© Leslie Blanchard
Let me begin by stating that what is written here is not just an attack on the Bush Administration. I am extremely disappointed in the Obama Administration to date. Although there will be more mention of the Bush administration for several reasons. 1. They started both wars discussed 2. I have 8 years worth of history to draw from the Bush Administration compared to 9 months of history for the Obama Administration. With that out of the way...here we go.
"It is easy to be overwhelmed or intimated by the realization that the war makers have enormous power. But some historical perspective can be useful, because it tells us that at certain points in history, governments find that all their power is futile against the power of an aroused citizenry." Howard Zinn
I wonder if any of you are having an overwhelming feeling of deja vues like I am. I'm pretty certain that the administration is carefully laying the groundwork for a U.S. invasion in Iran. Having learned from the previous administration how not to propagandize a "preemptive war" i.e. illegal invasion of a Foreign Sovereign State, the Obama team is getting the United Nations, The Council on Foreign Nations and the IAEA involved, and moving much more slowly than did his predecessor. But come on, do they really think ALL of us have been turned into the blind, unthinking sheeple they have worked so hard to create? Maybe it's just an unpleasant hint in the back of your mind, or a nagging worry, or a known that you don't want to give voice too- but I think most of us believe that war with Iran is in our near future.
And I admit that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (I'm a dinner jacket), is a whack job. Perhaps insane, perhaps not. He's definitely a news whore and enjoys the spotlight. He enjoys it so much that he makes ridiculous statements such as "death to Israel" and that the entire solution to the Mid-East "problem" is to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, who knows if he has the cojones to do so? In the remote chance that he fully intends to do just that, so be it. Israel is also a Sovereign State and can defend herself. Sure it's nice when you can help your buddy out when they are in a fight, but umm, I don't recall their forces joining ours in Afghanistan or Iraq. And frankly, we can't even pay for the 2 illegal wars we are in, let alone start a new one to protect our "friend".
I don't have anything in particular against Israel- I just don't think they are that good of a friend. I mean America is bankrupt yet we still send $10 million dollars a day to the country ranked 27Th richest in the world. A true friend would say, "oh we can make due, you guys need it more than we do." We borrow money like a junkie begging for a fix from numerous countries, not the least of which is China, to loan to Israel, while 35 million Americans go hungry in the "land of plenty."
Our elected officials in Congress were willing to impeach ol' Tricky Dick Nixon for breaking into a building, but the last Congress and the present Congress have not/will not impeach/convict George Bush and his cronies for breaking into a COUNTRY! They were more than happy to impeach President Clinton for his sexual peccadillo's (nothing that unusual with American politicians) but never even considered impeaching George W. Bush for deregulating every facet of American Industry which turned the wealth of this country over to the already "super-rich". Now this Democratic Congress sits idly by while people march in the streets calling the current President everything from Fascist to Socialist to Witch Doctor for his attempts to try and regain some of the bootee the last administration pirated from ordinary American citizens. All these outraged teabaggers and their ilk that abhor the "redistribution of wealth" weren't screaming so loud, or at all when the previous administration redistributed wealth on such a grandiose scale. Clearly the lunatics are running the asylum.
I've called the Bush-Cheney Administration out a number of times on these pages as being an "Imperial Presidency". And so far it appears that the Obama-Biden Administration is following their lead. But historically, Imperial Powers tend to get too cocky, to big for their britches- they consistently over reach because they have forgotten that real power does not lay in Military power. Over time, citizens come to rebel, human beings rediscover their humanity and begin to resist the inhumane policies their rulers sanction. The United States with 10,000 nuclear weapons could not win in Korea or Viet Nam. We couldn't prevent wars and revolutions in countries like Cuba, Nicaragua, or Honduras. Just as the USSR with their huge Army and nuclear weapons had to retreat from Afghanistan (just as the U.S. will be forced to do eventually). The USSR couldn't stop Lech Walesa in Poland, or even prevent the shattering of its own union. War and military mightiness destroys but it can not build. Human nature dictates that we build, we improve, we update, we reach for something better.
