Punish the Liar!

6 comments

1. Once again, Avedis Kevorkian

   Once again, Avedis Kevorkian points to the right direction. There is no one who has a sharper pen and is as an astute critic of the current state of affairs in the US.

   His writings should be compulsory reading in schools as far as I am concerned. Whether his advice will be heeded or not is beside the point. He was and continues to be right on.

   The sad truth is (and all American legislators know this) that there are NO consequences for being a genocide denier in the US political scene. No Armenian would spend a cent campaigning against these liars. All express outrage, that is for sure, but no one is willing to put their money where their mouth is.

   Perhaps, our great "leader"s and "benefactor"s should start reading what Mr. Kevorkian writes. After all, the US Armenian community is the most affluent and financially most prosperous. In a system where "money talks", they should be the most "vocal" of people.

   Avedis Kevorkian’s lesson is simple. Inaction is equivalent to being complicit.

   And even knowing that I am repeating myself, he is right.

   Viken L. Attarian Quebec, CANADA

2. Avedis is wrong

   Avedis, for lack of a better words, what you are suggesting is pure stupidity and ignorance.

   If you live in the United States, you have an obligation to this Country, and you shouldn’t attempt to sink the whole ship because one thing doesn’t go well, that is childish.

   Not that the Armenian vote will make any difference at all on a National scale,  Armenians can’t even get their votes to count in Glendale!!!!

   Obama, avoided the "G" word, however he came closer than the previous President, hell at least he mentioned the 1.5 million.

   If all you think about is about issues that are strictly tribal , you are a leech to society and I suggest you get the hell out of here, stop wasting our resources and move to Armenia.  Actually, Armenia is better off without you, move to Turkey!

   You have zero understanding of how things work in Washington.

   1. Response to “Concerned Citizen”

      When I was young, my mother passed on a piece of advice: “Never be seen talking to a fool, or people will think you, too, are a fool.”  I have tried to follow that advice but, alas, I will ignore it by responding to “Concerned Citizen.”
       
      But, where to begin?  Perhaps, with his last stupid sentence.
       
      It is because I know how things work in Washington that I suggested that Armenians vote Republican this November.  How things work in Washington is simple.
       
      The people that Politicians love most are those who don’t vote.  If they could, they would reward the non-voter, but there are so many of them that even the Politician won’t spend that kind of money.
       
      The next group of people the Politicians love are those who vote blindly, loyally, routinely–”He once spit in my face, so I will continue to vote for him.”
       
      The kind of people the Politicians hate are those who vote intelligently, who vote in every election, and who write letters to them between elections to remind them what they promised to do.  If they could, the Politicians would put us in jail.
       
      The most important message that we can be sure the Politician receives is the one on the morning after voting day.  When President Meds Yeghern wakes up on November 3 and learns that he has a Republican Congress, he is going to be a sad little boy.  When his advisors tell him that he lost the states with large Armenian populations, even he is going to get a message.  And that message is “You lied to us.  Now ask your Turkish masters what to do next.”
       
      Yes, I live in “this” country–for a while there, I thought that you were going to say that it was YOUR country–and it is because I was born here, schooled here, educated here, live here, work here that I give a damn about the quality of integrity possessed (or not possessed) by our leaders.  And, I resent it very much when they are Liars, when they are hypocrites, when they insult me, when they take their instructions from a foreign nation.
       
      I live in the most historic city in America, where the most radical, the most revolutionary,  document ever conceived by the mind of Man–the Declaration of Independence–was written.  I doubt if you have ever read it; I am sure that you would never sign your name to it were it presented to you today.  I know that the recent American presidents and recent Members of Congress would never agree to it.
       
      This city, too, produced a document that has made this country the greatest ever to exist–the Constitution.  Its opening words are probably the three most powerful words ever put to paper: “We, the people. . . .”
       
