Abbie Hoffman Quotes
When decorum is repression, the only dignity free men have is to speak out.
Levine, Mark L., et al. The Tales of Hoffman. Bantam Books, 1970.
In November of each year protesters gather at Fort Benning, the site of the U. S. Army School of the Americas. The School provides training for Latin American Military Officers in Counter-Insurgency Training. The graduates of the school have included some of the worst Latin American killers and torturers (See {41061} for example) who rose to positions of power in their lands. It has also included many leaders who did not ever resort to war crimes and atrocities and also became leaders of their countries. It has been an institution of great controversy since it was discovered that the school at one point taught methods of interrogating insurgents that were tantamount to torture. Defenders of the school claim that but for the school, the military atrocities would have been worse and that it contributed to more human and democratic governments in the Americas. The annual protest has attracted more than 16,000 protesters, some of whom—like Bourgeois—have been guilty of trespass and interfering with a government facility and have served jail terms for those violations.
She had been jailed for “inciting to riot.” As she was released from prison thousands of well wishers greeted her.
Armenia has no tradition for freedom of speech and assembly, and little respect for Human Rights. This quotation illustrates what many of our American lawmakers were concerned with when they prohibited the military from being used domestically against civilians. When a national Guard Unit is called up, the Pentagon no longer controls the soldier but the State Governor and his State National Guard Commander have the command and control.
Abbot Howard Hoffman, better known as Abbie Hoffman, was an American political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ("Yippies") and was a member of the Chicago Seven. He was also a leading proponent of the Flower Power movement.
