissenger proclaiming the Vietnam War to be a tragic outcome of
a divided country.2 This day and many others before and after have
established a national discourse that places critique and public
debate on government policy on the margins of what is deemed
acceptable.
The public forums upon which the news is based are also
changing. It is now public knowledge that the current president
holds what the White House terms "town hall meetings" to promote
his agenda but to which only his supporters are admitted, and then
sometimes only after signing an agreement resembling an oath of
allegiance. Those opposing his agenda are denied entrance to the
town meetings and are routinely removed if they gain entrance and
voice dissent; sometimes they are even arrested. The concept of
the town hall meeting as an open forum essential to maintaining the
public debate of democracy is emptied of its prior meaning to
signify a managed setting in which critical questioning and dissent
is closely monitored, controlled-and, when expressed, quashed.
Town hall meetings serve as a metonymy for the anticritical
moment.
Discourse knows no national or institutional border in an
information society, and it transcends the boundaries between68
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Association of Teachers of Advanced Composition (U.S.). JAC: A Journal of Composition Theory, Volume 26, Numbers 1 & 2, 2006, periodical, 2006; (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc28651/m1/66/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .