Silienced Majority

"Not all journalists get killed by assassins; soldiers rarely refuse unjust wars at the cost of their own lives. But those who do have definitely something in common. Call it moral integrity.

If we allow the silenced majority to eliminate those voices, we will all be living in silence and exile within our own homes -- wherever in this world those homes may be."

- Jasmina Tesanovic on the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya, full piece on BoingBoing.

The assassination of Anna Polikovskaya has been temporarily splashed across our collective consciousness. Yet another step on the path towards a totalitarian Russia produces visible signs of outrage that will too soon fade into the milleau of appeasement and indifference. "She was the conscience of Russian journalism," and without conscience who shall reign-in Putin's New Russia?

"Yes, stability has come to Russia. It is a monstrous stability under which nobody seeks justice in law courts which flaunt their subservience and partisanship. Nobody in his or her right mind seeks protection from the institutions entrusted with maintaining law and order, because they are totally corrupt.

Lynch law is the order of the day, both in people's minds and in their actions. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

- Anna Politkovskaya, Putin's Russia, BBC News.

When such a life is so cruelly cut short something inside of me cries out in solidarity; that part of me and mine also lies sprawled upon the ground- dignity and rage fallen silent in empty death. She was a journalist, a hostage negotiator, award-winning human rights activist and polemic author. May many in the sorely needed new generation be inspired by both her hopes and fears.

"Als sie mich holten,
When they came for me,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte."
There was no one left to speak out.

- Pastor Martin Niemöller, First They Came