      The Declaration told King George III that “We, the people” don’t like what you are doing to us and so we are saying “Good Bye.”  And the drafters of the Constitution said, “Now that we are our own bosses, we are going to create a government where our leaders do as we want.”  And, so, they created a Representative Democracy–a Republic–whereby the citizen selects people to send to office to do for the citizen what the citizen has not time to do for himself.

      When, in seeking the job, that representative lies to the people, the people have a right–Nay, the responsibility–to get rid of the Liar.  Read the Declaration; you will see it right there!
       
      My “obligation”–good word!–to my country is to see to it that it is the best possible, run by the best possible servants (that’s what those in Washington are), run in the best possible way.  It is not to accept lies.  He has lied to the Greek Cypriots about the Turkish illegal occupation of 37 percent of the island; he has lied to the Greeks about the Ecumenical Patriarch, about the Halki Seminary, about “Macedonia”; he has lied to the American people about Guantánamo, about ending the two wars; he has lied about a transparent administration; he has lied about the role of lobbyists.  The list goes on.
       
      But let those who feel passionate about those matters accept or reject as they please.
       
      For me, lying about the Armenian Genocide is enough for me to accept the maxim: “All politics is local.”  And there is nothing more “local” than telling me that the Ottoman Turks didn’t kill my father’s entire family in the 20th century’s first state-conceived, state-planned, state-executed Genocide.
       
      But, this is getting too long, and is probably miles above your head.
       
      Permit me to close, therefore, by saying whether or not the Armenian vote will make any difference depends on whether or not the Armenians vote as a bloc and say, “WE have had enough of Liars.”  
       
      I don’t recall hearing that this was your country (since you didn’t sign your name), and therefore it is up to you as to who lives here and who doesn’t.  The asininity of your instructions to me is so offensive that I will finally heed my mother’s advice, and end my attempt to reason with a fool.

       
      Avedis Kevorkian
      Philadelphia, PA  USA
      27 April 10

3. I agree with Avedis.  Unless

   I agree with Avedis.  Unless we make the politicians pay for their lies, they will keep on lying to us.  I would even go a step further;  the presidential elections are decided by a few swing States with several hundred votes.  Let us establish Armenian communities in those swing States and let us decide who the next president of U.S. will be.  Only then we will make the Presidents keep their promises.

4. Thank You “Concerned” Citizen

   Thank you for voicing your opinion.

   I would fight tooth and nail for you to have that right.  But, for your knowledge, so would Avedis Kevorkian. There is no one who would be a better guardian of the freedoms in your country.

   But thank you most of all, for allowing him to respond to you magnificently. His response is not only a lesson in history, but it is a lesson in citizenship, engagement and belief in democratic values.

   You asked to spar with him and your wish has been granted.  His pen (in this case his keyboard) is even sharper than his wit.

   You wish that he and the likes of him would go away to Armenia and even Turkey.  I wish they’d take him and he would consent to go.

   Because, the fact is, both of these countries need not one, but many many Avedis Kevorkians.  So that they may become better countries.

   I salute you,

   VLA

5. Punish the liers?

   So..my fellow Armenians would like to punish liers….Well my friends, YOU, who would like to influence the US Government and the Sate dept, are living in la la land…. How delusional can you be that few Armenian votes would influence anybody. In a local election possibly, maybe,but on the national seen?

   Please, come down from seventh heaven. America’s interest has nothing to do with election promises; besides, once a promise is broken there are no further measures to redress. All you will hope, but fail, is the next election when the next candidate will promise the sky, then, once in office the State Dept. policy will dictate how to proceed .

   American airbase in Turkey is being held hostage and America can do nothing but lick the "derriere" of ….. Our NGOs should learn not to fall to these promises. of candidates.  ANCA supported and backed Obama, so did the Armenian Assembly. I ask them: when was the last time that these promises was kept? NEVER….and yet they keep falling to promises and supporting this or that candidate.

   There is no solution to keep them true to their word. One might stay on the sidelines and then, depending what the elected official does, one might support him/her on the next election .

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