Critic Claims Victory After Religion Memo Goes to Air Force Academy Cadets | Truthout
I have a better idea: close the AFA down.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Occupy Wall Street Protest Enters Second Week; 80 Arrested at Peaceful March
Occupy Wall Street Protest Enters Second Week; 80 Arrested at Peaceful March
The ballot box is a placebo. If there is to be authentic change in this country, it will take place when masses of people take to the streets. Let us hope this is the beginning. I fear, however, that the forces of reaction have too tight a hold on the sources of information, and the ideological state apparatus is, as yet, too powerful. The American people don't imagine Democracy: they imagine that they have one.
The ballot box is a placebo. If there is to be authentic change in this country, it will take place when masses of people take to the streets. Let us hope this is the beginning. I fear, however, that the forces of reaction have too tight a hold on the sources of information, and the ideological state apparatus is, as yet, too powerful. The American people don't imagine Democracy: they imagine that they have one.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Let's Talk Politics
The Tea-Partiers have one thing right: we need a new Constitution. I've been advocating a non-violent people's revolution designed to force a Constitutional convention since at least 2005. Thomas Jefferson took the position that EVERY GENERATION of Americans should tear up the Constitution they have inherited and draft a new one.
The problem with the Tea-Partiers is that they want to draft a Constitution that will benefit rich, frightened, white people. But we already have a Constitution that does that. The Tea-Partiers think it doesn't do enough of that. Their idea of democracy is a franchise limited to white, property-owning males and the women who will vote as they do.
If you want to talk politics, don't get caught up in the corrupt political theater that passes for politics in this country. We have government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations. The so-called "two-party" system is completely compromised since both parties are entirely beholden to the militarized corporatocracy. Therefore, if you want to talk politics, start talking about the non-violent people's revolution that will bring about a Constitutional convention. Talk about the potential risks and rewards of this venture versus the risks and rewards of "staying the course." Talk about how we might begin to set in motion the wheels of such a revolution, and how we might accomplish it without playing into the hands of the Tea-Partiers.
We need a plan of action. Politics as usual in this country is just re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
The problem with the Tea-Partiers is that they want to draft a Constitution that will benefit rich, frightened, white people. But we already have a Constitution that does that. The Tea-Partiers think it doesn't do enough of that. Their idea of democracy is a franchise limited to white, property-owning males and the women who will vote as they do.
If you want to talk politics, don't get caught up in the corrupt political theater that passes for politics in this country. We have government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations. The so-called "two-party" system is completely compromised since both parties are entirely beholden to the militarized corporatocracy. Therefore, if you want to talk politics, start talking about the non-violent people's revolution that will bring about a Constitutional convention. Talk about the potential risks and rewards of this venture versus the risks and rewards of "staying the course." Talk about how we might begin to set in motion the wheels of such a revolution, and how we might accomplish it without playing into the hands of the Tea-Partiers.
We need a plan of action. Politics as usual in this country is just re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
The CIA's Islamist Cover Up
is the title of a New York Review of Books Blog article by Ian Johnson dated August 30, 2011. Blogger is for some reason unwilling to allow me to link to it. In any event, my guess is that the CIA's involvement with so-called "Islamist" groups is far more extensive and sinister than the author of this article seems to believe and, hence, the efforts taken by the CIA to maintain the cover-up will continue to be strenuous in the extreme. That said, it is interesting to see this subject broached in a major U.S. publication. Not that it will make any difference...
From "Grey Eminence"
"Bad men could never do the harm they actually accomplish, unless they were able to induce good men to become, first their dupes, and then their more or less willing, more or less conscious accomplices." --Aldous Huxley
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Cutting Off the Head of the Snake
On August 23, 1994, the United States Congress passed a joint-resolution (H.J. Res. 131) declaring December 7th "Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day." President Bill Clinton signed this resolution into law (P.L. 103-308)--a mere half century after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Why did it take the government so long to get around to passing such legislation? Well, for one thing, the number of World War II veterans still living was dwindling. There was no doubt concern that Americans would forget what had happened on that day in history--the Japanese attacks had killed or wounded more than 3,000 Americans.
Decades before the Federal Government acted to create an official reminder (not, however, a national holiday), I learned of the significance of this date in elementary school. My father was a World War II veteran. I knew the date and what had happened.
