Civilization has come a long way in the past century or so

www.vheadline.com Posted: Thursday, January 23, 2003 - 8:06:26 AM By: Priscilla West

Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 23:01:36 -0600 From: Priscilla West priwest@tulsaconnect.com To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: Response to Dawn Gable

Dear Editor: Settling into bed last night, I got to wondering about Dawn Gable. What sort of person must she be to write such a bizarre response to my letter?

From her letter we know that Dawn Gable is an American, educated in biology, who lived four years here in Oklahoma. While I understand how the Bible-belt conservatism in this part of the US might send some packing, even the most liberal would not readily trade it for a "mud house" in rural, underdeveloped Venezuela. So I mused that she could be involved with mission or charity work.

One thing that made Dawn Gable's letter stick in my mind was the bizarre implication of my own moral decrepitude based, apparently, on a presumed aversion to "mosquitoes [sic.] ... and taking freezing cold showers." Civilization has come a long way in the past century or so, and many people (including myself) do prefer urban life to rural... but something more was bugging me... it just didn't add up.

Chatting on Instant Messenger that evening, a friend had informed me that Dawn Gable published a letter in the Caracas Daily Journal. He speculated that she could be a figment of the Chavez propaganda machine. Hmm ... an interesting possibility, as several cases of fictitious Chavez supporters with American-sounding names have been reported! It would also make sense, considering her effusive praise of Chavez's "Bolivarian Revolution" and her closing quote by Che Guevara...

Finally I could stand it no longer. I threw back the covers, fired up the computer, and did a Yahoo search for "Dawn Gable biologist." I first found a document written by Dawn Gable about "Bolivarian" education reform, which I won't detail here. (Suffice it to say that her vision for the indoctrination Venezuelan youth is a frightening one)  Next, the search yielded an unexpected result: An Amazon.com ("Listmania") list created by Dawn Gable, entitled "Latin American Revolution... a course."

Provided she does not modify or delete the page, you may view Dawn Gable's recommended reading list here.

In the event that she does remove or change her list, I reproduce most of it (with short excerpts) here:

In the Shadow of the Liberator: The Impact of Hugo Chavez on Venezuela and Latin America (Richard Gott) -- This book opens with a famous quote by Hugo Chavez, "In the name of Cuba and of Venezuela, I appeal for the unity of our two peoples, and of the revolution that we both lead..." and goes on in its first pages to describe Fidel Castro as the "most famous revolutionary hero in Latin America."

Latin America in the Era of the Cuban Revolution (Thomas C. Wright) -- This book serves "to illuminate ... revolution in Cuba and the impact of the Cuban model of insurrection upon the rest of Latin America."

Che: Images of a Revolutionary (Fernando Diego Garcia) -- the book's contents are obvious. Dawn Gable herself posts the comment, "indulge..... fall in love with latin americas greatest 20th century hero."

Socialism and Man in Cuba (Che Guevara, Fidel Castro) -- no excerpt available.

Weavers of Revolution: The Yarur Workers and Chile's Road to Socialism (Peter Winn) -- No clear excerpt is available on Amazon.com, but one chapter is titled "The End of the Democratic Road."

Cuba: Talking About Revolution (Juan Antonio Blanco, Medea Benjamin) -- "I had seen a lot of beggars in Havana -- that was a common sight in Cuba before the revolution ... that's when as a young kid I realized that like my parents, I too, was a communist and a revolutionary."

Che Guevara Reader: Writings by Ernesto Che Guevara on Guerrilla Strategy, Politics & Revolution (Che Guevara) -- My carpal tunnel syndrome is kicking in, but by now we all get the picture!

While the more politically savvy Chavez supporter is careful to draw a distinction between "Communism" and "Bolivarianism," the ground-level activist such as Dawn Gable clearly is not. For most readers of the twenty-first century, it is unnecessary to detail Socialism's pitfalls or provide examples of leaders corrupted by absolute power.

I cherish the fact that every American, including Dawn Gable, is entitled to her own opinion. While I will refrain from pronouncing personal judgement, I ask that VHeadline.com readers ... be they rightist, leftist, nudist, etc... simply be aware that Dawn Gable harkens to the seductive call of revolution. Her distinctly anti-capitalism, anti-Democracy, anti-globalization stance is representative of the Chavez regime's. Hugo Chavez has had several years' head start on "posturing" through manipulation of international media. Now that Venezuela has realized its mistake in electing him, it's time for the rest of the world to wake up and smell the Dawn Gables!

Priscilla West priwest@tulsaconnect.com Tulsa OK