Change in the public ideology, the group consciousness starts slowly, it smolders in disparate patches across the country with no apparent connection. The small embers of public discontent is caused by the actions of government politicos. Eventually these smoldering fires consume more dissatisfaction and merge into a wildfire of protest. The last 9 years have served to speed the building of public combustion. This resentment and desolation we are feeling were knowingly caused by the United States Government over reaching. Perhaps it started when the 2000 presidential election was stolen from us, increasing when more and more deregulation allowed American jobs to be shipped off shore, coupled with the rape of the U.S. Constitution and our loss of privacy via the Patriot Act. It may be about to culminate with the 2 ongoing un-win-able "wars without end."
We did the best we could as citizens, we voted out the previous Congress and 2 years later we elected a newcomer as President. Based on his idyllic speech's and the false promise of change we so desperately longed for. America's discontent with the status quo was shown worldwide last November when we elected a man that fit with the Congress who we believed would propagate that change.
Sadly, the change has not come. If anything the discontent has turned into a raging 3 alarm fire and has split the country in half like the proverbial third rail. No one is happy. No one is secure and no one knows what to do with their disappointment. More and more people are listening to fear mongers, impotent "infotainers" and taking to the streets. Although we vary greatly in our rhetoric and ideals, in our proposed solutions, we are all standing on the same field of broken dreams and promises. We are united in our distaste of government and politics as usual.
We are tired of spending $720 million a day for bullets & bombs that send Iraqi children to the Baghdad Hospital. Dollars which could/should be used to pay down our debt, to keep people in their homes, to provide health-care for every person in America. Dollars which could be used to stop the river of blood our young soldiers spill daily to protect our river of oil, dollars which could be used in creating new jobs in industry developing alternative forms of energy.
Out of this quagmire could rise a righteous army of pacifists and war opponents. The numbers of Americans against these 2 illegal wars are growing steadily each day, while the number of supporters diminish. Yet nothing is slowing down the war effort. In fact, we are debating another surge of worn out troops in country, while the groundwork is quietly being laid for another preemptive war in Iran. This is the process of Disaster Capitalism. Disaster capitalism and Corporatist Fascism are what has replaced our grand beautiful experiment of Democracy. The United States is no longer a democracy , for by definition a democracy is a system of government where the people either govern themselves or elect representatives to carry out the wishes of the people. Thus, it's been quite a spell since America has been a true democracy.
If we do not rise up soon to quell the advent of war without end it will be to late. Rebellions are most often born of cultural stock. We need to take inventory of our stock and organize a "battle plan". I use that term specifically because that is the only term the other side will comprehend.
It won't be an easy battle, our foes are the wealthiest among us, many of them elected officials in the pockets of disaster capitalists. As discussed in my last piece the media only covers what its shareholders want to hear. Our foes will use the Patriot Act, resort to name calling, and physical confrontation as witnessed during the peaceful protests at the G-20 last week. They will do their damnedest to bait us into physical conflict. They are bullies armed with money, media control, store bought politicans and disaster capitalists.
You may wonder how we can defeat them. The odds seem overwhelming. But on our side we have the most powerful weapon known to mankind- TRUTH and as long as we can keep speaking truth to power, truth to lies, the more people will understand and join us. We need to use all means at our disposal to spread the truth. As long as the Internet remains free, which is in serious question at present, it is our best friend and best tool. Sites like Facebook, Change.org, Care2, and many more provide a virtual meeting hall for us to bring new members on board. And as proven by my own success - Twitter & Friend Feed are powerful sources to get the word out, to speak truth to power and bullies.
We must not back down. We must not feel outnumbered. We must not be fearful that our names may end up on some "list" somewhere. The teabaggers and 9/12ers and fanatical right wing nut groups are on Homeland Security's watch list, but it has not slowed or deterred them.
The people we oppose- the Corporatists, the Disaster Capitalists have no regard for human life, or justice, let alone freedom.
As pacifists many of us dislike the terms I am using; "weapons","battle", "war", but it is these terms with which we must generate the courage of our convictions. For if we do not, we will know a world that believes war without end is the natural way, that believes blood, money, weapons, global genocide and slavery is our destiny.
Throughout history flyers, broadsides, and pamphlets have inspired movements. Poems have sparked revolutions. Civil disobedience, truthful discourse, and a united citizenry have toppled dictatorships. And we must now join together, bound by truth, welded by compassion, motivated by love; join together to save our great American Experiment of Democracy.
If we fail to do so- it will fall by the wayside and be swept away like so much flotsam in their rivers of blood.
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