I would be surprised to learn that my education was unique in that regard. Back in the 1960's, we were taught American history in public school. We also learned that there was some controversy about what happened on December 7, 1941--specifically, that there was speculation concerning the degree of intelligence concerning the attacks in the hands of the Roosevelt White House prior to the event. Hearings were conducted and high ranking military personnel were found "derelict" in their duties and relieved of their command.
I was brought up with both facts and questions. I was aware of Pearl Harbor and remembered it annually--without the prompting of the Federal government. The tragedy was not exploited for political purposes nor was a fetish made out of it.
There is another reason that it took the Congress so long to officially recognize December 7th as an annual "day of remembrance." In the 1940's, there was an actual war going on in Europe, North Africa, and East Asia. There were real armies, navies, and air forces aggressively on the move attacking and terrorizing civilian populations. This is not the case today. To prevent the so-called "War On Terror" from fading from the memories of all but the most paranoid among us, it must be continually manufactured by our Orwellian Federal government in cooperation with its State and local allies and their supine corps of compliant journalists.
This is not to say that there is no real threat. Credible terrorist plots are being hatched every day in the Pentagon and at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. I'm all for "cutting off the head of the snake"--isn't that what the assassination of Osama bin Laden was supposed to do?
I've read Op-Ed pieces lately in which the author opines that OBL's memory is more dangerous than the man himself when he was alive--for now his inspiration to would-be terrorists is the stuff of legend, larger than life. Paradoxically, these same pundits support the continual exploitation and fetishization of 9/11 through "days of remembrance" like the present one. But it's no paradox, really: they are terrified that they might lose the only thing which supports their adrenalin addiction and gives their lives form and meaning.
The American people need to recognize where the true threat of terrorism is coming from and act to prevent it. Barry Glassner's classic work The Culture of Fear is in print, "updated for our post 9/11 world." When this book becomes required reading for every American school child; when American school children are once again raised with both facts and questions; if and when the conditions of democracy ever return to our shores again, the head of the snake will be cut off and the frightened citizens of these Orwellian States of Amnesia will once again experience the euphoria that swept the country in 1991 when the Soviet Union fell and all the Communist cells that were secreted throughout the United States bent upon overthrowing our government and depriving us of our way of life were thwarted...
By the way, what happened to all those Communist cells? They vanished into the thin, paranoid air from which they had been dreamed up in the first place.
Why did it take the government so long to get around to passing such legislation? Well, for one thing, the number of World War II veterans still living was dwindling. There was no doubt concern that Americans would forget what had happened on that day in history--the Japanese attacks had killed or wounded more than 3,000 Americans.
Decades before the Federal Government acted to create an official reminder (not, however, a national holiday), I learned of the significance of this date in elementary school. My father was a World War II veteran. I knew the date and what had happened.
I would be surprised to learn that my education was unique in that regard. Back in the 1960's, we were taught American history in public school. We also learned that there was some controversy about what happened on December 7, 1941--specifically, that there was speculation concerning the degree of intelligence concerning the attacks in the hands of the Roosevelt White House prior to the event. Hearings were conducted and high ranking military personnel were found "derelict" in their duties and relieved of their command.
I was brought up with both facts and questions. I was aware of Pearl Harbor and remembered it annually--without the prompting of the Federal government. The tragedy was not exploited for political purposes nor was a fetish made out of it.
There is another reason that it took the Congress so long to officially recognize December 7th as an annual "day of remembrance." In the 1940's, there was an actual war going on in Europe, North Africa, and East Asia. There were real armies, navies, and air forces aggressively on the move attacking and terrorizing civilian populations. This is not the case today. To prevent the so-called "War On Terror" from fading from the memories of all but the most paranoid among us, it must be continually manufactured by our Orwellian Federal government in cooperation with its State and local allies and their supine corps of compliant journalists.
This is not to say that there is no real threat. Credible terrorist plots are being hatched every day in the Pentagon and at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. I'm all for "cutting off the head of the snake"--isn't that what the assassination of Osama bin Laden was supposed to do?
I've read Op-Ed pieces lately in which the author opines that OBL's memory is more dangerous than the man himself when he was alive--for now his inspiration to would-be terrorists is the stuff of legend, larger than life. Paradoxically, these same pundits support the continual exploitation and fetishization of 9/11 through "days of remembrance" like the present one. But it's no paradox, really: they are terrified that they might lose the only thing which supports their adrenalin addiction and gives their lives form and meaning.
