[mburbank]

Harold Pinter is my favorite playwrite, probably my favorite writer. I found his speech, which I read and saw on the web provocative, pointed and brilliant, like pretty much everything he does. I was very, very glad to see him win the nobel.

I think most politically aware Americans of my age (43) or older are familiar with our actions in South and Central America during the Nixon years. That being said, lots of Americans choose not to be politically aware , and younger Americans may not know of it at all. Ther is a general and disturbing trend to think of past awful and unlawful things various administrations have committed as being distant past and the sort of thing we've grown out of, as opposed to being an ongoing trend. Personally, I think W makes Nixon look Quaint, but thats just my perspective. Also, there is a vocal minority that insists being critical of Americas foreign policy means you hate America.

Rest assured that although we may not get the media coverage we'd like, there are many, many Americans (perhaps as many as half of us) who basically agree with Pinter, although we find it hard to endorse such thoughts when they spring from the mouth of a foreigner.