I recently received a rejection email from Oped News, and I did not receive any explanation whatsoever from the editor (I was only told to read the Oped writing guidelines where I did not find anything that should have disqualified my article, I have not been rejected before, particularly considering this rejection stipulated that I could not re-post my article: http://www.metamute.org/en/barack_obama_and_the_banality_of_evil as a diary or with modifications, so I can only assume that the ideas I was presenting are what scared the Oped News management). Oped News is (or at least was) an important forum for disseminating information to the wider progressive community. I liken this action to what is done when a left-of-center or liberal pressure group submits an advertisement to one of the big three corporate networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS), and the advertisement is rejected because of its alleged subversive content. The American public is done a disservice, because the public debate is stifled, because ‘the children’ and/or ‘the little people’, aka the taxpaying American public, are determined to be too fragile to receive a legitimate progressive or liberal point of view (or something that might challenge the very narrow political ‘mainstream’).

If Oped News is interested in silencing some opinions, while fostering others, then I don’t think it is truly offering an important service to the global social justice community. If ideas that are controversial are not allowed to be given a proper airing (in the light of day) for everyone to agree or disagree on, then how do we expect to progress in our worldviews, and our analysis of what’s happening in American society (and the greater world in general)? If Oped News is in the business of ‘left’ gatekeeping, then I think it should be open, honest, and front and center about it! I have been strongly criticizing Barack Obama, and the Democrats since I’ve been contributing to Oped News (one of the first articles I contributed was called Barack Obama’s Rogues Gallery of Advisers, and it was headlined!), and I believe the progressive movement is not the Democratic Party, and it sure as hell is not one particular corporatist duplicitous politician named Barack H. Obama!

As far as I can tell my article was rejected because in it I argued that Barack Obama is an evil person! So, there goes, I must admit to being sorry, I’m sorry, I’m SO truly very sorry, for finding it evil to kill innocent Afghani civilians via unconscionable drone attacks in the name of a failed (Bushian creation) War on Terror! I’m also all too sorry that I think it’s evil to supply weapons of mass destruction to a military (the Israeli military) that has committed numerous crimes against humanity (including women and children), and wantonly violated international norms, laws and standards (not to mention U.N. resolutions, anyone remember how sacrosanct this was for Iraq?)! I’m sorry that I think it’s evil for more human lives to be wasted away, in incarceration in this country, than in any other nation on the planet!

Obama gave a speech fairly recently, where mentioned what I just stated about imprisonment in this country; and the question I have for the divine one is what the fuck is he going to do about it?!! I’ve yet to hear his suggestion for a policy that will release all of the non-violent offenders of victimless crimes, back into the community (instead of purposelessly rotting away in human warehousing facilities) to be productive citizens again contributing to their families and society’s welfare in general.

I thought Oped was supposed to a participatory space where the membership had input (not Rob Kall’s personal fiefdom) into the website’s decisions. Rob Kall and his drunk on power editorial team have taken over Oped to use for their own devices, and these folks with their swelled heads seem unabashedly determined to privilege the ‘right’ thoughts and punish what they deign to be the ‘wrong’ ideas and/or principles. They are intent to promote those who do massah’s bidding, and undermine, ban, and censor those who aren’t in agreement with their shortsighted Machiavellian plan.

Oped News has truly become a shell of a once great website, when many of the decent, well-intentioned, honorable, and forthright people who have since been excommunicated from the site were active there editing and contributing. It’s truly a monumental shame that a formerly progressive website, is now a mouthpiece for the Democratic Party and Barack Obama’s frothing at the mouth sycophantic minions. If anyone can tell me of a site, that’s currently functioning like the old Oped News was; please drop me a line, I’d love to take part in it, instead of the current incarnation of that website (which I have, of course, been banned from by the administration for my worldview and system of beliefs so that is not a plausible option at the present).

The original post on your site about Mesbah Yazdi (link below)in 2007

Iran Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi is Nostradamus Third Anti-Christ Mabus

Needs an update, perhaps, to this link of 2009

http://noiri.blogspot.com/2009/07/did-jesus-warn-us-of-antichrist.html