The American people need to recognize where the true threat of terrorism is coming from and act to prevent it. Barry Glassner's classic work The Culture of Fear is in print, "updated for our post 9/11 world." When this book becomes required reading for every American school child; when American school children are once again raised with both facts and questions; if and when the conditions of democracy ever return to our shores again, the head of the snake will be cut off and the frightened citizens of these Orwellian States of Amnesia will once again experience the euphoria that swept the country in 1991 when the Soviet Union fell and all the Communist cells that were secreted throughout the United States bent upon overthrowing our government and depriving us of our way of life were thwarted...
By the way, what happened to all those Communist cells? They vanished into the thin, paranoid air from which they had been dreamed up in the first place.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Colin Powell Expresses "Regret"
If Kcarab Amabo had any integrity, he would turn against his benefactors and let Colin Powell be the star witness in the prosecutions of Bush, Cheney, Rice, and Rumsfeld.
Colin Powell talks to Al Jazeera - Americas - Al Jazeera English
Colin Powell talks to Al Jazeera - Americas - Al Jazeera English
The Walrus and Carpenter Syndrome: Weeping For the Oysters As You Devour Them
In the United States, this is called "compassionate conservatism," an ideology that Kcarab Amabo enacts without explicitly avowing:
... The Walrus and the Carpenter
Walked on a mile or so,
And then they rested on a rock
Conveniently low:
And all the little Oysters stood
And waited in a row.
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."
"But wait a bit," the Oysters cried,
"Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!"
"No hurry!" said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.
"A loaf of bread," the Walrus said,
"Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed--
Now if you're ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed."
"But not on us!" the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue.
"After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!"
"The night is fine," the Walrus said.
"Do you admire the view?
"It was so kind of you to come!
And you are very nice!"
The Carpenter said nothing but
"Cut us another slice:
I wish you were not quite so deaf--
I've had to ask you twice!"
"It seems a shame," the Walrus said,
"To play them such a trick,
After we've brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!"
The Carpenter said nothing but
"The butter's spread too thick!"
"I weep for you," the Walrus said:
"I deeply sympathize."
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.
"O Oysters," said the Carpenter,
"You've had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?'
But answer came there none--
And this was scarcely odd, because
They'd eaten every one.
--Lewis Carroll
Friday, September 9, 2011
A Modest Proposal That Americans Finally Abandon The Victimhood Narrative...
and man-up. If only the majority of the citizens of this nation had the self-esteem to follow this advice.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Al-Qaeda = Pakistani ISI = U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (or Rogue Elements Therein)
Al-Qaeda is a fiction, i.e., it is a special or black ops project of the Pakistani ISI, which is a special or black ops project of the CIA. OBL was a side-show and a fall-guy.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
A Key Distinction
Since Barack Obama looks so much like his evil Bushian twin Kcarab Amabo, how is one supposed to tell them apart? Easy.
Barack Obama was a vertebrate; Kcarab Amabo is not.
"You're Going To Reap Just What You Sow..."
"I think it is correct to say that depoliticized or aestheticized submission, along with all of the different forms of, in some cases, triumphalism and xenophobia, in others, apathy and defeat, have been principally required since the 1960's to allay whatever residual feelings of desire for democratic participation (also known as 'a danger to stability') still existed ... the argument is that too much democracy is bad for governability, which is that supply of passivity which makes it easier for oligarchies of technical or policy experts to push people into line. So if one is endlessly lectured by certified experts who explain that the freedom we all want demands deregulation and privatization or war and that the new world order is nothing less than the end of history, there is very little inclination to address this order with anything like individual or even collective demands. Chomsky has relentlessly addressed this paralyzing syndrome for several years."--Edward SaidMost Americans today are like Winston Smith at the end of 1984: sitting in the cafe, drinking the watered-down, greasy-textured gin, and waiting for the bullet in the back of the head. Everybody's gearing up for the 9/11/11 orgy of triumphalism and xenophobia, apathy and defeat. We will see Kcarab Amabo arm in arm with W. and other criminals. Now for a little bracing Lou Reed irony: "You're going to reap just what you sow..."
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