I felt it rolling around in my brain yesterday when I was writing the Mavericks post. While all of these stories deal with free speech - the ability to say what one believes, whether she is a left-leaning musician or a conservative radio talk show host, without having to worry about personal safety. But what is so striking is the level of violence the so-called American conservatives levy against those they disagree with. While we’ve never really been a country to solve our problems without violence, it still surprises me that the root of democracy - dialogue - seems like a path of last resort to so many.

Shut Up & Sing by Barbara Kopple
It’s 2003 and war is about to be unleashed on the people of Iraq. The Dixie Chicks step out onto a London stage launching their “Top of the World” tour. Front woman Natalie Maines quips to the British audience that she’s embarrassed President Bush is from her home state of Texas to cheers and applause. The British press report her comment which is picked up by the American news, and the careers and lives of these three strong, talented women become targets for pro-war Americans who react by trashing their CDs and worse in protest.

An Unreasonable Man by Henriette Mantel and Steve Skrovan
The life and times of one public advocate turned independent politician Ralph Nader. Perhaps you know the story, but perhaps you don’t. Check out the film.

The Fire Next Time by Patrice O’Neill
This is the third leg of my Trifecta that occurred to me after I wrote yesterday’s post. In the small Montana town of Kalispell, environmental activism sparks antagonists to target citizens and whose passions are further inflamed by a radio shock-jock inciting serious danger. O’Neill made two films about the “Not in Our Town” movement that began as a reaction to hate crimes; it is a movement that encourages dialogue and reconciliation, but when O’Neill and The Working Group arrive in Kalispell, they are unprepared for the level of hate and fear that exists there.

I’d also like to supplement this Trifecta with POV Borders: American ID. Borders is an online project of POV that uses video and forums to engage audiences online about given topics. This Trifecta is about the internal culture of America - how we deal with one another and how our actions effect each other. American ID asks non-Americans, “how do you see the US?” Answers are at once conceivable and surprising.