Alexander, was wondering where you were in Europe?
As for my "posture", let me clarify: To cut down, immediately, any involvement
in the situation by the US, France, Italy, et al, is to view one perspective
of a truly dimensional situation. How many sides exist, time will tell. But--
"the city / the man, an identity-- it can't be / otherwise" (Williams,
Paterson Book I). Peoples and their States, their Countries, and thus their
Governments, all act upon a fundamental principle of agenda; as much as I'd
like to argue his theory, Darwin has a point: Survival of the Fittest. And
Leakey: "Humans are unique because they  have the capacity to choose what they
do", i.e. what presupposes intellectual choice is the innate motivation of an
individual to live. SURVIVAL is the root of agenda. And survival, for those
who MAKE laws, whether personal or global, can transcend any moral or ethical
code put forth. History proves this. Not to say such conduct is valid, but to
begin pointing fingers, without empirical or metempirical proof, IF such proof
exists (and in proof, I include a number of correlations that imply a fact
lost to history via any means)  would not only be futile, but hypocritical.
We, human beings, make nations. Remember, my original remarks responded to
Fabio Franceshini. Let me here quote his remarks in full. "How can you give
your support to brutal force agression? If you are in this list, it means that
you have read something by Pound. Probably you should read him all over again
and understand what are the real reasons of this war." I'm unsure if
Mr.Franceshini is referring to Pound's concept of Usury, or the fact of
agenda. The Serbs have an agenda. The US has an agenda. Moscow has its agenda.
ETC. And my point of politics discussed here, on this list, is that relating
the work of Ezra Pound to Kosovo IS A PRIME EXAMPLE OF INTELLECTUAL CROSSWORD
GAMES, as you put it. Yes, there are correlations and, yes, something can be
learned from understanding Pound's viewpoints and, yes, "Literature is news
that STAYS news" and, SANCTUM SANCTUM SANCTUM to the rest of it...but how
about dealing with what we face, now, here, ANNO MUNDI 1999: "Our history
tells us that the defense of our country is everything. It purifies our soul
to fight for it." (Vlado Ashanin, Serbian Nationalist, quoted in "Many Serbs
see a battle for 'holy land' by Senott of the Boston Globe, 3/29/99) To go
picking the flesh from the Cantos, or whatever, and automatically relating it,
out of context (of the POEM, not of TIME) to this or that about the fact of
war, is not to listen to Pound, but to repeat him. Agendas exist.
Undercurrents exist. The unseen exists. Should we be spending our time quoting
Pound, or shedding light on such things. And, if you need a quote or two, here
you go: "And Kung said, and wrote on the bo leaves: / If a man have not order
within him / He can not spread order about him" (See Canto XIII for the full
brunt of the point). Should he hide him? Yes. SURVIVAL is the root. Field
soldier or field mouse, it is the root. So again Williams, "the city / the
man, an identity-- it can't be / otherwise". Do I CARE that 80,000 to 100,000
Albanians have fled from Kosovo, flooding into Macedonia to escape genocide?
YES! Do I care what Primakov is going to DO next? YES! Do I also raise an
ebrow at every IMAGE presented to the AMERICAN public via The Press, who seem
to be presenting TWO distinct TYPES of IMAGE: 1) That of the battered
refugees, without country, dishevelled, weeping. 2) Serbian 'Humor' viz. Women
dancing on a downed American plane wing, Serbian signs saying: "Sorry, thought
it was Invisible" (referring, again, to the downed aircraft), and a Belgrade
man holding his child and a picture of an American flag with a swastika
printed on it, along with another picture of Clinton with a "Hitler" moustache
painted on him. YES!  Do I CARE that The Press seems to be presenting us (and
by us, I refer to, specifically, the people of the city of Boston) with
anything BUT an impartial viewpoint, even though it attempts to present
"facts" objectively. YES! The point is NOT that I don't "care a damn".  The
point is that, if this truly is an intellectual forum, as you seem to imply,
if this list is MADE of "serious people" as you put it, then we should be
spending time, out there, in the world, figuring the instincts, the
motivations, the agendas of each and every player in the crisis at Kosovo. I
was under the impression, however, that this list is for ALL who are
interested in EZRA LOOMIS POUND, from scholar to layman, for whatever reason.
And, as a reminder, an OPINION is not FACT. It is a viewpoint, a human
viewpoint, which can be learned from, no matter how "intellectual" it is. The
best teacher is also a pupil. And to say "Do these people really believe..."
implies, sir, a lack of character on your part...it implies, sir, that your
stance is one of cleansing the list of all undesirable, less educated, or
"freakish" viewpoints. I'm sure that implication is not what you MEANT, but
YOU should (re)read what YOU wrote, not Pound's whatever.
 
Respectfully yours,
C.Brandon
 
Word out.