Blankets

[David Casseres]

Henry sez

>The important question: Is there any good reason to believe that it 
>did happen? Is there any reason to believe that the U.S. government 
>purposely spread AIDS, particulary to non-caucasion society? 
>Excitingly terrible, and how shocked would we be that They would do 
>such things, BUT DID THEY ACTUALLY HAPPEN?

That's *an* important question.  With regard to smallpox and Indians we 
have written records of Army officers conspiring to try it out, and 
perhaps an oral tradition that says it actually happened.  For the 
question of AIDS as a government conspiracy against African Americans, 
I've never heard of any credible evidence at all -- though I bet one 
could find evidence that there's been more official enthusiasm about 
helping gay white male AIDS victims than about helping black addicts and 
prostitutes with AIDS.

Another important question is why it's such an urgent concern, among some 
of us, to deny the historical basis of a song -- a song! -- accusing our 
government of a crime that we all know damn well it was and is perfectly 
capable of committing.  So urgent as to lead someone to present a lack of 
documentation (after more than a century) as proof that the song is a lie.


Cheers,
David